29 October 2005

Okay!?!?!?!?!?!?



You're Spain!

You like rain on the plain, as well as interesting architecture and
a diverse number of races and religions.  You like to explore a lot, but sailing,
especially in large groups, never really seems to work out for you.  Beware of pirates
and dictators bearing bombs.  And for heavens' sake, stop running around bulls!
 It's just not safe!



Take the Country Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid

The most awesome run!!!

This morning's run with the marathon training group was so incredibly awesome I still can't get over it.

Since my 30k debacle I've been playing with my nutrition and I think I've finally got it wired. When I was at the running store a couple of weeks ago I noticed this new addition to the gel rack and had to try it.

These are the best things since sliced bread. They are gel like and slightly chewy like a gummi bear. They taste great, not too sweet, and go down easy - not like gu at all. The package directions say to eat 3 at a time but I found that too much. I eat one about 45 minutes out and then 1 every 1/2 hour and I have energy to spare. They are great....


Okay, back to my run. When the alarm went off at 4:30 a.m. the last thing I wanted to do was get up. I've been so tired this week and the thought of getting up early AGAIN was almost too much. But, I forced myself out of bed and got moving. I loaded up my bottle and pouch and headed out. Oh yeah, in my nutrition learning I'm playing with my breakfast choices also. So I had a bowl of cereal before I left (which I had to force down since I am majorly NOT HUNGRY when I get up that early). Then I zipped off to Honolulu to meet the group.

At 6:30 we begin our warmup and stretching and get ready to head out for a 3 hour run. We started off really slow (our motto being start slow and taper ;) heading up hill into the mountains above Honolulu. It was awesome. I followed my new nutrition plan and did just incredible.

Near the end one of the girls suggested we share a coke from McDonalds. What an awesome idea that was. I don't drink soda of any kind. But that few ozs. at that time was like the nectar of the gods. That is something I will have to remember.

Another thing I've discovered is that on these long run days a lunch of burger and beer is just about perfect. I came home and hubby had that ready for me for lunch and it was just awesome. After that a little time vertical on the couch reading is the perfect topper. Now I feel totally awesome and completely recovered.

So that's my Saturday so far. Oh yeah, when I came home I went for a short swim and OH MY GOD is the water cold. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I can already here it from you people on the east coast or in Canada, but it was really cold for us!!! But I did take a dip. Interesting thing. I have not been in the water since I freaked out during the tri. When I dove in today I panicked just a little. I can see I'm going to have to work on this and get over that panick. Oh well, another thing to work on.

Okay, time to do something else, I think I'll clean this room a little...

27 October 2005

Looks like we made it....

This has been an absolutely brutal week but the worst is now over. Monday was the tough run and lack of sleep due to scared puppies. So Tuesday I was tired and sore and decided to take the day off - no problem. Tuesday night was WW and that was not good. Wednesday morning I just could not drag my butt out of bed and last night I had a business meeting that involved lots of pizza and beer. Yes, I overdid it. I ate way too much pizza and drank too much beer and to top it off I even had dessert. I literally had to unbutton my pants on the drive home I was so full. That lead to me not being able to get out bed again this morning. I must say though now I feel better. I've got all light food to eat today to try and make up for yesterday. Tonight I get to go straight home, walk the dogs, do the ellipitcal for awhile, have dinner with the hubby and relax. I plan on being in bed early and getting up tomorrow and running. It's been rough I'm just glad it's over.

"Success means having the courage, the determination, and the will to become the person you believe you were meant to be" - George Sheehan

I read this quote over at Renee's site and it started me to thinking. Who is the person I was meant to be?? Am I that person now or am I still on the journey?? How will I know when I've become that person?? I want to run and do triathlons but is that what I'm meant to do?? This really opens up a whole lot of avenues of thought in my mind. Do I have the body to do what I want??? I do not have a thin, light body. I am much more on the short, squat, chunky side. Is that good or bad?? Does it matter?? What about work?? Am I doing what I'm supposed to be doing? Is this my contribution to the world? Do we ever really become what we were meant to be or are we supposed to spend all our time here trying to be better and better and just be the best we can be in the time we are given?? I do believe in a higher power; however you view it god, allah, jesus, the goddess, whatever; but I more firmly believe in free will. I believe you a dealt a hand in life and it's up to you how you play it. You can play conservative or you can go all in. I want to go all in but I don't do that near enough. I tend to fall back into my conservative, play it safe, position. Maybe it's time to start pushing the envelope more. Maybe it's time to figure out exactly who I'm supposed to be......

26 October 2005

It's time to remember how lucky I am.



This was the beginning of sunrise this morning.
















And this was it when the sun finally came out of the ocean.








I have a tendency to forget how lucky I really am. This morning was so beautiful I needed to take a moment and remember. It's been a rough week and I'm really tired. I couldn't get out of bed again this morning so I didn't get my workout in. I was feeling so down on myself and then I walked the dogs and saw this. Okay!! That kind of puts things back in perspective for me. So being tired and sleeping in is not the end of the world. Clearly my body is telling me something. So tonight I get a good night's sleep and start over in the morning - it's not the end of the world and in the overall scheme of things it's a very minor blip.

25 October 2005

Okay, I may have to revamp the BTP just a little....

So this plan called for me to exercise every morning as well as my marathon training 2 nights a week. So let's see, Saturday we had a pretty hard 2.5 mile (edit: it was 2.5 HOURS not 2.5 miles - oh my god!!!) run even though I felt pretty good after. Yesterday morning I got up and did 1/2 hour on my new elliptical machine and could really feel it in my quads. Last night we did a pretty hard 1.5 hour run almost 1/2 of it being on sand - UGH!!! So when I got home last night I was tired. Then, after going to bed exhausted at 9:30, a torrential rain started around 11:00p.m. - that woke me up. I was just going back to sleep when the thunder and lightining started. Please note, my dogs are petrified of lightining. So at midnight we had 2 very large dogs trying to share our pillows with us. The lightining lasted till about 1:00a.m. but the dogs didn't start to calm down until almost 1:30p.m. and it took till almost 2 to get them down to their usual sleeping spots. By this time I was completely wide awake and it took me forever to fall back to sleep. Needless to say, I was exhausted when the alarm went off and the old legs were a little sore. There was no way I was going to get up and do anything. Even the dogs were tired this morning, luckily they get to sleep all day ;-)

So I think I need to start my plan a little slower. I may do the core workout tonight when I get home and tomorrow morning I'm definetly back on track.

Okay, got to go get some work done.....

24 October 2005

I keep trying to blog and work is getting in the way!!!

UGH!!! I hate when that happens..........

Okay, so today begins the Big Training Plan (heretofore known as BTP). Over the weekend I worked out my schedule and have set a training/racing schedule that will take me up to the Honu Half Ironman in June. The first phase of this starts today. During this phase I will focus on 2 things, losing some weight and building a solid training base in running, biking, and swimming. I've got about 7 weeks until the Honolulu Marathon so that will be my running focus. I will be swimming 2 days a week (at least) to build my swimming back up. I will only be biking on the weekends due to darkness and weather but that's okay, biking is my best leg. I will also be doing core training to develop a strong, solid core for all these activities. And I'm back at WW with a vengence so I'll be losing weight. My weight goal is 15 lbs by the time I return from vacation on January 5th.

Phase 1 of the BTP will last until I leave on vacation December 22. When I return Phase II will commence which will be the training for the half. During the training I will participate in some road races and some sprint tri's. The road races will make sure I keep my running up to a level I want to be at and the tri's will help me with the swim freak out (which will NOT happen this year at all!!!). Once the half is over I will enter full blown training for the Honolulu Marathon again and that will bring me right to this time next year.

So day 1 was good. Got up did Core exercises and walked the dogs. Tonight is marathon training group. Feeling good.

Well, I had better get back to work.....

Conversation with Hubby

 So yesterday morning I presented my idea of working out at home to the Hubby. Once I presented it to him, he said he was in. I told him I h...