Team Barrett...At Last

Our Wedding Weekend was everything I hoped and dreamed it would be...and so much more. So many memories to capture over the next few weeks. For now, we decompress!!

End of An Era

Today marked my last official race as "Carrie Sapp." It was a good one.

1st Place Age Group Women 30-34 (there were 39 total)

5th Overall Female (there were 233 total)

Overall Time: 1:33:59

A new Half-Marathon PR for me.


Here were my Garmin Readings. It measured the distance almost .4 mile long--weird, so it makes my race look even better!

Distance: 13.46 miles (almost 4/10 of a mile longer than a Half-marathon!! odd)
Time: 1:33:59
Overall Pace: 6:59 per Mile


These were my manual splits that I took at each mile marker. I did not have the Garmin taking automatic splits.
Mile 1 7:17
Mile 2 7:11
Mie 3 7:13
Mile 4 7:11
Mile 5 7:09
Mile 6 7:14
Mile 7 7:08
Mile 8 7:08
Mile 9 7:05
Mile 10 7:07
Mile 11 7:03
Mile 12 7:11
Mile 13.1 7:55

I owe it to my training partner Thon who laid out our strategy and made me stick with it even when I was getting very impatient those first few miles. He was right. It was hard to watch 9-10 women take the lead, but it felt good getting to "chick" most of them through the race.

I also want to congratule my husband-to-be Shawn for setting a MAJOR PR...I'm talking 11 minutes!!! He came in right around 1:47--Awesome.

More thoughts to come. Must eat and have a mimosa.

It's officially WEDDING WEEK!!!

I Got Your Surprise Right Here!

At what age does it become wildly inappropriate to grab your crotch and say, "I got your (insert descriptive) right here?!?"I hope it's after the age of 34 because for some reason last night, I turned into a 16 year-old boy and I seemed to have EVERYTHING "right here, baby!"!

Sorry if I offended anyone at Cantina Laredo :-)

I felt "buzzed" all day yesterday. Somewhere between nervous, anxious, and energized.

The day started with about 5 miles of fartleks with Thon. 1min fast/1min slow. While the fast minutes were definitely a challenge, the recovery minutes were more than enough. I never felt completely exhausted, which is the point. According to Gilbert, fartleks are supposed to be fun!! ha!

I had my pre-race massage with Julie at Noon. She knows exactly where that fine line is between good pain and bad pain. Because we often run together, she also knows my quirks and sore spots. Yesterday was definitely an upper leg flush--quads, IT Band, hams. It was all in preparation for Sunday's race in Dallas. She's given me the mojo I need. Now, it's up to me.

Yesterday afternoon, my bosses also threw an intimate work shower for me yesterday as well. And by intimate, I mean "intimates!" They invited some of our media reps and I proceeded to open boxes of thongs, negligees and lotions in front of about a dozen women (and my co-worker Matt). I'm quite sure that added to my feeling of anxiousness! Talk about feeling weird. It was especially funny when I opened a pair of particularly sexy panties and a TV rep said, "Ooohh--I have those same panties!" I got your nasty visual right here!!

So, after the shower, Shawn wanted to meet downtown for dinner since it was such a beautiful evening. We were going to head to Cru Wine Bar, but it was closed for a private party. As we were wandering and deciding where to go, I saw a familiar figure across the road.

"It that Richard??" Sure enough, it was Richard who was heading over to Cantina Laredo to meet his wife for drinks and dinner.

Shawn abruptly asked, "Mind if we join you?"

And like that, we were headed to have dinner with Richard and Stephanie. It wasn't until we got in the restaurant and I turned to look at the corner table and saw Stephanie sitting with Running Hubby Mike with a gift on the table that I realized I had been duped. It was a "surpise" birthday gathering for me! I got your Surprise Right Here!!

I was totally shocked, humbled, overjoyed and overwhelmed and definitely not feeling deserving of so much unselfishness from others.

What a self-indulgent day...morning run, massage, lingerie party, dinner with friends.

What's a girl to do??

"I got your margarita and dessert Right Here!!"

It also hit me last night that as of today, I'm the old chick in my 30-34 age group!

"I got your age group Right Here Baby!" Bring it on...

Mother Nature's Way of Saying "Chill"

I know it was crazy to start texting some workout partners on Sunday evening as I was in the gym parking lot about to start my pool swim. I was texting to see who wanted to go on a nice slow Monday morning recovery run/jog with me at 6am. After almost immediate responses from Shannon, Thon and Richard, it was decided that we would meet at 6am at Barton Springs Pool. While it was an exhausting and energetic weekend, I still managed to crawl in bed at a very reasonable 11pm.

I woke up in the middle of the night to use the little triathlete's room (I had to pee) and noticed that both my and Shawn's clocks were blinking. Uh oh...Must've been a power glitch. I turned on the bathroom light and checked the time on my Polar Watch that I normally just use for swimming intervals. It said 3:27am. Instantly, I got that "Yay!! Two more hours of sleep" feeling. We both woke up long enough to reset our clocks and promptly fell back to sleep--except for the cat who was ready to eat and play since Mommy had turned on the light.

Fast forward two hours...the alarm does indeed go off. Shawn gets up to hop in the shower. "Uh, it's 6:20am right now." What?? I set my alarm for 5:20am so that I'd have plenty of time to drive the 5min to Barton Springs.

"Are you kidding?" I noticed that it did look rather light outside.

Turns out that I forgot to change my Polar watch time with daylight savings, so when I said it was 3:27, it was actually 4:27a. WOOPS!!!

Little Miss Running Planner had missed her own scheduled workout! I really do think Mother Nature was giving me a less than subtle hint about getting some rest over the next two weeks. The extra hour of sleep felt great. I did get up and run the Scenic Loop from my house at a manageable recovery pace and got to watch the sun rise over Lake Austin.

6 miles in 56min
9:20 recovery pace

I'm debating whether or not I want to/should go to Jack and Adam's tonight. We're doing the Physical Fitness test. ughh...Gym class all over again, but in a parking lot in 90 degree heat. It's a taste of what is to come, I suppose!

One Week to Half-Marathon, Two Weeks to Marriage Marathon!

I guess the meaning of a Bachelorette Party changes the older you get! While Shawn was having boys night out on Friday night, I had my own Ladies Night. I witnessed the obligatory men in tights with gyrating moves and big packages who may or may not be gay. Yep, that’s right. I had a girl’s night out at the ballet! Stephanie, Hava, Jill and I got all gussied up and hit the Belmont for an early dinner on Friday night. After indulging in entirely too much food (i.e. dessert), we walked over to the Paramount for a night at the Ballet. I should probably be ashamed to admit that I’ve never been to a Ballet before. Not even The Nutcracker! Needless to say, it was certainly a spectacle of beauty and grace.

So after my evening with the dancers, I did what every other single chick would do. I was home by 10:30p (so was Shawn) and we went to bed early. We had long runs to accomplish afterall!

Saturday, May 12, 2007
I ran with some Gazelles including Leslie, Shannon and two new Gazelles for the 14-Mile Mt. Bonnell Loop. None of us are really training for any major distance races so our goal was to simply enjoy and not push too hard. Shannon is still coming back from Boston and I’m trying to stay uninjured. It ended up being a much better run than anticipated as Shannon, Teek (her dog) and I managed to pick it up for the last half of the run. Our average pace was an 8:27 overall.
Mile 1: 9:05
Mile 2: 8:22
Mile 3: 9:28
Mile 4: 8:43
Mile 5: 8:48
Mile 6: 8:23
Mile 7: 9:11 (climbing Mt. Bonnell)
Mile 8: 8:42
Mile 9: 8:27
Mile 10: 8:05
Mile 11: 8:02
Mile 12: 8:13
Mile 13: 7:15

Shawn and I had an amazing Saturday, as it’s the start of my birthday week! We ended up having a couple of new photos taken (thanks Richard). We then had a great sushi feast at Uchi followed by a downtown carriage ride. It was a gorgeous night in Austin. We ended up at Lamberts BBQ in 2nd Street District where we headed upstairs to watch The Marshall Ford Swing Band play for an hour. I’m guessing it was the vodka in my martini, but we actually got out there and practiced our dancing in front of everyone! The best (or worst) part? We were the only ones on the dance floor!

Sunday, May 13th, 2007

We woke up early this morning and headed down to Johnson City for one of our favorite bike rides. It’s a tough and hilly 36-Mile ride that starts and ends at President Johnson’s Ranch. The roads aren’t crowded and they’re in great shape. It’s also very picturesque and filled with wildflowers, wildlife, farmland and rolling hills. If we tried hard enough, it felt like we were in Tuscany or somewhere along the Tour De France. Because we got an early start, we beat most of the intense heat and had a very good ride. We both felt strong throughout. I’m claiming the bad-ass award because we stopped about 20 miles in so that I could open some water and I noticed that I had been riding on a Half-flat back tire. No wonder some of those hills were tough. It was obviously a slow leak so I filled it up with some co2 and kept riding. We would stop every 7 or 8 miles so that I could refill. By the last 4 miles, it was really going flat, but I rode through it. I’m thinking I earned some extra credit on that one today! Time for some new tires from Jack and Adams!

36.11 miles
2:17:28
15.8 avg mph
I think this may be a best for us.

Afterward, we threw on our running shoes and headed out for about 22min for a little over 2.5 miles. Just a nice slow jog off the bike…

We followed that up with a trip to Pedernales State Park for a picnic of salads and fruit that we had packed in the morning. We threw down a blanket by the falls and had a nice peaceful lunch. We joked that most people would be stressing with two weeks before a wedding and we were having picnics and going on bike rides. Love it!!

Never to be one to call it quits, we hit Shawn’s gym on Sunday evening for a 45 minute swim. I wasn’t really keeping track, but I’m guessing it was between 2000-2500m of straight endurance freestyle. Because my gym’s pools are still shut down, I ended up getting a mini-membership to 24 Hr. Fitness so that I would have access to an indoor pool whenever I need it.

All in all, it was another rough weekend in Austin, Texas. With less than two weeks to the big Wedding Day, we’re both feeling calm, fit and relaxed.

Shake and Bake, Baby!

Did my Pace LAB Run this morning with Thon.

Each loop is 3.5 miles and we were running 3 loops today. The first loop was a total warmup lap and the last two were full-blown race simulator pace.

I'll go into more depth later, but the numbers say everything

Lap 1: 33:21 9:35 pace for warmup

Lap 2 and 3 combined: 48:31 for a 6:56 overall average pace for 7 miles!!!

yee haw, woo hoo and zipidee doo dah!

Here were the mile breakdowns for the 7 miles at pace:

6:58

7:06

6:59

6:50 (with a water stop included)

7:04

7:18

6:11

Looking at the last two splits, I'd say that the GPS must've had a glitch and evened itself out. I don't think we ran a 7:18 and I KNOW we weren't running a 6:11 either. It was probably somewhere in the middle for both miles.

Either way, the overall time doesn't change: 48:31 for 7 miles

6:56 per mile.

That means I definitely broke 28 minutes on a 4 mile tempo run and still managed to squeeze 3 more at a faster pace. Feels good...

One Minor Detail...

Sometimes, it doesn't matter how much you plan for something. There will always be a ball or two that gets fumbled. I got a call from the priest of the church in Ohio where we're being married and he informed me that he hasn't received any of our official church paperwork from the Diocese. This is paperwork that we completed three months ago! Our Deacon in Austin was supposed to have filled everything out and sent it on its way. Unfortunately, our official "we're not related and have never been married before" documents are MIA. At this point, the ONE thing that could keep us from getting married is actually happening as we speak. Freaking obligatory paperwork for the Catholic Church. Ridiculous... I'm somewhere between nervous and just plain perturbed that we actually did everything well in advance and this is still happening. Apparently, our Deacon has copies of everything, but I have no idea what the next step in the process is...He's supposed to let us know. Can you believe that? I'm worried about a cake knife and the church doesn't have what they should've received months ago...All of the planning in the world to make a smooth road can take place and you still have to jump over a pothole or two. Send positive vibes my way! I know everything will work out (it always seems to), but it's pretty darn frustrating!!

Trying to chill a little on the workouts this week as I want to be fully rested for both the upcoming Half-Marathon in Dallas on 5/20 and I want to be rested and fresh for the wedding mayhem. The last thing we want is to be sore, tired and nursing IT injuries as we walk down the aisle! I'd prefer my Dad escort me down and not push me down the aisle!!

Tuesday 5/8
Did a 30 minute run in the morning before work. Part of that was my obligatory 2 miles on the track.
The track portion was 16:35
2.15 miles

I was going to do a bike ride after work (Time Trial on South Mopac), but realized the "official" Run-Far Time Trial is next Tuesday...duh. Therefore, out of guilt and stupidity, I was going to do it anyways, but decided to stop flogging myself and have dinner with my friends Cathy and Wendy last night instead. Both of them are flying from Austin to Ohio for the wedding and I wouldn't get a chance to see them otherwise before the big day.

Wednesday, 5/9
Got up and hit Barton Springs by 7:00am. I hit a new distance and pace record this morning!! YAY!!! I did a total of 5 1/2 laps, which equates to 2200 meters of open water swimming. I guess it does make a difference when the sun is actually up and you can see where you're going. The middle of the Springs felt choppy this morning for some reason. I felt smooth at the ends, but found it difficult to maintain my relaxation in the middle. I kept feeling like I was in an actual race body of water. While it was frustrating to lose rhythm, it was a relief knowing that my face wasn't going to get kicked by a competing age group athlete.

Lap 1: 8:52
Lap 2: 8:53
Lap 3: 8:56
Lap 4: 8:52
Lap 5: 9:16 cool down
Lap 5 1/2: 4:29

Hitting Corture tonight and may go for a slow 2 mile jog on the track. Thon and I are hitting the LAB Loop tomorrow for another simulated pace run to prepare for the Half in Dallas.

A few people have asked why I'm focusing so hard on a Half-Marathon when I've done a number of full Marathons. The answer is quite simply and quite literally for "a change of pace." Last year was all about distance for me. I trained for and ran the Boston Marathon in April and the Dallas Marathon in December. In between the two marathons, I managed to squeeze in two Half-Ironmans in June and in November. The good news is that each race was a PR event for me. I maanaged to better my times with each effort. The bad news? I was freaking tired and sore after all of that!! When I came back in January, I made it a goal to let distance go for a bit and really work on speed and strength. So far, it seems to be paying off nicely. My times for my workouts are improving. The Dallas Half-Marathon is my first real race test and attempt at a new PR. My Half PR is a 1:34. My goal is to go sub-1:33 which is basically a 7:00min mile pace. It's also my last race as a "Sapp." I want to make it a damn good one.

See what I mean about planning?? You can do all the preparation in the world, but certain things are still out of your ultimate control.

19 Days to the Wedding

Today was day two in Shawn's 26.2 miles in 13 days. His plan is to run 2 miles a day for the next 13 days. That way, he'll have run a marathon by the time we do our Half-Marathon in Dallas on May 20th! Ahhh...the beauty of mentally psyching yourself out.

I'll run with him when I can, but our schedules can be pretty erratic sometimes.

I slept in this morning after going to bed much later than usual last night. I went to Corture tonight and they didn't do the Physical Fitness test that I was dreading!! It was actually another "People's Choice" workout since Adam is still at the Wildflower Tri. We did an assortment of plank (both regular and side), various leg lifts and kicks, push-ups alternating between regular, wide grip and triangle, mountain climbers, 8-count body builders and more...all within a 45 minute span.

Shawn and I didn't even head over to the track until 9:45pm tonight, which is usually about the time I'm washing my face and brushing my teeth for bed. Thank God the track is literally across the street. Tonight's workout was similar to yesterday.

2.15 Miles Total
16:55 min Total
7:53 pace avg for workout including fast and slow laps

On the wedding front, all is well...My friend Lynn from Ohio is coming through with a cake knife! Party favors ordered, gifts ordered, tuxes fitted, dress ready to go, flowers ordered, music in iPod, cake lady ready to go, chocolate fountain all set...freaking craziness I tell ya!

Cinco de Mayo!

So, what does Cinco de Mayo really mean? I know it means "the 5th of May" in Spanish, but what is the significance of Cinco de Mayo? I really have no idea and perhaps I should. This year, the 5th of May signified breakfast in the morning at Mi Madres on Saturday, dinner at Maudies Mexican with the same tribe of folks and blackened tuna tacos for brunch today at South Congress Cafe! (and I wonder why I struggle with my weight plateaus!) I swear I didn't mean for it to turn into a Mexican Food extravanganza, but it did. In fact, I attempted to go as "healthy" as possible at these wonderful local establishments.

Mi Madres--meat and egg taco with cup of fruit
Maudies--chipotle shrimp fajitas with one corn tortilla, black beans and rice
South Congress Cafe--blackened tuna tacos with 1/2 tortilla, black beans and rice

No Margaritas were consumed this weekend, I'm proud to say! I'm three weeks out from the wedding and the last thing I want to feel is like I'm retaining water from all of the salt.

Oh, I forgot to mention, in between my feedings over the last couple of days, I also managed to squeeze in a few workouts to make it all worthwhile!!

Saturday, 5/5--15 mile run starting from Gateway near the Arboretum and running to downtown Runtex. Several people were doing 20 miles today and I took it easy and only did 15 miles (yes, I said "only" rather smugly) So, it was humid and miserable from our 5:30am start, but we kept our pace very even and I felt good at the finish. Including all of our water stops where we paused for a few minutes and bitched about the weather, my overall pace for the 15+ miles was a 9:30. No need to drop the bomb right now on these long runs.

So, I finished with my run around 8:30am, and then headed to the gym, quickly showered and hit the 9:00am yoga class. Let me just say, it was WONDERFUL. Forced stretching and relaxation for an hour after running for over two hours. My legs felt so much better after that class. It kinda made me wish I could do an hour of yoga after every long run. At the end of class, we lay still for about 5 minutes in the dark. I totally dozed off and did the jerk reaction thing you do when you have the "I'm falling" dream. Thank God the lights were turned off because I'm sure I looked hilarious!

Sunday, 5/6--I had visions of a long bike ride today, but mentally wasn't really up to it. It was one of those feelings where I knew if I started riding, I'd be grumpy at the first sign of a hill or a breeze. So, we relaxed for a bit in the morning and around 10:30am, we hopped on our mountain bikes for an hour ride around Town Lake. Nothing strenuous, nothing hard or long...just a fun little jaunt on the crowded trail. I forget how fun trail riding can be and it makes me long for a little more mountain biking action. Unfortunately, I'm a bit of a wuss in that department and am always afraid of getting injured.

So, I had brunch with some wonderful girlfriends and then headed off to dance class with Shawn so that we can practice our wedding dance. We're having a blast attempting not to crush each others toes. Believe me, some moments are better than others!

After dance class, we headed to Shawn's gym and swam for about an hour. I alternated with some drills, fins, paddles and kickboard. I was pleasantly surprised to see my kickboard skills improving. I think we could've stayed in the pool for hours, but there were people waiting for lanes so we got out.

Marathon in Two Weeks
While we were in the sauna, Shawn mentioned that he had come up with a cool idea. He was doing to run 2 miles a day interval style on the track for the next 13 days. That would be a full marathon over the course of two weeks! We would run on the track by our house and throw some speedwork in for a change of pace.

So 10 laps around our track is a little over 2 miles. Tonight we alternated between 2 slow laps, 2 fast, 2 slow, 2 fast, 2 slow.

Total Workout Time: 16:50
Total Mileage: 2.13miles
Avg Pace for Workout: 7:55 pace per mile, that includes the slow laps and fast laps combined.


So, I guess I celebrated Cinco de Mayo weekend with cinco fantastic workouts!

Strength and Swimming

Strength AM
My Swim/Triathlon Coaches T3 just opened an actual training facility in South Austin and they've invited current and ex-members to swing by for a week to check it out and indulge in a couple of free workouts. In addition to training consultations, they are also offering various spin classes (you bring your bike and trainer) , core workouts and strength conditioning. I was really curious to check it out so I went to their Strenth class this morning at 6:00am not having a clue what to expect. There were about six of us there and the class was an hour-long mixture of upper and lower body exercises done in a circuit style with some abs and pushups tossed in for good measure. Each "station" was 2:00min long and featured the likes of squats and lunges with medicine balls, biceps, triceps, lats and chest presses with resistance bands, running drills, some plank and "buddy" medicine ball exercises where we did situps and tossed it to each other.

As I recap it tonight, it sounds a lot worse than it was. I guess I'm just used to the torture of Jack and Adam's Corture class. All that being said, I left with a good sense of completion this morning. I had a great workout, but it didn't destroy me. In fact, I was going to head to Barton Springs afterward for a swim, but it was drizzling and with the recent rains, I'm sure the water quality is murky at best right now.

When it comes time to kick into some serious tri training after the honeymoon, I'd like to take advantage of some of the T3 swim workouts and longer bike rides. Swim practice keeps me discliplined and working on drills and speed. The bike rides offer support when you're out there for 50-60-70 miles at a time. It's especially helpful if Shawn is working and isn't able to ride. However, at this time, I don't see a need to be full-fledged member of their training facility. My current gym offers wonderful spin and yoga classes. And if they ever get the f*cking Swim-Ex pools up and running again, I know I'll be a fish there as well.

I feel like a puppy who doesn't want to miss any action. I'm just so intrigued by all of the action and activity in this little sporting community that I hate to feel like I'm missing out on something! Plus, it's just good networking to have relationships with various people in this athletic world. You never know when you can benefit from each other.


Swim PM
So, I know it's a Friday and most people are heading off to Happy Hour. I was excited for a low-key evening and started if off with a quick visit to Stacy Pool for a 30 minute swim. No speed work, no toys, just swimming for what turned out to be 1250m. Once again, my focus was on form and bilateral breathing. I noticed something humorous though. After commenting about how I didn't think the Strength workout this morning was that difficult, I noticed during the swim that my arms were sore!! So, it was harder than I thought!! Shame on me and my pretentiousness.

The swim wasn't so much a workout as it was a nice way to unwind from the week. I still have anxiety before every swim, but absolutely love it once I'm in the water.

The Wedding is three weeks away and we're still cruising along nicely. Several people that we thought "will never come" are showing up much to our surprise! We're truly down to the little details of wedding programs and reception details. I can't wait for this celebration. Why? Because once it's over we head to Bora Bora!!!!!!!!!!!

2000s at Zilker Park

I squeezed the toothpaste! I squeezed the toothpaste!

Today marked a return to Zilker Park for 2000m repeats. For those that don't know (and I honestly didn't until this morning), 2000m is 1.25 miles. You'd think I'd know since I wear a freaking GPS on my wrist, but I've never really look at the Distance. I always focus on time for this workout.

The crowd was somewhat thin this morning as horrendous storms had blown through in the middle of the night. It woke me up around 2am and I remember thinking, "Maybe I won't have to go to run class!" That's funny because I seem to forget that it IS a choice. No one is forcing me to go anywhere. (except for my former self)

Instead of running from home like I normally would, I actually drove to Runtex in case he changed the workout due to the rain. I'd hate to be over at Zilker waiting for everyone only to find out that they went to the track instead. After the 1 mile warmup and drills, we gathered in our usual groups. Once again, it was me and the boys! (I later learned were Mike and Mike) I told one of them that I refer to them as "The Boys" in my blog. He told me he refers to me as "Fast Girl" in his log. Wow...I've been referred to as "The Fast Girl" before, but it has never had anything to do with running!! :-) (just kiddin' Mom!)

My effort was hard, but sustainable. I was breathing hard, but not killing myself. It was definitely a managed effort. I kept it at 3 repeats today because I'm only really training for a Half-Marathon right now and working on speed more than endurance. It's paying off.

Here were my results from last month on April 10th:

Repeat 1: 8:35 (old finish line: 8:15)
Repeat 2: 8:34 (old finish line: 8:13)
Repeat 3: 8:40 (old finish line 8:20)

Here were my results today on May 3rd:

Repeat 1: 8:24 (old finish line: 8:00) 6:45 min pace
Repeat 2: 8:19 (old finish line: 8:01) 6:41 min pace
Repeat 3: 8:18 (old finish line 8:01) 6:40 min pace

How bout that?!?!

A Little Catching Up

I've been on a writing kick! There's just been so much going on and with the extra energy and adrenaline, I want to pour it into my journal.

But tonight, I want to do a little recap of the week's workouts so that I don't forget!

Monday 4/30
8 mile recovery jog with Thon and Richard in the Rain

"Corture" class in the afternoon. Adam said he wasn't going to be there on Wed. or next Monday. I think we all shouted a silent "Yoo-hah" as the workouts never seem to be as "epic" when he's not there.

Tuesday 5/1
A steady endurance swim of 2000m at Stacy Pool. It took 46 minutes, but I felt fantastic the whole time. No form fatigue whatsoever. Of course, I wasn't going for any speed either, just form and practice on bi-lateral breathing.

After that 2000m, I slapped on the fins and did 10 more laps to give my arms a little break.

Wednesday 5/2 I Turned a Trick!
Shawn inspired me to get up early today since he was heading to the gym by 5:30am. I managed to leave the house by 5:45am and be in the pool by 6:10am. I swam:
5 warmup laps
6 x 50 with paddles and pull buoy (getting faster with each 25)
Put the fins back on for 5 more laps of kicking drills

I left Stacy Pool at 6:40am and hopped in my car and headed directly to the gym for 7am spin class. I'm sure the people were wondering why it appeared that I had already taken a shower. My hair was still pretty darn wet! I'm not sure if I slacked off today or if I crossed a plateau this morning, but it didn't seem to kick my butt. I kept adjusting the knob to make it harder, but my lungs and legs kept adjusting to the subtle changes. Who's to say? It was still a wonderful 50 minutes of controlled aerobic activity and a great way to cross train.

And, of course, I went to Corture class tonight after work. Since Adam wasn't there, it was "People's Choice" so different people got to pick the various exercises. It's good because we added a lot more variety tonight than usual; jumping jacks, tricep dips, 8-count body builders, etc.. But, we didn't do nearly the amount of reps that we normally do. Even plank sets were kept to a minimum between 2:30-3:00min. While it didn't seem as difficult, I felt like I was doing the exercises correctly and not losing form like I normally do. Plus, my back, abs and hip flexors weren't giving me any hassle.

There's so much more exciting activity happening and I'll be writing about that soon! Wedding details, details, details!! Plus, I'm excited about my last race as a Sapp and a potential race in Ohio, which would be my first as a Barrett!! (Yes, we're thinking of doing a small 5 mile race on Memorial Day in Ohio two days after our wedding!) We don't leave for the honeymoon until Wednesday.

On a Side note: I must give serious love and props to my boy who has dropped 12lbs in a matter of a couple of weeks! This man has so much discipline. It seems as though we jokingly have our own challenge going on to see who can get the most physical activity in the day. I just couldn't bear to sleep in today knowing he was heading to the gym. Of course, boys lose weight so much faster than women which we HATE!

Another Side Note for Jane: I've posted some photos from last Friday's shower on the right hand side of the blog. I've worked in the media for years and this shower was a combination of friends from radio, TV and ad agencies around town (plus a token friend or two who escaped the media trap!) Needless to say, it was a trip down memory lane as evidenced by several of the embarrassing facial expressions represented in some of the photos.