matt and i had a fun date last night.
we went to starbucks for coffee and sat in big, cushy chairs while we updated our list of "things i want to do in my lifetime".
it was fun to check off all the things that i have done that i set out to do as well.
for example:
-marry the perfect man for me
-move to california
-run a half marathon
-complete a triathlon
-take a ceramics class (i'm currently doing this--did you know that? expect some EXCELLENT christmas gifts! heehee...)
-and a thousand other things...
some things on my new list include:
-complete an adventure race
-learn how to play guitar
-see U2/beastie boys/travoltas in concert
-take a photography class
-get a dog
-take a bike tour (ireland? california?)
-go to some national parks (west and northwest US)
-and lots more that you're probably not interested in..
but i am interested in you, dear reader, and what you have on your list. so let's hear it!
mare, were you joking about the duffel bag and bo sleeping in it? if so, very funny. if not, even more funny! :)
i really must be going, though. my one job today is to get my clothes moved back into my closet in the guest room. they've been taking over matt's closet since early august, since we've had nonstop visitors. ahhh, my own space again! actually, my other job is to get some new flip flops, since my favorite ones broke the other day--so sad!!! :(
so have a good one, everybody!
wait--the fad i participated in (in the 80s) that i am probably most embarrassed of is my mall bangs. you know, the wave of sprayed solid hair sticking 3 inches (at least) off my forehead. this was in addition to a perm (and occasionally i would pull back one side with a plastic clip!) i too, had stirrup pants, which i wore with socks OVER the pants (coordinating with the shirt, of course) and black flats.--that's for you, bobby queen!
Friday, October 08, 2004
whew! made it through another week. i'm finally feeling better, but still not back to normal.
ah, the weekend. i think we're having a little get-together with some friends and the andys will come down from LA tomorrow.
what? more people visiting?
i made a deal with matt that he has to do all the cleaning and prep for this visit and party, because it was my understanding that we would have no more guests until thanksgiving. except that i also got an email from kelly (ramsey) spivey saying that they moved out to san jose and that she has a conference in san diego next weekend. how can we say no? we haven't seen her for 2 years!!! i'm so excited to be able to spend some real time with her!
by the way, here are some links to funny pictures of mary and i after our swim portion of the triath:
mary:
http://www.finishlinemobilephoto.com/mp_client/pictures.asp?action=viewphotos&size=fullsize&pagenum=26&id=417546&eventid=3584
me:
http://www.finishlinemobilephoto.com/mp_client/pictures.asp?action=viewphotos&size=fullsize&pagenum=24&id=417544&eventid=3584
there are also some running and biking ones, but i don't have the energy to cut and paste those deals. i look delirious in both-not to mention my shorts look like they're falling off! mary looks pretty good! there are no pictures of us together (even though we were next to each other the whole time!) and no pictures of us crossing the finish line--bummer, i wanted that one. oh well, we have the memories!
i'm going to try to get some pictures developed for our guestbook tonight--wish me luck! i've been trying to work on this project (for) FOREVER!!!!
and i think matt and i have a date at a fun coffeeshop that has white hot chocolate---SO GOOD, even though i'm not normally a white chocolate fan...
welp, i must be going, i hear matt is home.
have a great weekend everyone!
p.s. i hope acid-washed jeans don't come back!
ah, the weekend. i think we're having a little get-together with some friends and the andys will come down from LA tomorrow.
what? more people visiting?
i made a deal with matt that he has to do all the cleaning and prep for this visit and party, because it was my understanding that we would have no more guests until thanksgiving. except that i also got an email from kelly (ramsey) spivey saying that they moved out to san jose and that she has a conference in san diego next weekend. how can we say no? we haven't seen her for 2 years!!! i'm so excited to be able to spend some real time with her!
by the way, here are some links to funny pictures of mary and i after our swim portion of the triath:
mary:
http://www.finishlinemobilephoto.com/mp_client/pictures.asp?action=viewphotos&size=fullsize&pagenum=26&id=417546&eventid=3584
me:
http://www.finishlinemobilephoto.com/mp_client/pictures.asp?action=viewphotos&size=fullsize&pagenum=24&id=417544&eventid=3584
there are also some running and biking ones, but i don't have the energy to cut and paste those deals. i look delirious in both-not to mention my shorts look like they're falling off! mary looks pretty good! there are no pictures of us together (even though we were next to each other the whole time!) and no pictures of us crossing the finish line--bummer, i wanted that one. oh well, we have the memories!
i'm going to try to get some pictures developed for our guestbook tonight--wish me luck! i've been trying to work on this project (for) FOREVER!!!!
and i think matt and i have a date at a fun coffeeshop that has white hot chocolate---SO GOOD, even though i'm not normally a white chocolate fan...
welp, i must be going, i hear matt is home.
have a great weekend everyone!
p.s. i hope acid-washed jeans don't come back!
Monday, October 04, 2004
Sunday, October 03, 2004
i am a triathlete! and so is mary!
yes!
so crazy to be able to say that!
so here's the story: mare came into town on friday evening and we picked up some wahoo's and enjoyed some conversation. matt and i went to bed early (i don't know why matt conked out! i was still sick-i had an excuse. and by the way, i lost my voice on thursday and it is replaced with a ridiculously hoarse and breathy voice with a ton of pitch breaks. so annoying to talk with and annoying for other people to listen to! it's a little better today, but still annoying).
saturday, mare and i went to the pre-race expo and we went to pick up our numbers and hear a triathlon guru (named "gurujan") talk about details of the triathlon. after what seemed like forever, we finally came home (he had a ton of good things to say, but it dragged on and i was fighting a fever. thankfully, he was at least funny and quirky. and bald. i don't know why that last quality seems important, but it just completes the picture of guru, i think). mare and i both took naps when we got home and sleepily woke up in time to go drop our bikes off at the transition area and go over the course.
mare and i made a yummy carb-loaded meal of spaghetti, bread and cheese, and salad. then we practiced our funny transitions (see her blog for extra details and procedures) while matt made fun of our alien swim-cap heads. "when you see me in this swim cap, you're going to wish you never married me," i said to matt. "you're right," he said when he saw me. HA! unfortunately, the fever i had been battling all day got the best of me. (doesn't God love me? why is He letting this happen to me NOW, of all times?----who else has had these irrational thoughts when you are sick? yet i've never wrestled with God over anything more than i have with disease and illness on this earth. but that's a way longer conversation-i digress...)
then, i got a nice call from my dear friend, heidi, calling to encourage me and give me tips to get better (calcium-for body aches, and a lemon bath, which supposedly draws toxins and infections out of your body through your skin. weird.) matt, mary, and i made a run to jamba juice to get smoothies with immune boosters in them and i came home and took the silly lemon bath and went to bed.
today: mare and i woke up at 5:00 am, full of adrenaline, and me feeling better (lemon bath? the Lord? both? i don't know). when we arrived at the transition area to set up our gear for the race, boy, were we glad we had gone to hear the guru! we had time to process and visualize and rehearse in our heads and were calm and ready to go in the morning. other people were asking out of control unprepared questions (when does my age group race? where do i put my bike?, etc.) and we were so glad to eliminate at least that portion of anxiousness from our day.
THE SWIM: we got halfway into our wetsuits and walked the 1/2 mile to the swim start and watched the pros and elites gracefully gliding through the water. then all the other men raced and mare and i were in the first female wave start. there were 15 wave starts, (1600 people competing total) and mary and i were in the 9th wave start.
anyhoo, as the time came closer to our wave, we got in the freezing cold water and were trying to practice swimming. not easy while hyperventilating from shock :). we were giggling and freaking out and chatting with the other girls in our age group (24-29). i started to feel really nervous and anxious. i heard a girl near me say, "ok, let's pray," to her two friends and i said all out of control, "oh, can we pray with you?" of course we could, they said. and we all held hands and prayed together. i felt better after that. i was telling matt about it after the race and he said, "i know. i saw you. i took a picture of you guys." that made me so happy!
so we got in line with all the other white and green swim caps and treaded water for 5 minutes until the siren signaled our start. we waited a few seconds (again, good advice from mr. guru) and then took off. instantly, i was on top of 5 girls, kicking and flapping! and during the first couple of stroke-breaths, i took in a large mouthful of saltwater. even though we were in a protected bay, the tide was coming in and there were still waves. waves which flung into the mouth. i lost mary and then switched back and forth from front crawl to backstroke when i couldn't breathe (i'm telling you people, it was hard to coordinate the breathing with the freezing cold and adrenaline and saltwater--matt has a hilarious video of this! as i watched, i thought, "hmm. my form looks pretty good." and then you see me stop and start coughing out of control-very funny!). we swam from one point along the shore to another point along the shore, with lifeguards on surfboards and jetskis monitoring us and yelling encouragement. after what seemed like a million years, i finally reached the end and ran to the transition area (maybe 100 yards away?).
TRANSITION #1: mr. guru told us that while swimming, the blood from our brains would be actually trying to get oxygen to our legs and arms, thereby rendering our thinking. i flung off my goggles, swim cap, wetsuit, and then put on my clothes and shoes. my brain apparently forgot how to tie shoes and my fingers were all slow and deliberate, and i was laughing deliriously. mare ran up and started her transition while matt took pictures and i drank some water. "it tastes so sweet [after ingesting saltwater]!" i deliriously shouted to mary, as she deliriously took it from me. ahhhhh, sweet, sweet nectar... matt took some good pictures of the goofballs, and we were off and running with our bikes. we hopped on our bikes once we were out of the transition area and past a chalk line that said, "BIKE MOUNT LINE".
THE BIKE: mare and i went sailing away on our bikes, feeling strong and happy to be out of the water. we were supposed to keep 2 bike lengths of a distance between us (single-file, that is), but we snuck sometimes (when the path was wide or when there weren't many people behind us) and rode together. people commented on our matching shirts-yay! perfect red under armour shirts, for those of you who don't know! one thing about the biking was that people on road bikes were much faster and went flying around us. and we were in our highest gears and couldn't pedal any faster. we circled around this island and then cut through sea world's parking lot. a lady passed us on a turn and then flipped head-first over a curb at the next turn. i screamed-because it looked horrible-- and mare and i slowed way down and yelled, "are you okay?" she looked dazed but said she was alright, so we kept on going. then the end was in sight. we dismounted and ran on our noodle legs toward our bike rack. i heard a crash and turned around to see a wreck of 4 bikes at the dismount line we had just passed.
TRANSITION #2: still running on noodle legs, we ran our bikes back to the rack and i was all confused when i saw that someone had put their bike on top of mine and mare's spot. it only took a few seconds for me to problem solve, though, and we threw our helmets down, grabbed an energy gel and a water and were off and running!
THE RUN: man, we had been dreading this leg of the race when we had talked about it in preparation, but it turned out to be the best leg of the race for both of us. yay! mare said it best, "it feels good to have normal, natural body movement again". this time, WE actually were the ones doing most of the passing and just got into a great flow and rhythm. we passed mile marker #1 and both felt pretty good. we kept on running and looking for mile marker #2 but never saw it. mare remembered that when we reached the top of the bridge we would have less than 1/2 mile left and all of the sudden we were at the base of it. mare led us up the bridge in the passing lane and we probably passed 30-40 people on that deal--YES! when we reached the bottom we could see the tents and the crowds of people up ahead. another few minutes and we saw matt, with his camera and backpack chair in tow. people were yelling and screaming and these guys were telling us to "pick up the pace, last 100 yards!!!" so we did!
THE FINISH: we picked it up, and did a 100 yard stride into the finish line, which we crossed together. the guy who was yelling people's names into the microphone at the finish line yelled in his funny announcer voice, "what's this? i'm seeing double! it's tracey and mary edwards!" we started laughing deliriously again and tried to give each other high fives but missed and laughed even harder and dizzily tried not to fall down as we walked down the chute and gave people our numbers and timing chips. matt was waiting for us there. ahhhh, bliss and success and adrenaline and thank you Lord!
after free food and jamba juice smoothies and lip balm and other free wierd stuff, we came home. mary and i jumped in the hot tub and relived all the fun moments of the race as we soaked our muscles.
now mare and matt are out surfing it up in encinitas with joel and the andys. matt made me (and i decided, too...) stay home because i really am not well. so i'm here resting and feeling like it is 7 at night because this day seems so long! when they get home we will all get into the steaming hot jacuzzi with maybe a drink.
all in all, fantastic day! we'll definitely do another triathlon again someday--it was so much fun and it went by so fast. and maybe the muddy buddy race at the end of the month--see mary's blog for a link!
welp, i'm out.
"i beat my body and make it my slave..."
-I corinthians 9:27a
yes!
so crazy to be able to say that!
so here's the story: mare came into town on friday evening and we picked up some wahoo's and enjoyed some conversation. matt and i went to bed early (i don't know why matt conked out! i was still sick-i had an excuse. and by the way, i lost my voice on thursday and it is replaced with a ridiculously hoarse and breathy voice with a ton of pitch breaks. so annoying to talk with and annoying for other people to listen to! it's a little better today, but still annoying).
saturday, mare and i went to the pre-race expo and we went to pick up our numbers and hear a triathlon guru (named "gurujan") talk about details of the triathlon. after what seemed like forever, we finally came home (he had a ton of good things to say, but it dragged on and i was fighting a fever. thankfully, he was at least funny and quirky. and bald. i don't know why that last quality seems important, but it just completes the picture of guru, i think). mare and i both took naps when we got home and sleepily woke up in time to go drop our bikes off at the transition area and go over the course.
mare and i made a yummy carb-loaded meal of spaghetti, bread and cheese, and salad. then we practiced our funny transitions (see her blog for extra details and procedures) while matt made fun of our alien swim-cap heads. "when you see me in this swim cap, you're going to wish you never married me," i said to matt. "you're right," he said when he saw me. HA! unfortunately, the fever i had been battling all day got the best of me. (doesn't God love me? why is He letting this happen to me NOW, of all times?----who else has had these irrational thoughts when you are sick? yet i've never wrestled with God over anything more than i have with disease and illness on this earth. but that's a way longer conversation-i digress...)
then, i got a nice call from my dear friend, heidi, calling to encourage me and give me tips to get better (calcium-for body aches, and a lemon bath, which supposedly draws toxins and infections out of your body through your skin. weird.) matt, mary, and i made a run to jamba juice to get smoothies with immune boosters in them and i came home and took the silly lemon bath and went to bed.
today: mare and i woke up at 5:00 am, full of adrenaline, and me feeling better (lemon bath? the Lord? both? i don't know). when we arrived at the transition area to set up our gear for the race, boy, were we glad we had gone to hear the guru! we had time to process and visualize and rehearse in our heads and were calm and ready to go in the morning. other people were asking out of control unprepared questions (when does my age group race? where do i put my bike?, etc.) and we were so glad to eliminate at least that portion of anxiousness from our day.
THE SWIM: we got halfway into our wetsuits and walked the 1/2 mile to the swim start and watched the pros and elites gracefully gliding through the water. then all the other men raced and mare and i were in the first female wave start. there were 15 wave starts, (1600 people competing total) and mary and i were in the 9th wave start.
anyhoo, as the time came closer to our wave, we got in the freezing cold water and were trying to practice swimming. not easy while hyperventilating from shock :). we were giggling and freaking out and chatting with the other girls in our age group (24-29). i started to feel really nervous and anxious. i heard a girl near me say, "ok, let's pray," to her two friends and i said all out of control, "oh, can we pray with you?" of course we could, they said. and we all held hands and prayed together. i felt better after that. i was telling matt about it after the race and he said, "i know. i saw you. i took a picture of you guys." that made me so happy!
so we got in line with all the other white and green swim caps and treaded water for 5 minutes until the siren signaled our start. we waited a few seconds (again, good advice from mr. guru) and then took off. instantly, i was on top of 5 girls, kicking and flapping! and during the first couple of stroke-breaths, i took in a large mouthful of saltwater. even though we were in a protected bay, the tide was coming in and there were still waves. waves which flung into the mouth. i lost mary and then switched back and forth from front crawl to backstroke when i couldn't breathe (i'm telling you people, it was hard to coordinate the breathing with the freezing cold and adrenaline and saltwater--matt has a hilarious video of this! as i watched, i thought, "hmm. my form looks pretty good." and then you see me stop and start coughing out of control-very funny!). we swam from one point along the shore to another point along the shore, with lifeguards on surfboards and jetskis monitoring us and yelling encouragement. after what seemed like a million years, i finally reached the end and ran to the transition area (maybe 100 yards away?).
TRANSITION #1: mr. guru told us that while swimming, the blood from our brains would be actually trying to get oxygen to our legs and arms, thereby rendering our thinking. i flung off my goggles, swim cap, wetsuit, and then put on my clothes and shoes. my brain apparently forgot how to tie shoes and my fingers were all slow and deliberate, and i was laughing deliriously. mare ran up and started her transition while matt took pictures and i drank some water. "it tastes so sweet [after ingesting saltwater]!" i deliriously shouted to mary, as she deliriously took it from me. ahhhhh, sweet, sweet nectar... matt took some good pictures of the goofballs, and we were off and running with our bikes. we hopped on our bikes once we were out of the transition area and past a chalk line that said, "BIKE MOUNT LINE".
THE BIKE: mare and i went sailing away on our bikes, feeling strong and happy to be out of the water. we were supposed to keep 2 bike lengths of a distance between us (single-file, that is), but we snuck sometimes (when the path was wide or when there weren't many people behind us) and rode together. people commented on our matching shirts-yay! perfect red under armour shirts, for those of you who don't know! one thing about the biking was that people on road bikes were much faster and went flying around us. and we were in our highest gears and couldn't pedal any faster. we circled around this island and then cut through sea world's parking lot. a lady passed us on a turn and then flipped head-first over a curb at the next turn. i screamed-because it looked horrible-- and mare and i slowed way down and yelled, "are you okay?" she looked dazed but said she was alright, so we kept on going. then the end was in sight. we dismounted and ran on our noodle legs toward our bike rack. i heard a crash and turned around to see a wreck of 4 bikes at the dismount line we had just passed.
TRANSITION #2: still running on noodle legs, we ran our bikes back to the rack and i was all confused when i saw that someone had put their bike on top of mine and mare's spot. it only took a few seconds for me to problem solve, though, and we threw our helmets down, grabbed an energy gel and a water and were off and running!
THE RUN: man, we had been dreading this leg of the race when we had talked about it in preparation, but it turned out to be the best leg of the race for both of us. yay! mare said it best, "it feels good to have normal, natural body movement again". this time, WE actually were the ones doing most of the passing and just got into a great flow and rhythm. we passed mile marker #1 and both felt pretty good. we kept on running and looking for mile marker #2 but never saw it. mare remembered that when we reached the top of the bridge we would have less than 1/2 mile left and all of the sudden we were at the base of it. mare led us up the bridge in the passing lane and we probably passed 30-40 people on that deal--YES! when we reached the bottom we could see the tents and the crowds of people up ahead. another few minutes and we saw matt, with his camera and backpack chair in tow. people were yelling and screaming and these guys were telling us to "pick up the pace, last 100 yards!!!" so we did!
THE FINISH: we picked it up, and did a 100 yard stride into the finish line, which we crossed together. the guy who was yelling people's names into the microphone at the finish line yelled in his funny announcer voice, "what's this? i'm seeing double! it's tracey and mary edwards!" we started laughing deliriously again and tried to give each other high fives but missed and laughed even harder and dizzily tried not to fall down as we walked down the chute and gave people our numbers and timing chips. matt was waiting for us there. ahhhh, bliss and success and adrenaline and thank you Lord!
after free food and jamba juice smoothies and lip balm and other free wierd stuff, we came home. mary and i jumped in the hot tub and relived all the fun moments of the race as we soaked our muscles.
now mare and matt are out surfing it up in encinitas with joel and the andys. matt made me (and i decided, too...) stay home because i really am not well. so i'm here resting and feeling like it is 7 at night because this day seems so long! when they get home we will all get into the steaming hot jacuzzi with maybe a drink.
all in all, fantastic day! we'll definitely do another triathlon again someday--it was so much fun and it went by so fast. and maybe the muddy buddy race at the end of the month--see mary's blog for a link!
welp, i'm out.
"i beat my body and make it my slave..."
-I corinthians 9:27a