Journey to a Better Me

Quick Update

2010-04-10T20:00:00.002-05:00

Hello, friends! I've missed you all! I wish I could keep up with everyone, I really do. :( But my work has recently become very strict with internet usage, which has made a huge impact on my blogging. Boo. I rarely get on the computer when I'm at home because A) I'm on it all day at work and 2) I'm tied up with the kids and other responsibilities. I've been very blue without blogger in my life. But...it is what it is.

I still want to track my workouts and will hopefully post something soon about my training updates. As far as my wreck recovery, I'm still going to my chiropractor and PT 3 times a week and I'm also going to pain management. Since I've had ongoing back and neck problems for years, I'm being treated in a variety of ways that will hopefully all work together to make an impact. I'm currently getting trigger point injections every 3 weeks to help break up the tension in my shoulder/neck muscles. I've been running again, but after a 3 week hiatus. I rocked a 10 mile run last weekend with my pace being 1:10 under my goal HM pace - woah! Even shaved 9:59 off my last 10 mile run! But then I came down with a nasty sinus and ear infection this week and lost my voice on top of that. So I haven't ran since Monday. Boo. Kinda scary since my half marathon is just 2 weeks away...but I'll make do.

Anyway, to my followers, I'm sorry I've been MIA and I'm sorry I haven't been able to keep up with all of you. I really miss being in the loop! But I wanted to let you know that I'm still alive and still training. I'm excited that some of you have found me on FB so we can keep up. And for those of you that haven't yet but would like to be my FB buddy, my email address is randyandashleyrobbins@yahoo.com.

Until then, thanks for sticking around and remaining loyal followers, even tho I've sucked at keeping up with everyone. I hope everyone is doing great! And hopefully I'll have some exciting news to share with everyone soon! :)

Bad Luck & Being MIA...

2010-03-14T15:52:00.002-05:00

Hello, Bloggie Friends. I know I haven't been around much the past few weeks...but I can explain.

Around this time last year I was pretty new to blogging and didn't have many followers yet...but some of you may remember me posting about getting into a car accident on the way to my birthday party last year. I posted about it in my other blog too. Well I'll be damned if we didn't get into ANOTHER wreck on the way to my birthday party AGAIN this year. True story. Of all the luck...

Randy and I were on our way to the bar/restaurant where the party was to be held and had just exited the highway and turned left on a street downtown. Another vehicle was exiting the interstate and did not slow down or even LOOK to yield and came barreling across all lanes of traffic going 40 - 50 mph and just SLAMMED into us. Luckily, no one was seriously injured. Unfortunately, my car is totalled and we definitely got pretty banged up. I have bruises on my legs from where my shins hit the dash board and on my chest from the seat belt. It also messed up my lower back and my neck. Randy's back and neck are pretty sore as well.

The frustrating thing about my neck injury is that I've had ongoing neck problems since I was 15. Two discs in my neck are herniated and I've been through all kinds of pain management, physical therapy, chiropractic, and steroid treatment. I've had three cortisone injections in my neck and I've had pretty much everything shy of surgery. In addition to the already-messed-up neck, add a wreck in January 2008 that totalled my car, the previously mentioned wreck on the way to my birthday party in February 2009, and the current wreck in March 2010. I went to the doctor last Monday and will be seeing him again tomorrow. I've also gone to my chiropractor multiple times as well. I'm going to be treated for quite awhile for the re-injured neck...which sucks, but in the grand scheme of things, it could have been a lot worse.

On the down side, my half marathon is 6 weeks away and I haven't ran in over a week and a half. In fact, I'm still having a bit of trouble even walking. I'm on pain killers, muscle relaxers, anti-inflammatories, and a steroid pack. But this is probably going to be a slow recovery involving many trips to the chiro and PT.

And to top it all off, it's taken me over a week to even post about it because I've basically lost all internet access at work. :( Those of you that know me well know that I don't care to be on the computer much while I'm at home since A) I'm on a computer all day at work, and 2) I'm so busy at home with the kids and trying to keep up with my training regimen, etc... So...unfortunately, my blog time will now be limited. Boo. I'm bummed because I was already struggling to keep up with everyone...and this only makes it worse.

Anyway, I'll try to get on and follow everyone when I can. I hope everyone is doing well! And if you haven't already, feel free to track me down on FB - at least I can access FB from my phone! :)

February Totals

2010-03-05T07:48:00.000-06:00

February was not too shabby, especially in comparison to January, which got off to a slow start due to my detox and all. The only disappointment is that I still haven't gotten back into swimming and biking yet, which I REALLY need to do if I plan on doing any triathlons this spring (and I DO). I've been really focused on training for the OKC Half Marathon though - in fact, I've REALLY stayed on track with my schedule this year - I've been out there in the freezing cold, snow, sleet, wind...you name it! And I'm quite proud of myself, to be perfectly honest. I'm still pretty new to running and this is the first year I've ever braved the cold. Purchased my first pair of running tights and fleece lined gloves just this season - and oh have I been putting them to use! And I've found that I actually LIKE running in the cold. I think I'm going to be dreading the heat this summer when I'm deep into training for Chicago.

Anyway, now I'm just rambling and getting waaaay off track...which I often tend to do. ;) So, without further delay, here are my February and Year-To-Date totals:

February Totals:
Running: 10 days, 46.15 miles
P90X: 6 days
Weights/Toning: 4 days
Misc Cardio (cardio that is not running, swimming, or biking, such as walking, elliptical, Just Dance, or any of the P90X cardio workouts): 9 days
Total Days of Cardio: 15 (some days had a combo or running and another form of cardio)
Total Days of Working Out: 18

Year-To-Date Totals:
Running: 15 days, 60.95 miles
P90X: 9 days
Yoga: 1 day (I really need to get back into yoga.....)
Weights/Strength Training: 8 days
Misc Cardio: 11 days
Total Days of Cardio: 22
Total Days of Work Outs: 27

Looking forward to what March will bring! Happy training, everyone! :)

My Amazing Birthday Weekend, Including A 10 Miler!

2010-03-04T07:18:00.001-06:00

My birthday weekend was nothing short of FABULOUS, people! Oh, and the fun is not even over yet - in our house, you get more than just one day to celebrate your creation. You get more than even a weekend. Let me tell it to you like THIS - my bday was Saturday and the celebration won't be over until this coming Sunday. Werd. That's how we roll.

I'll start off with Friday (aka Birthday Eve). Started the morning off with a little Starbucks with a good friend of mine, followed by a sweet card & gift from my old (and FAVORITE!!) boss. And I'll be damned if she didn't get me a bottle of BITCH wine! Srsly, that's what it's called. Oh yeah, and it sure was dressed in a kimono. Srsly, I couldn't make this up.

Friday evening Randy and I had plans to attend a celebration for our friends' anniversary at O'Dowds. We got there early so we could have dinner first and then hung out and spent the evening with friends. I had a few drinks, but not so many that I wasn't able to get up at 8am the following morning for my bday 10 miler. ;)

I took my time getting up and around the next morning, so I didn't actually head out for the run until around 9am. It was 26 degrees out, 18 with the wind chill. I got going on my first 3 mile loop and just wasn't feeling it. My poor little leg muscles were just frozen and tight. I felt like I couldn't warm up and get loose and every step just HURT. I stopped at my house after the first 3 miles - I had intended to pop in for a quick stretch...but I threw my ear warmers on the table, threw off my headphones & gloves and stomped up to my room for the Biofreeze. At this point, I was hurting....and not sure if I would be able to finish the last 7 miles. But I took a few minutes to clear my head. I stretched really well, lathered up in Biofreeze, took a Gu, drank some vitamin water, took a puff from my inhaler...and set out for the last 7 miles...and suddenly I was a brand new woman. All I really needed was a good stretch. The last 7 miles were cake. You might even say BIRTHDAY cake. ;)

I went for a new route since I didn't want to run same boring old route 3 times. I picked a really good one too - lots of rolling hills to challenge me - and I was able to tackle them ALL! I felt GREAT during the last 7 miles. In fact, I had planned to walk a bit around mile 7, and possibly stop to stretch a bit...but that wasn't necessary. I just downed my Gu and kept on going.

During my run, I had plenty of time to reflect over the past decade of my life. I started thinking "Hmmm...what did I do the morning of my 21st birthday?? Oh yeah...I was in Vegas and spent the day hungover and dry heaving in every hotel & casino on the strip, LOL." If you would have told me on my 21st birthday that I would be spending the morning of my 31st birthday running 10 miles, I would have laughed in your face!

I finished the 10 miles strong and felt GREAT! I am so ready to take on this next half marathon! I ran my 10 miles with my pace being 10 seconds faster than my goal race pace! And let me tell you, nothing makes a girl feel better about getting older than tackling a 10 mile run on her birthday! :)

I went home and stretched after my run and enjoyed an amazing brunch made by my wonderful husbie - eggs, bacon, sausage, biscuits, and CHOCOLATE MILK!! :) I then took an ice bath, and was pleasantly surprised to find I was barely sore the next day!

We had a wedding to go to Saturday afternoon. But before we left, my family presented me with my bday presents - tickets to see Chelsea Handler at Starlight in May from the hubs (HELLO!!!!!! EEEEEIEIIIIEIEIEEEAAAYYY <---stole this from The Running Dork), and Born to Run from my girls! What amazing gifts - I could not ask for more!!!

As I mentioned, we had a wedding to attend on Saturday, but Rylie and I did bake a cake together Saturday night (Better Than Sex Cake, which I told Rylie is called Better Than Christmas Cake - Ha!). Oh, and we will be celebrating this weekend with a night on the town with friends Friday night followed by a small gathering at our house on Saturday. This has been one of the BEST birthdays ever!!!

Thanks to everyone for all the birthday wishes!!! I'm so ready for another amazing year! :)

Saturday, February 27, 2010: 10 mile run!!!

Training Updates

2010-03-02T09:22:00.001-06:00

Just some updates on my latest workouts. I've got some more exciting (well, to me anyway...) stuff coming up, so stay tuned! :)

Wednesday, February 24, 2010: 4 mile run (This was supposed to only be a 3 mile run...but it felt so great, I went ahead and tacked on an extra mile for good measure. It was 23 degrees out, and only 16 with the wind chill...but it was sunny and pretty out and didn't feel that bad. It's crazy, but I've found myself actually enjoying running in the cold. Well, as long as it's not sub zero. ;) And - funny - I ran this 4 mile easy run faster than my 4 mile race a couple weeks ago. The funny part is that the race was on a completely flat course and my neighborhood run was all over some hills AND with a quarter mile of snow and ice covered sidewalk that I had to HIKE over, and I still finished MINUTES faster than I finished the race. LOL...good stuff. But like I said, on this particular day, I just had a GOOD run.)

Thursday, February 25, 2010: Warm up on elliptical, P90X Kenpo

Friday, February 26, 2010: Cardio X (P90X)

I'll save my birthday 10 miler for a separate post all to itself - because it was THAT.AWESOME. that it deserves a post all its own! ;) And then I'll follow up with my February totals. :)

31 Things About Me On My 31st Birthday

2010-02-27T07:00:00.001-06:00

So, I totally stole this idea from This Guy - he posted 30 random things about himself for his 30th birthday and I thought that was pretty cool. Sooooo, here are 31 random things about me in honor of my 31st bday!

1 - My middle name is Corinne (after a cage dancer, no less) and I spent a good portion of my childhood trying to get my friends to call me Corinne or Cori instead of Ashley. I always hated my first name. Nicknames like ash-tray, crasher, trashley, and smashley are a little rough growing up. But I have since embraced the nicknames of Ash-Hole and Smash. ;)

2 - I have been bungee jumping (at the age of 13!), parasailing, and skydiving. I hope to one day go hang-glidinging. I also want to ride in a hot air balloon, but my husband has NO desire to take me.

3 - I've never had stitches (other than post-childbirth), and up until 2 years ago, I had never broken a bone either. Then I slammed my finger in our basement door (and I mean SLAMMED) and shattered the tip of my left middle finger. The x-ray showed that bone just completely pulverized - it was in at least 8 pieces. I severed most of the nerves too and have very little feeling in that finger now.

4 - Despite not ever having any "serious" injuries, I still managed to land myself in the ER 3 times in 2007 (after having NEVER been to the ER in my life prior to that year). The first time was for a severe kidney infection, the second time was because I had a seizure, and the third time was due to the previously mentioned finger smashing. And ironically, I had the SAME doctor in the ER all three times. By the third time, I'm sure he was rolling his eyes and thinking "what NOW??" LOL

5 - I once savagely killed a lightening bug with my bare hands.

6 - I LOVE avacados and think they go with just about EVERYTHING - sandwiches, burgers, salads, burritos, etc. YUM!!!!

7 - I also love ranch dressing and think it goes with just about anything too, esp pizza!

8 - I love - LOVE - Chelsea Handler. It's probably an unhealthy obsession...but yeah, I've been following her since she was on Girls Behaving Badly, then The Chelsea Handler Show, and now Chelsea Lately. I've read (and own) both her books, with the third one on pre-order. I even had a onsie made for Harper that says "I Love Chelsea Handler" and submitted it to Chelsea's "Big Fat Baby Contest." Oh, and did I mention that Chelsea's bday is just 2 days before mine??!!

9 - My dad is a musician and was actually a full time professional musician up until I was a year old. One of his bands even put out an album. He still plays now for fun, doing shows on the weekends and he's friends with MANY talented musicians. I grew up around music, going to festivals, and even got to meet a few "famous" people. My dad's former band opened for Rick Trevino and Eddie Rabbit, and my dad has also played with Reba McIntyre's sister.

10 - I love lamp.

11 - I have had the same best friend for nearly 24 years. We've decided we are taking a trip next year to celebrate our 25th Friendiversary.

12 - I did NOT get up at 7am on my bday to post this....and I totally *heart* the "post options" on here so I can set up a posting ahead of time. ;)

13 - I LOVE sushi. And cheese. Not together, tho.

14 - 2 friends and I managed to convince my entire home town that I married a guy in New Orleans as a drunken Mardi Gras mishap. The rumor spread like wild fire and was even brought up by the head of the Sociology Department in one of my soc classes 2 years later. To this very day, there are SEVERAL people that still believe this story!

15 - I draw really great stick figures.

16 - Each of my kids has a "special number" tied to the day they were born. Rylie's number is 7 - she was born at 4:47am weighing 7 pounds, 7 ounces. Harper's number is 8 as she was born on August 18, 2008 (08/18/08). What's even cooler about Harper's birthday is that my great-grandmother was born on July 17, 1907 (07/17/07) - exactly 1 century, 1 year, 1 month, and 1 day before her great-great-granddaughter.

17 - I could probably manage to eat my weight in chocolate on any given day. And I'm determined to test this theory one day.

18 - There are times when I think that my husband and I are such polar opposites (you might even say BI-POLAR opposites, lol), that I honestly wonder how the hell we ended up together. But yet, despite our extreme differences...we just FIT.

19 - 2 of my all time favorite albums are "Doggystyle" by Snoop Dogg and "Eazy Duz It" by Eazy E. Some may find it hard to believe that an all American blonde (former) cheerleader would be into gangsta rap....but you should have seen me back in the day doing drive by shootings with my supersoaker water guns while blaring some Boyz In Da Hood. Srsly, I couldn't make this up if I wanted to!

20 - I sometimes communicate with my house plants via interpretive dance.

21 - I have lived in 3 states - Kansas, Arizona, Missouri. The next time I move will hopefully be to Mexico. This is something Randy and I hope to do in the next few years. We'll see if it really happens...

22 - Chipotle is my fave post-race (or post-long training day) meal. Oh yes, don't mess with me and my burrito bowl, b!tches!

23 - Beer must also be included post-race (or long training). Or wine. Or BOTH!

24 - There was a time in my life where I could drink an entire case of beer in one night without getting alcohol poisoning. Wow...was that really ME??

25 - I own my own company dedicated to raising and breeding Chia Pets.

26 - My favorite kinds of candy are anything with chocolate, Jelly Bellies, Tootsie Rolls, and Twizzlers. Oh, and I will accept any and all of these as birthday gifts, fyi.

27 - I totally have the hots for Dr. Drew. That is one buff silver fox that just turns me on with his intelligence & sexiness. Rawr.

28 - One of my favorite quotes in the world is something my dad once told me: "Happiness is not a destination, it's a journey." These are truly words to live by.

29 - 7 of my "random things" involved food/drinks/candy...and I find this to be a shockingly LOW number for me.

30 - My future goals involve traveling the world to spread my teachings, and eventually, I would like to fight myself to the death.

31 - I clearly have found it difficult to come up with 31 things about myself and went ahead and threw a few randoms in there for ya. ;)

Hope you enjoyed learning some randsom schtuff about me on my bday! And hopefully I'll have a really awesome weekend to report on come Monday! :)

Birthday Tribute To The Running Dork!

2010-02-26T02:26:00.001-06:00

It's special tribute time!!! Today I would like to wish a VERY SPECIAL (in soooo many ways) PERSON a VEEEEERY HAPPY BIRFDAY!!!!! This one's for you, RUNNING DORK!!!!

The only person I LITERALLY make long-distance friendship hearts with. Tear.

Aw, look at us the day we met.

We were so excited to finally meet each other!!!

And clearly, we had a good time.

Who else would hang out a car window with me to cheer on our fellow friend (The Running Lawyer) in a race??

And I'll NEVER forget when she put her meat in my box.

Oh, and these tiny little carts...how cute!

I can't think of anyone else I'd rather look longingly at.

And as a card carrying member of The Quadrouple, it is her honorary DUTY to do the following:

Be pensive.

Do Jazz Hands.

And the Shocker.

And - oh yes - make friendship rainbows.

I *heart* you, dear friend! Hope you have the bestest bday ever!!!!

*PS - I scheduled this to post at 2:26am....since your bday is 2/26 and I'm so clever and all. ;)*

2 Weeks Worth Of Workout Updates...

2010-02-24T09:47:00.000-06:00

WARNING!

This will probably be boring to most of you...but for my own personal use, here are my most recent workouts:

Friday, February 12, 2010: 3.2 mi run (fastest pace this year - cut MINUTES off my time!)

Sunday, February 14, 2010: 4 mi run (Love 2 Run Race....miserable. just miserable. Had 7 miles on the schedule, but could barely shuffle along enough to finish the race. It was -3 degrees out and THE most miserable run of my life. Period.)

Monday, February 15, 2010: Just Dance (Wii game...and yes, it's a workout!)

Wednesday, February 17, 2010: 4 miles on elliptical, legs & abs (How cute was the elliptical to say that I did 4 miles in just 30 minutes?? Cuz yeah, we all know I don't run at a 7:30 pace! That's just plain funny right there. I think the elliptical just wants to be my friend, so she over-did it on the niceness scale. I tried to tell her that it's one thing to be nice and another thing to be FAKE. Guess she just doesn't get it....like so many other girls I know, lol. But it's okay. At least she's not mean like the treadmill. I hate that bitch.)

Thursday, February 18, 2010: 1.75 mile run (Pathetic, I tell you. This was SUPPOSED to be a 3 mile run. But I just wasn't feeling it last week. AT ALL. I mean, after that dreadful -3 degree race with all the pain and discomfort, I couldn't even THINK about running. That's why I did the elliptical the day before. I took a brief nap after work and was soooo tired and had no desire to run...but it was sunny and 48 degrees outside - 50+ degrees warmer than Sunday! So I felt like I really needed to take that opportunity to get out there and enjoy the weather! Well, I don't know what the hell my problem was...I haven't had a piss poor running experience like that in FOREVER! But yeah, I just COULDN'T. I tried...and failed. Miserably. Didn't even make it 2 miles, and I walked a lot of it. I felt heavy, tired, and pathetic. Definitely just a bad. running. day.)

Saturday, February 20, 2010: 8 mile run (Longest run of the season so far, and actually my longest run since last spring! I was a little nervous after my 2 previous crappy runs. So I went to weather.com and found that the warmest part of the day with the minimal amount of wind would be 12pm - 2pm that day with the high of 34 degrees and wind only 6 - 7 mph.

I chose a pretty flat trail to run on since it was a longer distance, it was "yucky" out [I'll get to that in a minute], and my earlier runs from the week had sucked ass...so I was trying to make things a little easier on myself. The trail is 7 miles total, with a 3.5 mile out & back. The first and last 2+ miles are pretty boring. It was a gray day and all the trees were bare and there wasn't much to look at other than the highway. This trail is on an elevated embankment in the middle of nowhere, really. But the last mile to the turn around point was in a wooded area and was kinda pretty.

My pace was UBER slow that day, but I didn't really mind. It was a longer distance, so that was to be expected. And it was cold and windy out, and honestly, I was just glad to be out there DOING it instead of at home on my couch. And did I mention that I had gone to a wedding the night before and drank a significant amount of wine?? Yeah.

So I got to the turn around spot at 3.5 miles, stretched for a few min, and took a Gu [Chocolate Outrage, I swear it's like crack - I LOVE IT!!!], and then headed back to where I started. I have to admit, just that little break to stretched helped tremendously. The way back was a little rough though. The wind was in my face on the way back and shortly before I hit 5 miles, I started to see little flecks of white out of the corner of my eye. Sleet. Great. I still had 2 miles to go.

My legs were also a little fatigued and stiff, so I had to start walking 1 out of every 10 minutes. I finally made it back to my car with the 7 miles on my schedule completed. Technically, I was supposed to run 7 miles the previous weekend, but only did 4 since it was -3 degrees that day. I was supposed to do 8 miles on this particular day, but felt I should do the 7 mile run first - trying to avoid injury and not take on too much too fast.

My cheeks were completely frozen and I was ready to head home. Took the Garmin off, started stretching, and suddenly I felt like I wanted to go ahead and put in that last mile. Strapped the Garmin back on and I was off. By this time, there were huge snowflakes falling and I have to tell you, it was sooooo beautiful. People in cars were staring at me like I was crazy and I was just smiling like a crazy fool because I was feeling great and totally enjoying the beautiful snow. The last mile was basically just a cool down mile, but I felt pretty awesome to have completed 8 miles that day.

The only bad thing was that I was so cold afterwards that I didn't stretch nearly enough. And when I got home, I was so ready to get out of my cold, wet clothes that I didn't use the foam roller and I didn't ice bath either since I was shivering and my teeth were chattering. Instead, I took a hot shower and LOVED every minute of it! I then dressed in head-to-toe fleece and lounged on the couch the rest of the day.

All in all, the run felt good - minimal pain, able to run most of it, not very sore the following day other than tight IT bands...need to go see Dr. Jesse at Quest Performance Center & have him fix me up.)

Tuesday, February 23, 2010: 1 hour of weights (bicepts, triceps, shoulders, back, hamstrings, abs)

Well, now I'm current on my workouts. I sure am ready for spring to get here! Our roads are covered in ice again, so I'm not sure what I'm going to do about running this week. I've come to the conclusion that I'm not going to run on a treadmill anymore - I feel like it flares up my injuries and I'm just not willing to take that risk. So today will be an elliptical day...and probably every day until Saturday when I need to head out for my "long" run. I hate that it will be a week since my previous run, which was also a long run, with no short runs in between...but this weather is really becoming an obstacle. I have a feeling I'm going to have to hit up the same trail too, if I want to find something not covered in ice. So yeah, looks like a boring and cold trail run of 9 miles the morning of my birthday. Wish me luck with that one!

2010 Goals

2010-02-22T07:28:00.000-06:00

Okay, so I'm FINALLY getting around to posting this. Yeah, I procrastinate.....but better late than never. ;) Okay, I'm going to list the goals first and then offer some additional info below.

2010 Goals:

1) STAY INJURY-FREE!!!
2) Complete (at least) 1 Race Every Month
3) Race A New (LONGER) Distance (either a full marathon or a half ironman)
4) Beat My Previous Half Marathon Time
5) Run A Sub 30:00 5K

1) STAY INJURY-FREE!!! - This goal is FIRST and foremost! Without this one, it will be extremely difficult to achieve the other goals on my list for the year! I'm really trying to be smart about my training this year. Last year, I ended up with 2 stress fractures....which, looking back, is no surprise when you consider that I went from just starting to run to training for a half marathon in only 5 weeks. That wasn't too bright. So I'm easing into things more, making sure to stretch, ice bath, etc. Hopefully I can keep the injuries at bay this year!

2) Complete (at least) 1 Race Every Month - I think this will be a fun one. Last year was my first year to race and I did the bulk of them in the spring and fall (the nice months) and absolutely NONE in the winter. I think doing a race every month will keep me focused and on track with training and will also allow me to "test drive" each month of the year and find out what months I enjoy racing in the best. So far, I've already completed a race for January (Groundhog 5k) and February (Love 2 Run 4 Mile).

3) Race A New (LONGER) Distance (either a full marathon or a half ironman) - Well, I already let the cat out of the bag on this one when I mentioned a little something about registering for the Chicago Marathon. ;) It was a real toss-up, though. I actually really wanted to do the RedMan Half Ironman this year. ACTUALLY, I wanted to do it LAST year until I ended up injured... But when I really thought it through, I realized that I would first need a new (better) bike, and I don't have the money to drop on that right now. I would need to invest well over $1000 for this and I just don't have that kind of money. Plus, I think I would like to get a full marathon under my belt before I go trying out any iron distances. So, a marathon it is....Lord help me make it through this one!

4) Beat My Previous Half Marathon Time - In all honesty, this really shouldn't be all that hard to do considering how slooooooow my HM was last year. Last year's HM was not only my first half, but my first RACE. I ran it with only 5 weeks of training. I didn't even own a Garmin at the time and had no way of gaging my pace. I was just sooooo clueless at the time (even more clueless than I still am now, lol). I'm feeling pretty confident at the moment that I can beat my slow-as-all-get-out time last year. If not, then something is definitely wrong with me. ;)

5) Run A Sub 30:00 5K - Yeah, I realize this prob seems like a ridiculously slow 5K time for most people....but I would LOVE to be able to run a 5K in under 30 min! And with the way my pace has been improving lately, I'm really hoping this will happen before the year is over. And if not...well, there's always next year. ;)

Well, there you have it, folks - The Running Worm's 2010 Goals! Wish me luck!!! :)

Love 2 Run (AKA The Lesbian Race) Race Report

2010-02-19T07:47:00.000-06:00

ALSO known as....the coldest efing race I hope to ever run in my life. Yeah, it sucked that bad. First off, when you are dressed like THIS before the race and you're still frozen solid the second you step outside, you know it's colder than balls:

About to run a race...or about to rob a bank?? Take your pick...

Yeah, I knew the weather on Sunday was not going to be in our favor. It was the coldest day in the 10 day forcast by about 15 degrees. Nice. Turns out that with the wind, it was a whopping -3 at the downtown airport that morning.

Here I am, preparing to freeze my tatas off....

Oh wait, I forgot to cover my ears with an additional layer!

The Running Chalupa looks like she's about to knock off a liquor store!

We arrived at the downtown airport (which is only about 5 miles from my house) more than an hour before the race so we would have enough time for packet pick-up and a quick warm up. Yeah...the crowd was small and the extreme early arrival was totally unnecessary. So we pretty much just chilled (literally) for about an hour. I had 7 miles on my schedule that day and had planned to run an extra loop after the race. About 30 minutes before the race, the thought crossed my mind that we should have done the extra loop BEFORE the race as a warm up...and because we were there so early. But by then, it was too late. Oh well. Honestly, if I would have done the "warm-up" loop, I probably would have ended up not even running the race. How sad is that??

The race itself was pretty uneventful. I've ran at the downtown airport plenty of times - did a lot of my half marathon training out there last year. It's completely flat, but the wind can be pretty brutal since it's out in the middle of nowhere. But yeah...I was not prepared for the SUCK of this race. Here are the lowlights:

**Garmin battery died less than a mile into the race, so I had no clue what my pace or distance was pretty much the entire time.

**My legs were frozen solid, even after the small warm up that Val and I did. What this amounted to was extreme pain in my calves and shins with every step I took. The muscles were just cold and tight and it completely hurt to "run."

**I ended up having to stop to stretch my calves and walk a bit THREE times!!! I can't even remember the last time I had to walk during a run, let alone a short 4 miler on a FLAT course. That was a bit of a blow to the ego...esp after all the really great runs I've had lately.

**Another runner actually had to ask me if I was okay as I limped along in pain and agony from stiff, cold muscles.

**I never did run my extra 3 miles I had on my schedule that day....I was barely able to finish the race.

There WERE just a couple of highlights too, though:

**I still managed to PR - LOL! I will say this though, this was only the SECOND 4 mile race I've ever ran and I had a stress fracture (not yet diagnosed at the time) during the first one...which was also just 6 days after my first half marathon and I could barely walk at the time, let alone run. So yeah....beat my previous 4 mile race time by 2:57.

**The Running Chalupa & I had an AMAZING brunch at Corner Cafe after our race (this is becoming a tradition) and it was DE-LIC! We split 2 meals - chicken strips & fries, and waffles with eggs & bacon - oh yeah! Oh, and we downed it with some loving chocolate milk. Highlight of the day. Well, that and the nap I took when I got home. ;)

Here are some pics we took after the race. One even shows our faces! LOL

So I now have 2 races under my belt for 2010 - 1 in January and 1 in February. Oh, and the next time I think about registering for a race with temps like this, please -for the love of God- talk me out of it!!!

Happy Birthday To The Running Lawyer!!!!

2010-02-18T07:45:00.003-06:00

See the chick on the right?

Well that would be my good friend, The Running Lawyer. And today just happens to be her BIRFDAY!!!!!! Please make sure to stop by and wish this lovely lady a VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!

February is a pretty awesome month, considering the entire Throuple will be celebrating a throuple of birthdays this month - we're pretty awesome like that. We travel in packs, too. So watch out!

2009 Recap

2010-02-17T07:28:00.001-06:00

Yeah, yeah, I'm a little behind... And I have even had this post all ready to go for a couple weeks now, but I've been waiting to upload pictures.... But honestly, I just don't have that much time, so I'm just going to post it as is. The first month of this year has been so insanely busy, I just haven't had a chance to get around to recapping '09, but better late than never. So, here goes:

2009 was one of -if not THE- best years of my life. Although there was a healthy mix of highs and lows, overall it was a year of many successes, accomplishments, achievements, love, laughter, friendships, fun, and happiness. Where do I even begin...??

In January I registered for my first triathlon (and let's face it, first RACE) ever - an olympic. It was scheduled for June. I began training on my own in January and began team training with TNT in February. I've always worked out and tried to stay in shape...but I've never been a runner. Or a swimmer or biker for that matter, either. My workouts consisted of regular muscle conditioning classes and the occasional elliptical session thrown in from time to time. Once in awhile I'd go for a "run".....and then not go for another one for 2 - 3 months. Looking back, it was a huge deal just to be able to run 1 - 2 miles without having to stop and walk.

In February, I had a monumental birthday and turned the big 3-0. My husband threw a huge surprise party for me, which was one of the best birthdays I've ever had! That night, a couple friends told me they were training for a half marathon and asked if I'd want to do it with them. At that time, I was only up to running 3 miles and was a bit skeptical. But somehow I decided to take on the challenge.

In March, I juggled my triathlon and half marathon training. In hindsight, I definitely took on more than I could handle, as I later ended up with a stress fracture. But I will say that training for the half with my friends definitely brought us all a lot closer. It definitely solidified our friendship and allowed us to share something that will forever be just between us.

In April we made the trip to St Louis where I ran my first ever Half Marathon...and yes, it was my first ever RACE - period! The emotions I felt at the start line were overwhelming. I had never ran a race before, let alone a race with 15,000 other people. What an experience!

I discovered a new found love for racing and raced 4 weekends in a row in April and May. But the pain I first noticed during my HM training started to get worse and worse. By the time I got an MRI, I pretty much already knew it was a stress fracture. Just weeks away from my triathlon, I ended up having to drop out of the race. It was a tough blow...but in the end it all worked out.

In May, my oldest daughter completed her first year of kindergarten! Around that same time, she expressed an interest in running and ran 2 5k's with me that spring. She also got invited to join the competitive team in gymnastics.

After 6 weeks of rest and healing, I began to train again in late July for another triathlon. I made even more new friends on this new team and really enjoyed all the open-water swims during the nice weather.

In August, I ran my first race in several months - Race for the Cure. It felt great to run again and I was even able to PR! August was a busy month for our family - Harper turned 1, Rylie turned 7, and she also began 1st grade. Late August was also the peak of my triathlon training.

In September, I made the trip to DC with my mom and members of my TNT team and competed in my first triathlon! What an exilerating experience - I mean, hello - I swam in the POTOMAC RIVER!!! Words cannot even describe the emotions I felt as I caught glimpses of monuments and national treasures in our nation's capital during my race that day! I conquered a HUGE dream of mine that day - it's a moment in my life that I will never, EVER forget!

I felt good after my tri and was ready to take on more races. I registered for my first 10k and ran it a few weeks later. I even committed to doing the Giblet Jog with Dork & Lawyer...but soon learned that my body just isn't designed to run back-to-back days...as I soon felt an all-too-familiar pain in my left leg. I didn't need a doctor to confirm it this time - it was another stress fracture.

I took more time off, but still accompanied my family to the Jared Coone's Memorial Pumpkin Run in October. I had already registered all of us for the race, but since I couldn't run with my injury, I just volunteered instead. Also in October, Randy and I celebrated our anniversary with a trip to Mazatlan, Mexico with some friends of ours. It was our first trip together since our honeymoon and it was so needed and so much fun! We had an amazing time together and I cannot think of a better way to celebrate our anniversary.

I started running again in November so I could participate in the Giblet Jog with the Throuple (me, Dork, and Lawyer). But I ended up downgrading from the 10 Mile Turkey Trot and Gobbler Grind Half Marathon to the 2 Mile Turkey Trot and Gobbler Grind 5k. It was still 2 races in 2 days...and I managed to PR in both races! But more importantly, the weekend was a BLAST with great running friends that I adore!

December was mellow on the running front...but busy with the holidays, my husbie's birthday, and time with family.

Overall, 2009 was quite the year - I started blogging, turned 30, met lots of friends through TNT and the blog world, started racing for the first time ever, did 9 races - most of them being "firsts" of that distance, and pretty much a PR every time - hey, when you start out as slow as me, all you can do is improve! ;)

1 2 mile race
4 5k's
1 4 mile race
1 10k
1 half marathon
1 olympic tri

I would definitely say that '09 was a success....2010 has some big shoes to fill!!!

Groundhog Race Report - i.e. A Crazy-Fun Weekend With The Quadrouple...And A Teensy Bit of Running

2010-02-16T10:28:00.001-06:00

Okay, okay, okay....I figure since I ran my second race of the year on Sunday and need to get THAT race report up, I might as well post my FIRST race report of the year beforehand....so, here ya go. And yeah, you probably already read all about it from these fools:

The Running Lawyer, The Running "Chicken", The Running Sri Lankan, and The Running Dork, ....so this really won't be a whole lot different. And honestly, it's more of an excuse to post pictures than to report about my race. So hopefully that will make up for the late factor. ;)

Basically, the weekend was a whole lot of fun, laughter, FOOD, and dirty jokes/sexual inuendo, with a little bit of running thrown in for good measure. The 4 of us ladies (Dork, Lawyer, Sri Lankan, and I) started out with a little of all the above (minus the running) at Stix.

Here's a pic of Laywer & Dork enjoying some sake.

We then headed over to the Nike Outlet for a brief shopping excursion, followed by a delicious viewing of Josh Duhamel in "When In Rome." We then picked up the Sri Lankan's husbie (AKA Sherpa) and headed to Blanc Burgers & Bottles for dinner.

Here's a pic of Dork & Myself with the cute little carts of sweet potato fries - YUM!!

Blanc was amazing. I had an inside out burger - aka a burger stuffed with blue cheese on the inside, which I can only describe as a food orgasm. O...M...G...!!! Wow. That's really all I have to say about that.

And here, one of the highlights of the evening, Beka putting her meat in my box - a moment I will remember forever.

Here's a couple group pics at Blanc. I particularly like the "pensive" photo. I know I was reflecting back on the moment Beka put her meat in my box...

After a fantastic dinner, we called it a night. That's because we had the following to look forward to the next morning:

In case you are wondering, Indi and I are pretending to be groundhogs in that middle photo. ;)

The 5k began at 9am and the 10k began at 10am. With the limited amount of parking available, we really tried to get there early...and then we had a long wait. But not really. The Running Chicken was running late (again), The Running Lawyer left her iPod in my car and had to go back and fetch it, and the lines for the bathroom were ridiculous...so really, not much time to spare.

Here's a pic of the crowd in the caves before the race.

I will say that running in a cave is def a first for me. And with the wind and cold that day, I will say that I'm GLAD we were inside! It was actually a little toasty for my taste, but still better than the frigid cold. AND, for the record, this is the only underground race in the country - cool!

The entire group was registered for the 10k except for me, since I had just started running again and did not feel prepared quite yet for a 10k. I opted to run the 5k instead, but didn't really want to run at 9am with all of my buddies running at 10am...so I just ran with the 10k-ers, but ducked out after the first loop. And with no garmin signal in the cave, I have no idea what my pace was or what my splits were...and honestly, that's just fine with me. After a 2 month hiatus from running, I really don't care to know just how slow I was... ;)

Here's a pic of me and Indi....I'm the pink blur beside Indi.

And I still hold claim that I BEAT the Running Chicken!!! It doesn't really matter that we began at the same time and he ran a 10k and I only ran a 5k....I still beat that guy. Fair and square.

Here are some of the fasties....pretty sure they lapped me & Indi on our first loop as they headed for the home stretch....sure is great on the ego when that happens, LOL.

And the white blur you see here, my friends, would be my homie - The Running Dork!

Oh, and while at the race, we saw The Running Santa Claus (above Indi's head there). I really wanted Mark to go sit on his lap and tell him what he wanted for Christmas, but he declined....

No running group would be complete without a Sherpa. Here's ours - he pretty much rocks - lugs our stuff around, snaps photos, and does it with a smile!

Here's the Sherpa with the Running Ladies! **Notice all the matching....all 4 ladies in matching running tights, Beka, Kristen, and Indi in the same shirt (Beka & Kristen's are even the same color), and Kristen & I have the same pink shirt on underneath...we are quite a bunch.**

And of course, you can't have a race with the Quadrouple without Jazz Hands photos!!! Ignore the Running Party Pooper in the background....jazz hands will be photoshopped on him soon enough...

This photo...well, it speaks for itself.

After the race, we headed over to the Flying Saucer for some more delicious food...and BEER! The follow pics were taken at The Flying Saucer:

The Ring of Honor....no, it's NOT like a pearl necklace.... ;)

Beka & I looking longingly into each others eyes...and Kristen pouts for being left out. Classic.

Apparently a delicious meal makes us pensive. It also reminds me of Beka's meat...and my....box....

Yes, another successful weekend of fun, food, beer, friends, and oh yeah, what's that other thing....running. And here you thought you were going to get a RACE REPORT - ha!!! But I will leave you with the BEST pic of all - oh yes, are you ready for this one?? The Friendship Rainbow! Heart. And maybe even a tear.

I'm A Bad Blogger...

2010-02-12T06:56:00.000-06:00

I have 4 draft posts I'm working on right now and feel like I'll never get to due to the craziness of my life right now. Work is insane, I never have a moment to myself at home...so where does that leave me? With little time for blogging.

So anyway, today I really just want to update my blog with my last several workouts. This is mostly for my benefit, so I'm sorry if it bores you. I'll try to get my Groundhog race report out soon...you know, since it was 2 weeks ago and all and I'm running another race this weekend. Val (who I think I'm going to have to start calling The Running Chalupa, fyi) and I are running the Love 2 Run race on Valentines Day together. It's a 4 mile loop out at the downtown airport. The high for Sunday is 24 - the HIGH. I'm pretty sure around 9am, we'll be lucky if the temp is even in double digits. Add to that the wind out at the airport and yeah....I wonder if it'll even be above 0??? Yikes!

Oh, and it's unfortunate that Val and I had already registered for the race before we thought to register as a couple since this race has both a singles and a doubles division. Cuz how cute would it have been for the 2 of us to cross the finish line holding hands on Valentines Day?? ;) I have since discontinued calling it the Love 2 Run race, and am now refering to it as our Lesbian Race. Heehee.

I hope everyone has a great weekend! Have a super V-Day & eat lots of chocolate!!! :)

Recent Workouts:

Thursday, February 4, 2010: P90X Kenpo, 3.1 mile run (same route as Tuesday, beat time by 4 *yes, 4!!* seconds, lol)

Friday, February 5, 2010: P90X Cardio X, Wii - Just Dance (has anyone played this game?? so fun!!)

Saturday, February 6, 2010: Wii - Just Dance, 6 mi run (Longest run since September! Ry ran the first 2 miles with me. Pace for miles 2 and 4 was exactly the same, miles 1 and 3 within 3 seconds of each other, mile 5 was the slowest - mostly uphill, and mile 6 was the fastest - yay! Mile 6 was mostly downhill, but still....I like ending with my fastest mile ;) .)

Monday, February 8, 2010: P90X Chest, Shoulders, & Triceps

Wednesday, February 10, 2010: 3 mi run (coldest run of the year...fastest pace of the year! negative splits...and last mile 1:55 faster than the first!)

Oh yeah, that just happened!!!

2010-02-08T07:11:00.002-06:00

I'm completely blaming peer pressure on this one. The Running Dork has been dangling the Chicago Marathon in front of me like a chocolate covered steak coupled with beer and rainbow hugs - how could I say no???

First off - have I always wanted to go to Chicago? I believe the answer to that one is a big fat YES! Here I live in the midwest but have never been to Chicago - what gives?? I've been dying to get to Chi Town JUST to eat some Chi Pizza for 3 days straight! Secondly, have I ever given much thought to running a full marathon? Of course. I read all these blogs by runners and feel their victories as I read about them crossing the finish line and I feel that rush of adrenaline just thinking that one day that could be me. Yeah, I just started running last year. But I ran a half marathon last year and I'm running another half this year. So what better time for a full than just a few months after a half, right? I can just keep the momentum going and cross another item off my bucket list.

Maybe I rushed into this decision? Perhaps I got wrapped up in the excitement of doing another race with some of my fave girls on this earth. And maybe, just maybe, the words "free place to stay" on top of all the other temptations was enough to push me over the edge....but whatever it was, it IS official - yesterday I registered for the 2010 Chicago Marathon!!!! WISH ME LUCK!!!!!

I Fought The Wind & The Cold...And I WON!

2010-02-03T07:08:00.002-06:00

Yesterday was a successful day of working out. I did the P90X Plyo workout during lunch. Well, I did a little over half of it....that workout is over an hour long. Add in enough time to change in and out of workout clothes and grab a lunch and well, my lunch break just isn't that long. BUT, I also managed a 3.1 mile run after work as well.

First, let me say that I dreaded my run all day long. It was cold out. As in frigid. And I just don't fair well in the cold. I know there are peeps out there that can run in sub 0's all the time. I am NOT one of those people. Hell, I was nervous about running in the 50's just last year. I have since discovered that 50's = my fave temps to run in. But yeah, I can probably count on 1 hand the number of times that I've ran in 40 degrees or below. It just doesn't happen for me. But I also hate (as in LOATHE!!!) the treadmill. So all day yesterday, I battled it out in my head - run outside in 29 degrees and 10mph wind, or tough it out on the stupid treadmill??

I finally decided to give it a shot outside just to see how it would go. The first mile was tough. The wind was in my face and my pace was sloooooow. The second mile, the one with the most hills, was also a struggle due to the hills...but I made it through all the hills without walking. I finally got to the last mile and by then I was cruisin. My last mile was my fastest, which is rare for me. And my overall pace was my fastest since I started running again a few weeks ago. So I would say the run was a success. I was feelin pretty good at the end - finally warmed up and ready for a few more miles. But I'm really trying to stick to my schedule and not push myself any further. The last thing I want to do this year is reinjure this darn stress fracture for a THIRD time!

Oh, and I have learned that recovery socks are my new best friend! (Thank you, Running Lawyer!!!) :)

Tuesday, February 2, 2010: P90X Plyometrics, 3.1 mile run

Workout Updates and January Monthly Totals

2010-02-02T07:12:00.002-06:00

First off, I haven't done "monthly totals" in forever....probably September. Geez, I suck. I also never did my yearly totals for last year either, which I still need to do for my own benefit. Sigh... And here it is, already February, and I haven't even done a 2009 recap either. I'm so behind. But for now, here are my most recent workouts, followed by my totals for January (totals kind suck considering I was detoxing half the month and therefore not working out....)

Thursday, January 21, 2010: 40 minute walk w/dogs

Friday, January 22, 2010: P90X Legs & Back

Monday, January 25, 2010: 2.6 mile run on treadmill (had to stop early due to pain in the left leg)

Saturday, January 30, 2010: 45 min on elliptical, abs, biceps, triceps, shoulders, inner & outer thighs

Sunday, January 31, 2010: 5k race (race report coming soon!)

Monday, February 1, 2010: abs, biceps, triceps

January Monthly Totals:
Running: 5 days, 14.8 miles
P90X: 3 days
Yoga: 1 day
Weights/Strength Training: 4 days
Misc Cardio: 2 days
Total Days of Cardio: 7
Total Days of Work Outs: 9

Be on the lookout for my race report from Sunday involving The Running Dork, The Running Lawyer, The Running Sri Lankan and The Running "Chicken".

Workout Updates

2010-01-21T07:48:00.000-06:00

Thanks again to everyone for your continued support through my detox endeavors. Ending the detox was not an easy decision to make. But it came down to toughing it out for a few more days to get the full benefits in exchange for not being able to ingest vegetables again for a veeeery long time, or go ahead and quit early and still be able to consume veggies in my day-to-day diet. I really had to weigh out the pros and cons of each side. And although my judgement may have been a bit irrational at the time, due to the hunger and severe NEED for solid food, I feel that in the end, I made the right decision for me.

So now, moving on from the detox, I'm pleased to announce that I'm back in the swing of things again, workout wise. I have no idea what came over me in December, but I became a huge, lazy piece of shiz! But that is all behind me now. I have plenty of spring races coming on the horizon, including Half Marathon #2 - woot! So as soon as I phased off the detox, I knew I had to make up for it by getting my rear back into shape. So below are my workouts for the past week and a half - note, I've worked out more in the past 3 days than I have in the past 2 months. Fact. LOL...and sad.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010: P90X Ab Ripper X
--This was my first workout in nearly 2 months. Sigh, I know. I suck. The holidays, illnesses, and life all got in the way. Moving past that, I got my butt in gear and did the ab ripper workout. The following morning, I didn't even feel any soreness. As the day went on, I began to feel more and more sore. By Thursday, I couldn't laugh, cough, or even breathe without about doubling over, lol.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010: 2 mile run - treadmill
--This was my first run since November. I struggled, but made it the whole way through without walking. My pace was around 10:00 - 10:30. I was incredibly sore the next 2 days - could barely walk, lol.

Monday, January 18, 2010: 4 mile run
--This was my first run outside since Gobbler Grind in November. I still consider myself a new runner. I just started running consistently last year. And even my "consistent" running hasn't been all that consistent. I'm the epitome of a "fair weather runner." I don't even own all the proper gear for cold weather running. In fact, there are probably only a handful of times that I've ran in temps below 50 degrees. And they were probably all in the mid to upper 40's. So I set a new record on Monday when I pounded out 4 miles in only 36 degrees. I know, 36 isn't even THAT cold. But this is a new accomplishment for me, and I was quite proud of myself.

I met up with my friend Valerie at a new trail Monday morning (I love work holidays!) and set out for a run. Neither of us had ran in awhile (minus my pathetic 2 mile TM run on Wednesday), so neither of us really knew what to expect. The run was def slooooooow (for me, at least...Val blew right past me very early on). But the scenery was beautiful. There was snow on the ground, we were in a wooded area with a trickling stream and several little bridges to run over, and there was a LOT of fog out that morning. It was absolutely breathtaking! And to my surprise, I was able to pound out 4 miles! This is only my second run back from a 2 month hiatus and I was able to run 4 miles! Wow....a year ago, it took me several months to work up to 4 miles! I remember being excited just to run 1.5 - 2 miles.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010: P90X - Shoulders & Arms, and Ab Ripper X
--I'm trying to get back into the P90X program, but with training for some upcoming races, I won't be able to follow the schedule exactly. So I've just incorporated it into my schedule on the days I want to do strength training / weight training.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010: 3.1 mile run, yoga
--I ran 3 miles outside in my hood - LOTS of hills....and I ran 'em all! My pace was slow, yes. Like ridiculously slow. But the run actually felt good, so I'm not going to focus on my pace. I really only took my Garmin to see my distance. It was cold out too. And windy. But again, it felt good. When I got home, I stretched really well and did 45 min of yoga. It was a good workout day.

So, it's official - I am training to run the Oklahoma City Marathon (okay, the half marathon) with The Running Dork and The Running Lawyer. That's the "big" event I'm training for at the moment...but I have several other races on the radar as well. A goal I really wanted to set for this year was to run at least 1 race every month this year. So far, I have the first half of the year covered. :) I'll post more about upcoming events soon.

Detox Update: Day 8 - The Final Day

2010-01-20T09:35:00.001-06:00

Day 8 - Monday, January 11, 2009:

Monday ended up being my final day. I've had very mixed emotions about it, and I've really tried not to beat myself up over not completing the full 21 days. I mean, 8 days it still quite a feat in itself. And I was able to maintain a loss of 10 pounds, which is also quite amazing. (I actually lost 13.8, but gained a few back once I phased food back into my diet. But I'm proud/satisfied with maintaining a 10 pound loss.) I feel much better and slimmer and I'm still glad that I went as far as I did.

Here's what happened at the end - what made me decide to end it. Have you ever gotten really burnt out on a type of food? Say it was something that you LOVED, and you loved it so much that you ate it ALL the time. And you ate it over and over and over to the point that you finally started developing an aversion to it and no longer liked it all that much. Well, I have always loved vegetables. Even as a kid, if my mom was ever cooking dinner and was in the process of chopping veggies, I would sneak in the kitchen and grab some strips of green peppers to munch on. I did this more often than I would sneak chocolate chips or cookie dough while she was baking. My oldest daughter is the same way. If I'm fixing dinner and I ask her if she'd rather have broccoli or asperagus with dinner, she will always say "Let's have BOTH!"

But we all know that there is such a thing as "too much of a good thing." The detox involved ingesting the following each day: green drinks, high density berry drinks, herbal tea, water, fresh vegetable juice, and "cleansing soup," which I have coined PVM for Puree Vegetable Mush. The green drinks and berry drinks aren't bad at all. They are both berry flavored and taste pretty decent. But after having 2 of each every day, they slowly start to lose their excitement. The fresh veg juice is also quite tasty. If you like V8 or carrot juice or any other type of veg juice, you would probably enjoy the juice. The PVM, however, is completely and utterly disgusting.

I explained to my husband that it was the texture that I was struggling with. The texture of the veggie mush is what made me gag and even vomit the "cleansing soup." He laughed at this and couldn't understand what was so bad about it, esp if I like veggies as much as I do. I mean, I eat veggies all day, every day. Ever since he has known me, he has known me to snack on raw veggies throughout the day, eat salads with both lunch and dinner, and have at least one cooked veggie with dinner every night. For someone that loves veggies as much as I do, he could not understand what was so challenging about this soup. So I explained it to him like this - what's your favorite food? For my husband, it's a philly cheesesteak. For you, it may be pizza. Or sushi. Or a giant Chipotle burrito. But just imagine your favorite food. Now put that food into a blender with a cup of water and blend it until it is a thick, mushy substance. Do you think you would still enjoy it? Do you think you would be able to consume it without getting sick?? Because that is exactly what I was having to do with the PVM.

By Day 8, I had only ingested vegetable-based drinks and soups for 8 days straight, with nothing else in between. I was beginning to develop a very STRONG aversion to vegetables. And with veggies being such a huge part of my diet, I just couldn't imagine not being able to eat them anymore. But by Day 8, the smell, sight, and even THOUGHT of veggies was beginning to make my stomach churn. It was to the point that I felt I needed to quit right then, or face the possibility of no longer being able to consume veggies anymore for a very, VERY long time.

So Monday night (last Monday night), it all came to a head. I ended my detox and I did not correctly follow the "phasing off the detox" process. I was so excited to eat solid food, that I went straight to the store and bought just about every vegetable in sight. I then went home and made the world's largest salad with somewhere around 15 different types of veggies. And I made my homemade dressing that I love so much (all organic: olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and Bragg's liquid aminos -tastes like soy sauce-) and I WENT TO TOWN. I ate the hell out of that salad like I hadn't eat in weeks. And I guess in a sense, I hadn't. I had dressing all over my face and I was so into that salad, that my husband found it quite comical. But I was in heaven.

I consumed that entire salad in a 48 hour time span. The salad I made took up an entire GIANT tupperware bowl and was made up of probably 5 - 7 pounds of veggies. And during those first few days, I made the huge mistake of indulging a bit too much - I had some refined sugar in the form of candy and girl scout cookies. But that's all out of my system now. I'm focused on eating healthy again and I'm maintaining a low-sodium diet consisting mostly of fresh fruits, veggies, lean protein, and light on the starchy carbs, which are all whole grain.

I'm hoping to drop an additional 10 - 15 pounds over the next few months. I may even do another 2-day detox in another month or so, if I think I can handle it by then. In the end, I'm glad I did the detox. I'm disappointed that I didn't stick it out longer, but I'm also proud that I made it as far as I did. You definitely have to be in the right mind set to do something like this. It's a lot harder than it appears.

On that note, please stop by my bestie Melissa's blog and give her some bloggie love - she's kicking this detox's ass and is on DAY 18 of her detox today!!! Words do not explain how impressed and proud I am of her right now! So feel free to pop over and give her some encouragement!

Well, there you have it - my detox journey has come to a finish. And a huge THANK YOU to everyone for your continued support through such a challenging journey - I appreciate your kind words of encouragement more than you know! But even tho my detox journey has come to an end, my new training journey is just beginning! I'll have an update on that posted before long. Oh yes, I'm back! :)

Forget 1 Day At A Time...More Like 1 Hour At A Time!

2010-01-11T12:28:00.002-06:00

Okay, as I mentioned this morning, I've had to change my mindset a bit with this whole detox. I'm no longer looking at the big picture of 21 days, but just focusing on 1 day at a time. I will bask in the success of each day completed and will be proud of that, rather than feel down about not making it to the end, if that's what happens.

So yeah, 1 day at a time....at this point, it's becoming 1 HOUR at a time! Just about an hour ago, I was ready to give in and have a snack. I got that whole "f*** it, I'm done, I've had a good run, but now I'm ready for some FOOD" thought back in my head. I was honestly actually planning what I was going to EAT...when I went ahead and prepared my scheduled green drink and got my supplement pills ready to take. I popped the supplements, drank my drink, .....and suddenly, the urge to "cheat" passed. Thank goodness for the "feedings" (aka, nutrient-packed beverages & supplements) every 2 hours to keep me "full" and focused. I just need to make it to the next feeding.

Anytime I start thinking "Holy crap, there's no way I can do 13 more days of this!!" I have to stop and tell myself, "Don't think of it that way - just think about NOW and worry about the rest later. We'll climb that mountain when we get to it." It's just like a race - you can't sit there and think "Crap, I still have 12 miles to go!" or "Geez, I'm only done with my swim, but I still have to bike and run - I'm going to be at this for HOURS!" You just have to focus on the current task at hand and worry about the rest when you get there. So yeah, that's what I'm doing.

Again, thank you all for your support! This could quite possibly be the hardest thing I've ever done. I mean, races are over the same day you start them. Even childbirth doesn't last this long. Granted, pregnancy is 9 months and my second one was a doozy, but this involves WILL POWER. It's a mind over matter kind of thing. Just have to keep focusing on one small piece at a time.

At this point, I want to thank my biggest cheerleader and co-detoxer, my bestie - Melissa. We've been best friends since the 2nd grade. We've been roommates, we've traveled together, we were in each others' weddings, we've supported each other through many ups and downs in our lives. And I have to tell you, if it weren't for her, I would have jumped ship DAYS ago! She has been the best support system EVER and has talked me off the ledge MULTIPLE times with this detox! And she is sooooo kicking ass with this detox - she's on Day 9 and still going strong! So if you get a chance, please go give her some bloggie love and support in her detox journey, as lord knows she's given me a pantload of support this past week through mine!

Detox Update: Day 7

2010-01-11T08:05:00.003-06:00

Preface: I'm posting Day 7 as a single post and not with other days...cuz it's gonna be long. This is more for my own personal use - to document my personal struggles and let some venting out.

Day 7: Sunday, January 10, 2009 AKA The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

The Good:
I woke up this morning from a good night's sleep and felt well-rested. I reflected on the past few days of agony and was glad that I had powered through, because I suddenly feel a lot better. My head is clearer, and I feel much stronger now, mentally.

This morning's weight was only a .2 pound loss from yesterday. A little disappointing, but again...the salt from the cashews I had on Friday is probably still influencing the loss, or lack thereof. So yeah, 2 days of agony with only a .8 pound total loss in two days afterwards kinda sucks...but I'm not turning back now. Even tho I really, really, REALLY want some delicious, solid food - I'm still sticking it out. I'm actually looking forward to going back to work tomorrow after 4 days at home. I'm ready to get back into a routine again. I think that the distraction of the office will help the days go by faster and with less struggle. If/when I do this detox again, I'll have to remember that days 4 & 5 are the worst and if I can make it through those days, I'm golden.

Randy has been so sweet - any time he fixes something to eat, he either takes it upstairs and eats it in our bedroom so I don't have to see or smell it, or he warns me so I can make sure to stay upstairs or in the basement. He's also been really nice about doing everything around the house that I've been unable to do due to being bed ridden for 3 days and due to being so weak - like picking up Harper. I'm lucky that he's being so supportive.

The Bad:
The day was actually not that hard to get through. But then came time for "dinner." This is where I consume the "cleansing soup," AKA what I now refer to as the PVM - Puree Vegetable Mush. I'm telling you people, I've tried SEVERAL recipes and none of them taste bad, it's the texture/consistency of mushy vegetables that I just can't handle anymore! I've been forcing it down for 7 days in a row now, but each day is worse than the one the day before. When I sat down to eat the PVM on Day 7, my stomach churned with the first bite. And with the second bite....it came back up. :( I got so frustrated - what do I do now??? I can't do this soup anymore! I CAN'T! And without it, how will I sustain enough nutrients/calories to cleanse myself in a healthy way AND not starve myself?? I'm at a loss...

At this point, in my mind, I was done. I told Randy that I just couldn't do it anymore. He told me to stick it out, said I could do it. And I rattled off a number of reasons why I was done - I'm about out of supplements - it will cost another $60 for another can of green drinks and a can of high density berry drinks, I can't do the soup anymore - it makes me vomit, I'm just not strong enough, etc. I began justifying why 7 days was still a success - I shed 12 pounds in a week and cleansed myself of many toxins already. Quitting now would NOT be failing.

Again, in my mind, at that very moment, I was going off the detox. I got out my book and started reading how to go off the 7 day cleanse. This tells you when and how to re-introduce solid foods to your diet. You can't just go from a clean and pure liquid diet right back into your former eating habits, even if your former habits were all organic and healthy. It would shock the newly clean digestive system and can make a person very sick.

Anyway, like I said, I had no intention of continuing. I was already planning what vegetables to take to work for lunch the following day. And to satisfy the annoying voice in my head that was starving and crazy, I allowed myself to have about 8 CheezIts. Yeah, def not the greatest thing to have right after a detox. I also had 1 tiny piece of chocolate. And honestly, I don't feel guilty for either. They were very small portions and they satisfied my need for just a tiny treat.

But then it got worse...

The Ugly:
I was about to go to bed when some stuff went down at home. Nothing major, but just enough to get me aggitated...and I headed for the fridge. There I found the left over treats Randy was sent home with from the party he attended Saturday night. I will say this, I didn't pig out, I didn't eat until I was stuffed, I didn't even have that much. But what I had was highly processed food that was high in fat and sodium and sooooo not good, especially when coming off a detox. :( But oh, don't you worry. I paid for it...

I woke up around midnight with severe abdominal cramping. Severe. Went to the bathroom. Felt better. Went back to bed. Woke again around 2:45am, this time with gut wrenching abdominal pain. I'm talking, doubled over, excrutiating pain that was probably the worst abdominal pain I've ever experienced, next to childbirth/labor. Needless to say, I got my payback for those few moments of gratification. I've been up since 2:45am, spending a great deal of time in the bathroom (sorry for the TMI).

But I've had a lot of time to think over the past several hours that I've been awake...which brings me to today:

Monday, January 11, 2009 (Day 8 - yeah, that's right, I'm still going!)

While laying in bed in severe pain last night, I realized that I have a little more fight in me. So I fell off the wagon last night. That should not entitle me to jump back into my old ways. That is all the more reason to keep going - to cleanse myself of the crap I took in yesterday. And if I don't keep going, that horrid 2-day healing crisis was a waste! Not to mention the night of abdominal suffering. Was all of that in vain?? No. I've got more fight left in me. Maybe not another 14 days, but I can promise 1 day at a time....and I can promise today. Funny, I went to bed feeling find and thinking of the food I was going to have the following day. Then, when I was feeling just awful, I decided to keep going... Strange how that worked out.

I came up with a few ideas to side step the soup. I'm definitely DONE with that. I have ideas on how to work around it, which I won't bore you all with. It won't be the same as the soup, but it will at least be SOMEthing. I have come this far and I'm not ready to give up just yet.

I weighed in this morning with a 1.8 pound loss from yesterday (probably from all the hours spend in the bathroom....again, sorry for the TMI). That's 13.8 pounds in 1 week. Is that even possible??? Yes, it is. Exactly 1 week ago today, I weighed nearly 14 pounds more than I do today. My pants are loose, my rings are loose, my watch is even so loose that I had to remove a link! My coat was even loose on me this moring - was my belly really that big that my coat was snug on me?? Apparently, cuz it hung on me this morning when some extra room in the front! I've lost 13.8 pounds from this detox in only a week! Why give up now??

I'm fully prepared for no loss or maybe even a gain tomorrow from the sodium I had yesterday. But I owe it to myself to keep going, just 1 day at a time.

I've also decided that no matter what, whether today is my last day or whether I make it the full 21 days, I'm going to be proud of myself. I will not feel bad if I don't make it to the end. I've done something good for myself and I've made it further than before. Every day is another day of success. I will be focusing on my SUCCESS and not my failures.

With all that being said, I'm still going. Again, I can only promise 1 day at a time. But I will make it through today - Day 8.

Detox Update: Days 4 - 6

2010-01-10T16:14:00.002-06:00

Preface: Days 4 & 5 were sheer HELL! Thursday started off okay, but then the "healing crisis" hit with full force! My neck, back, and shoulders ached and I had a headache that started behind my eyeballs and went all the way to the base of my neck! It was torture! I wanted to die. I spent all of Thursday and Friday in bed, getting up only to fix my drinks and go to the bathroom. Here's how it went:

Day 4: Thursday, January 7, 2009

I woke up to another 1.4 pound loss since yesterday. This makes for a grand total of 9.2 pounds from just 3 days of detoxing! AND - the exciting news is that this is the lowest weight I've been at in 2 years!!! I am so pumped! Today, I actually FEEL a difference - my tummy feels flatter and I look slimmer in the mirror. This makes me excited and it makes me want to continue, despite the headache I woke up with today.

I bought a lot of veggies last night, so I look forward to trying another soup recipe today. I'm going to try one with sweet potatoes this time. I'm not really a fan of sweet potatoes, but I'm hoping this will help with the consistency issue. Guess I'll find out...

We had another winter storm hit last night, adding another 6 inches of snow to the 8 or 9 we already had. :\ Needless to say, school was cancelled for the rest of the week and I am working from home today. This will be a true test. So far, the day time has been relatively easy because I'm distracted when I'm at work. Being at home all day near the fridge will be a challenge, especially with Rylie upstairs eating CheezIts as we speak. Sigh... Don't worry, I'm not in the mind set to give up. This just makes it harder - more torture!

Thursday evening: I started feeling really yucky. I was weak, barely had enough strength to get up and walk to the bathroom. If I walked downstairs, I had to sit as soon as I got there. I felt light headed and just incredibly weak. I pretty much stayed in bed the rest of the day/night.

Day 5: Friday, January 8, 2009: I woke up to a raging headache...still. Barely slept the night before because I could not get comfortable. Didn't go to work again. Stayed in bed pretty much all day. Highlight of the day - another 2 pound loss, for a grand total of 11.2 pounds from the first 4 days of detox - wow!

I was in so much misery and pain that I drank some "sleepy time" tea and took some Melatonin (all natural sleep aid) hoping it would knock my ass out and I would wake up feeling better. I even took a "detoxifying bath" with epsom salt, baking soda, and essential oils - lavender, chamomile, and vanilla. This did help my muscles relax a bit. But afterward, I was completely zapped of all energy - could barely walk back to my bedroom. I was finally able to sleep for an hour, but when I woke up I still had the horrid headache. At this point, I did a big "no no," but it was this or quit the detox altogether - I took some Tylenol for my headache. Along with it, I ate 10 baby carrots so it wouldn't tear up my stomach. And for good measure...I threw in a few handfuls of cashews. Yep, guilt. But, about 45 minutes later the headache was gone and I finally felt like I could function somewhat.

Once that was all said and done, I felt a tremendous amount of guilt. Taking a medication is serious stuff when detoxing because it's basically like taking poison. It had the potential of making me really sick. I also felt bad for eating solid food. Granted, it wasn't much. But the salt on the cashews was also pretty "toxic." Oh well, what's done is done. No use beating myself up over it now. But....all I can think of is how this is how I fell off the wagon the last time I detoxed. Around days 4 and 5, I cheated by first just eating raw veggies... and then eating nuts. Then it was all down hill after that...

Day 6: Saturday, January 9, 2009: I woke up this morning headache free! Yay, I'm hoping the healing crisis has passed!!! I'm still feeling weak and tired. And I'm also wanting to kill all fast food places for their appetizing commercials. I'm craving everything under the sun right now!!! I even had dreams last night about all kinds of candy - sprees, m&m's, sixlets, taffy, skittles... I'm so ready to just be done with this! I keep rationalizing how I can quit once I reach a certain point. But at this point, it's no longer about the weight loss or even the detox...okay, maybe a little about the weight loss...but more so how strong I am mentally to do this all the way. I'm definitely struggling.

My weight only dropped .6 pounds since yesterday. I'm sure it's from the salty cashews. Darn it. Also, I got invited to a work lunch meeting for Monday and I'm trying to decide how to side step this but still be able to meet with the guy.

Saturday evening: I came very close to quitting today. I really just wanted to EAT solid food! But I talked to Randy about it and he told me to at least keep going until I run out of my supplements/drink mixes. I have at least another week's worth or so. Then I called my friend who is also doing the detox (and amazingly well, I might add) and she totally talked me through it. I am ending the day feeling stronger, empowered, and ready to battle on for at least a few more days. I can do this.

Detox Updates: Days 1 - 3

2010-01-07T10:16:00.001-06:00

Thanks to everyone for the support. This has not been easy so far. But today is day 4 and I'm still going! Here's a log of notes I've kept for the first 3 days:

Day 1 - Monday, January 4, 2009:

The day went shockingly smooth. Never really felt hungry. Just drank water anytime I started to feel hungry. Usually by the time I started to feel a bit hungry, it was time for more herbal tea, herbal cleansing formula, and/or some type of green drink or juice.

I felt fine all day long, never really struggled. The only time I really felt a pang of hunger was at the very end of the day - at bedtime. I was hungry and wished I could have a little snack. But I went to sleep instead.

Day 2 - Tuesday, January 5, 2009:

I def woke up a bit hungry and went and gulped some iced herbal tea to help that pass.

I stepped on the scale first thing and was shocked. SHOCKED. to see a 6 pound loss from yesterday! 6 pounds!! Could this be right?? I weighed myself again, just to be sure. And then a 3rd time. Sure enough, 6 pound loss.

I am well aware that the loss will not continue this rapidly. I guarantee it was all water weight. All I did yesterday was pee. AND, I know I was retaining some water from the weekend - lots of sodium and booze holding all that water in.

So yeah....wow....6 pounds lighter today. That's just the boost I needed today to keep on going.

Tuesday evening - the evenings are always a bit of a struggle. I make it through the day just fine. But then comes the time for the "cleansing soup," which is really just a nice way of saying pureed vegetable mush. I have to admit, I'm having a hard time stomaching it. It's not so much the taste - the flavor isn't that bad. It's the consistency. Something about the grainy, mushy, warm goo that just makes my stomach churn and causes my gag reflex to kick into gear. I'm struggling to get the soup down. I also have to go upstairs when the rest of my family eats dinner. It's a challenge. And it's only day 2. Sigh...

Day 3 - Wednesday, January 6, 2009

Woke up to another 1.8 pound loss this morning, for a total of 7.8 pounds in 2 days. Not off to a bad start. Clearly the loss wasn't as great as the first day, but that's to be expected. The detox claims 21 pounds in 21 days, so that's an average of a pound a day. I'd say that 7.8 pounds in 2 days is phenomenal.

However...that's the only thing phenomenal about today. I'm just not feeling it. It's cold out - sub 0 and with a winter storm on the way. It was hard to even get out of bed this morning. I'm also aware that a "healing crisis" is on the way. This typically occurs somewhere between days 3 and 7. A healing crisis is when the toxins begin to release in the bloodstream and cause most detoxers to experience flu like symptoms - achiness, feeling groggy or sluggish, headaches, rashes, acne, high emotions, etc. It can present in many forms, and I imagine it to be somewhat close to a withdrawal that a drug addict might experience when detoxing. My body is going to be really angry with me. But I have to remember that this is going to be the worst of it and I just need to power through.

The next few days are going to be the hardest. This is what will make or break my success. I'm going to need a lot of support over the next few days.

Wednesday evening - I went to the health food store after work to pick up a few more veggies. I decided to try a soup recipe from the book, hoping it wouldn't be as nasty as the soups I've had so far. It wasn't bad actually, but again - the consistency was hard to handle. Still, it was the best I've had so far.

I made it through my 3rd full day.

I Promised Something Juicy....

2010-01-05T14:08:00.005-06:00

...and here it is!

After spending most of 2009 committed to improving myself - training for races, staying in shape, eating right, etc....I've re-evaluated some of my goals for last year and noticed one glaring issue - my weight. My youngest child is now 16 months old, yet I'm still carrying an extra 20 pounds of baby weight! How I managed to train for endurance sports last year and not lose a single pound is beyond me. But I am dedicated to taking care of this issue first and foremost - before I even start thinking about my 2010 events. I feel that a significant weight loss will help me train better, smarter, and faster...not to mention, it will improve my overall self-esteem.

I also feel that some of the straggling weight could be due to some toxic build up in my body. Yes, I know this sounds gross. But after some research, I've come to realize that my body is full of toxins - artificial flavors, man-made materials, synthetic junk (prescription medications that the body is not designed to process), etc. So not only do I need to drop some pounds, but I also need to CLEANSE myself from the inside out.

That being said, I have decided to do the Martha's Vineyard Diet Detox. I first heard about this detox on a show about how celebrities drop weight quickly. I know, I know - dropping weight FAST isn't healthy, right?? But I was intrigued... So I bought the book "21 Pounds in 21 Days" by Dr. Roni DeLuz, the founder of the MV Diet Detox.

The book gave a lot of background information about what is "toxic" to our bodies and how toxins make us carry excess weight. The information in the book was fascinating. The book also included the instructions on how to properly do the detox, as well as testimonials from those who have completed it successfully.

This isn't a detox where you starve yourself or deprive yourself of nutrients. Ever heard of the lemon juice fast or the grapefruit diet?? Not the same thing. In fact, you take in a variety nutrients every 2 hours. This keeps your tummy full and your body well nourished. The only thing is that the nourishment is completely in liquid form for 21 days. The book explains that when your digestive system has to break down solid food, it is busy "digesting." When the nutrition it receives is already broken down, it can spend time "detoxing," ie - getting rid of the bad stuff.

During the 21 days of cleansing, a person takes in herbal cleansing supplements, digestive enzymes, herbal tea, water, green drinks, high density berry drinks, live vegetable juice (made fresh daily), and a cleansing soup made of fresh vegetables that are cooked and pureed. Everything is 100% natural and organic. If done properly, the person can lose (on average) 21 pounds in 21 days, hence the name of the book.

I am sure there are people that may argue that this is not a healthy approach to weight loss. I'm trying to look at it as more than just weight loss, but also as a way to really do something good for my body by getting rid of the toxic build up that is stored inside. I want to cleanse my body and start fresh. I'm also sure there are plenty of skeptics out there as well. And to those, I will say this: I tested this detox shortly after I had my last baby. (I will add that I was not breastfeeding at the time, as detoxing while breastfeeding is not okay - the toxins exit the body via breastmilk, among other ways, and would be ingested by the baby - so I wanted to throw that out there.) Anyway, I did the detox for 6 days and lost a total of 11 pounds that STAYED OFF.

You may be wondering why I didn't continue for the full 21 days if I saw such great results the first time around. That's a great question. I will say this - this detox is not easy. It takes a great deal of will power, as well as a strong support system. I am in the right mindset at this point in my life to give this another shot. I'm not sure if I will be able to go the full 21 days...but I am committed to TRYING. And whether I make it all the way through or not, at least I will have done something good for my body during the process.

At first I wasn't planning to blog about this. I wasn't sure what people would think. I'm sure it sounds a little insane. I also didn't want to announce that I'm doing this huge detox and then have to admit that I failed. But then I realized that blogging about it would help hold me accountable for sticking to it. So, feel free to send me words of encouragement over the next 3 weeks. ;) I also want to document the entire process...so that if it IS successfull and I decided to do it again one day, I can look back and see where I struggled so I know what I can do to make it easier for myself the next time around.

Anyway, there's the 411 on my juice cleanse/diet detox. I'll be posting updates as I go along. Don't worry, I'll spare you the gory details! ;) ...maybe.

Happy Bloggiversary To ME!

2010-01-05T09:14:00.002-06:00

Today is my blog's 1 Year Anniversary! Wow, we've come a long ways! Just 1 year ago, I had no followers, I was simply tracking my workouts for my own benefit, and I was pumped to be running for 20 minutes on a treadmill. LOL. NOW, I have nearly 70 followers, I've written multiple race reports, including a half marathon and an olympic triathlon, and I've made soooooo many friends! I'm looking forward to what the next year of blogging brings!

On another note, I'm truly sorry it's been over a month since my last post. I'm lame, I know. But I really haven't had a lot to blog about. More on that later. BUT...be looking for something JUICY (pun intended....you'll get it later) on the horizon! I plan to be back in full force, so LOOK OUT!

Happy New Year to all! Here's looking forward to an amazing 2010!!!

Giveaways - Who Can Resist???

2009-11-30T12:23:00.001-06:00

Wanna win some Whooga Ugg Boots??? Click here!!!

Giblet Challenge 2009 - A Weekend of Throuple Love!

2009-11-30T09:43:00.001-06:00

Okay, so I'm over a week late getting this posted, but better late than never. ;) A couple months ago, Running Dork, Running Lawyer, and I made the Giblet Jog announcement - we were all going to run the 10 Mile Turkey Trot in Wichita on the 21st and the Gobbler Grind Half Marathon in Kansas City on the 22nd. Well, please give some bloggie love to the Running Lawyer - the only one of us that actually accomplished this feat!!! Due to injuries, I down graded to the 2 mile Turkey Trot and the Gobbler Grind 5k, and Running Dork was one of the best Athletic Supporters that a group of runners could ask for!! ;)

Okay, so let me start at the beginning of the weekend. I got off work early on Friday the 20th and headed out for the 3 mile drive to the Dub. I got there around 5pm and met up with Beka at her abode. Kristen showed up a little bit later and we enjoyed an AMAZING dinner with plenty of wine and laughs. And apparently wine is my new pre-race-requisite because I ran my fastest race EVER the following morning. (PS - fastest ever for the running worm is basically faster-than-a-snail-but-still-slower-than-a-turtle.) ;)

Here's a pic of the Throuple on Friday night:

I stayed the night at Kristen's house and we met Beka at the race. The start time was 9:30, which was actually kind of nice since it was pretty chilly out that morning. After a long line for the bathroom, we barely made it to the start in time for the gun.

This race was my first run in almost 3 weeks after being sick and having a lot of craziness in my life. AND, I had only ran 3 times since my last stress fracture, so I was hardly prepared for this race. I was really just there to have fun. I told Beka I anticipated finishing my 2 miles in around 22 - 24 minutes. So you can imagine my surprise when I finished my first mile in 9:30! Now I will say this - being that the race was in Kansas, it was EXTREMELY flat - no hills, barely even an incline here or there. The course was really nice - right along the river, some of it on streets, most of it on a trail, and even part that went through a grassy field - srsly. I was covered in stickers afterwards...which did not feel good when I accidentally sat back on my heels later and got some stickers in the tooshie!

Anyway, if this race had been a 5k, I definitely would have gone out way too fast in the first mile and then ran out of gas at the end. But since it was only 2 miles, I really pushed myself to maintain my speed. Those of that have been following my blog for awhile are aware that I've only been running for less than a year. So when I finished the race in 19 min & some change, I was SHOCKED...and excited! New PR for the Running Worm!!! And after a 2 month running hiatus (other than 3 small runs), I was pretty pumped!

There are no pics of me running this race cuz I told Beka - who was waiting at the finish line - that I wouldn't be done until 22 - 24 min, and I finished several minutes faster than expected, so she didn't have her camera ready for me. ;)

But here is a pic of Beka & me (& Milo!) after the race...and after I changed out of my sweaty running clothes - thank goodness for Beka's ridiculously dark tinted windows so I could change in the car. ;)

We got to see Kristen run by in this trail during her 10 mile race and then we jetted over to the finish line to see her finish. She did AWESOME!!! I only aspire to run that fast one day!

After the race, Kristen and I went back to her place to shower and get cleaned up. We then met up with Beka and Kristen's mom for some yummy brunch before we headed out for the 3 hour drive up to KC. We arrived just in time to pick up our race packets. Then our friend Indi and her husband met up with us and we headed out for a tasty viewing of New Moon, followed by dinner (and drinks of course!) at California Pizza Kitchen, and some amazing gelato at a cute little gelato shop.

Here's a pic of us ladies (from left to right: Indi, Beka, Kristen, Me) at CPK:

That about wrapped up our night. Then we had to get some shut eye before the race the following morning - 8am start time!

Here's a pic of us girls before the race Sunday morning (from left to right: Katy, Valerie -who has a new bloggie of her own that you all should check out at The Coach's Wife-, Me, Kristen, Indi, Beka)

The GG started promptly at 8am and I started of just as fast as I had the day before - big mistake. I wasn't far from the end of the first mile when I felt some crazy pain in my shins and my left knee. I didn't stretch as well as I should have the day before and I was seriously just shuffling along.

Here's a pic of me during the first mile - I was still running faster at this point - notice the blur! ;)

Anyway, the rest of the race was pretty painful. All I really wanted to do was stop and walk, but I knew that if I stopped, I wouldn't be able to run again. I never EVER run 2 days in a row - my body just can't handle it. So racing 2 days in a row had me in a great deal of pain. But I just powered through so I could be done. Didn't stop for water....knew if I did, my legs would refuse to run anymore after that. So I did manage to run the entire race without walking....and somehow, even though I felt like I was at snail-pace, I still managed to PR! I will say this though - this was only my 4th 5k. 2 of those I ran with a yet-to-be-diagnosed stress fracture....and a 6-year-old in tow. The other I ran in August in nearly 90 degree heat with some massive hills. My previous times weren't hard to beat - they were all slow as all get out. So yeah, there ya have it - 2 PRs in one weekend! Not to shabby for the Worm!

After I finished the race, I could barely walk. I grabbed some chocolate milk and hobbled over to a tree where I did some much-needed stretching, which totally helped! Then Beka, Indi, Trevor (Indi's husband) and I went and drove around to try to spot our friends running the half. We were successful - first we spotted Kristen and obnoxiously yelled out the window at her....for a couple blocks. ;)

Here is a stellar pic that Indi took from the front seat featuring me and Beka hanging out the back window yelling at Kristen who is running on the left:

And just a few blocks ahead we spotted Valerie too. Cheering out the window of the car was so much fun....so fun, in fact, that we just started cheering for random names. The best was Lindsay...because some girl perked right up at the sound of her name and started waving wildly back at us and giving us the thumbs up. Ah, good times.

We then headed back to the finish line where we anticipated Runnur Mark finishing in roughly an hour and a half....and he did not disappoint.

Here's a group pic after the race (Mark, Me, Beka, Kristen, Indi):

And what would a race be without some Jazz Hands photos?? Too bad Mark scurried away before this was taken. ;)

After the race, we got cleaned up and headed out for some traditional post-race Chipotle love. Nothing quite screams "celebration of accomplishment" to me quite like a loving bowl of Chipotle - yummmmmmm!!!!

And here's a pic of us ladies after our delicious Chipotle love:

Shortly after this last pic was taken, we all parted ways...sigh. It was definitely one of the best weekends I've had in a LONG time!!! I do believe we plan to make this a tradition....with hopefully some more fun weekends together in between. These ladies are a blast - nothing beats the Throuple. Nothing. Except maybe the Throuple + Chipotle.

Happy Holidays, My Friends!

2009-11-25T10:58:00.006-06:00

Hello, friends! I know I've been away for nearly 2 weeks - wow, has it been that long??!! Yeah, my life has been a bit crazy. Our entire family has been sick (back-to-back, with multiple illnesses), we've had a lot of unfortunate circumstances come up among several friends and co-workers, and of course we had the tragedy of losing our dog. I do want to take a moment right now to thank you all for the kind and thoughtful comments you all left on my last post. The unexpected loss of Callie has been very tough on all of us. Our Golden Retriever, Cooper, is especially having a difficult time right now. And our house definitely feels quieter and emptier. But having the love and support of so many wonderful friends has made this difficult situation a little more manageable - so a huge THANK YOU to you all!

I really just wanted to take a moment to wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving! I'm working to get a post up soon (hopefully today) about last weekend - AKA the Giblet Challenge with The Throuple. But in case I'm unable to get it all finished up before the end of the day, I didn't want to miss out on an opportunity to wish you all a very happy holiday weekend! And while you're enjoying your turkey and pumpkin pie, don't forget to take a moment to reflect on the many blessings in your lives to be thankful for. I feel so truly blessed for so many gifts I have been given in my life...and that includes all the wonderful people who have brightened my life so much.

All of you out there in bloggie land really have touched my heart in so many ways this year and I truly do consider you all my friends. I am so honored to have "met" all of you this year, whether exclusively through the interwebs, or actually in person. Your comments always brighten my day - many of you have given me great advice, words of encouragement, flattering compliments, and smiles all around. Several of you have become my Facebook friends, many have become email buddies, and of course there's The Throuple (consisting of myself, Running Dork, and Running Lawyer) that has come only to exist through the magic of blogginess. Without the blogosphere to bring us all together, I would not be a part of a friendship I have found to be so special (and I mean special in sooooo many ways, lol).

Each and every one of you readers out there have had a hand in making my life just that much more meaningful this past year, so for all of you I am thankful! I hope you all have a wonderful holiday with safe travels, surrounded by the ones you love! And thank you all for being my friends! HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!

My Heart Is Heavy Today...

2009-11-12T19:53:00.007-06:00

It wasn't that long ago that I sat in front of this very computer posting this note on Facebook about the loss of our boxer, Nikki. What a truly sad day that was for our family. Many tears were shed, memories shared, and hugs given.

Just a few weeks later, I found myself writing this note on Facebook to share the arrival of our new lab, Callie. It was a bitter sweet day. Though we shared great joy in the arrival of Callie, it was still in the back of our minds that we had lost our sweet Nikki and had it not been for that loss, we wouldn't have even been getting another dog.

Today I struggle as I sit here again, with tears streaming down my face. Less than 10 full months after her arrival to our family, our home is once again left with a very important piece of the family missing. It is with a very heavy heart that I regret to inform my friends that we have lost our dear, sweet Callie.

Last night before bed, we noticed that she was struggling to get up the stairs. Normally energetic and full of life, this was extremely out of character for her. We called her over to us and closely examined her body and noticed a very red bulge in her belly. She wasn't whining, crying, or barking...so we regretfully waited until this morning to take her to the vet. I did give her 2 benedryls to help her sleep. If only I had known what pain she was in....

Randy took her to the vet first thing this morning where they performed xrays on her and determined that she had been hit by a car. She's a frequent fence-jumper and has little regard for cars...so sadly, this was not shocking news. The vet advised that he would need to perform surgery as she had a hole in her abdomen and her bladder had fallen through the hole. He advised that there could be more damage, but he wouldn't know until he got into the surgery...but he knew he needed to move quickly.

Randy called me at work to let me know that Callie would need to stay at the vet until at least Monday to recover as the surgery was going to be very invasive. Clearly, I was concerned...but for whatever reason, I had no doubt that she would come out fine. She's a young, healthy pup and not even one fiber of my being thought for a moment that she wouldn't be okay. Afterall, she had been walking around since she was hit yesterday - she even walked herself home after it happened. And though we could see that she was struggling to get around, she never "told" us that she wasn't okay. I was 100% confident that she would return to us on Monday and our lives would go on as normal, minus another hefty vet bill.

Around 11:30 am, my work phone rang with an unfamiliar number on the caller ID. I answered and was greeted by a voice that sounded shaken and apologetic. It was our vet. He said there was a hole in Callie's abdominal wall and her bladder and intestines had fallen through. He said generally, he would take tissue from elsewhere to repair the hole, but her muscles were so torn up that there was no other tissue for him to use. He also said that her leg was so damaged that even if he was able to repair her abdomen, she would have lost her leg. I couldn't even wrap my head around this. If her leg was that badly damaged, how was she even able to walk??

I sat there, stunned, with tears pouring uncontrollably down my cheeks. I asked him what our options were, as I choked back tears. He quietly stated that there were no other options...other than to euthanize. I choked out the words "Can I come be with her before you let her go?" He said that I would need to hurry because even under anesthesia, he was unsure how much longer he could keep her alive. He said he had her clamped up and if he removed the clamp, she would bleed out.

Frazzled, I quickly shut down my computer and tried to gather my things, while sobbing hysterically. I gal a row away from me heard me crying and came over to ask if I was okay and if I needed anything. In a daze, I raced to my car. I cried the entire way down the elevator and to my car and I'm sure I made several people that passed me quite uncomfortable. Once in my car, I lost it completely. I called Randy and told him they couldn't save Callie. I could barely keep it together and knew I needed to stay calm while I drove, so I called Charren too. Somehow, by the grace of God, Charren just happened to be almost to the Broadway Bridge just as I was about to get on the Broadway Bridge and she kindly asked if I would like for her to go with me. Thank you, God, for looking over me and making sure that Charren was just where I needed her at that exact moment!

I drove as quickly as I could to the vet's office and ended up stuck behind the most ridiculously long line of backed-up traffic ever! I sobbed uncontrollably, thinking I would never make it in time to say goodbye to Callie. I feared I would walk in just moments too late. Nearly 40 minutes had passed by the time I got there and the vet had told me he wasn't sure if he could even keep her alive for 20. I bolted through the doors with red eyes and a swollen face and didn't have to say a word - they immediately took me back to Callie and handed me a box of tissues.

I spent the next 10 minutes hugging, kissing, and petting my baby girl, with tears and sobs escaping me the entire time. My heart just aches because we didn't realize the extent of her injuries. We knew something was wrong last night...she must have been hit and then walked home. She limped around, but didn't whine or bark or tell us she was in pain. We noticed some swelling and just gave her some benedryl to help her sleep so we could take her in today. :( The vet said that even if we had taken her in yesterday, it wouldn't have saved her...but I just hate that she had to suffer that long. If we would have taken her sooner, we could have ended her suffering...

The vet offered his condolences over and over and it was clear that he was having a hard time with the loss as well. The lady from the front desk told us he was taking it very hard, and it was clear to see the pain in his eyes.

The hardest part is yet to come. Rylie will be home from school in just a few minutes and I dread breaking the news to her. Then we will all head over to Randy's grandparents' house to bury Callie next to Nikki and Max.

Nothing can ever really prepare one for any type of loss. Being through it already doesn't make the next time any easier. Today's loss was completely unexpected. Nothing could have prepared me for this. I left for work this morning knowing she was hurt, but truly thinking that everything would be fine. Each time I finally get myself under control, I start to cry again. Our family feels incomplete and I just keep hugging Cooper, knowing that once he realizes Callie isn't coming back, he's going to have a really tough time.

We will all miss our little Cal Bell very dearly. If you have pets, please make sure to give them some extra love today...and every day. You never know if that day will be their last...

Back In The Groove

2009-11-10T06:50:00.002-06:00

Yesterday was a pretty good workout day, esp considering yesterday was MONDAY! I got in a quick 3 mile run right after work. Well, technically, I ran the first 2.5 and walked the last .5 with Rylie when she got of the bus from school (I got off to a late start). I stretched really well and then I went ahead and did P90X Core Synergistics. Let's just say I'm pretty sore today...but it's a good sore. Ah, I miss this feeling. ;)

Tonight I'm getting a third MRI on my neck since '05. My doctor has been treating me for neck issues since my last car wreck back in February and things just aren't getting better. I've been through a third round of physical therapy, I've taken steriods, and I refuse to get another round of cortisone injections. I had 3 back in '05. I was pain free for about 6 weeks...but the side effects (horrible acne and a 30 pound weight gain) lasted for nearly a year! NEVER. again. I hate getting MRIs. I hate having to hold completely still for 45 min - an hour while they take all the pictures. I usually end up having muscle spasms and it takes way longer than it is supposed to. And I have a feeling this MRI isn't going to be a whole lot different than the others. Sigh....

Well, I hope everyone is having a great week. Oh, and if you want to read a really BAD ASS race report, check out my buddy John's race report from the Beach 2 Battleship 2009 Half Ironman here - nothing short of amazing! Way to go, John!!

Monday, November 9, 2009: 3 mile run, P90X Core Synergistics

A Give Away I Can Get On Board With!!!

2009-11-09T11:49:00.003-06:00

Hey bloggies, if you would like a chance to win a Box O Goddies, click here for a chance to win 12 Peanut Butter Clif Bars (BEST flavor ever!!), 10 Clif Kids Mixed Berry Twisted Fruit Sticks (who doesn't love chewy, fruity goodness?!) and a Headsweats Supervisor. You can't beat that with a stick! All courtesy of The Daily Cadence. Check it out!

Back In The Saddle...

2009-11-09T07:44:00.002-06:00

Literally. Yesterday I took my bike out for a ride for the first time in a month! I hit the trails at Smithville Lake with my riding buddies, Mike & Kathy and put just over 31 miles on the bike - wow! Not bad for my first ride back in a month! It was such a gorgeous day out yesterday, despite a bit of wind. It was just so great to be outside, enjoying the beautiful fall weather. I'm feeling pretty good today, other than some tightness in my shoulders/neck from being on the bike for 3 hours. Oh yeah, and the tooshie is a little tender as well. ;)

Well, as I mentioned in my last post, I haven't had many workouts to blog about in awhile. Well, after my triathlon and 10k in September, I started to train for the Giblet Challenge and it wasn't long before I started to feel a very familiar pain in my left leg. That's right...stress fracture #2 of the year. :\ It was a disappointing blow, but I knew I needed to take some time off so I could heal properly. And my "time off," I don't just mean time off from running....but I ended up taking time off of everything. That wasn't really my intention...but laziness (and self pity) got in the way. Basically, I haven't swam since Nations Tri and I've only been on my bike 3 times (including yesterday). I really didn't workout in October other than a short bike ride and a few times that I lifted weights at home. Nothing really worth mentioning....so I'm not even posting my "October totals," since there's really nothing to post.

Anyway, I'm determined to get myself back in gear. I managed to gain about 7 pounds during my trip to Mexico last month...sigh. And with the holidays coming up, I really need to focus on keeping myself from gaining any more weight. Last week I started running again and this week I plan to start back up with P90X. So...if you notice a bloggie hiatus and think I'm not working out again, you're probably right...so feel free to leave me a comment reminding me to get off my lazy @$$ and get into shape! ;)

Here are my workouts from the past week:

Tuesday, November 3, 2009: 3.2 mile run

Wednesday, November 4, 2009: weights - bicepts, triceps, hamstrings, shoulders

Friday, November 6, 2009: 2.5 mile run

Sunday, November 8, 2009: 31.1 mile bike ride

Hopefully I can stay on track! Oh, and I would like to give a shout out to my darling daughter Rylie, who placed 3rd in the All Around at her gymnastics meet on Saturday! She took home 4th on beam and bars, 2nd on floor, and 1st on vault!!! I could not be more proud! :)

Have a great week, everyone!

Hello for Now! ...More on the way!

2009-11-06T07:01:00.002-06:00

Hello, friends! First of all, I've noticed several new followers over the past month - welcome!!! I hope you're not disappointed in what you've seen so far....my so-called "fitness" blog has been lacking in the fitness department lately. And there is a perfectly good explanation for that, which I will post about later. Kind of a long story, but I'll try to give you the condensed version.

Life has been pretty busy lately. Between work, vacation, gymnastics meets, and weddings, I haven't had much time for posting in the bloggie blog...and I apologize. I have lots to catch up on. I'll get there...eventually. ;)

Until then, I want to wish everyone a very happy Friday! I also want to wish a very special Someone a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!! Please stop by Erin's blog at Dancing Sweet Pea and give her some birthday love!!

Also, with winter quickly approaching - snow/sleet/darker evening hours - many of us may find ourselves running outside less and less and spending more and more time on the treadmill. Running inside is not always my first choice, but often times a necessary evil. Well, my new friend Ana introduced me to a site that many of you may find interesting: Treadmill Reviews. Here you will find reviews on ALL TYPES of treadmills (srsly, there's a buttload of reviews!), as well as some other fun links and info - check it out!

Have a great weekend, everyone! Hopefully next week I'll be back to my old bloggin' self! ;)

Foto Friday - Running Dork & Running Worm - LOOK OUT!!!!

2009-10-30T09:58:00.011-05:00

The time has come!!! Yes, it's been a few months...perhaps it was laziness that prevented me from posting these pics sooner...perhaps it was the fear that Fair Weather Runner, whom I refer to as The Running Dork might kick my @$$ for posting them...or perhaps it was my concern that the world just isn't fully ready for the pure awesomeness of a "Couple from the Throuple" together in the same place at one time! Yes, that must be it! So...brace yourselves, bloggies! Because this is just a tiny bit of preparation before ALL 3 members of the Throuple unite in just 3 short weeks for the Giblet Jog Challenge 2009! That's right - the world may implode with awesomeness, cuz we are Just.That.Awesome.!!!

Okay, here's a pic of Miss Fair Weather Runner herself & me, just moments after she invited me to her hotel room - yes, that really happened!!

We were SO EXCITED to finally meet each other - can you tell??? ;)

We *heart* each other.

A few drinks into the night, we started to get a little silly - can you believe it?? (Notice I'm doing "gag me with a spoon" in the back ground, LOL!)

In case you're wondering, we're simulating "running" with our fingers. Yep. Told ya. Awesomeness. No doubt about it.

And here, we're actually pretending to run. You can't see the arms pumping, but I'm sure it was quite a sight. I wonder if I actually make that face when I run??

And in this last photo....I'm not really sure what's going on. And it's apparent that I didn't know at the time either. ;) Ah, good times.

Well, that's about 7 of the 30ish pics taken that night. Sigh...if only I had pics of The Running Lawyer from when we met for breakfast a few weeks back.

Okay, carry on with your Friday. I hope everyone has a spooktacular weekend!! :)

I Was Tagged!

2009-10-29T07:55:00.005-05:00

I was tagged by my dear friend Erin at Dancing Sweet Pea!

Instructions are to copy these 35 questions and fill them in with the answers that suit you then pass it on to 6 favorite bloggers (notify them that you've given them an award!)35

Questions:

1)Where is your cell phone? in my purse in my desk drawar

2)Your hair? blonde with loose curls today

3)Your mother? is amazing

4)Your father? a lot of fun

5)Your favorite food? sushi, chipotle burrito bowls

6)Your dream last night? something only I would dream...

7)Your favorite drink? water, crystal light, frozen margs

8)Your dream/goal? IRONMAN!

9)What room are you in? my cubicle at work

10)Your hobby? triathlon-ing, internetting, blogging, drinking, acting a fool

11)Your fear? failure

12)Where do you want to be in 6 years? somewhere WARM

13)Where were you last night? At home

14)Something that you aren't? emotionally stable (lol)

15)Muffins? yummy!

16)Wish list item? new house, another vacation, and that my kiddos don't get the swine flu!

17)Where did you grow up? Emporia, KS

18)Last thing you did? Talked to my desk partner about the flu

19)What are you wearing? Black pants and a charcoal colored sweaterd

20)Your t.v.? needs to be bigger

21)Your pets? are the best pets in the world!

22)Friends? mean the world to me

23)Your life? is crazy!

24)Your mood? stressed

25)Missing someone? since Sept 12, 2005...

26)Vehicle? an old Pathfinder that needs upgraded

27)Something you're not wearing? glasses

28)Your favorite store? Maurices

29)Favorite color? Pink!

30)Last time you laughed? this morning

31)Last time you cried? a week ago

32)Best friend? I have too many...oldest is Melissa (AKA The Militia)

33)One place that I go to over and over? the lake!

34)One person who emails me regularly? The Throuple (Running Lawyer & Running Dork)

35)Favorite place to eat? Chipotle, Kona Grille

Six people I will pass this on to:

The Running Dork
The Running Lawyer
Lindsay @ Chasing The Kenyans
Heather @ RUN FASTER MOMMY!
Jamie @ Sweaty Hugs
Jess @ All Things Creative

Hearts to my Homies!

2009-10-26T08:02:00.002-05:00

Check it out - I returned from my amazing trip to Mexico to find a gift from my girl Beka the Running Dork - notice a new masthead, anyone?? Niiiiiiiiiice, eh?? Me gusto mucho!!!!! :)

Peace Out....I'm Off To Mexico!!!

2009-10-16T06:37:00.003-05:00

Okay, I know I've been away for nearly 2 weeks. I've had a lot going on, including jury duty this week (I'll spare you the details) and some other stuff that I'm not quite ready to disclose to the blogosphere just yet. And - I'm sorry to disappoint you - but I'm going to be away for at least another 10 days or more. At this time tomorrow I will be on a plane on my way to a MUCH NEEDED vacation with my husbie to celebrate 5 years of married bliss. Might I add that we have not taken a trip together since our honeymoon, so YES - much needed!!!! Here is the resort we'll be staying at in Mazatlan:

I'm so ready to put all my stress and worries on hold for a week as I relax in the sun, drink cocktails, and enjoy some incredible food. I will miss you all dearly...but I'll post some fun-filled pics when I return. Have a great week next week, everyone! Muah!

Nations Triathlon: Part 3 - RACE DAY!!!

2009-10-05T12:56:00.000-05:00

Here it is, FINALLY...my Nations Triathlon Race Report!!!!

My day began bright and early at 3:45am...so yeah, not so bright...but def EARLY! As typical with most racers, I didn't get much sleep the night before. I was ready for bed by a little after 9pm. I laid there and my mom kept talking and talking...so we talked until probably 10:30 or so. I finally dozed off...and woke up 20 minutes later at 10:50...and proceeded to stay away until about 1:30. I finally had to take a second muscle relaxer to fall back asleep. So I only got about 2.5 hours of sleep that night. :\

Here I am in the hotel before we met up with the team to hop the shuttle over to transition.

We were on the 5:15 shuttle and made it to the race site with PLENTY of time to set up transition, snap some photos, and then WAIT. The race started promptly at 7am. My swim wave actually didn't start until 7:48am...so yeah, 2.5 hours to just "hang out" before the race.

Here's a pic of me & Ann all body marked up. We put our names on our arms so people could cheer for us. And I got a peace sign, for good measure. ;)

Here's a pic of me & Coach Jen before the race. Notice how dark it still was!

Here's a kinda cool pic of the sun coming up over the Washington Monument:

And a pic of Ann & Me at the "Run Out" area of transition.

With pleny of time before the race began, I made sure to set up my transition area perfectly. I met the girl with her bike racked to my right. The person who was supposed to be to my left was a no-show, so I actually got a little room to spread out. Ironically, the girl to my right was in the swim wave before me and we were in transition at the exact same time during both T1 and T2. I wish I could have met up with her again at the end to get a pic, but I never saw her again after T2. I met a really nice guy from the DC area named Hampton in line for the bathroom early in the morning. We met another nice guy in line for the bathroom in transition before the race started. The lines for the bathrooms inside transition were so long, we literally waited at least 30 minutes. At one point, a guy came up to us and said that his swim wave started in 5 min and wanted to know if he could go in front of us. Of course, we let him.

By the time I got out of the bathroom, it was time to get my wetsuit on and head over to the corral. As I was waiting in line, I saw my mom. I ran over to the fence to give her a hug. She wished me luck and snapped this pic:

The water was a chilly 72 degrees that morning, so it was a wetsuit legal race. It was 2 degrees cooler than it had been the day before, yet it felt fine when I got in. Maybe it was the wetsuit. Maybe it was the adrenaline. Whatever it was, the water felt perfect and I was very grateful.

At exactly 7:48, the horn sounded and my wave was off. I was soooo nervous about the swim. I had a horrible practice the day before and I have heard horror stories of so many people having anxiety attacks in the water. In fact, after the race my mom told me that they pulled a TON of people from the water that were not able to finish the race. I'm glad I didn't see that - it would have really shaken my nerves.

Anyway, my swim started out great. I was worried that I would feel clostrophobic and crowded in the water, but I was actually fine. I mean, there were a few times when someone would grab my ankle or I would brush up next to someone, but nothing major. I found someone about my pace to draft behind and just went for it. And amazingly, I swam really straight too. It's crazy, but my swim was just "on" that day.

If you zoom on this pic, you can see me with my PINK goggles. :) I am to the top left part of the photo with my face out of the water:

Before no time at all, I was already to the Arlington Bridge and near the turn-around point. Probably the only time I started to feel any anxiety was when I was swimming under the bridge. This is so funny, but I have had reoccuring nightmares about being in a river with a bridge falling on top of me. I always wake up thinking "When the hell will I ever be swimming in a RIVER??!! And under a bridge, no less!" LOL, I guess now I know... Anyway, I sucked it up and made it under both times just fine. Here's a pic of the bridge:

My swim felt great and I was passing the white caps from the wave 3 minutes before me all over the place. I even passed a few men from the waves 6 and 9 minutes before me. I remember looking up at one point and seeing the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial and thinking "Wow, I bet not many people have seen these historical landmarks while swimming in the Potomac River."

I just felt so good during the entire swim. On my way back from the bridge I actually remember thinking "I'm really sad the swim is almost over. This is such an amazing feeling and I just hope I remember how I feel at this exact moment for the rest of my life."

At the very end of the swim with only about 25m to the dock, I inhaled a HUGE gulp of water and started choking pretty badly. I remember just thinking to myself, thank the LORD this is happening now at the end of the swim and not at the beginning! That would have definitely rattled my nerves and probably would have blown my whole swim.

I climbed onto the dock and started running to transition thinking "WOW, that went by so fast! I can't believe the swim is over. And it went so well!" I got to transition, dried off, and started getting my helmet and shoes on when I remembered that I forgot to pee before I got out of the water. Damn....I really didn't want to waste time running to the bathroom, so I ignored the urge to go...and for a split second, I even contemplated going right then and there...I mean, my tri suit was wet from the river and everything...but I decided against it. I spoke briefly with the girl racked next to me, and then I was off. When I turned my bike computer on, I noticed that it had only been about 40 minutes since I started the race. Could this be right?? Did I really complete almost a mile swim in less than 40 minutes?! The fastest I think I've ever swam 1500m in the pool was about 40 min, and I had figured the race would take even longer with the zigzagging and the massive group of people all over the place...but when I got my splits at the end, I was shocked to see my swim was actually 35:20 - that's right, I killed it! :)

Swim: 35:20

T1: 4:50

My mom was waiting for me right outside of transition and caught this pic of me on my bike:

Okay, the bike portion of the race was definitely my weakest. Let me just say that I've never heard "On your left!" so many times in my life, lol! I was being passed all over the place. But I just started cycling less than a year ago, so it's to be expected. In fact, I really just started ALL of this in the past year, so it's not anything I'm stressing about. I'm just glad my swim went so well and just set the tone for the rest of the race. I tried not to stress about my slow bike time, but just tried to focus on having fun. And I definitely learned that I need to make some upgrades to my bike before the next race. For example, it's time to get clips. This will increase my speed AND help me use different muscles and expend less energy. I also need to get aerobars. My handlebars only allow for one position and not only is it not very aerodynamic, it's also rather uncomfortable. My back was in KNOTS for a good 2 weeks following the race.

The course itself was awesome. It was pretty flat for the most part and we rode through a beautiful wooded area into Maryland. I had a few minor complaints, like the roads were pretty narrow and didn't allow too much room for passing. There were also a couple sharp turns. The worst part of the course was that in the last mile, there was a MAJOR crack in the road AND it was at the bottom of a hill. There were volunteers out there warning people about it, but when you're flying down a hill at nearly 30 mph, not knowing what to expect, that crack/bump could (and probably DID) cause some major damage! In fact, for a moment, I thought I blew my tire! There were also not enough volunteers at the end of the bike course to remind the cyclists to lift their bikes up over the curb before running into transition. My mom said that people were blowing their tires all over the place, running them into the curb! Yikes! And there were several wrecks there as well. I remember thinking how lucky I was to have no wrecks/flat tires, etc on the bike course.

A few moments that stood out in my mind during the bike:

Overhearing a convo between two girls on their bikes:

Girl A: I sure am enjoying this scenery.

Girl B: I sure am enjoying this company.

-How sweet!-

Passing Jon, a teammate of mine, around mile 10. I was heading out on a loop and he was just finishing up. He passed and yelled my name - made me smile.

Hearing "Go Team!" more times than I can count - being an event to benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, it seemed that MOST participants were members of Team in Training. There was such comradery on the course - everyone cheering each other on. What a great feeling!

Ann, who was in the swim wave 3 minutes behind me, caught up to me (and passed me) on the bike course with about 5 miles left to go. It was cool to see a familiar face. My last big race was the St Louis Half, and I did that entire race with my 2 friends. The thing about a tri is that it is impossible to do it "with" anyone. Aside from the fact that the swim waves all start at different times, you also can't bike side-by-side either. Basically, you are on your own the entire time. This is just something I'm not used to. But it was very empowering, nonetheless.

As I was riding along, I saw a catipillar in the road inching his way across. He got out of my path just in the nick of time. This also made me smile.

By the end of the bike, I felt very slow and like I had been passed by everyone on the course, LOL. But I was still having fun and I kept telling myself that my time didn't matter because I felt amazing and was doing something I had always wanted to do since I was a kid, but never actually thought I would have the opportunity to do. So I savored every moment and kept on smiling...and also thinking of what changes I need to make on my bike so I can improve next time - that's right, there WILL BE a next time! :)

Here I am at the end of the bike portion of the race. We had to dismount our bikes at the blue line and then walk/run them into transition. This part kind of sucked since I was in the row the furthest away from this side of transition.

Bike: 1:36:54, avg pace: 15.4 mph

T2: 7:48 - (I had to stop for a potty break during T2)

Here's a pic of me heading out for my run - my mom did a fabulous job of getting pics!

My run started out pretty well. I put some biofreeze on my knees since my IT bands had been giving me some problems. The biofreeze worked like a charm and I felt no pain whatsoever during the entire race. The first mile flew by and I felt great, but I was concerned that I didn't fuel well enough on my bike. I tried to eat a powerbar and just couldn't choke it down. I ate about 2/3 of my shot blocks, but the rest flew off my bike when I hit the "bump" at the end of the course. I had grabbed my Chocolate Outrage Gu before I left transition for my run, but it must have fallen out of my pocket in the bathroom, because when I went to reach for it, it was no longer in my pocket. So I was really concerned about fuel, but I knew there would be Gu at mile 4, so I just needed to make it there.

The first 2 miles were great. We ran along the Potomac River at first. There were plenty of water stations, and since we were mostly in the shade for the first 4 miles, it wasn't too hot either. Shortly after the mile 2 marker, I started to get chills/goosebumps. I was worried that I wasn't properly hydrated, and even more worried that I did not have enough calories to keep me going.

At about 2.5 miles in, I had to stop and walk for a minute. I just felt like I was running out of gas. No more than a second later, a girl came up from behind me and said "Looking good! .....do you need a Gu??" It was like she was sent to me from God - YES, I would LOVE a Gu! She smiled, gave me a Gu, and was on her way. Bless her! A mile later, there was a fuel station and I grabbed another Gu because I had a feeling I would need it before the race was over.

Around mile 4, I decided that I really needed a salt tablet. I unzipped my fuel belt and discovered dissolved salt capsules all over the inside of my belt. Great. At the next water station, I scooped out a pile of nasty salt and forced it down. Gross. But I needed it. It was also about this point that I realized there had been no bathrooms along the entire course. I didn't NEED one, but wow...seriously? No port-a-potties at ALL?? Good thing I didn't have an emergency like I did in St Louis...or that would have been a mess!! You can bet your @$$ that I mentioned this on the event survey I filled out - must.have.bathrooms.on.the.course.

Shortly after mile 4 I saw Coach Jen. She came over and jogged with me for a bit - asked how I was feeling and said I was looking great. I immediately asked her for some salt tablets. She said she had some over on the other side of the road and that she'd meet up with me at mile 5. The road looped down and met back up across the street at mile 5.

That next mile was a bit of a struggle. It was getting into the 80's, we were no longer in the shade, and I was feeling parched and low on fuel. I had my final Gu that I picked up earlier and just pushed on. At mile 5, Coach Jen was waiting for me with the salt tablets. I took them with some water and she jogged with me a ways, reminding me that there was only a mile left to go. She said "just 10 more minutes and you'll be done." The guy behind us, who was quite a bit older said "well, maybe 12 for me." I smiled and thought "yeah, same here."

The last half mile was the worst. I could see the finish line, but all I wanted to do was walk. I was just completely out of gas. I wanted to sprint to the finish, but I was barely shuffling along. Just as I was about to cross the finish line, I heard my mom yell my name. I knew it was almost over and I felt a wave of excitement and pride rush over me.

During my training, I kept wanting to get a time somewhere in the 3:30's. Realistically, I just wanted to finish in under 4 hours. Idealistically, I wanted to be around 3:30ish...but mainly just under 3:40. After being sick the weeks before the race and not training for the last 2.5 weeks leading up to it, I thought that my goal of the 3:30's was shot...but I was still hoping for under 4 hours. Well, my official chip time was 3:39:16 - I came in under 3:40 afterall!!

Here I am, crossing the finish line - courtesy of Ann! (Someone stepped in front of my mom right as I was passing by and she missed her shot - she was so pissed!! But it's all good, cuz we have this one:)

Run: 1:14:26, Pace: 12:01

Definitely slow, but not bad for recoving from a stress fracture and having been sick.

So, to sum up, overall stats are:

Swim: 35:20

T1: 4:50

Bike: 1:36:54

T2: 7:48

Run: 1:14:26

Final: 3:39:16

Here's a pic Ann snapped of me shortly after I finished the race:

Here's a shot of Ann & Me with our medals:

Here we are being silly & high-fiving each other cuz WE DID IT!!

What a great feeling of accomplishment!

Here I am with Jon. We trained together for 2 seasons and finally got to do an event together.

Rylie made me a Hannah Montana bracelet with some beads she got for her birthday (the pink thing hanging down is a guitar, lol). It was too big for my wrist, but I wore it on my ankle during the run so she could be with me during my race. I took a pic so I could show her that I remembered to wear it. :)

Jodi, Ann, & Me: Trying to act tough. LOL

Jodi, Jon, Ann, & Me: displaying our splits:

Here I am with my proud mama - so glad she was able to go on this trip and share such an amazing experience with me!

After the race, I was feeling very weak and light headed, but was having a hard time eating. I just didn't even have the energy to chew. So I chugged 2 powerades and a muscle milk. But I really never felt all that great until after I ate dinner that night.

Here are some signs that were on the path that led to the transition area. Of all the times that I walked back and forth in and out of transition those 2 days, I never noticed these signs until AFTER the race:

After the race, we all headed over to the finish line to get our "finish line" photo with our medals...and turned out that they didn't have a professional photographer with a back drop to do an "after" photo. So we just had my mom take this one of us with the finish line in the background:

J.Ro, Me, Ann, Jodi, and Jon. Amy & Jeff were MIA...

And here are all of us girls by one of the flags. You can't see this, put we're throwing a "M.A." sign...for Mid America, our chapter. ;)

The shuttles after the race were supposed to start at 1pm. We got in line before 1pm and waited at least 45 minutes for the shuttles to show up. That was frustrating because we were all tired and exhuasted. By the time we got back to the hotel, all I wanted to do was take an ice bath, shower, and nap. Actually, I really wanted food....but didn't have the energy to walk 6 blocks to get something, and I figured dinner was just a few hours away. So I didn't get anything to eat. That was a mistake...cuz I ended up feeling soooo sick later before we got to dinner. And I tried to take a nap, but never did fall asleep...

Our Victory Party was held at ESPN Zone. It was fun, but I did have a few complaints. For one, the tickets were $43 and all we got were appetizers. For that kind of money, I better be getting steak and shrimp! Or at least get my drinks included, which they were not. :\ Also, there was one bartender in particular that was completely rude and unaccomodating. And not just a little snippy, but like the worst service I've ever encountered.

Here's a pic of Ann, Me, and Jodi at the Victory Party:

Here's a pic of us playing one of the video games, LOL:

This game was so funny! You had to "ride" horses on a race track and bounce up and down on the seats like you wer similating a horse race. Let me just say that 4 girls bouncing up and down on these things drew quite a crowd of guys watching our asses, lol.

After we left ESPN Zone, I walked down the street from our hotel with the team and we had some drinks at a little cafe. Ann and I ordered some tirimisu to share....hands down, BEST tirimisu EVER:

Yummmmmm, doesn't it look delic?! Here's a pic of me & Ann savoring the caramel sauce:

Yes, it was THAT good:

We had a great time drinking and reflecting on our adventure together as a team. Here's our last pic of the day:

From left to right: Jon, Ann, J.Ro, Jeff, Coach Jen, Me, and Jodi in the front. Ah, good times!

So, there ya have it. My first official Triathlon Race Report. It only took 3 weeks to post, but there it is. I want to take this opportunity once more to thank EVERYONE for all of the support along the way. It's been quite a journey....and it's only just begun. :)

Giveaways - Check Them Out!

2009-10-02T11:16:00.002-05:00

Go check out some great giveaways at And Her Little Dog Too (all kind of goodies wrapped up in a treasure chest - booty style [I like the sound of that]) and The Tri Runner (Hornet Juice). Don't we all heart free stuff?! :)

Yesterday = NOT A Good Day... :(

2009-10-02T07:14:00.002-05:00

Yesterday was a horrible day for The Running Worm. :( It all started when my day began at 1am. :\ The storm woke up both kids and both dogs and I just never got back to sleep. I ended up getting to work yesterday morning before 5am. So it was a long and exhuasting day in general. Then around 5pm things got even worse...

As I've mentioned before, Randy and I bought Rylie tickets to see Miley Cyrus for her birthday. We purchased them 4 months ago, then had to keep it a secret until her birthday in August, and then basically won "Parents of the Year" when we announced her gift at her birthday party. You have to understand that as a 7-year-old girl, this was literally the BEST thing that's ever happened to her. For the past 6 weeks, she's been talking about nothing but the concert. We've been listening to Miley in the car and I have been getting goosebumps every time I hear "The Climb," thinking how amazing it will be to see Rylie's face when she gets to hear that song live. The concert is for tomorrow night and yesterday we even made plans to go to dinner before the concert with Ry's friend Henley and her mom. Ry gave me a pair of Hannah Montana earrings to wear to the concert - she's such a doll! And she's been planning her outfit - head-to-toe Hannah Montana gear. Literally - even panties, socks, shoes, and accessories. True story.

Well, yesterday - just 2 days before the show - it was announced that Miley has strep throat and had to cancel several concerts over the next few days, including the concert here in KC. The show was rescheduled for October 17, so no big deal, right? WRONG. Randy and I are taking a trip to Mexico for our anniversary...and wouldn't you know, we'll be in Mexico on October 17. :( So now you're probably thinking, "Can't someone else just take her?" You would think it would be that easy. But it's not. Ticketmaster did this whole "paperless" ticket thing for this show - meaning, they only way you can get in is by showing the card that the tickets were purchased with and your photo ID. So basically, Randy's debit card and ID would need to be presented in order to redeem our "tickets" the day of the concert. Since he will be in Mexico, this is not possible.

It is a VEEEEERY good thing that Rylie was at gymnatics last night...because I totally had a melt down. Keep in mind the lack of sleep from the night before. Add to that the fact that I was REALLY looking forward to the concert in general, not to mention that it's a milestone event for Rylie, being that it's her FIRST concert and to her FAVORITE pop star ever. Seeing the look on her face when Miley takes the stage is something I have been looking forward to for a VERY long time. Knowing that I was going to miss it did not sit well with me. I lost it. Literally. Bawled and bawled.

Randy immediately got on the phone with Ticketmaster to see what our options were. After a 45 minute hold (the cancelled Miley concerts caused quite a stir...), we were given 2 options. The first was to add an "authorized user" to our account and let that person take Rylie to the concert. This will not work. We did not purchase the tickets with a CREDIT card, we purchased them with a DEBIT card. So first of all, we were not about to add someone to our checking account. Secondly, they would not have the same card number anyway, so that wouldn't have worked. The ONLY other option was to cancel our current tickets and then repurchase them with a different card/user. Would be be guaranteed our same seats - NO. So it's a huge risk.

Well, my dad, being the AWESOME man that he is, offered to take Rylie to the concert. My dad rocks - he took me to see New Kids on the Block, Tiffany, and Tommy Paige as a kid. He took my sister to see N'Sync and let her shoe polish the car with "Honk if you love Justin Timerlake" and all that crazy stuff. He's a great concert escort and she would no doubt have a blast with him. She loves her Papa and he would be the next best person to go with her anyway. So...we got my dad's card info and Randy got online to purchase a new set of tickets.

The next dilemma is that we had lower level seats...and pretty good seats at that. When Randy got online, all he could find available were upper level seats. NOT TO MENTION that they opened the ticket sales up to the general public! Here we had paid $30 for fan club membership so that we could get pre-sale tickets and decent seats. All that went out the window. So yeah, there were people cancelling their tickets and probably hoping to get close to the same seats, and other people that never had tickets in the first place were totally getting in and scoring seats to a previously sold-out show! What a crock!!!

Well, Randy kept refreshing until he finally found some decent seats...actually better than what we previously had. He purchased them in my dad's name, cancelled our original order, and after 2+ hours of drama, we were able to make sure that our little girl's heart will not be broken afterall. My heart, on the other hand, is not doing so well. I mean, in the end, Ry just has to wait 2 more weeks and go with Papa instead of me. That's the important part. But I'd be lying if I said I wasn't completely disappointed. I like Miley and was really looking forward to the concert. Not to mention that for $235, I wanted to see the look on my little girl's face when Miley takes the stage. I wanted to experience her first concert with her and I've been so excited for 4 months about this concert. I am soooo upset that I'm going to miss it. Not to mention that I dropped a hell of a lot of money for my DAD to go to a concert...lol. Oh well, the important thing is that Ry still gets to go. It took HOURS to get it all straightened out...but she's worth it. And she knows that a lot of people that love her did everything they could to make sure that she still gets to go.

So anyway, lots of drama....but my little girl is still happy she gets to go, so I guess that's all that matters....

Oh, and on top of ALL OF THAT.....I hate to say that I'm also feeling a very familiar pain in my left leg. :( Let's just say.....I'm pretty sure I've reinjured my left fibula and leave it at that. Ugh....I hope today is a better day.

August & September Totals:

2009-10-01T06:30:00.002-05:00

I got out for a short run yesterday. I'm guessing it was right around 2.5 miles, but the batteries in my Garmin went out AGAIN - I just replaced them on Saturday before my race - what gives???? Anyway, I had some tightness/soreness in my calves and shins again...so I'm resting until at least Saturday.

Wednesday, September 30, 2009: 2.5 mi run

Also, as a side note, I've been up since 1am (blame the storm, both kids, both dogs, and husbie....one giant combination of STFU!!!!), so I can't make any promises about getting my Nations Triathlon Day 3 (Race Day!!) post up today. I'll try...but it might have to wait until tomorrow.

At any rate, I'm going to go ahead and post my August, September, and Year-To-Date totals. August started out strong, I was working out 5 and 6 days a week, sometimes twice a day. But after my longest triathlon training, I ended up fatigued and sick...so then I kind of fizzled out. September is the opposite. Started out slow (from being sick) and have slowly regained some momentum. Here are the exact stats:

August:

Running: 9 days, 32.65 miles
Biking: 7 days, 124 miles
Swimming: 4 days, 5000 meters
P90X: 10 days
Yoga: 2 days
Weight Training: 6 days
Total Days of Cardio: 16 days
Total Days of Working Out: 18

September:

Running: 7 days, 30.1 miles
Biking: 3 days, 40 miles
Swimming: 2 days, 1700 meters
Yoga: 1 day
P90X: 1 day
Total Days of Cardio: 9
Total Days of Working Out: 9

YTD Totals:

Running: 55 days, 207.35 miles
Biking: 33 days 411.15 miles
Swimming: 26 days, 23,800 meters
Weight Training: 47 days
Yoga: 26 days
P90X: 18 days
Misc Cardio: 12 days
Total Days of Cardio: 110
Total Days of Working Out: 138

Not bad, I guess...considering injury/stress fracture, surgery, and illnesses throughout the year. And after tracking everything and looking at my splits from my triathlon, I definitely know what areas I need to improve on before next season.

Running Isn't Cheap...

2009-09-30T09:46:00.002-05:00

Aside from all your running gear - dryfit clothes, running shoes, fleece and gloves for winter, hats/visors, etc...and other necessitites - bars/gels, body glide, fuel/hydration belts, electrolyte tablets, gatorade, bandaids, blister protection, and the million other things I'm forgetting...there's the never-ending string of race fees.

In the past 2 days, I've spent more on race fees than I care to even think about. And honestly, I got by with some pretty CHEAP races....but they all add up. Randy, Rylie, and I are doing a 5k next weekend as a family. I couldn't pass this one up as it was founded by a former tri teammate of mine who lost his son to leukemia and his wife to breast cancer. This race brings in about $40k a year and the proceeds go to organizations that support cancer patients and their families. **If anyone in the KC area is interested, please go check out The Jared Coones Memorial 5K Pumpkin Run website.** Since we are doing this one as a family, we got a family rate. I also registered for the Gobbler Grind 1/2 Marathon today as well, since today is the last day to get the $35 entry fee - yes, super cheap for a 1/2 marathon! But after today, it goes up to $45, so I had to save the extra $10. So...in the last 2 days:

$14 race fee + $3 processing fee - Randy, Pumpkin Run
$14 race fee + $3 processing fee - Rylie, Pumpkin Run
$14 race fee + $3 processing fee - Me, Pumpkin Run
$35 race fee - Me, Gobbler Grind
$45 gymnastics fee - Rylie (threw this one in since it's yet another fee I've had to pay this week)
-------------------------------------------------------
$131, not to mention that I still need to register for the Turkey Trot 10 Mile race....if all these entry fees don't break me before Christmas, I may have enough to buy everyone on my list a lump of coal....

It's all for a good cause, tho. And it's all for the love of running. Definitely justifiable.

If you haven't checked it out yet, Amanda at Run To The Finish has ANOTHER great giveaway!!! Be sure to check it out! Have a great day, friends!

Nations Triathlon Weekend: Day 2 (The Day Before The Race)

2009-09-30T07:37:00.023-05:00

Okay bloggies, get ready for some PicturePalooza, as The Running Dork puts it. The day before the race was filled with all kinds of activities, from bike assembly, test rides, bike racking, and swim practice, to the race expo and our Inspiration Dinner. My mom and I had the breakfast buffet at our hotel and then met up with the team to get shuttled over to the race/transition area. Below is one of the ONLY team photos I have where ALL team members are present:

Back Row: Jon & Jeff, Middle Row: Amy, Coach Jen, & J.Ro, Front Row: Ann, Jodi, Me (yes, everyone on the team's name began with J or A...and then it seemed like all our guests/family/staff began with S: Stacy, Steve, Steve (there were 2), Sheila, Shelley....)

Here's a pic of Ann & Me in our bike area, as our team mates put air in their tires in the background:

And here I am with my bike:

After we got our pedals securely in place and air in our tires, Ann and I took our bikes out for a test spin. Here are a couple of pics of us during and after the test ride:

After our test ride, we went to rack our bikes in the transition area...and stopped to get body marked on the way over. This next pic is for TeacherWoman at Dare To Tri cuz I thought of her when I was getting body marked and requested a smilie face on my right calf. ;)

(Notice the Washington Monument in the background)

Ann liked my smilie face, so she got one too:

We then headed to our respective rows and racked our bikes. I was in row 29, right by the Run In/Out side of transition. The sucky part was that I was about as far away from the Bike In/Out side of transition, so I had pretty much the longest distance to run with my bike of any person in the race. :/

Once our bikes were racked, we headed over to swim practice in the chilly Potomac River. (Side note, we found out that night at our Inspiration Dinner that THIS RACE is the only time anyone can LEGALLY swim in the Potomac. Interesting...)

The water temp that day was 74 degrees. I did not take my wetsuit with me...and probably should have. The cold totally took my breath away and I had a HORRIBLE swim. Just couldn't find my groove and I think the cold water freaked me out. Funny, the water was even colder on race day and I ended up rocking my swim...but more on that later.

Here's a picture of the Arlington Memorial Bridge, which we swam under during our race.

And here's a pic of the water cops. ;)

Here's a pic of us girls posing like the sillies we are before our swim:

Keepin in real like thugs on the swim dock: ;)

This is probably one of my favorite pics from the whole weekend right here - my mom took a pic of us jumping in the river and caught us mid-air!!

Here I am during my horrible swim - yuck.

Here's J.Ro, Me, and Jodi, sporting our "fishie faces" after our swim:

Here's a pic of Jodi, Me, and Ann before we headed over to the expo for a little shopping:

After we got all cleaned up after practice, we headed over to our Inspirational Dinner. To say that the dinner was amazing is pretty much an understatement. The meal, the company, the guest speakers - all phenominal!!! The top 3 fundraisers for the event were awarded with brand new bikes!!! One of the guest speakers was none other than the LEGENDARY Dave Scott, 6 time Ironman World Champion and first person to ever be inducted in the Ironman Hall of Fame!! We also got to hear from an AMAZING young man, just 16-years-old, that is a cancer survivor. He gave the most amazing speech ever - I bet he grows up to be an inspirational speaker of some sorts - absolutely phenominal! His speech made me laugh hystericaly, cry uncontrollably, and truly reminded me why I was there. It was so touching...no words can even describe. And THEN, bless his heart, he went around to all the TNT members in the hotel and signed a sign on our hotel doors wishing us good luck - what a great kid!!

Here's a pic of Ann & Me at dinner:

Here's a pic of the team (minus Jeff) after dinner:

And a pic of Me & Ann:

Well, this is it for Day 2. Next up - RACE DAY!!!! :) Stay tuned!

Nations Triathlon: Day 1

2009-09-29T11:25:00.013-05:00

I've made promises, bloggie friends. Now it's time to uphold them. I've decided to split up my DC/Nations Triathlon posts into segments by days of the trip. I have waaaay too many pics to post and if I make it all one giant post, I doubt I'll be able to keep anyone's attention for very long. I'll try to make this entertaining, though. The trip was a blast, so hopefully I can portray that in my posts.

We arrived in DC on Friday (yes, 9/11 - I have to admit I was a little nervous about flying into DC on 9/11). Not to mention that there were tons of military helecoptors flying all over the place that day. Slightly unnerving... There were snipers on the White House, which I'm sure is normal, but my mom sure seemed to get a kick out of this. She's not much of a city girl. She thinks Kansas City (where I live) is HUGE (it's not) and gets a little overwhelmed driving here.

Here's a pic of my mom and me at the White House (you can see it in the upper right corner of the pic). Yep, took this myself. ;)

Mom & I did quite a bit of sight seeing that afternoon. We got into DC a few hours before the rest of my team and I was really glad we were able to squeeze in some sight seeing that day because Saturday and Sunday were completely booked with race-related activities. Monday was the only full day of sight seeing we got, which was unfortunate since there is so much to see and do in DC.

Here's a pic of the White House up close:

And here's a pretty cool pic of the Washington Monument with some storm clouds all around. I thought it turned out pretty cool:

Here I am at the World War II Memorial. It was a really windy day and we actually got sprinkled on a bit near the end.

Me with the Lincoln Memorial in the background:

Another nice shot of the Washington Monument:

A pic of Honest Abe, up close and personal. When I talked to Rylie on the phone that night, she wanted to know all the places I had been too and she specifically asked if I had seen the Lincoln Memorial. She then proceeded to ask me if I climbed up in his lap and got a pic taken with him. LOL. Yes Rylie, and I told him what I wanted for Christmas while I was up there. ;)

All day long, my mom was having issues with her contacts. She couldn't see or read anything, so I found great humor in taking a pic of her in front of this Eye Exams sign. ;)

We saw this random bike on the street and joked that I should use it during the race. So my mom took a pic of me with it. We later found out that the white bikes were memorials to people that had been killed on bikes at that intersection. Not so funny after that...

My mom and I did so much walking that day. We guessed between 8 - 10 miles! Yeah...I was sore the next day. Luckily I had that day to recover before the race on Sunday. ;) That night we went to dinner with the team. We had a pretty large group, so we were spread out over 3 tables. But here's a pic of my table:

Jeff & Jodi are on the right. On the left from front to back: Me, Coach Jen, and Ann.

Okay, that's it for day 1. I'll get more posts up soon. I'm working on them now! ;)

Ugh...

2009-09-29T07:38:00.003-05:00

The Running Worm did NOT have a good run last night. :\

I met up with a girls running group and had one of the worst runs of my life. For the record, the group itself was a blast. I finally got to meet Amanda from Run To The Finish (who, by the way, has a great Salsa giveaway right now - check it out!!), along with many other girls. Also got to go have dinner & drinks afterwards, so that part was awesome.

But back to the run... My legs felt like lead - wouldn't move, felt like I was shuffling along, and I was in pain. My body is not trained to run 2 days in a row, let alone 3! Every training schedule I have followed for 1/2 marathons or triathlons involves running no more than 3 times a week and always with a day of rest (from running, but used to cross train) inbetween. I hurt so bad afterwards, I was fighting tears. Shins & calves - ouch. Went into Gary Gribbles where I found compression socks. They were $40 - yikes! I mean, I knew they weren't cheap...but at this point, a necessary evil. Anyway, called Randy to see if I could get them. And no, not like asking "permission," cuz that's not how we roll with our relationship. But to see if we had enough money in our account (since payday isn't until tomorrow). He said no. Tears. I literally limped over to the brewery and to spite him, spent more on my dinner and drinks than I would have on the stupid compression socks. That was stupid. But I was mad. And did I mention, in pain?

So yeah, I'm taking at least the next 2 days off from running. Maybe more. I was thinking about the Giblet Jog last night as I shuffled through my 3 miles and was wondering how the H my body is going to tolerate 10 + 13.1 in one weekend. Hope I'm not making a mistake.... Oh, and to top it off, I did yoga yesterday too for the first time in at least a month and every muscle in my body is pretty much hating me today.

Also (warning: more whining), my Garmin must not have been getting a very strong signal on the trail last night. Every time I looked down at it, my pace was reading 13:00 - 14:00 (which felt about accurate, trust me...I felt slow as a snail last night). But when I checked my splits this morning, they were 10:44, 11:03, and 12:11...can you tell I was hurting more and more with each step?? LOL. But yeah, what was up with the 13 - 14 pace?? Jacked, I tell you. Also, I must not have turned it off cuz it went on to clock for an hour and five minutes with 33 - yes, 33 laps. They all lasted about a min with a pace of anywhere from 2:00 - :56...so clearly I was driving, lol. Oh lord.

Today I am definitely not running. I'll probably go do a muscle conditioning class over my lunch break. Next week the girls riding group at my bike shop starts and goes every Tuesday in October - fun! Hope everyone is having a great week.

Monday, September 28, 2009: 3 mi run, yoga

And Now....The Moment You've All Been Waiting For!!!

2009-09-28T11:00:00.001-05:00

Okay, well just the moment that Beka the Running Dork, Kristen the Running Lawyer, and I have been waiting for. ;) We are pleased to announce the:

GIBLET JOG (soft j) CHALLENGE 2009!!!

That's right! 3 girls, 2 races, 1 weekend. These crazy-bloggie-running-girls have got GAME (yes, pun intended)!!!

Run. For the Kids. 10k

2009-09-28T07:43:00.003-05:00

I ran a small little 10K Saturday with my friend Val. It was a beautiful day for a run - upper 50's, sunny, and a nice little course. It was actually slightly longer than a 10k, more like 6.4 miles. Miles 3 and 4 were my slowest, since that's where a bulk of the hills were. But my overall pace was 10:51. It helped to run with someone that runs faster than I do - made me push myself. I don't think I've ever ran more than 3 miles with a pace under 11:16 or so. So that was pretty cool. It also went by so quickly and painlessly...makes me ready for another long race. Oh, and since it was damp out, there were like BILLIONS of earth worms on the road that day. That made The Running Worm giggle a little bit. ;)

Yesterday we took the girls to the park, so I thought I'd run a little on the trail over there. I ran my first mile (9:47!!) and then stopped to talk to Randy and suddenly felt some major soreness in my shins and calves. I was having a tough time even walking...so I called it a day. I generally don't run 2 days in a row, so I think my body was trying to remind me why.

Well, happy Monday to everyone! Stay tuned for a special announcement later today. ;)

Saturday, September 26, 2009: 6.4 mi run

Sunday, September 27, 2009: 1 mi run

Check it - FWR Giveaway!!!

2009-09-25T14:11:00.002-05:00

Okay, bloggies, Beka the Running Dork has a giveaway!!! Here's my haiku-style plug:

Fair Weather Runner

Has a bad ass give-away

I hope I win it!

Go check it out!!!!! DO IT, I SAY!

So Much To Blog About....So Little Time!!!

2009-09-25T10:38:00.005-05:00

**I still need to get a little something called a RACE REPORT out about the Nation's Triathlon. It's coming, my friends.

**I also have a -hold your applause- GIVEAWAY coming up!

**But today, I'll start with a little tag, given by none other than Beka the Running Dork! And I suck, cuz I was also tagged by sneakersister clear back in July and totally forgot about it until now!

The rules are to link back to the presenter, share 10 things about yourself that your readers may not know that are true, and then pass it on and notify the people you pass the award on to!! So, here goes:

1) My favorite color is PINK!!! I'm actually a little obsessed with it. Pretty much all my running gear/workout clothes are pink and/or black (I probably need to branch out a bit...). And not just my clothes, but my fuel belt, visor, MP3 player (and case and headphones), water bottles, gym bag, etc. In addition, I also have a pink cell phone, camera, purse, make-up bag, keychain, flat iron, you name it - I have it in pink! Oh yeah, my winter gloves, scarves, hats, etc are all pink....right down to the pink hair extensions I recently had. And a large portion of my wardrobe is pink as well. Oh, it's such a fun color! ;)

2) I totally have a girl-crush on Chelsea Handler. I like to think I'm her biggest fan, but I'm sure there's someone out there a little more obsessed than I am. But I will say that I've been following her since she was on Girls Behaving Badly. I then watched her on The Chelsea Handler show, and now follow her on Chelsea Lately. I adore her and think she is soooo efing hilarious. I've read both her books - My Horizontal Life: A Collection of One Night Stands and Are You There Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea. Her bday is just 2 days before mine, so she's a pisces like me, and I even submitted the following photo of Harper to her "Big Fat Baby" segment of her show:

And yes, I had that onsie specially made. ;) I totally heart Chelsea and hope to see her live one day and maybe even get to meet her!

3) I have been parasailing, bungee jumping (at age 13), and skydiving. Parasailing isn't really much of a dare-devil activity, but people seem to think it is. I grew up with an adventurous father (who took me bungee jumping) that always talked about taking me skydiving and I always wanted to do it. When I was 21, I took my boyfriend at the time for his birthday outside of Tucson (where we lived). I felt guilty about not going with my dad, but I called him immediately afterwards to share the news. What a rush!

4) My kids each have a "special number" related to them and the day they were born. Rylie's number is 7 - she was born at 4:47am weighing 7 lb 7 oz. My lucky number has always been 7, so that was pretty cool. Harper's number is 8 - she was born on 08/18/08, weighing 8 lb 3 oz. Just kinda cool...

5) I've never known what I wanted to be when I "grow up." Still don't. Actually, as a child, I always wanted to be a singer (can't carry a tune) or an ice skater. You know, some kind of performer that's actually unrealistic. But never really had a specific dream of being a teacher or a vet or a nurse like so many people do. I changed my major 3 times in college. And I now do something that has absolutely nothing to do with my degree. And I still would like to go back to school so I can do something different, but I haven't a clue what that is. Some things I have in mind are: chiropractor, respiratory therapist, or something in health promotions.

6) This year - 2009 - has been, by far, one of the greatest years of my life! I have achieved so many goals, it blows my mind. Before this year, I had never ran a race before. I had never even ran more than 3 miles. Now I've completed 6 races (including a half marathon and an olympic triathlon) and have 4 more races on the horizon, including a 10k tomorrow. I feel like I can now dream big and actually make those dreams come true! I finally believe in myself and I absolutely cannot wait to see what I can accomplish in years to come! I finally feel like I'm doing something - and that's a great feeling!

7) I'm a very submissive person. I may "talk a lot of talk" when I'm frustrated, by venting to those around me. But when it comes down to it, I'm not very good with confrontation and addressing issues. So I usually end up being a huge wus and brush things off. It's not very healthy though, cuz then stuff builds up and just ends up being worse. But yeah...I let people walk all over me and take advantage of me and I rarely ever say anything. I've gotten a little better about confronting those close to me - mainly Randy. But I don't ever confront people that I work with or my friends. I just don't like conflict, so I end up avoiding it altogether. Sadly, I think a few of my friendships have ended because I never spoke up to address our issues...so instead, I just quit speaking to them. Also, I have a very hard time saying "no" to anyone. Even if I have no time or room on my plate, I pretty much do anything anyone asks of me simply because I don't want to let anyone down.

8) I know lots of useless trivia that I will never need to actually know (like that Dwight D. Eisenhower was the 34th president and was from the 34th state to enter the union - Kansas, I can name all 7 girls from the 1996 Olympic US Women's Gymnastics team by first and last name [also known as the "Mag 7"], how magnet schools began as a result of the case Brown vs The Board of Education, and how Marilyn Monroe was born in 1926 and died in 1962), but I feel pretty much completely retarded in general news, politics, and everyday life. :\

9) I am a HUGE proponent for equal rights for everyone. This includes same-sex marriage and it angers me to my core that gays and lesbians do not have the same rights as heterosexuals. Are we not all human beings?? One of my biggest pet peeves is closed-minded people, especially when it comes to gay/lesbian issues. This country was founded on freedom - freedom of religion, freedom of speech....freedom of sexual preference, people! There was a time when women did not have rights - absurd! There was a time when black people did not have rights - preposterous! It is 2009 and gays and lesbians do not have rights - wtf?!?!

10) I heart chocolate. Like big time. I can be having the worst day ever and a simple Hershey's kiss will make me feel 10 times better. I love milk chocolate, dark chocolate, chocolate fudge, chocolate covered ANYTHING. You name it. I've eaten 3 Hershey's bars in one sitting before. True story. I also adore Dove Chocolate - so creamy! Sometimes Randy will randomly bring me home a chocolate bar from the store, and it truly makes my day. The way to my heart is through chocolate.

Okay, time for some taggy tags:

Erin, my little Dancing Sweet Pea
Mel, the Tall Mom on the Run
Aron at Runner's Rambles

I'm so behind....

2009-09-23T10:33:00.006-05:00

Work has been kicking my @$$ lately and I haven't had time to blog or to even read any blogs...I'm sorry, my friends! I'll pay your bloggie blogs a visit soon, I promise! And I'll get some race photos (and a race REPORT) out soon. I can't believe my tri was 10 days ago and I still haven't written a race report yet - I suck! In addition, I never posted my August totals and it's almost the end of September. So I'll just combine August & September in 1 post. I don't really have much to post for September anyway. Aside from my tri, I have a couple runs (3 miles on Monday and 8 miles on Saturday - longest run since April!!!!) and I plan to go on a bike ride tonight with some friends. But yeah....I've not only slacked on my blog posts, but clearly on my workouts as well. :/ Oh yeah, and I've been tagged...so I need to add that to my list of posts I need to get out. I'll get to it, my friends. Just be patient with me. :)

Here are my workout for September so far (clearly my worst month of the year, aside from June when I was off my feet from my surgery):

Saturday, September 12, 2009: 4 mile bike (just to test it out to make sure the pedals got put back on properly when we got to DC), 200m swim

Sunday, September 13, 2009: 1500m (1.5k) swim, 25 mile (40k) bike, 6.2 mile (10k) run

Saturday, September 19, 2009: 8 mile run (YESSSS!!!) --not 100% sure on that distance b/c my Garmin batteries went dead...but I've ran that trail before and I'm pretty sure what I did was right around 8 miles. I'll verify in a couple weeks when I run out there again.

Monday, September 21, 2009: 3 mile run (on treadmill - yuck, 10:16 pace - pretty good for me)

Tuesday, September 22, 2009: 11 mile bike ride

K, I'll try to get caught up soon with the race report, race photos, tag, and the super-cool Running Lawyer, Running Dork, and Running Worm announcement! I know you're all on the edge of your seats! ;)

I Heart Presents!!!

2009-09-18T07:03:00.002-05:00

Yes, I heart presents!!! So you can imagine my joy when I arrived home from work yesterday to find a gift awaiting me from my dear friend The Running Lawyer. It's a DARLING scarf from Disneyland and it's PINK (my fave color) and has mouse ears on it!!!! Too CUTE! I totally heart it!

Soooo....I went ahead and took a few photos in it. I mean, it totally matched my outfit and everything! ;) And I didn't take it off until I went to bed last night. And of course, I'm wearing it to work today! THANK YOU, Running Lawyer!!!

I'm still working on uploading pics from my tri, so I'll get those up this weekend and try to get a race report out to you all next week. Oooooh, and The Running Lawyer and The Running Dork and I have something we are plotting (or trotting...) for November. More on that later!

Check It Out!!!

2009-09-17T07:54:00.002-05:00

NATION's TRIATHLON PICS!!! I can't decide if I want to order the "Double Thumbs Up" pic or the "Double Peace Signs" pic......but I'm leaning towards the peace signs! ;) Oh, and I must say I was pretty reluctant about wearing all spandex...but I think our tri suits ended up being a little slimming - SWEET (cuz I can totally use that!)!! ;)

Anyway, ENJOY!

I'M A TRIATHLETE - WOOT!!!!

2009-09-16T08:52:00.004-05:00

First of all, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for all the bloggie love before my big day! I heart all of you and feel so blessed to receive so much support!!!!

Many of you have already seen my Facebook updates throughout the weekend, but for those of you that haven't - I finished my race, ROCKED the swim, and had a total BLAST!!!!! I just got back yesterday and had a sick baby to tend to all day - boo. :( So I haven't had a chance to upload pics yet. I'll get a full race report out soon, complete with pictures - I promise!!

Until then, thanks again to EVERYONE!!! You all are amazing and have made me feel like a total rockstar (especially Running Lawyer and Running Dork for all the kick ass texts throughout the weekend and emails awaiting me when I got back to work today) and also Erin, John, Mel, and Dave for the FB love and to Jamie for hooking me up on some amazing info about DC for the weekend. (If I left anyone out, I'm super sorry - you are ALL great friends and mean the world to me!!!!) I hope to get a race report out in the next week.

This Is It!!!

2009-09-10T07:12:00.003-05:00

This will be my last post before I leave tomorrow. You may be wondering why I haven't posted much in the past week. Well, it's because I've pretty much had nothing to post about. No workouts, no training, nothing. That's right...my fear came true and I was hit with a BRUTAL case of bronchitis last week. I spent all of Labor Day weekend in bed. :( I'm feeling much better than I was, but I still have a pretty nasty cough that has me pretty nervous about the race....it's just 3 days away and I haven't been able to swim, bike, or run in 2 weeks!!!!!! I know that my goal time of 3.5 hours is out the window. At this point in time, I'll just be happy to finish with both of my lungs still in tact. But I WILL finish! It may not be pretty and I may be cursing my lungs the entire way....but I will cross that finish line!

I'd like to take a moment to thank everyone for all the support along the way. This has been a long road for me. I signed up for my first TNT event over 2 years ago, yet this will be my first one to actually participate in. I had to drop out of the first race because I ended up pregnant with Harper that year. I had to drop out of another race earlier this year due to a stress fracture. So....third time's a charm, right? At this time tomorrow, I'll be on a plane to DC!!! Oh, and I'd be lying if I told you that I wasn't nervous about flying to DC on 9/11. So any encouraging words on that topic would be greatly appreciated. Yes, I know that 9/11 is probably the SAFEST day to fly now, with added/extra security and all. But my nerves are definitely all over the place.

Speaking of nerves, I'm also worried that I'll struggle with this cough along the way. I'm scared that the water in the Potomac River (yes, that's where we swim!!!!) is going to be freezing, and thus turn my bronchitis into pneumonia. I'm concerned that my lack of training during the 3 weeks prior to the race is going to hurt my physical ability to do well. I'm worried I'll forget something important to pack, even though I have a very detailed list. I'm concerned that my carry on will be too big, yet we were told to put ALL of our race gear in our carry on JUST IN CASE - this includes wetsuit, bike helmet, running shoes, ear plugs, swim cap, tri suit, fuel belt, towels, water bottles, power bars, Gu, sunglasses, sunscreen, body glide, visor, bike pedals (bike was shipped sans pedals on Monday), saddle bag, goggles, ear plugs, spare tube, tools to change flat, etc..... That's a LOT of stuff to cram into a small carry on bag! I'm also worried I'll so something stupid and get DQed. I know, I really need to relax....but I probably won't relax until the minute I step out of the Potomac River and mount my bike...and even then, I'll still be a little high strung until I actually finish the race. But hey, what's a race without a little addrenaline and nerves?? ;)

Anyway, today is my last day of work. My mom is driving up this afternoon and staying the night since we have to be at the airport before dawn tomorrow. Wish me luck, friends - I'll need it!!!!!!!!! And once again, thanks for your continued support! I *heart* you all!

Giveaway WINNER, Bloggie Shout Outs, Success, and Thanks!

2009-09-03T10:46:00.004-05:00

Okay, bloggies...I've been away for a few days. My kiddos have been sick (they are getting better) and I haven't been feeling the greatest either...which sucks cuz my tri is just 10 days away. I'm on an antibiotic...but I have a feeling that I'm either suffering from allergies or something viral...just because that would be my luck. I'm hoping/praying I'll be better by the time we leave for DC next Friday. We even cancelled our weekend trip to the lake for Labor Day so I can stay home and rest rather than exhaust myself further and probably push myself over the edge of getting sick. It's disappointing, but I'm sure it's the best decision in the end.

So, without further ado, the winner of my GNC Gift Card Giveaway is.....Kristen The Running Lawyer!!! Of course, she was the only entrant. But she earned herself a whopping 20 entries by not only donating $50 herself, but by also forwarding the link to her mother who also generously donated $50 as well! I am truly touched by their generosity and feel the need to tell everyone how amazing and special Kristen The Running Lawyer is to me. Not only is she motivational and inspirational (Have you read her blog?? She has time to be an attorney AND run marathons - now THAT is amazing!!!), but she has also become a good friend of mine over the past several months. We email daily, text each other randomly, and interestingly enough, we even went to the same high school, but never knew each other - what are the odds?! I know we'll meet face to face soon as we're from the same home town and only live 3 hours apart now. In fact, there's talk of doing a race together in November along with Beka the Running Dork. I am honored to be a friend of The Running Lawyer's and would like to give her an EXTRA SHOUT OUT today since she will be running the Disney Half Marathon on Sunday in Anaheim, CA! Please go to her blog STAT and leave her lots of encouraging comments and wish her luck this weekend!!!!!!!

To wrap it, I just want to add that my giveaway was directly related to my fundraising efforts for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. I received word today that I finally reached (and exceeded) my goal with a grand total of $4,060 in funds raised! The road to this race has been quite a long journey....but I'm sure it's nothing in comparison to what the families facing these diseases have had to endure. On September 13, 2009, when I cross that finish line, I will know that I have helped these families to progress towards the ultimate finish line - a cure! Additional shout outs go to everyone who has donated funds, everyone who has completed a TNT event, everyone who has offered support and motivation, all the families who have faced these diseases, all those who have lost loved ones, and all the survivors out there - including my bloggie buddy Art at Racing For A Cure. All of you are my inspiration, my motivation, and my reason for TRI-ing!

LAST DAY for the GIVEAWAY!!!

2009-08-31T07:03:00.002-05:00

Hey everyone! Today is the last day to enter my giveaway!!! So far, I only have one person that has entered and earned herself 20 entries...are you not gonna give her a run for her money?! Please take a few minutes to check out My Fundraising Page. You will get 1 entry for every $5 you donate. There's more info in my previous post.

In other news, I have not trained/worked out since Thursday. The weekend was ridiculously busy. Saturday was devoted to my friend's bridal shower/bachelorette party and Sunday was devoted to nursing my hangover. In addition, Harper is extremely sick - poor baby! She has a runny nose, cough, and the most wretched chest congestion. :( I'm taking her to the dr today...and asking for an antibiotic for myself as well. Only 13 days until my tri and 11 days until I leave for DC and I CANNOT be sick!!!! And I'm not gonna lie....I've definitely felt better than I feel right now. I'm tired, achy, and feel a bit of a sore throat that keeps lingering, but won't turn into anything. What a crock...

Well, I hope everyone had a great weekend. I will be taking today off and resting AGAIN. I kind of lost my momentum here at the end of the month, but I think my body needs the rest anyway. It's taper time...not much longer until the big day!

Have a great day everyone, and please don't forget to check out my link above. It's for a good cause and every little bit counts!

GIVEAWAY!! GIVEAWAY!! Win A Prize For Helping A Good Cause!!!

2009-08-28T09:17:00.008-05:00

Okay friends, I truly need your help! As most of you know, I've been training for Nations Triathlon with Team In Training. The race is just 16 days away (OMG!!!) and I am committed to raising $3950 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Almost all of us have known someone at some point in our lives that has been affected by blood cancers. More than 823,000 Americans are battling these blood cancers, and I'm hoping that my participation in Team In Training will help bring them hope and support.

I am just $500 away from reaching my goal and today I am asking for your help! I will be doing my *FIRST EVER* giveaway as an incentive for your donations!!! Here's how to enter: go to My Fundraising Page and make a donation. For every $5 you donate, you get one entry in a drawing for a $25 GNC Gift Card. A $10 donation gets you 2 entries, a $25 donation gets you 5 entries, etc. IN ADDITION, if you print your receipt and submit it to your employer for dollar matching, you will get additional entries for every $5 that your employer matches. HERE'S MORE - if you forward my website to anyone else that donates, you will receive an entry for every $5 that person donates as well. For example, Kristen The Running Lawyer already gets 10 entries because she forwarded my link to her mother who kindly donated $50.

Okay friends, this GIVEAWAY will end at the end of the day Monday (with the winner announced Tuesday morning). I know we can make this happen! Remember, it is for a WONDERFUL CAUSE - each donation helps accelerate cures for leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma and myeloma. I need your support to cross the ULTIMATE FINISH LINE - A CURE!

ART, Short Run, & Fatigue

2009-08-28T07:31:00.002-05:00

I went & saw Dr Jesse yesterday and he fixed me up. I'll probably go one more time before my tri, just for good measure. My knees did end up bothering me at the end of my run last night, but I think I just need to turn to my trusted friend, the Foam Roller.

I was supposed to have a short swim/bike/run yesterday...but I just haven't been feeling too well this week (more on that later). So instead, I took my kid and my dog on a 3.25 mile run. Let me first say that running with a 7-year-old child and an 8-year-old dog is def not speed training! But it was good times and good exercise for all. Rylie was cracking me up the whole time. At one point we heard sirens and she said "Oh no, I hope the cops don't see us out here running with Cooper or they're gonna think we're out here stealing dogs!" LOL! Then later on she said "This sure would be easier if we were driving." Hahaha, that's my kid! :) But she rocked it - only walked a couple times (while I would run to the end of the current block and back to her so she could catch back up). It was the farthest she's ever ran, so I'm proud of her! She's never gone past a 5k, which she has now done 3 of.

All week long, I've felt like I'm on the verge of getting sick. I've woken up with a mild sore throat each morning, but it goes away later in the day. I've also just been very tired and run down. I'm sure part of it is due to the long practice I had on Monday and the fact that my body is trying to recover. So I'm strongly considering skipping practice in the morning so I can rest. I feel like my body is trying to tell me I need to slow down. The last 2 weeks have been complete insanity - on the go every night. I feel like I need to take it easy. Plus, tomorrow night is my friend's bachelorette party and we'll probably be out until 3am. If I get up at 4am for practice, I'll pretty much be up for 24 hours straight. If I'm not fully sick now, I'm sure to be after that.

I've had a little anxiety about this whole "getting sick" thing. See, pretty much EVERY YEAR, without fail, I get sick over Labor Day weekend. I mean, we spend the weekend at the lake and we always swim and stuff....but it's right when the weather starts to change and whatnot. So I just have this fear that I'm going to end up sick the week before my tri. If I'm going to get sick, I wish I could go ahead and get it over with so I can recover before my trip. I really don't want to be sick while on my trip and I especially don't want to be sick for my big race that I've been training for ALL YEAR. Ugh....I can just feel it coming on. Oh, and not to mention that our next-door-neighbors are all down with some sort of stomach virus. Both parents and one of the two kids. And Rylie is around both kids every morning before school...so she has been exposed to whatever they have and I'm sure she's brought it home to us. Great....

Anyway, I know it's getting down to the wire and part of me wants to push through the last 2 weeks of training. I've felt guilty for slacking off the past 2 weeks. But the other part of my head is saying to take this as a sign to rest. We're starting to taper anyway and I got my "big" practice over with, so I think I may take the weekend off to rest. If nothing else, I'll at least sleep in tomorrow and go do my short bike/run on my own later in the morning.

Well, I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Thursday, August 27, 2009: 3.25 mi run

Nations Triathlon, HERE I COME!!!

2009-08-26T09:37:00.001-05:00

The big day is almost here and I finally feel so READY!!!! I had my last long practice before Nations on Monday (1 mile swim, 20 mile bike, 5 mile run) and it was AWESOME! Seriously, after the way Monday's practice went, I have no doubt in my mind that I'll be able to DO IT!

My team had their last long training day on Saturday, but I had to miss due to the back-to-back birthday parties we had for our girls on Saturday. And trust me, I probably exerted more energy on those 2 parties than my team did on the longest brick training on our tri training schedule, LOL! The parties turned out PERFECTLY, by the way, but I'll blog about that later...once I get pics uploaded. :)

Anyway, Monday night I met up with a girl from my team that also missed Saturday's big practice. We wanted to get that last long training day in before the big race, so we met up at Longview Lake Monday afternoon for a mile swim, 20 mile bike, and 5 mile run...and let me just say, I felt like a total bad @$$ afterwards, LOL! Srsly, it was amazing!!!!

It took us about 4 hours, but our transitions were not like they will be on race day. For instance, we had to pack up our bags from the swim beach and go use the showers to wash the sand off our feet. Then we had to load our stuff into the car and unload our bikes (and reload our bikes after we biked). Then we had to move our cars to a different parking lot before the run since the swim beach was going to close and they gate off the parking lot, etc. Plus, we had to stop for traffic on our bikes.

So....we'll see. I really wanted to do the tri in under 4 hours...and I was actually trying to shoot for around 3 1/2...but I don't know how realistic that is. The swim will be hard to predict. Cuz I know I can do that distance in 45 minutes....but I may panic or have anxiety with that many people around me. Unless I can get away from everyone, I'll probably end up wasting time stopping to see if anyone is near me, making sure I don't get kicked in the face, etc. PLUS, if it's windy or if there's a current (it's in a RIVER), it will add time. It'll probably take about an hour. The bike....I usually average about 14.7 mph. I don't know if the course will be hilly...or if there will be wind. If I can kick it up to 18 mph, I can do it in an hour and 15 or 20 min...but I just have a feeling it's going to be around an hour and 45 min. Then to run a 10k after all that....I know that will take roughly an hour and 15 min, just cuz I'm guessing my avg speed will be around 12 min miles since it will be at the end of everything and I'll be tired. But, I may surprise myself with adrenaline. Monday night I ran my 5 miles with an avg speed of 11:18, which isn't bad after all the swimming and biking....plus I had to walk a couple times cuz my IT bands were bothering me the last half of the run. So...I guess we'll just see. I'm really trying not to have any expectations, cuz just finishing the race will be an accomplishment in itself, and I really just need to remember that.

It's just crazy, cuz when I was training for HyVee, which was a 5 month training program, I got up to 3 weeks before the race when I had to drop out due to the stress fracture. That's where I am now - 3 weeks out (actually 2 1/2). I totally did not feel ready at ALL for HyVee and I had been training for nearly 5 months! Now here I am, on only a 3 month training program...and I even missed the first month since I was recovering from my surgery and had not even worked out at ALL for 6 weeks coming into it and I've only been working out again for about 7 weeks, and I totally feel like I have this in the bag. I mean, it may not be pretty or fast...but I know I can DO it! I am soooo excited now! I think I have a new passion, lol.

The only thing is my IT Bands are KILLING me!!! :( But fear not - I'm going to see Dr. Jesse tomorrow (who does Active Release Therapy) and I know he'll get them worked out for me....I just haven't had knee problems since I started running again and thought I'd make it until race day, but I guess not. Oh well. Foam roller, here I come - LOL!

Anyway, it's been a long journey and I can't believe the big day is almost here!!! All I need to do is add about 5 miles on the bike and a 1.2 mile run to what I did on Monday and I'll have completed an olympic triathlon! I'm so close, I can feel the victory already!!! :)

Friday, August 21, 2009: P90X (Legs & Back, Ab Ripper X)

Monday, August 24, 2009: 1 mi swim, 20 mi bike, 5 mi run

Happy Birthday To My Big Girl!!!!

2009-08-25T07:06:00.012-05:00

HAPPY 7th BIRTHDAY to one of the great loves of my life, Rylie Kayden!!!

It does not seem possible that she is 7 years old today - 7!!!!!

Not long ago, she still had training wheels on her bike....now she's keeping up with me on 13+ mile rides....

She barely had any hair at the age of 2...and now her hair is longer than mine!

Of course, the sass, spunk, and attitude will stick with her forever!!

Happy birthday, Rylie!!!!! We are so proud of everything you do and will love more than you will ever know forever and ever and ever!!!!

Love,

Mom, Dad, & Harper

It's Been A Rough Week...

2009-08-21T06:53:00.002-05:00

This week has just been completely emotionally draining. Work drama has had me pretty emotional and just not myself. I'll spare you the details...but let's just say I'm glad it's Friday!

That being said, yesterday's workout didn't quite turn out as planned...but that's not necessarily a bad thing either. I did yoga yesterday morning (P90X style) and it was MUCH NEEDED. After work, I headed to the airport to meet up with Mike for a bike ride. My tri schedule called for a 10 mile bike ride and 3 mile run.

Well, as the end of my work day approached, I realized I had barely eaten all day. This is not normal for me, but with all the drama and stress of the past few days, I had barely slept or eaten much - it was really taking its toll on me. As I was packing up my stuff to leave work, I realized I had only eaten a banana and a few raw veggies with ranch. That's it. Definitely not enough fuel for a bike/run! And to top it off, I forgot to pack Gu. I did find half a power bar in my desk and scarfed that down....but I knew before I even got to the airport that running just wasn't a good idea. I'm trying to be smart about training and I know that running on such few calories just wasn't a good idea. It's too bad too...cuz it was a perfect day for running. After temps in the 80's and 90's, yesterday was cool in the 70's. I'm really bummed that I wasn't properly prepared to run.

Not all was lost, though. I ended up having a pretty decent bike ride. I got to the airport about 40 minutes before my riding buddy Mike, so I had already put in several miles by the time he got there. Then once we started riding, we just got to talking and having such a good time....and next thing I knew, I had put in 30 miles. Well 29.2, but who's counting? ;) Having a buddy really makes training that much more fun.

Tomorrow I'll be missing team practice since I'll be hosting back-to-back birthday parties for my girls. Yep, their bdays are exactly a week apart - great planning on my part, LOL. So we'll be hosting a brunch for family only for Harper's bday in the morning followed by a party at the park in the afternoon for Rylie. And if I can get motivated enough, I'll actually try to upload some pics next week. ;)

I hope everyone has a SUPER weekend!!!!! :)

Thursday, August 20, 2009: P90X (yoga) and 29.2 mi bike ride

Hectic Week...

2009-08-20T06:59:00.003-05:00

It's been a little crazy these past few days. Between both my girls having birthdays/parties, Rylie's first day of school, Rylie's activities, the insanity of my work life, and just life in general, it's been a little tough to squeeze in my workouts. Here's where I'm at so far:

Monday, August 17, 2009: 10 mile on stationary bike (lame)

Wednesday, August 19, 2009: P90X (Shoulders & Arms and Ab Ripper X), 1200m swim

It's crazy, my abs are KILLING me today. I've been doing the Ab Ripper twice a week and usually don't feel it this much. Maybe cuz I've slacked off the past few days? Maybe because I stepped it up a bit? Who knows....

I finished the 1200m swim in about 25 minutes. I had a lot of steam to blow off yesterday, so the swim barely phased me. I should have gone for longer, but I needed to get home. I still don't think I'll be swimming that fast on race day, though. I know my anxiety in the open water around that many other swimmers will totally get to me.... I even had dreams about open water swimming last night. OH - and speaking of open water swimming (here's your LOL for the day), I read that one thing you must NEVER do when avoiding parasites is to drink lake or river water. LOL, I wonder how many gulps of lake water I've swallowed in the past few months while training for this tri?? Oh my....I have GOT to quit reading about parasites!!!

Today I plan to do a little yoga ( I have GOT to de-stress) and then I have a bike/run planned for this evening. I'm meeting Mike up at the airport for a bike ride and then running a few miles afterwards. If today is anything like yesterday, I'll totally need to blow off some steam after work!

By the way, go check out Tall Mom's Nuun giveaway!!!!!

My Little Nugget is 1 Year Old!!!!!!

2009-08-18T07:43:00.010-05:00

Today is a special day, my friends! Today my little Harper (AKA Little Nugget) celebrates her 1st birthday! I can't believe she's already been a part of our lives for a YEAR!!!

Just look how cute she was the day she was born:

I can't believe how tiny she used to be! And she had BLACK hair!

Here she is a Christmas:

And just look at her NOW:

No other baby could possibly be loved more! Happy birthday, Harper!! We love you soooo much!!!!

Love,

Mommy, Daddy, and Rylie

6 Mile Run - Woot!

2009-08-17T07:52:00.004-05:00

Saturday morning I logged my longest post-stress fracture run! I ended up running it solo because my team was meeting at a park that's a good 40 minutes from my house. I just couldn't justify driving 40 minutes there and back just to run for a little over an hour. Plus, I needed to get Rylie to a bday party in a town 20 minutes away by 10am, so I really needed to utilize my time wisely that morning. So instead, I hit up a trail near my house. (FWR, did you hit up the River Front Trail when you stayed at Argosy? That's the trail I ran on Saturday.) This allowed me to sleep in until 6:30am (rather than get up at 4:15 if I had gone to practice with the team). I've never ran there before, but I will definitely be hitting it up again. It's right by my house and actually a really nice little area. Several times during the run I wished I had my camera with me.

There were several high and low points of the run on Saturday:

HIGHS:

**It was my longest post-injury run (6 miles) and it felt GREAT! Took an ice bath when I got home and went about my day like normal. Wasn't even sore the following day.
**PERFECT running weather - low 70's with a cool breeze and mostly overcast, so no blazing sun.
**The trail is kind of elevated and out in the middle of an open area overlooking the highway and some large fields - nice view.
**The trail was pretty flat.
**Passed a pack of wild turkey while I was running.
**Passed several other runners that were all friendly and waved.
**Passed several mountain bikers. One in particular and I had crossed paths several times and at the end he totally flashed me a thumbs up - highlight of the morning! ;)

LOWS:

**I had a couple glasses of wine the night before and was therefore not properly hydrated. I took water with me, but left it in my car. About 2 miles in on my first out-and-back, I was totally regretting that decision. I had another 2 miles to go to get back to my car and I definitely had to stop to stretch out the tight & dehydrated muscles. I also had a little anxiety about not having water on my. I really think I need to get a hydration belt. I had my fuel belt with some Gu...but no water. :\
**I ran RIDICULOUSLY slow. Something about trails and the gravely pebbles makes me feel like I'm running in quick sand. Maybe it's just because I'm not used to it...but trails are just not my thing. Just to illustrate it for you, my 4 mile TM run on Thurs was an avg pace of 10:20 and my 6 mile trail run on Sat was 12:33 - WTF?? And the funny this is....even tho my pace SUCKED....it didn't really feel like it sucked. It actually felt pretty good at the time. So I'm not stressing over it. First "long" run in 4 months, so I'm okay with it. ;)

Anyway, the rest of the weekend was spent fundraising. After doing it for about 2 years, I've finally learned the key - take your adorable children with you! ;) Rylie is a money-making machine! And, she LOVES doing it! We did a "boot block" Friday night at the Wal-Mart near our house. (In case you don't know, this is just when you stand at a busy intersection with signs and buckets and people donate cash.) Anyway, I've never made so much money so quickly! And she had a blast! She kept begging to do it again on Saturday, but the weather wasn't so favorable. By the time we got out there, it started raining within 10 minutes, so we had to pack it up and go home. Yesterday we sold beads at the Wizards game and then did another boot block at Wal-Mart after that. Total for the entire weekend: $350!! Only about $1000 to go! And only 2 more weeks to do it....so, if you're feeling generous and would like to donate to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, please check out My Fundraising Page.

I hope everyone has a great week ahead! It's supposed to rain/storm for the next 4 days here, which kind of puts a damper on my training. I can't swim if there's lightening...nor can I bike. And the stationery bike just isn't the same...but it looks like I've got a stationery bike/treadmill workout in my future. *Sigh* Oh well, better than nothing I suppose.

Saturday, August 15, 2009: 6 mile run

Running & Yoga!

2009-08-14T07:10:00.003-05:00

Yesterday I ran on the treadmill for the first time in probably 5 months or so. I really don't care for the TM....but I also don't care for running in 90+ degree weather with added humidity. So...I didn't really have much of a choice. I did, however, pound out 4 miles in 41:22. Granted...I had no wind and no hills, but it does please me to be able to run a bit faster on the TM. (Hey, I never claimed to be speedy, people.)

After the run, I enjoyed about 45 minutes of yoga. Wished I could have done more....but I already went waaaaay over my allotted lunch time (which I made up at the end of the day).

Today I'm getting my colonic. And for the record, ever since all the recent discussion of parasites, I've hardly been able to eat a thing without gagging. Last night I watched my (almost 1 yr old, as of this coming Tuesday) baby sitting on the floor playing with her toys. The same floor that my dogs sit on. And I watched as she picked up toys and put them directly in her mouth. I cringed!!! THEN, this morning my husband took my bike out of my car for me since I'm going to pick the oldest up from my folks' house tonight and need room in the car for said child. Well, he didn't even take the bike into the garage...just directly into the living room. Yep, my parasite-infested bike tires are just hanging out on my living room floor...where we put the baby to play. *Shivers!*

Well, I probably won't be around much this weekend - lots going on. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Thursday, August 13, 2009: 4 mi run (TM), yoga

P90X, Bike Rides, and......Parasites??!! EW!

2009-08-13T07:25:00.002-05:00

Yesterday I was involved in a day-long conversation (via email) with Fair Weather Runner, the Self-Proclaimed Running DORK and Kristen the Running Lawyer about (you guessed it) PARASITES. After all the research I've done over the past few days, I'm pretty much convinced that I not only have parasites...but so does everyone else! From what I've read, you can get them from improperly washed fruits and veggies (Do you get veggies at restaurants? Do you know if they were washed properly??? And don't even get me started on salad bars!), undercooked meat (I love my steak medium rare and I *heart* me some SUSHI!!!), TAP WATER, you can even inhale pinworm eggs in the air you breathe, and other types of worms can enter through your bare feet - no open cuts needed...they just crawl directly through your skin!!! Are you grossed out yet??? Not to mention, if you have pets, your chances of getting parasites are even higher. Awesome...I have 3 animals living in my house. AND, roughly 80% of children have pinworms as they are super easy to contract and spread, so if you have children living in the home (as I do), your chances of having parasites are even higher. So, call me paranoid. Call me a hypochondriac. But I'm pretty positive that I have parasites, causing me extreme bloating as well as other gastrointestinal problems. And after all the reading I've done, I've learned that parasites are much harder to get rid of than I thought. Scary!

Sooooo.....if anyone has any insight they would like to share, I'm totally open to hearing about it! And I'm pretty sure that Fair Weather Runner, the Self-Proclaimed Running DORK will post a more entertaining blog about the discussion we had yesterday. ;) I also asked Amanda at Run to the Finish to blog about parasites as well...since she seems to be a plethora of health-related information and could probably shed some light on the subject. By the way, Amanda's got some great give aways going on right now, so go check 'em out!

Anyway, moving on from the "creepy crawlies," yesterday was a decent workout day for me. I did P90X (Arms & Shoulders and Ab Ripper). We cut the Arms & Shoulders workout short just a tad due to time contraints. Then after work, I headed over to the airport to enjoy a bike ride with my new friend Mike that I met at the airport last week. I put in 14.6 miles and could have kept going if I didn't need to get home to the fam. Having a buddy to ride with makes the ride so much more enjoyable. Plus, I like Mike. He's good people.

Today I'm doing the P90X Yoga workout - YAY!!! I'm so pumped! I haven't done yoga since the beginning of May since my yoga instructor moved away - sad. :( I also have a 4 mi run on the schedule...and with it being in the 90's today, I have a feeling it's gonna be a treadmill run - yuck! I'll be honest, I'm pretty much dreading it. I LOATH the TM. Haven't ran on it since March, I believe. It's soooooo booooooring. So, any words of encouragement are welcome! ;)

Wednesday, August 12, 2009: P90X Arms & Shoulders and Ab Ripper X, 14.6 mi bike

1500m Swim!

2009-08-12T08:36:00.003-05:00

I dragged myself to the pool last night for a 1500m swim. Honestly, I wanted to quit after 800m. I told myself to make it 1200m. Once I got to 1200m, I told myself I might as well finish up with 1500m. I did it. It wasn't pretty, but I did it. 1500m is the distance I'll swim in my tri. I did it in about 40 minutes last night, but I have a feeling that won't be the case on race day. I'm sure I'll zig zag around, probably inhale water a couple times and choke, have a little anxiety, etc. I'm hoping to finish in under an hour on race day, but I guess we'll just have to see what that day holds.

Tonight I'm riding my bike up at the airport with the new friends I made last week. :) Then I need to try to raise some more money for The LLS. I have only about 2 weeks to raise $1500 - yikes! Here's another shameless plug, if anyone would like to donate go to: My Fundraising Page.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009: 1500m swim

Brick, Race for the Cure, and REST!

2009-08-11T09:00:00.002-05:00

Hello, Bloggies! I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! I had to take yesterday off to catch up on rest from mine!

My Saturday morning began at 3:30 am. My alarm was actually set for 4am, but a lovely text message woke me up at 3:30 instead...sigh. Anyway, I was loaded up and out the door before 5am. I had about a 45 minute drive down south for practice and needed to get my transition area set up prior to practice.

We started out with a half mile swim. It was interesting because we were swimming at Longview Lake and it's really shallow there. There were times when we were about 100 yards out and our hands or knees would hit the bottom, LOL. So we would get up and walk out a few more yards and then start swimming again. It was funny...looked like we were walking on water in the middle of the lake, LOL.

Next up was a 23.5 mile bike (our schedule only said 15 miles for Saturday...I love how the coaches sneak in extra miles!). It was a beautiful day for a bike ride. It was in the 80's with a nice breeze and only 1 killer hill (that we had to ride twice).

Last, but not least, was a 3 mile run. The run sucked the life out of me. My time was horrible, but it was so hot and humid and I was exhausted from the swim and bike. I sure hope I don't feel that zapped during the run on race day!

Anyway, overall, it was a good practice. Very close to the distances I'll be doing at Nations...minus another half mile swim and 3 mile run. I finally feel like I can actually DO it now, though. It may not be pretty and my time may suck, but I know that it can be done.

Sunday morning I joined the record-breaking 30,000 people for the Race for the Cure of Greater Kansas City. It was a HOT one, folks! Soooo hot, in fact, that I witnessed the heartbreaking event of an older man having a stroke. My stomach is still in knots over it...haven't been able to get it out of my mind ever since... :(

Rylie did the race too, but she mostly walked it with one of my friends. I PRed (according to my Garmin), but my chip time was longer.... probably because I stopped my Garmin at the 5K point, which was a good 3 blocks before the finish line. Oh well. My time wasn't spectacular and my splits were all over the place, lol. My first mile was 12:06. I like to blame the congestion of the crowds on that one, lol. My second mile was 10:02...and I even walked a huge hill at the end of it, so I must have been running pretty fast (well, fast for me). The last mile was 11:16. My Garmin says I finished in 34:34. Yeah, it's slow....but it was the first 5K I ran without Rylie, so it was faster by default, LOL. I also drank quite a bit of wine Saturday night, so I wasn't expecting much. I think I can only improve from here. ;)

Yesterday I took the day off to rest. I had worked out for 7 consecutive days and I think my body just really needed a rest. The weekend took it out of me.

Anyway, I hope everyone had a great weekend!

Saturday, August 8, 2009: 1/2 mi swim, 23.5 mi bike, 3 mi run

Sunday, August 9, 2009: 3.1 mi run

TGIF!

2009-08-07T13:25:00.003-05:00

It's been an exhausting week, people! I had swimming on my schedule twice this week, but never made it to the pool, sigh. But I did 2 bike/run bricks, so I'm happy with that. The other 2 nights this week, I had stuff going on. I thought about going tonight...but I have a 6am practice tomorrow and I'll swim then (and bike and run), so I'm not too worried about it. I've done P90X every day this week too, so even tho I missed my swims, I'm not really feeling like a slacker by any means.

I've been doing some research on colon cleansing, parasites, and detoxes lately. I know a good detox would do me good. In fact, I did a great one last fall: Martha's Vineyard Diet Detox. I got it from the book 21 Pounds in 21 Days. I didn't do it for the full 21 days, because it doesn't involve EATING, which is pretty hard. It's a liquid/juicing detox. VERY beneficial and I would LOVE to try the full 21 days one of these days... But right now, while I'm training for endurance sports, this type of detox would not fit my lifestyle. I HAVE to eat to have the energy to train. That's not to say that there aren't other ways of cleansing, though. And that is why I just scheduled an appointment for my first colonic. Has anyone else ever had one? I've heard great things about them and I'm actually looking forward to getting "cleansed." :)

Well, I hope everyone has a great weekend! Here are my workouts for the last 2 days:

Thursday, August 6, 2009: P90X - Kenpo

Friday, August 7, 2009: P90X Back & Legs, Ab Ripper X

Foto Friday!

2009-08-07T07:22:00.002-05:00

Okay, I suck cuz I still haven't uploaded the pics of FWR and me....guess you'll just have to wait. Sorry! I'm actually in town this weekend for the first time in 3 weeks, so hopefully I'll have some time to actually get on the computer for once.

In the meantime, I leave you with the following pics of my Little Nuggets from a couple weekends ago. The first pic is on the way TO the lake. The second is on the way HOME. ;) Enjoy!!

Makin Friends Everywhere I Go!

2009-08-06T07:03:00.002-05:00

I made some new friends at the airport yesterday. That's just how I roll. :) I went out there right after work to do a quick bike/run. ("Quick" actually ended up being almost 2 hours. More on that in a bit.)

Anyway, as I was getting my bike out of the back of my car, I remembered my tires were pretty low. I scoured the parking lot to see if any cyclists were at their cars so I could try to bum an air pump off of someone. No such luck. So, just as I was about to take off, a man and woman rode right up to me. They were parked right next to me and were taking a water break. They were so friendly and the woman introduced herself before I even got a chance to ask if she had an air pump I could borrow (she did), so that was cool. We got to talking and they asked if I would like to ride with them.

I rode my first 2 laps with them and as we got to talking I found out that they both live near me. In fact, the guy lives right in my neighborhood. What a small world. Found out the guy is a former runner and the chick has done some tri's. How cool! She even told me I could meet up with her to swim in her neighborhood if I would like. So we exchanged email addresses before they left and then I went on for 2 more laps.

My schedule yesterday called for a 10 mile bike and a 2 mile run. Well, I ended up doing a 15 mile bike and a 3.3 mile run. The bike was pretty slow. I think because I was with people for the first half and we were chatting, which tends to slow you down. It was more of a casual ride, but enjoyable nonetheless. My last 2 laps were faster, but my avg speed was pretty low overall. It took an hour and 5 min to do 15 miles. My run was also pretty slow and I'm sure the heat was a factor. The arch of my foot kept cramping, so I had to keep stopping to stretch it out. I had 3 bottles of water while I was out there, but I was drenched in sweat and I'm sure the heat had a little something to do with the cramping.

I made sure to stretch really good when I finished up. So between the bike, run, and stretch, I was at the airport for over 2 hours. Not to mention that I did P90X yesterday on my lunch break too. We did the shoulders & arms workout which is an hour long...AND the ab ripper workout, which is another 15 minutes. So yeah...I basically worked out for 3 hours yesterday. Crazy. What's even crazier is that I'm not nearly as sore today as I thought I would be. But....I'm sure that will change as the day goes on, lol. I did take a cold bath as soon as I got home last night, so I'm sure that helped the legs. But I know my shoulders/arms will be feeling pretty stiff later on.

On the agenda for today: Kenpo - yay! <---one of my favorite P90X workouts! And some pool action after work. Have a great day, everyone! :)

Wednesday, August 5, 2009: P90X (Shoulders & Arms, Ab Ripper X), 15 mile bike, 3.3 mile run

P90X, Training, & Fundraising

2009-08-05T09:58:00.004-05:00

Yesterday I did P90X over my lunch break. It was the Cardio X workout. The girls and I decided to start over on P90X this week and do the "Lean" program. Previously, we were working out with some guys here at work who were following the "Classic" program. It's a good program too, but we felt that "Lean" would be more appropriate for us. So we started Monday with Phase 1 and we're going to try to be more consistent over the next 12 weeks and hopefully we'll see results.

I didn't work out last night since I went to Happy Hour with my old boss instead. Wine & sushi was a lot more fun than swimming anyway. ;) BUT....the scale didn't quite agree with that this morning, sigh. Oh well, another bike & run in this crazy heat tonight should help out with that. Tonight is another brick. It'll be slightly cooler than it was on Monday, but the humidity is pretty crazy. I just need to make sure I'm staying properly hydrated throughout the day.

On another note, does anyone have any suggestions for fundraisers? I need something relatively simple that doesn't require a lot of planning/preparation. I need to raise just under $1600 for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society by the end of this month! Feel free to email me with any ideas at randyandashleyrobbins@yahoo.com. If you would like to donate, please check out My Fundraising Page. Thanks!!

Tuesday, August 4, 2009: P90X (Cardio X)

Most Productive Monday EVER!

2009-08-04T07:13:00.002-05:00

Not only was yesterday a productive day at work AND home, but I also kicked a little ass with my workouts as well. :) I did P90X over my lunch break - Core Synergistics. Then I did an 11.2 mile bike ride, followed by a 2 mile "run" in the evening. Now, I have "run" in quotations cuz it wasn't a full-on run. I met up with a girlfriend of mine that signed up to do Race for the Cure this weekend and has never even run a mile in her entire life. I've been on her over the past several weeks to get out and run a little bit, so I told her I would meet up with her and walk with her when she needed to walk. She actually did a really great job. She ran the first half mile without stopping and at a pretty decent pace. Not to mention it was over 90 degrees out, so I think she was a total trooper!

What's interesting is that after an 11.2 mile bike ride in 90+ heat, I took off for my run and glanced down at my Garmin to notice that I was running WAAAAAY faster than I typically run. It immediately made me think of Mel's post yesterday. Why is it that after a bike ride, our runs begin at a much faster pace than if we were just running alone without the bike ride?? You would think it would be the other way around. The only answer I can come up with is that my average pace on my bike was 14.7 mph (yeah, I really need to work on speeding that up), so running 5 - 6 mph feels extremely SLOW compared to that, thus the body's need to feel like speeding up...?? Does that even make sense? I just found it to be strange. I had to force myself to slow down. I have a swim/bike/run coming up on Saturday, so it will be interesting to see what my pace is like then.

Tonight I'll be going to Happy Hour with my old boss (whom I ADORE), so no tri training tonight. Just a little P90X action at lunch again. Happy Tuesday! :)

Monday, August 3, 2009: P90X Core Synergistics, 11.2 mile bike, 2 mile run

July (and June) Stats

2009-08-03T07:38:00.004-05:00

Okay, I never posted my June stats since I was pretty much out of commission that month. My surgery was June 5th, so obviously I didn't do a whole lot. AND, I wasn't technically released to begin working out again until July 20th. So...these months aren't going to look the best...but here they are:

June:

Cycling: 1 day, 15 miles
Walking: 2 days, 3.8 miles
Weight Training: 5 days (2 were P90X)
P90X: 3 days
Total Days of Cardio: 5
Total Days of Work Outs: 9

July:

Cycling: 1 day, 12.5 miles
Swimming: 5 days, 3550 m
Running: 5 days, 14.6 mi
Weight Training: 2 days
P90X: 4 days
Total Days of Cardio: 9
Total Days of Work Outs: 10

YTD Totals:

Cycling: 23 days, 247.15 miles
Swimming: 20 days, 17,100 m
Running: 39 days, 144.6 miles
Weight Training: 41 days
Yoga: 23 days
P90X: 7 days
Misc Cardio: 12 days
Total Days of Cardio: 85
Total Days of Work Outs: 111

Just a little side note: July was my best month of swimming so far this year! I'm pretty pleased with swimming 5 times...so I'm gonna try to keep that streak going. Obviously, looking at these figures, it is very clear to me that I need to get on my BIKE, stat! Good think I have a bike/run scheduled for tonight.

Here's looking forward to a great July! :)

Catching Up

2009-08-03T07:18:00.002-05:00

It's been a few days and I have lots to blog about. First off, I finally got to meet up with Fair Weather Runner, the Self-Proclaimed Running DORK last Thursday. What was originally supposed to be a lunch date turned into a super fun night of dinner, drinks, & silliness. I wanted to post pics to accompany this blog post...but I've been on the go the past several days and haven't had time to upload anything yet. I'll get to it tho...I promise. :)

Friday the fam and I headed back to the lake for one last weekend before Labor Day. I realized on Friday that we have plans EVERY weekend from now until November except for 1! Craziness!!! My workouts over the weekend didn't go according as planned. When I got to my mom & dad's Friday night, I had intended to take my sister's bike out for a spin. Well, she had 2 flats and no air pump. Fail. I also planned to get some open water swimming done out at the lake...but alcohol interefered with that plan. Double fail. BUT, I did get a nice little 2.85 mile run in Saturday morning. I had some pain again, but it was in BOTH legs and I'm really thinking it's shin splints and not a re-injured stress fracture. So...that's good, but not great. More on that later.

Anyway, we just got back into town last night and I'm pretty wiped out. PLUS, I've got a hectic work out schedule this week that I really hope to stick to. Nations Tri is just 6 weeks away! Plus....I saw a number on the scale this morning that made me want to cry. Which leads me to seek out opinions: any advice on how to lose weight while also training for endurance events? The problem I'm running into is that it's hard to cut calories when I need the energy to swim/bike/run. In addition, my body needs the carbs for energy...but it's the carbs that also seem to stick to my body. Advice??

And while we're on the subject of advice....can anyone give me some 411 on compression socks? I've been wondering if they would help with my calf/shin issues? Advice??

I'll have a separate post later with my monthly totals for July. They won't be pretty, but I was still recovering from surgery...so at least I have an excuse. ;)

Saturday, August 1, 2009: 2.85 mile run

Should FWR Be Taught A Lesson??

2009-07-30T16:27:00.002-05:00

So....did anyone happen to read Fair Weather Runner, the Self-Proclaimed Running DORK 's blog post yesterday about us getting together today? If not, you should go read it right now. THEN you should let me know if I should go ahead and wear this get up when I meet up with her in an hour? Cuz I'm thinking:

A) This little you-know-what needs to be dealt with. ;)

and

2) I really can't wait to see the look on her face when I show up wearing this. LOL....priceless. ;)

Samsonite! I was WAY off!!!

2009-07-30T09:39:00.002-05:00

So, I had all intentions of a 4 mile run yesterday after work. Let me start off by saying that running at 3pm in July is probably not the brightest idea. And even tho it was *only* 77 degrees out yesterday, which is unseasonable cool for the midwest, it was still humid and I was not properly hydrated at all. In fact, earlier in the day, I had just told my friend at work that I had been SO BUSY at work that I didn't even have time to pee, therefore, I also had no time to keep hydrated the way I normally do. I probably had less than 48 oz of water during my entire workday as opposed to a typical 96 or so oz.

Anyway, I headed out to the downtown airport to run the loop out there (3.6 miles). It's a pretty flat area and one of my favorite spots to run. Plus, it is RIGHT on my way home from work.

Well, I knew at the end of the first mile that I was not well hydrated and should probably turn around and head back to my car rather than finish the entire loop. But I was stupid...and kept on going. Once I turned the corner, things took a turn for the worse. The cool breeze I had been running into on the way up the loop was gone. It was hot, humid, and I was dragging. Not to mention that my left leg started to give a familiar pain. :( I'm *hoping* it's just shin splints. I'm *fearing* it may be my stress fracture. Needless to say, I walked pretty much the rest of the way around the loop. How disappointing. I had a great 4 mile run last week and thought that I was getting my groove back. And yesterday I probably didn't even run 2 whole miles of the loop.

I'm gonna feel it out over the next few days. Rest, ice, etc. I really do hope it's just shin splints since I just started running again after being off for 2 months. I really can't afford another injury. I've already registered for Nations and I'm doing it no matter what, even if I have to walk the run portion. But it's just disappointing to think I may have an injury again.

At this point, I'm really thinking I need to invest in a stride coach. It's not cheap, but if my form is getting me injured, I need to make the investment to correct it. I'll follow up more on that later.

In other news, Fair Weather Runner, the Self-Proclaimed Running DORK is headed my way today and we're going to do lunch! How exciting, my first bloggie meet up - woot! I feel a pic for Friday Foto coming on....!!! :)

Wednesday, July 29, 2009: 3.6 mile run/walk

It's a Busy Time of Year!

2009-07-29T12:03:00.003-05:00

Sooo busy, in fact, that it's been challenging finding time to squeeze in my workouts! Between work meetings, going out of town, and multiple activities in the evenings, it's definitely been a challenge. We were out of town Thurs - Sun, but I still managed to do a little. Here are's how I rounded out the last bit of last week:

Wednesday, July 22, 2009: P90X

Thursday, July 23, 2009: 4 mile run

Saturday, July 25, 2009: 1/2 mile swim

The swim was at the lake and it wasn't the best swim ever. I had some anxiety in the open water, which isn't uncommon...but it was my first time to attempt an open water swim without anyone (people or boats) near me. I was just swimming from buoy to buoy. Not the best idea. My wetsuit was choking me, which started the anxiety. Then I started having horrid thoughts of random snapping turtles...lol. Soooo, needless to say, when I attempt another open water swim at the lake again this weekend, I'll make sure to have my dad in the boat along beside me "just in case." The security of having someone near makes it so much better.

Unfortunately, today is Wednesday and I haven't worked out all week. I've just had too many things come up - meetings, lunch dates, plans in the evening, etc. But it's all good. I have plans to have dinner & a movie with a girlfriend tonight...but I'm going to run right after work and then shower before we have to meet up. Tomorrow I'll have to squeeze in a quickie right after work again, but it's do-able. Friday we are going out of town again, so I may not have time on Friday unless I run that night once we get to said destination. We'll just see...

The past weekend was a BLAST! We had our annual lake party and we had a really good turn out. I'll try to post some pics later this week or next when I get some time. This morning I attended a talent show at Rylie's school where she performed a gymnastics routine (I had to take an early "lunch" in order to attend). She did such a great job...but stupid me, I got there with the video camera in tow...but no disc. :\ Oh well, at least I was there.

In other news, has anyone heard of wellsphere.com? I received an email this morning inviting me to be a featured blogger for their triathlon community - how exciting! I'll write more about this later.

I hope everyone is having a great week!

ATTN: RUNNERS - Help A Great Cause!

2009-07-22T08:24:00.002-05:00

Hey everyone, please take a moment to visit Fair Weather Runner, the Self-Proclaimed Running DORK's blog. She's on a mission to cover the feet of humans the world over...and YOU can help! Go check it out! :)

Guess Who's Back?

2009-07-22T06:51:00.005-05:00

Back again...
Ashley's back.
Tell a friend.

(Are you singing a little Slim Shady yet??) ;)

I think I finally got my groove back - woot! Monday I did P90X (chest, shoulders, triceps - and I'm STILL sore!). Yesterday my running buddy Jen and I busted out a nice little run on our lunch break. Jen said the route we did was supposed to be 4 miles. The Garmin only read 3.5...but it did lose signal several times since we're downtown in the middle of all these tall buildings. I don't think it was 4 miles cuz we did it in just under 40 minutes and we are slow runners - there's no way we were busting out a sub 10:00 mile pace! So....I'm thinking it was around 3.75 miles. Not bad, considering it's only my 3rd run back and I just started running again a week ago. I was quite pleased with myself. It was just a good run overall - it was a cool/rainy day out and we really pulled off a good run, even with all the hills.

THEN -brace yourselves- I even made it to the pool again last night! I went right after work and pulled off a 1000m swim - yay! I was exhausted last night after 2 heavy workouts, plus all the running around I did (picking up the kids, taking Rylie to gymnastics, getting groceries, etc). But I'm feeling very accomplished!

Not sure if I'll be able to squeeze in a workout today or not... I have a pretty hefty day at work and tonight is going to be crazy. Randy has a final, so he won't be home until late. I've gotta get both kids, get them fed, make food for this weekend, and start packing. We are leaving right after work tomorrow for my parents' annual Shrimp Boil at the lake - it's an all out food/booze/muz(ic) fest - SO PUMPED!!!! Maybe I'll even see a few of you there....?? (Running DORK and Running Lawyer, this means YOU!!!) :) Oh, and the beauty of going to the lake for 3 days is that I'll get plenty of open water swimming time!! **hopefully**

By the way, I had my post-op follow-up appt on Monday and my doctor said everything looks GREAT and I'm officially released to go back to my old routine....I mean, I was starting to ease back into it anyway, but now it's OFFICIAL - yay!

Hope everyone is having a great week!!! :)

NOTE: Has anyone else notice the shift in my mood since I started working out again? I just noticed how many smilies I had in this post....LOL! :)

Monday, July 20, 2009: P90X (chest, shoulders, triceps and ab ripper x)

Tuesday, July 21, 2009: 3.75 mi run, 1000m swim

Plyo, Brick,& Girls Night - WOOT!

2009-07-18T09:57:00.003-05:00

Yesterday I did the P90X plyometrics workout. It was fun, plus I was in good company with my workout buddy Jen. :) Last night was date night (we RARELY get these, so they are cherished!). I think this is maybe the third? date night we've had since Harper was born and she's 11 months old today. LOL. Anyway, we enjoyed a nice Italian dinner at Lucia's in Liberty (I had AMAZING seafood stuffed ravioli - YUM!!!) and then we went to see The Hangover - GREAT flick!

We didn't get home until after 10pm last night, yet I was still able to get my butt up by 4:15 this morning...got fueled & out the door by 5am, made it to practice by 5:45 and had my transition area ready to go and was in the lake by 6am. I'm a rockstar. ;) (Oh, and if you're keeping track, this is the THIRD time I've swam this week - a new record, people!!!)

Anyway, today's practice was a 1/4(ish) mi swim, 12 mi bike, 3 mi run. I kicked some ass with the swim - I was the FIRST one done! Don't know how that happened, but I'll take it! Amongst the other swimmers were 2 Ironmen (one of them has completed 4!!) and my friend that just did his first oly tri a few weeks ago. So, needless to say, I felt pretty good about the swim.

As for the bike, I'm usually in the middle of the pack. Nothing to brag about, but it was good to be on the bike again. I've only gotten in a few rides recently, so I needed it. Plus, it was a BEAUTIFUL day out for a bike ride/run.

Now, mind you I just ran for the first time this week since my stress fracture and surgery. So my coach told me to def not go for 3 miles with the rest of the team. She really wanted me to just do 1, so that's what I did. I had to walk a bit too...and my legs totally felt like jello after the bike. But in the end, it felt GREAT to have another swim/bike/run under my belt. I'm finally getting back in the game. :)

Now I need to go make some snacky snacks cuz I'm meeting up with my girlfriends for a day at the pool with adult beverages, followed by dinner and a movie. Hope everyone is having a great weekend!! :)

Friday, July 17, 2009: P90X Plyometrics

Saturday, July 18, 2009: 1/4 mi swim, 12.5 mi bike, 1.25 mi run

Oh Mommy, Oh Daddy, I Am A Big Ol' Baddy!

2009-07-17T06:38:00.002-05:00

*dances around*

So, either I made it to the pool again last night or else Gloria Estefan was right...eventually the rhythm IS going to get you... ;)

Brace yourselves, bloggies: I made it to the pool again last night! 2 days in a row - woohoo!!! :) AND I did P90X Arms & Shoulders yesterday too. That's right, Stella's got her groove back! ;)

Thursday, July 16, 2009: P90X Arms & Shoulders, 800m swim

JoBros, Yo!

2009-07-16T14:32:00.003-05:00

So, thanks to my homie Fair Weather Runner, the Self-Proclaimed Running DORK, I got the opportunity to enter my 6-year-old in a contest to win Jonas Brothers tickets here in KC. To enter, you have to submit an essay in 96 words or less (the radio station is 96.3) on why you are their biggest fan. I entered the following in Rylie's words:

"OMG, the JoBros are SOOOO awesome! Nick is my fave cuz he dated Miley and she's like totally my hero! I'm their biggest fan cuz I have JoBro EVERYTHING, even a lunch box. I know the words to all their songs and rock out to them with my BFFs Mannon and Henley. One time I saw the Jonas Brothers walking down the street with a pizza. My daddy said it wasn't them...but I know it was. Cuz I'm their biggest fan, so I know what they look like. Please pick me - I LOVE JoBros! "

Wish us luck!!!! :)

PS

2009-07-16T07:45:00.003-05:00

In honor of running again, I went ahead and registered for the Komen Race for the Cure this morning. :) Yeah, it's under 4 weeks away....but it's just a 5k and it's just for fun. AND I CAN'T WAIT TO RACE AGAIN!!!!! Woohoo!!!!!! :)

I Rock

2009-07-16T07:05:00.002-05:00

Why, you ask? Well other than the fact that I'm just plain bad ass in general (LOL), I also rock cuz I got my bootie to the pool last night!! That's right, I'll take my bow now.

First, let me explain that I used to swim at a pool right near my house. Let me back up and explain that I have a lifetime membership to 24 Hour Fitness. Randy and I got a really good deal 4 years ago and paid a lot of money up front, but now only pay $20 a year to renew for life. We can work out at ANY 24 Hour Fitness, so if we go on vaca or move or whatever, our memberships our transferable. Well, the 24 HF near our house does NOT have a pool. When I started training for my tri, I searched near and far for a pool near me....but everywhere wanted to charge me for a full gym membership just to swim laps a couple nights a week. Um....I've already paid my life time fee for 24HF and really don't care to pay another monthly fee on top of that, esp when places were asking $30 - $40 a month just so I could swim twice a week.

Well, I finally found a pool in Gladstone (about 3 miles from my house) that let me in on a good deal. Basically, they let me purchase a "Corporate Challenge" pass that is basically a punch card that allows access only to the pool for $4 a session (yes, I realize this can add up and end up being around $30 a month anyway.....but I never REALLY made it to the pool THAT often.....and when I did, most of the time they didn't even check my card, therefore I got in several times for FREE). The only thing is that Corporate Challenge was the last week of June, so the pass expired then. If I wanted to continue using their pool, I would have to purchase the $40/month membership. F that. Initially, since my original tri was supposed to be June 28th, that was a perfect deal. But now that I've transferred my event, I've had to find a new place to swim.

I finally figured I would just have to drive to a different 24HF in the city that has a pool. The only thing with swimming is that actually getting to the pool is most of the battle. Sooo....I've come up with a plan. On the days I plan to swim, I'll just take all my gear to work and then head to the pool directly from work. That way I don't have to worry about going home and getting too tired to leave the house again. So that's what I did yesterday. I found a 24HF that's only 10 miles from work (20 miles from home). I was under the impression that I was going to have to pay a little to upgrade since my membership is to a 24HF Active and this gym was a 24HF Sport (meaning they have more amenities than my gym), but the guy didn't charge me anything - even better!

I was pleasantly surprised to discover that swimming was not nearly as difficult as I had expected after a 6+ week hiatus. In fact, it was waaaaay easier than when I first started swimming a few months back. The only thing was that I had planned to swim 800m last night, but stopped short at 650m cuz I forgot my earplugs in my other bag and the water was really getting to my ears. Had it not been for that, I would have been able to knock out 800m easily.

Anyway, I'm meeting up with my new tri team tonight for the first time for a group swim practice. I'm excited to finally meet my team. They've been practicing together for a month already while I've been in recovery. So, hopefully they don't all blow me out of the water....literally. ;)

Wednesday, July 15, 2009: 650m swim

Let's Give 'Em Something to Blog About....

2009-07-15T07:20:00.002-05:00

So, over the past few months, my workouts have been few and far between. I mean, between my stress fracture and surgery, I haven't been able to do much. I started doing P90X a few weeks ago and my body quickly told me it was too soon. Then last week I ended up with a wretched case of bronchitis. But, I'm pleased to announce that this week I am finally back in the game!

Yesterday I did P90X with a group (I think there were 6 of us) at work. It was the Cardio X workout. Then at the end of the day, I decided it was time for a RUN! I met up with my friend Jen after work and we put in 2 miles. It was my first run since the Mothers Day 5K and also my first run with Gigi (my new Garmin....which happened to be a Mothers Day gift). We had to walk a couple times, which I expected my first time back. Between the heat, the humidity, the wind, the hills, and the fact that I haven't ran in over 2 months, I was pleased to finish in under 24 minutes. Best pace was 8:37 (down hill, of course). Overall, it felt great to be back. My lungs were burning, I'm not going to lie. The heat was killer. But hey....I RAN, and that's what counts.

Reality hit me Monday as I realized that my tri is in exactly 2 months and I've been out of the training circuit for awhile. I need to get my ass in gear and really focus. I've been saying this for weeks, but I really REALLY need to get my butt to the pool at least twice a week from here on out. Starting today. So, feel free to hold me accountable. Email me. Comment on my blog. Call, text, FB, whatever....just make sure I'm getting to the pool!

Anyway, hopefully I'll have more frequent workouts to report from here on out. I still haven't even posted my June totals yet...not that there's much to report, but I'd like to have a record of it for my own benefit. I'll try to get on that.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009: P90X (Cardio X), 2 mile run

By the way, yesterday was an amazing day in history, folks. MTV finally released The State on dvd after 15ish years! It was a happy, happy day in the Robbins household fo sho!

Foto Friday - 4th of July Style!

2009-07-10T12:47:00.009-05:00

Okay, bloggies, for your viewing pleasure, I present to you: Friday Foto, 4th of July style!!

***All pics are going to be at the end due to some uploading issues I'm having**

First, we have a pic of Randy, Rylie, and me on our new water toy - FUNNEST.TOY.EVER.

Next we have Harper ready for her turn. ;)

A pic of both my little nuggets.

A pic of Coop Doggy Dogg.

And.....as promised, a pic of me & Ry sporting the pink hair. ENJOY!! :)