Coming up on 50...

Hi friends! How goes it? I am just sittin' here at work without much to do. I can't complain though, a job is a job these days. I promise I am not slackin' though, there are no projects for me to do! It is so great seeing everyone I worked with this summer. This is post 49 of my blog, 50 will be here before I know it!


First things first, my new wheels. OMGosh. I rode on Sunday. The weather was beautiful, chilly, but beautiful with very little wind. It was a perfect day to test out my new wheels. Before Sunday, I don't remember the last time I rode Tyrone. I know I did a few times on the trainer before I got sick, but other than that, nada. I was definitely a little shaky on the bike and throw a new set of wheels on, phew I was having a little bit of trouble. I am very comfortable on the road bike (Jamie), not so much on Tyrone right now (though I have a feeling that comfort will come back quickly)! Regardless of the nerves, I had a really great time and was happy to enjoy the weather outside!

On the the hip...
I think my hip is getting better! I ended up taking yesterday off so I could visit my cousins up in DC.

[They added a new one to the family the Monday of Thanksgiving week. Of course we had planned on visiting later that week, but since someone got mono, we decided it would be best if we waited until the sickness in the family was gone. So, I got to see my month old baby cousin, who is absolutely adorable.When I was talking to my parents on the way home, we thought it was funny that we completely forget about all of our other stressors and were just focused on the kids. It is stressful with all the commotion, but totally stress relieving from everything else we have to do].

Anyway, with the day off from any real hip flexor activity, I think it really started to improve. I could shift my weight on my right leg without much pain, it is such a relief. I was debating starting to use  crutches because my limp is/was pretty bad, especially in the morning. My Mom (and I) are a little bit afraid that if I keep limping, I will end up with a injury on my left side once my right hip is healed. That would be NO BUENO.

I have already been to the chiropractor twice since I have been home, and I think that is helping, too. Meghan also had this type of injury and recommended heat. I checked up online about it, and heat is said to significantly reduce recovery time. Don't worry though, I checked several different sources. So I am heating once in the morning and once at night. I also throw some ice on after I do any sort of cycling/swimming or rehab exercises.

In addition to the rehab exercises, the chiropractor and rest, the most important part of recovery is The Great Healer Himself. I am one of those who likes to have everything in control and planned out. However, I am slowly but surely learning that this is never going to happen. God is the one in control, not me. If whatever I am planning doesn't fit in with His master plan, it isn't going to fly. I have a few personal experiences that I think God had planted in my life to bring me closer to Him. They always seem to come at the times I am most confident in what I am doing, not what He is doing. I have begun to *almost* solely rely on Him in my recovery. Nothing I do on MY OWN will heal me, it has to be in conjunction with Him and His great plan. So my point, I am praying harder than I have ever prayed before and talking to God more than I ever have. He is bringing me closer, I am following, and I never want to change it. Thank God for mono and thank God for the hip flexor strain. I have never been more happy while sidelined, I just hope I am running again really, really soon! I have Nationals to train for!

I am lucky to be reading Jesus Calling by Sarah Young. Having this devotional in my life right now is  a huge blessing. I wanted to post this a few days ago when I read it because it is so relevant right now:
"Trust Me by relinquishing control into My hands, let go and recognize that I am God.  This is My world.  I made it and I control it." And the bible verse that went along with it:
He says, "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." Psalm 46:10

And this is my brother's bearded dragon, Reggie.

 I love him. So good to be home.

And I Ain't Got No Worries

So, that most recent post was out of frustration, anger and stress and the hip crisis is no longer a crisis. My grades will be fine, I just need to do some reviewing. And the mono, I will just continue to take advil for my throat!

The lesson is still there that I am not invincible and that I probably don't give true sleep and rest enough credit.

I just got back from the doctor here at school and it looks like my hip is nothing to be overly concerned about at this point. It appears to be a hip flexor strain and not a torn labrum or stress fracture. Of course we can't say absolutely not to either, but I will be getting some imaging done just to make sure. After a quick session, I already feel so much better and all signs point to hip flexor, caused by not engaging my core enough. So! I will be doing lots of stretching (but not over stretching) and strengthening. Hopefully I won't be out of [running] commission for too long!

And now I am off to study for Macro. I hope I don't fail.
"It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed." Deuteronomy 31:8

Too bad race season is still 4 months away...

Oh and here is a picture of my bike. I bought myself a niceeee set of of 2012 Mercury M9s. Merry Christmas to Me!!

Wilmington Race Recap and a Surprise!!!!!

I'm not sure how this week could have gotten any better. I am so happy and thrilled about how this week has turned out.

First of all, I had one of the most exciting races of my career on Saturday. I went down to Wilmington, NC for one of the collegiate series races. It was a sprint distance, but had a 1500m swim.

Swim:
The swim actually went with the current. I was pretty excited because I thought that would mean the swim would be very fast. I was wrong. My stupid goggles got really foggy so I had some trouble sighting. There were a few times toward the end of the race that I had to stop and lift my goggles up to see where the finish was. I wish the finish of the swim had been marked better. My time overall was 21:09.

T1 was a SUPER far run. I'd almost be willing to say about half a mile. It was pretty tough running that far barefoot and over the concrete. I actually got a rock stuck in my foot :( Shoutout to MEGAN B or taking that baby out that night! SAVED MY LIFE.

Bike:
The bike was super awesome. I was rocking a Reynolds disc wheel set courtesy of Cherie! (YOU ROCK!) This lady is actually so awesome that she is letting me borrow her 404s for Half Full! Such a sweetheart! Anyway, the bike course was very bumpy, but thats how a lot of the roads are in Wilmington. Also, we had to bike over a drawbridge, but they made it a "one lane no passing zone" for probably the first half (probably longer) mile of the bike and the last part. It was really annoying because I felt like I could only coast during that time. But, it was very flat!!!!
31:56

Run:
Only positive reviews on the run! I love this 5k course. I did a turkey trot a few years ago on this course. It is so pretty going over the channel on the way out and the way back. It is fairly flat but has a few bumps along the way.
20:38

I got 2nd overall and 1st in the collegiate category and my age group! Very exciting stuff. Overall time of 1:15:46
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Next awesome thing, I got a bid for the new Alpha Delta Pi chapter at JMU! I am literally beyond excited. I found out today and could not be happier. I know its going to be tough balancing training, job, school, AND a sorority... but this is exactly what I wanted... I just didn't realize it. My roommate and I actually both got bids. We have a retreat all day tomorrow starting at 10 until 6, so I'm going to need to get to sleepy sleepy since I'm going to be getting up early for a brick. I can't wait to meet all my new beautiful sisters. I love you all already :)

Me and the roommate with our doors signs!

WOO HOO! LAST HARD WEEKEND OF THE SEASON!

Then its just short but intense for this next week and then last race of the season on Sunday. I am definitely pretty sad to see the season wrap up. I feel like it went so fast. But I am ready to take a little bit of a break and go hiking and mountain biking! Definitely going to be doing a lot more trail running over the winter.


Anyway, its been quite a busy week and I am exhausted!

I am so happy to be where I am today and I know I couldn't do it without God. He's planned out this beautiful life for me and I couldn't be happier.

Race Recap- Patriot's Sprint

Well, I've known I needed to do a race recap of Patriot's. I was just kind of putting it off because I have been so busy with school and work and I know that school comes first.... I guess. So, I just got back to campus from tutoring and I have about an hour to kill before my macro class. I thought I was super prepared by packing my backpack last night before I went to sleep so I would be sure to have my computer and everything else I needed to work on some school work between my classes. I am all about making the most of my time these days! I sat down, opened my backpack, and the ONE book I need for my assignment isn't there! Ugh how frustrating. So I'm sitting down putsin around on facebook because I have nothing else to do, then I'm like brain blast! Blog post. And now that is what I am doing.

And for your reading pleasure, I give you, the story of Courtney and Patriot's Sprint Triathlon.

Many of you know that I am by no means a sprinter or short distance athlete. I guess a sprint triathlon is still considered by a lot of people to be an endurance event since it lasts about an hour. While most people are like Yes! Sprint Triathlon! I can do that, when I think sprint triathlon, I have very little desire to participate. For me a sprint triathlon is just pretty much going balls to the wall for an hour. I would so much rather put out a hard effort for 2.5 hours. Anyway, since Patriot's was part of the MACTC series, I knew I had to do it. Plus it was on the same course as Jamestown, and I loved that race!!!!!!!! 

Pre Race

I worked packet pickup on Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning before the race. Since this race was a team race, I ended up traveling with my girl Erin (SHOUTOUT TO MY NAVIGATOR/DJ/BEST FRIEND) since she was racing too. We left on Saturday morning after a night full of sober driving, froyo, and Gossip Girl. We ended up hanging out at my house for a little bit before we had to drive to packet pickup. My mom needed us to clean out the fridge for her, NO PROBLEM! So we feasted. It was great. 

I actually didn't ride or spin or anything on Saturday, even though thats what I usually do before races. I just wasn't feeling it for some reason. I guess my legs were still a bit tired and I didn't want to push it too far. So we ended up spending the night at my house. We went to bed at 11 and had to get up at 3:30. UGH. Good thing I don't need sleep to function.

I got to the race in the morning, set up transition, and went on  a short warm up right before transition closed. I got super nervous because I did NOT feel good. My legs were heavy and I couldn't get my legs to turnover. Not the way I wanted to feel right before this race. But whatever, I couldn't get bad thoughts in my head. I had to do this and had to do it well.

SWIM

Oh my goodness. Now this was NOTHING like the Nationals swim, not crazy girls kicking me in the face. No punching. No wrestling. No 3 foot waves. But it was a tough swim. the current was really strong so I felt like I was constantly being pushed way off course. I was able to keep a pretty straight line... I think. I never looked up and thought "OH SHIT I'M SO OFF COURSE." The water was about 80 degrees and a lot of people were complaining about the water feeling like bath water. [Guess what guys, the water at the pool in the gym at school is like 83. EW! COOL THE POOL, COOL THE POOL!] Anyway, so it was a good swim overall. Just a little slow because of the current. I was so glad to hear that everyone else's swim was slow though. 

BIKE

So I come out of the water and I know there are a few girls in front of me. I am just not sure how many and how far. I passed a girl running up to transition and held her off. I knew I needed to catch some chicks on the bike and I didn't have a ton of time to do so. I also came out of the water with an guy from Georgetown. Long story short, we leap frogged like CRAZY the entire bike. I started to get a little frustrated/nervous about blocking/drafting. I didn't want to slow down. I had business to take care of and girls to catch.  My legs burned quite a bit for the first 3 miles or so. I just couldn't get to a place I felt comfortable, relatively speaking.  ****This is where the prayers kicked in, along the lines of, "God, please give me the strength to do this. My legs hurt. God why do my legs hurt so bad? Can you please just take away this pain?" And I'm telling you, God's the man. He takes care of me. He loves me! He wants me to be happy, but He also has a plan for me that I think is just amazing!***** Then I saw a girl, check. Then a little while later I passed 2 more girls. All I saw were boys in front of me! So then one of the guys from my team passes me right before the turn around. He tells me I have a Navy girl a minute back. Oh heck no. I am not backing down. I crushed it home. I knew I had to just go for it. Luckily my new saddle still rocks and I never want to get out of my TT position. I am extremely comfortable and happy with it (thanks Les and Connie for the recommendation!) One of my competitors from Tech passed me with about a mile to go. I know she's a faster cyclist than I am, but I'd say we could run about the same speed. So I saw her and someone yelled "you're the second woman!" Holy crap! No way. So I get this big stupid grin on my face and am like "Courtney, you have 25 minutes left. Leave it here." I promise myself I'm not going to let Tech out of my sight.

That's my "I'm on a mission" face.

RUN

I am in transition and the announcer is like "here comes Courtney! She is the 3rd woman. She's putting on her shoes, she's got her race belt, she's off!" I totally felt like a badass, but then I'm thinking crap, 3rd place. Not good enough. And now I have a terrible side stitch and I'm totally gonna puke. I have so many people yelling at me to go get these girls. My teammates, my mom, my friends. So, as soon as I saw Tech pass the girl that was in front, I knew I had a shot. I kicked it into gear and ran my heart out. I kept glancing down at my watch and I was in the 6:40ish pace. I can do this. I passed the girl that was now in 2nd with about a mile left. I was getting so nervous that someone was going to sneak up on me though. I am still lacking some confidence in my run. I'm definitely not as fast as I used to be. I just kept my focus in front of me, looking back doesn't help anything. I dropped my pace and went for it. Anyone can do anything for about 8 minutes. I saw my mom right near the finish line and ususally she tells me there's someone behind me and that I have to pick it up. She just said "Go Courtney!!" when she saw me. So in my mind I'm like holy shit there's no one behind me or holy shit there is someone there and she didn't want to freak me out. So then I started running even faster. Finally, I got to the finish line. I had come in 2nd! And I didn't puke!

This is me...leaving it on the course.

This race was a pretty big deal for me. This was the bestI have ever placed overall in a race. I am waiting for that 1st place overall finish. I know it's coming. But when? I know it takes time. Patience. I will get there some day. I have an amazing support group behind me. My mom, dad, sisters, doctor, coaches, and friends. Everyone is there one hundred percent. Even when I am a total jerk. So I thank you all for all that you do for me. I could not do it without you.

So where does this leave me with Collegiate Nationals? I just need to rack up as many points as I can. I will be doing a race in Wilmington, NC then the MACTC championship race. I am looking forward to my final 2 races of the season. I can't wait to go to Wilmington and stay with my grandparents! Definitely going to have to beach it up while I am there too! 

As always, thanks for reading and your support! It means the world to me:)

"And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." 

Colossians 3:17