Life has been very busy these past few months and really I don't see any end in sight for the time being. Most of the time has been enjoyable, however..not all of it.
April was busy with tournaments (working and bowling) and the USBC Convention. Working the Intercollegiate Team Championships is always one of my very favorite events of the year. I love college athletics and this event is jam packed with excitement and fun. Rockford, IL wasn't exactly the greatest place to visit for a week, but I did get to see my parents for dinner one night when they made the 1.5 hour drive down from Milwaukee. And, it was a chance for me to work closer with a few of my co-workers, which was great. I gained some great friendships out of that week, which was very cool.
After that trip was over, I made the first trek out to Reno, NV to bowl in the Women's National Tournament. I had a blast with my doubles partner Mindy Corr. I did not bowl well at all...which is a touchy subject, but it was a fun trip. I can't wait for El Paso next year to bowl with a bunch of my girlfriends.
The next trip was back to Reno for the USBC Convention. This was a great week, career-wise. I presented a workshop and spoke to our delegate of over 1,000 people. However, it did not end on a good note when the volunteers we have out there got wrapped up in their own agendas and personal issues and failed to pass some key legislation to help with the future of our sport.
Okay, on to the fun travel of May.
Early May I went to Houston for the weekend to bowl in the state tournament. I got there on Saturday just to watch the end of the team event, where Derek's team shot lights out to take over 1st place of the entire tournament. I bowled okay on Sunday to help my doubles partner out and Derek and his doubles partner shot well again to move into 2nd place for that event. We had a good time and Houston is an okay city...parts seem nice and parts seem kind of scary. The traffic though is horrendous!!!
The weekend after that was my much anticpated triathlon. I had been training for months for this race, albeit sporadically through April. So, the week before I buckled down and got in two-a-days to cram in the workouts. On Saturday the 16th we drove down to Austin. I checked-in at the race expo, walked around to gather my free schwag from the vendors and stayed to listen to a few of the presenters. This was very helpful to ease some of my first-time jitters. After that was done, Derek and I drove down to the campus of the Univ. of Texas. We were hoping to walk around, check out the stadium, etc but mother nature didn't agree I guess. It POURED the entire day. So, we did a driving tour of campus and then went to the state capitol to look around and tour it. It is a very neat capitol building...reminds me of WI a little bit.
Race morning I woke up at the 5am wake up call. I popped right out of bed b/c I couldn't sleep much the night before anyway. I was nervous and my check lists and thoughts of the race just wouldnt' leave my head. Derek and I packed up the car and headed to the park to get set up in the transition area. We arrived just as the sun was starting to rise and realized it was going to be a windy and chilly morning. I got my bike and everything set up in the area, got marked up with my race number and waited for my start time to be announced. At 7:20am the start gun went off for my start. The water was thankfully warmer than the air, however it was very windy so each time I picked my head up to take a breath I got a face full of lake water. Great, this will be a fun 1/2 mile swim.
On a side note...if any of you women are looking to do a great triathlon, I HIGHLY recommend the Trek women's series. It is fun, not intimidating and a great race for first timers.
In the water they have swim sisters in kayaks and holding onto noodles, so if you get tired and need a break they are there to help you out to hang on to one of their devices until you are ready to go again. I had been doing 1/2 mile in the pool in about 20-22 min. but with the waves and not practicing in open water, I finished in 31 min. Onto the bike ride...
The bike was probably my downfall of the entire race. I thought that I had trained enough, but I definitely should have done more biking around the hills of my area and less on the bike at the gym or spin class. Nothing prepares you more than being in the elements. It also didn't help to be riding through rolling hills on pavement on a mountain bike...I was getting passed left and right by road bikes. When I compete next time I definitely will be investing in a better bike. During the course overview they discussed the "big" hill at the end, however they didn't mention the "rolling" hills are just as big. It was a tough ride. I lost a lot of time and am not very proud of the 1:07 time I had.
By the time I got to the run, my mantra was "one foot in front of the other." I was tired, my legs were shot. I repeated to myself a few times and surprisingly I ran more than I thougtht I would. However, it was at a snails pace. That's okay, at least I was running. The course was a grass course and it had rained the night before so I was carrying about 5 lbs of mud on my shoes, great leg strenth training. :-) I finished the run in about 35 min. So, in all my total time, including transisiton areas was 2:22:22
It was an amazing accomplishment to finish and I really loved the challenge of it all. And for my exercise ADD personality, it keeps my interest b/c i don't have to concentrate on any one discipline too long. I can't wait to do the next one.
This past weekend was a nice long holiday weekend. I took off of work Thursday and Friday b/c my parents made their first trip down to the DFW area to visit us. It was great, we tried to do a little of everything, JFK museum, Ft. Worth Zoo, Stockyards and rodeo, strolling through downtown Grapevine. I wish the weather would have been a bit nicer on Sunday to go to the beach but still we had a great time and I loved having them around. Though Monday after I dropped them off at the aiport I was mopey the rest of the evening. It was hard to see them go, I really miss my family and friends back in Milwaukee. Though this isn't a bad place to live, I am not sure I will ever be able to call it home. My heart is back with my family and my friends and my life in WI.
So, as you can see it has been a very busy spring so far and the summer proves to be more of the same. Next up is our 1 year anniversary. It is hard to imagine a year ago I was not yet married. We have survived a lot of changes in our short marriage. After that it is on to traveling for work again. Though I do get to tie in my best friend's wedding and my cousin's wedding in the middle of the trip which will help to break up the 5 weeks on the road.
Oh, as soon as I can get my computer at home to work I will get some pictures of the race up. Till then you can check them out on my facebook page.
No comments:
Post a Comment