Florida and a little race report

Somehow my mom and dad have managed to pick the coldest week of the year to get out of town, and lucky for me, I am usually with them! Years past have been to Mexico where they had been harassed they bought a membership to a vacation club. This year for many reasons we decided to stay on the continental us and headed to Florida. Rich and I get along great with my parents, who are both in their 80's, so why not go along and chaperone and escape the cold?!

I also was able to run a half marathon in Naples two day after we arrived. It was a great run but I think i will pass on running a January race in the future unless its less than a 10k, bc that is where i felt like the body went into "hurt " mode.

So here is the little race recap:
Pre race i had developed some weird cyst thing on my foot, that was the WED before we even flew out. Race was sunday. So i hobbled around bc it was bruised and took 2 days fully off as to not bruise it more. It was FINE race day, didnt feel it at all. ( note i did feel it alot on the trip and it meant no beach walking, boo) I still dont know what it is and will see a DPM ( podiatrist)next week. Likely its a derm issue but not a good place to have a cyst. Anyhoot....here's my foot shot:) sorry if you are grossed out by feet.

Race morning it was chilly. Chilly for Florida that is. And when i entered the race I had been told Naples was 45 minutes from Captiva, well with the roads and nature of the causeway, getting off the island, etc...we hit the road at 4:30 AM ( 3:30 CST!) ouch and got to Naples at 6 am. Race start was 7 am, and my parents and rich get major kudos for WANTING to get up to come watch. I gave them many chances to not come, but they were into it! Plus we have relatives in Naples and they wanted to see them after my race.
Here is my dad trying to get some sun before the awards.


Race: Supposedly there were 1600 people or more in this race but it was the most mellow start line i think i have ever seen. I got a great place, after a good warm up and off i went. It was chilly! But it did warm up and my "costume," as I call it was pretty funny:

Yes here i am in red and green and white compression socks. Ha, love it. Dork alert.
( see in the winter here i never care what i look like, i just didnt have the top layers to hide!)

The course was flat and lots of turnarounds. Overall I just ran my pace, felt controlled aerobically the entire time but about mile 6 my Left Quad/ITB started to tell me that it was alive and not happy. Not sure what was going on unless it was from my foot but i was able to gel and drink thru it and finished with some pretty even splits. Took 3rd in my AG and ran a nice time for January. Like i said i was never in trouble in the breathing area, just felt like my body was not ready for this pace for this distance. If i ever do this distance again I will request some longer runs to get me ready!

The next week was spent on vacay! My Quad/ITB Was squeeky and sore for a few days, It's still not 100% but I am working on it. Foot is the same, i spent a few days fully bruised on the foot and now its fine again. So weird. Anyways that is race report. :) It was 55 degrees that day in Naples so It was NOT warm, but it sure beat the -10 we were having at home!

Ok onto Vacay!
So after the race we went to the Naples Club to visit the apartment my grandparents had there. WHAT A LOVELY SPOT! When i saw the car slip i got a bit nostalgic, remembering the letters I used to write to Granny and Grandaddy ( my dad's parents) and so i made him pose:

GA Mairs the III passed away many many years ago ( gee, like 20+) but how cool that they still keep the name on his car slip. My Uncle George, who recently passed, still owns the condo but my Aunt dusty will be selling it. Cool spot, lovely beach, etc....wishful thinking:)

Then we went to see my dad's sister Jeannie and her husband Al. So fun to catch up and see them as well. Then we finally went home to Captiva to start our vacay. It was a long day and we all were tired and ready for dinner and in bed EARLY. I think we all slept like LOGs. Rich often doesnt sleep well with the chemo, and he said he needs to be a Sherpa from 3 am to 6pm in order to get a good sleep. Then he realized what he had said and i think regretted it:) haha, IM will come soon enough.

As vacation went on, and the temps rose each day we were gradually greeted with lovely morning in the 50's and beach walks and shell hunting. Lots of IPad timd ( my parents each got them for Xmas) and reading. Discussions of which seafood to  have for dinner, or whether to sit on the beach ( unless it was windy) or the pool. The pool was a bit loud, you know there were THOSE PEOPLE, who had to recount ( at least 3x) their night before. And actually, it paled in comparsion to Mexico where EVERYONE THERE was "those people" since everyone in Mexico seems to get plastered and have to talk about it the entire next day before they do it all over again. Grossly judgemental, but usually true.

We took a road trip to see our friend Marianne's house on Captiva, she has awesome fruit trees. We got grapefruit, lemons, star fruit and then what we thought were oranges were supersour. Sorta like a lemon that looks like an orange. Not sure what that was! She lives in Indy, and isnt in Captiva alot but has a neat boat and we had hoped she would be there but she had to go home to play her piano ( she is a concert pianist!)

 

Since my old tired body january body was still feeling the race, I didnt run at all in Captiva. I wanted to, but i just knew with the foot and a less than perfect feeling in my ITB i didnt need to. So i spent some time here:

The only frustration is that at the Sanibel Rec center they dont open unless the air is 60 deg. Which usually was about 9 am. That was fine bc i had to drive 20 minutes ( since the speed limit is like 12 mph! seriously) to get there, but i had visions of early AM swims. Ok not that early but earlier than 9 am!
One workout i did was nearly 4000 yards and let me tell you i loved EVERY SINGLEMINUTE of it. IM included. I cant tell you what torture that is indoors at the Y. Ugh. ( glad i said that since i get to go back indoors tmmrw, let the mental suffering begin) but really. I cant tell you how good you outdoor swimmer people have it. I know you can say I am dumb for living here where our pools dont open till June, but I just want you to APPRECIATE what you have!

No pics of my lovely hubby, but know he is doing pretty good. And I tell you he came back with a treasure chest from the sea. What a bounty. He did alot of beach walking and look what he found!



Because my foot was so bruised ( trust me i tried) i did little beach walking in or out of shoes, but he always came home with something for me:)

So, lets summarize since i have taken you in many directions on this winding post:
Lots of good fish
Lots of good outdoor swims
Lots of warm days after the intial chill of the first 2 days
Lots of family love and laughs ( and a few " I need to get out, " moments!)
Too much fretting on my part thinking i had some weird bruise/issue on my foot that likely is nothing
A nice break from the WINTER that MN and the midwest had!

And So i said goodbye to Captiva, hope to go back there really soon!!!

Ponder This:

Greetings friends:) I have always been a big fan of Snoopy. Our entire family has, actually. Many a snoopy lived on our beds, in our beds, and sadly I dont know if i have any of them anymore. My parents will likely be showing up with a box at my doorstep this afternoon:)

These words really made me think alot about my goals for life, my goals for triathlon, and of course what really matters. I know i tend to be all deep in my latest posts, sorta where my head is, but read thru this and i think you may think deep for a second or three too! 
Enjoy!

The Charles Schulz Philosophy

(Scroll thru slowly and read carefully to receive and enjoy full effect)

The following is the philosophy of Charles Schulz, the creator of the 'Peanuts' comic strip.

You don't have to actually answer the questions. Just ponder on them.

Just read this straight through, and you'll get the point. 


1. Name the five wealthiest people in the world. 

2. Name the last five Heisman trophy winners. 

3. Name the last five winners of the Miss America pageant. 

4 Name ten people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer Prize. 

5. Name the last half dozen Academy Award winners for best actor and actress. 

6. Name the last decade's worth of World Series winners.

How did you do?

The point is, none of us remember the headliners of yesterday. 

These are no second-rate achievers. 

They are the best in their fields. 

But the applause dies... 

Awards tarnish... 

Achievements are forgotten. 

Accolades and certificates are buried with their owners.



Here's another quiz. See how you do on this one:


1. List a few teachers who aided your journey through school. 

2. Name three friends who have helped you through a difficult time. 

3. Name five people who have taught you something worthwhile. 

4. Think of a few people who have made you feel appreciated and special.

5. Think of five people you enjoy spending time with..

Easier?


The lesson: 

The people who make a difference in your life are not the ones with the
most credentials, the most money...or the most awards. 

They simply are the ones who care the most.

Pass this on to those people who have either made a difference in your life, or whom you keep close in your heart, like I did. 

'Don't worry about the world coming to an end today. It's already tomorrow in Australia !'

''Be Yourself. Everyone Else Is Taken!"

Now I may be the only one reading this who cant tell you who won The IM World Championships before Chrissie Wellington came on board, and seriously I dont really know the difference btwn Macca and Crowie. Maybe how some of you dont know the difference btwn Roger and Rafa, but my point is i cant even tell you how won the US OPEN in 2011. ( I suspect i supressed it)

So dream big, dont give up but as a wise friend told me the other day, dont lose sight of the what really matter, the journey. I think i appreciate this more and more when i know what a gift it is to be healthy and to be able to just get out of bed to do stuff and train at a high level. Somedays i want coach to push me harder. I dont want to sit at the wall and rest for 60 seconds, that is silly. WORK ME, make me suffer. Then i realize that getting off that wall in 10 seconds or 60 seconds isnt really what has me worked up is it? It's that I feel like i am in a hurry, like I dont want to miss anything. Yet at the same time wouldnt 60 sec allow me to really appreciate what i am doing, doing it with purpose, not just getting it done?

My point to myself  ( and you if i havent lost you) is to not rush the rest, dont rush the "boring times with your family," and as always keep on plugging away at your goals, but dont lose sight of what matters. The Gang:) Your gang maybe family, it may be friends, it may be pets, and it may be random people you see at Nina's coffee shop that know your drink order ( oops, is that a bad thing?) But you have a gang, dont forget about them!

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