Trainer ride - wanted to knock this out before heading to Stone Mountain this afternoon.

Categorizing this as hiking as I climbed up Stone Mountain! Really lovely day to do this. 73 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. It was stunning. I had a full on moment with the universe, so grateful and happy to be here, 6 months after cancer. (Still can’t fathom that it’s only been 6 months. I’ve said this before, but it feels like years. Lifetimes.)

Ellie Mae walk

3 p.m. swim - exactly the same experience as 4 and 5 p.m. swims with the special needs kids lessons and seniors doing physical therapy. Sounds like that's just what Fridays are like.

Had a really hard time getting up to speed on this swim. My radiation tightness was pretty bad at the beginning so I had to stop and stretch it out a whole lot. Never got into a groove.

Trying something new for a 10-day step challenge I'm doing with the board I volunteer with. MORNING WALKS lol we'll see how it goes. I'll be doing a lot of walking for the next 10 days because I want our organization to win. Somebody already busted out 8 miles this morning though, on Day 1 of the challenge - jeez louise.

Lunch walk

Course maps are still nowhere to be seen, but I did go ahead and panic-book a hotel for IM Des Moines dates. One of the articles I read said the finish line would remain downtown (like the 70.3) so I took that information and ran with it. Being a Marriott gal I booked the closest one available - maybe 4 blocks from the finish line area - and I can cancel with no penalty up until the day before. 

Also you guyssssss I have an appointment for Botox on Monday! The plastic surgery practice who did my mastectomy consultation sent an email about a Boo-Tox party with discounted units, and I decided life is short, why not. I've been thinking about it for years. Please don't tell my mother lol!

Trainer

Afternoon walk - drizzling

I'm surprised that waking up this morning I'm leaning towards Des Moines. But you know why, it's primarily the bike course elevation. Sure I could bust my butt to train on hills every weekend (driving an hour each way every single Saturday for months on end ughh) - but the idea of not HAVING to do crazy hills every weekend and experiencing a more enjoyable bike course is really appealing to me. I'm not concerned about a June lake swim and lack of OWS beforehand, or really what the run course looks like as I know I'll be walking a chunk of it. So it really comes down to the bike course for me this time around.

I looked at weather history for Des Moines in June and it can be anywhere from the 70s to the 100s. Add in wind and severe weather potential. But bad weather is just luck of the draw on race day and not a huge factor in my decision. I also just realized that I have a work trip in August where I'll be gone for a solid week, which would not be good timing for a September race. 

Not going to pull the trigger just yet, I still want to see the course maps, but that's where my head is at today!

Evening run - the first half of my runs are so difficult for me being mostly uphill. Back half was fun and comfortable.

Lunch walk

Ironman announced today that IM Wisconsin is moving back to September 11, 2022. Which would have been GOOD TO KNOW BEFORE I BOUGHT AIR FARE AND HOTEL RESERVATIONS FOR JUNE. I can't describe how infuriating it is for them to do this 2 months after they published and promoted the June date, let people register, sent confirmations, etc. 

In the email I got, it says I can either roll to the September date, OR I can choose to defer to one of these races. I'm weighing all the options, because while I love Madison, can I switch to a race that's better suited to my strengths and one I might enjoy more? Off to research. But WTF Ironman. WTF.

IRONMAN Wisconsin – September 11, 2022 (Automatic Option) - ON THE MAYBE LIST. Even though I did this race in 2010, the bike elevation would not play to my strengths whatsoever. 
IRONMAN Texas- April 23, 2022 - too early
IRONMAN Tulsa- May 22, 2022 - registered for Chatty this weekend
IRONMAN Des Moines – June 12, 2022 - ON THE MAYBE LIST. I'd like to see the actual course and elevation first though. It's not on the IM site yet.
IRONMAN Lake Placid- July 24, 2022 - 6K feet of bike elevation no thanks
IRONMAN Canada- Augusta 28, 2022 - 6K feet of bike elevation no thanks
IRONMAN Maryland- September 17, 2022 - jellyfish = no
IRONMAN Chattanooga – September 25, 2022 - ON THE MAYBE LIST. It's been my favorite bike course, I'm comfortable with the elevation and can pre-ride the course, plus all downstream swim. Cons - potential high temperatures and history of swim being cancelled. 

I cancelled my hotel and air fare - I was smart enough to have selected the "cancel up until the day before" hotel reservation, and I now have an eCredit with Delta. But I for sure won't get back the sky miles points I used to upgrade to first class  Which makes no sense, but none of this does!

Trainer

Beautiful lunch walk.

Evening walk

I don't know what has gotten into me, but I'm feeling an IMMENSE sense of urgency about my job. Maybe I'm desperate to prove something to myself, maybe I'm "manifesting," I don't know. But last night I sent a carefully crafted note to my leaders outlining how I see my role evolving (because they asked me to put some thought into it), proposed a slew of new and existing responsibilities, then asked to be promoted. I ASKED TO BE PROMOTED! EEEkk it's very out of character for me, but I've learned you HAVE to put things out there and ask for what you want. Otherwise you will look up one day and will have spent 9 years in the same role (raises hand - that was me at my last company). I mean what's the worst that will happen, they say "not right now" and I continue to have a job I love? OK! 

My boss's boss replied last night and thanked me for my thoughtful email - and said they will need some time to review and reply. She added that they're working on a number of other initiatives that will affect the structure and responsibilities of our team, which I knew, so I'm hoping this is good timing for this type of conversation. It was nice to get an immediate reply that they're considering it.

Lunch walk

Evening walk

The muscle area on my left (cancer) side from the top of my boob up through my armpit and beyond has been really tight for a number of weeks. In my radiation oncology check in a few weeks ago, they mentioned this was a common long-term side effect of radiation and stretching/exercises should take care of it. So spent some extra time on that area tonight.

Nice and brisk in the high 40s this morning. This is about as cold as I'm comfortable with for the whole winter, brrrr. Today is also the day our company offices officially "re-open" but hardly anyone is going in - they expected less than 30% today. Most teams, including mine, pushed our "one meeting a month in the office" to January. I'm on a call this morning where some over-eager people are in the office, but most are still at home.  Microsoft Teams technology is clunky when half the people are in-person together.

They've also moved all Starbucks and cafeteria food orders to a mobile app where you order and pay online, then just swing by and pick up when it's ready. I was never a heavy user of our cafeteria, but they originally designed it so you would never have to leave the building for anything - so LOTS of people relied on it daily (and it's not cheap - most meals I got were $10-$12 on average and that's an allegedly subsidized price). I did like the salad bar because it was enormous and had amazing things like roasted brussels sprouts and grilled salmon filets - but touching community tongs around food is just not in my vocabulary right now, maybe never again.

I may have turned a little corner! This run felt much better than anything I've done recently.

Lunch walk - 60 degrees and sunny!

It was so nice to get out of the house last night and give Christina a proper celebration (she never once even got a "congratulations" from our manager - just nothing). We went to the Avalon in Alpharetta, a super cute, upscale shopping/dining area. We ate at a wine bar outdoors, then went shopping for a bit, then had dessert at a little café again outdoors (they had a gluten free apple crumble cheesecake OMG). All the restaurants had their outdoor heaters and fit pits going, it was so lovely. But I wore "real shoes" - super cute pointed toe, open heeled mule heels - these here! And my foot literally  has a cut and is bruised this morning from where the shoe dug into the top of my foot!