Clear Lake International Triathlon

The lack of posts has been due to the fact that life has been extremely busy- work, sleep, and training. Training for...the Clear Lake International Triathlon, Olympic Distance! (0.93 mile swim, 24.8 mile bike, 6.2 mile run).

Yesterday Lisa and I, along with some of our friends/co-workers, participated in this event. Big thanks to my roomies and my friend Jana, who is visiting (and took the pictures), for coming out to cheer us on.

Barry, me, Lisa, Scott, Sunni pre-race

I did better than I planned on the swim and bike (I had set "worst-case time goals" that I would be happy with and beat those).

That's me in the white cap at the end of the swim


Coming in from the bike

The run was brutal, it was really hot (in the 90s and humid) and I just do not run well in those conditions, so it wasn't the 10k time I was hoping for, but 1hr 11 minutes wasn't bad for the amount of walking I did...the first mile I ran was in 9min! Getting off of a bike going 17mph and starting to run completely screws up your sense of speed, so I definitely went much faster at first than I normally would have.

Starting the run

Still, my goal was to complete the tri in 3hrs 30 min and I did it in 3 hrs 28 min, so I am happy with the overall results. It was my first time transitioning with bike shoes too, so I know I can improve in that area. I am also excited to start some speed work training in my swim and I know I can improve in the bike (I think some weights and spin classes are in order :) ).

Chatting afterwards...I ran most of the time with that towel on my head and dumped ice water on it at every water station. Best idea ever :)

So I ended my tri season on a good note. While there are several available tris left in the season, I am refocusing my training efforts to prepare for my first half-marathon, the San Antonio Rock and Roll half-marathon in November. I am also registered for the Houston half-marathon in January. I plan to do several Olympic distance tris next year and am currently waiting to see how the Nov half-marathon goes to see where I should plan my first Half-Iron distance! Yep, you read right, Lisa and I are going to step up to the Half-Iron distance at some point (a Half-Iron is 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, and 13.1 mile run)...its just determining first if I can handle that much running at once and then picking the best time to do one...

Best training/running/tri buddy ever, Lisa!

I was thinking while on the bike yesterday, how amazing it is that I can do these races. Some people with my disease are in constant pain and battling health instability all the time. I have been very blessed that the medicines I am on work well for me and that I have an awesome doctor (who still thinks I am crazy for doing this and is still amazed that I am ABLE to do these races). It is God who is sustaining my health through the rigors and stress of training, work, and life in general. I know it may not always be this way, so that makes me extra thankful for this very healthy period, where I can experience being an athlete. The training wasn't problem free, but I am being very careful to rest and pull back when any issues arise (so all you worryers, STOP WORRYING! :) ). So, I'll praise Him now for the privilege to participate in triathlons and half-marathons, and by His grace, I will praise Him still, if that privilege ever goes away.

Tris rock!!!!!

Hospitality #4

A much belated post...a couple of weeks ago we had our Mexican food-themed hospitality #4 event

The Shys, Hurds, Pam's parents, and Claire's sister and brother

Musings on Jeremiah

I'm currently in the middle of studying Jeremiah. I read chapter 27 the other day and was particularly blown away, old lesson, different angle...here are a few of my thoughts on it...

Jeremiah 27- Quick summary- Judah is strategizing to overthrow the rule of Babylon, which they have recently come under. God speaks through Jeremiah and tells the people that it is His WILL that they are under the rule of King Nebudchadnezzar and Babylon and they will be for some time. It won't last forever, but they must not fight back or they will be punished.

How amazing that God reveals a piece of His plan to Judah here. How needed it was as well...His plan was completely OPPOSITE of the people's natural instinct: Big Bad Babylon (Triple B) takes over=people fight back to reclaim their freedom, God says "Nope, stop, it's my will that you are under Triple B's thumb for now. Obey and submit". Whoosh- the sound of every person in Judah gaping at the Lord, "You want us to do WHAT!? How in the world does that accomplish anything!?"...Oh yes, God's grace all over this one- the people NEVER would have thought- "Ooh Triple B has conquered us, let us smile sweetly and offer our services to Triple B." God needed to show His plan to keep His people from getting into trouble (ie the promised punishment if they did not submit to Babylon's rule). He knows just what information we need to know, even though sometimes we can't see the reason or purpose for it. His mercy stretches even further when He tells them it will not be forever...he doesn't give a timeframe, just not forever. Think how we are in the same situation. Let's start big:

1) Big picture- Christ's return- we know its coming, but we don't know when. We are told to wait patiently and trust
2) Smaller picture- Our continual santification and eventual reward of heaven. We don't know when we will die, but we know it's coming, what's coming afterward, and are told to press on and trust
3) Smallest picture- the season of life that we are in. We don't know when the next will begin, we are told to press on and trust.

Nice to see that our God is consistent eh? He revealed a bit of his plan to Judah and told them to press on and trust. He reveals a bit of His plan to us and tells us to press on and trust. And, if read on, God is faithful to Judah, so guess what that means to us? Yep, you guessed it, God will be faithful to us. Love it.

Coldplay!!!!

So my birthday present to myself this year was to buy Coldplay tickets. My roomie Claire is a Coldplay fanatic and she decided to help me celebrate my birthday too ;-). Tickets went on sale on my birthday, so I had been patiently waiting for July 22nd to arrive for five whole months. Whew. It was tough. And then, the BIG NIGHT. Nothing like going to an outdoor concert in Houston at the end of July. Ha. We ran into our friends Adrienne and Allyson. They let you bring in cameras! I had left mine in the car 'cause I figured they wouldn't let me bring it in...so all the pictures are compliments of Allyson. The show was great! I couldn't get over how professional the video was for the big screens they had up, and the energy that Chris Martin (lead singer) has! Holy cow, he must eat like 47 GUs with rocktane or something like that before the show. They started the set with with my favorite song, Violet Hill, so I was pretty excited...very very good show. Great effects and lights. I highly recommend you see them next time they are in town.

Claire, Allyson, and me- prepared with ice cold water and frozen lemonade :)


Ahhh, Coldplay!!!!


Lead singer Chris Martin


"Yellow"

Amanda's wedding doings...

I am finally catching up on my blog.

So one of my roommates, Amanda, got married last weekend. Her now-husband, Dave, goes to my church and mentioned she needed a place to live for a couple of months, so we threw some curtains up across the entrance to the den, unfolded the fold out couch, and voila! another bedroom. It was fun having her here for those months, although we joke that we will all probably see her more now that she is married than when she was living with us (opposite schedules, etc) :). I've been a bit bad about taking pictures of things- I think my schedule is already so full that I don't think of blogging or scrapbooking, so I forget to take pictures. Here are a few from the shower and the wedding:

Amanda opening gifts at the shower


The four roomies


The Charlie's Angels pose


Awww, Amanda and Dave :)


The roomies at the wedding

A break :)

I just needed a break. So I took one. After the weekend in Arizona, I headed out to Los Angeles. My friend Angie and her husband Andrew recently moved to Canyon Country, CA (they used to live in College Station and housed me for two hurricane evacuations :) ). Angie picked me up at the airport, looked over at me and asked "so what's the plan?". I replied "beach, Disneyland"..."Good plan". We spent the afternoon roasting (literally, unfortunately, so much for SPF 70) in the California sunshine and ate dinner outside of Knott's Berry Farm.

Huntington Beach

The next morning we were up bright and early to go to the BESTEST PLACE EVER- Disneyland!

We ended up spending 14.5 hours at the park and had such a fun time.

Ice cream and Disneyland- ::sigh of happiness::


Sporting our uber cool Minnie ears (Angie and I and two of our friends took a road trip back in college here- she got a princess hat with ears and I got a Mickey santa hat..yeah we do the ear thing).


No, we didn't actually ride the teacups- my stomach and things that go around and around don't agree


On Wednesday morning, Angie took me to this breakfast place that has 101 omelets. She got a peanut butter and jelly omelet. It was really tasty. Really. Egg is very neutral tasting so if you can just get past the mental image of eggs and peanut butter, I promise your tummy will be happy.

Ah, good times, good times.

10 Year Reunion

Yep, that would be my ten year high school reunion...the time went so fast! Although, I do have to say that it doesn't feel like I just graduated yesterday...too much life has happened since then, but it definitely doesn't feel like ten years!

My best friend from junior high, Kristen- she moved during our freshman year- I haven't seen her since my freshman year in college.


Me and Helen- we used to walk to and from elementary school together

Thoughts on the reunion? It was a bit surreal...seeing people I haven't seen since graduation night, now all grown-up and discussing our doings over drinks and dinner...strange to see them without a backpack :). What I think impressed me the most, was the confidence that everyone has...when you're 18, there are still so many unanswered questions about what to do and where to go...ten years removed from those big decisions, it was awesome to see how settled and confident my classmates are, families, careers. Confidence, as most of you will remember, wasn't run-of-the-mill in high school ;-). We're all grown up. It will be interesting to see how another ten years affects that confidence...how life events will shape us.

Me, Tommy, and Nic- these guys cracked me up all through high school- things haven't changed :)



Justin, Jason, Hank, Jonny, Lydia and I...Jason, Jonny, Lydia, and I have great academic decathlon memories, and the rest of the group, many years of shared honors and AP classes, quips, studies, and good times.


Michelle and I- we were in Girl Scouts together...which means I have known her since elementary school, and she does tris, which makes her even cooler ;-)

It was also fantastic to reconnect with friends- we all mentioned at least once or twice, how great Facebook has been in removing some of the awkwardness of reconnecting. Gotta love technology. I also had the chance to talk with a few people whom I never took the chance to know better in high school- one gal and her husband live in Dallas now and I am hoping to be able to see them in the future. All in all, I'm very glad I went. :)