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!