Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Weighty issues

So the one benefit to being sick for the last two months is that I've lost a little weight. Not much, but the five that I wanted to lose. The trick of course will be to keep it off as my appetite returns. I'm hoping that my stomach has shrunk just a little to help me with portion control... assuming I don't do my best to stretch it out again.

Two years ago, when my daughter was 3 1/2, I finally got my act together and lost my "baby" weight - 17 1/2 pounds - to get back to the weight I was before I was pregnant with Taz. I had been going to the gym and running but had increased my eating proportionally.

At first, when my babies were little, I ate every meal as though I didn't know when I might eat again. Because I didn't. Taz and Rainbow are 15 months apart, so those first two years were tough. Then I was in the habit of eating big meals, snacking, and finishing their food - as disgusting as that is. I also turned to chocolate in excess for comfort.

My diet plan was to cut down on chocolate, eat a salad every day, and eat smaller portions. Easy enough, and sustainable! This winter though my portion size and chocolate intake crept back up while my salad consumption declined.

So now I'm finally back at my goal weight - at least, my easy goal weight. I'd really like to be 10 pounds lighter; I just don't know if that's sustainable for me. I haven't been that weight for so many years that I have no reference point for what it would take...

My new trick is telling myself that lost weight = free speed.

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Little Sister 2

TriGirls is having such a great season that I have a second little sister, Olivia, whom I met today. She is really cute and sweet. I can't wait to introduce her to my other little sister, Jen.

We couldn't figure out a good time to meet between our crazy schedules, so Olivia was nice enough to invite me to her house for lunch today. She fixed me a gourmet soup and sandwich combo and as a bonus, I got to color with her five year old daughter who is absolutely adorable! She has to meet Rainbow sometime soon - I think they will really get along as they both enjoy Barbie, coloring, and princesses. I promised her a TriKid playdate over Spring Break.

I'm going to have to get my butt out to the Vita course on Thursdays. I've been a very bad role model already. Ironically, that's what made me such a great big sister in my college sorority days...

Starving!

I'm starving and I can't fill my kids up, so I think we're on the mend! From this round, anyway...

My workout week is shot and it's only Tuesday. I've already missed two runs, a swim, a bike, and a weight workout - and I'm so completely exhausted that I can't even think about making them up. I may attempt yoga tomorrow just to see if I'm ready for a little exercise, but spin is definitely out. Running Thursday looks pretty grim.

My kids are asleep on the couch right now, at 6:45 p.m. No shower, no homework... just out. My poor babies! They can go to school dirty and without homework - I just want them to be healthy again.

I'm going to bed shortly too.

Monday, February 26, 2007

Movie Review

Taz and I bought Flushed Away and Open Season on Saturday as we were getting prescriptions filled at Target for the flu. Thank goodness we did, because they kept my children entertained while I slept away most of the weekend.

We saw Flushed Away in the theater last summer and I think I enjoyed it more than the kids did. It is quite funny. And actually it was a funny theater trip - the kids and I went with my friend Wood and his kids. I was trying to take all the kids since his wife was out of town but his daughter begged him to come. I'm sure people thought we were either married and crazy - with 7, 6, 5, and 4 year old children - or blending families or something. Kate Winslet and Hugh Jackman, both whom I love, voice the main characters.

I actually thought Open Season was a different movie and only got it by mistake. I think it got bad reviews but we gave it three thumbs up. Granted, I would have given anything a thumb up that entertained my children while I slept, but it is pretty cute. They watched it at least four times, so I think I saw the entire movie in bits and pieces throughout the weekend. Martin Lawrence voiced Boog the bear who is so so funny. Ashton Kutcher voiced his sidekick, Elliot. I've actually never seen him in anything but fashion magazines. He gave good voice.

To top of my weekend of sluglike activity in front of the television, I stayed up too late last night watching the Academy Awards and have been glued to the E! Oscar show this morning. I love seeing what all the women are wearing. My favorite gowns so far are Cate Blanchett, Nicole Kidman, Reece Witherspoon, and Penelope Cruz. Meryl Streep is such a great actress but dresses so badly for these events.

My kids are in school today (yippee!!!) so I'm off to nap before I get a call from the clinic to come pick one (or both) of them up. They are really fine, but they are pissed that I made them go to school instead of letting them stay home with me.

Saturday, February 24, 2007

Thanks, TriGirls

Thanks to tremendous TriGirl participation, our Monument 10k fundraising team raised $350 for the Massey Cancer Center last night. What a fun way to raise money for a good cause!

The owner, Chris, told Susie Q that he'd be happy to do it again with beer and wine. That's especially good news for me as I drank my first beer in about 15 years last night. And it was awful! I'm such a good team player.

There were lots of renewing and new TriGirls out last night, along with significant others and friends. I really enjoyed catching up with people I knew and meeting lots and lots of others. And it's always great to hang out with Jennifer and Jackie! The Bean and her husband came out to support the cause as well. Good times!

Thanks to Susie Q for coordinating a great event and to Molly and Carmen for manning the ticket booth.

Did you guys see my picture on the sign? You know, the one someone took of me in my Budweiser bathing suit when I wasn't looking? OMG, I'm so embarrassed.

Oh No

... it's the flu. Last night and this morning, several people told me that my daughter's symptoms sounded like the flu, so I took my son to the pediatrician this morning... and it is. Yikes.

I'm very irritated that the doctor whom Rainbow saw last Saturday didn't catch it. She could have recovered more quickly with the proper diagnoses and medication, and perhaps the rest of us would have been spared. Now Taz and I both have it. Fortunately, the doctor we saw today wrote prescriptions for both of us and a bonus one for my husband. I'm sure he's next.

I think Taz was giving today's doctor pointers on the side - he prescribed 3 lollipops and told me to chase the Tamiflu with chocolate syrup. Needless to say, Taz wants to change his primary physician to this guy!

So the sofa bed is pulled back out and we are all watching Flushed Away. Well, the kids are. I'm planning to take a nap.

Friday, February 23, 2007

Shoot me please

Someone... make it stop!

Now Taz is at home sick with a 101.5 temperature just as Rainbow finally made it back to school for the first time this entire week. If it takes Taz seven days to recover like her, I will have to be committed. Actually, it feels as though I have been committed... Love 'em to death and damn if they aren't sweet and cuddly when they're sick, but enough is enough!

My husband and I tagged-teamed again today - home with the sick child/work. He could have worked until 1:00 but was a nice guy and came home at noon so I could make it to my weights class. Thank goodness! I am even bitchier than usual when I have to skip a workout. I'm sure that factored into his decision!

My mom agreed to babysit for us tonight, even with sick kids, so my husband and I can attend the TriGirl happy hour at the Pour House. I have been looking forward to it for a month! And we both really need to get out of the house.

Cheers!

Thursday, February 22, 2007

Kid Humor

If you're reading this blog for exercise statistics or some type of motivation, skip this post because it's about my kids. Actually, if you're reading this blog for impressive exercise statistics or any type of motivation, just skip it altogether and go elsewhere. There are some fabulous links to the right.

I've decided to copy Triathlon Mom yet again and come up with blog nicknames for my kids. Her's are so funny and cute. I was thinking about appropriate names to distract myself during my (painful) run this morning, and I came up with Rainbow for my five year old daughter for a few reasons. She loves them for one thing, and for another she is always the brightest most amazing part of my day. My children are definitely my pot of gold.

For my six year old son, the first thing I thought of was Wildman but that didn't fully capture his personality. I settled on Taz, because he has a kind heart and a sweet disposition paired with more energy than one little being should be entitled to possess. When it's too cold to play outside, I literally build obstacle courses around my house to give him an outlet. They generally include bounces on an exercise trampoline, Nerf jump shots, and cartwheels, and can go on for hours.

Even though he's gotten bigger and has become all sharp elbows and knees, he still loves to sit on my lap and snuggle. He reminds me of our dog, a black lab. An 18 year old black lab I should note, soon to be 19 - she's literally lived twice as long as the average big dog. Anyway, when she was a puppy, I always held her in my lap. As she grew, she didn't realize that an 80 pound dog didn't fit. I will always make sure Taz fits, as long as he wants to try, and I know I will be heartbroken when he doesn't.

So anyway, the point of this whole post is that Rainbow reminded me of a funny Taz story today. He and I were chatting one morning a few months ago, and he said out of the blue that he was going to get married. I asked him why, and he said that he needed to get married to have enough money to buy a house. I pointed out that Uncle Brent isn't married but owns a house, which he pondered briefly, then responded, "Yeah, but Uncle Brent is a fireman. He works a lot and doesn't have time for making out."

To which Uncle Brent responded, "Even Taz knows!"

Ffffffffine

TriathlonMom has links to some other bloggers on her site which is how I discovered Iron Wil. Wil has an absolutely hilarious post this week called "Profanity Patch" about cleaning up her language by replacing her favorite expletive with a cleaner version. She settled on fffffine because of it's satisfying start, but I really like one of the suggestions in her comments section of ffffffantastic, which has the benefit of a satisfying start and finish. Both of course must be uttered with dripping sarcasm.

Having two little sets of ears that overhear everything in my own home, I appreciate Wil's efforts. I have quite a lot difficulty cleaning up my act and trying to become an effective role model. (I originally wrote that last sentence in the past tense but realized I gave myself way too much credit!)

This morning, my six year old son said, "What the...." and (fortunately) trailed off. He had just the right exasperated tone and everything. Wonder how he'd sound saying "ffffffine!" or "fffffantastic!"?

Sick again... or still?

So I opened my own little bloggy flood gates by mentioning yesterday that I am still sick. Today, I feel like I've been run over by a mac truck. My whole body aches, my throat is burning, and I can't stop coughing. All exacerbated by the fact that I didn't get enough sleep last night because... you guessed it... I couldn't stop coughing. An overdose of Deslyn, Chloraseptic, and a cough drop finally helped me get to sleep. Now I just may be catching the fever virus that has taken my poor little daughter down for a week. It's hard to tell because my hands are so cold, anything would feel hot by comparison. Yes, a thermometer would help and I'll get on that once I get home.

My daughter is finally getting a little better, thank goodness! She still has a fever but it was down to 99.6 today - the first time she's been below 100 since last Friday. I understand this stuff takes about a week to run its course. I got to stay home with her this morning which meant more snuggling on the couch once she woke up at almost 9:00 - very late for one of my children! Today's entertainment was Mermaidia - a fascinating tale of Barbie's daring and courage as a fairy turned mermaid to save the mermaid population. My daughter was entranced. I dozed through it, just a little.

I was able to fit in a run early this morning before my husband left for work. The beauty of my Tues/Thurs runs is that I don't question them. I totally didn't feel like running today but didn't have time to realize just how crappy I felt before I had laced up my shoes, strapped on my Garmin and headed out. Once I've started, I can generally talk myself into continuing for a reasonable distance. Today, I ran a slow four miles (~ 9:41 minutes/mile I think - maybe a little slower). The Bean overslept so I was solo - probably a good thing because I was not good company.

Could you tell?

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Random Wednesday thoughts

I have a lot of random mid-week thoughts swirling around in my head that defied a nice concise title.

I really didn't eat a Dove bar last night, although I did seriously consider it.

I'm not allowed to use the shower at work. As TriGirl40 commented, it's crazy that doing something good for myself and for the environment has to be so difficult.

Today, I spent the morning at home with my poor sick little girl. Her temperature is still over 101. It's been in the 100 - 102.7 range since Friday. I left a message with her pediatrician because this has gone on way too long for my comfort, and I'm anxiously awaiting a return call. My daughter emailed her teacher this morning (with very little help from Mommy other than spelling a few words) to say she misses her classmates. She said to tell her friend Liz not to worry because Mommy is taking good care of her. Isn't she adorable? We had a lovely morning watching the 12 Dancing Princesses movie, playing hide and seek, and yes, we worked in a yoga video. She loves doing the "happy baby" pose in particular. She did only some of it with me today, then she reclined on the couch and critiqued my form. She was actually quite helpful.

I've been trying really hard not to complain anymore but I'm still sick too, damn it. I still have a sore throat, some congestion, and an annoying cough. I'll probably have her fever virus next. My doctor said I'm getting the average 5-6 colds per year consecutively. I hope that means I'll be healthy from March through December!

Before my daughter was sick and before I realized that today is Ash Wednesday, I accepted an invitation to a happy hour this afternoon, hosted by the consulting company for which I work. I am probably going to zip by for just a few minutes, only because it is on my way home. As a consultant, I rarely see my employers because I am on a client's site - so it's a good idea to go, even briefly. Even though I really don't feel like it.

My husband is going to church tonight when I get home. He is Catholic, and we agreed to raise our children in the Catholic church. My kids think it's hilarious when he comes home with "dirt" on his forehead on Ash Wednesday. I like the ceremony and structure of Catholic mass but completely abhor the... what's the right word? Business aspect? Chauvinism? Blind dogmatism? of Catholicism. One day, my children are going to ask questions about why only men can be popes and why nuns and priests can't get married or raise a family. I will have to tell them the truth... that it's adherence to tradition with no consideration of reasonableness or effort to grow and learn with modern times. Well, okay, I'll have to tell them the truth as I see it. Daddy may have a different answer.

Wow, I've really veered off topic... not that I really had one to begin with.

Since this is supposed to be a blog about triathlon training, I guess I should at least mention swimming, biking, or running. I realized yesterday that I am only 500 meters away from meeting my year-to-date swim goals. If I can sneak in another swim this week - a quick one at that - I'll be there. Hmmm, I'll have to figure out a way to work that in.

I got an email from a friend this morning who heard that I am training for a triathlon. She wanted to know how I find time to fit it in. Have you heard the analogy about fitting sand, pebbles, and rocks into a jar? If you start with the sand and pebbles, the rocks will never fit. But, if you start with the rocks (aka, the big important things), the sand and pebbles will fill in around them. My babies and my training are my rocks. I'm still trying to cram too many pebbles and too much sand around them, but at least I'm making room for those rocks.

Perhaps tomorrow I will be capable of forming more cohesive thoughts. Or not, but perhaps I won't feel compelled to post them.

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Fat Tuesday

Yeah baby! This is my kind of holiday! Bring on the king cake!

My daughter, who had to stay home from school because she still has a fever, and I celebrated with Arby's for lunch. We even had a chocolate shake, which I have to say was delicious.

Tonight I celebrated this week's other holiday, Presidents' Day, with my son. The first graders at his school put on a performance for the PTA, all about George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and the USA. It was adorable! I video taped the entire thing for my daughter and husband. My daughter was very sad to miss it. I think my husband was just a bit relieved.

I did run today - a slow four miles this morning (10:39 minutes/mile average) with my friend the Bean who is just getting back into running. She is talking a big game though - says she's going to smoke me in the Monument 10k. Go girl!

I think I need a Dove dark chocolate bar to top off the night. Yum....

Monday, February 19, 2007

My legs are shot!

Whew, Mondays are tough. Um, I mean, challenging and fun! (I'm trying to have a more positive attitude.)

Today I did an "on the ball" class which is a weights class using a stability ball. It is a great core strengthening workout. We did one hamstring exercise that I could feel almost immediately! You get in a bridge position with your head and shoulder blades on the floor, legs extended, and the heels of your feet digging into the top of the ball. Press on your heels to roll the ball towards your bottom, then straighten your legs back out. We did them that way (a lot) then single legged. OMG! Elke taught. She is always fun and gives us a great workout.

Blake's Shenanigans (aka cycling class) was tonight. Usually with cardio, my breathing is the limiting factor but with cycling, it is my legs. They are shot! I could really feel my quads burning. I didn't do very well on the speed drills. Blake said these indoor cycling workouts are all about power and speed, and that it will feel much easier once we get outside. I hope I notice an improvement when that happens.

Speaking of cycling outside, I'm hoping to start riding my bike to work once or twice a week when the weather improves. The limiting factor right now is that I don't have access to a shower. There is one, but the company doesn't allow consultants (like me) to use it for liability reasons. I've explained that I don't want to use the exercise equipment; just the shower and that I'd happily sign a liability waiver in case I slip in the shower and hurt myself. Hopefully, it will work out. That's the best solution I've come up with to add more cycling into my schedule. I've worked out a good route to get there, too.

I think I need a massage.

Sunday, February 18, 2007

Back at It!

My daughter was well enough today to attend the circus with my son, sister and brother-in-law who were kind enough to invite them. They made a whole afternoon out of it, including lunch and an early arrival to tour the big top. No one has ever done that for us before, and it was quite lovely. The kids had a total blast, returning home with huge hats, stuffed tigers, and left over cotton candy.

I used the time wisely. Instead of running this morning and swimming tonight, which would have meant that I would have barely seen my kids all day, I went to the Y while they were at the circus. I ran 5 miles through the surrounding neighborhoods and had the opportunity to push myself since I was solo. It wasn't fun, but I managed to grind out an average pace of 8:46 minutes/mile. I really wanted sub-9 so I was pleased. Then I took my time stretching, changed into my bathing suit, and swam some laps. I found a Master's swim bulletin board with copies of previous workouts, so I took one to my lap lane and swam the easiest of the three workouts listed, which was 2000 meters. I missed Som and the TriGirls of course, but it was worth it to hang with my babies tonight.

My daughter's fever spiked again tonight, poor baby. Tomorrow is a school holiday so hopefully that will give her adequate time to recover. We've got to get the plague out of our house! Come on, spring!!!!

Ahh... rest day

Saturday is my rest day. Usually, it is not particularly relaxing as I am running (although not literally) from dance to soccer to basketball to baseball, depending upon the season, with birthday parties and other kid activities mixed in.

Yesterday, however, offered complete relaxation. Well, other than catering to the every whim of my five year old, but it was entirely justified. My poor baby had a fever of 102 Friday night and Saturday morning, so I took her to the pediatrician. The cause is viral, which means there is nothing they can do about it. I stocked up on Tylenol, Gatorade, and Sprite, then she and I hit the couch for the rest of the day.

We even had the house to ourselves. The boys took a mini-road trip to NoVa to celebrate my brother-in-law, Mark's, birthday with a surprise party. By the way, he is a VERY old man of 40 now. (Mark is eight months younger than me, so on my birthday, he goes nuts rubbing in how old I am. Needless to say, I can hardly wait to reciprocate on his! I had to coach my son and phone in my abuse this year.)

So anyway, my daughter and I not only lounged on the couch in our PJs all day, we pulled out the sofa bed and loaded it up with pillows and blankets. She enjoyed such fare as the SpongeBob movie and numerous sitcoms, while I read most of a great book - The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards. We snuggled, napped, snacked, did a puzzle, and played games. It was very relaxing and a nice change from our usual hectic pace.

In my dreams...

The other night I dreamed that I was the one who was picked to get a headstart in the Monument 10k. If you're not familiar with that race or that concept, the race director started it last year and offers prize money if the ordinary runner who is selected crosses the finish line before the professional athlete who is the real winner. I'm not sure how much money the person gets, but how cool would it be to actually break the tape crossing the finish line?

So anyway I don't know if I got to do that or not - my dream didn't get that far. What I do remember is that Grandison was running with me, pacing me, and I was on track to do it. My kids were cheering from the sidelines. Just like a dream, they were on the sidelines no matter where I was in the race even though they weren't running.

Pretty cool. If only I would get the chance in real life! (Then I would kick myself for the aggressive time I put on my registration!!!)

Friday, February 16, 2007

Athlinks

I just discovered this cool site called Athlinks thanks to Nancy Toby. You can look up a person by name and see their race history... so of course, I looked up myself. It showed the following:

Event Name & Course State Date Plc A Plc G Plc O Final
2006 SunTrust Richmond Marathon & NTELOS 8K - Run-8K
VA 11/11/06 86 651 1795 46:31
Richmond Sprint Triathlon
VA 10/15/06 6 55 226 1:28:02
Army 10 Miler
VA 10/8/06 462 3121 9775 1:40:01
Ukrop's Monument Avenue 10K
VA 4/1/06 238 1340 4526 58:23
Ukrops Monument Avenue 10K
VA 4/9/05 436 4677 9547 1:21:33
5K Run/Walk for Autism
VA 5/29/04 17 112 248 33:36
Ukrop's Monument Avenue 10K
VA 4/1/04 359 2249 5813 1:04:39

The 2005 Monument 10k wasn't me - I gave my spot to a friend of a friend because I had some kind of injury - a sprained ankle, I think. My replacement apparently partied her way through the race, which sounds like a good way to go!

It didn't capture all my races - I've done the Race for the Cure before - but it listed most of them. I hadn't tracked my official times, so this is really cool. It will be interesting to see if I improve in the Monument 10k, which is my first race of 2007.

Check it out!

Happy Dance

I'm doing my happy dance because it's Friday! My kids, at ages 5 & 6, already sing a Friday song on Friday mornings (well, duh) before school. You can imagine where the learned it!

Tonight was so fun. I met two girlfriends from my old job, Liz and Rebekah, for dinner & drinks. Sharon was supposed to join us too but couldn't at the last minute - some nonsense about having to work late. What up wit dat? It's Friday! I'll have to get my kids to teach her the Friday song and happy dance!

While we all used to work together, we are actually at four different companies now. I'm so glad that we have stayed in touch. They are great ladies. We talked a big game tonight about getting together every month. I really hope we do it! Or something close to it, anyway.

We had a fun weekend planned but my poor little baby girl has a fever. Looks like she and I will be spending some quality time at the pediatrician's office tomorrow morning, then snuggling in front of the fireplace and some movies for the rest of the weekend while the boys go out of town without us. As long as she gets some good medicine and starts feeling better, that will be okay. I'd much rather be sick myself (and anyone who has read my blog knows how well I handle that) than to see my baby feeling sick. Hopefully she will feel better Sunday in time for the circus.

That boy in the picture is purely a fallacy of clip art. Any man who can't take his daughter to the pediatrician isn't worthy of the happy dance.

I wish you all a fun filled weekend!

Great Quote

I just read a great quote that made me think about my triathlon friends, especially those TriGirls who are trianing for IMFL 2007:

"Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will." -- Mahatma Gandhi

That's you guys! That's why you're out there at 6 a.m. in the freezing cold, running 1/2 mile repeats and timed miles, then going to 90 minute cycling classes. You have tremendous spirits and indomitable wills.

You rock!

Thursday, February 15, 2007

Thursday Run

Today's run was interesting. It was so freaking cold that I skipped the TriGirl run. (Okay, you're on to me, I wouldn't get up at 5:30 to run anyway...) But it was so freaking cold that I didn't even want to run around my neighborhood. So the Bean and I headed to the track at the Y. I've never done that before - 14.5 laps equals a mile. Who wants to deal with that??? I lost count before we even hit five laps. So we ran 40 minutes and I'm calling it 4 miles.

Thank God I had the Bean and my iPod. Otherwise, it would have been unbearable.

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Happy Valentines Day

Happy Valentines Day to all of you whom I hold dear.

I have had a lovely Valentine's evening. I made a special dinner for my honey (guy food - steak, sweet potatos, and sugar snap peas) along with some nice red wine and dark chocolate. We enjoyed our romantic dinner while listening to the romantic strains of... well um... okay, it was the Fairly OddParents in the background. But hey, that's part of the joy in our lives! The kids actually; definitely not the show. (Although it is funny and another time perhaps I'll launch into a tangent on how I know and adore the senior artist.)

My husband surprised me with a beautiful pair of pale peach silk pajamas and a dozen red roses. Poor guy gave me yellow roses one year and I teased him relentlessly that red is for love and yellow is for friendship - I'm sure I will only get red roses for the rest of time. Unless he's trying to tell me something... fortunately, this is not the year for that kind of message!

I hope you all have a fabulous day with the ones you love.

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

The Bean is Back!

Corinnie Beanie is back in action! And I am so, so happy!!! The Bean has been my constant running companion for the last three years. In fact, she's the one who got me started in running. However, she's been sidelined by a knee injury since November or maybe even late October. She had to get a cortisone shot in December and has been in physical therapy since. Now, she's able to run pain-free again! Yippee!!!!

We went out for an inaugural run this morning - 4.5 miles, 10:39 minutes/mile average which I think is tremendous considering that she hasn't run in months. Thank goodness the freezing rain that was in the forecast didn't happen. We actually had more moderate temperatures than we've experienced lately and therefore a pleasant run.

The best part is getting to catch up with the Beanie! She is one of my closest friends and confidants. I've missed her and our workout/therapy sessions!
_____________________

Update: Corinne responded that we can refer to her as "the lean mean fighting Bean!" from now on.

Monday Playdates

Went to my weight class yesterday - even remembered shoes! One of my favorite instructors, Elke, was teaching. She was dancing and singing - her usual entertaining self. Kind of took my mind off the pain she was inflicting. My chest in particular is sore today. Good stuff!

Then cycling last night. I know the fact that I don't have to lug my bike and trainer to the class anymore is making a huge difference in my attitude, and perhaps my new outlook is helping some. Another factor that helped tremendously - TriGirl Aimee brought her iPod with some kickin' tunes. But I suspect the thing that really made last night's class more bearable is that Coach Mark didn't tighten the fly wheel on my trainer as tight as some of the other coaches have. My legs were still burning and I was still breathing hard, but it wasn't quite as bad as it usually is.

I knew I liked him.

Sunday, February 11, 2007

Valentine Boxes

This weekend, my children needed to make Valentine boxes to take to school on Wednesday. Of course, I hadn't given it a thought until Saturday. I had shoe boxes that they could have used from the winter boots we just purchased, but Mr. Efficiency recycled them already.

What's a mom to do? I had to go shoe shopping of course! My daughter went with me and was very helpful in selecting shoes for us to try on. She was quite a bit annoyed that we went to a store that only carries adult shoes, and she complained not only to me but to the lady who checked us out. I got two cute pair of spring shoes; my kids got their valentine boxes.

Next stop: Valentine cards for their classmates and decorations for their boxes. They had a great time making their boxes - his green, hers pink, both (surprisingly) covered in hearts. She added horses to hers; he added Star Wars figures and a Virginia Tech banner. They also wrote all their cards to their classmates and even made cards for Mommy and Daddy.

Buying two new pair of shoes may sound like a tremendous sacrifice, but that's the kind of awesome mom I am. Always there for my children and ready to put their needs first.

Fun Day

After two days of rest, I got to work out today. Yeah! The rest on Friday was completely unintentional. I went to the gym at lunchtime fully expecting to take a weight lifting class; unfortunately, I had forgotten to pack my shoes. Unwilling to make a fashion statement in spandex and brown boots, I had to forgo the class. I was hoping to make it up yesterday but it wasn't meant to be.

This morning, thank goodness, I got to run! My workout partner has been on vacation for the last week with no time to work out, so she warned me that she probably didn't have much of a run in her. So I ran the mile and a half to meet her, then we ran four miles together. We conveniently finished our run at Starbucks which gave us time to catch up. We walked back to our starting point and I ran the mile and a half back home for a total of seven miles (9:29 minutes/mile average).

I had promised to take my children to the YMCA pool this afternoon, and they were waiting for me in bathing suits when I got home. So cute! We practiced swimming, headstands, flips, and they did quite a few cannonballs off the side.
They each swam four laps, pausing to hang on the lane line occasionally to catch their breath. They will have to swim two laps in their triathlon, and they want to be ready. Kick boards are optional in that event but apparently they want to power it out without props. I can respect that. My son is swimming really well and is catching on to the breathing. My daughter is doing much better at using her arms although the breathing still eludes her. She dog paddles to breath. It is effective! I used to teach beginning swimming lessons when I was in high school, and it is so fun to teach my own children.

I took their joy with me to Som's TriGirl Master swim workout tonight. It was a tough workout - 1750 yds felt harder than the 2000+ we did last week. We did a lot of long sets with only a 10 second break in between. I suppose I need to work on endurance. I quite enjoyed it.

It felt really good to work out today.

Saturday, February 10, 2007

zzzz...

I've been wondering for awhile when I will get some. Sleep, of course. I understood that my children needed me many times during the night when they were little, but at five and six, I expected them to be capable of sleeping through the night on their own.

Alas, that is not to be. One if not both of them come into my room throughout the night. Their ideal is to sleep in bed with me. Sometimes, when I am really tired or lazy, I relent... which of course backfires and encourages them to continue their nocturnal wanderings.

Why is it that they rarely go to Daddy's side of the bed?

I'm wondering if I will have an opportunity to sleep through the night for a short period of time between whenever they outgrow their longing to be in bed with me and the time that they start going out with their friends as teenagers, and I will wait up for them to get home until late in the night. I know that I will look back on these days of sweet snuggling and miss them.

But for now, I just want a nap.

Friday, February 9, 2007

Why Tri?

I got hooked on triathlon blog sites this fall. I love all the TriGirl blogs (and um, note to Carmen and Melissa - please post something! anything! Your fans miss hearing from you). I've followed links on their blogs to a number of others. And so on. Through all of these adventures in blogland, I've read a lot of commentary on why people do triathlons. Examples include pushing your body beyond preconceived limits, conquering fear, overcoming obstacles... all great reasons that make sense to me.


But yesterday, I followed a link on Triathlon Mom's site and found Greyhound's site. His tag line reads, "Training is recess! Go play!" I read his current and recent posts, and in one he talks about training and tri-ing for the sheer joy of it. Grandison also made a comment on this blog about my six year old son's triathlon training, saying, "You know, it just seems like the natural thing for a kid to do. Isn't that what we all did as kids during the summer? Swim, bike, run. Repeat."


Those comments really resonate with me. I'm going to try (no pun intended) to approach my training as play time. I think it will help if I think, "Hey, it's Monday night and I get to go to a cycling playdate with my TriGirl friends!" instead of my usual "SH@#, it's Monday night, I have to go get my butt kicked in cycling."


It works for yoga. I look at yoga as my treat during the week. Even though it's hard, I kind of don't realize it because I'm focused on relaxing and being good to myself - sort of like a spa treatment. When I'm sore the next day (and always in odd places!), I'm surprised. And happy - I like the feeling of being a little sore and knowing I've stretched my body a little bit further.


I don't know if a new approach will make me a better cycler, but it sure will make it more fun.

(And Jonah, thanks for the tip on creating links!)

Thursday, February 8, 2007

Girl Time


Whenever my daughter and I have "girl time," her favorite thing to do is go to Nordstrom. She loves the cafe and adores trying on clothes and shoes.

We've been twice recently. The first time, we had lunch then did a little browsing. She tried on lots of shoes in the women's shoe department. Her favorites were red patent leather peep toe pumps with probably 4" heels. Well, those and some leopard print boots. Everyone who saw her cracked up, including me. Of course I had to be mommy and caution against sprained ankles as she was tottering from the display to the nearest mirror. I couldn't help myself! She also tried on lots of clothes and talked me into buying her a really pretty aqua blue floaty blouse. It was quality girl time!

Tuesday night, we went again while the boys were at a Cub Scout meeting. We were running an errand somewhere else that required us to go right past Nordstrom. Why not stop? She tried on all the glittery shoes in the children's shoe department this time.

Her favorite story about herself is about a shopping trip to Nordstrom when she had just turned two. She was tottling around, shopping with me, and all the salesladies were talking to us and saying how cute she was. One saleslady bent down to her level and asked how old she was. Her answer was, "I two. My brother, he three. This is Mommy. She older." Needless to say, everyone burst out laughing.

I have created a monster! But a cute little monster with good taste.

BRRRR!

It was cold this morning! When I got home from my run, our outdoor thermometer read 24 degrees. I didn't look before I started because I didn't want to know! My face froze. My eyes were watering, then the tears were freezing, so my eyelashes stuck together. I kept pulling the collar of my fleece over my face to thaw slightly. Everything else was fine, thanks to my TriGirl fleece and my new winter cycling pants.

As cold as it was, today was even tougher mentally. My mind kept straying to thoughts of cutting my run short, being warm, wondering if I'm crazy... I managed to grind out 4.5 miles (9:29 minutes/mile average), mainly by playing tricks on myself. I told myself I had to get through the first mile before I could stop, then I had to hit 2 1/2 miles to make my weekly minimum, and by then, I was 2 miles away from home - no point in walking! There's a saying I really like - something about the body being able to do whatever the mind will allow. That's totally true for me.

Geesh, I'm glad that one is done. What happened to our 60 degree winter days like we had in January?

Tuesday, February 6, 2007

5 in 48

Wow this sounds really dumb I know but I just realized how much I kick my own ass Sunday through Tuesday. The 5 in 48 of the title is five workouts in 48 hours.

Sunday mornings, I run; Sunday nights, swim; Monday weights; Monday night, cycling; then the grand finale, Tuesday morning, run. I haven't actually done all of those in the last few weeks so I guess I kinda forgot what it feels like.

Cycling is still the one that is the hardest. Last night was no exception but I did add some drama by falling off my bike. Yes, on the trainer. And not just once; twice. Coach Blake was his wonderful self and helped me swap the trainer for one that was actually stable. And as much as I complain about cycling class, I actually noticed a teeny tiny bit of improvement last night. I can stand and pedal in a circular motion now instead of the jerky strides I was making at first. And I actually don't mind standing anymore. That's what 40 minutes at level 8 and 9 with the big chain ring and in aero position will do to you - any change is good change! Well except maybe going to level 10.

I cycled beside Liz last night and she is unbelievable. At one point, we were supposed to pedal as fast as we could and count our rotations for 30 seconds. She was the fastest at 65; I did something like... um, 20. Okay just kidding; I'm not quite that pathetic. Almost, but not quite!

We hit a new low temperature for the season. It was 6 degrees Farenheit last night. Brrrr!!!! I hit the treadmill at the gym this morning instead of running my usual route around my neighborhood. I haven't run on the treadmill for ages. I had my iPod cranking with some new songs to help combat the boredom, and I played with the incline and speed settings for a little variety. I ended up running four miles at an average of 9:04 minutes/mile, negative splits. The only real problem was that I couldn't cool down. Next time (probably Thursday if it stays this cold!), I'll walk a little or maybe use the elliptical until I'm cooler before jumping in the shower.

Now, ahhh, a 24 hour break before spin class tomorrow morning.

Note to self: Never ever EVER again eat chilli before cycling class. Or any other physical activity for that matter.

Monday, February 5, 2007

Queen of Sabotage

That's me.

I weighed myself today and somehow managed to register four pounds lighter than last week. I completely don't believe it - there's no way. The scales must be wrong. But on the off chance that I actually dropped a little weight, I hurried to McDonalds for lunch - scarfed a double cheeseburger AND fries.

I had lots of excuses - forgot to bring lunch today, no time after going to the gym, yada yada yada. Yeah, like ordering a salad would have been so much slower.

Yoga

I read an interesting article on the benefits of yoga today. Yoga feels like a treat to me - it is my reward for doing all my other workouts. Because I view it that way, it is the workout that I am most likely to skip when I get "too busy" and the workout I have considered sacrificing in order to get more cycling and swimming in.

The following is from a newsletter by Graeme Street, CEO of Cyclo-Core :

"Don't be afraid of yoga! Ask any of my customers that use it and they'll tell you that it's their secret weapon. See ya later sore knees & hips!"

He goes into more detail related to his programs, but overall his recommendation is to do more yoga to improve flexibility and supporting muscle strength. I have his CYCLO-ZEN program, and the yoga workouts incorporate many of the same positions that I do in my class at the Y.

So I guess the message is... keep yoga!!! Yeah!

Weekend Workouts

My running partner is out of town this week, so instead of running with her yesterday, I had a fun run with my 6 year old son. He is very interested in training for his triathlon in June, so he did a reverse brick workout with me. We ran together for 1.7 miles (including as many walk breaks as he wanted and one stop at home for him to get his MP3 player), then he hopped on his bike while I ran 2 1/2 miles beside him. I tried to explain the jelly-leg feeling you get when going from biking to running and he laughed at me, so I had him try it when he got off the bike. He was very funny trying to describe how strange his little legs felt! We were both very proud of his efforts. I'll have to figure out a way to fit this "workout" into my schedule every weekend. Or I should say, every weekend that he wants to do it. I want exercise to stay fun for him.

I also swam last night for the first time in three weeks - yikes! At first, I felt like I was floundering and I probably looked like a drowning woman, but by the end my stroke felt more comfortable. Som had us do speed drills last night. We made it through 2150 yds of the 2800 yd workout he had designed for us, which is more than I've ever swum at one time as an adult. We even did 100 IM (one lenghth each butterfly, backstroke, breastroke, and freestyle). I haven't swum butterfly in years and years. It felt awkward and tiring but also fun to try something different.

The rest of the weekend was pretty quiet. I finally went to the doctor on Friday since I've been sick for almost a month. He prescribed antibiotics and hard-core prescription level Sudafed. I am feeling better and hope that it lasts this time. I also took my poor daughter to the doctor on Friday. She started getting our cold, plus she had pink eye and an ear infection. We spent $100 on co-pays alone at the pharmacy. My son is still on an antibiotic for his ear infection; my husband still has this miserable cold and pink eye but refuses to go to the doctor. He snitched some of my daughter's eye drops which helped his eye, thank goodness. Given that we were contageous and miserable, we decided to cancel any plans we had for the weekend and go into self-prescribed quarantine!

Last week, I hit my run, bike, and yoga goals but missed swim and weight lifting goals. That's why my overall goal is 45 out of 52 weeks in each activity, right, to account for crazy weeks when I just can't fit it all in? Hopefully, this week I will finally feel better.

Thursday, February 1, 2007

Patriot Half

So I've been seriously thinking about the Patriot Half on September 8.

Last night, as I was trying to get to sleep, I started adding up my estimated times in each event. It would take me 7 - 8 hours to finish. Can I really exercise that long? I admit, I am in the process of overcoming an aerobics mentality. After an hour, I'm done!

The furthest I've ever biked is ~ 20 miles. That's a far cry from the 56 that would be required of me in the half - on the heels of a 1.2 mile swim. The furthest I've ever run is 10 miles. The Army 10 miler was a blast and I think I could run 13 with no problem - but can I do it after an hour (or more) of swimming and 3 1/2 hours (or more) of biking?

I ran on Tuesday morning after skiing all weekend and cycling Monday night, and my legs were shot. I cut my run short (ran 4 miles, 9:11 min/mile) and started asking myself, if I can't even run 5 teeny little miles after skiing and cycling THE DAY BEFORE, could I really run 13 after swimming and cycling immediately prior?

The real question is whether or not I can put in the training time to be able to improve enough to accomplish this feat. Can I justify the training time to myself and to my family? That's the part I'm struggling with. If I'm not going to prepare properly, there is no point in doing it. But if not now, when? So... still debating...

_________________
By the way, can someone enlighten me as to how to use a word or title to link to another site without entering the whole damn url? I'm apparently too dumb to figure it out on my own. This stuff is really not that hard...