A Comment!

I'm so excited to have a comment! Someone actually read my first two posts! Thanks, Nancy. Should anyone else read this blog, check out Nancy Toby's blog at www.nancytoby.blogspot.com. It's excellent.

Yes, I did run last night - in large part because I had committed to do so on this site. It was dusk when I got home from work, and my kids (ages 5 & 6) freaked out that I was leaving again so soon but I perservered! I threw on my reflectors and big white long sleeve shirt and out the door I went. I ran 4.16 miles - mainly because it was so dark by the time I finished that I couldn't see my Garmin to tell whether I had hit four miles yet or not. I usually glance at my Garmin frequently to check my pace and distance, so it was kind of nice to run without imposing pace pressure. I did it in 37:44 which is pretty decent for me. I am trying to break under 9 minute miles for 10k or less. I didn't accomplish that goal yesterday, but I did put in a few miles so I'm happy.

It was kind of fun to run in the dark, particularly with all the Christmas lights in our neighborhood. Richmond is making a reputation for itself with our tacky Christmas lights, and I must admit that my family participates. My husband has always loved any kind of holiday decorations. I used to be able to reign him in a bit, but now with the kids encouragement, he is incorrigible. Or insane.

On a tangent - blog posts do not have spell check (or at least, I can't figure out spell check yet) and I am a terrible speller. Please excuse my poor spelling!

Back to our regularly scheduled program... On Wednesdays, I usually do yoga which is my treat for the week. I love yoga! I think flexibility training is so important in combination with the other activities I attempt. Alas, my schedule is out of whack this week. The kids got out of school on Friday for winter break (waaaaayyy too early, in my opinion) so my husband and I have been splitting the time taking care of them. I was able to convince them to go to the YMCA with me on Monday but my son would have nothing to do with it today. Even though he had a blast there in the child watch center on Monday. I'm shoring up my resources to drag his little butt there on Friday whether he wants to or not!

Instead, we ran an errand to pick up the Christmas cards I finally ordered on Monday. Perhaps our friends and family will receive them by New Years! Then we went to a paint-your-own pottery shop. We had been about a year ago, and they blew through their painting so quickly it was absurd. Today, they were both much more careful with their art. My son painted a motorcycle piggy bank and my daughter painted a hand mirror, and they both painted ornaments. Then we went to a nearby restaurant for a pizza lunch (and yes, in case you're wondering, I did have pizza instead of the wiser salad option), then home to meet Daddy for a tag-team.

Tonight, we have a party so there will be no time to squeeze in a workout. Tomorrow, I am planning to run in the morning. Weights Friday, maybe a bike ride Saturday if the weather holds up. If not, I will hit the trainer. My goal for the winter/off-season is to improve my biking performance since it is such a big part of a triathlon. Before my husband gave me this bike for Mothers Day/combo birthday, I hadn't biked since before I got my driver's license... many years ago! I enjoy it but I have no racing form. I just got clipless pedals and aerobars which should help as soon as I get comfortable with them. I rode around my cul-de-sac practicing clipping in and out last Friday - I was nervous but managed not to fall. My five year old daughter was joking that she's better on the bike than me - and sadly, she is correct!

I have only been swimming twice since the sprint tri I did in October. Fortunately, my training team (TriGirls) will force me to get back into it by implementing team swims on Sunday nights starting in January. Our coach, Som, teaches Total Immersion and he is amazing. I learned a lot from him about form last fall.

That's it for now.
Cheers!