What the Hell is Wrong with People?!

   I already have a half-written post about my activities this weekend, but the bombings in Boston are obviously on my mind tonight. Seriously. What the hell is wrong with people? Who sets off bombs at the finish of the Boston Marathon? Let me repeat that. WHO SETS OFF BOMBS AT THE BOSTON MARATHON?! I don't understand how this can happen. So far, three people have been killed, including an eight-year-old child, and over 130 people are injured - some critical. Some of the images I've seen look like scenes from a war-zone, not from the most famous marathon in the world.
   I think I'm taking this more personally because I'm a runner. I've never qualified for Boston, and probably never will. I've never even run an actual marathon. But I do run and I love races. Anyone who runs knows that Boston is the Holy Grail for marathons. This should have been one of the greatest days in these runners' lives. Instead, this amazing day was marred by death and tragedy. And I'm pissed off about it. Pissed about the cruelty and senselessness of this event. Pissed about the innocent lives lost and ruined due some coward trying to cause as much carnage and chaos as possible. And, as a runner, I'm pissed that thousands of runners who have dedicated their year (or several years) to this race weren't allowed to experience the joy of crossing the Boston Marathon finish line. (Yes, I understand that this last point is NOTHING compared to the loss of life suffered today. But it still pisses me off.)

This photo blows my mind. A Boston finisher walking past a member of the bomb squad. (Photo credit Alex Trautwig/Getty Images)

   But as I did with Newtown, I need to focus on the glimmers of hope in midst of the tragedy. The first one being that all East Nasties who are up in Boston are accounted for and safe. (Thank God.) 

   The second being our amazing first responders. The sight of policemen, National Guardsmen and even random volunteers immediately running over to the grandstands where the first bomb detonated and tearing down the barricades to get to those injured is just awe-inspiring. Seriously. God Bless them. I don't know what those people are made of, but I wish I had one-tenth of it. 

   Another little glimmer is the outpouring of assistance from the Boston community who opened their homes to runners and their families who needed assistance. And some restaurants offered free meals to runners after realizing that thousands of runners couldn't get access to their wallets after the race because they weren't allowed back into the race area to pick up their personal belongings.

   And finally, there is the story of 78-year old Bill Iffrig. He's the first runner you see crumple to the ground when the first bomb goes off. He got up and finished the race. Official time: 4:03:47. He would have beat me, no doubt.

   I saw this on Facebook. I'm not sure who wrote it, so I can't give them credit, but I think it's appropriate.

I am a runner.

I may not have qualified this year.

I may have qualified and not run.

I may have been injured and unable to go.

I may never have qualified.

But, I am a runner.

And my heart is in Boston today.

God Bless those affected. My prayers are with you.

Oak Barrel Half-Marathon Recap

   Before I go into the details of this race, I want to say that I LOVED this race. I'm saying this now because there is a chance I might sound a little whiney in this recap. But know while reading that I loved, loved, loved this race.

   The morning started, as most race mornings do, WAY too early. The Oak Barrel Half was held in Lynchburg, which is about 75 miles away. The race started at 8:00, but we left around 5:15 because we  still needed to check-in, plus we really had no idea where we were going and we needed a time buffer in case we got lost.
   But we didn't get lost, so at about 6:30 we (Dudley, Kathy from FTP and I) rolled into Lynchburg.

That's right...population 361.

     Many people will recognize Lynchburg because if its most famous product - Jack Daniel's.

Thank you Jack! I feel welcome!

   What's awesome about running a race in a small town like Lynchburg is that you only need directions to the city itself. The race takes over the entire town (literally - there were 1,025 runners), so there's no wandering around wondering where the race is. I was a little concerned because the only parking directions we were given was "Once you get to Lynchburg, follow the signs for parking." But it worked! We followed the signs and parked almost next to check-in. It was fantastic.

   Because the race only had a little over 1,000 people, packet pickup took all of 5 minutes, so we had over an hour to kill before the race started. So what did we do? Take pictures, of course!

These Jack Daniel's barrels were everywhere.

At the starting line. We were pretty sure that Kathy accidentally stepped over the start line and activated her timing chip during this photo.

East Nasty Pre-race!!  

   The race started right at 8:00. Again, gotta love the small-town races. The race director did the count-down on the PA and instead of a starting gun, they had a truck blow its horn. It sounded like a train whistle. It was pretty funny. Dudley (who didn't race) said that they started playing "Eye of the Tiger" after the horn, and they cut it off after the last runner started. They didn't get half-way through the song. THAT'S how small this race was. I think that's hysterical. 

   So the race starts, and we start to run. It was BEAUTIFUL out there. Seriously. Nothing but rolling, green hills filled with horses and rustic barns. It did get a little too "farmy" for me around mile 2-3 when the smell hit us. Cow manure. Really, really bad. It was weird because I didn't actually see any cows, but whew - you could smell them.

   My run was kind of blah at this point. My legs were dead, and I probably went out too fast. Around 3.5 miles, I told Kathy that I needed to slow down. We'd been doing about 9-minute miles, which is too fast for me for a hilly, half-marathon. She kept going and I slowed to about a 9:30-minute mile. She remained within eyesight for about a half-mile when we hit Whiskey Hill and I had to walk. Well, I probably didn't "have" to walk, but I did. As I said all week, I wasn't planning on pushing myself during this race. It's supposed to be one of the hardest and hilliest half-marathons in Tennessee. I didn't feel the need to kill myself running it - especially on the famous Whiskey Hill. And let me tell you, this hill is no joke.

Going up! Gotta love a hill with a steep switchback! 

This doesn't do the steepness justice. It was crazy.

   Whiskey Hill felt like it lasted forever. It was pretty much a mile long. When I saw that switchback, I audibly said "Oh crap. You have got to be kidding me." Even walking, my legs were dying - especially my calves. If you do this race in the future - respect this hill and train for it. 

   Once I got to the top and had a bit of water, I started feeling good for the first time of the race. It probably had to do with the fact that I knew the hardest part of the race, Whiskey Hill, was behind me. I felt strong and started thinking that maybe I'd push myself a bit... That feeling lasted less than a mile when I hit Whiskey Hill's smaller, but no less bitchy, sibling. We turned a corner and I swear the road went straight up. I almost started laughing - you know like you do when you're delirious and haven't had enough sleep. But, what can you do? I just put one foot in front of the other and ran up the stupid thing. And yes, I ran it. It was more of a shuffle-run because I'm not sure how you run up something that steep, but I tried.

   It was somewhere around this time that I started looking for cool photo opps. I purposely took my phone so I could take pictures if need be. I really wanted to get one with me and a cow, or on a tractor. Unfortunately, I didn't really see any cows (only smelt them) and the only tractor I saw was about 200 yards away. It's owner was sitting on his porch watching the race go by, and I bet I could have made the tractor pic happen, but it seemed more of a hassle than what it was worth. But I did get this photo of a bunch of hay surrounded by mud. Just in case you didn't believe I was running though farm country. You're welcome.

It's a feed trough, y'all! At least, I think it is. What do I know? I grew up near DC.

   I was told that miles 9-12 were "all downhill," which would make sense since we'd been doing nothing but climbing for the first part of the race. Did we get a downhill? Sure. A bit. But no where NEAR the three-miles I was promised. THAT was disappointing. Not that it wasn't a beautiful run, and it was pretty flat for the most part - but after all of that climbing, I wanted to literally roll back down into Lynchburg. I kind of felt like that was owed to me.  

   But alas, it was not meant to be. I still had to run, so run I did. I was surprised because even with my walking (and tweeting) during the race, it looked like I had a chance to break 2:15. Not a PR, but not bad for a race that was so hilly. The finish line was pretty much where the start was - back in the town square. The last mile was on the road that you took into town. It was flat and straight. I tried to pick off as many people as I could on this last bit. I turned the corner to the finish line and saw the finish clock showed 2:14 and counting. Remember in my last race recap when I said I had no kick? Well, I found it. I really wanted to beat 2:15. And I did. My official time was 2:14:35. What's kind of funny is that my Garmin said 2:10, but it's on auto-pause, so it stopped whenever I stopped to take a photo or what not. I, apparently, spent four minutes of this race just standing around. 

   After getting my awesomely cool finishers "medal," I found Dudley and Kathy (she came in at 2:03) and enjoyed the post-race activities. Mad props to Mach Tenn, the race organizer. They know how to put on a race! They had all sorts of food (pizza, fruit, scones, Brunswick stew, Hoecakes, cookies) and drinks (milk, water, soda) for the participants and supporters. And they gave the finishers a hat AND Swiftwick socks!! LOVE that!

They're consistent with the Oak Barrel branding. As a marketing person, I can appreciate that.

Have you seen a cooler finisher's medal?  I think not.

   They also had a live band to entertain us, but they weren't one of those obnoxious bands who were so loud that you can't enjoy yourself. They were a perfect compliment to the atmosphere. And the town square was so charming. I felt like I was in the middle of a movie set. 

Surrounded by the Jack Daniel's barrels, of course.

Just in case you were wondering what the barrels looked like..

Town square at the finishing line.

Not the best photo, but you get the idea. Remove the cars and you're in 1940.

   Of course, then Kathy and I had to take more photos...

YAY! We're not running up hills anymore! 

And posing with the finishing banner. "Big" races would charge you $35 for this photo!

   We met up with most of the East Nasties who ran and they all had great races too. In fact, I have yet to find one person who didn't have a fantastic time. Yes, it was hilly, but if you had read anything about this race AT ALL, you knew it would be. And Mach Tenn was awesome. You could tell that the organizers are runners, because from the moment we registered to the moment we left, all of our needs were catered to. Bravo, Mach Tenn, Bravo. 

   Unfortunately, we needed to get back to Nashville, so we didn't get to hang out in Lynchburg that long. Hopefully, next time we can hang a bit and check out the local restaurants and what not. And there will be a next time because this is definitely a race I want to do again.

Spring is Never Going to Arrive

   Seriously. It's April. Spring technically arrived two weeks ago. But apparently, Nashville hasn't gotten the memo because it's still FREAKIN' COLD here. And wet. Heck - not just wet - my bike ride on Tuesday was cancelled because of sleet and ice! It's currently in the 40's and rainy and I'm supposed to run soon. Generally, that's OK running weather, but I'm sick of being waterlogged. I don't think Spring is ever going to get here and it's making me sad. I'm just going to sit here and stare at this photo of a donkey until it's 65 degrees outside and sunny. Because you know what doesn't make me sad? Donkeys.

Actually, I think he's mocking me because he's in the sun!

   I'm still raising money for Team in Training!  Closing in on $5,500 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society! Click here to help me fight blood cancers!  http://pages.teamintraining.org/tn/nikewhlf13/kmylls

Weekend Wrap-up

   So I'm sitting here trying to come up with something witty to write, but I got nothin'. Did I ride last week?  Yep!  30-miles in Saturday.  Saved a snail from certain death AND rescued two stray doggies who were running in traffic. (What can I say? I'm an animal lover.)

   Did I run? Of course! A couple of times. I had a fun 5-miler with my TNT group and a VERY hilly 5k with East Nasty earlier in the week, and then a rain-soaked 10-miler Sunday. But nothing really "blog-worthy."  Well, except that I witnessed the rescuing of a baby goat who had his head stuck in the fence.  Let me tell you, there is nothing more pathetic than a baby goat with his head stuck in a fence. Poor little guy. (Yes, he's OK.)
   I did sign up for the Memphis in May Olympic Distance Triathlon. THAT should be interesting. Even though the name states that the race is in Memphis, it's actually in Tunica, MS.  That's right - the gambling capital of the South. Or, at least Mississippi. For some reason, this race chooses a country to celebrate every year as a theme. This year it's Sweden. Kind of random, but why not? Go Sweden!

   This weekend is the Oak Barrel Half Marathon. Remember in a previous post, I stated that there are races you do for fun, and races you do for time? Well, this is the former. This race is supposed to be one of the hardest in Tennessee. It has a hill that is so tough that it has a name - Whiskey Hill. It even has it's own Facebook page!! So yeah... I'm slightly terrified really looking forward to it! There is, however, supposed to be some serious swag given away at this race AND an awesome medal. (Listen up, race directors - this stuff is important!! Racers like swag! We will come to your race for swag!) Plus, a whole slew of East Nasties are coming down for the race, and I think my FTP training partner Kathy is as well. I plan on taking a lot of photos. If I don't get one of me sitting on a tractor or with a cow, I'm going to consider this race a failure. THAT'S how seriously I'm taking it.

   Hope everyone had a fantastic Easter weekend!! And don't forget I'm still raising money for TNT! Click here to help my fight against blood cancers!  http://pages.teamintraining.org/tn/nikewhlf13/kmylls

Alpha Delta Pi-athlon Race Recap

   Today was my first race of the season - the Alpha Delta Pi-athlon, which benefitted the Ronald McDonald House.

   As I pointed out in Friday's post, I wasn't really sure how this race was going to go down. In fact, when going to bed last night, I wasn't even sure if I was actually going to show up to race this morning. My first tri of the season is always a nerve-wracking thing for me. Then add in the minimal sleep, and the cold and potentially rainy (and dangerous) weather...well, let's just say I wasn't all that excited to race when my alarm went off at 4:30 this morning. But after thinking about it for a bit  coming up with every excuse I could think of not to go, I decided to apply Rule #5 and race. After all, triathlon is a sport that is meant to be raced in all conditions. It's supposed to be hard. Quit being such a wuss, deal with it and move forward.

   So, off Dudley and I went to Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, which is about 45 minutes away. (Just FYI - if you ever go to the MTSU Rec Center, don't use the directions on their website. They're wrong.) I went to go check in / get body-marked while Dudley dropped my bike in transition. 

   Funny story about the transition area... I saw the spot where I wanted to rack, and told Dudley put my things next to the guy in the red & grey jacket. That guy happened to be East Nasty Kevin Gammon. Next to him was Jim Schwan and Allie Miles. I had no idea at the time that I was telling Dudley to rack my bike next to my friends, but I was. Funny how things work out like that, huh? There ended up being about 8 East Nasties there together. It was cool.

   The race organizer wanted everyone there by 6:30 am, but the race didn't start until 8:00 am. So there was a lot of hanging out in the cold, damp weather. Fortunately, it was in the 40's and the rain was holding off for the time-being. The original forecast had it as in the 30's and storms. 

    One nice thing about having to wait for so long was that I ran into a ton of people I knew who were racing that day! Annie and Drew from TNT, Robin and Ken from the Nashville Tri Club, Jason from J. Alexander's and everyone from FTP and East Nasty. Of course, this would be a much better blog if I actually got photos of all of these people, but I didn't. Fail. 

FTP ready to throw the hammer down! 

SWIM:

  The race started right on time. Being that I was #189, and this was a time-trial start, I had about 20-30 minutes before I would hit the water. No big deal. We were able to stay in the pool area while we waited so we didn't freeze. The only thing I didn't like about the swim was that you had to jump in at the start, rather than already being in the water. So you had to deal with the sudden shock of the water, but then didn't have the benefit of a wall to push off of to get started.

   But once I got in, my swim felt good. I didn't push it - just swam my race. I wish I knew how to do flip-turns because I know I lose time there. It's hard to get to the wall, go under the floating lane divider, and then start swimming again without losing your momentum. I'm not graceful doing that AT ALL. Flip turns might help. 

   The swim was very well-organized and they spaced people appropriately. Not too many clusters of people at the wall that I have seen at other time-trial races. I was able to pass three or four people in the water, and didn't get passed, so I was happy. 

No one really looks good coming out of a swim. But because I love you all, I'll sacrifice my dignity and post a photo.

BIKE:

   I come out of the pool area and start running to my bike. And what's the first thing I realize? It's raining. Basically, the ONE THING that I really didn't want to happen, happened. Not that I cared about getting wet - I had just been swimming. But rain means slick streets, which can make for some dangerous riding conditions. Not fun. But what are you going to do? Quit? Nope. Gotta keep moving forward. So off I went. 

Notice all of the empty racks? That's what being #189 will do.

Trying very hard to get my feet clipped in. Everything was so slick!

   After getting on the bike and FINALLY getting clipped in (seemed like it took forever), I immediately noticed that I had forgotten my sunglasses. I didn't need them for the sun, but rather to keep the rain out of my eyes. Again - what are you going to do? Can't go back, so I just plowed on. I took it easy getting out into the main roads. My main goal for this race was to not fall on the bike, so I was pretty conservative. There were several speed bumps we had to go over, and a lot of white road markings (which are extremely slippery on a bike). I didn't really try to get any real speed until I got out of the MTSU campus. 

   I liked the route. Wasn't too hilly or technical. It'd probably be a fun route when it wasn't raining. I brought Big Red (my Litespeed), rather than my tri bike because I had heard the route had a lot of turns. Plus, it's better in the rain. Sure, I might have sacrificed a minute or two because of this (tri bikes are faster), but I'm OK with that. One thing that surprised me is that I wasn't cold. I thought I would freeze on the bike, but it wasn't really that bad. 

   Unfortunately, it was on the bike that I somehow messed up my Garmin, so I had no idea where I was on the route, or how fast I was going. There weren't any mile markers, either. I didn't really care about the speed, but I really wanted to know how many miles I had to go. It helps me mentally to know.

RUN:

   I hit transition and start to rack my bike, and what do I see? Kevin. Just hanging out. 

      Me: "Are you done?"

      Kevin: "Yep."

      Me: "Done - done?"

      Kevin: "Yes."

      Me (internally): "AAUUGGHH!!!!"

I'm sorry, but there is nothing more demoralizing than having someone FINISHED with their race when you still have the run to do. Yes, I know, Kevin is faster than I am. Yes, he was #9 and started at least 20 minutes before I did. I. Don't. Care. All I knew was that he was done and that I wanted to be done, too! UGH! But, alas, I wasn't. So I threw on my shoes and started running. My toes, which I hadn't really noticed before, were now FREEZING. Have you ever tried to run with frozen toes? I don't recommend it.

   As I'm running out of transition, I hear Dudley yelling "stay to the left, there are bikes on the right. Stay to the left." So I did. That was a bit of a cluster, having the bikes and the runners go out of the same exit and travel in the same direction, but I made it out unscathed. 

  Again, due to my Garmin being messed up, I had no clue how fast I was going, or how far I needed to go. The route was generally flat. A couple of small false-flats that you probably wouldn't notice unless you were running them, but nothing you could call a hill. I haven't done any brick training this season yet, but I didn't feel as bad as I usually do when running. It was hard, but I kind of found a comfortable groove and stuck with it. At some point, it has stopped raining, which was nice. Of course, you're still soaking wet, but at least the rain isn't in your eyes anymore. 

   Finally, I made the turn for the finish. I tried to kick it in, but I really don't have a kick. I wish I did. I saw this one girl just fly by me and hammer it at the end. She probably passed 5 people. So jealous.

POST RACE:

   As I crossed the line, I heard all of these voices: "Go Kristine!" "Yay, Kristine!" "EAST NASTY!" I have no idea who was yelling, but thank you (I'm assuming a good portion of it was from FTP, because they're all supportive like that.). What I thought was odd was that the one voice I didn't hear was Dudley's. So I started looking around for him and he's nowhere to be seen. After a few minutes, I went back to the transition area, and there he is - STILL directing people out of the transition area. "Runners left lane! Bikes right lane! Runners left lane! Bikes right lane!" He kills me. Apparently, exiting the transition area was more of a cluster than I thought it was. People were riding IN TRANSITION, which is a HUGE no-no. He saw that someone was going to get hurt, so he stepped in. Because that's what he does. :-)

   I went to go pack up my gear, and met up with all of the East Nasties. They all had great races.

Yes, I was the only one not smart enough to leave warm clothes in the transition area.

   In fact, both Allie and Jim finished second in their age groups, and I actually got third in women's masters! Yes, I was the third fastest old lady there (Masters are 40+)!  ;-)

Umm - my name is pronounced "miles," not "mills."  (No, I didn't actually correct them.)

YAY! Certificate!

East Nasties bringing home the hardware...or paper, in this case.

   

   Of course, don't think I don't see the connection of this being a race that I was scared of doing nervous to do, but actually did pretty well in. But even if I didn't place, this race would have been worth it. It was definitely a learning experience for me. It was some of the worst tri conditions I've had to race in so far, but I did it. And I feel really good about that.

Swim: 6:28:9 (126/303)

T1: 1:08:9 

Bike: 37:38.0 (114/303)

T2: 1:16:2

Run: 22:27 (177/303)

For the record - The course was short. I'm not that fast. Someone mentioned something about a road closure due to rain/flooding, but I have no official verification.

What? It's Race Season? Already?!

   It's March and officially the end of the off-season. Which means my first triathlon is right around the corner. As in Sunday. Which is two days from now.
   Yes, yes...in TWO days, I'll be swimming, biking and running my little heart out all over the Middle Tennessee State University campus. One of their sororities, Alpha Delta Pi, has a charity triathlon and I'm in it. (Sidebar - how cool is it that a sorority has a triathlon?! I'm sure my sorority had fundraisers, but they were probably bake sales. Pretty much the OPPOSITE of a triathlon. But anyway...)

They even have a catchy name - ADPi-athon!

   The kicker is with this race is that I'm nowhere near prepared - either mentally or physically. Sort of like the NOLA Half-Marathon from a few weeks back, but even more so because there are three sports. Now, this is completely my fault. Did I obey the workouts that Andrew from FTP so diligently planed for us every week? Ummm - no. Here's kind of how that all went down.
 
How I talked myself out of swimming:
   Good, Motivated Me: "Hmm - the schedule says I'm supposed to swim in the morning."
   Evil, Lazy Me: "But it's cold! And the swim is EARLY! You worked the Preds game last night! Aren't you tired?"
   Good Me: "Yes, I'm tired, but I should really go."
   Evil Me: "But the smell of chlorine makes you sick. And it's not like you have a race on the schedule."
   Good Me: "True..."

How I talked myself out of cycling:
   Good Me: "I need to get a ride in."
   Evil Me: "But it's cold."
   Good Me: "I can get on the trainer."
   Evil Me: "But the trainer sucks."
   Good Me: "True..."

   While it's true that my day job went into hyperdrive over the past few months AND my second job kicked in full-swing (so I'm not a COMPLETE slacker), the sad fact is that the number of times I've been to the pool and/or been on the bike since the Augusta Half-Ironman is in the single-digits. The good news is the Evil Me never talks me out of running, so I'll have that part down. I'm still not "fast," but I'm faster, so I'm happy about that. And fortunately, it's a sprint tri: 300 meter swim, 10 mile bike and a 3.14 mile run (3.14 as in Pi...for Alpha Delta Pi.  Cute, huh?), so while it'll be a painful race - the pain won't last that long...I hope.
    So LOOK OUT Alpha Delta Pi-athon! I'm gunning for you! Well, sort of. At least I'll get a t-shirt out of it.
   And though I've met my $5,000 goal, cancer doesn't stop, so neither do it. Please help my fight against blood cancers by clicking here. THANKS! http://pages.teamintraining.org/tn/nikewhlf13/kmylls

I Want to Ride My Bicycle. I Want to Ride My Bike.

   Saturday was the first really nice day of the year. Nashville got up into the mid-70's and you know what that means - BIKE RIDE!! Unlike running, which is very doable in colder weather, cycling is best experienced in warmer temperatures. At least for me it is.
   So I get up and load up the bike (well, Ok, Dudley loaded up the bike) and I met up with the gang at FTP up in Sumner County. I admit, I was a little concerned about how this ride was going to go. It was only the night before that Dudley had changed my tube and tire from a flat that I had LAST OCTOBER. Yes, it had been that long since I'd been on my trusty Litespeed. Sad, I know.
   The group was to ride about 26-miles, which was a 13-mile course repeated twice. The route was really nice - rolling hills with one or two harder climbs, but nothing crazy, and not many cars. Kicker was - it was WINDY. Seriously. Flags flying straight out kind of windy. (Sidebar: when did Nashville get so crazy windy? I've lived here for 15 years and I've noticed a significant increase in wind over the past year.) Anyway, we start riding and immediately broke up into groups, with Carissa and I riding together since we're close to same ability. It was just the two of us having a nice ride for about the first ten miles until we hit Long Hollow Parkway...when we hit a headwind.
   Now this was no ordinary headwind. This was the type of headwind where you're pedaling but don't really seem to be going anywhere. The kind where you have to pedal DOWNHILL because the wind is so strong. I mean, come on! That's not fair. You kill yourself to get up a hill and then you still have to pedal downhill? Not cool wind, not cool.
   We finally make it one loop and Carissa and I decide to take a different route this time to avoid Long Hollow. We couldn't completely avoid the wind, but we could at least have a little buffer from the trees. So we get going again and we're about two miles I realize that I'm hot and want to remove my arm-warmers. In theory, this should be an easy task that I can do without stopping. But my Garmin and my Road ID (don't ride/run without it!) were over my arm-warmers, so pulled over to remove them and told Carissa to ride on. My plan was to hammer it and see if I could catch her once I got going again.
   That plan lasted about one mile. Did I catch her? Uh no. Not even close. But what I did do was bonk. All of that riding in the wind completely depleted my energy, but I didn't realize it until I started climbing the main hill on the road. I knew I was hungry, but I went from hungry to shaky in a matter of a few minutes. Then I turned and had to face that stupid headwind again...UGH! I almost didn't have the energy to stay on the road. It was terrible.
   The worst part about bonking like this is that it's completely avoidable. I know you have to eat something every 45-minutes or so. But I thought "oh, it's only 26 miles. I'll be fine." Nope.  Lesson learned.
   But there is some good news that came out of my bonk. In my "Must. Eat. Now." frenzy for food, I went to the closest non-fast food restaurant I could find. I ended up at a great little restaurant called the Chef's Market and it was FANTASTIC. If you live up there, you must go. It's basically a locally-owned Panera/Bread & Co., but everything is made in-house. It's really, really good.
   And on a quick update for TNT - I'm currently at $5,050! I missed the group training because of the bike ride, but I did go out and volunteer with TNT at the local St. Patrick's Day 5k/10k - "Kegs & Eggs." I love volunteering at races. If you race, and you have never volunteered at one, you really should. It'll give you an entirely new perspective of a race-day experience.

GO TEAM!

   Even though I've met my goal, I'm still fund-raising!  If you care to donate, click here! http://pages.teamintraining.org/tn/nikewhlf13/kmylls  Thanks!