Tulsa Bound

My brain is mush right now because I am so freaking tired and sunburnt but here goes nothing.  We had the first stop of the All-American Clash in Tulsa Oklahoma this weekend.  For that reason, I got one run as I am still rehabbing this foot and two work outs, one good upper body work out and one good leg work out.  See, look at me actually trying to be good and fix my injury instead of forcing my runs through it!  

We were supposed to leave Friday morning so we could get there, set up, and practice.  Oh, the best laid plans of mice and men am I right?  Tony had lots to deal with at work that kept him busy all week including a big day of storm clean up and some meetings about funding opportunities.  Honestly, we have zero time for racing right now but we are trying out best.  I feel like a broken record saying that over and over again.  Lack of practice, no time to set up the cars, and having new to us cars is just killing us.  Sometimes I think to myself, is it even worth it to do this? Then I see Andrew go out there and battle and hang with the big dogs and I think yep, this is the why. This is why Tony doesn't sleep for 24 hours.  This is why we drive 4 hours to sit in a trailer all day while it rains.  Seeing him hang out with other kids from other states that he only sees on race days yet gets along with great.  

First off, we were supposed to get our engine in Thursday and it didn't arrive. The shipping got delayed but we finally got it around 11 that morning.  Also, the white car that we traded for the new to us black car needed to be used this weekend, so we had to quickly (and I say we, but i mean Tony) put it together and get it ready to race.  That put us behind on our own cars but when someone does you a favor so your kid can race, you return said favor so their kid can race.  We finally got cars mostly done, packed, and hit the road only to find a nail in the tire on the trailer. 

Got that fixed but we needed spares so a quick not so quick stop in Topeka at Tractor Supply to get two spares just in case.  We literally rolled into the parking lot of the track with 5 minutes left in open practice.  Sigh.  Oh well, in the dirt world they just send it, so I guess we are just practicing for that.  

We ended up only racing one day.  It was a cluster thanks to the rain.  We delayed and delayed and delayed and finally got going and got all of the races in.  Let's just say we were all very, very tired.  The kids were so done, and the club was worried that it would rain us out the next day so they wanted to go ahead and do day 2 that night.  Spoiler alert, we did indeed get rained out and a lot of very unhappy kids and adults left Tulsa.  My heart goes out to the club, it's never an easy decision to cancel.  With all of the storms we got from Friday night on, we just were fighting an uphill battle trying to dry things out.  Andrew and I were very happy to go home but Tony was not as he had worked really hard on getting the cars in a better shape than they were the day before.  Now we have three cars set up for a track we don't race.  Sigh.  

I was going to go into detail about each race and the good things I saw, but instead since it's several days out and I am finally writing this, I'm just going to say that we had the set up completely wrong and Andrew did the best with what we gave him.  We are learning that the knowledge we gained from racing our medium cars there last year is not transferable to the large cars this year.  If you go to the Ginger Racer's Facebook page, you will see a couple of videos there that are of two of the races I am most proud of.  I am also proud of Andrew for trying his best, even though he was super-duper tired and hot.  I am hoping we will get to go race down there at some point, but their heavy class is starting band and school trips and vacations and not planning on racing much this summer which means we have to take our own class of 2-3 drivers down there to race.  

Oh well, onward and upward to the next leg which is Minnesota.  I always love that trip so looking forward to some good racing and hopefully better understanding of these cars by then.  I feel like Tony is getting so freaking close, we just keep missing it by one little thing.  And by we I mean my hubby.

Have a great week y'all!

More lasts

This week was not a week of running, which in a way was good because it was very hot most of the week.  We are still in that pattern of nice mornings and hot days and afternoons, but thankfully, no humidity yet.  I am sad I am missing several prime days because we all know summer and horrible humidity is right around the corner.  I did get several work outs in including a couple of leg and arm work outs and a killer core work out on Saturday post run.  I'm telling you, the Peloton Strength Plus app is well worth the 10 bucks a month I am paying.  

Here is how the week went.

Ran one mile and realized my foot was indeed not better and I needed help.  Panic texted my favorite chiro to see if she could help me and she fit me in quickly so she could.  Instant relief and we attacked the swelling with some creative taping.

Got a great overall adjustment too with lots of cupping and some much-needed work on my very tight shoulders.  Kind of nice to not have my shoulders around my ears.  She gave me permission to try running in a few days ONLY if I had no pain.  I also agreed to not wear my boots for a week and see how things progressed.  If you remember from the last post, I had to get new work boots, and they screwed up my feet big time thanks to a crazy insert that was in them that I have since taken out.

Last week we had Andrew's final 7th grade choir concert and this week we had his final 7th grade band concert.  They played Harry Potter Highlights and Guardians of the Galaxy Mix Tape, and this band nerd mom was in heaven.  While their high notes are pretty pinched and thin, they still sound for the most part amazing for 7th graders.  We are doing summer lessons this year, and I can't wait to see the progress Mr. Richmond is going to make with Andrew.

We ended the week with racing again and yet another new to us car.  Tony pulled another all nighter and while the car is bad ass, the engine seems to have crapped out.  We've been waiting for new to us engines for months now and they still haven't come in and we have the All-American Clash next week.  Oh well, won't be the worst thing ever to not have that car, but would really like to race all three cars this year in the Clash.  His 160 looked better and his animal was smoking!  He was a little hesitant as the leaders were bumping and banging and he didn't want to get caught up in it, so he ended up third in animal, but he at times got huge runs on the 2nd place car but was worried he might wreck him.  I get it, sometimes a podium is better than a car in pieces and last lap fights have caused several checkered flag wrecks lately.  While we aren't getting the finishes we ultimately want, with no practices and very little set up time, we are progressing as I had hoped we would with three new to us cars.  Medium cars and large cars are so different to set up and he keeps growing making getting those cars right an ever-moving target.  

We are seriously having so much fun racing right now.  I really hope we can get one more year out of these cars as he wants to stay on pavement for now. 

 

I want to end on a sad note, one that has made this week very difficult emotionally.  We are very close to one of the track families and we commonly do things off the track together.  Jessica's family has taken me in as one of their own and loved my whole family like we are their family for years.  Jaxson and Andrew have been good friends since they started racing.  Sandy was the matriarch of the family, and I loved nothing more than having her bring "Sandy Snacks" to my favorite craft brew bar Happy Bassett and to play bingo or just sit and talk about life.   Last week on Mother's Day she was rushed to the hospital where she had a stroke and never regained consciousness.  This hits super hard for me because my mom isn't much older, and while Sandy did have underlying health issues, they were under control.  She and Jessica have a relationship just like my mom and I have which is super close.  She was also the type to just jump in and do whatever needed to be done no matter what.  There aren't many like her anymore in this world.  

We will miss her so much.  I feel like I'm in denial that she is really gone.  We are going to plan a bingo day and bring our favorite sandy snacks as we will never forget this wonderful lady and all she did for our track and track families over the years.  Please if you are the praying type, keep her family in your prayers as they navigate this horrible time together.  They've had lots of death in the family the last two years on both sides of the family, and they need all the positive thoughts and prayers we could send their way.  

Have a great week y'all.  I am going to try my hardest cause that is how Sandy would want it to be.  

Injured runner...Ollie may bite

Not the post I wanted to write at all.  Remember when I was talking about an explosion in my foot?  Well, it escalated to the point I could barely walk.  I switched my focus this week to little to no running and mostly lifting.  I'm not sure what to do here.  If you remember or maybe I didn't write about it, I got new work boots after a few years of wearing the same boots.  We have to wear steel toed boots because we work with liquid nitrogen and cylinders, and they kill my feet.  Towards the end of the week, I figured out that the new boots had these crazy inserts in them.

It's hard to see in this picture, but that part where my arch goes is hugely padded.   I feel like this padding was pushing my foot over to the side and pissing every tendon and ligament off 8 hours at a time. I have already established in previous years that feet are very sensitive to any changes, like when shoemakers change their design or socks are too compressive.  I was able to get some much flatter inserts, but my feet are seriously pissed off with my left foot being the worst.  I am hoping a week with no running and different inserts help calm things down.  Also going to take some anti inflammatories and some extra tumeric in an effort to help.   

Here is how the week went otherwise.  One run before I said this isn't a good idea and four 45-minute work outs.  I used the muscle generator to make a workout that worked out the exact muscles I wanted which was a fun new trick and did an upper body and two lower body work outs.  I also figured out that if there is an exercise I am tired of or don't like, I can swap it out for another exercises that works the same muscles.  I am seriously loving this app.  I hope it can keep me motivated all summer because I am not a fan of running in the heat and humidity.  

The boys declared the weekend Mother's Day weekend, and we started out with a bang.  We had thoughts about going to Kansas City for some racing but decided while getting there would be fine, road closings and driving late at night didn't sound like a great idea.  We settled on heading over to Liquid Arts Winery for some hard cider and beautiful views.  

It's hard to capture the beauty but you are surrounded by the flint hills in spring, and it just takes your breath away.  Plus, they make the BEST hard cider I have ever tasted in some interesting flavors, and the theme this weekend was flights, so I had a flight to find the one that fit me the best.

Plus, WHO IS THIS KID?  He looks like a grown adult in this picture, and I just can't.  I told this story on Facebook, but I will tell it here again.  The boys got me a new running watch for Mother's Day since mine was just acting up and not syncing with my phone or having to be charged every other day.  We try and buy shoes twice a year if not more and Andrew was due for some new shoes for the summer work outs.  I had her measure him before we tried any on and he had gone up TWO SHOES SIZES!!!!  He is now a 10.5, one size smaller than his dad and he is 12.   We are probably going to move up to size large on shirts as well and he needs all new pants and shorts.  Dear lord.  Time slow down!

The weekend continued with Mom's and Mimosas at a local nursey where I spent way too much money on Hostas.  Someday I will have all the hostas I need for my yard LOL.  Famous last words.

We had lunch in St. George that day as well because when near or in St. George, one must have Moe's BBQ.  

We ended the weekend at 785 brewing in Topeka on Mother's Day eating yummy brunch and trying out mimosas.  I have suddenly become a fan of the mimosa, and they had some yummy combinations. I think my new favorite is mango pineapple.  

I am not going to lie, after a whole weekend of being pampered I kind of felt guilty so before we left Topeka, we headed to The Toy Store in Topeka to walk around and have fun playing with the toys.

I mean who doesn't need a squishy axolotl in their life?  

Have a great week y'all!!!

All the emotions

This week was a tough one for me.  I was very emotional all week and cried any time anything didn't go my way or made me sad or really for no reason at all.   Lots and lots of tears all week.  I am hoping this is just perimenopause and nothing else, but also this was Stella's birthday week and that hit me pretty hard and didn't help.  I also was absolutely dreading racing.  I think the biking/flipping had me on edge and I was dreading the what ifs.  I know he is super safe but watching him bike all day, watching any kid bike even the tiniest bit has gotten me super nervous.  

I got four work outs in, an upper body, a lower body, a 45-minute push and a 15-minute core work out.  Loving how I can just fit them in when I have time.  My running however was not as good and got three runs of minimal mileage. Really wanted to do an 8 miler just in case we don't race, and I can go to the half marathon here in town, but my body and my mind just weren't in it.  I used to not listen to my body or my mind but here lately I do, and I move on and don't feel guilty.  

The week had some bright spots for sure.  Andrew's 7th grade band performed at solo and ensemble and received a one rating on their songs.  They truly sound amazing and I am trying not to be that mom but hell, we didn't sound that awesome in 7th grade so there.  

We watched the derby together and I made myself a pipe cleaner DNA hat for the derby.  My horse came in fourth, but it was a thrilling race anyway.  Andrew and I both practiced calling the horses to post and that kid can hit a C above the staff already.  Dang.  I couldn't do that till high school.  

Heavy Honda:  The black and green car is his heavy Honda car.  This is his first car and it's old and doesn't fit him like his other two, so therefore he now hates it.  He has head clearance BUT he is a wide kid and the car is narrow.  This makes him have to shove his big body all together and parts of him fall asleep, which obviously isn't good for racing.  Last week it was a stuck throttle cable and this week he just couldn't get any speed out of the car.  Once again, a final lap wreck had one car not finishing and one car getting a call on them, but Andrew still getting last because he was a lapped car.  To be continued.  Andrew is getting super frustrated, which I like to see because it means he really cares.  

Heavy 160.  He is tucked in behind the blue car in P3.  Apparently before we even got a lap in during the heat race, another car ran over his tire and broke his chain and gear.  The team couldn't get him back out, so he finished next to last thanks to one car also going out before they even doubled up.  Sigh.  We need points in this class so badly.  We came back in the feature and raced our butts off, BUT the car was not the same and got caught up in another wreck and bent the spindle.   I am proud of him for finishing the race, passing cars, and not getting last even though he had a broken race car.  I'm looking forward to some practice time with this car when it is fixed...again.  

Unrestricted animal.  This is the white and blue car he flipped the last race weekend and then went out the next day and was very nervous.  We added two more cars to this class so it's going to be a fun one moving forward.  He battled hard and got a third place in the heat and had no proof of nerves.  In the feature again, battled his butt off and had one little bobble that allowed fourth and fifth passed him.  He couldn't catch them in the end so a 5th place finish out of 7 drivers.   Super proud of this class and his grit.  

We had some incidences during one of the last races amongst club members.  Same old crap different day.  Glad I am not a board member anymore, I guess.  Probably going to have several volunteers quit because of it.  If adults can't act like adults, then I guess they will pay the price and have to volunteer to fill the positions. Not my circus or my monkeys this time.  I think my give a damn finally broke.  

Have a great week y'all!  Missing this girl so much and wishing her a big happy birthday at the rainbow bridge.