Quick Update

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! :)

February Totals

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!

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

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. :)

2 Weeks Worth Of Workout Updates...

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

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!!! :)

I'm A Bad Blogger...

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!)

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

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

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

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.

Nations Triathlon: Part 3 - RACE DAY!!!

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. :)

August & September Totals:

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.

I'm so behind....

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! ;)

ART, Short Run, & Fatigue

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!!!

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

It's Been A Rough Week...

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...

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!!!!!

6 Mile Run - Woot!

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!

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!

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