Clipless Pedals Are NOT My Friend & Weekly Training

I had a wonderful 5 day weekend!!  I wanted to get a little more accomplished, but I did get started on my closet clean out, got the rest of my house cleaned, got my flowers planted, got a pedicure, got in some relaxation and quality time with family and friends, and got some serious training time in.  So all in all it was a busy and productive weekend, with a little bit of relaxation thrown in.

I went for another ride with my clipless pedals.....this was ride #3.  On the agenda was about 24 miles - my longest ride ever (at least since I was a kid).  I know that's not really that long, but it was alot for me.  Before we even left the parking lot, I promptly fell over and skinned up my left ankle, right knee and front of my right calf, and right elbow.   I still can't believe I fell.  I had one foot clipped in and was leaning on the other, talking to my friend Michelle, and just waiting to get started.  All of a sudden I lost my balance and started falling.  I knew I was going to fall, and even said "Oh Crap, I'm Falling", but there was absolutely nothing I could do about it.  It literally all happened in slow motion.   I was bleeding and shaken from the fall, but I picked myself up and went on the ride anyway. I of course had Jim snap a few pics of me when I got home to document my glorious fall.

My elbow

My Knee

My ankle.  It's hard to tell, but this is actually the worst "injury".  I took out about 4 separate chunks from my ankle.

A little road rash on my calf.

It was a beautiful day, although it was a little hot.  It was sunny and upper 80s with about 95% humidity.  There were also about 20 mph winds, which make the road bike a little scary.  We completed two 12 mile loops, but somehow only logged 23 miles.  But I was so happy to say that I had ridden 23 miles!!  

This Saturday Jim and I will run the Hospital Hill 10K.  It is a very, very hilly race....notice the word "Hill" in the race title.  I have been trying to run a few more hills, but man they really wipe me out.  I am guessing my time will be something awesome like 1:20.  Jim will be done with the race, and just be chilling out waiting for me by the time I get done.  He will probably seriously run it in half of my time.  Why am I so stinking slow!!!

I had another solid week of training and I couldn't be happier with my training this month.  It has been great.  I have felt good and have actually been looking forward to my swim training, so that's a huge step for me.  Below is my training recap for the week.

Monday: 4 mile easy run

Tuesday: 14 Miles on Bike in am; Master Swim (1600 Meters) in pm

Wednesday: 4 mile Tempo run

Thursday: BRICK Group Workout - 12 Mile Bike & 2 Mile Run

Friday: Swim - 1500 Meters

Saturday: 7 mile long run

Sunday: 23 Miles on Bike

Totals

Swim: 3100 Meters

Bike:  49 Miles

Run:  17 miles

Total Training Time:  9 hours and 35 minutes

I hope everyone had a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend!!!  

Happy Memorial Day & AWESOME Giveaway Winner!!!

Happy Memorial Day!  I hope everyone has a wonderful day, but I also hope everyone takes time to remember all of those who have lost their lives fighting for our Country.

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Congratulations to Rachelle at Running for Trevor she was the winner of my AWESOME Giveaway!!  I hope you enjoy your prize pack!  E-mail  me your contact information at  weatherlymh01@yahoo.com
In order to capture everyone's correct number of entries, I dumped everyone's comments into Excel, then added any entries as necessary, and then used Random.org. 

Rachelle was lucky # 87!  Thanks to everyone for entering.  I had so much fun reading all of your AWESOME comments! 



Giveaway - Last Chance!! & Other thoughts

Don't forget my AWESOME Giveaway ends tomorrow!  You don't want to miss out on this one.

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Getting ready to enjoy a nice 5 day weekend!!  I can't wait.  I am just hoping for some nice weather.

I hope everyone has a safe and wonderful Memorial Day weekend!

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Still having issues with my ability to comment on your blogs, but I think I at least have a workaround.  I have been pretty busy this week but hope to get caught up on my reading this weekend.

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Perfect weather last night - sunny and mid 70s - got to enjoy a great group Brick workout with a 12 mile bike and 2 mile run.

Annoyed

Well a few weeks ago we had the issue where Blogger was down for an entire day.  It ate our posts and our comments and left us all a little annoyed and lonely without being able to socially connect.

Now today I can't comment on anyone's blog.  I can read your blog, but I can't comment.  Apparently this is only happening to "select" users.  Well, lucky me...I'm one of those special users.  Do I win a prize?

Seriously, I have never had issues with Blogger until the last few weeks.  It's bringing me down!!

That's all - just wanted to share my frustration.  If you are sharing my same frustration leave me a comment....oh wait, you can't!!

UPDATE:  Well, as some of you have already figured out.  You can leave an Anonymous comment by selecting anonymous vs. google under the comment profile.  But my normal ability to comment is still not working!

First Outdoor Ride with Clipless Pedals and Weekly Training Recap

My first triathlon of the season is only four short weeks away, and until Sunday, I had not ridden outdoors since September of last year.  The weather has been pretty nice recently and I could have/should have been riding outdoors already, but I had clipless pedals put on my bike last fall, and I hadn’t tried them out yet.  The thought of getting on the road just petrified me, so I just kept riding my bike on my trainer.  Knowing the triathlon was coming quickly, I decided I was going out for a 24-25 mile ride on Sunday no matter what.  My friend Michelle had agreed to join me. 

On Saturday night, I decided I better at least try them out before I just went out on the road in traffic.  I had luckily been in out and out of them on the trainer all winter, so that helped somewhat, but it’s still NOT THE SAME!  We have a small trail close to my house so I headed over there.  I got clipped in with no problem – wahoo!  I decided that I really just needed to clip out with one foot and once I had that foot planted on the ground, I could clip out with the other (ROOKIE mistake).  This actually worked the first two times I stopped, but the third time, I lost my balance and started falling toward the side that was still clipped in.  In my head all I thought was oh crap – I’m going to fall……and I did.  I fell with my shoe still in the clip and landed solidly on my left side with my bike still attached.  Nice job!  I was a bit shaken up, but decided I couldn’t stop here.  I got back on the bike and started and stopped about 4 or 5 more times….clipping BOTH feet out.  I went home to check out my injuries.  Luckily there was nothing injured.  I have bruises on the inside of both of my knees and down my calf, and I have a large dark purple/black bruise about the size of a silver dollar on my left hip (I must have landed on a rock), but other than that and my bruised ego, I was fine.

Remember this shirt...it says Tri not to Crash!! I bought that shirt.  Great motto!



I headed out Sunday morning for the ride – nervously optimistic.  We got to the lake, and oops – there was a triathlon going on.  It was basically over, but we had to fight all the traffic trying to leave.  There were people and bikes everywhere, so we decided to walk our bikes about a ¼ of a mile to the road instead of trying to weave through the people.  You have to cross 4 lanes of traffic to get on the bike route we were planning….my heart was beating fast – I didn’t want to have to start and stop in the median, but we made it all the way across.  Once we were going I felt great.  It was good to be on the road again.  The weather was hot (about 86 degrees with about 85% humidity) and there were about 20 mph winds.  The route is very hilly, with some very steep inclines and the wind was blowing directly against us…..I almost felt like I was  moving backwards at times.  We finished the first 12 mile loop and it started to rain.  After fighting the heat, and wind, and now rain, we decided to just call it a day.  12 miles still wasn’t bad for our fist time out.  I managed to start and stop about 3 times during the ride, and stayed upright the whole time.  Everyone told me falling is a rite of passage when learning to use clipless pedals so I really hope that was my one and only time…but who knows….I lost my balance a couple of times last year and fell without clipless pedals.  I’m pretty clumsy – not a good thing when it comes to biking.  But I am so glad to have this first ride behind me.  I feel more confident on the bike already.  I have a group BRICK workout on Thursday night so I am now looking forward to that.



I did get to ride in my new cute bike jersey!! Love it - sorry didn't get an actual pic of me in it.  That dog is wearing a helmet :)  Too bad they didn't have a chocolate lab, but he'll do.



Overall I had another solid week of training and was very happy with what I accomplished.  My recap is below. 

Monday: 3 mile easy run

Tuesday: BRICK – 45 min bike and 15 min run in am; Master Swim (1500 Meters) in pm

Wednesday: 4 mile Tempo run

Thursday: 1 hour bike

Friday: OFF

Saturday: 6 mile long run

Sunday: Reverse BRICK - 12 mile bike and 1200 Meter Swim

Totals

Swim: 2700 Meters

Bike:  Approx 40 miles (most on trainer)

Run:  14.28 miles

Total Training Time:  8 hours

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Don't forget to enter my giveaway if you haven't already.  It ends this Saturday!

Michael's Awesome Giveaway

You've Got FAR (to) GO Baby!!

This title was a bad play on words.  I was trying to word this in a positive way...at first I had You don't have Far (to) Go....but if you take the "to" out it says "You Don't Have Fargo"....I wanted it to say You've Got FARGO.....because Jim....baby...... You've Got FARGO!!  I know you will be amazing!!  And you do have far to go.....26.2 miles!

My husband, super marathon stud Jim at 50after40 is running his 11th...yes I said 11th marathon tomorrow morning in Fargo, ND.  If you don't already follow his journey you should.  He is an amazing athlete on a quest to run 50 marathon in all 50 States...all starting after the age of 40.  He is my running hero.  He pushes himself to do things I can only imagine.

I'm sorry I won't be there to cheer you on at the finish line tomorrow baby....but don't worry I will be there in spirit for sure.

I know you will, but just for good measure - BE GREAT TODAY  TOMORROW!!!

I Have Received an Urgent Message from the Universe....

Last night, for some unknown reason, I was craving Chinese food.  In general I am not a fan of Chinese and I eat it maybe 1 or 2 times a year.  But I really wanted some last night.  As most of you know I have pretty much been a vegetarian since March.  I have eaten meat a few times since then if it was in something (say Turkey Noodle soup), but I have not fixed or ordered something where meat was the main ingredient.  Normally if I get Chinese I order Sweet and Sour Chicken.  Hmmm….I didn’t really want that – it’s nothing but chicken and it's fried.  They didn't have any vegetarian dishes, so I opted for Cashew Chicken.  I have literally never had this in my entire life!  But, it was smaller pieces of chicken with cashews and some veggies, so maybe it wouldn't be so bad.  I also got the Vegetable Spring roll and fried rice as my sides.

The whole time I was ordering I was thinking to myself, what is wrong with me?  This is not going to go well.  You know you are going to be sick after eating this.  This is not a healthy option.  And to make matters worse I was ordering Chinese at the grocery store….so I decided to pick up few other items.  Jim is out of town this weekend, so I thought I needed some snack foods.  I picked up a bag of whole wheat tortilla chips and some queso too. 

Anyway, I got home and ate my dinner.  I only ate about half of it and I was immediately regretting my decision.  I threw the rest of my dinner away and almost forgot about the fortune cookie (I don’t like the taste of fortune cookies and I never eat them…but I do like to read my fortune).  I opened the fortune cookie and it read “Your body is for use; not abuse”.  Seriously!!  Holy Crap!  I couldn’t believe it.  Why didn’t I read that before dinner?  This is one of the best fortunes ever and so completely true.  I had just abused my body and I knew it.  There was nothing healthy in that food, and I knew after not eating meat for months it was not going to agree with me, but I did it anyway, because I was “craving” it.  This is my new motto….thank you Mr. Universe, or Confucius or whoever….I got the message.  I felt bad the rest of the night and still felt like poo this morning.  I fought the urge to throw up during my entire 1 hour bike this morning.  No more Chinese for me.

Along with this message from the universe I also learned how to asked where the bathroom is in Chinese....maybe that will come in handy some day.

This is not the first time I have received a message from the universe.  When will I ever learn?  In January I was "craving" some chocolate so I purchased some M&Ms at my work cafeteria only to have the cash register display read that I had purchased “1 King Sized Ass”.  This is not a joke.  I’m serious.  Jim even blogged about it.  You can read the story here if you want to (it’s a short one).

So, ever received a message from the Universe?  Did you listen?

An Ultra Triathlon?

I was sitting in the Chiropractor's office thumbing through a magazine when I came up an ad for the Leadman Tri Life Epic 250 Triathlon.  The race was this past weekend.  Have you heard of this before?  .  The race distances are:

Chocolate Ricotta Cannoli

• 5K Swim (that's a 3.1 mile swim....HOLY Cannoli)
• 223K Bike (138 miles with over 5650 foot of climbing)
• 22K Run (well this part is easy right?  only 13.7 miles - although it ends with a 4 mile uphill climb)

The winner finished in 9 hours and 32 minutes.  So what do you think - is this harder or easier than Ironman?  The swim just seems crazy....2.2 miles is bad enough, but of course the run is half the distance of Ironman.  Looks like the full distance was by invitation only, but anyone could do a half distance which was half the swim and bike, but still a full run.  So what do you think?  Is this your race for next year if they open up the registration?  Truly amazing!

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Speaking of amazing things!  I won a giveaway a few weeks ago from Kiley at Daily Vitamin F.  Thanks Kiley!!  I won this awesome necklace (my photo does not do it justice - she has better ones on her website).  She makes them herself out of wood.  It is seriously cute!  I love it!  Go check them out here and get one for yourself.  And also check out her blog!

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And speaking of Giveaways?  Have you entered mine yet?  It's the most AWESOME Giveaway ever.  Click here to enter.

AWESOME Week of Training

Last week was my first official week of training for the Hyvee Triathlon on Sept 4.  I still can’t believe I even signed up for this triathlon!  I am doing the Olympic distance and it will be my first tri at this distance.  It’s no Ironman, but in case you aren’t familiar with “distances” for Triathlons the Olympic distance is a 1.5K Swim (1500 Meters), a 40K Bike (just under 25 miles) and a 10K run (6.2 miles).  The distances aren’t too incredible, but this race is very intimidating.  It is a very large and well known race.  And this year they are having the 5150 US Championships as well (51.5K = 5150).  It’s a new race series from the people who started the Ironman and 70.3 triathlons.  The triathlon even airs on the local channels in the KC area.

Check out this video (it’s pretty short).  See those people jumping of the podium into the lake?  Man I hope I don’t have to do that!  I think this video is just of the elite athletes….I think they have a separate course…..man I hope so.  That’s just looks scary!

Anyway, I finally feel over my illness.  It took me almost 3 weeks to fully recover.  Last week I felt back to normal and was able to complete my planned training week exactly as prescribed on my training plan.

Run = 13.2 miles

Swim = 1150 Meters + Master’s Swim (not sure exactly how much I completed but it was at least 1100 Meters, but not the planned 3500 for the class)

Bike = 141 minutes (I have no idea how many miles because it was indoor on my trainer and my Garmin doesn’t work properly……very frustrating, but I’m guess around 35 miles or so)

BRICK Workout – 1 (45 min bike and 15 min run – included in #s above)

I want to start working in strength training, core work, and some yoga again, but last week I just wanted to focus on getting into the swing of multi sport training again.  Since I was training for my half marathon, I had been pretty focused on running and not the other two sports.  I really felt great last week, and none of the workouts were a struggle, which made me very happy!

HELP:

So – GARMIN!!  Does anyone else have the Garmin Cadence Sensor that works with the Garmin 305?  I purchased and installed it last November.  It worked correctly for about 2 weeks and hasn’t worked since.  It reads my cadence just fine, and it reads my speed, but it is not accurate.  I can have a cadence of 110 and my speed will be 2.4 mph.  Hence, my mileage is not correct either because it thinks I am going so slow.  For instance, when I finished my 96 minute bike workout Sunday, my total miles showed 3.4 – it should have been closer to about 25 miles.  This is very disheartening.  I have found several other people online who have had this problem, but no solutions.  I even changed the battery last week and tried resetting everything again…..same problem.  If you have had this problem and know how to fix it I would be forever indebted to you.

Anyway, I had an AWESOME week of training!!  And speaking of AWESOME…..have you entered my Giveaway yet?  If not, please check it out here.

(Sugar) Crash and Burn!

Well, as many of you know I posted a May Sugar Free Challenge a few weeks ago.  What was I thinking?  An entire month without sugar - from the girl who is addicted to sugar?

Anyway, I thought I would update you guys on my status.  I really did  well for the first two weeks.  I didn't have a soda (regular or diet); not a cookie or a piece of candy.....nothing that was specifically "sugar" for two weeks.  I was really pretty proud of myself for that.  It took alot of willpower.  I did have a few things along the way though that were still not great.  For instance last weekend Jim and I went out to breakfast, and without thinking, I had ordered and was 3/4 done with my meal when I looked down and realized I had ordered pancakes.  I went crap, PANCAKES....these are nothing but sugar.  Oops.  But at the same time I resisted Chips Ahoy cookies after my 5K race, birthday cake at work, more cake at work for a 1 year celebration, etc.  I turned down things I loved and stuck with my challenge.

That all came crashing down on Friday.  It had been a VERY STRESSFUL week at work, and then Friday at around 1 pm, I found out my Division had decided to do a complete Reorganization.....just 4 hours before our Budgets were due for next year (I'm responsible for the Budget for our Division).  I was having a total panic attack.  That meant alot of re-work and quick!  It also meant alot of change for me.....as we are getting a new Associate Vice President and Vice President in our area.  Anyway, all I could think about was I NEED CHOCOLATE.  I gave in.....I marched myself downstairs and purchased a pack of M&Ms.  Boo!  I had lasted two weeks......and it all came crashing down in a few short minutes.

So, anyway, since it was my Anniversary on Saturday, I decided hey I had already broken the rules, might as well have a soda and some brownie Sundae!  Argh.....I seriously have no will power.  BUT, I am hitting the reset button and will see this thing out until the end of May (well May 27)!  I could give up now and walk away defeated, but I'm not going to.....I'm just going to start over. 

Have you ever been disappointed with yourself because you didn't see something through?

I know a few of you also decided to try the challenge with me.....how are you doing?

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Did you sign up for my AWESOME Giveaway!  If not, what are you waiting for? 

Michael’s AWESOME Giveaway

My Giveaway if finally here!  I had intended to post this on Thursday, but Blogger kept me from that.  Sorry for the Delay! 

I wanted to celebrate getting to 100 followers and to say THANK YOU to all of the AWESOME people out there who actually take the time to read my blog :)

Disclaimer:  The AWESOMENESS of this Giveaway is my opinion only.  I have not been paid to have this opinion.  The actual opinion of the AWESOMENESS of this giveaway may vary by individual.  Michael at Slowly Tri-ing is not responsible for anyone who may be disappointed by the actual amount of AWESOMENESS given away below.

What’s all this Great stuff?

First

·    A $20 Gift Certificate to Lift Your Sole.  They sell the most AWESOME jewelry.  Check out their website here and see what you might be interested in.  This is where I purchased Madi's necklace that we gave her after her first half marathon.

For all your running needs:

·     A Green Water bottle, because Green is my favorite color – Totally AWESOME!

·     Some way cool Nike headbands to keep your hair out of your face – No hair in your face = AWESOME!

·     A great assortment of products to help with all your energy needs.  Stinger is Organic – Seriously AWESOME!

·    An Under Armour Backpack – Because having some place to store your stuff is – let me hear you say it – AWESOME!

·    Body Glide – Well, we all know this product is just AWESOME!

·    Chi Running – Because we are all jumping on the minimalist – mid foot strike bandwagon and being a bandwagon jumper is AWESOME!  I actually won this book in another giveaway and it's got great information - no this is not my book.....I'm not giving you my book!

Other Random, but AWESOME Stuff:

·    Napoleon Dynamite – Only one of the most AWESOME movies EVER!

·    Sudoku Game Book – Because you need something AWESOME to do in your spare time.

·    Pens and Pencils – Because how are you going to play Sudoku without something to write with.  That would not be AWESOME.

·    Boston Marathon 26.2 Sticker – Put this on your car and people will think YOU ran the Boston Marathon…..now that’s AWESOME!

And of course, when Jack heard I was having a Giveaway he wanted to get in on the action too! 

Jack’s prize pack includes:

·    An autographed photo of Jack – This is a one of a kind item.  Probably the most AWESOME item in the giveaway.

·    I love my Lab Magnetic Note Pads – Because even if you don’t have a Lab….you know you want one!  Labs are – you guessed it AWESOME!

·    A Be Pawsitive Magnet – To remind you to be POSITIVE and AWESOME all the time!

I know there are some “girly” things in the giveaway, but I did try to have enough variety that my male blogger friends would also be interested.

What do you have to do to Enter?  I’m going to make this easy for you – you don’t have to Facebook or Twitter or any of that.  Just be a blogger!

REQUIRED

1.   Be a current or new Follower of my blog and leave a comment to let me know.

2.   Leave me a comment on the item that you think is the most AWESOME in my giveaway.  And make sure you use the word AWESOME in your comment!

BONUS:  

1.    Post my Giveaway on your Blog either in your sidebar or in a blog post and leave a comment to let me know you did.

2.  Inspire someone to follow me!  If a new Follower leaves a comment that says You sent them to my blog I will give you and them an extra entry!

Giveaway ends Saturday, May 28 at midnight CST.  A winner will be announced Sunday May 29.  Good Luck!

Six Years Ago....

Six years ago I married my best friend (Jim).  We aren’t a perfect couple.  We argue and disagree, but at the end of the day I’m always glad to have him by my side. 

He makes me laugh because we share the same warped sense of humor.  He holds me when I cry.  He is my greatest supporter in life, work, and athletics.  He is a wonderful father and man. 

He loves me in spite of all of my flaws (and trust me I have many).

I love you honey!  Happy Anniversary!

Masters Swim = Master Swimmer…..I think not!

Sorry I haven’t posted in a few days it’s been a crazy week so far.  I have had something on the agenda every night this week and will for the rest of the week as well, but that’s ok.

I did my first “two a day” workout in awhile yesterday.  I did a 4 mile speed workout in the am before work, and then a swim workout in the evening.

My friend Michelle talked me in to going to a Masters Swim class last night.  I am very intimated by Masters swim because although they say it is for all levels this is NOT true.  Maybe they mean all levels of really good swimmers.  However, it is a new class that’s offered in my town – and I was hoping since it was new that maybe there would be a few non-swimmers there.  That was not the case.

My friend Michelle is an amazing swimmer!!  She swam in high school and college, so she can go to something like this, jump in the “lightening fast” lane and feel totally comfortable.  Me…hmmmm…well not so much.

When we arrived, we were a few minutes late so they had already started.  There were only two lanes for Masters Swim.  A fast lane, and a lightning fast lane.  I seriously have only been in the water a dozen times since last August, and wasn’t even sure if I could complete 50 Meters without stopping to catch my breath.  This wasn’t going to go well.  We met the coach and he says “Well, we have a 3500 Meter Workout scheduled for tonight”.  Umm….did he just say 3500 meters?  I’m going to be lucky if I can do 1000.

There were 3 guys in my lane, and me.  They were all pretty good swimmers.  I immediately felt like I was totally in the way.  It’s difficult enough to share a lane with 3 other people, but it’s really difficult when they are all better than you.  I sucked it up though and swam, taking breaks and hanging by the side of the pool when I needed to.

About 30 minutes into the workout some other classes at the Aquatics center finished up and some more lanes opened.  So Michael (that’s me) got her own lane J  This made me feel so much better.  A very nice older gentleman named Dave (who was swimming in my lane) jumped in with me and asked if I wanted help with my stroke.  Well, HECK yes I do.  He watched me underwater and gave me a few pointers and within a few minutes I could feel myself gliding through the water a little more easily.  It was great.

That's me #322....Diving right in!

At the end of the night I decided to give it a try and bought a punch card for the class.  It’s every Tues and Thurs night.  I know it will be intimidating, I know it will be difficult, and I know I won’t be able to complete the full workout, but I can’t help but think it will make me a stronger swimmer.  Sometimes you just have to overcome those feelings of inadequacy and go for it!

Giveaway coming later this week.  Stay Tuned!

Rockin the Ages and the Corporation!! - UPDATED!!

UPDATE:  I hit 100 Followers....so as promised...stay tuned for an AWESOME Giveaway later this week!
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Thursday night I went to see the Broadway Musical Rock of Ages.  Have you seen it?  It's AWESOME!!  If you love, love, love 80s hair bands, you will love this show!  There were alot of people at the show who I'm pretty sure did not enjoy it however.  It cracks me up sometimes that people don't actually double check to find out what a play is about - they just buy tickets to "The Theatre" or a "Broadway show" to say that they did and then I think they are a little surprised.  Anyway, if it's in your town and you love old school rock - I would highly recommend it.  If you are an American Idol fan it stars Constantine Maroulis - from a few seasons ago.  And gentleman - it also stars lots of scantly clad young ladies - so there's something in it for you too.  It was seriously alot of fun and I think if we could have gotten tickets my girlfriends and I might have gone to see it again.



Yes, that's three Grown Women - Trying to be all Rock N' Roll



Me & my BFF Cindy

Yes, Here we go again!

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Saturday morning I got up bright and early to compete in the Corporate Challenge 5K.  I said to Jim in the morning "Hey, do you know how you know you are a real runner?"  -  "When you run for your company in a 5K race"......then I started laughing, because this is totally not true, but it sounded funny.

Pre-race....ready to run

Check-in

Cheesy pre-race grin

Finish...finally!

I was still feeling a little under the weather, slow and sluggish.  I had trouble breathing and getting into any kind of rhythm during the entire 5K, but I completed it.  I went out way too fast (for me) and finished my first mile in 10:27.  Of course almost the entire first mile is downhill; the problem with that is you pay for that downhill the rest of the race.  It is a very, very hilly course for a 5K a total of  220 ft of elevation (which all happens in miles 2 and 3 - seriously mile 1 is almost all downhill).  Comparatively speaking my half marathon last week had 342 feet of elevation for 13 miles.  Anyway, the first mile took it out of me completely - my own fault, and so my last two miles were both 12:24.  I finished in 36:16, an average pace of 11:41.  I ran this same race in 2009 (oddly enough exactly one week after my first half marathon) and completed it in 36:25.  Well I guess I improved, but I would have liked to see more improvement than that :(

This past week, I started having some toe pain again.  I had this pain about 2 years ago and I ended up in a boot for 6 weeks.  It is the exact same pain.  The diagnosis was Capsulitis, which is basically just an inflammation of the toe joint.  I was also diagnosed with Tarsal Tunnel Syndrome (yes similar to Carpal Tunnel) - it's a nerve that runs through the arch of the foot and ankle.  Luckily I am only have the toe pain.  I am worried that it will get worse but I'm trying to push through it, but also be good to my feet when I'm not running i.e. wearing my custom orthodics again.  Yes I am an OLD woman!!  I need my feet to be well because.........

This week I start my Hyvee Triathlon training plan.  I am a full 3 weeks behind schedule already and I need to hit my training hard!

Has anyone else ever had serious foot/nerve pain that was recurring?  Ever find a cure that worked for you?

You've FREAKING Got This!

Well it's here.  The EMZ will complete her 24 hour treadmill run today for the Sojourner Center.  So what else can we post today but.......


GOOD LUCK EMZ.....


YOU'VE

FREAKING

GOT

THIS!!!

In case you somehow don't know about this.  Check out her news story here and check out her blog.

89 is the new 100

89 Followers.  I have been stuck at 89 for quite some time now....so close to that magical 100.  As promised I will have an AWESOME giveaway when I reach 100. So go tell your brother, your sister, your father, your mother - whoever to come follow my blog :)

I'm still feeling under the weather.  Apparently running a half marathon in the freezing cold rain and wind is not just what the doctor ordered.  I can't seem to get rid of the congestion and cough...sigh.  I took 3 full days off from workouts this week just trying to recover from the half marathon and my cold.  I am slowly improving, but it is SLOW.

I plan to run 3 miles on Thursday.  Hopefully that will go well.  I have a 5K on Saturday for Corporate Challenge.  Do you guys have Corporate Challenge?  It's a huge event in Kansas City where lots of different companies compete against each other in a multitude of activities like track and field, triathlon, darts, weight lifting, swimming....you name it.  I hope I am feeling up to it by Saturday.

Lastly I leave you with pics of my sweet Jack dog. 

Jack wasn't happy to find out "Jack Jr" was snuggling with him during his nap

Man I'm thirsty, just have to get this cap off

Just chillin' with my water bottle

What?  No more water.  I'm outta here!