ARGH!

Damn it. I just signed up for Longhorn.

For those that don't know, Longhorn is the Half Ironman on October 5th. Half Ironman.

Bugger.

Sunday

I hit my weekly mileage goals, no problem! Biking 55 miles on Friday certainly helped. :)

The damage: 30 run / 111 bike / 2 swims (both in Barton Springs.)

I had one of the most memorable rides ever with Kris yesterday. Our goal was to set off from my house, meet up with the Wurst Ride start, then follow the route down to the Ski Ranch in time to see Dionn pick up whatever award she was going to win. Due to my excellent map reading skills, we got lost three times. We were rewarded with a very strong headwind. And, by the way, that ride is much hillier than I remember from November. We never did make it to the ski ranch, but we did get in 56 miles, meet some really nice people and get to catch up while sitting on a guardrail on FM 2001 waiting for D to pick us up. Kris is a machine - for as much as she "doesn't train," she certainly kicks my butt every ride we do together. I'm glad we didn't brave Armadillo - there is no way my legs would have held up.

Today I went for an easy 6 mile run, followed by a swim in Barton Springs. I loved today. The weather was perfect, the run seemed short, and the water was perfect. Glenda joined me for my swim, which was a nice treat.

Now I'm debating whether or not to race Skeese Greets next weekend. After looking at the Rookie results, I feel pretty sure that I could have kicked butt in my age group. Hmmmm....

UT Cycling Studies, Take Four!

Back in the kinesiology labs for yet another UT cycling study. Kerry & I have been hankering for another study - these things are awesome workouts. Getting paid is really just a bonus.

Anyway, the drill is as follows:

• Fast for 12 hours before the study.
• 7:15am - arrive at UT, get weighed, get heart rate, get strapped in, hop on the bike
• 3+ hours: long warmup, followed by 6 x 8 minute intervals, then 6 x 3 minute intervals, then ride at 80% capacity to fatigue. (at least I think that's how they break up the first 3 hours. I just know the real study doesn't start until 3 hours in.)
• Sound like Darth Vader throughout the ride as they check your VO2 for 4 minute intervals.
• Pass out into big orange chair and eat, eat, eat!

I really like the new setup in the lab - I was able to watch a movie, listen to music, and watch all of my stats on a flat screen monitor in front of me. The best part is that there are now 2 bikes side-by-side, and I got to spend the majority of the study next to Kerry!

This morning was a relatively uneventful trial, but I'm pleased to say that I burned 1200 calories and knocked out 55 miles. I wish I'd gone longer during the fatigue phase, but having no food AND hearing Kerry (who was done with her ride) snack happily on her PB&J(s) behind me was not particularly motivating. :) Maybe next week!

Embracing the Run

I ran 10 miles this morning. I know, big deal, big deal.

Actually, it kind of is a big deal for me. It's been over 2 years since my last marathon, which means I don't run a lot of weekly mileage. Panther has been on my case for a while now to increase my numbers, but I've only recently embraced it.

Last year, starting in March, my weekly run mileage was 12/13/17/21/18/11/20/16/12/20. This year those numbers are 14/13/15/15/24/19/30/30/30/12 and this week is 24 with more to go. That means 162 last year versus 225 this year. Nice.

Last year, when given a choice, I would go to the gym. Last year I was at 25 visits; this year I'm at 9, which includes my past 3 week hiatus. I'm coming to accept that triathlons don't include chest presses or deadlifts. :)

Last year, the idea of running 10 miles on a Wednesday morning, alone none the less, was a joke. This year, I'll suck it up and go run.

Anyway, this morning was a hard run. Last night's quality workout was very hard, especially on sore legs from the trail run. We did 1200m repeats in Zilker Park at 5K pace, then D & I cooled down with a half a mile swim in Barton Springs. My running partner bailed. My Ipod had no juice. I figured I'd leave from the house and just aim for 6 miles. But I hit the rock and decided to continue on the 7 mile loop instead of turning around. Then I got to the Barton Springs turnoff and decided to run to the pool to perhaps retrieve the swimsuit I left there last night. (Success - whew!!) My run turned into a shuffle after 8 miles, with long bouts of something that looked remarkably like walking. But I did it.

Last year, there would have been no way I would finished 10 miles. This year, I am embracing the run, damnit!

A much better runner than me says, "You have to want it!!" when it comes to running faster. Last night during the repeats, I kept thinking "I want it! I want it! And (as it really hurt)... I don't want it anymore."

Scratch that - I do want it!

In case you were wondering...

From today's PostSecret.

My First Trail Race

Some of my closest friends run trails every week and are constantly going on and on about how wonderful trail running is. Frankly, I used to see trail running as an opportunity to twist my ankle, fall flat on my face and/or run into trees. (We've all seen the magic I make while riding my bike - I don't need another venue to hurt myself.)

So, what did I do when the idea of running the Maze 10K race was presented? I signed up of course! Thus, today I ran my first trail race (and I should add, this was only the third attempt at trail running, and my second attempt ended with my walking back to the car after twisting my ankle.)

This was meant to be an easy 6.2 mile run, which would round out my super easy (12 run/40 bike/0 swim) week. So, I wasn't nervous. I just wanted to have fun and see what all the trail running fuss is about. I am SO GLAD I did this - this was the most fun race I've done in a very long time! Perhaps volunteering on Friday produced good race karma.

The run went like this: I started super easy with Dionn, then got stuck behind a pack for a while, then gained confidence and realized I could easily run faster, and then I started passing people. Then, I started conciously picking people off. The fun really started when I started picking off guys who looked like they actually knew what they were doing. I was surprised at how easy it was to catch my breath after climbs and pick it up on the straight-a-ways. I was also surprised at how much FUN I was having. During a race! Fun! What a concept! :)

See those people behind me? Yeah, I overtook them. See the guy in the green shirt? Dusted him! See me? I think I might actually be a runner? Me! A runner? Woah! (I certainly relate to Amy in my "I'm a runner!?!" surprise!)

So, thanks to M & K, for getting me out there today. It was a blast. It was also great to hang out in the park until mid-afternoon, especially since I deserved to kick back this time. Perhaps I'll spend my birthday weekend at "The Loop." Who would have guessed...

By the way, I love this picture of my pointing and screaming at Kerry. It is reverse of how she acted to me at the Women's Adventure Race! ;) And thanks to Glenda & Shorey for the pics!

Lazy, lazy, lazy!

I have done absolutely nothing since Sunday. My weekly mileages have gone from:

30/103/3800 (run/bike/swim)
30/100/4000
30/100/4000

to

0/0/0.

As much as I'd like to use my allergies, my pink left eye or work as an excuse - I can't. Frankly, I'm just lazy! And I don't care! I'm embracing my recovery week way more than I need to. :)

I'm also perhaps recovering from how busy I've been keeping. Saturday, Kris & I had one of the best long rides ever - we rode from my house to Five Mile Damn in Kyle/San Marcos (60 miles roundtrip) and saw Panther race in the 10K, the Buda Weiner Dog Races and the Asian Dragon Boat Races - all without getting off our bikes. I saw Young at Heart that afternoon (3rd "sing-along"ish event in 3 days!) and loved it. Holly and I had planned to run 12 miles Sunday morning, but instead I did lots of housework while it poured outside. Met Mike & Kerry for breakfast, then somehow managed to knock out 13 miles on the trail. (Thanks big time to Holly & Leslie for getting me through them.) Rode my bike for 10 more to get to my weekly mileage goals, then just about collapsed into Sunday night. It was a great weekend.

Monday started with a 7:45am meeting, and then a 13 hour day spent at Onion Creek for the annual BOMA Golf Tournmanet. This was my first time actually golfing, and I sucked. I should have practiced, because it would have been nice to make contact with the ball every once in a while. But, I didn't. My team "won" last place and was recognized at the awards dinner - it was funny yet also pretty humiliating. (We won a free entry into a bowling tournament, which should be equally embarrassing.) My thoughts on golf - dang it is hard!! And it takes forever. And ever. And ever. Not a good game for those with short attention spans. My partner and I did create a new game, though, which was very fun: Golf Polo. I was better at that, and it was definitely more of a "high impact" sport. I don't think the course marshalls appreciated our game though. Oops.

Tomorrow I head to Houston - the first time since December 19th. I might even spend the night at the fabulous Four Points. Good times, people. Good times. Hmmm, maybe I can leave the snake there.

Anyway, hopefully I'll get a workout in sometime soon. I feel my body slowly melding into my chair. Not a good sign at all! I need to make sure I can fight off that snake if needbe. :)

Shotgun!

Someone has been taking rides in my car. I saw him yesterday as we were unloading my (dionn's) golf clubs. He literally slithered up my back tire and under my car. I freaked out, of course, and ran around the parking lot like a little girl.

Then tonight, when I got back to my car after road trip up north, a waiter came out and said, "Miss, you probably won't believe this and I don't mean to scare you, but I noticed something slithering up to your car while I was on my smoke break."

I responded, "Yes. I believe you. It was a huge snake, huh?" To which he responded, "Yes!!! You might want to tap your breaks quite a bit on the way home to make sure there is, uh, nothing stuck!"

Ewwwww! I managed to freak myself out so much that I dropped my phone UNDER my car when I got home. Lovely. The snake has a car (home) now, I guess he could use a phone too!

Scissor Lift

In case anyone was wondering what a scissor lift was....

Just Can't Get Enough

What an awesome week! I really think that this may have been one of the most fun weeks I have had all year. (Funny, I thought that last week too! Reframe. Reframe!)


Monday: run with Holly, ride with D, Scrabble with Tony
Tuesday: swim with Kerry, A.D. quality run, post-run happy hour at J&As
Wednesday: quality ride, Dick Monologues at Hyde Park Theatre
Thursday: swim with Kerry, Chili Cookoff at Zilker, New Wave Sing-a-Long at Alamo


Oh my gosh, it has been busy, and it's not even Friday night. Thanks so much to my buds who joined me in Zilker Park yesterday for the Chili Slam. What a blast! I think D summed it up quite well HERE. Me & my girls on a 15 foot scissor lift in the middle of a 400+ person event, jamming to Flo Rider with beers and hurricanes in hand... priceless!

And for those of you who haven't been to a sing-along at the Alamo... WOW!!!! Singing and dancing with reckless abandon - freaking awesome!!! Mike, Kerry, Mike and I went absolutely crazy in the back row. The only thing missing was getting to jump on the trampoline and watching Mike W. compete in the "Take On Me" contest. (He made up for it later with his rousing rendition of a mariachi band on pedicabs.)


Next on the agenda: 1964 Beatles Tribute at Paramount tonight; long ride, long run, Young at Heart at Alamo, and at some point - hopefully - some sleep!


I just can't enough, I just can't enough!

Keywords

Here are some keywords and search phrases that led people to my blog recently:

• mongoose bag
• what not to eat with grapefruit
• where's our cake
• longhorn frog
• how do i get rid of grackels
• how do mongoose work
• john linnell stalker
• kris panther
• lead singer with arm warmers?
• make me happy today
• making coffee of ferrit
• merman swimming outfits
• my muscles feel like they are weakening

Most of the people bounce away within seconds, however the search "mongoose for warrior" had someone stay at my blog for quite some time.

Reframing...

To say that this week was one hundred times better than last week would be a huge understatement. I took some really good advice - when you are unhappy with something, you either have to change the situation or reframe your place inside of that situation.

Cases in point: Here's a picture from Monday. I was in San Antonio for a conference which I was dreading being at. It turned out that I only had to work for hour intervals throughout the day, and I had a long break in the afternoon. So, can you think of a better way to market than mid-day 'ritas on the Riverwalk?

I headed back to San Antonio Tuesday, but was able to return in time to join friends at Westwood's lacrosse game. Kris was an excellent host, the company great and the game itself was pretty interesting. Minus all the injuries. And the cold. And inappropriately cheering for KP. Oops!

My car caught on fire on Wednesday. Well, not really, but the radiator did blow up and I was left carless. Worked out just fine, though. :) I got so much accomplished, and also enjoyed riding my bike around for once. Thursday brought a wine tasting for work, and Friday brought a huge revenue day at work AND the afternoon off, which I spent (shock) biking, running, swimming and hanging out with D & Kerry.

The weekend was really great too. It started with no plans, but I ended up filling it pretty easily, and I had a blast. A highlight was celebrating Kerry's HFC 2nd place finish from Rocky Hill poolside at Mike's. I was so proud of my friends this weekend and glad I got to celebrate with them. (Glenda, I'll tell you, is AMAZING!!)

It's so nice to end the weekend feeling good about the past week.

Reframe... check!