to motley crue on bones. WTF. i do love me some tommy lee though although they aren't giving him nearly enough screen time..
on saturday eric and i had the rare opportunity to get out and go mtn biking together. just the two of us. we went out to fall city. i hadn't ever been there but eric has been a ton. it was perfect for what I needed to do that day but i prolly won't go there on a fun girls ride ever. there was a ton of road climbing. a ton. which was good because i was able to work hard and get up that hill. and there was a fun uphill single track climb with switch backs that we did twice that i was pretty happy i made it up in my middle ring! the parts that were single track were really fun and pretty technical so i got to work on my skills. there were some tricky decents and a few totally sketchy down hill switchbacks that i did not do but i did do one that was pretty tricky so i was pretty happy. it was a ton of fun. mark from work and his wife were watching the kids so we rushed home so they could go about the rest of their day. the kids looooved them. sirus has named mark as one of his boyz. hopefully we can get them to baby sit again! then off on a 20 minute run real quick.
then we all got dressed up, except sirus, he wore shots and a ghost shirt, and went out to dinner to celebrate mother's day. and i got trashed and ate a TON. it was sooooo good. so good and exactly what i needed. the kids were a ton of fun ad it was a great evening.
sunday was a rest day and mother's day! the kids brought me cards and breakfast in bed. eric took the kids to pick out cards. he showed them where the mother's day cards and said they could pick out any they wanted. sirus picked out one with some candy on the front and when you opened it it played that son "i want candy." he loved that card and would open it and wiggle his funny little dance. thats all great and all except on the inside of the card was a dude in a banana hammock!! pretty funny. eric said he tried to get sirus to change his mind but he really wanted that one. the kids and i went and got them some new summer clothes and then we went and got them some hair cuts. waaaay cute!
monday i couldn't want up in time so i missed masters. i need to stop that but xtie meet me at mercer island. i did a pretty hard workout and am sticking to my thought that its a meters pool. i didn't get home until almost 10. ugh.
tuesday was our very first LUNA ride - so fun!!! i showed up early and went out for 40 minutes first on my own since i had a workout i needed to do. then all the girls showed up and we headed out on the sammamish river trail and up and around the hollywood hill loop. wow! that was fun! i only managed 3 of the 5 zn 4 efforts i was supposed to do but I did go 20+ minutes longer than I was supposed to. once again, I didn't get home until late, this time after 8.
but on wednesday i was able to get up for masters. part of what got me out of bed was that i knew I wouldn't have to go again until monday. i am not very swim motivated right now. but i wore the hamburger suit and had fun. i realized 1/2 the battle is getting out of bed and the other 1/2 is getting in the water. the actual workout isn't a battle, its generally fun and i usually like it.
that night eric dropped the kids off at my work and we hung out there for a little then the 3 of us went to sirus's favorite place ever, red robin. he wanted a hangaburger (as he calls them) with a side of corn dog. we had fun. they were both really good and i was happy to spend the time with them. it seems like i just don't get to do that nearly enough.
after they went to bed i did a 45 minute run on the treadmill and was finally done at 9pm. these lte night workouts are not the best.
today i was worried about the track workout. i was excited but worried. this morning i had an egg sandwich at home but while i was driving to work i was so starving still that i went to starbucks and got a scone. i just knew i would never make it until snack time. we had some out of towners in the office so we went to lunch and i chowed down on the awesomest firebread pizza ever. but yeah, it was too much and it made me kind of dehydrated and burpy the rest of the day. all this helped add to the not so sure about the track workout. amy met me at the house and we ran down to the track. i was to do 4x1200 with the first in 5:20 and the last in 5:05, each with a 3 minute lap in between. lest just day i did 4x1200 but not how it was supposed to go. first one was 4:59 and the remaining 3 were 5:20. ??? that and i almost left it all out on the track. ugh that wouldn't have been pretty. i am happy with how hard i went but not happy with how i don't know how to pace. i guess that is a skill i will have to learn.
tomorrow is a rest day although I am supposed to do some core work. then OMG i just looked at my schedule, and I am just like yikes! saturday is a 50 minute pre-ride, sunday is a mtn bike race followed by a 40 minute zn3-4 run. then monday i have masters swimming and another track workout! its not as long, only 4x400s but the are fast and followed by a 1 mile! and then!!! on tuesday i am doing an open water swim in water that is supposedly only 46 degrees. yikes! wish me luck but really i might bail on the open water swim!
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Saturday, May 09, 2009
i tell time by which workout i've completed
so my jaw is still hurting which is shit to the power of bull. i hope it goes away soon because its on the old side of things. last saturday we did a swim clinic. i was helping to run it and i even gave someone some helpful advice! i was super excited to help out since we had hired my old neighbor that had helped me with my stroke a few months ago and she is awesome. it was also interesting to stand on the pool deck and watch the people swim. it gave a new perspective of when the swim coach stands there and talks to me in masters. it wound up getting warm and sunny and the water looked really nice, i was ready to jump right in but of course did not.
right after a few of us met up at sseatac to preride for sunday's race. it instantly starting dumping down cats and dogs and we were soaked. in a matter of minutes there were huge puddles every there. i was worried that it was going to turn into a repeat of the previous week. the course wasn't marked but a guy we were with had an idea of what it might be. both he and amy did my 3 minute intervals and then we were headed out.
sunday we got up and hung around waiting to head to the race. we gathered everything up, got there, registered and then seamus and sirus raced in the kids race! they did great! i also found amy who came in 2nd and sara who had raced her first ever race! then i headed out to warm up. i started out on a lap and was just riding along stepping up the pace a few times. the course was a lot like what we had done the day before. i didn't want to be out too long but wound up out for 25 minutes. went to staging and the race start was delayed 1/2 hr. long story short, i had a terrible start and went into the single track close to the back but i gradually passed people as time went on. i felt like i was riding fast which was awesome! it was pretty warm out, about 63 which is pretty warm for us right now and i went through my entire bottle of drink. i could have used more. i finished up in 4th not too far off 3rd and 2nd. i had convinced lisa to go runnign with me, so we put on our shoes and headed out for a 1/2 hr. i was dying. although I kept thinking about the run while I was racing, I tried to not let it affect how hard I went during the race. but the run was tough. it was all slightly downhill for the first half then we turned around and came back up hill.
as soon as we got back i changed my clothes, no stretching allowed and headed into down town seattle to see walking with the dinosaurs. totally bad ass and very cool. the kids loved it. the next day they went through their dinosaur toys and picked out all the ones they had seen at the show.
monday was a rest day. work i think was uneventful but i really can't remember. tuesday i did a 1/2 hr swim at lunch time which was actually pretty nice. i was supposed to go easy but i went hard and i spent most of my time practicing breathing on the left. later at the end of the day i did a 1/2 hr run on the treadmill. i haven't been on the treadmill in forever so I was pretty suprised that i kept an 8:34 pace while staying in zone 2. whoohoo!
when i got home eric had made some awesome mini pizzas. we ate about 100 of them. that night i was exhasted so i went to bed early only to wake up 2 hrs later with my neck in extreme pain, my quads and hammys aching, my feet killing me and just overall oveheating. i made my way to the freezer, grabbed some ice packs and got back in bed. i was instantly asleep again, al cuddled up with the ice. i was wide awake at 4 but waited until 5 to get up. it had been raining all night and was still pouring so i opted for the indoor pool. i did my own workout again, practicing left side breathing. i was supposed to do the wednesday night race but since i felt like such ass i did a 50 minute zn1 spin on the trainer later that night. eric too had felt like ass so we think maybe the pepperoni or maybe the ham we put on the pizzas was bad. eric did suggest that maybe we just ate way too many of them. no that couldn't have been it.
i had been waiting al week for thursday - my very first track workout. i was to do 15' warm up, then 3x1 mile in zn4 with 1 lap rest inbetween and then 15 minute cool down. the fast runner guy at work suggested a track right by our house and even gave me some tips to get through the gate if it was closed. i headed out from the house and ran down there in zn 2. it took about 13.5 minutes so i went around the track and stopped at the bathrooms. i stopped the clock until i was almost at the line and then i was off on my first 1 mile. i had no idea what to expect. i started out going strong and it took a bit to get up to zn4. but i got there and was done with lap 1. the guy at work predicted 2minute laps. i did that first one in 1:27. i instantly did the math and was like - NO WAY! then i started hitting zn5 and my arms felt heavy and were going to fall off. i backed off since i was supposed to stay zn4. the laps flew by although they never again were as fast as that first one. I finished the mile in 6:57. then i slowed waaay down to rest. i was going sooo slow but i was so happy to do it. runner guy suggested that my rest should last about 1/2 the time of my mile. my coach said to only do one lap, so that worked out to some slooow laps. it all worked well because by the time I started the 2nd one i was ready to go. once again, it look almost 1/2 lap to get to zn 4 but then i stuck there pretty well, hitting zn5 occasionally so I had to drop back. the sky was getting dark and it was starting to get a bit windy so I was getting concerned but i finished in 7:06. rest rest rest with a trip over to the water fountain. then off for the 3rd one. look me 1/2 lap to get to zn 4 but i don't think i ever hit zn 5 this time around. the middle two laps were super windy, the one time on the straight away i was convinced i wasn't moving anywhere. but the laps still went by quickly and i was done in 7:09. rest rest rest and the thought of asking eric to come pick me up crossed my mind. i was shot and my legs and knees hurt. but i headed home and i felt pretty good. funny thing is that the whole thing took 1:00:35 and i went 7.00 miles. how'd that work out so well?
friday's swim went well although we did sprints. when i told the swimmer guy at work that we were doing 75yd sprints he looked at me funny and said that sprints are normally like 25yd. well, we were doing 75 and i was dying. i was a little frustrated because i had counted up my yardage and thought I had only done 1900 and was totally beat. but when i finally got to write it all down it came in at 2400 so i felt way better.
and NOW its saturday, SUNNY and eric and i are heading out mtn biking later today!
right after a few of us met up at sseatac to preride for sunday's race. it instantly starting dumping down cats and dogs and we were soaked. in a matter of minutes there were huge puddles every there. i was worried that it was going to turn into a repeat of the previous week. the course wasn't marked but a guy we were with had an idea of what it might be. both he and amy did my 3 minute intervals and then we were headed out.
sunday we got up and hung around waiting to head to the race. we gathered everything up, got there, registered and then seamus and sirus raced in the kids race! they did great! i also found amy who came in 2nd and sara who had raced her first ever race! then i headed out to warm up. i started out on a lap and was just riding along stepping up the pace a few times. the course was a lot like what we had done the day before. i didn't want to be out too long but wound up out for 25 minutes. went to staging and the race start was delayed 1/2 hr. long story short, i had a terrible start and went into the single track close to the back but i gradually passed people as time went on. i felt like i was riding fast which was awesome! it was pretty warm out, about 63 which is pretty warm for us right now and i went through my entire bottle of drink. i could have used more. i finished up in 4th not too far off 3rd and 2nd. i had convinced lisa to go runnign with me, so we put on our shoes and headed out for a 1/2 hr. i was dying. although I kept thinking about the run while I was racing, I tried to not let it affect how hard I went during the race. but the run was tough. it was all slightly downhill for the first half then we turned around and came back up hill.
as soon as we got back i changed my clothes, no stretching allowed and headed into down town seattle to see walking with the dinosaurs. totally bad ass and very cool. the kids loved it. the next day they went through their dinosaur toys and picked out all the ones they had seen at the show.
monday was a rest day. work i think was uneventful but i really can't remember. tuesday i did a 1/2 hr swim at lunch time which was actually pretty nice. i was supposed to go easy but i went hard and i spent most of my time practicing breathing on the left. later at the end of the day i did a 1/2 hr run on the treadmill. i haven't been on the treadmill in forever so I was pretty suprised that i kept an 8:34 pace while staying in zone 2. whoohoo!
when i got home eric had made some awesome mini pizzas. we ate about 100 of them. that night i was exhasted so i went to bed early only to wake up 2 hrs later with my neck in extreme pain, my quads and hammys aching, my feet killing me and just overall oveheating. i made my way to the freezer, grabbed some ice packs and got back in bed. i was instantly asleep again, al cuddled up with the ice. i was wide awake at 4 but waited until 5 to get up. it had been raining all night and was still pouring so i opted for the indoor pool. i did my own workout again, practicing left side breathing. i was supposed to do the wednesday night race but since i felt like such ass i did a 50 minute zn1 spin on the trainer later that night. eric too had felt like ass so we think maybe the pepperoni or maybe the ham we put on the pizzas was bad. eric did suggest that maybe we just ate way too many of them. no that couldn't have been it.
i had been waiting al week for thursday - my very first track workout. i was to do 15' warm up, then 3x1 mile in zn4 with 1 lap rest inbetween and then 15 minute cool down. the fast runner guy at work suggested a track right by our house and even gave me some tips to get through the gate if it was closed. i headed out from the house and ran down there in zn 2. it took about 13.5 minutes so i went around the track and stopped at the bathrooms. i stopped the clock until i was almost at the line and then i was off on my first 1 mile. i had no idea what to expect. i started out going strong and it took a bit to get up to zn4. but i got there and was done with lap 1. the guy at work predicted 2minute laps. i did that first one in 1:27. i instantly did the math and was like - NO WAY! then i started hitting zn5 and my arms felt heavy and were going to fall off. i backed off since i was supposed to stay zn4. the laps flew by although they never again were as fast as that first one. I finished the mile in 6:57. then i slowed waaay down to rest. i was going sooo slow but i was so happy to do it. runner guy suggested that my rest should last about 1/2 the time of my mile. my coach said to only do one lap, so that worked out to some slooow laps. it all worked well because by the time I started the 2nd one i was ready to go. once again, it look almost 1/2 lap to get to zn 4 but then i stuck there pretty well, hitting zn5 occasionally so I had to drop back. the sky was getting dark and it was starting to get a bit windy so I was getting concerned but i finished in 7:06. rest rest rest with a trip over to the water fountain. then off for the 3rd one. look me 1/2 lap to get to zn 4 but i don't think i ever hit zn 5 this time around. the middle two laps were super windy, the one time on the straight away i was convinced i wasn't moving anywhere. but the laps still went by quickly and i was done in 7:09. rest rest rest and the thought of asking eric to come pick me up crossed my mind. i was shot and my legs and knees hurt. but i headed home and i felt pretty good. funny thing is that the whole thing took 1:00:35 and i went 7.00 miles. how'd that work out so well?
friday's swim went well although we did sprints. when i told the swimmer guy at work that we were doing 75yd sprints he looked at me funny and said that sprints are normally like 25yd. well, we were doing 75 and i was dying. i was a little frustrated because i had counted up my yardage and thought I had only done 1900 and was totally beat. but when i finally got to write it all down it came in at 2400 so i felt way better.
and NOW its saturday, SUNNY and eric and i are heading out mtn biking later today!
Friday, May 01, 2009
whole freaking thank goodness its friday
and damn this beer tastes good. i haven't had a beer in probably a month. ok, thats exagerating a bit but its been a while.
where did i leave off. i have been busy. not so sure about the whole training thing. i know i am tired and i have been training hard but at the same time since the volume seems so low i wonder what the heck. after the only soso swim i sent my coach an email telling her i was a little discouraged blah blah blah. she was just like, why, that doesn't make sense. i got over it and had a great run on tuesday and hr at 8:31 with 1' in the mid 6's and 5x4s starting at 7:42!! but going up to 8:25 on the way back while I was all running into the wind. still i was pretty stokes. wednesday i did the mtn bike race and had a TON OF FUN. i had woken up really really tired so i only did a 1500y swim. i was dragging. i was worried how the race would go but it was awesome. i was riding so well, even hanging onto the men for a bit. i was so stoked. thursday was a rest day thank the goodness since i needed it but really i didn't get much rest out of it. i was stressed all week about work. not the work week we were in but the work week we were headed to, so i think it was affecting everything and making me more tired. friday i woke up t swim and was so tired i could barely stand it. so i went back to bed. in a few hours i woke up again, emailed into work and then went back to bed. i stayed in bed until 2pm. not all of it was sleeping, some was just laying there looking out the window watching the pollin fly through the air but all of it was relaxing, or at least trying to. around 2pm i got up and went outside with eric and the kids. it was warm and sunny so i layed down on the driveway and just layed there for prolly another hour or hour and 1/2. i send a note to my coach that i slept through the swim and i would go later. 8pm to be exact since lap swim is so freaking late. she asked if i needed a workout and i said no i had one unless (mistake #1) she had one she would like me to do. so she sent me a 2200yd workout and wanted me to time my repeats and what not. i said that was do-able. a little later she emailed again asking if i normally did around 2000yd to which i replied (mistake #2) well actually we normally do 2400-2500 but as much as 3000 to which she replied wit ok, good, go ahead and add another 400. doh!! but i was ok with that. xtie met me at the pool on mercer island and we got swimming. the pool seemed loooong. i was happy with my times, although they weren't super long.the 400s were just under 7', the 200s just over 4' and the 100s around 1:55 but i was taking a ton of rest. i was convinced that the pool was in meters but two different life guards said it was yards. i got home at what felt like midnight.
saturday we loaded up the kids and the car and headed to ephrata for a bike race. as soon as we got there i did a lap of the coarse followed by a 30minute run. i missed a turn and spent about 4 miles on a gravel road, with about 2 of those miles into a crazy ass headwind. once on the single track it was pretty fun until i got to the total sketchy parts. the parts where the trail was like 6inches wide, off camber and the one side dropping off a total cliff. yeah and then it started to rain and i was pretty positive there was going to be a flash flood right there on that mtn side and i was going to drown out there by myself. luckily i managed to get myself back to where eric and the kids were and i headed out on my 30 minutes zn2-3 run. i managed 8:17 pace at the very bottom of zn3 so i was pretty stoked.
then the kids did a kids race
and we watched eric race short track and finish in a very awesome 4th. back to the hotel and then up early the next morning. i had a rest day!! which involved some hiking around with the kids and watching them play at the park. 
it also involved a super crappy food day, OMG its amazing that i am even alive. check this out:Breakfast: Sausage McMuffin with Egg - McDonalds #1
Breakfast : walmart donut from the hotel's "continental" breakfast
Lunch: Oreo McFlurry - McDonalds #2
Lunch: Whopper Jr - Burger King
Snack: Pecan Cluster Blizzard - Dairy Queen
Dinner: spagetti - made by eric, OMG real food!!! what a day
monday was the start of REST WEEK which was good because it was also the start of HELL WEEK at work. i slept through swimming AGAIN so i went to the redmond pool at 8pm. and OMG i will never do that again. i was only supposed to do 1/2hr which is all i did. the floor in the locker room was sopping wet and there was a weird grey gooey film in the corners. gross!! i got changed and headed to the pool. there must have been 50 people there on a monday night at 8pm. wtf!! most were in the shallow area for public swim but there were prolly 15 or so in the deep end doing water arobics and boy can they get the waves going! other than the fact that i could see the bottom, i may have well been in open water. nutty. i was in my own lane for a long time until i got to the deep end and as I was grabbing the wall to turn around, and older, heavier lady in a really skimpy swim suit jumped over me and totally cannon balled right in front of me!!! and then what I imagined was her daughter pushed off and the two of them swam down my lane side by side. i hung on in disbeleif. when they got to the other end they turned around and headed back, side by side again. i was so confused. so i moved over two lanes and swam with some dude. when i went to the locker room, i hung my towl on one of the hooks and went to take a prison shower. a lady and her teenage daugheter both came in and hung their wet ass shit on the hooks on either side of my towl when there were probably 10 other empty hooks further away. they then each went into the bathroom stalls to change their clothes. i don't think i will go back there.
tuesday was an easy zn 1 run, wedensday i finally got my ass out of bed to get to masters and had an ok swim. thursyda was my birthday which i totally kept a secret from the people at work but the kids had a suprise bday party for me at home and then a luna triathlete sack person bday cake. so fun! today i had an awesome swim hitting 1:40s for my 100s and :20s for 25s! i couldn't beleive it. makes me think that the people at mercer island don't know how long their pool is. then i had a busy but good day at work. i gave a good presentation and it was warm and sunny. ah and now i had some birthday cake, drank a beer and amd chilling in my brand new snuggie with the kids. i do have the jaw pain though, it got really bad yesterday and today, i think an affect of the stress, but hopefully it will go away and won't last the two months it did last time.
i have a pre-ride tomorrow, and am assisting at a swim clinic and then a mtn bike race on sunday followed by a 30 minute zn3-4 run! yikes!! thats going to be exciting!
Monday, April 20, 2009
oh and i forgot
i got up to go swimming today. i thought about using my new found wisdom and just get back in bed but think that i shouldn't confuse lazyness with wisdom. there might be a fine line there.
i have been thinking the hamburger suit might be cursed. i haven't ever had a good swim while wearing it. i wore it this morning and yeah, it might be cursed.
the coach put the warm up on the board. it wasn't the normal warm of so i accidentally did an extra 100 before i caught on for a total of 900 yards, should have been only 800. while we were all doing the warm up he put the next set up - 6x50 build then 4x100 (anything but free) of which he had me do only 2x100 because i am slower and was falling behind. granted some of my falling behind was due to him stopping me and giving me some pointers. then came the next set, the one he didn't put on the board. 3x500 with the 3rd one being timed. i did the first 500 and thought i was going to die. my arms were so tired and it was just really freaking hard. and my time, good lord my time was terrible. it was 30 seconds slower than the timed 500 i did in january and over a minute slower that my pace for the timed 1000 i just did a few weeks ago. i wasn't so happy with that and blamed it on the hamburger suit.
so i rested and then set off again. this time i took it easy and just swam. every 3rd length i did the breast stroke and my arms were not as tired. this time i finished over 1 minute faster than the previous to which the coach agreed was more likely and much more inline with the people i normally swim with. we determined that i must have mis counted the first one and done an extra 50 or something. i hope that is the case and not that i mis counted the 2nd and did 50 too few, that would blow. i opted out of the 3rd one but did a quick 200 to finish up. i was beat. swimming is hard and i was a littl discouraged today.
i have been thinking the hamburger suit might be cursed. i haven't ever had a good swim while wearing it. i wore it this morning and yeah, it might be cursed.
the coach put the warm up on the board. it wasn't the normal warm of so i accidentally did an extra 100 before i caught on for a total of 900 yards, should have been only 800. while we were all doing the warm up he put the next set up - 6x50 build then 4x100 (anything but free) of which he had me do only 2x100 because i am slower and was falling behind. granted some of my falling behind was due to him stopping me and giving me some pointers. then came the next set, the one he didn't put on the board. 3x500 with the 3rd one being timed. i did the first 500 and thought i was going to die. my arms were so tired and it was just really freaking hard. and my time, good lord my time was terrible. it was 30 seconds slower than the timed 500 i did in january and over a minute slower that my pace for the timed 1000 i just did a few weeks ago. i wasn't so happy with that and blamed it on the hamburger suit.
so i rested and then set off again. this time i took it easy and just swam. every 3rd length i did the breast stroke and my arms were not as tired. this time i finished over 1 minute faster than the previous to which the coach agreed was more likely and much more inline with the people i normally swim with. we determined that i must have mis counted the first one and done an extra 50 or something. i hope that is the case and not that i mis counted the 2nd and did 50 too few, that would blow. i opted out of the 3rd one but did a quick 200 to finish up. i was beat. swimming is hard and i was a littl discouraged today.
another week down
the day after the race i was pretty tired. i didn't realize it until i got to work and had to walk up the steps. on tuesday i had weights that went pretty well, and then a zn2 ride with the 3x8minute zn3s and 15 second sprints. that went pretty well except the first 20 minutes i couldn't get into zn2. it was the hardest thing to do ever. eventually i got there and the zn3 stuff was cake, plus i got to watch nip/tuck so i was happy.
wedesday i swam in the morning. i don't remember much about it and i forgot to do my core workout. i thought about it all day adn all evening while i was watching america's next top model and beverly hills 90210. OMG tori spelling as donna is so beleivable as a high fashion designer in japan.
thursday morning were weights which were fine and then a 1hr run with 3x8zn3, plus 1minute accelerations and 1minute rest. damn, that was fun. i even dropped eric! He;s been working pretty hard and he got a side cramp, but i just kept going. i was happy to see that my 1 minutes were averaging 6:33 which is super fast for me!
friday i woke up at 5 to go swimming but it was raining and had been all night so i went back to bed. :) my coach told me she was happy i was showing wisdom in listening to my body and resting when i needed it! hooray! those two extra hours of sleep did a ton of good though, that is for sure. i met up with leslie at gold's gym to swim later that evening. their's is a salt water pool and damn it was salty. it was a meter pool too and the water seemed all thick and weird. i didn't like it so much but i liked swimming with leslie and i was happy to get the workout in.
saturday we headed to port gamble. we hopped on the ferry and drove to the race site just as the race was starting. i wasn't racing but i got ready to go and noticed my handlebars were totally crooked. i wondered if they had been like that for my whole race last weekend? anyway, eric fixed them right up and i headed out. WOW! what a fun place to ride!! there was a really long road climb but really that wasn't too bad but the first bit of single track made up for all the road. it was twisty adn turny and tight and bumpy adn fun. it was uphill and there were somw switchbacks and i rode the whole thing! the coarse went through so many different types of landscapes that it reminded me of why washington is so awesome.
an 1:48 after i was back at the start, i changed into my running gear and headed out on a zn2-3 30 minute run. i was out on the road and it was way hillier than i would have liked but i was happy to see that i was just at the very bottom of zn3 but managed 8:16 pace. hooray! when i got back eric was headed out on his race and the kids just had a ton of fun playing. they were running all over and chansing some older girls that were there. they played monkey in the middle and chicken and it was just so fun to watch them have so much fun.
sunday the kids and i went for a walk to run some errands. eric was out riding but met up with us on the way home. then i went out for 1:30 zn 1 on the bike. it was supposedly 70 degrees out but i was wearing arm warmers and a vest. still, no complaints. we had dinner out on the deck which was pushing it because it really wasn't that warm but still it was nice to be out there. the kids played non stop.
there is a mystery watch alarm that goes off randomly in the middle of the night and its driving me crazy. it went off last night at 12:30. grr.
wedesday i swam in the morning. i don't remember much about it and i forgot to do my core workout. i thought about it all day adn all evening while i was watching america's next top model and beverly hills 90210. OMG tori spelling as donna is so beleivable as a high fashion designer in japan.
thursday morning were weights which were fine and then a 1hr run with 3x8zn3, plus 1minute accelerations and 1minute rest. damn, that was fun. i even dropped eric! He;s been working pretty hard and he got a side cramp, but i just kept going. i was happy to see that my 1 minutes were averaging 6:33 which is super fast for me!
friday i woke up at 5 to go swimming but it was raining and had been all night so i went back to bed. :) my coach told me she was happy i was showing wisdom in listening to my body and resting when i needed it! hooray! those two extra hours of sleep did a ton of good though, that is for sure. i met up with leslie at gold's gym to swim later that evening. their's is a salt water pool and damn it was salty. it was a meter pool too and the water seemed all thick and weird. i didn't like it so much but i liked swimming with leslie and i was happy to get the workout in.
saturday we headed to port gamble. we hopped on the ferry and drove to the race site just as the race was starting. i wasn't racing but i got ready to go and noticed my handlebars were totally crooked. i wondered if they had been like that for my whole race last weekend? anyway, eric fixed them right up and i headed out. WOW! what a fun place to ride!! there was a really long road climb but really that wasn't too bad but the first bit of single track made up for all the road. it was twisty adn turny and tight and bumpy adn fun. it was uphill and there were somw switchbacks and i rode the whole thing! the coarse went through so many different types of landscapes that it reminded me of why washington is so awesome.
an 1:48 after i was back at the start, i changed into my running gear and headed out on a zn2-3 30 minute run. i was out on the road and it was way hillier than i would have liked but i was happy to see that i was just at the very bottom of zn3 but managed 8:16 pace. hooray! when i got back eric was headed out on his race and the kids just had a ton of fun playing. they were running all over and chansing some older girls that were there. they played monkey in the middle and chicken and it was just so fun to watch them have so much fun.
sunday the kids and i went for a walk to run some errands. eric was out riding but met up with us on the way home. then i went out for 1:30 zn 1 on the bike. it was supposedly 70 degrees out but i was wearing arm warmers and a vest. still, no complaints. we had dinner out on the deck which was pushing it because it really wasn't that warm but still it was nice to be out there. the kids played non stop.
there is a mystery watch alarm that goes off randomly in the middle of the night and its driving me crazy. it went off last night at 12:30. grr.
Monday, April 13, 2009
race #1
i have been sick for a few weeks and one some antibiotcs. because of this my coach has had m taking it easy sort of. which was kind of funny since kind of easy somehow translated into 12 days in a row with no rest day and 11hr workout weeks, but who's counting! but really other than the general assness i was feeling, i felt great!
i ended the antibiotics on thursday. saturday i went over to pre-ride the race course. i was to do 1:30 with 20' warm up, 10' zn3, 4x2' zn 4 with recover between and then 20' zn 2, followed but just riding along the rest of the time. so i was not able to accomplish this since i was either in zone 4 or zone 1. i later found out that this was ok, the point was to make sure i got up to zone 4. sara met me 40 minutes in and we rode the coarse 2 more times. the coarse was fun but it was going to be hard. i was able to ride almost everything except the obvious run-up, a weird cinderblock turn thing and then a tight uphill switch back thing.
then i went home and stessed over it all.
all evening and all night long.
and all morning and early afternoon since the race didn't start until 12:45.
we packed up the car and left for the race site at 11. we got there at like 11:45 or so. i went and registered, chatted with a few people then dressed to pre-ride. it was raining and had been for a long time. about 20 seconds into the pre-ride i was having some serious doubt about the race because i was fish tailing all over the place and the mud was super deep. then 2 minutes in i totally crashed on a log i had cleared every time the day before. oooh, thats going to leave a mark, plus i was now covered with mud. i went and talked to some people, and we all comiserated about the mud. and i started to finally relax about the whole race situation.
we lined up at the start. there were 16 sport women, and like 5 open or experts. and we were off. peddle peddle peddle. i got in front of a few people before we headed into the first bit of single track and down the big hill with the drop offs then up the next pavement hill i passed a few more. i was working really hard. then i'm not exactly sure what happened. i played leap frog with a few girls here and there but eventually wound up infront of them. the mud was so thick. some of the girst were getting off and carrying their bike cyclocross sytle which seemed like a pretty good idea. i really wasn't able to ride up any of the short steep hills I had riddedn so many times the day before so I did a lot of running. going into one long gradual climb on of the girls dropped her gu and i passed and put a pretty good lead on her. until it was down the drop off again and bam, i had a flat. i stopped and waited for her to catch up, let her know i was out and then rode to find eric. he was like - well, fix it!! i was done, or so i thought. he ran and got the wheel off of his bike and through it on. i went back to where i had dropped out and got back in only to find out i got in at the wrong place. i had a big climb and the decent with the drop offs again. i managed to catch two girls and was eventually caught by the 1st place open woman. she and i chit chatted a bit and then she was off. the last lap i couldn't shift into my smal gear up front which made me sad. i realized this only after i had thought I shifted down at one hill, got off, ran to the top and then shifted back into the middle gear. i was riding along and really struggling when i found that i had gotten into my big ring! yikes, i dropped out of that quickly and rode the rest of the race in my middle ring.
i was having a lot of fun and having gotten the flat gave me extra opportunity to go hard but relax and just ride. i wound up finishing 8th/13 in my age group which i was happy with and 11/16 overall. ok, so i probably cheated with the whole wheel swap thing but i don't know if anyone is counting with the whole 8th place. if so i'll gladly give it up to a DQ or whatever. :)
but most of all i was pretty happy that i rode as well as I did and was as strong as i was. i had no idea i would be so far up before flatting. i feel i probably would have been able to hold 2nd for that last 1.5 laps. so i am pretty stoked to see what happens at the next race.
i did get today off to rest and then i start with some intervals tomorrow and through the rest of the week. i am excited to see where this season is headed!!
after i was done i changed in someone's butthutt and then changed the kids since their clothes were soaked and muddy. eric's race started and the kids and i went hiking to find a good place to watch. there wasn't really anywhere good to watch since it was non stop torrential downpour but ya know. we did walk up by the rugby field that had a sand track around it. seamus asked how far it was around and then said she wanted to run it. so she did. 3 times. she looked so tiny waaaay out there on the other side with her green puffy coat, her pink hello kitty hat and her pink puddle boots just running running running. i don't know about her sometimes.
we were DRENCHED. i decided eric's race was far enough along that we were going to get in the car and hang out. i took the kids boots, coats, sweatshirts and pants off so they were playing in the car in t-shirts and underpants. the last bit of oraganizing i did was in a complete monsoon and i jumped in the car still in my coat which brought a huge puddle to the front seat. i took my drenched coat off and sat on my vest to sop up the wet.
we could see eric every once in a while while we sat in the warm stuffy stinky car listening the mama mia sound track. sara came and hung out with us some, too which was fun. and then eric's race was finally done! he came in 3rd which was impressive since the monsoon hit while he was out there any many people bailed due to mechanicals or just because the conditions were so terrible. i was proud of him!
it was a good race!
then we stopped at BK and i had the best tasting whopper EVER.
i ended the antibiotics on thursday. saturday i went over to pre-ride the race course. i was to do 1:30 with 20' warm up, 10' zn3, 4x2' zn 4 with recover between and then 20' zn 2, followed but just riding along the rest of the time. so i was not able to accomplish this since i was either in zone 4 or zone 1. i later found out that this was ok, the point was to make sure i got up to zone 4. sara met me 40 minutes in and we rode the coarse 2 more times. the coarse was fun but it was going to be hard. i was able to ride almost everything except the obvious run-up, a weird cinderblock turn thing and then a tight uphill switch back thing.
then i went home and stessed over it all.
all evening and all night long.
and all morning and early afternoon since the race didn't start until 12:45.
we packed up the car and left for the race site at 11. we got there at like 11:45 or so. i went and registered, chatted with a few people then dressed to pre-ride. it was raining and had been for a long time. about 20 seconds into the pre-ride i was having some serious doubt about the race because i was fish tailing all over the place and the mud was super deep. then 2 minutes in i totally crashed on a log i had cleared every time the day before. oooh, thats going to leave a mark, plus i was now covered with mud. i went and talked to some people, and we all comiserated about the mud. and i started to finally relax about the whole race situation.
we lined up at the start. there were 16 sport women, and like 5 open or experts. and we were off. peddle peddle peddle. i got in front of a few people before we headed into the first bit of single track and down the big hill with the drop offs then up the next pavement hill i passed a few more. i was working really hard. then i'm not exactly sure what happened. i played leap frog with a few girls here and there but eventually wound up infront of them. the mud was so thick. some of the girst were getting off and carrying their bike cyclocross sytle which seemed like a pretty good idea. i really wasn't able to ride up any of the short steep hills I had riddedn so many times the day before so I did a lot of running. going into one long gradual climb on of the girls dropped her gu and i passed and put a pretty good lead on her. until it was down the drop off again and bam, i had a flat. i stopped and waited for her to catch up, let her know i was out and then rode to find eric. he was like - well, fix it!! i was done, or so i thought. he ran and got the wheel off of his bike and through it on. i went back to where i had dropped out and got back in only to find out i got in at the wrong place. i had a big climb and the decent with the drop offs again. i managed to catch two girls and was eventually caught by the 1st place open woman. she and i chit chatted a bit and then she was off. the last lap i couldn't shift into my smal gear up front which made me sad. i realized this only after i had thought I shifted down at one hill, got off, ran to the top and then shifted back into the middle gear. i was riding along and really struggling when i found that i had gotten into my big ring! yikes, i dropped out of that quickly and rode the rest of the race in my middle ring.
i was having a lot of fun and having gotten the flat gave me extra opportunity to go hard but relax and just ride. i wound up finishing 8th/13 in my age group which i was happy with and 11/16 overall. ok, so i probably cheated with the whole wheel swap thing but i don't know if anyone is counting with the whole 8th place. if so i'll gladly give it up to a DQ or whatever. :)
but most of all i was pretty happy that i rode as well as I did and was as strong as i was. i had no idea i would be so far up before flatting. i feel i probably would have been able to hold 2nd for that last 1.5 laps. so i am pretty stoked to see what happens at the next race.
i did get today off to rest and then i start with some intervals tomorrow and through the rest of the week. i am excited to see where this season is headed!!
after i was done i changed in someone's butthutt and then changed the kids since their clothes were soaked and muddy. eric's race started and the kids and i went hiking to find a good place to watch. there wasn't really anywhere good to watch since it was non stop torrential downpour but ya know. we did walk up by the rugby field that had a sand track around it. seamus asked how far it was around and then said she wanted to run it. so she did. 3 times. she looked so tiny waaaay out there on the other side with her green puffy coat, her pink hello kitty hat and her pink puddle boots just running running running. i don't know about her sometimes.
we were DRENCHED. i decided eric's race was far enough along that we were going to get in the car and hang out. i took the kids boots, coats, sweatshirts and pants off so they were playing in the car in t-shirts and underpants. the last bit of oraganizing i did was in a complete monsoon and i jumped in the car still in my coat which brought a huge puddle to the front seat. i took my drenched coat off and sat on my vest to sop up the wet.
we could see eric every once in a while while we sat in the warm stuffy stinky car listening the mama mia sound track. sara came and hung out with us some, too which was fun. and then eric's race was finally done! he came in 3rd which was impressive since the monsoon hit while he was out there any many people bailed due to mechanicals or just because the conditions were so terrible. i was proud of him!
it was a good race!
then we stopped at BK and i had the best tasting whopper EVER.
Saturday, April 04, 2009
down hill
so its been sort of downhill lately. maybe? i think?
ever since i took that one long workout day off, i am not sure i have gotten my goove back. but maybe i have. i had been doing those crazy long ass weeks and i was doing great, then BAM, i got sick. i took that one day off even though i wasn't feeling terrible. but the sore throat was going and i kept coughing. but then it was on to rest week which i think was fine then on to the first week of the new phase, where i started with some zone 3 stuff. that was going well, i still had the sore throat but i went to the dr and he said he thot it was acid reflux but took the throat culture anyway. i did a 1:25 run on a tuesday! that was nutty but i headed out right from work and ran towards home. eric and the kids met me along the way and they didmy intervals with me. damn those were tough. apparently i was doing them right because i really didn't want to talk at all during each of them. i wasn't dying but i really wasn't amuzed either. heading out was into a head wind and heading back was all tail wind.
that week was the longest week ever because i was waiting to go to SF for the LUNA summit. i went last year and thot that was the greatest weekend ever but it was nothing compared to this time around. eric and the kids woke up friday morning with me at 430 to drop me off at the airport. they are so sweet to do that. the flight was uneventful although it was the first time i flew virgin and it was delux. i landed, got my suitcase and BIKE and next thing i knew allie was there in a giant white truck picking me up! it was so awesome to see her and she had cookies, too! i quickly chowed down two of the cookies and we headed out to do some shopping. allie is the all time best shopping partner. she will tell you flat out if something looks good or not. for instance, black tub socks do not look good with shorts. but no really, she tells it like it is. i wound up with some shorts that i like and she wound up with a green shirt and we split her coupon so that is abonus, too! then we went back to the airport to pick up her parents!! now, allie and i have known each other since i was 3, but we have always been essentially the same age. her parents have known me that entire time too and its funny to think that they have memories of me when i was little like that. anyway, we went for sushi and looked at ceramics and it was just fun. then to berkley for a while and then they dropped me off. i headed over to CLIF for the festivities to begin! all the pros were there this year which was so awesome. once again they are so amazing and i love to listen to how funny they are! we had dinner and learned about the Breast Cancer Fund and then we headed to our hotel.
i was totally freaking out at the prospect of the swim in the morning. yikes! we had some breakfast and then headed out to the sf bay. we got an awesome swim lesson from one of the pros and then we went in. yikes. it was damn cold. i didn't stay in the water for very long though. i had borrowed some awesome booties but also a neoprene hat that really messed with my ears and my neck. and i was wimpy.
back to the hotel and into the shower to get that nastyness off. then some hanging around off for some mtn biking. i was pretty nervous about going out but we started up on the road and kept going up and up on the road. eventually we got onto some trails but then wound up on a fire road for miles and miles and miles. and it was warm! i was happy that i was feeling good and able to keep up. then we went down! the descnet was so awesome! then we went back up!! this time it was steep and narrower and there were switch backs, but i managed to get up the whole thing and keep up! i was pleasantly surpised. then it was down again! the whole ride took about forever and i was tired by the end but it was a great confidence booster and the views were amazing. i guess we had gone up mt tamalpias?
then it was dinner and Q&A with the pros. then a totally stiff margarita to celebrate LaVonne's birthday! then i crashed out. next morning we got up, had breakfast and headed out for more mtn biking. this time it was a steeper more technical trail and we stopped to try a few obsticles. the first one we tried i managed ok. then we tired a trick switch back. i tried three times but couldn't even manage to get to the damn thing and would bail before i even got to it so i was discouraged. but the decent was fun and i was happy to have gone.
once we got back i took my bike apart and packed it up. then changed and had lunch. i had 3 - 1/2 sandwiches because i was starving. then allie came and we ran out to stenson beach. it was hot which i was loving and we had a great run. i was pretty tired by the end but so happy to do it. allie took me back to her house to hang out with her family and parents again, and i had the chance to organize my suitcase and rest a little on the couch. allie's mom made us lamb which was a childhood treat when ihad dinner at their house and then allie took me to the airport. i checked in and then waited. and waited and waited. he flight was totally delayed. wehn i finally landed eric was there and the kids were totally passed out. he had tried to keep the kids awake - seamus made it all the way to 11 and told eric how she had never been awake that late before!
monday at work i moved into my new office which i was happy about because my old office had ants in it but my mid day i was feeling like ASS. i had really started coughing and sneezing and yuck. my coach had given me monday as a rest day and once i told her about how terrible i was feeling, i got tuesday off, too. wednesday i did an easy spin on the trainer ( and watched some nip/tuck) and then some stretching and core work. i bailed on swimming since i still felt bad. thursday was a zn1 run and some plyometrics? and some power cleans? i am so weak the bar was too heavy. there are no other options, but i did try using the lat pull down bar which alowed me to have my hands far enough apart but i almost scraped my face off with the part that you clip onto so i didn't continue with that.
friday i went swiming but it was hard and the coach was just like what the hell when he saw me swimming in the indoor pool but it was damn cold and snowing and i knew the water was going to be cold. and i was sore. way sore from the weights.
i'll tell about today's awesome mtn bike ride later! it was totally fun!
ever since i took that one long workout day off, i am not sure i have gotten my goove back. but maybe i have. i had been doing those crazy long ass weeks and i was doing great, then BAM, i got sick. i took that one day off even though i wasn't feeling terrible. but the sore throat was going and i kept coughing. but then it was on to rest week which i think was fine then on to the first week of the new phase, where i started with some zone 3 stuff. that was going well, i still had the sore throat but i went to the dr and he said he thot it was acid reflux but took the throat culture anyway. i did a 1:25 run on a tuesday! that was nutty but i headed out right from work and ran towards home. eric and the kids met me along the way and they didmy intervals with me. damn those were tough. apparently i was doing them right because i really didn't want to talk at all during each of them. i wasn't dying but i really wasn't amuzed either. heading out was into a head wind and heading back was all tail wind.
that week was the longest week ever because i was waiting to go to SF for the LUNA summit. i went last year and thot that was the greatest weekend ever but it was nothing compared to this time around. eric and the kids woke up friday morning with me at 430 to drop me off at the airport. they are so sweet to do that. the flight was uneventful although it was the first time i flew virgin and it was delux. i landed, got my suitcase and BIKE and next thing i knew allie was there in a giant white truck picking me up! it was so awesome to see her and she had cookies, too! i quickly chowed down two of the cookies and we headed out to do some shopping. allie is the all time best shopping partner. she will tell you flat out if something looks good or not. for instance, black tub socks do not look good with shorts. but no really, she tells it like it is. i wound up with some shorts that i like and she wound up with a green shirt and we split her coupon so that is abonus, too! then we went back to the airport to pick up her parents!! now, allie and i have known each other since i was 3, but we have always been essentially the same age. her parents have known me that entire time too and its funny to think that they have memories of me when i was little like that. anyway, we went for sushi and looked at ceramics and it was just fun. then to berkley for a while and then they dropped me off. i headed over to CLIF for the festivities to begin! all the pros were there this year which was so awesome. once again they are so amazing and i love to listen to how funny they are! we had dinner and learned about the Breast Cancer Fund and then we headed to our hotel.
i was totally freaking out at the prospect of the swim in the morning. yikes! we had some breakfast and then headed out to the sf bay. we got an awesome swim lesson from one of the pros and then we went in. yikes. it was damn cold. i didn't stay in the water for very long though. i had borrowed some awesome booties but also a neoprene hat that really messed with my ears and my neck. and i was wimpy.
back to the hotel and into the shower to get that nastyness off. then some hanging around off for some mtn biking. i was pretty nervous about going out but we started up on the road and kept going up and up on the road. eventually we got onto some trails but then wound up on a fire road for miles and miles and miles. and it was warm! i was happy that i was feeling good and able to keep up. then we went down! the descnet was so awesome! then we went back up!! this time it was steep and narrower and there were switch backs, but i managed to get up the whole thing and keep up! i was pleasantly surpised. then it was down again! the whole ride took about forever and i was tired by the end but it was a great confidence booster and the views were amazing. i guess we had gone up mt tamalpias?
then it was dinner and Q&A with the pros. then a totally stiff margarita to celebrate LaVonne's birthday! then i crashed out. next morning we got up, had breakfast and headed out for more mtn biking. this time it was a steeper more technical trail and we stopped to try a few obsticles. the first one we tried i managed ok. then we tired a trick switch back. i tried three times but couldn't even manage to get to the damn thing and would bail before i even got to it so i was discouraged. but the decent was fun and i was happy to have gone.
once we got back i took my bike apart and packed it up. then changed and had lunch. i had 3 - 1/2 sandwiches because i was starving. then allie came and we ran out to stenson beach. it was hot which i was loving and we had a great run. i was pretty tired by the end but so happy to do it. allie took me back to her house to hang out with her family and parents again, and i had the chance to organize my suitcase and rest a little on the couch. allie's mom made us lamb which was a childhood treat when ihad dinner at their house and then allie took me to the airport. i checked in and then waited. and waited and waited. he flight was totally delayed. wehn i finally landed eric was there and the kids were totally passed out. he had tried to keep the kids awake - seamus made it all the way to 11 and told eric how she had never been awake that late before!
monday at work i moved into my new office which i was happy about because my old office had ants in it but my mid day i was feeling like ASS. i had really started coughing and sneezing and yuck. my coach had given me monday as a rest day and once i told her about how terrible i was feeling, i got tuesday off, too. wednesday i did an easy spin on the trainer ( and watched some nip/tuck) and then some stretching and core work. i bailed on swimming since i still felt bad. thursday was a zn1 run and some plyometrics? and some power cleans? i am so weak the bar was too heavy. there are no other options, but i did try using the lat pull down bar which alowed me to have my hands far enough apart but i almost scraped my face off with the part that you clip onto so i didn't continue with that.
friday i went swiming but it was hard and the coach was just like what the hell when he saw me swimming in the indoor pool but it was damn cold and snowing and i knew the water was going to be cold. and i was sore. way sore from the weights.
i'll tell about today's awesome mtn bike ride later! it was totally fun!
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
awesomest weekend ever
followed by total sickness and self medicating with pizza and girl scout cookies...
Thursday, March 19, 2009
not so sure
i showed this photo to seamus.
she laughed and said it was a silly photo. i told her it was me and she said no it wasn't. i told her again that it was to which she said again it wasn't. then i asked her how she could tell it wasn't me. she looked and looked and thought about it and finally said, there is no watch in that picture. ... apparently, this is what i look like.
but duuuuude i have been packing on the pounds this past week. its been so bad. it started with thursday night going out to dinner and CHOWING down followed by out to dinner friday night where i CHOWED down again. we went to our neighborhood mexican resturant where they have the best ever tortilla soup which is what i normally get but noooo, i had to get the giant carne asada and chile relleno and i CHOWED down. then i followed that up with GIANT CHINESE dinner outtting on saturday where there was loots and loots of beer consumption and CHOWING down. out of control and that mixed with being sick mixed with missing some workouts due to sickness and weather ala crap, mixed with this being a rest week has all resulted in MASSIVE WEIGHT GAIN which totally bums me out but i am non stop STARVING.
poor sirus totally threw up at dinner tonight. i wasn't home yet but apparently he was at the dinner table eating dinner and then out it came. when i came home little guy was laying on the floor cuddle in pillows and a blanket. now he is up being all crazy but he was sick just then for a little.
i have a 1000 yard swim TT tomorrow. i told my coach i was a bit freaked out about it and she said she was glad to hear that since that would mean i am taking it seriously! i still have my sore throat but i hope it doesn't affect my time. i went swimming on wednesday and my shoulder seemed to be ok, but the throat, i just don't know what to do about that.
she laughed and said it was a silly photo. i told her it was me and she said no it wasn't. i told her again that it was to which she said again it wasn't. then i asked her how she could tell it wasn't me. she looked and looked and thought about it and finally said, there is no watch in that picture. ... apparently, this is what i look like.but duuuuude i have been packing on the pounds this past week. its been so bad. it started with thursday night going out to dinner and CHOWING down followed by out to dinner friday night where i CHOWED down again. we went to our neighborhood mexican resturant where they have the best ever tortilla soup which is what i normally get but noooo, i had to get the giant carne asada and chile relleno and i CHOWED down. then i followed that up with GIANT CHINESE dinner outtting on saturday where there was loots and loots of beer consumption and CHOWING down. out of control and that mixed with being sick mixed with missing some workouts due to sickness and weather ala crap, mixed with this being a rest week has all resulted in MASSIVE WEIGHT GAIN which totally bums me out but i am non stop STARVING.
poor sirus totally threw up at dinner tonight. i wasn't home yet but apparently he was at the dinner table eating dinner and then out it came. when i came home little guy was laying on the floor cuddle in pillows and a blanket. now he is up being all crazy but he was sick just then for a little.
i have a 1000 yard swim TT tomorrow. i told my coach i was a bit freaked out about it and she said she was glad to hear that since that would mean i am taking it seriously! i still have my sore throat but i hope it doesn't affect my time. i went swimming on wednesday and my shoulder seemed to be ok, but the throat, i just don't know what to do about that.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
blowing mc blowerstien
so here is the deal. last week was a record week, but then this week was a record breaking week. over 22 miles of running, over 103 miles on the bike, but i think only 2.6 miles swimming, but still it was a good week. i skipped out on friday's swim since i have been kind of sick and i cut the bike ride on friday short by 15 minutes, too. throat is sore, there has been some coughing, what the hell and then the super what the hell my shoulder has been hurting. my left shoulder has always kind of hurt even with the tiny bit of swimming i had done last year it would hurt. when i met with the swim coach she helped me learn to rotate more and keep my stroke infront and that seemed to help then i think i slept wrong or something on it and now its been hurting all the time. it felt fine on saturday but then today its been killing me. i think carrying sirus around this morning didn't help it. my coach suggests that i need to stretch out my pecks and some other things and maybe that will help, damn i hope so. i think eric is just sabotaging me since i told him i might wind up beating him out of the water. here is a photo of where it hurts:
but gosh i hope it gets better soon. i took today off and then i'm not going to swim again until wednesday. then she is going to have me do another 1000y tt on friday!! yikes!eric did a 5k race on saturday. his first ever that wasn't at the end of a triathlon or while pushing kids in the stroller. he did great. he was 11th overall which was his bib number, too. but then he came in 2nd in his age group! this was his benchmark race so now he is thinking he might do some running training and see what happens!
the kids did the kids 1k race and wow!! they were both kind of freaked out when i told them i registered them. seamus was worried it was going to be a full 5k like the last one she did and was happy to hear it was only 1k since 5ks is a lot of ks. sirus was worried because he said he wouldn't be able to keep up with seamus but i told him it was ok and that i would run with him. but wow! he ran super fast for quite a while!! he was booking, i hadn't ever seen him run so fast but then he said his tummy was starting to hurt so we slowed it down and eventually we walked. he did run accross the finish like. he got a medal, too.
it was his first one ever. he had gotten ribbons before but this was his first medal and boy was he proud. seamus had gotten medals for her triathlons and she was happy to get one for this race but sirus was so excited and wore his all day. today we picked up a desk for sirus's room.
we figured that maybe if he had his own desk he would start to draw some more or somethin. he was very excited and was more happy to have someplace else to drive his cars and trains...today i had alreayd decided i wouldn't ride but then when i woke up it was snowing followed by torrential rain storm followed by sun and wind storm followed by hail followed by rain followed by snow, repeat, etc.
Saturday, March 07, 2009
snow and hail
i liked swimming wednesday morning, ok the actual swimming was COLD but i liked it because it gave me the rest of the day to rest and then thursday was my actual rest day. friday morning i had thought that i would take it easy on the swim. i woke up and got myself there. it was 26 degrees out. i was freaking out because i didn't want the water to be like on wednesday. on the way to the pool i mentioned my concerns to one of the other ladies and she said that was very unusual to have it be so cold. i walked out side into the 26 degree weather in just a swimsuit and went over to the water. it felt nice. i got in and it was actually quite nice, thank goodness. i did my warm up and then started the actual warm up set. the coach guy was standing there looking like he was freezing - no hat, i don't think he had gloves. we did a kick drill with kickboards. he handed one to me and it was covered in ice. next thing you know i had completed 3000 yards. thats was more then i was planning for this "take it easy while swimming" day. the coach noticed that i am doing a way better job rotating, which i felt like i was totally getting down and i swam for a few hundred yards breathing out the left side. it made me a little dizzy but i didn't drown like has normally been the case. we did a bunch of backstroke which was kind of fun. except i smashed my toe on the plastic rope thing. later in the day i discovered i had smashed my hand into the rope, too because not only is my toe all bruised but my hand is all bruised and it looks like it was in a fight. real wierd. there is a little old man who comes to swim as we are finishing up. he wears a speedo and i always talk to him a little bit. friday morning he sat on the edge of the pool and said "nice water and pretty girls, what more could anyone ask for" or something like that. when i got out, my flip flops were covered in ice. that was a weird sensation.
when i got home i got on the trainer for 1:45. and then, eric made stuffed burges for dinner and i had 1.5 of them. totally delish.
today i went for a trail run. totally fun but my hand froze. i had no idea they were frozen until i went to get in my car and i had a tough time dealing with my keys. i had to stop for gas but couldn't get my credit card out of my wallet. because of this and the fact that it is pouring down a combination of slush, hail & rain, I am resolving to the fact that I will ride the trainer tomorrow. for 3 hrs.
this week was a record traning week. I finished up with 19.47 miles running. Its killing me that I didn't get to 20. Had i run on the road today I would have been over 20 for sure. I finished up with 98.94 on the bike. Grr, this kills me too, but i have no real reasons why i didn't make 100, but 98.94 is still a damn lot. I also finished up with a record 4.66 miles in the pool which is absolutly amazing and probably my greatest feat ever!!
the kids are amazingly adorable. seamus & sirus had a few sleepovers this week. they just get in their sleeping bags and crawl into bed. they are so good. seamus had school photos this week, too! can't wait to see them!
when i got home i got on the trainer for 1:45. and then, eric made stuffed burges for dinner and i had 1.5 of them. totally delish.today i went for a trail run. totally fun but my hand froze. i had no idea they were frozen until i went to get in my car and i had a tough time dealing with my keys. i had to stop for gas but couldn't get my credit card out of my wallet. because of this and the fact that it is pouring down a combination of slush, hail & rain, I am resolving to the fact that I will ride the trainer tomorrow. for 3 hrs.
this week was a record traning week. I finished up with 19.47 miles running. Its killing me that I didn't get to 20. Had i run on the road today I would have been over 20 for sure. I finished up with 98.94 on the bike. Grr, this kills me too, but i have no real reasons why i didn't make 100, but 98.94 is still a damn lot. I also finished up with a record 4.66 miles in the pool which is absolutly amazing and probably my greatest feat ever!!
the kids are amazingly adorable. seamus & sirus had a few sleepovers this week. they just get in their sleeping bags and crawl into bed. they are so good. seamus had school photos this week, too! can't wait to see them!
Wednesday, March 04, 2009
those jeans
i took them back. not only that but i wound up getting a pair of shoes, a shirt and a different pair of pants for less then 1/2 of their cost, so i was pretty darn happy. the pants i did get are less hoochy and eric only went "eh" to them, but i like them and they are a little bit more my age i think.
lsat night the kids were being funny. i was chowing down on a bowl of frosted mini wheats mixed with frosted flakes because as is many times the case lately i was STARVING and the kids were eating their raviolis and peas and carrots. sirus decided he wanted to put in his cup of milk and fish them out with a spoon. i said nothing since i needed a refill on the cereal. seamus went and stood next to him and he would scoop them out and feed them to her and say " here you go princess" and then he would take a turn. it was pretty cute.
training has been going well. i switched pool. today was my second day at the new pool - and OUTDOOR pool in washington in march. yes it was damn cold. monday wasn't so bad, it was like 51 when i got there and the water seemed fine. today it was like 37 when i got there and the water did not feel fine at all. the other ppl said that the heat must have shut off over night or something since it was way colder then normal. i contemplated that maybe this swimming thing was not for me but instead decided that it will just make me better prepared for ice cold race day water. it took a few hundred yards to warm up but it was good. part of the main set was a IM where we were to do 50 butterfly, 50 back, 50 breast and then 50 free. i told the coach i was going to do a different stroke for butterfly and he said ok. but then a set or two down the road it turned into the same thing but 100s. this time the coach told me i had to do the butterfly. yeah, not only that but he walked the length of the pool deck beside me making sure i was doing it! he said i did ok but needed to work on the kick. he said by the end of the length i was starting to get it which is funny because i thought that was when i started to drown.
new pool arrangement is way less expensive then the other. i was paying $15 a pop and going twice a week (i could have joined the club for $130 a month but i would have only used it to swim, so drop in was more flexible). but for that i got salt water pool 8 minutes from my house. now i am paying $55 for 4 weeks, up to 3x a week. i thought it was way far away but really its only about 20 minutes from the house and only then about 15 or so to work after. when i told my xterra coach that i could now go M-W-F, please pick which days you want me to go she replied with go all 3. I did not expect that but i am going to try. it will make me a better swimmer, i am so going to kick some ass this year. i hope.
i'm in a high volume week. i have one more next week then a rest week. but this week will wind up with a little over 4 miles of swimming, 100 miles on the bike and 20 miles of running, and hot damn, i feel awesome. that is the part that is amazing to me. i feel damn good. a little tired but totally awesome.
last week though was a different story. i went on the 5 pool tour and wound up with some issues. i had been a little sick, which corresponded with my last rest week which corresponded with eric's bday and some after work - work commitments. then the next week i was feeling better, like i thot prolly 90-95% until i went swimming at the club i had been going to. i started coughing and coughing like crazy, my chest was tight, and i had to drop to the back of the slow group. i wasn't sure i'd make it through the workout. i covered the distance but i just couldn't breathe. once in the locker room i started to feel better and the coach said the air quality was bad and there were issued with chlorine gas. man was i feeling it. wednesday night seamus got sick and was puking all night so i wasn't about to get up thursday morning. friday i met renee at a new pool which turned out to be pretty nice. but about 3/4s in my nose felt like it was being pried off of my face. and i wound up with a sore throat that lasted all weekend. i chalked it up to the tuesday experience and just not dealing well with chlorine. so i was worried about the OUTDOOR pool. on monday i got through the swim a-ok! no issues! the coach (who is 19 by the way) told me that the pool has less chlorine and is cleaner than the indoor pool. so i really do think that i must have a chlorine sensitivity.
sunday i met some of the girls for a 2:45 bike ride. it started out nice but with about an hr to go it started raining and it just kept raining. and i still had an hr run to do! the girls went home but i ran and felt great!! it was awesome! i am interested to see what happens when I start doing some intensity.
lsat night the kids were being funny. i was chowing down on a bowl of frosted mini wheats mixed with frosted flakes because as is many times the case lately i was STARVING and the kids were eating their raviolis and peas and carrots. sirus decided he wanted to put in his cup of milk and fish them out with a spoon. i said nothing since i needed a refill on the cereal. seamus went and stood next to him and he would scoop them out and feed them to her and say " here you go princess" and then he would take a turn. it was pretty cute.
training has been going well. i switched pool. today was my second day at the new pool - and OUTDOOR pool in washington in march. yes it was damn cold. monday wasn't so bad, it was like 51 when i got there and the water seemed fine. today it was like 37 when i got there and the water did not feel fine at all. the other ppl said that the heat must have shut off over night or something since it was way colder then normal. i contemplated that maybe this swimming thing was not for me but instead decided that it will just make me better prepared for ice cold race day water. it took a few hundred yards to warm up but it was good. part of the main set was a IM where we were to do 50 butterfly, 50 back, 50 breast and then 50 free. i told the coach i was going to do a different stroke for butterfly and he said ok. but then a set or two down the road it turned into the same thing but 100s. this time the coach told me i had to do the butterfly. yeah, not only that but he walked the length of the pool deck beside me making sure i was doing it! he said i did ok but needed to work on the kick. he said by the end of the length i was starting to get it which is funny because i thought that was when i started to drown.
new pool arrangement is way less expensive then the other. i was paying $15 a pop and going twice a week (i could have joined the club for $130 a month but i would have only used it to swim, so drop in was more flexible). but for that i got salt water pool 8 minutes from my house. now i am paying $55 for 4 weeks, up to 3x a week. i thought it was way far away but really its only about 20 minutes from the house and only then about 15 or so to work after. when i told my xterra coach that i could now go M-W-F, please pick which days you want me to go she replied with go all 3. I did not expect that but i am going to try. it will make me a better swimmer, i am so going to kick some ass this year. i hope.
i'm in a high volume week. i have one more next week then a rest week. but this week will wind up with a little over 4 miles of swimming, 100 miles on the bike and 20 miles of running, and hot damn, i feel awesome. that is the part that is amazing to me. i feel damn good. a little tired but totally awesome.
last week though was a different story. i went on the 5 pool tour and wound up with some issues. i had been a little sick, which corresponded with my last rest week which corresponded with eric's bday and some after work - work commitments. then the next week i was feeling better, like i thot prolly 90-95% until i went swimming at the club i had been going to. i started coughing and coughing like crazy, my chest was tight, and i had to drop to the back of the slow group. i wasn't sure i'd make it through the workout. i covered the distance but i just couldn't breathe. once in the locker room i started to feel better and the coach said the air quality was bad and there were issued with chlorine gas. man was i feeling it. wednesday night seamus got sick and was puking all night so i wasn't about to get up thursday morning. friday i met renee at a new pool which turned out to be pretty nice. but about 3/4s in my nose felt like it was being pried off of my face. and i wound up with a sore throat that lasted all weekend. i chalked it up to the tuesday experience and just not dealing well with chlorine. so i was worried about the OUTDOOR pool. on monday i got through the swim a-ok! no issues! the coach (who is 19 by the way) told me that the pool has less chlorine and is cleaner than the indoor pool. so i really do think that i must have a chlorine sensitivity.
sunday i met some of the girls for a 2:45 bike ride. it started out nice but with about an hr to go it started raining and it just kept raining. and i still had an hr run to do! the girls went home but i ran and felt great!! it was awesome! i am interested to see what happens when I start doing some intensity.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
just keep swimming just keep swimming
today i met up with my old neighbor is totally awesome. when we lived in our old house she was always offering to help me out swimming but i never took her up on it instead trying to get her to go open water swimming instead. she wasn't too keen on that but really who can blame her. but i have been swimming a ton (for me) since the beginning of the year and my shoulder has begun to hurt and my coach kept telling me to get some 1/1 attention so I sent our old neighbor an email asking for her help.
she met me at a pool in seattle, i have been on quite the pool tour lately. This was my 4th pool in two weeks. i wasn't sure on what to expect, but hot damn i learned a lot. by the end of the hour she had totally changed my stoke, had me comfortably breathing on both sides and just cutting through the water smoother then I have ever felt, and my shoulder didn't hurt at all! i could hardly beleive it!!! she said starting out that my stroke was pretty good but the changes she had me make made a world of difference. i need to work on swimming down because I was swimming like / she had me float for a while and determined that i am a sinker! i need to work on rotating more - the key to aleiving the shoulder pain. and lastly i need to use my arms like a windmill! she explained it all in a way that i can totally visualize and actually do. she said i did a good job because i followed direction really well, sometimes a little too well. but all in all its so awesome. now i can't wait until the next masters swim session to see how it goes. she said we can meet up again in a few weeks to see how its going.
but today was pretty much the end of my rest week. i've got 2hrs on the bike tomorrow followed by 45 minute run. weather is saying its going to rain which is going to BLOW ASS. yes i said it. especially since it was so beautiful today, reaching almost 60! last sunday when we started out it was 28 degrees but sunny. 28 and raining would kind of mean snow. or ice, which would mean not riding on the road. runnign this morning it was coooold with some ice on the puddles in the wetlands.
i got bullied into buying jeans that were twice as expensive as the ones i had set out to buy. grr. they look good i think but really after trying on 20 pairs they all blend together. and eric is learning! he is so good. i tried them on for him and his initial reaction was "wow, those make your butt look really good" then he changed it to "wow, your butt makes those jeans look good' or something funny like that. he also had the bonus of getting to see me in my silly swimsuit today. he made my day by telling me i looked like a swimmer in it and that really i didn't look so silly after all, despite the clouds and the rainbow and the birds on my arse.
she met me at a pool in seattle, i have been on quite the pool tour lately. This was my 4th pool in two weeks. i wasn't sure on what to expect, but hot damn i learned a lot. by the end of the hour she had totally changed my stoke, had me comfortably breathing on both sides and just cutting through the water smoother then I have ever felt, and my shoulder didn't hurt at all! i could hardly beleive it!!! she said starting out that my stroke was pretty good but the changes she had me make made a world of difference. i need to work on swimming down because I was swimming like / she had me float for a while and determined that i am a sinker! i need to work on rotating more - the key to aleiving the shoulder pain. and lastly i need to use my arms like a windmill! she explained it all in a way that i can totally visualize and actually do. she said i did a good job because i followed direction really well, sometimes a little too well. but all in all its so awesome. now i can't wait until the next masters swim session to see how it goes. she said we can meet up again in a few weeks to see how its going.
but today was pretty much the end of my rest week. i've got 2hrs on the bike tomorrow followed by 45 minute run. weather is saying its going to rain which is going to BLOW ASS. yes i said it. especially since it was so beautiful today, reaching almost 60! last sunday when we started out it was 28 degrees but sunny. 28 and raining would kind of mean snow. or ice, which would mean not riding on the road. runnign this morning it was coooold with some ice on the puddles in the wetlands.
i got bullied into buying jeans that were twice as expensive as the ones i had set out to buy. grr. they look good i think but really after trying on 20 pairs they all blend together. and eric is learning! he is so good. i tried them on for him and his initial reaction was "wow, those make your butt look really good" then he changed it to "wow, your butt makes those jeans look good' or something funny like that. he also had the bonus of getting to see me in my silly swimsuit today. he made my day by telling me i looked like a swimmer in it and that really i didn't look so silly after all, despite the clouds and the rainbow and the birds on my arse.
Monday, February 16, 2009
papers
i need to find the notes i took from disney world so i can organize a post about the trip. it was so fun and there were so many great moments of the trip that i want to make sure to capture it all. just not now.
i think i have a little bit of illness. just an annoying cough that started saturday night. earlier in the week both eric and i were exhausted. i have been getting up at 5am for workouts all week and eric would wake up and start his day at the same time, so on thursday we decided to go to bed at 8pm. that sounded great. we crawled into bed and both passed out until probably 11pm when eric got up to go throw up. over and over and many times thoughout the night. our night of good rest was not very restful. poor guy though, he was so sick. not sure if he had scome food poisoning or the stomach bug going around, but luckily by the morning he was a about 50% and then well enough on saturday to want to do some trail work, although I spoiled his plans to do so.
training has been going really well. i've been having a ton of fun and have been feeling great. this week was my highest volume and i am now heading into a rest week. i managed 6:15 on the bike, 2:45 running, 2:30 swimming and 1:30 weights for a total of 13hrs, and i feel great!! i'm tired and ready for my rest week but I am amazed at how good i feel. all this should wind up in me being faster, right? as part of my rest week I have a 30 minute zone 1 bike today which i don't know if I will even break a sweat on and then later in the week a 20 minute zone 1 run, which i don't know how i will do that, isn't that walking? but I am pretty excited, i think i am making progress!
yesterday alone as a feat all in its own. 2:45 on the bike followed by 45 minute run. when we started out on the bike it was 28 degrees! burr! my hands had never hurt so much before but about 45 minutes in i was ready to take a layer off and my hands were better. i don't know why 8 yr old gloves with holes in all the fingers wouldn't keep me warmer. i had an antire enteurage, if i could spell it, for the bike ride, too! renee, xtie, amy and eric and the kids all for the first leg and then janet joined for the last leg. no one wanted to join me on the run but man, i felt great, i couldn't beleive it! i kept wanting to run faster but had to hold back to stay in zone 2.
friday i rode around the lake by myself. i spent a good 1:35 worrying about having to ride up the big hill on the way home. oh i was worried. last year i stopped 3 times trying to get up it in my only attempt. as i got closer and closer i started thinking about how my feet were too hot, how my sunglasses were bugging my ears, how my hair was falling down in my hat under my helmet. then it was time and i just went up it. each time i reached one of the spots where i had stopped before i rejoiced! now i can go up it whenever i want!
i see a guy outside with short sleeves on, is it warm?
i think i have a little bit of illness. just an annoying cough that started saturday night. earlier in the week both eric and i were exhausted. i have been getting up at 5am for workouts all week and eric would wake up and start his day at the same time, so on thursday we decided to go to bed at 8pm. that sounded great. we crawled into bed and both passed out until probably 11pm when eric got up to go throw up. over and over and many times thoughout the night. our night of good rest was not very restful. poor guy though, he was so sick. not sure if he had scome food poisoning or the stomach bug going around, but luckily by the morning he was a about 50% and then well enough on saturday to want to do some trail work, although I spoiled his plans to do so.
training has been going really well. i've been having a ton of fun and have been feeling great. this week was my highest volume and i am now heading into a rest week. i managed 6:15 on the bike, 2:45 running, 2:30 swimming and 1:30 weights for a total of 13hrs, and i feel great!! i'm tired and ready for my rest week but I am amazed at how good i feel. all this should wind up in me being faster, right? as part of my rest week I have a 30 minute zone 1 bike today which i don't know if I will even break a sweat on and then later in the week a 20 minute zone 1 run, which i don't know how i will do that, isn't that walking? but I am pretty excited, i think i am making progress!
yesterday alone as a feat all in its own. 2:45 on the bike followed by 45 minute run. when we started out on the bike it was 28 degrees! burr! my hands had never hurt so much before but about 45 minutes in i was ready to take a layer off and my hands were better. i don't know why 8 yr old gloves with holes in all the fingers wouldn't keep me warmer. i had an antire enteurage, if i could spell it, for the bike ride, too! renee, xtie, amy and eric and the kids all for the first leg and then janet joined for the last leg. no one wanted to join me on the run but man, i felt great, i couldn't beleive it! i kept wanting to run faster but had to hold back to stay in zone 2.
friday i rode around the lake by myself. i spent a good 1:35 worrying about having to ride up the big hill on the way home. oh i was worried. last year i stopped 3 times trying to get up it in my only attempt. as i got closer and closer i started thinking about how my feet were too hot, how my sunglasses were bugging my ears, how my hair was falling down in my hat under my helmet. then it was time and i just went up it. each time i reached one of the spots where i had stopped before i rejoiced! now i can go up it whenever i want!
i see a guy outside with short sleeves on, is it warm?
Monday, February 02, 2009
sirus is funny
i'll get back to disney world at some point but sirus was just so funny tonight.
i picked out his thomas the train jammies but sirus didn't want to wear them since they don't protect him from monsters the same way that his gld bug jammies do. apparently thomas has tried to run over him in the past...
then he went on and on about everything he had seen at disney world. how on the safari we didn't see any lions but we saw elephants, giraffes and zebras. he told me how on the ride Dinosaur! he would jump out and say boo to the dinosaurs but they were never afriad but when i asked him if the dinosaurs said boo to him he said no because dinosaurs don't talk.
then he told me how he didnt see oswald, daisy or henry (thank goodness) and no speed racer even though he was looking all over for speed racer. i had never heard the little guy talk non stop for so long before.
total adorableness.
i picked out his thomas the train jammies but sirus didn't want to wear them since they don't protect him from monsters the same way that his gld bug jammies do. apparently thomas has tried to run over him in the past...
then he went on and on about everything he had seen at disney world. how on the safari we didn't see any lions but we saw elephants, giraffes and zebras. he told me how on the ride Dinosaur! he would jump out and say boo to the dinosaurs but they were never afriad but when i asked him if the dinosaurs said boo to him he said no because dinosaurs don't talk.
then he told me how he didnt see oswald, daisy or henry (thank goodness) and no speed racer even though he was looking all over for speed racer. i had never heard the little guy talk non stop for so long before.
total adorableness.
Friday, January 30, 2009
catch up
first, i had ordered a new swim suit a while back. its called "bright blue rainbow" on the website. since i have no idea what the deal is with swim suit sizing i ordered a 32. that sounded like a good size. on their site it is the equivalent of a small, a medium, a 4. All sizes i fit in. until it showed up and it was a mini suit. eric took one look at the design and the size and wondered to me if maybe it was a child's suit not intended for adults. i sent it back and asked for a 36, which was either a medium, large or extra large, i really couldn't tell. when it showed up it fit better but i still could have gone up another size i think. anyway, i decided to wear it on thursday. i was a little self consious because it really is a rediculous suit but whatever. i walked into the pool area and as i was chit chatting with a friend before getting in i noticed that several of the people in the pool who were waiting for the work out to start kept looking at me. i have been there enough to know they weren't sizing me up to see if i was fast or not, so i assumed it was more of a "OMG, what is she wearing!?!" i got in the water, did a few warm up laps and then the coach came. the first thing she said when she got there was "does that have carebears on it or something?" it doesn't but i do wish it has a unicorn.
she had us doing a timed 500 that day. i had just done a timed 1000 the day before heading out on vacation so i thought, heck, i'll do it but just swim it for the yardage. that was until she split us into heats, had everyone else get out of the pool, had people counting laps, timing and everyone else was cheering, etc. good lord, i didn't expect any of that. so i had to try, ya know. so i did and i won my heat of slow people! i was so excited and i was happy because it was the first time i had ever really pushed myself swimming and i didn't drown!! i was thinking about how i wouldn't drown because if i needed to i could stand up at any minute but at no time did i think about quitting, slowing down or stopping, unless i was drowning of course. it was a big breakthrough for me.
onto disney world, which will be a multi post post because it was a long trip. jan 15 started with swimming, the timed 1000 which was excited because i was totally freaked out about doing it and then i told the swim coach i was going to do it, so she gave me my own lane then had everyone else do a straight 800, so that was kind of cool. then i went to work and got through the day. i came home and finished packing. luckily our flight on friday wasn't until almost noon so we were able to get up and weren't rushed. eric's friend logan came, we gave him the run down of hwo to take care of the cats and the house while we were out then off to the airport we went. checking our luggage was fun because the ladies were so excited for us to go to disney world, i was kind of suprised. we went to our gate only to be moved to another gate. then we got on the plane and sat there. and sat there and sat there some more. they needed to replace a part on the plane, they didn't have one on the shelf so they were going to take if off an plane that was already in the shop getting fixed. our layover in dallas was 2 hrs, but i saw that 2 hrs just creep away. finally i got off the plane and talked to the lady at the desk. she confirmed that we would definitly miss out connection unless our connection decided to be late (my itinerary said that the flight out of dallas had a 50% chance of being on time...). she said we had two choices. go home and come back on saturday for a direct flight that would get us to orlando at 5:30 pm or take the flight to dallas, spend the night then get on a morning flight that would get to orlando at 1:30. we opted to try the dallas route, since there was the very small chance that we would make our connection despite the delay and can you imagine trying to tell the kids that we had to go home when we had been going on and on about how we were on our way to disney world? FINALLY the plane took off. luckily we let the kids watch so much TV and they have been on such a trance over bendaroos. i actually found some at a toy store and those peices of yarn covered in wax entertained those kids for a good 2.5 hrs straight. i couldn't beleive it! so we got into dallas a little earlier than expected and then eric ran ahead. gthe monitors said that our flight was still there, so i grabbed the kids and we ran and ran. we caught the tram and then ran some more. you should have seen little seamus! she had her hello kitty rolling suitcase dragging behind her as she ran faster then i could run while pushing sirus in the stroller. she was amazing! then we got to the gate and the flight was gone. the lady there said she had seen we had been booked on a flight the next day so they didnt even think to check to see if we might be in. grr. in the mean time i was freaking out because we had already paid for our hotel at disney world, plus that extra day of meal plan that is required of each nights stay plus the entire day of park tickets. for a family of 4, that adds up. LUCKILY, mom had gotten us travel insurance so it all worked out in the end but only after i bit eric's head off while looking for the disney phone number and crying to sirus in the bathroom since i didn't have a change of underpants for him with me... ugh. but then we got to our dallas hotel and went for dinner and had a cocktail. seamus, always good with her comedic timing managed a "daddy farted" right when the waitress showed up, followed by a "i keep daddy a secret at preschool". nice. we all had a good nights sleep, went to denny's in the morning for breakfast, saw steve's doppleganger and then headed to the airport and on our way to orlando!!!
that flight was good, the kids played with bendaroos the entire time again and seamus boasted about how she didnt sleep at all from seattle to dallas and then on this flight either, although sirus managed to fall asleep 10 minutes before landing.
we got to orlando, we got on our magical express and finally got to the hotel where we saw grandma!! we were still wearing our clothes from the day before since our luggage had been inaccessable and it wasn't to the airport yet but we said who cares and we gathered ourselves all together and headed over to the magic kingdom. grandma had gotten the kids adorable baseball hats with mouse ears and the kids loved them! that first night in the park we did a ton! we went to pirates of the carribean, peter pan's flight, aladins magic carpets, and big thunder railroad. i think there were a few others but that's what i can remember off the top of my head. then we watched the electrical parade but its not called that any more but i can't remember what its called. it was better then i remember it and the kids loved it! they both had huge smiles on their faces and when i asked sirus if he had ever seen anything like it ever before he said "nothing like it ever before". i was so excited to finally be there and to show the kids this great adventure. 
she had us doing a timed 500 that day. i had just done a timed 1000 the day before heading out on vacation so i thought, heck, i'll do it but just swim it for the yardage. that was until she split us into heats, had everyone else get out of the pool, had people counting laps, timing and everyone else was cheering, etc. good lord, i didn't expect any of that. so i had to try, ya know. so i did and i won my heat of slow people! i was so excited and i was happy because it was the first time i had ever really pushed myself swimming and i didn't drown!! i was thinking about how i wouldn't drown because if i needed to i could stand up at any minute but at no time did i think about quitting, slowing down or stopping, unless i was drowning of course. it was a big breakthrough for me.
onto disney world, which will be a multi post post because it was a long trip. jan 15 started with swimming, the timed 1000 which was excited because i was totally freaked out about doing it and then i told the swim coach i was going to do it, so she gave me my own lane then had everyone else do a straight 800, so that was kind of cool. then i went to work and got through the day. i came home and finished packing. luckily our flight on friday wasn't until almost noon so we were able to get up and weren't rushed. eric's friend logan came, we gave him the run down of hwo to take care of the cats and the house while we were out then off to the airport we went. checking our luggage was fun because the ladies were so excited for us to go to disney world, i was kind of suprised. we went to our gate only to be moved to another gate. then we got on the plane and sat there. and sat there and sat there some more. they needed to replace a part on the plane, they didn't have one on the shelf so they were going to take if off an plane that was already in the shop getting fixed. our layover in dallas was 2 hrs, but i saw that 2 hrs just creep away. finally i got off the plane and talked to the lady at the desk. she confirmed that we would definitly miss out connection unless our connection decided to be late (my itinerary said that the flight out of dallas had a 50% chance of being on time...). she said we had two choices. go home and come back on saturday for a direct flight that would get us to orlando at 5:30 pm or take the flight to dallas, spend the night then get on a morning flight that would get to orlando at 1:30. we opted to try the dallas route, since there was the very small chance that we would make our connection despite the delay and can you imagine trying to tell the kids that we had to go home when we had been going on and on about how we were on our way to disney world? FINALLY the plane took off. luckily we let the kids watch so much TV and they have been on such a trance over bendaroos. i actually found some at a toy store and those peices of yarn covered in wax entertained those kids for a good 2.5 hrs straight. i couldn't beleive it! so we got into dallas a little earlier than expected and then eric ran ahead. gthe monitors said that our flight was still there, so i grabbed the kids and we ran and ran. we caught the tram and then ran some more. you should have seen little seamus! she had her hello kitty rolling suitcase dragging behind her as she ran faster then i could run while pushing sirus in the stroller. she was amazing! then we got to the gate and the flight was gone. the lady there said she had seen we had been booked on a flight the next day so they didnt even think to check to see if we might be in. grr. in the mean time i was freaking out because we had already paid for our hotel at disney world, plus that extra day of meal plan that is required of each nights stay plus the entire day of park tickets. for a family of 4, that adds up. LUCKILY, mom had gotten us travel insurance so it all worked out in the end but only after i bit eric's head off while looking for the disney phone number and crying to sirus in the bathroom since i didn't have a change of underpants for him with me... ugh. but then we got to our dallas hotel and went for dinner and had a cocktail. seamus, always good with her comedic timing managed a "daddy farted" right when the waitress showed up, followed by a "i keep daddy a secret at preschool". nice. we all had a good nights sleep, went to denny's in the morning for breakfast, saw steve's doppleganger and then headed to the airport and on our way to orlando!!!
that flight was good, the kids played with bendaroos the entire time again and seamus boasted about how she didnt sleep at all from seattle to dallas and then on this flight either, although sirus managed to fall asleep 10 minutes before landing.
we got to orlando, we got on our magical express and finally got to the hotel where we saw grandma!! we were still wearing our clothes from the day before since our luggage had been inaccessable and it wasn't to the airport yet but we said who cares and we gathered ourselves all together and headed over to the magic kingdom. grandma had gotten the kids adorable baseball hats with mouse ears and the kids loved them! that first night in the park we did a ton! we went to pirates of the carribean, peter pan's flight, aladins magic carpets, and big thunder railroad. i think there were a few others but that's what i can remember off the top of my head. then we watched the electrical parade but its not called that any more but i can't remember what its called. it was better then i remember it and the kids loved it! they both had huge smiles on their faces and when i asked sirus if he had ever seen anything like it ever before he said "nothing like it ever before". i was so excited to finally be there and to show the kids this great adventure. 
Monday, January 05, 2009
the bachelor
goodness, i am so embarassed for these people. its so awkward and i can't even deal with it. what are these girls thinking? and really, if these dudes were so awesome, would they be on these shows? i have to admit, i totally loved the Joe Millionaire show with that dude Evan i think was his name. i was addicted to that one for some reason. i haven't ever watched the bachelor before. but this is rediculous. but gawd his face has got to be exhausted from all that fake smiling!
the show that we have recently started watching and enjoying is Total Drama Island on Cartoon Network. Its Survivor but a cartoon. Its kind of funny.
Oh no! one girl wrote him a poem! more embarassing!!! and now they are cooking hotdogs.
training is going well. went to work early to lift weights and run on the treadmill. i also decided to wake up early so tomorrow it will be easier to wake up for swimming!
first day back at work was ok but my neck started hurting which it hasn't been a problem since before thanksgiving.
not too many days now until we leave for Disney World!
the show that we have recently started watching and enjoying is Total Drama Island on Cartoon Network. Its Survivor but a cartoon. Its kind of funny.
Oh no! one girl wrote him a poem! more embarassing!!! and now they are cooking hotdogs.
training is going well. went to work early to lift weights and run on the treadmill. i also decided to wake up early so tomorrow it will be easier to wake up for swimming!
first day back at work was ok but my neck started hurting which it hasn't been a problem since before thanksgiving.
not too many days now until we leave for Disney World!
Thursday, January 01, 2009
Happy New Year!
we spent the night in but all in all if was a nice evening. eric grilled up ribs on the big green egg! we had run out of charcoal probably a month or more ago and we just yesterday got some so we were all loving the return of the egg!
then eric and i stayed up until about 1030 drinking lemon drops which were damn tasty. i could have drank a ton more of them but was worried about getting sick, so i stuck to two.
today is the last day of my first week of official training! I'd say that first week went pretty well after the extreme soreness wore off. now only like 40 more left until race day! I was thinking of that last night - its going to be like waiting through a pregnancy! oh the misery but the excitement and preparation at the same time!
I am still off of work for 4 more days if you include today. i hate to say it but we are going nuts. its too cold and wet to be outside now that the snow is gone, we don't want to spend money, we don't want to let the kids watch tv or play sack people, so we are having a time of it.
we did take the kids to see the movie Bolt. I wasn't too into it but wound up actually liking it. It did have some parts in it that were quite scary and then at the end i couldn't believe it! spoiler here - Penny almost dies in a fire! She is all passed out due to smoke inhalation and Bolt curls up next to her and they are getting ready to just die. WHAT? you can't put that in a kids movie???? I was horrified especially since seamus keeps talking lately about how our house hasn't ever caught on fire and stop drop and roll and she got all worried while reading Spider Saves Christmas when Lady Bug's xmas cookies catch on fire in the oven and Spider has to put out the fire with the boxes of water he got his friends for xmas. uuugh. other then that, it was a pretty good movie.
i have no resolutions this year. i think last year i was going to floss "most" days of the week and that was it, but i think that didn't last very long, i can't remember.
i do have big goals for the year. i need to look back to jan 08 and see if i can find my goals and see if i met them. i did have a pretty great 2008 though. the kids are awesome and continue with their awesomeness every day. eric is great and i am very lucky to be married to him. i am very fortunate that my family is all safe and healthy and that i have a good job.
as for 2009, I will quote seamus here - what's gonna happen?
then eric and i stayed up until about 1030 drinking lemon drops which were damn tasty. i could have drank a ton more of them but was worried about getting sick, so i stuck to two.
today is the last day of my first week of official training! I'd say that first week went pretty well after the extreme soreness wore off. now only like 40 more left until race day! I was thinking of that last night - its going to be like waiting through a pregnancy! oh the misery but the excitement and preparation at the same time!
I am still off of work for 4 more days if you include today. i hate to say it but we are going nuts. its too cold and wet to be outside now that the snow is gone, we don't want to spend money, we don't want to let the kids watch tv or play sack people, so we are having a time of it.
we did take the kids to see the movie Bolt. I wasn't too into it but wound up actually liking it. It did have some parts in it that were quite scary and then at the end i couldn't believe it! spoiler here - Penny almost dies in a fire! She is all passed out due to smoke inhalation and Bolt curls up next to her and they are getting ready to just die. WHAT? you can't put that in a kids movie???? I was horrified especially since seamus keeps talking lately about how our house hasn't ever caught on fire and stop drop and roll and she got all worried while reading Spider Saves Christmas when Lady Bug's xmas cookies catch on fire in the oven and Spider has to put out the fire with the boxes of water he got his friends for xmas. uuugh. other then that, it was a pretty good movie.
i have no resolutions this year. i think last year i was going to floss "most" days of the week and that was it, but i think that didn't last very long, i can't remember.
i do have big goals for the year. i need to look back to jan 08 and see if i can find my goals and see if i met them. i did have a pretty great 2008 though. the kids are awesome and continue with their awesomeness every day. eric is great and i am very lucky to be married to him. i am very fortunate that my family is all safe and healthy and that i have a good job.
as for 2009, I will quote seamus here - what's gonna happen?
Monday, December 29, 2008
more days off
i don't have to go back to work until jan 5. that is so awesome. last week the days were taking a long time but this first day of this week seems to have flown by and i am afriad that the rest of the week will fly by as well.
yesterday i met up with renee for 1000 yards of swimming. 200 warm up, 500 drills then 300 swimming. i didn't do a very good job with the drills. i tried to do these wacky ones from the video i had watched and i was pretty sure i was going to drown. i was pretty tired by the end of it all though but i was only in the pool for 1/2 hr. renee came with me and there was a water babies class going on at the same time. i have been expecting to get sick but i haven't. last year whenever i would go swimming i would wind up sick. my nose was always messed up and i always kind of feel like arse. i realized today that i think that maybe i have not gotten sick at all is because its a salt water pool. that plus when i lift the weights i make sure to wash my hands before i leave the gym.
today i did some lifting again. i think its getting better. i managed to get in most of the lunges this time, but i am still not able to do any real push-ups. i'm supposed to do as many real ones as i can but by the time i get to them my arms are pretty tired.
when i came home i had a 1 hr zone 2 ride on the trainer. i suppose of i really wanted to i could have gone outside but i opted for the trainer and a new episode of the Tudors. the garmin is totally fun. i have been entering the workouts into the program and the load it onto the watch. then it just keeps track of everything. and then i can look at it and the funny red line and wonder why the red line always stops a minute or two short of the supposed time i used it for. so that is a little annoying but its ok.
tomorrow i have to wake up at 5am for swimming. that might be tough since i haven't been waking up very early any day since like november. :) but the masters swimming is fun and i can see progress already from it, i am going to get soo fast!
i talked to my coach on the phone on friday. i had met her once almost a year ago and she is the awesomest of all awesome. and i was totally nervous about calling her, and then we get such bad reception here that I hung up on her! but i called her back and she is so nice. i had a ton of questions to ask her since she is so fascinating but at the same time she probably answers those same questions a billion times a week. she did send me a funny email the other day saying she was up at 2am because she was hungry and so she had a bowl of cereal. eric laughed and asked what kind of influence she might be on me since i am such a cereal fanatic. i was just happy to hear it because she's just a normal person, too, just an amazing athlete!
i on the other hand just keep eating way to many cookies. they are almost gone and will then be replaced by the candy...
yesterday i met up with renee for 1000 yards of swimming. 200 warm up, 500 drills then 300 swimming. i didn't do a very good job with the drills. i tried to do these wacky ones from the video i had watched and i was pretty sure i was going to drown. i was pretty tired by the end of it all though but i was only in the pool for 1/2 hr. renee came with me and there was a water babies class going on at the same time. i have been expecting to get sick but i haven't. last year whenever i would go swimming i would wind up sick. my nose was always messed up and i always kind of feel like arse. i realized today that i think that maybe i have not gotten sick at all is because its a salt water pool. that plus when i lift the weights i make sure to wash my hands before i leave the gym.
today i did some lifting again. i think its getting better. i managed to get in most of the lunges this time, but i am still not able to do any real push-ups. i'm supposed to do as many real ones as i can but by the time i get to them my arms are pretty tired.
when i came home i had a 1 hr zone 2 ride on the trainer. i suppose of i really wanted to i could have gone outside but i opted for the trainer and a new episode of the Tudors. the garmin is totally fun. i have been entering the workouts into the program and the load it onto the watch. then it just keeps track of everything. and then i can look at it and the funny red line and wonder why the red line always stops a minute or two short of the supposed time i used it for. so that is a little annoying but its ok.
tomorrow i have to wake up at 5am for swimming. that might be tough since i haven't been waking up very early any day since like november. :) but the masters swimming is fun and i can see progress already from it, i am going to get soo fast!
i talked to my coach on the phone on friday. i had met her once almost a year ago and she is the awesomest of all awesome. and i was totally nervous about calling her, and then we get such bad reception here that I hung up on her! but i called her back and she is so nice. i had a ton of questions to ask her since she is so fascinating but at the same time she probably answers those same questions a billion times a week. she did send me a funny email the other day saying she was up at 2am because she was hungry and so she had a bowl of cereal. eric laughed and asked what kind of influence she might be on me since i am such a cereal fanatic. i was just happy to hear it because she's just a normal person, too, just an amazing athlete!
i on the other hand just keep eating way to many cookies. they are almost gone and will then be replaced by the candy...
Saturday, December 27, 2008
weights
so i lifted weights on tuesday and i was dying. i wasn't supposed to start my official training until yesterday but i just couldn't wait. so i did the weight routine and then did a 30 mintue run in zone 1 but i couldn't beleive how slow zone 1 was so i was a little above zone 1.
the weights didn't seem like that big of a deal until i got to the lunges. i could feel my arse losing all of its sagginess with each lung. but i could also feel my quads hurting. then a few more exercises and it was to the leg extentions. good lord do i have the weakest legs ever! so i have to ask the coach if i should do the weights first then the biking or running or does it matter which order? in this instance i ran first then weights. but the leg extensions were embarrassing and yeah. well, a few more things and then i was done.
wednesday i was so sore that i was really worried that maybe i did something bad. eric suggested i rude the trainer for 30 easy minutes which i did but then i wound up having tired and sore legs :( we had already gone sledding in the morning and hiked through the snow and up and down the sledding hill and i felt fine doing that, but any time i stopped for a few minutes i was in trouble!
xmas eve was the best xmas eve ever. and then xmas was the best xmas ever! seamus got roller skates from santa. she had been saying for months that she was hoping santa would bring her roller skates and sure enough he brought them. but when she opened them, she wasn't very excited. when i asked if she wanted me to take them out of the box she tentativly said yes. then i asked her what the matter was and she said she was a little bit scared. that all ended once she had them on and skated all around the living room carpet. by the end of the day she was doing little spins and getting around like and old pro. the kids also got candy land which we played a ton. later aunt xtie, jon and grandma came. it was snowing like crzy all day and we were concerned that they wouldnt make it but they did. we had an awesome dinner and then more presents! it was likely the best christmas ever.
friday was day 1 of my new training and my legs were still sore! but i headed out the door to the gym (i got a 1 week free pass to get me through the holidays!)
I got out of the cul-de-sac but then had to come to a stop at the light while trying to leave the neighborhood. when the light turned green i was stuck. i couldn't move. i tried to get out through 2 cycles of the lights then called eric to come help me. jsut then an older guy in a pick up turned into the neighborhood, got out his shovel and started digging me out! then eric came and between the two of them i wsa able to get on my way.
they gym was weird and really crowded. i can't even count the number of conversations i witnessed that were of kids home from college talking to random adults about "how long are you home for? Do you like school? Whats you major?" etc. that was kind of funny since all the girls had been fake tanning. i also got to see one of my favorite things at the gym. i love the girls who walk on the treadmill at like 7 or 8 incline but then hold on for dear life so that they are actually still perpendicular to the treadmill itself. i love it and laugh every time. i think its great when anyone makes an effort to stay active, but some things just make me laugh.
i used a little but less weight this time, but the lunges were still tough and the leg extensions were still embarassing. when i left i got stuck in the gym parking lot. three different people walked by and no one offered to help. the car was stuck about 1/2 way out of the spot so i jumped out, put on my awesome new rain boots eric got me for xmas and i started kicking the snow out from under the car.
then back in to try again. i was sitting there trying to decide if i was going to have to call eric when two of the trainers from in the gym came to my rescue and pushed me out. :) that was nice of them!
then home for a 1hr ride on the trainer zone 2.
the rest of friday was uneventful except the duraflame log in the fireplace!
today nothing thrilling went on. i did a 30 minute zone 1 run on the treadmill and ate a butt load of cookies. eric is somehow showing incredible will power with the cookies but i am not. its really bad and i fear that i am going to be tipping the scales at 250 here any day now.
tomorrow is some swimming and likely more cookie consumption.
8 more days off from work which is totally awesome.
the weights didn't seem like that big of a deal until i got to the lunges. i could feel my arse losing all of its sagginess with each lung. but i could also feel my quads hurting. then a few more exercises and it was to the leg extentions. good lord do i have the weakest legs ever! so i have to ask the coach if i should do the weights first then the biking or running or does it matter which order? in this instance i ran first then weights. but the leg extensions were embarrassing and yeah. well, a few more things and then i was done.
wednesday i was so sore that i was really worried that maybe i did something bad. eric suggested i rude the trainer for 30 easy minutes which i did but then i wound up having tired and sore legs :( we had already gone sledding in the morning and hiked through the snow and up and down the sledding hill and i felt fine doing that, but any time i stopped for a few minutes i was in trouble!
xmas eve was the best xmas eve ever. and then xmas was the best xmas ever! seamus got roller skates from santa. she had been saying for months that she was hoping santa would bring her roller skates and sure enough he brought them. but when she opened them, she wasn't very excited. when i asked if she wanted me to take them out of the box she tentativly said yes. then i asked her what the matter was and she said she was a little bit scared. that all ended once she had them on and skated all around the living room carpet. by the end of the day she was doing little spins and getting around like and old pro. the kids also got candy land which we played a ton. later aunt xtie, jon and grandma came. it was snowing like crzy all day and we were concerned that they wouldnt make it but they did. we had an awesome dinner and then more presents! it was likely the best christmas ever.
friday was day 1 of my new training and my legs were still sore! but i headed out the door to the gym (i got a 1 week free pass to get me through the holidays!)
I got out of the cul-de-sac but then had to come to a stop at the light while trying to leave the neighborhood. when the light turned green i was stuck. i couldn't move. i tried to get out through 2 cycles of the lights then called eric to come help me. jsut then an older guy in a pick up turned into the neighborhood, got out his shovel and started digging me out! then eric came and between the two of them i wsa able to get on my way.
they gym was weird and really crowded. i can't even count the number of conversations i witnessed that were of kids home from college talking to random adults about "how long are you home for? Do you like school? Whats you major?" etc. that was kind of funny since all the girls had been fake tanning. i also got to see one of my favorite things at the gym. i love the girls who walk on the treadmill at like 7 or 8 incline but then hold on for dear life so that they are actually still perpendicular to the treadmill itself. i love it and laugh every time. i think its great when anyone makes an effort to stay active, but some things just make me laugh.
i used a little but less weight this time, but the lunges were still tough and the leg extensions were still embarassing. when i left i got stuck in the gym parking lot. three different people walked by and no one offered to help. the car was stuck about 1/2 way out of the spot so i jumped out, put on my awesome new rain boots eric got me for xmas and i started kicking the snow out from under the car.
then back in to try again. i was sitting there trying to decide if i was going to have to call eric when two of the trainers from in the gym came to my rescue and pushed me out. :) that was nice of them!
then home for a 1hr ride on the trainer zone 2.
the rest of friday was uneventful except the duraflame log in the fireplace!
today nothing thrilling went on. i did a 30 minute zone 1 run on the treadmill and ate a butt load of cookies. eric is somehow showing incredible will power with the cookies but i am not. its really bad and i fear that i am going to be tipping the scales at 250 here any day now.
tomorrow is some swimming and likely more cookie consumption.
8 more days off from work which is totally awesome.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
snow blast 2008
eric took the kids sledding. check it out.
and here is a close-up of what was actually happening:
monday i tried to go to work. i backed out of the driveway, drove down into the cul-de-sac to get some momentum then tried to get up the hill. i didn't make it. while sliding backwards i put the car into park, reverse, drive. you name it, i did it all and the car just slid. somehow it magically turned completely around and came to a stop right at the driveway. i decided that was a sign to pull back into the garage and not go into work. the neighbors said the whole thing was very elegant.
eric later tried in the station wagon and did the exact same thing but the other direction. Please see here:
i love sammamish. the snow storm is just another reason why. i mean, come one! we have one of the best sledding hills right in the neighborhood. even sledding down our own road is a ton of fun. and the trails behind the house are amazing! This first photo is the first snow where sirus wondered why we kept throwing snowballs at him.
i've been out on the trainer a few more times. i started to watch the Tudors. I am 1.5 episodes into the 12 episodes or so. i also lifted weights for the first time in a billion years and I am suffering. ugh.
now its christmas eve!
and here is a close-up of what was actually happening:
monday i tried to go to work. i backed out of the driveway, drove down into the cul-de-sac to get some momentum then tried to get up the hill. i didn't make it. while sliding backwards i put the car into park, reverse, drive. you name it, i did it all and the car just slid. somehow it magically turned completely around and came to a stop right at the driveway. i decided that was a sign to pull back into the garage and not go into work. the neighbors said the whole thing was very elegant.
eric later tried in the station wagon and did the exact same thing but the other direction. Please see here:
i love sammamish. the snow storm is just another reason why. i mean, come one! we have one of the best sledding hills right in the neighborhood. even sledding down our own road is a ton of fun. and the trails behind the house are amazing! This first photo is the first snow where sirus wondered why we kept throwing snowballs at him.
i've been out on the trainer a few more times. i started to watch the Tudors. I am 1.5 episodes into the 12 episodes or so. i also lifted weights for the first time in a billion years and I am suffering. ugh.
now its christmas eve!
Sunday, December 21, 2008
snow snow snow
man, its snowing like crazy! we were all laughing on wednesday when all the schools were closed in anticipation of the big snow day and no snow came. i got up and went swimming thursday morning and there was a very light dusting, really nothing at all. but boy, just 1.5hrs later and there were inches on the ground. i headed home and decided to go home instead of into work. that decision was solidified when the car slid right past the driveway and i had to go down he block and turn around again.
i worked from home but took a break to go out for a quick snowball fight with the kids. it was pretty fun but very funny because sirus kept asking why everyone was throwing snow balls at him. we came in and had real homemade hot cocoa with marshmallows. then later on we went out for some sledding. our street was pretty fun to go down but we eventually opted to try the big hill. we hiked over there and the kids and eric went down a few times. there were quite a few bigger kids who were ruling the hill and seamus quickly decided she was done after two runs where the snow sprayed right in her face. talk about complete meltdown. in viewing distance of the house they both started crying like it was the end of the world. we got them inside and wrapped them up in warm blanket and they sat in their burritos for the next few hrs.
friday was a bit better so i went into work for a few hrs. it was quiet and only a handful of people were there. later we went shopping just to get out and about.
saturday was more snow. i rode on the trainer while watching nip/tuck. heading out to the garage to ride i had on a shrt sleeve shirt, a long sleeve and a super thick winter zip up jersey. i kept them all on for almost 10 minutes. trainer riding is ok, well, thats prolly cuz i've only done it twice so far. there was a big wind storm and i was concerned about the trees but everything seemed in one peice so we were lucky.
sunday was even more snow. eric has shoveled the driveway 3 times already this weekend. her took the kids to the store and i fell asleep. i just zonked out. i must have not slept very well due to the wind because i was out for about an hour. when i woke up it was snowing like crazy. eric and the kids had stopped at mcdonalds so the kids could play at the indoor playground. that was genius. i'll have to remember that one. when they got home i headed out for a run. it was 26 degrees and snowing. i had on big wool socks and my running shoes. i had on knickers and my running pants. i had on a long sleeve undershirt, long sleeve shirt, heavy long sleeve shirt and yellow wind breaker. knitt hat, sunglasses and fuzzy gloves. 8 minutes in i stopped to take the heavy long sleeve off and the sleeves off my wind breaker. it was tough running. up hill and downhill and on the ice and through the snow. it was hard but i had fun sort of and just kept thinking that it was just like running in sand in maui only colder. i was also thinking a lot about how nice its been seeing so many people out walking. we usually don't see anyone walking to the store or just about but since the storm hit everyone is walking all over. i hope they keep it up.
now we are supposed to get another 3-5 inches. i imagine i might work from home again. we will see. i have one of eric's christmas presents in my office, so i need to go get it!
i worked from home but took a break to go out for a quick snowball fight with the kids. it was pretty fun but very funny because sirus kept asking why everyone was throwing snow balls at him. we came in and had real homemade hot cocoa with marshmallows. then later on we went out for some sledding. our street was pretty fun to go down but we eventually opted to try the big hill. we hiked over there and the kids and eric went down a few times. there were quite a few bigger kids who were ruling the hill and seamus quickly decided she was done after two runs where the snow sprayed right in her face. talk about complete meltdown. in viewing distance of the house they both started crying like it was the end of the world. we got them inside and wrapped them up in warm blanket and they sat in their burritos for the next few hrs.
friday was a bit better so i went into work for a few hrs. it was quiet and only a handful of people were there. later we went shopping just to get out and about.
saturday was more snow. i rode on the trainer while watching nip/tuck. heading out to the garage to ride i had on a shrt sleeve shirt, a long sleeve and a super thick winter zip up jersey. i kept them all on for almost 10 minutes. trainer riding is ok, well, thats prolly cuz i've only done it twice so far. there was a big wind storm and i was concerned about the trees but everything seemed in one peice so we were lucky.
sunday was even more snow. eric has shoveled the driveway 3 times already this weekend. her took the kids to the store and i fell asleep. i just zonked out. i must have not slept very well due to the wind because i was out for about an hour. when i woke up it was snowing like crazy. eric and the kids had stopped at mcdonalds so the kids could play at the indoor playground. that was genius. i'll have to remember that one. when they got home i headed out for a run. it was 26 degrees and snowing. i had on big wool socks and my running shoes. i had on knickers and my running pants. i had on a long sleeve undershirt, long sleeve shirt, heavy long sleeve shirt and yellow wind breaker. knitt hat, sunglasses and fuzzy gloves. 8 minutes in i stopped to take the heavy long sleeve off and the sleeves off my wind breaker. it was tough running. up hill and downhill and on the ice and through the snow. it was hard but i had fun sort of and just kept thinking that it was just like running in sand in maui only colder. i was also thinking a lot about how nice its been seeing so many people out walking. we usually don't see anyone walking to the store or just about but since the storm hit everyone is walking all over. i hope they keep it up.
now we are supposed to get another 3-5 inches. i imagine i might work from home again. we will see. i have one of eric's christmas presents in my office, so i need to go get it!
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
2008 stats
i launched google analytics sometime in March.
Since then this site has gotten 801 visits and 1220 page views.
It has seen visits from all of these countries:
United States
Canada
United Kingdom
India
Mexico
Singapore
Portugal
China
Jamaica
Australia
Brazil
France
Indonesia
And the most popular key words people typed into Google to find the blog were these:
whidbey island mudder video
"arse massage"
"his toenails painted"
"maxi pad" +pee squirt
"south pacific" lincoln
best chocolate cake hawaii
bike fitting
cascade edge
ironman "lake stevens" "total elevation"
is 12.5 body fat good
kiera knightly
lulu pawpi
maui got home and tired
maxipad pee
oakley razor blades
peed forever
race peed
wedding dress "wore a betsey johnson" blog
whidbey mudder video 2007
There is lots of peeing in there - apparently i know how to tag a site for pee.
Since then this site has gotten 801 visits and 1220 page views.
It has seen visits from all of these countries:
United States
Canada
United Kingdom
India
Mexico
Singapore
Portugal
China
Jamaica
Australia
Brazil
France
Indonesia
And the most popular key words people typed into Google to find the blog were these:
whidbey island mudder video
"arse massage"
"his toenails painted"
"maxi pad" +pee squirt
"south pacific" lincoln
best chocolate cake hawaii
bike fitting
cascade edge
ironman "lake stevens" "total elevation"
is 12.5 body fat good
kiera knightly
lulu pawpi
maui got home and tired
maxipad pee
oakley razor blades
peed forever
race peed
wedding dress "wore a betsey johnson" blog
whidbey mudder video 2007
There is lots of peeing in there - apparently i know how to tag a site for pee.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
exhaustion sets in
this week was tough.
it started with a bad nights sleep monday night in anticipation of swimming lessons on Tuesday morning. swimming was actually pretty good, but it was followed by work.... she had us do some planks on the pool deck before getting in the water and i was paying for that for the next few days.
i rested on wednesday but did go to a cookie party with seamus in the evening. then thursday was swimming again during which i kind of freaked out about the thought that i had already been up for an hour and a 1/2 and still needed to go to work - see a trend? after gettig out of the pool i had to drive to seattle to drop my car to get serviced - two messages were appearing: Serivice Now! and Airbag Fault!. Then to work I went. then off to get my hair cut and a visit with some of the FS folks i worked with back in '97-'99. The the long drive home. Friday I got up headed to work and at lunch had to drive into seattle to pick get my car. friday night we did nothing.
saturday was the kent christmas rush. i was feeling tired and it was cold and wet and i thought maybe i wouldn't do it but i went anyway. i started out way too fast, partly because i always do and i do'nt know how to race properly and partly because they let prolly 10 or so young boys line up on the front line and i wanted to get past them.
i about died in the race and thought i might just sit back and let christie catch up then run with her. but i just kept running. ppl were passing me but i wasn't passing anyone. i prolly let 2 women pass me but not any after the turn around but that put me in like 12 or 13th place. there were no mile markers so i couldn't tell how i was doing or anything but i felt like arse. i was running hard but i don't know if it was as hard as i could go. but i did finish in 23:38 which was god for me but not my best. i should have been able to be faster i felt but all in all i was ok with it. then came awards. based off of last year's results i figured i would get into top 5 in my age group but seeing as i knew i was at least top 13 overall, i figured i would place somehow and sure enough i did, i won my age group and got a funny plaque which i have hung on a random nail that was already on the wall in our kitchen! xtie came in 3rd in her age group and took 2 minutes off her time from last year so that is great!!
saturday then invilved another cookie part with me and the kids and then a party at one of eric's friends house which will likely be the only adult holiday event for us this year.
it snowed last night and eric took the kids sledding in the back yard!
it started with a bad nights sleep monday night in anticipation of swimming lessons on Tuesday morning. swimming was actually pretty good, but it was followed by work.... she had us do some planks on the pool deck before getting in the water and i was paying for that for the next few days.
i rested on wednesday but did go to a cookie party with seamus in the evening. then thursday was swimming again during which i kind of freaked out about the thought that i had already been up for an hour and a 1/2 and still needed to go to work - see a trend? after gettig out of the pool i had to drive to seattle to drop my car to get serviced - two messages were appearing: Serivice Now! and Airbag Fault!. Then to work I went. then off to get my hair cut and a visit with some of the FS folks i worked with back in '97-'99. The the long drive home. Friday I got up headed to work and at lunch had to drive into seattle to pick get my car. friday night we did nothing.
saturday was the kent christmas rush. i was feeling tired and it was cold and wet and i thought maybe i wouldn't do it but i went anyway. i started out way too fast, partly because i always do and i do'nt know how to race properly and partly because they let prolly 10 or so young boys line up on the front line and i wanted to get past them.
i about died in the race and thought i might just sit back and let christie catch up then run with her. but i just kept running. ppl were passing me but i wasn't passing anyone. i prolly let 2 women pass me but not any after the turn around but that put me in like 12 or 13th place. there were no mile markers so i couldn't tell how i was doing or anything but i felt like arse. i was running hard but i don't know if it was as hard as i could go. but i did finish in 23:38 which was god for me but not my best. i should have been able to be faster i felt but all in all i was ok with it. then came awards. based off of last year's results i figured i would get into top 5 in my age group but seeing as i knew i was at least top 13 overall, i figured i would place somehow and sure enough i did, i won my age group and got a funny plaque which i have hung on a random nail that was already on the wall in our kitchen! xtie came in 3rd in her age group and took 2 minutes off her time from last year so that is great!!
saturday then invilved another cookie part with me and the kids and then a party at one of eric's friends house which will likely be the only adult holiday event for us this year.
it snowed last night and eric took the kids sledding in the back yard!
Saturday, December 06, 2008
Burger Meister Meister Burger
i like that the Burger Meister Meister Burger told Kris Kringle that he is obviously a non-comformist and a rebel.
today was the WonderGirl 5k. I volunteered as a coach for the girls. The whole experience was a bit different then i expected it to be but it was fun and I am happy i did it. i was very nervous before the first practice since i was afriad the girls might not like me but i think they liked me by the end, although i am pretty sure they think i am the weird coach that only comes on mondays. i expected the program to be more running based but it was indeed more about positive feelings, etc. Its a great program, just not what I expected. Today was the end of season race. it was an untimed event and everyone had race #1. it was fun to see the girls and to see them at the top of the big hill and then again at the finish line. as an added treat seamus ran with aunt christie and sirus ran with eric. seamus ran up the big hill! i was so proud to see her at the top of the hill! sirus ran to the bottom of the hill, the took a ride in the stroller up the hill, but then got out to run a bit when they saw me. seamus though wound up not having a very good race which makes me sad. apparently she was so intent on passing people that she went off the trail to run in the grass and she tripped and fell. that led to some crying and major frustration turned into there are all these people cheering but none of them are cheering for me. so sad. whenever we do these races we always expect to run and push the kids in the stroller. we ask them if they want out and seamus is always the first one to say she wants to run. sirus is usually the one to say no way. but this race was just too long. it was afterall 4k longer then any other running race she had ever done! but she recovered well and by the time we got into the car she was laughing and having fun and so full of energy that she must have run around the house for a good hr or more. sirus was a treat this time because he actually wanted to run! he rode a lot too, but he ran more then ever. he ran all the way through the finish shoot, but everyone was cheering too loudly so he put his hands up to his ears as he ran. all of the girls were forming a tunnel for the other girls to run through as they finished and sirus ran right through that tunnel!
later we were off to do a lacate threshold test! i wasnt sure i ws up for it. but xtie leant me her awesome new garmin and the weather was nice and eric was up for it, so i agreed. i was supposed to do an easy 15 minute warm up with a few short bursts. those bursts kicked my arse and made me have 2nd thoughts about this whole test thing. then i was to run 30 minutes at the fastest pace i figured i could hold for that entire time. i was to hit the lap button on the garmin at the 10 minute mark to get my average HR for the last 20 minutes. yikes!
it was 50 degrees and about 9 minutes in i had to take my shirt off and run with just a sports bra. i generate so much heat these days! i was dying. but i ran and i ran and i ran really hard. 22 minutes in got a cramp right below my ribs and had to back off for a minute or so. and the next few minutes th threat of the cramp was always there. i'm not sure if i ran as hard as i could but when it was finally done, i wanted to cry. i just wanted to cry, like really, i had to pretty much fight it from happening. but the average HR over the last 20 minutes was 182. i think i was working pretty darn hard. i passed a woman on her bike!
so now for some reason my coach wants me to try to get out on the bike some, too. what? she wanted to do the lactate threshold test on the bike but since i would be "right off the couch" she wants me to get out a bit first. yikes! and i am going to throw in some swimming with a swim coaching group next week. yikes!!
today was the WonderGirl 5k. I volunteered as a coach for the girls. The whole experience was a bit different then i expected it to be but it was fun and I am happy i did it. i was very nervous before the first practice since i was afriad the girls might not like me but i think they liked me by the end, although i am pretty sure they think i am the weird coach that only comes on mondays. i expected the program to be more running based but it was indeed more about positive feelings, etc. Its a great program, just not what I expected. Today was the end of season race. it was an untimed event and everyone had race #1. it was fun to see the girls and to see them at the top of the big hill and then again at the finish line. as an added treat seamus ran with aunt christie and sirus ran with eric. seamus ran up the big hill! i was so proud to see her at the top of the hill! sirus ran to the bottom of the hill, the took a ride in the stroller up the hill, but then got out to run a bit when they saw me. seamus though wound up not having a very good race which makes me sad. apparently she was so intent on passing people that she went off the trail to run in the grass and she tripped and fell. that led to some crying and major frustration turned into there are all these people cheering but none of them are cheering for me. so sad. whenever we do these races we always expect to run and push the kids in the stroller. we ask them if they want out and seamus is always the first one to say she wants to run. sirus is usually the one to say no way. but this race was just too long. it was afterall 4k longer then any other running race she had ever done! but she recovered well and by the time we got into the car she was laughing and having fun and so full of energy that she must have run around the house for a good hr or more. sirus was a treat this time because he actually wanted to run! he rode a lot too, but he ran more then ever. he ran all the way through the finish shoot, but everyone was cheering too loudly so he put his hands up to his ears as he ran. all of the girls were forming a tunnel for the other girls to run through as they finished and sirus ran right through that tunnel!
later we were off to do a lacate threshold test! i wasnt sure i ws up for it. but xtie leant me her awesome new garmin and the weather was nice and eric was up for it, so i agreed. i was supposed to do an easy 15 minute warm up with a few short bursts. those bursts kicked my arse and made me have 2nd thoughts about this whole test thing. then i was to run 30 minutes at the fastest pace i figured i could hold for that entire time. i was to hit the lap button on the garmin at the 10 minute mark to get my average HR for the last 20 minutes. yikes!
it was 50 degrees and about 9 minutes in i had to take my shirt off and run with just a sports bra. i generate so much heat these days! i was dying. but i ran and i ran and i ran really hard. 22 minutes in got a cramp right below my ribs and had to back off for a minute or so. and the next few minutes th threat of the cramp was always there. i'm not sure if i ran as hard as i could but when it was finally done, i wanted to cry. i just wanted to cry, like really, i had to pretty much fight it from happening. but the average HR over the last 20 minutes was 182. i think i was working pretty darn hard. i passed a woman on her bike!
so now for some reason my coach wants me to try to get out on the bike some, too. what? she wanted to do the lactate threshold test on the bike but since i would be "right off the couch" she wants me to get out a bit first. yikes! and i am going to throw in some swimming with a swim coaching group next week. yikes!!
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