Tiggs In Texas

Re-opening soon

2010-04-06T10:15:00.000-06:00

I'm working on a re-open of the blog. I'm going to move and archive a bunch of old stuff and kind of make a new start with it, so things might look different over the next week or so.

Closed til ???

2009-12-29T13:06:00.003-06:00

I have not been updating the blog and don't intend to do so at the moment. I'm not deleting it and may start it up again when I am in the position for it to be public. I'm on Facebook so look me up :)

End of Week One

2009-11-08T15:39:00.001-06:00

Friday push ups- 11, 15, 9, 9, 13 plus equal sit ups.

Running this week- Mon, Wed I ran 4 miles; Tues/Thurs did an hour spin.

Weekend- 4 miles on Sat and 10 on Sunday!

So far so good.

Week One

2009-11-04T15:54:00.002-06:00

So far, so good.

In addition to Monday's push ups and sit ups, I ran 4 miles.
Tuesday I did an hour of cycling.

Today, Wednesday I've got:

Pushups- sets are 10, 12, 8, 8, Max (at least 12) with 90 seconds rest in between.

Run 4 miles.

Tonight I'm going to a dessert tasting at Textile. I will try to take and post some pictures later. 10 courses called Before/After...details are here.

Half Iron Training

2009-11-02T16:07:00.003-06:00

Today I'm starting to prepare for Ironman Lonestar 70.3 in April. I've been training for Houston Half in January, so basically I'm starting to add swimming, biking and strength to the mix. I haven't swam or biked since August and I really haven't done much strength either. To get myself back on a schedule, I'm actually going to be posting some training information here. Hard to believe right?

Anyway, I will be running and doing strength MWSun and biking on TTHSat to start with. Friday is an off day. I don't anticipate adding swimming for another couple of weeks, but when I add it in I will swim on TTHSat as well.

I'm going to do the 100 push up challenge and also do the same with sit ups three days per week as part of my strength. I think I will follow the push ups schedule and just do an equal number of sit ups.

Initial Test - I did 20 pushups.

Week One, Day One:
Sets of 10, 12, 7, 7, Max (at least 9; I did 12)with 60 seconds of rest between each.

48 regular crunches
30 each side oblique crunches

chocolate pumpkin cuppies

2009-10-24T18:26:00.000-06:00

Nothin like a new pair of running shoes!

2009-10-16T16:33:00.000-06:00

My aerogarden @ 2 weeks

2009-10-15T18:50:00.000-06:00

Mint, basil, dill, thyme, parsley, purple basil, chives

Muse coming on

2009-10-14T19:01:00.000-06:00

marble cupcakes

2009-10-11T14:38:00.001-06:00

Martha Stewart's recipe for marble cupcakes. I used an extra dark cocoa. The cupcakes themselves are not super sweet. The addition of the chocolate frosting makes each bite birthday cake sweet. You could also dust with powered sugar if you wanted a less sweet dessert.

After I piped them I decided the frosting looks like little poo piles...ooops! Next time remember not to use that swirl with brown icing! LOL!!

OMG a new post!

2009-10-11T14:35:00.004-06:00

Is this thing on? Other than sending photos of my little Max I haven't been here in a while. I'm still blaming Facebook.

ANYWAY- this weekend we had cooler weather for a few hours. It was awesome. I got up yesterday morning and it was 57 degrees! On went the running shorts and tank top and out I went! 8 miles around Memorial Park. The crowd was light as Ten For Texas was going on up in The Woodlands and the Space City 10 miler was this morning. Thje park was mostly full of weekend warriors. Reminder it was 57 degrees!! I had on a tank top and shorts. While running, I worked up a sweat b/c it was still humid.

Things I saw while running in 57 degree weather:

1: Man running in what could have been a speedo. I say could have b/c as much as it looked like it, it really wasn't. The bottoms were actually longer than a speedo- but I think that this dude bought a pair of boycut underwear aka boyshorts from the women's section. He had those on and shoes and the boyshorts had ridden up so far they looked like a speedo. And the shorts were bright royal blue.

2: A dude running with long windpants on (made from the material that makes a swishy sound when you walk), a long sleeve shirt, and a wool toboggan with ear flaps.

3: A chick running with long dry fit pants, dry fit beanie hat, and a Texas Longhorn fleece jacket zipped up to the neck. Why wear dry fit if you're gonna to top it off with heat holding in fleece?!?!

4: Several walkers with hats and gloves on.

5: My favorite of all: A woman running in shorts with a FUR JACKET up top!!! I actually slowed to a walk to take this one in. She had on a shorts and then a short fur jacket that was zipped half way up. She was also wearing a backpack like a kid would wear to school.

I love Houston.

Multimedia message

2009-10-06T15:45:00.000-06:00

Multimedia message

2009-09-29T16:03:00.000-06:00

So cute I could eat him up

Battle Red

2009-09-27T11:39:00.000-06:00

Baking cookies

2009-09-20T13:59:00.000-06:00

This one looks like a perfect choc chip cookie to me! Yum!

Texans Jets game

2009-09-13T12:25:00.000-06:00

party anyone?

2009-09-12T15:32:00.000-06:00

Unpacking from the new floor "move"...drink anyone?

Down and Out

2009-09-11T08:52:00.002-06:00

I've been down and out with a bad tooth infecton for the past 11 days. Who knew that a problem with a tooth could make a person literally bed bound for days. After complications from a root canal, I've missed an entire week of work and have been feeling so ill that I've been in bed for a whole week zonked out on painkillers. Yesterday the dentist worked on me again and I think I am finally getting better. But a whole week has gone by in a painkiller haze. I am supposed to start weaning myself off the meds starting tomorrow morning and I am actually scared to do it b/c I am super worried that it will hurt which means I am not better!

I've missed a whole week of workouts, a whole week of work has piled up and the house is still a total disaster from the new floors. I know it will all get sorted out eventually. I just want my tooth to be okay.

love new floors!!!

2009-09-06T22:11:00.000-06:00

Max is not happy

2009-08-29T11:48:00.000-06:00

The house is a wreck due to new floors. Max does not like it at all.

Color choices

2009-08-28T15:25:00.000-06:00

Performance

2009-08-20T14:01:00.003-06:00

Vacation time!

2009-08-07T07:26:00.003-06:00

Cayman bound! See ya in a week...pictures to come :)

Future

2009-08-04T15:58:00.003-06:00

I'm not really sure about the future of this blog. I don't think I will be posting as frequently b/c I have been bad about it in general the last few months and now that it's private I don't think too many people will be reading anyway. I just don't have time or much to say since I am not seriously training for anything. I'm going to do the Clear Lake Tri on 8/22 (sprint) and I was going to do Andy's before it filled up (might stand in line for an unclaimed packet) and then Houston Half in January. But my workouts are pretty boring right now.

We are going on vacation soon- Cayman islands! I am very much looking forward to some rest and time away from work.

Security Issue

2009-07-30T11:59:00.001-06:00

I knew this would happen sooner or later. I had a nut case that I am doing an investigation on find my blog, learn all about me and then proceed to spout off way too many personal details about my life from the past 5 years while I was interviewing him. So, the blog is now private and I am going through the motions of getting my Facebook, Twitter and all other online presence cleaned up and secured. It sucks. But I don't have a choice.

Guy's stamp on the wall

2009-07-26T10:01:00.000-06:00

At Kenny n Ziggys..6/2009

Failing Miserably

2009-07-23T11:58:00.003-06:00

I'm totally failing at the upkeep of this blog. I just don't have time to write anything and can't remember what I want to write about anyway by the time I find a moment to blog.

I registered myself and Manny for the Aramco Houston Half Marathon. I'm going to be coached again by Kim Hager and hope to set a PR with better than 2:05:30. I've started training for it this week, but am still doing a bit more of tri focus in prep for the Clear Lake Sprint on 8/22. After that I will be focusing much more on running with just some minimal biking and swimming as cross training. I'm not sure what plan Manny is going to follow- probably his normal train for a few weeks and just gut it out. Anyway, the 2:05:30 almost killed me last year, so we'll see if I am able to beat it this year.

Free sample mocha Mondays

2009-07-20T15:22:00.000-06:00

Gotta get my caffeine fix. Isn't baby mocha cute?

MS Choc Chip Cupcakes

2009-07-19T18:55:00.000-06:00

MS Choc Chip Cupcakes

2009-07-19T18:54:00.000-06:00

By The Numbers

2009-07-13T14:01:00.005-06:00

This post will likely be of little interest to anyone other than me. Sorry about that.

Those who know me well, will likely agree that I have several forms of mild OCD. (Manny may disagree with my use of "mild" LOL) One of those manifestations is my obsession with my blood work- my CBC and Complete Metabolic panel. I blame my mother (a nurse) for most of this. I not only obsess about my own, but also Manny's and his parents and my parents and basically anyone who would let me see their information!

Anyway, each year, to the date if possible, I get a CBC and Complete Metabolic Panel with Lipids. And I compare numbers. And then I usually find something I don't like and I obsess about fixing it. If only I could get so obsessed about tri training!

Last year my Red Blood Count came in at 3.47. The "normal" range is 3.8-5.10. To go along with it my Hemoglobin/Hematocrit were both low at 11.6 (normal is 12) and 33.8 (normal is 35). Basically this told me that I am anemic and this prob why I was/am so tired all the time. The doctor recommended I take an iron supplement. So I have. Every. single. day. without missing for a whole year. I am an iron-taking MACHINE!

This time, my RBC came in at 3.58. Still anemic. But the Hemoglobin/Hematocrit were both better at 12.2 and 35.3. My MCV (a part of the hemotacrit I don't fully understand) came in high this time though at 99 (normal is 80-98). The doctor just said that basically that shows I'm taking an iron pill. I guess the supplement is sort of working, but I was expecting a huge jump in RBC production. Guess not.

Last year I was extremely happy with my Lipid Panel. My Total Cholestrol was 144, Triglycerides were 75, HDL at 44 and LDL at 85. Pretty much excellent. So I had nothing to obsess over there.

This year, however, my Total Cholestrol has jumped up to 172 (Ack!), while my Trigylcerides dropped quite a bit to 49 (a good thing) and my HDL went up to 53 (also a good thing) my LDL shot up to 109 (double triple ACK!!). The total should be between 100-199 with about 150 or less as ideal and the LDL should be between 0-99 with 50 or less ideal. Basically the jump in the total in my case is directly related to the jump in the LDL.

The doctor was not really concerned with this jump because my triglyercides and HDL are good. But, I really want to know how/why this happened. I don't smoke, I exercise way more than most people, I don't eat a lot of high fat foods, I already eat the recommended serving of Cherrios every freaking day as well as avocado to try to keep LDL low. So what gives?!

I am still "researching" myself for answers, but the doctor gave me the answer I expected, but did not want to hear. She said that it is most likely genetic. The only true high fat foods I can be accused of eating are whole milk and cheese and I think I probably eat too many tortillas b/c I try to stay away from bread. She said she doubts I eat enough of these things to really be a factor, but as of today I am back to skim milk and low fat cheese and am going to limit my tortilla intake by replacing with lettuce if I have to eat a wrap. I'm going to comb through my daily diet and try to see exactly how much fat I am consuming.

She said that it can't hurt to do these things, but that age (omg!!!!) and genetics are the most likely culprit. She said I might try subsituting 2 servings of pistachios into my diet daily and see if that helps lower the LDL. In 3 months I will retest and if the numbers don't really change, I guess I will have to accept the "genetic" answer and think about what to do from there. She said I am no where near the numbers where I would need medication, but I really don't ever want to get there!

So now you know about my panel. How's yours?

Bike guard

2009-07-07T22:03:00.000-06:00

Long weekend

2009-07-03T08:11:00.003-06:00

I have today OFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Obviously, I am very excited about that.

Most of our friends had family plans for July 4th (we are one of the few childless couples left in our set of friends), so we decided to have a July 3rd party today. We're doing a coca-cola apple wood smoked chicken plus veggies and this grilled bread with tomato, ricotta and proscitto recipe swiped from Manny's man crush, Bobby Flay. I made a lemon ice box pie last night using a recipe from Emeril and then made some homemade cookie dough ice cream this morning.

I only have 2 bottles of Abita Strawberry left and today I think I will drink them. We got some more Satsuma, but it's just not nearly as good. And of course we have all the St. Arnold favorites ready to go. After the SL, I will make the switch over to the beer that never lets me down- Lawnmower!

This morning we did SWAT. I just wrapped on my third week back at it and today was my best workout in a long time. I think I am getting my mojo back. I'm no where near ready for the advanced group, but I stayed at the front of the intermediate pack the whole time today.

I'm a planner and it's driving me crazy not know if I am headed out of town for 2 months for work or not. I hope to know this coming week. Patience is something I have very little of. I just want to know, so I can figure out what triathlon I can do next.

Happy 4th kids :)

Melting Away

2009-07-01T06:41:00.002-06:00

I'm still really sad about Michael Jackson. I think I will always remember where I was (on the SPIN bike) when I heard the news of his passing.

I have been going to SWAT three days per week. I did the beginner group the first two weeks and now I am in the intermediate group. I think it will be a long while before I move up to advanced. Maybe in the cooler fall temperatures.

SWAT has been working muscles that I have found I don't really use much doing triathlon! All kinds of new aches and soreness. I know that SWAT stability and strengthing exercises really helped my IT band in the past, and I think doing the exercises as an addition to running, swimming and biking will make me stronger overall. I haven't been running very much at all, but I have still be cycling and swimming two days per week.

I've got a lot happening on the work front. There is a good possibility I will be gone again for a couple of months pretty soon, so it's hard to commit to a tri event when I don't know if I will be around to do it. I'd like to do Clear Lake on August 22, but I might be gine by then, so I have to just wait and see. I need to start running more just in case I happen to be here to do the race.

Now for Jamoosh- 2 beer reviews. These are mini reviews b/c I am not a beer expert like the Moosh man.

My new favorite beer is Abita Strawberry Lager. I've long been an Abita fan in general, but this March I had my first SL and it is AWESOME. It is lightly fruity, smells like summer, and is very very smooth. I'm not gonna lie- this beer is pretty girly. But it goes great with raw oysters, burgers and just about everything else. Now for the sad part- I only have 2 bottles left and it is sold out for the year. If anyone sees any, buy it and call me! I will come pick it up!!! As you can tell from the website blub, I am not the only one trying to find some more! Abita- make this a year round beer!!!!!!!!!!

The second new-to-me beer is Abita Satsuma. This one has a bite to it. The packaging has me hoping it would taste orange-y, but it does not. It is barely fruity and tasted to me like beer mixed with selzer water. Not good.

Since Abita SL is only seasonal at this point, my favorite overall beer remains St. Arnold's Lawnmower...no review needed for that one cause everyone already knows it's GOOD!

RIP Michael Jackson 1958-2009

2009-06-26T08:32:00.002-06:00

Despite what you may think of MJ and all his craziness, the bottom line is that he was a musical genius and a father. My thoughts are with his family, especially his three children. To me, he will always be the King of Pop.

Things to Talk About

2009-06-24T14:48:00.002-06:00

besides the insane heat in Houston going on for the past 2 weeks. 104 degrees and it's only JUNE! Ugh.

Anyway, my lack of updating is annoying to me, but I haven't been doing anything to really blog about. I'm not training for anything and there is nothing really on the horizon except for the Houston Half (maybe) in Jan 2010 and that is old news since I've done it 4 or 5 times already and also such a long way off.

I guess I don't blog about all the not doing much of anything because that's what I use Facebook and Twitter for!

The last 2.5 months have consisted of me doing Swim/Spin 2 days a week, a little running and a lot of going to dinner/bars and drinking lots of beer and wine!! Things I never do when I'm training. I missed them!

Last week I decided I needed to work a little harder at staying in shape, so I started the 5am SWAT workouts again. I went all 3 days last week and both days so far this week all in the intermediate class. Man oh man, I was REALLY sore for a couple of days. I guess SWAT really works all the little muscles in weird places that regular tri training or running does not! I feel better today and I know in another week I will be back in the advanced class.

Basically SWAT serves as a great strength workout. Works on the core and all the stablizing muscles I need for triathlon. I know when I decide on another tri to do, it will be good that I have been doing the SWAT workout.

Not much else going on right now.....but at least I updated!

and again on tuesday

2009-06-16T14:27:00.001-06:00

hot hot monday

2009-06-16T14:27:00.000-06:00

At the rock n roll hall of fame

2009-06-12T11:16:00.000-06:00

Feels like home

2009-06-08T18:18:00.000-06:00

Tejas Tri Race Recap

2009-06-08T13:47:00.003-06:00

Sunday I did the Tejas Tri in Sugar Land. The sprint had a 600 yard swim, 12 mile bike and a 3 mile run. Since doing 70.3, I haven't been taking my workouts too seriously. I run when I feel like it and swim and cycle 2 days per week. If I miss a workout, I miss it and don't worry about making it up. It's actually pretty nice to just chill out!

Anyway, race morning was almost a disaster. I had prepped my bike the night before I noticed the tire was flat. I thought it was from sitting unused for so long in the heat. I pumped it up. Got up and it was flat. So I changed the tube. The tire wouldn't seal to the rim. Manny looked at it. We worked on it for like 30 minutes. No seal. Finally it sealed and the tire deflated. WTF? So we fixed it again. Got the race with 5 minutes to set up before transition closed. I was a bit stressed out about it! I lost a sock somehow and would have to run in my Kayanos with no socks. I got 3 blisters.

I wasn't sure how I would do in the race overall, but I thought I would definitely have a better swim than in my previous sprints. Time-wise the swim was about the same! I couldn't believe I didn't have a swim PR! However, I did have a better swim in how I felt in the water. I feel very calm now and am actually able to sight better and look for holes and avoid other people. So the swim experience was PR if not the time.

The bike is where I kicked ass! I have always been so slow on the bike. For the past year, that was the one area that I spent the most time on because I was super sick of riding as hard as I could and barely eeking out 14-15 mph. I knew I was stronger on the bike because at 70.3 the headwind was horrifying and I still came in with a 14.7-8?? average. When I started training for the 70.3, in that kind of wind I would have been lucky to have a 12mph average. But I guess I still expected the bike to suck because my very best average ever for a ride or race was 16.1 mph. I don't know what was in my breakfast gel, but I somehow rode 20mph average on the bike! 20!!!!!!! I can not believe it.

The run was a pretty normal run for me. My legs were tight til about 2.5 miles in. Just after I started running I heard steps behind me and this younger girl said "I need help. Can I run right behind you?" I said "Ok" and kepting running. At the mile 2 marker she was still there. I walked for a second to drink some water and she said "Don't stop running. I can't make it without you. You're my pacer!" I laughed and said "ok, let's get this thing done" and took off again. Then I said "You know if you are pacing off me for the whole run, you can't sprint past me in the last seconds, right?" To which she replied "I wouldn't dare!" LOL!

What that girl didn't know, was that on the bike and run I was pacing off of someone too. On the bike I kept leap frogging with #402. We did this the whole ride. I was ahead of her coming into T2, but she passed me on the run out. I stayed as close to her as I could, but she got pretty far out in front of me. I could still see her and just kept trying to close the gap. Just after mile 2, I caught her. I said "I'm still chasing you" and she said "Well you caught me and I'm tired" I passed her and kept running. As we crossed the footbridge, she came up beside me and passed. I tried as hard as I could to catch her. We had a full on sprint to the finish and she beat me by a step or two! Fun times! My run came in at 9:26 mile pace. Pretty good :)

1:21 total time= 10+ minute PR!

Also, the best part of the race was that Manny was there to cheer for me and I saw Evan, Jeremy, Katy, Cat, and got to meet Shannon for the first time! Yay for new friends!

More on the tire- so I got to my bike in T1 and the tire was fine. Rolled out and rode the 12 miles. Never felt anything wrong with tire. Come back after the race and get the bike. Tire is deflated. I took two new tubes and pumped them up. The tubes are fine. They do not have holes or leaks. Put them on the bike and seal the tire rim and they deflate. I don't know what is going on.

Ahhhhh!

2009-06-07T16:03:00.000-06:00

Ready for the party

2009-06-07T15:28:00.000-06:00

Cooling cookies

2009-06-07T15:03:00.000-06:00

Baking cookies

2009-06-07T14:58:00.000-06:00

Manny makes fun of me cause I sit and watch the cookies.

Watching cookies bake

2009-06-07T14:57:00.000-06:00

About as exciting as watching paint dry. But tastier.

Photo Fest

2009-06-05T11:22:00.003-06:00

Uploading Jazz Fest and NYC 2009 photos to flickr.

Some of my favorites from NOLA:

My very first raw oyster EVER at Acme in New Orleans.

I was scared at first, but I liked them!

Me and Manny in the field at the Fest- this was before Erykah Badu came on.

Mardi Gras Indians performing!

do u see him?

2009-06-04T22:05:00.000-06:00

Neglect

2009-06-03T14:51:00.003-06:00

It seems like a lot of Bloggers including myself are neglecting to update recently. Most are using Facebook as an excuse. I just really haven't had much to say or the time to say it anyway. Also, I guess because I haven't been really training for anything, I don't feel like documenting workouts.

Basically I was on the road all of May. I was in PA and then NYC and then May was over. I managed to squeeze in most of my normal "staying healthy and in shape" workouts, but no hard core training. This week I got in the pool again in prep for this weekend's Tejas Tri. It's a sprint. I doubt I will PR- although maybe on the swim depending how congested the water is- but I will have fun and enjoy it and right now that is the point. This is prob the only sprint I'm doing all summer and I have no other events on the schedule for the rest of the year.

We've (ok I mostly- Manny not so much) have been thinking about getting a puppy. I don't really anticipate any more heavy travel with work and no more overseas assignments and my schedule is such that I am home most of the time. Manny is still on the road a lot, but I'm here with the cat by myself a lot. I've always wanted a dog and have never had one, so I am thinking about it. I just want to be sure that I will be home enough and also I want to think about how it will affect Max. I know he will be totally pissed off at first, but I think he would come around and I know he wouldn't be as lonely in the day. So no decision yet, just thinking about it.

I weaned myself off coffee in May and was caffeine free for 12 days. Then I relapsed and have been on a binge ever since. Maybe I need an intervention!

I am going to update more often. I miss blogging. Facebook and Twitter are fun, but not the same and in 5 years I can't just go back and tell from a Facebook or Twitter line what I was doing and thinking.

I will post some pictures from NYC soon.

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2009-05-31T21:24:00.000-06:00

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2009-05-31T20:47:00.000-06:00

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2009-05-31T19:22:00.000-06:00

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2009-05-31T18:56:00.000-06:00

Red velvet

2009-05-30T21:29:00.000-06:00

Stupid Thing

2009-05-27T19:52:00.002-06:00

It's Wednesday which means a running day. This morning I got up, had a glass of milk with my cereal. Had a diet coke at lunch. A tall coffee around 2pm. Got home, headed out to run at 7pm.

It's May which means basically summer has arrived in Houston. It's hot and humid.

I took off for a 5k run in the heat after only drinking milk, a diet coke and a coffee ALL DAY. No water intake at all. Man, was that stupid!

My 5k run was pretty much miserable and I actually stopped running at 3 miles even because I was so hot and dehydrated.

Time to start carrying my water jug with me while I work. It's just too hot outside now to run without enough (or any) water on board.

As soon as I got in from the run I down 2 large cups of ice water.

2 weeks til Tejas Tri.

Wicked set

2009-05-24T12:48:00.000-06:00

Lower Manhattan

2009-05-23T20:02:00.000-06:00

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2009-05-19T19:54:00.000-06:00

astros

2009-05-19T19:52:00.000-06:00

1,000 Post

2009-05-14T21:08:00.002-06:00

Wow, so according to the dashboard, my last post was #1,000! So this is actually 1,001.

Since Ironman 70.3, I haven't really been too focused on my workouts. I have been running 5k every other day or so and did a 5 miler last weekend. I've been spinning on Tuesday/Thursday except for last week when I was out of town all week. While I was gone I did the ellpital one night, ran 3 nights, and swam one night. I have been in the pool only 2 times since New Orleans and did one open water swim as well. I've pretty much been taking it easy on the weekends- I've gone whole weekends with no workouts, but typically have done at least one workout.

All of this has been well and good- no pressure and stressing out if I am going to miss something. But I'm starting to get to the place where I want some more structure. I've got a Sprint Tri coming up June 7, so starting next week I will hit the pool a few days along with spin and running. I feel like I still have a good enough base built up in everything to do a sprint tri with no problems, but I really am not that excited about the short distance events. I think I got hooked on long course triathlon and really just want to do another 70.3 event. But I just can't train for that right now and I don't want to train for another one until I have improved my cycling.

So instead what I think I want to do is race the sprint on June 7 and then spend the rest of the summer really working on bike strength. I really need to improve my cycling. I need power and speed on the bike. So I think I am looking for a cycling group to join. I need to ride with some people who will push me to go faster than what I've gotten comfortable with. I need to kiss 15-16mph goodbye and get cozy with 18+. I don't know anything about training on a bike. I don't know how to build the speed and then the miles.

Any suggestions?

234 runners :)

2009-05-10T06:25:00.000-06:00

Marietta YMCA 5 Miler

2009-05-09T19:51:00.002-06:00

After a week in Pittsburgh for work, I headed to West Virginia yesterday to see my parents for the weekend. This morning I ran the Marietta Times YMCA 5 Miler in Devola, OH (about 2 minutes outside Marietta). It felt good to be back in my college town. Right now the trees and the landscape in general are super green and beautiful! This part of the country is just fabulous in early spring and fall with all the color and amazing trees. Wow!

The run took place at the Masonic Park and was a loop course with a little bit of overlap at the very end. The first two miles were pretty flat, then it was hilly for 2.5 miles and the last .5 was flat. I finished in 50:?? I don't the final time because I didn't look at the posted times at the finish and I can't find them anywhere online. I am not certain that it will be online at all, but maybe in the Monday newspaper.

At the start of the race, I walked over to the line and immediately noted the two females that I knew would finish in 1 and 2. I was right! They had the fast chick look about them. The crowd was a mix of runners and runners-for-a-day. It was pretty easy to tell the difference based on attire- cotton vs tech material. I saw one female wearing a 5 mile run bib that was wearing jeans. I saw a man with a 5k walk bib on drinking a beer.

When the gun went off I expected the small crowd to take off as fast as they could. I was right again. The gun fired and literally ALL of the runners except me and one other female took off like they were running from a fire. The female looked at me as we watched them dash off and said "you know we will pass most of them in less than a mile right?!" My plan was to average a 10 minute pace. The female and I ran near each other for the first 2 miles. At the 1/2 mile mark, part of the group that took off fast was already walking, arms raised up over their heads in that "omg i need to catch my breath" kind of way. "Told ya!" she said. I left the female behind as the hills started in mile 3. She told me that she ran 12 miles on Thursday and her legs were sore.

I spent most of the run just looking at the beautiful green trees. Most of the run was right along side the river. It was so pretty!!! The course was along a rural road and traffic was a nonissue until the 5 mile runners merged with the 5k walkers. The runners had to cross over a residential street and as I approached I saw a man sitting in his car looking very irritated that he had to wait for the road to be clear. He was wearing a camo hat and driving a crappy beat up car and basically whatever your sterotypical image of a redneck is, well he was it.

There were no police on the course. I saw one police officer on a motorcycle at the finish, but never saw any on the course. As I approached the intersection, the guy decided he'd waited long enough and even though he saw me, he pulled out fast right in front of me, nearly hitting me. He passed so close I reached out and slammed my hand down on the top of his trunk and yelled "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?!" and then raised my arms up in the air like "WTF?!!?" The redneck stopped the car, opened the door and yelled "GET THE FUCK OUT OF THE ROAD!" at me. Well that mad me really mad, so I ran toward his open car door and yelled back at him "YOU GET THE FUCK OFF THE ROAD YOU REDNECK FUCKING ASSHOLE!" He just looked at me for a second, slammed his door and peeled out. Redneck fucking asshole.

After that, I tried to use my pissed off energy to run faster. I passed about 9 runners and a bunch of walkers in the final mile and a half. At the finish, I tried some Cytomax for the first time (YUCK) and also some GU brand recovery drink (OK, way better than Cytomax). While I was drinking, I saw a guy with an Ironman tattoo. I was very shocked to see this as this area does not really have too many triathletes and there aren't any local tris. I went over and asked him about his tattoo. He did Louisville in 2008. We talked for a long while about triathlon. Turns out he was born and raised in Ohio, worked for Amoco in Houston in the 1980s (lived in Copperfield) and then came back to Marietta about 16 years ago. He was a runner and got interested in triathlon in 2007. He said he knows of about 15 triathletes in the area. Of those, he is the only Ironman so far. He said he was thinking about starting a tri club and I thought it was a great idea!!

One other thing I noticed on the run....We ran through several little neighborhood areas. Not like Houston subdivisons, more like clusters of houses/trailers every so often on the sides of the road. Some sections were very nice, the homes were old but well kept. Some sections were very run down, trailers with junk all in the yard etc. Definite appearances of more and less affluent areas. But they had one thing in common- this weekend is the post office food bank drive. Everyone gets a flyer asking them to leave a bag of food items for donation to the needy at their mailbox and the postal employee will collect it on the route. Literally every single house/trailer/residence we ran past- from the richest looking to the poorest looking- had their food items sitting out by their mailbox. That's just what its like around here and it's pretty cool :)

the guy told me about a crazy triathlon weekend that goes on in Ohio...I'm going to check it out via google and will post about it next. It sounds totally nuts.

Joe Mama's Italian Deluxe Pittsburgh

2009-05-08T19:39:00.000-06:00

Fish market sushi

2009-05-06T11:29:00.000-06:00

Maybe I should rename him Mikey

2009-05-02T09:25:00.000-06:00

Something for fun

2009-04-27T10:00:00.002-06:00

I'll be home visiting my parents the weekend of May 9-10 following a week of work in Pennsylvania. My mom is happy as can be because that is Mother's Day weekend.

I was reading the Marietta Times and saw this.

7th Annual Marietta Times Y5 Road Race

Perfect. I am mailing in my $13 registration today.

second line

2009-04-26T14:37:00.000-06:00

jammin'

2009-04-26T14:32:00.001-06:00

Tuba

2009-04-26T14:32:00.000-06:00

sunday morning in the gospel tent

2009-04-26T12:42:00.000-06:00

flags wavin'

2009-04-25T16:10:00.000-06:00

gentilly stage area

2009-04-25T12:29:00.000-06:00

Big sam's funky nation is on

Maple Leaf

2009-04-24T23:11:00.000-06:00

tulane baseball game

2009-04-24T18:02:00.001-06:00

tulane baseball game

2009-04-24T18:02:00.000-06:00

my first ever raw oysters

2009-04-24T13:02:00.000-06:00

Love em!

Multimedia message

2009-04-24T10:07:00.000-06:00

Cat in the bag

2009-04-22T21:26:00.000-06:00

hiding

2009-04-22T21:25:00.000-06:00

MS80

2009-04-20T16:21:00.002-06:00

This weekend I was supposed to ride in the MS150. It was supposed to be a chance for me to fulfill my pledge to myself that I would make up for my horrible lack of performance last year.

That was not to be as the rain came pouring into town on Friday and La Grange got pounded with 10-12 inches of it. Day 1 was cancelled. It was the right thing to do from a safety standpoint. Plus I really did not want to ride in the pouring rain.

Day 2 was a go, so on Saturday morning Manny and I loaded up the truck and drove out to Warda to the Bluff Creek Ranch to meet up with our team the Palmer Holy Spokes. On the way to the ranch the rain was terrible. It was coming down in buckets and the Katy Freeway had waves/wake going on. We almost turned around and came home. Once we got not too far west of Katy, the rain turned into sprinkles. By Columbus, it was misting. We stopped and ate at Schobels (yummy!) and when we got to the ranch, the sun was out and the sky was blue.

After setting up our gear in the barn, we had dinner and hung out with our team. The Rector of our church was riding and so we had Saturday night Eucharist.

We all slept in the barn on air mattresses and it would be fine except for the crazy SNORING going on. There were 2 LOUD snorers and one probably needs to go to the doctor and see about their sleep apnea they have going on! Basically we did not get any sleep!

We got up at 6AM and prepared to head out. We were on the road by 7:30 and headed down 71 to meet up with everyone headed up 71 from La Grange. We turned onto the Challenge Route and from that point on there were two things happening at the same time. Wind and Hills. For 80 miles. It beat me up just as bad as last year.

Just before the first rest stop, we caught Jon. He pulled into the stop, but we kept going and did not stop until lunch. I was doing okay, not great at that point. We ate as fast as possible and got back on the road. No more than 15 minutes at the lunch stop.

After lunch I got really really cranky. I was feeling so incredibly frustrated at my lack of ability against the wind and the hills. I had a few teary-eyed miles. I was so mad at myself for not being able to suck it up and ride like a normal person. I was barely pushing out 11mph. It SUCKED. I really wanted to SAG. But I kept going mostly because of the huge amount of pressure I was putting on myself after DNF'ing last year.

By the time we got to the 2nd to last rest stop, my knees were killing me. I never have knee problems. I guess it was from all the hard pedaling. My right knee was so sore that every turn of the crank arm was painful. I got off at the last two stops just to shake out my knee.

We finally reached our team meeting point about 1 mile from the finish line at 2:50pm. Our team was supposed to assemble there at 3pm to ride in together. However, due to the wind we were missing a lot of people at 3. We waited for everyone until nearly 4pm and ended up riding in without a few people who were not going to make it in until around 6pm.

I was *REALLY* glad the ride was over. There is no way I would have wanted to do it again the next day either. I guess I am just not cut out to do that type of endurance cycling.

After we finished, we went to eat, but my stomach had been giving me issues all day and after I ate a few bites I got extremely sick to my stomach. I went to take a shower and it was all I could do to not puke in the shower truck. I ran all cold water hoping to make me feel better, but it was not fun. I tried to drink some more and took an anti-puke pill. It didn't help too much at first, but after about 2 hours I felt slightly better and well enough to get on the bus back to La Grange.

We arrived in La Grange about 8pm. We got our car and headed home and I was so happy not to have to ride again the next day. I guess for me, cancelling day 1 was a blessing in disguise. I will be volunteering next year for our team instead of riding!

What to do

2009-04-14T08:02:00.002-06:00

At this point I am trying to find a balance between working out and life. I'm so used to doing so many workouts that now that I am not doing so many it is making me crazy!! I can't just relax.

After the Half Iron on Sunday, I took Monday off as rest. I did 1 hour spin on Tuesday. Took Wednesday off. Ran 5k on Thursday. Ran 5k on Friday. 1 hour spin on Saturday. Took Sunday off. I ran 5k yesterday.

Those off days in there about killed me. I just kept looking outside at the beautiful weather and really wanted to ride my bike or run some more! I'm trying to keep up with an active recovery, but no long distances or anything because my body is still tired and my lower back is still sore.

I guess the 150 mile ride this weekend will take care of my restlessness. I had no idea just trying to rest would be so hard.

I told Manny that I wasn't going to train for any specific events for the rest of the year. But I keep finding myself looking at event calendars and seeing what I might want to do. I can't help myself!

I sound crazy don't I.

Annoyed with the camera

2009-04-11T21:18:00.000-06:00

His spot

2009-04-11T21:15:00.000-06:00

sleeping

2009-04-11T21:09:00.000-06:00

New Orleans Ironman 70.3- The Bike and The Run

2009-04-09T13:42:00.007-06:00

So after heading into transition, I was feeling pretty pumped about my swim. It was hard not to try to run faster over the carpet and the asphalt to my bike. The rocks all over the place helped me go slow. Ouch on bare feet!

I got to my bike and threw on my gear including my camel back. I had been waffling on whether or not I would wear it prior to the race, but decided since I am so used to wearing it that I might as well. It would help ensure that I drank enough while riding. Later I would find out that wearing it was probably one of the best decisions I made.

I rode out onto the course and I was pretty much alone. All of the people in the waves before me were fast and I was left pedaling along by my lonesome. I knew soon people would start passing me like I was standing still.

On the way out I averaged 16 mph, which is awesome for me because my very best ride to date is only a 16.1 mph average. I was thrilled about the pace. I felt good and wasn't working too hard. At the turnaround, I stopped for a quick pee break.

Lucky for me I had my Camelback because the water stations were running out of fluids. My camel was full of water and I had gatorade in my cages. I was carrying everything I needed for 56 miles, but there were others asking for water only to be told to try the next station. Also, while I was off the bike to pee, riders were coming by and throwing their still half full water bottles off to the side and then asking for a new full bottle. Those half full bottles were like missiles and I kept having to dodge them as I walked back to my bike! A volunteer told me that she had been hit 3 times and it HURT!

On the way back the headwind started in and I was being blown all over the place. I saw Leslie, Greg, and Viv and that cheered me up a little, but I knew the wind was going to kick my ass before the 56miles was done. I kept pedaling as hard as I could without blowing out my heart rate. There were periods were my Cateye measured only 9-10 miles per hour! It SUCKED. I wanted off the bike so bad. I was passed up by literally hundreds of people.

Starting about 15 miles out, I saw people sitting on the ground with their bikes laying down beside them. The wind was just beating people up. The volunteers were reporting that the headwind was coming in at 15 to 17mph.

I kept trying to stay focused and relaxed. I told myself I was NOT going to pull over or take a break no matter what. At the 80k mark I just started repeating, "Only way off this bike is to keep riding it". I probably said that 100 times over the final 6 miles. I saw Jon and yelled "This wind is a bitch! Mother F'er!" and probably a bunch of other bad words. Sorry Jon! Finally, I was at transition. I always want off the bike and this was no exception. I could not wait to rack that thing!

Bike time was 3:50:06. My best case senario goal time was 3:30 and I thought I would end up with a 3:45. I only missed that 3:45 by 5 minutes. I was thrilled to be off the bike and didn't care what the split was at that moment, but I was pretty irritated about it after the race was over. I just don't know what else I need to do to get stronger on the bike. I have no leg power at all.

When I got off the bike, my toes on my right foot were stinging. I thought I was gonna take of my shoe and see a huge blister or something. Nope- my toes were stinging because they had gone numb and were coming back to life! Thank goodness for no blisters, but I am confused why they went numb. Never happened before.

When I got to my rack, my family was on the other side of the fence cheering for me. I talked to them as I changed into my run gear. I was tired and feeling beat up, but I always feel that way after a ride so I was expecting to feel that way.

As soon as I racked the bike, I switched my thoughts to the run and I was ready to hit the run course. I stopped to pee and then took off. Not too long after I started running I was passed up by Leslie. Then Greg came up behind me and we ran together for a couple of the early miles. We talked a little, but mostly just tried to find our groove.

For the first several miles I was able to maintain a sub-11 minute pace which I was hoping to hold for the whole 13.1. I was really enjoying the run. I felt really good, running along the lake was windy but pretty and I was really shocked at how good I was actually feeling. Jon came along o his bike and we talked a little. At the lakefront turnaround, I saw Gena and Dee and then Viv. Seeing those bright green Strive jerseys is a grea pick-me-up!

It was really sunny and I was glad I wore a visor. Over the past month I had been forcing myself to wear one while running, something I have never been able to stand doing before. I am now a convert- no more running without a visor for me when it is sunny! As I left the lake and headed into the park, it got a little shadier which was nice.

Around mile 8, my hips were feeling really sore and I had to slow it down. Jon appeared after I turned on to Esplenade and rode along and talked to me a bit. I was really sore, but still in good spirits and feeling good mentally. I knew I was going to finish without any doubt.

I did about 12 minute miles for the rest of the 13.1 and ended up with 2:34:12 half marathon (11:45 pace). I thought I would do a 2:25, so I missed it by quite a lot, but I am still happy with the split.

As I rounded the corner into the Quarter I started to feel a little emotional. I knew I was gonna cry and that surprized me! It happened at the New York Marathon, but those tears were tears of frustration. These were HAPPY tears! I rarely cry over happy things! When I hit the blue carpet at the start of the finish chute, the tears started to roll. I was so proud of myself for training all alone for months and for getting it done! This finish really meant a lot to me!

I saw my family just as I went under the finish clock and I was so happy that they could be there!

Finish time 7:25:06

At the finish, I gave my mom and my husband a BIG HUG! I was still crying and my mom thought I was hurting. "NO! I'm HAPPY!" I said!

This one pretty much says it all....

I did it. I'm 70.3 :)

New Orleans Ironman 70.3- Pre-race and the Swim

2009-04-08T13:10:00.006-06:00

*Half Iron photos are posted on Flickr. See the sidebar*

On Thursday we left later than I would have liked due to Manny not being able to get away from work. We headed out on the road to NOLA in the early evening. My mom and aunt had arrived at noon and were checked into the hotel and out siteseeing while Manny and I drove in from Houston. It was CRAZY windy on the drive out and I was constantly checking on my bike that was riding on the bike rack. I didn't remove my bento box and I was worried it was going to blow off, but it held on tight the whole ride. I was also worried about the horrible drivers ass-ending us and smashing into my bike!

We finally arrived in NOLA without incident at about 10:30pm. Checked in, said hi to my mom and went to bed.

On Friday morning, we headed to the Quarter to go to the French Market and site see a little. We took the streetcar up to Tulane and ate lunch at the Camillia Grill. Then we went to the expo where I met up with Viv and we attended the briefing and got our packets. My number was 1288. I wasn't nervous until the briefing started. The nerves went away, but kept coming back from this point until race start!

The expo for this race was really really small! I was shocked. I expected a big expo like the San Diego/NYC marathon expos I've attended. This thing was tiny!

There was a small section of race clothes and gear and people were snatching it up fast as can be. I was confused. Aren't you supposed to wait until you finish the race before you buy the gear?! So many things can happen on the course and I thought buying all this NOLA 70.3 gear ahead of time was just asking for bad mojo.

I guess I am in the minority in this thinking because on race day I saw tons of athletes wearing the race shirts/jerseys/hats etc. Weird. And it sucked because after the race there was NOTHING left and since the race didn't give out finisher's shirts or hats I have NOTHING to show for my race except the ugly way too big shirt they gave us in our packets. No finishers ANYTHING that I can actually wear.

I was told at the expo that we would get finishers visors. This did not happen. I am so so so bummed out over this. Part of the the attraction to this race instead of doing Lonestar was that it is an Ironman brand event and I could earn the right to wear something with the M-dot. But this race that I paid $225 to enter totally shafted me!!

Anyway, back to the pre-race. So since I wasn't buying any gear we left the expo and did more sightseeing and went to Copeland's for dinner on St. Charles.

Saturday we got up and drove over to the swim start. I did not get in the water, but looked it all over. The point-to-point swim looked so FAR!!! Then we checked out transition. I had long run from swim exit to my bike and although it was mostly carpeted, it was really rocky under the carpet and then passed onto black top which was rocky and would be hot on race day. We drove the bike/run course and I rode my bike a little bit to go through the gears and make sure it was good to go. Bike check in was at 2pm and I got my bike racked. It was weird to leave it there overnight, but I worried about it less than I thought I would.

After checking in the bike, we went back to the expo to hear Terry Laughlin talk about Total Immersion swimming. I am in love with TI swimming, so even though the first presentation sucked because the projector didn't work I was glad I went. We stayed for the second presentation which was much better. TI swimming is awesome. I am planning on going to one of their open water swim camps possibly in the fall or next spring.

We met up with Jon at the expo- he was there covering the race and cheering for me and the rest of Team Strive. He had a media badge and was riding the course on his bike.

After the TI presentations, my family plus Jon went to dinner at Semolina's on Magazine St. Yummy pasta. Then home to pack, check, recheck all my gear. I was in bed and asleep by 10pm.

I slept better than I thought I would. I woke up at 3AM ready to get up, but made myself lie there and half sleep til 4:45. Then it was up, down with the Cheerios, and out the door to the bus to the start. I got on the bus at 5:30AM and was at transition by 6AM. I got set up and then got in line for the bus to the swim start. In the line I met TriSaraTops! I have lurked on her blog forever and occasionally commented, but I felt a little weird when I approached her to say "You're Sara..I read your blog!" She was super nice and it was cool to meet her in person!

Transition did not close until 6:45AM, but by 6:20 they were already saying that if we took the bus to the swim start we would not make it in time for the 7AM start. We were told to get out of line and walk the 1.2 miles to the swim start. SUCK!

By the time I walked to the swim start, I barely had time to get into my wetsuit and drop my gear bag at the truck. Forget about having time to hit the porta potty. There were only 20ish potties at the start for 3000 athletes! The lines were 40+ minutes long!!

I ran into Viv with about 15 minutes to my swim start. She was starting 4 minutes behind me. I waited with her while she put on her wetsuit and we walked to the start corrals just as they were announcing my wave to get in line. I hadn't even pulled my wetsuit over my arms yet, so I did it fast with Viv's help and jumped in my corral. I scanned the bridge and saw my mom, aunt and Manny. I jumped up and down until they saw me. A quick wave to them and I was in the water.

I didn't really have enough time to think too much or get freaked out. I sank down into the water to let my wetsuit fill up and get over the chill. Put my face in the water a few times too. Then they said GO! and I did a couple little dolphin dives because it was so shallow and I was off. I swam in the inside right side closest to the shore. The group thinned out quickly and I was able to get into a rhythm and swim along.

I just kept thinking about my TI drills. Swim tall and hands wide. I sighted about every 20 strokes and although I couldn't tell exactly where I was in the pack of pink hats, I could still see them on either side of me so I knew I wasn't last in my age group. Soon I started seeing yellow caps pass me and then some dark green. Those were the 35-39 year old females in the yellow and the 24 and under men. I got bumped and pounded on a little bit by the yellow and greens, but soon I was at the half way mark and checked my watched. 26 minutes. I was sandbagging. Should have been 22:30 for me to be on my goal pace. I tried to go faster and basically stopped sighting because it was all clear in front of me. I swam as hard as I could to the last orange buoy and rounded the corner as close as I could cut it. When I stood up in the water my watch said 46:37. I crossed the swim timing mat at 47:34 for my official swim time.

During the swim I did not have any moment of panic. I thought I would. Instead I just kept reminding myself that I needed to swim tall and hands wide and I never freaked out at all. I rolled onto my back once to clear my goggles, but then told myself that was silly. I swim with my eyes shut in the pool all the time. I don't need to see 100% clearly to swim. As long as I can make out my site points, foggy goggles are ok. When I got out of the water I made sure to pause for a moment in my mind and tell myself "you just had an awesome swim and it was FUN!"

I got my wetsuit stripped off in about 1 second flat and then carefully jogged over the rocky carpet and pavement towards my bike!

Next up, bike...also known as Headwind Ride from Hell....

Ironman 70.3= DONE!

2009-04-06T17:11:00.002-06:00

I finished in 7:25:06 (my watch). I went into this to finish and in the back of my mind hoped for 7 hours. I am THRILLED with my time and I had a really great race! I didn't have to walk during the run except when refilling my water bottle. Ran damn near the whole thing when TONS of people were walking. Very happy about that! I had an excellent swim- right on my goal pace of 45-46 minutes. The bike- well, let's just say she and I still hate each other and I really need to keep working hard here. I basically lost my 7 hour time goal on the bike. It was windy as hell, but I am just WEAK on the bike. I have no excuse here. I need to work harder. The run was great. I really enjoyed it and did not start to hurt until around mile 8. I followed my pre-race plan to the letter and it paid off.

I will have a full race report probably Tuesday...just rolled in from NOLA and need to unwind a bit before work tomorrow. Thank you to everyone who cheered and especially to Jon and my Mom and Aunt for being out there supporting me. My husband is my biggest cheerleader and I couldn't have done it without him. As always he was the best support crew ever and I love him dearly for it!

Full report tomorrow with pictures :) I hear Jon and some others have already posted some to Facebook...

kupcake factory new orleans

2009-04-03T14:24:00.000-06:00

New Orleans Bound

2009-04-02T08:49:00.002-06:00

Headed to New Orleans later today!! I'm excited!!!!

Things that make you go hmmmm...

2009-03-31T15:27:00.002-06:00

I'm thinking Facebook and Twitter are going to lure a lot of bloggers away from day to day blog updates. I really like both FB and Twitter, but sometimes I still like to be able to say more than just 140 characters worth. I can see how Twitter could get crazy, but so far its just fun!

Yesterday was an off day for me as far as workouts go. I used the free time to relax and watch Arrested Development on DVD. I also read the new Runner's World. Manny was working and the cat was not howling for once, so I had a quiet evening. I saw in Runner's World that there are going to be movie screenings of Running the Sahara. I watched it already on HBO, but it's so crazy I would go see it again on the big screen.

Getting ready to swim and bike later tonight. I'm on my own for dinner and I'm thinking Star Pizza might be coming to my house!

Overjoyed to be outside

2009-03-29T17:49:00.000-06:00

Getting ready

2009-03-29T15:38:00.003-06:00

By this time next week, it will be done. In some ways it's hard to believe in just one week I'll be racing in my first half ironman event. In some ways it seems like it has taken forever to get here. I am feeling anxious, eager, excited, nervous, scared...but I also feel ready.

This weekend I did my last long workouts. I swam open water in my wetsuit; I checked over my bike. I've practiced setting up my transition area. I've checked and rechecked my packing lists. My non-tri stuff is packed and ready to go. My tri stuff is also packed and ready to go. I'm sure I'll unpack/repack the tri stuff at least once or twice more before we actually leave.

I know that I am ready for this event. I've put in the time. I've done the workouts. Of course, I missed a workout here and there along the way, but that's what happens when you're married and work full time and try to do this. But when I missed one I always tried to make the next one count even more. I've spent many hours in the pool, even more hours on the bike, and probably just enough hours on the run. I've done nearly all of the training alone. Which is good because I will be racing alone and I already know what it's like to be alone with my thoughts when I'm hot and hurting and asking myself why I wanted to do this in the first place.

When I ran the only two marathons I've done I felt like some of it was for me, but I was also doing it for other people. I wanted my parents to be proud of me. I wanted my husband to be proud of me. This time, it's different.

My husband and my mom will be there to cheer for me, but it's not about them at all this time. They don't know what it's taken for me to get to this point- mentally, physically and emotionally. I don't think they really understand why or how much I want this and how much it means to me. They understand that training for this has forced me to make many sacrifices (and they have made some too), but they don't understand that I made those sacrifices willingly and happily because something inside of me just had to. I'd make them again. I know that when I finish, it will all be worth it. I'm not sure that even at that point it will seem worth it to them.

So now it's just waiting and getting mentally psyched up for Sunday. I am praying for good weather (y'all pray for it too), but come what may I will leave every thing I've got out on the course. I hope at the end of the day I'll have finished with a smile on my face and go to bed with a hurricane in my belly!

Good one

2009-03-27T18:44:00.000-06:00

evil

2009-03-26T13:56:00.000-06:00

Destroyed

2009-03-25T18:17:00.000-06:00

Guess I really was starving!

Yummmm dinner

2009-03-25T18:01:00.000-06:00

Tiggs In Texas

Re-opening soon

Closed til ???

End of Week One

Week One

Half Iron Training

chocolate pumpkin cuppies

Nothin like a new pair of running shoes!

My aerogarden @ 2 weeks

Muse coming on

marble cupcakes

OMG a new post!

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Battle Red

Baking cookies

Texans Jets game

party anyone?

Down and Out

love new floors!!!

Max is not happy

Color choices

Performance

Vacation time!

Future

Security Issue

Guy's stamp on the wall

Failing Miserably

Free sample mocha Mondays

MS Choc Chip Cupcakes

MS Choc Chip Cupcakes

By The Numbers

Bike guard

Long weekend

Melting Away

R*I*P Michael Jackson 1958-2009

Things to Talk About

and again on tuesday

hot hot monday

At the rock n roll hall of fame

Feels like home

Tejas Tri Race Recap

Ahhhhh!

Ready for the party

Cooling cookies

Baking cookies

Watching cookies bake

Photo Fest

do u see him?

Neglect

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Red velvet

Stupid Thing

Wicked set

Lower Manhattan

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astros

1,000 Post

234 runners :)

Marietta YMCA 5 Miler

Joe Mama's Italian Deluxe Pittsburgh

Fish market sushi

Maybe I should rename him Mikey

Something for fun

second line

jammin'

Tuba

sunday morning in the gospel tent

flags wavin'

gentilly stage area

Maple Leaf

tulane baseball game

tulane baseball game

RIP Michael Jackson 1958-2009