#I finished it at 2am. and then went to bed. It took 37 hours.

[etrobeauty]

I finished KH3 and I just have no words.

[soysaucevictim]

Week 7-ish. Ended up needing a few days to get through Chapter 40 of AoP...

-

Feb. 13

I got up a bit before 11AM.

After getting some coffee and a bit of the usual, I grabbed some iced coffee before starting on today’s exercises.

First, today’s DD. 2′ O-Pose hold. Still a favorite exercise. My headspace made this session take a bit more digging in to do that in one go. Still at a condition where teeth chattering from trembling is a thing for this. No less gratifying to get through.

Last, Chapter 37 of the AoP. First part was traveling, 19TP. Done at Level 2, as high knees, split into 15+14.

Workout proper was done at Level 3 (15 sets, 10 push-ups per). This was okay, push-ups got sloppy though. Occasionally lost track of getting both plank exercises in per set - in form of getting back up and going back down to complete them (rather than maintaining plank, until set’s done). But this happened only a few times.

Did some chatting and a quick silly sketch of the Creativitwin dynamic in a  bunch of my AUs.

Then made today’s Hello Fresh Meal. Chicken sausage rigatoni napoletano. I personally liked this one well enough. But it was kinda lukewarm with the family.

Spent rest of the day on the usual and then deciding to mangle “Forbidden Fruit“ with Google Translate. Yeah. :,D

I got to bed later than yesterday.

-

Feb. 14

I woke up after 11AM, and one of the first things I did was exercise.

First, today’s DD. 30″ calf raises with EC. I counted 29 reps by the end of it. Squeezed a 30th rep just as the timer buzzed. So just barely missed 1/sec. Ah well, ‘twas fun work.

Last, Chapter 38 of the AoP. Went for Option B. There were no defined levels, 10 sets to get through for everyone. Very manageable and worked up a sweat. Still thinking about using a bokken whenever i got chops to do. And also of Roman doing these exercising with his katana. :,D

Spent time working on setting up a playlist for the Begotten!AU, because why not.

Spent a good chunk of the rest of the night chatting and having movie night with a friend. We watched “Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)” and the 2005 movie adaptation of “The Producers”. Enjoyable experiences - remembering why I enjoyed BoP so much since I saw it a year ago~

I got to bed earlier than yesterday.

-

Feb. 15

I woke up around 11AM.

Watched a bit of YouTube before doing today’s exercise.

First, today’s DD. 40 knee-to-elbows with EC. Very manageable work.

Last, Chapter 39 of the AoP. Workout didn’t have levels again. Just 3 sets to run through, just happy there were only 2 jump squats and jump knee-tucks per. I shortened the rest periods to around 1′, instead of 2′.

Spent most of the day on the usual stuff. Did sketch some ideas for future art projects before turning in, though.

I got to bed in the yellow zone, surprisingly today (before 2AM).

-

Feb. 16

I woke up around 11AM.

Did some of the udsual before some BDay errands - got a free iced coffee, discounted ice cream, and some tasty Thai food.

After letting some of that go down, did my exercise.

First, today’s DD. 30″ star plank. Very doable work.

Last, Chapter 40 of the AoP. This is the chapter with the 10k Scraps wall to contend with. I had less than 1k at this point in time. Wasn’t as on top of trying to drip-feed jobs/fights into progression as last run of the program.

Regardless, I took one travel point (Level 2, as high knees) out of the City Ruins to get to the City Pits to pick some fights for Scraps. These being the numbers there...

Kaas - 600 jab + cross + hooks = 3(100/100) | ~6:25-6:49PM

Rizz - 800 side kicks + backfists = 2(100/100) + 4(50/50) | 6:57-7:37PM

Loona - 400 low snap front kicks + side kicks = 4(50/50) | 8:10-8:31PM

I had a pretty loud suspicion that I flirted with overtraining there, but I had a lot of fun (I considered this routine a gift to myself + some pointed stress relief). Thoroughly kicked my own ass and couldn’t help but laugh abt “I sleep in the BUFF.“

Spent rest of day on a lot of the usual.

I got to bed barely into the red zone, this time.

-

Feb. 17

I woke up around 9AM.

One of the first things I dealt with was making an appointment and a bunch of trip reservations with LC.

Only exercise I slotted today was the DD. 40 climber taps with EC. Also manageable. Did it while/before waiting on a ride that never came (found out later that they ordered a trip from Lyft, AGAIN... they don’t service my area and always cancel on me, because of that shit).

I kinda wanted to get back into Seeking Safety Group again today. =_=

Because I was tired and sore that threw a good chunk of my day off. Opted to take a few hours’ nap after that was evident.

Did some dishes and started to reclaim my happiness by starting a short writing project - the one for GymRat!AU. That definitely helped the spirits, somewhat cathartic vent too.

Got to bed a bit later than yesterday.

-

Feb. 18

I woke up after 10AM.

Spent a good few hours finishing up “Cherry Cola” and chatting before doing today’s exercise (somewhat lighter docket).

First, Chapter 40 of the AoP. I was still lingering in the City Pits and hella sore. But I picked one more fight before I called it for AoP stuff for the day.

Nazim - 500 in & out knife hand strikes = 2(100/100) + (50/50) | 6:20-36 PM

Last, today’s DD. 50 seal jacks with EC. Very manageable. Was a a fairly gentle way to get some stiffness in the delts out more.

Made dinner. Spent much of the rest of my day on the usual and reading other people’s fics.

Got to bed slightly earlier than yesterday.

-

Feb. 19

I woke up after 11AM.

One of the first things I did today was make some phone calls. Finally going to get back into individual therapy, soon. I’ve been badly needing that, glad i addressed that before the window closed (not helped by the feeling I may’ve missed a lot of opportunities of contact because of avoiding sus blocked/scrambled CIDs).

Also found out abt the Lyft thing. Nice knowing I was right about what happened. Was still annoying. We’ll see if the notes given to transportation will stick this time.

Did a bit of the usual before doing more exercise.

First, today’s DD. 40 squat hops with EC. Doable, not a huge personal favorite. but done!

Last, Chapter 40 of the AoP. Finally got to turning the chapter, this time. I endeavored to do all the Jobs on the Chapter Board/Slate. All traveling was done at Level 2 as high knees. This was the route I took and how I split things up:

City Pits to Equos = 5TP x1

Equos to Bunker 17 = 41TP = 11+10+10+10 [Chapter] - Bunker 17 Job - 200 climber taps = 4(50) | (4:27-38PM)

Bunker 17 to Bunker 201 = 57TP = 17+10+10+10+10 [Chapter] - Bunker 201 Job - 100 plank walk-outs = 10(10) | (5:04-30PM)

Bunker 201 to Bunker 22 = 9TP x1 [Chapter] - Bunker 22 Job - 600 squats = 6(100) | (5:34-6:07PM)

Bunker 22 to Equos = 24TP = 12+12

After all that, I was left with a bit over 1k Scraps... did/do kind of want to get some in-game equipment to explore parts of this map I hadn’t accessed in prior run, though...

Spent rest of night on the usual stuff.

Got to bed later than yesterday.

[scifiphan]

92 Things About Me

tysm @sleepwalkerphan  for tagging me in this! it’s 2am and I’m procrastinating the heck out of writing so this is perfect lmao.

also I’ll put most of the things below the cut so keep reading if ya wanna know 92 fun facts about me

edit: this took me almost an hour to do and towards the end, I basically confess my entire life so have fun reading that lmao. like i seriously have a realisation about how idk what i’m doing with my life hahahaha

THE LAST..

1. Drink : Water #stayhydrated 2. Phone call : mum 3. Text Message : a gif of phil being scared in bed (even my irl friends are trash) 4. Song You Listened To : currently listening to Taro - alt-J 5. Time You Cried : On sunday I cried over a renovation reality tv show (??? yeah idk either, bro) the apartments just looked so nice and the team I liked got kicked off the show.

HAVE YOU EVER..

6. Dated Someone Twice : nope 7. Been Cheated On : nope 8. Kissed Someone And Regretted It : YES (smh @ me) 9. Lost Someone Special : thankfully no 10. Been Depressed : i honestly don’t know. i think I have but am so freaking stubborn at admitting I have had depressive episodes in the past 11. Got Drunk And Thrown Up : YES OH MY GOODNESS I HAVE HAD SO MANY BAD TIMES. DON’T DRINK WINE AND THEN A MILKSHAKE AND THEN DANCE ON A BEACH. YOU WILL ONLY END UP THROWING UP IN A GARBAGE BIN OUTSIDE A KEBAB STORE (it wasn’t even after midnight, that’s the most embarrassing thing) 

LIST 3 FAVOURITE COLOURS :

12. Green 13. Pink 14. Turquoise

IN THE LAST YEAR HAVE YOU..

15. Made New Friends : yes!! so many new and amazing friends 16. Fallen Out Of Love : nope. 17. Laughed Until You Cried : laughing until I cry is me every time 18. Found Out Someone Was Talking About You : yes (you would think that adults would stop teen behaviours lol) 19. Met Someone Who Changed You : yes, the last year included so much change. 20. Found Out Who Your True Friends Are : Yes. Just gonna put it out there: traveling for an extensive period of time overseas really shows who your true friends are and who are the snakes. 21. Kissed Someone On Your Facebook List : hahahaha yes (too mant rip) 22.How Many Of Your Facebook Friends Do You Know In Real Life :  probably almost all of them (so like 550) only a few on there are my internet friends 23. Do You Have Any Pets : nope and I probs wont get another pet for a long long time 24. Do You Want To Change Your Name : NO!!!!!!! Teddii is a blessing although I would change my last name (it’s two surnames joined together and it makes life difficult because it’s so long) 25. What Did You Do For Your Last Birthday : went out for dinner at a mexican place, won a few dollars on the pokies and then went out clubbing (also i got a fine rip me) 26. What Time Did You Wake Up This Morning: 11am OOPS (i slept in and missed uni) 27. What Were You Doing At Midnight Last Night : probably making a gif 28. Name Something You Cannot Wait For : FINISHING UNI AND MOVING TO THE UK (hopefully to do my masters in global terrorism at the uni of london but if not i really wanna get a 1 year working visa and just do some hospitality work before I start a career) 29. When Was The Last Time You Saw Your Mother : like 4 hours ago when we were watching tv 30. What Is One Thing You Could Change About Your Life : I wish I had a UK passport, it would make life a lot easier for me if I had dual citizenship instead of a boring Australian passport 31. What Are You Listening To Right Now : alt-J, a live performance of Taro  32. Have You Ever Talked To A Person Named Tom : I know so many Tom’s it’s ridiculous 33. Something That Is Getting On Your Nerves : PEOPLE!!! WHO!! THINK!! THAT!! IF YOUR DEGREE!! ISN’T STEM!! THEN IT ISN’T!! HARD!!!! (i’m looking @ every friend who does a stem degree and always laughs at how my degree must be so easy because it doesn’t include math)

34. Most Visited Websites : tumblr, youtube, my uni’s website, facebook 35. Elementary : v great time, got bullied heaps but still had fun 36. High School : problematic fave. honestly my time at high school can fill a 500 page essay. being right next to a beach and river was actually gr8, the endless issues weren’t so good. 37. College/University : it has been a wild ride. I swapped degrees so I still have around 2 years left but uni has been my fave so far 38. Hair Colour : PINK!!!! (naturally ginger) 39. Long or Short Hair : long 40. Do You Have A Crush On Someone : nope (which is a shocker) 41. What Do You Like About Yourself : I like my individuality and independance 42. Piercings : 2x lobes, 1x helix, 1x nose. (i’m thinkng about getting my conch in a few weeks) 43. Blood Type : O+ 44. Nickname : ted, teddii bear, sideshow bob, cotton candy 45. Relationship Status : hella single 46. Zodiac Sign : Cancer (aka my birthday is soon hell yeah) 47. Pronouns : she/her. 48. Favourite Tv Show : STAR TREK: VOYAGER WILL ALWAYS BE MY FAVOURITE 49. Tattoos : crescent moon on my right wrist (i sorta don’t like how it turned out but after a year I have grown to appreciate the meaning) 50. Right Or Left Hand : Left handed (aka another reason why Dan is my spirit animal)

FIRST..

51. Surgery : i got a bunch of teeth removed when I was like 4/5  52. Word : baba or ma  53. Sport : soccer  54. Vacation : i actually can’t remember my first vacation. probs Sydney tbh idk I went a lot of places when I was young 55. Pair Of Trainers : probably something Adidas tbh

WHAT ARE YOU..

56. Eating : nothing 57. Drinking : water 58. Reading : nothing at the moment besides uni textbooks 59. I’m About To : I should say sleep but I’ll probably just watch youtube 60. Listening To : Breezeblocks by alt-J (can you see a recurring theme with my music questions?) 61. Waiting For : GoT SEASON 7 AKA MY BIRTHDAY (honestly feel so blessed to grow older and watch new GoT on the same day) 62. Craving For : MONEYYYYYYY. ya girl is unemployed thanks to the bad habit of planning last minute overseas holidays 63. Do you wanna get married : eventually but at the same time it doesn’t worry me 64. Going To Do When You Get Older : ????? ?????? ????? you would think I would have an idea but tbh idk. I’m studying International Relations and I want to do a postgrad in global terrorism. But career wise I have no bloody idea. I would like to work in the UN or UNESCO or for the Australian Government in an embassy. but at the same time I also want to be a travel photographer and just ignore my degree (idk adult life is hard)

YOUR TYPE..

65. Hugs or Kisses : HUGS 66. Lips or Eyes : eyes! <3333 67. Short or Tall : tall guys!!! but short girls are my weakness!! 68. Young or Old : HA haHA HA old 69. Nice Arms Or Nice Stomach : slight preference for nice arms because tummys are cute no matter what 70. Sensitive or Loud : I am both of those things so, por que no las dos? 71. Hook Up or Relationship : relationship (although I can’t relate because i am eternally single) 72. Troublemaker or Hesitant : I prefer when people are upfront instead of hiding stuff from me so I guess that means troublemaker?

HAVE YOU EVER..

73. Kissed A Stranger : yes 74. Drank Hard Liquor : yes (love me some vodka) 75. Lost Eye glasses or contact lenses : not yet thankfully 76. Turned Someone Down : YES! (there is nothing wrong with turning people down.) 77. Sex On First Date : no 78. Broken Someone’s Heart : yes and I still feel bad 79. Had Your Heart Broken : yep 80. Been Arrested : yes (kind of, long story) 81. Cried When Someone Died : yes. although I tend to go more numb instead of crying. idk it’s weird because I cry about everything but death kinda makes me become numb 82. Fallen For A Friend : yes (oops)

DO YOU BELIEVE IN..

83. In Yourself : yes although I need to believe in myself a lot more 84. Miracles : yes 85. Love At First Sight : yes and no. I believe it exists but I feel like a lot of people believe that they are experiencing love at first sight when in reality it is infatuation/lust. 86. Santa Claus : this question conflicts me because the logical side of me says no but the optimistic child side of me refuses to accept the truth 87. Kiss On The First Date : yeah 88. Angels : nah, not for me

OTHER..

89. Current best friend’s name : do i have a best friend? not really. again, it’s a weird time for me when it comes to friends. 90. Eye Colour : um blue with green and grey mixed in (it’s so hard to describe but yeah, those three) 91. Favourite singer/Band : Ed Sheeran, Mumford & Sons, al-J (i love them all a lot.) 92. Favourite Movie : Avatar. yes the blue alien one. It’s lame but I fell in love with the na’vi culture and it kinda helped get me obsessed with scifi.

And that’s a wrap!

If anyone actually read all that I hope you enjoyed my (very) late night confessions. Idk who to tag so if you see this and want to do it feel free to do so! Also, come hit up my inbox/messages if you wanna be my friend after reading this, I wanna make some friends on this hellsite

[afteralliamonlyhuman]

It’s a couple days late but it’s only right if I dedicate a post to myself and to all mothers out there in honors of Mother’s Day. Whether you’ve had a miscarriage, whether you’ve given birth vaginally or by cesarean, adopted, seeked medical treatment, or even made the difficult decision to abort - we are all mothers and we should be celebrated for the endless love we give to our children - especially for the strength we have to uphold our family together. Becoming a mother has been one of the best things that has ever happened to me. I sometimes still can’t believe that I have given life to two precious girls or that I am even capable of giving life, period. I often feel guilty I couldn’t give my angel baby life too and not a second goes by that I don’t think of what could have been. Maybe if I were a little stronger emotionally, I would have had the confidence to fight and go through with the pregnancy. Motherhood is not easy but it is the most rewarding. It’s full of love, many sleepless nights, a lot of asking yourself “Am I doing this right?” I’ve closed the bathroom door many times to cry. I’ve lost my cool and immediately regretted it. We are not perfect. We, too, are humans, but our humans see us as a chef, maid, chauffeurs, teachers, actors, superheroes, and most importantly moms.

My oldest was born at 37 weeks and 4 days at 6 pounds 5 ounces. She was so tiny that even newborn clothes were too big on her. My water broke around 5 in the morning in the middle of me swapping sleep positions. I thought I peed on myself so I got up and changed. When I laid back down, a couple minutes later, I peed myself again. I didn’t pee on myself at all during my whole pregnancy, so it was hard to believe that I was starting to now. I got up again and sat on the toilet to try and empty out my bladder. Nothing. It was so frustrating. I went back to bed and started to Google why I would be leaking fluid or peeing on myself without me trying to force it out. All results lead to my water breaking. I still had about 3 weeks left to go until my due date - definitely too early for my water to break, right? I called my doctor around 8am and he told me to come in to get checked out. I woke up my mom to take me to see my doctor. I was advised not to drive incase I went into labor on the way. I was seen as soon as I got to the doctor’s office and then when my doctor checked me, he confirmed that my water broke and I needed to get checked into the hospital immediately. By this time it was around 10am and I was not prepared. I didn’t even get a chance to pack my hospital bag nor was I able to prepare my baby’s carseat. This whole thing caught me off guard. I got checked in and almost immediately they administered Pitocin to get me to start contracting. For those of you who don’t know, the longer you go with being “exposed”, the more you’re at risk of getting an infection. The water balloon keeps the baby safe from the outside world and with it breaking, all bacteria are given green light to attack. At this point I had already been exposed for 5 hours and yet my contractions were far apart and I was still feeling pretty normal. No pain. No discomfort. My mother-in-law at the time left work to come be with me. Since Logan (name changed for protection of privacy) was just getting back from deployment, I allowed my mother and mother-in-law to be in the room with me since he wasn’t going to be there. Hours later, there were little improvements. I had not eaten anything except a banana since 8am and a whole day has pretty much passed. I was hungry, tired and my contractions were starting to get intense. Pitocin was making me contract every 2-3 minutes but I was not dilating at the rate of my contractions. I opted out of getting the epidural so I was feeling all the pain. I was stuck at 6cm. My body was tense and it wasn’t allowing myself to dilate any further. The nurse I had, bless her heart, was so caring. She checked up on me often and gave me massages. She then told me that because I was so tense, she suggested I get the epidural just to move everything along. By now it was 2am and my water broke 9 hours ago. I was trying to hold out as long as I could but finally agreed to get the epidural because the pain was causing my brain to be fuzzy and my eye sight became blurry. I wasn’t feeling like myself and I wanted to make sure I was fully aware of my surroundings when it was time to push. The anesthesiologist came in not too long after the nurse paged him and he did his thing. A lot of women say getting the epidural hurt worst than the pains from contractions but I didn’t feel a thing that came from the epidural. I felt relief as soon as I laid back down and fell asleep for about an hour. The nurse came back in after letting me get some rest and checked to see if I had dilated any further and told me it was time to push. In that hour while I napped, my body had relaxed enough to dilate 4cm, and I had been torturing myself through the pain for over 12 hours just to get to 6cm. I don’t remember how long I pushed for but by 3:39am, my first born had joined us. She cried her little cry and my mom and mother-in-law got to hold her while I was getting stitched up. The doctor was concerned because my heartbeat was elevated. That was the last thing I remember him telling me before falling asleep. I woke up again to see more family in the room, but I didn’t see my baby. They moved her to the nursery so they could monitor me. After I felt strong enough to move, my nurse transferred us upstairs to the nursery floor and when I got situated, I was finally able to hold my baby for the first time. It was truly love at first sight. I remember just staring at her button nose and taking in the moment. She was the best baby and still is the sweetest.

My little one was born at 39 weeks and 6 days weighing in at 8 pounds and 1 ounce. She was definitely a little chunker compared to her sister. Similar to her sister, I woke up around 5 in the morning to pee. (I don’t know what it is with these babies not letting me sleep.) When I wiped myself, I noticed what looked like to be my mucus plug. I didn’t experience this with my first one so again, I took it to Google. Most were saying you could lose it weeks before going into active labor and some were saying they never experienced losing their mucus plug before. I turned off my phone and tried to get some rest. After a few moments, I started having contractions. It was spaced out but getting intense. I timed them and they started to come more frequently - now at 5 minutes apart. I woke up Logan and told him that I think it was time. He woke up his mom so she could listen out for my oldest since we left her in the crib and off to the hospital we went. This time, I was prepared. Luckily we had just installed the carseat a couple days before and I had my hospital bag packed for weeks now just incase I were to go in early labor again like the previous pregnancy. Logan wanted something to eat so we stopped at McDonald's on the way. Mind you, it was 6 something in the morning. At this point my contractions were bearable. I thought it was going to be a quick stop but we were in the drive thru for 45 minutes. The contractions were coming and they were coming more intense each time. My hands were clenched so tightly around the handle bar. Finally, we   pulled up to the hospital and I had to take breaks walking up to the emergency doors. I couldn’t talk through my contractions when the nurses were talking to me. “What would you rate your pain level from 1-10?” “How far along are your contractions?” I finally got wheeled to the labor and delivery floor. My water had not broke yet at this point but to see if I was actually in labor, they had to check if I was dilated. I was shocked when the nurse said I was already at 5cm. As soon as the nurse got done checking me, my water broke. This labor was definitley flying by. I knew from my first experience that I wanted epidural right away so they started me on two bags of fluids. I had to wait forever for the fluids to finish before the epidural could get administered. My contractions were hitting me hard and I was feeling a lot of discomfort. I don't know what was so different between getting the epidural the first time vs this time, but I felt everyyytthinggg when it came down to it. I felt the swab for cleaning. I felt him marking. I felt the needle. I felt the sting. I remember holding Logan’s hand while I was crouched down and literally said “OW” out-loud. My pain tolerance is pretty high and I almost couldn’t take this. It’s important you don’t move when they are doing this or else it can cause paralysis, but I wanted to sit up and say forget it. Once they finished, I laid back down. The pain from the contractions slowly went away and then I felt pretty chill for the remainder of the time. I could still feel the pressure from the contractions but the pain was nonexistent. My body naturally wanted to start pushing when I was dilated enough. The nurses paged the doctor but he was taking his sweet time coming to my room so I started pushing on my own. He walked in just in time to literally catch my baby and wipe my poop. (Yes, I pooped with this labor. 😫) Everything happened so fast. I was only in labor for 5 hours long from the time I saw my mucus plug to when my little baby was here. I remember them putting her on my chest for skin to skin and all I could feel was this heavy weight on my chest when they plopped her onto me. I got a 3-D ultrasound with this pregnancy and the biggest thing we were able to see were her adorable pinchable cheeks and puckered lips. They looked exactly the same in person as the ultrasound. She was definitely a crier and wanted to be held a lot but she has brought me so much joy along with her older sister.

I thank God for them everyday. You get to see a newborn learn how to coo, learn how to crawl, and learn how to walk. They eventually start to feed themselves and say words like mama and dada. All of a sudden they start growing teeth and form their vocabulary into actual sentences. Your little humans, who you’ve carried for 9 months, whose body and heart you literally created, become their own humans with their own personalities. It’s truly amazing what the woman’s body is capable of. I hope everyone was celebrated for Mother’s Day and even if you weren’t, just know there are a million of us who have your back. We are in this together. Motherhood. 

[samgoestosanfran]

Post Race Debrief

Job done! Well I say done, what I really mean is the day is over. As my final blog post from this years Escape From Alcatraz Triathlon I'm going to take you through my prep last night and the sequence of events from today. Last night after a breeze block sized lasagne I relaxed watching a film and some old school Friends episodes. I had all my bag and kit prep completed by 9 and got myself tucked up in bed by 10. The alarm was set for 3:15! I also had a reserve alarm set for 3:30 as a just in case. All the about the risk management. I was very nervous as I got into bed and maybe even a little over tired. I managed to nod off but had a very restless sleep. Waking up at 2am and then 3am I decided to get up before the alarm. A bowl of porridge at 3:45 almost 4 hours before race start! Walking towards the venue and setting up my transition I was buzzing! Still nervous about the swim at this stage but looking forward to ticking a triathlon off the bucket list! Coaches picked us up and took us to the swim start where we boarded the ferry for Alcatraz! It was bitterly cold this morning and everyone was wrapped up in their wetsuits sitting on the ferry trying to keep warm. I've met some lovely people over the last couple of days and shared lots of good conversation on the ferry whilst we sat and waited for over an hour to set off. Then the race director made an announcement that 2000 athletes didn't want to hear. The swim was cancelled! The main reason why most people enter this Triathlon is for the swim leg! The mood and atmosphere around the site changed in an instant! The swim was cancelled for safety reasons, the first time in the events 37 year history! The support staff that were due to be on paddle boards and kayaks during the swim were struggling to control their vessels and deemed the water too choppy and currents too strong. They even thought about reducing the swim by 2km and having a 400m run in, but still it was deemed unsafe for that. The even had just become a bike/run event. After transferring all athletes back to transition the bike route would start in a time trial method. The bike route was pretty cool! It was very scenic and offered great views of the Golden Gate Bridge. Now I did think that Chicago was nicknamed the Windy City! After today I beg to differ! Even the local news had confirmed 6 foot waves in nearby Lake Tahoe! This made my descents on my bike a little more challenging as I have large rims on my wheels! The run course was flat for the first and last 2 miles, with a middle 4 miles consisting of 2 large climbs and lots of steps! I was able to get through this without stopping! In fact I was able to run 8 miles today including hills in the same time it took me to run 6 miles in New York! I finished overall in 1025 position from a field of 2000. That was 108 from 144 in my age group 30-34. It was also 874 of 1416 males. My finish time was 2:34, I could have knocked some time off this had I known the course and also pushed harder in the run. The race organisers have confirmed that all participants from today's race have a guaranteed entry for next year should they want it. Although I see this as unfinished business, is it worth the £660 entry fee and then flight on top!? Post race saw me receive a free massage from the organisers. I then chilled out and got some dinner, went for Mexican and tacos! Obviously managed to get a cheeky margarita in! Was nice not having a nutrition plan or diet holding me back. I'm now about to get some rest and recovery as tomorrow I plan to cycle to local town Sausalito by going across the Golden Gate Bridge. I have every meal and restaurant planned that consists of burgers, pancakes, ice cream and whatever else I've missed out on! I then plan to head over to Alcatraz on Tuesday to have a tour of the island. This may make up for some of the disappointment from today. I land back home on Thursday, only to fly out on Binoy's Stag Do several hours later! Looking forward to the time away already! Over the next few days I will start to look at what events I can put into the calendar next year, Alpe Dhuez is one that i would like to do. I also want to book in for an Olympic distance event this summer so I can put some good training to use. That's all for now, until next time...