A few more pics...

Happy Friday Friends!

I hope you all have something lovely and exciting and healthy planned this weekend. I have to work tomorrow. And the next weekend as well. Of course.

I do not love my job at this minute but that is another post for another day....

This morning I ran about 3 miles and then did Level 1 of Jillian's 30 Day Shred. I have done The Shred before, but it was about 20 pounds ago. I really needed to lose some fat before embarking on The Shred, so I thought now would be a good time to try again.

After losing some weight, I am hoping it will help tone me up some because I am really bad about working in strength workouts.

Anywhoooooo....

My dad just emailed me some more pictures from the race and I think they are sooooo funny! I am making funny faces in pretty much all of them!

This is the only remotely cute one:

Stretching and, I guess, laughing? Not sure what's going on here...ha!

Before the swim start. I looked like this on the outside:

But felt like this on the inside. Scared little girl!

And then we skip to after the bike since my speedy swim skills (a.k.a. The Second Biggest Miracle God Has Ever Preformed) caused my family to miss the Swim/Bike transistion:
Getting ready to head out on the run. Again, what is up with this face? Maybe I am eating something? Or laughing? Or making a joke? I dunno...but it is a weird face.

So I just thought I'd share those fun and funny pictures.

This weekend is Memorial Day weekend, girls. Are you ready for some fun in the sun....or should I say fun in a bathing suit?

I know this is a hard time for us all when we don't quite have a base tan yet (let's be honest here...tan fat looks better than white fat, am I right?), and realize that 10 extra pounds have crept on over the Winter months.

A few tips to keep in mind as we head into summer:

• Do something active at least 4 days a week. A 30 minute walk, your favorite workout DVD, a bike ride around your neighborhood....anything to get off the couch!
• Eat breakfast....this morning I had a bagel thin with 1 Tbsp PB, apples with cinnamon, and 1/2 cup of blueberries. Great way to start the morning.
• Work in more fresh veggies into your diet....what better time of year than when the fruits and vegs are fresh and begging to be eaten!
• Plan out meals for the week and give yourself only two "splurge" meals. I know it's hard but if it was easy you would be skinny by now. :) Just sayin'.
• Hydrate....drink lots and lots of water. And then drink some more water. It will make you feel great and your skin look lovely!
• Find a friend (even if it's your dog) and sign up for a 5K in a month or so. Give yourself something to look forward to!

Have a great Memorial Day weekend....think of me while you're on the lake and I'm at work on Saturday AND Monday! Boooooooooo hisssssssssss....:(

Holy Airbrush!

So.

Bex and I got back at this morning. After the half marathon in January I took 10 days off and had a really hard time getting back into the swing of things.

So this go-round I only took 3 days off and I was READY to get back out there this morning. We did a great 5-mile run and it felt sooooooo good and sweaty.

While I was at the Triathlon, Bex was with her family in Gulf Shores. She was stalking Tom all day on Sunday to hear about how I was doing. So even hundreds of miles away, she was there in spirit.

When I talked to her on Sunday after the race, she told me she had gotten me a funny/personalized congratulatory gift while on vacation. She told me to keep in mind that she got in at the Redneck Riviera and not to expect too much.

I love Gulf Shores because it brings back a fun memory for me.....after college graduation, a group of us girls got a condo and spent a long weekend there. It was just such a fun time with friends going to the Flora-Bama and taking in all it's glory!

And my bestie Christina and her husband live in Daphne, about 30 minutes from Gulf Shores. When Tom and I were dating we visited them down there and had the best time!

*Anyway* check out this little beauty that Bex had custom-made especially for little ole me!

Here is the front:
I love the way it says my first AND last name so as not to confuse me with all the other triathletes who had airbrush t-shirts made to commemorate the event.

And here is the back:
Two words, people: PURE CLASS. I plan to tie it up on the side with a hot pink scrunchi and wear it with my stone-washed cut-off jorts (jorts = jean shorts for those of you who aren't from Alabama or Mississippi).

She said they went to this tacky....I mean AWESOME T-shirt souvenier shop and the airbrush section had like three walls full of designs to choose from.

When the guy asked her which one she wanted, she said, "Um, no...I'm gonna need a custom design for this shirt." Bwahahahaahah! Love it, love it, love it.

She explained to him what she wanted and he said, "Well, this may take a while so I'll get started..." she said that was fine, they would just shop around.

I am hoping she also made it out of the store with an mesh tank top and a shot glass with a confederate flag on it.

Love. That. Bex. What a partner she is!

Self Affirmations

Doing this triathlon has gotten me thinking a lot about mental toughness and getting the results that you DESERVE.

I think so often we make excuses for ourselves, and don't allow our MINDS to even think we could accomplish something huge. Why is that?

Is it the way we were raised?

Is it society that beats us up?

Or is it just that deamon our shoulder saying, 'you can't do it. you can't do it'?

I don't know if it's one or all of the above but there are times where you simply cannot accept any more excuses. You cannot accept anything less for yourself. You cannot accept anything but the best.

Throughout my training, and throughout the actual event, there were soooooo many times when I thought it was too hard. It was too much. I was in over my head. I had taken on more than I could handle.

Physically, I was fine. I wasn't injured. I wasn't DYING. It was just hard.

Then the mental toughness would kick in with 'Why not?' 'Why not at least try?' 'You can do it.' 'You deserve it.' 'You. Can. Do. Anything.'

I think we could all stand to take a page from little Jessica's book. Take a look at this:

She looks in the mirror and sings with gumption...."I can do anything good! I love my hair! I love my haircuts! I love my dad! I love my whole house! I can do anything good!"

While it's so easy to focus on what we're NOT good at, it needs to be noted what we ARE good at.

What's wrong with looking in the mirror every now and then and saying,

"I love my dog."

"I love my eyes."

"I love my car."

"I love that new dress I bought."

Even something as trivial as, "I love it when I make up my bed in the morning...." (that's one of my own!)

Try pulling a 'Jessica' for a few days and see how it changes your life.

The Day After....

First I want to say thanks to all of you who read the World's Longest Post from yesterday! Ha!

There were just so many things going through my head and I wanted to share them all with you! So thanks for reading, commenting, emailing, calling, and texting me with words of congratulations. It really means a lot.

I had a lovely day-after-my-first-triathlon. I spent the morning drinking coffee and bloging, and then had planned to go to Hernando to run into Wal-Mart and get a mani/pedi (those are two separate errands....I was not planning on getting my mani-pedi AT the Wal-Mart).

But around 1pm it started doing this at my house:
Crazy almost-golf-ball-size HAIL! It sounded like someone was trying to get into the house it was pounding on the roof so hard. Reba was running all over the place like, "What in the world is going on?!?"

We have a recently-broken gutter and the water started coming in the house at the porch door. So I thought fast and stuffed some towels down at the bottom of the door. It actually worked.

THEN the water started coming in the laundry room door, too! Same thing here, just trying to soak up all the rain water coming in! Eeeek!

While it rained and hailed I just snuggled down on the couch and watched some DVR'd shows. I *love* having nothing to do sometimes!

The hail didn't last too long, but it was bad enough to hurt all our tomato plants Tom has been working so hard on. :(

When the weather finally cleared up I went ran my errands and had a WONDERFUL time getting pampered a little with a mani/pedi. I seriously don't think I have had a manicure since I moved to Tunica.

Now that I have a house and a husband and what seems like lots of things to pay for, I just feel like spending $30 on my nails is a waste. But I do looooooove a manicure when I feel like treating myself.

Here are my newly painted nails. AND to top it all off I didn't wear make up all day. I just ran around town make-up-less. See, REAL triathlete girls are way too cool and busy working on their racer-back tan to wear make-up.

Before, my feet looked AWFUL. Swimming and running had both taken it's toll on my toes, but now these little piggies look beautiful.

I am still a little sore today. My calves and ham strings are really tight, so I am going to take it easy this week, and think about what's next in my fitness adventure.

I need to keep training for *something* because having a long-term goal helps me stay motivated. Hmmmmmm....what to do, what to do. If you have any suggestions please let me know!

Memphis in May Olympic Triahtlon

HEY FRIENDS!!!!!!!!!

Great news...I made it with no injuries and I'm feelin' good!

I thought about you all during my race yesterday. This blog and it's readers...wheather I know you in real life or not, are such a motivation to me. I want to thank you for that. There were times during the race yesterday when I wanted to give up, but I thought to myself, "What would you say on the blog? I quit. I couldn't do it."

No. Not an option.

So here goes the long recap of my Sunday. There are lots of details and lots of pictures (for me at least, you know I am bad at posting pictures) so get ready....

Saturday afternoon I packed up all my clothes and gear. I spread everything out on the bed so I could see it all at once and make sure I didn't forget anything.

Race Outfit:
Alllllll the nutrition and gear:
Here is a list of everything I took:

• Sunglasses with croakies
• iPod nano with headphones
• swim cap
• 2 bottles of water...one for the transisiton area and one that attaches to the bike
• goggles
• LOTS of Emergen-C
• Garmin
• (3) GU Gels (Jet Blackberry, Tri Berry, and Orange)
• (1) pack of GU chomps (Orange)
• gum
• Luna bar in White Chocolate Macademia Nut

On Saturday Tom had to work in the afternoon (love that hard-workin' man!), so Dad, Louise, and I drove up to Millington to get checked in to the hotel and pick up my race packet. I had bought the official race technical T-shirt when I registered. You can't really see it in this picture, but it has the MIM Logo on it:
Every participant also got a cotton Tshirt with the race logo on it.

I also bought a cute running T and a koozie and sticker at the Expo:

You can't really see in this picture but this T says 'Runner Girl' on it. It's really cute. I had to take these pictures myself on the timer and Reba was wondering what was going on. ha ha.

And here I am with my number! 1123. So excited! (but what is up with my hair? I look like such a ragamuffin.)

The second one we took Louise said it looks like a mug shot. This picture makes me laugh:

The little Hampton Inn and Suites in Millington was so nice! We each got a King Studio Suite and it was beautiful and awesome! I was thrilled when I saw the room because I knew Tom and I would both sleep good for the Big Day.
We even had a swan made out of towels on our bed! Ahahahahahha!

At packet pick-up, we were able to walk around the start/finish line at the race site, and also see the swim course. It calmed my nerves a little to be there and get my barings. Just to be there on location and being able to visualize crossing the finish line made me feel a little more calm.

Tom arrived and we visited in the hotel with a glass of wine before dinner. Around 6pm my allergies started to flare up and it felt like there was concrete in my nose. Does any one else suffer from crazy bad allergies this time of year? Mine are bad, but can be controlled through over-the-counter stuff.

When I started to have sinking spell, I thought, 'Please no! Not this weekend! I need to be healthy and strong today and tomorrow.'

So I took some Advil Cold and Sinus and hoped for the best. By the time we got to the restaurant I was feeling better. Here we are waiting for dinner! This is the only 'pretty' picture of me I got all weekend. All the rest I look sweaty and tired. Ha!
I had my lucky pre-race dinner of: two glasses of red wine, pasta with fresh tomatoes and grilled chicken. It is a good mix of carbs and protein and has worked will for me in the past. After dinner we had to pop in Wal-Mart for some last minute items and picked up Skinny Cows for everyone! My fave.....

Saturday night we went to bed at about 10:30 with the alarm set for 5:20am. Despite our beautiful room, I DID NOT sleep well. I think my nerves were just on edge and my mind was racing, going over a million different scenarios. I woke up every other hour in a cold sweat.

When the alarm finally went off in the moring, I was outta bed quickly, getting everything ready to go. I was just ready to BE THERE. And my allergies were not an issue THANK GOD. They behaved for the entire race. Thank you Advil.

We got to the race site about 5:50am and there was a loooooooong line to get in the parking lot. This did not help my nerves at all, and Tom had to keep telling me to just calm down. I was so nervous I was almost itchy. My hands are shaking a little right now, just remembering the feeling of being stuck in the car on such a big morning.

Finally we made it to the lot, parked, and got my bike to the transisition area to get it racked. I had gone by my spot the day before, so I knew exactly where to go. As we entered the transition area, there were race volunteers yelling out 'Body marking! Get your body marked!' It was easy....I just walked up to one and showed them my race number and they wrote it on both arms and both legs.

As I walked to the transition area, I began to feel self-consious. It seemed like everyone around me had the fanciest bike, the most up to date outfits, and all these fancy schamcy triathlon things.

And there was little ole me, the first timer with my hybrid mountain bike. I expressed my fears to Tom and he said, "Well, you have a great bike and you have worked hard. You have practical equipment and you don't need all that fancy stuff. You just need those two Go Sticks (meaning my LEGS--ha!)" That made me feel a little better. He was right. I was not here to prove anything, just here to finish.

As I racked my bike and set up my area, I began talking to the girl next to me, Jasmine. She was a first-timer too! Talking to her made me feel better simply because she was a lot like me, and I knew I wasn't the only one who had not done a bazillion tris before. She was really nice and just chatting made me forget how nervous I was.
It turned out I didn't need my swim cap because we were required to wear the cap provided by the race. It was yellow, with our number on it. Here I am looking like a fierce competitor:
Ha ha!

THE SWIM:

So we began lining up by number to start the swim. The great thing about this race is that they start in increments of 3 seconds PER PERSON. So, it's not just a free-for-all chaotic swim start. That is why they say this is a good race for first-timers.

The line moved quickly and by about 8:00am I was in the water.

Follow me here....the swim course is a big triangle. So you swim 1/3 of the way to a buoy, turn right. Swim another 1/3 of the way, turn right. Swim the last third, and you're back where you started.

I have to honest here, I struggled from the start with the swim (surprise, surprise). Into the water at the beginning, I began my free style stroke, and got into a good rhythm quickly. No one was grabbing me or running into me, and I thought, 'This isn't so bad! I can do this!'

Right about then I checked up to see where I was, and bad news....I had swam in a straight line TOTALLY OFF COURSE. No wonder it was so easy....I was out here swimming all by myself!

So I had to use extra time and energy to get back on course. This *really* flustered me and I just got so upset and almost in a panic. This made me need to breast stroke for a while to catch my breath.

Then the guy in front of me was doing the back stroke, so I thought, 'okay, good idea. That will calm me down a little.'

So I alternated the back stroke and breast stroke for a while. The breast stroke so hard because every time I would come up for air, it seemed like a wave of water would just go right into my mouth. So I was sputtering the coughing and gasping for air. No good.

As I did the back stroke, I just looked up and the sky and thought, "Calm down. This is your race and no one else's. It's just you and the water. Breathe."

And I just kept thinking, 'if I can make it to this first buoy, I can do it. At the first buoy, I'll free style and get my groove on.'

About half way to that first buoy, I saw two swimmers flagging down the canoes to come and get pulled out of the water. No matter how scared I got, I would. not. quit.

I won't bore you with all the crazy details of the swim, but let's just say it was scary and felt soooooo long. And for some reason I felt like every member of the Clydesdale division swam past me at one point, causing a title wave and lots of elbow-swinging. I definitely took a few blows.

*FINALLY* with one leg of the triangle to go, I got in a rhythm with my freestyle and was able to finish feeling just okay. I have to say I did a lot of praying and thanking God for giving me this healthy body, and providing me with strength and determination for the day.

Okay, see if you can follow me here...the timer at the swim start read about 53:00 minutes when it was my turn to go. So as I swam, I did some math and thought, "If that clock reads 1:38:00 when I get out of this water, I'll be thrilled. That would mean I would have completed the swim in 45 minutes.

As I ran up the ramp and took off my goggles, I could have sworn the clock read 1:28.

?!WHAT?!

That would mean 35 mintues for my swim. Surely not. Surely there was no way I finished that fast and I had miscalculated the time.

No time to worry about that right now....time to get on my bike....

I ran to my bike and looked everywhere for Tom, Dad, and Louise. They were no where in sight. WTF? Why weren't they at the transisiton area waiting to cheer me on the bike leg? I mean, what else were they doing? Their sole purpose was to be here and cheer me on.

Then it dawned on me....they were expecting me to finish the swim in 45 minutes and I had sure enough finished it in 35 minutes.

I would find out later that they had gone to the swim exit after I had been in the water for what they thought was about 40 minutes. They saw my rough start, and thought they would be fine by getting there after 40 minutes. As they waited, the last 2 or 3 swimmers got out of the water and my dad started going over every possible scenario in his mind. He thought for sure something bad had happend. He told me he almost started crying he was so nervous.

So just for good measure he went over the transistion and saw that my bike and shoes were gone and my towel was wet. Tom said he came running back over to them and said, "She's Gone! She made it out! Her bike is gone! We must have missed her!"

They were all so relieved I hadn't drowned on the swim course. ha!

Swim time: a miraculous-only-by-the-amazing-grace-of-God 34:48

THE BIKE:

Before the bike, I took a few huge gulps of water and was on my way. The bike course was lovely and easy. I loved it. It was flat and sunny, and all-around great. We were in the farmlands of Millington, so as you can imagine I felt very at home!

Pretty much everyone passed me, but I didn't care. I had my own goals and those goals didn't have anything to do with the other racers. My goal was to finish the bike in 1:40.

I really don't have a lot of details for the bike really because it was just such a great ride, and I never felt too fatigued and tired.

At mile 10, I ate a GU gel in Jet Blackberry which I HIGHLY recommend. It has 2x the caffeine for extra energy and boy did it make a difference. Then I ate another one at about mile 18 in Tri-Berry. I also drank my entire bottle of water while on the bike.

As I pulled into transistion area my watch read 1:28. Awesome. 12 whole minutes ahead of pace. By then my cheering section had made it and they were there waiting for me.

The first thing my dad said was, "How'd you finish that swim so fast? We missed you!!" My response was "Only by the grace of God!! It was AWFUL!" I really do have to give so much glory to Him because He provided me with so much strength....both physical and mental....all day long.

After a few swigs of water, 2 GU chomps, and of course posing for a picture....I was off for the run!

Bike Time: 1:28:26

THE RUN

Even though the swim was brutal, this run was by far the hardest leg.

Everyone on the run course was commenting on how hard it was, and how hot it was. Even the ligit triathletes where taking long walk breaks and I heard a few of them say, "This run is BULLSH*$"

People were not happy and many were dehydrated and dropping like flies. I had decided to walk every water station and overdose on water and Gatorade. I also dumped ice down my bra at each station...both front and back. This helped a little to keep my body temp down and it felt soooooo good.

By now it was about 10:15 and the sun was high in the sky with no clouds to speak of. And it was like 91 degrees. Bananas.

The run was not only hot, it was HILLY. And we all know how I respond to hills. Not well. I was able to run most of the course, but not as much as I would have liked. For a while, I kept up with two guys whom I overheard say they had been doing tris for three years. So keeping up with them for a mile or so helped my confidence.

I ate a GU at the turn-around and it did help some.

Just before mile four, I met up with a girl and we ran together for a while, and talked some. That helped to keep my mind off of how hard the task at hand was. She was nice, and chatting with her helped the mile go by quickly.

The last hill was leading up to the 6 mile mark, so I walked it (along with everyone else! ha!) and then at the 6 mile mark took off for the finish.

I kept thinking in my mind, "Only 2 mintues until TRIATHLETE. Only 1 minute to TRIATHLETE."

I could hear the annoucer only yards away from the finish saying the finishers names and hometowns.

I could see the spectators at the finish waiting with cameras and victory signs.

I could hear the music of the live band at the after-party.

And then....I felt the mat under my feet and heard the beep signaling that I. Was. Done.

Amazing is the only way I can think to describe it.

I looked straight head and heard voices yelling my name and Tom saying "BABE! OVER HERE HUN!!!!! YOU DID IT. YOU DID IT!!!!!"

I felt tears welling up and just had to let my emotions go. I was so happy it was over.

All those early mornings, all those hours in the gym, all those nights when I went to bed early. All the sore legs and the lost toenails and aching arms.

ALL SO WORTH IT FOR THIS VERY MOMENT.

Run time: 1:13:16

I actually felt *good.* I wasn't hurting, I wasn't tired, I was just thrilled and content. I had accomplished this goal and I was a finisher.

Afterwards we had champagne with Aunt Mary Lou and Uncle Jerry. They were soooooo sweet come out and support me. It meant a lot to me to have them there.

And of course my wonderful, handsome, supportive, loving Equipment Manager:

Tom just kept saying, "So proud of you hun. You did great." And all that good stuff. It is wonderful to hear those words coming from someone I have a lot or respect and love for. He has been such a cheerleader not only all weekend, but throughout my training.

Total Time: 3:23:52

After loading up all my gear we went back to the hotel for a shower (a.k.a. HEAVEN). Then Tom took me to lunch at Chili's where I proceeded to embarrass myself I ate so much. I had a huge hamburger and fries, and three beers. DELISH.

Such a sweetie this one it....all you girls should go out and get yourself one of these:
And here I am, the happiest person on the planet at this point:After lunch we went home and I did this for the rest of the day:

I slept for like three hours and it was WONDERFUL! After a long nap and some more eating, I slept through the night and was able to sleep in this morning because I have the day off work.

My legs are a little sore, but overall I feel great. I think I am going to reward myself with a manicure this afternoon.

And last but not least.....

Thanks to everyone for all your encouragment and love and positive vibes this weekend! Yall are one of the reasons I am able to do this, and I couldn't do any of it without support and accountability.

My dad took a ton-o-pictures on his camera, so I will post more of those later. Thanks for following me on this journey....now it's on to the next goal....I don't know what it'll be but you know I'll keep you posted!

XOXOXOXOX....Laura

My Last Post....

....before the Triathlon!

The next time I post on the blog I will (God willing) be an official TRIATHLETE. How 'bout that?!

I am feeling more confident then I have been in the past couple of weeks. My bad dreams about the race have stopped, and I am starting to feel a peace about Sunday.

I am looking forward to the race atmosphere, getting all my gear together, being with my family, and CELEBRATING with them at the finish line.

I think I am really feeling better about it because I am realizing what I have known all along....that I am doing this race for ME and for no one else.

I am not out to prove anything, or set any records, or make anyone proud but me.

My thoughts this week have turned from scared and nervous to confident and strong. On The Biggest Loser this week, Bob said something that stood out to me when he went home to visit Micheal's family.

For those of you who are *crazy* and don't watch BL, Micheal is the biggest contestant the show has ever seen. He started out at 522 pounds and is now down to 322. 200 pounds down! Amazing. His younger sister is very overweight, and when Bob went to visit their home he said to her, "You know you deserve better."

You deserve better.

For some reason it stuck with me.

I deserve this race.
I deserve to finish.
I deserve to feel comfortable in my skin.
I deserve to brag.
I deserve to be a size 6.
I deserve to accept a compliment.
I deserve to look forward to wearing a bathing suit.
I deserve it all because of the blood, sweat, and tears I've put in, in the past few months.

Okay, maybe just sweat and tears but you get the picture.

Tonight my dad and Louise get here and we are eating at our house. And tomorrow afternoon we'll head up to Millington to the race site (just North of Memphis, about an hour from Tunica). We are going to pick up my race packet and spend the night up there.

So the next time you hear from me it will be a race recap post and I CAN'T WAIT to tell you all about it!

Have a great weekend!

Weight Watchers Update

I am about to go for weigh-in and I do not feel too confident! I am think I am stuck at a plateau which is just *okay.* I am pretty proud of my current weight, but it always helps to see a slight loss on the scales each week.

Last night was an easy swim workout, and there were about a thousand screaming elementary-schoolers at the Aquatic Center. One little guy was swimming in the lane next to me and asked, "Are you on the Tunica Academy Swim Team?"

Whaaaaaaat?!?! Clearly he asked me this because a.) he thought I was a good enough swimmer to be on a *team.* and b.) he thought I was young enough to be in high school. Ha!

Maybe I should sport the swim cap and goggles more often.

Then I did a 60-minute sprint workout this morning. Did I tell yall that a couple weeks ago I got up to 9.0 MPH on the treadmill during my sprints?

Well, I did! I seriously thought my legs were going to detach. I was so tense and focused on not-falling that my neck muscles were sore for days. ha ha! So today I just went up to my standard 8.5 MPH so as not to injur myself just days before my big race!

Weight Watchers Update: I'm up a pound from last week. Current weight is 153, weight loss to date is 18.5 pounds. I am annoyed that I am just sort of hovering at this 154-152 area. I want to be 150 and STAY THERE!

Sigggghhhhhhh....why can't I just wish myself thin?!? :)

Happy HUMP day everyone!

Dreams

Bex and I had a liesurely 40-minute bike ride, and 45-minute run this morning. Total of about 11 or 12 miles. Since this is 'taper week' I'm not pushing myself too terribly hard.

It was a cool and breezy morning today and it felt great! I am PRAYING that the weather will be like that on Sunday for Race Day. Please think happy weather thoughts for me. :)

On a random topic....

What do you all think about dreams? Do you think they have a meaning or they're just craziness that our mind creates while we sleep?



I am not sure how I feel about them, but I have been having some crazy ones lately.



Most of which have been about the race.



I am someone who dreams every night anyway. I also dream in full-color. I'm not sure what that means but it has to mean something cool, right?



So lately my dreams have ALL been about the race. In every dream, the swim leg goes GREAT. In the first one I had, I finished the swim leg in only 35 minutes and was within the first group of women out of the water.



In my second dream I finished in about 40 minutes but the swim was easy and went by quickly. The other swimmers around me didn't disturb me and the lake water wasn't scary (both of which I have been uber-worried about).



However, in each of these dreams something goes terribly wrong at the bike leg, thus ruining the rest of my race. In the first one, they DQ'd me because I didn't have a flat tire repair kit (I don't know why....a repair kit is not required in the real thing). In the second one, I got out of the water and realized I had forgotten all of my nutrition, my watch, and my iPod.



What do you think this means? Maybe I am placing too much thought and worry on my swim leg, and my dreams are trying to tell me to just relax and get through it?



Or maybe these are premenatory dreams....telling me that the swim will be fine but I also need to place focus on the bike and the run so something doesn't go horribly wrong.



Or maybe I just thinking about it too much all-around and need to CHILLAX for goodness sakes!!!!!!!!

AND the past two nights I've had pregnancy dreams....I'm not the pregnant one, it's always a friend. In the first one it was my friend Amy (ha ha....if she is reading this she is probably like 'WTF?!?!' because I haven't told her about the dream yet). She and Brian have been married for about 6 months and in my dream I visited her and she told me she was 10 weeks pregnant!

THEN I dreamed that another one of my friends (who is NOT married) got pregnant unexpectedly. Uh-Ooooooooooh....creepy, huh? Maybe I will do some Googling and see what it all means....

Mock Three Finally!!!

How was your weekend? Mine was short. One day to be exact. I only had Sunday off and it was lovely. I did absolutely nothing. I needed to do laundry but I didn't. I needed to sweep up the 50 pounds of dog hair around my house but I didn't. I needed to take a shower and I didn't even do that. Ha! It was a great day.

I worked all weekend (again) and finally got done on Saturday night around 8pm. I came home and got cleaned up and went to a fund raiser here in Tunica with Tom and all our friends.

The fund raiser was for a 10-year-old girl in Tunica that needs lots of prayers, positive thoughts, whatever you want to say....but she needs 'em. She was in a bad accident on a friend's farm and was electrocuted. As a result they had to amputate her left arm at the shoulder, and her right arm just below her elbow. Can you imagine?

In true Tunica form, the town rallied together and had a huge fund raiser on Saturday night at a local restaurant. It was one of these things where you pay a cover and get a meal and couple drink tickets. They had Mexican food, Crawfish, Catfish, three bands, some games for the kids, an auction, all that good stuff.

And get this.....from 3pm until about 10pm they raised over $63,000 for this little girl's recovery. Do you hear me?!?!?! $63,000 in seven hours. That is insane. I heard that one of the auction items was a home made cake...just your run of the mill cake....and it went for $400.

Just goes to show what an amazing town Tunica is, and how it's citizens pull together when one of their own is in need. Just amazing.

You can read more about Madysen's story HERE.

On Friday I got to go into work late so I decided it was going to be the only good time to fit in Mock Three before race day.

I will not give a big long recap since I will be doing that again in just a few days for the REAL DEAL! So here's the short version:

Swim: 1 mile
As we all know I DESPISE the swim and it is what I do not look forward to. I was happy with this swim, though. I finished in 40 minutes which is pretty fast for me. I will be UBER-happy if I can do this next week in the race. I ate 4 GU Chomps before the swim and had a lot of energy and felt GREAT!

Bike: 20 miles
Between the swim and the bike I ate 4 more GU Chomps for energy and boy did they work! I felt amazing for the the entire 20 miles and finished it right at my goal of 80 minutes. I even found myself singing out loud to my iPod on a few occasions! I also took another regular GU Gel(Tri-Berry flavor...YUM) at mile 15.

Run: 6 miles
Okay, here's where things get a little sad. During the bike I felt great. Wind in my hair, the sun shining. I wasn't *hot* but was sweating only a little. I think I didn't realize how hot it really was outside because on the bike the wind is blowing and you simply don't notice how warm it is. So I began the run and felt okay until about mile 2. There is a portion of my run course that goes out by Tunica Academy and there are no trees or shade to speak of. It was during this stretch that I started to feel the signs of severe dehydration coming on.

I had gotten water after the bike, but not enough. And I should have taken some with me on the run but I didn't. Stupid move, Laura.

So anyway, around mile 2.5 I started to get a headache and my face felt super-hot. Hot like fire. Then, every time I would shift my eyes, I felt dizzy and lost my footing a couple of times. Um HELLO top three signs of a heat stroke. So, instead of scarring the kindergarden class for life by dropping dead in front of them on their way to lunch, I decided to be smart and take it easy.

I walked for a bit and took another GU I had in my pocket, hoping the vitamin C would help. It didn't. I still felt hot, hot, hot, and dizzy. I decided to do the smart thing and walk the mile or so straight back to my house.

I have learned that when your body sends you signals, you need to listen to them. There is a big difference between pushing yourself and listening to your body.

When I got home I stood under a running hose for a few mintues to get my body temp down. I was feeling pretty bad at this point. I downed about half a gallon of water and felt like a new woman.

I was disappointed that I didn't finish Mock Three in full-force, but I knew I had done the right thing by bowing out gracefully. I am not that concerned about it. I could tell my endurance could have carried me for that last 10K, but I wasn't hydrated enough.

Class, what did we learn today?

1. Take hydration on the bike ride. GU alone will not do it.
2. Stop at the water stations during Race Day.

They have water every mile of the run for my actual race, so I plan to take advantage of them.

*One more thing* I wanted to share was that I wore my new tri-suit and LOVED IT!!! I was a little worried that the legs would be too tight but the minute I got in the water I didn't even notice them. Wearing it was like being naked...only with 'support' in the right places if you know what I mean. I love it. It dried quick, it was comfortable, and it didn't look half-bad.

Stay tuned for pics after the *REAL DEAL* in only 7 days!!!!!!!!!!!

Fun New Stuff and WW Update

Hey Friends....

Geeeeeez I feel like I have been neglecting the blog lately. May is a crazy month for me, with lots of work, and plans every weekend. Thus messing up my normal routine and leaving little time to blog!

This morning Bex and I did a wonderful 7 miler around Tunica. The weather in the mornings has been so perfect lately. I was dripping with sweat when we got done but during the run the breeze was cool so I never really got hot. Did you workout this morning? What did you do?

This weekend my beautiful mommy, Helen Frazier, came to visit me! We had a great relaxing time and I was so very sad when she had to leave yesterday morning. We always have so much fun together...shopping, eating, gossiping, telling funny family stories. She is a really good friend.

Upon her arrival on Friday night, she brought me this:

There is a Swim & Tri Store in Knoxville so she brought me a couple of Tri suits to try on. This one fit the best, and has those flattering lines. So it will be my wardrobe for the Triathlon next weekend.

I know I had said I wanted some crazy colors, but this one fits well and the price is right. So I'm going for it. It was originally $106, and my mom had a 25% off coupon so it came down to like $86 after tax! Love a bargain.

I am going to try it out on Friday and see how she fairs. I can't wait to wear it....it makes me feel very....official. And intense. Ha!

Sidenote: Also on Friday night I made these amazing gorganzola-stuffed artichokes as an appetizer. They were soooooo good but not WW friendly. I will have to post the recipe soon so yall can taste it's amazingness.

On Saturday we walked in the Doggie Dash 5K to benefit the Tunica Humane Society. Reba walked it with us. She was very excited to go and support her less-fortunate canine brothers and sisters....like Dolly! Speaking of Dolly, her new family has emailed me a couple of times to give me updates. She is doing great! And getting along well with their other lab, MOLLY. He said Dolly seems to have 'street smarts.' Must have been those weeks on the mean streets of Tunica back in the day.

Saturday afternoon we went to Memphis to the Fleet Feet store. Every time I go in there I get very annoyed that I don't have about one million dollars to spend. If I did, I would buy everything in there! They have so much cute running stuff.

Other bloggers had mentioned they liked to eat Gu Chomps for nutrition during long runs, so I bought a couple to try. I plan to do a nice looooooog workout on Friday and try them out then. So I'll let you know what they're like. From what I understand, they are like energy fruit snacks. Hm.

Along with my new tri suit, I am going to wear this visor for the race:I like to wear a visor or hat after my bike ride because the helmet makes my hair look all crazy. And clearly after swimming a mile in the lake, biking 25 miles the first thing on my mind is my hair.

I have worn it a couple of times and I love it! It's really comfortable and it has reflectors on it.

On Sunday we celebrated Mothers Day with my mom and the in-laws with a great brunch and then cake at my in-laws house. Mothers Day is also my mother-in-law's birthday so cake was in order.

Because of said cheesy artichokes and cake, I am nervy-nervy about my weigh-in today. If I don't lose at least one pound I will have to pay fifty-five big ones! That would be one expensive pound!

Keep me in your thoughts....

Weight Watchers Update: This just in from the weigh-in....I lost a pound and a half so I am in the clear! No paying for me again! Yaaaaaaaaay!

Current weight is 152. Total weight lost is 19.5 pounds. Hooty-Hoot!

Now I'll be on maintenance for six weeks. I just need to stay at or under 154 for six weeks, then I will be an Offical Lifetime Member of Weight Watchers. Ha!

Side-Dish Recipes

I don't know where you live, but it is a beautiful day here in the Mississippi Delta!

Bex texted me yesterday to see if I wanted to do a 7-mile farm run with her this morning. Y'all might remember that Bex and her husband and cute baby live on her husband's family farm. They have a great house and their back yard it is a huuuuuuuge cotton field (or maybe it's corn or soy beans....they all look the same to me).

In the past we occasionally run on the farm in the turn rows, but it has to be dry otherwise you spend about 80% of your run stopping to knock off the clods of mud on your shoes.

I am normally not a fan of the farm run because of this. So when I got the text from Bex I thought, "Sheesh...I hate a farm run. But for Bex, I will do it."

So I met her at her house this morning and we were off! We did a 6.5 mile run and it felt great! It was a little slower going than usual, simply because of the terrain. But all in all it was such a beautiful morning and a great run. We did 6.5 miles in 1:16:40. Not too shabby for us.

Running on the farm, you feel so close to God because you are truly in God's Country! It is a great time to say a little prayer and have a chat with God when you are in His sanctuary like that.

I wanted to share a couple of recipes I've made lately....

Stuft Zucchini
This is a Paula Deen recipe that I altered slightly to make it a little more figure-friendly. I would recommend planning on 1 zucchini per person. This dish is 4 Weight Watcher points per zucchini.

Ingredients:

• Two large zucchinis, cut in half length-wise
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• S&P
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 5 oz of cooked spinach, drained*
• 1/2 cup fat-free shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup light sour cream
• 1/2 cup boxed stuffing mix**
• Hot sauce (optional)

*All frozen spinach comes in 10oz boxes. I used half of one because I was only making it for me and Tom. I reserved the rest for another recipe.

**I use Pepperidge Farm Seasoned Stuffing Mix. I keep a big bag of it on hand because it keeps forever, and it is great in many recipes.

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees
• Spread EVOO on cut side of zucchini and season with S&P

• Place on a lined cookie sheet, cut side down, and bake for 15 minutes and let cool. Scoop out insides of zucchini, leaving the shells in tact. Set pulp aside.

Look at that zucchini pulp...looks like baby food, huh? Kinda gross, but trust me on this one.

• Sautee onion and garlic in EVOO in a large saucepan for about 5 minutes, until onions are tender.
• Add spinach, cheese, sour cream, stuffing mix, and pulp to saucepan with onion and garlic. Add the hot sauce at this time if you want to add a little more heat. I would recommend it. Heat through, only about 3 minutes.
• Spoon mixture into the zucchini shells and top with a little more stuffing mix if you want. Bake at 400 for about 15-20 minutes.

I had some of the spinach-cheese-zucchini mixture left over so I popped some in a ramican, topped with cheese and paprika, and baked it for like 12 minutes and voila....Spinach Zucchini Dip!

So yesterday was Cinco de Mayo and in honor of our Latino neighbors to the South, we had friends over for burgers, french fries, and margaritas. Okay, so it was a little more like 'Cinco de Mississippi,' but whatev.

It was a very impromptu get-together so we just made what I had on-hand which was burgers and french fries. I made those awesome frozen Ore Ida Krinkle Fries, but I also made some....

Sweet Potato Fries

I really 'winged' this recipe and hoped for the best. I would recommend using 1 large sweet potato for every two people you're serving. This dish is 3 Weight Watchers points per serving.

Ingredients:

• 2 large sweet potatoes cut into 1/2 inch strips or wedges
• 1/4 cup Canola oil*
• 1/2 Tablespoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• S&P

*Depending on how big your sweet potatoes are, you might need more oil. Just make sure all your 'fries' are coated in the oil before baking.

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
• In a large bowl, coat sweet potatoes in oil and add seasoning.
• Spread in one layer on a lined cookie sheet.
• Bake for about 30 minutes. Note: check on them after 25 and try one. Use your best judgement as to if they need more time. Some people like theirs crispy on the outside, some....notsomuch.

Sorry, above is the only picture I took of the potatoes last night. I had about one thousand margaritas and forgot to take more.

Random Pics below....

Here we are at the Muddy Muddy Music Festival this past weekend! Tom was such a good husband (even though I had a very bad attitude all weekend) and came with me to work up there every day. Such a sweetie. It made all the difference in the world having him there to bring me food and giant carni Lemonades! I believe that is Widespread Panic playing in the back ground.

And would you wook at dis sweet widdle girl?!?!! Wuv her.

Mock TWOsday! and WW Update

Hey Friends! Miss me?

I have been out of pocket for a few days because of a crazy work schedule but I'm back to (semi-) normal now.

Because of said crazy schedule I had yesterday off so I FINALLY got around to doing Mock Two. After postponment due to weather and feelin' icky, I was so glad to finally get it done because the Real Deal is T-minus 17 days!

I am terrified.

Doing Mock Two yesterday made me feel *slightly* better, but I am nontheless terrified.

So here's the skinny on Mock Two:

I had originally decided to do a 1/2 mile swim, 16 mile bike, and 4 mile run for Mock Two. However, since we are closer to Race Day I decided to do something inbetween Mock Two and Mock Three.

• Swim: 1000 meters (1600 meters is a mile)
• Bike: 18 miles
• Run: 5 miles

Tom took me and my bike to the aquatic center around 8:15 yesterday morning and I was rarin' to go! Here are some FAQ's about Mock Two:

How long did each leg take you?
Swim: 27 minutes. I was really hoping for more like 22-24 but I'll take it. This leg is the only part of the race that terrifies me. Transition 1 was about 6 minutes.
Bike: 69 minutes. My goal was to do it in 72 minutes (a 4-minute mile) so I was very happy with this time. My bike time has improved drastically since Mock One. Back in March, 12 miles on the bike took us 57 minutes which is almost a 5 minute mile. T2 was about 3 minutes
The run took me about 50 minutes. My goal was to do it in an hour so I was thrilled to get done 10 minutes faster than anticipated. AND I took a bathroom break at the two-mile mark.

What did you wear?
Same thing that I wore for Mock One...a bathing suit with a sports bra under it for the swim, then I threw on a tank top and bike shorts for the bike and run. I am buying a trisuit once I get paid on Friday!

What did you eat before/during/after?
About 15 mintues before the swim I ate a Luna bar and had an Emergen-C. This is my standard pre-workout meal no matter what I'm getting ready to do.
I had taped a GU energy gel to my bike so I could just rip it off when I was ready to eat it. I ate that GU around mile 4 of the bike. Next time I will wait until later because I was really wishing I had some energy around mile 14 or 16.
I had another gel at the very beginning of the run. HammerGel Tropical flavor, to be exact. This was perfect timing because I felt great for the entire run. I got thirsty around mile 4 but for the real race there will be water/Gatorade stations so I'm not worried about that.
After I was done I gulped down a lot of water, and a Muscle Milk Light. It was around 11:30 by the time I got done, so I also ate a turkey sandwich and apple for lunch.

How did you feel during each leg?
Swim: I hate the swim. I hate, hate, hate it. At times I could feel the panic rising in my chest, like I couldn't get enough air in my lungs but I just had to go somewhere else mentally. I just had to slow down my stroke for a minute and concentrate on staying calm and breathing. I was just ready to get out of that water so got it done as fast as I could. Did I mention I hate the swim?

Bike: The bike was lovely! It was a GORGEOUS day, and I just kept a steady pace and rocked out to my iPod the whole time. At times I was biking into the wind which made it difficult. I had to remember not to go 'all out' the whole time, so that my legs wouldn't be too fatigued for the run. When I wasn't biking into the wind, I took advantage of it and cranked up my gears to gain some ground. A few times I had to stand up on the bike because my hiney was getting sore, but that was it. Otherwise it was a great day for a nice little 18-mile bike ride!

Run: My original plan was to do our standard 5-mile loop. But around mile 1 I realized I had to pee so bad, so turned around and ran back to the house. I figure this is nothing to worry over because I will most likely need to take a bathroom break during the real thing. After my bathroom break I ran another three miles for a total of 5. During the run I was TIRED. I just concentrated on throwing one foot in front of the other and getting to Mock Finish Line. ha! There were times I had to slow down almost to a walk, but I never stopped! I will be okay if I have to walk in the race, but I hope I don't have to.

When I got done I just sat in the middle of the road in front of my house for a few minutes. I was exhausted but it felt good!

That afternoon I rewarded myself with a few of my favorite things...a Route 44 Diet Vanilla Coke from Sonic, a $200-trip to Wal-Mart, and a few hours of laying by the pool in an attempt to get rid of my Gabby Reece tan.

Then to top off a great day, it was my favorite episode of my favorite show....can you guess what that was? That's right....Make Over Week on The Biggest Loser. Love it!

Weight Watchers Update: I'm afraid I don't have good news on the WW front. This week I gained the most I've ever gained....2.5 pounds!?!?!! Whaaaaaaaat?! I blame the crazy work schedule in which I had to work Memphis in May Music Festival all. weekend. long. and was forced...yes, forced. Someone held a gun to my head...to eat Carni-Food all. weekend. long. Damn you, foot long corn dog and colossal piece of pepperoni pizza!

I am not *too* discouraged because I am now at 153.5 which means I only need to lose 1 pound in order to make weight next week and not have to pay.

I feel pretty good if I am somewhere between 150 and 155, and a size 6. That is where I'm most comfortable so I'm not too down in the dumps yet. :)

Happy Wednesday Everyone....almost over the hump!

I was happy with my Mock Two time, but I am still nervous about the real deal in only 17 days!