28 days left of being 31

This sounded a whole lot cooler when there was 31 days left, which is when I started this post. I was thinking I'd come up with 31 things that I learned and/or did as a 31 year old, (clever, right?) but I got stuck...

So let's sum up 31, for those who weren't paying attention.
1. I trained. I trained my tail off. Literally. After I decided to dedicate this year to kicking my last Ironman's butt, I enlisted the help of a coach and on December 3rd gave up my life. Literally.
2. Swimming in the dead of winter is dumb. At 5 a.m. There were mornings steam was coming off the water, which was good for my mental game, because it made me think the water was warm. It was not.
3. Running a lot makes me faster. It does not, however, make me faster than people who do not train. To my dismay.
4. Everyone should take a trip to Rocky Point. I may not have loved EVERY minute of it, but I did love many minutes of it.
5. Always be aware of cameras. To be truthful, I learned this years ago and sadly I only started practicing it this year. What is also sad is that being aware still produced some pretty freak-tastic pictures. For those who've seen them, you're welcome.
6. Hand-me-downs are awesome. Even as an old lady.
7. Waking up continuously at 4:30 a.m. is really, really hard.
8. I love roadtrips with my friends.
9. San Diego is awesome.
10. Do not wear heels of any kind to The Gallery. You will always regret it.
11. I had a deprived childhood. Finding NKOTB as adult means many lost years drooling over Donny Wahlberg. I am sad.
12. Boy bands are for people of all ages.
13. Never go running without socks. No socks=blisters.
14. Flashy shoes don't really make you run faster.
15. Spray tanning is awesome. I look like I just got back from Maui and it only takes 15 minutes (and I only look like an Oompa Loompa 5% of the time).
16. If I had more money I would buy season tickets to Gammage.
18.Abbey is allowed to host Thanksgiving. Her and her minions did a great job (even if I didn't get any leftovers to take home).
19. Justin Timberlake is delicious. #nomnomnomnomnom
20. I give men more credit than they deserve. Seriously. Overanalyze and overthink things and I look like a fool. Take things at face-value, I...still look like a fool? Huh?
21. Abbey is allowed to host Thanksgiving. Her and her minions did a great job (even if I didn't get any leftovers to take home).

See? Stuck. Feel free to help me out.
   

I Swam Straight: The Katie Rigby Ironman 2013 Story

Holy crap, a new blog post!

Let us rewind to the morning of November 17th. Really, really early in the morning. I ate my banana with peanut butter. Grabbed all my nutrition, yes meat pockets, along with swim gear and jumped in the truck to be carted off to certain death (okay, maybe death is too strong a word for Tempe Town Lake but whatever).
I head to my bike first because, well, I had stuff to drop off. Stuck my water bottles in their cages and pumped up my tires while avoiding eye contact with those around me so I didn't have to share my bike pump-you know when you give it to one person you'll never get it back. It's true. This is the point I head to the port-a-potty.
If you ever do an Ironman, you gotta get to the port-a-potty early because otherwise you're screwed, make a note.
Can't feel anything but nerves at this point and just doing what I'm supposed to do. Bodymarking, check. Wetsuit on, check. Toss your morning clothes bag to loved ones, check. Grab your cap and goggles and head to the gigantor TYR inflatable, check. Yeah, at this point I'm freaking out because they're going to tell me to jump in the water soon and swimming, well it just sucks. And a 2.4 mile swim sucks hard. What's going on in my head? "Don't drink the water. Don't drink the water. Don't drink the water."
Pros go off. My turn.
I get in the water plugging my nose and holding my goggles to my head, which is what smart people do so they don't lose their goggles before the swim even starts, right? Everyone is swimming and I'm squashing the minor panic attack the splashing brought on. Pretend swim to the start before the gun goes off, ha ha, at least I made an attempt to. My rule of thumb with the swim is this: No sense in getting run over. Let the people who are in a hurry swim over the top of each other so I am not on the receiving end of a black eye. You non-swimmers, you get me right?
Swim was alright. I started counting breaths. I swam straight! That never happens! The only issue I had during the swim was when some fool kept cutting me off. He was NOT swimming straight and he just wouldn't get out of the way.
Out of the water, looking particularly awesome in my wet tri suit I stop to wave at the fans and make faces for those taking pictures (that's the only explanation for the photos that were taken of me) and head to the changing tent. Where I changed. By myself. Some of those ladies must have been in pretty bad shape because they were hogging all of the volunteers.
According to my transition time I mosied to my bike and the bike mount. Hey, it was going to be a long weekend, I was conserving my energy.
On the bike. Pedal, pedal, pedal. About two miles in I realize I have to pee. My apologies to the hardcore triathletes, but no way was I "going" on my bike. Eew, just eew. I did my best to forget about that minor need. Drink water. Pedal, pedal, pedal. Up the Beeline. No wind. Lots of drafting. Drink water, eat. Pretend I don't have to pee. Smile at the nice volunteers. Down the Beeline. No wind. Lots of drafting. Drink water, eat. Smile at the nice volunteers (particularly the nice ones at Bike Special Needs who knew my name). Pretend I don't have to pee. Back into town, wave at KFC who did an excellent job making themselves known. Pretend I don't have to pee. Pedal, pedal, pedal. Up the Beeline. Wind. Drafting. Get lapped by friends. Pretend I don't have to pee. Drink water, eat. Down the Beeline. Frickin wind. Stopped at Special Needs ONLY for the bathroom (it got really hard to pretend). Smile at the nice volunteers. Back into town, wave at KFC. Pedal, pedal, pedal. Up the Beeline. Didn't see many peeps (they're all on the run course). Drink water, eat. Down the Beeline. Wind. Stupid, mean wind. Drink water, eat. Pretend that the pain in your rear end is not really that bad.
Riding a bike for any extended amount of time is painful. For me, because my saddle hates me, anything over 3 hours is excruciating. So for the duration of the second and third lap, well, it hurt.
Back into town. Throw your bike (yeah, you heard right) in the direction of the nearest volunteer and head into the change tent. Again.
I got help this time! Nice lady put my race belt on me. I forgot to change shorts (quick stop to the port-a-potty fixed that). Also, thank you Dr. Hoy for making that magical gunk.
Oh the frickin run. My head was in such good shape until I tied up my neon yellow kicks. I ran out and waved to KFC (thanks KFC!). Freaked out. Ran into some more fans (thanks fans!). Freaked out. Walked for too long. This is where I had a heart-to-heart with my self. I said, "Self, this is going to take a ridiculous amount of time to finish if you walk. Suck it up." Run 3, walk 2.Drink water, eat oranges. Mega blisters developed and were not really friendly after mile 10. Didn't they understand I had goals?! Smiled, kind of, to the KFC on the second loop. It was hard to smile when your toes have become blisters, ya know, but I did my best. Then it happened. It exploded. The blister exploded. Mile 20. Sunday, bloody Sunday. I walked. Had to have another heart-to-heart. Sounded a lot like the first one. Run 3, walk 2.
Finally, FINALLY, the finish is around the corner. Oh I ran. I ran hard. I remembered there were cameras (mostly, finisher pics show that maybe I wasn't as aware as I should have been). People in the stands are going nuts. They love me (everyone does, heh heh heh). Amazing friends catch me. Stupendous KFC spectathletes waiting for me.
15:46 clock time.
Done.

Mega thanks to those who coached me, trained with me, and listened to me whine, to the people who pushed me, cheered for me, and lifted me up. You are awesome. Let's do it again.

Marry Him

At the prompting of a friend, I read a book about a month ago entitled Marry Him: the case for settling for Mr. Good Enough. More than once I have been told that I am too picky about who I date (thanks family!). I never really saw it as being picky. I thought that compiling a list of "must haves" and "deal breakers" based on men I have gone out with was only helping me become aware of what I want and what I don't.
Well the book was a little bit of an eye-opener. Contrary to what it sounds like, it's not a book about settling for less than the best, but more about being realistic about who is out there. As I get older (yeah, I'm no longer 22) I realize that the idea of being the single, spinster teacher who collects themed cardigans really isn't appealing and take a look at what needs to be changed so I don't become crazy sweater lady. My aforementioned list isn't getting any shorter, in fact, it's really long and when I look at what's available in the men department it becomes quite clear that there aren't any that resemble who I'm looking for on paper. So what has to give?
I've decided to ditch the list that began when I was a 12-year-old Beehive and I'm taking a new approach. This time I am looking at wants vs. needs. Yes, I want someone with Ryan Reynolds's looks (uh, actually, I really want Ryan Reynolds), but I don't need someone with movie star looks. When I really ponder over what I need in a significant other, the list is much shorter.
Now that I am armed with some new ideals I've re-vamped my match.com profile (that IS an online dating site, where else do teachers meet men?) and I'm giving dating another go. This time I'm attempting to be a little less analytical when it comes to the old criteria in hopes that I get some different results.
Let the mayhem ensue.

San Francisco, what's with the rain?

Warning: there are a lot of pictures below. Not only a lot of pictures, but a lot of my rambling to accompany them. Lucky you. San Francisco, you're pretty darn cool, however, I wish you had respected the items I had packed and had weather that accommodated. Instead, I got one day of sunshine and 3 days of rain, the spitting kind. So in the words of one of my favorite San Franciscans: How rude!



All in all, I had a blast. Please enjoy my amazing photography skills. And wit.



Guess where we headed first. I'll give you a hint, we had to climb Everest first:

And if that wasn't enough:

Hello "crookedest street!"

We walked up it too. My calves ached for 4 days. I'm not kidding. I totally love my stick shift auto, but should a rich and handsome man whisk me away to San Francisco to live happily ever, I'd be getting me an automatic. Holy hills!

This is the only day of sunshine. We thought it was a good sign. We were wrong.

Here comes the rain. We went to Blazing Saddles and suited up some sweet mountain bikes for a trek across the Golden Gate Bridge and through quaint cities such as Saucalito and Tiberon. These pictures were from the beginning of the ride. Before the downpour. At that point in time our fingers were frozen and we were worried about ruining our cameras to document.

I digress. Hopper's hands. I have no idea what they are, but I saw a smokin' hot runner-as in shirt off and ripped) run over and touch. Naturally I needed to follow suit.

We found some nice, if oblivious boys to take this one. At least he was thoughtful and captured the bridge. See our bikes?

Underneath. Cool huh?

You could have wrung our clothes after our ride. I am proud to say we rode all 21 miles to Tiberon (21, not the 18 that the stupid map said).

Chinatown. We didn't stop, just zoomed through. Kind of cool backdrop though.

I was tempted to open an account here. Who wouldn't want a bank that looks like this?

Ferry Building. Pier 1. Get it? Pier 1. :) Super cool shops inside. I'm still a little bummed we didn't stop and get a grilled cheese at the cheese shop inside. Next time.Bay Bridge

Public toilets! Sweet! There's a 20 minute time limit at which point the doors open. The random maintenance dude mentioned he's seen a few things inside here that were pretty odd. I can only imagine...
Lisa thought about going in, but discovered that there was no TP and it didn't smell to sanitary. Guess it's time to refill the soap.

Now for my favorite part! Alcatraz. I am FASCINATED! We were really, really TO'd that we couldn't go on the night tour. Can you imagine a night tour of "the Rock?" I'm going next time. I really think they need to give the backdrop in this picture a little more atmosphere. Where's the fog?

Cool, right?
View of the city from Alcatraz. Yes, it rained.

The showers. They used to have stalls, but to keep inmates from fighting they took them down. I seriously loved this tour!
After the shower this is where the clothes were.

A cell.

Lisa in a cell. Don't worry, I didn't make her stay there.
The rec yard. I thought it was pretty lame that we didn't get to go down into it.

What's left of the Warden's house. Apparently it was destroyed by a fire.

I LOVED this part of the trip. We got to hear about the break out attempts, about how families lived on the island, and got to see how the cells worked. It was THE COOLEST.

The next picture may not be appropriate for all readers. I would like to say, however, that the, er, gentleman who sported this ink was a chaperone for a high school group. I thought it was pretty sly of me to get a picture unnoticed. I rock.

Right? What the heck is it?

Golden Gate Park. Don't walk it, it's not really interesting (sorry GGP lovers). I'd go again only to see the museums I missed and the windmill (and tulip garden), but I'd take a bus. The walk is longer than you'd think. I took this picture while we were trying to find the Bison Paddock and to show the distance between my travel buddy and myself. She told me later that the park was a little too deserted for her taste and I think she was afraid someone was going to jump out at her. I was thinking it was pretty thoughtful (sarcasm) of her to put so much distance between us during what she had thought was an unfriendly area, she assured me that she looked back often to ensure I was okay. And it rained.

Such a relief!

At the Japanese Tea Gardens. $7 admission fee. That's all I've got.

Next stop, actually we went here first but order doesn't matter right?Never heard of it, right?

"Whatever happend to predictability..." We watched for Uncle Jesse for hours but maybe he was getting his hair gelled.

Cool shoe garden.

We also got to go to the Curran for a Broadway Show. We wore no jackets. One of us in flip flops the other in a pair of flimsy flats. It was raining. Totally worth it.

I LOVED this too! Love, love, love. And who was playing the lead? Constantine Maroulis of American Idol fame. I just wish I'd been a little lower.

Constantine
<-----------

Okay, that's pretty much all. Except for this place:

Go to San Francisco and eat there. Sooo good. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

See breakfast?

I have a question for you

It's that time, or rather a little past that time, when most do a little self reflection and set some goals. I think I do that on a daily basis, but around New Years I give more attention to this reflections, seeing how I start a new calendar year and also age. Last week I sat in Midas trying to read about Lord Voldemort speaking to the slimeball Wormtail about Bertha Jorkins' demise, when I overheard a suggestion on the news about how to create New Year's Resolutions: Ask your friends and family. The reason behind this to see if there are suggestions made numerous times and using those suggestions to create goals. If I hadn't been so irritated at the volume of the television, or obsessed about reading to get ahead with AR, I would have listened specifically for what to ask. Instead I am googling it and coming up with nothing, so I'm going to try to word this delicately and hope it comes close.

What characteristics or traits do YOU feel I should develop or improve upon in 2011?

***Disclaimer: I am the first to admit I'm imperfect and flawed. I also realize that I am asking some of you to step outside your comfort zone and say things you may not are polite to say. Consider this post a "Get Out Of Jail Free" card, if you make a suggestion, I promise to take it as intended.

If you're up to the task, please comment. If you're not comfortable commenting, but would like to contribute, e-mail works too. Thanks in advance for your thoughts, and

HaPpY NeW YeAr!!!

That's Good, That's Bad

I'm interrupting the house tour (that no on in particular is paying attention to) to share a little about my break. In an attempt at creativity and using effective transitions, I shall model this post about my October break after a children's book. Without further ado:
That's Good, That's Bad
by me

Parent-Teacher conferences were over and it seems the 1st quarter was over.

That's good.

No, that's bad. How in the world can a I end a quarter without being ready for it in the first place? Frightening.

First quarter ending means that I had to dip into personal funds for pizza and ice cream for the entire class.

That's bad.

No, that's good. The 4th graders worked their tails off to please the me and meet some lofty goals and deserved a reward.

And so the children fled the school building on Friday, October 1 for two weeks of fall break.

That's good.

No, that's bad. Fall break means that I will be spending all my free time planning and planning and planning some more.

That's bad.

No, that's good. If I spend my entire break planning, maybe I will be sane for the majority of 2nd quarter.

A break from school means a break in routine. In order for me to not gain 15 pounds over break, I volunteered to sub a whole bunch of group fitness classes to keep myself active.

That's good.

No, that's bad. Midway through the week I rolled my ankle (the same one "broken" a couple of years ago) and that sucker puffed up.

Luckily, I'm no wuss and I have all my wraps and ice packs from the last incident and it's looking alright.

In addition to my group exercise madness I volunteered to go on a bike ride at 4 a.m. on my October break, in the dark, with a bunch of peeps I don't know really well.

That's bad.

No, that's good. I have recently decided to try a few tri's (as in in triathlons) and a bike ride is good for my heart, and my rear.

Everyone bailed except the organizer who happens to make my brain go to mush everytime he talks to me, let alone looks at me. Sigh.

That's good.

No, that's bad. Not only is the man over 10 years my senior, he also has a harem. You heard correctly. Trust me, it's never going to happen.

I met up with a friend for dinner. We caught up and discussed how amazing my life is (ha!). I had just come from the gym so I looked pretty much like a wet cat. Eeeew.

That's bad.

No, that's good. Our server seriously got his flirt on. If someone is willing to flirt with you when you look like scum, imagine what they'll think when they see you in something other than spandex. Am I right or am I right?

I gave him my phone number.

That's good.

No, that's bad. After a little facebook stalking (don't look like that, you know you do it, too) I find out that our server is just about 10 years my junior. Seriously. SERIOUSLY.

Before I know it, it's October 15th and break is over. Have I planned? No. Have I read to help me reach an outrageous A.R. goal? No.

That's bad.

No, that's good. Turns out, I really think I needed the lazy time. I'll get myself organized the first week back and hopefully read like a, like a, well like a thing that reads really fast to meet my goal (or beg my students to let me lower it).

During the course of my break, I was awoken by a phone call telling me that my sister was on her way to the hospital to have a baby. Yay baby Madden!!!

That's good.

No, that's great!

(see Madden? He's my fall break silver lining.)

Okay, I'm not really creative, but all these things did happen. Embarassingly enough, every single one. My break was pretty chill, though the Forbidden experience will be hard to top in the future. Let me just say, girls truly just wanna have fun.

The throne rooms

Okay, I'm not in love with the title, but you know what's coming, bathrooms. Here's the main bathroom, which I am officially turning over to Kelsi. Anyone who's familiar with my history with this bathroom will know what that means. I think.
Okay, I may help and put some things on the shelves, but other than that, I wash my hands of it. Really.

I was going for girly and I think I succeeded. The pink isn't too strong, though not as subtle as I had intended. The rest of the decor will be non-pink.

For some reason I felt like my bathroom was less deserving of decoration than the main bathroom. However, now that I'm giving the other one to Kelsi, I am thinking I may have to work on it a little more. In case you are wondering, the walls are not white, but "mystical sea" which is a pale green which compliments my boudoir nicely.

This is a close-up of my daily affirmation. It's pretty much true. All the time. I give my permission for you to copy. (my mom wrote it, by-the-way, doesn't mean I don't feel the same)

A very similar shower curtain as in the first bathroom, but white. I'm going for simplistic. At this point it is really simple. However, until my sugar daddy Ryan Reynalds realizes his mistake marrying Scarlett, and starts to shower me with the gifts and money I am so deserving of, I suppose I'll add to it myself. Sporadically.

That's it really. Now, any hints or ideas are absolutely welcome. Do NOT suggest an over-the-toilet standing cabinet. Other than that, what do you have?

P.S. I still have not received the shams (see prior post). Don't be shy.