Quick updates.

The big news of the past few days is the Annapolis Striders' annual awards banquet, which happened last night. I'm going to give that its own post. Before I do, though, here are some updates on other things:

-My neck: I spent most of Tuesday experimenting with various neck pain remedies, including ibuprofen, ice, a prescription gel for tendinitis, and my beloved IcyHot. In the end, the most effective thing turned out to be this Ironman Muscle Rub Gel. I had a sample from a race goodie bag (either Baltimore Half or MCM) and it was surprisingly effective (even better than the prescription stuff!). By Wednesday, the neck was feeling much better, but I still skipped Group Power because I didn't want to risk straining it further. By Thursday, it felt pretty normal again, though it definitely hurt a bit after Boot Camp and after I did an 11-mile run Saturday morning. So, I'm going to take it a bit easy on the weights this week just in case.

-Weight Watchers: I seem to be on a bit of a plateau. I weighed in four times in February, and the weights were as follows: 151, 151.5, 151, and 151. So, the good news is that I'm not gaining, but I clearly need to step things up a bit if I want to get out of the 150's anytime soon.

-MCM 2011: This week, I had to decide whether or not to register for the Marine Corps Marathon in 2011. After much agonizing, I decided against it. Two major factors played into my decision. First, I am in the lottery for the NYC marathon. Its a longshot, but if I get into that, I would have to defer MCM. With my very tight budget, I did not want to put out the nearly $100 for registration and take that gamble. Second, I am hoping that I will be able to save enough money to visit my former roommate Katie in Hawaii this December and run the Honolulu Marathon. So, I would rather my $100 go toward that goal. If neither of those things work out, I will just focus on my tri training this year and plan to do my second marathon in 2012.

-Contacts: Speaking of tri training, I am continuing in my quest to assemble everything I need to do Irongirl in August. Thus far, I have my registration, a couple books on training, a helmet, bike shoes, goggles, a swim cap, ear plugs, and registration for a local tri training group. This week, I added contact lenses to that list. I had a choice between contacts and a combo of prescription goggles and prescription sunglasses. The contacts seemed like the simpler and more economical option. Everything is relative though. While they may be simpler, they are certainly not simple, and while they may be more economical, they are certainly not cheap. This past week, I  had an initial eye exam and fitting, and then I went back a few days later to get the first pair and learn how to use them. The second visit was challenging. I have never liked anything touching my eyes, and that aversion got a whole lot stronger back in '00 when I had to have stitches on my left eye (see my 12/30/10 post). Thus, I had a terrible time getting the lenses in and an even worse time getting them out. What should have been a 1-hour visit stretched to over 2 and I needed a beer afterward (I think the doctor did too). Finally, though, I got sent home to practice on my own. It has not been easy, but it is getting easier.

Okay, I think that's everything leading up to the banquet. I will post about that soon, but first I have to put my contacts in and go celebrate my brother's 40th (!) birthday!