Sunday, May 15, 2011

Mock Tri and A Successful Garage Sale

Remember Baby Katelyn? She was born early at 1 pound 6 ounces. She is a fighter and she is 2 months old now and weighs 3 pounds 6.5 ounces. God is Good!! Isn't she beautiful! Every day my cousin and aunt give us updates and pictures and it has just been amazing to witness how far this sweet baby has come. Her due date has still not even arrived yet and she's already 2 months old. This blows my mind! Continued prayers are needed as she is having trouble with one of her eyes, which could lead to blindness. Please remember Katelyn in your prayers. I was so sad to miss her baby shower this weekend :-(


This week was SO busy. My mom, my Aunt Nadine, and my Mother-in-law are ROCK STARS!! I could not have done this fundraiser garage sale without them. We spent all day Thursday getting it organized and priced. Friday was not as busy as I had hoped it would be, but still a success. Yesterday, I had my first triathlon of the season so Mom and Gloria ran the whole thing until I got home at 2pm. We raised $1006 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and were able to donate some furniture to a couple who were trying to set up an abused woman in her new apartment. What a successful fundraiser!!

Every year, the Portland Tri Club puts on a "mock" tri up at Vancouver Lake. You can choose to do the sprint or olympic distance, but we all do the same swim - which was about 1/2 mile this year. If you do the oly distance, it is an out and back TWICE on the bike and out and back TWICE on the run. I do not like this one bit. 

I was rather disappointed with my time AND how I felt during this race. My swim was fine. The start was crazier than a usual tri. I think because its the first tri of the season and lots of people new to triathlon do this race, it's always a bit of a mad rush to get around that first buoy. I was kicked A LOT - in the face, the legs, the crotch - everywhere and often. I eventually swam out of my way and found a little pocket to myself finally and it was all good.

The ride started good but it was the first time I hadn't worn pants during a ride. I generally will wear either really short thin tri shorts or my running shorts under my wetsuit during a race. Both of these are short shorts and so the skin of my thighs is rubbing the bike seat. I totally forgot to body glide myself so I had some chafing going on with both legs. I was also having some trouble in my sitting area so it was just pretty unpleasant the last 10 miles. I was glad to be off the bike.

The run was where I really never got into my groove. I felt I was plodding along the whole time. First mistake was not hitting the restrooms. They were too far away and I didn't want to bother - but that meant running the entire run with a full bladder. I also did not bring my foam roller and totally regretted that one. It has been working wonders for me to roll out my back real quick at T2. Lesson learned.

Swim was short @ 1/2 mile.
Swim:0:12:00
T1:  0:02:15
Bike: 1:36:00
T2: 0:02:00
Run: 0:58:45
Total time: 2:51:00

I crossed the finish line with my new friend, Lisa. We hugged. I frantically gathered all my stuff and headed back down to Portland to finish off the garage sale. We had planned to stop around 2pm but ended up selling stuff right up until almost 5pm. Got all the borrowed tables back to the golf course, had some wine, and slept like a log.

Today is an open water swim followed by a 65-70 mile bike ride...
...and it's raining. Grrrr.

14 comments:

Michael said...

Thanks for the update on baby Katelyn. I'm so glad to hear she is doing well (except for the eye).

Wow, congrats on the Yard Sale...sounds very successful!!

I love the idea of a mock tri. Very cool.

Unknown said...

You're doing a brick the day after a tri? Girl, you are hard core and going to be so ready for Pacific Crest!

I went for an easy 10 yesterday, and had chafing problems I haven't had in awhile.

Body Glide, foam roller, Body Glide, foam roller...must remember these as well, no matter what the event or distance!

Amanda@runninghood said...

You are superwoman in every way Julie! All that you do to raise money and support a good cause, doing a mock tri and then rushing back to finish up your sale, thinking of others, planning for a brick the day after your tri (don't even really know what that is!) :) You rock! You are a rock! sounds like it at least.

Okay, so where do I find a good plan for my first tri this summer? I'd like to start with an Olympic distance and skip the sprint. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Dawn said...

You amaze me. Do you ever stop? You just manage to fit a "mock" tri in between it all:))) And here I am sleepless at nights over my first Oly in JULY!!!!
Thanks for the update on baby.....it's wonderful!

ajh said...

I work with someone who had a baby very early this fall and she is still so teeny tiny. Thanks for the update on Katelyn. Hate hate hate running with a full bladder. You are doing so much - stay sane!

Jim ... 50after40 said...

That little sweetie is sooo tiny! Beautiful! Great job on raising that much money. Michael and I were just talking today about raising more money for charity!

Kate Geisen said...

So glad to hear that Katelyn is doing well and growing. I'll definitely keep her in my prayers.

YOU are amazing. What a great yard sale! And helping out the woman with the donated furniture, too...awesome. I guess if you're not going to have a stellar outing, it's better to have it during a mock-tri, right?

Hope the brick went ok!

Abby @ Have Dental Floss, Will Travel said...

I love your training schedule - you're going to be golden for the A race!

Natalia said...

Excellent job Julie! Sounds like it was an all round success. Good news about baby Katelyn too!

Teamarcia said...

Continued prayers for that beautiful angel fighter!
Chaotic week for sure but you got tons done, including your first tri of the season....congrats!

Julie said...

Keeping teh baby in my thoughts.

Awesome job on both the sale and the practice tri. i love the practice ones for a reminder of what you need to do for the year.

Heather said...

Great job!! ON both the fundraiser and the tri! Very Impressive.

And thanks - you just solved a mystery for me. I have a huge painful bruise on my stomach and I couldn't for the life of me figure out how it got there. Now I am know.....first crowded buoy of last race! Definitely some kicking going on there!

Glad to here Katelyn is doing well.

Julie D. said...

wow, Julie, what a great garage sale!! Congrats!

Praying for that sweet baby!

Fruit Fly said...

Congrats on the successful fundraising!

These tris sound scarier and scarier the more I read about them. Who wants to get kicked in the crotch??