27 May 2006

I omitted the most exciting part of my run this morning

I was attacked!!! It's true - attacked!!! I could not believe it!!!!!



I ran through the backroads of Waimanalo. These are literally country roads with no sidewalk/shoulder and very little traffic. In this picture they are the roads you see along the base of the mountains. This area is agricultural land, lots of flower farms, horses, and dogs. Well, this area also has lots of loose chickens.

I'm running down this road when a hen and her 4 chicks are trying to cross the road except 1 chick won't leave the bush at the side of the road. The hen keeps running back trying to get this chick while the other chicks stand in the middle of the road. I'm running towards her watching this and wondering how she's going to get everyone out of the my way. She is starting to get frantic, running back and forth between the 3 chicks and the 1 chick. Finally, I'm about 20 feet away, when she suddenly spreads her wings, sweeps the 3 chicks into the bush with the other 1 and comes after me screaming and trying to peck me. I

could not believe what was happening. She was really trying to attack me. All I could do was stop running and laugh like crazy. I wish I had a camera with me. I have never been attacked by a chicken before. It was wild.

Oh, the joys of living in Hawaii!!!

Moving on.....

Today was run day, and I did, in the heat. My little thingy says the temp is 76 right now, bull. It's got to be in the low 80's already and it's only 9 a.m.

Anywhoo. Last night both hubby and I got home late from work and didn't feel like cooking so we went out to Outback Steakhouse. Hubby had never been there and had to order a blooming onion. While I love those things, I hate them!!!!! So we had a couple of beers and dinner and chatted and it was really nice. Once we got home I realized I had drank a little more beer than I thought and I was buzzing. So off we went to bed to try and sleep it off, I had a long run in the morning.

I got up around 4:30 and realized I was not in great shape, uh oh!!! Went back to bed to try and catch some more zzzz's. Finally around 6:30 I got out of bed and really didn't feel so hot. Considered blowing off the run but said to myself, "self, no way!! You are going to run." So after coffee and something light to eat I dragged my butt out the door. By now it's 8 and the sun is up and it's freaking hot.

Luckily I had an episode of Get Your Geek On!! to listen to so I was stoked. I felt pretty good when I started out so I was cruising at a fairly decent clip. Then I hit the district park. I made a stop to refill my water and relax for a minute when the heat started to hit me. I started to get nauseous and thought great, the only way I have to get home is my feet so I better get moving.

I decided to cut the run short. I started heading home and man was it hot. Long story short, I ended up only doing 4 miles. Not the greatest run of my life but a huge success considering the state I'm in. Now I must run to work and then we are off to see The Da Vinci Code, can't wait.

26 May 2006

CAUTION: Waaaaayyyyyy TMI ahead!!!

I have to cover this cause it's been on my mind a lot , you'll see why.

A couple of days ago, IronBenny did a great post on his wife, Nytro, and hormone issues (both of whom have excellent blogs btw). Anyway, this is something I deal with every month, not to Nytro's extent, but a lot. When I woke up this morning and felt that dull ache in my lower abdomen I wanted to scream!!! This whole monthly cycle is really becoming a huge issue for me and I'm not sure why. I have always taken my period in stride and it's never slowed me down, but the last 1-2 years has been increasingly worse. The whole month revolves around it and it's pissing me off. During I get pretty severe cramps. My doctor told me to take ibuprofen, this actually stops the hormone and makes the period lighter and shorter. That does work, great! Except.... After taking ibuprofen regularly for 3-4 days as soon as I stop I get rebound headaches - really bad, for 2 days. That sucks.

The week after is my best week of the month. I have tons of energy, no cravings, and feel awesome. The second week I get pains in my groin area, sometimes severe, that the doc says is me ovulating. The third week I get tired towards the end of the week, horribly bone tired, and crave sweets. Then we are back at it again with cramps. Each month is such a joy.

My reason for this post, and I do have one, is that it seriously affects my training. Yesterday I couldn't get out of bed and thought it was because I stayed up late. Turns out, no, that wasn't it at all. There are days during the month when I can run forever and others when I hardly lift my feet. Days when my hips get sore - hello!!!! Turns out it's the bod getting ready is case I get pregnant. Just for the record, that is sooooo NOT going to happen. Some days when I can't get enough food yet have done no training. Some days when I've trained hard and yet can't eat hardly anything. So much of this is tied to hormones how can I possibly train effectively?????? I completely understand why women train hard enough to stop their periods. If I was younger and more serious I would.

Of course, at this point in my life, I'm looking more towards menopause. I hear so many women who say they are afraid of menopause, huh???? Me, I say, bring it on. I'm ready to be done with this. Actually I was ready for it when I was 29 years old. At that point I knew I was not having anymore kids so why did I need to go through this every month?? I'm not worried about the possible side affects of menopause; loss of bone density, heart disease, etc; I'm way too athletic and religiously go to the doc.

Alright, enough. So I woke this morning to that dull cramping in my lower abdomen and wanted to lash out at something or someone, god, enough already. Anyway, I got up and went for the bike ride I didn't do yesterday. It felt great. I also did it 2 minutes faster than Tuesday - woohoo!!!! I'm kind of thinking of doing a 1/2 marathon in 2 weeks so tomorrow I'm going for an 8 mile run to see how I feel. If I can pull that off without too much problem I'm going to register for the 1/2. Sunday will be a long bike ride. I'm going to ride to the Y, use the weight room, then ride some more and head home. I think that will be fun. Monday the Y is closed but I'm thinking of going to Waikiki and swim in the crappy water :) I may even swim the Tinman swim and then do the bike course. I'll see how I feel.

Okay, I've done enough whining and moaning for today. I have work to do and I'd like to get out of here a little early today since it is a long weekend. Have a good one.

25 May 2006

Well.....

one day after my claiming how it was getting easier to get up in the morning, I didn't :( It's okay though. I actually scheduled my week to allow either Thurs or Fri off, my choice each week. For some unknown reason Thursdays are really hard for me to get up. Fridays I bounce out of bed, but Thurs, eh not so much.

I was up really late last night too (at least for me). There was the 2 hour American Idol finale (yeah, Soul Patrol) and the 2 hour Lost finale, both of which I had to watch.

AI was good but I think 2 hours is an hour too long. It would have been awesome if it was 1 hour. Clay Aiken was freaky looking (both of them) and that whole thing was just weird. Prince was, well, Prince. He is a freak but a great singer/songwriter and there is something bizarrely attractive about him. But it was okay and I'm glad Taylor won. I got online early (4 p.m. my time) to try and find the results and I have to say folks on the boards were really good this time. I could not find the info. People posted that Taylor had won and someone else posted that Kat had won, so I didn't know who really won. The boards are getting better at keeping secrets. Of course, we won't talk about the fact that I was looking for the answer :)

Lost, hmmmmmm, what to say about that. Interesting. I was a huge fan the first season and really, really enjoyed it. This season it got weird and only the last 2 or 3 shows seem to be coming back to the way it was last season. My personal opinion is that Abramson was off working on the MI movie and has only recently returned to Lost, but I digress. There were some questions answered; what happened to Desmond; how did the plane crash; why were they entering those numbers. But in true cliffhanger fashion they posed some more questions; who are the Russians; why did they call Desmonds girlfriend; and what the hell happened to the hatch????? I'll now have to wait all summer to see what happens next.

That was my night. Up too late, couldn't get up this morning. Oh well, there is always tomorrow. A day of rest is always a good thing.

24 May 2006

I do so totally rock!!!

I know, that's a little boastful but I'm extremely pleased with myself. Since I have no trouble beating myself up when I'm down, I decided to really pat myself on the back for doing good. Please feel free to skip this since it is a bunch of "I'm so wonderful."

It feels great to be back. I'm back to the point where workouts are not a problem. Sure, I'd still like to stay in bed in the morning, but getting up is not that huge an issue.

This morning was swimming and running. I went to the pool and did 500m in 250m splits: 6:46 and 6:30. That's about 2:50 per 100m, not too shabby. I need to get to about 2:30 but I have some time yet. After that I went for a run. Now my Y is located in a totally cool place. It's located right next to Ulupo Heiau, that's an ancient Hawaiian temple.
It's a very cool place and if you are spiritual at all you definitely get a feeling that this place has power. Thankfully, this was not a temple where humans were sacrificed. This was to the god of agriculture and fishing - very peaceful pursuits.



The heiau overlooks this, Kaiwanui Marsh. This trail runs right through the marsh and is great for walking/running/biking, etc.



So my routine has become to swim then throw some clothes on and run through the heiau and the marsh. It's so awesome at 6:30 a.m. The birds are just waking up; people are out with their dogs; it's one of my favorite times and this is quickly developing into one of my favorite things to do. Also, since I'm running for time not distance, I have room to grow. Right now I only run about 1/2 way, the entire round trip would be over 4 miles and of course I could always run out into the surrounding neighborhoods.

So, why am I so stoked with myself you might ask. Monday I did this run and it took me 35 minutes to run about 2.5 miles. This morning I did it and it took 31 minutes to run the same 2.5 miles. I ROCK!!!!! And this morning I felt great, even during the uphill return to the Y. So yeah, I'm a little pleased with myself.

And now for something completely different. Dial Idol has Taylor Hicks as winning American Idol tonight. I hope so, there is just something about Katherine that leaves me cold. When Taylor sings I can't help but smile and tap my foot. When Katherine sings I leave the room. She's got a great voice just no real personality. Not that Taylor would ever be a big star, he has a quirky appeal.

That's all I have. I'm feeling great and totally into this training thing. Woo Hoooooooo!!!!!!!!

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Apparently, a blogger theft has occured. Flatman can now be found at: http://fl4tm4n.blogspot.com/

23 May 2006

During my bike ride this morning...

I came up with a great title for this post. Now I can't remember it!!! It's a bitch getting old I tell you.

Got up this morning and did some weights then jumped on my bike. Woo Hooo!!!! I've decided to add weights back into the mix since 1) I'm female, 2) I'm female over 40, 3) I want to lose fat not muscle, 4) I'm totally vain and love the way my arms look when I lift weights. So I was up before the sun (but just barely, it comes up so early now :) and lifted some weights. Then I hoped on my trusty stead and headed out on the road. It was cold again this morning, though not quite as cold as the other day, and since I was only doing 10 miles, I figured I could wear my long running pants and a long sleeve shirt to ride. The shirt was fine and kept me nice and toasty. The pants, ehhh, not so good. Bike shorts are called that for a reason and I will respect that reason from now on. Anyway, I was a little short on time so I only got in 8.7 miles in 42 minutes - not bad. I really suck on hills and there are some nice little grades around where I live and I seemed to find all of them this morning.

It is amazing how good it feels to be back. I mean really BACK!!!! I'm committed to this training and eating healthy (which has been really good the last couple of days) and it just feels good.

I had been eating pretty badly for a while and just couldn't seem to get a grip on it. Not only was I gaining weight, I was suffering some physical problems. My lower back hurt constantly. It was a dull ache that was totally annoying and nothing could be done to relieve it. Also, my lower intestines hurt. It was kind of like minor cramping and was a little scary. I actually thought of ovarian cancer and was ready to make a dr. appointment. However, 5 days of regular exercise and whole, natural foods and all pain is gone. Amazing I tell you!!!!

Today is the day I put up or shut up. Entry for the 2006 Tinman Triathlon is due to today and if I plan on doing it it must go in the mail now. I'm definitely going to do it so let the freak out begin. Just the thought of the swim start raises my heartrate and blood pressure. But I've got to face it and the only way to do that is to enter races.

Okay, 'nuff said.

22 May 2006

Shift....

You know that commercial from Nissan (I think); Shift attitude, expectations, assumptions. Well, I think I've managed to do that; Shirt Attitude!!!!!!!

It was a great weekend.

I got all scheduled training in - Yeah!!!! A run on Saturday; a bike ride on Sunday; swim and run this morning. I'm smoking!!!!

I came to some realizations: I can't use my HRM as the only indicator of how I'm training.

Over the weekend I got:

Just a quick aside here. I ordered this book used from Amazon.com about 2 1/2 months ago. I waited patiently but never received it. I e-mailed the seller 3 times and she never responded. Finally, I filed a claim with Amazon.com and with 10 days I had my money back. Just thought you'd like to know.

So I got this and started reading it and a couple of things dawned on me. A) This book is not for me, at least not yet. B) Friel supported my contention that HRM's are not the be all and end all of training. C) This book will come in very handy next year when I plan to do a 1/2 Ironman.

So I'm going to read it slowly and start planning for my build up to Honu 70.3 in June 2007. I'm excited about that.

This book also supported my current training. I'm working towards building a solid base while training for a race and according to him I'm doing okay.

So overall it was a great weekend. Lots of folks ran races this weekend - congrats to all of you!!!

'Nuff said.

Conversation with Hubby

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