It was Bound to Happen…

…sooner or later.

No blood. No foul. All is good….

Thank goodness for riding buddies with iPhones or I would not have this to share with you. But I should give you the back story. Yes, there is a back story.

It was a warm, sunny southern day, about 81 degrees outside. Beautiful day for a bike ride. I was out with the Triple Threat Girls: Meet…

J-Ninja-who was clearly confused about whether or not we were biking or running today…

And Breaking Pace-

About 17 miles in a squirrel decided he should run down his tree, circle it and rummage on the ground. I guess he was startled by our beauty or our biking flair or our speeeed-who knows for sure. But I saw it look at us and in true squirrel fashion he darted across the street. Why do they do that!? So stupid! I mean really? Run back up your tree if you are scared..Duh. So anyway, we were riding three across, taking up the whole road, it was a quite street. I looked to my right and saw the squirrel dart between Breaking Pace’s front and back tire. Near miss! Between us was J-Ninja and I have no idea how the squirrel got through her, maybe he jumped over her? I just kept telling myself, “Don’t swerve. Don’t swerve. Don’t swerve…” Swerving could have been deadly, I could have crashed after all.

So I did not swerve.

I saw him coming.

I closed my eyes.

BUMP!

I hit him.

Ran right over him with my back tire.

I can’t say whether or not he died, there was no body. He ran for it. I stopped and inspected my bike for blood and I expected to see his tail wrapped up in my spokes (reminded me of when I hit a squirrel with my car in college and when I stopped I saw his tail stuck under my tire and no squirrel body. SAD.). We were laughing but a little traumatized too. After a short stop to regroup and process what had happened we headed on.

I planned to try a route that heads out the back gate of the Air Force Base and connects with our old 16 mile loop around the shooting ranges. We were on our way and about 2 miles in the road was barricaded. Epic fail. Not only that but the road was rough and there were holes, gravel and rocks. Not good when you are on a road bike. I was going slow and trying to turn around when my front tire hit something, a hole or a rock I’m not sure. I came to a halt and proceeded to fall over. There was no stopping it. My feet were stuck in the peddles. As I fell my feet came out and I must have put my hand down to minimize the impact, my wrist is getting more and more sore as the day goes on. I hit the ground and my helmet saved my nugget, seriously. I am a believer in helmets. I should wear one all the time.

J-Ninja said she saw it happening…in slow motion. I got to thinking, if she were a real ninja she probably could have caught me. But maybe not…

I think what Breaking Pace said was, “Hold on! Don’t move let’s assess for neck injuries let me get my phone out and take a picture! Hold my bike J-Ninja!” Nice. I love my friends. In her defense I was laughing pretty hard and truth be told I was pretty proud and I had survived my first fall, my first real life bike crash…and no blood! It was bound to happen. Thank goodness for iPhone cameras.

When I showed Hubs the picture he said, “Is the bike ok?” Ugh, men.

Stats for today:

Bike Ride-1/Amanda-0 & Squirrel-0/Amanda-1

Oh yeah and 41.25 miles!! A complete mileage PR!!! Crazy!!!!

Lessons learned on a 41.25 bike ride to come….and there were quite a few.

Well I am alive and well! More than the squirrel can say. But hey, it was me or him and I chose life. My dad always taught me not to swerve to miss animals. Sure he was talking about in a car but I think the concept applies to bikes too.

Most Boringest Post Ever

…yeah, that really makes you want to read. Right?

I am beat. Smoked. Tired. Sore. And lovin’ it!!

Yesterday I had to keep LB home from school because of the 24 hour rule (24 hours from the last puke or fever with non medicine).

This is his home-from-school-sick-but-not-really-sick dance with a backwards PJ shirt and cape

He was FINE all day (he must have had like a 10 hour flu). But let me tell you, it gave the chance to clean my house! I swept, mopped, scrubbed, did toilets, folded 57 loads of laundry…I felt so good afterwards. Almost like I feel after a hard workout. That got me itching for my run so I took him to the track to let him run around like a banshee while I did my 9 x400 yd @ 5k pace.

As soon as I started out I could tell I was tired, my legs mainly, from two days of spin class and  2 days of swimming. Usually I do my tempo/interval workouts on Wednesdays, with only one spin class on the legs, two swims, and a Monday run. This week was wonky because of the holiday on Monday and having the TFF in town. But I pushed through and completed 4.63 miles, 9 x 400 yd intervals under an 8 min/mile pace.  On my 7th sprint I hit 1:59…my rule is under 2 min for a fast lap. Yeah, barely made it. That was my slowest of the fast. My fastest of the fast was lap 5 and came in at 1:38 or a 6:32 min/mile pace. I’ll take it.

It is hard for me to tell these days where I stand. I feel sluggish and slow, sometimes. I think my legs are just tired. I may actually taper for the first time leading up to this half marathon. Actually by tapering I mean I will cut out spin and swimming for the weak before the race. Probably. Plus my shin hurts. Bad. I think I do need new shoes. I’ll work on that. But also I can feel a huge dent in my shin and it throbs, right now just sitting here it is throbbing. I am so bad when it comes to injury and prevention. Unless it is sickness. I can run on a broken leg or hip but if I have the chills or body aches? I’m out.

Today was awesome! I went to the early spin class and loved the instructor. Her music was awesome and very motivational! I even told her so after class. I’ll probably be hitting up her class on Wednesdays and Fridays. After killing myself on the bike  I headed to the pool (it sucks that I can’t just walk out of spin and into the pool. I have to get in my car and drive. totally annoying. I need a one-stop-shop. Seriously. Is that too much to ask? Yes. Yes, it is) .

My swim was awesome. I feel so at home in the water. I did an easy 500 yd warm up/ 4x200 yd interval with 20 sec rest between/200 yd cool down. I can feel I am becoming more efficient in the water and where I was unable to do flip turns before (before I needed air and a split piece of a second at the wall) I did them today. It was a total confidence booster. I am certainly aware that my weakness will be the bike portion. Speaking of bike…we have 45 miles on the schedge for this weekend! Say what!?!?!? That is so far! Holy cow!

Well since this could very well be one of my most boringest (yes, that is a word. It means REALLY really boring) posts I will leave you with this:

This was taken on our road trip back to OK for Christmas. I don’t know what is cuter, Lazy Dog passed out on Hubs arm, or Hubs rubbing my neck…both are pretty awesome.

Happy weekend everyone!!!

You Know What’s Weird?

…Yesterday was weird.

LB woke up and said his stomach hurt,  “like someone sucker-punched me” he said.  Weird. He had no fever so off he went to school. I had a strange feeling I might get a call from the school so I hit up the earliest spin class I could find. As usual, I poured buckets of sweat and hoped the drips would not land on my phone that I stupidly placed below so I could watch in case the school called. In the end there were drips all around it, not a single drip on the phone! Weird.

With no call from the school I headed to the pool. My swim workout was fairly easy, I would compare it to an easy three mile run. I did 300 warm up/ 800 swim/150 cool down. Total of 1250 yds.  As I was swimming my 800 yds I was totally zoned out, almost felt like I could fall asleep swimming. Weird, but not the first time that has happened. It is just so rhythmic, 1-2-3-breath, 1-2-3-breath,1-2-3-breath….and warm and comfy (did I just say swimming is comfy? Again, weird). I figured it would not be good if I fell asleep swimming so I occupied myself by thinking about things. I realized I should probably do another sprint tri, either before my 1/2 Iron or after. Either way I could rock it and I know I could get a PR. I’ll see what I can find.

So I got in my spin and swim just in time. When I got back to the locker room I had about 57 missed calls, messages, texts and facebook messages. Ugh. LB was sick after all, the school couldn’t reach me or the Hubs so all of my emergency contacts had been called. Which is good, but still they only called me 27 min earlier. I rushed to get dressed and headed to get him. Selfishly I said to myself, “At least I got my workout in.” Is that bad?  Weird? I knew that today would be spent at home, snuggling on the couch, or not…since he feels fine right now, running around and being normal. Weird. Kids are so weird when they are sick. So maybe I can take him to the gym or the track after all!? Score!

Last night after the Hubs got home we were talking (weird…just kidding!) and I apologized for the house being a mess. Between training, working, training and mothering the house work has gone by the way side. Laundry is piled as high as an elephant’s eye, dishes are clean in the washer, dirty in the sink. I need to mop, although I did sweep on Monday!!  Weird. It is SO hard to manage it all. The Hubs is working sometimes 15 hour days, if not that then at least 12 hour days. His reply, “As long as you have a cute butt I don’t care about the housework.” Say WhaT?!??!?! Seriously?? Weird. I know that probably sounds bad but it wasn’t as bad as it sounds. He understands that this 1/2 Iron is important to me right now, and running and training is a lifestyle change I made three years ago. He gets it, he supports it…and I try to keep things running smoothly. And for his support and understanding I am grateful.

And the final weird thing, when you are married to a SF guy (Hi honey, shouldn’t you be paying attention in class right now?) you come home to find this in your bathroom:

So anything weird happen to you yesterday? Or today? I think weird is my middle name, seriously.

And now, check this out!! $905 toward my goal of $1250!!! I’m at 72%!!! This is crazy awesome! I can’t believe I was afraid to commit to this! And thanks to YOU I took a leap of faith and now I am achieving my goal! Cloud NINE, that is where I have been since taking on this challenge last Friday! 

If you are interested in donating you can check out the link on the top right of my blog.

Thank you all for your support! It has touched my heart!!! 

Coming Together…

…eventually things do come together. They just seem to be at a snails pace for me sometimes.

I am recovering after a whirlwind visit from the TFF. Short weekend visits are awesome and hard at the same time. When you know your time is limited you want to take advantage of all the time you can, which means we stayed up way too late way too many nights. Last night I went to bed at 8:40 PM. It was awesome! This morning LB said, “When is Jessica coming back? I want her to stay for 1000 days.”  Yes, I would love for her to be here just over three years too…

The Hubs “helped” me hang my medal holder! Thanks for all your input. While I really liked the front door or the bathroom I decided on the hall…

Maybe one of you would like a medal display of your own??? Hmm….I feel a giveaway coming on!

Remember my kitchen?

We finally got it painted!!! The painter dude that the Hubs had to run back to catch on Saturday came back Monday. He did a great job!! Although, we had originally decided on dark wood trim for the windows and baseboards. Somehow I got convinced to go with white. I think it looks ok. We will see…it can always be painted later.

So….I am adding one more race to my race schedule. Just one more. Ok, I can’t promise just one more…I have decided against the Bataan Death March in March, as much as I really wanted to do it it just didn’t line up to work out with LB in school and everything else on the calendar. I will put it on the calendar for 2012.  I’m a little bummed but since taking that one off the schedge I have added Seattle Rock n Roll 1/2 in June and now…Dun dun dun….drum roll please!!!!

OKC Memorial 1/2 in April!! YEAH!!!!

While I would love to do the full again this year, there is just not enough time to put in the full training, not with this 1/2 Iron Man dangling over my head. The time commitment is redonkulous! I had no idea how much time 1/2 Iron training would suck up! I can honestly say it takes about twice as much time as full marathon training. No kidding, no exaggerating…dead dog serious.  so until the 1/2 Iron is over I don’t have time to commit to full marathon training. I will stick with my November full plan.

So my race schedule has me doing three 1/2 marathons and a 1/2 Iron through June.  I can handle that! In fact, I am pumped!! Any of you amazing peeps doing any of the races in my side bar (above on the right)?

I am also pumped to say I am at 70% of my goal for raising money for ACS DetermiNation!! Within less than a week of beginning this journey I have raised $745! Thank you to my wonderful friends and family who have donated!!! I can’t even explain how it makes me feel!! It is an amazing feeling!! If you want to make a donation you can visit my personal site HERE.

Well off to 9:30 spin and a swim! That’s right, the pool is finally open after a week of being down!

Shenanigans. All of it…

My Official Race Crew and I have been hanging out and having a great time, it’s like the good ole days. She and LB are up to their old shenanigans. It’s good to know that some things never change!

Today was somewhat of a rest day. After yesterday’s 10 miler I felt a rest would be ok. Plus it’s not every weekend the TFF comes into town, although she should….So I wanted to be able to spend time with her. She had homework to do so I set up my trainer and thought she could keep me company I could keep her company by riding right next to her. Of course it wasn’t in the least bit distracting. Not at all. Why would ME in my awesome, flattering (she told me otherwise) biker shirt and helmet be distracting? I don’ t know either…

Remember, safety first…wear a helmet.

I decided to ride about 30 min just to get a little sweat going and my heart rate up. I felt good in the first minute or so…Then Jess grabbed the camera. Trouble.

Like a G6…

Everything is SO much more fun with friends!! LB told her “I wouldn’t like my life if you didn’t exist” and that  she should stay forever. I agree. Think of all the races I could do with my Official Race Crew living right here? And I kinda like having her around for other reasons too. Not to mention I’m not sure how I feel about LB’s comment about not liking his life????  Kids are so funny in their thought processes.

Back to the bike ride… it didn’t take long for my bottom to start hurting. Jessica had a great idea:

I think I’ll bring this along for all my long rides! What do you think?

I wouldn’t say this was an intense workout but at least I got my heart rate up, sweat a few liters, and had a good time. Isn’t that what it’s all about?? Anyone else wanna come for a visit? We can do all sorts of fun things!! You might even get to witness a family wrestling match!

Please tell me we aren’t the only family that does this? Is this normal?

Don’t worry, no one was hurt, I was not added to the injured list even though it looks like my thumb is about to be snapped off. And you can see how helpful Jess was, manning the camera while I fought for my life and got dragged down the hall….

Do you guys do anything weird with your families? Do share, make me not feel like such a weirdo. Thanks…

Yay ME!

On so many levels!

My weekend surprise arrived late, late last night and I had to go pick her up at the airport!!!

Remember when I asked about exciting plans for the weekend?

Well this was Jessica’s reply:

She  left out one small detail…..

My TFF (total friend forever) or Original Race Crew or Jessica came to visit, all the way from the PNW!!! 

After a few flight delays and mishaps she finally made it in last night around 11:15 PM. We made it home from the airport after 2 AM. I hit the hay around 3 AM just so LB could wake up ready for the day. Needless to say I didn’t get much sleep last night and my plan for an early 7 AM run went out the window.

This morning, after a cup of coffee I felt more alive (and less cranky) and I got ready to head out for my 10 mile run around 9:30 AM. The Hubs jumped up from his studies and decided come along!  LB was at a friend’s house, TFF was sleeping soundly, catching up from 24 hours in the airports. So we headed out, me for 10 miles Hubs for undecided mileage. IT was WARM!

I felt good the first few miles. Then I remembered something: The paint guy was scheduled to come by at 10 to give an estimate to FINALLY paint our kitchen! It was 10:09! Dang it!! I told the Hubs and we turned around and headed home.  I picked up the pace. I hate being irresponsible and this guy had to drive a ways to come for the estimate. I felt bad. Then the Hubs said I could finish my run and he would head home. I was relieved, I really wanted to get in my full 10 miles. I finished up 10 miles at a 9:23 min/mile pace. I felt good the first 6 miles then struggled mile 7. I was able to pick it up for the last two miles but it was warm. I didn’t take my handheld water bottle, should have.

And finally, where should I put my new medal display form Allied Medal Displays? I have been considering different places and hopefully will get it hung tomorrow.

On my bed room door???

On the wall of my bed room?

Above the fire place?

On this tiny piece of wall between the living room and the kitchen?

Oh yeah!!! In the bathroom!!!

In the hallway?

This side of the hallway?

Above my perfectly made bed and between the peacock and the snake heads from Sri Lanka?

Oh yeah!! On the FRONT DOOR!?!?!?

Cast your vote!!

Well off to hang with the TFF!! Have a great rest-of-the-weekend!

A Little Addition to the Race Schedge

So much is going on! Where do I start!!! Lets start with the most exciting new shall we????

1) SEATTLE ROCK n ROLL—Here I come!!

That’s right folks! With all of your encouragement and ideas I got the courage to go for it! I am now a proud, VERY proud, member of Team In Training to raise money for American Cancer Society! Already I have been blown away by my friends and family! I will be running the half marathon on June 25 and could not be more excited! If you want to check out my DetermiNation page click HERE. Already I have received donations and I told Jill-Running to Sanity-it is like Christmas when I receive a donation! It is funny how excited I get! I never imagined it could feel this good!

2) My Friday surprise has not yet arrived. It will be here-later.  so for those of you who remembered and care I will hopefully be posting about my surprise in the morning!

3). Rest. Today I took a rare and elusive rest day. Literally. I stayed up way too late last night, so late that Mel-Tall Mom had to tell me to go to bed (see? I don’t call her mom for nothing!)! I took LB to school and came home and crawled back into bed with the Hubs (he has a four day weekend) and didn’t get up again until 11:40 AM. WHAT? Kind of embarrassing now that I put that out there! Man, what a sloth! Oh well. I take my rest days VERY seriously.

4) I am running the Seattle Rock n Roll half!! Oh did I say that already? Either way I am PUMPED and can’t wait to have a reunion with a jillion friends! A hotel room has been reserved for the night before with RED and I WILL be seeing all of my PNW running buddies without a doubt! Be ready! It’s gonna be clutch (that’s right Blonde Ponytail! I said clutch.)

5). I saw this today:

I asked him if I could take a picture and he obliged, he even tipped his hat. The front windshield said “Papa Smurf”. Classic.

 

6.) Tomorrow I will be up and at ‘em (or is it Up and Adam?) for 10 miles!! I’m strangely excited. Is that weird? Didn’t think so. Do you ever get excited for your runs? With all the marathon training going on lately I am having serous marathon envy. It’s real folks. Don’t you doubt it. I remember reading about others having it and thinking, “That is crazy. I’ll never catch that.” Well, I am here to tell you it is real and I have it. I am afraid the only treatment is to actually train for and run another marathon. I was a split second away from registering for Seattle RnR FULL but the Hubs talked me off that ledge, reminding me of my 1/2 Iron barely a month before. I just don’t have the time to commit to full marathon training on top of 1/2 Iron. OBX in November will be my 2011 full…and not that I think about it there is still a month of 2011 after that! I should start hunting for 2011 Marathon #2 in December!

Any good December marathons out there? I’d love to hear about them!

Well, peace out homies! Have a wonderful weekend!! And thank you all for encouraging me to take a huge leap of faith and go for the Team in Training!

Gag-O-Licious…

So it has been really warm here lately. Not hot particularly but 65-75 degrees. Apparently warm enough that you should never leave sweaty clothes in your car  after you run while you go in to the gym for weights, not even for an hour or so.

**I hope you don’t mind that I posted this Mel but I thought it was funny. And yes, you are saved in my phone as Mel Tall Mom…

Yep. Stinky Girl. That’s me…But hey, I would rather be stinky because I’m working out and kicking my own Bee-You-Tee-Tee and not because I passed gas. But hey, to each his own. Right? Right.

Today I hit up spin class. It was kind of a whim. My quads are super sore from yesterday’s weight sesh and I was figuring on a nice easy 3 mile recovery run. But when 11:30 came around I was done with  my morning Grown Up Work and hurried to make the class. IT WAS AWFUL. Awful in a totally killer workout way. This instructor pretty much has us ride to the top of Mt. Everest. 5 times. Then again during the class. She loves….LOVES the hills.

After spin I headed outside to do my three miler. It was the longest three miles of my life. So long it actually felt like 20 miles. I laughed at myself as I thought back to my very first 20 mile run (you can read about it HERE if you want) because while that was hard this small run felt even harder. How is that possible? I think I will take a rest day tomorrow, maybe a nice walk, and then a 10 miler on Saturday.

My biking has suffered the last few weeks due to being sick, weather, schedule conflicts and childcare, and now my special surprise this weekend! I NEED to get back out on the bike in a serious way. Next weekend I am back at it. For now I hope spin class will at least have some benefit.

Oh yeah and if there was a functional pool in this town that would be cool too.

 Thanks so much for all your fundraising ideas! You all are pretty creative and clever people! I really appreciate all your input and support! Now I just have to make the decision. My time limit is midnight tomorrow…

Well, tomorrow is Friday!  Woot woot! Any fun plans for the holiday weekend?

Owe, owe, owe…

OWIE!!!!!!

I (almost) always run in a hat. Today I did not. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Talk about a punch-me-in-the-face decision.

Today I had a 40 min tempo run on the schedule. Tempo runs are ridiculously hard for me unless I am on a treadmill where I can control the speed methodically. I know it’s something I need to work on, it’s mostly mental for me. I’ll get to it-one of these days. Anywho, the weather was way too nice (about 65 degrees) to be on the mill so I decided to hit up the track. Without my hat. 

I started running, around and around, thinking about tempo…tempo run, temmmmmmp-o.  Nope. Not gonna happen. I had 40 min to spend on the track and I decided to sprint the straightaways and jog the curves.  Then I got bored of that after 1.5 miles and decided to sprint 200 yds with a 200 yd recovery. After about a mile of that I decided to sprint 400 yds with a recovery lap following. With about 8 min left I decided to cool it down. I ended my 40 min “tempo run” with 4.61 miles with an 8:40 min/mile pace. Not too shabby.

Not too shabby until I got sweat in my eyes. It burned like the dickens! Have you ever gotten sweat in your eyes? It hurt so bad! And with contacts there really isn’t much you can do…I searched the car for my eye drops and found my camera-next best thing-then found the drops.

After recovering from the sweat-in-the-eyes debacle  I vowed to always wear a hat/visor/80’s sweat band/anything and headed to the gym to lift some weights. The Hubs tried to get me to do some crazy workout, I can’t even begin to tell you about it. So I went and did my own thing; squats, straight leg dead lifts, bench, incline bench, curls, triceps, something else I forgot-I’m sure I’ll remember tomorrow when I can’t move that muscle.  I was immediately impressed with myself as soon I started to lift. I feel so much stronger! I hate feeling weak and today I felt strong!

 Booo yeah!

I made my way home and spent some good ole QT with Lazy Dog. He is so vicious….

Self-timers are like the best invention EVER. If it weren't for self-timers I am pretty sure there would be ZERO pictures of me.

Then, a surprise came. My Allied Medal Display I won from Stacie!!! Woot woot!!

Always Earned Never Given

I will find the perfect place for it this weekend, with the help of…..well, the help of someone and it’s a surprise! Remember the cliffhanger I left you all with? It is way more exciting for me but I just think it is fun to have a secret…don’t worry, you all will know on Friday! And no, it’s not Justin Bieber or Kara Goucher…

Any way, the medal hanger is here and I love it! I haven’t even hung it up yet nor have I displayed my precious hardware on it yet. But I love it! THANK YOU Stacie and THANK YOU Allied Medal Displays!

I had a request for a picture of the new haircut. (Totally, Marlene! Can’t believe I forgot when it was actually fixed). I’ll have to actually wash my hair and fix it for you to get a good idea. I’ll let you know as soon as I shower take a hot pic for you this weekend.

I miss the pool.  But not swimming this week has left me feeling like I have mad crazy free time! It is weird! Either way, I am ready to get back to it.

How was your workout today? Did you get sweat in your eyes?  Anyone have any awesome tricks for keeping it out of their eyes?

Thanks for all your ideas regarding our tropical vaca. We are still looking around but at least we have settled on a time…and it wont interfere with OBX Marathon training!! Or any other race I have planned thus far.

Today my dad started yet another round of chemo. Cancer sucks. I really want to do the Team in Training thing but I’m scared I wont be able to raise money. Anyone have tips on fundraising or ideas that have worked in the past. I really need to decide by Friday. I know it is a good cause and the $$$ could even help find a cure for my dad….Shoot I would pay the entire $1250 if it meant finding a cure for him… Cancer sucks, yep I know I already said that. Thanks to all of you who have been sending prayers and healing thoughts to my dad and our family. It really means a lot. You all are pretty much the best in whole wide world. And don’t you forget it!

And now I am spent. Tired. Worn out…pooped. I haven’t even looked at my workout plan for tomorrow but I know it will be a run and a bike. We will see what goes down!

Welcome to our ool…

…notice there is no “P” in it.

At least I hope not, but I am sure there is. I am not that naïve. I know swimmers who talked about peeing in the pool all the time. But that is beside the point. The point is the pool is closed. Closed until the 21st. What the heck.  I went yesterday it was closed. I call this morning and got the bad news it was closed for the rest of the week and weekend. So that leaves me to run and bike only until next Monday, which is ok, especially since I got a totally hawt new hair cut today. Pools are killer on hair.

Today I hit up spin class. I am really liking spin. I know I have said that before but it is awesome. I enjoy feeling the sweat  pour out of my pores and roll down  my face. I could watch it drip off my face and fall down to splat on the bike or the floor. Is that weird. For some reason it had me thinking of Dexter. Do you watch Dexter?

So I only got a few questions from yesterday’s post, but here I go…

Mallory asks:

Good question! PNW stands for Pacific Northwest! I am no expert but as far as I understand it encompasses the Pacific Northwest. Wait, that doesn’t really tell you much. Anyway it is from mid to northern Oregon to probably Canada. Probably more so to parts nearer to the water. So Seattle and  Tacoma certainly PNW.

mikiruns says:

Well, this is super hard. I love lots of races. So many have very special and sentimental meaning to me.  I love all of the local races up in the Seattle/Tacoma area but my all time favorite race was the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon (recap HERE). Everything about it was magical. I wish I could run that exact race every single weekend.

The Blonde Ponytail says:

Ah the SpaNky pattern. I didn’t decide. I’m sorry. I tried on three pairs today and put them all back. I think I will have to try them on at least 57 more times before I am deceived enough to actually purchase a pair. I’ll keep running and going to spin and swimming (eventually) and those spankies will be just fine.

I tried a tri because for the challenge mainly. And because I was told that once I did one I would be hooked. Someone had told me that once upon a time about running and they were right! So who wouldn’t want to be hooked on multisport? AND the main reason I wanted to do a tri (other than I was in fact a cycling fish in my last life, how did you guess??? My secret is now out of the bag…) I see triathletes as being truly all around fit. They don’t  just run, they cycle and swim too. Running is awesome but I want balance and for me I feel the three sports together bring balance to me and my body. 

So there you have it.  Thanks for your questions.

Welp, tomorrow will be a run day and maybe another spin class. I think I may look into becoming a spin instructor. I like it THAT much.

Any of you instructors of some sort of  something? I taught Water Aerobics (or H2Ox or water-X) for three years while in the PNW. I quit when I moved here and my certs are expired now. I could recert but haven't taken the time. I miss my “little old ladies” and I miss the extra workouts.

Now a question for you. We are looking to plan a tropical vacation. Think sun, beach, warm water, snorkeling…the whole 57 yards!  Where have you been that you loved? Or where would you like me to go so that I can report back about how awesome it was? So far we are looking at the US Virgin Islands, St. Croix. I suggested the Sandwich Islands but I think the Hubs mumbled something about that not being a good place….

Moms Can’t Run Fast….

In whose world? Not mine…

So, I told you I might be back for a two-poster. Here I am, it’s me- again. Yipeee….this is for all of you who are home tonight, not out celebrating V-Day. The Hubs has class until 10 PM tonight so we aren't’ really celebrating today. I got my present last night, some Bath and Body Works goodies and some new Versace sunglasses!! Yeah!!

Do they make me look famous? Thought so….

I have some Maui Jims that I got before our Maui Vacation (fitting right????) and the lens has a huge crack. I never wanted to mail them in because I didn’t want to be without shades. NOW I can mail them in to get fixed! I have very sensitive eyes. I pretty much always have to wear sunglasses, even if it’s cloudy. And please don’t ask me what is up with all the in the car photos lately. I have no idea. It’s weird, I can’t explain it.

So my workout today just kind of fell into place. I planned to drive to the pool, drop off my bag (forgot about running to the pool with a towel, goggles, swim cap, shampoo….etc.) then drive to drop off the car then run to the pool then run back to my car. Time was ticking and I ended up running out of it and I couldn’t miss, or be late to my appointment to drop off the Jeep so that I could get to work later. I know, this is boring, stay with me though…The Hubs came to pick me up from Firestone and took me to the pool. We got there and it was closed. Something about something weird in the water, white foam everywhere…ewe. No go on the swim. So I went back to the Hubs’ work  for 4.5 miles around the compound.

I was sporting my Valentine’s Day socks.

I did a mediocre 4.5 mile run that turned into a 4.75 mile run.  I was a little sore and tired and it was 70 degrees warm! It was beautiful but I was thirsty. This is a typical summer running day in the PNW…only the tip of the iceberg for summer weather here. I’m going to die this summer.

And finally, tonight I was reading a cute book to LB titled Things Mom Can’t Do. It was things like, mom can’t cross the street without holding a hand, can’t go to bed without a kiss, or two or 10…then I got to this page:

Moms cant run very fast….

The second page I’ll give ‘em, I can’t hear my self think half the time, but run fast? Yes, yes I can. LB looked at me with huge eyes and said, “Mom, that’s not true. You CAN run fast, can’t you?” “Well, son, yes. Yes I can.”

Is it Friday yet?

That’s all folks…..I wonder what I’ll write about in the morning? Spankies?  What would you like to hear about from me? What do you want to know? All you have to do is ask…and I might answer, maybe.