What to do with all that summer basil??

Back in August I made a post to Facebook that I was harvesting some of my summer basil. A friend from high school asked how I was doing that which gave me the idea that maybe I should document this as others maybe interested.   As previously mentioned we just moved to a new house. The house was built on land that was formerly farm land so the soil is good and we are always finding weird things growing in our yard!

So what to do with the basil?  Well I decided to freeze a bunch of it and also make some yummy basil oil!

Here's the crop!

Go through and separate the good leaves from the stems

Once you pick the good leaves out put them in a sink of water to wash off all the dirt and bugs.

Check each basil leaf as they are pulled out of the water

Here are the reject stems and leaves ready for composting!

So many beautiful and big basil leaves

Back into a sink of clean water for a second wash to get any dirt that was missed the first time.

Next I put them in my salad spinner in batches to get all the water off of them. They are going to added to oil so the leaves need to be as dry as possible.

Puree really fine in the food processor

Stream in olive oil until you get a pretty liquid mixture

Strain the basil and oil through a fine mesh sieve

Push it through and try to get out as much oil as possible.  The basil pulp is what will be frozen.  Be sure to strain the oil a second time to get out more pulp.

The pulp goes into a silicone muffin holders or ice cube trays then into the freezer for a few hours. Once solid they get wrapped individually in plastic wrap and put in the freezer for future use.

Let the oil sit and settle and skim oil off the top. This is amazing over fresh tomatoes and mozzarella. Use within a week or two.

Happy Basil Harvesting!!

Tunnel Run

Hello blog world! It's been awhile since I've posted. A lot has happened since the Goofy Challenge in January.  We had a house built, moved in with in-laws, moved into the new house, and are now expecting our first kid in November!  So there hasn't been a lot of competition to write about.  We did decide to do one of our favorite 5k races the Fort McHenry Tunnel Run.  This run sponsored by the State Police benefits the Special Olympics.

This was also a training even for the State Police recruits.  They run as a unit doing those military style chants.  Originally I wanted to try and stay ahead of them because I remember from the previous time we ran it that they start at the very back but yea they were much faster than I remember.  They are still fun to see even if they are passing you by!

Being 7 months pregnant my plan was to walk the 5k and try to be under an hour.  Being a competitive person I couldn't "just walk it."  I learned that even though I felt like I was power walking well I was getting passed and I was passed by another pregnant chick....so I decided I had to run - a little.  In the tunnel were signs to read and pictures every few hundred feet so I made a plan. I would run sign to sign then walk to the next sign then run as long as I could see the next sign.  If I couldn't see the next sign then I would continue with the walking.  It worked well and I felt like I was moving.

Never done a 5k before? No problem there were clearly a lot of families and non-runners here that were just interested in a good walk to support a good cause.  There were strollers even though I thought I saw a sign that said no strollers, maybe that's my baby brain. Either way that means we can come back next year with the little man. Maybe this will be his first 5k!  Pregnant and not sure what that means for running, well me neither but The Running Mom knows much more so check her out!

I took my own water filled up the bottle at the half way turn around then again at the end. I went through a lot of water! The tunnel actually gets pretty warm in there even though they pump fresh air in.  At the end they had bagels, fruit, and Outback chicken sandwiches!  That sandwich really hit the spot.

Disney's Goofy Challenge

WARNING! This is long but there are lots of pictures!!

Well we survived!  I am  sure many doubted we  would be able to finish but we did it!  A half marathon and then less than 24 hours later a full marathon and in Disney World no less.
*Note: most pictures taken during the half marathon. Disney gives you something to look at every mile so I thought I would give you a pic or two every paragraph.*

Jackets I bought! Now I have to finish

Shirts for the events. Really Nice!

We arrived in Disney World on Thursday evening and checked in to the Port Orleans Riverside.  On Friday morning we got up around 8am to have a quick breakfast and then head over to the Wide World of Sports Complex for packet pick up.  There are several running events going on this Marathon Weekend.  They had a 5k on Friday morning that went around the worlds of Epcot. The half marathon would be Saturday morning and the full marathon Sunday morning.  They also added a relay option to the full marathon.  There were also some kids races too.  We signed up for the Goofy Challenge that consisted of the half and full marathons.

We picked up our bib numbers in the first building, while doing so they would cheer anytime there was someone who was Perfectly Goofy meaning they have done the Goofy race each year it has been offered for the past 7 years.  We then went straight into the store in this building to get ourselves some jackets.  In 2010 we did the marathon and the only jacket sizes left were XL.  This time we were determined to make sure we got ourselves a jacket and wouldn’t you know only XL was left! Ack!  We then made our way to the next building, which had the expo and shirt pick up.  We got the shirts for the half, full, and Goofy.  This area had a larger store, we actually went there before getting our race shirts, as we didn’t want to miss out on jackets and other cool stuff.  We both ended up getting ourselves marathon jackets and I got a Goofy one too.  They didn’t have a Goofy jacket in the hubby’s size; again it was all XLs and XXLs.  We also picked up a couple other fun mementoes and ran into a hometown friend who was here on vacation and decided to do the half marathon while she was here.  After picking up our shirts we toured the expo and all of the fun stuff they had.  Touring the expo always gets me energized and ready for the race.

Wide World of Sports Complex

We headed back to the room to drop off our new swag and headed to Downtown Disney for lunch.  We walked around a bit and had lunch at a fun Irish bar.  We relaxed back in our room and prepared for dinner at the Yachtsman Steakhouse in the Yacht Club Resort which is attached to the Beach Club Resort, our favorite. Dinner was tasty and relaxing.  We headed back to the room to go to bed early as a 3am wake-up isn’t fun.

The Expo!

 

3am rolled around quickly.  We got up and quickly got ready to head out.  Disney had event buses from the resorts and they suggested you be on the buses by 4am to insure you are at the start on time.  We decided to aim for 3.30am and we had no issue getting there.  According to the runDisney Facebook page apparently some people had some trouble getting there on time due to traffic.  Once we got to the waiting area of Epcot we checked our bag and waited.  They had a DJ and the P90X guy took everyone through some warm ups.  The weather was comfortable, a little on the cool side but a temp that would be perfect once we start running.  Eventually they herded everyone to the start area with lots of cheers for the wheelchair racers as they headed there first.  It is a good ½ to ¾ of a mile walk to the starting areas and you go by a tram graveyard area with very clearly not-in-use vehicles. It was kind of creepy.

Tram Graveyard, very unDisneyish

We got into our corral F. The nice part is each corral gets their own start with fireworks and everything!  Donald Duck started each wave.  The half was very very crowded!  Many times I had to run on the grass to go around people and I am by no means a fast runner.  There were LOTS of walkers.  I am a big proponent of walking but the course became very narrow and walkers weren’t staying to the right.  Definitely way too many people for as narrow as the course gets.  We stopped several times to get pictures with characters.  runDisney’s motto is “every mile is magic” and they do a nice job of trying to distract you from running every mile.  There is lots to see whether it is characters, marching bands, dancers, pictures in front of the castle, It makes for a fun time.  About ¼ mile from the finish you run by a fabulous gospel choir and that gives you the energy you need to make it to the finish.

Hubby before the half

Hubby slightly happier after the half

After getting our medals we bypassed the food line and made our way back to the resort as we had an early dinner planned. In true swimmer fashion I brought my kickboard and fins to kick around in the pool to try and keeps the legs loose.  After we showered and stretched we head to Downtown Disney where we had early dinner, 3pm, reservations at Portebello’s.  We had some tasty risotto balls and I got some pasta, shocker I know.  After “linner” we walked around a bit and then got a tasty treat from Ghirardelli’s before heading back to the room to relax and turn in early again.

Lots of people at the starting area

3am reared its ugly head again and was much harder the second time around.  We used the same plan as yesterday.  We started walking to the bus when I realized I forgot my bib! That would have been horrible!  Luckily I realized it and we didn’t lose any time.  The time before the race started seemed to go by much faster today.  Before we knew it we were starting on our 26.2 mile journey.  This time Mickey Mouse started the race.  The first 13.1 felt great.  We were on target to make our goal time and were 10 minutes faster than the previous day.  Unfortunately shortly after hitting the half way point things started to fall apart.  We are in Florida and well unlike the last time we ran the marathon here it was warm!  Luckily they have rest stops every 1.5 miles or so and I chugged down the Powerade every chance I got. 

Yoda ran the race!

The first half of the course is pretty nice.  You start near Epcot, run to Epcot and around and then at mile 4 you are back at the starting area, so you really haven’t made much progress but then you start heading towards Magic Kingdom.  Before getting into the actual park you go through the Transportation Authority which in both races tricked me into thinking we were entering the park except we still had about 2-3 miles to get there.  After going through here we start running towards the Contemporary Resort which is a neat looking building, the monorail goes through the building!

 The Start!

When you do enter Magic Kingdom it is awesome!!  You enter on the side by the Christmas tree and then straight down Main Street USA towards the castle.  Right before the castle you go right into Tomorrowland and around the back side of the castle and then running through towards the front, that’s amazing too.  Next a right into Liberty area and out a side gate to start the long, long trek to Animal Kingdom.  Shortly after Magic Kingdom is when you hit that half way mark.  

Running into Magic Kingdom parking area

At this point you have the high from the Magic Kingdom and all the cheering but the crowds are gone and you are pounding the pavement in some very remote back areas.  They give you some entertainment every mile but its still hot and if you aren’t stopping that entertainment only lasts you a couple minutes and there isn’t much shade either.  On the long stretch to Animal Kingdom to you get to go by such beautiful Disney sights as the waste water treatment plant and the compost piles.  Yup you go much faster trying to get through those areas.  Kudos to the volunteers at the water stop by the compost piles. Thanks for being there for hours!  Eventually you get to Animal Kingdom and it seems like forever to get there and its over so fast.  As you enter the back areas they had fun animals like goats, sheep, and screech owls whom you could stop to take pictures with.  

Entering Magic Kingdom, running down Main Street USA

After quickly going through Animal Kingdom you are back to  main roads headed towards Hollywood Studios.  Luckily once you  hit Hollywood Studios it is action packed til the finish. Getting there was much harder than I remembered.  I was hot, tired, and sweating less.  This was not as enjoyable as last time.  I had to take a walk break that wasn’t associated with a water stop.  I felt so guilty that I was letting the hubby down but I was so freakin tired.  After a few minutes I had enough energy to run to the next water station.  We eventually made it to Hollywood Studios and we knew the end was getting closer.  You enter on the opposite side of the Tower of Terror (the best ride ever!) and see that the whole front of the building is fake and its open behind it, way cool.  There is also a candy stop right away. Jeff had a Krackel…again.  I had some fruit snacks and boy did they taste amazing at this point.  We ran by the animation studios and through where they were making costumes and around the back of the park by the Backlot tour then up through the city with a left by the SciFi restaurant and American Idol experience to the main center isle of the park where there were tons of people watching.  At this point the park is open to the public which poses interesting challenges for Disney cast members as guests need to get from one side of the park to the other across the race course.  They used a jumprope to divert runners to one side or another around an island that gets guests halfway across.  As usual Disney has thought of everything.  

Quick one in front of the castle

As we exit Hollywood Studios we are greeted with cheers outside the park as we head to our final park.  We run along canal by the resorts where there is a DJ playing Justin Beiber on a constant loop. He said it would make us run faster to get away! We ran in front of our favorite resorts on the way to Epcot.  We entered near the beginning of the worlds and ran around all of the worlds and back toward the entrance and the big ball where we again divert to the right and go past the gospel choir. We hi-fived Goofy just as we ran to the finish line.  We were so incredibly happy to finish.  We got our Mickey Marathon Medal and then headed directly to get our Goofy Medal.  In those last 6 miles we just kept reminding ourselves of the good dinner at Citricos we would be having and the medals. We kept running for the medals and damn do they look good!

Making good progress on the half

On one of our bus rides we met a woman who has done all 19 Disney marathons and all 7 Goofy Challenges and this year did the 5k as well to keep the streak going.  I am so impressed by her dedication to the series.  She said each year there is an extra that the folks with a perfect streak get.  She keeps going because she doesn’t want to be out of the perfect club.

Professor from Duck Tales

They don’t call it Goofy for nothing. Overall it was a tough tough challenge but I am glad to be able to say that I completed it.  We didn’t make our marathon goal time but we were only off our 2010 marathon time by 5 minutes which is pretty good considering we ran a half marathon the day before.  We wore Agent P shirts from Phineas and Ferb and got 17 shoutouts about our shirts!  Some kids in Hollywood Studios loved the shirts!  I am very proud of our accomplishment and it is something I never thought I would be able to accomplish, considering I actually don’t like running that much. 

Serge from Toy Story making everyone "Move! Move! Move!"

• Thank you Disney for providing the challenge but I won’t be doing it again. 
• Thank you volunteers for being there for hours upon hours.
• Thank you cast members for providing entertainment for 26.2 miles.
• Thank you to my hubby for being my running buddy for the past 5 months as we got ready for this. 
• Thanks to our friends and family for their support and well wishes.

The Hardware!  This run was all about getting the medals!

Bubbly Accomplishment!

Proudly displayed on our mantle

Happy Running!

Why do you run?

"Why do you run?" It's a common question among runners, triathletes, and the people who think we are crazy. The question is so common that Runners World dedicates sections of their magazine every month to celebrities that run and the common folk.  Truth be told...ummmm I hate running...Please note that as I write this I am in a resort in Disney World having just finished the Donald Duck half marathon and am doing the full marathon tomorrow and remember I hate running....so that brings us back to the question why do I run?  Well very simply "because I can."  My body has the ability to run so I do.  I don't particularly enjoy it and my body works very hard as I have asthma, lower back, and knee issues so running isn't easy but there are so many people out there who have it much worse and probably wish they could run but their body isn't physically able.  Mine is and therefore I do.  Additionally I look at it as a way to mentally (besides physically) train myself.  If I can commit to, set a goal, train for, and finish something that I don't totally want to do, well then I can do anything!

"So what keeps you going?" you are probably asking the computer screen and why the hell did you sign up for a half marathon followed by a full marathon on the same weekend?  Those are some excellent questions. They are actually linked together.  First I love Disney.  Second, well I hate training but I enjoy the time with my husband.  Since the end of September we have once (and several times twice) gone on a long run on the weekend.  It is a great time for us to unplug, no cell phones, computers, etc.  We get to spend some quality time together talking about what's going on.  I am not someone who really goes out and runs for the sake of running and enjoying it.  I have to have a particular goal race in mind that I am training for, that gets me out to the pavement.  Third, even though I don't particularly enjoy the act of running I enjoy (somewhat) the atmosphere of the races.  I am competitive by nature, in swimming, but those are over quickly (except for the 4.4 mile bay swim) and don't involve a lot of camaraderie when you are doing the actual race.  With swimming there are rules about what you can and cannot wear.  With running much less so and with Disney races you have people in all kinds of costumes!  Half the enjoyment of the races is people watching (and it helps distract you from the fact that you are still running.)  Fourth, and finally for now the bling.  Many races, especially Disney, give kick butt bling.  It makes you not wanna quit because you know the medal you are getting at the end is awesome and non running folks are wishing they had it.  Unfortunately four is all I am able to come up with.  My list for why I hate running is much longer.

That's it for now.  Race reports for the Goofy Challenge will be forthcoming!
Do you run? What keeps you going?

Delaware Diamondman Triathlon

Today was a good great day.  Today was also a somber day for many as it is the 10th anniversary of the September 11th attack on America.  The country was busy today remembering those that were lost and celebrating that we will not be taken down.

Today we competed in the annual Diamondman Triathlon.  Two years ago we did the sprint triathlon and last year the Half Ironman triathlon.  This year we went back to the sprint triathlon.  I like that this race has a longer swim in proportion to the bike and the run.  The bike is 16-17mile depending on the year and the run is 2 miles!  That is my kind of run.

The race takes place at Lums Pond in Bear, Delaware which is just out side of the University of Delaware campus.  We went up last night so that we wouldn't have to get up extra early for the over an hour drive.  We stayed at the Embassy Suites with a few friends.  We all met for the managers reception that all Embassy Suites have where you get free snacks and drinks, including alcohol!  After we filled up on free food we headed over to Klondike Kate's on Main Street for dinner.  I had basil salmon that was quite tasty.  After dinner we went across the street to a yogurt place where you put as much yogurt and toppings in as you want and the cost is based on weight.  I got cake batter yogurt with brownie bites, crushed cookies, and crushed graham cracker.  It was quite tasty.  Several of us stopped into the Panera Bread store to pick up breakfast items as the free breakfast at the Embassy Suites would be after we left for the race.  I got a sourdough roll and a pumpkin muffie.  The muffie was for after.  We all headed back to the hotel. The hubby and I got our stuff ready and watched some NCIS til bedtime.  I was so tired but crappy crappy sleep. This isn't the first time I have gotten crappy sleep before a race so I knew I could handle it.

We got up around 5.30am, gathered our stuff and headed downstairs.  The hotel actually did have their pastries, bagels, cereal, and coffee out for the racers so that was exciting.  I grabbed some bread I thought was sourdough except it was rye....yuck!  I was glad to have my Panera roll to eat.  We arrived at the park around 6.15am with transition closing at 6.45am.  We have gotten better at setting our stuff up and not needing to arrive quite as early to races plus these races are much smaller than the HoCo and D.C. races so you don't need to arrive early for parking reasons which is really nice!  We met up with our friends, they were all doing the half, and got our selves set up.  Thanks to Joe who lent me an extra race belt because I left mine at home.  At 6.45am we got a pre-race meeting that went through the logistics of the two races that are going on simultaneously ending with a tribute to a fallen local soldier, then the National Anthem. Everyone then headed over to the swim start which is 3/10th of a mile from the transition area.

The Half racers started first and we were about 20 minutes later.  We got to see a couple of them exit the swim looking strong before it was our turn.  The hubby went before first. At this race you have to walk a bit through the lake to the actual start buoy so it is important to be one of the first in.  If you wait you may end up quite a ways back when the clock starts.  I get to the front line for the swim and we take off.  There were several girls that were clearly swimmers (and have gone to practice much more than me).  I held my own although I did get passed, after the initial start, during the swim by 2 people, that did not make me happy!  The swim went well and I caught up to and passed a decent amount of the men's heat in front of me. I came out sat and got my shoes on and ran to the transition area.  I brought my Solomon's boating shoes for this part. I got into transition grabbed my bike stuff (no socks today) and headed out on the bike course.

Today was like a perfect storm.  Normally it rains, it always rains, I have done more triathlons with rain than without.  But today...no rain!  It was very overcast with a cool breeze, roads were dry, and there was no hot sun beating down, humidity was even in check.  It was perfect triathlon weather, perfect!  This perfect storm let me work on something that I have been trying to get right all season long. The Aero Bars.  I have tried a few times to use them but I have pretty bad balance. I know because my WiiFit tells me so.  I am scared of falling but the combination of good weather, dry roads, a smaller number of participants, and a flat course gave me the confidence to try.  I spent the majority of the race in the aero position which I have never been able to do before.  As I was riding I was happy with my accomplishment for the race as this is something that has been bothering me.  I was pretty happy and felt like I was moving along even with the head wind.  I even started to check out the age of the people passing me to see if any of them were in my age group.  As far as I could tell no one in the female 25-29 passed me but I didn't know who was ahead of me.  After a good 16 mile ride I headed back into transition.

For the run I decided with such a short run I would try running without socks to minimize the transition time.  On this run you are first on the grass til you get out of the general area then you run on gravel til you get to the main road where you run through the campground until a turnaround and come back.  It is a simple course that I really like.  On the first part I made friends with another female runner but she eventually left me, which is totally fine.  Not gonna lie I was checking out ages as I ran of people who passed me and those behind me.  Near as I could tell the only people in my age group I saw were behind me but I figured that the people who had already finished ahead of me were probably in my age group and were the ones who got the better swim start.

When I finished the hubby was waiting with a friend. I had passed by him a couple of times but he never seemed too happy with how his race was going.  I was surprisingly less than a mile behind him on the run.  We all headed over to the results board which produce live results so you know right away how you did which is pretty awesome.  The hubby's friend got 4th in their age group, just missing the podium.  He then turned to me and said "I think you may have won your age group."  Stunned doesn't even begin to express it.  I am excited when I win swim stuff but never even get close in triathlons let alone winning the age group. We weren't planning on staying around for the awards (we needed to get home because the Ravens were playing the Steelers today).  I couldn't believe it.  We waited around and got to see our friends Mark and Rob start the run portion of their Half Ironman, both looking quite strong going into the run.

Me getting excited to get my award!

So we waited around and I got to stand on the podium!  They started the awards a little early and the 2nd and 3rd place finishers weren't there so it was just me on the podium. Can we say awkward??

Woot 1st Place!!

You are getting pics of this right??? Need the picture proof!

Me and my Gold medal!

After the exciting awards ceremony we quickly went back to the hotel to shower and change before heading to the Second Chance to watch the Ravens versus the Steelers.  One of the cool things that happened is one of the Piranha-Sports staffers raced and won his age group. The cool part is that he is deaf so instead of clapping out loud everyone did the visual sign language clap.  How awesome and respectful!  We later found out that our friends doing the Half Ironman did great too! Rob and Heidi each took 1st in their age group and Mark took 3rd in his!  All of them are doing the Florida Ironman so this was more of a training day for them.  Additionally our friend Suzy was competing at the World Championships for Half Ironmans in Vegas and was top 10 in her age group on the world stage!

On the way back I called my Mommy to give her the good news. She was quite happy for me!  When we got home there were flowers and a balloon from my mom and grandparents!! They are too cute and I definitely appreciate their support.

To make the day even better the Ravens beat the Steelers and it wasn't even close! The Steelers looked like a high school team!

What a great day and all made possible by the awesome USA!

Running on Fumes

So I know I am a bit a lot behind on posting for the events I have done this summer. I swear I will get to them.  I figured today while my cake is in the oven for tomorrow I would give a run down of today.  Today was Iron Girl.  Iron Girl is a sprint triathlon that really isn't for the pro, super competitive athlete.  Iron Girl looks to celebrate all females and gives a very supported atmosphere for females to try a triathlon. There are women of all shapes, sizes, ages, and ethnicities.  I feel at this race you see the most variety in athletes than any other tri's I have done.  This race sells out like within a day or so which means you need to know the day registration opens if you want to do it or not. No hesitations, I made that mistake for last year.  So anyway I signed up in the Fall of 2010 for an Aug 2011 race.

This year for vacation we decided to go to Hawaii.  Now being a teacher and having a summer job means that I have about 2-3 weeks each summer which is the only time out of the year I have no responsibilities to any job.  This is my only window and I cherish it!  You can read about our travels in my hubby's travel log.  We left for Hawaii on Aug 8 and returned Aug19 but we had to actually leave Hawaii Aug 18 and were up for about 36hours on various flights to get home.  We slept from Fri to Sat for 15 hours! Big big mistake!  My mom called at 9.30am to tell us about the birth of our newest cousin Julianna Elizabeth. I said great and rolled over to continue sleeping not realizing that it would be 1pm when I woke up!  Got some good deep sleep.  Around 10.30pm last night we settled in bed for the night knowing that I had to get up at 5am to set up and the hubby had to get up around 4am to go volunteer.  Sounds like a good plan right? Well....we couldn't sleep....I tried reading, we talked. Finally around 1.30 we decided to watch some How I Met Your Mother.  We love this show and no vacation we started watching the first couple seasons as we have been late adopters of the show and it makes for excellent plane entertainment.  Around 2.30am we decided to try the sleeping thing again but to no avail.  I was starting to get sleepy but the hubby was wide awake so decided to try and let me get some sleep and got out of bed around 3am.  I actually did fall asleep til my alarm went off at 4.50am and I was planning to snooze it except I didn't know where I was and couldn't remember how my alarm clock worked.  I pressed a lot of buttons but decided I probably didn't activate the snooze and I should just get up or I might sleep through the event.  To summarize I got up to do a triathlon on less than two hours of sleep.  Brilliant plan right?

I made my way over to the park to set up my transition area and meet the people around me.  I had everything all set up and then it rained.  Ugh!  We have done more races in the rain than not.  IT ALWAYS RAINS on me!  Rain always makes me nervous on the bike and with virtually no sleep I was not a happy camper.  They delayed the start of the race due to the passing storm and all the thunder and lightning.  My heat goes off 59 minutes after the first wave.  The swim is definitely my strength.  I will judge how well I did in a race based off of my swim time and place.  I don't know my time I forgot a watch.  I was able to get a quick start and get ahead of the pack.  Most triathletes are crappy swimmers so that is my only advantage.  I was battling it out with some other chick.  I had a quick wave to Coach Sue in the blue kayak who I could hear cheering for me. Me and the other chick were side by side with a few yards between us it was a good duel but then she got a better turn at the first buoy and I wasn't going to catch her.  I got a little tired on the second half because of how much I wanted to get first in my heat but I had strong enough lead on the rest of the pack that no one caught me (or at least none that I saw).  I was pleased with my swim and had a good run into transition (usually its not very good).  I did something different today. Usually I wear a sports bra type of top and then put on a tri top in transition. Today I decided to wear the tri top in transition and see if that helped my times.  I will be interesting to compare my swim time with the extra drag to my previous transition times.  I headed out on the bike and the roads were still a bit wet which makes the hills of Howard County kind of scary.  Felt like I had a solid bike ride.  I passed some people and I got passed.  There was a lot of "on your left" both said by me and heard by me (which is what you say when you are passing someone).  I kind of felt like a recording would be helpful where I could just push a button on my bike and it would say it for me.  I try to be very courteous when passing and I try to thank people but there are those obnoxious people that just scream out "on your left" and expect you to get out of there way even if you are in the throws of passing someone.  There is no need to be a jerk, if you want a clear road ahead of you train harder and get a pro card so you can start earlier.  So overall a good solid ride, I even went into my aero position for a few flat spots.  Will be interested to see how the time turns out.  So then a quick change and on to the run.  I am amazed at this point that I still have energy left.  I run out of transition and grab a water at the water stop and keep running. Normally I walk through water stops but I was so amazed by the energy I wanted to keep going.  The run was pretty solid, again don't know the time.  I walked all the rest of the water stops and my only other walking spurt was to the water stop at the top of Gatorade hill. I needed to walk a little early but I was getting close to the end only a mile left.  It was at this hill that my friend Gwyn shouted "you have been exercising longer than you have slept" which made everyone on the hill chuckle and she was so right.

I was super happy to finish and finished strong.  My overall time was not competitive in the least in my age group but it was, surprisingly, a personal best time based on what I could find of my previous finishes.  I look forward to when the splits come out so I can see where I cut the time (it was only about 3 minutes better).  Today I had fun, I don't always say that at triathlons but today was fun.  Not sure what was different, maybe I didn't over think things because thinking energy was diverted to my legs. Maybe the lack of sleep actually helped, who knows.  Today I am an Iron Girl.