2009 Reflected

2009 was a good year to me. I had some great achievements and some losses. Here is 2009 in remembrance:

1. Finishing Ironman. I completed Ironman Arizona after months of very long weekends spent on my bike and in my running shoes and swimming laps in the pool. During the heat of the summer, I had to awake in the 4 o'clock hour to beat the triple digit temps. But, when all is said and done, I crossed the finish line to a very challenging endurance event and now I am an Ironman finisher. It was an amazing euphoria.

2. Running the Copenhagen marathon. In my quest to run a marathon on every continent, I participated in this Denmark race and visited the land of models, aka Sweden, while there.

3. My best birthday ever. I went to LA to the Festival of Books and personally met my future husband Curtis Stone. He signed his new cookbook and wrote "happy, happy birthday Jennifer." Sigh :) My dad also surprised me and appeared in Newport Beach in California on my birthday. I was so happy that weekend and nothing will top that b-day.

4. Getting braces on and off. For four months I had these ugly white braces which made me feel like I was 12 years old. But after a quick 4 months, they were removed and a straighter smile was found beneath that gastly metal. I now smile in photographs. Yes, it was dang expensive and yes, it was worth every penny.

5. Seeing Dinner Impossible filmed in person. At an Ironman dinner, the Food Network was filming the show right in front of me. Robert Irvine was feeding hungry triathletes. As a Food Network addict, I was giddy as a school girl. You can ask anyone who was there.

6. My brother moving to Utah. He got a job in Herriman and took off :(

7. A major bike accident in July that left me with stitches, a sprained wrist and scars for life. I completely lost consciousness in my fall and luckily two men driving by found me.

8. A friendship ending. I received a letter by mail from a friend that I have known for 9 years now. She was very candid in her letter explaining all the things she didn't like about me. It made me change the way I view things and I feel like a much more positive person because of it. I tried to take a sad situation and turn it into a learning experience. I also ended a friendship with another person. Sometimes in life you have to learn to let go to become something better.

9. Not getting a wanted opportunity. Enough said about that.

10. Participating in 30 races. This was a year devoted to training and racing. I competed in events ranging from a 5K to a full Ironman. My muscles can feel it and after Ironman my stamina isn't what it was before the race, but I am proud of my accomplishments in my marathon and triathlon life.

Here's to a wonderful 2010! I am looking forward to it. I will have to write down my new year's resolutions.

Tootsie Rolls to the Rescue

After my much unfortunate bill that will total well over $1,000 for 1 second of my life in a very maddening bike accident, I indulged my financial sorrows in leftover Halloween candy. Although it didn't make the whole in my wallet fill up with cash, it did tickle my taste buds and that made me feel a little better. I don't recommend sweets as a way to relieve problems; there are obviously healthier ways of doing so, but the brightly colored candy was just sitting there....and the candy did work a little magic on my pain.

Since I would have rather spent the $1,000+ on a trip to Europe, or a fancy weekend in Vegas, or indulge myself in some delicious spa treatments at some resort in Scottsdale, I figured I'd have to find some other manner of enjoying a vacation, so I turned on the travel channel and pretended I was at "The Top 10 Caribbean Beaches."

Life can be unfair sometimes. I had a brief accident and now it cost me a lifetime of happy memories of traveling somewhere exotic or buying a new piece of furniture, and instead, left me with a lifetime of scars on my face and knee.

I did run a quick 4 miles yesterday and today...swim, swim, swim.

Bad News

I got into a bike accident in July and have spent $500 out of pocket costs already for it, which included the x-ray bills and separate doctor's bill of $369. Now I just got a $703 bill from the hospital and the money is due in a few days. My 3 hours in the hospital, which was mainly just spent waiting around, will cost me $1200 with insurance. Plus, I had to go to my regular doctor twice to get two rounds of stitches out, which cost me an additional $50.

It looks like I won't be taking any more trips now. I was really looking into going to New Zealand and Melbourne, Australia to visit an old salsa dancing friend from the US who now lives there with his wife and in three weeks time, a new baby.

But now this ate up everything. I really regret that accident more than anything. I am poor with all this triathlon training, doctor's bills and braces.

I can't wait for a fresh start next year.

On a happier note, I applied for the lottery for the New York City 2010 marathon. I won't find out till March if I won the lottery, but fingers crossed.

We are now back to having record-breaking temperatures of high heat. It is in the 90s and will continue to be that way for a while. It is November and still hotter than most places get in the summer.

Weekend

Patience is a virtue. It has now been two weeks since I got my braces and every morning I look into the mirror only to be greeted with the exact same smile I had before. I am someone who wants things immediately and changing my teeth apparently is not something that happens overnight.

This weekend I got back on the saddle so to speak. I finally got back biking after my accident that left me with a lifetime of scars and an embarrassment in front of two good looking men. But I completed a 50 mile ride and kept my wrist wrapped, so no pain. After that, I ran a slow and exhausting 6.5 miles in heat. But I finished.

The next day I met my training group for a 10 mile trail run. I love technical running. It is my favorite type of running, which is one of the reasons I love triathlons. There is no ability to zone out; your head is always thinking and it keeps me from feeling exhausted as easily as 10 miles of running in circles. Of the group I met, 4 of us were doing Ironman, so we all had a longer run. It was me and 3 guys. And you know what? For the first half I could hang with them. The 5 miles back they smoked me and I couldn't even see them they were so far ahead. I was a bit cautious coming back down the trail after my accident, however. I really was not looking for another round of stitches or blood trails.

I then swam with my group for an hour in a very cold pool, which makes no sense as it has been nearly 110 everyday.

Well, I am still hoping to do Ironman. We shall see. My fall made me lose a lot of training time and I'm not a good biker. So if another fall is in my future, Ironman may not come to fruition. But I'll keep my hopes up and send myself positive wishes that no more accidents will occur.

I also saw the movie Julie and Julia, which combines two of my favorite loves: writing and food. Cute movie! Wish I could say the same about the book.

Pain

I would like a doctor to write me out a prescription for pain killers. With my accident and braces, my whole body is one big painful mess. Although, for the first time today, my braces aren't killing me with agonizing pain. I hope it gets better to the point they feel invisible.

I went to the drug store last night and bought the gel you use on babies when they are teething. It said for ages 4 months and older, so I count. Unfortunately, it numbed me for 60 seconds, then the pain returned. My teeth are so sensitive I can't actually chew anything.

But my wrist is getting better. The arm brace has come off. Slowly and surely...

Brace Face

Today I am dealing with stitches on my face, knee, an arm brace...and now braces on my teeth. I got white braces today. I'm sure this will put a damper on anything social I do, but really, from far away, you don't notice them. When I was driving back from my dentist appointment, I put on my sunglasses and in the rear view mirror, you couldn't tell I had braces. But they hurt like crazy and I can't eat. I tried to drink from a soda can and couldn't. So maybe it'll be soup and smoothies from a straw for the next few days as I adjust to the new metal in my mouth.

Still all banged up from the accident, but more range of motion in my wrist. Driving around with 1 arm all the time hasn't been hard, except for when I want to change the station. Thank heavens for automatic cars in times like these :)

Excessive heat today--115 and higher in some areas. Last night at 11pm, it was still over 100 degrees.

Bike Crash

So this weekend was a painful one. On Saturday I did a 6.5 mile run, followed by a 2.5 hour bike ride, at least I was supposed to do 2.5 hours. On my very, very last 1.5 miles, I skidded into some gravel and completely fell off of my bike. I got up and saw blood dripping everywhere. I touched my chin and blood was gushing out. I was on a road that is not often traveled, so was concerned what I would do. Not too long after, a car drove by, with two very good-looking men who stopped to help. They gave me a towel to lie on and pulled out a cell phone since I couldn't think straight enough to use mine. I ended up completely blacking out and dropped the phone. I feel really badly about that...but I came to and one of them called my parents, which of course they didn't answer. The men drove off and I'm left sitting on the side of the road. I tried to stand up and everytime I did, everything went black. So I just lied on the towel on the road for about 5-10 minutes till I could see straight again.

I realized that I am still bleeding and needed to get somewhere quickly. The one way I could get to my parent's house, which is where I was biking, was to just get back on my bike and bike home. So with my shirt all bloodied and still dripping blood, I left a trail 1.5 miles long of blood. I got back and think I went into shock. I got nauseated and had blood all over my parents' garage.

They said my cuts were so deep I would need stitches. I've never had stitches in my life.

So we drove to Urgent Care only to be told there's nothing they can do for me and just to go straight to the hospital. They offered to call an ambulance, but we just drove. I got to the hospital and had to have stitches in my chin and knee and I sprained my wrist.

It is not pretty. I have lacerations all over my arms, legs, knee and face...not to mention my arm brace for my sprained wrist.

What a bad day. I feel like I have been seriously beaten up.

I couldn't even watch the end of the Tour de France. Seeing all those bikers get to ride in Paris as I sat on my bed unable to move an inch.