Photos... need to get back to accountable...

The last time I posted a photo was in April... APRIL!  And my weight has been all over the place since then.  I have been on a very long term plateau, and it is time that I buckle down and get back to work.  For me, the weekly photos kept me accountable... and successful.

206.2

204.2
 

The shadows on these photos make it hard to see much of a difference at all.  And if I am being honest, the photos I should be taking now are the side profile.  That is where I am seeing the weight loss... or gain... more than these front shots. 

As with any journey, you have to pay attention... notice when you are starting to move backward... and set up your next plan of attack... and for me... my attack is accountability!

One-derland... I'm coming back! :-)




12 Years...

Who cares what we were toasting at this moment... I love
you, Jeff... and always will!

... there is so much going on right now...

... but nothing more important than the 12th anniversary of our wedding vows!

Yes, we even left my 25th high school reunion last night early to celebrate (more on that later!)...

I love you with all my heart, my sweet husband!  Here's to 12 years plus 12 years plus even more 12 years!

... until we are that couple, slowly walking in the park, hand in hand, in our 90's...

I... Love... You!

Happy Anniversary!

Carlsbad Tri... MVHS Reunion Tri... Jeff's first Tri...

Jeff and me (and Anna and Abby) picked up the
race packets for our teams... 16 hours to go
before race time!

... what an AMAZING day!  :-)  Next weekend is my 25th high school reunion from Mission Viejo High School - class of 1988.  Several months back, a few of us reconnected and found that we are all doing triathlons or one leg of a tri, so we decided to set up (2) relay teams for the Carlsbad Triathlon... one week before our reunion... sort of a reunion challenge!

Ends up that someone on the "other" team had to back out so Jeff decided to fill in... for his first tri... doing the bike leg... on the team against me... and I was also doing the bike leg for my team... hence, we have had some fun smack talk going on for the past few months.  There was no doubt in my mind that Jeff would beat me on the bike leg, but it was a matter of how much time he would gain for his team.

Who knew that a 1,000 meter beach start swim...
... 16 mile bike...
... and 3.1 mile run could be SOOOOOO MUCH FUN? :-) 

As usual, the photos will tell the story...

OUR transition area... you have NO idea how much I have waited
to say those words! :-)  Yes, we were on opposite teams, but my
sweet husband was doing a triathon with me...OK... against me...
... who cares?  He was with me!

... in THIS corner, Team Justwingit...Steph, Roger and Jeff...
... and in the other corner, Team LoserBuysBeer... Mike and me (and Gary)...
who was supposed to do our run until he had knee surgery... a week ago... darn...
I had to have a mulit-time and trainer Ironman do our swim and bike... ;-)

I've never done or seen a beach start tri before...
... could this BE more beautiful?

... pretty big group for the beach start!

Jeff and I were jogging to warm up... I've NEVER run with Jeff...
I KNOW after today we will be a (2) member tri family!
 

Another photo of the beach start... oh... I should mention that we handed
our camera off to injured team member, Gary, who took all these
photos while we were warming up!  (THANK YOU!!!)

WOOO HOOOO!  There is my teammate, Ironman Mike, coming in
strong from the swim.  We saw him coming and this is when I started
getting nervous!  Since Mike was one of the first out of the water, there
was a bullseye on my back... and Jeff was all over it!

There is Jeff starting his first tri bike... white star on his back...
the race is ON!

JustWingIt runner Roger starting the run... and friend and regular
triathlete in the over 75 category, Bill Hines is at the front of the screen...

Ironman Mike finishing up our run... WOO HOOOOOOOOO!

Our teammates and family waiting for Roger from Jeff's team to finish...

And here comes Roger... up the left... GO, GO, GO!!!

Today was sooooo amazing.  A great course... great friends... and Jeff finally INSIDE the transition area with me.  Another great surprise were friends Matt and LaLa there at the finish cheering us on!  :-)  At lunch, after the race, we all agreed to do this again next year... although (3) months out, we will be picking names and race legs out of a hat... :-) 

And for those of you that were following the Jeff vs. Tracey bike challenge... yes, Jeff beat me in time... he finished 3:31 faster than me... however, my team took 6th place out of 21 co-ed tri teams and I met my goal of 18MPH even on this hilly course.  I had a GREAT ride thanks to Jeff's fixing of my gears... but Jeff had an even better ride.  Jeff will get the new jersey... but we were all winners today... by the numbers... and by the heart! :-)  Next year can't come soon enough!!!

SDIT 2013 - Race Report

Could there BE a more beautiful place for a 7AM swim?  I was
4th out of the water in this group, so I'm right up there...

First off, I... LOVE... THIS... RACE!  It is local... it is beautiful... and a great course with lots of fantastic volunteers! 

Pre-race - I was feeling ready and very excited for this race... even though the weather called for exessive heat warnings.  It was in the mid-80's and high humidity at the coast when we were picking up our race materials the day before the race with the temps expected to increase race day.  I prepared to take my own hydration (camel back on the bike and a bottle for the run... all frozen with ice the night before) to be sure I was OK for the race.  I should have known that KOZ totally increased the water stations from the year before... I think I counted (6) water stations, where there were only (2) the year before.

Race Day - When we arrived at the race at 5:45AM, it was already almost 70 degrees... but by race time, the weather had changed!  It remained overcast, but the wind started blowing.  When we were up at Cabrillo National Monument on the bike, the clouds were blowing across the road... it looked like we were riding into the clouds... actually, I guess we were! :-)  When we got to the flat seaside run, the wind was howling.  It felt like I was running in a wind tunnel.  Yes, it was cool!  But the headwind was a challenge! 

Alright... enough of the chatter... it is time for the photos to tell this story...

6:30AM... it was already so warm that Anna
was in shorts as I was about to jump into the water.

This photo tells it all... TOTAL SHOCK as I came out of the water! 
Wooooo Hoooooo!

I had some tech issues with the bike and knew
I was 10 minutes off my goal... had to pick it up!

The wind killed me on the run... although I ran more (walked less) and felt
better on the run this year.

Anna made us a cool sign... and is showing here how hard the wind
was blowing... she didn't have to hold her sign, the wind held it for her.

Me and Briony... PHEW...It's over! :-)

Our Palomar YMCA racers... love having a "gym" to train at that
comes along with a family to race with!

At the finish line, Anna (dog lover) met a new 180 pound friend!

WINNERS!  I took 2nd just behind Paul Torres... I beat her by 10 minutes
on the swim, she beat me by 10 minutes on the run... our transitions
were pretty equal.  It KILLS me that my mechanical issues on the bike
cost me this race!  AUGH!!!  :-)  Onto the next race!