A little of this, a little of that

Yahoo, it’s taper time! Here’s a quickie summary of my workouts since my last post:

Friday, 10/21 – Swim
Just a quick 1,200 yd swim. At this point, nothing I do on Friday is going to help my swim on Sunday, but I did want to get in the pool one more time anyway.

Saturday, 10/22 – Run, 10 miles
Okay, so I only had 8 on the schedule for Saturday, but because I missed last week’s 14-miler, I felt the need for one more double digit run. I ran 2 miles before meeting up with WF for their 8 miler. We took this one at an easy pace (10:58) and just decided to enjoy the lower mileage.

Sunday, 10/23 – Oktoberfest Tri (relay – swim leg) & Ab Ripper X
As I mentioned a few days ago, I decided to do the swim leg of a triathlon relay – not because I love to swim or because I rock the swim, but because I suck at the swim and need the practice. Once again, this was a humbling experience. I decided at the last minute to wear my wetsuit, since I didn’t have to worry about my transition time (in a relay, you only have to exit the water, run to transition and pass the timing chip to the person biking). I’ll do a race report later, but let me just day that I did not have the experience that I had at Bridgeland! I also managed to fit in Ab Ripper X later in the day. It felt great to work the core again!

Monday, 10/25 – Run, 3 miles 2 miles
I don’t know what was wrong with me on Monday, but I felt tired and run down. Even my muscles were sore – legs, abs, even my arms and I had a sore throat. Maybe just a case of the Mondays? Or maybe I was feeling run down…since I’ve had the back and neck issues, I have had a hard time getting comfy at night and I am not sleeping as well as usual. I dunno, but I cut the run short and took an Emergen-C, just in case.

Tuesday, 10/25 – Rest
Well, except for Ab Ripper X. :-)

In other news...
Last week was a bit wilder than usual – and I am not just talking about losing our family pet and the ongoing visits to the chiropractor. I don’t usually blog about work, but this news was pretty huge and took us all by surprise - the company I work for announced last week that it was being sold. And, the portion of the company that I work for is going to be sold to a 3rd party so that the buyer can pay off debt from purchasing the company. So, the future is uncertain and things will be interesting to say the least!

On another note, this is my 3rd week of my attempt at getting back to clean(er) eating and things are going great! I am really working on eating less sugar and processed foods, and I am actually down 7 lbs! I will blog more about that later….

Less than 2 weeks until NYC!!! My sister-in-law and I are nailing down our agenda for the trip…if we left it up to the guys, we might end up sitting in our apartment watching TV the entire time we’re there. Or, in a bar watching sports. :-) More on what’s in the works coming soon!

Weekend Re-Cap

Saturday, 2/28 - rest (postponed run til Sunday)
Saturday, the kiddo was spending the night with my parents, so I took the baby to the "Cry Baby Matinee" at the Angelika. Ummmm, that would have been a great idea had there not been something called the RODEO PARADE going on! The traffic was horrendous and I ended up just parking at Landry's, since it was the only parking I could get to. The movie was "He's Just Not that Into You". It was cute with a great cast...I recommend it if you want a happy chick flick. That afternoon I had planned to go for my run, but we decided to have some much needed family time instead.

Sunday, 2/29 - Run, 8 miles (and some change), 11:18 pace
Sunday, the tri-girls of Woodlands Fit went to watch the "Take-a-Hike Ike" tri. We learned on the way there that the swim had been cancelled - it was just too freaking cold and the water was choppy. Instead, they had a dualthon - run, bike, run. I was bummed that I wouldn't be able to see the swim and the all-important transition from swim to bike, but it was still interesting to see the transitions. I had no idea that some people left their shoes clipped to their bike and would run out of the transition area barefoot or in socks and worry about getting into their shoes as they rode away. I was also freaked out about all the rules - don't mount and ride till you get past the red line, buckle your helmet before leaving the transition area, don't forget to take off your helmet before leaving the transition area, etc. It's so intimidating because there's so much to know!!! It was also great to see the variation in the type of participant:

• the hard core triathlete
• the not as serious, but definitely an experienced triathlete
• the this is my 1st triathlon, but I'm in super shape triathlete
• the I am working hard at getting in shape, and dammit I am gonna do a triathlon triathlete

It was comforting to see that not everyone has a $10,000 bike, the shoes, clipless pedals, etc. and that not everyone was super-experienced.

After the hubby made it home from work, I headed out for my run. Rather than drive 40 minutes to get to my run location and back, I decided to run in the 'hood. Hey, you gotta save some time for the family, right? One thing I've learned from doing my runs solo lately is to not think about the distance - just run. If you think about how far and how long you have to run alone, it sucks. Instead, I just take off on the run, get lost in thought (or in music if I have an ipod with me), listen for my watch to beep (for the run/walk intervals) and go. And go. And go.

It's much easier that way.

Before I knew it, my 8-miler was over and I was back at home with the hubby and kiddos.