Who do I think I am??

Lance Armstrong?

Hardly.

Today I planned to do the fun little A Day in the Life of Me post. So I will go ahead as planned…

I snoozed a couple of times and finally got up to get LB ready for school….

I made coffee and breakfast, just like any other day.

Man, I love this kid.

I took LB to school and came home to get set up for the day. When I am not actually with clients I do all my paperwork and office type work from home.

It wasn’t long until the Hubs and I decided to go for a bike ride. Yipeee!!!! My beautiful Nelly CIRN on the right…sigh…

We got ready and headed out for two loops, about 14 miles. My Garmin had a dead battery so I was sad to be riding naked. The first loop went without a hitch. I was riding fast, Hubs even told me so. He said I was riding as hard as he does when he rides on his own. He is still recovering from his marathon on Sunday but he was keeping up.

The second lap is where things got ugly. We were about 3 or 4 miles from home and I was cruising down a nice hill. By cruising I mean going probably 20 miles an hour, at least, maybe even 25 mph. I was going fast. I needed to spit but held it for a bit and didn’t want to spit and have it fly into the Hubs, that’s just gross. So, for some stupid reason I looked over my shoulder, I don’t really even remember which one, and spit AND lost control of my bike. I jerked it to the left and remember thinking, “Oh no! I don’t want to crash in the street, that will hurt, maybe even kill me.” So I jerked it back the other way and headed for the ditch, still going Mach speed. I knew I was going to die. I knew chances were good that this was my last few moments alive as I know it. My whole life flashed before my eyes. I knew the ditch was going to be softer than the pavement. I yelled something along the lines of “I can’t stop! I’m crashing!” and then it happened. I flew into the air, I flipped, I jerked, I twisted, I landed on my back, or so my husband says. I wondered if I would ever stop bouncing and hitting and flopping around like a  rag doll. When I came to a stand still the panic started to set in. Was I alive? Dead? Could I feel my feet? I could feel my arm and my bottom. Both hurt BAD. My throat on the front hurt too. It hurt to breath it hurt to move. I didn’t want to move.

Thank goodness my Hubs was there.  The secondary part of his job is being a medic so I knew I was in good hands. He told me to be still and not move. He did a preliminary check of my body, I felt his hands run down my legs, across my arms, he felt my neck and checked me for gaping wounds. I knew my bone had to be sticking out of my arm. I was scared to ask. About 5 cars flew by as I was laid out in the ditch. Nice people we have here….Hubs helped me roll to my side and slowly I got up. But quickly went back down to my knees. I wanted to sleep, or at least close my eyes. Finally I had kind of gotten it together enough for Hubs to feel ok to head to the house to get the car and come back for me. A nice lady stopped, turned around and came back to offer help. THANK YOU NICE LADY!!! She gave me a ride home.

The Hubs and I went back to get my bike. I didn’t want to see how bad it was. He told me it was jacked up.  He had hidden it in the trees until we could make it back for it.

The Ditch.

And of course I landed in a patch of prickly thorny bushes. I got a cut on my chin and somehow managed to rip my $80 Brooks tights.  I’m just glad to be alive. Really. It was so scary. I could have died. Thank God a car was not coming.

I made an appointment to see my Dr. and he did a pretty lame examination. I got an X-ray of my pelvis and tailbone, which I am pretty sure is jacked up, but what can they do? My arm is ok, sore but not broken. I have a huge knot on it, bruised pretty bad. The pic doesn’t do it justice, it is rough.

I have bruises in other places, my thigh and stomach and other places that I can’t really show you…and you don’t really want to see.

Hidden in the trees…

Bringing her home… =(

She will go to the Dr. soon….We will see how bad the damage is. I’ve got to get her fixed so I can get back on. Check out the seat…yeah, THAT hurt.

Oh man….my poor bike. My poor body. I am happy to be alive and in one piece and not paralyzed for life. Scary stuff. I was certainly humbled today and reminded that life is short and precious and I am not a good bike rider…Things can happen in the blink of an eye.

 

 

I have no idea how this happened to my water bottle either. So weird.

 

 

 

My body is screaming at me to lay down now so I think I’m going to takes some drugs and call it a night.

Misery LOVES Company.

WARNING!  WARNING!  WARNING!  WARNING!

I am grumpy.

Proceed with caution.

You may find my grumpiness humorous.

You may find that it brings you down.

You may totally relate.

You may not.

You may get annoyed and tell me to get over it or snap out of it. Or you may just click on to a different blog…Well let me show you to the door….oh wait, no sorry, that was mean! Don’t go!! STAY! **blogs don’t have doors anyway.

But, hey…I. AM. GRUMPY.

I don’t exactly know why.

There are a lot of little things piling up to contribute to my grumpiness.

Nothing huge or major has happened-thank goodness.

I just folded 57 loads of laundry and have 75 more to wash. Where does it all come from???

It has been raining and feels eerily like Seattle. One word  Homesick.

I have a ton of work to do and am purposely putting it off until tomorrow…One hyphenated word: Self-sabotage.

My elbow hurts. Bad. Can you get tennis elbow from swimming? Or maybe it was the laundry!

I rolled my eyes at the spin instructor this morning as she had us climb a hill with 5 minutes left in class. I think she saw me.

A jerk copped an attitude with me at the pool today for swimming too fast. What ever dude, sorry.

I haven’t returned LB’s books to the library, I have late charges I know, and have no new books to add to his reading chart. Epic Fail in the mom department.

Work has scheduled mandatory trainings during Spring Break. I’ve got plane tickets to OK. We’ll see how mandatory they actually are. I wont be there.

I’ve been missing my family.

My babysitter doesn’t have a driver’s license.

ALL DAY TRAINING ON SATURDAY AND SUNDAY. Enough said.

Wow, what a negative post!!! And I haven’t even posted the WORST thing yet!!!!

This morning I took all my vitamins and supplements as usual. Every once and a while I take a Fish Oil. I’m not consistent with it like I should be. It is great for you. But anywho, this A.M. I was reminded why I don’t take it regularly. I ate my cereal and drank my coffee, took my vitamins and took LB to school. I came home and did a little bit of work then headed to spin and swim. For the life of me I could not figure out why my burps tasted like sushi.

Well, THIS is why:

I like sushi, but I don’t like to burp it when I haven’t eaten it….EWE!!!! So I blame the Fish Oil for my bad day!!! I have to blame something!! Not myself, right????

Well thanks!!! I feel much better now!!! I hope my grumpiness hasn’t rubbed off on you!?!

When life throws lemons at your face….

…or your training- take them and either make lemonade or suck on them. Either way…

Is it Sunday night? Already? Oops…That means I have had THREE rest days and one more to come. This stinks and it was totally unintended, unexpected, irritating, and not ok. But I kind of new it would happen. I knew when I didn’t get my workout in on Friday that I had a 99.9% chance of not working out Saturday or Sunday since The Hubs is out of town (and has joined the ranks of MARATHONER as of today) and it has been raining all weekend and I am shooting flames out my mouth from my throat and LB has a disgusting infection on his finger that warranted 4 hours at the ER this morning…so as you can see life happened and I have been stuffing my face resting, or at least not working out and to further add to the mess I will be almost 2 hours drive from home for a training ALL day tomorrow meaning no workout tomorrow.

WAIT!

I have a trainer for my bike!!!!!! DUH!!!!

BOOO YEAH!!!

Somebody is going to ride tonight while watching a movie!!!!

LB?

Lazy Dog?

No!!

ME!!!

I will be back to my schedule on Tuesday-I.CAN’T. WAIT. I hate having detours but life happens. I was supposed to ride 50 miles on the bike this weekend. Didn’t happen and it wont happen on my trainer, I can guarantee you that. And I am supposed to be in another training (2 hours from home) next Saturday and Sunday too. This is ridiculous and I hate it. I’ve been throwing mini temper tantrums about it ever since I found out. I don’t see the point. But what ev.

I know that these rest days will pay off and I also know that when I push my self too hard I get sick, hence the throat that burns like fire. I neglect rest days-there is no time for rest when you have three sports to train for! I find this very challenging and don’t get me wrong,  I love it! But I also miss the simplicity of a running plan. I miss only having to worry about how I am going to get my run in, not my swim and bike too. I am hoping I am putting in enough to make it to the finish line. That is all I am asking- this time around.

I want to congratulate The Hubs for joining the ranks of Marathoner today. While he has covered that distance many times in his training for his job this was his first official marathon, the Bataan Valley Death March, and he did it with a 35 pound ruck sack on his back! Great job Hubs!! I am proud of you!! AND I hope maybe you have caught the bug and will consider training for a more…er, normal marathon with me! I am hoping he will give some sort of race report for us but I can’t make any promises.

This just in:

Atta boy, chicking dudes….making me proud. Although I think the term is “Dooding” when a dude passes another dude? I don’t remember, I will need to refer to The Oh Great One’s post “Chicked or Not”-posted by Jamoosh HERE. I don’t know if it counts when a dude passes other dudes, unless it is in honor of a wife or significant female other? So many rules it is hard to keep them all straight.

Off to get LB to bed and set up my trainer!

Putting your Garmin to Use-Vide0

But before you get to see the video I made just for you all….

I hate days where I have so much to do but I don’t know where to start so I don’t start anything. Do you ever have days like this? I am sore and tired today. I had planned on doing spin at 9 but that isn’t going to happen since it is 8:33 right now, then swimming at about 10:10. I still may do the swim but I just feel tired and my throat is on fire. I am hoping it is allergies. I began taking my allergy meds this morning so we will see if it kicks in. On top of my working out I have a TON of regular work to get done. Head in the sand approach just doesn’t work-why do I keep trying to use it?

A lot of you expressed some interest in learning how to set up your Garmins for Interval workouts.  I am certainly not an expert but I enjoy trying all the modes and using it for the ways it is intended.  The Garmin is an excellent tool but I know that I don’t use even half of the bells and whistles that it is capable of.  So my goal over the next few weeks is to use it like it is made to be used, as a training tool-not just information-i.e. pace and speed. Are you with me on this???

Setting your Garmin for Interval workouts

So what do you think? Are you totally excited to hit the road and begin your intervals? Let me know if this helped out and if there is anything else you want tips on!!

Happy Friday!!

Can I go to bed now?

Holy speed workout-I am toasted.

Today I decided I didn’t want to do my same ole same ole 400 yd repeats. I did the math and figured 7 x 400 yds would be about 4 miles so I decided to challenge myself and go for 4 x 1200 yd repeats with a 400 yd recovery lap. Oh. My. Goodness.

I started out with one lap warm up and stretching. I was tyring out the interval setting on my Garmin, something I have never used before but now that I know how I LOVE it!  (If you need help figuring it out let me know). The first 1200 yd repeat I hadn’t quite figured out the Garmin yet so it logged my 400 yd warm up AND my 1200 yd run so the total time for that interval was 8:01 min/mile. Pretty good. My goal was to keep each interval under and 8 min/mile pace. So intervals #2 and #3 were identical at a 7:43 min/mile pace. Booo yeah!! Interval #4 was rough but I kept telling myself, “you can rest when your done.” Something that has been on my mind since texting with Mel-Tall Mom after this weekend’s half. I know I don’t race all out like I could. It is hard, I fear being tired or DNFing, or straight up dying. That would not be cool.

I maybe could have done one more interval but this workout was pretty challenging for me. I am excited to see how I improve over the coming weeks.

Here is a little video I made just for you after completing the workout:

This is a jewel…Enjoy!

After finishing up at the track I had about 20 min until J-Ninja and I were to hit up spin class. I did some resting and hydrating and pretty much just recovered as best I could. Once spin started it was time to work, again. Today’s spin class wasn’t the best I have been to, the instructor was crazy fit and well, just crazy (in a good way). Her music was loud and hippity hoppity, up beat and just made my legs want to ride fast.  She was all about speed and riding fast, which is good but just not my fav spin style.  Either way I got my heart rate up and was definitely working hard.

Tomorrow is a swim day and maybe an easy 3-5 mile run or run-rest day, I’ll play it by feel. It could end up being a spin/swim day. This weekend The Hubs is heading to New Mexico for the Bataan Memorial Death March, remember that??? Yeah, still wish I was going…maybe next year. But with him gone workouts this weekend will be a challenge. So I’ll do what I can. That paired with a forecast of rain may cause our planned 50 mile bike ride to be postponed, which would not be cool. So cross your fingers for a dry weekend!!! Plus I need to get my little plants transplanted from my kitchen to my garden!!

Off to watch LB in his first play!! He’s a Zebra Fish, with a speaking part. I’m so proud. =)

I’m drowning….

…with a bag of rocks tied to my ankles.

Ewe! Awful visual don’t ya think? Sorry about that. Fine, so I am exaggerating. I just feel so busy, household chores and with things picking up at work I am finding it harder to squeeze in my workouts. Which does NOT make me happy. In fact it makes me cranky, grumpy, anxious, annoying and frustrated. But I am still getting them in, for the most part. On my birthday, Monday, I swam 1750 yds. On Tuesday I rested, which was much needed. And today I ran 4 miles (8:41 pace, last mile was 8:11 min/mile), and swam 2,500 yds. I CANNOT wait until the outdoor pools open! Tomorrow I am meeting J-Ninja for spin, can’t wait! I was planning to swim too but I think I will pass for a run workout, 7x400’s anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

Speaking of speed work I am ready to come out of my comfort zone of 400 yd repeats. I know that I need to do more in order to improve. I want a PR at the OKC half May 1. Is that smart? Two weeks before my 70.3? I don’t know, what do you think? I have a pretty quick recovery time from running so I think it should be ok.

I also want a PR in June’s Seattle Rock n Roll half. Is that too much to ask? Am I being too demanding? Spoiled? Unreasonable. Running may just break up with me, I’m too high maintenance.

Thanks for all the responses about my birthday and my race recap!! I promise to get around to replying and catching up on all your blogs as soon as I can. Sometimes when it comes down to reading or working out…well you understand, I know you do! But it is so hard ...I. Just. Want. To. Read….

And because the blog title is I’m drowning and I know you all have been dying to see my pool:

This was the best I could do without looking like a creeper. The pool directly in front is a zero entry used for swim lessons and playing, I think. It gets 6 ft at the farthest point. In the far back is the lap pool. You can’t really see it very well but it’s there. And those big huge windows line the entire back wall and the wall to the left. It is very bright and sunny in there in the afternoons.

And for the Spanky picture…I don’t know. Are you all worthy? Of course you are…but AM I BRAVE ENOUGH??? I don’t know, It is scary…you’ll have to really convince me. Somehow. Bribes will work.

In the mean time, feast your eyes on this:

Mmmm, dog nostrils….I heart Lazy Dog.

Birthday Recap…

One word: SPANKIES.

 We went out for some Sushi to celebrate!!

I had a wonderful birthday!!!! Thanks to all of you for the awesome bday wishes via blog, FB, text, phone and in person!!! I have no idea how I am so lucky to have so many wonderful people in my life. It is truly amazing and totally awesome! THANK YOU for sharing this crazy life with me!

And to my T3 girls, THANK YOU for taking me in, with out hesitation. You have made my transition here so much easier! It usually takes years to find friends like you when you move to a new place. So I want you to know that I am thankful for you both and look forward to many more adventures!!

To my T-Town girls (and encompassing the entire PNW), ALL OF YOU-THANK YOU for being there over the past 3.5 years and even now. Thank you for supporting me and encouraging me to become the best person, mom, wife, daughter and friend I could be. Thank you for being a part of my progress. You have not wavered in your friendship. Distance may separate us but I can truly feel that I am still a part of you and your lives. I CANNOT WAIT to see you all in June!! I miss you all terribly, today, yesterday, tomorrow and every day!

And to my Bloggy Friends-You all ROCK! You may not know exactly how you have contributed to my being what I am today but you have. Your comments and unwavering support is almost overwhelming at times, in a good way. It is mind boggling to think that you take time out of your day to encourage me, support me, motivate me…read and be a part of my life. I am blessed! THANK YOU!!

Cheers to another year of training, running, riding, swimming, sweating, crying, griping, complaining, being sore and pushing myself!

I wouldn’t have it any other way!

Tobacco Road 1/2 Marathon Race Report

Getting Up and To the Race (because I think you all care THAT much):

On the morning of March 20, 2011 I work up at 4 AM to get ready for my first half marathon of 2011. My alarm went off and I didn’t want to get up. I never do. The thoughts start coming, “Why am doing this?” “Really? Do I need to go join 4,300 other loonies to run 13.1 miles? No.” But hey, I AM one of those loonies and I rolled out of bed, literally. My foot was not only asleep but tangled in the mess of sheets. I hit the floor. Great. This was going to be a good race.

The Hubs had brought home an article about nutrition and fueling before races a few days ago. In short it recommended eating at least 3 hours prior to a race. There is science behind it that I could maybe get into at another time, but for now I will spare you. It worked out perfect as far as timing. I drug my still asleep foot to the kitchen and hoped it would wake up and I hadn’t deprived it of blood for too long. I ate my breakfast while reading what you all thought I should wear. Running skirt or Tempo shorts, that was the consensus. I chose Tempo shorts then changed 2 minutes before waling out the door. I know better. I should have stuck with the tempos.

I met Breaking Pace and J-Ninja off the highway and we headed to Cary, NC. THANKFULLY Breaking Pace had accidently, or unknowingly, purchased an on-site parking pass. No shuttle riding for us!! THANK GOODNESS! It was a chaotic mess.  We found a spot and started to prepare. There was some confusion in the car about race start time-7:15 or 7:00. It was 7 according to the peeps parked around us. Opps….We asked a dude parked next to us to snap a picture. “I’m a professional photographer.” SCORE!! He took a couple and we were on our way to the start. We jogged over half a mile to the start. It was the perfect warm up.

The Race Start:

We came into the corral start and made our way back behind the 1:30 pacer, 1:40 pacer and called it good at the 1:50 pacer. For a minute I thought maybe I could actually keep up with the 1:50 pace group.

Here we are at the start!

The race start was late. There was an issue with the shuttles and a lot of people hadn’t arrived yet. The crowd was getting pretty antsy. But for the most part we stayed calm and unbothered. Then they said GO! We were off!

The RACE!

I could tell right off the bat that I was fresh and my legs were ready to run. I had laid off spin all week, as hard and painful as that was it was necessary so that my legs would be rested. I was worried about my calves after a huge calf cramp Friday night and extreme tightness in my calves over the last week. But as I ran I was checking in with my body, searching for signs of stress or trouble and there was none. That was my ticket to go. I decided to run by feeling after the first mile. the first mile I held back. I have a history of going out way too fast and hitting my first mile sometimes sub 8. Yeah, I cannot sustain that for 12.1 more miles. I’ve added the graph of my splits for you. As you can see after holding back the first mile I still went a little faster than I should have on mile 2 but I don’t really feel it affect me negatively or slowed me down. I was feeling good.

The course was pretty good. We started out on closed roads and had plenty of room to spread out. We did not have to dodge and weave too much. Once the route turned off the road and onto the trail it was considerably more narrow but people had thinned out enough it was not annoying, at least for me. I found myself with a chunk of distance between me and the people in front and behind me a number of times. I passed and was passed. There was a couple obviously doing the Galloway Method. The would run the mad then walk, then run and pass me then walk, I would pass them and so on for a few miles. It was obnoxious even thought I knew what they were doing. It is a great method and it works. It’s just not for me.

There was one girl I played leap frog with for a few miles until her horrible form got the better of her. It pained me to watch. I so wanted to give her some running form tips but unsolicited advice is not EVER a good idea in the middle of a race, actually ever for that matter. Her head weaved from side to side and my neck was getting stiff jut watching her. Her ears were resting on her shoulder and her arms were crossing the front of her body like she was boxing. I don’t say this to poke fun but rather to point out that she was expended so much energy from her upper body and her form eventually, I would think, brought her down. Nothing like watching bad running form to bring you into a quick Check of your own from. I tightened my core and relaxed my shoulders, minded my stride, loosened my jaw, I relaxed my hands. My toe to head check list was complete and I was still feeling good.

Around mile 7 I began to see the winners heading back to the finish.  They were rolling up on the 10 mile mark and taking it home. They looked good. The first place female was hauling and I cheered her on but on the inside I thought, “She doesn’t exactly look like a runner. I could beat her----up. Obviously not running but I could take her.”  Don’t get me wrong, she was fit but not just not what I always imagine a distance runner to look like. Shows how much I know.  Seeing the “winners” always makes me think I could so be one of them. just give me a trainer, a coach and a nutritionist and I could win a local half.  No doubt. Maybe….pretty sure. Ok, I wish.

Around mile 10 I checked in with G.Money (my Garmin). I realized I had time in the bank and all I needed was three miles under 10 min to get me a sub 2. My pace slowed and I chilaxed. Yes, I just said I chilaxed at mile 10. I had somewhat of an inner battle happening. My breathing was fine. My heart rate was stable, a little above my average of 163 but that was fine. My body felt good. So what was the problem? Why couldn’t I push it a little harder? Why should I? Why not? I was afraid. I am always afraid to run out of juice, have no kick, end up crawling to the finish, to not have enough left to chick people at the end-to die.  It is a mental road block that I face nearly every race. I know I hold back. Mel-Tall Mom puts it “untapped speed”. I know she is right, I have tapped into that speed in the past but not for a duration of 13.1 miles. I should begin with some shorter races, 5k, 10k, 12k, 10 miler then half marathon and beyond!!!

The trail was really pretty. We were surrounded by trees and at one point I very well could have been on the Orting Trail in WA. Sometimes I forget where I am. I know it sounds weird but for a moment I felt like I was racing in WA but I looked around and I didn’t recognize anyone, although on the out and back I had seen J-Ninja not far behind me and Breaking Pace was holding strong, grinning ear to ear. But other than that it was unfamiliar.  I didn’t recognize the different race shirts and the people were not my usual racing crowd. One day though, I am sure I will begin to recognize the faces that hit all the races. It is just a strange feeling.

After mile 10 I was holding back a little bit but I was also feeling tired. I decided I should just go ahead and get the race over with but the course began to psych me out a bit. I had no idea where I was in relation to the start. I had no idea where the finish line was. I didn’t know what to expect. I should have at least looked closer at the course map to see where the finish line was and how the finish would be. I felt like I was moving farther away from the start and the finish, everything was unfamiliar. But finally I could see a pretty big crowd ahead. I figured I had .75 miles to go and I picked up my pace. I feared I had began my kick a little too soon but kept telling myself it would all be over soon. What is the worst thing that would happen? So I ran and passed a girl who had put the pass on my about 30 seconds before. I saw a corner ahead and behind the trees I saw the blue banner indicating the finish line. I was close. So I went faster. I brought it home strong. I crossed the line and new I had gotten a sub 2. Mission accomplished.

I received my huge honkin’ medal and declined the space blanket, after all there were marathoners out there too. I didn’t want to take one if I didn’t need it (lesson learned from Tall Mom who didn’t get one after RnR Seattle Marathon-they ran out). I grabbed a water bottle and stood there and waited for J-Ninja to come in. She was barely a minute behind me and also got herself a sub 2! We got water and meandered to find some Port-A-Potties (when in Rome…I no longer refer to them as Honey Buckets, people look at me strange).  We began to make our way back to cheer for Breaking Pace. It wasn’t long before we saw here making her way to the finish line of her FIRST 13.1!!! The best part was the ear-to-ear grin plastered on her face!  We ran with her a little ways as best we could but she had it and finished well beneath her goal time! All around we all came out and did what we set out to do!! Such a good feeling to meet a goal!

I don’t know if you can read this but it is my placing and stats: 130th out of 499 in my age group. 725 overall. Not too shabby.

So a few things that I mentally noted during the race:

• A girl with her pet goat. Awesome. I want a pet goat. Actually I want a couple of pet fainting goats to eat our grass. That goat is huge.
• Why is that girls hair down? How do people do that?
• Wow, I smell poop. I was told to watch out for horse poop. I don’t see any but I sure smell it. Sick.
• Oh I should give that kid a High 5. Yeah! That’s awesome!
• Man this sure looks like Orting Trail.
• Hmm, checking out race shirts is a good way to discover local races. I should look into some of these.
• Whoa! That is a race shirt from 1998! What in the world?
• I remember seeing a Mercer Island Half race shirt at Vegas. I should have talked to that guy.
• I wonder if any of these people have run a race in WA.
• It sure is nice of these people to come out and cheer us on. I think it should be a rule for runners to acknowledge spectators. I can’t really hear a word they are saying over Lady Gaga but I will wave and say thanks.
• Oh man, that kid is like 8!
• What the HECK! Why does my Garmin say I am going sub 8 min/mile right now. That is so not good at mile 7.
• Yep, there is the marathon mile 14 marker. SURE AM GLAD THAT IS NOT ME.
• Why am I doing this again?
• Can’t I just do step aerobics in my living room like most other moms in this world?
• Wow, how am I going to feel doing this after swimming over a mile and biking 56 miles? Don’t think about that…head in the sand. Yep, that works.
• Nope, still wondering how I will feel in the half iron.
• Will I put a 70.3 sticker on my car? I should but my back window is starting to look a little…uh, showboaty?
• If I do put a 70.3 then I will need a 140.6. Dang. That is going to suck.
• Maybe I just need a new car.
• I am never wearing this skirt on a run over 3 miles again. I know better. This is annoying.
• Ugh, I can’t believe I forgot to take off my jewelry. What was I thinking.
• I’m going to wave at those two people over there! Oh man, why are they taking my picture, dang! I think they think they know me. Oh this is awkward. Funny, but awkward.
• I can’t believe my calves aren’t cramping but man my biceps hurt! I should relax my arms and shoulders.
• Oh man, am I done yet? Almost.
• I can’t wait to get a massage…The Hubs really earned some points with this bday present. I wonder what a sports massage feels like?
• Man, I can’t believe tomorrow is my birthday. Ugh. Getting old kind of stinks.
• Birthday races ROCK! As long as I can run a race on my birthday (or birthday weekend) I’ll be happy.

I am happy with my first 2011 race and I feel like I have nothing but improvement ahead of me. Next race: OKC Memorial Half!!

Breaking Pace-she is so cute!! Finishing her first (of many to come) half marathon!!

 

J-Ninja back in the Sub 2 wonderland after a short hiatus! It’s on now!

Who’s this??

Not many posts would be complete without an appearance by LB. LOVE this kid with all my heart!

If you made it through this recap then I commend you. It was long. Sorry about that.

And now, off to finish up some work so I can go on a birthday swim and then dinner tonight!!! And major props to The Hubs who gave me a certificate for a 60 min Sports Massage for my birthday!! I must get that scheduled today!

Tobacco Road Half Marathon. SO…

…How did I do??

Does this tell you anything? No? Not familiar with my Signature Pose? Check it out HERE…it is usually reserved for post-races/runs where I work super hard and get really tired. Like today

 My unofficial 1/2 Marathon stats are:

13.21 Miles-1:57.45-8:55 min/mile pace

I am happy with that!  I feel like I am off to a good start with my 2011 racing season.

Thank you all for your encouragement and well-wishes! I carried you all with me every step of the way!!

I’ll be back to give a full race recap soon!!

Help!!!

I need somebody!!

Ok, now really….It is 9:20 PM on the eve of 2011’s first race and I am trying to pick out tomorrow’s race outfit. I need help!! If you have been following me for long you know this is how I roll, my norm. I wait until the last minute. It’s cool. I’m not really sweating it. I know what I am wearing on top…just not on bottom.

Here is what I have:

So what should it be? With a high of 68 and a low of 45 the temps should be good. I have the sleeveless Nike tank, Moeban sleeves (to channel my inner Tall Mom) picked out and I am undecided on Running Skirt, Nike capri tights, or Nike Tempo shorts. Help me decide!

Ok, off to get my beauty sleep…

Who will be #500?

Will you take a gander at that!!!!! 499 followers!!!

Who will be #500???

That is pretty exciting! I better check and see if I have 500 yet…Nope, not yet.

Yesterday didn’t turn out as I had planned. I wanted to take LB with me to the track after school but that just didn’t work out. One thing I have learned is that you have to be flexible when training AND parenting. Sometimes, no strike that-usually things don’t go as planned and I just have to adjust or get over it. Adapt, if you will.  Do you adapt very well when things don’t go as planned? I’m 50/50 on that. But at least I got my swim in.

I went to the pool earlier than usual due to something known as work. Normally that early time is reserved for unit training but I got lucky. It was way less crowded and I got to swim in my own lane for most of the workout. My workout called for 1700 yds. 500 yd warm up/ 1 x 100yd with 15 second rest 2 x 50 yd with 10 sec rest (repeat that 5 times)/ 200 cool down. I ended with 1750 yds because I opted to swim my equipment (kickboard, pull buoy, paddles) to the other end and put them away then swim back, instead of walking.  I thought about that and equated it to finishing a track workout on the opposite side of the track than you parked. Instead of walking across the middle of the track you would  just walk or jog around the track to the other side. Same thing. It is funny how I can totally relate my swimming to my running workouts.

Then there was no run. I had my St. Patty’s Day run outfit all picked out too. But it just didn’t happen. Now I am in a conundrum. Do I run today? I think an easy 3 or 4 miler would be fine, good, wise actually. Then I rest tomorrow.  I have taken the entire week off from spin! I didn’t think I would be able to but I have. I am trying to give my legs some relief and rest. Sunday is my first race of 2011! I figure it can go one of three ways:

Or in other words:

1. PR-under 1:55
2. Finish comfortably with 2-2:10 range
3. Suck air, walk a LOT and finish who-knows-when with sore muscles and wishing for a MAC Truck or Nekkid Semi to plow me over.

Now, please don’t get sad and down or mad about my “lousy” comment. Understand that these are my goals and they only apply to me. I am in no way saying that anything over 2:10 is lousy. In fact is is NOT lousy at all! But for ME it would be less than what I am capable of and less than I would expect of myself. I will tell you what I tell clients sometimes (in a little different way of course): You cannot use my measuring stick to measure yourself. We each measure our own individual accomplishments by our own internal measuring stick. I would not measure my accomplishments based on YOU. So why would you measure yours based on ME? Be proud of what you do, own it as yours.

Now if you will excuse me I have a lot to get done today: 1) An iPod to organize!! (For those of you who LIKE me on FB I found my iPod! Right were I put it, in the pocket of my Nathan Handheld Water bottle!) 2.) Garden work 3) Back yard sun-sitting (84 degrees today!!) 4) Car to clean out for the girls (plus LB) trip to Raleigh- Tobacco Road Expo!!!

So off I go to be responsible!! Happy Friday!!

******EDIT*****

500! I made it merely an hour after posting!! =) You all are amazing!!! And thanks Andrea-Runner Momma-I think you were 500!

Green is the color of the day!

GREEN!

Are you wearing it today?

Did you run it in?

Did you wear it to work?

Do you love it?

Is it your favorite color?

I swam this morning in

my Green and Black

swimsuit but I haven’t

been for a run yet.

Rest assured I will be

wearing green. It’s a

tough world out there

and I can’t chance

getting pinched!

I’ll be back to tell you

all about today’s

workouts.

Just wanted to say

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Hopefully I am not as boring to you as I am to Lazy Dog…sheesh.

Much ado about nothing…

…and that is what happens on a rest day.

Have I mentioned that I love my job? Well I do…kind of and sometimes. I know many others feel this way, but I love the potential, I love where I know I am going with it. I’m not there yet but one day. I get to play with kids, often with heartbreaking stories, and I want to bring them all home with me. But I can’t. So all I can do and try to help them in the small amount of time we get each week. And I hope it makes a difference.

I spent the day in a training workshop. I love these things. But between the workshop and the commute I really didn’t get a chance to run today. I had thought about running there on my lunch break but that didn’t work out. I may or may not have gotten up to late to pack my running/workout stuff and heaven forbid I do it the night before. No sir-ee…not ME. I’m a procrastinator. Oh well, another rest day will do the legs well. Remember? I am convinced. I have learned my lesson. But tomorrow it is back to the pool early then an easy jog after work. Now that it is staying lighter later and for whatever other reasons, it feels easier to take LB to the track at 5 PM or 6 PM. So I will see how that works out for us.

And today the Hubs got his present for my birthday…wait, how does that workout? I don’t know…but whatever. He got a new toy…So when I got home we had to take it for a spin. And here is YET another picture proof of me being a BAD Ma’ama-jamma!!

Actually don’t worry, we only went on the culd-a-sac in our street and not fast at all. Any other time I am all over the helmet thing.

And tonight as I was reading LB’s bedtime story, “My Lucky Day”, about a clever little pig who outsmarts all the big bad animals in his neighborhood,  I was amused when I saw this:

Can you see what caught my eye???

Thanks for all the snack attack ideas yesterday!! I am going to try each and every one of them (except pistachios!! Sorry Mallory! =] But I think I just threw up in my mouth. HA! ) over the next month!!  The ones that require baking or mixing or skill of any kind I will tell you right now, up front…I probably will not do it justice. Just saying. I’ll try. Otherwise I’ll definitely let you all know how it goes!!

Go ahead…say it.

“I told you so!!!”

Yep, rest days are good. I know that but it’s SO hard when there is so much training to be done and so little time left to do it. I’m convinced. Now I really need like 5 of them in a row. But that may kill me.

Thanks everyone for making me feel better about my constant starving-ness not only on rest days but ALL the time really. It’s nice to know I am not alone. I think we are just training so hard that we need to replace those calories, constantly. I am trying really super hard to replace them with healthy choices. But sometimes my mind, mouth and body just want that stupid, dad-gummed Cadbury Egg…evil sweet gooey chocolate with whatever that is in the middle….mmmm…..

After yesterday’s rest I hit it hard today. I did a 4 mile tempo run: 9:07/8:55/8:44/9:30.  Then I drug myself to the pool. I was looking forward to this swim actually, 2,500 yards. I had to Google it to see exactly how far that is in runner’s terms: 1.43 miles. Dang! That is far! It was a rough swim and I kind of wanted to cut it short a few times but each time I was that much closer to my goal. So I sucked it up and just finished.

The lifeguards were being silly today. Too silly actually.First of all they asked me if I was a softball player when I came in sporting my CEP socks.  Uh, NO. We are on a first name basis now, me and Nick and Sanchez. They were standing right at the end of my lane. Maybe I looked like I was dying or drowning and I asked them about it. Hubs said they were flirting…I’ve forgotten how 18 year olds flirt. It makes perfect sense now. I’m flattered. I’m also old enough to be their mother. Le sigh….

Here is a peek in the locker room-yeah, not what you’re thinking... And soon I’ll try and get a picture of the pool…

I have an all day training tomorrow in Raleigh. I may take my stuff to go for an easy 3 miler over the lunch break but no promises. I’m not at all familiar with the area so I will scope it out. Otherwise I might just make it another rest day. I’m really trying to give my legs a break this week. 

And because I think it’s funny and I wanted to share it with you, here is Lazy Dog in his favorite spot:

All winter long I have been teasing and telling LB that he is “hatching my flowers”. And guess what? They finally hatched!! Lazy Dog is a proud daddy of these daffodils (I think that is what they are???Correct me if I am wrong)!! Here he is looking at them. What a proud papa!

Or maybe he is just ticked off because I wont let him lay in his favorite spot anymore…poor dog.

So what is your go-to snack during the day? I’m really digging my sweet peppers still and pickles. I know I need something of substance too, like a tuna wrap or turkey and cheese on crackers. I need some pizazz though, new ideas. My pallet is getting bored.

I’m a Baaaad Ma’ama Jamma!

… .I have a picture to prove it! (Uh, hi mom!)

Do you ever drink out of the carton? I felt like such a teenager doing this! So rebellious! Woooo…watch out!

Why do rest days make me so hungry? Do you feel so starving on rest days? Nothing, and I mean nothing satisfies my hunger on days that I rest. Maybe I need a snickers bar??

Oh well. I guess the good news is that I actually rested today. I fought myself and the urge to do a swim, it was hard but I won….Get it? Fighting myself I would be a winner either way!  Ok, anyway…I actually forgot about the fact that I will be in Raleigh all day Wednesday for a training so I guess I get two rest days in one week! Great, shoot me now, er…I mean lucky me. Actually I think I get an hour for lunch and it’s supposed to be really nice so I’ll take my running clothes and maybe get in 3 or 4 miles during the break.

Speaking of weather, check out the rest of this week’s forecast. No…!!! I am not trying to make you all super jealous of my weather (just wait a few months and my skin will be melting off)! What kind of person do you think I am??? But this does have me wondering about my race on Sunday. Storms on Saturday are not a good sign…

Today I got an email from Active.com. Do you guys get these? If not then you really should check out the site. I find all sorts of really useful info every once and a while, like this article HERE about foam rolling or this one HERE with 5 Nutrition Tips for New Athletes, and finally, for the cyclist I have loitering here on 5 Miles, 4 Drills to Improve Pedaling Technique HERE. Enjoy!!

Good night homies…yeah, that’s right. Still feeling like a rebel here…

CEP Compression Socks WINNER

Well, I stayed up PAST my bed time to chose the winner!!!

At 10 PM, as threatened promised….

I chose the winner of the CEP Compression Socks Giveaway!!!

So without further adieu, here is me generating the winner with Random.org…

Croughwell…WINNER WINNER!!

So Croughwell of Running in Connecticut, you can’t say you’ve never won anything!! Thank you for following through with all the contest requirements!  Find my email in the Contact Me Page above and I will get you the info on how to get your socks ASAP!! Congratulations!!

I wish I had a pair to give away to ALL of you! Everyone’s legs deserve to be pampered and compressed, seriously! So if you want to get some don’t forget you can go HERE, shop around and enter code BLOG15 to receive a 15% discount!!!