FINALLY....something interesting to blog about...

I FINALLLY have something interesting to blog about! Not that I wanted this to happen but life happens and now I'm sitting here with my left arm in a sling and a cracked radial head. How you ask? Well....

On Saturday (the 13th) I started out with a big group of my training buddies from the Maryland Farms YMCA. People were going all different distances....I was going to go 92 with Rolf, Lisa, Kathleen, and Bert. The ride was fantastic. We went a route that I had never gone before which was rolling hills and several flat stretches of road. We ended up in Murfreesboro and then we headed back towards Nashville. At some point we got a little lost. We ended up going down a road named Gosey Hill Rd but we went the wrong direction so at the end we stopped at the bottom of the hill and talked to a farmer who was outside. After several minutes of conversation we knew our error and realized we needed to go back down Gosey Hill the way we had just come down.

When I turned my bike around to get started again I forgot that my gearing was in downhill gearing so when I clipped in and tried to go up the hill my feet wouldn't turn the pedals over. I couldn't get my feet out of my clips either so I pretty much fell over to my left and caught all 170 pounds of me and my bike on my outstretched left arm. I think at the time my pride hurt worse than my arm...but I did have a "moment of silence" while I was trying to figure out what I had done and if the pain in my arm was bad news. I knew I had done something to it but I really thought I had just jammed it hard. Nothing had popped or cracked and nothing was sticking out of the skin so I thought I was ok. I got back up on the bike (in the correct gearing this time) and we started down Gosey Hill Rd. I was ok for a while laying down in aero position but then I realized I couldn't squeeze my brakes or change my gears. When I tried to sit up on my bike I couldn't put any pressure down on my handlebars so the better position was down in aero position.

After about 8 miles or so we got to a major intersection where the light had turned red. I hopped off my bike, thankful for the rest, and then the light turned green. I went to hoist myself back up on my bike and pain shot through my arm that made me say some words that I won't type here. And that's when I cried. It hurt but I was also afraid of falling again. I had no control over the bike and braking was an issue. About 2 miles later we found ourselves at a Food Lion. I cried some more and then my training buddies took good care of me. Lisa was already on the phone to find me a ride...Kathleen was buying me water and calming me down...Bert was on ice duty....Rolf was on Advil duty. Liz Wilson came to my rescue and picked me up and took me to the Vanderbilt Walk-in Clinic. They all took great care of me when I needed it...not that I expected anything different....they are awesome people.

After 3 hours at the walk-in clinic I was told that I had cracked the head of my radius which is the biggest bone in your lower arm. The crack is basically in my elbow. The good thing is that I have very dense bones (thanks Mom) and the doctor said that had anyone else fallen like I did their arm probably would have snapped. I walked out of the walk-in clinic with a sling and a brace from my wrist to my shoulder...and to see Kathleen, Lisa, Bert, and Rolf waiting for me. We immediatley notified the masses via Facebook of my fall and the outcome which started the phone calls to stream in. Technology is amazing!

I went to Dr. Chris Stark yesterday at the Bone & Joint Clinic to get the verdict on my arm and training. Luckily I don't have to have a cast put on and i'll just be in a sling for a few weeks. I can ride my indoor trainer immediatley, I can run in 1 1/2 - 2 weeks, but I can't use my left arm to swim for 6 weeks....but I can use the rest of my body to swim so I'll figure that out. I've talked to all of my coaches and everyone thinks I'll be ok for Ironman Louisville in August. I'm a strong swimmer so I'm not worried about missing 6 weeks of practice. I could probably use the extra bike time anyways. I trust that my coaches and Dr. Stark (who is a fellow triathlete) will know what is best for me so I'm just going with what they say. The only other thing that hurts are the significant bruises on my inner thighs where I apparently squeezed my legs together as I was going down. When I hit the pavement my bike seat bruised the heck out of me. It looks like I have been pelted with softballs on my legs...very cute look if you ask me.

So that's that....I was complaining about not having much to blog about and this is what I get! We'll see how I settle into this modified training...just have to keep plugging along and hope for the best!

50 mile ride....in pictures...

I rode 50 miles with Kathleen, Lisa, and Julie today....it was a great ride with wonderful weather. Here are some photos I took along the way...

This is me in Boston....Boston, TN that is. That store is the only thing in Boston...

Hanging out at Puckett's...

Lisa entertaining us with her stories....

Lisa's bike taking a rest at Puckett's

One of my favorite roads...Cotton Lane...

Kathleen's bike being speedy...

My bike being speedy (yes I took these while riding)...

My front wheel going round and round...

It's that "second child" syndrome...

You know when parents have their first child and they take all kinds of photos and document every moment of that kid's life and then they have a second kid and that doesn't so much carry on with them? Well that's how I feel about Ironman Louisville. IML is the second child that I'm kinda of ignoring in the blog world. It's not that I care less...I'm doing the training and getting ready but it's not my first so I guess it is just different. I'm going to try and be better.


Today I did a fun short race called the Mach Tenn Triathlon in Tullahoma, TN. It is one of my favorite races in the area and is a reasonable distance to where you feel like you did something for the day but still have enough energy left to do stuff afterwards. The race is a .6 mile lake swim, a 16 mile bike, and a 4 mile run. I did this race in 06 and 07 and finished in 1:56 each time.


The weather was perfect today and I couldn't have asked for a better day for racing. Just what I needed after the Gulf Coast debacle. I felt great and finished in 1:41...15 minutes better than my past times. I placed 1st in Athenas and took home a snazzy piece of pottery to go with my 07 award. This year's awards were small plates that kind of look like ashtrays....which will be great when I say "screw this" to triathlons and start smoking...ha. The 07 award was a cup. So now I have a nice place setting!


Tomorrow is back to IM training. 50 mile bike ride and possibly a lake swim if I have time...and energy. A bunch of us are headed to Knoxville in two weeks for a crazy bike ride that I will blog about later. The weekend after that is the Harpeth River Ride...which is always challenging but fun.


Off to nap!!

Getting to my fightin' weight...

This month is "Diet Month"...

For the month of May I'm on a strict diet from Mari-Etta so that I can lose about 15 pounds before Ironman training starts up full swing.

It hasn't been as bad as I thought it was going to be but I've learned a few things in the process...
1. Tuna salad without mayo is not worth eating
2. I can eat pretzels any day, any time, with any thing...which is not good when you're only supposed to have 1.5 servings as a mid-day snack.
3. "100 Calorie Packs" are all packaging and a teeny-tiny bit of food...otherwise known as a big fat rip-off.
4. At desperate times those "100 Calorie Packs" are the best things on the planet.
5. My favorite snack is a Granny Smith apple with a Tbsp of peanut butter...it's heaven.
6. I eat a lot of egg whites...seriously...way too many.
7. Teddy Grahams are no longer allowed in my house unless they are prepackaged into individual servings. An open bag is just disaster for me...because I can justify "finishing the bag off" very easily....and I did....last night.
8. "No room for cheating" is crazy talk but I'm trying.
9. I'm learning that fresh food cooked at home tastes soooo much better than frozen food and entrees....who knew!!?
10. My new best friend Trader Joe's is going to get me through this...

And when I've reached that goal...I'm having pizza...no lasagna...no a burger...please? :)

The photos say it all....

I just got my race photos from Gulf Coast... the first one pretty much explains it all...

The Great PCB Adventure...

What a crazy weekend!

This past weekend was the Gulf Coast Half Ironman in Panama City Beach, FL. I decided that this would be a good one to do in preparation for Louisville because it can be hot...very hot.

Julie and I headed south to Florida early on Thursday morning. The weather was crazy around Montgomery, AL so we got stuck in traffic, saw cars stuck in a flooded lake, and almost got in two car accidents. Finally once we got into Florida the skies cleared and we were at the beach! We had traveled down with this year's TNT team so once everyone arrived and checked in to the condos we all went down to the beach for a quick swim.

When I did this race two years ago the Thursday night swim was choppy. This year was no different. The waves were about 5 feet and it was not an easy swim especially because I was overheating in my wetsuit. Decision...no wetsuit for Friday's practice swim to see how that goes. Surely the water will be like glass in the morning....ha.

I stayed in a condo with Rolf, Lisa, and Rob. Compared to where we stayed last time this was like the Taj Mahal. It had a great ocean view, two bedrooms, full kitchen...very nice!

Rolf, Lisa, Julie, and I went to dinner Thursday night with the TNT group at the Boat Yard. It was an ok meal. I think I learned that I shouldn't get a hamburger at a seafood place.

Friday morning we woke up early to swim, bike, and run. The ocean wasn't cooperating and was still very choppy. I swam without my wetsuit though and was much more comfortable than with it. Surely the water would calm down for Saturday's race....ha. After our swim we had a great pancake breakfast from a local Baptist Church. A nice old man told me "these are pancakes from the Lord." They were quite tasty!

After carbo-loading was done we biked the run course where I found out that my rear brake was completely rusted in the front housing. Awesome. Brakes? Who needs them!? Luckily my front brakes worked so I wasn't too worried but still it wasn't something I wanted to deal with the day before a race. AND I paid $150 to have all of my cabling fixed this winter...seems like they missed one. Bah! After a quick run a couple stopped me in the lobby and asked me if I had swam that morning and seen the large 5 foot bull shark in the water. UMMMM.....no. Not only did I not see it, I really did not need her to tell me about it. Great....seasickness-worthy waves and bull sharks.

A bunch of us went to Spinakers for lunch after the run. The beach view was great and it was just nice to relax! Julie and I checked in for the race and did a quick walk through the expo after lunch. We picked up all of our numbers, bought some race merch that I probably didn't need, got a great deal on socks (woo hoo!), and took care of a Father's Day present for Dad (love that he's into this sport now!). I went back up to the condo and got all of my race stuff together. This is my favorite part of the sport besides crossing the finishline. Organizing! By then it was dinnertime so Rolf, Lisa, Bert, Kathleen, and I checked our bikes into the transition area and went to Carraba's for takeout.

Rob arrived while we were out so when we got back he and Rolf went down to check in for their relay. After a lot of drama that is too long to include here they finally found "Chrissy the runner" in Panama City Beach to round out their relay. Rob was swimming, Rolf was biking, and Chrissy was running.

Saturday morning was race day! I expected to wake up to those calm seas that I swam in two years ago but again....no luck. It was choppy...and windy....and sunny....and hot. It was going to be a tough day. I went downstairs and setup my transition area thinking that seasickness was in my future. I know that I'm not supposed to think those thoughts and that I'm supposed to stay positive but I know myself. I can get seasick in the stupidest ways. I headed down to the beach to get ready for the start. 6:35am was my start time.

I hit the water and immediatley felt like I was in a salad spinner. Not that I've actually been in a large salad spinner but I can imagine that it feels much like I did on Saturday morning. The waves were about 6 feet and we had two riptides and a strong current. We had to swim 950 yards out, 200 yards across, and 950 yards back to shore. It was awful. I am a strong swimmer but when waves are involved I kinda suck. The waves would pick people up and throw them back on you. Then on the way back to shore I just kept seeing the buoys and buildings go in and out of view because the waves were so large. I just wanted to get out of there but obviously my only way was to swim. Coming back in was much faster but that's when I really got motion sick. Once my tiptoes could hit the sand I was up on my feet. I needed stable ground! I immediatley saw Coach Kathleen and she asked me if I was sick...ha...yes...yes I was. I never throw up when I get motion sick but it's almost like it would be better if I would get it out of my system.

The bad thing is that then I had to get on another moving object...my bike...and ride for 56 miles so I still couldn't "get over" being sick. I spent most of the windy bike trying to get my stomach to settle and trying to take in whatever fuel I could. The last thing you want to do is eat Hammer Gel and solid food when you feel gross. I had pretty much decided that I was going to DNF at about mile 35 on the bike. I was ok with that. I would just finish the bike, put on my run shoes, turn in my chip, and spend the rest of the day by the pool or hanging out with Rob and other relay people.

When I got back to the transition area I doused myself with a waterbottle full of water but it wasn't water...it was Gatorade. Disgusting. Sticky. I put on my run shoes and as I exited the run area and again there was Coach Kathleen. I started to breakdown and she said to smile...I wasn't smiling....I was tired of feeling gross. I was 4 hours into this thing and I had 13.1 miles to run in 95 degree heat with no shade. I was sunburned and just over it. The reason Coach K is great is that she got me going and told me to keep moving and I would feel better. She was right and by mile 4 I felt good. Not great...but good. Kathleen said this would be good training for Louisville...EEK!

The most miserable part of the run was feeling like my skin was boiling...I was so sunburned. I put 50 on before the swim and after the bike and then tried to cake myself in it at several waterstops along the run. I did everything to just cover it up. The run wasn't too bad but I definitley took my time. I crossed the finish line in 6:40 which isn't great but the conditions were tough. I immediately went to the medical tent and got a nice cold towel and 2 IV's. IV's are awesome....I felt so better almost immediatley! I need to figure out how to do IV's at home.

We all survived the race (even though there were sharks lingering not far from the race site) and had a great party afterwards at Spinnakers. Several Nashvillians placed in their age groups so that was great to see. Another great thing to see was Rob after he'd been drinking since his swim on the relay team that morning...hysterical by midnight! I actually had a Miller Lite at Spinnakers and it was the best beer I've had...probably because I was so exhausted and dehydrated but oh well...it was all fun nonetheless!

On the way home on Sunday Rolf, Lisa, Julie, Rob, and I caravaned through Seaside for lunch.

It was a long 8 hour drive home but it was fun. Dinner was at Whataburger which isn't the best thing I've ever eaten but not the worst. I rolled home to the East side at about 10:00 and ended our Panama City Beach adventure. It was a great trip overall...minus the race...next year we're all doing relays so we can have more beach and pool time. I'm taking suggestions for team names now.

Don't try this at home...

This weekend was fantastic! Friday night I was at Ronnie Dunn's house until the wee hours of the morning and didn't get to bed until 2am...and then had to get up at 5:45am for a 50 mile bike ride and 4 mile run. Nothing like doing all of that on less than 4 hours of sleep!

The ride was beautiful! I took some photos along the way while I was riding. Maybe not the safest thing I've ever done but I got some cool shots....

Lisa, Kathleen, Shelly, Dana and I stopped at Puckett's and met up with Rob and his friends. We hung out there for a while and finished off our 50 mile ride.

After the ride we knocked out the 4 mile run and had some lunch at the Nashville Triathlon Club picnic. A good day all around! Two weeks until Gulf Coast!