Weekend Activities

Well it's the end of the weekend and I have done NO training what-so-ever. I did however, look at lots of new tri gear (ie: bags, bikes). Does that count for anything? This weekend consisted of me administering the SAT's Saturday morning from 7:30 - 1:00, reading tri blogs while the high school kiddies were working, taking pictures at a local Oktoberfest celebration and finally going out in Georgetown with a good friend Saturday night. **Side note: The bars were filled with current college students and alumni, all cheering for college football. Maybe it's just me...but this is something I could care less about! I attribute this to the fact that I went to a D3 school for undergrad and the only good game was Cortaca Jug, when Ithaca College battled Cortland State for the jug. Then there is the fact the George Washington University has NO football team what-so-ever. So yeah...college football is just not in my genes.** Either way, while I was out Saturday night I kept thinking about how much I wanted to be home in bed as I was getting up at 5am to volunteer for the Army 10 Miler. (I refuse to think that I am 'getting old' and that's why I am less than impressed with crowded bars. I think it's because I am getting wiser and there are more important things in life.) :o)

Fast forward to Sunday morning and despite the fact that I went to bed at 1:30am and my alarm went off at 5:15am...I was actually up and at 'em and at the Pentagon by 6:00am. Perfect timing! I was assigned to the gear check station. This was the most boring job ever! My two biggest pet peeves with racers were that they #1: did not follow the clearly stated directions on how to prepare their bags, which inlcuded something along the lines of, "Tear the top portion of your race bib off and affix it to your bag." This is not rocket science people! Pet peeve #2 also included following directions (are you noticing a pattern here?) "No iPods, MP3 players, headphones or cell phones allowed on the race course"....again apparently people think they are joking about this. Well, not at this race! So my actual pet peeve has nothing to do with the course rules, rather the runners who do not follow them and then come back to my gear check station and are shocked they can't have headphones/cell phones/MP3 players AND NOW...they need me to find their bag so they can check them. Sure, I'll get right on that! It might take a minute as the bags are in no particular order and I have a span of 2,000 possible bags to look through. (Granted....I did not have all 2,000 bags in my area, it's just the fact I have to go back through them because of your ignorance for course rules.) Grrr! Now if you are reading this and you are thinking I must be a law/rule abiding racer, you are wrong. I too have run many a races with headphones and my MP3 player, however, I know I am taking my own chance at getting DQ'ed. But if they race officials are strict enough to have people checking you before and during the race...be prepared to be caught. Several people started the race thinking they could sneak their headphones only to be caught and sent BACK to gear check and then start the race over, all while the clock was ticking. Ouch!

I guess it was a good thing to volunteer for, especially since the list of volunteers seemed slim (at least for gear check), but I was really bummed because I didn't feel like I really helped that much...or maybe that I didn't have as deep of an impact as I would have liked? Wuh-wuh-wuh!

Last month I volunteered at Nations Triathlon (this is the beauty of living SO CLOSE to DC) and I absolutely loved it! At various point through the race I even got teary-eyed watching these triathletes competing right in front of my eyes. See, I volunteered at gear check, but once that closed, I was able to stand inside the chute and actually direct the athletes on where to go. This was amazing! As I stood there, I also got to provide at least some small bit of encouragement to the athletes. Me: "Looking good Mayor Fenty! You are awesome!" Mayor Fenty (the friggin mayor of DC): Shooting me a smile and thumbs up - "Thanks for volunteering!" And then there were the 'regular joes' to cheer on..."Nice package blue speedo guy!" (Now if that doesn't make you laugh, then you're just no fun!) And the truly inspirational moments: "Come on ladies, this is what you've been training for...." Ugh...I'm feeling a bit faklempt! Truly a great event to volunteer for. Not only were the athletes fabulous but so weren't the race directors and the head volunteer peeps. They treated volunteers so well! There was a tent fully stocked with Dunkin Donuts coffee, bagels, donuts, Red Bull, water, Powerade, cookies, granola bars etc. Honestly, thanks so much for thinking that gee...volunteers might want some coffee in the cool hours of the morning and hey, they were probably too tired to make it this morning before they left. Let's provide it for them! If I don't do Nations Tri next September, than you better believe I will be there in a volunteer shirt. As for the Army 10 Miler....eh....I'm not so sure about that. We'll see.

Signing off for now...

NOT Hitting The Ground Running...

So I know I said I was "hitting the ground running" once October rolled around but...I'm not, but I believe I have a good excuse. I was rear ended a few weeks ago and after the accident my back went from a little stiff to a miserable piercing/pinching pain. For those of you that don't know me, which is probably the majority of people reading this, I have a herniated disc that acts up now and then. However, up until the accident I was doing fine. Needless to say I have been visiting my fabulous chiropractor and she is getting me moving again, one visit at a time. Basically, I am feeling a hell of a lot better than I was during the last two weeks, but I am still not 100%. Oh yeah...and when I told my chiropractor that I was training for triathlons and my goal was to do a half iron...she sorta got mad at me. But...we all make choices in life and I know I have back problems now and then, and yes I have had 2 knee surgeries on one knee but...life is short. Plus, I figure by the time I actually need a knee replacement they will have excellent technology then, so I'm all set! :-)