I'm Thankfull For.........YOU!

Hope everyone had a GREAT Thanksgiving!

This is the time of year when the big transition from one season shifts to the next. Everyone is wrapping up their fall marathons, some of us are kicking injuries, and our minds are already scrambling for "next year!" We want to continue to train, but at the same time we just want to think about training hard while instead eating and drinking even harder. Hey! Most of you just ran a 5K or 5M Turkey Trot Marathon ;)

But before I continue to look into my crystal ball of 2012, I first want to look back at this season and be thankful for what occurred in 2011.

Mostly, I am thankful for YOU! I have been blogging for over 4 years now and I have connected and met MORE fellow triathlon and runner bloggers in the past 11 months than I have in the past 4 years COMBINED. AND! Its been wonderful :)

You read someone's blog, stalk follow them, then find them on twitter, then you become facebook friends, then somehow you wind up at the same race and meeting in person! What went from a friendly "Nice job! Congrats on that PR! Well deserved! You F______ rock!" comment suddenly turns into a post race "Nice job! Congrats on that PR! Well deserved! You F______ rock!"  handshake or hug and a life long friendship has been formed.

I am thankful for the twitter battles between Texas and everyone else.

I am thankful that we actually formed a League of Extraordinary Tri Geeks.

I am thankful that we then matched everyone up as Star Wars characters

I am thankful that we can all be total nerds and appreciate the elbow jabbing we give each other

I am thankful that a LOT of us did our first Ironman all in the same year and selflessly shared our mistakes and successes with each other. (hint: bring pepto and tums pills with you on the run)

I am thankful that EVERYONE had a great season and is continuing upwards and onwards next season

I am thankful that I am about to invade Canada next season

I am thankful that I can bake one thing without screwing it up. (note: I can make amazing Filet Mignon, but ask me to bake a pie? HA! Ur funny!)

I am thankful to have a coach that not only pushes me, but understands that Triathlon should NOT rule your life. I still can't believe I swam, biked, and ran that much that one weekend....

I am thankful for a new group of friends

Finally, I am thankful for the support of family and friends and my dog, Aachen

What are you thankful for this holiday season?

Happy Chrismahanakwanza-festivus!

El Bandito de Philadelphia

When in DC a few weekends ago I got invited down to spectate the Philadelphia Half and Full Marathons. Easy, right? Just stand there, ring some cowbells and scream as loud as you can for this guy and this girl.

Well, that plan changed, and changed again, and then changed again, and before I knew it, I was suddenly pace rabbit #2 bringing this girl across the finish line for the half marathon!

Considering my recent injury (which is still on the mend), it was decided that I run the last 6.55 miles and be the "new" energy. This was a good compromise as running 13.1 prolly would NOT be the best idea right now.

Saturday I drove down, and immediately met up with Beth, Allison, Katie, and Thom at the expo. Then bumped into Lauren a bit later. Priority #1: Find Peanut Butter Gu. Of course no one had it, and NOBODY even knew what we were talking about. Really people, REALLY?!? You should all be more like us!

The Marathoners

However, we did find mini wrappers of Planter's smooth peanut butter. I may or may not have eaten one of these with a chocolate Gu all at the same time. So good!

Speaking of food, I may or may not have brought down WAY too many cookies! I believe I may have started a cookie drug trade between NYC and DC. Hopefully no wars break out.

This is only half of what was made.

Sunday was a way too early wake up call for the race, but we found primo parking in a lot we think was legal? I did get a tongue lashing for not giving them my car key. Oops! Funny how far you can get with playing dumb sometimes ;)

Ok, now for the race itself. I saw everyone off for the start, then dropped everyone's clothes off at the car, then watched the elites FLY by. So fast!

After a quick 15 min warmup, I awaited Beth and Katie @ roughly mile 7.

Katie was just joking.....about her legs. She still hates us. ;)

From here till the finish, we just provided Katie with some serious pace booty until we got her to the finish. Katie finished with an 8 min PR! Go Katie!!!

I liked the Philly course. Other than a few hills, I think it is a fast fast course that can yield a serious PR for this distance.

But the day wasn't over yet! We now awaited the marathoners to finish. While waiting around the mile 26 marker, we met up with Lauren and Emily, who I haven't seen since the run course of Lake Placid back in July. Lauren brought bagels and I was bonking. Thank God for those bagels Lauren! Also, please stop by Lauren's blog and give her some love and encouragement as she is tackling her first Ironman this coming weekend down in Cozumel!

Thanks Emily for the picture!

Finally, with cowbells in hand, Allison and Thom came flying through. Thom finished his first Marathon while Allison shaved off 40, yes 40!, minutes off of her Marathon PR! Holy crap and way to go Allison!

MOST awesome-est race shirt EVAR!

What a weekend! Had a great time with DC friends in Philly and after getting home, I "maximized my potential" by not moving from the couch watching football and zombies for the remainder of the night.

Till next time Philly!

Random Friday Facts

I get violent if I am in the grocery store for longer than I need to be

I have a "note" app on my phone that I make my grocery lists. I use the checkist feature. I get satisfaction in having a completely crossed off list.

I swear I am not OCD!

I may have just totally lied ;)

I may have made my Pumpkin Chocolate Chip cookies for four weekends in a row.

There is nothing wrong with that. AT. ALL.

Does this commercial make you want to chop this dude's balls off?

I don't think he has any, because she owns them now.

I REALLY hate McDonald's commercials!

Two crispy chicken snack wraps with honey mustard and a chocolate milk shake is SO FUCKING GOOD!

^^^from McDonald's, of course

A goal is going to be achieved this weekend. Even if I have to carry all 136 pounds of it at a sub 7 pace!!! RAWRRRRRR!!!!

Whenever I have to split a lane with someone at the pool, I want to give them a stupidity test. Most likely they are stupid and don't understand that THIS IS MY SIDE OF THE FUCKING LANE!

I sometimes wish I knew butterfly...

PEANUT BUTTER GU IS FINALLY FREAKING AVAILABLE!!!!! Hoping to find some at the Expo tomorrow :)

You should do a google search for "peanut butter gu"........can you tell me which web-site comes up? ;)

Don't you hate it when your Garmin is searching for a satellite and the bar gets within a sliver of finding it, then it BOUNCES BACK?!?!?

Leftover asparagus is good for one thing, goat cheese and asparagus omelettes!

I can't eat a salad anymore unless it has bountiful amounts of avocado in it. Not lots, bountiful.

Also, nothing its automatic, its automagic; its not humongous, its ginormous. (TWSS)

Saying the word "totes" to me makes me want to retaliate with nails down a fucking chalkboard. Same with "dec"

I am actually a passive person ;)

That's all I got! Have a great weekend!

Non Wordless Wednesday: Happyness

The Weekend Wrap Up

Another weekend of no sleep. But it was a fun one! I guess I can best describe it as getting things "accomplished?"

Friday night was spent in a seedy dive bar listening to a friend's band play live music. I call them the kings of funk and they are REALLY good! I prolly drank way too much Magic Hat but at least I scored another great bottlecap!

Has the weather this month already made up for all of October and most of September? The past two weekends have been amazing, especially Saturday. I was able to get outside on the bike for two hours. For those of you who know me, I am a creature of habit. Some may think I am a tad insane repeating the same thing over and over again seeking a different outcome. I do this on the bike a lot. Always riding the same course. Well, this time I just decided to start out on the usual route through the mean streets of Greenwich, but then explore roads that I have always wanted to explore. This brought me up a few new hills, including a nice European style switchback. My legs responded as well!

The end of the ride was marked by this:

The last standing tree with all of its leaves on AND in peak color

The rest of Saturday was spent eating hot dogs and car shopping (not for me).

Fortunately I only received one smart ass response (you know who you are! ;) ).

Finally Sunday, race spectating day in Prospect Park in Brooklyn. My Ironman friend Jill was seeking another podium spot and her friend Brie was seeking one as well.

Well, first I ran for an hour around the park for a few laps for my "long" run in anticipation for next weekend. Was it the cool crisp air? Is my knee finally healed? Was I just yearning to run fast again? I don't know, but maybe it is all three? So this happened:

For me right now, this is a HUGE success. I didn't reel like I was pushing it; I just RAN.

Now back to spectating, the race director decided to put on 5 events all at once. Yes, 5! Three difference duathlon distances plus a 5K and 10K run. I can only describe how disorganized this race was by this when one VERY unhappy 10K RUNNER found me on the BIKE course.

Him: "Hey, have you seen anyone else like me with a number out there?"
Me: "Um, I think you are off course!"
Him: "Mother F$%&@#!. Mother F$%&@#! Mother F$%&@#! I know exactly WHICH Mother F$%&@#! I am going to kick his @$$!"

Yeah........

Felt bad for him! But.......I got nothing. Don't you......? Think......? Yeah.....

Anyways, Jill and Brie cleaned up the Duathlon by taking Women's OVERALL #2 and #3. Go Jill and Brie!

And it was also a nice reunion with Jill and I since Lake Placid. Hey Jill! TOMAHAWK! BWAHAHAHAHA!

And finally, running on fumes, I quickly baked up another batch of the Pumpkin Chocolate Chip cookies, and drove to Stamford to watch Zombies get slaughtered.

How was your weekend? Saw lots of you awesome bloggers running long, hitting HUGE milestone PR's and conquering new distances.

Random Friday Facts

DON'T have a conversation with me in the bathroom at work. Ever.

Kraft Mac & Cheese out of the box was my favorite food when I was 5. It was the holy grail. Nothing was better than that. My mom would lace it with Tuna to make it "healthy." One day I might forgive her for that. Love you Mom!

I had Kraft Mac & Cheese outa the box with ketchup and coined hot dogs for dinner last night.

Except I had no hot dogs. I just lied about 33% of my dinner.

My running shoes are RED.

The New England Patriots are my team.

If the New England Patriots are good, I love love LOVE all things football

If the New England Patriots are bad, I couldn't care less about football

I like to watch ESPN news every morning while I stretch and foam roll after I workout

Right now it sickens me to watch ESPN news because all they show is the Penn State football scandal. What is wrong with people?!?!

"The Walking Dead" is the best show on TV right now.

The only show I watch on TV right now is "The Walking Dead"

I can't remember the last time I bought normal clothes

I REALLY need to buy new normal clothes

I can tell you exactly the last time I bought a workout clothing item

Anytime I listen to Mumford & Sons I want to:
A) Get into a bare knuckled boxing match with a guy with a handlebar mustach
B) Drink a pint. Not a beer. A pint.
C) Wish I was Irish?

Say this word RIGHT NOW, "MoooooooooooSTACH -e-oooooooo" (with an Italian accent)

I want to race Texas 70.3 next April.....but I need a private jet to pull that one off.

Flying with a bike sucks

I once asked my swimming instructor when I was five what would happen if lightening struck the sun

I then asked my parents how God got the skin on people

I am not a 100% normal person, if you don't know that already. Those of you who have met me?

I am heading into race spectator slut season. That means I will be spectating everyone else' races this early winter season. Gotta return the favor!

You gotta watch out for parking garage concrete pillars. Sometimes they just like to jump out at you!


Mmmmmmmmm, beer.

I have recently (and finally) developed a taste for IPA. Basically it has to be Magic Hat (especially Hex).

Ask an obvious question, expect an obvious answer ;)

I can't bite and chew on dark chocolate. Its too bitter. I have to let it slowly dissolve until it becomes sweet. THAT is how you eat dark chocolate.

Woah.......today is 11/11/11

I turn 30 on 12/12/12!!! Eeeeks! But! Send in your requests now for invitation. Its gonna be the party of the Century! Something about renting a huge house down in Costa Rica with live in bar tender and chef?

Have a great weekend!

Wordless Wednesday: DC Edition

Edit: These are RED shoes (the flash makes em look pink). But it doesn't matter if they are pink. I am THAT comfortable with myself :)