Rocketman tri

While the majority of America spent Cinco de Mayo with tacos, tequila, and margaritas, I spent part of it doing a triathlon with the hubs and some new friends. The Kennedy Space Center Rocketman Triathlon was my fourth mini adventure with the swim, bike, run sport. The options for racing included a Classic+, International+, and a half Ironman. I went with the Classic+, composed of a 0.26 mi swim, 34-36ish mi bike ride and a 3.1 mi run. (The official bike route was advertised for 34 mi, but there were plenty of people who had their GPS systems tracking the ride and said that they rode 36 mi)
The swim was off a pier near a Titusville park. There were a few dolphins and manatees spotted, but I didn't see them. :-( I did enjoy the fact the turn buoys were shaped as rockets.
The bike portions lead the racers into the NASA launch grounds. I didn't have a GoPro, so I don't have video if the bike course. There were plenty of athletes who did have cameras, so I'm sure there will be a video of the bike course soon. There was an interesting dichotomy of industrial built up space support equipment and the wild life preserve around it. It was very pretty; I saw all sorts of lush greenery some different birds. I almost ran over a baby snake - almost being the operative word. But alas, I saw no gators; supposedly, they were hanging out on the half-iron part of the course. Not being a space geek, I thought it was pretty cool to be that close to the launch sites. Definitely, it was an opportunity that I'm not sure I'll ever have again.
The run was a straight out and back in a neighborhood that finished at a park honoring the astronauts. The people who lived there were awesome about cheering us on. The preschoolers who cheered us on were really cute and there was a pit bull that had a pink tutu on. I know I remember some random stuff, but those little distractions help make the race fun.
The best part was our support crew!! Becca, Lauren, and Flux!!! They are awesome!! After the handful of races I've done, I cannot underscore the awesomeness that a support crew can do for your morale during a race. My goal will try to support them when they do any races in the future.

Goal: Complete Princess Half completed... but hurting

Pre-race photo (probably around 4am) Leah, Michelle, me, & Becca 

When you are going to run a long race, you're supposed to train and bulding your endurance to complete the race. However, if you're a busy person like me, you forget to train and don't want to waste the cash spent on the bib, hotel, and flight. So, you go anyway, change your goal of getting a PR, and have fun with your friends who are also in attendance. :-)

My goal was to finish and run as much of the race as possible. I would say that I ran over half (closer to eight miles total, walking about five miles). I was able to do this in just under three hours.

Unfortunately, my legs hurt for a couple of days after the race. At least I was able to walk up and down stairs without pain three days after the race. I probably will do a light workout tonight.

Lessons learned:
- If you're going to do a race ... train!
- It's not really a race to set a PR
- Hot and humid = drink lots and don't forget nutrition.

Here are a few pictures from the weekend

:-)

too late for a "new" year's resolution? Nah

I know it's already Febraury and most people make their resolutions in the first few days of January. But recently, I started a new semester at Mason and a new quarter/semester at work. So, in a way for me, now is a great time to make my resolution or set my goals for 2013. (These are in no particular order)

1. My racing goal this year is pretty straight forward. Participate in three races. The ones I have planned so far are Disney Princess Half Marathon (Feb), Rocket man triathlon (May), and Ragnar (Oct). So, come October, I would have met my goal.

2. Go to the gym 4x/wk. To get ready for said races, I need to go to the gym, go running, or just do something active. I also want to get healthier overall, so exercise is needed.

3. Become a week day vegetarian. This was inspired by a TED talk that I saw not too long ago that I thought was pretty cool. I need to eat better and get more veggies in my diet. So I thought this would be helpful.

4. Stay consistently organized.I am cyclically organized then messy, then organized again. I need to get to a point where I am more organized than messy

5. Grow a vegetable garden in my front yard.