half ironman

Weekend Buzz

| cheriarmour

So, I totally hope you guys had an awesome weekend – I sure did!  It went by way way too fast, and I don’t feel like I got to spend enough time with Austin, but I’m hoping to make up for some of it this week.

So, after I did wine with Matthew on Friday night, and taught Zumba, I headed to the Raleigh Half Ironman expo to grab some cowbells, because come Sunday morning, I had plans to wake up early, cheer on some Half Ironman and Half Iromwomen, and grab brunch with one of my best friends in the entire world.

Let’s review really quickly.  So for those of you who are unfamiliar (cause prior to last year, I was!) with what a Half Ironman is, a Half Ironman (often denoted as 70.3), is a triathlon that involves a 1.2-mile swim, a 56-mile (whew!) bike ride, and a half marathon at the end (13.1 miles), to top it off.  I spectated last year, and had such a great time, that I went for it again this year.

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We started off by spectating some of the guys that would be considered elite.

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DSC_0710DSC_0711We changed locations to meet up with the Lemons (the cool chickaroos from Lululemon)

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Caitlin, on the left, was giving out free hugs, and it was really really cute to see folks stop, look really relived, and then go in for a big, sweaty hug.  At one point, she said she had to spit someone else’s sweat out of her mouth (GROSS!!?) but she was an awesome sport about it.

After I cheered and cowbelled for the Ironmen and ladies, I headed down to a carwash closer to the north side that had been revamped, and that was doling out free carwashes.  Since I’m on a budgeting kick, I could not justify paying to wash my car, so I went and got a wash, and vacuumed it out as well.

DSC_0720DSC_0719I’ve got to admit, the part where I put my car in neutral, and just sort of rode along was a little scary, and I’m not sure I’d like to do that again.

And finally, I was inspired by the folks from this morning that I topped this busy day off with a run.

How was your weekend?  

OMG PS ONE LAST THING!!!!!!!!!!  I finally registered for my Body Pump Training – so as of mid-July, I am going to Wilmington to get trained to teach Body Pump.  I am SO excited!!!!  Can you tell by all the exclamation points?

Where is the time going?

| cheriarmour

I’m sitting in my apartment after a full day, and I’m seriously wondering (as I gear up to spectate the Raleigh Half-Ironman tomorrow) where the hell the time is going.

After work yesterday, me and Matthew made a much, much-needed to Coquette, a local french spot where I killed two glasses of wine, and truffle fries.  An amazing way to end the week.

photoAfter that, we headed to Total Wine (cause the two glasses just wasn’t enough), sampled some full-bodied Spanish wines, and I took  a nice bottle home to enjoy by my lonesome while I waited on the man-friend to get done doing boy stuff.

This morning, I headed to teach a Zumba class, met up at Starbucks with some folks for a meeting, and finally, drove down to Durham with my man to pick up some more goodies for the wedding off Craigslist!

By the time all was said and done, it was 8pm, and I’m really wondering how I can squeeze a few more hours of the day.

Today, as you read, I join some friends with a few cowbells to spectate the Half Ironman in Raleigh, and I couldn’t be more pumped!

What did you do this weekend?

 

Monday Motivaçion

| cheriarmour

So, I rolled over around 9:00am on Sunday morning (before you call me a big fat slacker, I worked out this evening, okay!), and met a dear friend, Melanie, for brunch on Hargett Street in Raleigh. It was prime position for us to watch our Ironmen (and women!) compete in Raleigh’s inaugural Half Ironman Triathlon.

I’m no triathlete. But I have nothing but the utmost respect for them. So when we heard that a Half Ironman was coming to Raleigh, I was blown away. I mean, I didn’t even know what it entailed, but it sounded hard. So I did what every Masters-educated woman. I Wikipedia-ed it. Duh. (Seriously, tell me I’m not the only one who can waste hours on Wikipedia). So a Half Ironman Triathlon consists of a 1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike ride, and 13.1-mile run. And cool as it is, they picked my city to host it! I mean, Raleigh is up-and-coming. But it’s so cool to think that people were traveling from far and wide to my city to get their Ironman on.

If you can’t wrap your noodle around how incredible of an athletic feat that is, think about this. All my marathoners and half marathoners, close your eyes. Remember that relief you felt at the end of your first half marathon? Like “yay girl! I’m done!”. These folks swam. Weren’t done. Biked. Still weren’t done. And then went for a jaunty 13.1 miles through downtown Raleigh in blazing heat. That is an athlete. Here I am, feeling myself because I ran a rinky-dink little marathon, and these guys are killing it in four hours?

So anyhoo, after we finished brunch, we made our way over to the finisher’s chute. We saw a few of the guys finish, and they were cruising like it was a Sunday jog. Like they didn’t look stinky, sweaty, or stressed about finishing.

And then we saw her.

Laura Bennett, a 38-year-old woman from Colorado came down the chute. She was cruising, again, looking like her 13.1 mile run was an effortless jaunt. She smiled as Mel and I screamed variations on “You go, girl,” at the gazelle that was making her way down the chute. She was gorgeous. She was inspiring. And I’m in love.

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I may never run an Ironman. I mean I’d like to, but who knows. But if nothing else, Laura Bennett, 38, inspired me to sport it UP and get my tail in gear. If she can kick that much butt on a blazing Sunday, what the heck am I capable of? Congrats girl. You totally blew me away.