About Me

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Austin, Texas, United States
I'll make you laugh, or break my neck trying. This is usually accomplished with daily bouts of swimming, biking and running. A former "chub-a-holic," I got fit and healthy the good old fashioned way and went from a mid-pack athlete to top age group runner and triathlete. I'm a Writer and USAT Level 1 Certified Triathlon Coach. I guess that makes me part Tina Fey and part Jillian Michaels. Visit my coaching site at www.fomotraining.com

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Sequel and Prequel





Damn, they're really cracking down on this weight thing!!



Wow! Those law enforcement officials in Ohio really take this obesity crisis thing seriously!!! We couldn’t resist snapping these photos of a Sheriff’s car parked in my parent’s neighborhood. We had jogged by it earlier and it just cracked me up, so we immediately thought, “Picture for the Blog!” Feeling like teenagers about to toilet paper someone’s house, we pulled up in front of the driveway, jumped out and quickly snapped a couple of photos. Wouldn’t you know it?? They happened to see us doing so and started charging out the front door! We made serious haste and jumped in our rental PT Cruiser all “Dukes of Hazzard” style to make our getaway as the perplexed homeowner was wondering why the hell two grown adults dressed in Ohio State regalia were taking photos in front of their Sheriff’s car at 1:00pm in the afternoon!!

While I’m sure this law enforcement official has nothing to do with regulating Body Mass Index or Calories Consumed of Ohioans, it’s actually not such a far-fetched idea! I can actually see something like this existing in a few short years. In any event, we got a couple of laughs and I hope you do too.

Marathon recovery is going well and I’m just trying to enjoy my last two weeks of “freedom” before Ironman training officially starts. Thanks so much for all of the wonderful comments about the Columbus Marathon. It was the most fun I’ve had since my first Marathon five years ago. I just didn’t think about it or stress about anything. Hell, the day before the race I was tailgating at a football game eating a meatball sub, fruit, a brownie and drinking wine (only one glass). My pre-race meal the night before was ½ veggie burger and ½ chicken burrito…Shawn ate the other half. I found out the day before that my cousin Cathy was also running and she was as blissfully unprepared as I was. Her longest run up until race morning was a 10 miler. She still knocked out a PR 4:28 marathon and couldn’t have felt much higher. Shawn, Cathy and I ran the first three miles together with joy and gratitude. I chatted with people on the course when they engaged me in conversation. The back of my Gazelle shirt has the “Runtex” logo on it and it also has our old mantra “Get Off Me” written on the back. Both spurred some comments from people who were either familiar with Runtex or thought “Get Off Me” was an intriguing and comment-worthy phrase. We ran by my old house prior to moving to Texas and I couldn’t help but get a chuckle or two thinking back to days when my roomies Lynn, Kerith and I would attempt to go out for early morning runs in that neighborhood. Each of us struggled to tackle just a couple of miles and we would just end up right back in bed afterward. And now, here I was running on those same streets at MILE 19 of a freaking marathon with some gas still left in the tank. What a difference a decade can make.


I was totally having the devil/angel conversation with myself for the last Half.
“Speed up,” the demon would say.
“Just stay right where you are at girlfriend,” the angel would retort.
Back and forth I listened to these two battle it out until I finally compromised and just kicked it in for the last 10k portion.

It’s three days afterward and my legs are rightfully still feeling a little hammered. So far, I’ve taken Monday and Tuesday completely off from any physical activity. I’ll probably just go for a short swim today and a couple of easy rides this weekend. Again, it’s very much the calm before the storm and I want to enter the Ironman threshold feeling rejuvenated and cleansed—not injured, sore, beat up or exhausted. I just completed a Half-Ironman three weeks ago and a Marathon three days ago. It’s not like I’m freaking starting from scratch here, right?? (She tries to convince herself)

Until then, I'll just walk around with the endorphins and thrill that I felt during and after the marathon.
My brother took this photo during the race where the Half and Whole Marathoners split.
I'm such a giddy dork somewhere between Miles 5 and 6...


Nice Buns!! Shawn took this post-race on the cell phone as I'm in the line grabbing bagels and cinnamon buns. I think it's funny that I'm the only one smiling.

2 comments:

buckeye92 said...

OK. After perusing your blog, you have motivated me to set some goals and get serious again. 2 goals - 1) 19:00 5K on July 4, 2) 1:30 half in the Columbus Half Marathon next Oct. Neither of these goals has a remote chance if I don't get to 165 lbs.

TRI TO BE FUNNY said...

Bro--I'm also now inspired to drop that last 7-8 pounds of mine that manifests itself in the form of wine and dessert! By Ironman, I want to be just a little lighter than I am as well. We can do this!!!