Hold the Phone

Major Dilema. I just found out that my cousin is getting married on the same day as the Seattle RnR half that was going to be my PR race. I made my training schedule and had my 'running coach' look it over and make some changes all geared toward this one day. What the hell am I going to do now? The only other race that falls 2 weeks before is the Helvita Half Marathon in Hilsboro. As I see it, I don't really have much of an option for a replacement. I'm bummed! Anybody done this race before?

Real Housewives?

Ok, am I getting too mature to watch this show? Usually I love a good laugh and they ALWAYS make me feel better about myself. I am not a fan of the new housewives:

Gretchen – Her cackle laugh is like nails on a chalkboard

Lynn-I can’t stand her self-indulged spoiled little BMW 18yr old birthday present I just graduated high school have and have no intentions of getting a job anytime soon daughter. Good greif. And she’s got to be on some sort of depressant medication because she has no emotions. Either that or she has a IV botox drip running through her veins constantly.

And last, but not least….. Gina – needs to slap around her disrespectful bratty boys (I hope Shane’s girlfriend is paying attention to how he is treating his mother! Can you say RED FLAG!!)

I can’t wait for NY. My girl Bethany would kick the shit out of all those OC biatches, even if she is a basket case God love her. So, I am re-evaluating my races for this spring/summer and decided not to do one of the half-marathons. Its 70 bucks and frankly I don’t know if it’s worth it for a training run. I’m going to nix it. I also realized that I named all my half-marathon’s “marathons” on the side of my blog. Boy, I looked like I was pretty cool there didn’t I. 2 marathons in three weeks. No, sorry to say I am not that cool.

Anybody out there doing the Seattle Rock N’ Roll Half? I emailed the race people about the headlining concerts, but they said they don’t make the decisions until a couple months out. I did the Virginia Beach Rock N’ Roll in 2007 and they had some pretty sweet headliners all weekend. I don’t remember them all but I do remember getting drunk, riding a beach cruiser to see Leanne Rhimes, then getting more drunk at the concert and subsequently riding the beach cruiser on a very busy Labor Day boardwalk and crashed into some poor unsuspecting tourist. I bled….we all laughed (my peeps laughed, not the tourist). Not my proudest moment, but a great night of memories.

Can't take another.....

…..episode of America’s Next Top Model. Seriously, that’s all I’ve been watching for the last three days. Thank you Oxygen for the ANTM marathon…. I hope to be feeling better by tomorrow. This junk is moving through my body now so hopefully it will move right out tonight. Can you OD on Nyquil? I must have, because it isn’t putting me to sleep anymore. Damn drug tolerances. Despite the deal to only weight myself of Fridays; my curiosity got the best of me. 142. CRAP! It’s not like I’ve been eating junk, puuleeease – can’t eat another bowl of soup, but I guess that’s what happens when you eliminate all cardio from your routine. Hopefully I can join my group for a Thursday night run. Until then, living vicariously through you guys.

Pass the Robitussin please

I’ve been trying to resist a bug that has been threatening to get me for the last couple of days and the bug prevailed. I woke up around 2am with a sore throat. TGIF so I can go to class for a few hours, then hit the grocery store for some medicines and soups, and come home to do nothing but lay on the couch and catch up on my tevo. I have a huge (by huge I mean 10pages) paper to write this weekend so hopefully it doesn’t cloud my head too much. I need all the head I can get. Hey, get your head out of the gutter. Anyways, considering I’d rather eat dirt than write a paper then you all can imagine how much fun I’ll be having this weekend. Plus, unless I magically wake up without a sore throat, I won’t be running this weekend, which really sucks. Ok, now for the good news – I weighed in at 138. Sweeet! Perfect. I was thinking it would only be 139, but my weight usually fluctuates a pound or two daily…? Maybe because my body is constantly replenishing itself from losing sweat?

Thank Goodness...

Today I went for a little doozy of a run. I usually run Thursday night hills with my running group, but I have plans tonight so I decided to change it up. I found the flattest mile in Gig Harbor (NOT EASY!!) and went with it for the first tempo run of the year. Ok, so it was only 1 mile but it was a good 1 mile. And there will be lots more so I am being patient. Mile 1 = 9:42/(182bpm) Mile 2 = 8:49/(185bmp) Mile 3= 9:19/(182bpm) Thank goodness the tempo mile turned out to be 8:49. I was worried because every time I looked at my garmie it read 10:30ish. I KNEW there was no way in hell I was running a 10+pace. I am going out to dinner tonight with a girlfriend. I’ll try to eat good and limit the wine intake. Tomorrow : Weigh-ins

Where's your manners?

Before I throw down my hill repeat times last night I need to tell you about the biatches that were in the pool this morning. For some reason (ever since the beginning of the year – coincidence? I think not!) there have been tons of new people coming to the pool. Now, I’m not one to discourage anybody from trying something new or trying to improve themselves period, but there needs to be some sort of class on pool etiquette. This morning I was busting out an 800m set and I was on my last 100m when some chick got in my lane. Ok, I am not selfish and I never turn anybody down that asks if they can share a lane, but I was NOT going to stop my circuit just to tell her she could share. That’s like stopping someone who is in the middle of a mile repeat. Get a grip. I would have let her share had she waited just a couple of minutes until I came up for air but….anyway, I don’t know what happened, but the next time I came down to that end of the pool and did a flip turn I saw someone flip me the bird under the water. Just as I came up getting ready to throw down with some chick who was about to have one less arm to swim with – I realized it was my girlfriend who had been swimming in the lane next to me. Apparently this chick and her mother exchanged some not so nice words about me and my friend offered to switch. It was quite hilarious actually, the middle finger I mean. It turns out it was a mother/daughter team that I did not care for because of a previous pool incident that I will spare you the details of…..

Pool Rule #1: If it is before 6am, you can assume that we not just recreational swimmers Rule #2: If you can’t swim with your head under water – use the kiddie pool Rule#3: Wait until someone is done with a set before getting into the lane Rule#4: Never start swimming in a lane without notifying the swimmer you are joining them Rule#5: the most important rule – never give someone the bird under the water unless you’re prepared to deal with the consequences Ok, last night I felt better. Lighter actually. I did (4) .25 mile hill repeats…then core afterward 1 = 2:31 @ 10:10 2 = 2:38 @ 10:46 3 = 2:39 @ 10:51 4 = 2:45 @ 11:30 (The last one I did for good measure) Obviously I wasn’t consistent, but this is only the third week of base training so IT’S ALL GOOD!

In honor of inauguration....

Fat + Hills = Sluggish times

So last night I hit my favorite running store for your typical Thursday night hill workout. What a mess. I had a great warm-up. Too great in fact which I think screwed me up for the hills. (Note to self: now that Diana is training for Boston- she is TOO FAST for you!) I know I’m only base training, but it would be nice to be able to at least run as well as when I was training for Seattle.

So this is my conclusion: I need to lose weight. Carrying around extra weight is exhausting. I can feel every pound while trying to carry my fat ass up these hills. And since there is no stretch of road in Gig Harbor that doesn’t include a significant incline farther than a mile – I can’t avoid it.

I had some technical difficulties with the Garmin last night so some of my splits got screwed up, but considering my hill repeats were pathetic anyways…..but nonetheless here they are:

Warm up = 1.4mi/9:21/169bpm Hill 1 = .11/11:47/189bpm Hill 2 = .11/11:41/186bpm Hill 3 = .11/12:11/183bpm So, this is the deal: 2 lbs a week through January and February. It sounds a little drastic, but I think I weight about 13 pounds heavier than when I was in my last couple of months last year. Damn December marathon. Next year I will not do a marathon that forces me to recover around the holidays! Duh. I think this goal is totally doable. Stay tuned for the weight countdown.

By week 6 (the end of February and base training) I need to be at 130. Ok, maybe 132ish.

Week 1: Current Weight = 140.5

In other news, I was a loser this morning and didn’t get out of bed to swim. Usually I can force myself out with little resistance (swim mornings I get up at 4am), but this morning my body said, “HELL NO – I’m not going anywhere bitch!” Yesterday was a busy day for workouts.

1 hr core/stability/strength 1 hr. Yoga Hill repeats

I suppose I should give myself a day off since I am not trying to jump in head first right now.

Day 2...

So my hubby left yesterday. 1 day down, 74 to go. This is where he will be living, working, and breathing for the next 2 and half months:

I am so lucky to have a man that makes such sacrifices for me and our life. Words can’t even explain… Ok, enough with the mushy stuff. I suppose now that he is gone I have nothing better to do than work hard in school and train my arse off. This is what I am planning for my base training: January and February: Mon = Swim Tues = Run (hills), Core Wed = Swim Thurs = Strength, Yoga, Run Fri = Swim Sat = Long run Sun = Rest School is crazy right now. I am taking a class for the month of January that is a 16 week shoved into a 4 week slot. But the good news is that it fulfills two of my requirements and of course – it’s only 1 month! After this month my schedule should calm down, and by calm down I mean – get into a routine that I like. I am still fine tuning my training schedule for the half marathons coming up this spring/summer. More about that later. For now: “Happiness is a choice that requires effort at times”

Redemption 2009

How much do I suck at blogging? A LOT! I don’t know how any of these bloggers I follow do it. Balancing school, workouts, and a husband. . I’ll try my best to keep up with it this time. I think I quit because I haven’t been doing anything (besides gaining weight) for the last month and I was disappointed with my marathon debut so I didn’t want to write a race report. I have started training again. After a dismal appearance at my first marathon (Seattle 5:38 – about an hour off my goal time, even though I claimed I didn’t have a goal time, which was total BS) 2009 is the year of redemption! I have four big races planned: Tacoma City Half Marathon (5/3/09) Capital City Half Marathon (5/17/09) Rock n’ Roll Seattle Half Marathon (6/27/09) Portland Marathon (10/4/09) I’ll probably add some smaller races in the mix…but I don’t know which yet. I am also just coming off an IT band injury so I am very wary about hitting the miles to hard and too fast. Let’s just say Mr. Foam Roller and I have had a very close relationship for the last few weeks, and he has been a huge help. I think I am now battling shin splints which is weird because I’ve never actually had them, only heard of other poor suckers who get them. I think it’s just a ‘starting up running again’ thing. I have a sweet new toy: Garmin Forerunner 405. I LOVE IT. I am really excited to work with my numbers. I am expecting big results! I want 2 huge PR’s – Rock n’ Roll and Portland. I am just base training for the month of January and February and then come March I want to hit it rolling. I’ll keep you posted.