First world problems

I realize there are a lot of very major problems going on in the world right now. The one I am most focused on is that I am feeling too tired to go to the grocery store and pick out snacks to accompany the Moet champagne I plan on drinking on the way to a wine/spa weekend getaway to celebrate my friend's wedding that is coming up at the end of the month. Yes, I know, it's a really rough life. I also am really wondering about what clothes I should bring and how I will manage to pack eight champagne glasses and not break them. The list just goes on and on... Seriously. Sometimes I wonder, is this my life?! My other conversation that we had at lunch today was just as unbelievable. I did something to my neck, I have no idea what, but the pain is debilitating. So, as we were all discussing different ways we have dealt with different aches and pains in different countries, we started talking about how much we missed certain countries, where all you had to do was go to the pharmacy and tell them what you needed and they just handed it right over. Oh how I miss the Dubai life sometimes. All I want is a muscle relaxer, anything that will take this pain away! I have an appointment for next Monday, but am pretty sure I will barely survive. That being said... sometimes life abroad is well, disastrous too. And, I miss my friends and family every day! Looking at the pictures of my niece and nephews on their first day of school and knowing my brother got to be there to see them off made me extremely jealous and sad! I'm happy I'll be home in less than one month. Last weekend I did the Zell am See Half Ironman. It went ok. I forget sometimes that these races are actually hard and I don't think I take them seriously enough and train quite as well as I could. Then, I am slightly disappointed at the results. As an example, instead of taking it easy and focusing on the race the day before, I was up hiking around, climbing on a rock wall, swinging on a rope swing and well, just doing whatever I wanted. At the same time, I don't want to take them so seriously that I don't enjoy the time before the race and seeing what the city the race is in has to offer. But, back to the race. I woke up to the sound of rain, what a surprise, me, race, rain?! Sounds about right. My friends, Mel and Kathy, were with me in Zell am See and we had some breakfast and then I threw on my backpack and grabbed an umbrella and walked about a mile to the start of the race. It was a bit cold and sprinkling, not ideal race conditions, but not nearly as bad as last year. I saw a guy that I had met and racked our bikes with the day before, we talked for a bit, but his start time was 15 minutes before mine, so we both went to our bikes to do some last minute checking, which for me means, stare at my bike and look around at what everyone is doing and hope and pray that I don't get a flat tire. Swim 1.9km The first swimmer was already back to shore before we even started. The swim is 1.9km, but I did quite a bit extra. I have done this course before and thought it was pretty straightforward course, out to the far buoy, around to the second and then back to shore. Sounds easy enough. The swim start was pretty crazy, it was a wave start and I think there were somewhere around 300 of us. I was kicked in the face, arms, legs and had to put my goggles back on my face at one point and it definitely wasn't fun, but as far as swim starts go, it was fine. But... while I was swimming I felt slightly alone, but kept looking up and seeing the buoy in front of me, so thought all was going well. It wasn't until I noticed many green caps coming towards me very quickly that I realized someone was going the wrong way. That someone was me. Oops. I had inadvertently swam towards the closer buoy and now had to swim back out towards the far buoy. Ugh! And, it's not like I like the swim to start with! I definitely lost between 8 - 10 minutes, so my finish time of 48 minutes seemed great to me considering my rookie mistake. Bike 90km The bike course is a two loop course with no mile markers. Annoying. The transition went ok, it always takes me forever to get off my wetsuit and put on my biking clothes, I really have no idea how people can make the change so quickly. There were no problems, I just move slow. I started off on my bike and felt ok. It was pretty disheartening to see so few bikes left in the transition area, but I just had to remind myself that I started 25 minutes after the first group and I wasn't in it to win, I do this because I love it. I love it, right?! At this point it was pouring down rain, but it wasn't too cold. The bike was pretty uneventful. In my mind it was a flat course, but then when I came around one of the corners and saw a long, steady climb, I thought to myself, oh, that's right, there is some climbing. It is nothing compared to Ironman Nice or Switzerland, but it isn't a flat course either. I was catching some people on the bike, but was also passed by the pros during the course too. The rain was coming down pretty hard at some points, but the roads were good and it was all slightly familiar so it seemed to go by pretty fast. I get frustrated on the bike, because even though I don't get tired, I just can't seem to go any faster. I realized mid way through that I was not really on track to finish in three hours, which is what I did last year. And, the weather last year was much worse. Cruising through the towns and having a few chats with fellow riders made the ride go pretty quickly, but I'm not going to lie, there was more than once that I was thinking, why do I do this? This is not fun. I am freezing cold and getting soaking wet. I finished the bike in just over 3:20, which was pretty frustrating as I did it in 3:00 last year. Grrr. But, at the same time I am always so relieved to get to the running part. Run 21.1km My favorite part! Once I get to the run, I feel like the race is almost over, even though I know I still have around two hours to go. The transition was once again slow, but went fine. I had a momentary thought of just leaving on my wet clothes, but then thought twice about it and put on new shorts, socks and a shirt. I was SO happy that I decided to do that, I felt like a new person and was excited to start the run. I couldn't seem to get my bike things all back into the transition bag, so one of the super nice volunteers just grabbed my bag and told me to get running and she would do it for me. So nice. I started off on the run and felt great. The rain had stopped and it was the perfect temperature. The run was really well marked and there was a lot of crowd support, so it was awesome! Running through the town was especially fun. It was a three loop course through town and then along the lake. In the middle of town we had to run by a bunch of bars and cafes, at one of the bars there were a group of people holding out a sign that said "Free beer, stop here", I laughed and waved the first time around, but when I got back the second time there was a table of small beers sitting there and they were all cheering everyone along, so I decided why not?! So, I stopped, grabbed a small beer, said "this is purely for your entertainment" and slammed down the whole thing. I do not drink beer. Ever. I don't like it. I know, I'm from Oregon, that's hard to believe, but they all cheered and it was good fun. And, that's why I do these races for fun. The last loop went well and I was passing people, which always feels good. The time seemed to fly by and before I knew it, I was finishing the half marathon in less than two hours, so I was happy. I felt like I finished strong and Mel and Kathy were at the end, always feels good to finish a race! Overall, I don't feel like it was my best race, but I've been stressed lately and am still recovering from my injury in March. Well, I guess I am recovered from the injury, but didn't really allow enough time to build up the endurance I would have liked to have had for this race. My trainer also had discouraged me from doing all three of the races that I did this summer, so I guess I could have listened to her... that might have helped. No excuses though, I was actually happy to finish the race and even though I have my moments of doubting it during the race, I do these races because I do love them. I think I actually enjoy the training as much as I enjoy the race itself. Two things I would like to do is come up with a way to not be so freaked out by the swim start and also become a stronger biker. It seems like no matter what I do, I can't get faster on the bike. For now though, I get to focus on running, the part I know I like! I have two races coming up, a 26km trail race in Brussels next weekend and the Amsterdam Marathon on October 20. What a way to celebrate my birthday :-)