Grateful.... and Irongirl Du Race Report

So how do I say thanks? I guess by saying THANKS:) One does wonder at times when you write out a blog post like my last one and then hit PUBLISH POST, if it is the right thing to do. It isnt easy to ask for support or to even share intense or "downer" news. It is tough especially when i usually am a pretty upbeat happy person. Yet there have been times in the past that i wish I had been able to share and ask for support. So I am glad I did, and you people ROCK. I mean it is weird how I dont know many of you ( I mean I do consider blogland to be a nice reality even if Rich wonders at times if I am living my life so i can blog about it...Hell ya, why not??!) ha ha ha.
You are all a part of my TEAM COURAGE. And Today at the race I raced for me being as survivor and for Rich who will BE a Survivor and for all of you who at one time or another will need support.

But seriously it has made me feel so good and so much better about the challenge we are facing.
Thanks for all your support and movie ideas. I think Rich and I both think we may have to stay home much longer than his recovery time to now watch all the good picks we have.
But oh that is right, we live in Minnesnowta, Mother nature may take care of that for us.

So...lets do this, lets just post some pics and I will give you a bit of a race report from today.
Best part of today, seriously, other than getting 2nd OA to the smashingly fast and fabulous Jules Hull...? what can be better than that? Well not crashing my bike for one. But what was best about today was that for a good portion of this race I DID NOT THINK ABOUT the C word.
I did think about it while riding bc I said "I havent thought about Cancer once. this is great!" Then i decided i needed to knock that out of me and ride harder. Negative split that 2 lap bad boy and just hurt. I am happy to say that I did just that. I felt like i was going to hurl on the bike.
Yup. Jen is smiling. Ride harder and you forget all that has brought you down the week or two before.
Below was how I was feeling last week: Yup it was windy. Poor Duck.

Luckily we were able to get to the Duck before the Wind did:
Here is the end of the 1st run. I ran FAST. OMG. It was 2 miles and I ran 6:07's. That is fast for me. Some other gal was right next to me and she wasnt passing me ( then again I was number 820, um that means a long day of passing and trying to stay safe....) so i just kept running...

Wait who is this? I ran it twice? :) No thanks. My sister was in the wave behind me and she was kicking butt sporting the VERVE kit. WOOHOO!

So back to me :) So I get into T1 knowing lady next to me is right there. I get in there and get out ( she is racked with me....dang it. oh yea we are in the same wave and same number group, duy she is racked near you) So i get in and out of there ASAP. Helmet buckle still annoys me but off i go. Feet on shoes and in the shoes bc there is an uphill right after you get out of T1. And then there was a nice hill. I kept thinking she was right behind me, so i just said "race your race not her's" I guess I was fast enough bc Rich took this picture of me:

And I went by too fast. Love it.
There were 2 laps of about 10 miles each. ( Last minute they had to move the bike due to Minnesota's lovely construction season aka summer, that didnt get finished on time) The first lap went something like this : "OH YOUR LEFT....ON your LEFT. ....ON YOUR LEFT...." ok you get the idea. At the same time I had to say thanks when i could and try to encourage the racers, some of whom were there for their first race. I did at one point almost crash into a cone when the riding 4-5 abreast got to me and sadly I did say a bad word, but after that I just tried to settle in and do the work.

Coming into the turn to start the 2nd lap. Cornering Aero is something I think I am pretty good at so i did it as best i could, but the whole concept of "HOLD YOUR LINE," was tough today. Just stayed upright and since there was no sight of "Lady running next to me" from run 1 I was just riding hard. I rode so hard i felt like i was going to hurl. I dont usually feel that way unless I am doing a TT. So i think today TT and Tri met and they duked it out.
So into T2 I went, threw that bike on the rack and out i went. I Didnt feel so hot leg-wise.

but I guess I am smiling and have enough energy to throw my arm warmers at Rich:) I ran fast, not as fast as the 1st run but still 6:33's and finished strong. I mean on a 2 mile run the first mile is super awkward and then the 2nd mile you just go harder. I wish it were a 5k bc then you could actually get into some stride, but still happy to be done. I have a few pics of the finish but it is hard to see so I am sure that the ASI folks will be sending me some deeply discounted pics of my finish. I love those but they can get spendy. First person i see across the line is this fine lad: Sorry honey your eyes are closed, but I think this is a good pic anyways.

MORE COWBELL!

We waited for my sister to finish..and Rich snapped this sister hug picture. That is nice. I like this one.


Obviously I am feeling better now and have something to say . Or something(s) to say.
We then bump into Mrs. IronGirl Judy Molner who tells me I got 2nd OA! I said "SERIOUSLY??" And what a nice surprise that was. Yea I know that "EVERYONE" is at Du Worlds ( Yea Kari, Yea Renee) but Jules and Jules were in Bloomington MN today and we did great! We may even try to run together at the TCM 10 miler...that would be fun. At least she wont be on a bike so maybe i can keep her in sight:) hee hee.

And to display that what my 1st grade teachers told my parents was true ( that I dont have a hearing problem I just dont like to pay attention sometimes) here is a picture of me looking at Rich's camera. Yes he did tell me about 15 seconds BEFORE I got on the stage to "LOOK AT ME." Sure honey. whatever you say.
Ok then gotta get ready for a Wedding party tonight. We are calling it a Press Conference actually. About 30 of our good friends and family members are gathering for a pre-wedding party. We decided we needed a party and we need to get together and laugh and celebrate all that we have as we head into our next challenge. Hope you all had a great weekend:)