Run-N-Tri Girl

Iron Girl

2011-11-17T11:09:00.000-08:00

The registration for the IronGirl Triathlon 2012 opened last week and filled up in less than a day. I'm happy to say, I did not sign up. When my husband asked me if I was sad when it filled up I realized there was no part of me that was. None. In fact, I feel like a burden has been lifted off of me. Sad, in a way, but true.

I'm a runner at heart, not a triathlete. I'm okay with that.

Take that! (warning- very long!)

2011-11-16T17:07:00.000-08:00

I'm going to try to get this all out before I forget it. Last weekend was the Richmond Half Marathon. Although the details are coming.... I DID IT!!! I broke 2 hours. It was by the skin of my teeth in 1:59:28, but it's official! GOODBYE TWO HOURS!!!

It doesn't matter anymore that I was sick two weeks before the race and missed seven days of running (and coughed up a lung when I did start running again), or that I missed my longest run (the one that was supposed to solidify my confidence). Speaking of confidence, it also doesn't matter that my confidence was shot and I started looking at this race as more of a warm up to the February Princess. None of that matters anymore.

I'll skip all the details, but somewhere in the process of preparing for the race on Friday and Saturday, I decided I just needed to chill and see how it went. My plan was to start out slowly and just see how I was feeling.

Here's the interesting thing. Somehow I lost 9 pounds these past weeks. I've had some stomach issues and have been eating really well to try to figure out what's going on. The significance of that is that for over a year I've been telling myself that the only way I could break 2 hours was if I lost 10 pounds. I don't know why I had that number stuck in my head, but I did. When I was weighing myself the few weeks before the race, I was amazed that the scale was 9 pounds lighter. (I even had my husband weigh himself a few times just to make sure it wasn't wrong.) You'll see why this was significant in a little bit...

So, race day rolls around and I ran with a friend who I've been doing my long runs with. She had no time goal and just wanted to stay with me. I kept telling myself to focus on my pace in the first two miles and not push it. FAIL! We started out way too fast. In the past, when I've done that I've immediately thought "I'm dead" and psyched myself out. I really made an effort to stay calm this time and just focused on each mile. It was really amazing that I could do that. I had my Garmin on so I was really able to know exactly what my pace was and if I was on target.

Things were going really well, but I inevitably started getting tired around 7-8 miles which also were the hilliest part of the course. Every time I wanted to slow down I thought about those 10 (well, 9) pounds I lost and how they weren't holding me back anymore. I was not going to allow myself to get tired and give up. So on I went and as I checked each mile split, I was still in the range. I really started to believe I could do it.

The coolest thing happened at mile 10 which had nothing to do with me. There was a man on the sidelines in a place where it wasn't crowded and he was yelling encouragement to the runners. He said "only a 5K left! NO REGRETS! Do not leave anything out on the course, but give it everything you've got!" Man, did I need to hear that. I'll never know who that was, but "Thank you!". The last two miles were a blur. My running partner ended up tripping and falling between miles 11-12 so I slowed down a bit to let her catch up. The race ends on a down hilll and although I didn't think I had anything left, I found myself sprinting the last .25 miles. I was pretty sure I had it when I crossed the finish line (although the official time said over 2:00, I knew my chip time was delayed). My Garmin actually showed I ran 13.25 miles.

I was so happy! I saw my family at the finish and they were so happy too! I've never had an experience like it. I really felt no pressure or nerves going into the race and I've never had such a good race (feeling wise).

Here are my splits (mostly so I can have them for myself)

Distance 13.25 miles

Average pace 9:01

Mile 1: 8:49

Mile 2: 8:58

Mile 3: 8:50

Mile 4: 8:56

Mile 5: 9:03

Mile 6: 9:06

Mile 7: 8:54

Mile 8: 9:25

Mile 9: 9:02

Mile 10: 9:14

Mile 11: 9:06

Mile 12: 9:19

Mile 13: 8:59

Mile .25: 6:56

Wow- 6:56 for the last quarter mile. Amazing.

I haven't run since Saturday. I'm hoping for a light run in the morning. I printed out a training schedule for the Princess. Only 15 weeks.

No headache!

2011-10-12T05:00:00.000-07:00

I woke up this morning at 7:30 (way late for me!) to the sound of pouring rain. It was a wonderful sound, so soothing. The first thing I did was turn over and determine if me head hurt. It didn't, and still doesn't. Praise God!

Todays agenda: finish homemade chicken soup, make 27 jars of applesauce, take the girls to their music lessons, and be a great homeschool mom. That last one should be first. I need to make up for lost time. We've got some work to do!

Good-bye headache, hello schedule problems

2011-10-11T19:38:00.000-07:00

I woke up this morning and still had a headache. I thought it was better, but once I started moving around I actually got dizzy. Not good. I ended up taking 2 naps before lunch. (Yup, me the one who is supposed to be schooling these children.) We got through doing the bare minimum work.

It's almost 11pm now and the headache is almost gone. I'm confident I'll wake up tomorrow feeling 100%. Here's the problem: I was supposed to run yesterday and today and obviously skipped those two runs (one was going to be speedwork). I have another run scheduled for Thursday and thought I could make one up tomorrow. The problem is it's going to rain. 90% chance when I'm supposed to run. That kind of puts a kink in my plans. Although I want to go to my freaking out place, I'm fighting hard not too. I'm ahead in my training and missing two runs isn't going to make or break me. I'm giving my plantar fasciitis a chance to rest which is probably better in the long run. I'll change my Thursday run and make it longer (it looks like rain then too, but we'll see what happens). If I have to run the half on Saturday without running all week, I'll just look at it as a taper week. It shouldn't be a big deal.

Wow, that sounds so logical when I type it. why do I get so worked up over these things. I'm going to try really hard to look at the positives (like the fact that my headache is almost gone, right?).

Headache

2011-10-10T18:25:00.000-07:00

I've had a headache the past two days and skipped my run today because of it. I haven't had one in awhile and am starting to notice a pattern between the way I eat and how I feel. (Duh, it's only taken me how long to figure that out?!) I guess it's obvious that I've been eating crappy. Today was a good day (eating wise), but I still have the headache. I guess it's going to take a few days to detox my body. The question I have for myself is "WHY DON'T I EVER LEARN?!" I can't even count the number of times I've been right where I am now: feeling bad and detoxing. Every time I do, I swear I'm not going to let it happen to me again. But here I am again. Why am I so thick headed? I pray that I wake up tomorrow and feel better (and that I learn my lesson once and for all!).

The runs have been going well. I've thrown in some speedwork for the first time. I can feel my PF in my feet (yup, both of them), but it's just talking to me. It's under control for the moment, but if I feel like it's getting worse, I'll bag the speed work. I have a 13 miler this weekend. It's actually a half, but I'm not racing it at all. That's really hard for me since there will be an "official" time, but I need to force myself to do it. I'm less than 5 weeks out and feeling pretty good. I have some important runs coming up. I'm not concerned that I can do the distance, I'm just unsure of my pace. I need to pick it up if I'm going to meet my goal...

Stay tuned...

Training again....

2011-09-29T11:10:00.000-07:00

I've managed to neglect this blog again. Life just continues to consume me. I really want a place where I can look back on my training and learn from it, or even just relive it. I'm currently training for the Richmond Half. The Princess last year was not what I had hoped (I never did post that blog). Let's just say the heat and humidity got to me and I didn't meet my goal. I did the IronGirl again this year (again, not what I had hoped). Realistically I wasn't trained for the tri (might be a good idea to ride my bike on the road more than once before the race next time!)

I've realized that my first love is running. I've know that forever, but injuries led me to triathlons. I hate them. I dread them. I'm not doing them anymore. Just saying that makes me feel better.

So, back to running I go. My half is in 6 weeks and I'm feeling pretty good. I'm not sure I'll be 100% prepared to go for my goal (sub 2 hours), but I'm going to train like I am. My biggest obstacle is my mind. I'm struggling with confidence, but I'm working on it. As I get older, I find I have less ability to push myself through the tough parts of a workout. Oh, to be young and fearless!

Anyway, I'm going to try to blog from here on out. If for nothing else to be able to look back on my training and tweak it if I need to before the Princess in February, because that 2 hour mark is going down!

Trying to pull myself out of the funk

2011-04-13T16:17:00.001-07:00

I've been in a funk since getting back from FL. It's been really bad. I've really tried to reflect on what is going on but I can't seem to get my finger on it. I think part of it was Florida was exhausting. I came back tired and life just took over from there. I didn't meet my half marathon time goal (more on that later) so I think there was some disappointment looming from that too. My eating has been horrible and I haven't been exercising. (Actually that's not totally true. This week I started eating much better and have exercised 3 out of the last 4 days. I can't say I feel better yet, but at least it's a start.)

I don't like where I am right now and am hoping for better days to come.

11 miles, sickness and foot happiness

2011-02-02T17:48:00.000-08:00

Last weekend was my first 11 mile run and of course it was a milestone not just because of my foot, but I've been fighting a cold for over a week. I'm happy to say, the run was great but I paid a price. The cold that I'd been doing so well to ward off hit me like a ton of bricks on Saturday. I was exhausted all weekend and am still not over it. This week was my recovery week so if I had to pick a time to get sick, this is it.

Here are my stats from Saturday's run:

Total distance 11 miles

Average pace 9:37

Mile 1- 9:57

Mile 2- 9:36

Mile 3- 9:29

Mile 4- 9:19

Mile 5- 9:28

Mile 6- 9:37

Mile 7- 9:30

Mile 8- 9:17

Mile 9- 9:55

Mile 10- 9:45

Mile 11- 9:50

The last three miles were slower. I was running by myself at that point and knew I took mile 8 too fast. There were also a lot of hills during the last 3 miles. My pace was supposed to be 10:22 so I'm not concerned at all.

The best news of all is my plantar fasciitis. I had NO pain during or after my run. None at all. I was actually pain free for a few days. There is mild pain now and my heel is a little sore (I've done two 5 mile runs so far this week), but nothing major. I think if things stay where they are now I'll be fine for the race.

I've got two 4 mile runs left for the week and I'm going to focus on getting more rest. Okay- five hours of sleep last night was not a good idea and did nothing to help me recover. If I'm in bed by 9:30 tonight I should be good to go tomorrow.

Next week is the hardest week of my training. I had to switch things up a little as my hubby will be out of town the following week. I've got a 10 mile speed workout on Wednesday and an 11 mile run on Saturday with two shorter runs thrown in. If I come through those feeling good I know I'm going to rock the Princess. We leave 3 weeks from tomorrow!

10 miles!

2011-01-23T06:34:00.000-08:00

Well, I passed the 10 mile test. I was especially anxious about yesterdays run because I haven't run 10 miles since the Princess last year and by 10 miles I was walking. My fascia ripped at 9 miles and things went downhill from there.

I couldn't sleep on Friday night and was up way before my alarm on Saturday. I also got my period on Friday so that always makes me stress about running. The good news there is that I won't have it for the race. That is a huge answer to prayer!

It was 17 degrees when I started running. I ran with Julie (my usual running buddy) and Alice joined us for about 6 miles. It was FREEZING! It took almost 4 miles for my fingers to get warm. Everything else was fine and there were actually times I was sweating. There was a wind, though so I'd go from sweating to freezing. I'm posting my splits just so I have them. It really helps to look back and see what my pace was. I do know that they were too fast. All my long runs have been too fast this year. They are over a minute faster than last year's training. I'm not sure why. I'm not trying to run fast. In face, Julie and I are always saying we need to slow down and it feels like we're slowing down, but we're not. My training plan says I should be running them at a 10:33 pace.

Average Pace 9:33

Mile 1 9:54

Mile 2 9:18

Mile 3 9:18

Mile 4 9:23

Mile 5 9:32

Mile 6 9:28

Mile 7 9:25

Mile 8 9:32

Mile 9 9:49

Mile 10 9:47

I felt great at the end of the run and definitely could have kept running. My foot hurt a little on the last half mile. I iced it twice and stretched a lot. My right hip has been really tight after my longer runs. I've found rolling it out on a foam roller really helps.

5 weeks to race day! I'm so excited!

ramblings...

2011-01-19T18:33:00.000-08:00

I did it again and I'm not even going to go there. Drop the guilt over neglecting the blog.

Now that I have that out of the way.....

Less than 6 weeks until race day. This is geeky, but every time I go to the Disney Princess Half Marathon website and surf around I get knots in my stomach. seriously. I know; get a grip. I'm walking that line between being super excited and terrified. I've put my goal out there (meaning the words "I want to break 2 hours" have actually come out of my mouth when other people are around and not just spoken in my head), and I'm feeling some fear of failure pressure. It's a good thing (I think).

So far my longest run is 9 miles and I've thrown in speed work and tempo runs during the week. My training is actually going unbelievably well and I'm hitting all my goals. The only nagging factor is my foot. My plantar fasciitis is teasing me. Right now it's only talking to me- soreness in my arch and pain in my heel, but not when I run. I've gotten new shoes that I'm wearing only for running (except for right now- I stepped in dog poo with my other pair and am too lazy to clean it off). I'm wearing sneakers all the time I'm not sleeping (yes, even to church!) I'm icing after every run, massaging my foot with a golf ball every night, wearing my night splint and stretching like a mad woman. I don't think there's anything else I can do to help it. I have a 10 mile run on Saturday and that will be a huge test because 9 miles is where I fell apart at the last Princess race. If at any point my foot goes from talking to me to yelling at me I will immediately back off.

My eating isn't great but it isn't horrible either. I haven't lost the 10 pounds I wanted to. I'm not running as many miles each week as I probably should, but you know what? I'm okay with that. I can't do it all. I am a perfectionist by nature (at least that's how I want myself to look), but I've decided it's not worth it. I can only do what I can do and in my opinion, that's enough.

10 weeks until the Princess Half

2010-12-23T05:17:00.000-08:00

I actually should have written this post on Sunday as it's now almost 9 weeks until the race. I'm feeling AWESOME and my training is going exceptionally well. I've decided I'm going to go for it and try to break 2 hours in the half. I've also decided that the key to that happening is to drop 10 pounds. That's 1 pound a week- definitely do-able. My starting weight as of last Sunday is 155.2. If I can get down to 145 it will be amazing!

Here are my workouts for this week:

Monday- 2 mile easy run

Tuesday-off

Wednesday- 7 mile speedwork on the treadmill (3x1600 at an 8:34 pace)

Thursday-off

Friday- 8 mile long run (Christmas Eve)

Saturday and Sunday-off (Christmas Day in PA)

I need to pick up a few more days of working out and specifically work on strength training. The running has been going really well and my plantar fasciitis is great.

As far as weight loss goes; my goal for the week is just to eat sensibly and drink more water. Let's be realistic- it's Christmas. I'm making 7 different kinds of cookies and moderation is the only way to go. I'll be at my in-laws for the weekend and obviously only have so much control over what I eat. I'm going to try to make good choices. Once the holidays are over I'll try to be more strict with my eating.

Go Shutterfly!

2010-12-12T19:40:00.001-08:00

I posted previously about the promotion Shutterfly is having: giving away 50 photo cards in exchange for a blog about their holiday cards. I've spent some time looking at their website and the choices of cards they offer. Now, I may not be the most experienced card shopper out there. I admit, I tend to look on the cheaper side of things. Although my dream is to get creative with my holiday cards, I always revert to the old standby: postcard layout with a simple picture of the girls. I have to report that I an in Shutterfly dream-land. I am impressed with their cards (and not only Christmas photo cards). I've found some cards that I am in love with!

The first place I looked was here: http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-photo-cards.

And the first card I fell in love with was this one:

You just can't get any more classic than that. Black and white, red monogram accent; I love it! I've always loved black and white photographs. They are just so timeless. I love that the card has space for six photos. We are a family of six and we could fit everyone into their own space. Ultimately, that is what I ended up not liking about this card. I can't figure out how to arrange the photos. I don't like the idea of six individual pictures and the combinations of people don't work out equally. Although I love this card, I decided to keep searching.

Here is my perfect card:

I LOVE the colors, and the layout is perfect for our family picture. This is the perfect card for a family of 6. I have the whole thing designed. In the middle is a group picture of the six of us with individual pictures of the girls on the sides. That really appeals to be because I feel like you can get a better sense of their personalities through multiple pictures.

Although it doesn't have the classic feel of the first card, the colors are clean and crisp. The black and white pictures are a nice contrast to the colors. Even though I don't think I'll be using black and white pictures, I like that there are only two colors on the card. My color pictures won't make the card to busy. The pictures are arranged so as not to be distracting (I like the symmetry.) I also love that I can personalize the card on the inside. This is such a step up from our usual postcard type Christmas card.

To be honest, although I love sending Christmas cards, my hearts desire is to do a photo calendar for my parents and even myself. If I ever get organized and start planning for Christmas before December actually hits, this link has everything I need: http://www.shutterfly.com/calendars. While I'm getting myself organized, my goal was to get my tween daughter some "cool" writing paper for Christmas this year. It didn't happen. If it had, it would have looked like this: http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/notepads

http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/notepads/candy-bracelet-notepad?sortType=1&storeNode=60314

Oh well, I guess she'll have to wait another year to be cool. In the meantime I hope to enjoy my awesome Christmas cards!

Shutterfly promotion

2010-12-01T19:59:00.000-08:00

I was surfing my sister's blog and checked in on one of her links I always read (Praying for Bennett) when I came across a promotion for 50 free Christmas cards for bloggers. "Wow," I thought, "I'm a blogger. I should check it out." Then I wondered about the definition of a blogger. I blog (occasionally). Don't get me wrong, I like to blog; I just have a really hard time actually sitting down and writing. But I do get there- sometimes. Which got me thinking; does the definition of a blogger require that someone actually read what your blog? That would disqualify me. Because no one reads what I blog. I'm really fine with that, but I wonder if I'm qualified for this promotion. Maybe I should wait for the promotion for 50 free Christmas cards for blogs. That's what I am- a blog. I like that; it fits well.

Anyway here's the link: http://bit.ly/sfly2010

Since I'm back in training mode and exhausted, I plan on checking out the website tomorrow. I hope I actually do qualify because with an unexpected car purchase and three December birthdays along with Christmas this month, I could really use some free Christmas cards!

I won a mental battle!

2010-12-01T19:49:00.000-08:00

I woke up at 4:50 so I could get my 5 mile run in early. I was hoping to meet my running buddy but it was pouring so I knew I was headed to the gym. There is a tornado watch in effect so I was a little hesitant to drive, but I've been full of excuses lately so off I went. It is so surreal driving in the dark with leaves flying and rain pouring. There was a tree down at the end of our street so I was on alert all the way to the gym.

The workout today was a tempo run: 1 mile warm-up, 3 miles at a 9:10 pace and 1 mile cool down. The treadmills at my gym automatically turn off after 30 minutes so I knew I'd have to break up the run a little. The run started off a little rough as I had to make a pit stop after .25 miles. *** WARNING***(This is way TMI but my husband won't listen to anything that has to do with that time of the month. If you are reading this and are like him: DON'T READ ON! I tried to tell him I need to tell someone about my victory, but he said to call my sister. It's 7:20 AM and my sister's sleeping so, sorry I've got to tell it here. Let's just say I had an emergency where I had to jump off the treadmill and run to the bathroom. I could have easily left the gym at that point but chose to continue. That was a victory in itself! I was worried I wouldn't get the whole run in but I did and then bolted out the door back to my car.)

Anyway... back on track. I did the first two speed miles at a 9:05 pace but thought I was going to puke. My heart rate was over 200. It was time for the treadmill to stop so I took that as a natural break and recovered for .25 miles. The last mile I played a little game with myself where I held a 9:13 pace for 2 minutes, 9:05 for 2 minutes, 8:57 for one and then went the other way again (9:05 for 2minutes and 9:13 for 2). It makes the time go by so much faster. I finished my cool-down and I was done.

I felt so good for pushing through that workout! I'm so glad it's done! I don't know why I struggle so much with speed workouts on a treadmill. It is so mental for me.

I'm back home and it's pouring out, but I'm done with my workout for the day. My running partner is running a marathon on Sunday (she was supposed to run Philly but got the flu on Friday). I'm going to run the last 7 miles with her. I want to be running the whole thing, but I need to be happy about where I am. The plantar fasciitis is in a very good place and I'm running pain free. What more could a girl ask for?

Two day update: exercise (B+), eating (F)

2010-11-16T19:09:00.000-08:00

So far this week I'm on track with my working out (sort of), but my eating is horrendous! I just don't have the motivation to eat well.

Monday I didn't do my P90X workout but did a 30 minute EA Active for the Wii workout (which I'm feeling today!). Today I didn't do Yoga, but ran for 30 minutes. I feel like even though I haven't done what I had scheduled, I'm still doing well.

My husband has been out of town which completely throws my eating off. I know that going into it, but still can't manage to eat well. It was rainy and cold here today and I craved comfort food (yes, I had Ramen noodles for dinner). I know eating is my area of weakness and I go through fazes when I eat really well, but then I go through fazes like right now when it's a disaster. I really think if I can get control of my eating I will have the answer to my weight loss.

Oh well... tomorrow is a new day.

Official Training starts tomorrow

2010-11-14T16:36:00.001-08:00

Tomorrow is the official start of my half marathon training. I'm supposed to run 2 miles. Well, it's not happening. DH is out of town until late Wednesday. We're also going out of town from Thursday to Saturday so this is going to be a challenge. Here's the plan:
Monday- P90X workout at home
Tuesday- Yoga and 2 mile run
Wednesday- P90X upper body workout
Thursday- run 5 miles
Friday- off
Saturday- off
Sunday- run 6 miles

Eating: I'n not expecting perfection here, I just want to make good choices. The goal is no junk, but I'm going to take it one day at a time.

No more chiro for me- (I hope!)

2010-11-12T03:45:00.000-08:00

I had an appointment with my chiropractor yesterday which I'm happy to report I cancelled. My back/rib has been feeling great. I even went for a 3+ mile run on the treadmill which felt great. My chiropractor was very surprised I was still feeling good. He said it usually takes between 2-4 adjustments for the rib to stay put. He also said not to be surprised if I wake up this weekend in pain. I'm really hoping that doesn't happen.

My official training starts Monday as does my quest to drop some weight (don't know about the timing there- Thanksgiving is right around the corner). I'm going to do this!

1st ever chiropractic visit

2010-11-10T18:45:00.000-08:00

I went to the chiropractor yesterday. I've been thinking about it for awhile. What finally put me over the edge was this pain that I've been having in my back. I did some research on line and determined it was a pinched nerve. Every time I took a breath I felt like someone was stabbing me in the back.

It was a very interesting visit. To make a long story short, I don't have a pinched nerve- I have a rib out of place. I wasn't expecting that! He said the manipulation would be painful (thankfully it wasn't). I got immediate relief which I am so thankful for. He said no running until it is completely better and I have to go back in tomorrow for another adjustment. It's feeling pretty good so I may cancel my appointment. Of course, being the not follow directions kind of person that I am, I'm thinking about going for a short run tomorrow. He only said not to run because he thought it would make my back hurt. I'm feeling really good so I want to try it. If it hurts, I'll stop and keep my appointment.

He also worked on my foot and said the plantar fasciitis looks really good. He said there's nothing he can do for the neuroma. It's either going to go away or it isn't. That kind of bummed me out. I was hoping he would have a miracle cure. Oh well. It doesn't hurt and I actually can't feel it unless I have my shoes off.

So, overall I'm very happy with my chiropractic visit. I'm praying my rib will stay in place and I don't have to go back.

printed half marathon training plan- it's official

2010-11-07T18:53:00.000-08:00

Here's the quick low down. I signed up for the Disney Princess Half again. I'm still dealing with the plantar fasciitis and neuroma in my right foot, but I'm able to run. I've decided to go for it. I've been experiencing weird aches and pains and I think a pinched nerve in my back, but I'm going to give this training all I've got. I've got to drop 10 pounds before the end of February. (note to self: those magic bars you just ate at almost 10PM aren't going to get you there).

I went to Runners World and used their Smart Coach feature just to see what date a 16 week program would end on if I started next Monday. I thought I had a lot of time so I wanted to see how much. To my surprise, the date was the actual date of my half. So, I have 17 weeks. Wow. I actually got up to 8 miles two weeks ago before my hamstring started hurting. I backed off but was able to run 4 miles yesterday. Great run. I needed a run like that.

Here's my training schedule for the week. Tomorrow is Yoga, Tuesday is upper body and a 4 mile run, Wednesday is upper body, Thursday is a Body Pump class, Friday is a spin class and Saturday is a 6 mile run. How's that for a week? If I do all that and manage to eat well, I'll be doing great! Oh, and I'm going to look into finding a chiropractor to figure whats going on with the back.

Long weekend + pancakes = struggle

2010-06-01T03:50:00.000-07:00

I am such a creature of habit. I love schedules and predictability. My husband is quite the opposite. He is as spontaneous as they get. Needless to say, this has been a source of friction for us at times.... which has absolutely nothing to do with this blog. Back to the point.... I thrive on schedules which was reinforced this weekend.

This weekend we went to the pool 3 out of 3 days, had 83 of our closest friends over for pancakes, and the rest of the time had no structure at all to our days. Add to that the fact that I have no food in the house and no grocery money until Thursday. Not a good combination. Needless to say, I struggled. I actually didn't do to badly, considering all the strikes I had against me. I didn't eat too poorly- a few potato chips is the worst thing I put in my mouth. One major accomplishment is that I had 0 pancakes yesterday. The downside to that is that I had 0 of anything. The last person left at 12:30 and I hadn't eaten anything. I know better than that, but I just didn't have time to put anything healthy in my mouth. My thought was that it was better to not eat than to eat unhealthy. Wrong. That's when the potato chips went in. Lesson learned.

I'm glad the holiday weekend is over. Today and tomorrow will be a struggle eating as I really don't have anything in the house. I'm so over budget it's not funny. I have chicken, no veggies, though. I'll come up with something. I worked out this morning and it kicked my butt again (so much for the second week is easier). I won't be able to do any double workouts this week as we have swim team in the evening. I also have to weigh in on Friday morning because we're going camping this weekend.

The weekend is behind me and I'm moving forward with a few good lessons learned.

"3-It's a magic number." Schoolhouse Rock

2010-05-29T05:40:00.000-07:00

Yup. 3. Today, it's MY magic number. 3 pounds gone. Not a huge number, but huge for me. I'm happy. I worked my tail off this week and it's good to see some results. One week down, 9 to go.

I'm a little bit nervous about this week. One week of hard work is relatively easy, as in I can do anything for 1 week. I have to keep this up and I think it might be more difficult this week. My husband has been awesome in encouraging me so I'm going to really count on his help this week. One day at a time is all I can do. I'm not looking back.

Week one is history

2010-05-28T05:18:00.000-07:00

Well, I made it through week one of P90X. I'm sore, I'm tired, but I couldn't be happier. I've had a great week. I've worked by body hard and I've eaten as well as possible. If I don't blow it today (and believe me, there's a huge chance I will), I'll have made it one solid week without putting anything (did you read that?ANYTHING) unhealthy in my body. I don't think I've ever done that before.

I need to remind myself that this is a marathon and not a sprint. This is only week 1 out of 10 and I think that if I continue to push myself at this pace, I might burnout. I was very hungry yesterday, so I think I might not be eating enough. I ate when I was hungry but I'm not counting calories, so I may be low. I plan to add that in next week. I was just too much to do this week.

My first weigh in (unofficial) is tomorrow. DH told me not to get my hopes up. Too late. I have to be honest and admit if I don't see some movement on the scale, I'll be very disappointed. I've worked out 6 days this week (two days double workouts) and eaten as well as I know how. If that doesn't work, I don't know what will.

Stay tuned.....

Yoga green bean style

2010-05-26T03:52:00.000-07:00

92 minutes of yoga is not what makes me look forward to the day. That's a long time to do something you don't like. Let me rephrase that. It's not that I don't like yoga. I actually think it's beautiful to watch- watch being the operative word here. I stink at yoga. All those moves that look so graceful on other people, look dumb on me. I am not the picture of graceful. I have a memory from when I was on the high school tennis team playing doubles with my sister She lovingly (that's how I look at it anyway) referred to me as "a jumping green bean" when I jumped for an overhead shot. That description does not conjure up images of grace. Green beans aren't graceful. I am not graceful and I'm okay with that (usually).

So I woke up at 4:30 AM and planted my green bean self in front of the TV this morning and attempted to do the P90X version of yoga. Gracefully. For 92 minutes. It wasn't graceful. It wasn't even close. But I did it (well, most of it anyway). And it was hard- really hard. Forget green beans, I was looking and feeling like spaghetti when I was done. Legs were shaking, and I was pouring sweat. But that's okay. I reminded myself that this is about the journey. I'm doing it and that's what matters. It may not be pretty and it may be really hard, but at the end of the day I attempted something and did it and I'm more than okay with that.

Shoulders and Arms and Ab Ripper, Oh My!

2010-05-25T12:23:00.000-07:00

I made it through my workout this morning. The shoulders and arms DVD wasn't that bad. I had a hard time figuring out the right weight, though. I started off using my lightest tension band which wasn't hard enough but when I switched over to dumbells, it was much harder. I didn't use the workout sheet they recommend to keep track of my reps. My goal for today was to just get through the DVD.

The ab ripper was hard. Ouch! He moves non-stop from one workout to the next. It didn't help that my abs are sore from Sundays workout. It's over though, and off to yoga tomorrow which I'm not especially good at.

Yesterday was another perfect eating day. I drank tons of water too and even threw in a 2 mile run to help burn off some calories. Oh, and I had my oldest daughter hide my scale. I told her she needed to give it back on Friday so I can weigh myself early Saturday morning. I'm not going to do an extra workout today so I just need to eat well and drink my water.

I know these are baby steps and I've been here before- but 3 good days down- 4 to go. Yeah!

Cardio X

2010-05-24T03:45:00.000-07:00

This 45 minute workout was 3 parts- yoga, cardio and core. I honestly didn't think it was THAT hard. Don't get me wrong, it was hard, but not to the point where I had to stop or couldn't do the moves. My maximum heart rate was 151 and my average was 117. Workout- done. Now all I have to do is eat well today and drink my water.
I ate great yesterday. I didn't track my calories, but there wasn't anything unhealthy that went into my body. Although I'm tempted to weigh myself every day, I'm not going to weigh myself until Saturday.

So far, so good.

Biggest Loser and P90X

2010-05-23T13:34:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I weighed in for the official start of The Biggest Loser C-Ville. My weight=158.6. My goal is to lose between 10 and 15 pounds in the next 10 weeks. How am I going to do that, you ask? Why, P90X, of course. My hubby actually suggested I try it. I'm coming off of the 30 day challenge from EA Active. It was okay. At first I was sore, but my body quickly adapted to it and I didn't find it much of a challenge towards the end. P90X is going to be a challenge. If I survive the next 90 days I should see a significant difference in my body. I'm also making a commitment to eating better. This is a 10 week challenge, so I think I can do it this time.
I plan on posting at least a few times a week. I'm hoping it will keep me accountable. The first weigh in is in two weeks so I'm going to work really hard so I can see the scale go down. I'm actually really excited for this and hope it's what I need to get those pounds off.

As a side note- I'm picking up running again, albeit very slowly. I have Morton's Neuroma in my right foot (along with plantar fasciitis) but hopefully the treatment I'm doing is going to help. So far, so good. I ran 3 miles on Wednesday and 2.25 yesterday. It's a good start and I'm encouraged.

I did it again....

2010-04-05T18:07:00.001-07:00

When am i going to learn? No, seriously- why can't I ever keep up this blog. I am a blogger wannabe. I have lots of thoughts, I just can't seem to get them out of my head and onto this blog.

So.. the last post was over a month ago. My, how things can change so quickly. I said no matter what happens with the race I was looking forward to some sun and warm weather. NOT! The weather in FL was cold and it poured while we were at the Magic Kingdom... oh and the race was a disaster too.

The race. It actually started out quite well. I had an awesome 9 miles and it completely fell apart from there. Let me back up a little. I did a 10 mile run (supposed to be 12) the weekend before the race and felt great. I was getting my confidence back. Later that night I felt a pain in my heel. I've never had any pain in my foot so I didn't really think much of it. I took Sunday off and ran an easy 2 on Monday with no pain. Then on Wednesday I did 5 and I felt the pain again. It wasn't a really strong pain, just sort of tender when I walked. I took it easy in FL and tried to stay off of it. It was almost pain free by Sunday, race day, so I thought I'd be alright.

The first mile was slow (9:43), but I felt good. I started picking up the pace from there and miles 2-9 were awesome! (9:11, 8:54, 8:56, 8:51, 8:56, 9:02, 8:46, 8:44) I was running pretty effortlessly at a sub 9 pace. I thought I was going to crush my 2 hour goal. However, I started feeling my foot at mile 6. It hurt but didn't really effect my gait. I thought if it didn't get any worse I'd be fine. Then... disaster struck. At mile 9 I felt a tearing in the bottom of my foot and my arch was so tender I couldn't run. I tried not to panic, and started walking hoping it would get better. It didn't. I tried to run a little on and off but couldn't do so without limping. I was trying to hold back the tears and I'll never forget that I couldn't look the green men from Toy Story in the eye as they were giving everyone high fives because I was crying and didn't think I deserved one. Well, I'm stubborn and I just knew I couldn't give up. Even though I knew my goal was history, I was determined to run the last mile. I did it too, but as soon as I saw my husband at the finish- I lost it. It was a combination of disappointment and pain. I don't think I've ever had a running injury that was so painful. My finishing time: 2:05.

I couldn't put any pressure on my foot the rest of the day or the next. Unfortunately, I was in FL for a whole week and couldn't see a Dr. (Well, I could if I wanted to pay out of pocket for it. No thank you!) I saw a sports medicine Dr when I got back and have been officially diagnosed with plantar fasciitis. I actually have a good friend who did an ultrasound on it the day before the Dr appt and told me I tore my fascia. So.. it's been 0 running, lots of rest and some PT. The good news is that it's getting better. I have visions of me running in the near future. I have a parent/child triathlon in two weeks so I'll be running then- whether my foot is ready or not.

This is why I blog

2010-02-24T05:56:00.001-08:00

Now I remember. The whole reason I started this whole blogging thing was to be able to look back and see where my training was and see my journey. I haven't used it for this purpose; until today. I'm less than two weeks out from the Princess Half Marathon and I thought I'd look back to see what my pace was for last year. Of course, it's not there. I wrote about the race, but not my actual mile splits. (Note to self: write down the mile splits this year.) I'm bummed about that. I was hoping to gain some insight from it.

However, I did look back and see what my everyday training looked like. I was running MUCH faster last year. That is discouraging. My workout this morning was 6.5 miles- 5 at race pace (9:05) or faster. I was feeling pretty good about that until I saw that last year I was doing things like 5 miles at an 8:30 pace and 11 miles at a 9:45 pace. I did 11 miles last weekend and my pace was close to 10:30. Yikes!

I'm not feeling to good about meeting my goal of a sub 2 hour race. What I'm not going to do though, is let self doubt crowd my brain this week. I've realized that I have a problem of negative talk and I lose before I even start. Seriously I have zero self confidence in this area. I can be running and talk myself into stopping and resting instead of talking myself through it. Every time one of those thoughts creep into my head this week I'm going to kick it to the curb! In my head I'm going to meet my goal. In reality, I may not, but it's not going to be because I talked myself out of it. I have to come up with a positive mantra or something. There was a great article in Runner's World about Kara Goucher struggling with the mental aspect of running. She has words she tells herself. I'll have to come up with some of my own- and quick.

I have a 12 mile run this weekend. I'm going to take it easy and just get the miles in. We leave for Florida a week from tomorrow. Regardless of what happens with the race, I'm psyched to see some sun and warm weather!

Let the countdown begin!

2010-02-11T04:38:00.000-08:00

I've been MIA again. What else is new? I'm not going there.

It's officially 25 days until my half marathon. It's been a tough winter for training here. We've gotten blasted with snow and it's been impossible to train outside on a regular basis. That said, I've done pretty well keeping up with my training schedule. I did skip a 2 mile run today, but I just couldn't motivate myself to get out of my warm bed at 4:45 AM and face the bitter cold and icy roads for a 2 mile run. (Okay, okay- it was going to be inside on a treadmill but I didn't want to face the cold having to get to the gym.) I don't think it will matter in the long run. I'm scheduled to do another 10 this weekend and things are looking good.

So... 25 days left. Right now I'm feeling like I can do the distance (I've done 2-10 milers). I'm not feeling very good about the speed part. I've done some speed work on the treadmill which has been okay- but not great. I have a big track workout coming up on Tuesday and that will be telling. It's supposed to be 8 miles with 4x16 at an 8:20 pace with 800 jogs. I am not confident I can do 4 miles at an 8:20 pace. I guess I'll just have to see how it goes.

Other than that, I've got 3 long runs left- 10, 11 and 12 miles. That killer track workout and one more 7 mile tempo run. And that's it. I'm determined to break 2 hours and hopefully, my training will be enough.

Happy New Year!

2010-01-01T12:07:00.000-08:00

2010....what will this year have in store? 2009 was a great year. I have a lot to be thankful for. I love the start of a new year... so many things to look forward to. Resolutions? Yeah, I admit- I make them. So... here they are in no particular order.
1- I'm going to lose those 15 pounds. I really am. I've been eating salads for breakfast for 5 days now. I can feel a difference in my energy level. My stomach isn't so happy about it, but I think that will get better. I don't have a time frame but by December 31st I will be 140 pounds. An interesting note- I keep a food journal (loosely) and on 12/31/08 my weight was 1 pound higher than it is now. That's something to be positive about.
2- I'm going to spend more time reading my Bible and praying. I've been inconsistent in this area of my life and I'm going to make time daily for it.
3- I'm going to find a ministry area that's outside my family. I'd really like this to include the whole family. I think #2 will help lead me in this area.
4- I'm going to break the 2 hour mark for my half marathon. I'm just going to.

I started my New Year with an 8 mile run this morning. It was great. I used my Garmin I got for Christmas and love it!

time to get back on the wagon

2009-12-28T06:10:00.000-08:00

One run in two weeks does not make for a happy me. I've been snowed in, the gym was closed for the holidays and we traveled to PA. (I was planning on running but it poured the whole time.) Add to that holiday cookies and general bad eating and I am not a happy camper! Oh yeah, the other bad thing is that I got my drivers license renewal (we do it every 10 years) and my weight listed on the last one was 135. Okay, I may have fudged a little bit, but lets just say I'm no where near that now.

It's time for a change. Big time.

What does it take to get serious about losing weight? I certainly don't know the answer to that. I think it has to come from inside a person. I know that no one can make someone else lose weight. Maybe at first, but not for the long run. I've been talking about losing that last 10 pounds for the longest time and haven't done it. I don't know if I'm there, but I do know I'm sick of it. That last 10 pounds has turned into 15 and it's not pretty. Now when I talk about losing weight, my goal isn't to be stick thin. I know I'm pushing 40 and 4 babies has done a doosy on my abs. I just want to feel better- to now have that roll when I sit down and to maybe lose one of my chins. I don't think I'm asking too much.

So what's the plan? I'm actually not sure. I'm trying something a little crazy for me, but why not. Here it is: first of all I'm going to write down everything I eat. Everything. I'm so bad at this. I cheat all the time. Not this time. I'm writing down everything. Secondly, I'm eating salads for breakfast. Never done that before. That comes from the book "Born to Run" which I highly recommend. I ate one today and so far am feeling great. After those two things, I'm just going to try to eat more natural and cut out sugar and to increase my water intake. I think those things along with running and adding some serious core work to my running will make the difference.

Princess 1/2 take 2

2009-12-22T18:32:00.001-08:00

I registered for the Princess Half today. I hope it was just what I needed after struggling these past few weeks. I had a bad 5 mile run last week and couldn't run this weekend because of the huge snowstorm we had. 2 feet of snow fell on us. We lost power and water for 24 hours. Not pretty. Which leads me to a funny story; kind of.

So, my husband gets home early yesterday because the roads are bad (remember that little fact, it's important to the story). He made it into work but no one showed up because they were smart enough to stay home; so he thought he'd go back home too. However he had an errand to run so he suggested he take the girls with him and why don't I go for a run while he was gone. Now this is the same man who suggested we sprint out of the blocks in a 5K we ran together some years back and I listened to him and almost puked. Overall, he's a very smart man. There are just some things that he says that I've learned I should ignore. Obviously, I haven't quite learned enough. But I'm getting ahead of myself...

After my initial thoughts of "No way! Are you crazy?", I thought it might be fun. The last time I ran in the snow was in high school. It was actually during a snowstorm and it was awesome! I had so much fun. Well, I got on my running stuff and headed out the door. It started out great. The roads were packed with snow, but so much so that I wasn't slipping. It was gorgeous outside, the sun was shining and it looked like a winter wonderland. I hit patches of ice and slush but was careful and took much smaller steps than usual. I got to the end of my subdivision (suicide hill, as I affectionately call it) when it happened. I bit it. It was the kind of fall when the first thing you do is look around to see if anyone saw it because you know you looked like a complete idiot (Jackie- if you're reading this I know you know what I mean.) My legs just flew out from under me and I twisted to the right side. As I was about to land with all my weight on my right hand, I decided it would be better to roll. So roll I did. Not pretty. I landed on my right shoulder and my right middle finger and then rolled and slid on the ice. It retrospect, it was pretty funny and I'm sure if someone did see it, they laughed their head off.

I was a little shaken but continued to run back down the hill. But my confidence was shot and every time I got to a little ice, I walked. It's amazing how I was able to run the whole way out and I must have slipped 3o times on my way home. So I ran, walked and slid the rest of the way home. At one point I had to stop and wait in someones driveway as two snow plows went by. I chuckled to myself as I waved to them. They must have thought I was crazy.

The best part of this story is when I got home, my family wasn't home. I thought they should have been so I called my husband on his cell. Turns out he got the van stuck on a hill and had to have a guy help him push the car out. I couldn't believe it!

I think the lesson of the story is that we both should have stayed home. Now the dilema facing me tomorrow is that I'm supposed to run 5 miles and my gym is closed in the morning. Do I dare face the roads again?

Where do I go from here?

2009-12-16T18:18:00.000-08:00

I did it again. I abandoned my blog. I just wasn't feeling very bloggerish (yes, that is an original word) after my tri. I'm mad at myself. Mostly because I've just come off of running 2 marathons and I have nothing to show for it. I spent all summer training and learning all kinds of fascinating things about myself and I have no record of it. There's no going back re-reading what it was like to train; where I struggled and what my days were like. What's the fun in that?

So the obvious question is "What's next?" Where do I go now? Do I abandon my blog? I don't want to because in all seriousness, it is so good for me to re-read my blogs. I just don't know if I have time....

While I'm contemplating that question, I've decided my next race is going to be the Princess Half- again. I'm going to break 2 hours this time. Period. I've learned some things through my marathon training that I hope will help me. I can't believe it's 12 weeks away! I was also planning on doing a round of Jillian and finally getting that personal trainer. (That was my last birthday present. The goal is to use it before this birthday!) One thing I know is this: If I don't drop some weight and seriously work on my core; I will not be getting any faster.

Okay, so those are the things that are on my mind (along with 100,000 other things but who has time to go into all those now?). What a rambling blog...

Unofficial Columbia Race Report

2009-08-24T18:41:00.000-07:00

The good news is that there was no rain. I woke up at 4AM and checked the weather forecast which indicated no rain in sight. What a relief! I was able to eat something, unlike last year when I couldn't stomach any food because I was so nervous. We got to the race around 5:30. (Note to self: this is way too late. We had to wait forever to park and were parked much further away.) The start of the race was delayed 30 minutes due to traffic issues. I watched the first few waves go off and then headed to my start.

The race director announced that my age group was the largest (they split us in half), and my wave had the most women in it. Boy, could I tell! It was way more packed than last year. I had a really hard time getting into any rhythm. I did a LOT of breast stroke and finally got into a pattern of alternating between breast and freestyle.... that is until I got kicked in the face and my goggles almost came off. That's when I decided breast stroke is the way to go. I have no idea what my time was, but I felt much better getting out of the water (didn't feel like I was going to puke) and I actually ran (slowly) through transition. It still felt slow, but I didn't struggle as much as last year.

The bike started off well as I passed several women right off the bat. I was determined to do better on the bike this year, but honestly, I still struggled. I felt like I really pushed the downhills, but the uphills were still a challenge. This is really a weak area for me. I got passed- not as much as last year, but still more than I wanted to. I think I went faster than last year, but not as much as I wanted.

T2 (transition from bike to run) was good. I won't beat my time from last year because my bike rack position was terrible. Hopefully next year it will be better, but it also could be worse. Nothing I can do about this. I did the best I could.

The run... oh the run was terrible! My legs were very weak at the start but I felt like I was somewhat pushing it. I checked my time at a mile and it was 9:50. Yuck! I probably would have been better off not checking it as I think it discouraged me. My legs were shot from the bike. There are two very large hills on the run and I walked them both. This is the girl who ran 16 miles last weekend. I tried to will my legs to feel better, but they wouldn't. I think the heat actually played a factor because I didn't start my race until right before 8 so it was 10 as I was running and very hot and humid. I pulled myself together on the last mile (I knew it was flat from last year) and was really able to pick up the pace. I still passed a lot of women on the run, but I thought I'd be able to shave a few minutes off my time.

I was disappointed at the end of the race. I didn't immediately know my time but knew I didn't make my goal. I would even be surprised if I beat my time from last year. They are supposed to have a printout for you of all your splits within 20 minutes of finishing, but they were having technical problems, so I never got it. I was able to get my official time which was 2:13:55- almost exactly 2 minutes faster than last year. I was somewhat disappointed, but it didn't last long. I'm thankful that I could compete again this year. I learned a lot and I'll take any improvement in time that I can get.

I am an iron girl!

Rain, rain go away....

2009-08-22T15:58:00.000-07:00

I'm here.

It's raining.

I think it's going to rain in the morning, but clear up around 10AM....when I'm finished. Oh well, I'm 2 for 2 on doing triathlons in the rain this summer.

At the moment I'm not super nervous. I was earlier, but I've calmed down a lot. I'm looking forward to the race tomorrow. I think the anticipation and the hype of this race in particular makes it even harder.

My bike placement isn't as good as last year. It's near the beginning of the bike start. That will be good when I'm leaving the swim, but bad when I'm returning my bike before the run. Oh well...

I'm ready, I'm excited and I'm going to do my best no matter what the weather conditions are.

3 days....

2009-08-20T08:17:00.000-07:00

I'm done with my workouts. Totally. Yesterday I swam in the morning and ran with my 2 oldest in the evening (3+ miles). This morning I slept in. YEAH! There will be no more workouts until the real thing. Tomorrow we head up to PA and then back down to MD on Saturday.

So... I'm making myself post my goals. As my good friend Barbara knows, I never reveal my "real" goal. It's actually a very complicated three tiered system where I calculate different sets of goals based on three possible outcomes: if I have a bad day, my probably goal, and my "this is what I really want to happen" goal. (This is the one I keep to myself.) I'm sure I'll pay some counselor big bucks someday to try to figure out the root of my goal issues (I'll just save myself some money and somehow blame it on my mom :))

Got all that? Here it goes:
My time from last year was 2:15:48. I placed 176th out of 334. Not even in the top half. So, my #1 goal is to at least finish in the top half, reagardless of time. The breakdown of my time was: swim 23:53 (153rd) T1 4:09 (185th) bike 1:13:57 (223rd ouch!) T2 1:17 (46th) run 32:34 (104th).

Based on last year, the places where I can improve the most are the bike and transition #1. I felt awful getting out of the water last year (like I was going to puke) and I walked to my bike. I can't predict if that will go better this year. Obviously the bike is weak. I hope my last few weeks of training will help that. I do know I'm way more comfortable on it. I'm hoping to take at least 5 minutes off the bike.

My T2 time was amazing, but it had more to do with where my bike was racked than me. It was very close to the end of the bike and the run start was close too. That was all luck. It could be really different this year and my time won't be as good.

I'm also hoping to take some time off the run. With my marathon training, I'm hoping that 3.4 miles won't be so hard. Last year I had way too much energy left at the end, so I'm hoping to push a little harder.

I think I can take around 6 minutes total off my time. A lot depends on bike rack position. I think my swim went way faster than I thought it would last year and I won't be surprised if that number goes up this year. Basically it will be a successful day for me if my bike is faster and my run is faster and I feel like I gave it everything I have.

4 days....

2009-08-19T08:03:00.000-07:00

I'm starting to get a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach when I think about the race. It's a good thing. I'm nervous, but it's a good nervous.

GREAT NEWS! The weather forecast has changed from 60% chance of scattered thunderstorms on race day to mosty sunny skies, 82 degrees and only 20% chance of rain. That's a major stress relief for me.

I swam this morning. I wasn't really into it. It was mostly just to loosen up and get a short workout in. I'm toying with doing one last brick tonight. The problem is I have a meeting at 7 and don't know if I have time to squeeze one in. I'll be fine without it but will feel better if I do it.

Tomorrow's blog... my time goals!

5 days- Oh my!

2009-08-17T17:09:00.000-07:00

I've reached the end of my training and tomorrow starts the taper. What a day it was!

5:40 AM- swim 50 lengths
1:30 take girls to pool for 2 1/2 hours
5:00 make something up for dinner- it turned out to be salsa chicken, quinoa and green beans.
5:20 Barbara arrives to watch the girls while hubby and I bike with some friends. Thank you Barbara!
5:40 leave for 18-20 mile ride
7:30 return from 26 mile bike ride (yes, that is correct!), throw on shoes and go for a 1 mile run (think brick).
8:00 put little girls down and sit in front of computer in a daze.

What a great way to end my training! I'm exhausted, but happy.

9 days and counting....

2009-08-13T05:07:00.000-07:00

Today is an off day- a very much needed off day. Yesterday I swam and biked. The bike was good, the swim was not. I was so tired when I got up at 5 that I was fighting to keep my eyes open on the way to the pool. I got in 40+ laps (lost count), but couldn't shake the tiredness. I ended up taking a nap around 11:30 AM. It helped tremendously! Later on, I went for a 10 mile bike ride (6:30 PM), and it was great! My legs felt strong and my time was great. I think that 18 mile bike ride on Monday really helped.

I woke up at 7:30 today- didn't feel refreshed, but I know it was good for me. I'm going to try to drink a lot of water today, stretch a little, and just chill. I may even sneak a little nap in there too :)

11 days to go...

2009-08-11T07:32:00.001-07:00

I should title this my training plan. I have 11 days left until my tri. I'm going to focus on two things- more biking and putting some "bricks" together. (That's when you go from one event to the next without stopping.) Today's workout was a wash, which is okay because I've had some hard workouts the past few days.

Saturday was a 15 mile run. I'm putting my splits here just so I can remember them. My long run pace should be around a 10:15-10:30. I was supposed to do 25 minutes of marathon pace (9:40) thrown in. I was able to do that. The first 13 miles were great, but the last 2 were really hard. I took an ice bath for the first time and it was extremely painful, but I think it really helped me recover.
My splits:
Mile 1-10:29
Mile 2-10:11
Mile 3-9:52
Mile 4 10:01
Mile 5-10:12
Mile 6-9:57
Mile 7-10:15
Mile 8-10:08
Mile 9-9:53
Mile 10-9:36
Mile 11-9:22
Mile 12-10:11
Mile 13-10:19
Miles 14-15 I don't actually know how far I went there. I had to add on mileage and it wasn't marked. My time as 18:55 for both.

Sunday I went for a short bike ride with a good friend. It was a good way to loosen my legs.

Yesterday I swam in the morning and biked 18 miles in the evening. I have a reason to be tired!

Here's my plan until the tri:
8/12- swim in the morning, bike 10 miles in the pm (hard)
8/13- off
8/14- swim in the morning, bike 10 miles in the pm
8/15- 16 mile long run
8/16- long bike (18+ miles)
8/17- swim in the morning, bike 10 miles in the pm
8/18- off (possibly do 8 mile run that is scheduled)
8/19 short brick- bike and run (last workout before tri)

My hope is that I don't tire myself out too much. I'm walking that fine line between being really ready and overtraining.

Should have stayed in bed!

2009-08-11T07:20:00.000-07:00

I was scheduled for an 8 mile run this morning. The plan was to go to the gym and use the treadmill as it's been very hot and humid here. The temp was supposed to be 74 at 5 AM. I figured it would be better for me to stay inside. I was also supposed to do some tempo work so I thought a treadmill would be good for that too. I woke up at 5 and felt very tired. It took me until 5:30 to get myself together and head out the door. On the way to the gym I decided to turn around because I was running so late it would be a stretch for me to finish my workout before hubby had to leave for work. It was getting light out anyway.

As soon as I started to run I knew it was going to be ugly. I felt like I was barely moving. I was soaked from sweat almost immediately. I struggled for almost 2 miles and decided it wasn't worth it. I knew if I kept runing I'd end up hurting myself.... so I walked. I ended up meeting a woman from my neighborhood who is also training to run the Richmond Marathon. It was so nice to talk to her and I ended up being so glad I walked. I ran/walked 4 miles. Not what I intended, but I'm glad I didn't stay in bed afterall!

Culpeper Sprint

2009-08-03T04:22:00.001-07:00

Once again, I've been bad about posting. My runs have been going great- my longest is 13. The leg feels awesome! I've been swimming 3x a week and feel pretty good about that too. The problem is the bike. I haven't been out on the road in over 6 weeks. I've been on my trainer 2x a week for 45-50 minutes but it's not the same.

My goal for this tri was to use it as a training run for the Columbia. I wanted to get some open water swim practice in and also get on my bike. I knew I'd get killed on the bike but at least I'd be getting an actual bike ride in. I wasn't worried about the run.

I drove up to Culpeper Saturday afternoon to pick up my packet and look at the race course. It's a 16 mile bike course and it was very pretty. It starts out on a big hill and is rolling from there. There are some sharp turns along the way, but it didn't seem too bad. The run was hilly, but again, I wasn't worried about the run.

Sunday morning we left the house at 5:50 and the sky was very overcast. I was stressing about the weather all week because I didn't want to ride my bike on wet roads. We got all settled with about 15 minutes to spare and hung out by the water. My goal for the swim was to do more freestyle. I wss the 4th wave and I started on the outside because I didn't want to get kicked. The swim actually went pretty well. Except for a few wayward swimmers running into me, I didn't get stuck. I swam way more freestyle which was good, I think. My dilema here is that I swim breast stroke about as fast as I swim freestyle. Not a good thing. I figure with both being equal, I'd pick breast every time because I can see. I'll have to work more on that. I was encouraged because when I did do free, I swam really straight.

I took my time in transition because I wasn't "racing" and I didn't care. Also, apparently my oldest daughter has been using my bike helmet. Because I haven't actually been riding my bike, the first time I put it on was as I was about to start the bike leg. It was way tighter than I usually wear it. There was no time to fix it so I wore a super tight helmet. It was lightly raining as I started the bike. This turned into pouring and I got to the point when I just wanted it to be over. I got passed so many times it started making me mad. I knew I wasn't going to do well, but I still hate to get passed. I don't mean just someone getting in front of me. These people were flying by me like I was standing still. Not fun. There is a very sharp turn at the end of the bike that I was praying about as I was riding. I didn't care how slow I went, I just didn't want to fall off my bike. I made it and off to the run I went.

My transition was good- except for getting the helmet off. I couldn't. It was tight and I actually contemplated what I would do if I had to run in it. Luckily, I managed to get it off. When I started, my legs were dead. I seriously couldn't feel my toes. My socks were soaking and I felt like I was shuffling. I haven't practiced any "bricks" and I can tell I need to. It took about a mile to get feeling back in my legs, but then I felt pretty good. I passed tons of people which felt good. I finished strong and as usual had way too much energy when I finished.

I was completely exhausted after I was done. I was just so happy to have it over with. I need to seriously work on my bike in the next three weeks. I also need to work on some bricks to get my legs used to going from one event to the next. On a good note, I'm not sore today. I was going to swim this morning but decided my body would appreciate the rest.

Hanover Liberty 10K Race Report

2009-07-05T18:44:00.000-07:00

I was in PA this weekend and planned on running a 10K to replace my tradition of running a local 5K. (I tried really hard to find a 5K, but had no success. In fact, we had to drive over 30 minutes just to run this one. I am spoiled living in such a running community.) The plan was for DH and I to run the 10K and my SIL was going to run the 2 miler with my two oldest. Well, DH got sick a few days before the race and bailed on me. (I actually really encouraged him to only run the 2 miler because he has a nasty head cold and I don't want him to get sicker.)

Anyway... back to the 10K. I wasn't feeling great. I was super tired and my legs were a bit jittery. I don't know what that was all about- it has never happened to me before. My plan was to not really race it but not jog it either. I was going to go out slow the first mile and then see how it went.

I was intimidated at the start when I saw only super fit people line up. I'd say there were probably about 70 people lined up. These are the two conversations I overheard:

Conversation #1
Man to lady who was sweaty: How far you running today?
Sweaty lady: 17- I just finished 10 and I'll use the race for my other 7.
me (in my head)- Are you crazy?

Conversation #2 as I was lining up toward the back of the starting blog
Man #1: What's your pace today?
Man #2: Oh, I'm running an 8 minute mile so you better get in front of me
Me (in my head, again- 2 thoughts): #1 I'm ahead of you both- What are you doing starting so far back? #2 I hope all those people ahead of me aren't running way faster than the two of you!

So, my first mile I tried to be slow. The problem was.. I have no idea where the first mile ended. There were no mile markers or timers on the whole course. I was a little frustrated with that. So, I just kept on running. The course was rolling. Parts of it were really pretty. It was warm but there was a good breeze at times. I passed some people the first few miles but was feeling pretty good. I walked the first water stop. Mostly because my throat was really dry and I wanted to make sure I got a good drink.

I'd say around half-way through we hit this really long hill. I mean REALLY long. It wasn't super steep, but it just kept on going. I really thought it wouldn't ever end. I'd say I was running up that hill for 7-8 minutes. Oh, and that wind that was cooling me off earlier? It was now in my face. I know I slowed down significantly.

After the hill we must have repeated the first part of the route because the rolling hills were back. I was looking for the next water stop, but it never came. I was really disappointed in that. Had I know that beforehand, I would have worn my bat belt. The only other thing that frustrated me was that I had no idea when the finish was coming. Volunteers on the course kept saying "You're almost there." when we really weren't. I walked a little bit more on a rolling section (again, my throat was super dry) and then just put one foot in front of the other. By the last mile there wasn't anyone running with me. I could see the person in front of me, but they weren't close, and there wasn't anyone close behind me either.

I could tell I was close when I saw our car and picked it up the last maybe quarter mile. I didn't think I'd be able to do that, but I always surprise myself. My time: 54:38. I didn't remember the time of my last 10K but now I know that's a PR (personal record). 8:48 minutes per mile.

Some reflections:
- I learned it's good not to always rely on time to gauge how you're doing. I had no idea where each mile started or ended and just ran to how I felt. I think it was a good thing.

- The 11 mile long run helped me with endurance, but I'm lacking speed. I knew that already but this race confirmed why you need to do long slow runs and speed work too. My quads are sore today and I know it's from lack of speed.

- I need to always bring my own water.

Yankees and more....

2009-06-20T04:48:00.000-07:00

Here are some highlights from my NYC trip....

I went out exploring BY MYSELF! I have it admit, it was awesome. I was so proud of myself. The only bad thing is that it was during a torrential downpour. I had an umbrella and a rain coat and I was still soaked. I stepped in two huge puddles and my left foot got soaked. So.. I wasn't out for as long as I'd hoped.

Thursday afternoon we spent 4 hours waiting through a Yankees rain delay. I was freezing and hungry and Kev didn't want to eat at the ballpark. After much deliberation (and calling friends and family to check the weather for me) we decided to leave. You need to know the Yankees have a policy that once you leave the stadium you can't get back in. Well, of course, it stopped raining and they played the game after almost 5 1/2 hours. We were bummed because our seats were awesome. However, I did not come to NYC to sit watching a baseball game for over 8 hours. We went back to our hotel room and watched it on TV. They lost.

Yesterday we decided to get my long run in. It was supposed to be today but weather.com was predicting 80% chance of rain. We headed to Central Park to do a 5.25 mile loop 2x. It started out overcast and very humid and the sun eventually came out. Kevin did the first loop with me but I was on my own for the second. It was really tough. I was soaked- completely. I ran the whole thing and it was such a good feeling to finish. The best part about that run was finishing it! I feel bad for the people on our subway car who had to smell us. On a side note- I got some very interesting looks on the way to Central Park because of my "bat belt" as Kevin calls it.
It was funny because I was thinking "Of all the strange things I've seen, you people think my fuel belt is weird?"

NYC

2009-06-18T05:45:00.000-07:00

I'm in The Big Apple for the weekend with my hubby. We got in yesterday and promptly went for a run in Central Park. 7 miles. It was actually more than 7 because we got into a disagreement over whether or not we were going the right way. I said we were, he said we weren't. Because I'm such a submissive wife, I agreed to do what he said and we ended up back out of the park. It turns out I was right after all.

Today it's pouring. I'm getting ready to head out to explore the city by myself. YIKES! I know Kevin will be proud of me though. We're supposed to go to a Yankees game this afternoon, but I have a feeling it will be cancelled due to rain.

I'm pretending to be a vegetarian for the weekend. I thought it would be fun. I tried to talk Kevin into joining me but he's not interested. This morning I had a spinach omlette (no, I"m not going vegan), and some yogurt with granola. I'm actually excited about it. My only question- do vegetarians eat seafood? I can't remember.

Biggest Loser Challenge

2009-06-04T18:10:00.000-07:00

I joined "The Biggest Loser Challenge" on sparkpeople.com. I first joined this website when I started training for the Princess Half. I've had between 10-15 pounds to lose for a while now and thought this might be the way to get it off. Today is the second day.

So far it has worked. Today I didn't want to get out of bed. In fact, I was planning on not getting up when the alarm went off at 5:10. With a little shove from my husband (okay, several little shoves), I got out of bed and stumbled to get ready. I was so tired I was dizzy. (My little one was up coughing late last night.) What really got me out of bed though, was my team and how I couldn't bail on them on only the second day. I still don't get the whole thing, but I do know I need to lose weight and the only way that's going to happen is if I get myself out of bed.

So, 30 minutes of swimming today. It seemed especially hard. The pool was long (50 m instead of 25). I was sweating when I was done! Sweating in water is pretty hard so I must have really been working. Tomorrow is strength training and this weekend is another 19 mile bike ride and a 5 mile run.

Time Trial Done

2009-06-03T08:35:00.001-07:00

I finished my 2 mile time trial in 16:28 which translates to an 8:14 mile. I'm happy. I could have run faster, but I'm still happy.

I showed up 25 minutes early to get a warm up run in. I was thinking maybe a mile and a half. As soon as I started running I knew I had to make a trip to the bathroom. (Those nerves!) Now, another quirk about me is that I refuse to go to the bathroom in a port-o-potty unless it's absolutely necessary. My gym is close to the track so I thought I'd just run there and run back in time. After going just a little way I realized it was further than I thought. So, I ran back to my car and drove to the gym. I headed back to the track with 12 minutes to spare. I saw everyone heading to the track so I did a 3 minute warm up and then headed over myself. I missed all the instructions and got there about 2 minutes before it started. I asked the lady next to me what I needed to know and she just said "Stay out of the fast people's way.". I can do that. Off I ran.

My pace was steady throughout. In fact, my first mile was 8:15. I really don't know how to pace myself for that distance, so I was being conservative. I sprinted the last eighth of a mile. I do know that at the end of a 2 mile race you should NOT be able to sprint at the end. Oh well, live and learn I guess. I'm excited to have this behind me and get my training program soon.

Marathon Training?

2009-06-02T16:35:00.000-07:00

I took the plunge and decided to officially sign up for our local marathon training program. I've been contemplating it for a while. I'm so afraid I'm going to get hurt in the process that I don't want to make it "official". Whatever, Lisa.

Tomorrow morning at 6:30 I have a two mile time trial at the local track. I've heard from someone who's done it that it's very official (they have a real time clock). I know I shouldn't be nervous but I wouldn't be me if I wasn't. I really have no idea what to expect. I can run an 8:35 pace for 3.1 miles- can I run an 8 minute mile for 2? My biggest fear is that I'll start out too fast and die at the end. Or else, start out too slow and be mad at myself because I could have run faster. It doesn't matter- at the end of it I'll be able to get a customized training program. I'd prefer it to be more conservative anyway, so it's probably better if I'm not too fast.

On another note- I biked 19 miles last weekend and got an 8 mile run in. My leg feels good, just a slight tightness that I'm keeping my eye on.

I won!

2009-05-13T05:49:00.000-07:00

The battle of getting out of bed and working out, that is.

After not working out Monday or Tuesday, (someone messed with my alarm clock this weekend and turned the volume all the way down which explains Monday. On Tuesday my little one was up at 5:30 AM!.) I made it to the gym today. It was a battle, though.

I was up until about 11:15 (Jackie, if you're reading this, I know that's way early for you!) watching The Biggest Loser. The alarm went off at 4:50 AM and I went over every excuse I had to not get up. Let's see: I'd be a better mom if I got more sleep, I could do an exercise DVD at home (yeah right!), I'm eating really well so I deserve a day off (another one!). I've listened to this voice so many times in the past few weeks.

I am so proud of myself because I just decided to get out of bed and do it. I went to the gym and ran 5 miles on the treadmill.

And I feel GREAT!

5k encouragement

2009-05-11T18:33:00.000-07:00

I ran a 5k this past weekend. I've run it three years in a row. I really like it. It's pretty small, but the best part about it is the prizes. They have local businesses donate gift certificates and things and then give them out to age group winners and as grab bags. I've won something every time I've run it.

My daughter ran it with my husband and she rocked! She won her age group (under 12) with a time of 27:55. That's an 8:59 pace and she didn't train at all! AMAZING! I was so proud of her.

Now back to me (isn't that what this blog is all about anyway?!) I was not prepared. I've been running 2x a week and still battling the calf injury (which interestingly has turned into more of a behind the knee injury). I played soccer a few weeks ago and I was sore for an entire week afterwards. I also pulled my quad. So, needless to say, I was not going for a PR in this race. I was thinking I could run about a 9 minute pace.

When we started I tried to keep an even pace. I knew we'd be getting our times at the first mile. I could also hear my husband and daughter right behind me with my husband saying to her "go get mommy! Pass her!". First mile 8:30 exactly. I had two thoughts the first being "that was too fast for me" and the second being "My daughter is going to crash and burn- that was way too fast for her!"

I tried to keep a steady pace for the next mile. I really don't know how to do that right now because I'm not running consistently. I used to know exactly what pace I ran based on how I feel, but not anymore. My mouth was very dry and I was going to get water, but when I got to the water stop they were out. Not permanently, just refilling. Oh well. Mile 2- exactly 17 minutes. I kept my 8:30 pace.

I told myself I only had 1.1 miles left, just 4 laps around the track. I was feeling pretty bad. My mouth was seriously dry and I was having a hard time swallowing. I was also wondering if I could keep up the pace. I started thinking about Jeff Galloway and his program of walking. I've read some discussions about it recently and know several people who use it. I wondered if it would be better for me to walk briefly and make up the time after getting some rest or just keep plugging away. I think once that thought entered my mind I was destined to walk. So- walk I did. It wasn't very long, but 4 people passed me in the short time. I walked just long enough to catch my breath and then started running again. There is a hill at the end and I caught 3 ladies on the hill. Two of them re passed me as we approached the finish. I knew it was too early for me to start sprinting so I just let them go. When I started my sprint I caught one but didn't get the other one.

I finished in 26:55. I was very happy. It's an 8:35 pace. No, I'm not just happy- I'm thrilled! I'm so shocked that I could do that being as untrained as I am. It really gives me motivation to push myself. I need to be careful with my leg, but there is potential.

To top off my great run, I placed first in my age group! Are you kidding me? It turns out the lady on the hill was in my age group and I passed her. I know I'm not all that because normally my time would not even come close to placing. I'm just thankful everyone in my age group decided to stay home. It's given me confidence and encouragement.

I'm 3 for 3 on the prizes!

Why do I always stray?

2009-05-11T18:26:00.000-07:00

This blog is therapy for me. Why do I always stop writing in it? I just re-read some old posts and realized there is so much between the last one and now. However, since I didn't write it down, I don't have the journey. I hate that. The whole purpose of this blog is to be able to look back and see the journey.

I can't complain too much though. Life is good. Busy, but good.

So, where am I now? Not in the place of being in a funk after the half, that's for sure. I'm back into my routine and have some fresh encouragement to keep me going. I'm eating super healthy and am trying to lose 10 pounds. I've lost 1 so far, but I'm doing it right. If it takes longer I'm okay with that.

I am going to try harder to write here. It's important for me to look back and see my struggles and accomplishments.

Lost my way

2009-04-02T10:14:00.000-07:00

When I got back from the Princess Half I completely fell apart. I stopped going to the gym and didn't work out at all. I was really frustrated, but could not get myself out of bed in the morning.

I've gone back to the gym two days this week and hope I'm on the road back. I've spent some time thinking about what happened (I seem to be doing that a lot lately!). I think most of it was just post race let-down. It was hard training for the half, not to mention the injury frustration. I think the whole Florida trip also exhaused me. My kids were sick almost the whole time and we came back on a Sunday. That was harder than I expected. (I just unpacked last weekend!).

I also think part of what makes me get up and go in the morning is having a goal. Right now, I have no goal. I'm doing the Iron Girl again in August, and I'm playing with the idea of running a marathon in the fall. I also got 12 sessions with a personal trainer for my birthday. I'm so psyched, but I haven't begun yet because my heart is just not into working out. I'm really trying to formulate a plan. I'm hoping that by the beginning of next week I'll have something written down and a new spring in my step.

My thoughts on success

2009-03-24T05:52:00.000-07:00

I posted this on my blog on sparkpeople.com on March 17th. Thought I'd put it here too- just so I can remind myself about the thoughts that were going through my head.

I can't believe it's been over a week since the race. I just got back from Florida on Sunday and am trying to get back into my routine. It hasn't been easy. My whole family has battled the flu these last few weeks (including my daughter throwing up in the car at 3am on the drive to FL!). So, even though Florida was our vacation- it wasn't the best we've ever had.

I have so many thoughts about the whole race experience and like others, feel like I could write a book. This was my first half and I have to say the most emotionally draining race I've done. When it was all said and done, the biggest thing I learned was how running is so mental. I've always know that, but never struggled with it quite so much before.

I was feeling great about the race until a week before when I injured my calf. I had set some lofty goals for myself and was really planning on pushing myself. I had to throw those goals out the window when I got hurt. This is where the mental battle began. "Would I still be successful if I didn't meet my goal"? As I got closer to the race and my calf didn't feel better my thoughts turned into "would I be a failure if I didn't finish"? I have another blog and the quote at the top of the page is by John Bingham: "The miracle isn't that I finished, it's that I had the courage to start." I love that quote, but I've never really thought too deeply about it. In the weeks before the race there were several of us struggling and this quote stayed with me.

I sent a lot of time thinking about what defines success. After some soul searching I realized that I don't agree with the Webster dictionary definition which is a "favorable or desired outcome". Well, my desired outcome was that I finish in a certain amount of time. Was I a failure if that didn't happen? I don't think so.

Here's what I think about success: It doesn't matter what time I finish in or if I walk or even if I finish at all. Not that I don't think you shouldn't set goals for yourself- it's what motivates me to push myself and define my limits. But what really matters is the that I try my hardest with whatever I have on that day. I am successful because I tried to do something that stretched me. I set a goal and trained for it and pushed myself. I got off the couch and committed to making my life healthier.

The success is in the process; it's in the trying; it's in having the courage to start.

Race Update

2009-03-16T08:47:00.000-07:00

Before I post my race report, I want to say I don't think I have compartmental syndrom anymore. I think something is wrong with my calf, but I think it's more like a strained or torn muscle.

Now that that's out of the way.... This is going to be long, but I want to include everything. I had such an emotional week going into the race- I want to remember everything.

I decided to stop running the week before the half to rest my calf. It really hurt. I also decided not to mess with it for the first few days to completely rest it. I was not encouraged driving down to Florida. It was still sore to the touch.

We arrived Wednesday afternoon and unpacked and swam. My kids had the flu and one of my daughters threw up in the car on the way. Not fun! Friday morning I went for a 3 mile run and it was terrible. My calf started hurting at 1 mile and I was just about in tears when I was done. How was I going to run 10 more? We went to the expo at noon and my emotions were all over the place. On a happy note- I bought a great running skirt and broke all the rules and wore it for the race. It felt great. I was planning on getting a "Stick" and the guy at the booth massaged my calf out for me. He said he could feel the knot in my calf and told me to keep working on it until the race. It actually felt better when he was done. I felt a little more encouraged after that. My mom also gave me some arthritis cream to put on it. At that point I was willing to try anything.

Friday night was the worst. I couldn't sleep because I was so anxious. My leg was throbbing even when I did nothing. I think I got a few hours of sleep at the maximum. We left the house at 6 for the 5K and kids races. They were at Epcot in the same place as the half would be. I saw the stands and finish line where I would be the next day. It made me super nervous. At the start of the 5K I had tears in my eyes. I think it was mostly because of my fear for the next day.

Everyone did great in the 5K and kids races. My two youngest daughters had the flu full force and the little one didn't want to run. I told her she wouldn't get a medal if I had to carry her and luckily, she agreed to run while holding my hand. It was sweet. We went back to my parents and swam and rested.

I got all my stuff together Saturday night and went to bed. My leg was feeling pretty good. The knot was still there, but barely. I started having hopes that I could finish. My husband was planning to taking all the girls to the race, but we decided to leave the little two home because they had fevers. It turned out they all stayed home because the big two were too tired to get up at 4:45 AM! My youngest woke up 4 times coughing that night. I tried very hard not to get mad at my husband who slept through it all.

Race day- I woke up at 4:15 and ate some summer oatmeal with peanut butter. I decided to skip my normal coffee. I got my bag and my husbands bag together and off we went. (I loaded my husband down with everything I might need- Body Glide, Body Glide Heat, BioFreeze, arthritis cream- I told him to be prepared to hand me anything at a seconds notice!). We got to Epcot around 5:45 and walked around a little. I realized I forgot to put Body Glide on my toes so off came the shoes and socks. He headed to the monorail after that and I started the long walk to the start line.

I met two frinds from sparkpeople there and it was great to talk to them. It really took my mind off the race. My strategy was to start out slow and see how it felt. I approached the race in three parts- two 5 milers and a 5K. If I was feeling good after 10 miles I would push the last 5K. It was dark and cold (relatively) outside and weird to start running in the dark.

My first mile was effortless. I had to weave around some people (walking at mile 1?). I forgot to press the split button on my watch, but I think it was around a 10+ minute mile. I felt good all the way to mile 9 when my calf cramped a little. By this time it was hot and sunny and I was facing the only hills on the course. (They're actually road ramps but they were pretty steep.) By mile 10 I knew I couldn't push the last 3 miles. I wasn't hurting, but I was content to keep the same pace. I saw that I could possibly finish in under 2 hours but I would have to run each mile at under a 9 minute pace. I had a hard time figuring out the last mile. It was twisty and I couldn't tell where the finish was. When I finally spotted it I sprinted. I was just shy of the 2 hour mark at 2:00:23.

At first I was disappointed, but then I realized what a miracle it was that I finished. I got teary when they put my medal round my neck- realizing how close I came to not making it. This was such an emotional race experience for me. I've had some time to reflect on the whole experience, but that wil have to be another post.

Highs and Lows

2009-03-01T07:53:00.000-08:00

I had the best run last week. I knew I should have posted about it right away. It was last Wednesday. I was scheduled to do an 8 mile run with 6 miles at an 8:27 pace. I decided to run an 8:40 just to mentally prepare myself for the race. Here's what I did: 1 mile warm-up/ 2 miles at 8:40, 1 mile at 8:32/ 1 mile at 8:27/ 1 mile at 8:32/ 1 mile starting at 8:32 but moving as fast as 8:20/ 1 mile cool-down.

I felt great afterwards! I was really encouraged that I'm ready for this race and able to meet my goal of running an 8:40 pace.

Now for the low..... my left calf started hurting on Thursday. I figured it was just from the hard workout. It felt like there was a knot in it. I massaged it and stretched it. It was still sore on Friday. Yesterday I ran 11 miles. I could feel the tightness right from the start but ran slow and steady. My calf cramped around mile 8- kind of like a charlie horse. Sort of like a burning sensation shooting up my leg. It only lasted a few seconds. I was able to run through it. It happened 2 more times. By the time I was done, I was very tired. I avereaged a 10 minute pace. When I got home I took a shower and then put Body Glide heat on it. I noticed a huge bruise on my calf. It doesn't really hurt when I touch it. I don't know if it was there before the run, or if the run caused it.

I'm somewhat panicking. I researched a little on line and I think I might have compartmental syndrome. Apparently it takes forever to get an accurate diagnosis. Well, I don't have forever! My race is a week from today and now I'm afraid I won't even be able to finish. I figure if my calf starts cramping around 8 miles, I've got 5 miles to deal with the pain. I'm not really that worried about the pain, I'm worried about the damage I might be doing to myself. If the run caused the bruising, what in the world is causing it?

Right now I figure all I can do is take the week completely off. I'm going to do deep tissue massage, take anti-inflamatiory drugs, eat bananas and start stretching in a few days. (oh yeah- and PRAY!) I'm okay with not finishing well, I'm just concerned about the long term damage.

5 workouts left!

2009-02-23T05:31:00.000-08:00

I really need to post here more often. I've actually posted on my board at Sparkpeople.com, but this one is just for me. I re-read my last post and a lot has happened since then.

First- shoes. What a saga that was. I tried the second pair out again and actually did fine with them and decided to keep them. I was feeling a little pressure from my DH (not intentional on his part), because the owner of the running store spent so much time with me. I figured they'd be fine. Well, I was wrong. The first time I took them on the road for a 4 mile run I got horrible shin splints on the opposite side of my leg that I usually do. It's the same type of pain I used to have when I started running. I went back to the store (on the owners day off- chicken!) and got the new version of my old shoes- Nike Structure Triax. I'm happy to report they are great. All shin pain is gone and I've had two long runs that went well. It sure is good to be beyone that.

I'm feeling pretty good about where I am right now. I'm really going to work on strengthing myself mentally. I've realized that's where I really struggle. I know I have my limits physically, but I feel like I don't even let myself get there because I psych myself out. I remember in field hockey we used to do this mental visualization which I thought was pretty silly at the time, but I'm going to try it now. If I can see myself finishing my race strong I know it will go a long way to getting myself to believe I can do it.

My last 5 workouts: Wed- 8 mile run- 6 miles at an 8:28 pace
Thurs- 2 miles at a 9:45 pace
Saturday- 11 miles at a 9:45 pace
Monday- 2 miles very easy
Wednesday- 5 miles- 3 at 8:30 pace
We leave for Floriday early Thursday morning and I'll probably go for a short slow run on Friday morning just to get used to the heat and stretch out my legs after a very long car ride.

Fear/Doubt

2009-02-08T16:50:00.000-08:00

What a difference a week (or so) makes. In my last post I was flying high from my successful speed workout. I wish I was still in that place. Right now I'd have to admit I'm full of fear and self-doubt. What has happened since then? a lot and a little.

I'm having issues with my calves again. It was manageable and I was stretching them regularly. I went to get new shoes last week and decided to ask if I should consider a new brand. I've been thinking about this for a while. It just doesn't make sense that all of a sudden the shoes aren't working for me. I've worn the same brand for over 6 years. I talked to the owner for a long time and he gave me two different shoes to try out- a more stabil pair and a cushoning pair. I learned right away the cushoning pair is not what I need- and really hurt my legs in the process. The stability pair was great- except that something about them makes my toes rub together. By the end of my 4.5 mile run my toes were bleeding. So... I'm back at where I started. Do I get new shoes or just stick with my old brand?? I'm going back in on Tuesday to make that decision. I wouldn't be so stressed, but my half marathon is 4 weeks from today. I don't want to be messing with my legs when I'm staring down 10 and 11 mile long runs on the weekends.

Speaking of long runs- I'm very much doubting my goal of running an 8:40 pace for my half marathon. I'm averaging about a 9:40 pace on my long runs. I'm not exactly killing myself and I'm running a very hilly course, but I can't imagine running that much faster. I've got to try really hard not to let my mind control my body here. I don't want to psych myself out of it before I even start! I've got 14 workouts left and I'm going to try my hardest to focus on my goal.

I won!

2009-01-29T05:28:00.000-08:00

I think my excitement for speed work yesterday was a tad premature. I was excited to push myself, but I forgot how hard it was going to be. Man, was it hard! I ran 7 miles total with 5 miles at a 8:27 pace. The first three speed miles were okay, but the last mile and a half was brutal! I had a really huge battle with my mind and body which were both telling me to stop. I really doubted whether I could do it. I kept having this conversation with myself telling myself that I needed to do it. If I stopped short of my goal I would doubt myself and be mad at myself. The last 1/4 miles was torture but.... I did it!

I felt so great when I finished. Well, actually, I felt horrible. I had a mile recovery and I had to walk the first few minutes. Let me change that. After I recovered, I felt awesome. I did it! I didn't give into my doubts or my body and I finished my speed work.

Now I'm ready for a nap.

looking forward to speedwork

2009-01-28T13:30:00.000-08:00

I know this sounds crazy... it is crazy. I can't help it though. I'm looking forward to my speedwork workout tomorrow. I've dreaded them during this whole training program-and tomorrow I'm not. Why you ask? I'm not exactly sure, but it seems my attitude to training has changed somehow. Part of it is the previously explained Biggest Loser insight to how your mind controls your body. Part of it is the fact that my husband has been out of town this week and I've missed 2 workouts.

I feel like I can do so much more than I give myself credit for. I limit myself so much by my thoughts (there's deeper spiritual insight there). I'm not a super confident person, but I feel like it's time to change that when it comes to running. I want to run a 1:53 half marathon. Who's to say I can't? If I want to do it- I can!

Tomorrow I'm supposed to run 7 miles- 5 at an 8:29 pace. I don't think I can do it- I know I can... and I'm going to!

kudos to Bob and Jillian

2009-01-24T16:00:00.000-08:00

Okay, a shout out to The Biggest Loser.... again. I am obsessed with that show. There are so many good things that come out of seeing people transform their lives. This season is SO much better then the last. Everyone gets along and is positive. It's great to watch. So, why did I pick the title of my blog?

A few weeks ago, Bob was struggling to get someone on his team to run for 30 seconds on the treadmill without stopping. He was so frustrated because everytime she got 10 seconds away she would stop. I've never seen Bob lose it like he did. Of course, Jillian and her team were watching. The woman eventually did it but Jillian made a comment that just stuck with me. She said the woman didn't believe in her mind that she could do it, so she couldn't. The next day on her weekly show recap she quesioned "What is your mind telling you that you can't do?"

I've really been thinking about how our minds are so powerful. What am I not doing because I think in my mind I can't? Relating to running- do I just think I can't run faster because I'm afraid to- or my mind is telling me I can't? I'm challenged to try to work past this. I've had a few hard workouts this week and everytime I'm tempted to stop because I think it's getting too hard; I fight my thoughts. It's really worked so far and I'm excited to see what happens. I've always known the mind is a powerful thing and that so many athletes use sports psychologists and I'm starting to understand the mind/performance connection a little better.

That's why it's called speedWORK!

2009-01-21T18:29:00.000-08:00

Whew! I did my speedwork workout this morning. I only got in 7 miles out of the 8 I was supposed to do because my husband had to leave early to go on a business trip. But let me tell you, I worked harder in those 7 miles than I thought possible. The end result: I was soaked and exhaused, but more encouraged than I've ever been.

Here's how the workout went: (I'm doing this more for my own purpose so I can look back on it and rmember what I did and actually see it really happened.) I warmed up for a mile at a 9:23 pace. I was really unsure if I could run a mile at a 7:51 pace and decided to work myself up to it. Speed mile #1 at 8:13 pace. I felt pretty good and did a 1/2 mile recovery. Speed mile #2 started at an 8:06 pace and I decided to run the last 1/4 mile at a 8 min pace. Again, I was pretty tired and took my recovery 1/2 mile at a 9:30 pace. I decided that I could run a mile at an 8 mile pace. Speed mile #3 started at an 8 mile pace and I ran the last maybe 1/8 of a mile at a 7:53 pace. Okay, when I was done, I thought I might fall off the treadmill. I even slowed it down to a walk for a few minutes. After speeding back up to a run I had a little conversation (more like battle) with myself. I knew I was running out of time and was temped to just jog the last mile of my workout and stop at 6.5 miles. I also know I'm obsessive about my workouts and would feel like I failed if I didn't do the whole speed session. So, speed mile #4 looked like this: first 1/4 at 8:24, second 1/4 at 8:13, third 1/4 mile at 8:06 and last 1/4 mile at 8:00. I finished with a 1/2 mile recovery.

No, I didn't do 4 miles at a 7:51 pace, but I ran faster than I ever have. I actually ran a whole mile at lower than an 8 minute mile. More importantly, I pushed myself to places I've never been. I battled my mind, and I won. I didn't give up when things got tough and pushed myself harder than I thought I could.

another one bites the dust

2009-01-18T16:37:00.000-08:00

I made it through my treadmill workout! I'm so psyched. It was one of the hardest workouts I've ever done- and I was sore the next day. I tried not to be intimidated by the 8:28 pace I was supposed to keep over 5 miles. I started out at a 8:40 pace and kept increasing my speed each mile. I ended at an 8:27 pace. I didn't exactly do what I was supposed to, but I was happy with the effort.

Today's challenge was a 9 mile run. I was dreading it, but it too was good. My pace was 9:50 per mile and my goal was 9:51. Perfect. BTW- these aren't just random time goals. I'm following a half marathon training program from Runner's World. Each day has a distance to run and a pace to run it at. My next run is a slow 2 mile run. However, on Wednesday I have a 8 mile speedwork workout. 4x1600 at a 7:51 pace (ha, ha) with 800 jogs in between. Go luck to me!

I am getting excited though. 7 weeks from today I'll be running my half marathon. I'm encouraged by today's run.

New Year

2009-01-14T17:28:00.000-08:00

Wow, I just re-read my old posts and wish I hadn't taken such a long break. It's good to go back and read about what my workouts were like and what I was going through. I can't believe it's been over three months since I've posted anything. Let's see, I've run a 10K and a Turkey Trot and am less than 8 weeks away from my half marathon. I'm scheduled to run 9 miles this weekend. The 10K was great considering I wasn't trained for it. The Turkey Trot (8K) was awesome- I averaged an 8:33 pace which is great for me!

Right now I'm kind of stuck in the doldrums of winter training. It's cold and I don't like to run in the cold- especially 9 miles. Tomorrow morning I'm facing 7 miles on a treadmill with speedwork thrown in. I'm afraid I won't be able to get all my miles in before getting kicked off the treadmill. (There's a 30 minute time limit.) The gym was packed with people and their New Year Resolutions so, I'll have to see.

My leg has been acting up which is my biggest concern. It was super sore last week. Fortunately it was my recovery week so I took a day off and just had two four mile runs to do. It doesn't hurt at all now, but I have a 20 mile week this week and a 21 mile week next week. I hope it holds up.

I'm excited for the race, but at the moment I can't fathom running 13.1 miles. It seems so long! After my last 8 mile run I was beat and I couldn't help wondering if I could possibly do another 5. I have to say the answer was a resounding "NO!"

Iron Girl x2

2008-10-19T05:11:00.000-07:00

I'm officially signed up to do the IronGirl Columbia next August. I was surfing the internet last night and decided to check out the website. To my surprise, not only was registration open, but it was getting full. There were over 100 M's registered! I panicked slightly and contemplated waking up my husband to see if I should register then and there. I decided to take my chances and see if it was still open today.

Well it is, and I'm registered. I'm excited to train again (this time I won't start so early) and improve my time. Now I have two goals, the half marathon and the tri.

Week one down

2008-10-18T18:38:00.001-07:00

I'm done with week one of my training. I'm not blogging to say that. I'm actually writing to laugh at myself. I ran 5 miles today. The run started off really well. It was cold outside, but I warmed up quickly. I had no time goals, I just needed to get 5 miles in. Around mile 2 1/2 of an out an back course, I remember thinking how well the run was going and I was having one of those days when I feel like I can run forever. I haven't had one of those in a long time. I thought, "I wonder if I'll actually run further", which led to "I wonder how far I can run?".

Where's the laughing at myself part of that, you ask? Well it came of the back side of the out and back. The reason I was having such a great run is because the wind was at my back on the way out. Needless to say, the run wasn't as effortless on the way back. I chuckled to myself as the wind hit me in the face. And no, I didn't run any further than five miles.

day one down

2008-10-14T05:35:00.001-07:00

I went to the gym at 5:30 this morning and ran 3 miles. Just like I was supposed to. I forgot my ipod which really irritates me. I can't log in my miles manually so it says I'm three miles behind on my training log. For a exercise control freak like me, that's annoying. Oh well, I'll consider it therapy.

Now that I've exercised, I need to get control of my eating. I'm off to a good start. I usually fall apart mid-afternoon so I'll try my best to get through that.

back on the wagon?

2008-10-13T13:10:00.001-07:00

I have been undisciplined, unmotivated and discouraged for the past month. I haven't exercised much and have struggled with how to get back into it. I wonder if it's post triathlon blues? Really. I worked so hard for so long and then didn't have any goals. I just fell apart. I think (hope) I'm finally ready to get back on the exercise wagon.

I downloaded a 10K training program from Nike.com. I can track my progress using my iPod. Tomorrow it officially starts. I run 3 miles. This weekend it's 5. It takes me through January and I'll max out at 8 miles. That gives me 7 weeks to jump to 13 before my half-marathon. It may not be enough time. I'll have to see how it goes.

I did The Biggest Loser workout this afternoon. It was hard. I'm out of shape. It's discouraging how quickly it happens. A few weeks ago I was in great shape and now I'm back to mush. Wouldn't it be nice if once you got there, you stayed there? In my dreams. I sound like a whiner. Where is Jillian to kick my whiney butt? She would too. I know she'd probably make me cry like a baby and make my body do things it can't. It would be good for me though; that is, after I stop crying and can walk again.

All signed up!

2008-10-02T04:21:00.000-07:00

I'm officially signed up for the half marathon. I'm excited! I've also joined a group at sparkpeople.com of women who are also running it. I'm hoping it will motivate me to lose those 10 (now 15) pounds I've been struggling with.

I'm running a 5K this weekend at my 20th high school reunion. Just typing that feels weird. How did 20 years go by so quickly? I don't feel that old! Sometimes when I catch a glimpse of myself at the right angle I look that old, but most of the time I'm in denial and think I still look pretty young. Well, I'm not trained for the 5K (I'm noticing a pattern here.) It's on the cross country course which I think means it will be a little harder than running on the road. But, on the positive side; it's better for my legs. I think I've run maybe 4 times since the 10K and gained 5 pounds. Should be interesting...

from Iron Girl to Princess?!!

2008-09-14T14:36:00.000-07:00

Oh, I crack myself up. I am an obsessed person in need of some serious help. So this is what happened.... I got my latest issue of Runner's World and I'm looking through it when an advertisement catches my eye. It's the Inagural Disney Princess Half Marathon. It just happens to be when our family goes to Florida every year. There's a Family 5K and various kids races. How perfect. I've been searching for a new goal and this fits perfectly. Okay, I'm officially training for a half marathon in March.

As I'm reading through the information on the website, I happen upon the part that says if you can't prove you can finish the race in under 2 hours and 45 minutes you get placed in the last corral. Well, I can finish it in under that time (that's a 13:30 minute pace). What do I need to do to prove it? They accept any race results of a 10K or higher dating back to 2006. What, 2006? Not 2002?! I ran a 10 mile race and marathon in 2002, but haven't even come close since. What am I going to do? I don't want to start in the last corral!

When I was training for my triathlon I thought about doing a 10K to support Special Olympics. After my hard recovery and lack of motivation I wrote about in my last post, I decided not to. I've only run 3x since the Women's 4 miler and I don't race unless I feel like I can do my best. Well, guess who just went against all her own rules? Yup, me. On Saturday morning I was lining up with 400+ people to run a 10K (6.2 miles) that I wan't exactly trained for.

I was so pleasntly surprised by my results. I ran it in 54:58 which comes out to a 8:52 minute pace. I was thinking I could run it in about a 10 minute pace so I'm really happy. I also ran the race really smart. My first mile was 9:18 and I picked it up from there. My last mile was very tough, but I pushed myself at the end.

So, I'm a woman with a goal once again. I'd like to drop 10 pounds before March because I think it will help my running immensely. I feel much better.

Recovery

2008-09-12T06:32:00.000-07:00

It's been three weeks since the race and I've sturggled a little with focus and motivation. I guess that's natural after training for so long. I ran a 4 mile race with my oldest daughter the week after the tri. She did great! I was so proud of her. Her goal was to run the whole thing without walking which she did without a problem. She was able to really pick up the pace at the end and had a great kick through the finish. Way to go Bailee!

I was wiped out after the race and actually sore. I didn't push myself so I was confused. I think it was still from the tri. I took the week off after straining my hamstring doing a workout video with my husband (that's a whole different post!). I've been semi working out ever since. I just can't seem to pull myself out of bed in the morning. I think I just need something to work towards.

Anyway, I've been thinking about the triathlon and how poorly I did on the bike. I'm really mad at myself. What I didn't mention in my first post was how much my seat hurt during the race. I knew it wasn't the most comfortable seat, but WOW I was in pain! My bottom hurt so much that I was almost in tears by the end. I was in pain for several days afterwards. I know that was a factor. I need a new seat! I haven't ridden my bike since the race and I won't until I get a new seat.

That's where I am right now. Recovery and searching for something new.

It's official- I'm an IRON GIRL!

2008-08-24T17:30:00.000-07:00

I did it! I finished my first triathlon! I'm exhausted (not just from the race but from driving 6+ hours afterwards), but I feel good. I felt really good after the race, both physically and emotionally. I've had a lot of time to think about it, but I'll share my initial thoughts first.

My overall feeling before the race was fear and nervousness. I woke up at 2:30 am this morning and couldn't get back to sleep. Surprisingly, I was able to eat something but my stomach was a mess. I knew rationally that I could do it, I just couldn't shake the doubts. I had a great support group at the race; not only Kevin, but friends from home and family. It was great to have them there. I felt very loved.

My swim wave went off at 7:21 and it was so hard to get ready for that. I fought back tears as I went to get in line with my age group. I tried so hard not to cry. I just knew that at that point there was no going back and I was going to have to face my fears. I actually laughed at myself, but I still couldn't help it. Once I got swimming I was fine. I did way more freestyle than in the practice. I still did a fair share of breaststroke but I was okay with that. It was way less crowded which was a huge help. I struggled getting out of the water and going to my bike. I was tired and feeling a little queasy. I didn't go as fast as I could have, I was just concentrating on getting myself together.

Transition #1 was slow. I messed up cleaning off my feet and had to do it 2x. I also didn't tighten my bike shoes enough so I had to stop and do that too. I clipped on without a problem and off I went.

The theme of the bike was getting passed. I got passed my a lot. I had some fears to conquer on the bike and I think I did that. I was very afraid of riding in traffic and passing people but got more comfortable as the ride went on. I was also afraid of switching gears from high to low because I've had a problem of dropping my chain doing this. Even though I had my bike looked at and the problem fixed before the tri, I didn't ride it enough beforehand to be comfortable at the race. I spent the first 10 miles of the bike on my small gear which means I paid for it in speed on the downhills. I was hoping to get my bike time to about an hour and 5 minutes. Didn't happen but I feel like under the circumstances, I can't ask for more. The other thing I need to work on is drinking on the bike. I didn't get in enough fluids because I'm not comfortable drinking while I petal. Another thing to work on.

Transition #2 was great. I had a great spot right to the side of the bike entrance and it made a huge difference in my time. I felt pretty good. My calves cramped a little and my legs were tired, but overall things were good.

I was dreading the hills of the run and just tried to keep and even pace. I passed tons of people in my age group. I was thinking "You may have passed me on the bike but who's passing who now!". The hills were hard, but I slugged through them. I picked up the pace a little near the end and sprinted to the finish. I had way too much left at the end. I guess I should have pushed a little harder, but again, I'm just happy I finished strong.

My overall feeling at the end was relief. I'm happy that I finished, and feel like I did well, especially since it was my first time, but mostly I'm just glad the pressure's off. I felt so much pressure leading up to this event and I'm so happy to be done.

I left feeling like I'd like to do it again. Kevin asked me if I liked it. I wouldn't say liked. It was definitely hard, but I liked the challenge. I liked that it pushed me to try new things and train in a way I've never done before. I think Iron Girl Columbia may be seeing me again next year.

practice tri

2008-08-20T07:12:00.000-07:00

Well, I haven't posted in forever. Mostly because I've been so discouraged from the practice tri. It's not that it was absolutely horrible; just harder than I thought. I'm 3 days away from the real thing. I can't believe it's finally here. I've struggled with motivation these past three weeks. Combine that with a week at the beach and a kitchen remodel- needless to say, it's been hard.

But back to the practice tri. I got to Columbia at around 10pm Thursday night. Traffic was really heavy, and I didn't know where I was going. I got settled and went to bed. I had a really nice room and was temped to skip the whole practice tri and spend the day by myself in my room. I woke up at 4:50 to get to Centennial Park by 7. I was really nervous and couldn't really stomach my oatmeal. You have to understand, I'm not comfortable doing new things by myself. It's way out of my comfort zone. The fact that I drove to MD by myself, stayed in a hotel by myself and went to the start of the practice event by myself is huge! I struggle with feeling of inferiority and I had to fight them.

I'd say there were about 500 women there. At around 7:30 they started the swim. I was one of the last waves to go (based on age). They were giving the waves a 3 minute separation, but by the time they got to me they just sent everyone. The swim was good and bad. Good in that I didn't freak out swimming in open water. I didn't think I would as I've spend many summers swimming at a lake. What wasn't good was that I couldn't get into a rhythm at all. Every time I tried to do freestyle I either ran into someone or was run into. Now, I'm not a straight swimmer and really rely on the lines at the bottom of the pool. I know it's going to be a struggle for me to stay straight. However, I did breast stroke about 75% if the time. That's just not acceptable. It took me 26 minutes to do 800M. The race is 1100M. Not good. I was also a little wobbly when I got out of the water which I didn't like. I'm sure my breathing wasn't regular.

I tried as fast as I could to have a quick transition which I did. I put on my shoes and socks and took a swig of water and off I went. I thought I heard there's be water on the course. It turned out there wasn't. Had I know that I would have brought some with me. I was really hurting as it was very hot. The run was more discouraging than the swim! I couldn't believe how hilly it was. I wasn't expecting it, so in that case it's probably good I ran it before hand. I was exhausted afterwards (I ran about a 9:30 pace) and all I could think was that I hadn't even biked yet.

I brought my bike but didn't think I would do the course. It was so late by the time I finished the run (and so hot), I decided to drive it in my car. It's also on a very busy road and on a Friday I didn't feel safe riding it. I'm glad I didn't. When I drove it in my car, I saw that there's very little shoulder and traffic was very heavy. There were women riding it, but I'm glad I wasn't one of them. There are two big hills but nothing I don't see here. I think I'll be okay. I just have to figure out how hard to go in order to save my legs for the run. One of the things that disappointed me during my trial tri here was that my bike was so slow. I thought I could do the distance in a little over an hour and it took me more than an hour and 15 minutes. I'm not sure what to expect race day.

After the drive I headed back to the hotel to shower and nap. I was really tired from not being able to sleep the night before. When I took my tri suit off there was green lake grass underneath. Gross. I had it on my goggles during the swim and it was pretty thick during the swim. Yuck! My feet were also soaked from the water dripping down after the swim. I felt the squishing during the run. I hope that won't happen during the race as I'll be biking before I run. I showered and passed out for about 30 minutes and then headed home.

In the time I've had to think about my experience, Ive realized it was good to go. I think I had some unrealistic expectations about the tri and I'll be happy just to finish. I've really struggled getting myself motivated to keep up the level of training. I'm ready though. I need to remind myself that I am and I can do this!

Thoughts

2008-07-30T07:16:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's been so long since I've posted. I've kind of been in a rut. I've done all (almost) my workouts and feel like I'm just going through the motions a little bit. I was mildly sick for almost 10 days (stomach). It was weird, I worked out in the morning and felt mostly fine but by mid-afternoon my stomach cramped. Every day for almost 10 days. I'm pretty sure it's related to being on the pill which I'm on short term. We'll see what happens this month. I'm better now though, and so thankful. It's amazing how when I get sick I realize how much I take my health for granted. Thank you God, for each and every day you've given me.

I leave tomorrow for the trial tri. If I'm honest with myself, I'm terrified. When I get through the swim I'll feel so much better. I just read an article last night about several triathletes who've died during the swim this year. I shouldn't have read it. I'm not really worried about it, but I don't need any doubts right now. On a happier note, this morning I got positive feedback on my swimming. There are some hard-core swimmers at the pool where I swim. About a month ago, one gave me some tips on my kick, which is really bad. Another one today commented that my stroke is much better and I'm swimming faster. He also had a few additional tips for me. I've been working so hard on my kick. It's nice to know it's making a difference. I'll try to incorporate his tips in the next few weeks to see if it makes a difference.

I'll post Friday or Saturday after I finish my trial tri.

forced rest

2008-07-14T13:18:00.000-07:00

I've been taking the past few days off... I pulled my hamstring. I'm not sure how I did it. I think it was last Tuesday. I was feeling especially tired on my way to the gym but did a Jillian workout and then ran. I struggled through the whole thing and by the evening my hamstring was very sore. Wednesday was even worse, but I swam anyway. I took Thursday and Friday off. Saturday I woke up with a headache so I didn't bike. However, Kevin and I went mountain biking Saturday (thanks, Barbara) and I had a killer workout. I wiped out once and had some trouble with Kevin's bike. It wouldn't shift to the easiest gears. I almost didn't make it up a few hills, but I figured it was a better workout in the long run. Yesterday I ran 4 miles and today I swam and biked and then ran with Bailee (while pushing the double jogging stroller!). So.... I guess I'm back on track.

I made my hotel reservation for the trial run on August 1st. I'm going to go by myself which should be interesting. It's starting to seem real to me. I have a little less than six weeks left. In a way that's a long time, but I also know it will fly by. I feel really good about my bike workout today. It was on the indoor trainer (which I can't stand!) and I really pushed myself. I've got to get that bike time down. Tomorrow I'm going to do some core work and run on the treadmill and try a tempo run. I'm giving up Jillian for the time being. I think it's just too much stress on my already fatigued muscles.

I DID IT!

2008-07-04T11:31:00.001-07:00

It's done. I did my first unofficial triathlon. I am very tired, but nothing hurts and I am encouraged.

I woke up at 5 and headed to the pool for my 40 laps. I can't believe how well it went. I was not tired afterward and not dizzy or lightheaded. My time was 26:43. Not awesome but better than I hoped for. I left the pool very encouraged and feeling great. Off to the bike.

I was a little intimidated by the bike when I mapped my route yesterday. It's way longer than I've ridden. I had a time in my head that I thought I could ride in. Lets just say I didn't come close. I finished the bike in 1:16. I was surprised that I struggled so much. It's not that I felt horrible but I didn't push myself very hard because I was afraid of over working my legs for the run. I definitely need to work on the bike. I'm not discouraged though, I have 7 weeks to train and that's plenty of time. Now for the worst part...

Oh my legs were tired for the run. So much for trying to save my legs. I was exhausted. I was trying to keep my focus mentally, but it was hard. I thought going into it that my legs would feel better as the run went on. They did periodically, but overall they were just tired. Another area I need to work on. My time was 32:17 which translates to a 9:31 minute per mile. I hope I can run much faster on race day.

When I was done, I was exhausted. In fact, I'm off to get a nap soon. I feel so empowered. I know I can do it. I am so glad I did the whole thing because now I know where I need to work. I've got some serious work to do on the bike and the transition to run. I've spent so much time on the swim that I've neglected the other areas. 7 weeks tomorrow and counting.

Brick!

2008-07-03T11:00:00.001-07:00

Here's the plan for tomorrow. 5:30 AM- swim for 30 minutes. Rush home and hit the bike by 6:15 for a 30 minute ride. Rush to a 5K that starts at 7:30 and register and run.

It's my first official "brick". It should be interesting. I'm hoping to get a nap today to prepare and also hydrate myself. I'm nervous (mostly because there's not a lot of time to get from one point to the next), but excited. I'll try to post tomorrow before we head off camping for the weekend.

It's 10PM and I have a much better idea for tomorrow. I'm going to bag the 5k. First I'll start off swimming my total distance- no pressure on the time. Then I'll bike the full 17 miles (I measured it by car today and it's an awfully long way!). I'll finish with a 3.4 mile run. I save myself $25 and can take my time getting through each element. Good luck to me.

time predictions

2008-06-27T03:40:00.000-07:00

The more I write in this blog, the more I realize how quirky I am. It's not a good thing. I've spent a lot of time thinking about my goal for my triathlon. I actually have three goals (time-wise). Of course, I know that for every race you should have a goal to do your best and have a good time. (bla, bla, bla..) Now, going past that, I always have three goals. The first is the "This is what I really want my time to be, but it may not be realistic" goal. The second is "I'll still be happy if I get this time" goal. And the third is "Not my best race but still respectable" goal. I do it for every race. I guess it's a way of protecting myself from failing. I usually fall in the second category which I guess is good. I rarely meet my highest goal, but I also rarely get my lowest one.

It's hard to predict my triathlon time because I've never done one. You'd think that would stop me from trying. I know I should go into it with the goal of having a good time. I do want to have a good time, but I also think that having a bigger goal gives me something to push for. I remember when I ran my first marathon I was told by most people not to have a time goal and that just finishing should be enough. The director of the training group I was in wanted us to have a goal, in fact he sat down with each of us to go over our goals. If you went into the meeting without a time goal, he made sure you left with one. I completely agree with him. Again, I had three goals and I met the middle one. I had to push myself to meet that goal and I know I would be disappointed overall if I just wanted to finish. There would always be the question of "Could I have done better?". Having the goals I did, I know I did my best.

I'm not going to put my time goals in print because it's too scary, especially given the fact that I don't know what I'm getting myself into. They might be way off. But, for better or worse, they're there and I hope to at least meet my middle goal.

Playlists

2008-06-22T18:12:00.001-07:00

This is a post I've thought about before but just haven't found the time to write.

I'm obsessed with playlists.

Hi, my name is Lisa, and I'm obsessed with playlists. It's not so much the playlist itself but finding the perfect music to match my running. I can remember as early as highschool trying to create the perfect playlist. I need slow songs at the right time and fast songs to get me going when I need it most. It's a hard thing to do. Believe me, I have tons of old tapes to prove that I've tried. I actually enjoy listening to my old efforts. They make me laugh.

I got an iPod for Christmas and it has not helped the obsession. My playlist called "Lisa Run" has 38 songs on it. That's a pretty long run. I've never listened to the whole thing on one run. Then there's my "Country Run" mix which only has 16 songs. I have a partial "Christian Run". It's not complete yet. I haven't found the perfect combo on any of them. I think it's because it doesn't exsist. When I run (or now bike on my indoor trainer), I need a different mix depending on my mood and type of workout I'm doing. There's no way I can find a mix that captures each mood. Let me say that I've been partially sucessful, so at least I'm getting somewhere.

So, I know you're thinking, "She's wasting her time. Why is she so obsessed?". The answer has two parts. Firstly, it's fun. I love to find songs that I love and put them together. Secondly, because when it works, IT REALLY WORKS! There's nothing better than running to the perfect song that helps me get through a workout.

Here are some examples from my playlists:

Your Love is Better than Life- Newsboys
Voice of Truth- Casting Crowns
I'm So Excited- Pointer Sisters (Jackie stop laughing!)
Punp It- Black Eyed Peas (lyrics aren't great)
Cotton Eyed Joe-Scatman John (there's a better version out there)
Over You- Daughtry

There's just a sample. Kevin just made an 80's mix so I know my list will soon be getting longer. I've wasted countless hours surfing websites with running mixes. They even have them on iTunes. None of them fit my criteria.

I know what I'll do... When I finally make the perfect mix, I'll sell it and make millions of dollars.

trisuit and more in NYC

2008-06-20T06:51:00.000-07:00

I am in NYC with Kevin for a mini-vacation. While we're here I thought I'd try to get some workouts in. I did horribly last week as Kevin was away and my sister was visiting. I actually freaked out for the first time and had some doubts as to whether or not I can do this. I went six days without doing anything and then when I had to do a long run, I completely lost my confidence. It's amazing how fast I lost my fitness, at least I thought I did.

Anyway, here I am in NYC and I did a spin class today and also ran. Yesterday I did some core work and tomorrow I'm running. It's been a productive time.

The highlight of this trip (or you'll see soon, the low point) was that I bought my outfit for the triathlon. We went to a tri store called SBR. I really struggled with what to wear and knew I needed to try on some stuff. I must have tried on at least 10 different things and let me say it was quite humbling. There wasn't a mirror so I depended on Kevin to let me know how things looked. Let me say, I didn't need a mirror to figure out things weren't looking too good. Have you ever tried on a one piece TIGHT spandex outfit? It is not a fun experience. I did end up buying one, and it's motivated me big time to work on my weight, (specifially my stomach). I'm going to embarass myself if I don't do something. I've really learned about my issues with body image and how I thought I looked a certain way and don't. (That's a whole other post.)

So, I'm officially ready. I have 10 weeks of training left (maybe nine?) and I'm scared. I'm hoping if I put the time in and stick to the schedule things will be okay.

Open Water Swim

2008-06-04T18:25:00.000-07:00

Last weekend my family went camping at Sherando Lake. My girls love to swim so we knew we'd be spending time at the lake. I thought I'd bring my suit and goggles in case I wanted to try an open water swim.

Friday afternoon I did just that. At least, I think it might have passed for a form of swimming. Now, I've read that if you're planning on doing a triathlon with an open water swim it's imperative to try it beforehand because it's much different than swimming in a pool. I understood that in my mind but really thought it couldn't be that much different. I also assumed I wouldn't have any open water JAWS type issues. I swam in a lake every summer at camp and it never bothered me. I didn't think swimming a triathlon in a lake wouldn't really effect me but thought since there was one sitting right in front of me, it wouldn't hurt to give it a try.

I couldn't believe how hard it was. First of all, I couldn't swim straight. I sighted every 4 or so strokes but if I went any further, I was way off to the right. i was laughing to myself (and later on found out my husband was also laughing on shore) when I'd look up to see how off course I was. Then I'd have to swim back to where I was supposed to be. I didn't freak out in the water, but definitely didn't like it. I was afraid to put my feet down even when I know I could touch. My heart rate was elevated throughout the swim and I fatigued much more quickly than I thought I would. I was disappointed that after swimming what felt like forever, it was less than 20 minutes. I have no idea how far I swam but know it wasn't close to what my race will be. When I got out of the water and walked up the beach I was lightheaded and dizzy. I could barely walk, let alone run 3.4 miles!

Initially I was very discouraged. I know my swim is weak- very weak, but I didn't think it would be THAT bad. I was most concerned that I couldn't keep up freestyle and had to go to breaststroke so quickly and that I was so dizzy at the end. I was kind of down the rest of the weekend and really wondered about my ability to do this tri. I've kind of thought all along that if I had to do the race today I could. It wouldn't be pretty but I could do it. I started thinking maybe I was wrong and this is going to be much harder than I anticipated.

I've had a few days to really ponder and soul search and am feeling better. I know my swim is weak and have to realize I just started my official training. This is the first week I've swam 2x a week and I'll be doing that from here on in. I know why I was dizzy- my breathing wasn't correct and I was holding my breath instead of blowing it out underwater. I think this had huge impact. I swam for 26 minutes today and even though I had to stop a few times, I felt much better when I got out of the water.

I have a little more than 11 weeks until my race and have plenty of time to work on the swim. I'm thankful I had the opportunity to try an open water swim so I don't take it for granted on race day.

One more day

2008-05-19T16:30:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is my last day of "Making the Cut" round 2. I haven't been as faithful this round (I probably missed 5 days). I also stopped doing the circuits twice. I wasn't getting stronger, just feeling fatigued and run down. On Wednesday I start my official triathlon training. I have 96 days left until my race. In a way, it feels like a long time; but on the other hand, the way time flies in my life, it's not long at all.

I ended up running the 5K a few weeks ago, and just as I predicted, I didn't do as well. My legs were heavy and I knew from the first mile I was in trouble. My first mile time was 8:40- not what I wanted it to be. The funny thing is I felt like I was really pushing myself. My official time was 26:19 which translates to a 8:28 mile. It's still under 8:30 so I can't be that disappointed. My plan is to stick with the triathlon training for the next few weeks and throw in a 5K on the 4th of July. It's a really hilly course and usually very humid. Last year my pace was 8:30 so I hope to do at least that this year. I don't know if my legs will be tired. I overheard someone at my last race talking about how biking really messes up your legs for running. I guess that explains why the transition from bike to run in a triathlon is supposed to be the hardest.

Speaking of that- I did my first "brick" this past weekend. I biked about 25 minutes and then ran a little over 2 miles. It was a very weird feeling. I read that it's good to run after every bike ride to get your legs used to the transition. I'm going to try doing just that.

Race Results- Thank you Jillian!

2008-05-02T04:33:00.000-07:00

I finally saw my race results for the 5K I did last month. I had just finished Jillian Michaels 30 day Making the Cut program and wanted to see if I was stronger. I ran 2x a week during her program and my goal was to run somewhere around an 8:30 pace. (Last year my pace for the Women's 4 miler was exactly 8:30 and I was running 3-4 times a week). Anyway, my time was 25:58 which translates to an 8:21 pace. WOW! I am so psyched!

I am a believer in Jillian. (Not that I wasn't before.) I haven't lost a significant amount of weight (5 pounds), but am much stronger and toned. I'm running another 5K next weekend and am afraid it won't be quite so good. I'm in the middle of doing her 30 day program again (day 12) and my body is tired. Plus, I'm doing the circuits twice instead of once. I think I'll probably be fatigued when I run. I probably shouldn't run it, but they have great grab bag prizes at the end and last year I won something. A friend suggested I just run it for fun and not worry about time. Anyone who knows me at all, knows that it's impossible for me to do that. I don't have the ability to restrain myself in a race. Never have and never will.

Last April Post- I'll do better next month

2008-04-29T18:15:00.001-07:00

I'm off to swim again tomorrow. I'm looking forward to it. Last week I swam for 30 minutes and then hit the jacuzzi. It was awesome! Jillian is still kicking my butt. I'm doing the circuits twice and it's exhausting, but it feels so good when I'm done. After being pretty sore last week, I'm not sore at all so far this week (it's only Tuesday!).

I'm trying to learn more about the swim stroke and also RODE MY BIKE FOR THE FIRST TIME this weekend! It was great. I really enjoyed it. I think it was a huge day for me because I was so scared I would crash or get hit by a car. (That's a whole other post.)

Anyway, three posts for April is pathetic. I will do better.

swim update

2008-04-24T05:05:00.001-07:00

I survived the swim clinic. It was okay, not great. I didn't get as much one on one attention as I wanted. There were about 15 people there who all seemed to be great swimmers. I admit, I was a little intimidated. I was thinking that there was definitely a time in my life when I would never have attempted to do what I did. I am so introverted that to walk into a place where I don't know anyone in somewhat paralyzing. A few years ago I never would have attempted it. Not a chance. How sad. I was anxious, but much improved from the past.

I learned a lot about stroke mechanics and also found out my kick stinks. I've got a long way to go. I've reflected on a few things in the past days. First- I wish I was on a swim team as a child. My girls are and they are great swimmers. They have great form which will stay with them forever. The guy at the clinic said it's going to be really hard for me to unlearn my kick because it's so ingrained. My girls don't know how lucky they are. Second- when I first got out of the clinic, I was discouraged. I thought about taking swim lessons and how bad I am. I reminded myself that I'm doing a sprint tri. We're not talking Ironman here. I don't need to stress about my swim stroke. Sure, I want to get better, but I think my initial reaction was a little extreme. Reminder to self: I'm in this for the fun.

I'm back!

2008-04-22T11:12:00.000-07:00

It is my intent to keep this blog up to date- mostly so I can look back and see where I've been. But.. I just can't do it. It feels like I just started the fitness program, "Making the Cut", but it's been over a month! I need to get a grip!

Now that that's out of the way.... Here's my progress. I made it through the first round of "Making the Cut" and am on my second day of doing the whole thing again. I made some mistakes the first time which I hope to correct. First of all, I only did the full circuit 1x and I'm supposed to do it 2x. My rationale was that I wanted to get in cardio. One time through takes me a little over 30 minutes so two times is tight. I want to try it though. I'll have to find a time later in the day to get my cardio in. (Not that the circuit doesn't count as cardio because I sweat my head off and my heart rate is off the charts!) I need to figure out how to get some triathlon training in. That is why I'm doing this after all! I recruited my friend Barbara to do it with me and I'm excited to have a partner.

Good news! I ran my first 5K of the season last weekend and it felt really good. Even with the limited amount of running I've been doing, I felt strong. I was running 2x a week with a 2 mile run mid week and a 4 miler on the weekend which is not a great amount. I don't know my official time (I forgot to stop my watch at the end), but I'm encouraged! My first mile was 8:30 and my second was 8:24. I had plenty of energy to sprint at the end too. Once they post the results online I'll post tmy time.

I'm off to a swim clinic tonight and am excited to get some feedback on my form. I swam 40 laps last week but it was way too slow!

New Workout Clothes, Baby!

2008-03-21T05:07:00.001-07:00

I did it! I made it through the first week! Wow, what a week it was. I've taken a nap every day and had a headache. Yesterday was the first day I was headache free. I'm sure it was my body going through detox. I've had no coffee, no sugar, and no processed food. I think I've turned the corner as far as my energy goes. The workouts are still killing me, and I don't feel stronger. BUT.....

I've lost over 5 pounds! I'm really shocked. I really am. I'm so psyched and it's so motivating. Looking at the scale got me to the gym this morning. (Actually, I was going to go anyway, but it sure made me work out harder!) Something's working, and I just need to stick with it.

My highlights for the week: I've eaten food I've never had before- Fennel (I made it with Salmon and proscuito and I have to say- It was awesome!), Eggplant (with Mahi-Mahi- not so great), and lots of garlic. I've done more pushups than ever before, but I still need to do them the girl way. (Jillian would not be happy with me.) Hopefully, that will improve.

I've got the next two days off and Easter looming. I'm going to try my best to keep it together and not fall off the wagon.

End of one challenge, start of another

2008-03-19T07:49:00.000-07:00

It's been a long time since I posted here. I can never seem to find the time. I have a million ideas in my head- I just need someone to reach in there and pull them out and post them here!

So... the challenge between me and my hubby... I unofficially won. He lasted about 3 days and then fell off the wagon. I did really well for the first week but when he jumped ship and then bought himself two pairs of shorts (supposed to be our prize!), I kind of lost my motivation. I still lost two pounds.

That's the good news. The bad news is we went on our vacation and I gained both pounds back. I ate so, so, so, so poorly. I did manage to exercise, so I guess it could have been worse. I celebrated my birthday in FL and got Jillian Michael's book, "Making the Cut". Which leads me to the real topic of this post.

New challenge. I decided to try Jillian's 30 day workout plan. It's basically circut training 4 days a week and an eating plan. I'm going to try my best to follow it all for 30 days. My hubby decided to give me some extra incentive: Every week I complete it exactly, I can buy something for my workouts. That's huge for me! I'm highly motivated! I'm on my third day and the workouts are brutal. I've followed the whole program it to a T and I'm very tired and sore. I actually had a moment when I was trying to do this exercise called Mountain Climbers, (kind of like climbing a really steep mountain on your hands and feet) and I could hear Jillian yelling at me. I was half laughing (I was in too much pain to really laugh). Picture me trying to lift my leg and not being able to. I just couldn't! In my head Jillian is yelling at me to do another one and I couldn't. In the end, I collapsed on the floor in exhaustion. I think I got a tiny glimpse of what the contestents on The Biggest Loser go through.

So, I've got 27 and a half more days. I haven't been this sore in a long, long time. I'm really interested to see what results I can get. Today is my off day from the circuts, but tomorrow it's back to the torture!

Challenge

2008-02-21T13:46:00.000-08:00

As I started my triathlon training, my goal was to use the winter to build a base and start serious training in the spring. I've got about 15 pounds to drop and thought the base phase was a good time to do so. The only problem is, I haven't dropped a pound. I've been working out since November and haven't lost a single ounce, in fact I've gained. Now, I know my problem. I'm a horrible eater. It's a good thing I do workout because if I didn't I'd have a lot more pounds to lose. I just can't seem to be able to put the whole thing together. I've got to lose this weight!

If you know me at all, you know my favorite show in the whole world is The Biggest Loser. My husband thinks I'm obsessed (he's right). I listen to Jillian Michaels podcasts when I work out and just love to see people transform their lives. If I had the chance to redo my youth, I'd be a physical therapist or personal trainer. I would LOVE to be on The Biggest Loser or even have Jillian or Bob train me for a week... or six. I know that's impossible so I try to come up with creative ways to motivate myself.

So.. I called my husband at work today and issued the following challenge. We have exactly two weeks until we leave on vacation. We will both weigh ourselves in the morning and the one who drops the biggest percentage of weight between now and then (March 7th) wins. The first question he asked is "What do you win?" I hadn't even thought of that! For me, it's all about the challenge. I'll have to think of something good. I know I'm going to lose, but that's okay. I'm really just looking for something to motivate me and get me going on the right track again. I probably won't post my actual weight here, but hopefully I'll be able to say I lost weight two weeks from now. Bring it on!

Breaking it in

2008-02-20T12:26:00.000-08:00

This post is a little dated. I just can't find the time to get my thoughts down...

The day after bringing my bike home (I've got to come up with a name for her), I was just itching to get her out and try out my clipless pedals. I had been trying them in the house and thought I was ready for the road. Picture this: my bike in the dining room, all four girls watching me as my hubby holds the bike and I try to clip in. It took me about four times, including getting off the bike and sticking my foot in so I could see where it was going. It was so windy outside that I knew I would be blown off the bike, so I decided to wait.

The next day it was cold, but not windy. My little one was sick so I was stuck holding a cranky baby (she's not really a baby but she's the youngest so...) all morning. When she went down for her nap I saw my chance. I told my older girls I was going for a quick ride. I added to my oldest that she was supposed to watch me from the window and if I fell it was her job to make sure I was okay. Off I dashed. I was coasting down the driveway with my right foot clipped in but unable to get my left one. I was running out of pavement and knew I needed to stop and start over. I remembered the guy at the bike shop saying how important it was to make sure you leaned the way of the unclipped foot when stopping, so I leaned to the left and stopped. No problem. Okay, now to just start again and get my left foot clipped this time. I pushed off with my right foot already clipped (I see my mistake now!) and pushed too hard. It was like slow motion. I felt myself tilting too far to the right, (those same words of the saleskid going through my head) and now I was helpless. I fell. I had gravel ground into my hand, a sore right knee and two deep purple brusises on my bottom.

In retrospect, I wonder why it never even occurred to me to unclip my right foot. As I was lying on the ground looking up at the sky, I thought "I'm glad I got this out of the way now and not during transition". Of course that was after I thought "What an idiot I am?! and "I feel so stupid!", and "OUCH!" My daughter did come out to make sure I was okay and gave me a big dose of encouragement when I was able to get both feet clipped on my next try. I'm going to chalk it up to inexperience and hope it doesn't happen again.

New Bike!

2008-02-12T09:46:00.000-08:00

I did it!! I made the purchase I have been looking forward to and dreading at the same time. I bought the bike I will use for my triathlon. Why the conflicting emotions? Well, first of all, how can you not get excited purchasing a new bike? It is so cool! I got a great deal on a Team Fuji 06. One the one hand, I think it's too much bike for me (I feel funny riding such a good bike), but on the other hand, it was the same price as the lower end model I was considering. I spent more than three hours looking at bikes, test riding them and talking to guys much younger than me who used lots of technical words I didn't understand. (And this was my third trip to a bike shop.) After much consideration (and if you know my husband, you know I mean much!), we went for it. We picked it up Sunday after I bought clipless pedals (a story in itself!). It was very exciting. So... since we walked out of the bike shop, Kevin has been asking me over and over if I'm excited. My tentative answer leads me to the dreading part of the purchase.
I'm officially committed to doing the tri now. It was easy to say I'm planning on doing a tri without investing financially in it. I have running shoes and a swim suit, but buying the bike made a big dent in our budget. Not only that, but to justify the cost of the bike, I will need to do many more tri's and love them. Now, I'm fully expecting to love this sport. It's so me. However, I have this lingering fear that I'll hate it. I guess I have to get the first one under my belt to find out.
So, in answer to Kevin's question- yes, I'm excited. I have a way cool bike that I love and will serve me well. I'm officially ready to train for something that I think will stretch me and challenge me in ways I've never dreamed of. Although I have a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach, I can't wait!

New Shoes

2008-01-22T15:46:00.001-08:00

I got a pair of new running shoes today. They're the brand spankin' new version of Nike Structure Triax. The same shoes I've been using for the past few years. I know, no big deal right? Wrong. I LOVE getting new running shoes. The fact that these are the newly designed version is icing on the cake. Ever since I was a little girl, I've loved new shoes. Not just any new shoes. New athletic shoes. Give me a pair of the latest stlye of casual shoes and I won't turn them away, but they don't bring the excitement new atheletic shoes do. Weird huh?.

I think new running shoes are like a new start. I can run just a little bit faster in them. They have a little more bounce. Can anyone relate to not wanting to get new sneakers dirty? Like the dirt will ruin them and then they won't help me run as fast? I know, there are some serious therapy issues here. I'm not worried about that just yet. Right now I'm going to take my brand new running shoes and give them a try on the treadmill. (I wouldn't want to chance getting them dirty by running outside!)

What am I doing???

2008-01-19T10:34:00.000-08:00

Oaky, my sister is blog happy. She has three separate blogs going. I love reading her blogs. As I was driving home from running errands today I thought, "I want a blog." I've actually thought about it before but didn't think I had enough computer savvy to start. Well, if she can do it- so can I! (yes, I'm the younger sister). I've wanted to blog about my passion which is running, but thought "Who would be interested in that?!" Welll- I'm interested- and that's all that really matters. If I can track my journey and I'm the only one who ever reads it then I'll be happy. So here goes.....