Forever ago

I signed up forever ago for Lan & I to run int he Seattle Torchlight 8k Fun Run that started at 6:30pm and ran along the course of the Torchlight Parade route. It was cheap but I was really looking forward to it and I had planned on dressing up like a Pirate, using my BIG skull & cross bones flag as a cape. Then I wanted to watch the parade, something I've only done once before in my 50 years of life.

But one of Lans work buddies had a BBQ at the same time and Lan thought he really needed to go. Chris had the BBQ and He is the guy who Lan replaced so it WAS important.

But I also didn't want to go because Heather was there, she was one of the ladies who interviewed me for a job & then they didn't hire me. So I didn't want to hang out with her.

Everything would have been OK except that almost an hour after I got home Lan got home & he had been out. RUNNING. He ran 5 miles. Without me.

It hurt my feelings.

Fucker could have at least waited for me & run with me. OR GONE TO THE FUCKING FUN RUN.

I was so hurt.

So I sat through his fucking BBQ and for the first hour not one of the people said more than HI to me. Finally after that one of the other wives sat by me & included me in some conversation and then Chris asked me some stuff about Ironman. But Heather had nothing to say to me. That bitch can die for all I care.

I WILL NOT be attending another BBQ with Lans work buddies any time soon and he owes me something pretty fucking nice that I don't have to plan nor pay for.

A perfect life

Sarah  on Joey

Me on Sunshower

At home they hate each other

but out on the trails they are best friends

Sarah did a little bit of stuff on Joey in the arena.

I sure love this horse.

I did a bit of stuff on Sunshower.

I sure love this mare.

A lot.

I decided I'd try to do the 'Intro to dressage' test that Sarah did on Joey in their show last weekend. We weren't very good, not at all, but it was fun.

I might just have to get a dressage saddle.

For fun.

Rain, Rain, Go Away

Meghan and I had planned on me riding Wifi today for the first time this year. Meghan's been working with her for the last 2 weeks and Wifi is ready again, but last night we had HUGE thunder storms and this morning & still now its raining. The arena is soaked, its still windy and its not a good day to be getting back onto a green horse.

Yesterday I got to my YMCA class that Torrey leads but she wasn't there so they made me lead the class. I'm not a good leader but it was better than leaving, which I saw a lot of regulars do. Then I came home and texted Christine & we ended up going about 10 miles.

Found an injured turtle along the roadway, they don't normally live here so it was weird to see one. I gave him a ride in my jersey pocket to the feed store & he went home with a man who has a pond and a female turtle living in it.

Its my day off work and all I really feel like doing is reading my book and sleeping.

Current read:

Stephen Kings The Dark Tower series, #4, Wizard & Glass.

I just finished #3 earlier this morning & am 100 pages into #4. I read the first 3 when they were first released many years ago but never got to read the rest and they are just as good now as they were then.

Keeping Secrets

Today after a 10 hour shift at work & then a 2 hour nap, Lan asked me to go swimming with him out at Wildcat Lake. I was hesitant at first, I haven't been swimming much. But I've never swam much.

But I did go and I had a good time and swam 1 mile in 46:34, my fastest time ever. EVER. My splits were 23 minutes each.

Lan said I had good form out there.

I concentrated on pulling faster, throwing my arm 'into the mailbox' harder/faster, kicking less & with straight legs, rotation, arms wide... It must have all worked because I swam a lot faster than I used to.

If I want any chance of beating Linda in Danskin this year then I'm going to have to work out more often, harder, longer and go faster.

And, KEEP SECRETS.

I'm not going to workout with or share my results with her. I'll fudge on my times, add a few minutes, slow my pace, shorten the distances, say it was a flat road when it might have been hilly.

On Daily Mile I am no longer friends with her husband since he will see my results and will share with her and encourage her to go ride/run/swim more.

Back on the bike

I got out on the tri bike today for a good ride. Only went 9.42 miles, around a route I do sometimes. Last time I did it that I kept track of on this one site was August 2010 and I did it in 41.14 minutes. Today I was feeling all fast and proud of myself, thought I was being fast but I wasn't. I took 40:12 today, only 1 minute faster!

LOSER.

I am going to be keeping a lot of my training to myself for a while. I'd like to be able to KICK LINDAS ASS at Danskin and secret workouts is the only way I'll be able to do that. I'll need to practice transitions too and get my ass into the lake for some swimming.

I'll need to do some weight training and build up my running, along with more bike riding. I can do this same 9.42 every day if I want, its mostly hills, some steep and long, some not too steep at all but all hills. Perfect training. I can ride Bethel Burley too, its got a few hills at the beginning & end, depending on which route I take.

I'm trying to get in a good workout every day that I'm not working really early, Tuesdays & Thursdays I'll be hitting the YMCA for spin/strength and hopefully I can get to the lake for a few swims with groups. Or I can always go with Lan to Horseshoe Lake.

I found another race I'd like to do; Black Diamond Half Ironman in September. 1 week after Lan does Tri Turtle Tri and 2 weeks before I do Race For A Soldier Half Marathon, it should all fit together nicely. I won't tell anyone besides Lan about Black Diamond so I don't have to worry about Linda deciding to do it. the only sucky thing about it is that Black Diamond has icky medals, they are just stickers on cheap metal things. But I'd like to get the distance done for a 70.3 sticker. Ha, Linda doesn't have one of those.

In other news:

I had a boarder in the barn leave, no notice. She said she left a note a month ago then she didn't pay any board for this month. Bitch. I'll post all over the Internet that she did it just so other barn owners know.

Pedicures for horsies

My farrier, Gary, came out to visit my girls today.

Wifi got a trim, she needed it badly.

Look how much he had to trimoff. Of course, those are treats for the dogs to chew up.

Shes so curious, wants to get into everything.

Lan standing here holding her & she looks like a pony next to him. Shes not that small!

Abby & I measured her last night, shes still 14.1hh. But everyone thinks shes getting bigger, its just width thats growing & thats fine. She was so slim last year.

Wifi's toes all done. Shes got mismatched hooves but thats what happens when an unplanned breeding occurs. But I love her in spite of all her weirdness.

It looks like shes got 1 shoe on but she doesn't.

After Gary got done with the stinker butt he trimmed Sunshowers hooves. She wasn't such a stinker but she still isn't perfect either. Gary WORKED for his $125.

And Sunshowers finished hooves with her new shoes. Shes got nice feet, perfectly sized for her and nicely round. They match each other well.

Rest Feels Good

I'm taking the summer off from hard triathlon training.

I'm going to ride my horses, swim for fun, go out on the mtn bike & take walks, maybe jog a bit.

I'll continue with the TriBabe training for Danskin, that's fun to do. Just no 75 mile hard & fast bike rides for a while.

After August I'll start back up with some good long rides, going into winter I'll need that.

I do have several races & half marathons I'm signed up for so I do have to keep in condition for those.

But for now I'll have less posts about training and more about horses for a while. I'm letting my hip flexors rest and heal, doing more stretching and might just start a serious weights & yoga regime.

I'll be back here with another year of Ironman training soon.

Bipolar Day

The day started out BAD but ended up GOOD... I'll tell it in reverse so you can enjoy the good stuff & ignore the bad stuff if you want.

The GOOD:
After the gym I went to the barn where Sarah has Joey boarded and he got a new salt lick (they didn't already have one in his stall???) and he got a 5way shot. Then we got to go for a trail ride, which was just what I needed. Joey pretty much took care of me and I SO appreciate that, hes such a good boy.

The BAD:
This morning I woke up barely in time to get my ass to the YMCA for my regular Thursday class but first I had to get ready and feed horses too. And turn horses out that had been locked into their stalls all night (due to July 4th fireworks). I was a few minutes late to class but made it. After setting up my spin bike I got going & realized I DON'T WANT TO TRAIN HARD FOR ANOTHER YEAR.

And I started crying.

I got off my bike and went to the restroom and had a good tear fest.

Then I went back into the classroom, got my ass on my bike and finished the class.

Torrey, our coach, was great. Shes so nice and understanding. I had a hard time not crying again but I refrained, just barely, and the class ended up being OK.

This was the first time I've cried over not finishing CDA.

I have been kind of avoiding Linda because she expects me to be all excited for her finish, and I was and am, but she needs to feel just a little bit sorry for me. Just one time it would be nice to hear her say 'I'm sorry you didn't finish' instead of her crying because her spin class leader didn't congratulate her in front of everyone. They said it was because they didn't want to make Barbara feel bad.

I understand her wanting that praise, its what I was hoping I'd come home to. But she has to understand that Barbara and I had a sucky time in our races.

I don't want Linda to go next year.