Road Trip

This past weekend I had to travel to Louisiana for work. Yes, I said weekend. This is exactly the kind of thing that makes it difficult to train for that 70.3 coming up in April. Not complaining, just stating the facts...work pays for triathlons and all the stuff that comes with them, so it's definitely higher on the priority list. ;-)

We were at the LSU campus to be exact. I didn't get in a workout on Friday due to working late on Thursday and then packing until 11:30 pm...getting up at 4:30 am the next morning didn't sound appealing. And, we had a reception on the campus to attend that evening. Next was dinner and before I knew it, it was 11:30 pm. Whew, what a day! Saturday was a somewhat busy day of interviews, but I had some free time in the afternoon. I had planned on riding the stationary bike in the hotel fitness center for a couple of hours. Not exciting, but I'd be getting that workout done.

Guess what?

There was no stationary bike at the hotel fitness room!

Scratch that. I did some weights and then headed out to do some shopping instead. (Does that count as a workout?)

On Sunday I didn't have anywhere to be until 11 am, so I headed out for a run around the lakes. A lap around both of the lakes near campus was almost exactly 6 miles. It was hot, humid and windy, but I got'er done. (1:02 and some change, ~10:22 pace) Oh, and I seemed to choose the direction that had the uphill portions with no downhill! Weird.

Here's a view of the pretty lake...it was nice to have something scenic to look for a change. Not that looking at houses in my neighborhood isn't scenic....



I also spotted this tiger on my route...I am still a little bitter about A&M's loss to LSU in the Cotton Bowl last year, so I wasn't sure I wanted to post this.



So that was my weekend. I have to head out of town again this week for 2 days of training. This time I called ahead to make sure there was a stationary bike in the fitness center...otherwise, I'd be bringing my bike and trainer to the hotel. I'm still trying to figure out when I will get back to the pool for some laps...hopefully, I can squeeze in an hour or two this weekend along with a nice, long bike ride!

Austin 1/2 Marathon - Race Report

Austin, TX...also known as ATX....where it's cool to be weird. :-) There's even a slogan, "Keep Austin Weird", that you see on t-shirts and bumper stickers.

We left Houston on Friday right after work and headed to the in-law's house in San Marcos. We dumped off the kids had a chance to visit before heading to ATX around noon on Saturday.

Our first stop was the Expo. I had forgotten that the Austin Marathon and Half Marathon was now sponsored by Livestrong. Kinda easy to remember when you see this plastered all over the place:



I have to admit that the Expo is one of my favorite parts of marathon weekend. I love checking out the vendors and shopping! I loved this shirt...we have little joke in my group of running peeps about being a badass, so naturally I sent this pic to the gang:



I ended up not buying it. Instead, the hubby and I were suckered into buying these:



Yes, you've seen them on TV. They're supposed to do amazing things for your balance, recovery, etc. Yeah, and I have some lakefront property in the Sahara....but the hubby convinced to to give it a try. Suckers. I also bought a couple of these cute headbands (thanks to June for the review on her blog!).




This is the swag from the Expo....love, love, love the computer bag! And, we also received a special SPI belt in honor of the race's 20th anniversary.



After the Expo, we checked into the hotel. Here's the view from our room...we could see the Capitol building, as well as the clock tower at the University of Texas (which we Aggies call t.u.).



Here are a couple of other pics from downtown Austin....





Next, we headed out to meet my awesome cousin and her husband for an early dinner. They moved to ATX a few years ago and scoped out some restuarants in an area of Austin on South Congress, also known as SoCo. Dinner was yummy!



After dinner, we headed for paradise...also known as "Hey Cupcake!", where I bought a cupcake for the post-race celebration the next day.



Here we are in front of the cupcake trailer. Apparently there's a trend in Austin that I didn't know about...they take an empty lot in a trendy area and line up a bunch of trailers and trucks (think ice cream truck type trucks) that sell food. So, what we call a "roach coach" in Houston is trendy and cool in Austin. See what I mean about weird? :-) They sell everything from Sushi to shaved ice to cupcakes. We saw a couple of other lots like this along the race route the next day.



After cupcakes, we headed back to the hotel, set out of our clothing/gear for the race and called it a day.

It was great staying in the hotel that was only a few blocks from the start line, because it meant we could sleep in a little! Here's the hubby before the race...he doesn't look nervous at all.



We headed over to the race start, which was right next to the Capitol...talk about an awesome sight!



It was warm - close to 70 degrees. And humid as heck. Oh, and windy too! You can see the flag on the capitol (on the right-hand side of the pic above) and it's standing straight out. If you've been reading my blog for awhile, you know I hate warm temps and humidity. Perfect race conditions for me are closer to 40 degrees...but, I tried not to complain. Afterall, this was the Hubby's 1st race and I was there for support. Here's a really lousy pic of the two of us (darn camera phone!)



And one of the Hubby warming up...


We lined up with a pace group and waited for the race to start. Finally, we heard the National Anthem and the crowd got quiet. After about 15 minutes, we started to move forward and cross the start line. Little did I know, the race route was going to be pretty crowded the entire race.

We were almost instantly greeted by an incline. I'm not gonna lie, it sucked. The 1st few miles were all hills. By mile 3, we both agreed that we would more than likely not hit our goal pace. We had done no hill training. None. Hills on a cold day would have been bearable. We would have groaned here and there, but we'd suck it up. Hills combined with warming temps, humidity and a bit of wind and we were losing some of our umph with each mile. But, I have to give the Hubby props - he handled the hills like a champ. I wanted to walk up a few of them, but he kept running and that made me keep running, too. He's been reading Chi Running, so he used some of the concepts in the book on the hills and it seemed to help. Around mile 3, I told myself that doing this 3 weeks after Houston was just plain STUPID.

Luckily, miles 4-8 were pretty flat. We seemed to pick up the pace a bit and make up for some of the lost time. Then, we hit some hills again. I started to think about how much I didn't want to do this and wondered how bad I'd feel with a DNF. I decided that I couldn't handle a DNF and kept trucking along. I also questioned whether or not I really wanted to do NYC in November. I'm still pondering that one.

Around mile 9, I started getting grumpy...honestly, I'm surprised it took me that long. :-) I starting walking up one of the hills. I tried to start running again before the Hubby noticed, but I got caught. Busted! I told the Hubby to go on, but he stopped and walked too. Later he admitted that he really wanted to walk, but didn't want to be the first one to stop running. By mile 10 we were happy to only have a 5k left. The worst hill came at the end of mile 11. It was the kind of hill that makes you want to punch the race director in the face and yell, "WHAT IN THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING????"

There was one more hill at the end, but by that point we didn't care. We started seeing the signs stating "800 meters", "400 meters", "200 meters" and sped up. Hallelujah, we were almost there!!! Finally, we could see the freaking finish. The hubby grabbed my hand and threw it in the air. Yes, we were one of those cheesy couples holding hands at the end of a race. It was great. ;-)

We got our medals, grabbed a little food and headed through the crowd to claim our finisher's shirts. We could hear the announcements about Desiree Ficker winning the women's race and Lance Armstrong competing in the half (it's his race afterall...). Exciting stuff! Here's a pic of the Hubby after the race...I am so stinkin' proud of him!



The shirts were cute (although the women's seems a little short) and the medals were great as usual.



After showering, we checked out of the hotel and headed back to the in-law's house where I enjoyed my cupcake. It looked prettier, but got a little banged up during the transport to the hotel and San Marcos...I promise, it was AWESOME!

After visiting with the family for a few hours, it was time to head back to H-town. We had originally planned to stay another night, but the Kiddo's holiday at school ended up being a make-up day for our "snow day" a few weeks ago. Can you tell the kiddo's had a lot of fun with Grandma and Grandpa? They were tired!

All in all, it was a great weekend and a great race. I'll give you some of my post-race thoughts about the race next time.

Peace out!

We Survived!

Austin 1/2 Marathon...

We came, we ran, we conquered!

More details later, but I will say - HILLS SUCK!

Just keep swimmin'.....

I love Nemo...and my kids do, too! Now, if I could only swim like a fish...

Last night, I left work at 5 pm on the dot. I wanted to make it to the Kiddo's gymnastics class (because I rarely ever get to go) and the Hubby wanted to leave gymnastics class so he could get in one final run before the Austin 1/2 marathon this weekend. But, that also meant that my swim was going to be late. No biggie.

I made it to the pool a little after 8 pm and was surprised to see a few folks in the pool...I usually have the place to myself when I get there earlier. I had "splashers" on both sides of me. Splashers is the name I've given to the folks who are there to get in some exercise, but swim like I did 2 years ago - you know, freestyling with the head above water, making all kinds of splashes with both the arms and legs. Yes, that was me just 2 short years ago...I'd like to think I've made some progress. I figured if nothing else, this will get me used to having people splashing around me at a tri. :-) I started with 100 warm-up, then did some ladders - 100, 30 sec rest, 200 30 sec rest, etc. - I didn't swim as long as I did Monday - only 45 minutes and 1,700. As I was finishing my workout, a few high school kids came in.

Definitely swim team.

It's humbling to get lapped over and over by a bunch of 14 year olds. Just when you think you're making progress.... :0)

Boston...

I guess most of you have heard about this....

http://racingnews.runnersworld.com/2011/02/boston-announces-new-qualifying-times-registration-process.html

Yeah, well Boston was never on my list of goals anyway. As you know, I am a um, eh, slow runner. Not that I couldn't work really hard over the next several years to get faster. In fact, I am working on it (with the limited time that I have). But, let's be honest here....I am not interested in working that hard to qualify for one little race. I'm doing really good to keep my head above water as it is and I'd much rather focus on something funner...like Lone Star! :-)


(Yes, I know funner is not a word...)

Snoozing, Cows and Waffles

No, not snoozing cows eating waffles....I'll explain...

First off, I swam last night after work. Here's the deal - with all our activities, my schedule only allows me to swim on Tuesday and Thursday nights. But, the gym I belong to (it's the cheapest and closest) has "Aquafit" from 6 - 7 pm, which means that I can't swim until 7 pm. If I start swimming at 7 pm, I don't get home in time to hang out with the kiddos before bedtime. If I wait until after bedtime, I will be at the gym until almost 10 pm. Sucks either way, right? Last night, I worked a little late, which meant that by the time I could get to the gym it was 7 pm...I went and I swam. 2,350 to be exact. My longest swim to date (*I think*). And it felt good. But, it was BORING! Even with drills, it was just boring.

What does this have to do with snoozing? Well, swimming makes me tired. And, when my alarm clock went off at 4 am, I pushed the snooze button 3 times. 3 TIMES PEOPLE!!! That meant that my scheduled 5-miler had to become a 3.5-miler. Bummer.

But, it was a pretty good 3.5-miler. Why? Because I got to see the infamous neighborhood cows! They are known for leaving their care packages on the sidewalks, on the street and sometimes on your driveway. I have seen them once, but it was on a foggy morning and I almost thought it was some strange mirage or just my imagination. A neighbor who was also jogging that particular morning even mentioned them as our paths crossed, so I knew I had really seen them. But still.

But today, there was no fog and I was pretty darn close...three of them crossed the street in front of me. A car went by right after they passed and then two more crossed the street. They were huge. And cute. I don't know why I get so excited about these cows, but I do. :-)

And finally - the waffles. I know I said I had made the decision to do the HIM in April, but I am seriously waffling. Is that a word? Anyway, I want to do it. It is my all-time triathlon goal (because I have no desire whatsoever to do a full IM)....but then the reality hits:

1) It is expensive...I have already purchased bike shoes and a wetsuit, but there's still the new bike seat, aerobars, aerobottle, bike-fitting, hotel costs, yada yada, etc. We're planning to surprise the kids with a trip to Disney in April (and hopefully catch the shuttle launch). Disney is not cheap, especially when we want to do it right for the kid's 1st time. Then there's the Munchkin's birthday in May - parties are not cheap either. Then there's this trip to NYC in November for some little race ;-). The Hubby and I haven't had a trip together in awhile, so we're making that into a a mini-vacay. NYC is not cheap. Especially on a huge race weekend.

2) It is time-consuming...we're in our busier season at work, but that's about to end. Regardless, I feel as though I only have an hour to 1 1/2 hours with the kids in the evening as it is. Weekends is when we have our quality time. Sunday I was gone 1/2 the day riding my bike...and it only gets worse from here. On the other hand, it's less than two months before the race...after that, it's back to sprints. Sprints = less time training + more time with the family.

3) Training...I have been riding my bike since last tri season, but never more than about 25 miles. The 40-miler was rough, but I survived. And, I definitely have the run nailed down - I did the Houston 1/2 less than three weeks ago and I'm running the Austin 1/2 this weekend. Which is also a bad thing - you should have an easier workout week the week before each race and will probably need a bit of recovery time after...that cuts into critical training time. Also, I have neglected the swim and just started back on a regular basis last week. And - this is the big one - I have 7 weeks left to train.....AND I DON'T EVEN HAVE A TRAINING SCHEDULE YET. I just printed the one from beginnertriathlete.com....yesterday. If I am going to do this, I feel that I need to do it right. I need dedication to a schedule, I need a swim coach, I need UNLIMITED FUNDS. :-) Or maybe that's just my type A coming out.

So here I am. On the fence. Waffling. Debating. Pondering. Contemplating. Deciding.

Decisions, decisions...maybe I'll find an Oly to do instead. But then, the swim in the Oly is only 400m less than the swim in the HIM. Might as well do the HIM, right. See? This is what is going through my head non-stop.

Okay, now I want to eat waffles!

Catching Up (with pics this time!)

So, my last post was a quick summary of what I've been up to. Now, here it is in pictures...

As you might know, it's been freaking cold here. Let me clarify: that is cold as in S. TX cold...I know you guys to the north of us think we're pansies and that's okay. But, it has been FREEZING! We even had a "snow day", which ended up being nothing more than a bunch of ice. But, I did get to work from home...as in on the sofa, in front of this:

This is about the time the Hubby introduced me to this product, which he refers to as "coffee crack" and it's great for these FREEZING temps:

The nice thing about FREEZING temps, is that we have plenty of time and zero excuses to work on school projects. This little doozy is the Kiddo's island...yes, that Amazon stick figure to the right is supposed to be me. :-)

And when the projects are done and it's still FREEZING, we just play...I think we need some more cars and trains, don't you?

And when the kids are bored from all the projects and playing and it's STILL FREEZING, they tend to get creative. Sitting in a plastic box is oh so fun and entertaining for a 6 year old....I told you we needed more cars!

I did run the Houston 1/2...naturally, it was the one weekend that it was not FREEZING. Yes, I am still a little bitter about the warm temps and rain. But good swag can usually make up for it.

Oh and cupcakes! Cupcakes make up for a lot too (even when it's FREEZING) . In fact, I am sure we would have world peace if every meeting of world leaders started and ended with one of these...

When it's FREEZING in TX, you wait until mid-day to take your long bike ride so that it's warmer. But, dressing for cold weather on the bike is soooo different than dressing for cold weather for running. As you can see, I haven't quite figured it out yet...nor do I have bike clothes that match - that's me in the pink with the blue on top. Don't hate, I know it's trendy.

And, last week I was educated on what FREEZING really feels like. I went to Denver where I was greeted with a temp of -7. When I texted my husband with this information, he responded "-7 or just 7?". No babe, that was negative seven - FREEZING. It did warm up to a blustery 12 degrees before I left though.

And, we finally had a weekend that was not FREEZING...in fact, it included highs in the 60s without any rain! This is good, because it also happened to be the weekend of the Kiddo's 1st soccer game! We got our butts handed to us, but the kids had fun anyway.

So now you are completely caught up...have a great day!

Catching Up (AGAIN)

Let the blogging begin….
I haven’t updated in several weeks, so here’s what been going on….

I ran the Aramco Houston ½ Marathon 2 weeks ago. The weather sucked, but it could have been much worse. We were expecting major thunderstorms, but only managed to get drizzle. And, the temps were close to 70 degrees, which I hated. But, the end result was a 3+ minute PR….and a huge blister on the arch of my right foot. I’ll see if I can come up with an actual race report at some point.

I decided to commit…I am doing the Lone Star Half Ironman race in April. Yeah, that’s 8 weeks away and I need to make up for lost time – especially in the pool. I have been so focused on the ½ marathon, that I had been in the pool only one time in January. Bad! I took most of the week after the ½ off, because my quads were killing me (especially the left one). But, I did get in 8.5 on Friday after the race. Also, my friends and I did a 35 mile ride last weekend and my legs felt horrible afterwards…I was sure there was no way I could do 56 miles and then run a ½ marathon. But, I went home and ate and viola…I felt fine. Funny how important nutrition can be….Doh! Lesson learned.

So that brings we to this week…I got back into my tri-training routine. Swam 2x last week, rode on the trainer 2x and ran 2x. And, I did my 1st 40 miler on my road bike on Sunday! It was 42 miles to be exact. This is my longest ride so far on my road bike, so it was a major milestone for me.

I rode with a group that some of my tri friends are training with. The group consisted of a pretty hard core group of cyclists, many who have competed in ironman distance races. I felt a bit out of place without a tri bike and all the fancy gear. And, I’ll admit, they were much, much faster than me and my friends who have never done more than 35 miles and have only done sprint distance triathlons.

I’ve mainly been riding in some of the local neighborhoods near my house, which is flat. Pancake flat. The route on Sunday was freaking hilly! I won’t lie, I wanted to turn around so many times – at the 10 mile point I thought “Screw this, I’m doing the Oly! I’m turning around”. That same thought crossed my mind at mile 12 and 15, too. But, I kept going and by the time I made it to 17 miles, I was committed to getting to the turnaround at mile 21.

But then I had to ride back.

I think the toughest thing was just being alone for a majority of the time. On the way out, I was excited to catch up to a couple of people, including my friend Kelly. It also helped that the coaches were waiting for us at the turnaround and that gave me a burst of energy. But then I was pretty much alone again the entire way back which sucked. On the way back, it was also very windy, so that combined with the hills pretty much kicked my butt! And, an 18-wheeler went flying by one time and the wind from that freaked me the heck out!!! Seeing no one almost entire way back was hard – the negative thoughts were going through my head A LOT. But, I kept telling myself to HTFU and get back. It was quite a humbling experience. I honestly don’t know how people can ride for 60, 80 or 100 miles. I used to want to do a century ride, but now I’m positive that I don’t!

One thing I was careful about on this week's ride – nutrition. I did not want a repeat of last week– I drank my gatorade, I had some Bee Stinger Energy Chews and at the ½ way point I had a small Cliff Bar. I think that really helped me get through the ride better than the week before.

But anyway, I did it!!! And, my legs felt good afterwards...almost like I could go and run a few miles. (But I didn’t)

This morning, I ran an easy peasy 3-miler. My legs were a little tired, but not too bad. I will probably not ride the trainer this week, but will run one more time and spend some time in the pool....the hubby and I are getting ready for the Austin Half-Marathon on Sunday!!!

Freebie Friday!

Thought you might like this...

Get a free full-sized package of PowerBar Energy Blasts! These are perfect before or during moderate and high-intensity exercise. You need to register on their site to be able to request the sample. You will receive the full-sized package, valued at $1.99! You will also receive $1 off coupons towards any future purchase.

http://www.powerbar.com/freesample/

Check it out!

Happy Friday!

Long Run and Crappy Weather

Saturday is supposed to be my long bike day and Sunday is supposed to be my long run day. But sometimes Mother Nature is a witch and decides not to cooperate. Saturday and Sunday were perfect examples of this...

My tri buddies and I were planning on a 7 am bike ride - 30 miles. We're gradually upping the mileage. At 5:52 I received a text message from tri buddy, Kelly, asking if it was raining at my house. Apparently, it was raining at her house. Even though she only lives about 10 miles away, it wouldn't be the 1st time it was raining at her house but not at mine. But, I went to look out the front door and sure enough, rain. Drats! And, since it was 45 degrees, a rainy bike ride would not be fun. We decided to postpone the ride, especially since it was supposed to rain off and on all day. And, Sunday's forecast looked even worse - 100% chance of rain. All day. Ugh.

By 8 am, it looked as if the rain was going to let up a bit. I decided that I should go ahead and get my run out of the way, especially after seeing Sunday's forecast. I'll be honest, I really didn't want to run. I am used to being done by 8 am, so to start my run at 8 am...well, it was just weird. But off I went....around the neighborhood. It was in the low 50's and I totally overdressed - Nike Capris and a long sleeve Under Armor shirt. I know better. I started out feeling awkward and stiff. It took seveal miles to really feel good. It seemed like I felt every bit of those miles. I made it back to my house at 8 miles, used the bathroom, changed into a short-sleeved shirt, grabbed some Gu and headed out once more. Finished 4 more miles at a much faster pace that the previous 8. Overall run - 2:04, or a 10:21 pace. Not too bad considering I had no intention of running, did not want to run and was pretty damn negative the entire 12 miles. If I maintain this same pace for the 1/2 in 2 weeks, I'll have about a 5 minute PR. Now let's just hope the weather cooperates!

Sunday, it was a nasty mess all day- about 58 degrees and non-stop rain. Yuck. I should have gotten out my trainer for a long bike ride, but I opted to watch movies with the kids instead. Lazy. We did get out to get the kid's haircuts taken care of and had dinner with my parents. I am so used to this being Houston Marathon weekend, that it seemed weird to be having birthday dinner with my parents without being able to celebrate running. Oh well...two more weeks! And the Golden Globes are tonight...can't wait! Hoping that Mad Men and The King's Speech pick up a few!

More of the same..

Here I am. Blogging used to be so easy to squeeze in here and there. I'm not sure what happened, but it's slipping farther and farther down the priority list. To those who still come here from time to time, I apologize. But, I do want to keep this site going, so here's an update....

Monday, 1/10 - Run, 2 miles
Normally, I'd get out and run my miles in the wee hours of the morning. But, the temps were in the 30s and it seemed like such a waste to get out in the cold for 2 measly miles. :-) I ended up running my 2-miler on the indoor track at the gym on my lunch break. Funny thing - I usually wear my ipod on the indoor track and the treadmill. I forgot my ipod, so I was dreading this run. But, I found that this was one of my better runs on the indoor track. Everything "clicked" and I wanted to do more. Honestly, I think that using my ipod screws up my stride...I try to get the bpm for the songs to be in the same range, but it can be hard. I think I speed up and slow down depending on the song. I really like running without the music better!

Tuesday, 1/11 -P90X Chest and Back & Spin Class & Ab Ripper X
After doing P90X for the past 6+ months, I decided to step it up a bit. Instead of using bands for the chin-ups, I finally bought this....



Sorry for the crappy pic from my phone - that's a chin up bar. Time to stop being a wimp! :-)

At lunch I headed to spin class. The instructor stepped it up a bit - a lot more tension, lots of intervals and hill climbs. Good stuff!

Once the kiddos were tucked into bed, I did P90X Ab Ripper X. Gotta work that core!

Wednesday, 1/12 - Run, speedwork - 10 miles 8 miles
The Hubby was out of town starting on Tuesday for a hunting trip. What does this mean? It means that if I want to run, I have to do it either during lunch or after the kiddos are in bed. That doesn't really leave time for 10 MILES. Right? Now, I did consider taking the baby monitor outside and running loops around my backyard just to get in a few miles after work.

Really, I did.

But, I decided against it. Why? 1) My backyard is not that big... it probably would have taken me 25 laps to equal 1 mile (can we say monotonous?) and 2) it was going to be the coldest day of the winter thus far (26 degrees...stop laughing you Northerners, that's cold for the South!). So instead, I ran 5 miles at lunch on the indoor track - 1 mile warm up, then 3 miles of intervals (3 loops fast, 2 loops slow), then 1 mile cool down (total time - 49:47). Then, after the kiddos were tucked into their beds, I ran 3 miles on the treadmill (29:27).

Thursday, 1/13 - Rest day
'Nuff said.

Friday, 1/14 - P90X Shoulders and Arms / Spin
4:15 wake up call for P90X! I know I've said this before, but this is my favorite P90X workout.

I was going to try for lunchtime spin class, but shiznit happens, right? Decided to work through lunch. Maybe I'll wait until after the Houston 1/2 to pick up a 2nd spin class....

Have an AWESOME weekend, ya'll!!!

Decisions, Decisions

On Saturday, I had to make some decisions about what I was going to do as far as my workouts were concerned. Lately, I have been biking on Saturday morning and then doing my long runs on Sunday. I used to have the opposite schedule – run on Saturday/bike on Sunday, but it’s much easier to start a long run before dawn and be done in time for Church. The problem? The weatherman warned of monsoon-like, storms ALL DAY on Sunday. And, I was really hoping to have one really good, quality 12-13 miler on Sunday. The last long run before the taper…

As luck would have it, I had a friend who is training for a 100-miler and she was looking for some support during her 40-mile training run on Saturday. I was excited to have the chance to help out and have someone to run with for a change!

If I was smart, I would have skipped the bike ride and concentrated on the run. But, I apparently am not that smart and insisted on going ahead with the bike ride – my bffs Kelly and Jenn came along too. The ride was supposed to be 25+ miles. However, there was an issue – I couldn’t find my freaking bike helmet. Yes, the same one I wore just last week. After about 15 minutes of looking, I decided to make do with the Hubby’s helmet. Ugh. By the time we got going, we only had time for about 20 miles. But, it was a fun ride and I loved catching up with friends.

Next, it was on to an informational meeting about a local tri group that I am thinking of joining. I love the idea of being part of a team, having group rides/runs/swims and actually being coached for once. I have been just “winging it” with my tri training for two season now and if I am going to attempt the 70.3 in April, I definitely need some coaching.

I finished up at the tri meeting just in time to meet Karen and her support team! I was also fortunate to finally meet fellow blogger, Holden, who was part of that support team. I was completely amazed at Karen’s energy level – she had already run more than 30 miles and was going strong. I could barely keep up with the 9:30-ish pace she was keeping…lucky for me, she was doing 8:2’s and trust me when I say I enjoyed every second of that 2. Of course it helped that we had some good conversation going on - makes the miles go faster. After running 7 with Karen and then going back to my car, I decided that I should run more…just in case the weather was really that bad the following day. I made it to 10 (and kept the pace at sub-10!) and called it a day – I was beat either because of the bike ride earlier, the faster pace, the fact that it was warming up and I had on capris (dumb move) or a combination of all three.

So now I am torn – I didn’t do my 12-13 miler this weekend. I did get in a quality 10-miler, though. So now I am trying to decide – do I run 12-13 this weekend, but keep it at what feels like an easy pace and then taper? Or, do I proceed with the taper? Honestly, I don’t feel like I need that much of a taper for a ½ marathon. And, I think one more 12-13 miler would be a good confidence boost. What do you think? Decisions, decisions!

Oh and it did rain on Sunday…until about 10 am. It was still nasty outside – cold and damp – but not too bad for a run. Darn weatherman!

Taking Care of Business

Part of the reason I have this blog is to track my training. Obviously, I have been a slacker in this area, so the purpose of this post is to play catch up. More fun posts to come....

Friday, 12/31 - Quickie morning 2 miler - Way too warm and humid for December! I had to work, but fortunately it was a 1/2 day. Spent NYE with the hubby, the kids and friends. Had a great time watching intoxicated neighbors causing meyhem with fireworks!

Saturday, 1/1 - 20 miles on the bike - Met up with Tri BFF, Kelly, for a morning ride. Great way to kick off the new year!

Sunday - 1/2 - 9 mile run - My very first run with the hubby! Avg pace - 10:34


Monday - 1/3 - 2 mile run - Short run on the schedule. Also, went back to the pool...swam 850 yds before getting kicked out of the pool by the Aquafit class. I had the day off from work, so I went to see "The King's Speech" with my Mom. GREAT movie - I highly recommend it!


Tuesday, 1/4 - P90X Chest and Back in the am, Spin class during lunch - the music in spin class was much better this week!


Wednesday, 1/5 - 9 mile tempo run on the schedule - 6 mile tempo run in the morning, 3 miles on the indoor track at work. Hate to break up mileage, but you gotta do what you gotta do. I finally saw the infamous cows that are rumored to come into our neighborhood - four of them!

Thursday, 1/6 - rest day - decided after 11 days of workouts with no rest day, it was time to take a break

Friday, 1/7 - P90X Shoulders & Arms - intended to try out the Friday spin class during lunch, since it's a different instructor. But alas, work was busy and a spin class just wasn't in the cards.

More to come! Have a great day!

Margaritas and Miles

The kids are on break from their activities, the Hubby is on break from his martial arts classes and work has been slower than usual with everyone on vacation this week...bring on happy hour / dinner time with my running BFFs! Or should I say 'rita time?

As always, it was a fun time. Yes, any workouts earlier in the day were completely wasted...I had some chips (not too many), one taco al carbon in a corn tortilla (still being good) and a thousand calories worth of frozen margaritas (yes, that would be 2 drinks). But it's not about the drinks and food, it was all about the girl time. Yes, we talked about running. A lot. We talked about work and our families. Then, we talked about running. For hours. And triathlons too. And running. Here's a pick of the whole gang...they're the bestest (hope Kelly doesn't mind me borrowing this).

And here's one of me...apparently I am flipping someone off and didn't realize it! :-)

I set my alarm clock for 4:00 am as usual. Naturally, as soon as I hit the snooze button I realized that I did not need to get up at 4 am...1) the Hubby would be home today with the kids so I didn't need to get them dressed and to the daycare, 2) the traffic on my commute would be non-existent since it's NYE so I would make it downtown in record time and 3) mass transit was closed today so I'd be driving - this is much faster than the bus since I don't have to stop multiple times to drop people off. I ended up rolling out of bed at 6 am, ran the scheduled 2 miles (9:53 pace), and still made it to work in time (well, almost). Oh and I stopped at the suburban Starbucks, since the one downtown near my office will be CLOSED. Seriously?

I do intend to do P90X this afternoon when I get home from work and that will be the final workout of 2010. Best wishes for an awesome 2011 - BRING IT!

You spin me right 'round baby...

My schedule is out of whack a bit since I've decided to move my long run to Sunday. I did the P90X stretch workout on Wednesday morning, but that didn't feel like a "real" workout, so I ended up going to another spin class at lunch.

I did several months of spin in 2009 when I was preparing for my 1st triathlon. Never during that time, did the instructor work hand weights into the routine. You can imagine my surprise when the instructor at yesterday's class told us to get 2 hand weights - one slightly heavier than the other. The spin class focused mainly on spin - break aways, hill climbs and jumps - but, for a portion of the class we used the weights while we pedaled. We worked out our shoulders, lats, biceps and triceps and during our cool down we did about 8 push-ups. Overall, it was a good workout...the music, not my favorite. Rob Thomas? I can do without Rob Thomas.

This morning, I headed out in the wee early hours to run. I had 5 easy miles on the schedule (a break from the speedwork, since I ran 13 over the weekend). In all honestly, I didn't want to get out of bed. This was my internal conversation:

"Just do 3 miles."
"Three easy, peasy miles and then come home."

I also remembered that it was an easy run day, so I told myself:

"Just take it easy, run at a comfortable pace. Five miles is no big deal"

I did manage to get out of bed, get dressed and go outside...but still did not want to run. But I did. The weather pretty much sucked - 65 degrees and 1000% humidity. It was even foggy enough to make the neighborhood look a little spooky.

Once I got going:
"Okay, let's go 4 miles. Four miles and you're done."

Then I made it to 3 miles:
"WTH, just HTFU, do your damn 5 miles and get it the hell over with!"

grumble. grumble.

Hopefully, I am not the only weirdo who not only talks to themselves, but also bargains. :-) My run was done at a very comfortable 10:29 pace and I was pleased with myself for not wimping out.

Tomorrow will be a quickie 2-miler followed by some chest and back exercises! Have a very happy new year's eve...be safe!

Happy running, biking and swimming!

Spin, Spin and more Spin

Tuesday may just become my official spin day...depending on my work schedule of course. The past 2 weeks have been fairly slow with so many people at work out on vacation, so it's been easy to sneak out for spin class during my lunch break.

Yesterday's spin class was tough - lots of jumps, hills and intervals. I think it may take me a few more classes to really get used to spinning again, because I was sweating like crazy and my legs felt like jello. Good stuff!

Today would normally be my run day, but my left quad has been sore for a couple of weeks so I decided to give it one more day of rest. I'll do today's 5-miler tomorrow. I'm also pushing back my long run to Sunday, so that the hubby and I can actually run together...that means I may sneak in a quickie 2-3 miler on Friday and ride my bike on Saturday (depending on how the NYE festivities go).

One of my many goals for the 2011 is to stretch more. I am notoriously bad about stretching before and after my runs. I may stretch a bit after a really long, tiring run, but I rarely stretch after my shorter, weekday runs. I plan to incorporate either the P90X Yoga or X Stretch video into my weekly workout routine. Who knows, maybe it will help this stupid sore quad issue too! In fact, I decided to start working on this goal a little early and did the X Stretch video this morning. My problem with this? It didn't feel like a "real" workout, so I brought my workout clothes to work with me and intend to do some kind of cardio today during lunch.

More about the 2011 goals later. Until then, happy running/biking/swimming!

Lazy Day

After the craziness leading up to Christmas and then Christmas Day, Sunday was declared by me to be Pajama Day (aka be LAZY day)! It was cold outside and the family had no plans, so we were not leaving the house. We had been so busy the past couple of days, that the kids never really had a chance to play with their new toys and we had not had time for any peace and quiet. It was just what we needed – we slept in (okay, so 7 am in sleeping in for us), we had a nice big breakfast, the kids played, the hubby watched football, we watched Polar Express (for the 187th time) and we had leftovers for lunch. All in all, it was a nice change of pace. And yes, I have some very non sexy pink flannel PJs with garden gnomes on them and added my thick green Santa socks to complete the look.

Of course, being the type of person who can’t sit still for too long, I did go out for an hour long bike ride around the neighborhood. (My friends doubted my ability to be lazy all day and they were right!) The temps had warmed up into the high 40’s, so it was still cool and it was a bit breezy – the combination of the two made for a somewhat slow pace. I got in just over 15 miles. For the most part, I was pretty warm the entire time….except for my toes. My toes were so cold that they hurt! It took them awhile to get back to the normal, non-numb feeling. The hubby also had to get out for his long run – he’s up to 8 miles (go Hubby go)! After showers, we went back to pajama-day mode again. :-) Awesomeness!

On Monday, it was back to the grind – running, work and getting the kids to daycare. It also happened to be the coldest day of the winter so far – a chilly 27 degrees at 5 am! I know some of you folks on the East Coast are scoffing at my reference to “cold” weather, but for us Southerners, this IS cold! I got out my running tights (instead of my capris), layered a short sleeve tech shirt with a long sleeve top over it and added some gloves…that was pretty much perfect. Usually, cold weather makes me want to run much faster than my usual pace, but this time I was having some issues – maybe it was all the holiday food, or maybe it was just too damn cold – but I stayed around a 10:20 pace for the 1st 3 miles and finished with a 10:16 pace overall. Even after a warm shower, it took me awhile to really get warm. Naturally today, we’re starting the day with temps in the 50s….Texas! Like I said yesterday, the weather is bi-polar here.

Today, it’s spin class during lunch since I didn’t wake up in time for P90X am so motivated like that.

Happy running / biking / swimming!

Holiday time!

Christmas Eve started off our celebration. First was Christmas Eve service at Church. The kiddo was super cute in the children's choir and was so excited to play the bells this year. The Munchkin made it very clear that he didn't want anything to do with the Christmas singing, so I ended up watching from the Narthex while he ran around like a heathen. Ah, two year olds! Next, we headed to my Sister-in-Law's house to exchange gifts and pig out and drink wine eat dinner. We had a great time watching the kiddos open gifts...and a BIG thanks to my teenage, drum playing nephew, Ant, for buying the Munchkin a DRUM SET. My neighbors thank you too.





And, I survived the big Christmas craziness celebration at my house. It was a crazy, hectic day, but still a lot of fun. People starting arriving around 1:00 pm and it never slowed down. As hostess, I hardly got to really visit with anyone...just a "Hi, thanks for coming - you can put your coat here" or a "let me take that side dish" and "another glas of wine please!" or "the drinks are on the patio" or "here's a spoon for that". There were around 35 people, plus 3 dogs. Whew, what a day!

As for Santa, he was good to me this year....

I scored a Nook from the Hubby...which will be sooo much easier to tote on the bus! I didn't ask Santa for the color one. Seriously people, I'm reading books. The non-illustrated kind.



I also scored this cute triathlon necklace. Yep, that Hubster is awesome! (If you like it, check out windydaystudios.com)




The kiddos bought me several pairs of my favorite running socks....



And, they also bought me a cover for the Nook! They're awesome too, I think I'll keep'em!





And big thanks to my parents for the great gift card, my in-laws for the great watch and sunglasses, and my sister-in-law and her family for the cute sweater, scarf and jewelry set. Also, thanks to my boss (a fellow runner) - she bought each person in our department a $50 Sports Authority gift card. (I think I was the only one who let out a little happy gasp when I opened the card!) Yep, it was a good year!

We had a great time watching the kiddos open their gifts too. Playing Santa was definitely the highlight of Christmas. I will never forget hearing the Kiddo gasp with excitement when she saw that Santa had eaten most of his cookies and drank almost all of his milk, lol! It was so cute!

So what was your favorite part of Christmas this year?

Wednesday "Speedwork" and a long run...

Texas weather. It's December - one day you're wearing flip flops and shorts and the a/c is on, the next you're wearing sweaters and the fireplace is going. So bi-polar, but so typical.

Wednesday is my designated speedwork/tempo run day (it alternates each week). This week was supposed to be 8 miles - 1 mile warm up, 6 miles of 800s @ 9:15 w/400 rest, 1 mile cool down. As always on my speedwork day it was the flip flop hot weather. Why? Why is it always warm on my speedwork day???? So, it wasn't HOT, but 69 degrees with 90% humidity in December is warm in my book. I hit my goal pace on my 1st 3 800s, but it was hard for me...after that, it was all crap. I slowed way down. My final pace was slow - I was at my long run pace from Sat - 10:16. Ugh.

Since Saturday was Christmas Day, and we were playing host to about 40 family members, I decided to get my long run out of the way on Friday. Plus with Santa visiting, I knew the kids would be up before I could manage a long run. :-)

I slept in until almost 6 am and then set out for my run. Originally, I had a 14-miler on the schedule. However, I've had lots of nagging aches and pains all week, so I decided to cut the run down to a 10-miler. I also decided to give my body a break by slowing the pace way down. A cool front from the day before had made the temps much more bearable (high 40's), so it felt great to be out. I kept my pace around 10:40 for most of the run...just taking it easy. When I made it to mile 8, I was feeling great and knew 10 would be no problem. By mile 9.5, I decided that I wasn't ready to stop. I ran to my house to fill up my hand-held water bottle and headed back out for a 3-mile loop. My total run was 13.15, which took me 2:19 (a 10:36 pace)...funny because that was my finish time in January at the 1/2 marathon. This run made me feel a little better about my crappy run on Wednesday.

Only 5 weeks 'til the Aramco 1/2 Marathon...hard to believe it's almost here! I am actually more excited about the Austin 1/2 in February, because it will be the 1st time the Hubby and I will be running together.

Hope everyone had a great Christmas and Santa brought you everything you wanted!

Merry Christmas

It's a Love/Hate thing...

with spin that is!

Last year during tri season, I didn't go to any spin classes at all. My bike times didn't improve, but fortunately, they didn't get any slower. This year I've decided that I need to add spin back into my training schedule, along with some time on the trainer. Lucky for me, my company has a gym on-site that is totally and completely free! Not only that, they offer all kinds of classes - Zumba, Karate, Pilates (mat), Body Sculpt and some others. Oh, and they offer SPIN! Not just that, they offer it 4x per week. The classes are usually pretty early, but today the class was a 12:15 pm - perfect to fit in between meetings!

I completely forgot how hard spin class could be. Going back for the 1st time in a year was tough. I miss going to my old classes at the Y, mainly because the instructor was so much fun and had music that rocked. The instructor today was good - she definitely made it challenging. When I spend an hour in a spin class, I want it to be a good workout. No, I want it to be a tough workout (i.e. hand me my ass on a platter, please). This class did the trick! The music was just okay - well, except for that Muse song. :-) I think I might try a couple of the other instructors too, just to see which ones I like best.

I also completely forgot how much I HATE spin class. But I love it too. I hate that I sweat like a pig. I hate that my legs feel like jello. But I love that I feel like I had a great workout. I love burning 400+ calories on my lunch break. Like I said, it's a love/hate thing.

'Tis the Season

The holiday season is upon us. For most, the holidays mean holiday parties, lots of over indulging and gaining an extra 5 lbs. For those of us training for a January race, it means excusing ourselves early from the holiday parties and not over indulging...after all, we have a long run the next day and we want to avoid putting on that 5 lbs!

Last year, I had a lofty weight loss goal for the months of November and December. Lighter = Faster, I thought. I actually did lose weight during the holidays! This year, my goal isn't quite as ambitious - I just want to maintain during the holidays. No weight gain! Of course, the ever increasing mileage is certainly helping with that.

This past week was a tough one. The hubby was out of town, which meant no 4 am morning runs. And since the treadmill is officially dead, that meant no runs after the kiddos were in bed. I did manage to get in 4 miles on Monday morning before the hubby left town. But the lunchtime runs I was hoping for never happened. Well, except for a mediocre 2-miler I squeezed in between meetings one day. I also did one day of P90X and one day with Ab Ripper X.

Fortunately, the hubby was back in time for me to run my long run on Saturday. 12-miles. My last 12-miler was a few weeks ago...the day after one of those holiday parties. For that run, I was really proud of myself - I managed a 10:23 pace for the distance, which is faster than my January 1/2 marathon "race" pace of 10:34. And, that pace felt fan-freaking-tastic. So maybe that speed work is actually working? Hmmmm, imagine that! This week, my pace hovered around10:20. I wanted a negative split, so at mile 7 I picked up the pace a tiny bit. My final pace was 10:16....however, I will say that the last two miles were rough. I felt great until I hit mile 10 - that's when my legs were done. Bonk. Toast. I even took a short walk break at mile 10. Miles 11 and 12 were done at 9:59 and 10:22 respectively...not terrible, but I can usually really pick up the pace in my final few miles. That was just not the case on this run.

I'm not sure what might have happened. Maybe a 10:20-something pace is all my legs can take right now. I hope not. Maybe I should have planned my nutrition better - I only had gel one at mile 6 and about 16 oz of Gatorade. The temps were perfect (high 30s), so that wasn't it. My nutrition all week had been right on target, so that wasn't it either. I didn't eat a real dinner the night before, but that's not unusual.

What I do know is that my quads were super sore for the rest of the day. What I know is that the 1st 9 miles of that run felt great. What I also know is that if the temps are nice and cool, the planets align, and the running gods are smiling down on me on race day....I might just have a nice little PR in January. What I do know is that I would love that! Maybe eventually I won't feel like such a slow runner...heck middle of the pack is better than back of the pack, so I'll take it.

Still here...

I'm still here.

Tri season is over, but I am still running and biking! Running about 3x per week, biking once a week on the weekends and doing P90X for strength training 2x per week. All in the wee hours of the morning (read: 4:00 am!). Well, except for the bike riding - I only do that during the daylight hours. I have been diligent about sticking to my training schedule and doing my speedwork and tempo runs like a good girl, and I've been pleased with the results. Two years ago, my average long run pace was an 11:30+ minute mile. Last year, I got that down to about 10:45 - 11:00. So far this year, it's been around 10:15-10:30. My shorter tempo runs up to about 7 miles have been a sub-10 minute pace, so I'm pleased as punch about that.

What can I say? Life is busy - I'm back to working full-time...this time last year, I was working a reduced work schedule, and later laid off. Being back full-time took some getting used to, but it's working well. The Kiddo just finished up the fall season of soccer and is still taking dance and gymnastics. The Munchkin just finished his first session of Soccer Tots, which was fun but a bit trying because he'd only cooperate if I was participating with him (and not the Hubby). The hubby is still doing martial arts 2 evenings per week and he decided to train for his 1st 1/2 marathon! I am super proud of the Hubster, because he's been consistent with his training and doing great! He selected Austin as his first....not necessarily the easiest course for a 1st timer. I am planning to run it with him...hopefully I can keep up!

The only area I don't feel I am doing as well in is my eating. Ugh, I am a stress eater and food addict. So, being super busy has not helped with the stress level, which in turn, has not helped with the stress eating. I've really been working on it though...only 8 weeks until the Aramco Houston 1/2 Marathon and I don't want any extra pounds on me to slow me down!

I am trying to decide if I want to commit to doing the Lone Star IM 70.3 in April. I REALLY, REALLY want to do it, but I feel stretched thin already and can barely stay on top of everything. Plus, our busiest time at work coincides with what I think will be the hardest training weeks (Feb/April). More to come on that decision....

Well, back to being busy! I'll be back again soon (I hope)!