will work for...

anything, at this point!

had a job interview last week at a big hospital here in town - bedside NICU nursing job. the interview went quite well, and it was the first actual feedback i've gotten on a job application since we've moved here.

i'm so very very hopeful, but it's already been over a week since the interview. going on 2 weeks very soon, actually.

this might just be my shortest blog post yet. you're welcome.

race report - esprit de she

750m swim in 22:47 / 1:53 / 12.58mi in 1:00 / 2:33 / 5k in 47:33 = 2:15:31

i've decided to call this the race of appreciation.

in a half-assed attempt at a joke and to recruit teammates to race with me, i wrote on the team's FB page that i was contemplating a tutu for this race. i did that last week, a full week out from the race. when i researched it, i found a super-cute one but the company wouldn't be able to make one in time. so i contacted a friend who'd made one recently for her kiddo. sounded simple enough. from that description, this was done:

i didn't really intend to do this. it was more of a "open your big mouth, and now you have to put up or shut up" kinda thing. and can i just say - glitter tulle was NOT a good idea. there's glitter EVERYWHERE. three days after the race, i was still pulling the glitter out of my ears with a Q-tip.

anyway, i'll say here that i didn't really want to do the race. the only thing that got me there that morning was the idea of running with my tutu on. it's a women's only sprint. for SURE there'd be a group of us in tutus and i'd never done it before.

it's a small race, so we got there an hour or so before my wave went off. which turns out to be just short of enough time, but whatever. they actually sent us off a little later than scheduled so it worked out. 

dave was oh-so-happy to be amongst a sea of women

swim was pretty packed, and it was one of the more physical swims that i've had in quite awhile. lots of jockeying for position and it didn't really make sense to me. dave and i had opposite views of this race going into it. i thought it was going to be a "women power" kinda thing, while he thought it would be a bitchy nightmare. so far, he was right.

i'm shocked T1 was so short. i even had to put my tutu on and it was still under 2 min. the bike was a bit brutal. curry hill is a bit of a bitch, and we had to do it twice. i was pleasantly surprised that there were still so many girls out on the bike by the time i was rounding off my second lap. that meant for sure that no matter how slow i was on the run, i wouldn't be dead last. i was hoping my bike leg would be shorter than marquee, considering the fact that it was over a mile shorter in distance. alas, that did not happen. but i was pleased enough with my performance. i actually worried that i'd pushed it too hard, and wasn't sure what i'd have left for the run. 

as it turns out, not a lot. oh, and riding with a tutu is definitely harder than it sounds. 

the run wasn't too much fun. my tutu was too heavy to keep up, so i had to have dave hunt down an additional safety pin, but that worked out. my HR stayed in the 160s throughout the bike, and it wasn't moving much for the run. my actual run portions weren't long, and my walks were taking over. which was fine. whatever, i was out there to have a good time anyway. probably the best part for me - when i had a tailwind on the run, the glitter would come fall off my tutu and it would fly out in front of me. it was like tinkerbell was showing me the way herself. i laughed out loud. when i walked, i couldn't allow my arms to fall down to my sides and swing because the tulle was too scratchy. so i looked like a retarded mall walker. with a mighty fine tutu. dave caught me halfway through, and it was so nice to see him! 

at the end of the run, i only had enough legs left to get me through the finish shoot. i had to do a couple ballerina moves, which actually turned out pretty good in photos. and of course, the tutu necessitated a curtsey at the finish line: 

one of my fav pics of the day - because dave's in the background just laughing!

the thing that really amazed me about this race: at every single encounter, women were thanking me for the tutu, or complimenting me on it. i had a couple women come up to me after the race was over and actually thank me for wearing it because it made them smile and kept them going. i've never heard the words "love the tutu!" more in my life. it was overwhelming. i enjoyed wearing it anyway, because it captures my thoughts on racing these days: it's for fun. i'm not going out to do much. i'm going out to be out, and to have as much fun as i can during. the unexpected was what it did for everyone else. dave walked around with me after, and seeing the response from everyone told him that it was something i should wear at every race.

another great thing about this race: the champagne at the finish. they were also offering massages (pretty normal for a race) and manicures (totally NOT normal for a race). it was so fun to walk around and laugh.

champagne, gatorade, and water - post-race libations of triathletes

the night before the race i posted a pic on the team page that my tutu was finished. because of that, one teammate actually wore one too! cindy was the only other daring soul - we were the only two people in the entire race wearing a tutu. i still can't even believe that!

overall, had a great time. really glad that i got out there and did it. the power of the tutu has revealed itself to me. i have a shit-ton of fabric, so i'll likely be making more. of the NON-GLITTER variety, that is.