Follow the Blue Line- A Triathlon Day Adventure!

Race Day!!!!
It was finally here. I set my alarm for 5:30 am so I could double check my bag that I had packed Friday night. My team mates are my brother in law, James, and one of my best friends, Stephanie.  I packed a smaller bag with banana's and almonds. I got my pink drink ready. Stephanie arrived just before 6 and we proceeded to pick up my brother in law. After filling up for gas, we were on our way....

Navigational Disaster
Friday night, I had asked my husband how to get to Oak Run in Dahinda near Galesburg. He had been there before and knew the way. However, I didn't write them down. I couldn't quite remember exactly what he said. The first leg of the trip I did remember. During that time, I gave the address to Stephanie to plug into her phone so we would have directions. At this point, Stephanie did say she is navigationally challenged. Yet I had the memory of my husbands directions and thought we would be okay with the phone back up. Error number 1!

So we got off on 78 and connected with 150. Now, I remember Peter saying something about going through a really small town and then I would need to turn, but I could remember what direction, and that Oak Run would be about 10-15 miles down the road. Stephanie had the directions loaded on the phone and told me when to turn, we were on 180. We were watching for our next turn, Knox road. As we came up on a left turn, I slowed but didn't see a name, and proceed but was quickly alerted by Stephanie we were "off the blue line" (incidentally this will become a phrase we hear multiple times..), so I did a country road U-turn and proceed to where the 'blue line' told us to turn. And I did! Now at this point the inner voice of my husband was saying: where was the  small town? and I was fairly certain he had only mentioned 2 turns. I made the turn and was immediately in doubt. It was a Narrow rocky road and we proceeded on. We got to the top of a hill and on the other side was a steep decent on rocky dirt. I was very skeptical at this point that the 'blue line' was providing appropriate directions. We made it down the hill after briefly considering that we could potentially die and no one would know how to find us!!! Soon the rocks started to disappear and it was just dirt.  We passed a large limb that had fallen and was pulled over to the side, then looking ahead I notice the dirt becomes mud. James reassured me the truck was four wheel drive and said stay to the left. Made it through that mud, then another mud spot came upon us that was more of a puddle than I realized and as I proceed through, mud splashed up and all over my truck. Now, registration opened at 7 and it was nearing 7 enough that if we were on the right roads, we would have seen others...we did not. Finally the road become rock again, then a small stretch of asphalt, then rock again. we came to a T and made the turn hoping the blue line would say were going the right direction. We shortly came to a fork in the road and I was certain that based on the condition of the 2 options we should probably stay to the left. Except the phone shortly told us that we were once again "off the blue line", so I did another U-turn and went down the embankment to the dirt road...it was a tight turn. So we proceeded down the dirt road again, pondering that if something happened to the car, no one would find us!  There were deer jumping across the road, more mud puddles and I was starting to fear we would never find Oak Run and we would miss the triathlon. Alas, we finally had more rocks and the road became paved and eventually we found ourselves at one of the entrances to Oak Run!  phew! Stephanie was promptly demoted from her navigational duties!

Triathlon Time
 Now luckily, I had utilized my inner bird side (my mom's side is always timely and well planned) and we had left with enough time to endure the above adventure that took us about 20ish miles out of our way. We checked in, got our bodies marked with our bib number and then we set up our spot in the transition center.

I think we all were starting to get nervous and doubt our own sanity at this point. They opened the water for warm ups and I decided I would wait until it was time to swim to get in the water.

So it was finally 9 am and I had to get ready for my wave. Relay members were in the last wave regardless of age group, so my cap wasn't purple after all.  It was finally my turn to go. I hung back a bit to let the crowd thin. Ran through the water and finally dove in and started to swim. The cold hit me and took my breath away. I pushed forward. I was doing the breast stroke but couldn't get my legs, arms and breathing into a good rhythm until after I passed the first orange buoy. I was doing okay and kept pushing. There was a couple to my left and no matter how hard I pushed I couldn't get passed them and we kept hitting each other. Swimming in the lake was definitely different than the pool, which I expected and had been warned about. Then someone was trying to get around me after I passed the second buoy. But she got just far enough that with each stroke she was shoving water right in my face. I was close to being done so I just kept pushing. Finally, I could put my feet down and ran in the rest of the way, up the hill and into transition. My body ached, my lungs couldn't catch up with my need for air but I was done. I passed the timing chip off to James. Stephanie helped me get control of my breathing and I sat in the grass and waited. I looked at the time and did a quick guestimate of my time and figured I was right around 9 minutes. James came in and then Stephanie was off. When we saw Stephanie coming down the hill to the finish it was a moment of relief. We had done it. We survived it. We are Triathletes!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Working towards a Goal

Get up and Go!

For the past 13 days I have gotten up every morning at 5 am, put on my swimsuit and headed to my local gym where I swim laps. When I started swimming, I did the math via a calculator on the internet to determine how many laps I need to complete the distance. The sprint triathlon distance is 300 yards for the one we are doing. My gym pool is 25 feet from one end to the other, at least that is what I thought.  So I set out to complete 18 laps, down and back 18 times. 3 Days in it was still taking me close to 20 minutes to finish. I was feeling defeated and like I would never be able to be successful at the Tri. That third day, I signed up for more laps and made an interesting discovery. The length of the pool is 50 feet not 25 feet. I only needed to do 9 laps, not 18!!! What a relief!

I found myself researching things on the internet. You Tube has multiple instructional videos for the different strokes, skills to practice, and ways to improve your stroke. I have been pushing myself to swim freestyle but am much more comfortable doing the breast stroke. With each trip to the gym, I have made improvements in how I swim, how fast I swim and how I breathe. I haven't allowed myself to make excuses. I have taken 3 days off to rest, including tomorrow.

Making this a habit.

After I finished my final push today, I stopped at the desk. I pulled out the swim lane book and signed up for next week. I have enjoyed (no seriously...enjoyed) getting up earlier. I have some time to myself in the car to the gym, in the pool and  the car ride home. I am able to start my morning without rush and therefore able to start my kids and husband's morning with out rush. I go into work feeling better about myself because I know I have done something for myself by exercising that morning. The Tri is Saturday, but i am going to keep swimming. I am doing this for me!

Ready or Not Tri I come....

I am so excited to do this Tri. I am only doing the swim and have managed to drag along my brother in law and dear friend to be my teammates. I know they think I am crazy, but they must be a little crazy too because they agreed to do it with me. I have looked at pictures, read through the information and been to the pool. I am as ready as I can get. I think i have been successful in staying with the swimming every day because I am working towards a goal. I have come to realize this is who I am... I am someone who is driven by goals. I don't find it fun or rewarding to run just to run or swim just to swim. Yes, I know the exercise is good for me but I think I work harder and go farther if I am working towards a goal.

So the question is....what is the next goal?????

Catch up and Update!

Wowzers!! Summer has Flown By!  What I had intended to be a weekly or biweekly post has now gone months with no update. So let's catch up!!

Running:
So If you remember, I had promised my oldest we would run a race. The color run came to Peoria in June or was it July... this summer anyway. It is a 5K. I was not as diligent about running and practicing as I wanted to be prior to the race. Since I had signed up for it, we were doing it even if meant we were walking most of it. My brother in law and sister in law also decided to join us.

If you have never done a color run, I highly suggest it, especially with friends. You get packets of color in your race packet. At various points they 'spray' color on you. Then at the finish line there is a dance party where everyone throws the color at each other. We had such a good time. Trey left me behind shortly after starting the race and ran ahead. I ended up running more of it than I thought I would because I was worried about him being ahead of me. I was so proud of myself. I felt great crossing the finish, completing

a goal and fulfilling a promise to my son. Notice that after the race I have a purple tutu. I tried to get others to have tutus but no one wanted to do it with me. So after the race they were giving away things and Trey decided he wanted to win me a tutu..so he did!  I didn't really get a ton of color until the dance party. We want to do it again and we are thinking about doing the neon version where it's at night!


Plexus:
  I am still taking plexus products. I love my pink drink. I have it every morning before I eat. I recently added the multivitamin, xfactor. I think that this vitamin helps me have improved energy through out the day. I also added pro bio 5, the probiotic over the summer. This has improved my sleep and also impacted my energy. I am feeling more and more like the pre-kid Brandie. I enjoy life more. I can laugh more. I can smile more. I can handle my stress a lot better. I am not where I want to be yet but I am so much closer than I have ever been before. I can't wait to see what another 4 months brings!

This is my 2 month update I did in July! I plan to do another update on my birthday at the end of the month. The scale says I am down 10 lbs but my clothes say I am down 3 pant sizes!!  3 Pant Sizes!!!!  The fit of my clothes is more important to me than the pounds anyway!!!


New Goals:
So I have had this wild and crazy idea for a while. Only a few of my closest friends and a few family members knew of my secret goal until recently. I am intrigued by the sprint Triathlon. I decided a few years back that I would do a sprint triathlon because they can be done as a relay team. I would start practicing and eventually give up. Since starting plexus, and working on my health and wellness, I returned to swimming. I love the water. I love to swim. Well, I managed to get my brother in law and one of my best friends to catch my crazy vision. They agreed to join me and we became a team. Now, we all intended to practice and train for this triathlon but much like my blog, summer got away from us. However, We did register. We are going to do this. We are going to cross the finish line!  I have been swimming every morning before work (read up at 5 am swimming in a cold lap pool at the gym while everyone else is warm and cozy in their beds). I am actually starting to enjoy being up early, wait..did I just say that, yes enjoy being up early. I get a few things done after I get home, shower, get ready, wake up kids, put out their clothes and get to work a little early to get a few things done before anyone knows I am there.

Taking care of me one day and one pink drink at a time. Stay tuned. I promise to write more.