First I will get to the Hot Chocolate race:

It all started with the expo – I got my big boy off to school and then raced home to meet two the rest of the Willy Wonka crew.  We loaded up and headed downtown to the expo.  The booth was mostly set up, we just had to put out the merchandise for sale and finish arranging anything else Willy Wonka (our fearless leader of MRTT) wanted us to do.  Then we started right in with talking with people and sharing the wonderful love that is MRTT.  I talked with tons of people and made a few of my friends laugh hysterically for hours when they saw me dressed as an oompa loompa.  When I noticed the line for race packet pickups was short, I took my chance to get the load I needed.  The computer system was down so this was causing delays and problems but thankfully I got everything I needed.  Realized later that I didn’t get the hats we were suppose to (b/c of the computer system) and went back to talk to the customer care person.  She was great and handed me a stack of hats to cover everyone.  Ended up with one extra that a friend is getting.  I was on my feet for most of the day but it was great and I had lots of fun.  We got introduced by the DJ in the expo and had us dance.  The expo continued the next day but other people showed up to help (I had plenty to do around my house with my boys).

So I get my boys to bed Saturday night and I’m packed ready for the race. I have everything either in a bag, laid out for me to put on, or a note for what I need to get in the morning.  I slept upstairs in the boys playroom (has a futon in there) so I wouldn’t wake up my hubby or dog much less the rest of the house when I had to get up at 4:30 am.  Yep that’s what I said.  Now my little man tried to thwart me by getting sick at midnight and throwing up, then started running a fever at 3:45 am.  I was so worried I would fall asleep with him and miss my alarm.  Somehow I managed to stay awake until he went back to sleep and then I could leave to go back to bed.  I left a big note for the hubby telling him what happened and what meds I gave him.  I left his bed the second time at 4:20, well no reason to go back to bed so I started getting ready.  I slept in my UA shorts, sports bra and tank top.  I also taped up my piriformis and hip flexors the night before with KT tape.  I came down and got my socks, shoes, and skirt on and then made my coffee.  Toasted me a waffle with cream cheese and finished gathering up my stuff.  The ladies that were riding with me then started texting/messaging me that they were up and on their way.  I did manage to forget to grab my wallet from my bag even though I had remembered it wasn’t where i normally keep it.  So a mile up the road i had to turn around and go get it.  I was so worried I would wake everyone up.  I turned off the headlights as I entered my neighborhood and then tip toed back into the house.  I bolted out of there and raced up the road.  I got to our meeting point (shopping center) and most of them were there, we were only waiting on one more car.  Everyone loaded up in the U.S.S. Aponte (we have a big SUV that can seat 8 that I drove to the race) and we took off right when we planned at 5:15 am.  Got to the race parking just before 5:45.  I know the race didn’t even start for the 5k until 7:45 and that’s a full two hours away.  But, traffic was going to get bad quickly and they would start shutting down streets at 6:30 so we had to get there early.  I much rather be early and have to wait than be rushed and stressed over it all.  I posted on fb and texted numerous people where we were parked.  MRTT oompa loompas started coming from everywhere, it was great.  That’s when we got a group picture.

We headed off to the start line, check bags and take one more potty break.  There were people everywhere.  I went over to line up in my corral and found my fellow oompa that I was planning on running this with and then my sister’s and cousin’s found me too.  The green hair really helped.  It took us about 15 min to get to the start line since they were letting one corral at a time go with a short delay in-between to space people out.  It was packed, this was definitely the largest race I have ever been too.  Me and my friend vowed to stay together.  She was recovering from back and hip issues, I’ve got my own – so our goal was to finish and not hurt ourselves.  When several people asked me what my goal was, I answered with “I want to not have to cross the finish line with my fist shoved into my right butt cheek and limping” that’s all I want.  We took some walk breaks when one of us needed it and that’s ok.  We were not trying to break any speed records.  It was much hillier that we thought.  I looked at the elevation chart on runkeeper and seriously it looked pretty flat.  Well it wasn’t and my calf muscles are still a little sore from it.  Several of my MRTT ladies found us (they started one corral behind us) and it was my green wig that was a beacon for them to follow.  I thought that was great and glad they found us.  We trudged on and made it to the finish line.  No limping, fist shoving or anything.  My hip was mostly behaved.  I had zero butt pain and only minimal inner thigh discomfort.  Hamstrings on that leg were tight but not painful.  So it was a win!!!  My friend ran the race pain free!! WOOHOO!!!!  Had some race photographers get pics of us and then we headed off to get our chocolate.  It was hot so I just didn’t want the hot chocolate.  I did enjoy some of the chocolate dipped with marshmallows and the banana.  I went off and found my family (I knew where they were meeting) and got pictures with them.  They left shortly after I found them to go home (all of them had to drive back to North and South Carolina).  I headed back over to where the rest of MRTT were waiting for the 15k’ers to get done.  Me and a couple of us decided to go take pics and cheer them in.  We found a spot below the finish line with a great view.  I got lots of good pics of my friends and really enjoyed cheering them in.  They loved it and have told me that several times.  Once my bladder wouldn’t let me stand there anymore (I knew at least one more of my friends was still out running but I couldn’t wait anymore) we headed back and met up with the rest of them.  I got all the ladies together from my truck and we headed out of there.  Traffic wasn’t too bad and I got us back to their cars before lunch.  I headed home and then got to take care of a sick little boy.

My hip:

Is just being frustrating.  In some ways it’s so much better but then something else kicks in and makes running hard.  I’m stretching, using heat and being careful yet it’s still not truly getting better.  Yes it’s improved, I can run but not like I was in November.  That’s the frustrating part.  I want my leg to stop bothering me so I can get back to normal.  I pulled out my foam roller (I’ve been bad and not been using it on a regular basis) and rolled my hip flexor last night and found that my lower quads are really sore.  I then decided to keep rolling different parts of my leg to see if anything else is tight and WOW, I found that my IT band (outer thigh) was really sore.  Then today I rolled the outer and inner thigh and to quote a friend ” makes her want to punch kittens in the face”  lol I know it makes no sense but it kind of does.  Let just say that rolling those parts of my leg made me just about want to cry.  All of this stuff with my hip is also frustrated with my weight loss (lack of really).  I’m not exercising like I was so I am not loosing anything (lbs or inches).  I feel stuck, mad, frustrated and everything in between.  It’s really the first time in over a year that I haven’t had the focus and drive to keep going.  I keep finding myself eating random things that I don’t’ need to eat more from being bored than anything else.  AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!  So please say a prayer or positive thought for my leg so that I can get back to a more normal schedule of exercise.  I need it for sanity and everything else.   Here are my tools to fix my hip.  my two favorite things in my house right now.  Once I finish this super long blog post, I need to go use them both and stretch.

On a positive note:

I got new toys!!!  Amazon has started marking down the prices for my shoes that I run in – Mizuno Wave Inspire 8’s.  Well with Amazon points and the sale price, I got two for the price of one (full priced pair) – WOOHOO!!!  I actually just suggested to the hubby that I needed to order one pair and if the prices go down more (and they still have my size then I could get more) but when I told him we had points I could use, he suggested getting two pairs.  I’m going to put one pair up in the closet for later but go ahead and start rotating in a 2nd pair.  I pulled out a christmas present too and put them on one pair – my new lock laces.  They are great – no need to ever tie your shoes.  I don’t anyway b/c i like my shoes loose.  I tie them and then just slip my feet in and out of them so these are even more perfect b/c they can’t come untied.  I have my light up laces on my first pair and my lock laces on the second.  Helps me keep track of which pair is which – then I know how many miles I’ve put on them.  Once they get too worn out for running, then I can down grade them for general use, zumba, bike rides, or whatever.

I love Woot.com now I don’t buy stuff all the time, but every so often i find a great deal.  I found one a couple days ago.  With it getting cold, I have to wear something on my head to stay warm but I need it to wick away the moisture b/c I sweat no matter what temperature.  I also always have my ipod shuffle with me b/c I love the background music even if I have friends I’m running with.  Look what I found:

It’s a sport beenie and it has speakers that you can put into the edging and listen to your mp3 player or your phone.  Here is is on my head.  I took off the black tag after I took the picture.  It was driving me crazy.

I like it and love the little speakers.  There is a tab on the back where I can clip my shuffle and then the cord with the speakers feeds through a whole to the inside pocket for the speaker discs.  I’m going to try it out on Saturday but I already love it.

Triathlon training starts on Saturday:

I’m excited, nervous, freaking out, and everything in between.  I think I really need to get focused on the triathlon – I do sooooooooo much better with a plan and a goal.  I’ve got the goal just not the plan (not yet) but that will change on Saturday.  I have my first meeting and run with my tri group.  I’m ready, just hope my hip does ok.  I worked from home today, so after I picked my big boy up from school, I came home and started picking up and cleaning.  While doing that I started gathering my stuff together for this weekend.  Tomorrow I will leave work (hopefully early), pickup my boy, swing by my house and pick up our stuff including our dog and head to my parents house.  We will spend the night and then on Saturday morning I am to report at 8 am at a park in Loganville for my first training session.

that’s not everything, there is more piled up there now but that’s what I took a picture of.  I’m always so afraid I’m going to forget something important that I have to start pulling it all together when I think about it or it might get left.

One last thing, did go for an easy 3 mile run last night:

Based on the weather report, we were suppose to be ok and the rain would hold off for a bit.  Well it ended up sprinkling most of the run and I looked like a wet rat by the time I finished.  I ran with two other ladies from MRTT.  We had a good time and talked about all kinds of things.  My hip did fine (I taped it again) but this time my hamstring was achy/sore.  This is why my hip is so frustrating, I get one part to feel better and then something else decides to be a bother and it affects my run.  Seriously!!!!!!  glad I got out but just mad at my leg.

I warned you all that it would be a lot.  🙂  Hope you all enjoyed it and look for a post about my tri-training.