Project Numero 2

Now the new project is:
The Bataan Memorial Death March Marathin.
When: Sunday, March 27
Where: Las Cruces
How: Running/walking a full marathon with a 35-pound pack on my back.  How will this be accomplished, you ask?  Beats me!

A lot of training, sweating, and praying.....

It Is Finished

The Marine Corps Marathon was last Sunday.  And it was AWESOME.  And I was in no pain.

I can't wait to do another one!  I actually tried to register for the New York Marathon today, but (a) I already have an account so am unable to login since I no longer have that email address, and (b) the server is overloaded with all of the requests, so it keeps locking me and others out.

If I don't get into the New York Marathon, I'm going to do pick another Fall marathon AND do the Disney World Marathon in January.  I am excited; it will be awesome.

I can't believe it is finished.....I am so sad and will miss my running buddies!

Funky Felix Intervals

Ran 19 miles this morning.  Probably was a bit too much, but I emailed Coach Felix since I am going to be out of town for the next two weeks and not able to run.  Felix said I should do the long run this weekend so as to be ready for the 21 miler.

I ended up running with Coach Felix and Kay.  It was awesome - Felix told us about all of the marathons he has ever run.  He has run 45.  His favorites are as follows: favorite marathon: Houston and New York.  Most Inspirational: Marine Corps.  Most Spiritual: Bataan March Memorial (Las Cruces).

I am going to sign up for this one - it will give me an excuse to see my family there.

As stated previously, I joined Weight Watchers recently.  I had had enough of running with the extra pounds and being tired before I should.  We shall see how this goes.....

I am still here

I couldn't even access this blog. Have I been kicked off completely? It has been too long. Life got so busy all of a sudden. I am back working, just closed on my house this week, have been training for the marathon and considering getting licensed in skydiving...learning a lot at work, auditing a class and a second one starts next week.......

I could go on, but you get the picture.

Swimming has fallen by the wayside because there is just no time. I just cannot make it to the pool in time, unfortunately.

But I am still here! Going quite strong....I have missed this. And I have missed writing in my journal, too. I used to wonder why you would read statements about how healthy it is to keep a journal. I remember thinking that that was crazy. Why would journaling be healthy? It is marvelous to get one's thoughts out of one's head into the open.

Anyhoo, enough rambling. Tomorrow is either an 18 or a 19 miler. And the runs keeping going....

Where am I? What day is it?

Lord, what happened to the last two weeks?!

I knew this would happen, and yet I am still shocked.  I knew once I went back to work life would become a blur once again.  And indeed it has.  The good news is that I am not traveling, which I like. 

I really enjoy this job; but I am new at it and trying to figure it out.  And to buy a home.  And to train for a marathon.  And carry on normal life duties.  And read, learn, eat well, etc, etc, etc....... See why I said Life got crazy all of a sudden?

Speaking of running, I am going to do Weight Watchers.  I am lean, but I really should drop 10 lbs or so to run more efficiently.  Running efficiently is difficult when you are carting extra weight.  A work colleague explained the whole Weight-Watchers-point concept and I thought it sounded like a lot of fun, so I am going to do it!

This Saturday we do 9 miles.  Thank goodness.  last week was 11 miles so I was stressing about doing more than that since I missed the run last Saturday.   But I will prevail!

My parents are in Iceland right now; I can't wait to hear how that trip went.  They're so funny...and so active!  I do all I can to just keep up with them.

Well, all this aside, the plan for the rest of this week is pretty low key.  I am going to run on Thursday, and that is pretty much it until the long run on Saturday.  I am detoxing my system this week meaning that I am resting, eating right, and working a lot on chores around the house instead of taking off to run/swim/cycle/whatever.  There are just too many chores to be done, I need a few days off.

I'll check in soon.  Tah, :)

Misery...I mean, Running....loves company!

I found running buddies today at work!

The new project is to run during lunch.  We will run mostly outdoors around downtown Houston, but I was caught in a bind of trying to find runners to run with.  Running by oneself is soo, so boring.  Some people can run alone for 10 - 25 miles.  But I cannot.  I get bored and don't last farther than 2 miles on my own.

One of our trainers, Jeff, referred some runners to me who run my pace.  One of them, Karen, and I ran today.  My friend Elaine, another intern from last year, also sporadically joined us!  And she is training for a half marathon this fall, as well!  This will be fantastic.  Now we all have running buddies!

Today we ran 3 miles indoors, and yesterday I took a pyro class and went to swim practice.  Yes, this was the day after the Danskin triathlon.  The triathlon was inspiring in that it has motivated me to get back in shape.  But then, we've all heard me blast this tune before!

Danskin Triathlon

Today Jerrah and I participated in the Danskin triathlon in Austin.  It was awesome!  Did I train for it and was I in shape?  Not at all.  It was actually quite liberating....since I am out of shape, I was under no pressure to do well.  It was basically a long workout.:)

Jerrah did awesome and I am so proud of her!  She blew everyone away in the swim.  Of course.

This afternoon was Kiley's bridal shower.  Ah.  From a triathlon to a bridal shower.  And then an allergic reation.  What a day.  Hence, vegging out in front of the TV with my laptop.  I think I am going to take this coming weekend off.

The Danskin Tri was awesome to get back in the swing of things...it was a very good motivator to get my out-of-shape rear back in gear and focus!  The thing is, with being new at work and figuring out what is going on, I have been more focused on work and trying to get the dust settled there than triathlon training and swimming.  But that's OK.  It is worth it!

Fast Times at EP High

I find it hilarious that the last post was about getting back on the wagon. Obviously that did not happen.;)

Work is craziness. It is fun; I am thankful and learning so much....but I feel like I am in over my head!

This weekend is the Women's Danskin Tri in Austin. I am going with one of my swim teammates, Jerrah. This is Jerrah's first triathlon and she is really nervous so we are going to go to all of the talks, check in early, etc. It is going to be awesome! We are excited.

As usual, I have not trained as much as I would like to. At all. But it is a little sprint, and it will be a lot of fun.

This morning I ran with the Nelsons and others. It was awesome considering that it stormed last night. There were 7 of us and we ran 5 miles. Marathon training starts soon. I found some running buddies at work so I am excited to get that going.....

Tomorrow I am going to [try to] go to spin class AND swim practice after work. And then tomorrow night is Ozen and Fraraz's wedding....in which we are doing our dance! Saturday is traveling to Austin, and Sunday is the triathlon!

Wish us luck!

Back on the wagon

I took about a month off from running to give my knee a break.  I am pretty sure that the knee pain is from the swimming.  Particularly the hard kicking.  But I ran 3 miles yesterday and was huffing and puffing.  This is not good for the marathon-running-plan.  Especially since I would like to run outside during lunch at work.

That means it is going to be super hot during this summer.

I am debating joining HoustonFit in order to train for the MCM.  I am too nervous to try all those long runs by myself.....hmmm....tough decisions.

Where's my stapler?

This was the first week of work.  And it was busy.  And I am already wiped out!  Haha.  Already I am overwhelmed.  I have been trying to break down the projects into bite-sized pieces so I can manage them effectively for the duration of them.  I am glad to be in Marketing.  I think (and hope) I fit there.  I hope I am not a disappointment!  I am grateful to be there and hope I can contribute in any way.

This is Week #1 and already I can feel the pounds coming on.  I haven't quite figured out the gym/swimming regimen yet, but there is plenty of time for that.  This week's regimen was:
3X Swimming (M, T morning and Thursday afternoon)

That was it.  Other than that, it was running around Houston...catching public transportation, practicing the dance for Ozen and Faraz's wedding...it was madness!

This weekend and week, the plan will be:
1.) Swimming - Sunday, maybe Monday, and at least 1 other time = 3 times total
2.) Spin class - at least one
3.) Running - Sat. morning; 12 miles, and at least one run at work = 3 miles

The training for the Danskin triathlon begins!

Hello there, old friend.

My, how long it has been. I am so sorry for neglecting you.  Life speeds by sometimes.

I graduated on Friday!  Can you believe all the activities that have happened in the past three weeks?  Graduation was this past Friday!

Besides all of the graduations parties and activities, I went to California for a week to visit Sean and SURF.  It was awesome.  I am officially counting it as training.

Again, getting back to the point of this blog: Training-wise, all I have been doing is swimming.  A few spin classes here and there, but I have been too scared to run due to my knee.   The Danskin triathlon is in three weeks, so I need to get back in the swing of things.  I am not worried about the swim at all.

I downloaded a marathon training plan for the MCM marathon.  The good news is that I don't need to start the plan until the end of June.  The bad news is that that is going to be SO hot!

I don't have a game plan for this week.  This week is my first week at work, so I am making this up as I go.  It is wonderful to be back in the adult world again!

Swim Like A Champion Today

My apologies that it has been so long between posts.  As a result of this, I am going to recite my 'training' from the last three days:
Saturday: Swimming (4,500 yds) and Running 3 miles
Sunday: Swim (4,000 m - lc)
Monday: Swim (2,000 m - lc)

Yes, a lot of swimming.  My knee has been bothering me a bit, so I have been trying to rest it.  I don't particularly like not running and over-swimming.  My body has a tendency to swell up when I do that and my legs lose the running training, but I would like to give my knee a rest.

A friend of mine sent me his marathon training program.  One of the [many] projects for this week is to download it and figure out how to apply it, countdown the days, etc.  Not to mention the Danskin triathlon is coming up in 6 weeks.

SIX weeks!  So soon.  My, how time flies.

I might run this week.  I still don't know.  I will have to think about it.  But the plan for this week is:
Spin class: at least once.  Probably tomorrow or Wednesday.
Yoga; at least one class
Swimming: Thursday p.m. and Fri. a.m.
Running: ???????

Runner's Knee? And MS 150 Thoughts...

No, I did not do anything athletically productive today.

BUT, I did finish ALL of my final assignments! FOREVER! Lord, this is the best feeling; I feel like I could fly!

And I volunteered most of the day Friday at the MS 150 Expo. It was awesome, and so inspiring. I am definitely signing up next year AND I am going to actively fundraise. This can and will be done...how thrilling!

Saturday I ran about 8 miles. We ran River Oaks and all of that nature got to me. I skipped a leg of the run and had Yvonne drive my from the Rose Garden to the Shell station because all of that nature (pollen) made me really nauseous. And my knee started bugging me in the middle of the run. I logged onto a couple of runners' blogs about it and quite a number said that Omega-3 supplemented prevent and lessen inflammation (in the patella. Which is what runner's knee is). Sounds odd to me....but I'll go for it. After all, fish is one of the best things for you. Even Jesus said so!

And now that the deliverable work is done (for now) it is time to focus on training! Plan for this week:
Swimming: 5X
Cycling: at least 1X (Wednesday a.m., most likely.)
Running: 1 Rice loop (3 miles) and hopefully long run this weekend. Depending on my knee.
Yoga: at least 1X

I've been icing my knee throughout the weekend; we shall see how this goes.

Tomorrow is the NAWMBA Appreciation Breakfast. Our last NAWMBA event for the 2009-2010 academic year. I CAN'T believe it. Where did the year go?

RBPC

Today through Saturday is the Rice Business Plan Competition: the largest business plan competition in the world.  I am working as a volunteer for most of it, and it is awesome.  I actually feel almost dumb....the ideas that these guys have are amazing!  We heard a lot today: everything from silent alarm clocks to get your full rem cycle sleep AND not wake up your spouse to a business plan for renting glamorous maternity wear so pregnant women would not have to dish out uber-dollars on clothes they might not every wear again.

Such creative stuff.

This week has been super busy.  I'm 90% certain that I will be selling jewelry come the summer.  And it has been gorgeous outside, so most of us have been conducting our team meetings and research projects outdoors.  And getting pretty sweet tans, if I do say so myself.  I guess there's something to be said for enjoying these last few weeks of freedom before returning to life!  I can't WAIT to go back to work, and yet I am so sad.  I cried at Gala, and I cried again a little bit today; this is our last RBPC as students.

Anyways, re-cap for the week:
Monday - swim (4K)
Tuesday - swim (3600)
Wednesday - spin class, calisthenics, and swimming again (3,800)
Thursday - swim (1,500)
I did not mean to do anything today due to working, but I had to deliver payments to coach Jason, so I hopped in the pool with the team since I was there.  We have a new coach, coach Kyle...so this makes 5 coaches!  We have a lot of fun.  Oh, I also posted a request for marathon training plans on facebook and got some responses, so stay tuned for news about that.

I'm taking tomorrow off to work (volunteer) for the MS 150 set up and more of the RBPC as well as resting my legs for Saturday's morning run.  I hope to use the time saved tomorrow to read, pray, and write, so I am excited.

Saturday's run will be River Oaks, my fav!  It is supposed to rain all weekend, though, so I am somewhat worried about the MS 150 riders.....we shall see how this turns out.

That's enough for me for one day.  I am checking out.  'Night all.

GALA!

Our Gala event was Saturday night.  And it was amazing!  I have never been to one of these types of events without a date, and I thoroughly enjoyed it!  I must have danced for 3 hours straight.  My feet and thighs are still burning.  And it was made worse by the fact that Mom wanted to do the Houston Heights Home Tour yesterday before we had post-Easter dinner with Reed & Allison and the crew.

Does the dancing count as training?!  Ha.  Well, perhaps not, but the 4 miles we walked for the Heights Home Tour definitely counts.

Jan and Me: High 5!

Oh, and that dress that I am wearing?  That would be my high school prom dress.

Yup, you read that right, folks: MY HIGH SCHOOL PROM DRESS!  From the Memorial High School Class of 1998 prom 12 years ago.  


Yes.  12 years.


And it still fit!  And is still beautiful in style!  I got my hair blown out and my makeup done: I felt like a princess.  It was wonderful beyond words for everyone to get all dolled up.  We had so much fun.


Okay, so in a wrap-up for the events over the past few days:
Saturday morning: 10 mile Heights run
Sunday: 4 mile Heights walk for Heights Home Tour
Today: Swimming; 1.5 hours.  I will give a report on the amount later.

I just checked the calendar, and there are 54 more days until the Danskin Triathlon in Austin.  Yikes!

Last Class!

I am writing from my final Public Policy class right now!

Yes, I am actually IN class. I justify this post due to the fact that we are talking about blogs right now in class. So I am only implementing what my Professor is saying.

No yoga this week. And I doubt any other swimming will be done. I had a lot of stuff to do yesterday afternoon at school, not to mention that last night was FOLLIES!....so, I swam yesterday from 12:15 - 1:15 or so. It was awesome; I had the entire outdoor pool to myself and swam 3,600 yards.

As an added bonus, I got a sweet tan base. As an added major error, I got a cap ring tan line. I did not realize that I wore my swim cap so low on my forehead. "What is a cap ring tan line?" you ask. Well, let me describe mine for you: I have a super dark brown horizontal stripe across my forehead that is about 1 inch wide. It is located about half an inch above my eyebrow line and one inch below my hairline. After swimming I used about 25% of my bottle of foundation to cover it up. Yikes.

I also have super white goggle eyes. I make quite a sight, let me tell you.:)

Our Gala dance is tomorrow night! I am so excited. I promise to at least semi-report how it was, but before then Yvonne and I will be doing a 12-mile Heights run tomorrow morning. Wish us luck!

Jarheads or Bust!

That's right, people. It is official!

I REGISTERED AND AM RUNNING THE FULL MARINE CORPS MARATHON!

Eat my running shoes. My card has been charged, I have the registration confirmation in hand, and I have already been assigned a number. There is no turning back now!

I was really stressing over this. I told Mom this morning that I had a strange dream about the MCM marathon registration process: I dreamt that I was pacing until 12:00 p.m. Eastern (when registration opened) and then could not log on via my PC. I tried every computer in the house, then every computer in every house on our street, and still to no avail.

I finally logged on (no, I do not remember how, nor on what computer) to find that, lo and behold, the marathon was full and registration was closed.

Nooooooooooooo!

And then I woke up. Isn't that strange? It's almost as bad as those poor souls who dream about Excel spreadsheets and Powerpoint decks.

Sheesh.

To celebrate and to rev this bod in further training gear, I swam a ton today. 6,100 yards. That's right, folks; you read that right: I am a machine! I gave all the thoroughbreds a run for their money. Of course, they are going super-slow and resting since they are in uber-tapering mode for the Zones meet this weekend in the Woodlands, but that is beside the point. I was a thoroughbred pacer for the day. How sweet life is.

Toodlepip!

Gracious, has it REALLY been a week? My bad. Time just got away from me, I guess.

OK, OK, well, it was Easter. And I was out of town visiting some of the millions of cousins (although these are the cutest!) and spending time with them on their breathtaking New Mexico farm. Uncle Chris and Aunt Jamie bought a postcard-looking piece of land outside of Las Cruces, New Mexico and have built a lovely home there for themselves and their three kids: the twin terrors and Rebekah Rose. It was so much fun hanging out with them.

As for training: I did a ton of swimming last week, but since I didn't blog it, I don't remember the amounts. Oh, well. I am back on the wagon this week.

Today Megan and I swam with the Masters of Disaster! It is awesome and we'll do it for every p.m. practice from here on out. Zones are this weekend in the Woodlands, so, luckily, the thoroughbreds are tapering and I am not so intimidated! We swam 4,000 yards in 80 minutes. The 13x 100 yd set almost made me sick, though. Did not need to do that to myself on a Monday after Easter candy to boot.

Plan for the week:
Swim: 5x (including today)
Cycling: 1 spin class - Tomorrow
Run - 10 miles; long run Saturday morning
Yoga - ???

So, what is the 'Toodlepip," you ask? Giacamo, Luciano, Rebekah Rose and I watched Disney's Tarzan for the first time! And 'Toodlepip' was one of the character's lines. It was such a cute movie! And a great way to detox from a mucho delicioso, huge Easter dinner.

Til next time, tally-ho!

Not one cloud. Not one.

Today was an unexpected workout binge. First of all, I worked in kid's church this morning, which I am unashamedly counting as exercise because I ended up doing nothing but chase around toddlers for one hour. Straight. And when I say chase, I mean sprint. But we had so much fun! And they are such good, cute kids and they were playing so well with each other. I think they were excited to have playful attention from an adult at church that they got a little carried away.

After all that, Jami and I rode our bikes from her house to Rice. She lives in Meyerland, so it's an 18-mile round trip bike ride. Oh, and I haven't been on a bike physically since August. And I could not find my regular bike pedals so had to use my clips. Which are not so good for city riding. I fell no less than 4 times. Argh. SO embarrassed.

Did I mention that when we got to Rice we swam? With the team? Long course meters? For the whole hour and a half workout? Which was about 3,500 meters...and then rode our bikes home?

My arms were dead before I even got in the water. I had to write all this down before I forgot because I am about to fall down and pass out. Laundry and chores are just going to have to wait until tomorrow.

In all of the adventures today, I did not see one cloud.

Not one.

Extremely unusual for Houston. But glorious, nonetheless! I attribute this phenomenon to Mom. She is out of town, and of course it is always gorgeous when she is not here. The rain follows her wherever she goes!

Sleepy Dwarf, continued. And the Madness of March...

MPRC ran Sabine this morning.  About 9 miles.  It was a really rough morning for both Yvonne and myself.  Ugh!  She was at a game last night, and I was running around all day, so our legs were shot.  I basically sleep walked for the whole run.  It was pretty painful.  But we did it!  9 miles completed.  We are known as the caboose, but whatever.  9 miles is 9 miles.  I don't care how or when you finish it.

Went to a pilates class afterwords to loosen up and move around some not-so-used muscles.  It was lovely.  But then had errands to do and came home to make food for my father to have on hand to eat (poor man...he doesn't eat unless food is ready to go for him.  I try the best I can to take care of him!)  It is such a gorgeous day outside, I wanted to run out and do something.  But I was dead on my feet, so I laid down.   And was out.  For 3 hours.  Ha Ha Ha.

And now, Dad and I are watching March madness and currently it's K State and Butler.  My Irish were out in the first round.  I really should be more upset than I am, but I am so used to this by now that I am immune.

Columbia's bball team is doing well in the brackets.  And their team is all walk-ons with no scholarships.  That is so awesome.

The English are coming! The English are coming!

Well, not the english. But how else do I get your attention?:)

Hank Paulson IS coming! Tonight! To the Baker Institute! This will be most interesting. I hope the man has some answers rather than vague nothings, which is all I expect at this point.

If there is anything that I have learned from all this education it is this: I don't care how educated you are. You will still make mistakes. Often. And you still will not be able to tell the future. Yet you will still expect to react to the future based on the past.

Haven't we learned by now? *Sheesh*

Anyways, on a happier note: The NYSE came to Rice yesterday. It was an awesome event and simply a delight to have all of our Energy C-suiters come join us at our humble campus. I asked them about America's leadership position in the new millenia based on our tumbling reputation, our debt being bought up, demographics and capital moving from west to east, and our entitled, self-centered society. Of course, it was a precedented tee-up for all of the C-suiters to boost morale and boast about what an awesome country we live in since we had been discussing nothing but insurmountable issues and threats to business. Their comments were pretty awesome. Jim Turley, CEO of Ernst & Young, said something particularly interesting: "America is not a nation-state. America is an idea. Anyone can come to America and immerse themselves and become an American. Nowhere else in the world can a man do this. As long as this is the case, America will be the leader."

Back to the point of this blog: Report for the week:

Monday: Spin - 1 hour; 16 miles; weights; swim - 2,500 yards

Tuesday - Running -5 miles

Wednesday - Swim - 5,500 yards

Friday - Swim - 2,625 yards

Tomorrow; it's time to get read to RUN! AND, I talked to Seth about swimming with the Masters of Disaster. Operation Disaster to 30+ begins next week....

Skinny Jeans

I broke down and went to Walmart to get....I don't remember what, actually. But I did come across $20 jeans. And bought a pair. My jeans are all fraying at the edges, and I am too cheap [OK, too poor] to buy more, so I have just let them rot.

I got Jordache boot cut midrises and they are awesome. And they are actually firm-hugging, so they have a snug fit which I like to wear for lounge clothes.

These are going to end up being my skinny jeans! An unexpected bonus! I went back to buy another pair!

Why am I sharing all of this, and why do you care, you ask? Good question. The answer is you probably don't and shouldn't care. I just came to this realization this evening and had to share it with someone: you.

However, I did make this Walmart-run after the 5 mile run yesterday morning, so technically this is an addendum to a report on my training process. Which is the whole point of this blog.:)

Today was swimming. I think I am ready to join the ranks of the Masters of Disaster. That is the term Seth has coined for those of us on the team who stay until 7:30 or whenever to swim. I think I'm ready for it....I swam about 5,500 yards today. Not sore at all, and it was a blast.

What shall we top this off with tomorrow? Well, tomorrow the New York Stock Exchange will be joining us at our humble Rice campus to be followed by our International partio event, so I will probably take the day off. But look out for Friday!

Today I am Sleepy. Oh, and Sneezy.

Saturday night I [mostly] finished the Advocacy plan assignment for the public policy class I am taking, and lo and behold, Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs was on the Disney Channel! Mom and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

What a CUTE movie! You know, I had never actually seen the full fledged film? Shame on me.

Resolved!

Update: Since Sunday's long course workout from the devil-disguised-as-Jada, I have:
Monday a.m. - Spin class; 1 hour; roughly 15 miles
Monday a.m. - Weights (legs)
Monday p.m. - Swimming (short course; 2500 yards)
Tuesday a.m. - Running (5 miles)

I am home writing this and working on other school/extracurricular/personal admin and the like. While I am normally Sneezy dwarf (my lot in life and my M.O. Yes, I have just come to accept it), today I am also Sleepy dwarf. It just might be time for a catnap before the rest of this work gets finished (for those of you reading whom I know are Moms of little ones - I am NOT gloating. Just stating an objective plan:))

This week will be a long one. At least all of the academia work is finished. A few touch-ups here and there. The plan will be:

Cycling - Actually getting on the bike this weekend. Hopefully. 20 miles-ish
Weights - Once. Maybe. Depends on Mom. And it's usually on Thursdays, and I am planning to take Thursday off.
Swimming - 3 practices (I am including Sunday. That would make 4 practices this week.)

Yoga - at least once

Running - long run this weekend (10 miles)

Yup, that'll do it.

So, then.....which dwarf are YOU today?!

Xoxo, :)

Swimming and Submarines

Today is Sunday and usually this is a Sabbath day of rest and I take the day off. But not today! Church was lovely, then after hours and hours at school slaving over my advocacy plan assignment, I crossed the street to go to swim practice to at least move a little bit.

Umm...I did not realize that I would be moving around A LOT.

Practice on Sunday is not only in long course meters, but it is 1.5 hours. We did about 38oo meters, or 4,000 yards. Sheesh. The good news I think that there will be NO trouble getting to sleep tonight!

OK; since you are super, super interested (saracasm!) the practice was:

900 warm up

1000 kick and swim set

1500: 250,150,50,50 - swim, pull, kick

400: 8 50 sprints

200: cool down

It was really windy. But a beautiful day, otherwise. I have tan lines! Haven't seen those in a few years.

Mom and I are vegging on the couches watching the Hunt for Red October. Such an awesome movie. Does it ever get old? Why aren't movies made like this anymore? Pure dialogue; great characters, great plot. Real men with dignity, morals, and strength. *sigh*

Namaste

I think that I am going to take today off. I took yoga for the past two days. I am definitely going to keep doing it because it opens the body up like you would not believe.

Of course, the downside to this is my body hurts in areas that I either (a) have not felt in years, or (b) never knew were there.

I was going to swim yesterday and run this morning. Did I do any of that? Umm, no. I came home yesterday and took a monster 3-hour nap. Got up, piddled around a but, then promptly went back to bed.

Yup, that's the rockin' St. Patty's day I had yesterday, people!

Perhaps the body is telling me something? I would think so. I am pretty sure that I am going to take off today, too in order to physically rest. I will swim tomorrow. I actually have assignments and reading that I need to do, so those will be the projects for today. I'll get my stuff done early and not have to worry about it! That is a fab, fab goal.

There is an ILE (intensive learning experience) all day tomorrow and Saturday that I am taking for class. It will be awesome. I'll swim tomorrow morning before it begins, but that will probably be it for a couple of days. I am being true to my word about not running this week and giving my knee a break (yikes, I really should ice it. Just because I am uber-cautious). I'll get back on the running train next week. Check in again soon,

Namaste!

Bubba's Texas Burger Shack

Lovely day today.

Swam 2850 today. Should have been 3000, but I was done and just did not want to swim anymore. So, I got out of the pool and went on my merry way.

I subscribe to and follow other triathlon blogs. I notice that they write about their training plans, times, paces, eating plans, heart rate, etc, etc, etc. I do not. Perhaps I am doing this all wrong. This blog walks a fine line between a journal and a training log.

As one of my awesomest brothers in the world would say: "W/E! This is how I rizzoll." [For those of you who do not know what 'rizzoll' means, as I did not, it means 'roll.' As in, 'this is how I roll.' Yes. Odd. This I know. But please don't shoot the messenger.]

I justify the posts on this odd blog of mine with the fact that other musings about life add additional flavor to a blog that would otherwise be about running, cycling (or lack thereof, especially lately), and swimming. And who cares what my heart rate is, anyway? Perhaps I should, but I certainly do not. Why should you?

My friend Liz and I went to the movies and dinner today. I have always wanted to go to the movies at a random time during a workday. For no other reason than to say I have done it. It was awesome. We saw 'Young Victoria" at 4:00 p.m. today. A great, easy, feel-good chick flick. With rockin' costumes.

Then, we went to a real gem: Bubba's Texas Burger Shack. I was in awe. I almost, almost had to pick my jaw up off the floor. I even posted a Yelp review about it.

It was awesome. A real find. I am going back. Yes, I had the buffalo burger with cheese and everything on it. Thank God I swam today...for all the good it did me.

Oh, and I picked up chocolate on the way home. From CVS. And Tums.

Was it worth it? My tummy is still in a little bit of pain, but YES! It was SO worth it. If nothing else, it was worth the humor. The entire experience was like stepping into a surreal universe. Just go there for a meal and you will see exactly what I am talking about.

Back to biz: I think I am not going to run during the week this week. I will give my knee a break. Stay tuned for this week's plans. You're right; usually I plan out a list of training/workouts for the week. But this week is different. I am making this up as I go.

Douze (12 in French)

Douze....I never thought how similar this is to dozen.

Good thing all that Latin I took is kicking in (sorry if I smacked you in the face with that dripping sarcasm there).

This is a success report: We all ran 12 miles this morning!

It was a success! It was a fun run: I ran with Yvonne again and a newbie, Joan, joined us. Joan is planning on running a marathon in October too, so we might be training buddies for our respective marathons.

Sweet. Because running by oneself is the pits. I cannot do it. Scratch that. I refuse to do it.

Reed and Sadie came over today! We had uber-fun playing in the park and walked on over to La Madeleine for brunch (where audio french lessons were playing in the ladies' room...hence the title of this post being "douze," which is french for 12). Sadie loves bread. I have never seen a child SO excited to get bread. I thought she was going to jump out of her skin and her little shoes!

Needless to say my legs are shot. How to pace with the training this week? Hmm. Stay tuned for a report on the training plan.

Daylight savings tonight. We lose an hour. Drat!

To Lubbock, or Not To Lubbock?

Has it really been over a week? Oops! Oh, well. Life calls sometimes.

This post is in honor of my Aunt Mary Lee, a.k.a. my Aunt Barbie. Mary Lee is planning on doing her first triathlon this spring/summer. And I am so proud of her! The triathlon is the Buffalo Springs triathlon in May/June. The one in May I cannot go to since it is graduation day. The one in June is on Sunday, June 27. That one I can possibly make, and I asked Sean about coming, but he cannot miss his science camp counselor work at all this summer. It is a spring triathlon, we shall see if we make it or not. If not, there is plenty to do!

I took last weekend off and rested. And it was awesome. My body was so happy! And most of this week, I was in Lubbock visiting Mammaw. Here's the debrief from the week:

Monday: Swim 1000 yards

Tuesday: yoga class

Wednesday: Body sculpting class (which was basically weightlifting. I still hurt)

Friday: yoga class with Mom + swimming; 2800 yds

Saturday: 12 miles running (hopefully)

Yoga class this week was awesome. I am going to have to do this more often as cross training. My body loved it. My mother is a rock star at it, I just want to try and keep up with her. Triathlon-training-wise, I think I am doing alright. I just read over this blog from the beginning and it's amazing how far one gets from barely being able to walk 3 miles from being so tired from mono!

Running tomorrow morning with the crew. Wish me luck.

Waiting

I just swam and am waiting for the spin class...but I have a sneaky suspicion that it is not going to happen today since I am sitting outside the studio room checking up on you. But no matter, my arms are shot anyways. And I have a lunch appointment today. I lifted a little bit (again) after swimming this morning while waiting for this class....it will all work out fine.

I lied about this week's worth of plans; I am sorry. Little behind on the schedule this week, but that's OK. My body is super-tired! This weekend I have class, so it will be kind of busy. I need to do those readings for class, actually. Grrrr.

Less than a month until the Registration date for the Marine Corps Marathon! I'm getting excited. I really hope I get in.....we shall see. I won't be running this weekend because I think my legs are still angry with me and worn out. I will give them a week off. And next Saturday is the March Madness Meet at Rice. Hmmm. Class that afternoon. To swim, or not to swim? Might as well....it will be a lot of fun!

Runnin' on a Netbook

I am writing this post from my new Netbook. I wanted an aesthetically-pleasing light pink Netbook, but Sean helped me to see the light. He said, and I quote, "No way." Then followed that with, "do you want your Netbook to actually work and do the things you want it to do, or do you want it to just look pretty?"

How well Sean knows me.

This thing is awesome. The battery has about 12 and a half hours left on it. I think I could get used to no wires. This is pretty sweet.

This morning we ran 6 miles, then I went to Rice and lifted legs before meeting the girls for our Thursday morning breakfast meeting. At Chick-fil-A. Lord, those chicken biscuits with honey are SO good! It was lovely. I am so fortunate to have Sue and Aisha as friends.

I think I am NOT going to run this Saturday. My legs are still tired from the 16-er last weekend and I have been doing nothing but eating ever since. My body obviously needs a break. The new plan is to swim both tomorrow and Saturday. Possibly Sunday. There will be a lifting session in there somewhere and probably cycling.

Bono composed Elevation, I'm working on composing my own Motivation

Swam 3500 today after not doing anything since Saturday. Ugh.

It is getting really tough to get moving every day! Of course, I am blaming this on a plethora of things: last spring break, probably last quality vacation time. Ever. And recovery from that 16-mile run on Saturday. What WAS I thinking?

Zones are coming up. Oh, how I hope I can go! Our Gala is that same weekend as is our volunteering event. So much to do. So little time.

I will keep you posted on how the rest of this week goes. This is a "Me Week," full of Doctor's appointments and check-ups galore. All of that stuff that must be done. Ah, well. It has been wonderful for all that. And tomorrow is Thursday!

Spring Break Plans

OK, everyone: This week is the first week of our spring break and there is much to be done. Yes, I will probably cave in and catch some extra Zz's. But what can I say? I can, so might as well. And next week it is off to Lubbock to see Mammaw, aunt Mary Lee, and the littluns..and I am working out with Mary Lee, so I better be able to keep up!

Swimming: 4x (YMCA and Rice) one-hour workouts, most likely

Running: 20 - 25 miles; 3x this week including a Saturday long run.

Cycling - Once. Friday morning. I think. (Again, the marathon in the fall is putting cycling on the backburner)

Weights - 2x

Yoga - Maybe? Might join my mother in this adventure this week. It will be so nice to stretch.

I'm nowhere near as sore as I thought I would be today from yesterday's 15-16 miles run. Although I was starving all day today and had to eat a lot. Annoying!

The Olympic ceremonies are on right now. Awesome. Although I think all of us are preparing to go into withdrawal now that the Games are done.

Howdy, y'all.

Well, this week was interesting. We finished our Rice Executive Education Energy Certification class. The class was awesome and I am so thankful for the opportunity to have taken it. I will have to take my father out to dinner as a thank-you.

Thursday was a big swim day. I ended up swimming twice. Once in the morning...which was a Seth workout. And those are always butchering. And in the afternoon, our class finished around 5:00, but I did not want to sit in rush hour traffic and finished all of my work, so I went to swim to kill time. I thought my arms were going to fall off. It was a pure IM workout. Wow. Between both workouts, I did roughly 4500 yards on Thursday. I took Friday off. I was nervous about the rodeo run and extra mileage.

Today was the rodeo run. Which was so fun! I parked my car at Memorial Park because there was no way that I was going to park downtown or anywhere near it during a day like this. It so happened that the rodeo parade started at 610 and Memorial and went down Memorial towards downtown. I got to the park around 7:45...chatted with the MPRC group for a while. They all ran the Sabine, then took off for downtown (since I am slow!). The parade had just started, so I basically ran with the parade to downtown. That was 5 miles. Jami and I met at the Jones Hall and ran the Rodeo Run 10K, which was obviously 6 miles. THEN, I hung out with some friends I ran into down there and watched the parade for a while. All of the kids were so cute.....then I ran back to my car. I say ran. The truth is that I ran/walked.

So, roughly 16 miles total. My legs are OK. Shockingly. And my blisters are doing pretty well. I think that it was due to the awesome shake 'n bake foot sole inserts that I got this week. Mom and I made a project of heating them, molding them, and inserting them. It is like walking on air, and I will never run without soles like this again. The arch is so high, that it feels awesome.

16 miles total. No wonder that I am about to pass out right now. I went to Kathy's and hung out for a while. It was lovely as a recovery from a run. We ate, watched the Olympics, and chatted. I will check in tomorrow about how the recovery is going and report what will be going on this week for you!

Freedom!

My last final was today! It was in strategic cost Management, which basically means strategic accounting, and the case was fascinating. Every other final was take-home, so I am DONE!Wohoo! And tomorrow is an Olympic-Watch party at Carin's!

Mom convinced me to go swimming tomorrow morning rather than running. I have blisters from running on saturday, and they still hurt. I registered today for the ConocoPhillips Rodeo Run thisSaturday, so it probably would be best to rest my feet and cross train. Saturday will be fun: 10K race starting and ending in downtown. But I am going to park at Memorial Park and run in. I'll probably end up running about 15 miles on Saturday. It will be a great day.

Allow me to review what training looked like this week for you:

1.) Monday - Long Course swim practice in the morning, and short course swimming in the p.m. About 5,000 yards total.

2.) Tuesday - running 5 miles in the morning followed by weightlifting. The running was really painful due to the blisters, but I defeated the feet. Although I'm giving them the rest of the week off.

3.) Today - REST. Although I did break down and register for the Rodeo Run 10K, buy a digital watch, and shake-'n-bake inserts for my shoes. I am very much looking forward to using them.

4.) Tomorrow - Swimming and weightlifting. If I am feeling really dangerous, I might just swim again in the afternoon. I shall keep you posted.

So, that's that. It's nice to catch up with you. I have missed posting this thing. This week has been a blur. I am in the week-long Rice Executive Education Energy Certification class this week and it is fantastic. I am so grateful to be in the class!

Stay tuned.

Battle Scars are so cool

We ran 12 miles yesterday from Memorial Park to the George R. Brown and back. It was awesome - I had thought we were only going to run 8-9. I took all of last week off due to events, obligations, and subsequently did not exercise a t all and ate a lot and just let my body recover. As a result, I was nervous about running yesterday and thought I would be in pain. But it felt great! I am certain this was due to my body being rested.

However, on mile 10.5ish, I took a nosedive into a driveway after stepping up onto a curve. Or, trying to step up onto a curb. I guess my legs were more tired than I thought they were. They just would not move. I immediately had two very bloody palms, a monster scar covering the entire right side of my right thigh, and a beautiful bruise on my left knee. I totally look like I got in a fight, blodyslammed someone, and won. It is pretty awesome. Even more awesome because there was no major damage, and we all finished the run immediately.

Oh, and I also have blisters on my feet since I wore new shoes.

I ran with the (slow group) within our running group: Aki, Yvonne, and a newbie to our group, Jessica. It was such a lovely day! And we have a nice group so it was a lot of fun and went by a lot faster than we had thought it would.

As a result of the blisters, my attempt to get up this morning and run failed miserably. I will run again on Tuesday and swim and/or lift this afternoon. As well as finishing all of my finals after church. Wohoo!

How many miles did you say?

20 miles this weekend. I think it is doable, but it is going to be hard. and probably hurt a little. Saturday and Sunday mornings = 10 miles each. I will hold out on swimming until Monday morning. Wish me luck

Scramble!

I just sent the link to my lovely Aunt, so thought I would post something so I do not embarrass myself since I have taken the last week off. That conference slayed us. But it was glorious!

I have not done any training at all this week, but that changes starting today. As we all know, I am way over-involved in school. And I was beat down from last week. The combination of the two meant that (a) My time was not my own this week (when is it ever?), and (B) I did not work out at all. Which was lovely to get rest, but the time for life has come again! Stay tuned....This weekend's posts will have the updated weekly training plan back again. Xoxo.

Change of Plans

OK. Here is the new deal:


The Marine Corps Marathon is on Halloween: October 31, 2010 in Virginia. I am going to do it. Obviously, this throws a slight skew into the whole half-ironman plan.

The justification for this new course of action is to do a half-ironman in the spring....in Galveston.....where it is windy, BUT FLAT! Plus, training for the MS 150 will be going on at this time, so we can get out on the road with more ease than during the summer.

I like this idea. :) It was also a thought borne by my Mom. One can't go wrong with a thought started by one's Mom! Thoughts?

Speedy [Update] Gonzalez; in more than one dimension...

Tomorrow is the big day! The 10th Annual Women in Leadership Conference as hosted by the Rice Chapter of NAWMBA! This event has been one year in the making, so please forgive my lack of posts lately. All of my time has been devoted to the conference. By the way, it is 10:12 p.m. right now and I need to be up at Rice in business formal wear by 6:00 a.m. Yikes.

Since this will be so brief, let me give you a rundown of the 'training' (I like to call it that. It does make me feel better about my habits!):

Yesterday - spin class and ab class. Light lifting session - legs. This was immediately followed by Dad picking me up for a mad dash to Orange, Texas for the business board meeting. It was fascinating......albeit intense. Times are tough right now and we are not immune. Which is another reason that I am enjoying this training track/blog. It is a distraction!

Today - 5 miles at Memorial Park and 3 miles in the gym. 8 miles total. My legs were not happy by any means, and I am certain that they will have more to say with regards to their anger tomorrow morning. How I am dreading getting out of bed.

Wish me luck tomorrow! We are all so excited. The cocktail reception was this evening and it was gorgeous.

Are you ready for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics?

I had to share the exciting news about our swim today: we did 3,000 yards! It was rough, here's the set rundown:
1.) 400 warm up
2.) fins - 400 swim; 2x 100 kick; 300 swim; 2x 100 kick
3.) 12x 125s; every middle 25 stroke in IM order

What I am thrilled about is that my arms really are not all that tired! Wohoo! Let's see if we can keep the cycle going this week....

Back in the Saddle

Sorry that I have not updated you since Saturday. This weekend was a blur. And Reed's Super Bowl party was awesome. I have not been able to spend QT with Reed and Allison in a couple of months, so their Super Bowl party was lovely. We all ate way too much and had so much fun just hanging out.

And the second I stopped watching the game, the Saints started winning. YES! Now if only I could control my poor Notre Dame Irish Football team like that. But I know that is still the stuff of dreams...

Needless to say I did not get up yesterday morning to ride. It is more appropriate to say that I could not get up. I had a cheese-induced food hangover all day yesterday. Which was exacerbated by (A) the fact that we could not swim yesterday afternoon because it started to lightning and pour down rain, and (B) my slightly less-than-healthy dinner last night.

Ugh. My tummy is still angry with me. But that's OK! Every day is a new day.

I meant to sleep in this morning, but woke up at 3:00 a.m. and twiddled my thumbs. I prayed and read for a while, then thought to brave the elements and go run. Again, it was lovely! Our gang consisted of Merry, Pat, Larry, Daniel, and myself! We had a great time. It was so nice to pour my heart out to Merry about life's dramas. Thank God for wonderful, wise women that He places in our lives. He is so good to me.

It felt really nice to get out on the road! And to lift. I confess I thought that it was going to be rough with all the food still running around rampant in my system somewhere, but I believe that the whole point is just to get up and DO IT.

This Friday is our big conference. It will be amazing. But I am trying to plan out the training/workouts for this week. I think what will happen is the following:
cycling - 1 time. Tomorrow morning.
Running - T, TH, and hopefully Sunday morning! (At 6:30. Then church. Have never done this. Should be a most interesting adventure).
Swimming - T pm, Sunday pm(?)/Maybe TH last half of am(?)

This week is going to be a gamble....Wish me luck! And in the words of my lovely Mammaw, "Have a Happy Today!"

Just another Sunny Saturday in Houston

It is glorious outside! Don't you adore divine days like this? The sun is shining, the sky is clear, the weather is in the lower 60's (yes, in February), kids are playing, people are laughing....it is a glorious, glorious day!

This day is even more special because I successfully completed 10 miles this morning! We ran the Heights route this morning and I ran at about an 11-minute mile pace. OK, yes, that is somewhat slow, but (a) I just wanted to finish, (b) I am working on getting back in shape which I must accept in my heart will take a while, (c) I was wheezing the entire time we ran, due to the cold, and (d) I slept terribly last night. I almost slept in and was certain that the group would leave me. I am somewhat nervous about next Saturday because I am going to be SAGging the run. But it will all work out fine.

Amanda, Curtis, and Daniel gave me good advice about sneakers and watches, so that is going to be my upcoming mid-term project: researching for these products. I have not run with a watch in over 3 years. It is time. I am an adult; it is time to pay attention to my running, my speed, and be kind enough to do something small like offer the time to others rather than annoy everyone with such a simple request.

After the run about 25% of us went to Starbucks for a breakfast. It was nice to hang out with the gang and I do need to be more social, anyways. They are a great group~SO fast. Their average mile pace excluding me is probably around 7.5 minutes whereas mine is 11 minutes. One day I will get up there with the thoroughbreds! I just need to shut up and run.

I do not know who reads my simple little blog, but for those of you who do not run and wish to, do it. You do not need to be fast, you do not need to be thin. You just need to want to run. And you really should not "wait until [I've] lost a little bit of weight before [I] get out and run so I will go faster." No, no, no. Just get out and RUN. I promise you that your body will adjust to YOU, and not the other way around. You should not be adjusting to your body. Our good Lord did not design us in that manner.

If I can do it, you certainly can do it. I am not a great runner; never have been and never will be. And that is perfectly fine with me. I enjoy running. I enjoy getting out on the road chatting with others about what is going on in our lives, being alone with my thoughts, or talking with the Lord.

Contentment. It is the key to happiness.

I am sitting at the Barnes and Nobles by the house, drinking a hot tea that I did not realize contained cocunut; thus, is akin to drinking suntan lotion. I know, right? Blech. It is nice to spend time catching up on reading and journaling. I know that once work starts all of this nice time will cease to exist.

Anyways, enough of Heather's rambling. Since this is indeed a blog focused on half-ironman training, allow me to relay the rundown of this week's activities:

Cycling - 1 time + ab class

Lifting - 2 times

Running - T, TH, S: 23 miles (wohoo!)

Swimming - M, W, F: 7500-8000 yards. And that includes a Jada practice!

I now follow a few other triathlon blogs (I know what you are thinking; and yes, can you believe there are others than just myself psycho enough to do something like this out there? Crazy people, all!).

I will have to think about the activities list for this week. Not only is tomorrow the Super Bowl, but Friday is the Big Day: Rice's 10th Annual Women in Leadership Conference! I will need to really plan out this week's activities to-do list if things are going to get done.

Super Bowl'in Friday

Swam 2500 this morning. Thank God I ate breakfast otherwise I would have spent half of this morning's practice at the bottom of the pool. Jada coached today and with her workouts, either (A) there is no break at all and I'm doing about 2,000 straight, or (B), I am hanging out at the wall about every 150 or so. Breakneck pace!

I ran the idea by Mom last night of staying after swimming and taking the ab and spin class....but Mom said nah. Great dressed slowly, and then go to school and piddle. Which I did. And it was AWESOME. I had some time to write this morning, catch up on emails, blog, etc etc etc. But...Ummmmm.....find and download a half-ironman plan? Not so much. To Be Continued...

And in other news: Super Bowl Sunday this Sunday. Go Saints!

Run, Forrest, Run!

Ran 8 miles this morning! Yes, we are going step by step. My goal is run 10 miles on Saturday morning. It has been raining for the past two days straight, but it was not raining this morning so it was actually pretty nice. I ran with Pat and Larry. Who are both so wise and encouraging. I confess that I enjoy talking with them a little bit more than running.

I do not have much else to report. Swam 2600 yards yesterday and it was a great stress-reliever. My shoulder feels a lot better. I am certain that is because it has been rested. Have been dealing with drama at school. I do not think I am a good disciplinarian; I do not remain attached enough. I get too emotional.

But that has nothing to do with training, does it? Tonight is the Scholarship Dinner! And tomorrow will be a big work out catch up day: swimming in the morning, ab class, and maybe spinning if I am feeling brave enough. Wish me luck.

On the road again.

Larry and I ran 6 miles this morning! It felt fabulous. For both of us. Larry has been having lung problems, which I am very familiar with living with allergies and asthma. We both missed running for a few months and are both getting back in shape. Larry has the Big Sur marathon in April, and as we all know, I am doing a half-ironman (still haven't chosen one) in the fall. The run felt awesome! For Larry, it is because he can breathe; for me, it is because I am finally, after 30 years, learning to eat like an adult.

I finished Robyn O'Brien's book, "The Unhealthy Truth." I am 95% certain that her book changed my life. I did not realize how messed up our food supply is. Similar to Robyn, I had blindly believed in our system. But our system, and more importantly, our system administrators, have incentives of their own. Read that as money. There is a fantastic money trail with regards to ingredient approvals and food supply that you cannot find ANY information on anywhere. Because it is a nasty secret. So sad. If you do not have or have not read Robyn's book, please read it. Especially if you have small children with allergies or asthma. I have both, and her book made me cry at two places, because the trials of her children that she describes and went through as a mother is exactly what I experienced as a child. It was horrible. I pray to God that my children will not have any of the problems that I did. And this will happen!

The reason I mention Robyn's book is that it has been helping me eat correctly. That, and my awesome Mom has been lecturing me (rightly so) on not eating sporadically and to c

ommit to meals at mealtimes. With REAL food (my Dad has a bad habit of eating nothing but sugar and salty chips, so those are everywhere the eye can see in the house). I confess that I never paid attention to food before because I never had to....who does in their teens and twenties? Alas, I am not a spring chicken anymore! And Robyn's book helped serve as the catalyst to motivate me to do this. I have a suspicion that her book will not be last I read on this subject and incorporate into my life.

My body is having a blast with the real-food-non-chemical-eating phenomenon, and I attribute our awesome run this morning to this phenomenon! It felt wonderful to be fleet of foot, and speed along the streets of Houston. We stick to areas around Memorial Park, and it makes a great start to the day.

Speaking of starting the day, it's time to get going.....One of the items on the to-do list is to email Steve about riding with the COP MS 150 group, even though I am not officially riding in the MS 150 race. I did not know that this could be done. This would be fantastic because this means I could get out on the road (via the bike) much earlier than planned! Fall half-ironman, here I come!

Altitude sickness. Blech!

I've returned from Salt Lake City! And Park City, and the Sundance Film Festival. it was glorious. But it is time to get back to work, and this week is going to be a busy one. On that note, this is going to be short and sweet:

Running: 25 - 20 miles (I know what you are thinking. But I am going to try, anyway!)

Swimming: 4 times. Ish.

Cycling: 3 times. (We shall see how this goes, too. My legs might not be too happy with me come Sunday).

I found some other fascinating triathlon blogs that had neat tricks and tools. I am super-excited to incorporate those into my humble, little page! Also, I entertained a brief thought to do a FULL Ironman this fall. But then remembered how miserable that full marathon was. That is a goal that shall wait.

Oh, and not that this has anything to do with ironman-anything, but I just realized that I need a haircut. Again!

Argh.

I am frustrated. I have been at this for three weeks (OK, admittedly that's not that long) but I feel like I am just getting bigger. And eating more. A lot more. Maybe I should look into nutrition plans. I feel like I am just getting larger and larger...and it's making me really sad. I know there is a slender me in there somewhere!

This morning it was up and at 'em early for spin class, abs class, and lifting weights. I like getting back into the weights things, but I just need to control this eating-thing.

I'm leaving for SLC tomorrow morning and my body is very, very tired. So, I am not going to get up early to go swim. I think I am going to take tomorrow off. As well as the next few days. I come back on Sunday evening, so I can take a break until Monday morning at least. I started an online food diary and food journal, so we shall see how that goes. And I found a lot of other fun triathlon and ironman blogs....I got distracted while looking for half-ironman plans.

Before I leave tomorrow, here is a recap from the week:

Swimming: 2 times

Spin class: 2 times + 2 ab classes + 2 weightlifting sessions

Running: 1 time; 3 miles; around the park with Pat and Miguel.

WHat is really funny is that I just got an email today from the Austin half marathon. I DID indeed sign up for it. And I completely forgot about it. My chances of canceling are quite high. I might go; I don't know....

Lifting

If Marilyn could do it, then so can I!

After spin class this morning, I lifted for the first time...in a long time. Truthfully, my goal is to keep up with my mother. The woman is so strong. I want to be able to go lift with her and hold my own. The times I tried to keep up with her over the holidays, I failed miserably at this feat.

It felt pretty good to lift some weights again! I remember Trainer Ken telling us that of any and all sports and hobbies, lifting weights are an extremely important complement to your training to both increase and maintain your strength. That is my plan. I figure lifting just twice a week will be plenty of strength training.

Another gorgeous day in Houston, Texas. And, a perspective client, J.D. came to see us from California! It was a treat that she came all this way for due diligence purposes. I hope it works out, and it was wonderful to be there for Dad. Although, I DID somewhat feel like I was starring as Sonny (well, preferably Michael) in a scene straight from the Godfather: the Don, consigliere, understudy, and all. And, indeed, this was all at lunch.

Recovery

Today was a glorious day! It is January 24 and I wore a sundress and sandals all day today. This is why Houston is the greatest city in the world.

First of all, as promised, here is a count of last week's practices:

1.) Swimming - 4 times

2.) Cycling - 1 time + core conditioning + (mini) lifting. Which I promise to do more of this week.

3.) Running - 2 times = ~13 miles (5 on Tuesday and 8-9 on Saturday).

About 80% of the set goal was achieved. Yes! It feels so good to be getting back to my normal self! Today was a recovery day. My body was so happy to sleep in a little bit this morning. I went to church and helped with the kids, which was so fun. We all went to lunch...which I really should do more often because I am acting anti-church-social. No! We have such a cute, loving little church family. I had lunch with Laura and Dan before running off to the apartment to pack up.

Dad volunteered his services, so I recruited him to come on over and help me move the stuff back to the house. The reason I am mentioning all of this is because technically, this is a workout. A lifting of weights, of sorts. we moved about 20 trips worth of stuff into the car, and home, and upstairs to my room, which I will heretofore refer as "my suite." Because it is huge. I did not realize how enormous it is. My arms are pretty beat from listing furniture and kids all day today! But it was wonderful. Tomorrow it is back to the grind and back to work/school. Here are the goals (although I am leaving on Thursday):

1.) Swimming - 4 times

2.) Cycling - 2 times + 2 core classes + 2 lifting sessions

3.) Running - 2 times (5-10 miles)

Check it

Quick status; because I know we have all been waiting with bated breath:

Swimming: 4 times (Yes!)

Cycling: Once

Running: Once; but am planning on running tomorrow a.m. Stay tuned on that one.

Speaking of swimming, Pappas Burgers is the greatest place on earth. I forgot how exercising makes one hungry ALL of the time. I came so close to eating the napkin I was so hungry (check facebook status for rundown of the day. My poor strategic cost team).

Tick Tock Team

I am sitting at my parent's house watching the clock (hence, one of the reasons for the title of this post) and waiting for my Mom to get ready so I can take her to the airport. The latest bonding activity for Mom and me is watching Bones. It is such an awesome show. Bones called the tac team the tick tock team, and Mom and I just about fell of of our chairs from laughing so hard. Poor Bones! So clueless...so funny! But then, that is the point.

My legs are quite sore. Yesterday I went to a spin class in the morning, then the core conditioning class (which was beyond difficult), and lifted weights. I am in pain!

I was going to swim last night, too, but (a) it was raining...not enough to cancel practice, but enough to give me an excuse to flake out, (b) I wanted to take Dad to the airport (yes, I am running an airport shuttle service of late), and (c) Sharmin, Carin, and myself went to the Brazos Bookstore

last night for Robyn O'Brien's book signing event since she is a keynote speaker at the NAWMBA conference in a few weeks. We wanted to formally welcome her, hear what she had to say, and make a plug for the conference.

Why am I sitting here at my parent's house at 6:40 a.m., you ask? Well, I have actually been up for two hours. I promised Merry that I would run with her this morning. So, at 4:30, up and at 'em I was, sore thighs and all, and out the door. Little did I know that Pat went swimming and Merry overslept. So no one showed up. I was actually relieved when Merry sent that text because I thought I was late and they all left me! I told Merry it was no problem, I needed to be up to get Mom anyways. But, wait! The plot thickens: I thought I would go swimming instead. I drove back to the apartment and packed up a bag full of books since I am moving back to the 'rents' house. I thought I could take this shift of books over this morning. It was only 5:35 a.m. at this point. I drove around Rice, not once but twice, to debate about swimming this morning. I thought 'well, I'm here, I might as well go," but then thought 'I don't want to blow out my body and be wiped out all day when I really want to swim this afternoon more than this morning.' The deciding factor was....my hair!

I had my hair cut and highlighted two days ago at roughly 1:30 p.m. So, it has not quite been 48 hours yet. Not enough time for the color to set. And THAT was the straw that broke the camel's back: I did not want to tarnish my hair. I figured I would let it set for at least 48 hours and then swim this afternoon. How I am looking forward to getting back in the water!

The core class yesterday kicked me on many levels. I will no longer puff myself up by thinking I have a strong core. Perhaps that was true at one point in my life, but definitely not now.

Also, Robyn O'Brien's event was fascinating: I had no idea our food supply was so chemicalized. I am afraid to eat ever again! I borrowed her book from Sharmin and can't wait to read it. I hope to have it read by the conference and will buy it in paperback or on kindle. Did you know that Tartezine (Yellow 5) is linked to kids' hyper-activity and manufacturing companies to not utilize the chemical in foods in countries outside of the United States?

http://www.robynobrien.com/

And back to the main topic: An update for the week:

Swimming: 1 done (well, this was Monday's practice before the game, so really it was/felt like 2)

Running: 1 done (Tuesday morning; 5 miles)

Cycling: 1 done + core class + lifting (yesterday morning)

Plan for remainder of the week: At least 3 swimming (maybe 4: Sunday. Depends on how tired I am.) 1 running (Saturday morning; 10 miler); unfortunately no more spinning classes until next week. I'll give another update on either Saturday or Sunday for accountability's sake.

Rockets - 101: Bucks - 98

Swimming: 1 down; 4 to go. We made it! Barely. I think my body is still adjusting. And I forgot how I am hungry all of the time when getting into shape. This has to stop!

On my way over to the pool, Doug called to invite me to the Rockets game today. I now I am an alternate, but that's OK! He does a season ticket share deal. The seats were awesome! Courtside; I think Battier almost sweated on me. I like the new rookie chap - Chase Budinger? Thumbs up; he did great.

101 to 98 in one overtime. It was an awesome game! I might have to start becoming a basketball fan! It was just the thing to wrap up a holiday afternoon before coming home to finish homework and getting ready to run tomorrow. Ugh. I am SO nervous about getting back out on the road!

Wipeout

I swam yesterday (Saturday) morning in a noble attempt. But my muscles were not going to have any of that nonsense. I had over-done it this week for the first week back and my arms and legs gave out. On top of all of this I was in the worst pain imaginable from the monthly bills. Ugh.

To make things even funnier, my body was demanding protein. I started craving a tuna sandwich at about 7:30 a.m. I cleaned up, got some work together, and drove out to the 'rents' house, and had lunch. Then promptly had a long one-on-one with the toilette. No fun. But the protein was worth all of that pain! I was struggling like you cannot imagine!

So, after allowing one day for recovery and getting things done, the deal for this coming week for half-ironman beginning training will be:

1.) Swimming: 5 times

2.) Spin Class: 2 times

3.) Running: 2 times (hopefully around 12-15 miles)

I am sure I will keep you posted throughout this week, but I will give you a full report next Sunday.

5-for-5

To answer my self-addressed question in Wednesday's post, I swam! Before even getting in the water, I was ready to get out after about 2,000...but I finished! And I have swam every day this week. Even amidst pain of a distinctively feminine kind. You know what I'm talking about. It stinks. Guys have no idea how good they've got it. AND they can pee while standing. What?

Have I yet to download, or even look for a half-ironman training plan? No. Am I worried about this whole half-ironman thing and stressed already from all of these problems at school that just keep coming? Yes. It is a mess and a half. Makes me even more proud of myself that I am determined to take the bare minimum of classes this term. Thank goodness.

I really would like to run tomorrow morning. Reminder: I have been swimming to shed some excess pounds to get back on the road. But it is going to be raining nonstop every hour on the hour and during the hour until Sunday. Just in time for the Houston marathon! It should be gorgeous on Sunday, the city is excited.

So, we shall see about running tomorrow morning. If that does not happen, I will definitely swim and might perhaps piddle around on the treadmill. But as a bon voyage momento: His Majesty, King Al sent a t-shirt voting request to Lane 13. The mottos were awesome. I have my favorites narrowed down to 18. Among them:

Shall this be the new Lane 13 M.O.? Stay tuned to find out.....Good Night!

To swim or to nap? I don't care what Hamlet said, THIS is the real question.

This train is moving....spin class this morning with Andrew and company and we were flyin', and my thighs are fryin'! Now, after 4 hours of class today, the question is whether or not to go to swim practice? No, I am not brave enough to run yet. There is still excess weight to be shed before making the sneakers hit the pavement en force.

I hasten to add that during the 4 hours of class I almost fell asleep multiple times from muscle exhaustion. But it has been so long since I have felt that way that it was absolutely wonderful!

Running 9 miles with MPRC: T-2.5 days. Yikes.

I still am concerned that this blog is just not that interesting. I will repeat what was said in the first post: HOW interesting can it be listening to anyone, especially me, talk about exercising for days on end? One wonders. Yet, we have all already had so much fun. I am lucky to be around such a crazy group of people. Between King Al and the Royal Court of Lane 13, Andrew and The Spinsters, and Merry and the Thoroughbred Gazelles, we are beside ourselves to train for whatever the next event may be!

2500

2500 yards. That was our swimming workout today. Did I lift weights? Ummm, no. That will just have to wait for another day. Like Thursday. Or maybe tomorrow if I am feeling brave. (Didn't I say this yesterday?). Jami and I cut a deal today: we are BOTH going to make an[other] effort to come every day. Consistently. We've both got to step it up and get in faster lanes. Closer to the thoroughbreds.

Stress-ing.....10 months and 2 days to go!

Will I ever get back into shape?

We just got back from South America yesterday, and I fully realized how much weight I have gained and how out of shape I have gotten over the past 4 months. Admittedly, this was due to mono; but it is still depressing no matter how one looks at it. Ugh. Will running/cycling/swimming ever come back?

I went to a spin class this morning and swim practice this afternoon. Delightful exhaustion. It has been a while since my muscles felt like this. Of course, I am terrified that I won't get back into shape in time. There is so much to do and still one semester left of school....and the projects never seem to end. And running! All of sudden I am scared to run. It's probably because I feel heavier, and am weaker, and everything is so much more difficult than I remember. I am going to swim and bike this week, then definitely get back out and run next week with the weekday group. If I am feeling exceptionally brave then I will join the group on Saturday morning for a long run. The Houston marath

on is this weekend; thank God I am not in it!

In other news, South America was totally worth falling off the get-back-in-shape regimen. It was so wonderful and Buenos Aires is my new favorite global city. It is fascinating; and the history! Ah....so beautiful. I tried to run with some classmates there, but my legs were having none of that nonsense.

And to fully i

mmerse myself in the must-get-in-shape mode, I am chopping off all of my hair. South America was so hot, and my hair has gotten so long. I refuse to put up with it any longer. Pooh on what others think. They do not have to put up with thick, wavy dark locks that weigh more than one's head! I am thinking: hair that will allow easy use when working out constantly: pixie hair cut. Like Ashley Judd (convenient picture).

Now, I am not claiming to pull this off as cute as Ashley....but enough is enough! It's time to hunker down and work, and this 20-minutes-of-blow-drying is not going to cut it by any stretch.

Tomorrow is swimming...and weights. Yes, it is time. My muscles are totally gone and my body has inflated itself. This must stop. Next week the goal is to download half-ironman training plans. And hop to it.