I gave it the 'old college TRI!

A couple of weeks a go, my friend Alisa (below in green) sent me a text at 5:30pm on Friday night.

She said, let's skip our Saturday long run and join Lesley (below in blue) in tomorrow's sprint TRI!

I said.. "Do you know how long it has been since I swam??"

She said, "As long as it has been since I have!"

So we went on down to packet pickup and signed up!!

CRAZY TIMES!!

I have to say, I LOVE the fact that I am fit enough to say... "Let's do it!"

So Saturday morning dawned and I gathered up my stuff trying to remember what all I should take for the race!

Here we are before the race.

The cool thing about this race is that while it is a sprint tri, it is a backwards tri.  Meaning that you run, then bike and finally swim. It works because the swim is in a 4 feet deep pool. 

So off we went on the run. I wasn't sure how fast to go out. I ran the first mile and 1/2 on my own and then Hans, a 69 year old ironman was running besides me and we talked the way in. It was a good moderate pace. I did the 5k in 30 minutes flat. One of the coolest parts of racing is making new friends and hearing amazing stories from veterans along the way.

Then on to the bike. This will be my LAST race without clipping in! UGH. I love riding, but man, this course was super hilly and tough! 14 miles later I was back and into transition.

Finally, the swim. It was nice hitting the water at this point. As I stated earlier, I hadn't swam laps in at least 9 months. Quite possibly since my last tri a year ago! oops.  Anyway, I muddled through the laps using ALL the strokes I could think of!

My time? 1:40:38.

And since I trained NOT ONE OUNCE.. how did this compare to my other times? Well... my personal best time is 1:40:35:1. 

Amazing.

If I had known I was THAT CLOSE, I could have shaved a few seconds off a transition, gotten in the pool faster, or did anything just a minute faster!

Oh well :) 

I had so much fun!!

And look what I brought home.

Second in my age group.

Not bad at all.  And yes, of course I'll be competing next year. I might even train! ;)

So since I didn't train for the tri? What am I training for? 

Well, I'm training for a full marathon!! 

Last week I ran 45 miles. My most ever.  

Thanks Kylie for putting lotion on my poor tired feet.

And I'm buying a few new clothes. I haven't lost any additional pounds (one CAN NOT LOSE while training for a marathon.. one can only HOPE to NOT GAIN!!!)

But my clothes from last fall are too big! So shopping it is.

Here is my latest Stitch Fix. 

And that is what we are up to. 

Maddie is busy with colorguard and trying to get well. She has been sick for the last month.

Lexi is reading. She might do other things but I'm not sure... :)

Kylie is mastering being in FIRST GRADE.

And Doug is working and preaching.

We are busy, busy people.

So thankful it is a good life!

A New Stitch Fix!

I got a new stitch fix yesterday!!  I hadn't ordered any new clothes for a while and my wardrobe was sad. Sad even for those of us "minimalist" wardrobe people. So I ordered a Stitch Fix and asked for some cute clothes and a fun dress for Mother's Day.

Here is my box. Man, they have the package process right! I love opening the box! 

Outfit 1: A sheer embroidered blouse and olive capri pants. The blouse is not something I would ordinarily purchase.  Which is why I am keeping it. I end up not having anything nice to wear when Doug and I go our or need a nicer outfit for a work/business event.

Outfit 2: A fun shirt and the same pants.  I really like the shirt. I didn't think I was going to get it on at first.. It was very snug around the chest getting it on, but once on, it fits great!   

Outfit 3: A chambray loose fit shirt and same pants. The shirt is really too big, but it's not bad. 

Outfit 4:  A fun and flirty dress. I feel cute in it. It's perfect for Mothers' Day!

So, a rare thing.. I am keeping all five items! The one shirt that I really wasn't in love with was $28. Normally I would send it back. But if you keep all five items, you get a discount. The discount was $64. 

Yeah, I'm keeping the shirt!

And how do you know you got a good fix? 

I'm wearing an outfit today!

Want someone else to do the shopping for you? With no real risk? (It cost $20 for them to send you 5 items. If you keep even 1 item, the $20 goes to the cost of the items.)

Click here on my referral link!

Stitch Fix: The ONLY way to shop for clothes!

I got another Stitch Fix in the mail today!!

So much fun.

I know I've posted about it before. 

But for my friends that would want to go shopping with me, here is our virtual shopping trip!

When you open the box, this is how it arrives.

It's rather exciting I must say.

While my "dressing room" is a little cluttered, at least I'm not fighting for space with my kids. The girls are doing their normal activities around the house and have no idea that I'm shopping. That might be one of the biggest benefits of Stitch Fix. No fighting with your kids in the dressing room at the department store!

Anyway.. here are the clothes.

Shirt 1. Loved it, but it was a little big. It's a bubble shirt. If I keep the rest, it's worth keeping for the discount. If I'm sending something else back, it not worth keeping. (The 25% off discount to keep all 5 items is a big incentive!) 

Shirt 2: LOVE.  I got one similar that was sleeveless in my last fix. At first I thought about not keeping it, but Hello... school!! This is a perfect teaching shirt!

Shirt 3 (and pants): LOVE the shirt. It has cute little gold buttons on the shoulders. It is perfect for work!  The pants were a bummer. I loved them in the box and was so excited. But they were just a little too snug in the rear and the fit was a little off. I'm short and they weren't made for my hips or legs. Oh well.

Shirt 4: MY FAVE!! I would have NEVER even tried this shirt on. I don't do much pattern, but I love it and it is cute!

So thanks for shopping with me! It was a good trip :) 3 shirts that I would have never picked out for myself that look good and fit nicely and the price was reasonable. Yes, more costly than Walmart or Kohls, but the quality is on par with Ann Taylor and for the most part not as pricey.

If you are interested in shopping this way.. click on my referral link. I'll get a store credit! And have fun! I'm getting another one next month so I'll be ready for school to start! Yippee for new clothes!

My first "fix"

I got my first Stitch Fix in the mail today! It was fun!

I had heard good things, but I wasn't sure if I would like what they sent or if it would fit...

Well, everything I heard about them was right on and everything fit!

I got a dress, a pair of jeans, two shirts and a cardigan. I can't believe it! The jeans fit GREAT! And I didn't have to go to a store! I didn't have to try on 50 pairs of jeans and feel bad about my shape. I just  put on their selections and I felt great! 

The convenience of the "fix" was awesome, but the fact that the clothes fit and looked good on me was an amazing feeling!

I haven't decided if I'm going to keep the dress yet. There is a discount if you keep all of the items and the discount is almost the amount of the dress. I just can't decide if the dress is something I would wear enough to keep. It fits almost too good and would require a shell underneath the v-neck in order to wear it to school.

Anyway, I know this is something I will continue to do. The clothes were a more pricey than my local discount store, but you could feel quality in them, and they weren't really expensive either.

And if I don't want to keep all of the items, no worries, they provide  an envelope to send back (free shipping) what I don't want. Cool. So I don't have to deal with returns at a store!

If you haven't already signed up for a "fix" click here and use my referral code! It costs $20 for the stylist to find your items and mail them to you. Then you get that $20 in credit back to you if you purchase the items. If you don't want any of the items, it costs $20. And if you live where we live, you can't go into "the city" and shop for $20! With gas and eating out, you are easily out triple that amount... and you have to deal with sales people and other customers!! And say you change your mind about an item... another trip back before the return window closes!

Needlesstosay, I've already scheduled my next fix! Woohoo! Can't wait! I ordered it for the week of Mother's Day. Pretty snazzy that I get to tell them when to send me new clothes!

I'll keep you posted.