Trek up the Tower -- RESULTS!

The race on Saturday went awesome!!!! (I'll post photos once my parents send them to me :) )

The morning sort of started off bad as my Dad had one of his heart "episodes". Basically if he warms up and raises his heart rate just a little bit and then stops too soon he'll pass out. First time it happened was nearly 8 years ago and he got medicine for it... his blood pressure just drops down to like 60/40 so the medicine is to raise his already super low blood pressure. But he refuses to take his medicine because he says "it doesn't cure the problem, it just masks it". Not the smartest thing to think, Dad. Anyways, he was standing beside me and said "oh no" and my Mom thought he had forgotten something at the apt but I realized what was about to happen because he gets this glazed look on his face. I tried to catch him the best I could but I was in front of him and not behind him when he collapsed. He hit his head on the tile but not very hard as I got most of his weight on me. Usually he'll just pass out though, and this time it was like he was having a seizure. I remained calm because I knew what was going on but it was pretty freaky and made a lot of people pretty worried and scared. His eyes were like wide open and he was practically convulsing and was breathing extremely heavy and turning his head slowly from side to side. Made quite the scene. He came to about 10 seconds later and convinced the medical folk to let him race. He still did awesome and finished in 7:02. I kinda got mad at him though as he doesn't quite realize that even though he doesn't want to take his medicine, he's worrying the rest of us who care about him.

I had no idea what to expect of the 40 floors and my dad started right behind me. I saw him catching up to me at about floor 7 and was like "oh great, this can't happen" haha. Around floor 10 I thought i was going to die and at that point everyone is just kinda walking. I was getting terribly dizzy because you can barely breathe but I made it up in 6:34 (according to my watch... but i had started my watch a few seconds before i went off the start line). I knew last year's winning woman's time was 6:48 so I was pretty happy. But then again last year there were 500 people and this year 750, so I figured a lot more talented people showed up. Plus, I get pretty intimidated by all the super skinny girls and with muscles all over the place. I swear I don't have a visible muscle on me... I think it's all hidden. Ha.

Anyways, they posted the early results and they had 1st and 2nd tied at 6:28, but my name wasn't up yet. Finally half an hour later they updated the results and listed me as 6:27!!!! I was so freakin happy! I was like jumping up and down. haha. Mainly because I wasn't expecting to do that well as I haven't run since October, have been sick, etc. So I got $100 for winning and actually ended up 44th out of all 682 people! http://www.onlineraceresults.com/event/view_event.php?event_id=2364yay!!!!!!!

This race also gave me motivation for my potential in racing. I know I have so much freakin drive in me to do well, it's just a matter of focusing on it again. I signed up for the Pigman Tri and in a couple weeks once it gets a little warmer out I'll start running and swimming again. I miss being able to train with people though... so maybe I'll find a good cycling group to ride with.

The rest of the day I drove my parents around town to get us out of the apartment. We went to dinner at the Passport Restaurant downtown and it was delicious!! Then we headed over to the Phantom of the Opera which was pretty amazing. I like going to those types of things where I'm just in awe of people's talent. Made for a super long day though. We got up at 6am for the race and the show didn't end until 11pm. My parents went to church with me Sunday morning and then headed home from there. It was a nice visit, but as always, went by too fast. They brought up some of my Grandma's cooking stuff so now I have a cookbook from 1945 and a waffle iron! (It's nice to have things around that will remind me of Grandma.)

All day Sunday I just relaxed and cleaned. Today I finally worked out again and rode my bike 28 miles on the trainer -- nice and easy. I need to get back on some sort of schedule. My mind has been anywhere and everywhere lately, though, so hopefully that will change soon and I can focus on my true passions.

Work has been crappy this week ... Just because I'm kind of in a stalled stage and need to do online training -- i.e. staring at powerpoint presentations all day. Not so much fun. I'm looking forward to the weekend but don't have any plans yet. It's supposed to be 55 degrees though!!! So maybe I'll head outside to ride my bicycle.

Cheers,
Sarah :)

Is it spring yet?

Today on my walk to work the windchill was -25 degrees. Yes, negative with an actual temp of like -5. This means it's cold outside. I want some warm weather and am anxiously awaiting for March to get here. I also am super excited to get spring storms again ... yay for Tornado Alley! I miss all the lightning shows in the sky! :)

Life has been GOOD lately and I'm super excited for a lot of things coming up! My parents are getting here Friday for a short visit. My Dad and I are doing the Trek up the Tower (see a couple posts ago ...). I've been sick for the past week with a lot of congestion but it's clearing up and I want it to be a fair race between my Dad and I. It's gonna be pretty cool ... and my asthma is gonna be suffering. ha. We're also taking my Mom out for a birthday dinner at a yet to be determined super nice restaurant downtown and then going to Phantom of the Opera!

After that it'll be a week away from being March. In March I plan on running again. Slowly getting back into it. It will give me 3 months to get into running shape for the Pigman Tri in Iowa on June 1st. It will be my first triathlon in 3 years!!! I want to win it and am hoping I can train smart enough to do that. But I'm also trying not to have too high of an expectation for myself. ha.

Jen and I are going to Penn State for Blue & White weekend in mid-April. Absolutely THRILLED to be going back and seeing a ton of my friends from college. Penn State is beautiful as well and I miss those mountains!! I don't think I'll be able to ride while I'm there which is a bummer ... but maybe. :) After that trip, I'll still have 6.5 days of vacation left that I'll need to use up by June 1st. Haven't figured out if I want to go on a lil trip or just visit my parents in Oklahoma.

Guess I haven't updated in awhile... I'll do better! :)
Smile,
Sarah

Follow your heart or mind.

I've been thinking a lot lately, which for me is usually never a good thing. Therefore, I've been trying to occupy my mind with listening to hours on end of music each night and working on my new rug. My hand is killing me from working on it so much, but it's going to look really nice when it's completed.

The past week has just been hard for me and I don't always deal with it in the best ways. But, the past 2 days have been a lot better. Sometimes I just get into these moods where I don't know what I'm doing with my life and if I'm doing any good at all. It's frustrating. We never know if we're doing the 'right' thing, so I guess we just have to follow our heart. My friend Tracey was telling me about this book where it talks about listening to your heart, otherwise your heart will become restless and stop talking to you if you don't take the time to listen to it. I think I have trouble with this at times because my mind is telling me one thing and my heart/soul is leading me elsewhere -- inner turmoil at its finest.

Anyways, I found a good friend quote today ...
"A friend is one to whom one may pour out all the contents of one's heart, chaff and grain together, knowing that the gentlest of hands will take and sift it, keep what is worth keeping and with a breath of kindness blow the rest away."- Arabian Proverb

Trying to sleep...
Sarah