Huge swimming progress

Last night at the team practice they filmed me to show me my form and I learned that my form is pretty good for the most part. My worst flaw was that once my arms would hit the water I was bringing them toward the middle by my head and the s curving them through the water and once I would bring them out my hands would fly out to the side. So Coach Natalie told me to keep my arms shoulder width and everything else will fall into place, sure enough it did and by the end I didn’t really want to get out of the water because I was feeling good. Once I did all my drills and intervals I swam a total of 1900 meters which was by far the most I have ever swum. To that was nice.

My parents are officially coming to the race in DC. They booked their flight and reserved the hotel so they are locked in. I am excited that they are going to go to support me and Tina in the Nations Triathlon but I am also excited for them to see DC. I think they will both really like it and my mom will spend hours in the American Indian museum and my dad will live in the Air and Space.

Things are brewing

I am planning a couple fund raising events in about 3 weeks. I have been told that I need another poker night so people who missed the last one can come play so I will be doing another one of those. I am also planning on having a bunko night at Robert's mom's house. I have some good ideas about this so stay tuned.

Lately I have been wrapping my brain around the concept of helping others and I really do believe that there is no greater feeling than doing something for someone that makes even the smallest difference in their life. I challenge everyone to figure out what they can offer and make a difference and you will get something in return that is way greater than what you offered.

Being Tired Sucks

I have been very tired this week and I know that a lot of it has to do with my training and probably my lack of proper nutrition. I had a long bike ride today with my coach Steve and we discussed a lot of things from hydration to supplying enough calories for energy. It was a very helpful ride and info session as it was just us two today on our brick. After we rode about 20 miles we ran 3 and by that time it was well into the 90s so i got a good sweat going.

I have asked my momma to help with my fund raising and she has put a jar at her work and shared what I am doing with others in he beauty salon and some of them are helping to spread the word. The first day I got $62 so that is a great start. My friend Ann Marie operates a women only gym in Edmond and she has offered to help as well so I gave her documents and a jar for her to leave at the front of the gym. I am looking for more ideas for fund raising so if you have any please let me know.

It's not about me

I was watching TV and the new Nike campaign for livestrong came on and it just reminded me that my efforts for this triathlon are not about me, it's about the people affected by blood cancers. I have been thinking a lot lately about helping others and the difference it can make. I am raising money for cancer but you don't have to raise money for cancer or be associated with a charity to do something for others. You never know what one kind gesture will do for someone. Figure out what you can offer and make a difference in someone's life.

50 miles in 4 hours

Yesterday our team practice was a bike ride in Norman for charity. The ride was called Norman Conquest, Conquer the Hills, Conquer the Heat. The best part was the fact that there wasn't any heat to deal with the bad part was that the hills were still there. If you have never been east of Norman it is extremely hilly and when you are going 46 miles on these hills it makes it even tougher.

So I met some team members in the parking lot and when it was time to head out I noticed that my front tire needed some air so I went to put air in the tire and told Stephanie and Kristy that I would catch up. When I got back to the exit of the parking lot I saw people turning left so I went left. I noticed that there wasn't anyone out in front of them but I kept going anyway since there were a few hills and thought maybe they just turned and I couldn't see them. So after I went about 2 miles and saw nobody I realized I went the wrong way and had followed the 10 mile family fun ride group. So I turned around and went back to the start. At this point I have ridden 4 miles total in the wrong direction and am probably 10 - 15 minutes behind the group.

I went back to the start and got a map and got on my way. After about 2 hours of riding alone I finally caught Stephanie and rode with her for a few miles before we hit a rest stop and that is were we found Kristy. So we all enjoyed some chatting about how badly I wanted chicken nuggets and then got on our way. At this point we were 25 miles in to the 46 mile ride, not including my 4 miles in the wrong direction. The last 20ish miles were so hard my legs were tired and just ready to not move for a while but I made it through and finished at 11:30. so I rode for 4 hours and covered 50 miles of crazy hills. I am glad I did it and can only hope that it made my legs stronger.

To put into perspective of how far 50 miles that is the same as going from 2nd Street and I-35 in Edmond to Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater.

Great Success!

I made it through gauntlet #2 and I had the same outcome as I did last week. I went swim practice tonight and swam right at 1500 meters which included drills I have learned a lot of new tricks about my swim stroke in terms of efficiency and speed. I left the pool a little before 8 and went straight to northeast Edmond to dominate 2 softball games. I love to play softball but I will be ready for the season to end next week so I can focus 100% of my efforts on the triathlon. Nonetheless i have done this two weeks in a row and we have won all 4 games.

I discovered a new band today, Owl City. They remind me a lot of The Postal Service and their lead singer Ben Gibbard's voice, but the voice also sounds like the lead singer of MAE. Its good fun electronicy type of music and only $8 on iTunes, go get it now before they get one hit and the price goes up $4.

Poker Tournament & Stuff

This Saturday I am hosting a poker tournament to help with my fundraising. $30 gets you a seat at a table, $20 goes to my fundraising and $10 goes to the pot for the winner(s). It should be a fun evening so if you are down to throw some cards like KGB in Rounders head on over to my house at 7pm this Saturday the 18th.

I rode the bike for 1 hour this morning going about 18 miles. I did a lot of intervals where I would go really hard then let up for a few minutes then go really hard a gain. I go honked at again by some guy in a gray Dodge Charger but this time I think he was actually letting me know he was there because he didn't lay on his horn it was just a few quick honks and it was well before he reached me. I gave him a fun thank you wave.

Eat Eat Eat.....I have been eating a lot more than I normally do because I noticed that my energy level is a lot lower when I don't because my body is using all the food I take in which is nice because I can pretty much eat whatever I want and still stay in shape. But I still try to eat fairly healthy.

Tonight is Gauntlet II. Like I said I rode the bike this morning, well tonight I have team swim practice at 6:30 and then I have 2 softball games at 8:30 and 9:30 I am gonna have to make sure I get away from the swim early enough to get something to eat as I know I will be starving by 8 tonight.