Happy New Year!

What a party weekend! I just finished making spinach balls to take to an Eve of New Year's Eve party that we are co-hosting tonight. (See, my effort to focus more on fruits and vegtables is working!) Tonight is also the Peach Bowl, where my and my husband's alma mater, Va. Tech, will hopefully dominate Georgia. I have been hydrating today as though I have a race tomorrow, just in case I don't behave quite as well as I intend to.

Tomorrow night for actual New Year's Eve, we are having two families over for dinner and a celebration of Corinne's birthday. There will be six adults and six kids who all get along great - these are the families we vacation with in the summer. I'm making dinner - winter salad with cranberries, roquefort, and port wine dressing and linguini with chicken a la bechemel. I made the pasta dish today and it looks fabulous. All I have to do tomorrow is toss the salad, put the pasta in the oven, and heat a loaf of garlic bread. Plus whip up a batch of peppermint martinis!

Today was my rest day in my training schedule. I probably shouldn't have taken it since I didn't work out Monday or Tuesday, but I was so busy with party preparations that I did anyway. Tomorrow, I am supposed to run in the morning with Masha. She is coming to the party tonight, so perhaps I can convince her of a later start time.

I am registered for my first race of 2007! TriGirls are forming teams for the Monument Avenue 10k on March 31, and I am going to be on one. It will be fun to run with a sea of TriGirl pink! This race is usually tough because it is cold leading up to it, then invariably, race day will be the first really warm day of the year. I registered with a time of 55 minutes but I am really hoping to run it in less. That should keep me motivated to clock some fast training runs. Maybe tomorrow, Masha and I will go to the track for some mile repeats. We've never done that before, but we both want to improve our speed.

My new bathing suit and waterproof MP3 player shipped yesterday - maybe there will be some laps in my future next week...

Cheers, everyone, and Happy New Year!

New TriGirls?

I have several friends who are considering joining TriGirl training with me. I think my running partner Masha is definitely in. She and Corinne will start swimming with TriGirls on Sunday nights starting in January. Swimming is Masha's biggest concern, but I have assured her that Som will make her a fish in time for the May sprint tri.

A childhood friend, Jennifer, is thinking about joining also. We used to do summer league swim team together as children. She and I talked about doing a triathlon together years ago. Perhaps 2007 will be the year we do it! Jennifer is talking to her sister Jackie about training with her/us. Jackie was our swim coach for awhile and taught me to hold my elbows up while swimming freestyle. Their concern is how to fit training in with everything else, especially family and work, which I totally understand.

My friend and neighbor Patti is interested but this may not be the year for her. She runs and does lots of other exercises now, plans to start outdoor cycling this year, and a triathlon may be in her future.

All four of these women are already fit and gorgeous. Perhaps, like me, they want to challenge themselves with something new. The encouragement and comradery of TriGirls has been very motivating for me and perhaps will be for them, too. Why not?

Nutrition Goals

Nutrition goals have been noticably absent from my overall training goals. The reason is that I have really horrible eating habits and can go days without a fruit or vegtable. One day this week, my food intake consisted of leftover artichoke dip for breakfast, a large bag of popcorn for lunch, cheetos as a snack, bratworst on a white bun for dinner, two snack sized bags of peanut M&Ms and two glasses of red wine. How pathetic is that? I am only admitting it to embarrass myself into better eating habits. Quick does not equal healthy! It wasn't even that good. Well, except for the wine and peanut M&Ms which were pretty tasty.

When I was pregnant with my two babies, I followed the book What to Eat When You're Expecting religiously. The diet consisted of specific portions of protein, carbs, one yellow or orange fruit/vegtable per day, two leafy green vegtables per day, and I don't remember what else. I kept a daily log and charted my progress. Whatever was left at the end of the day had to be dinner. I also ate chocolate and Dairy Queen blizzards but I got all the nutritious food in too and didn't gain excessive weight. Why could I eat well for my children but I won't do it for myself?

I've been reading some lately about performance gains from carrying less weight and having a well-fueled body. I need to lose six pounds just to be at the weight I was over the summer, not to mention the additional 10 I really should drop.

So here's the plan. I am going to start logging my food intake on week days and weight once per week. Not here but on my own - it's just a little too much information! I'm going to have at least three servings of fruit and/or vegtables per day at least five days per week. And I'm going to think about the junk food I eat before I put it in my mouth. I'm good about drinking lots of water throughout the day and milk, so I will continue those habits.

The Food Pyramid people would be horrified, wouldn't they?

Exercise Updates

So, are you dying to know what I ended up doing yesterday? (ha ha) Well, I went to the Y and tried to talk myself into swimming. The pool looked lovely - clear, blue, wide open lane lines... but no dice. I don't know what's up with me but I just don't want to put on a bathing suit and get in that water. So, I did a 45 minute step aerobics class instead, followed by a one hour weight training class. I hadn't taken a step class in forever. And the weight class is my favorite. By going after work, I even got to see some instructors that I hadn't seen in a long time since I usually go at lunch time these days. It was fun.

This morning, I did my usual Thursday morning run of five miles through my neighborhood. Stats were 43:43 for a 8:44 minute/mile average. I'm starting to get used to my under 9 minute mile pace but it is lonely running by myself. I know I will incur the wrath of running purists, but my MP3 player is a big help on days when I run alone!

Speaking of MP3 players, while trying to figure out a way to get myself motivated to jump in the pool, I went to www.swimoutlet.com and bought myself a pretty new bathing suit in TriGirl pink (of course!) and a suposedly waterproof MP3 player. Music gets me through my runs - why not swims too? I'm assuming that my lack of interest in swimming stems from boredom and not fear of seeing my fat pasty body in a bathing suit! I'll let you know whether it works or not... both the device and the motivation technique. Thank goodness our swims with Som start again in January!

Next, I will have to find a waterproof timer for my swims (assuming I actually start swimming!). I am addicted to my Garmin for runs and my bike computer. I don't even have a baseline for swimming other than the 400 meters I did in the ACAC sprint tri - and I was so jacked on nerves and adrenalin that it isn't a fair comparison!

I do have a love/hate relationship with my Garmin. It is wonderful when it works but it frequently loses signal or provides results I don't trust. I have tracked mileage for this run in my car (pre-Garmin) and on the Garmin many many times; however one morning last week, the Garmin decided to only reflect 4.5 miles. I didn't cheat, I promise! I also did a long run last week, combining two of my shorter runs for what I think was about 7.5 miles. The Garmin again let me down, showing only 0.6 for the first mile and ~ 6.5 miles for the total run. I think I need to find the right cable to connect it to my computer (this model didn't come with one) and update the sattelites or something. Any advice?

Anyway... after my run this morning, my kiddies and I went to Maymont for a play date with some other TriGirl mommies. There were three 5-year old girls, one 7 year old girl, one 6 year old boy, and one 2 year old boy. They seemed to have fun running all over the Nature Center and the Children's Farm together. My kids showed off their favorite tree again, and it was a big hit with the other kids. A good time was had by all, I think. We will definitely plan to do it again!

Random Thoughts

I haven't posted for a few days so I have some catching up to do...

Sunday morning (Christmas Eve), I woke up to some lovely snuggle time with my babies. My body was sore from a tough weight workout Fri and a long (for me) bike ride with my new aerobars on Sat. The back of my neck and my right thigh were paricularly vocal. However, I had promised to meet my friend Masha for our regular Sunday morning run, so I pulled on running clothes, grabbed a peanut butter english muffin, and headed out. (Carmen, if you're reading this, note the Oxford comma. :) ) I told Masha I only had about three miles in me, but she dragged me along for four (average speed 8:58/mile) then we had a nice long stretch and hit Starbucks. I had a tasty peppermint mocha and gave Masha her gift - the TriGirl race top that she had been coveting! She is planning to join my training team for 2007 - yeah!

Sunday afternoon, my daughter and I met Masha and her holiday houseguests, including three adorable little girls, at Maymont. It was a beautiful day. I wish I had my daughter's energy! She was running up and down hills, hopping, skipping, jumping - basically constant motion the entire time.

Sunday night, we went to the children's mass at my husband's church. The priest asked the kids what they thought the pope wanted for Christmas. One little boy suggested, "A wife!" which cracked me up (along with the rest of the congregation).

We spent Christmas Eve night and Christmas morning with my parents. Santa got carried away with gifts as usual. My husband seemed very happy with his new bike! He gave me the 2007 training season with TriGirls - just what I wanted! Yippee! We headed up to Northern Virginia on Christmas Day to my husband's parent's house to celebrate with his three brothers, sisters, assorted significant others and nephews. It was a wonderful, chaotic time. My kids were most exited about seeing their cousins. We really need to get out of our day to day rut and visit them more often.

The day after Christmas, we went into DC with my father in law to visit the Botanical Gardens and the Native American museum. Both were fabulous, especially the historical building replicas at the Botanical Gardens. I am amazed that so much is available in DC for free. We had a nightmare journey home that took twice as long as it should because traffic was so heavy. I slept most of the way and my kids vegged to High School Musical so it actually only sucked for my poor husband, the driver.

In case you're wondering when I fit workouts in... I didn't. I took two days off, ate and drank with abandon, and feel refreshed today and ready to go back at it. I'm heading to the Y after work this afternoon for the unknown! Perhaps I will take a class, perhaps I will do the weight room, maybe I will even swim... tune in tomorrow as the saga continues! Ha ha!!!

Gorgeous Saturday

Today, yes Dec. 23, it was 67 degrees! A perfect day for a bike ride, don't you think? Since I have only ridden on my bike with clipless pedals and aerobars once for about 10 minutes in my cul-de-sac, I decided to drive to a nearby office park that has low car traffic and lots of other bikers and runners on the weekend before starting my ride. I did two loops, including circling one of the businesses in the park, for a total of 20 miles. That is a long bike ride for me and close to my longest ever! I had been averaging 15.9 miles per hour before. Today I did 16.7 with the pedals and aerobars - so I think they are worth it! I didn't have to clip out until the end of my ride. I clipped my left shoe out, coasted to a stop, and immediately my bike tipped right. Yikes! Fortunately, I wrenched my right foot out of the clips before I busted my ass on the pavement. It wouldn't be the first time...

Now I'm feeling a little creaky. My neck was sore from the new aerobar position and my right inner thigh is hurting. Hopefully I'll feel better after a few glasses of wine tonight...

Happy Eve of Christmas Eve!

Friday Weight Workout

Once again, I slept in with my kiddies and didn't make it to the Y this morning. I did however make it up this afternoon! My office closed early for the holidays, so I did 30 minutes on the elliptical trainer and 45 minutes of free weights, followed by some nice stretching. I started weight training probably 12 years ago. My brother in law lived in Richmond at the time and convinced me to try Mike's Olympic Gym in Mechanicsville. It was a great recommendation! I learned a lot about form and technique that I haven't seen anywhere else. Mike made customized workouts for me every three months, and he and his trainers were always on the floor checking form, encouraging, and generally helping people out.

My old job used to be near Mike's gym, but once I switched jobs (10 years ago) I went to other gyms. None offered the same level of instruction as Mike's but I had a great foundation from which to work. Over the last few years, I have been going to a BodyShape class at the Y which is focused on women. It is typically low weights, high reps. The advantage is that it forces me to work every body part (I tend to skip upper body on my own, especially biceps and triceps).

When I was pregnant with my son, now 6, I worked out the whole time. I was in an ultimate step aerobics class one day, and a lady asked me when I was due. At my response of "four days ago," she said she'd never have an excuse to skip a class again! But, alas, after I had him, I had a hard time finding time to work out. Then I was pregnant with my daughter so quickly - my kids are 15 months apart - going to the gym became nearly impossible. Sleep was a far bigger priority! When she was about a year old, I started going to the Y during lunch from work. It was a pain at first, but I soon got in the habit. When she was about 2, I realized that I still weighed almost as much as I had when I was pregnant. Horrifying! For how many years can extra weight be classified as baby weight?!? Slowly, I changed my eating habits and lost 17 1/2 pounds - back to the weight I was before my son. I lost a little more for a total of 19. I've kept it off for almost two years now, although I must admit that I am about 7 pounds heavier right now. Since I started a new job in Oct, I have been gaining weights. I need to reign it in!

I have to admit that I'd really like to lose another 10 pounds, but it is not realistic. I do not have the willpower or discipline to maintain that much weight loss. And I think I could weigh 90 pounds and still have football player legs... but that is the subject of another post! Or perhaps years of intense therapy...

Thoughts About 2007 and other ramblings

Some of my TriGirl friends checked out my blog - thanks! They inspire me every day with their fitness and dedication through their own blogs which are linked on the side of this one. A team from TriGirls including three of our fabulous coaches is training for Ironman Florida in November, 2007, which absolutely blows me away. I can't imagine doing one of the activities at the distances required in Ironman competition, much less stringing all three together. I would love to be part of their cheering committee. That's as close to Ironman as I may ever get! You ladies are awesome!

I've been thinking a lot about my own 2007 goals lately. Here's what I'm bouncing around:

• Maintain an appropriate balance of training/exercise and family time.
• Continue with TriGirls. Get to know the team better and have fun!
• Improve strength, form, and speed on the bike. Goal: 18 mph average speed over 20 mile distance.
• Improve run form and increase speed to 8:15 minute miles over 10k distance.
• Be more consistent with swim and bike workouts - 1x/week minimum swim; 2x/week minimum bike.
• Strength train 2x/week for one hour each.
• Yoga or pilates 1x/week for 45 minutes.

I've also been trying to decide what races I will do next year. I'm not a big race girl so the list I posted to the right is extensive for me. By comparison, in 2006 I did the Monument 10k, Army 10 miler, ACAC sprint tri, and Ntelos 8k. In 2005, I think I only did one 5k for breast cancer awareness. I signed up for the Monument 10k but couldn't do it because I was injured, and signed up for the Ntelos 8k but blew it off to go to New York City for my college roommate's surprise 40th birthday party.

My "A" races will be the MS bike ride in June and the Naylors Beach Olympic Tri in August. Both will be extending distances and pushing limits for me. I think I have an aerobics mind set - after an hour, I'm done! The Army 10 miler and the Sprint Tri were big deals for me in 2006.

I'd like my husband to do the MS bike ride with me in June. Shhh, don't tell, but I'm getting him a bike for Christmas. He rode mine fairly regularly last summer and really seemed to enjoy it. Now, my hope is that we will be able to ride together! We'll have to get a babysitter to do it for now but eventually the kids will be able to ride with us.

My children (ages 5 & 6) were so excited watching Mommy's tri in the fall that they want to do their own. There is a kids tri over Memorial Day weekend that they're going to do. It is 50 meters in the pool, kickboard optional, 2.5 mile bike, and 0.5 mile run. They keep asking me when they start training. I do want to take them up to a track to run. I feel good that I have set a good example for them.

I'll think more about my goals and races and post a final summary soon...

Hello!

I actually admitted to some people that I have started a blog. I'm a little embarrassed. But anyway, if you came to visit, hello! And thank you. Please leave a comment and let me know what you think - good, bad, or indifferent.

Thursday Run in the Books

I slept in a bit this morning, but my husband was kind enough to give me extra time to fit my run in before he went to work. My kids have been going to bed later, then sleeping later in the morning. When they wake up, they bee-line to my room to snuggle with me. All three of us were tucked in my bed this morning while hubby was in the shower. I love that!

Bonus - it wasn't so cold when I finally headed out for my run at 8:30ish. I usually go at 7:20, right after the school bus picks up my kids. I did one of my usual five mile loops through my neighborhood in 43:29 (8:42 minutes/mile). I've been faster, but I've certainly been much slower too. My goal for the Monument Ave 10k at the end of March in 52 minutes. Projecting my time today, assuming the same pace for the last 1.2 miles, would result in 53:55 so I have some speed work to do. I think I can, I think I can...

Normally, I have running partners. My friend and neighbor Corinne actually got me into running three years ago, and we trained together for my first race ever - the Monument 10k in the spring of 2004. She has run for years and somehow managed to make it sound and look fun! It is fun, when I run with her. We generally chat the entire way and run 10 - 10:30 minute miles. Normally, we run four to five miles together on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. Right now, she is having problems with her knee and just had to get a cortisone shot so she hasn't been able to run for a few weeks.

My Sunday running partner is named Masha. We have more time so we tend to do more distance (6 - 10 miles) then if we can, we finish up at Starbucks. We generally run in the 9:30 minutes/mile range. We ran an 8k together in November. I'll post a picture when and if I figure out how to do so!

Masha and I were supposed to run the Army 10 miler together in October, but she couldn't do it. Another friend from Philadelphia was going to meet us in DC to run as well, but she couldn't do it either. I ended up running it anyway. A lady from my TriGirl training team, Kate, graciously allowed me to run with her group. She and her friend Holly ran about the same pace as me and are both very nice. After the race, Kate basically told me that I should shut up and run! (In a much nicer way!) Yes, I chatted throughout the race. Train chatting, race chatting I guess!

Anyway, the point is that since I have been forced to run on my own for the last few weeks, I've discovered that when I don't talk the whole time, I can actually achieve much better speed. Go figure! It really isn't as much fun though. And there have been many Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday mornings that I woud have crawled back in bed (or just stayed there) without my running partners. Masha actually teases me that I sweat Chardonnay on our Sunday morning runs. And she's right! I need to work out a schedule where I do long slow distance with my running partners, then speed work either on my own or with them but running at our own paces.

This Sunday will be Christmas Eve, and Masha and I are planning to run then have Peppermint Latte at Starbucks to celebrate the holiday.

I am pretty much finished with my Christmas shopping. The only thing I have left to do is take my kids shopping individually so they can pick out gifts for each other. My brother and I used to trade gifts with each other on Christmas Eve, so I implemented the same tradition with my kids last year. They love picking out gifts for each other - it's so cute! I try not to impose any guidelines other than a spending limit. For my daughter's birthday, my son picked out a Doodle Bear for her and she absolutely loved it. I'm not sure what they have in mind this year, if anything. I suspect that they simply view the available items at whichever store I take them to and pick the best. Not a bad way to shop, actually. I could save myself a lot of time and energy with that strategy!

I'm embarrased to post my off-season weekly fitness objectives because they look so tiny, but nonetheless, here they are:

Swim 1600m per week (Wed mornings, Sunday nights starting in January)
Bike 15 miles per week or 1 hour on the trainer (Monday nights)
Run 16 miles per week (Tues/Thurs/Sunday mornings)
Strength 2 hours per week (Mon/Fri at lunch)
Yoga 45 min per week (Wed at lunch)

My off-season goal of getting stronger on the bike doesn't seem achievable at this level of effort (one day per week) but I can't figure out how to add in another bike workout without sacrificing strength training or yoga, which are my favorites. Or taking more time away from my kids at night which I don't want to do - nor would I feel comfortable leaving my husband with child care duty even more. I already suck at getting my swim in each week. What's a girl to do? Any advice?

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!

Hold me accountable, will ya?

This is not a good way to start, but I have to admit that I skipped my run this morning. I am normally very good about my runs, but today I have a lot of excuses! My kids are on winter break so everyone got to sleep in this morning; I pulled a muscle in my back weight training yesterday; my heel is sore; blah blah blah. So I'm counting on you to hold me accountable to either run or bike this afternoon. Okay?

Will Anyone Be Interested?

How odd that I am now a blogger. I am not training for a big event like Ironman Florida as some of my TriGirl teammates are. I am not super-fit. I had never been refered to as an "athlete" until my first Sprint Tri in October - and the title made me laugh. So why am I creating a blog, you may wonder, should you be someone who accidentally stumbled upon this post. Two reasons, actually. The first is that I want to be accountable for a particular training regime. If I post my goals here, hopefully I will be more likely to meet them. Or at least attempt them. The second reason is that I am recently hooked on triathlons but my friends are sick of hearing me talk about them. I can rant here all I want!

Will anybody be interested? I don't know. But it will be good for me - and fun - to find out.