Puzzle complete, Xterra Triathlon - not so much

Ok, so I finally finished the puzzle.

And I may have become a little obsessed :)

I tried putting time restrictions on myself. 

Ann, you can only do it while you're eating your cereal in the morning. Well then I'd milk my cereal... pun intended. 

So then I made myself a deal about the number of pieces I could put in before I had to walk away. 

Well some days 10 pieces would take me 10 minutes or less and others it would take an hour... 

(And Lord knows if I got 10 pieces in 10 minutes I'd always bargain with myself for a few more since I was clearly on my A game that morning)

I'd set out to do something around the house and inevitably my feet carried me back to the puzzle table to just finish that "one section"...

Well... I tried my hand at an XTERRA triathlon on Sunday and the mountain bike course basically ate me alive. 

I did just get my mountain bike about a month ago, and I've only ridden it a few times, and I got the call last monday asking if I wanted to do the race 6 days later...

I was in way over my head and crashed trying to be "courageous", not sure if that's the right word... or if I was just sick of walking my bike over every part I thought looked a little too "technical" or "terrifying". 

Later, I learned that it might be one of the most technical/difficult mountain bike courses... 

This is what I found out... after...

"IMBA (International Mountain Bike Association) gives the trails at Curt Gowdy an 'Epic' rating.  After riding them today I realize that by 'Epic' they mean 'Apocalyptic'.  Jonny rates them 'Crazy Technical'.

"Time for some input on Xterra Curt Gowdy bike course.
OK...I agree that it's not mountain biking unless there's blood, but . . .  I rode the course last week and all I can say, prepare for carnage. There's "IMBA advanced" and there's "Xterra advanced" and that is one major difficult, technical and long course. Beginners are gonna freak."

Well... I am a beginner, it did draw blood, but I like to think I didn't "freak"... Although I wish I would have had a GoPro if only so that I could share with you my running commentary... ha

Not surprising... I took a spill and banged up my shin and my knee pretty badly so it needed a good icing yesterday. 

Unfortunately... I didn't finish. After hobbling through a few more miles after my wreck, to reach civilization, I knew my knee wasn't going to fare well on the run, and that was if I could make it through the rest of the bike course...

Well, you can imagine that I was very willing to ice as long as needed, and maybe longer, because it justified just sitting down doing my puzzle. Something I was determined to finish, especially because of the events the day before. However, I am a little torn because I've been perusing the thrift stores in search of the next puzzle and I haven't really found anything I love... I hope I don't feel too empty without another one to work on... yet :)

And so here it is.

But after all that work I'm not exactly motivated to tear it all a part and move on. 

How long do you enjoy a puzzle after you've finished it?

Annapolis by recommendation

This weekend I was in Annapolis Maryland for the Land Rover TriRock Annapolis Race

Not only did I debut a new swim cap dress - which was made from a box of leftover swim caps and a very long skirt I picked up from the thrift store... 

but I also was given a good "roadmap"for a proper weekend spent in the city that houses the US Naval Academy. 

So we were by default by the Naval Academy because that's where our event was... and it was beautiful... but on to the "painkiller" at Pussers. 

The most interesting part of this restaurant/bar was that the outside bar is dockside - without any fences. I asked the police crew helping us with the race how many people go in every year (there is a ladder) and they said about... one. What!? lol they must be so much better behaved than I imagined. It's almost guaranteed that if I spent too much time there I would definitely find myself doing a cannon ball into the water - especially after a few more Painkillers. ha

But I managed to behave - this time.

Then ironically enough I met up with a few friends and they took me to Sly Fox... it was like they knew!

  

And when I went back to the docks to help sticker our transition area... look what this young man had waiting for me. The last piece of pizza from Mangia. 

And last but not least... it wasn't on the list... but catching the sunrise at City Docks, should be added.

A weekend to remember without spending a dime - except on a couple of stops to Jimmy John's... and Starbucks :)

I don't think keeping up not buying anything new for a year in some aspects will be that hard. In fact I think it's just re-trained my brain to go back to the way I was raised. Some things I WILL go back to buying! ha. 

Although I'll think twice... The bathroom cabinets just look so much nicer when they're not cluttered!

Flying purple people eaters!

Do you remember that song? I had it on a record, the round, black, old school kind of record. It had a few songs I can remember!

-Purple People Eater

-itsy bitsy teenie weenie yellow polka dot bikini, 

-the monster mash, and 

-does your chewing gum lose it's flavor on the bedpost overnight. (particularly relevant to me... )

(I'm learning new stuff all the time with this new blog thing... so did you know that when words are colored - it means you can click on them and they'll take you to fun websites??

 - I am not trying to belittle. In fact, I was informed by my mother just the other day that it is possible to Google.... wait for it... ANYTHING! ha ha. She cracks me up. So in case you're reading Ma... go ahead and click on all the pretty colored words. Love, Annie Bananie your best friend)

Anyway... I was recently asked about the rule on new running shoes, to which I replied, I'm very fortunate that I work for an athletic company who makes sure I'm always in new kicks... I should add that I'm also very fortunate that I have wonderful friends who work for other athletic companies who ALSO make sure I'm outfitted in the newest, sweetest color sneaks around. 

I arrived at the studio the other day and a box was anxiously awaiting my arrival - inside...

My sweet new flying purple people eaters... 

You probably don't watch TriCenter (although you should, and if you click on that link, it will help me keep my job, which will help keep me fed, because we all know what I get like when I haven't eaten...:) 

If you did watch the show you would know that I have a crush on Mirinda Carfrae, - the reigning women's Ironman World Champion. We all call her "Rinny"

On a side note....I actually confessed my love to her (not the mushy kind of love... the "I wanna swim like you, run like you, bike like you, have you over for casserole night sometime, kind of love). She mentioned me in her acceptance speech later... no big deal :)

Well I ran into Rinny in Oceanside California after a Half Ironman race, she won, and I asked her about her custom, K-Swiss running shoes

                                                           They say "Rinny" on the back

I wondered if they'd make me a faster runner - she wasn't so sure... 

Either way, I now have my first pair of K-Swiss shoes and boy are they itchin' for their first "flight". (code word we use instead of "outside, walk or run" because Thor, the dog, understands what those words mean now.)

Now... as awesome as these are, I mean they are purple and Neon green.... it created a moral dilemma. The goal of this year was not to accumulate more stuff. 

I mulled it over last night and this is what I've come up with as a solution.

 For every "gift" I get. I must in turn "give" something away. 

Well, I do have an abundance of running shoes, many of which are barely used, because I have so many. So... one in - one out! 

And after careful consideration...and a few tears (jk... it was more like ripping off toenails) I've made a choice. 

My niece is participating in her first triathlon 4 days before her birthday. She'll be 11.  

Chris McCormack "Macca", is the reigning Ironman World Champion. 

He is sponsored by Under Armour. 

Last year when I was in Kona - I was wearing these Under Armour shoes - and he won!

 There's gotta be some good Karma going on there....

Therefore, I have chosen to give my niece, my basically brand new pair of Under Armour sneakers for her first triathlon, which were worn at the Ironman World Championship where the Mens World Champion ran his way to his 2nd title- sponsored by Under Armour... 

Maybe if she's really good, we could even get them signed... :) Macca... are you listening? ha 

One in! One out...

P.S. I just re-read this post and I am all over the place... welcome to my ADD world.

Cliff Notes version:

My tri-crush and current womens Ironman world champion wears K-Swiss shoes.

The Current mens Ironman World Champion wears Under Armour.

(1+) I got a sweet pair of new K-Swiss shoes as a gift, but am trying not to accumulate more stuff...

(1-) I'm giving away my sweet pair of Under Armour Shoes to my niece for her first Triathlon.

1-1= 0     whew....

why I need new running shoes...

Some of you probably think I'm a little ridiculous when it comes to sneakers. Well, here's the reason I go through so many pairs...

Eric Chrabot

there will be snickers bars at the aid stations during the ironman #Grand Columbian Triathlon

And this is why I chose this race :) 

Rinny's custom K-Swiss shoes

Mirinda has custom K-Swiss shoes, and she has the record for fastest marathon record in an Ironman... a coincidence?

She's also my tri-crush...

You can click on the picture to watch the video.

Swim Cap Dress

So my official start date for this project is June 1, but I was thinking about it back in May when I made this dress... Thought i'd share anyway

I like to make things from nothing. Well not, "nothing", but you know what I mean... As I was working at the TriRock triathlon in San Diego last fall I saw a box of "extra" swim caps. They looked so colorful and exciting as they sat under the box beneath my table. I wondered what happened to those extra swim caps, and so I inquired. They were in case people forgot theirs, or had the wrong color, one broke, etc. After the triathlon was over and everyone successfully finished and the swim caps weren't needed anymore - I asked if I could have some of them. My co-workers have learned better than to ask why, they just figure I'm crazy and it's better to just smile and nod. Taking the box of swim caps home that night I immediately sat down and started planning. In my "craft"/junk drawer I found some ribbon. Leftover from a present presumably, it was neon green. Perfect. I started laying out the swim caps to figure out how they could fit together and a few hours later... i had a skirt! I ran into the other room to hold up as I looked in the mirror, and was disappointed. It didn't look right. It needed more oomph. A few days later I headed into AMVETS and bought a poofy underlayer for a wedding dress. Cutting it up and making a tutu out of it would surely make it pop... nope. now you could only see the tutu and the swim caps were lost in the ruffles. I eventually settled on a very simple skirt, not gathered, no tutu. I packed it up and headed to TriRock Annapolis where it would have it's debut. I wore a TYR swimsuit underneath (official sponsor of the race), and running tights (it was cold and rainy) and my signature crazy socks. Luckily I had found this awesome old school bathing cap that really made the outfit come together.

To everyone else, it was a hit. But it wasn't what I had originally envisioned... A few days after the race I ran into the CEO of our company. Someone asked him what he thought of the swim cap outfit... he looked at me and gave me his honest opinion... he thought it was going to be "more". He was disappointed, and so was I. I went home that night determined to turn that frown upside down. 

It's a little heavy, and smells a lot like rubber, but it finally became the swim cap dress I had wanted...

The smell of latex and the disbelief in everyones eyes... proof that "disappointment" was dead.