In the beginning, when I was signing us up for races, Eric would always ask, is there a medal? I always thought that was such a silly question/requirement. “T-shirts are awesome, who wants a silly medal,” I thought. Well I completely understand why he was asking. Getting something at the finish makes you feel awesome! Sure you get a T-shirt at packet pick up and anybody can sign up and get a t-shirt. But a medal…that is reserved for people who actually finish the race.

Is there a medal?

The first thing I used to look at when deciding which races to sign up for was the course map and elevation. I hate hills and if the course was ridiculously hilly I didn’t sign up. Now the first thing I look at is if there is a finisher medal. So the thing I laughed at Eric about 6 months ago, I’m now obsessed with. I think we are spoiled with the Monster Series because every race has a medal and they are pretty awesome. See:

Polar Dash 5K 

 Get Lucky 7K

For the Turkey Trot race we got a lousy collapsible water bottle (No T-SHIRT!!), Reindeer Run was a nice long sleeve t-shirt, Frosty Foot a lame t-shirt, but it was their first year so I forgive them. I know we will get a medal for Goldy’s run in 12 days. I WANT MEDALS.

Getting an awesome finisher medal, was the only reason Eric said yes to the San Francisco 10K (which I discovered is a “trail run” not a “road run” so we get to run up stairs, on hiking paths and on the beach…eek!) I googled what last year’s medal looked like and it is cool, it has the Golden Gate Bridge on it.

Vacation Planning

So I have truly gone off the deep end because I now plan vacations around races in the area. I have a whole list of races I want to do and I’m trying to plan vacations around them. For instance, I found a really awesome Resolution 5k/10K in Las Vegas on New Year’s Eve. How cool would that be? And guess what…there is a finisher medal. I mentioned it to my brother and he said he would probably join us too! So it looks like we might be ringing in 2015 in Vegas…again! :)

Speaking of 2015, my birthday next year is on a Sunday and there is a Half Marathon in San Diego that day…just saying.

Other races on my list, and it is short because I just started looking during my lunch, include:

• Oakley New York Mini 10K - Middle June
• TD Beach To Beacon 10k Road Race, Cape Elizabeth, ME - Early August
• Dodge Rock 'n' Roll Virginia Beach Half Marathon - Late August
• Porter’s 10k or Big Cottonwood Half Marathon, Salt Lake City, UT - Early September
• Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas 10K - Middle November  
• Rock 'n' Roll San Antonio Half Marathon - Early December

Of course I don't plan on doing all these in one year. I have about 5 years of vacations there. :)

Unfortunately there are no races in Denver, San Diego or Seattle when we are in town.

And #1 question I have now, “Is there a Medal?”

I’m a novice when it comes to running and I use the word runner lightly.  I do the motion of running but I don’t really consider myself a “runner”. Since starting this most recent running streak (I have tried many times before but eventually gave up), I have learned a lot things.

Do:

• Pee before a run.
• Wear clothing for the temperature your body will feel like after a mile instead of what it feels like outside at the beginning otherwise you will need to strip mid-run or risk getting overheated.
• In the winter, if at all possible, run into the wind at the beginning and with the wind on the way back because you will sweat and there is nothing worse than running into the wind with sweat on your body…you will freeze!
• Test out shoes in cold weather beforehand to determine which ones will keep your feet warm. I learned this on the hard way…I never wore my Brooks outside and decided to wear them to Polar Dash…the coldest race of the year and suffered miserably!
• Take a break if you are in pain, don’t tough it out!
• Walk if you need to, it isn’t evil and can be beneficial!
• Ease into running otherwise you will give up. I have eased into this time and look, 7 months later and I’m still running and actually like it!
• Sign up for races so you stay on track.
• Shop at Kohl’s for new, smaller clothes before a long run will keep you motivated!

Don’t:

• Eat a Davanni’s deep dish all-meat pizza before a run and expect to go far.
• Eat a Pearson’s Salted Nut Roll right before a run, you will get sick.
• Run hard every day! Do some “easy” runs. Even if that means just going for walk.
• Start too fast, ease into the run so you can finish it later.
• Focus on speed, especially in the beginning because it will make you frustrated and more likely means you will give up. So what if a person passed you like you were standing still, let them run their run, you run yours…they could be a pro, you never know!

Learning!

So two of things on the list I learned today. Shopping at Kohl’s for new, smaller clothes before a long run is a good motivator to make you want to run because the running makes you smaller. That means in no time at all you can buy more, smaller clothes. And don’t eat a Pearson’s Salted Nut Roll right before hand. I didn’t get puking sick but I really didn’t think I’d make it. I hadn’t planned to eat the nut roll but I had to pee and forgot to use the bathroom at Kohl’s so I went to the convenience store by the park to pee and you can’t just use the bathroom without buying something and I thought the salted nut roll would be good. Wrong!

6.1 Miles

So my run today was 6.1 miles and was a bit slow. My average pace was 13:27 or something but I’m not upset, I had some really hard runs earlier this week so this was my easy run. Also there were some icy spots that I walked over because I don't want to get hurt. And don't forget I ate a salted nut roll beforehand so I wasn't feeling 100%! 

Here are the splits:

 Also this week…

I did a speed work out at the community center track on Thursday. I ran a lap at normal pace and a lap faster and repeat over and over. Some of the fast paces were around an 11 minute mile pace so I just have to get used to running that pace. Last night we went to the KC Fish Fry for dinner with Greg, Celeste, Evelyn, Beth and Abbie.  And then afterwards we took Beth and Abbie to Mystic Lake Casino for their first gambling experience. They both did well. Here were their winnings.

Miles ran in 2014:  153 miles (only 247 miles left to go)

Week 28 Mileage: Swim = 0 miles; Bike = 0 miles; Run = 14.9 miles; Total = 14.9 miles 

At 7:30pm last night I was falling asleep on the couch and had only thoughts of going to bed. I don’t know if it was the late night of volleyball the day before that made me exhausted but all I wanted was my warm bed and the TV. I thought about my goals and seriously doubted that I’d make my 50 miles for March and really didn’t care. But then something sparked inside and I dragged my butt off the couch at 7:45pm. I dreaded every single step up the stairs to change into my clothes. I also dreaded the fact that I was going to be inside. But somehow I managed to motivate myself to go out the front door.

Running inside

14 laps at the community center equals one mile. I still needed 13 miles this month to reach my goal of 50 for March so I thought a 2 mile run was all I needed. It was a miracle I was there in the first place. But something changed in me. I’m not sure if it was watching the two extremely large guys walking around the track (which I know must have been hard for them…I was there once) or the fact that it was only me and these two guys. I love when there is very few people at the track. It had been a while since I was at the track as it has been somewhat warm enough to go outside. The last time I ran inside was the beginning of the month and my pace was over 13:30. I didn’t know what to expect last night since my pace has suddenly gotten faster over the last 2 weeks. I did the first half mile in less than 6 minutes. Where has this sudden speed come from? But the biggest thing I noticed last night was how easy it was to run!

Easy???

It is amazing that less than 30 minutes before I started my run last night, I was on the couch falling asleep. Then out of nowhere, I had a burst of energy. I felt fantastic the entire run, almost like I was looking down at me running laps and thinking who is that awesome runner? and like I said it all of a sudden felt easy. Wait, did I say that running was easy? I know some of my friends love running and say that it is so easy. I used to think they were crazy. But for the first time in my life, I began thinking the same thing. What was this weird feeling?  Was it that runners’ high that I hear so much about?  I’m not really sure but I do know I can’t wait to go running again.

42 laps later…

I ended up doing 42 laps which is 3 miles and I ran my last mile faster than my first. And I really thought at the end of lap 42 that I could keep going but it was getting close to closing time so I had to go. On the ride home, I felt really strange. I was so energetic and so happy it was a very interesting experience. My overall pace for the run was 12:30 which made me very excited. Again where did this faster pace come from?  I am enjoying it and hope I can get faster but I really don’t understand it. I have lost over a minute on my mile pace in 2 weeks. That is unbelievable. I can’t wait to hit the ground running again and maybe I can get to the 10 minute mile in no time. 

It was so nice to have a three day weekend and I really don’t want to go back to work tomorrow. So what did I do on my long weekend? 

Spring Lake Regional Park

Well I took Friday off because I had an appointment in the morning. After that I went shopping for a chest of drawers. Ashley wanted over $1000. Yikes! I went for a long run at Spring Lake Regional Park. It is located about 6 miles from our house, across the road from Mystic Lake casino. I had never been there before and I just happened upon it while looking for new places to run. I never imagine an awesome place like this was so close to our house! There are miles and miles of paved trails through the woods and on the open plains. I did a 5 mile run and it felt great. My pace was a little slow, well slow considering I’ve been averaging around 12 minute miles. It was still 13:04 pace and with all those hills that is amazing. It was definitely a great hill work out, I had an overall gain of over 300 feet on my run.  Usually I run on flats.

ZombieRunner San Francisco Run

After completing my 5 mile run, I looked up runs while we are on vacation and found the ZombieRunner San Francisco Run. It is a 10K by the Golden Gate Bridge. It is a very hilly course but I’m not trying to break any land speed records. We have a 3 hour time limit to finish the race, I’m not worried. Eric thinks I’m trying to kill him but he agreed to do it so he can’t blame me completely.

I love Ikea!

Yesterday we went out to lunch at Chick-fil-A with Greg, Celeste and Evelyn. We dropped Greg off at the airport, he is in Brazil. And then we went shopping to Ikea. I bought a new chest of drawers for about $200. I love that place.  It was a pain the butt to put together but Eric and I did it together and we didn’t get into any major fight. We worked so well together. Now I have extra drawer space for all of Eric’s T-shirts and blisters on my hands from all the hard work!

Back to the flats

Today I went for a 3.25 mile run around the neighborhood.  My pace was faster than Friday which made me very happy. I wasn’t expecting that since it was so windy (and cold). I can’t wait for warmer weather…maybe it will come in April.

Here are my splits from the 5 mile run:

Training Recap

For some reason the pool was closed on Wednesday and Friday I ran instead of swimming so no swim miles for me. :(

Miles ran in 2014:  141 miles (only 259 miles left to go)

Week 27 Mileage: Swim = 0 miles; Bike = 0 miles; Run = 12.3 miles; Total = 12.3 miles 

Well, what a busy 6 months it has been! I have lost 38 pounds and one size…isn’t that ridiculous…only ONE size! That is a bit frustrating but I’m making huge strides in my fitness. Since starting my new life on September 18, 2013, I have run 258 miles, swam countless laps and biked 70 miles. I know, who would have thought 6 months ago that I would be running more than biking? But that will change soon as spring is around the corner and I’ll be out on my new bike in no time.  

Goals Accomplished

I have lots of goals. When I started this thing I didn’t really know what goals I had other than lose weight, start running and finish a triathlon. And my weight loss goals were reasonable. I didn’t say anything crazy like “I want to lose 100 pounds in 6 months” or something like that. My initial goal for 6 months was 26 pounds, one pound a week. Well I pretty much crushed that at 38 pounds lost. Secondly, I wanted to get in better shape and be able to run a 5K and triathlon.  Triathlon is yet to happen, planning on July but I’ve done multiple 5Ks in the coldest of days and my times are getting faster…on that note…

Call me “Roadrunner”

My running pace has improved immensely. My pace on the very first run in September (which, by the way, was less than a mile), was 16:25 per mile. It was really a walk. Now I run 3-4 miles regularly (3-4 times a week) and my pace has dropped to 12:30 per mile. I ran a mile in 11:39 on Saturday and didn't die and even continued to run over 3 more miles with an overall pace of 12:26 per mile. I never imagined that would happen. My first 5K in Omaha in November was 43:15. My 5K time this past Saturday was around 37:30.  That is almost 6 minutes faster!  Yesterday I did a little over 2 miles and my pace was 12:16 per mile. That is such a huge improvement, just in the last few weeks. I have huge goals. I want to get my 5K time down under 35 minutes (I'm proud to be a slow fat runner), I want to participate in the Minneapolis Marathon Relay (running anywhere form 5-8 miles, depending on which leg of the relay I do), I want to run a 10K race and complete my own triathlon. As you can see, I have a lot wants…I mean goals!

60#  

I know I have lofty goals but so far I’m crushing my past goals so I’m going to keep them. Firstly, I want to get out of the damn “obese” category on the BMI chart. Can you believe I have to lose another 32 pounds just to be over weight?  ARGH! I know that is not a good goal, wanting to be “overweight,” but it is progress! I would like to eventually be in the “normal” weight category but that requires at least 60 more pounds. Now I have mention this to friends, family and coworkers and their general consensus is I’m crazy and that if I lose 60 pounds I’d look like the girl who won this year’s biggest loser.  But these are the standards that have been put out there by doctors and they wouldn’t lead us astray would they? I know percentage of muscle, bone structure blah, blah, blah…all plays a part too. And I highly doubt I can actually lose 60 more pounds but I’m sure the heck going to try.

70.3

The next goal is another crazy one, well half crazy. And I know, I haven’t even completed one triathlon and I have never biked 56 miles in one day or ran more than 6.5 miles at one time but I seriously want to complete a Half Ironman (see half crazy).  This is probably the loftiest of the goals but it is still out there. I’m not talking about this summer, I’m not that crazy. I’m talking about late 2015 or 2016.  So the Half Ironman is 1.2 miles of swimming, 56 miles on the bike and 13.1 miles of running (70.3 miles).  Now I have 1/3 of this thing in the bag. I can swim a mile. I have done it numerous times…even before I started this new way of life. So that doesn’t scare me.  It is the other two that frighten me. I think the running is obtainable and I have a mini goal to run Grandma’s Half Marathon next June. It gives me a year to build up to 13.1 and this past weekend I did 4.4 (1/3 of the distance) in a good time and I didn’t feel completely drained afterwards.  Look where I have come from that first run. I started out barely running a mile to running 4 miles comfortably.  If I can do that, I can get to 13.1. The biking…well biking…it has become my weakest event. And maybe I feel that way because I haven’t been on my bike since October and I have had some failed attempts at the stationery bike. I need to hit the ground running, I mean biking, when this snow melts.

No turning back
So there you go, my future goals are in writing. No turning back now, I’m accountable. Hopefully this journey will end successful. But the pessimist in me says it probably won’t. Negative thoughts always creep into my head and I have to keep batting them away. Hopefully my report in 6 months will be filled with success stories.

The Run :)

Me and about 12,000 of my closest friends ran the  ♣ Get Lucky 7K ♣ on Saturday. It was crazy how many people were there. It was a sea of green. I even wore shamrock socks...see below! :) The weather was much better than the last run where it was below zero. It was a balmy 20 degrees with a cold breezy. I would say the waiting for the start was pretty miserable, not as miserable as the Polar Dash but it was cold. Thankfully the sun was out so it wasn’t too bad if you were standing in it but the shade was cold. They started us in waves and by the time we crossed the start line it was already 38 minutes into the race…that means that several people had crossed the finish line before we even started! 

I’m not sure what wave we were as we just jumped into the mass crowd of people and went with it. It must have been the 10-11 minute milers because I was really booking it at the start. My pace for the first mile was 11:39 and it was much faster in the beginning. My pace was below 11:00 for the first 1/3 of a mile. I slowed down a bit once the massive crowd dissipated. Eric was there pushing me the whole way. 

The second mile wasn’t bad coming in at 12:16. That mile included a large stretch of the horribly uneven cobblestone street of Main St. in St. Anthony and a little hill. I didn’t walk it like usual!  

Mile 3 was a bit slower as I slowed down to get some water (which was frozen!) but I still managed to keep my pace under 13. Right when we hit the 5K mark (my time was 37:30 over 2 minutes faster than the last race!) we hit a major hill and my IT band was inflamed. 

I walked up the hill and gave my leg a rest. Once at the crest I started running again but really I only lost 24 seconds on that last mile which means after the hill, I was booking it again, my pace for the last quarter of a mile was faster under 11. I was still under 13:30 for that mile. Overall I was very happy with my performance. My chip time was 54:03. My watch says closer to 54:25 but I’ll take it! :)  Overall pace was 12:26 which is the fastest I’ve ever had on an outside run (a long time ago I did 12:24 on a short 2 mile run inside on the track). I sustained that pace for over 4 miles which is amazing for me. I call that progress! See my splits and pictures...

Do you like my socks?

I love my socks! Eric is wear a lime green pair but you can't see them. :(

Horrible picture after the finish, I'm not sure why I'm slumped over but I'm smiling!

My Medal!

Eric's Medal!

The Celebration!

After the race we hit up the food, I was starving. I devoured a banana in like 10 seconds along with a mini salted nut roll. I didn’t realize I liked those. And on our walk back to the car I finished off a small bag of chips. Now I don’t normally eat chips but for some reason they were just delicious! As usually we celebrated at Caribou Coffee with a nice hot chocolate. I’m not sure what we are going to do for summer races. If it is 80 degrees do we want hot beverages???  I guess we will have to see.

The Celebration Drink...not beer!

The Chaos

We got home around noon and just relaxed on the couch. I made Eric and DJ get me Culvers while I showered and prepared for the next event for the day…the Eden Prairie District Band Festival. I’ve mentions this every year but it is 7 bands from grades 5-12 and the Community Band on the gym floor playing music, sometimes together. It is mass chaos. The bleachers on both sides of the gym are packed with parents, grandparents, siblings, etc. There is literally thousands of people pack into the gym. As horrible as that sounds, it is really quite fun.  I picked up my friend Jenny since the parking situation at the high school is a nightmare and carpooling is highly suggested. After participating in this event for 8 years I’ve learned a few things and one of them is to park on the last row, far end. The first year I did this event it took me 45 minutes to get out of the parking lot.  This year, 5 minutes!  Wisdom of the ages. Jenny and I stopped at DQ on our way back to her house and I eventually made my way home and did nothing the rest of the night.

The Green Cake

Yesterday morning I was up early, I hate that. I decided to make Abbie a cake for her birthday. Since her birthday is really today, St. Patty’s Day. I made her a green cake and with chocolate frosting and a green clover leaf. I’m quite proud of my cake. 

DJ and kids came up; we went to Pei Wei to celebrate the birthday and then to a movie. After the movie we ate cake and then randomly went to the Mall of America and IKEA. Beth was meeting a college friend and Abbie and Ethan went out to dinner with their dad. Eric, DJ and I walked around IKEA. It was a long day but fun.

Training Recap

Miles ran in 2014:  122.7 miles (only 277.3 miles left to go)

Week 26 Mileage: Swim = .6 miles; Bike = .25 miles; Run = 9.7 miles; Total = 10.55 miles

Punching Bag

I’m not going to deny the fact that I’m mean to Eric. I have a history of throwing things at him and the every now and again meltdown. He takes it in stride.  The times when I am usually the nastiest is when we exercise together. I’d call him every name in the book, curse like a sailor and sometimes I’d even give him a whack. He was my punching bag when I was mad. Could you think of a more perfect punching bag? I was mad at him because I was slow, I was mad at him because he could run faster than me, I was mad at him that he could do it and not get out of breathe, I was mad that he didn’t have to train and could just go out and run a 5K. I was just MAD. He was afraid to workout with me and do you blame him?  When he told Carrie we would do the triathlon with her way back in September 2013, I was shocked.  And who would have thought that that one act would change me. Not only did it motivate me to start working out and lose weight, it got me to consider running again. I always liked biking and swimming but running was always the devil. Now I love running…yes I just said that. And I have become nicer.

Pacesetter

In the beginning, I still had my anger issues with Eric and running. But after my meltdown early last fall, where I temporarily quit, I’ve decided to use Eric to my advantage.  You see, he is a great pacesetter.  When I run on my own, which is most of the time, I’m still slow. However, when he goes with me, he makes me run faster.  Now I’m not talking about the 8 minute miles that he can do (and has to do for the soccer fitness test), I’m talking about 12-13 minutes miles he makes me do. When I run alone, I rarely get below 13:30 for a mile. I don’t have the drive to go faster, I just enjoy the run. Eric pushes me, but not too much. I need him to get faster. For instance, early on I was doing about 15 minute miles and was walking a lot. After our first 5K, my pace got faster, thanks to Eric. I ran at that faster pace for a while and we did another 5K where Eric pushed me faster yet and I broke into the 13s. And now I run in the 13 minute range all the time. So I’ve realized that running with Eric means I will get faster.  I no longer curse or hit him. I just run a few steps behind him and enjoy the faster pace. He is the key to me success. 

Here are the splits from our latest run Monday night: 

So I dropped another almost 2 pounds by Saturday morning. I went for a nice 3.6 mile run and then my weekend went to hell.  Food, Food, Food and no exercise means that my big drop was followed by the big gain.  I gained 2.2 pounds in two days.  Yikes!  And that included Saturday…where I did a 3.6 mile run. I over indulged this weekend and this morning I’m paying for it.

I also over indulged with my money...

So my mom, sister and Danielle and Bradley came up for the weekend. First stop was David’s Bridal to choose the bridesmaids’ dresses with all the bridesmaids, my mom, my sister, Danielle and Bradley’s mom, Dawn.  It was fun dress shopping after dropping 35 pounds. Hopefully I can keep the weight off. (I better, I ordered my dress!) And hopefully I can lose more.  They told me they can alter a dress up to 2 dress sizes. I highly doubt I’d get down to a size 12 by next March…especially after a weekend like this last one.  This is the winner. This is the actual color too.

After dress shopping we meet the guys (Bradley, his dad, brother and Eric) at Boston Market. It was delicious but I ate way too much! We shopped at REI where I bought a nice new jacket. I almost bought two because I couldn't decided which I liked better but thought I better not. I love the color. I can’t wait to wear it this weekend for the Get Lucky 7K ♣. It is perfect for St. Patty’s Day. :)

We went home finally after all that and some played cards and some of us went bike shopping. Now the bike shopping was mostly for Bradley. He wanted to get a nice new mountain bike since his was stolen. We went to Penn and Erik’s. I walked out of Erik’s with a new bike, Bradley did not. Dang it I hate when that happens.  So my new bike will be here in 3 weeks. I got aero bars on it so I will look like a serious triathlete. Eric will use my other road bike. Here is my new carbon road bike, Specialized Ruby Sport. I can’t wait to ride it (in about 3 months because the snow will never melt).

We got home in time to change clothes and go out to eat. I ate too much…again.

Wedding Flowers...

Sunday we talked about what flowers to have for the wedding. Danielle isn’t much into flowers so she really didn’t know what to do.  I had to go to Walmart to get some fabric and she found flowers she likes. With a March wedding the thinking was flowers would be outrageous and she didn’t really care about it anyways.  So we got some flowers, some satin and ribbon and we made the bouquets.  It was a very productive weekend. 

Oh by the way, Bradley also got his bike. He bought it last night. And I of course can’t go into a bike shop and not buy anything so I bought a new bike too…just kidding but I bought a bike rack. LOL! Bradley and Danielle spent last night at our house. We played along with two games of The Newlywed Game on TV. Eric and I smoked them! I know we have 10 years on them but they were really cocky!

Here are the splits from my 3.6 miler.  I got faster at the end because I was no longer running on icy sidewalks and just went to the dry road.

Training Recap

Miles ran in 2014:  113 miles (only 287 miles left to go)

Week 25 Mileage: Swim = .5 miles; Bike = 0 miles; Run = 11.75 miles; Total = 12.25 miles

Like I’ve said before, I do the big “no-no” and check my weight everyday but it has really helped me to analyze my weight loss. I tend to fluctuate every day by a few tenths of a pound and on a rare occasion (like today), I weighed exactly the same as the day before.  But every so often I have a big drop of 2 pounds or more.  If you look at me chart you will see it happens once every week or two. And then I stabilize for the most part and have the occasional swing, sometimes back up higher but always it comes back down.  I find these stats and charts interesting and it keeps me motivated.  Especially on those hard days where it seems like the weight won’t budge, I remind myself that eventually, if I keep up with my routine, I’ll have a big drop and I will feel awesome again.

Weight loss since January 2014

So I’m back on the wagon. I have had a good week.  I ran 5 miles between Monday and Tuesday (with relatively no pain!). I also played Volleyball on Tuesday night and I went swimming on Wednesday. A guy threw his kid on my back as I was finishing my last lap.  When I came up he said, “I’m sorry I thought you were done. “ I was sprinting on my last lap so how he didn’t see me coming is beyond me. I guess I must be a quiet, smooth swimmer. Yea right!

Last night was band so I didn’t get a work out in but I figure Thursday are a good off day anyways.  However, I vacuumed the steps and to me that is a workout!

I have found my first triathlon and Eric said he would even participate with me.  I’m so excited.  It is the Heart of the Lake (HOLT) on July 20th in Annandale, MN.  I think it is a perfect starter tri since it is mostly flat and the distances aren’t quite as long as a normal sprint triathlon.  The swim is ¼ mile, 9 mile bike ride and 2.5 mile run. Most tris have a bike ride of 12-17 miles and the run is almost always 3.1.

I had planned on doing the North Mankato tri in June but after driving the bike ride (MAJOR HILL!) and with this prolong winter (lake won’t be ice out until July 4th…LOL!), I don’t know if I’d get in the open water to practice the swim portion beforehand. I don’t want my first tri to be a bust and with that hill and limited time to train it could be a bust and I’d be discourage and never do one again.  I don’t want that to happen. I have bigger goals and I don’t want them crushed at the first tri. Well that is the plan.

Super fun weekend planned ahead…bridesmaid dress shopping!!!

Well I sort of fell of the wagon this weekend.  Did I really fall off? I feel like I have but after thinking about it I don’t know if I really did or not.  Confused?  So am I!

Friday I struggled through an almost 3 mile run.  My IT band was angry at me and I was angry at it. I limped across the “finish line” of 50 miles in February and stopped. I haven’t run since. I know I need to cut back on my running until this thing is healed. I came home and iced it and rolled on my foam roller and now it feels bruised. I will go running again this week but I’m not sure if it will be tonight or not.  I have taken 2 days off, I’m not sure if I need to take more or not. I guess we will see how I feel after work.

I really wanted to run Saturday but my leg said NO! I did the next best thing I went swimming laps. Oh the pool, how I have missed thee!  I swam for about 45 minutes.  I focused on my arms and freestyle swimming. I did a few laps of breast stroke but the kick really hurt my leg so I only did it every third lap.  It was crazy busy at the pool.  There were lots of little kids getting in my way. I guess this is a good way to train for 100s of other triathletes trying to swim in a pond together.

Also on Saturday I finished the laundry from last week. I’m telling you I struggle at laundry.  Finally, after months and months, I mated all the socks.  That was a huge accomplishment. After Eric got home from work, I told him I had to get out of the house and I need Don Pablo’s NOW! It had been a while since we ate at Don Pablo’s and for some reason I need it Saturday.  I gorged myself on chips and salsa and root beer. It was so delicious. It felt like I ate a ton but I only ate half of my quesadilla. When we got home I cracked open the Samoa cookies too. It was a bad night. I paid for it Sunday…gained a pound.  But with all that food and sodium, I’m not surprised.

Yesterday was a low key day but I ate a lot.  Heck, I ate over 1/3 of a Tombstone pizza and the rest of my quesadilla!  And on top of all that food, I did zero exercise. I basically sat on the couch all day watching TV and eating.  We briefly went out but it wasn’t for very long and as soon as we got home I was back on the couch. It is no wonder I gained again this morning.

But I’ll get back on track.  I have no worries. I figure you have to have a weekend like this every once in a while to kick start the old metabolism…right?

Training Recap

Miles ran in 2014:  101.2 miles (only 298.8 miles left to go)

Week 22 Mileage: Swim = .5 miles; Bike = 0 miles; Run = 12 miles; Total = 12.5 miles

Runs: 18
Miles: 52.80
Races: 1 (2.9 miles) (Frosty Foot 2.9M - 36:50)
Outdoors: 7 (20.1 miles)
Indoors: 11 (32.7 miles)
Longest: 4 miles
Average Pace: 13:31

February was just as brutal as Janaury with another Polar Vortex going through the area. Most of the runs were inside but I managed to get outside for a freezing 5K in Mankato. It was "warm" a couple days but looking back it was still only 20 degrees. I guess I got used to the cold weather! There were a couple 30 degree days there too. Overall it was a good month with lots of runs. My IT band became inflamed again so I did less miles per run.