Nationals and Rankings

Leanda Cave

So I'm not all that clear how rankings work but since I was in 3 triathlons last year that were actually USAT Sanctioned I qualified to get in them (that doesn't mean much).  Around here there aren't that many triathlons that actually make you get the USAT coverage.  But apparently in my age group for last year out of the 2,096 that did enough races to be ranked I was 1,316 out of those.  You may be thinking but why are you announcing this?  Ok well when I looked that I was being ranked with the likes of Leanda Cave, she was ranked 1 in my age group it made me feel a little better! :-)   There were about 20,000 total listed in that age group but I guess they didn't have the 3 sanctioned triathlons?  I've never looked into the points or how they are assigned but I guess I will at some point just out of curiosity.

The other exciting thing that happened this year is that I got an invitation to go to Nationals for the Olympic distance!  I was so excited the day I got the email that I ran out of the room and sat in front of my audience (my parents and husband) with a huge smile on my face saying "Guess What!?!?!"  Well then I slowly realized that with the timing of when it was and by when I would have to commit to it the logistics just aren't working out for this year.  So as bummed as I am about this I will not be able to participate in Nationals! :-(   I hope to go to Nationals in two years and might even get a coach when and if it happens and actually train for this like an A race not an "Oh crap I better start getting my miles in race!"  But I also don't fully understand the rules for qualifying for this because I think according to their rules I should have been invited in the past but this is the first time I have been.  Either way I usually don't like doing destination races but I think this one is one I would travel for!  So watch out in two years Nationals here I come!  :-0  Ok I might be getting a little bit ahead of myself.....

Have any of you been to Nationals?  Was it a really cool experience or not worth it?

Customer Service (or lack of) My Favorite Soapbox Lately...

So I was going to purchase a tablet but then there was lots of confusion, misinformation, and absolutely no remorse from the company at all!  Therefore, I am sure I can live without one of these things.  I love the last email I got back from them.  Some of the big companies make so much money without even trying that they don't care when they lose a customer.  Here is their email in response to me telling them that:

Hello Natasha,


Thanks for contacting us with suggestions about Google Play. We frequently share customer feedback with our development team and will be sure to pass along your input.

Thanks,

Matt
The Google Play Support Team


On 01/27/13 07:19:51 "Natasha Sutherlin" wrote:
Thank you for the follow up.  I hope that you give this feedback to the appropriate people but this was a very unfortunate incident because the terms on the gift cards are not clear at all.  They were not clear to my brother who purchased it for me as a gift and they were not clear to me when I tried to redeem it.  I even read them before entering the code into my account and it wasn't until I tried to use it to purchase the item that I realized what happened.  Even when I called the customer service John who spoke to me first said I'd be able to purchase a device with it but that I'd have to add more money on it to have it equal the same amount of what I was purchasing thank goodness I didn't believe him and add that money or I would have been furious!  Because of the poor customer service I have experienced with this whole thing and how convoluded terms and conditions are with your company I will no longer be purchasing a tablet or other items from your Google Store and that means $50 was just donated to your company for no good reason!


P.S. I do realize the irony of this considering I'm currently on a Google platform, let's see if I get kicked off....

It's a sad day but we'll get over it, Oh Lance!

It's a sad day for those of us who wanted to believe in Lance and that's all I really can say about that.  I haven't been able to bring myself to watch the interview because I have feared his sincerity would be lacking.  Bid Daddy Diesel put it perfectly and instead of writing more about it I'll just let him say it.  As my buddy at One Hour Iroman said to me "You've still got me"  He was absolutely right!  My fellow age groupers are my true inspiration and are the reason I even ventured into the world of Ironman!  If it wasn't for those special interest stories I'd see on TV every year and the hard work I'd see my friends go through to get there I would never have thought "You know what I could do that!"  So to all of you out there in the daily grind that still find the mental fortitude and physical strength to have a part time job of Ironman training on top of your day job, THANK YOU!!  You are my true inspiration and I don't need anyone else to look up to!


This weekend is supposed to be warm especially compared to how it has been around here lately, highs in the upper 40's and even better news I've been able to get some workouts in lately where I feel good and not dizzy so I think I'm going to try and venture outside this weekend.  Try a little jogging and definitely some hiking.  I'm excited for a three day weekend!

GOOD LUCK to all my fellow running buddies that are in Phoenix running races this weekend!  I wish I could be there with you but I'll be cheering from here!

For all of you weekend warriors out there go out, get dirty, have fun, and report back so I can read all about it!

Hello there....

I think I'm back....... :-)  For about the last month I've been absent from most of my social media sites and let's just call it a temporary anti-social phase but I think I'm over it now! :-)  I can't wait to catch up what every one's been up to with there winter and cross training.

For me I've been taking my off season fairly easy   
mainly just trying to maintain.  Today I had to get a quick lunch workout in from my office:

But I had to do that cause I have an apt after work to get a massage, woohoo, I have awesome friends who know exactly what to get me for my birthday!

Hubs and I went to Wolf Creek last weekend with one of our local ski clubs and did some skiing.  It was about -33 windchill though so there was nice powder but it was so cold I didn't get near as many runs in as normal!!  But we survived! :-)  My fingers got so cold they turned purple and got swollen but I didn't whine about that at all on this trip...... ;-)

My husband was awesome and gave me the best surprise birthday party!  Even though I found out I don't like not knowing what's going on or being blind folded I do love having all my favorite people in one place just for me!!

And my dad gave me this as a birthday gift!

So as I hope to ease back into this, what's new with you?

How many of you are still in off season mode, anyone started training for their new season yet?  Who has an exciting race calendar next year?  Please tell me cause I might have to live vicariously through you!


This just made me laugh!

2012 Rocked!

Please excuse me while I have a personal identity crisis.  I have to be honest I have been questioning whether to continue my blog or not.  I have a feeling I might be in a funk and just need to figure out a few things so in the meantime please let me distract you with a recap of my 2012.  I must say last year rocked and I have no complaints, it's the year ahead that has me a little perplexed and I need to figure out what my content on here should be.  Thanks for being part of my year and making it great!

I managed to get in 3,114 miles, of swim, bike, run, hike so who can complain with a year like that! :-)

 What was your favorite moment of 2012?