Hacienda de Patten - Pictures of the Dream

The Patio - where many beers will be drank and steaks grilled.

The Porch - place of solitude and early morning coffees

Master bath - for a shit, shower and shave

Master bedroom - note the his and her closets. His is the smaller one behind the door ;-)

Master Bedroom - view from the door.

Bedroom #3 - For the adult guests and the other half of our future master suite.

Common bathroom - Bubble baths will be the order for relaxation.

Bedroom #2 - The workout room. Weights and Yoga.

Bedroom #1 - The twin bed guest room. I'm thinking a cheerful, sunflower motif.

The hallway.

Kitchen - check out those 16" tiles. All new appliances and room for an island.

The laundry room/office through the doorway.

The living room - view from the dining area. Wall-sized bookcase planned for in here.

The Den - used to be a two car garage, now it's where we will entertain.

Dining area - enough room to seat 8-10 guests for a formal dinner party.

As you can see, there is a lot of room. And, no, we don't plan on filling all of those bedrooms with kids. Unless, there is a new ordinance that it's OK to keep goats in your house. However, if anyone ever needs a place to stay when they are in town, check the vacancy at the "Hacienda de Patten." You'll never need a reservation and the rates are always a bottle of wine ;-)

Hacienda de Patten - Finding the home of our dreams

So much to tell since my last post here. I ran 3 half marathons, the Gate River Run, first save on a cardiac arrest and Billy and I decided to buy a house.

WHAT?!

Yep, Billy and I are buying our first house together. Well, technically, second house, but this one doesn't have wheels under it. Not that there was ever anything wrong with our sweet little mobile home, we have just gotten to the point where we have outgrown it.

We've been talking about it for a few months, but not really that seriously. I've never bought a house before and didn't really know what to do first - do you find a house you like and then try to get a loan, or do you get the loan and then find a house? Well, we were visiting my cousin in Tampa and her hubby is a realtor, so we talked with him and he gave us a better idea of what we needed to do. Then he showed us a website that they use to locate homes and there was one in Kanapaha Pines in southwest Gainesville that was a good price and a good neighborhood. After we got back to town, we drove by and I thought it looked nice, so we contacted the realtor listed on the sign and told him that we were interested in the property. A week later, he had still not called us back, so I left him another message and told him that we wanted to inquire about the property. Still, no call. My cousin advised that we contact the office, so I did just that. I spoke with another realtor and told him that if this guy was too busy to try and sell a house, I understood, but a call back would have been nice.

He assured me that is NOT the way that they operate and said that he would have that realtor or his partner contact me. Not 3 minutes after hanging up the phone, I received a call from Joe, the partner. I explained about the property and he regrettably told me that the property was sold. He then sent me an email describing who he was and how many houses he had sold. He included his information and said he would love to work with us.

Well, in the meantime, Billy and I went to the credit union where we do our banking to get pre-approved for a mortgage. After filling out all the paperwork and providing all of our financials, they pre-approved us for $175K at a whopping 7.375% interest rate!! Now, admittedly, I have not had the best credit in my lifetime, but I am happy to admit that I have an outstanding credit score at this time and I was floored with that rate.

The next week after our visit to the credit union was Billy's birthday. I had been searching on "Craig's List" for homes in our price range and found a few that we decided to drive by and take a look at to see if they had curb appeal. Some did, some didn't. There was one house that was listed by the same company that Joe worked for, so we contacted him to set up a viewing at 1pm. One house, was located in the Northwood subdivision, which is made up of homes built in the 70's - two story, in-ground pool, HUGE yard. We drove by and decided to contact the owner to take a look. We set up a time of 3pm and drove around the neighborhood. Around the corner from this house, we found another house for sale. This one was on a corner lot, fenced in yard with only a few trees, but a good amount of shade and lots of grass! (These things were appealing to me) It was also listed with the same company that Joe worked for. :-)

We met Joe at the first house, built in the 1950's and full of a quirkiness that was just too quirky for us. It had some good qualities, but more bad qualities than we cared for. While we were there, we mentioned this other house we had seen over in the Northwood area. Joe asked if we wanted to take a look and we said, "Yes!"

We followed him over, past the two story house with the pool, to the house on the corner lot. We parked and as we walked up to the door, he said, "Wow! This place looks nice!" I had to agree. From the outside it appeared to be very well kept. He unlocked the door and stepped aside to let us in.

All I can say is when I walked across the threshold, I knew I was home. I believe my first comment was, "This living room is entirely too small!" Stated with complete sarcasm, as this living room was as big as our entire home we live in now. The entire house was tiled with 16" tiles, fresh paint, new double-paned windows, fenced in back yard with shed, screened in porch and additional brick patio. With 4 bedrooms and two baths, this place is about 3 times larger than our "Home on the Range"

From here, things just turned whirlwind. We put a contract on the house, met with a mortgage company, and negotiated a new roof. I was extremely pleased with the rate that the mortgage company gave us - 4.75%. It all seems so surreal and I was very afraid to mention anything when we first started because if it didn't go through, I would have been so devastated. We originally planned on closing on my birthday (Happy Birthday to ME!) But, I think that we might actually get to close earlier, so I could be moving into my new home over Memorial Day weekend!

Now, we just need some furniture to fill it up!

As for the evil credit union with their insanely high interest rate - I got an email yesterday from the lady asking if we were still shopping for a new home. I replied back that we would be closing on our new home next week :-)

PS - check the next blog for pictures of the "Hacienda"

From Chubby to Champion

Back in August, Billy and I went to Mexico for a lovely weeklong vacation with two of his co-workers. I love Mexican food and spent the entire week, pretty much eating everything that I wanted to. Combine that with working on a very busy truck and not really eating healthy at home or really working out that much, I am embarrassed to say that I was tipping the scales at a hefty 21o pounds! I was actually weighing more than my husband who is six inches taller than me.

During this portly period, I didn't actually feel unhealthy, but I couldn't mentally accept being over two hundred pounds. I picked up the phone and called my favorite trainer, Kellie Diehl. I used to work with Kellie about a year ago, but I let life dictate my schedule and just got too busy to schedule any more workouts. We got together and this time I had a concrete goal in mind. Lose twenty pounds, right? WRONG!! I love running and enjoy participating in races, so I decided that I wanted to get faster.

My average pace at the time was about 12:30/mile. Not too shabby, but I was thirsting for something quicker, say, maybe 10:00/mile. Kellie's workouts are amazing! We started working on strength and balance. Kellie started getting trained in Pilates, so she started incorporating that into our workouts as well. Almost immediately, I began to feel better. I had more energy and after a few weeks I could actually see muscles that I didn't have before. :-)

The gym has monthly challenges and since I love competition, I was totally game for it. The first challenge that we did was the "Tri-Scooter" challenge. It involved rowing, running and biking. I got first place for the women and won a new Under Armor workout shirt. Kellie informed of this at one of our workouts and said that she told them I would need a medium shirt. When she said this my response was, "Medium? I don't think that's gonna fit me!" About a week later, I came into the personal training area and there was my shirt, hanging up waiting for me. I tried it on and WHOA! It fit! I couldn't believe I was wearing a medium. By this time, I had already weighed in once or twice and found that I had lost 7 pounds.

A few weeks later was Thanksgiving and my week of races finishing the Women's half Marathon (where I shaved 17 minutes off of last year's time) and the Space Coast Marathon (where I finished ;-)

I continued to meet Kellie twice a week through December and just before she left for vacation in Texas, we met for a workout. Going with a Christmas theme, one of the trainers came up with a workout called "The Twelve Days of Christmas." Individually the exercises seemed innocuous, however strung together they are pure brutality. She left for Texas and I had homework over the Christmas break. I had a crazy amount of discipline and worked out 5 of the 7 days between Christmas and New Year's.

After New Year's we resumed our twice weekly sessions and ultimately time came for another weigh-in. Over the break, I had weighed in at a weight loss of seventeen pounds total. At 193, I was excited to be back to my previous weight. I got on the scale and couldn't believe what I saw - 188. One! Hundred! Eighty! Eight! Pounds! I had lost a total of 22 pounds!! I actually started crying. I couldn't believe what started out as a way to speed up turned into my slimming down.

To make things even better, other people have noticed my weight loss as well. Co-workers constantly ask, "Have you lost weight?" I always break into a big smile and say, "Twenty-Two pounds!" The best thing though was the other night, I was putting on my pajamas when Billy pointed out that he could see my "man cleavage." This is a total compliment to me. Man cleavage is that nice little line that guys get along side their abs that makes a little V that runs from their abs down past their waistband. It is super sexy and I have always wanted it. Pink also has this gorgeous man cleavage as well as Mark Wahlberg.

22 pounds is amazing. I feel better, I look better and I am a whole lot happier. Another thing I've learned is to go out and have fun with my runs. This weekend is my first race of 2011, the Newnan's Lake 15K and I've already registered for 6 other races this year, The Gate River run in Jacksonville, the 5 Points of Life Half Marathon, the Disney Princess Half Marathon, the AFLAC Iron Girl Half Marathon, and the Women's Half Marathons in St. Pete and Tempe, AZ.

I remember when I thought a 5K was a long race, now, that is a warm-up run for me. Who would have ever thought that I would call myself a runner?

Runner and Athlete.

I love it!

3, 2, 1, Lift off!! Space Coast Marathon

One of my goals for this year was to (wo-)man up and run another marathon. My first foray in the world of marathoning, the Marine Corps marathon in 2008, was an emotional roller coaster. I figured after two years, it was probably time to run another. I chose the Space Coast marathon in Cocoa. I'd heard it was an easy flat course and that was the truth.

I really tried to put it out of my mind that I hadn't been doing a whole lot of running, mostly cross training and running once or twice a week. My main goal for this race was to finish, just so I could say that I had done a second marathon. I know that sounds kind of weird, but I had this whole mental thing going on. I was still on a high from my time from the half last weekend, so I channeled that and went out for a good time.

Again Billy came with me and was up at the un-godly hour of 4:00am to catch the bus to the start line with me. I did my stretching and headed to the start. Start time for this race was 6:15am! Holy cow it was early! And a little bit chilly. I couldn't decide if I should wear my jacket or not and in the end decided that I was gonna get warm with the running and the forecast said it was supposed to be in the 70's.

This race had pacers, so the corrals were marked for what pace and finish time you wanted. Since I finished the Women's half in 2:26, Billy thought that I should pace with the 5 hour finishers. I thought that was being a little overzealous since what I run at miles 1-5 is a lot faster than what I run at miles 20-26. I think I finally settled on the 5-1/2 hour group and after the cool "countdown to lift off" start I fell in with the group. Miles one and two were good, but I felt like I wanted to run a little bit faster. It seemed that I was moving all over the road trying not to step on the backs of the persons feet in front of me.

We were running along the beautiful intercoastal waterway and it was gorgeous as the sun was rising. I was enjoying the stately homes along the river, but it was freezing cold out! At mile 6 I really had to pee, so I stopped at one of the water stations to relieve myself. One of the features of the Space Coast marathon are the water stations. These guys go all out! There is one at every mile and they are all space themed. They had Avatar, Star Wars, and even a Jimmy Buffett southernmost point themed water station that was sponsored by the local Parrothead club. (This one was located at the very southern turn-around of the marathon.) The race is made up of two out-and-back routes that make up the marathon. The half marathoners took the southern route out-and back to the finish line, while the full marathoners headed north for 7 miles and then back to the start/finish area then headed south.

The first half of the marathon was pretty lonely. Since it was so early, there were hardly any spectators, except for the occasional person walking their dog and of course the water stations. As I approached the halfway point, I was thinking, "Good grief! What have I gotten myself into? I'm right here at the finish, I could totally just end it here and go home." Then I saw Billy waiting for me and he was cheering me on. At this point I still felt good, but I messed up my mental game and it was downhill from there. Miles 15, 16 and 17 I kept telling myself that it wouldn't be so bad if I turned around now. I mean, the longest I've run was 13.1 and I've definitely run further today, so isn't that good enough?

Fortunately, I am not a quitter, because the next thing I know, I'm passing mile 18, then 19. The Parrotheads definitely helped with some morale. They had the best water station! I could hear Jimmy singing from a quarter mile away and the crew was cheering me on as I ran past.

I should mention that at this point my feet are killing me! Seriously, I was sore from my hips down and I was walking more than running. Then I met the most inspiring gentleman. He was probably in his 60's and wearing a shirt that said "50 + DC" This guy had run a marathon in every state and Washington DC!! He was so nice. We paced with each other for a while and I found out that last year he finished in 6-1/2 hours on a bad knee! He was ecstatic that this year he was going to finish in a quicker time with his new knee! LOL! I quit my mental whining and kept chugging along.

There weren't a whole lot of people left out on the course, but since I was on the back part of the out-and-back, I could see everyone that was going to finish behind me and I felt better knowing that I wasn't going to be last.

Right before I reached the 26 mile point, there he was standing on the side of the road, my hubby. He fell in beside me and helped me finish strong. To reach the finish line you enter the park and run around "the rotunda" There was a guy in all yellow right behind me and as he passed me, Billy yells, "Don't let him beat you, baby!" My reply to that was, "If he beats me, he earned it!" My feet wanted to fall off!

As I entered the rotunda, I could hear the announcer calling out the finishers as they crossed the finish line. I always hustle out the last 100 meters or so, and when I saw that the finish line was right around the bend, I picked up my pace. Remember the guy in yellow? Well, I started to pass him and he looks to his left, sees me and says, "Oh no you don't!" I almost started laughing, but we sprinted it out and as I crossed the finish line I started crying. It was pretty emotional especially since I noticed my time was 5:49:59. One of the volunteers saw me crying and she put a hand on my shoulder to steady me and says, "You did it! You finished!" I replied, "I know! I'm so happy!"

As they placed the medal around my neck, I was smiling from ear to ear!

39.3 miles of fun! (Part 1)

OK, OK, here's the update: Two races, two Sundays, 39.3 miles of fun!

November was an action packed month of racing for this girl. I already told you about the Greater Gator Duathlon, the sunday before Thanksgiving I ran in the Women's Half Marathon in St. Pete, FL.

Billy and I headed to St. Pete on Saturday and headed to the Renaissance Vinoy Hotel and the Half Marathon Expo to pick up my packet and my goodie bag. The cool thing about this race is that they always give out the coolest goodie bags. They are reusable shopping totes designed by Jackie Mcfee. (www.jackiemcfee.com) She has a whole collection of items designed for her daughter Kendall. Cute stuff!

After checking out the expo we headed to the hotel before heading out for dinner. I found an Italian restaurant nearby and we weren't the only ones carb loading in that place. Every other table had runners loading up on pasta. I had angel hair pasta with broccoli and garlic olive oil sauce. It was delicious and apparently I was really hungry because I ate the WHOLE pile of noodles!

After supper it was back to the hotel and this girl crashed. Race start was 0700 and we had to head over around 0615 to make sure we could find parking. I'll admit, I hadn't really thought much about the race over the last week. I didn't want to psyche myself out, but I've been working with Kellie, my trainer, and I felt really strong. I figured that I would probably be able to finish in about two hours or two and a quarter.

As I made my way to the start line, I began to feel the butterflies, but I told myself, "Just go out and have fun!" They had me in the 3rd corral, so I was about halfway between the fast runners and the walkers. The gun goes off and five thousand women and about fifty guys take off. I felt really strong out of the gate and found myself passing people left and right! My 5K split time was 30 minutes! (That's pretty fast for me)

Another cool thing about this race is that we get to run through Tropicana field. This is about mile 12. I had it in my head that last years time for this same race was around 2:30, so I was pretty skeeved when I was heading through the parking lot into the Trop at 2:00 and I figured that I would never make it in the 2:15 that I wanted. After I exited the Trop and got out of the parking lot, I was determined to finish strong, so I just stepped up my pace. It also helped that the last mile of the route is all downhill. I crossed the finish line and stopped my stopwatch at 2:26. I almost started crying! I can't believe after all that hard work in the gym I only beat last year's time by 4 minutes!

The weather was hot for this race too, so here it is a week before Thanksgiving and its 80 degrees outside and I am tired and hot and just want to get back to the hotel so I can take a shower and head home.

We get back to the hotel and I pull up the results for last year: my time was 2:43:18!! I beat last year's time by 17 minutes!! YeeHaw!!

A new addition to the Patten Clan

Billy and I stopped by the Alachua County Animal Shelter last Tuesday to see what kind of dogs they had for adoption. I know Billy really wants a dog and I think it would be nice to have a running partner, so we popped in to see what they had. Almost every pooch in the place looked very menacing. There were a lot of pitbull mixes and most of the dogs were pretty big. We didn't see one that we thought would be a good match for the family and we decided to leave.

Of course, we HAD to stop in and see the kitties. There were so many! I saw a cute little black one that had a cute little diamond shape on her nose. There was a Pumpkin look-alike and a boatload of tabbies. In one cage was a chatty little girl, she was white with orange and gray tabby markings on her head and torso. This girl was so cute! We took her out of the cage and she instantly nuzzled her head in my neck. Then her motor started running! LOL, it was so loud and she was so into it that she drooled on my shirt.

She almost seemed to be holding onto you saying, "Hi there! Thanks for wanting to take me home." Well, we decided that she was going to come home with us right then. After the paperwork and payment, the staff told us that she had to stay the night, so that she could get spayed in the morning, but we could come and pick her up after 4pm the next day. I couldn't believe that we were getting another kitty! What are Chipley and Pumpkin going to think about having a new sister?

Wednesday afternoon couldn't get here soon enough and at 3:50pm I hopped in the car and headed to the shelter to pick up my little girl. When they brought her out to me, she looked so scared, but as soon as I held her she started purring like crazy. I said to her, "Hello, little girl, let's go home."

The shelter had given her the name of Hope, but it didn't really suit her. Since my other kitties have names that are very characteristic of them, I started mulling over names for her. My friend Stephanie came up with the perfect name. I described the kitty as having orange and gray tabby markings, well, the shelter had her coloring listed as white with blue cream. So, I would say that she actually has an orange and blue marking on her head, so Stephanie suggested Alberta! Perfect! Billy was less than thrilled with the name, but we call her Berta or Bertie.

Chipley and Pumpkin were less than thrilled with this new intruder. They sniffed at her and started hissing like crazy. The poor thing was so scared! She quickly found the bed and that is where she stayed all night long. And the next morning. Into the afternoon. I was at work and Billy was home, so he coaxed her out with some food and she hung out on the couch with him. This did not make Pumpkin and Chipley very happy, as that is what they enjoy doing with their daddy.

Saturday, I had the pleasure of spending the day with all the kitties and my hubby. There was a lot of hissing, but at least we got them to play together. Billy was teasing the baby with a ribbon and Chipley just had to get in on the fun.

Monday was Berta's first trip to the vet. I would have to say that this is not her favorite activity. The poor thing was violated in her butt by the tech who said they had to do a "fecal exam" EWWW! Then they drew a spot of blood for a triple test to screen for FIV, Leukemia and something else. When she came back in the room after that test, she was shaking like a leaf. I picked her up and she snuggled so close into my neck all I could do was hold her like a baby.

The doctor comes in finally and tells me that the Leukemia test was positive. She was tested at the shelter and it came back negative, but that was 3 months ago and she says that it's possible that the first test was a false negative. Then she tells me that it is highly contagious and that my other babies are at risk for getting it too. She tells me that the test is never wrong and now I need to keep all the kitties separate. Feline Leukemia is untreatable and at this point, I don't even know what to do. I can't keep the cats separated all the time, but I don't want to risk my healthy babies getting sick. I am at a total loss of what to do.

When I get home, I shut poor Alberta in the office, which is fine with her because she hides under the bed anyway and won't come out. I call Billy and tell him the sad news and we decide that we will just have to take her back to the shelter.

So, this morning I wake up and I have a message from the vet, not the same doctor that I saw yesterday, but the one who owns the practice. She says that she spoke with the shelter and they won't pay to have a different leukemia test done, but since the kitty has a medical condition, they will take her back. My heart is breaking at this point. I know that if I take her back, she probably won't be put up for adoption because of the leukemia. But, I can't risk Chipley and Pumpkin getting sick either. I beg Billy to go with me to the vet and I lose it. I start crying because I feel so guilty about taking Alberta back to the shelter.

We put her in the cat carrier and load up in the car. She starts meowing the saddest meow I have ever heard. I am begging her to stop crying and with each meow, my heart breaks more and more. We pull into the parking lot and head into the office. I tell the lady at the desk that we have to return this sweet little kitty because she is sick. I can barely get the words out. She must have thought I was a total lunatic to be bawling my eyes out over a cat. She completes the paperwork and another lady comes over to ask me if I understand that by surrendering the kitty, there is a possibility that she will be euthanized. I nod my head in understanding and the clerk tells me I can pick a new kitty or get a refund. I don't think I can emotionally handle going through all of this again, so I tell her I don't want a new kitty and she can keep the money and use it as a donation.

She calls someone from the back and I kneel down to say good-bye to the precious baby. I am sobbing when the lady from the back comes in and takes her away. I make it to the car and completely fall apart. Poor Billy doesn't even know what to say.

Once, home, I am drained. My phone rings and it is the vet, the one who left me a message that morning. She asks me what we decided about the other test and I tell her that we already took Alberta back to the shelter. I ask her about my other babies, and if I need to worry that they might have leukemia from being around Alberta. She asks if the kitties are adults. She says that adult cats are less likely to get leukemia, that it is mostly contracted by kittens. Say, what!? Then she asks if Chip and Pumpkin have been vaccinated against leukemia. Huh? There's a vaccine? Why didn't the vet yesterday tell me this? She had their files, why couldn't she check. This doc tells me that the test can sometimes be false also. What?! The vet yesterday said it was 100% accurate. At this point I am almost yelling at this poor woman, but I have just been through such emotion and she is telling me that it's not likely that Chip or Pumpkin could even be at risk!!

After I got off the phone, Billy started barraging me with questions about what she said. I tell him and we look up 'feline leukemia' on the internet. Turns out, kittens are more at risk and I also check the vet file I have on my kitties and they both have had the vaccine. Do you mean to tell me that we sent this poor kitty to her eminent death for no reason? At this point, Billy puts on his shining armor and calls the vet back. He wants to know why the vet yesterday misinformed me about everything. He leaves her a message and heads to work. I have an appointment and stop at the store afterwards. My phone rings and its Billy asking me where I am. He says that he is almost home and he has Alberta with him. He called the shelter and told them that we were given incomplete information about Alberta and her condition and we want her back!

When I get home, there she is, laying on our bed, just like she belongs. I am so happy. Chipley and she chased each other from one end of the house to the other. She just fell off the bed as I was typing this. Chip came in the bedroom and was sitting next to the bed, she was watching him and started to lean over the edge to get a better look at him and just rolled right off. :-D

I think Pumpkin is still adjusting to her, but at least they are both snuggled on the bed with their mommy.

A happy ending to an emotional day. :-)

Greater Gator Duathlon

I know that is has been ages since I've blogged and I miss it, so here is my latest adventure -

The Greater Gator Duathlon at Payne's Prairie is a 2 mile run, 10 mile bike, followed by another 2 mile run. The temperature this morning was 38 degrees!! For this Florida girl, this temperature was like waking up in Antarctica. I got my bike loaded up and headed out at 6:30 am for the 7:30 am start.

Here is the view that awaited me as I headed south on 441:

As I pulled into the park, I saw a deer on the side of the road! It was so cute and I stopped to get a picture. That's when I noticed that there wasn't just one deer, but five of them! Unfortunately, I can't figure out how to get that picture to download, so you'll just have to trust me that I saw it.

I reach the starting area and head over to registration where I sign in and get my numbers. I head back to the car, get my gear and head over to the transition area to set up my stuff. At this point, I'm cold, but it's not too bad. Yesterday, I went shopping and found some arm warmers to wear under my long sleeve shirt that I wore under my Under Armor shirt. On top of my head I have ear warmers and a fleece beanie hat. The only thing that I wish I had was a better pair of gloves, as my pink, chenille gloves are not suitable for my bike ride. (Later, I'll be wishing I had sucked it up and worn them anyway.)

There were about 140 people braving this cold weather to compete today, and the race director called for the pre-race meeting to explain the course. We were to run the first leg of the race around the parking lot, then head out onto the lake trail for an out-and-back course, then into transition to get our bikes. The bike course was a little more complicated. We headed out to the main road, took a right and headed towards the main entrance. At the main entrance, we did a hairpin turn and headed back the way we came. Instead of turning and heading back to the starting area, we continued straight and followed the road to the Visitor's Center. Another hairpin turn at the Visitor Center and then it was back to the main entrance where we turned around and headed back to the Visitor Center. Then we made a turn and headed back to the starting area. Sounds complicated, but it was pretty easy to follow and they had people at all the appropriate places to guide us in the right direction. After finishing the bike course, we were to head back out onto the same run course as the first leg, but the last 400 yards, we divert from the original course and stay straight to the finish line.

Everyone, lines up for the start and they director says there will be two waves. Wave #1 is men and wave #2 is women and relay teams. The excitement is building, if not to just keep up warm.

The men take off and 3 minutes later the women and relay teams follow suit. We run around the parking lot and I'm trying to get my iPod shuffle to play, only to realize that when I synced it to my new computer, I forgot to add music to it, so the iPod is now useless. I resign myself to a tuneless race and as I look up, I realize that I am quite near the back of the pack. I pick up the pace and pass several ladies as we head to the trail part of the course.

I get to the turn-around and look down at my watch: 8:15, that is minutes and seconds, not the time! Holy crap! I am flying! As I head into transition, my time is around 16 minutes!!!!! My fastest pace ever! I reach my bike, strap on my helmet and head out of the transition area. I mount my bike and take off down the road.

Here is where I start to reconsider my choice to do this race. Back in August, it seemed like a good idea, but I had no idea it would be 38 degrees when I woke up either.

The course was mostly flat with a few elevation changes, but here's the worst part: 85% of the bike course is in the shade, which made for a frigid ride. Seriously, my poor fingers were frozen at mile 3 and I couldn't feel my feet after mile 6. I had snot running down my upper lip that I kept using my sleeve to wipe away. (I haven't quite caught on to the use of the "snot rocket.") At mile 7, I thought to myself, "I cannot continue on. I am freezing and miserable. But, I figured, I was already cold, so I might as well stick it out for 3 more miles.

When I reached the dismount area for the transition, there was someone there taking pictures and as I dismounted I warned the course monitor that I couldn't feel my feet and I might fall down. I asked the photog, to please not photograph if I fell.

I managed to stay on my feet and there were even a few people there to cheer us on, which was nice, since my hubby was at home snuggled in his warm bed. I re-racked my bike and took off my helmet, which was a difficult feat, since I couldn't feel my fingers!

I headed back out onto the trail, but I was hurting. I couldn't even feel my poor toes! It felt like my right big toe had shattered into a hundred pieces. I had to stop to walk once or twice because the circulation in my feet was taking forever to come back. Finally, I reach the turn around and head back towards that finish line. I even managed to pass two people on the way back :-)

The director told us pre-race that he set up signs as we neared the finish that told us when we had 400ft, 300ft, 200ft, 100ft left. There is an older gentleman about 100 feet ahead of me as I pass the 400 feet sign. Usually, this is the point where I turn it up and sprint to the finish, and even though my poor feet were screaming in protest, this race would be no different. I passed the older gentleman about 30 feet before the finish line for a time of 1:24:47.

I then made a beeline for the first patch of grass because I felt like I was gonna hurl! Turned out to be a false alarm, so I walked over to the transition and picked up my bike. After loading it onto my rack and changing out of my running shoes and putting on a sweatshirt, I poured myself a HOT cup of coffee from the thermos I packed. As I was getting ready last night, I thought, "It's gonna be cold tomorrow, I better make some coffee for after the race." This turns out to be one of my brighter ideas of the day and I instantly feel warmer the moment the hot liquid passes my lips.

After getting the bike situated, I head over to the registration tent and help myself to some of the breakfast goodies the race has provided. Here, I meet up with Beth, a lady that works with the county that I ride with occasionally. She and her friend, Leslie, competed as a relay team. Then the director makes that announcement that the awards ceremony is about to start. Everyone gathers for the awards and after handing out the overall winners and the Masters winners they begin on the age groups. I registered for the Athena division which is for women who weigh over 150 pounds. They begin to announce the Athena winners and I hear the director say, "Third place goes to Kristina Patten!" Yay! I placed! I go up and get my medal. How exciting! Here is a picture of me with my awesome medal. :-)

They finish the Athena division and then announce the Clydesdales (men over 200 lbs), then they announce the relay winners. Beth and Leslie as team Du Tortugas (Du for duathlon and Tortugas for turtles) win 2nd place in the relay!

What a great race! It was worth braving the cold and having snot run down my face just to add another medal to my collection and prove to myself that I can compete.

My next race is the Women's Half Marathon in St. Pete in two weeks! I just hope the weather is a bit warmer for that one.