Monday Brick

Back to the grind. Time for my Monday "brick". Should I call it a faux brick since I am doing this indoors? Maybe a frick?

The kids were just amazing last night - as close to being little angels as they can get. They didn't fuss at all when I picked them up from my parent's house - usually they want to play longer, eat cookies and all the other stuff that they get to do at the grandparent's. They ate their dinner with no playing around in between bites. They put on their PJs with no arguments. And, they went to bed right on schedule. Quick, write this on the calendar, because this almost NEVER happens! Before I knew it, the next day's lunches and clothes were all ready and it was time to workout. Gotta love that!


Just imagine the little halos, lol!

I rode 40 minutes on the bike trainer while watching the end of The Bachelor. Anyone else watch this train wreck of a show? Can I just say that Rozlyn is whacked! Although I never get to watch an entire episode, this is the 1st time I've actually kept up with the show...yeah, minutes of my life that I will never get back. Soooo, who do you think the bachelor will choose?

After the bike, I headed upstairs and jumped on the dreadmill. Only 2 miles tonight - 19:57, 9:58 pace. I know for some folks, this is your slow pace...for me this is pretty good! For some reason, I always seem to run better after the bike (at least with shorter distances). So, in total, a 1 hour workout.

And before bed, I watched Kell on Earth - another trainwreck of a show, but I love it! Guilty pleasures, we all have'em!

Finally, we're expecting snow today.

SNOW PEOPLE!

IN HOUSTON!

AGAIN!

WHAT THE FRICK?

Pleasant Surprises!

Where does the weekend go? Seriously?

Here's an update on my workouts...

Thursday, 2/18 - treadmill run
Thursday is usually my swim day, but for some reason I had this urge to clean our master bathroom shower stall. I hate cleaning that thing - especially the glass, which always seems to have water spots, no matter how much I use the squeegee. Since I hadn't run all week, I decided it would be a perfect night for a treadmill run.

I hesitated a lot before this run, because my hip had been bothering me all day. When I finally mustered the courage to get on the treadmill and start moving, I was pleasantly surprised that my hip didn't hurt at all. However, it did hurt afterwards...ouch! Total run time - 30 minutes, 2.87 miles, 10:27 pace.

Friday, 2/19 - Swim, 1000 yards
After getting the kids to school, doing the grocery shopping and cleaning the house a bit, I headed to the gym for a swim. It was weird swimming during the day! I followed these drills for a total of 1,000 yards. It felt great and the best part - swimming didn't bother my hip at all! And, for some reason my hip didn't bother me at all for the rest of the day....crazy! I won't complain though, I'll just enjoy it!

Saturday, 2/20 - Long Run, 10 miles
I had the unique opportunity to run on Saturday morning with my running peep, Katie. I miss running on Saturdays with my peeps! Since the Kiddo has a class every Saturday, I don't get to do it often. Our next race is the Zooma 1/2 Marathon in Bastrop, so we decided to run the hilliest route in our neck of the woods - Flintridge.

Now let me tell you, we also ran some Flintridge last year to prep for Zooma, but there is nothing that can prepare you for those kind of hills! They hit you one after the other and they pretty much suck. But, at least the Zooma website doesn't sugar coat it - they do call it a "challenging" course! I'm a bit concerned, because I don't get to run hills every week....guess I need to up the incline on the ol' dreadmill more in the coming weeks. Let's face it people, Houston is not hilly! I was also concerned because of my on-going hip issues. I've been afraid of pushing it too hard and making things worse.

The course was an out and back with a couple of laps through a very hilly neighborhood. The conversation was good and there were pretty houses to look at, so the miles went by pretty quickly. It wasn't a fast run by any means, but then again, I am not accustomed to the hills. But, we did run a negative split, so that made me one happy runner! Afterwards, we met more of the running peeps for coffee and got to catch up! Fun times! Total run - 10 miles plus some change, 1:53, 11:21 pace.

Later in the day, we took my Dad to dinner for his birthday (the BIG 65!) And then headed over to a friend's house where the kiddos could play and the grown ups could watch some Olympics.

Oh - and no hip pain before, during or after the run! I was surprised how great my legs felt after the 10-miler, hills and all! WHOOT!

Sunday, 2/21 - rest day
I really need to work out my tri training schedule. Sunday should be a bike or swim day, but it's not in writing, therefore it did not happen! After a semi-late night at our friends, I was surprised that the whole house actually woke up in time to not only go to church, but have breakfast beforehand. After church, we headed to hell Chuck E Cheese for a birthday party. And, for the 1st time EVER, the Hubby and I were able to take a nap! The Munchkin was down for his nap and the Kiddo was perfectly content coloring and watching a movie....so we napped. It's been so long since I've taken a mid-day nap, that I forgot that I don't like them! Sounds weird, but I always wake up feeling groggy and yucky. No more naps for me.

Oh, and still no hip issues! Yahoo!

I don't know about you, but I'm looking forward to a super productive week of amazing workouts!

(late) Valentine's Day post and more...

So how was your Valentine's Day? (Yes, I am a bit late in writing about this topic...) Ours was great...it's funny how low key V-day becomes when you have 2 small kids. The hubby and I decided that rather than wait forever for a table at an overly crowded, over priced restaurant, we'd grill at home. So, the hubby went to Hubbell and Hudson on Saturday afternoon and picked up some awesome-looking steaks, some twice baked potatoes and a bottle of wine. This is something we'd do often before we had kids....we'd head to Central Market or Whole Foods and pick up stuff to make a wonderful meal. So I guess you could say this was long overdue! After the kids were tucked into their beds, we enjoyed cooking and eating this yumminess!



The "sweetheart ribeye"....Can we say yum?


The meal all cooked...I forgot the almond slivers for the green beans. And no, I didn't eat the entire thing - I saved more than 1/2 of everything (except the green beans) for later.



Our wine...Edge - a Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. It's reasonably priced and quite yummy(read: around $20...remember, we're paying for 2 in daycare)!

Sunday the kids woke up to find their Valentine's Day gifts waiting - for the Munchkin, it was a Thomas the Train card and set of 3 dvds (oh boy!) and for the Kiddo, it was an Ariel card and Barbie and the Diamond Castle dvd (which several of her friends have and she's been wanting "forever") and a Disney Princess Sing-A-Long dvd (can't wait to watch that).

The weather was just awesome, so rather than heading to the gym for a swim, I opted to spend the day with the kiddos. The hubby and I took them for a walk around the neighborhood and then to the park. So yeah, Sunday became a rest day for me...although I really don't call chasing after your at the park rest.

Here are a few pics from our day....I would have added captions with each one, but freaking Blogger is making them too small to read! Grrrrr!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And now for the workouts....

Monday, 2/15 - Bike (trainer) and Core (Ab Ripper X)
Monday was a 40 minute ride on the trainer. I really should be doing more, but I am at a loss for what to do on the trainer. I usually warm up for 5-10 minutes, pick up the pace for 10 minutes, do some intervals (yesterday was 2 minutes fast, 1 minute slow x 5), then ride at a good pace for another 10 minutes, then a warm down. My ankle was feeling a bit strange since Saturday's race, so instead of following my ride with a treadmill run I decided to do some core work with the P90X Ab Ripper X. Love to "feel the burn"!

Tuesday, 2/16 - Swim
Tuesday I headed to the pool after the Kiddo's dance class. I was running a little later than usual, then I ran into one of my running peeps and talked to her and her hubby for a minute, so I was running even more behind schedule. I had promised the Kiddo I'd be back to give her a kiss goodnight, so that meant I had to cut my workout a little short. (Am I the only one who feels like they have their days scheduled down to the last second sometimes?) I still followed the workout from last week, but shortened some of the drills in order to get out of the pool on time. In total, my workout lasted 40 minutes. I have no idea how many laps I did, because I lost count. We'll just say I did "a bunch"...okay?


Wednesday, 2/17 - Nada
This is not normally my rest day. In fact, this is usually my shorter mid-week long run. However, I was at another job fair all day and as the day went on, I started feeling kinda crummy. Just that tired, feeling you get when you *think* you might be coming down with something. By the end of the day, I was sneezing and just feeling pooped. I crawled into bed as soon as I tucked the kids into bed and made lunches - around 8:45 pm. I was asleep shortly after 9 pm - a rare thing in my house! So now I know what 8 hours of sleep feels like...and I like it! However, the possibility of me ever going to bed at 9 pm and getting those precious 8 hours again are slim. Very slim!


Wurd.

2010 Goals

Okay, so I realize that I am probably the last blogger on the planet to post my goals for the year. The problem is that I never feel I can start my new year's running goals until after the Houston 1/2 marathon. That race is one I always do and it kind of closes the year for me. But then, after the 1/2 I managed to get wrapped up into training for the next race and never get to my goals.

Before I can talk about my 2010 goals, let's review 2009...In comparison to 2006-2008, this year seems almost calm. In the previous years, I was in grad school, pregnant, remodeling a house, selling a house, buying a new one, moving, etc. When looking at 2009, the things I am most proud of are:

• Learning to swim - a HUGE obstacle for me)
• Competing in four triathlons - short ones, but swimming was required in all of them and the fact that I did not drown in any of them makes me quite proud!
• My PR at the 1/2...I've been working on getting faster and it's actually working. I know it takes time though - baby steps!

I also managed to lose some weight and overall, I just feel so much stronger this year!

In 2010, here are my goals:

• Spend more time with family - this includes more time with my parents as well.
• Be more patient, especially with the kids. I find myself getting so impatient and getting bent out of shape of stupid stuff. This is a goal every year, but I always need to work on this one...my hubby and kids will thank me for it.
• Get to goal once and for all! In 2009, I managed to lose 6.5 of the 8 lbs I wanted to lose between November and January (and they say you can't lose weight during the holidays - total hogwash!!!). My goal for 2010 is to get to my goal weight by my 1st tri in May...it's only 6 more lbs, but I know those are always the hardest to lose!
• PR in all distances - 5k and 10k mainly. The next 1/2 I'm planning to do this year is Zooma, which is REALLY hilly...I am highly doubtful of a PR there. But, since I count Houston as part of my 2010 goals, I am going to work toward a PR there. I'd also like to improve my times in swimming, biking, and running and PR in any of the Tris that I competed in last year and will be doing again this year.
• Complete at least 4 triathlons. 'nuff said.
• Re-work our family budget and stick to it. We were pretty good with this until recently...time to get back to it (thank you Dave Ramsey)!
• To become ridiculously organized. Seriously. We need help in the master closet and the kid's playroom...I will make some magic happen this year!
• Be a better friend. Sometimes it's hard when you have small kids, you're always in training for something and feel you're going in a million different directions, so I want to slow down and take time out for my peeps!
• Be happy!

That's it for now. Peace out!

Run Away With My Heart Race Report

Okay Mother Nature, this is Texas!

Houston to be exact.

We don't have cold winters here. (At least we're not supposed to.) And by cold, I mean lows in the 20s and 30s. I know you Northern folks are giggling right now and calling me a pansy, but seriously folks - this is NOT normal!

It's bad enough that Mother Nature has to kick us in the ass every summer with 100+ temps and 100% humidity, but does she have to do it in the winter too? Our "winters" are not what people in other parts of the country consider winter...Texas winters are just a series of cold fronts with warmer temps in between. Every summer, I long for the "winters" here...and when it's finally in the 30s, I usually savor every second. Why? Because I know that it's just a matter of time before my car temperature gauge will read 116 again and it will be 87 degrees at 6 am. When it's cold, I feel like I can run forever. I also love that I don't return home from a run as a sloppy, drenched, stinky mess. I hate to say this - but I've had enough!

So where am I going with this? The Run Away With My Heart race was Saturday and it was a whopping 36 degrees. Honestly not that bad for a normal Saturday run...but when you're dragging your 2 kids and hubby out to a race (and you have to stand around for an hour), it's cold!

We arrived at the race later than I would have liked. I forgot the camera, so we had to go back home. Fortunately, we live about 6 minutes from the start line, so it was all good. When we arrived, we had just enough time to get everyone out of the car, get the stroller out, get everyone bundled and pin on the Kiddo's race number. Both the kiddos had multiple layers on - kinda like the kid from Christmas Story who can't put down his arms. :-) The Kiddo was running the kid's 1-miler. We heard the announcer (Jon) telling all the kids to get to the start. The Kiddo looked a teeny bit nervous, but was excited. What I didn't realize is that even the kid's race was a trail run...and we just bought the Kiddo new Nikes! :-) Not a big deal if it hadn't rained all day on Thursday. I had planned to run with the Kiddo, but the Munchkin had other plans for me - he was cold and clingy - luckily, the hubby shunned his photographer duties and ran with her. In his Vans. With multiple layers of clothing. Did I mention that he is NOT a runner? The kiddo did great. From what I could tell, she was one of the younger participants. And she even beat a couple of boys who appeared to be a couple of years older. She was very proud of her finisher's medal (and her muddy shoes)!

And they're off! These are the youngest of the kiddos heading out on their run.

Daddy got a quick pic before taking off with the Kiddo. It was cold and the Kiddo didn't want to take her hands out of her pockets, lol!

After the race with "Kissy Bear", that's my girl!

A few minutes later, it was time for the 5-miler to begin. We took off and within minutes, I saw the mud. There was a lot of mud dodging going on in the 1st mile, so it was slow going. I was being overly cautious....heck, I've never run in mud before, so the last thing I wanted to do was slip and fall or tweak an ankle. For some reason, about a 1/2 mile in, I noticed that my left sock was coming off my heel and slipping down into my shoe. I stopped and pulled it up, then went on my way again. Before I hit the 1-mile mark, both socks were doing the same thing! I had to stop, untie my double tied shoes, pull up my socks and then re-tie my shoes (but much tighter!). Not sure why this happened...I did wear my oldest pair of shoes and from what I remember, I may not have worn this type of sock with them in the past. The shoes felt loose and everything was fine after I tightened my shoes. Then of course my shoes felt too tight and I was worried I'd start to lose circulation, lol! My 1st mile was craptastic - 11:33 pace! Doh!

At some point, in the 2nd mile I saw a sign that said "mud hazard". Sure enough, it was really muddy! Next, I saw a sign that said "water hazard". They weren't kidding! There was a dip, with a huge puddle of water at the bottom. Someone had placed a wooden pallet there to make a bridge, but when you stepped on it, it sunk. Then, when you stepped off of it, the only place to go was into ankle deep water! There was a volunteer there and he did warn us that the water was ankle deep. So the shoes were a little squishy after that, but it was all fun! I thought for sure that I'd lose the long sleeve shirt, or at least the gloves, but I never got that warm. It was nasty and overcast, plus the wet feet...maybe that's why I never warmed up.

A little later, I noticed that we were out of the muddiest area and we were running either on packed dirt or rocky gravel...it was an out and back course, so I made a little mental note that I should pick up the pace here on the way back, especially since that last mile would be a slow, muddy one. And that's exactly what I did - I ran the drier areas at a sub-10 pace. When we did get back to the mud, I said screw it and did my best to just run right through it. Screw caution. :-) I was getting brave. The only problem, is that after those fast(er) couple of miles, I was struggling. I was breathing hard and going as fast as I could (around 10:20 - 10:30). But, I think I managed to pick it up a little at the very end and managed to finish in 53:32 - the Garmin said I ran 5:07 at a 10:34 pace. Must have been all that mud dodging, lol! Official results - 53:32, 10:42 pace. As I suspected, not the fastest 5-miler.

Crappy picture. Almost at the finish...about to check the Garmin, of course!

With the kiddos after the race....brrr, so cold! We didn't stick around too long.

Ahhh mud! Actually, the shoes looked much better than I thought the would after all that mud.

Overall, this was an excellent race. It was well-organized and you could tell there was a lot of thought put into all the extras - the great swag (a Bondi Band, flashlight, water bottle, energy bar, t-shirt, etc.), carnations at the finish, breakfast tacos at the finish, donuts (which the kiddos seemed to enjoy while I was running), even the chance to renew your vows (maybe next year, it was too cold this year) and much more! I'm looking forward to next year - mud and all!

Catching Up

Thursday, 2/11 - Rest Day
Technically, I should have been hitting the pool since it was Thursday. However, my day started at 4:00 am, so I could meet up with a co-worker at 5:30 and drive to College Station (well, Bryan to be exact) for a career fair. As you can imagine, with the economy and all, we aren't doing a ton of hiring right now, but we do have 2 summer internships available and possibly some in the fall. With the slow economy, there were fewer companies participating...which means we get to talk to even more students. You wouldn't think standing around talking non-stop to students for 8 hours straight would be all that tiring, but IT IS!! By the time we made it home, it was close to 7 pm. Driving there and back in the rain is no bueno! No workout. I slept like a log!

Friday, 2/12 - Long Run
What to do, what to do? I needed 10 miles this weekend...but, I had a 5-mile race on Saturday. Probably not the optimal plan, but I decided to split up the run - 5 miles on Friday, 5 miles on Saturday. I took the kiddos to school, did the grocery shopping and did some cleaning around the house before heading out for my run around the hood. I decided to push the pace a little, since I knew Saturday's trail run would be slow going thanks to all the rain we had on Thursday. Final stats - 5 miles in 51 minutes, 10:14 pace. It was overcast and chilly, but overall not too bad. After the run, I met my Mom at the movies to see Valentine's Day. Cute movie! I've seen quite a few movies lately, but that could be a whole other post!

I'll have the complete re-cap of the trail run/race tomorrow complete with pictures. Stay tuned!

Brick and Swimming Pools

Monday, 2/8 - Brick - bike (35 minutes), run (3 miles)
I forgot to mention yesterday that I may have found the culprit in my hip pain - The 30 Day Shred! Maybe it's not the cause of the pain, but it certainly made the hip hurt on Sunday. I can't pinpoint exactly what it was, but I think it was the lunges. I may do the workout again this week just to be sure. Just when I thought the hip thing was just a fluke. Dang!

Monday, I hopped on the bike trainer once I got the kiddos into bed - and they actually went right to sleep (must have been the gin I slipped into their milk.....okay, just kidding)! I watched the remainder of The Bachelor followed by 10 minutes of Castle while I rode. After finishing the bike ride, I scooted right up the stairs and hopped on the treadmill for a 3-miler. This time, I was all business...no playing on the computer, no flipping through tv channels. Yay me!

I finished my 3 miler in 30:58, or a 10:19 pace. Not bad for me. And, this was kind of a progressive run. I started out really slow - just to test out the hip and back issues. Both ached a bit at first, but I noticed that as I increased my speed, the pain lessened. I also noticed that when I increase my speed, I am much better at holding in my core muscles and my stride is shortened. Maybe all that sloppy, slower running is what's screwing things up? I dunno, but I thought it was an interesting observation. We'll see how Wednesday's 5-miler goes.

Tuesday, 2/9 - Swim, 1600 yds
I decided to step up the swim workout a bit, especially since I know I'll be working late on Thursday and will more than likely not get to swim at all. *sigh* So, I found this workout on swimplan.com (my comments are in red):

Duration 45-60 mins
Distance 1600yd
Pool length 25yd
Issued Feb 10 2010

Warm up
• 8 x 25yd Freestyle Swim (even pace), rest 0:10 / 25yd [Easy]
Freestyle swim at a steady pace.
Brrr, water was chilly at first....

Build up (repeat 4 times)
• 1 x 25yd Single Arm (arm out front) 6 x left, 6 x right, 6 x full stroke, rest 0:10 / 25yd [Easy]
Freestyle using one arm at a time, focusing on shoulder and hip rotation. Complete 6 arm strokes with the left arm then 6 strokes with the right arm followed by 6 strokes using both arms. The non-stroking arm is held out front in a streamlined position.
I still suck at this one, but it's getting a bit better. I tend to bob up and down a bit when I take a breath on this drill...

• 1 x 25yd Freestyle DPS, rest 0:10 / 25yd [Aerobic]
Freestyle swim with maximum Distance Per Stroke (DPS). Concentrate on long, efficient strokes and a high streamlined body position to reduce drag in the water. Count your strokes per lap and try to reduce.
I still suck at this too...minimum strokes for me last night - 17! Not much improvement at all!

Core
• 8 x 25yd Freestyle Swim, rest 0:10 / 25yd [Aerobic]

• 4 x 100yd Freestyle (25yd Easy, 25yd Effort), rest 0:30 / 100yd [Endurance]
Freestyle swim at a slow, relaxed pace for 25yd, followed by Freestyle at a fast pace for 25yd. Recover during the easy part of the swim.
This was tough for me on the 3rd and 4th 100...at one point, when I was doing the 25yd Effort I got a mouthful of water and had to stop and cough. Can we say embarrassing...especially when the dude in the next lane can make the butterfly look effortless!

• 4 x 50yd Freestyle Swim, rest 0:10 / 50yd [Endurance]
This went well...

• 8 x 25yd Freestyle Swim, rest 0:05 / 25yd [Endurance]
This one too...

Warm down
• 2 x 100yd Easy Any Stroke, rest 0:20 / 100yd [Easy]
Swim your choice of stroke, at a slow, relaxed pace.
I did one 50 with nothing but sidestroke, just for "old time's sake"...side stroke takes a lot more effort than freestyle. I think people have been telling me that for a year and it took me this long to agree, lol!

So that's it for now! To my bloggy friends up north, take care and stay warm in this winter madness! I'll try not to complain too much about our 30-something degree temps. :o)

Super Bowl Weekend

Last week was pretty interesting. The Hubster had a big work project and between Wednesday and Saturday, put in over 30 hours of overtime which included a drive to Dallas and back on Saturday. Crazy!

Thursday, 2/4 & Friday, 2/5 - rest and running
Due to the Hubby being at work, there was no swim for me on Thursday. Friday I did get in my long run and it felt pretty good! I purposely started out very slow, just to see how the back and hip would feel. Fortunately, neither one bothered me too much! Surprising after Wednesdays craptastic treadmill run. One thing I am wondering - is my gait on the treadmill is different from my gait when I run outdoors? If so, it hasn't been an issue...until now. And maybe it's a non-issue, I don't know. Anyway, I ran 8 miles at an average 10:47 pace...like I said, slow and steady. I did run at my 1/2 MP for the last 2 miles though. The weather was awesome! 50 degrees and sunny...yes, there was sun!!! And the home builders in the neighborhood must have liked seeing the sun too, because there were cement trucks all over the 'hood...pouring driveways, pouring foundations. It was interesting to watch as I ran by.

Saturday, 2/6 - rest day
Saturday was my rest day....to be honest both the back and hip felt a little beat up. The hubby was at work all day, so while the Kiddo was in her theatre class in the morning, the Munchkin and I took a walk all over downtown Houston. We saw the Metro rail, we walked through the park and saw fountains, we went to Starbucks and we saw Houston's homeless. :-) Afterwards, I gave in and took the kiddos to McDonald's for lunch. It had been awhile since they'd had Happy Meals, so off we went.... Afterwards, I was forced to play "Scooby Doo" in the backyard with the Kiddo while the Munchkin napped. Yes, she was Daphne and I was Velma.


Say hello to "Daphne" who just loves to "solve mysteries" and "catch villians"

Once the kiddo woke up, we played outside and then took a walk around the hood. Later, the kiddo and I made cupcakes for her to decorate with her friends the next day while all the grown up watched the Super Bowl. We also made these...


Cake Balls...courtesy of the Pioneer Woman. And please, no hatin' on my decorating!

Sunday, 2/7 - Super Bowl Sunday (and a run/shred)
Knowing that I would not be eating quite as well later, I knew I needed to get in a run before church. I wish I had the kiddos that slept in, so I could sneak out for a run and be back before they woke up. Unfortunately, that's not the case yet. The Kiddo was in our room at 5:35 am, ready to start her day. Due to some scary stuff happening in our neck of the woods, I decided to wait until daylight to go for a run...yeah, that gave me time to do only 2.5 of the intended 4 miles. Grrr...However, after church I did manage to also get in the 30 Day Shred while the Munchkin napped. Whatever works!

We thought the Super Bowl party was going to be a dud....we had 2 couples coming over who both have kids around the same age as the Kiddo. One couple cancelled because the husband got called into work (we know that feeling very well) and the other couple cancelled because their kid had a fever and was all sniffly (we thank them for not sharing the germs!). So, our little party wasn't happening...and we had a ton of fajitas and a dozen cupcakes sitting in our kitchen! The person who was the most disappointed was the kiddo. She was looking forward to playing with her friends...so, I got to play Peter Pan with her for part of the evening and then she decorated the cupcakes for us.


Viola...here are the cupcakes! Looks like a sugar attack waiting to happen. What remains after Monday will go off to work with me (same with the cake balls)!

Luckily, my parents didn't have plans and they were nice enough to come over and help us eat some of the food.


Okay, so these aren't the fajitas...the hubby is a hunter and had just picked up this venison, so he just had to cook it. Mmmm...no yucky hormones or antibiotics in this!


Of course I had healthier options! The Munchkin and I chowed down on this.


And of course no Super Bowl event is complete without frosty adult beverages. My choice is on the left, the Hubby's on the right. I only had one of these and one of the "light" version.

Oh, and WAY TO GO SAINTS!!!

Update

I am happy to report that my Friday long run went pretty well, despite the aches and pains from Wednesday. More about that later....I have 2 stir crazy kids here and a hubby at work, so it's time to head outside and enjoy this absolutely gorgeous Saturday!

Craptastic Craptacular Crapola

Tonight, I just did not feel like running. That may have something to do with me almost falling asleep with the Kiddo when I was putting her to bed...the sound of rain on the window didn't help!

I hopped on the treadmill once I finished packing lunches and getting tomorrow's clothes ready (around 8:45 pm)...I really did intend to get in 5 miles, but my shorts were bugging me so I stopped to change into my running skirt. Next, I stopped to turn on the ceiling fan. Once I finally got going, I felt like it was taking a lot of effort to keep my 10:42 pace. My footsteps sounded loud and I just felt awkward.

Ever have one of those runs?

After a mile, my back started to give me that familiar ache (not that it ever stopped). Then, the left hip started to hurt right at the joint..where that came from I don't know! (Maybe it's linked to that nagging pain in my left quad? Or even my back?) Honestly, the back has been bothering me more and more - at my desk at work, just driving home...I hate to say it, but I might need to suck it up and go to the doc. Lemme tell you, going to specialists and to physical therapy gets expensive. And last time I didn't really notice a difference....we'll see.

I managed to get in 3 miles at a spectacular 10:40 pace. Truth be told, I wanted to stop at 2 miles. After my run I got out the frozen peas and iced my back and hip...oh, and to make matters worse, as I was walking down the stairs when I felt a pain in my left shin...shin splints? Surely not!

I'M FALLING APART!!!

Okay, maybe it's not all that bad. :-) But, one thing I want to do is get my bike fit checked. I had some back pain last year and it turns out my seat needed to be adjusted. I don't think I've moved anything on the bike, but I want to be sure.

Tomorrow, it's back to the pool for a nice low impact workout...

Even a bad swim is good!

You know, mainly because it's cold outside and I hate leaving my family in the evening, it takes everything I have to actually drag myself to the pool. And, because the pool water is chilly at first, it takes a lot to make myself actually get into the pool. But I find that once I get going, I actually ENJOY swimming! Me...the girl who, this time last year, couldn't make it from one end of the pool to the other...I actually LIKE to swim (borderline on LOVE to swim).

And, what I realized last night - even a bad swim is good!

Last night, I just couldn't seem to get into the beloved "zone" in the pool. My breathing was all weird at first, my foot/leg kept cramping up and my stroke felt crappier than usual. But, I still hammered out my drills and swam my distance. And you know what? It was still fun!

When I have a crappy run, I tend to beat myself up...what did I eat? Was it too warm? Was I just being a wuss? I need to stop that and treat my runs like I treat my swims...yeah, it was kinda craptastic, but dammit I did the best with what I had that day and I finished!

I did the same drills as last week (1,000 yards). Next time, I think I'll change things up a bit!

And totally off topic - does anyone else out there watch LOST? I stayed up late after my swim watching the season premiere and it was AWESOME. Man, I love that show!

Hiatus

Sorry for the lapse in blogging, my weekend actually begins on Friday and weekends are busy, busy! I sometimes check FB via my cell phone, but rarely have time to get the computer. Here's a quick catch up of the past few days...

Thursday, 1/28 - Swim, 1,000 yds
I actually remembered to bring my list of drills. Lemme tell you, I suck at these...trying to stroke only on one side for 6 strokes is tough. But, the nice thing about the drills is that is seems so much easier to swim when you go back to regular ol' freestyle....hmmm, maybe that's the real reason we do drills....

Friday, 1/29 - long run, 7 miles
The weather was nasty and drizzly in the morning, so I did all my errands after I dropped the kids off at school and ran later in the day. I originally planned to do 8 miles, but ran out of time...funny how that happens when you postpone your run! Since I've been reading about how you should have run your long runs slower, and then try to run the last part of your run at your marathon pace (or in my case, my 1/2 marathon pace), I decided to give it a try. I am already a slow runner, so I don't know how I could possibly go any slower though! My pace for the 1st 4.5 miles was 10:47, followed by 2.5 at a 10:20 pace...I was aiming for 10:30, but got carried away a bit at the very end. Oops! The darn left quad is still feeling a bit sore after my runs, but the back wasn't too bad.

Saturday, 1/30 - 30 Day Shred
Saturday was such a dreary, cold day! Other than taking the Kiddo to her musical theatre class, we had no other plans, which is rare. So most of the day was spent indoors coloring, playing with Play Doh (until the Munchkin decided to eat it!) and watching movies. Later in the day, I decided to give the 30 Day Shred another try. I love the idea of working your upper and lower body, plus getting in a little cardio in only 20 minutes! And, this time around the video didn't seem quite as tough. The Kiddo even did a little bit of it with me when she was taking a break from her coloring, lol.

Sunday, 1/31 - 30 - Day Shred (again)
Okay, so the original plan was to head to the pool for some swimming. However, we had some other family stuff to do and didn't get home until 7 pm. I still felt the need to do something. Any kind of workout would do. The Hubby and I had talked about doing P90X, but agreed that by the time we got the kids to bed and everything ready for the next day, it would be too late. So....why not do our 20-minute workout again? I'll admit, I had some soreness from the previous day's workout...that made the 20 minutes much harder! I pushed through it, and the Hubby finally had an opportunity to try out the workout - and yes, he agreed it was tougher than he thought it would be!

Monday, 2/1 - Brick (sort of)
I think Monday is going to be my brick night. I am still trying to nail down my tri training schedule, so that is subject to change but for now it seems to be working for me. It's was close to 8:30 when I hopped on the bike. I was about 15 minutes into my "ride" when the Kiddo came into the bedroom and asked if she could lay in our bed, because her tummy hurt. Uh oh. She seemed okay, so I continued to pedal. After I finished my 30 minutes, I checked on her again..again, she seemed okay. I got the Kiddo back into her bed, made sure she was feeling better and then hopped on the treadmill. Apparently, the tummy issues were all gone, because during my run the Kiddo came out of her room 2x to show me pictures she had just colored. LOL! Funny, I asked her if she wanted me to lay down with her, but she said I was too sweaty.

So that's my weekend (and Monday). Hope you had an awesome weekend too! I will get back to reading blogs tonight...I have a lot of catching up to do!