Terlits and Tribulations

Wow it has been forever since I have written a blog. Sorry to all my fans! HAHA! I have been crazy busy and just have not had time. However today I decided that I need to catch everyone up on what has been happening with me.

It is Monday, August 11th. My 40th birthday is August 26th. I cannot believe that I am almost 40. Time flies when you are having fun! I am going to run the Virginia Beach Rock and Roll Half Marathon on August 31st to celebrate my birthday. Yes I know why run 13.1 miles to celebrate my birthday? Well just to say I can and I did? To spend some quality time with my closest friends? To get back to my running roots? Well I say Yes to all of the above. It is going to be a blast. I don't think the race is sold out yet, so if you are not doing anything Labor Day weekend, sign up and run/walk with us!

What else has been going on with me? Well I am still training for the Ironman. Everyday is a challenge. Some days are a step or two forward and other days are a step or two back. Recently there have been many days when I question both a.) my sanity and b.) what I was thinking when I signed up to run this race. I vacillate between knowing I can finish albeit slowly and thinking there is no way in Hades I will ever get to the finish line. This weekend was one of the latter days.

The "Iron" crew headed to Panama City Beach for what was supposed to be a race simulation long bike ride and run with a little open water ocean swimming thrown in. Well as par for the course for me lately, I was completely nervous and had a terrible ride. I did not make the distance I wanted to make and could not keep any food down. Great start to my training weekend. On top of everything else that was occurring and not occurring that morning, I had a great experience at the first pit stop.

For those of you that have known me for a few years, I have a redneck magnet somewhere inside my body. As a matter of fact, if there is a redneck within twenty miles of me, they will find me and ask me out. Forget waiting on Brad Pitt. LOL. My dream guy apparently likes to drink Milwaukee's Best from a brown paper bag on Saturday morning at 9am. So while stopped at the BP pit stop, and while puking my guts up, I was asked on a date! Oh well, I must be a closet redneck and not even know it. Either that or I have a sign that says - "Please ask me out I am desperate!" written on my forehead.

On Sunday, I did not even attempt to run, my stomach was still sour from the day before. I decided that I would just get in some swimming instead. Rick and I got dressed and made our way down to the beach. Guess what the first thing that we saw upon stepping into the ocean? A JELLYFISH. This was no little stinger either. It had to be 8-10 inches long. Of course I freaked out! Rick being much calmer than I told me not to worry it was probably just a one-off and to go ahead and swim. Well so much for that idea. By the time we made it out to the third buoy, we had seen quite a few jellyfish, one that was at least 4 feet long. At the buoy, Rick made the executive decision to swim back to the shore and cut our distance short. While I was a bit disappointed, he was right to do that because no sooner than I had started swimming in, I felt a sharp sting to my wrist and a couple of feet later one to my knee. Yes FOLKS! I had been stung. What luck I tell you. I swam to shore as fast as I could and got out of the water. We quick went to the hot tub and to get a bit of relief to my stings and NO RICK DID NOT PEE ON ME! Although I have heard this is a great remedy, I was not in the mood to be pee'ed on.

After a quick soak we made our way back to the hotel room, showered packed and headed out to begin the drive back to Orlando. We all were exhausted. None of us more so that my partner in crime, Missey. For some reason she seemed to think she was still on her bike and was driving down the bike lane on the side of the road. Of course I had to give her a hard time which ended up backfiring on me as she pulled over at the first gas station and handed me the keys. Yup! I just teased my way into driving back to Orlando. Woo-Hoo!

Since we were stopped, I decided to make a quick run to the bathroom. Of course Missey had to give me a hard time and ask me if I needed a "terlit"? This I have since found out, means Toilet in Redneck. LOL. "Terlit" became the new joke for the next 200 miles or so. Needless to say, Missey had better watch her back this Christmas. You never know what might end up under the Christmas tree if she is lucky and I am so inclined.

Of course paybacks are hell and for the next couple of hours every time I passed a semi-truck I had Debbie roll down her window and make the universal sign for truckers to HONK. Missey was MORTIFIED. We were laughing HYSTERICALLY. It was awesome. A perfectly good Range Rover loaded to the gills with expensive bikes and bike equipment getting semi-trucks to honk at us. I am not sure that any of us will ever forget this trip home. Can a Range Rover driver be a redneck? LOL.

My daughters come home this weekend and school starts on Monday. I have missed them dearly and cannot wait to see them but WOW another thing to juggle. Some days I have no idea how I can do it all! Thankfully their grandparents have done most of the pre-school shopping and I will just have to pick up and few odds and ends. I will post pictures when they get back so you all can see how big they have grown while they were gone.

Wish me luck this week as I continue on my journey! I will keep you all posted. Hopefully a little more frequently than I have been able to do lately.

Take Care!

XOXOX,
Elizabeth