Gateway to Kemah triathlon!

Last weekend I completed my first tri of the season. It was an Olympic distance (0.93 mile swim, 24.8 mile bike, 6.2 mile run) called "Gateway to Kemah". This was actually a qualifying race for the infamous Escape from Alcatraz, so the field was pretty competitive (and intimidating!!!). The course was set up similar to the Alcatraz course (probably not as many hills as San Francisco though :) ).

Me and Lisa, pre-race...with our awesome wetsuits! Yay for Xterra sales!

Swim-
A half an hour before the race start, we boarded boats and they took us out a mile from shore. The water was pretty choppy...I have been struggling with some inner ear issues and swimming in a wetsuit was making me seasick (changes your buoyancy and can confuse your vestibular system :)...how's that for a medical term). BUT...the dramamine I took that morning worked AWESOMELY well. As did all the prayers, thank you so much for those! So we jump of the end of the boat, swim to the start buoys, tread water for a few minutes and then the gun goes go, and we started swimming. It was really hard to sight in the water because the swim finish buoys were blue and blended in with the water, the waves were pretty high, so every time you tried to sight, a swell was between you and shore...anyhow, I've been struggling with my swim anyways and the challenging conditions put me in at around 42 minutes...yowsers.

Bike-
The bike took us up and over Kemah bridge (about a 5% grade) twice, then straight out and back, and then we did it all over again. We had a head wind both ways...go figure...so again, my bike time wasn't as great as I wanted it to be, about a mile per hour slower than my last race, BUT my aero bars ROCKED. If I hadn't had them, I would have been going about 3 miles per hour slower. Thanks parents!

Run-
Since I tend to overheat pretty quickly, I took a bottle of gatorade with me to help replace the electrolytes at shorter intervals than the aid stations allow. This worked great and I felt pretty good on the run. I ended up PRing my 10K distance...including a potty break in the middle (just couldn't make it any further :) ). So I was really pleased with that...of course, it's pretty funny that my 10k pace is about 43 seconds slower than my half-marathon pace :)...

So, overall I finished in 3hrs and 33 minutes...about 3.5 minutes slower than my last race, but considering that I did not put in the training that I had wanted to, I didn't get seasick, and I PRed my 10k distance, I am pretty happy with my performance. Philippians 4:13.

Post race...yay for finisher medals!

I have another Olympic tri in one week in Galveston...no hills on this one... :D

Launch!!!

So I had the amazing opportunity to travel to Florida this past weekend to witness the launch of Discovery!!! I was planning on traveling out there anyways with my friend, Lynn, but then I was awarded a Space Flight Awareness award, which included a trip to see the launch...I love how God takes our plans and makes them bigger and better!

It was an awesome time: awards ceremony on Friday, tours of Kennedy Space Center on Saturday (my first time being there), we had Easter Sunday off (church and Cocoa beach time!), then up at 2am to board the buses to take us out to watch the launch from a distance of 3 miles. Amazing, amazing, experience. I don't know if the right adjectives exist to describe what I was feeling- an overall speechlessness at being able to sit so close and watch something that I have LOVED since I was little launch astronauts into space. Such a privilege to witness it. Beautiful, exciting, emotional (yep, totally teared up :)), and over much too quickly! Here are a few pictures I took, and a video of the launch (well, up through max Q :) ). Enjoy!

This one is for the parents :) Me and my award

In the Saturn 5 facility at KSC, about to start the tour


The Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB)- this is where the Saturn 5 was stacked and where the Shuttle is now attached to the External Tank (ET) and Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs)


Holy Space Shuttle Batman!!! You can't see the actual Shuttle because it's behind a protective shroud. They remove that the day before launch (we were there two days before launch). Still, wickedly cool.


The Shuttle lit up on the pad- viewed from the causeway at Banana River, 13 miles away...this is the best my camera could do :)


Eek!!!! Almost time!

LAUNCH!!!!!

Blurry, yes. But, proof we were there!!!

Discovery's trail and the sunrise= wow. Empty pad in the lower right hand corner.

First "for my house" purchase!!!

Aren't they pretty? :) (yeah, yeah, I hear they work well too ;-) )...

Get ready....

Coming to a blog near you (like, really near...as in, the one you are reading now)...Melissa's Do-It-Yourself EXtravaganza! That's right, I am a homeowner now...and that means...PROJECTS!!! So expect to see postings in the near future...before and after pictures included :)

Gma's Birthday

"Gma" is short for Grandma...my cousins and I have shortened our traditional "Grandma" to that for texting purposes...and I sometimes call her "Gee-maw"...she thinks I am weird :)

After Tima's wedding, my brother and I drove to Tucson for Grandma's 88th birthday. This birthday was a big deal because just over a month ago, she was in the hospital having emergency surgery to fix two preforated hernias...a big deal for an almost 88 year old woman with breast cancer and major stroke history. We are all so glad that we get to have her with us longer and it was only by God's grace and mercy that she made it through surgery, recovered at a miraculous pace, and was released from the rehab center about 3.5 weeks after the surgery. She's a bit on the frail side right now and gets tired easily. But she can eat birthday cake with the best of them :)

Look at all those birthday flowers behind her. And by the way, no, she doesn't color her hair! (Can I tell you how excited my sister and I are with those genes!?)


Making a wish


Love her smile in this one...

TimaSue's Wedding

My best friend got married this past weekend!

I met TimaSue my second day on campus- she was my next door neighbor in the dorms. We quickly became friends and every year after that, lived together (dorms, apartment, house, and townhouse...the last two years, joined by her sister Katrina, and the last year, by her brother Anthony). She's come out to visit me since I've moved to Texas, and I always go back for Tamale Day with her family. It was such a joy to share her special day with her. I am so happy for both her and Mark (who is just plain awesome :) ). Congratulations you two!!!!

Blast from the past- our 19th birthdays...10 years ago!


Spring Break 2000


My college graduation


Rehearsal dinner


The lovely bride and her lovely sister


Aww, Mark and Tima are married!!!!

Bikeish Upgrades

For Christmas, my awesome padres bought me carbon fiber aero bars for my bike. Aero bars are used by triathletes to get into a more aero dynamic position on your bike and it also helps take weight off of your leg muscles, which you desperately need for the run of course...like this:

This is Pip Taylor. She is awesome.

Here's my bike with its new fancy schmancy aero bars:

Close-up:

Profile Design Carbon Stryke Aero Bars
I tried them out this morning, a bit scary, but nothing I can't get used to after more practice. Thanks padres!

Oh and what would my bike be mounted on? Oh that would be my snazzy new Saris Bones 3 bike rack. Bought at the same store as my bike and my shoes, so here's how the conversation went:

Me: I need a bike rack for my car
Bike guy: This one will work well for you
Me: It's nice but waaaay out of my price range
Bike guy: I'll give you 15% off
Me: Still outta my price range
Bike guy: Let me see what I can do (goes off to the computer and comes back). I can give you 25% off.
Me: Still too much
Bike guy (a bit exasperated)- well, what is your price range?
I told him
Bike guy: I'll let you have it for 40% off.
Me: Done.

Sweet!

Saris Bones 3 rack