Hot, Itchy Mess

The other day I mentioned that a "medical situation" came up that prevented me from meeting my tri team from a practice triathlon. No, I am not prego. That thought never crossed my mind until The Pilot mentioned that is probably what people were thinking when I referenced the medical situation. Ack. That is definitely not the situation....I was referring to poison ivy. Remember how much fun I had sliding down steep ravines on my a$$ during the Mud Run TWO weeks ago? Not so fun now. Apparently it can really take up to two weeks for the symptoms to appear.

If you get grossed out easily, you may want to turn back now.

I noticed what I thought was a bug bite on Thursday. Then on Friday morning, that bug bite itched like no other bug bite in the history of the world. By Friday night, I was on the phone with my mom and wanting to claw my legs off. My mother, the nurse, has had many run-ins with poison ivy herself and with my older brother. I was the clean, weenie kid that never wandered around in the bushes so I have never had it before. So my wonderful mother diagnosed me over the phone. It was poison ivy for reals. Damn! The only time in my whole life that I've wandered around in the bushes was two weeks ago at the Mud Run.

By Saturday morning, it was all over my feet, legs and a$$. :( I barely slept because it itched so bad! I knew that I would be miserable if I went to the practice tri and tried to hike up that wetsuit over my legs. Instead I laid in bed and tried my hardest to not scratch as I waited for the doctor's office to open. When they did answer the phone, they told me to try Calamine lotion and if that didn't help or if it got worse, to schedule an appointment on Monday.

The Pilot ended up having to call off his most recent trip because he now has the nasty cold that I had last week. So after two more near sleepless nights for me, The Pilot called the doctor's office on Monday to schedule his and hers appointments with the nurse practitioner. The nurses joked that we were really taking that in sickness and in health vow seriously before we even make it official.

Anyways, they gave me a shot in the hip and sent me home with one prescription to fill immediately and another to fill in case it doesn't get better or goes away and comes back (what??!!) by the end of the week. A few people told me that the shot seemed to clear it up really quickly. I was hoping for instantaneously but no such luck. I slept horrible again last night so I feel like a zombie and I'm doing my darnedest to not scratch the itches....or itch the scratches. If the government needs a new way to torture people, then they should roll them around in poison ivy and then tie their arms down so they can't scratch.

So it's been over 24 hours since the cortisone shot and no relief yet. Ugh. If you see me, please don't judge if you notice me trying to scratch my backside on a street sign. And for the record, I've been told by a medical professional that I can't spread it to someone else....unless you happen to share the same street sign.


Internet research says to discard or wash thoroughly in bleach any clothing that came into contact with the poison ivy. The only thing I kept after the Mud Run were the tank top, capris and the tutu. I'll be washing the clothes again but I'm not sure what to do about the tutu. I should probably burn it but that thing wasn't cheap...and it makes for some great conversation starters during races....

So we are a hot, itchy mess at our house. The Pilot already caught my cold and I think he's a little leery of even looking in my direction for fear I'll give him my poison ivy. He might call off the wedding if that does happen. And speaking of the wedding...I promise my mother and my future mother-in-law, on all that is Holy that I will NOT do anything else fun, crazy stupid before the wedding.

Back in the Saddle and Suicidal Wildlife

The weather and my schedule has really put a hurt on my bike riding time. The rides I have done have been decent but I know that I just need more time on the bike before this triathlon. Luckily I'm only doing the sprint distance so it is a 22k ride (almost 14 miles).

I was supposed to do a practice triathlon yesterday but I had a....medical situation...come up (more on that later, aren't you excited?!) so The Pilot and I headed out for a bike ride later in the morning. He got clipless pedals/shoes so it was his first ride with them and he did great! He didn't fall...yet. :) I told him it was just a matter of time.

He was so comfortable in fact that he decided to take a photo of my a$$. Not sure why it looks like I'm about to ride through the grass...

We got in 15 miles in a decent time (finally no wind!) so I was happy.

This morning I met up with my friend Holly. We both live within a couple miles of a bike trail so we both rode to the trail head to meet. Before I got to the trail head though, I encountered some suicidal wildlife. First, it was a flock of Canadian geese. These birds are everywhere around here! The babies have hatched and are learning to fly...and make a mess just like their parents. They are mean, dumb animals. And I love animals but these things are just dumb. They nest is weird places, they hiss if you get too close and will chase you! So I'm on a path and there are at least a dozen crossing in front of me. I wasn't sure what to do. I can barely whistle so I did my best to make some noise so they would at least look up. Luckily they moved just enough to maneuver past them. They weren't happy about it but crisis was averted.

Then, right before I got to the trail head, a bunny ran out in front of me. I swerved, the bunny probably crapped itself and we narrowly missed a collision. When I made it to the trail head and was telling Holly about the bunny, a runner who had witnessed the near bunny collision caught up to us and he told me that he was sure I was going to crash and was worried for me. How nice! At least someone was nearby in case the bunny met my tire and I ended up a$$ over tea kettle.

Stop! I is a cute little bunny wabbit. Please don't run me over.

It was pretty uneventful from there and Holly and I just enjoyed our ride. We haven't had a chance to hang out lately so it was great to catch up with her. And chatting with someone while you ride makes the miles go by so much faster! Before I knew it, I was back home an my bike computer showed 23 miles. Not bad! It was pretty slow on the way out (boo for the headwind!) but the way back was easy and fast (yeay for tailwind!). When I say fast, that is a relative term. I was only averaging 16 mph on my way home but that's good for me.

Myth: Pilots All Make A Lot of Money

I honestly didn't ever really think about the pilots when I was traveling before last year. I never gave it much thought if they were making much money or being treated well by their employers. As long as my flight was smooth and on time (ha!), I was happy. So naive!

I'll be the wife of a regional pilot in 50 days and while I'm still somewhat naive to many things, I've learned a lot about the airline industry in the past year. Probably more than I want to know but I have so much respect for ALL airline employees now.

There is a common misconception that pilots all make a lot of money (I recently read an article that claimed that the AVERAGE salary of pilots is over 6-figures). It's true that some of the major airlines pay their senior captains pretty well and yes, some of those captains are making six-figures. They may also have the seniority so that they can pick their flights and some even come home every night.

Our household is not operating with a 6-figure income. The Pilot is a first officer at a regional airline. That means he's second in command for a "small" airline. Captains on regional airlines aren't making much either but I'm not sure what the pay difference is between CA and FO.

I follow another pilot wife's blog and she recently made a post about this same subject. She is very general but you get the picture. Check it out here.

And to explain it even more....The Pilot leaves soon on a one day trip. Leaving in the morning and returning in the afternoon on the same day. Which sounds great to me. I love when he comes home; except then he explained how crappy the schedule is for the day. His schedule has him on duty(in uniform and "working") seven hours. When he accounts for how his time will be spent during those seven hours doing paperwork, waiting in airports (pilots have the same layovers that the rest of us do), preparing the plane for flight, and actually flying the plane, he's going to make about $13 an hour(dividing the pay he'll make for flying the plane by the number of hours he's on duty). I've blogged about it before but pilots and flight attendants at his airline and many others only get paid when they are on the plane and the door is closed. When he's inspecting that plane to make sure it is safe to fly, he's NOT getting paid. When he's sitting in an airport waiting for his plane to arrive, he's NOT getting paid. When he's sitting on the airplane waiting for the passengers to find their seats and figure out where to shove their four carry-on bags, he's NOT getting paid. Now doesn't that sound like a glamorous lifestyle??

He could probably go work at the local hardware store and make $13 an hour. But he doesn't because he has a passion for flying. And that is what I admire about him. He makes a lot of sacrifices so that he can fly. There are some days it probably doesn't feel worth it to him. But if you see him after he's been home for 4-5 days, he's ready to get his head back in the clouds.

I won't lie, I often think about how we are going to make it work if we decide to have kids. Obviously lots of pilots have families and they have all found a way so I know it can be done. I wonder what effect it will have on him to be away from our family and on these hypothetical children to have a dad that isn't home every day. What I do know is that these hypothetical kids will see their dad in a career that he is passionate about. And that's a pretty good example to set, don't you think?

So The Pilot may never make six figures but he's seniority will improve, the trips will get better, the pay might even get better someday but we aren't holding our breath. He may even change his mind some day and decide he'd rather work at a hardware store. Either way, I've got his back. I wasn't looking for a sugar daddy anyways. ;) I was just looking for a nice guy that would laugh with me at traffic lights and to follow me around and take pictures while I race...in the mud...in a pink tutu.

Stay Classy, San Diego - Part 1

I'm back from my 4 day technology break (It's AHHMAZING how nice it was to unplug!). I spent 4 days in San Diego with Team in Training and I came home burnt to a crisp, jet-lagged, and exhausted but proud of my team and more inspired than ever! Full report coming as soon as my eyes stop crossing every time I try to focus....sooooo sleeeeeepy.

You can almost hear my big white forehead sizzling as I enjoyed a boat ride around the bay...darn that misleading SPF 50!

Nom Nom Continued

So I was pretty pumped that after lunch today I had only consumed 730 calories for the day. Much better than my last swim day calorie count. It's 8:45 pm and I'm at 1532! Booya for not getting completely derailed by hunger on a swim day. It was a decent workout (1500 yards) even though my arms felt like I was learning to swim all over again. That Mud Run is still fresh in my muscle memory.

Anyhoodles....here's the food low down for today:

5:30 am
Light/whole grain English Muffin with Olivio spread (180)

7:30 am
Muscle Milk Light-Chocolate (100) - I've never had anything like this before and while it certainly wasn't a chocolate milk substitute, I was able to get it down without gagging.

8:30 am
Medium Orange (75)
Medium Apple (100)

12:30 pm
Select Harvest Light-Southwestern-Style Vegetable Soup (25) - This was gross. It advertises only 50 calories on the package but when you look at the label, there are 2 servings in the microwavable container. Stupid. Anyways, it was gross so I only ate about 1/4 of it.
Carrots (50)
Reduced Fat Cottage Cheese (100)
Organic/no sugar added applesauce (100)

4:00 pm
Special K Cereal Bar (90) - I was get crazy hungry and sleepy by this time and I had to force myself to not have a Coke.

5:30 pm
Luna Burger with provolone cheese on a sandwich thin (340)
Potato Salad (250) - Yikes!
Salad (green leaf lettuce, feta cheese, carrots, 1 tbs dressing) (77)

I have to proclaim my love for Luna Burgers! They are veggie burgers made here in Ohio with Ohio ingredients. The Pilot is a vegetarian but I am not. He's opened my eyes and tastebuds to some yummy (and some not so yummy) things. I don't like to cook so I can't complain what's for dinner when The Pilot has it waiting for me when I walk in the door. Yes, sometimes that makes up for the nights when I have to eat on my own. Anyways, he made me try these burgers and I love them. My favorite are the Garden Thyme burgers.

I'm hoping to stay out of the kitchen for the rest of the night but I still have to pack for my trip to San Diego tomorrow so it might be a late night. Hunger might strike if I stay up too late. We'll see how that goes....oh wait... A wildberry fruit strip (45)

I'm going to be off the grid until Tuesday as I head to San Diego to coach the Rock 'n Roll Marathon for Team in Training. I've never been to the city and I always have an amazing time when I get to coach a large race like this. Our local Team in Training chapter is taking 8 people that have raised a boatload of money for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. I'll have a full report next week.

Nom Nom

Despite The Great Cupcake Showdown yesterday, I did pretty well when I took a look at just the calories that I took in. I'm not keeping track of protein, fats or anything like that right now. I'm just looking at calories. Remember, I'm aiming for 1,759 calories per day in order to lose approximately 1 pound per week. While I do have some weight to lose, my short term goal is to make my wedding dress a little more comfortable. That's a legit goal, right?

So here's the good and the bad of yesterday:

7:15 am
Bagel with veggie cream cheese (380)
Small Pepsi (100)
Ugh. This is NOT the breakfast of champions. :(

12:30 pm
Peanut Butter & Jelly (Whole wheat/high protein bread, reduced fat PB, "just fruit"
jelly (350)
Carrots (30)
Cheese & Triscuits (170)
Medium Orange (75)

It was a very orange lunch.

7:30 pm
Leftover Japanese Pan Noodles with Organic Tofu from Noodles & Co. (435)
I actually ordered this on Tuesday evening. The Pilot was away and I can barely fend for myself in the kitchen so I picked this up on my way home from my workout. The Pilot ordered this the last time we went to Noodles & Co and it looked good. And it is good. Until you stop to take a drink or jump up from the couch to chase the cat who is trying to eat a plastic bag. Then all of the sudden your lips catch on fire. This thing has a kick to it. At least for me it does. I'm very sensitive to spicy food. I tried to eat more but it was just too much heat. I talked to The Pilot and told him I'd save the leftovers for him when he got home on Wednesday.

Well after my bike ride last night, I was really hungry. I know that 7 hours in between meals is not a good idea....) and again, I was on my own for dinner so I threw the leftovers in the microwave and scarfed down the rest of the bowl (sorry Pilot, no leftovers for you). And as soon as I stopped eating, my lips caught on fire. That's one way to cut down on calories, just eat things so spicy you don't want to finish the entire thing!

So back to the calories....it looks like I consumed about 1,540 calories for the day. Yeay! That's under my goal but with the exception of just waiting too darn long between lunch and dinner, I didn't really feel like I was deprived of anything. I just really need to make the time to put more thought into breakfast and some snack options for days when I go right from work to a workout.

I'm a work in progress obviously but keeping track of the calories has been a definite eye-opener. I don't think I'll keep tracking my calories for too long but I certainly think twice (or all day as in the case of the cupcakes) about what I eat...even if I completely cave and eat something absolutely ridiculous (Hello, I'm convinced Diary Queen Blizzards should be their own food group).

And by the way, I'm only at 730 calories for the day so far. This is MUCH better than my last swim day when I was at 1345 calories by the end of lunch. I've gotten some additional advice on how to deal with my post-swim munchies. More on that later...it's back to work!

The Great Cupcake Showdown

I'm an event planner so from time to time, sales people from the local hotels show up at our office to say hello. Sometimes they bring treats. I don't mind when they stop in (even if it interrupts my day) but I feel very torn when they drop off cookies or cupcakes. I have a hard time saying no to sweets. A VERY hard time. So this sales person showed up yesterday with cupcakes. I was about to get on a conference call though so I couldn't tell her to not leave any cupcakes.

She left six.

There were only two of us in the office yesterday and neither of us wanted the cupcakes (well I wanted the cupcakes, I just didn't need them.). Six cupcakes sat on a desk, within eye sight of my desk, for several hours. I was busy but kept looking up at them, trying to decide what to do with the darn things.

Finally, at 5 pm, I tried to convince my boss to take them. No such luck. I pawned two of them off on another tenant in our building. Two of them went into the trash (such a shame) and two went home with me. I made the 40 minute commute home with the two cupcakes sitting on the passenger seat. When I got stuck in traffic, I looked over at the cupcakes with longing in my heart. There was a devil on one shoulder saying "Just eat one! You are going on a bike ride when you get home and you have swim practice in the morning." The angel on the other shoulder was reminding me that I am getting married in less than two months and I want to lose some of my wobbly bits by then.

I got home, put the cupcakes in the fridge and headed out for a bike ride. It was a tough ride. I haven't spent nearly enough time on my bike this season. I got in just over 13 miles. I averaged about 10 mph (crappy, even for me) on the way out but then about 16 mph (good for me) on the way back. I hate wind. I was discouraged but I kept telling myself that it was good for me because wind creates similar conditions as hills (at least as far as my legs are concerned). The triathlon I'm training for has some crazy hills. I'm only doing the sprint distance this year but the bike course from last year's Olympic tri is still pretty fresh in my mind. During the last couple of miles though, I had almost convinced myself that I had earned a cupcake. Seriously? I don't think it works that way when you are trying to lose a couple pounds.

The Pilot came home last night from a 4-day trip and as we were falling asleep, I told him that he had to eat or throw away those cupcakes before I got home from work the next day. I don't think I have the will power to say no to the cupcakes for another day. Especially since today was a swim day and I'm always a hungry beast after I swim. If The Pilot has a heart, he will make sure those cupcakes aren't in the house when I get home. I just can't take the torture.

OK, maybe I took this a little too far by doctoring up the photo but in my head, this is what they looked like.