GO LEAN, CRUNCH!

HELL YEAH...I'm going Lean thanks to Kashi.

So, the quest to be officially LEAN began this week...4lbs...That's it! That's all I need to lose in order to do it. It seems so damn easy, but I've been at a plateau for a long time and it's a toughie to break. It seems so easy in theory. Burn more calories than you take in and you will lose weight. I think it's B.S. Maybe I'm defying the laws of physics. Maybe I'm the ONE person that voids the formula. We'll see...Next week, I'll journal my eating habits to see if there are any oddities. Please tell me that Kashi is not responsible for my weight plateau. If that's the case, I'll just be happy with "Moderately Lean" for the rest of my life because I'm not giving up the GO LEAN Crunch. Besides, we have no less than 8 boxes of it currently in our pantry. I'm so not kidding.

I've been trying to focus on lean protein and lots of fruit and veggies. I still consume some "bread" carbs, but I'm doing so in very moderate amounts and small portions. I don't believe in complete deprivation and I also feel that you need carbs as an endurance athlete. I typically start my day with one cup of measured Kashi, yogurt and frozen berries. Heat it in the microwave for about 30 secs and you'll be in healthy-cobbler heaven.

For lunch, I'm trying to stick primarily with salads or more kashi.

Dinner is tricky depending on my social activities. For instance, tonight I went to Mangia Pizza with Shawn, Thon and Coach G. I ordered the double house salad with chicken. Unfortunately, it was made primarily with iceberg so the nutritional content was blah. I also indulged in one piece of stuffed spinach pizza. According to Thon, it's "more healthy" than most---cheese is 30% less fat than most and the crust is actually a nice whole wheat crust. So, instead of eating 3 pieces of stuffed pizza, I ate a big salad and only one slice of pizza. What a strategy, I know.

It's been an awesome week of training:

Last Saturday: 29 mile bike ride in the afternoon, 5 mile run in the evening

Last Sunday: I hit the gym for core, weighs, 10 minutes on the rock climbing wall and 30 minutes on the spin bike

Monday: Sore from weekend so I did a very slow 30 minute jog in the a.m. and the Jack and Adams Core Class in the afternoon. Damn, it was hard.

Tuesday: Gazelles Wilke Hill Repeats. Amy and I ran over 3.5 miles from my house to the hill. I did 8 forward repeats, 3 backwards and 3 sprints from half-way for a total of 14 repeats. I then ran over 3.5 miles back home. Needless to say, I was pretty toasted on Tuesday because the workout for the day was over 10 miles.

Wednesday: Spin Class at 7am for 50 minutes and a 5 mile run this evening with Shawn. My body still feels beat up from Wilke and from the core class, so this was very much a recovery run for me.

The Swim Ex pools at Castle Hill are still closed down and it's killing me!!! It's been raining here the last couple of days so I haven't gone to any outdoor facility. Needless to say, it's been almost 2 weeks since I've swam. I actually miss it terribly. They are trying to expedite the reopening, but we'll see. I just have to suck it up and hit some regular pools, but I don't want to!!

On tap for tomorrow morning...TEMPO run again. Four miles of focused all out effort. My last one two weeks ago was 28:25. I'd like to knock 10 sec off that one.

Friday (if no rain): Barton Springs for 45 minute aqua jog and about 1 mile of open water swimming.

BOD POD RESULTS

Just like marriage, you take it for better or worse:


FIRST of all, here are the general guidelines for Body Fat percentages:

Risky (high body fat) men: >30% women: >40%
Too much fat can pose serious health risks. Talk to Doc about safely modifying this composition

Excess Fat men: 21-30% women: 31-40%
Indicates an excess accumulation of fat over time

Moderately Lean men: 13-20% women: 23-30%
Fat level is acceptable for good health

Lean men: 9-12% women: 19-22%
Lower body fat levels than many people. This range is excellent for health and longevity.

Ultra Lean men: 5-8% women: 15-18%
Fat levels sometimes found in elite athletes

Risky (low body fat) men: <5% women: <15%
Too little body fat can present health risks, especially for women


My Results:

5’1” Female
Age 33

Lean Mass: 74.6% (89.3 lbs)
Fat: 25.4% (30.4 lbs)

Total weight = 119.7 lbs
BMI = 22.5 (Normal weight = 18.5-24.9)
Resting Metabolic Rate = 1100 calories (that means I burn 1100 calories a day by doing nothing. That explains why I’m constantly hungry)

So-My Thoughts??
I was thrilled when I first glanced at the results because as a former overweight person (having tipped the scales at 160), I was prepared for the worst case scenario of being told I was overweight or having excess fat. So, when she printed my results and I fell within the very healthy “moderately lean” category I was happy to say the least. I’ve never been officially told I was in the “lean” category. That’s like someone saying I’m hot and sexy. It’s just not my thing. Hot and sexy—uh, never. I’m more of a Cabbage Patch Kid than a Barbie anyday.
“Moderately Lean” is a great place to be. It’s a healthy place to be. It’s a fit place to be. I’ve worked my freaking ass off (and more) to get here.

I want to be a little better. I want to be LEAN.

I want to fall between 19-22% body fat. Now, some obsessive compulsive athlete-types would automatically want to shoot for the Ultra Lean or Elite Athlete category. While that would be awesome, it’s not my goal. I’m not an elite athlete. I don’t get paid by any sponsors to train. I enjoy food, wine, live music and excesses way too much to deprive myself just to get down to that level. I don’t train to win races. I train to enjoy the process of completing something I never thought possible.
The good news? I only have to drop 4-5lbs to get to that “Lean” percentage between 19-22%. It’s attainable and very much within reach.
Cardio-wise I’m there. I’m beyond there. Now it’s time to incorporate a little weight training to top it off. I’ve got 10 weeks to drop 4-5lbs. Why 10 weeks? Because then I get to walk down the aisle as an official LEAN person.

Read about the Bod Pod Fitness Test here:

Spring Training Isn't Just for Baseball Players

I've gone and done it. I've made myself accountable. This week, I signed up for two more events this Spring. Shawn and I signed up for the Annual Rosedale Ride taking place on March 24th and today I signed up for Austin's Sprint Distance Cactus Triathlon on April 15th.

The Rosedale Ride is a casual organized event that benefits Austin's Rosedale Elementary school. What started as a neighborhood bike ride 13 years ago has now turned into an all-day event with more than 1300 riders. There are various distances up to 62 miles and I'm sure Shawn and I will opt for the 40-60 mile range. There are plenty of aid stations along the way so it's a great time and a great cause.

The Cactus Tri will be a first for me and it's the morning after one of our wedding showers, which is why I'm opting to only do the Sprint Distance this year. It's essentially the same course as the Danskin Tri out at Decker Lake so I'm familiar with the terrain. I'm looking forward to an early fun triathlon! This is 500m swim (fabulous and short), 13 mile bike and 5k. It will be over an hour of maximum effort I'm sure, but it should be a blast. (Unless I'm totally hung over; in which case it will suck beyond belief).


Spring is definitely in the air judging by my enthusiasm for these two events!

I did my long 12 mile run of the week with Amy, Julie and Mike on early Friday morning. Amy was going out of town and wanted to knock it out on Friday. Good solid run for me...Started at home and ran to the rock. From there we did the 7 mile loop and then headed down Lake Austin Blvd to complete the Enfield/Exposition Triangle. I ran back the LAB before turning around and heading home.

Today, Shawn and I packed up the biked and headed down to the Veloway for a two-hour ride. We did the South Mopac loop, followed by a longer 16-17 mile loop that takes you around the Circle C hood. From there, we looped back around on South Mopac and finished with a cool-down loop on the Veloway. Total of about 29 miles on the bike. It certainly wasn't an all out effort for either of us, but it was a pleasant ride. We certainly weren't trying to push it on our first "major" ride this Spring. In fact, I was struggling a bit today and didn't feel smooth or efficient. It was all I could do to keep up. A nice humbling way to start the season...

This Morning, I also hit Castle Hill for the BOD POD Fitness Test. It tested my weight, lean muscle mass, body fat %, Resting Metabolic Rate and other interesting dorky stuff. I'll talk results tomorrow! It's good to finally have a firm view of where I am physically without having to simply rely on the lbs on the scale.

The More Things Change...

...The More They Stay the Same.

400s on the Track:


So, I was looking back at my blog to see if I could find the results of the last time I did this particular workout. It was way back on March 22nd, 2006...Almost a year ago! I laughed out loud when I ready the journal because it was all about my food cravings. Funny enough, a year later I still crave those exact same items and eat them every day. I'm not sure how I would exist in life without Kashi GO LEAN Crunch!

So, here are the comparison results from my 400s on the track workout.

March 22, 2006
Warmup from Runtex to Track 1.66 miles 15:16 (9:11 pace)

Set #1 5 x 400s1:43, 1:41, 1:42, 1:40, 1:43 AVG 1:42
Set #2 5 x 400s1:36, 1:40, 1:36, 1:37, 1:38 AVG 1:37
Set #3 5 x 400s1:34, 1:35, 1:34, 1:35, 1:34 AVG 1:34

March 8, 2007
Warmup from Home to Track--about 1.6 miles

Lined up with Shannon, Sean, Mike, Kelly and others whom I didn't know. The track was very crowded this morning with both Gazelles and Rogue. I know why Gilbert would prefer that I do Mon/Wed, but I'm really enjoying the change right now.

Set #1 5 x 400s 1:44, 1:34, 1:32, 1:36, 1:33 AVG 1.358
Set #2 5 x 400s 1:33, 1:32, 1:32, 1:32, 1:32 AVG 1.322
Set #3 5 x 400s 1:31, 1:33, 1:30, 1:31, 1:28 AVG 1:306

Cool down back Home--about 1.6 miles
Total Workout for Day: 8.5 miles

So, while I'm totally stoked that I ran this workout faster and correctly (each set got faster by 2 sec), I probably started a little too fast since I literally had nothing left in the tank to run another set.


Now...it's time for some KASHI!

Health Permits...Who Needs Them?

Well isn't this just my luck?? So, I get really excited about my progress in the pool. I'm feeling stronger and more confident. I'm beginning to channel my inner Michael Phelps. So, I go to my gym the other day to do a Swim Ex pool workout and I see a big fat red notice on the wall. "The pools are closed down for the time being"...something about a health permit...details, details... No word on when they will be "legal" in the eyes of the City of Austin Health Inspectors. Knowing my dealings with city permits, it could be June. I'll hope for the best! Barton Springs is also closed for cleaning until this weekend.

I've taken this weeek to have some good quality running workouts.

Monday: 9 Mile Run

Freaking Julie and I kicked off the week with a ball-buster of a morning run. Exposition to 35th. 35th up Balcones to Mt. Bonnell...Mt Bonnell to 2222 and back. 9 miles of steady hill climbing in the dark. Is it weird that we were trying to figure out the difference between planets and stars because we could SEE them so clearly??

Tuesday: 8 Mile Run

I played a little game with myself. I warmed up from my house down to the Rock (about 1 mile). I told myself, "If I see Thon, Amy, Julie and the gang, I'll run with them. If not, I'll continue to the Austin High Track for the Circuit Workout." Lo and Behold, as I'm approaching the Rock, I see my gaggle of pals coming slowly towards me. They quickly (and very easily) talked me into running with them instead of going to circuit. Of course, I pretty much felt guilty about it the entire run, but I did go home and work on some core for a while after the run. We did the 3 mile loop on the trail, followed by the lake Austin Blvd/Enfield/Exposition triangle.

Wednesday: Spin/Elyptical

I got up this morning and went to Spin Class, followed by 30 minutes on the Elyptical machine. Really digging the spin instructor...smart, efficient workouts...Disappointed that the pools were still shut down.

Damn...hope I don't lose my mojo :-)

This Saturday morning, I'm signed up to do a Bod Pod Fitness test which will measure my overall fitness level, BMI, Fat%, etc. This will be the real indicator of where I'm at so that I don't constantly stay fixated on the scale numbers. I know I've got 7-8 pounds of extra body fat that I'd love to kiss goodbye. I feel good...I feel healthy...I feel fit. Hopefully, the results will be just as encouraging.

Experiencing Things for the First Time!

On Friday, this post was going to be a colossal rant and rave about my 4lb weight gain in one week, but I've since calmed down, gotten out of my funk, regrouped and had an awesome weekend. Plus, a couple of those pounds are already gone, putting me back into my "normal" range.

Instead, I'm going to touch on the amazing weekend I had and hit some of the high points. In many ways, I feel like a first grader who got to see and do things for the first time! In no particular order:

1.) Ran 11 miles with my partners Thon, Mike and Amy and felt GREAT afterward. (for a change)
2.) Drove up to Mt. Barker with Shawn and Thon on Saturday evening to watch the sun set and the lunar eclipse. Now, THAT's something you don't get to do every day.
3.) Thon and Shawn gave me my first ever lesson on how to drive a stick shift. Yes, I'm 33 years old and still don't know how to drive a stick shift. And yes, I stalled the car...a couple of times, but it wasn't so bad. Do I want to drive on the roads yet? Hell no! But, it's a start.
4.) Went to church and listened to a very applicable homily on marriage and relationships. (haven't been to church in a while so it's kinda like a "first.")
5.) Shawn and I hopped on our Mountain Bikes this afternoon and rode down to Zilker Park for the Kite Festival. We attempted to fly our airplane kite, but didn't have a whole lot of luck. We did, however, have a whole lot of fun looking at the thousands of other kites in the park.
6.) We threw the kite away (nice try) and proceeded to experience miles of Town Lake on our bikes. I'm so used to running this trail, that riding on my mountain bike was a whole new experience that I haven't done in years. We definitely got a heck of a workout with about 10 miles of biking on the Trail.

And in other breakthrough/first time news:

I went to the YMCA today give my swim the real test. I've been swimming in the Swim Ex current pools with no real proof as to whether or not I'm truly getting faster. I've felt confident, but not confident enough to really try...until today. I warmed up for 300m (6 laps) and felt very comfortable. Then, I proceeded to do 10 x 50m repeats on the :15. I was coming in between :55-1:00 every time! I WAS GIDDY!!! Looking back on some old posts, there were workouts where I was averaging 1:14-1:17 per 50. In October, I did a similar workout where I was averaging 1:04-1:06 per 50. Needless to say, my breakthrough may be for real!! I'm trying not to get my hopes up too high, but that is huge for me...5-10 sec improvement per lap. wow...

Ah...the sights and sounds of being a kid again. We even passed an ice cream truck...Too bad I gave it up for Lent.

Tempo Run 2007 Benchmark

Honestly, I'm not sure what I heard first--the alarm or the rain. All I know is that I wanted a "legitimate" excuse not to do the tempo run. I convinced myself that it would be too wet or too dangerous. If it was still raining, Coach would cancel it anyway. I actually got up and then crawled back into bed and turned the snooze off. And then...I just laid there. The rain had stopped. I went through all of the scenarios. I could do the tempo in the afternoon. I could skip it all together. Damn....At 5:40am, I crawled back out of bed, put on my clothes and drove to Runtex. I'm glad I did...

I missed the warmup jog, but joined for most of the drills. We were, in fact, still doing the tempo run. And, by golly, there were plenty of people there. It was as if no one else went through the mental rollercoaster that I went through to get there.

Coach lined us up in "race formation" and told us to be careful and try for negative splits. OK, so here we go....

My goal for Miles 1 and 2 were to go out comfortably fast. It's never really "comfortable," but it's a tolerable pace as you wait for your lungs and legs to sync-up with each other. It was still incredibly dark and wet in some areas because of the rain. Proceed with caution. Mile one was a 7:15. It was actually a little slower than I wanted, but that was fine. This tempo was all about creating a new 2007 Benchmark. I need a good starting point. Mile 2 was spent watching the runners ahead of me pull away slightly. There are very distinct groups in the Tues/Thurs group. The super fast and the moderately fast. Shannon was about 10 yards ahead and that was fine with me. I heard my Garmin glitch during Mile2 indicating that it had a weak signal which invariably meant that my time for Mile 2 would be off. Oh well, I would still have my overall time at the end. Plus, it would keep me from staring at my watch. I would literally "run how I feel." It's amazing what goes through your mind during these incredibly tough runs. "Why am I pushing so hard?" "Push harder!" "If I slow down slightly for 5 seconds, it will help me." "Don't let anyone pass me from behind." With about 1.5 miles left, I caught up with Thon. OK--I didn't catch up with him at all. He had only run a little bit because he's been sick so he turned around to pace me back. It was a good mental lift. The last mile always seems to take so long. I picked it up during that last stretch and finished strong. (or as strong as I could)

Overall time:

28:25 (7:06 overall pace)


For someone who was in bed just 45 minutes before, I'm totally pleased with that effort. It's not my fastest ever, but it was a great start to a New Year.

The tempo run scares me less and less every time I do it. Well, sort of...Let's just say I love how I feel when I'm done. That energy and adrenaline literally carried me through the entire day yesterday.

Spinning Plates

Something must be in the air because I've been a little "off." Wednesday was just that kind of day. Even now as I write this, I feel like I'm fumbling through with no real direction of where this is going. I usually get this way when I start to feel overwhelmed...too many plates spinning at the moment. My job is a huge culprit right now with about twenty projects swirling around in various phases waiting on answers, revisions, price quotes, printing, placement etc. I have one of those jobs where so many decisions and deadlines are dependent on the work of others. I just get to manipulate it into one final, pretty, effective package. Right now, none of my projects feel "pretty" at the moment. It's hard to prioritze so many things when they're all "important" to each client.

In addition to all of the work stuff, I've got many wedding plates spinning at the same time...Invitations are still not finished or mailed (I'm working with my designer at work and we're just swamped with real stuff), we haven't picked our wedding bands, Shawn has to finalize his tux decision, I'm working on hotel rates for guests, I have to book my flights home for my shower and the wedding, Shawn also has to work on honeymoon (he's keeping certain elements a surprise)...blah, blah, blah.

We've got tons of house projects we continue to tackle before my parents arrive for a week at the end of the month. Light fixtures, bedding, punch list items, artwork, dining room tables, electronic equipment, etc.

This general feeling of being overwhelmed and erratic sometimes makes way for apathy. I tend to turn down the "I don't care" road even though I really do care...About most of it. Well, the big stuff at least. Unfortunately right now, it all seems like "big stuff." The bottom line is that it will all be taken care of one way or another.

It was funny because I've even seen it manifest itself into my training a little bit this week. Yesterday, I was going to get up for 7am spin class, but just didn't feel like it. I forced myself to go to a Noon Spin Class even though I hate working out at lunch. I was better for it afterward. Then, this morning I heard it raining at about 5:15am. I was going to get up for Gazelles, but actually turned off the alarm when I heard the rain. Naturally, my busy brain kicked in and I couldn't sleep anyways. Plus, it actually stopped raining 10 minutes later. I got up late and dragged my butt down to Runtex for our Tempo Run amidst the "I Don't Care" attitude.

I'm glad I did...

I'll write a full report later after I pick up some of the plates around me that are falling down. Perhaps Shawn and I should register for some china after all.

Who Knew Wheezing Could Feel So Good?

I’m beginning to think that “exercise induced asthma” is another made-up clinical phrase for “just breathing hard.” For me, it’s not a reason to STOP exercising. It’s a reason to keep pushing.

This morning was my first time to do Mile Repeats at Zilker since last November. Amy came by my house this morning and we did the two-mile warmup jog to Zilker Park. The group was already doing drills, so we finished out and began the work.

I still don’t really know where I fall in the Tues/Thurs group pacw-wise, but today it was very apparent that Amy and I would quickly become our own little entity. Shannon (and her group) are running so well and FAST that there was no way I would try to keep up.

Coach said for those training for shorter races, do 4 repeats with 2min rest in between. For those training for some upcoming marathons (including Boston)—do SIX…WOW. Now, that’s stepping it up. I decided immediately I was going to be very happy with four. Here are my results from my last three workouts…

Mile Repeat Comparison

June 28th, 2006

#1 6:54 (way too fast)
#2 6:53 (the uphill direction)
#3 6:53
#4 6:48

July 26th, 2006

#1 7:21 (he told us to go out slow)
#2 6:56
#3 6:55
#4 6:47

November 29th, 2006

(only 3)
#1 7:11
#2 6:54
#3 6:54

…and the drumroll please…

Tuesday, February 27, 2007
#1 7:09
#2 6:49
#3 6:49
#4 6:43

Major PRs for me today and encouraging results after a three-month hiatus of Zilker Mile Repeats!

After the wheezing stopped, Amy and I slowly jogged the two miles back to the house congrtaulating each other on a hell of an effort.

Excuse me while I go look for my inhaler...

Welcome to the Bloggin' Porch

Here you have it:

My first "official" post from the Bloggin' Porch in our house! For those that have been to mi casa, you know we have a second-story screened in porch right off of our Master Bedroom. It lets a breeze in, keeps the bugs out and is private enough to be able to chill in your robe (or less if so inclined). Since conception of house construction, I always envisioned this room being my morning coffee/blogging porch. It would be a great way to start the mornings with a little breeze, cup o joe and relaxation.

Over the weekend, we finally got around to buying a coffee pot for the porch and we were blessed this morning with a perfectly clear sunrise and mid-50's temps. Perfect for a little coffee and writing.

Right now, this neighborhood is synonomous with birds chirping, school buses humming, kids playing and hammers pounding. It's an established neighborhood, but one that is under a little makeover. Older homes being bought, remodeled and flipped. It's 8:30am and I hear hammers, saws and a radio blasting music that I can't understand. However, I also hear owls and squirrels in the branches of trees that surround this little oasis in the sky. The cat, of course, is buried underneath the comforter.

We were blessed with a gorgeous and action-packed weekend in Austin. I wasn't able to go see Presidential Hopeful Barrack Obama speak on Friday afternoon (even though he was stumping in a public park across the street from my work). However, I did get up at 6:30am on Sunday morning with a bunch of my friends to go watch another O-Bomb-a. They were imploding a half-constructed building in downtown Austin and I swear more people were milling around downtown on Sunday morning than there are on a Friday afternoon during rush hour! Austinites are nutty like that. That's why we love it. While most of us want peace and serenity in our lives, it's hard to deny that we all can't resist a little explosion and dynamite every now and then!

I guess that's life in general...a little peace followed by a few explosions.

Welcome to the Bloggin' Porch.


Exercise:

Thusday: 1000s on the track. I did 7 repeats between 4:10-4:23. I can and will go faster next time. This was my first time in several months to do 1000s, so I took it easy.

Friday: Aqua-jog and swim at Castle Hill. I went to Barton Springs that morning only to forget that it's closed for cleaning until March 10th. Still haven't timed a lap since my breakthrough a couple of weeks ago. I'm scared it was a fluke.

Saturday: 14 mile Scenic/Mt. Bonnell run. Oldie, but goodie (and toughie). 8:36 avg pace

Sunday: Shawn and I went for an hour-long bike ride in our hood and climbed some major hills...Scenic, Balcones, Mt. Barker, Pecos...It was short, but tough.

Today: slow easy run in the 'hood for about 50 minutes this morning. It was so amazingly gorgeous. Will swim after work.


12 WEEKS TO THE WEDDING. The official countdown is on.

Even Britney Thinks I'm Crazy

If I suddenly shave my head and start adding to my tattoo collection, call my folks and throw me in rehab. I can admit it. I have a problem. I am an addict. There, I said it. I've successfully crossed over the threshold of recovery. I've admitted the problem. For a while, I just lived with it and didn't think I really had an addiction. I mean, I wasn't "doing it" all the time. There are times when I am not even under the influence. Besides, it's an addiction that a lot of people have and live seemingly normal lives.

However, there are those moments of temporary insanity. Moments when the urge is so strong, I will go to almost any length to feed my demon. My mind becomes pre-occupied with NOTHING else. I start sweating, salivating and dreaming of getting my "fix." Plus, I get so insanely jealous of those around me who relish in this evil influence.

But, it's just a fantasy because I've taken the first steps to cure my addiction. I CAN'T have my drug because I've made a promise to my loved ones that I would quit, even if it's just temporary.

I will be a new and better person.


I gave up dessert and sweets for Lent and it's F*CKING KILLING ME!!!!!!!!!


...38 days to go until I can savor the sweet stuff again

Screw This Training Stuff!

Smoking Candy Cigarettes during "First Thursday" is much more fun than running!

Awards and Accolades

How cool...I got an email on Monday evening inviting me to come to the Austin Runner's Choice Awards Ceremony tonight. It said, "Congratulations! You have been nominated for the 2006 Austin Runners’ Choice Award: Race of the Year 10K and Under. Winners will be revealed in a running celebration complete with food & drinks, please join us!

This was my first indication that the ThunderCloud Subs Turkey Trot was even nominated. So, I gotta admit...I'm a little flattered as Race Director to even receive the nomination.

We'll see what happens, but I'm not preparing a speech! haha

UPDATE: I just got home and did NOT win the award, but my Coach Gilbert won Coach of the Year and Austin's Desiree Ficker won Female Runner of the Year. Both were on hand to accept their awards. It was pretty surreal to come home tonight and open My "Triathlete" Mag only to see an ad for Guru Bikes featuring Desiree Ficker. How cool that I just saw her...Damn I love Austin.

________________________

I was sleeping soundly when the alarm sounded this morning jolting me out of bed to go to my Spin Class at Castle Hill. I attempted to get up, but realized that I couldn't successfully move my legs or my ass. Holy Crap...The Wilke Hill Repeats from yesterday have paralyzed me from the waist down! Even the cat looked at me like, "Get up lazy ass!" Gingerly, I removed my atrophied limbs from the bed and walked to the closet to grab my bike shorts and cycling shoes. I moaned and groaned all the way to the parking lot of the gym. Thankfully, it's only two miles away from home and my car windows were rolled up so no one could hear me. I hadn't atended this particular spin class before, but was instantly blown away by the instructor's approach. Instead of mashing the gears and working as hard as you can with no real method, he really had a great way of managing effort and keeping a strong cadence throughout. He is also a stickler for form. After class, he introduced himself to me and said that he didn't recognize me. He took notice of my Ironman 70.3 hat that I was wearing. I explained that this was my first time at this class because I usually swim or run in the morning. We started chatting about racing and bike fitting and I spent over 20 minutes with him talking about stretches, form and exercises to better my cycling performance. He offered to look at my bike fit and make some tweaks and adjustments that may help fight form fatigue. I left the gym with such a positive feeling in general and about Castle Hill. A lot gyms are huge and instructors don't bother getting to know the members unless they are paying for personal trainers. Still other fitness facilities don't monitor member's form or progress toward their goals. Jerry was incredibly enthusiastic about his job and made a point of sharing his enthusiasm and knowledge. It's that kind of instruction that keeps me motivated and determined to do better. Now, I know increasing my wattage and decreasing my heart rate during a ride doesn't mean anything on the grand scale of life, but it all works hand in hand. When I get better at one thing, it makes me more positive and inspired with something else. Each little "victory" translates into bigger "victories," usually having nothing to do with exercise at all.

Last week, a group of Texas Tech students came to our agency to learn about advertising. My boss introduced me as the chick that does comedy, runs marathons and does triathlons. After the general lecture, two young girls came up to me and asked me about training and racing. We ended up chatting for over an hour about how achieving fitness goals has changed our outlook on life in general. Shit--these girls were only 21 years old!! I was inspired by them because GOD KNOWS I wasn't exercising at age 21. They had the same enthusiasm for me as I had for Jerry this morning. I received an email from one of the girls yesterday that said, " This is Sarah from last week with the Texas Tech Advertising Federation. Just e-mailing you so you don't forget about me... and because you might be my new role model(with the running and the stand up comedy) ;) So i'm still working on my own time to put together a portfolio and wanted to see what you though about the latest ad that i was fooling around with..."

That's what I mean when I say that achieving some fitness goals has made me a more complete person overall.


I left the gym so happy that I got my butt out of bed this morning when I really didn't want to. I even noticed that my legs felt lighter.

Running with the Devil

I knew it was inevitable. I knew it had to happen again sometime. All good things must come to end and you have to face your demons. Today marked my return to the Wilke Hill with Gazelles. I normally work out with the Mon/Wed morning crew, but since I ran the Half on Sunday, I decided to join the Tuesday morning workout. Ok-Let’s face it. Thon sent an email challenging all of us to do it. How could I say no? Plus, I’ve also been contemplating a change to Tues/Thurs anyways. Part of it is just to have a routine “shake up,” to meet new people, to be challenged by new people, to better fit my cross training schedule. I’m not sure exactly what will happen yet, but it was a good change of scenery.

I decided to run from my house to Wilke thinking it would be a good 2.5 mile warmup. That’s about the distance that it is from Runtex. Well hells bells…turns out that the warm-up run took me about 36 minutes (almost 4 miles!) Thank Goodness I left my house at the crack of 5:30am to get there on time! It was eerily peaceful on the roads and trails this morning. I suspect a lot of the vampire runners did the marathon on Sunday and are now resting peacefully this week instead of running 1 ½ hours before the sun even rises. I didn’t even come across another runner until I had reached the trail and had crossed over Mopac--over 1 mile into it. I’m guessing that as the crow flies, the Wilke Hill is no more than two miles from where I live. Unfortunately, there’s no shortcut by foot. You basically have to run over the river and through the woods to get there. And then, you have to run through the neighborhood a while until you actually get to the hill.

In any event, I was definitely warmed up upon arrival just in time to see the Gazelles finishing up their warm-up drills. I joined for a little high knee action and backwards running. It was a pretty large group of people…many new faces and many faces that I only see at races (when they finish before me). However, I didn’t see any sign of Thon, Amy or Mike. Did they bail after I ran over 3.5 miles to get here???

After drills, Coach dished out various repeat numbers to people who were training for specific upcoming races. The maximum amount he has people do is ten. Because I’m just getting back into the swing and I’m not training for anything specific, I set a goal of doing 5 today. The first couple literally take your breath away. As you jog up the hill during the first half you’re thinking, “This isn’t so bad.” And then the Road turns upright and suddenly you feel parallel to the road. The second half is a bitch. I noticed that he’s also moved the spot where we stop farther away so you’re not actually done until you get to the end of the road. I actually like doing these repeats in the dark so you don’t have to look it in the eye. As I was coming back down the hill after #2, I saw the familiar postures of Amy and Thon. They did show up after all (Running Hubby Mike, however, remains a slacker J) Amy and I started up for my third and her first. I immediately fell behind her. I took the hill how I always seem to take it…slow. After the first couple, you’re heart is pumping and the blood is flowing so it does feel a little easier. It’s the legs that start to hurt on me. My quads and glutes were reminding me that it’s time to get back to work. I finished my 5th repeat and started down the hill with Amy again. Of course, I said I would do one more with her.

After finishing 6 forward repeats, we had to do three backwards (which becomes more like crawling backwards when you get to the steep parts) and then 3 sprints from about 2/3 up. Overall, I felt very pleased with myself after this workout. I honestly didn’t think I’d be able to do five repeats after so much time away from this beast. I probably could’ve done 7-8 repeats, but definitely not 10 yet, which is where I was peaking last Spring before Boston. I’ll definitely get there again when I need to. No need to rush back in to it.

A couple of peeps had to leave early to get kids off to school, so I sauntered back home for another quiet 36 minute cool-down back home.

Today’s total mileage was about 9.5 miles overall. I don’t know if I’ll start from home the next time, but it actually ended up being quite peaceful.

The Team Effort!

Absolutely gorgeous sunny day in Austin, Texas!

The AT&T Austin Half Marathon was a blast and very well-executed by the coordinators. The course was incredibly challenging. Oh hell. Who I am kidding? It was hard as hell. Yet, it was still beautiful taking runners through some of the most scenic areas of town....including a run around our state capitol building during the last mile.

The best news? Shawn had a PR in this ball-breaker course! 1:58:42
I'm afraid I took him out too fast in the first couple of miles. We can joke about it now, but by Mile 5 I think he was cursing the hell out of me! The hills just didn't give the runners much reprieve. There was one moment around Mile 9 where we were literally one block away from our house. I swear I thought he was going to turn the corner and head for the front door! But, you know what?? He didn't. My little rock star kept pushing and finished strong up some monster hills. I gotta say, it was actually very fun getting to do this race with no time goals, no need to push myself to the point of exhaustion, nothing to prove to anyone. Most of all, it was fun getting to do this race together and cross the lines holding hands.


That's what it's all about.

http://hollyreed.smugmug.com/photos/130403605-L.jpg

Here we are making the turn from Enfield to Exposition at Mile 9. Our house is a mere one block away!! I'm wearing the red hat and Gazelle shirt. He is next to me wearing all blue.



Congrats to all the runners who braved the monster course of the full and the half.

Trying to Maintain the Energy

The "Power Ballads Sing-a-Long" was just so absolutely hilarious! How else do you top a night of "Love Bites," "I Can't Fight this Feeling," "Sister Christian," "Faithfully,""Eternal Flame," "Heaven, " "November Rain," "You Give Love a Bad Name," "Time after Time," "When I See You Smile," "Sweet Child O' Mine," "All I Wanna Do is Make Love to You," and so much more!! They could've played these cheesy videos all night long and the whole crowd would've stayed and sang. It definitely didn't disappoint this dorky chick!

While I was in home and in bed by Midnight, a couple of others decided to stay out and keep drinking. Of course, it was no surprise to wake up to a missed text message from them left at 1:30am!!

I woke up Friday feeling fine, but tired. It was an exhaustion that I couldn't shake even to this minute. I feel ok, but slightly rundown this weekend. Like everytime I sit down for five minutes, I can easily doze off for a nap. I hope that's not a sign of things to come!

I took Friday off from exercise and was in bed by 10pm on Friday night. I woke up this morning and went for a 20 minute very slow jog on the Half-Marathon course. Later after breakfast at Mi Madres, I went to the gym and swam for about 30-35 minutes in the pools. I also did some ab work while I waited for a pool to free up. That helped my exhaustion as swimming always does. I always feel so refreshed after swimming. (except when I have a bike ride and run to do afterwards)

Shawn and I went to pick up our Half-Marathon Race Packets and now we're off to have an early dinner with some Gazelle friends!! Our Half-Marathon Goal?? We're going for somewhere between 1:50-1:55 and a new PR for Shawn.

Power Ballad Endorphins!

Hope everyone had a relaxing Valentines Day. It sounds like a lot of people didn't have a choice with the weather around the country! I talked to my parents in Ohio and they're sitting under about 8-10 inches of snow at this moment. They said that lots of restaurants and flower shops had to close because the weather was so bad. How sad...While we're not buried under the white stuff in Texas, it has been cold by our standards! I started my run this morning at 28 degrees.

My boy and I had a quiet dinner at home. After spending almost every night in restaurants last year, it's good to fire up the oven and have a little control over what we eat. Of course, it was topped off by some Valentines Day Godiva Chocolate! Some things remain irresistable...

Our officially Valentines date is tonight with the gang. We're going to the Alamo Drafthouse to attend the "80's Rock Ballad Sing-a-Long." Oh...my...God. Expect everything from: "Turn around...Every now and then I get a little bit lonely that you're never coming 'round."

to:

"Love Bites...Love Bleeds...It's bringing me to my knees!"

to:

"I'm the one who wants to be with you. Deep inside I know you feel it to!"

to:

"I'm forever yours....Faithfully"

to:

"More than Words to show you feel that you're love for me is real."

to:

"Love is a Battlefield"

Needless to say, the anticipation for this fun, kitschy evening started as soon as I bought tickets last week. Only problem? It starts at 9:45pm tonight!! I'm usually in bed about that time. Let's hope I can rally long enough for a little Bon Jovi and Foreigner. My God I'm a total cheeseball.

Looking forward to TEAM BARRETT at the ATT Half Marathon this Sunday. On Wednesday, I went to my Gazelle workout and did about 4 miles of fartlek running (15 min warmup, followed by 10 x 1min fast/1 min slow) Afterward, Shannon, Christina, Emily and I ran another 1/2 mile or so. I left there and headed to Castle Hill for a little swim workout. I was in there for about 40 minutes. It consisted of 15-20 minutes of straight swimming, followed by some fin interval work. I cranked up the current and did 10 x 1min swim/:30 sec recovery.

This morning, I started running with Julie at 5:30am under 3 layers of clothing. Fortunately, we shed some of that and met up with Thon and Mike at the Rock. I ended with about 8.75 miles this morning! I came home, cranked on the steam shower and stretched for about 20 minutes and did some core work (planks).

What a great start to a beautiful---COLD--morning!

Getting through the dread

Doesn't it always happen that the things we dread doing the most almost always turn out to be the most rewarding and saisfying experiences upon completion? Running a 20-miler...getting up at 5am to train when it's cold and rainy...attending Catholic Marriage Preparation. huh? gasp! Last night, we finished our final meeting with good 'ol Deacon John. It was this guy's job to counsel us and make sure we're ripe for the marriage pickin. Poor bastard. We both had our moments of, "Do we have to do this?" and "Are we going to hell for most of the things that we do?" We had great discussions and bad discussions. We had nights where we could've talked for hours and nights where we didn't want to say a word. All of it stems from fear...pride...ego. Ahh, the old familiar barriers. Those damn things get in the way of so much sometimes. We were both expecting to be lectured about Jesus and birth control and co-habitating and the ten commandments and all of the other "guilt-inducing" subjects. It wasn't like that it all. It was real-life dialogue about finances, personalities, baggage, our current families and our future families. Everyday topics that don't discriminate based on Religious Beliefs or practices. Everyone should WANT to take a class like this before marriage. If nothing else, it exposes weaknesses and questions before it's too late.

So, we passed and have been given the all-clear to get hitched! (yay for us) We both left last night almost thinking, "That's it? That wasn't so bad." It wasn't excrutiating at all. In fact, the benefit FAR outweighed the dread of going.

It was much like working out and training for a big race. I dreaded getting up at 5am on Monday morning so that I could meet Julie, Amy and Jennifer for 9 1/2 miles of running in the fog and mist. It turned out to be a very pleasant run. I dreaded getting up this morning for my 6:00am cardio brick workout which consisted of 30 minutes on the spin bike and a 30 minute run set that included drills and speed intervals. However, after finishing both, I felt all the better for it.

It's good to have difficult things in our life that we just don't look forward to. It's tackling those projects that make us stronger, better and more complete as individuals and couples.

If only they didn't often involve getting up so damn early!!

She's a Brick House!

I ran two days in a row with no pain...woo hoo!! And it wasn't just any run two days in a row. I ran 9 miles on Friday morning with Julie, Thon and Amy. On Saturday, I woke up and ran 10 miles with Shawn in preparation for this week's AT&T Half-Marathon in Austin that we're running together. Now, oddly enough, it wasn't that two runs that I'm most proud of. It's what happened in between those two runs that I'll be talking about for years to come. Amy had a surprise 40th birthday party for her husband on Friday night under the pretense that he was heading to a wedding shower for me and Shawn. It was a 60's costume party and, let me tell you, the crowd spared no expense on the costumes. Perry was shocked as hell and everyone had a blast. The guys had their fros and bell-bottoms and the girls had their mini skirts and go-go boots. It was a decade I'm glad I didn't live through because the dress barely covered my ASS! Of course, that didn't matter when the DJ kicked it up a notch. It's amazing how sexy I thought I looked with my boots, blonde wig, big black sunglasses and cigarette accessory that was hanging out of my mouth! Now, I know there will be some mandatory photo postings, but I haven't seen any of them yet! More to come...

It was certainly hard to top Friday's party so we didn't even try. The rest of the weekend was spent shopping for furniture, bedding, window treatments, lamps, blah, blah, blah. Although, we did tackle a couple of major wedding projects including picking out tuxedo choices and registering at Crate and Barrel (and realizing that we don't need any of that stuff)...OK--the grapefruit forks are pretty freakin' cool.

There's Something In the Water

Oh my God. I just returned from my weekly excursion to Barton Springs where I aqua-jogged with Anne for a 1/2 mile (about 42 minutes) and then I proceeded to swim 2 1/2 laps afterward. I'm convinced that there's something wrong with my watch. My first full lap was a 9:15. Each full lap is .25 miles.

"You obviously started your watch late or cut the lap short," I thought.

Either way, I was a little dumbfounded that it was that fast--for me. Last week, I was coming in around the 10min mark.

I hit the watch again after swimming lap number 2. 9:05.

"Oh Hell No! Are you kidding"

Almost 40-60 seconds faster PER LAP than I've ever been.

Could the tide be turning?

I *heart* Gilbert's Gazelles

Today was my first day back with Gazelles! I swear it was like coming back to school after summer break. I was actually looking forward to the 800m track repeats that were on the schedule. It was so wonderful to be back in running mode with the likes of Frank, Anne, Lisa, Jennifer, Farley (as I refer to her), Patrick, Cindy, Dennis, Marcie, Emily, Shannon and so many others that I’ve been missing over the last couple of months. It’s exciting and comforting to “come home” to my Gazelle peeps and I have to admit, it was great hearing the “Great to see you” and “Glad to have you back” encouragement. I think Coach Gilbert was even taken aback by the unexpected arrival of Sapp and Skud this morning! (even though he yelled at me for looking at my watch during one repeat) :-) This group has heart and it shows. Even when I was training for Dallas, a few of us broke away from the Gazelle mold since that marathon was so late in the season. While most Gazelles were recovering from Chicago and other Fall marathons, we were ramping up for Dallas. Therefore, a lot of the workouts just didn’t coincide. After the Dallas Marathon, I just needed some time to decompress and chill. Oh yeah, then there was that pesky shin pain which is no longer existent…fingers crossed.

I held my own with the group during repeats. Not wanting to push it, I just did 6 x 800 meter repeats. The first one was a tad slow at 3:36. The last five were a solid 3:20-3:23, with a surprise 3:17 thrown in at repeat #5. It was too fast and we all knew it. While, I had it in me to run one or two more, I just didn’t want to risk any pain or overuse injury AGAIN.

Today was all about just getting back out there and taking comfort in the fact that my fitness level is still there, even though my endurance level might not be. It was also also a reminder of why I love running with the Gazelles. It’s good to be back.

On a cool note, Richard dumped my Dallas Marathon information into the Motion Based software. He was kind enough to let me borrow his 305 for that race. It was so interesting to look at the data. It was, indeed, a well-run race for me! Check out the geek data below.

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/invitation/email/accept.mb?senderPk.pkValue=1659&unitSystemPkValue=2&episodePk.pkValue=2045581

How to Plan a Wedding in One Day

By: Carrie and Shawn

It was stealth, it was fast, it was furious. If it was a race, we SO would've won. Our transitions were smooth, our pace was consistent and our nutrition was right on target. It was Wedding Planning Weekend in Ohio.

We flew to Columbus on Friday night and began our whirlwind weekend of meetings, food samplings, drive bys, family gatherings, final selections and check writing.

By the end of the weekend, we felt confident about our three big decisions for the weekend.

Photographer: Karen Evans with kisofotografia.com (she TOTALLy got what Shawn and I are about. Plus, she promised to bring Nick Lachey along. How could we...I... say "no"?)

Cake: Katie Koivisto with the Cake Studio (God bless cake samplings. One slither was just not enough! We decided that we're just going to pretend to be newly engaged for the rest of our lives so that we can just go around and sample wedding cake for free!)

Reception: The very swank and hip Burgundy Room in the Short North area of Coumbus. (Their sign out front says, "Wine...Tapas...Fun" Enough Said)

We even got out of there just before the thermometers ruptured with record breaking lows. It was hell walking around for more than a few minutes since it was a whopping 12 degrees. Needless to say, as I look out the window right now in Austin, Texas, I'm happy to be back to my sunny 68 degree temps.

Now, we can turn the focus to other more important aspects like planning the Honeymoon!
Thank God I don't have to pack my bike for that one!

I did get up and run about 6.5 miles in 54 minutes for an 8:20 pace average. God, it's good to be back.

Oh yeah--I did gain a pound last week in the Weight Loss Challenge, but I suspected it. No worries. I'm feeling good.

Off to Visit Old Man Winter for Two Days

Would somebody please remind me that I'm not officially training for anything at the moment?? Sure, I signed up for the AT&T Half Marathon on February 18th, but I'm not racing it or anything. I had some good solid workouts this week, all of which felt great and reminded me how much I love getting myself going before 7:00am.

Monday: Swim 30 minutes/Elyptical 30 minutes
Tuesday: Track workout with 1 mile warmup and 5 x 800m repeats/Core workout and Swim 45 minutes PM
Wednesday: Run 7+ miles
Thursday: Aqua jog 45 min and swim 1/2 mile
Friday: 9+ mile run

All this and I have a feeling that I botched it this week on the Weight Loss Challenge! I drank some wine a couple of nights this week and also had some heavier meals ( a couple included dessert). Oh yeah--Mother Nature has also descended upon me this week so I'm tending to her needs at the moment as well. You know when you just feel heavier?? That's how I feel at the moment.

I did get up this morning and meet Massage Therapist Julie for a 9 mile run in our neighborhood. I let her do the navigating and this is a chick that loves the hills! Of course, they're hard to avoid when you're running in and around the Tarrytown area. She's definitely more familiar with the twists and turns on some of the streets than I am, so I just ran alongside and let her tell us where to go. I was mainly in it to increase my long run mileage a little bit this week. Plus, I'm leaving for Columbus this afternoon and I wanted to get my long run under my belt before I head to the frozen tundra for two days to meet with photographers, cake people and potential reception places. I don't mind running in the cold, but the high is only supposed to be in the TEENS this weekend. If anyone ever asks why I don't live in Ohio anymore, that's a good enough reason for me. Sixty degrees in Texas on February 2nd or 13 degrees in Columbus?! I'll take 60 degrees anyday.

Like Running in Jello

...Really FREAKING COLD Jello.

That's what today's workout felt like. In my consistent quest to cross-train, I met Anne and "Cincinnati Mike" this morning at 5:45am at Barton Springs for an aqua-jogging excursion. I know the water is supposed to be a consistent 68 degrees, but I swear, I felt like I was a Titanic passenger being tossed overboard into the icy waters with no hope for survival (too bad they didn't have aqua joggers back then!) And--I had a long wetsuit with booties on my feet! I'm such a wuss. Those first few minutes require an overwhelming amount of strength and willpower to 1.) get in the water 2.) keep moving before your body turns to solid ice.

And then it happens...the blood gets used to it and you actually start to warm up. After 45 minutes, I even broke a little itty bitty sweat on my forehead. It was Mike's first plunge into the waters and his first aqua jogging experience. Yes, it really is as awkward as it looks for the first few minutes. Anne said it best when she described it as "running through jello." You feel pathetic because you are moving along so slowly, but man, your muscles are fully engaged when you are in motion. It requires work, but not pounding on the joints. It's a great workout where you can actually engage in conversation with the person you're jogging next to.

After our allotted 45 minutes, they left and I decided to slip off the belt and slip on my goggles and swim cap for a couple of laps. I swam about 1/2 mile and was coming in around the 10 minute mark per lap==not very good. I don't understand yet because I definitely feel like my form has improved dramatically. The good news is that Farley emailed me yesterday inviting me to join her on Tuesday mornings for an unofficial workout at Barton Springs with Texas Iron coaches with Pro Triathletes and Coaches Andrea Fisher and Jamie Cleveland. I may join her when I can just to be around other swimmers. I'm loving my private Swim-Ex pools at Castle Hill, but I can't play by myself all of the time. Every now and then, I need to socialize with other swimmers. (as much as it pains me)

So, I also half-joked about Directing Austin's First Ever "Aqua Jogging Mile" at Barton Springs. I think this informal sprint race would be freaking hysterical!! Who's in??

As if I have nothing else to plan...

This Means War!!

First of all, I'm calling a "GBHWLC" FOUL on Amy!! She is one of a small group of Gazelles and their Better Halves who are participating in our very informal weight loss challenge. Soooo...I got back from lunch yesterday and saw a box of "Tiff's Treats" cookies on my chair. For those that aren't familiar with "Tiff's Treats," they are amazing, almost half-baked cookies, that are delivered warm giving you that "just from the oven" feel. I'm salivating as I type. I just have this mental picture of a delivery driver forced to keep his heat on full blast to keep the cookies warm! And in the Texas summers, they probably just bake the damn things on the sidewalk outside. Anyways, I thought it was a tad strange as the holiday seasons are over and media reps no longer have to kiss our butt. I certainly wasn't expecting anything from anyone. I opened the card and it said, "Thank you! You are my wing man! I couldn't have done it without you. XO...Skud" My heart was overcome with gratitude. Amy had sent me a gift for helping her in the race---something I never expected. I was just so happy that she reached her goal.

It sank in for about 30 seconds and then my mind immediately went to, "Hey...wait a minute...there's something behind this...these are fabulous chocolate chip and peanut butter cookies...I'm in the weight challenge...so is she...SHE'S TRYING TO SABOTAGE ME!!!!!!!!!!!" I called her up and she immediately said, "I know what you're thinking!" We joked about the unintentional sabotage and then agreed to try to meet later this week for a run.

In the meantime, I got up today and hit the track a little after 6am for some 800m repeats. I warmed up a mile and set a goal of doing 5 x 800m. I only had about 40 minutes as I was going to a core class at 7am. So, I also wasn't really sure what to expect either. I haven't done any formal speedwork and didn't want to push it. Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised that my first 800m repeat was a 3:23. This track is actually a little short, but I was wearing my Garmin and measured 1/2 mile consistently. The next four proceeded to get quicker and quicker and I averaged between 3:19 and 3:22 for the next four. The good news? It was a confidence builder for speed. My shin also didn't hurt that bad. I could feel "something," but it wasn't so much pain as it was a gentle "don't forget about me" feeling. The realistic news...I probably couldn't have done more than 2 more without losing form and feeling exhausted. But you know what??? That's ok. I'm not training for anything specific and I'm also happy to know that I'm not starting at Ground Zero. I may have dropped a few floors, but I'm still on the stairs... Now, if only those damn cookies would go away!!!

Can you say PR??

Congratulations to my Gazelle pals and others who put together some amazing times at this year's 3M Half-Marathon. While the course was slightly more difficult than year's past, it's still a downhill course and fast as hell. It's definitely a gauge of people's overall fitness levels.

Last year, my running partner Amy and I, hammered this race with PRs (Personal Records) of 1:34:08. I've never been more shocked to run 13 miles at an average pace of 7:11. This kicked off what turned out to be a year of PRs in 2006. We talked about 3M all year long and how we laughed when Coach said we could do a 1:36. We thought--"NO WAY" and then turned in a 1:34. All year long, I grew stronger and looked forward to the potential of knocking my 1:34 down.

Well, it wasn't meant to be for me this year. Because of my nagging tendonitis, I pretty much decided against this race in early January. While it's one of my favorites, my PR right now is all about my "personal recovery." It didn't stop me from meeting Richard and Stephanie this morning to cheer for those we knew and didn't know. It was cold, but clear this morning in Austin. I had bundled up with two pairs of pants (running tights with track pants over the top). In the back of my mind, I thought I might hit the trail later for a couple of miles. I was also wearing a turtle neck, running shirt and running jacket with a hat and gloves. By running standards, I was pretty bundled up. By spectating standards, I was wishing I had on two pairs of socks!

So, there we were staked out at Mile 11 in Hyde Park by Richard and Stephanie's house. Elite people started coming by and we joked at how none of them even looked like they were breathing hard. Plus, to glance at them, it doesn't look like they were running all that fast, when in fact, they were hauling ass! We cheered for our usuals and shouted "Go Gazelles" whenever we saw the familiar logo. I had my Gazelle shirt on, but wasn't about to unzip my coat.

Finally, after several minutes of yells and cow bell clanging, I saw Amy. Actually, she saw us. I started running along side of her and she said, "I need you! I'm dying." (it was in that exhausted runner tone of voice) That attitude is so unlike her and I knew she was hurting. I'm not sure what I was doing, but I just kept running along side of her like the stay puff marshmallow that I was looking like in all of those clothes! I asked what she thought she was running and she said 1:33. That was a PR pace and I was not about to let her lose it. I just kept along with her in our sub 7min pace saying, "Focus...Focus...Focus..." I saw a woman that I recognize in our age group up ahead about 20 yards. I said, "See that girl in the gray tank top? She's in our age group and you're going to beat her."

"I have to catch her first," said Amy.

"We will."

By this point we hit some nice downhill on Duval and passed the 12 mile marker. One mile to go. I heated up quickly and had no idea if I was helping her keep the pace or slowing her down. I could feel my shin pain as it started to go, "What the hell are you doing???" I didn't care. We started picking off a couple of people so I knew we were doing ok. At 12.5 miles, we passed the woman in the gray tank top and never looked back. I kept with her until she entered the Finisher's chute and just kept shouting words of encouragement. Her finishing time:
1:33:17 She did it. She hit her PR by less than a minute! I looked at her official results and her first half was a 7:09 pace and second half was a 7:06 pace. Like I said, I have no idea whether we sped up or I slowed her down, but she did it and I'm thrilled. I can't wait to get back out there and train with her.

Not more than 30 seconds behind were Thon, Frank, Amy Farley, Renee, Anne and other Gazelles who had kick-ass races!! They should be so proud!

Funny enough, I was freaking EXHAUSTED after that unexpected two-mile sprint! I haven't done any real speedwork in months and my leg certainly let me know it. I went from Starbucks cup in hand to full sprint in .01 second. I hung out at the finish and congratulated a few friends on their finishes. I began a two mile jog backwards along the course and cheered for those that I knew and could recognize. As soon as I got home, I iced my shin for a while and immediately followed that with a heating pad. I don't know if it's the best solution, but it feels much better.

So, to all those who had a great race today, Congrats on your PRs. I may not have done the entire race, but I built some confidence with my own PR...I'm well on my way to a good "personal recovery." I'm still planning on running the AT&T Half Marathon on February 18th with Shawn. That, in itself, is good enough for me.

Floating

While this random guy resembles more of my swimming style these days, I actually chose this image to represent how I'm trying to function right now. I've made a very deliberate attempt to slow things down, lay on my back, relax and float as much as possible.

For the first time in a long time, I don't feel completely overwhelmed with decision-making overload. The decisions I'm making now are team-oriented, tackled by both myself and my fiance. We're working through everything from coffee tables to reception places, from bedspreads to florists. It's a unique combination of building our home and our wedding at the same time. I selfishly admit that it's very refreshing not having to do either by myself.

Work has slowed to a comfortably chaotic pace...We're getting ready for Valentines Day with a couple of my clients at the moment. Most of the clients I work with are coming off very successful holiday retail seasons. They're happy, which makes me happy. I'm also meeting with potential new clients. The best part of my job in advertising is meeting with and getting to know various business owners of all types of work. I deal with Jewelers, Antique Store owners, Drug Companies that do investigation studies, granite companies, Medical Resource Companies. Because it's the first of the year, we're able to slow down, discuss their goals and plan accordingly.

Finally, my workouts are progressing slowly and methodically. My right leg pain is a little frustrating, but I'm taking my recovery in stride. I ice it several times daily and have been doing a bunch of crosstraining. On Saturday, I hopped on my trainer and did a 45 minute spin class using my "Spinervals" DVD. On Sunday, Shawn and I did what we affectionately refer to as "The Norwalk 10K," which is an approximate 10K route starting from our house and heading around the trail. I was trepidatious about the run, but the morning was so glorious in Austin, I needed to be outdoor! As I feared, I started feeling the "tendonitis" about a mile into the run, but I'm happy to say that the pain never progressed past a certain level. It was uncomfortable, but never excrutiating. I'm taking that as a good sign since it was unbearable just a couple of weeks prior. Because I had run on Sunday, I went to the gym on Monday morning and aqua jogged for 30 minutes and then followed that with a 25 minute swim in the Swim-Ex pools. I'm still just focusing on form right now with my swim stroke and trying to memorize how certain aspects of the stroke should feel. As I was looking at classes at Castle Hill, I saw a Cardio Brick workout being offered on Tuesday morning at 6am. It was described as 30 minutes of high intensity spinning, followed by a 30 minute run. I thought it sounded perfect so I showed up this morning. Well, I ended up getting a personal one-on-one workout because I was the only one who showed up!! The instructor said that it hasn't been well-attended, which really surprised me since it's such a nice well-rounded workout. We proceeded through the hour-long workout as if the class was full. The spin portion was great and I worked up a quick sweat with pickups and several progressions using resistance and cadence work. We headed outside for our run just when it started to sprinkle. We did a combination of warm-ups, drills and pickups in a park near the gym. I felt a little bad that I was the only one there today forcing her to workout, but I felt great afterward having done the class.

So, I'm really trying to slow my world down and float a bit. At least, I'm not face down in the water!

Austin, or Seattle??

Now that the town has begun to thaw, the rain has begun to fall, making it feel more like Seattle than sunny Austin. I've continued to explore some of the aspects of my new gym, Castle Hill. Right now, I'm like a kid with a new toy and loving it. On Thursday, I hit the gym and hopped on the elyptical again for about 45 minutes. I also stretched and did several minutes of core work. On Friday morning, I got to the gym and explored the Swim-Ex pools.

Castle Hill has 3 Swim-Ex pools, which are basically pool treadmills and large enough for one person. You adjust a current level and swim in place against that current. On Friday morning, I aqua jogged against the current for 30 minutes and then swam in place for about 20 minutes. It was hard to find a comfortable current level at first because it was either way to low and I would actually hit the wall, or I turned it up too high and I couldn't keep up, thereby making the current shoot me to the other end of the pool. (which I'm sure is hilarious) Once I found my "comfort level," I enjoyed settling in and just focusing on my stroke. It was a relief knowing that no one was going to swim up behind me or swim over the top to try to pass me. I'm sure it was slow as hell, but it really did allow me to work on all of the fundamentals that I've been learning.

I woke up this morning with the intention of going for a short run to see how my leg has been doing. Well, it was raining and 37 degrees so I did what any sane person would do. I put the blanket back on and stayed in bed a little later. The rain may stop my morning run right now, but it didn't stop my breakfast taco excursion with our usual gang. This afternoon was spent in meetings with an Interior Designer and another round of wedding gowns!! Maybe it was the weather, but I just wasn't in the right mood for wedding dresses. Looking at the photos proves that. There were some beautiful dresses, but I don't think I wore them well today. Or maybe I just wasn't working it!


I'm going to hop on the bike trainer now and I'll try the run again tomorrow!

Ice Storm 2007 Appears to Be Over

I'm making a new city statute. The workday in Austin is not allowed to commence until after "Ellen" airs every morning. I'm now officially addicted to morning TV thanks to ICE STORM 2007. I could get used to hot coffee and TV in the morning.

Oh my Gosh, the cabin fever around here is almost unbearable! I've stuck close to home since the ice storm started on Monday and didn't really venture out until today when I just HAD to get to the gym!! I clearly wasn't alone as the gym was fairly crowded at 10:30am on a random Wednesday!

The "forced relaxation" was incredibly beneficial for the mind, body and soul. (and for some of those home improvement projects we had been postponing). We rearranged the pantry, cleaned cabinets, sealed the shower, put furniture together, vacuumed the upstairs, swept the downstairs, did some loads of laundry, etc.

In addition to that, I was able to tackle some wedding projects like scheduling appointments with people when I'm in Columbus in a couple of weeks. I also prepared ALL of my taxes for the year so I'm good to go and have absolutely no excuses for not meeting that April 15th deadline!

In addition to all of that, I also got some good quality (but not brutal) workouts accomplished. On Monday, I did my home spin class on the trainer for about 45 minutes and also did some core work with the ab ball and 24lb resistance bar. I basically duplicated the core class that I was doing a year ago complete with squats, lunges and upper body. I worked out on the trainer again on Tuesday and this morning I hit the gym for about 45 minutes on the elyptical. I also did the core class again this morning before heading to the gym. It feels good to get the HR going and gets me anxious to get back out there. My right leg feels so much better the last couple of days, even on the elyptical. I'll probably attempt a couple of shorter runs outside now that the ice is melting, but that's about it for now...still no real reason to jump back in until I know it's healed.

I also have to say that it feels great to not be eating out in restaurants for practically every meal. I swear from September to December, we basically ate out at restaurants every night because our kitchen stuff was packed up. I'm not a great cook, but I can "assemble." It's nice just to cook up some turkey burgers, fresh ravioli, soups, turkey wraps for lunch, fresh salads, etc. We also make awesome homeade pizzas with whole wheat tortillas. We'll throw some spinach, broccoli, banana peppers and tonight we had some spinach/feta turkey sausage that we threw on top. It's simple as hell, but tasty and pretty darn healthy. I'm also a huge fan of hummus and will put that on damn near anything.

The last couple of snow-bound days have allowed us to maintain some control, slow things down a bit and realize just how much I love getting out there! I'm actually ready to get back to work. I can't believe I said that.

My Makeshift Trip to the Gym

Well, the "Ice Storm 2007" is embarking on Austin closing roads, schools, work and gyms! In actuality, it's not all that bad out there (yet), but this is Central Texas. Ice is usually only something you blend to make your margaritas. Austin commuters aren't used to actually having to drive on this stuff. I used to feel pretty confident, but nine years in Austin has turned me into a Grandma driver when it so much as sprinkles out there.

So, I called a couple of gyms this morning and they were both closed. God Bless Shawn for putting my bike back together yesterday. It was still in the bike box from November! So, I set up my impromptu spin class with the bike trainer and a SPinervals DVD. I had to use my laptop since we still don't actually have our DVD players hooked up to the new TV. I'm such a dork, but it felt great to be on my bike again. In all honesty, my leg is liking me for it. It also felt good working up a sweat and getting my heartrate going again.

Now, it's time to buckle down and get ready for the BIG FREEZE. It's pretty much supposed to be horrible this afternoon, evening and tomorrow. My bosses told us not to come in today and probably tomorrow as well. How weird that I actually get a "snow day" as an adult!! I love it!! Of course, I can still work from home, damn it!

Improvise workout and improvise work. Gotta love it!

Be safe out there.

Odds and Ends

I tried on wedding gowns today!! I'd love to post a pic or two (because I need help narrowing it down by Wednesday), but I don't want Shawn to see ;-) As everyone told me, the dresses you don't expect to fit actually look the best. Now I'm trying to decide between having a train or no train on the back. I'm kind of a "no train" chick, but check out the basilica I get to stand in!! Princess Di had nothing on this! I absolutely love this church in good 'ol Carey, Ohio. It's been my dream church since I was a kiddo. Very ornate and the aisle is a nice long one.

I guess I shouldn't worry about a train or no train until I see which dress fits best overall. Speaking of dresses fitting, some of my Gazelle running partners and I have kicked off the "GBHWLC." Huh??? It's the "Gazelle and their Better Halves Weight Loss Competition." That's right. From now until the end of April, we have to weigh in every week for all of us to see. It has the potential of being very humiliating, but also very rewarding. After all, it definitely keeps me accountable and I'm already so much more aware of my portion sizes, etc. Ironically, I started off with a two pound weight gain! I guess that's what happens when you eat like a pig over the holidays and have an injured leg. If I'm not careful, this will be my wedding portrait! (albeit Shawn is still very handsome)

I atempted to go for a 30 minute run this evening over at the track across from our house. I completed about 3 miles, with some pickups on the straight-a-ways, and my right shin was numb by the end. Not good news, especially in brand new shoes that I'm used to wearing. It means two very obvious things: 1) I'm not ready to run 2.) It's time to focus almost exclusively on swimming and body toning....maybe some elyptical machine thrown in for good measure. I'm coming to terms with the fact that there may be no races for me before the May Wedding. I've still got my sights potentially set on the Houston Area Tri One-O-One race in November and possibly the Sunmart 50k Trail Race in December. I've always heard such amazing things abou this race. Maybe there will be a couple of shorter tris in the summer, but we'll see.

In the meantime, Shawn and I continue to shop for furniture and other fun stuff for the house. We're very blessed to be able to "start from scratch." We actually spent our Friday night at the grocery store stocking up on the fridge. I'm happy to say that I actually did some cooking tonight....finally enjoying the benefits. This is actually the first weekend we've been in Austin since Thanksgiving!

We had the Turkey Trot...San Antonio the following weekend...Dallas Marathon after that...Bahamas the weekend after that...Followed by Ohio and Christmas the next week...New Year's Weekend was spent in San Antonio before coming back to Austin late that night...We spent last weekend in Phoenix. Needless to say, it's good to just be able to sit and drink my wine, read a book and relax! This is what it's supposed to be all about.

We're expecting some frightening weather over the next couple of days in Austin complete with freezing rain and an ice warning. Darn....it may force me to relax a little more (or continue to organize our garage and compile addresses for the invite list). I'm also hoping to hit my new gym tomorrow for orientation. I'm meeting with a personal trainer next week and I can't wait! I'm anxious for the change of pace.

Kicking it Back Into Gear

OK, so since November, I've travelled to Florida (for Half-Ironman), Dallas (White Rock Marathon), the Bahamas (vacation), Ohio (Family Christmas), San Antonio (Alamo Bowl game) and Scottsdale (BCS National Championship).

Throw in the Turkey Trot and moving into our new house and you have two months of complete and utter "on the verge of meltdown" living. I've started off this year with very little fitness regimen whatsoever, giving myself a much-needed mental and physical break from training.

Well, it's all about to change. 2007 for me starts now. This weekend, I'm kicking into wedding plans head on, complete with booking a flight to Ohio to get some nuptial business taken care of in the way of photography, cakes, etc. I swore that I didn't want to get caught up in all of this minutia of party favors and table toppers. It's hard not to when people start asking questions about your color and your theme and your reception food, etc. I'll feel better once I feel like I've caught up with where I'm "supposed" to be at this stage of planning. Anytime I mention that I don't have a dress yet, people start freaking out...Same goes for reception locations, etc. Bottom Line: I have a church, a priest and a loving family. As far as I'm concerned, that's truly all I need at the end of the day to make it real for me.

Same goes for my fitness regimen. This year is mainly about working on speed and tone. I don't know that I'll be doing much in the way of distance races. I want to continue working on my swimming and running speedwork. Hopefully, my tender foot will soon heal completely. I'm dying to get out there and run right now, but I know it's simply not the right thing to do for a bit. For Christmas, I received a year-long membership to one of the best fitness facilities in town and I've been waiting until the crowd dies down a bit before I kick that into gear. I'm ready for a little bridal boot camp!!

So, while I feel like I'm in cruise control for the time being, next week I will be switching gears and moving forward on many things. I'm convinced that since I didn't have a nervous breakdown in 2006, this year should be a breeze! Let's just hope that breeze doesn't turn into a hurricane.

Prelude to a Commitment

So this is how it's going to be. Fine. I'm ready and packed with my positive attitude.

2007 is off to a mildly rough start. My right leg is still tender when I flex it and the Buckeyes get humilated in the National Championship football game. Bad things come in "threes" right? What's next? We discover foundation problems on the new house???? (God Forbid)

It's just a daily lesson in, "Things don't always go how you want them to." That's life and that's what makes it fun. Hell, that's what makes it interesting, challenging and, consequently, very rewarding.

Today is the 2-year anniversary of meeting Shawn. It's amazing what can transpire in two short years. I know I really have no clue what I'm in for with this marriage stuff, but I know a lot of days will resemble the one we had today trying to leave Phoenix and get home. We were booked on an evening flight tonight, but I really wanted to get back to Austin early and head into work so that I could meet with a client. (I'm actually anxious to settle into a work routine after a month of travelling and moving,which has kept me otherwise preoccupied. ) In any event, here are the marriage lessons I learned today as we embarked on separate journies across the country in search of the same destination point: HOME.

SACRIFICE: After sleeping for a whopping two hours, Shawn got up at 3:45am and drove me to the airport so that I could get on the "stand-by" list. I mean, my chances were slim to none and he still made the sacrifice to do so. He even slept in our rental car as I waited to see if I was going to make the flight. Because he didn't attempt this flight, it was my sacrifice to head back to the airport tonight at Midnight to pick him up.

FLEXIBLE: How else do you explain his willingness to cater to my last minute wants to leave early?? I was the one who wanted to try to get back early for work. He could've easily said "Hell No," but he was the one who encouraged me to try, even when the airline employees were saying that it was a helpless cause. By the grace of God and the gods of flight, I hit both standby flights and was home in Austin by 11:30am and at work by 1pm, all because of our willingness to be flexible with each other.

PATIENCE: Our team lost, we had gotten two hours of sleep after tailgating all day and I was nervous and stressed about getting to a client meeting this afternoon. He too was totally bummed out, but we took it in stride and expressed gratitude for the opportunity to even be able to take these trips on a whim. Even though I'm not typically a patient person, he brings out the best. I've been in instances where alcohol, lack of sleep and a heartbreaking loss can bring out the worst in people. We just looked at each other and laughed.

COMMUNICATE and GO WITH THE FLOW: OK so his cell phone broke last week so all of this communication and flight coordination today took place with borrowed cell phones, checking messages every so often, borrowing his brother's cell and using pay phones. Yes, I said pay phones. I'm not sure where Shawn found one, but he did. I'm not even sre how you operate one in this day and age. It was frustrating for both of us because I couldn't just call him when I found out that I made the stand-by. I sent his brother a text message and I left Shawn a voicemail on his dead cell number. Fortunately, he could still check messages. In turn, he couldn't easily call me to let me know that his Phoenix flight left late and he subsequently missed his Dallas connection. It was only when I was getting ready to leave for the airport that he borrowed someone's cell and told me what was happening. Unfortunately, it involved renting a car and driving from Dallas so that he can be at work on time on Wed morning.

Needless to say, it's probably not how either of us wanted to spend our two-year anniversary, but it was a good "preparation" day for the bumps, bruises, unexpected occurrences and inconveniences that we'll have to face together every day. I'm just glad we handled this one with a general sense of humor seeing as how we're both still depressed about the game!


Happy Anniversary!

This Pretty Much Sums it Up

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16546057/

GO BUCKEYES!!!

Greetings from Scottsdale, AZ!!

Very excitedly in town for the BCS National Championship football game.

GO BUCKEYES!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I had a killer massage yesterday, which has made my leg feel better than it has in a couple of weeks. It was serious deep tissue action! I'm still going to give it a few days and just enjoy the break. Plus, I'm going to enjoy Ohio State winning the National Championship game!!!!

This photo was taken in 2005 when Ohio State played Texas (and LOST!)

I know how you feel Brutus

See that lump in the middle of the bed?
That’s my cat Brutus Buckeye Sapp-Barrett and this has been his routine since we moved into the new house.

He’ll get me up at 5:30am, eat some of his tasty dry food that smells like a cross between cardboard and chicken livers, do his litterbox biz-nass and then head back upstairs and assume the above position for the next 12 hours or so.

I’m dying to get in his little feline brain and find out exactly what is going through his mind. Is he scared of the new atmosphere and the new sounds that come along with it? Is he being grumpy? Is he sick? Is he just plain tired and in need of an uninterrupted hotel-darkness kind of sleep? Hell, can he even breathe?

Every now and then, I check on him. I’ll lift the comforter just to make sure he’s doing ok. I’ll kiss his little nose to let him know that I care. I’ll talk to him through the bedspread and pet his little head above the covers.

It hit me today that, although his newfound pose strikes me as a little disconcerting and a whole lot of humorous, how many times do we just want to crawl under the covers all day? How many times are we scared about the unknown atmospheres we’re surrounded by? How many days do we just want to pull the covers over our own heads and just survive on the bare minimum of food and restroom breaks? How many times are we just plain grumpy and don’t want to talk to or be around others? How many times are we feeling under the weather and just want to “lay low?” For me, it’s more often than I want to admit.

However, there’s nothing more reassuring than a familiar voice in the darkness. There’s nothing more comforting than a kiss on the nose and a quick massage letting me know that everything is going to be alright. There’s nothing more soothing than a few words of affirmation.

For those things, I’m grateful and I know Brutus is too.

I’m just glad I’m not forced to pee in a box for God and everyone else to see.

I Wanna Come Out and Play

I can hear that little pesky voice inside my head.

For some strange reason, that voice sounds like a little boy who is no older than 5-6. Maybe it's a throwback to my brothers who would tease me as the only girl in a household of boys.

It's that voice that says, "You're slacking. Why are you sleeping in? Look at all of those people on the track. You should be out there right now. You're going to lose your fitness and gain a bunch of weight."

You see, the trouble with living right across the street from a popular running track is that I get to see several people doing repeats both before and after work. A couple of running groups meet at O'Henry on a consistent basis including T3, Runtex, Fit 2 Train and others.

This week, I've felt like the little sick kid that can't play with the other kids. My right leg is just really acting up at the moment. I don't know how else to describe it except to say that it feels like shin splints, or a torn muscle, or a stress fracture--all very typical common "overuse" injuries. It's painful just above the ankle. When it first started hurting in Columbus, I thought I had my shoes tied too tight. I remember stopping for water with my friend Karl and loosening my shoe because it felt sore. It hasn't been the same. Of course, that didn't stop me until my New Year's Day Run with Shawn, Thon and Amy. It definitely hasn't recovered from that. I'm afraid to swim because it will hurt to kick. I'm aqua jogging today and tomorrow--BORING!! Maybe this is Mother Nature's way of jump starting that core and toning portion of my resolution.

In the meantime, I'm really listening to Mother Nature's request to actually rest. I've been sleeping in until 7am this week and arising by the natural sunlight. I'm enjoying going downstairs in our new home and making coffee. I get excited to make cereal and sit on our new barstool in front of our newly working wireless internet. And then, I look out the door and see that track.

Don't worry. I'll be back out there before too long.

I Resolve...to top 2006 (I don't know how it's possible)

I resolve...

...to never take home internet availability for granted!!

We finally have internet access in the new house and a chair to sit on while perusing the World Wide Web for hours on end. I'm starting to feel like a "normal" human being.

The bad part about now having Internet access: I will spend an inordinate amount of time looking at useless information about diet habits, dress styles, honeymoons, blogs, etc.

The good part about having internet access: I will hear about big news like Saddam's execution as it happens and won't find out two days after the fact, feeling like and "out of touch" citizen.

While I don't know how to top a year like 2006, I'm already looking forward to the events of 2007 that are on the horizon: A trip to Arizona for the National Championship football game featuring my beloved Buckeyes, a new gym membership at Castle Hill which will allow me to focus on all parts of my body that could use a little toning, a couple of smaller races this year and...oh yeah...a wedding. While I vow to keep it simple and casual, I'm already finding it frightenly easy to get caught up in the minutia of flowers, photographers, cakes, etc, when all I really want to do is order a couple of pizzas and call it a day, ya know?

I started New Year's Day off with a 9-10 mile run. Shawn and I started from our house and ran a mile to meet Thon and Amy at the Rock for a New Year's Day run around town. The morning was spectacular...clear, cool and a vibrant blue sky. The bad part? My right leg has been acting up. It almost feels like shin splints or a stress fracture on the lower portion of my leg. I can walk on it, but the run became pretty painful after the first couple of miles. It's probably a little tedonitis, so I have to stay off of it a couple of days. That means I'll be doing some aqua jogging this week. I bought an aqua jogger belt for Christmas and now it's time to put that baby to use. Hopefully, it's just a temporary ache as I'd still like to race the 3M Half Marathon in a couple of weeks...to be continued later.

So, of course, we were talking about our New Year's Resolutions and I think Amy said it best. We all have visions of taking better care of ourselves and being more "present" and kind to ourselves and others. She said that the one thing she's going to do to achieve all od her goals is to simply become "more prayerful." Of course, that can mean something different to everyone. It might mean meditation for some, or Bible reading for others. It may just be ten minutes of silence and gratitude everynight. I thought it was simplistically brilliant. To become a better person, I simply have to become more prayerful.

Now that's something I can do...

Now, I just need to resolve to sit still long enough to do it!