MeMeMe

Wow, I have a brazillion things on my mind that I need to suss out here. Life is crazy, crazy good but crazy. I am grasping onto summer by my fingernails but for some reason it keeps evading me. Must sit down with calendar and think about how much time is left. Weather is great but there are so many other things that are happening that....well, I'm a bit busy. I'm going to try to sum it up with - you guessed it- a list:

Blue Lake Race Report:

I never wrote this race report. I think I had something going on that following week but in general I wasn't just all that excited about the race. Building up I had been pretty psyched and the morning of I was outta my gourd. But a few minutes after the race my enthusiasm waned (it may have waxed a bit too but I really can't remember). I was supremely annoyed and it probably had a lot to do with a certain monthly occurance that affects my ability to put it all into perspective. Pull it together Chicago!

Anyway, the race was fine. It was a good intro into the world of triathloning. Swim was fine, nothing interesting there. Bike was totally not interesting. The run sucked. Much harder than I'd expected. Feet were numb and my gait was off. It was a new sensation and in the future I'll definitely be doing more running bricks if I decide to continue w/tris. It was fun to do w/my friends but the weather was cold at the end and I got the chills and wasn't feeling it.

Hagg Lake Recap:

Much more fun than Blue Lake. And harder! I've never beat myself up about a race beforehand as much as I did here. Timing was EXACTLY one month after Blue Lake (see what I'm getting at?). But all of my woes occured (and hard) before the race. Once it started I was Happy McHapperson, Stupendous Sally, Molly Mc....you get my point. I had fun and that's that.

Triathlon Recap:

My only regret is not really training well. I missed a lot of workouts and didn't really put that much into them. I think I could do a lot better in the future. It was nice to get a reprieve from running, but I also missed JUST running. Swim and bike workouts are just more logistically challenging. Kind of annoying. I'm not sure yet if I'll pursue this in the future - stayed posted.

The New House:

This is the craziest part of this summer so far. We took 3 years to find a place and moved in w/in less than a month of the 1st viewing. Talk about whirlwind. Since living at home with my parents in HS I've pretty much only lived in the center of action. Downtown, bright lights, big city. (Save for Telegraph and Alcatraz for those that know the area, but I was w/in walking distance of BART and Rockridge and could see the entire SF skyline, both bridges and the ocean from my window! And the gang violence! That counts right?) Anyway, I haven't lived in a house-house since junior year of college. We're not in sub-divisionville now or really isolated but it definitely feels different. I feel much more vulnerable in a way. A crack whore in Capitol Hill/Seattle is less threatening than a crack whore on my sidewalk. Picking my roses. You know? Anyway, it is also really fun - I can't tell you how much I missed grilling! And for some reason I feel much more entitled to make and drink cocktails - like the French 76 that I'm drinking right now out of a martini glass! It is also nice to have peace and quiet and grass and stuff. We get to pick out paint colors and buy real grown up furniture. Yay! Of course all of this means more decisions and STUFF which is sometimes more stressful than exciting. Trying to keep it all in stride. This is an evolving thing and I plan to keep you posted.

The Wedding:

Holy fuck, I'm getting married in two months? Do you think it might be time to think about sending invitations? Yes, so that one is the drama this week, along with the other 49 items on our to do list. Basically, we're screwed. But we have the venue, photographer, dress and jacket so I'm sure we can pull it off, right? This is another "exciting time of your life" event but sometimes it turns out being just downright stressful. I'm also trying to keep this in stride and will keep you posted!

Two Weeks of Freedom:

I guess I just had two weeks "off"? Sucks because I didn't laze around as much as I thought I could. I ran and swam a lot, but I also pranced and partied and traveled and drank a lot too, so I guess its a win for me. Bottom line is that two weeks goes by really GD fast.

Marathon Training:

So my next thing, aside from the wedding and setting up house, is to run the Portland marathon. I think I'm really excited. I think I can do it. I've written up my training plan and had it reviewed by two professionals (my coach and Jen). I am almost ready to publish it. I did a fancy spreadsheet along with a mantra - all of my concerns and what to do to prevent them from happening. I'm psycho. I'll save the details for another post, believe me, it is going to be some revolutionary shiz. Imagine - another training plan! Posted on a running blog! Seriously, hold on to your hats and seats MFers cause this is going to be a wild ride.

Love ya, mean it.
Emily