PR maybe

this morning i did my first race since getting injured back in august. it may have actually been my first race since july even. i did an indoor mini tri like in november or something but i don't know if that is really a race or not, so i'm not going to count it.
but today i did a 10k. it was rough. i wasn't sure what to expect. i've been doing lots of long runs, and i've done a few tempo runs too, but have only dabbled with a tiny bit at "race" pace. so many different race paces to dabble in!
i was about to say that the race was fun but i am not so sure it was. it was 2 - 5k loops and mile 1 was pretty good. mile 2 was ok, too. this is when i hooked up with a group of 4 other girls. i was behind them, but i was keeping pace with them, they were only a few seconds ahead. even mile 3 was ok, but then they picked up the pace and i was like WHAT ARE THEY DOING???? i couldn't keep up. i was just like, man was this their strategy for the 2nd lap? man, this sucks. but then they turned off and finished at the 5k. it was fun to see them finish, all sprint finish and all.
and i kept going, into the headwind, all alone and by myself. then i turned and headed toward the hill and noticed that everything (except my back!) down to my left elbow was hurting! i started to hyperventilate, which is no fun when going up hill and i was pretty sure i wasn't going to make it. but then i started to feel ok but that 4th mile pretty much blew. mile 5 was only slightly better. i really wanted to make mile 6 count but yeah, not much there. when i got to the out and back i was glad to be off the twisty gravel and be on flat but headed to the finish it was all head wind and stuff. at the 6 mile mark i really tried to give it my all for those last .2 and my speed did not increase. it was rough. after i crossed the finish line i had to lean against a tree. i came home, barely made it through a shower then slept for 2 hours!!!
wow. racing is tough.
PR maybe. i as happy with the time but at the same time don't understand why i am not faster. its a PR maybe because it was definitely a PR for a stand alone 10k. the 8 miler i did last year was at a faster pace and the 10k at the end of the tri i did last july was slightly faster by 25 seconds. does that count?
regardless, it was good to get racing and the sleep that followed was delicious.

plans

today we found out that eric made the team usa team, too!! i don't know if alabama will know what is going to hit it.
i will be fully versed in the south as only 1 month prior i will be in nashville.
two things i never thought i would say "i'm going to nashville!" and "i;m going to alabama!"
so i am pretty sure we have driven through tennesee when i was little either on our way to florida or maybe on the way back but i haven't ever gone there on purpose and actually stayed.
i also have been to alabama. but only for like a few minutes. when i was living in atlanta we said, oh, let's go to alabama! so we drove west, hit alabama, got freaked out so we turned around and headed back into good, safe georgia!
but swimming has been going really well!
AND i am going to do a 10k race this weekend. i do'nt know how it will go but i am kind of excited. whoa!!

wow, that was a lot of yds

i think this week was an all time high for swim volume!!! 11,450!! wow!! that was a lot. my swimming is coming along nicely which is good since just a month ago i was swimming backwards! significantly less effort to go slightly faster. i'd say that is a win. but boy, i am a little on the tired side.
today is st patricks day. because of this, i wore this to the pool this morning:

it was a bit of a challenge because a)its totally stretched out b)since i got this one i have realized my actual swim suit size is 2 sizes smaller 3)because of a&b i wore an extra swim top on top to keep it family friendly. and all of this on a 3300 yds day, one that included 10x200!! oh that was a lot of 200s.
after swimming i went to the costco. i did some looking around and the sample people were crazy sampling all over the place. one lady came chasing me down saying that if i wanted i could try the thermacare heating pads.

i told her unfortunately i have had plenty of experience with them and didn't need to sample them. she looked at me sorta funny and then said, yeah, i guess it is one of those things that it is sort of unfortunate if you have to use them.
but i picked up a book for the kids and some muscle milk and headed on home to take a nap. but first having a pbj and two pieces of cinnamon swirl french toast. good gracious.
other news, booked my hotel in alabama. yahoo! i think. AND working on getting a new mountain bike. mine is old. like old old. and eric said i could, so now we need to get it so i can ride it and be comfortable with it before going to alabama. after that race, i might just give it to eric. we will have to see how it all works out. thinking about a specialized. they are snazzy bikes and my boyfriend Dan Hugo rides one. xoxo

deep thots

just finished up a 3hr ride. ok, so that is a lie! sort of. headed out with xtie and sara with big ambitions of doing a 3hr ride. in the rain. but at like 1:34 in i was like, no. i am cold and i didn't want to go up any more hills. so we decided to cut it to 2hrs which worked out great because i got us a bit lost and had to back track some and then we did a short detour and then got back in all of 2:15. then i got on the trainer and spun for another 45 minutes. my bike needs some work. i swear on some of the hills i was just like, dude, am i in my big ring? cardio=good, legs=not as good. i have to stretch them out instead of sit here on my equally tight arse.

yesterday i found out that i have been given a spot on team usa for the itu cross triathlon world championships. essentially the itu's version of xterra. so swim / mountain bike / trail run. oops - how'd i make the team when i've been on my mtn bike 4 times in the last year? i sent in my race resume and they took me so that is exciting. now we are waiting to hear about eric's application. he is much faster than me and has placed much better in many more races than me but his AG is much more competitive than mine, so we have to wait to find out. so we haven't 100% decided if i will go. i will go if eric gets in and goes. but if he doesn't then we need to figure out what to do. regardless, i have to do some mad planks because the USA kit is all like one piece and omg, i've got a huge gut these days. so fat. its not cool. like i have always complained about it, but man, so fat. its the medication, i know it!! omg. not sure if my new wetsuit will fit any more! yikes! haven't even been in the lake yet in it. so fat. f-a-t. and what doesn't help is that eric apparently likes my fat ass the way it is because he keeps commenting on how it looks in my jeans. i hate him. its his fault too because i have zero will power and he brings things like nutella and frosted mini wheats into the house. in BULK even. f***er. oh but i do love him. wait, no i don't, i just don't hate him 10 of the time, and its not like even the fat is just adding more muscle. no, it is fat.
i cut my bangs the other day. all by myself. i went to get my eyelashes did because they ALL FELL OUT. the eye lash lady convinced me that they are just too expensive to keep getting done. but i love them! she also hinted that maybe i was a little addicted to them, which i admit i was because I LOVE THEM, so i wound up not getting them did again but i did get my hairs cut. she cut a lot off but it didn't actually seem any different. and i got all frustrated so i chopped the bangs right off!! the morning i was headed out of town for a work trip, awesome. totally awesome because i got to see ALLIE!!! total random, 2hrs when we both happened to be in the same city and we were able to meet up!! HOORAY!! everyone needs a little more Allie in their lives!!! but, the bangs still look ok i think. maybe i will have to take the scissors to them some more even! horray!
so now i am just sitting here. resting my fat ass on TWO pillows because otherwise my back starts to hurt. gah!! tomorrow i run for like 384036 hrs and swim for just about as long.
but that is good because i took TWO extra days off this week. after my trip i was oh so tired, totally exhausted.
.....
so now its tonight!! i did all the swimming in the outdoor pool with lavonne and janet and some other peeps and it was so glorious! oh the fresh clean water!!! and it was almost as though some sun came out. it was so nice!! and then chit chatting over coffees, hot chocolates, crepes and croissants. then i went home, got ready for my run, jumped in the car to drive to the flat trail. 15 minutes it takes me to get there. so when i got there, yeah, i forgot my running shoes. so i drove home, got the shoes then drove like 8 minutes to a closer part of the flat running trail, why didn't i go there the first time??? but i ran towards the park and it was going great. 40 minutes later i turned around to start my 2x10' intervals. into a headwind!!! the whole way!!!! and it was pace intervals, not HR so it was extra ugh! but i got it done and was pretty darn happy with it.
it was a good weekend. i'm recovered, i am tired though, and i ate all the leftovers for dinner but someone told me that leftovers are 1/2 the calories that they were when they were first served. just like how free samples from the bakery have zero calories. but then, THEN the girl scouts stopped by to drop off the cookies we bought. gah!! i was happy (and sad) to see that we only got 3 boxes. But THEN eric and the kids came home and of course eric was dragging in a 6 pack o beers and a 1/2 gallon of ice cream. he will be the death of me!!!

the big joke

ok, so there is a reason why eric stays home with the kids and i get sent off the coal mines.
not too long ago, seamus and i were reading a book about cats. one of the words in bold, that required more information was GENES. she asked what they were. ok, earlier in the conversation we had already discussed how the dad cat helps the mom cat become a mom. but boy the genes topic was way harder to explain. so tonight, we went for a walk and started talking about politics and how one of the big republican something or anothers was going on this week. so i mentioned how back in the last election i was going to participate in a caucus and everyone wanted to know what THAT was. so i tried to explain it. and while i was explaining it eric totally made fun of me for my inability to explain things at a level an 8 and 6yr olds can understand, seeing as when i was trying to explain genes, and eric totally called me out on it when i told him about it, i totally brought up the DNA.
me: maybe nadj is the same size and she just looks smaller since fuzy is so huge!
eric: no, she is totally skinnier, you can tell my her waist line.
nadj has a waist. who knew?