Well here we are, another week complete and I’m still training!  It is very shocking, I know!

Sunday morning I went running again. I’m very proud that I ran 3.25 miles and never walked!  It felt great, but I was disappointed that I was really slow…I mean slower than normal. :( But that is ok, at least my endurance is building.

Monday was another late night at work.  We finally filed our 10-Q quarterly report at 6:36pm.  So I didn’t get home until almost 8 and I was whipped so I decided to take a day off again.  It seems that Monday’s have become my off day. 

Tuesday was volleyball night.  Our game was at 9:15pm.  Ugh! With the time change it was brutal staying up that late.  To make sure I stay awake I dragged Eric to the community center where I did the elliptical and stationary bike.  We only had 4 for volleyball so I think I got a good workout.  It also snowed…that sucked!

Wednesday was another swim day.  I only did a half mile and tread water in the deep end for 10 minutes. I know I was swimming more early this fall but I was by myself and I could swim laps for an hour easy but the Mr. has been coming with me and he doesn’t like to go longer than 30 minutes.

Thursday we had a happy hour after work to celebrate another quarter end being done.  I stuck around until after 5. With band practice at 7, there wasn’t any time for me to workout. 

Friday we stopped at Eric’s favorite restaurant for dinner…Boston Market.  They were having a free tasting for Thanksgiving. Basically we got the full Thanksgiving meal so we were stuffed.  We also got our intended meal but just took it to go.  Even though we were overly stuffed we still went swimming.  It was awful…I kept thinking I was going to throw up.  I love green bean casserole but it doesn’t like me. I struggled to a half mile before I called it quits. 

Yesterday was a very fun and tiring day.  I started it with Swirl waking me up at 6ish.  I really hate him sometimes and 6 yesterday was one of those times.  I poked around Facebook for a while and found this pictures and thought it described me to a tee:

So after I kicked Swirl off my lap, I ran my normal 5 miles (I never in my life thought those words would come out of my mouth).  I only walked about a minute of the entire run!  I’m in shock…it felt great.  The weather wasn’t the best.  20mph winds suck when you are running in an open plain.  Why did they get rid of my trees???  But I survived and like I said I ran the entire time and when I got to mile 5 I didn’t think I was going to die!  I actually ran mile 5 faster than mile 3 or 4. You will see below in my splits.  SO yay me!!

Now the really fun part…Gopher game.  I love going to Gopher games. I only manage to get to one a year which is sad.  Of course I picked a day when the wind was whipping around at 20+ mph and it was 40 degrees and no sun.  But I still had a blast.  And they beat evil Penn State!  I’m not sure what is going on with them.  In August, they were picked to finish dead last in the conference.  But they beat a formerly ranked Northwestern team in Chicago, then came home and beat No. 25 Nebraska…they beat Nebraska!  The first time since 1960!  Whoa. Then they went to Indiana and beat them.  So with the win yesterday, they have won 4 Big Ten games in a row (the first time since 1973!) It is really a fun team to watch…but the last two games are against Wisconsin and at Michigan State.  I’m glad that I was went to a game this season. 

Pounds lost: 17!

Mileage:

Week 8:  Swim = 1 miles;  Bike = 4 miles;  Run = 9.25 miles;   Total =  14.25 miles

Haha. I have a race schedule. LOL!  So here is the deal, after my meltdown on Tuesday (which you could read about here), I have gotten serious about this training.  I have signed up for the Monster Series.  I did it mostly so I could get this cool jacket.  

So here is my schedule:

November 28, 2013 – Turkey Trot (in Omaha)

December 7, 2013 – Reindeer Run

January 1, 2004 – Polar Dash (Monster Series)

January 1, 2014 – Commitment Day 5K…yes that is two…hopefully we can get to this one in time.

March 15, 2014 – Lucky Day 7K (Monster Series)

April 12, 2014 – Goldy’s Run

June 7, 2014 – Lola’s Lake 5K (not sure about this one yet)

June 29, 2014 – North Mankato Triathlon or

August 3, 2014 – Lakefront Days Triathlon

August 31, 2014 – Women Rock 5K (Monster Series)

October 4, 2014 – TC 10K (we will see about this one…might just down the 5K)

October 25, 2014 – Monster Dash (Monster Series)

So there you have it, eight 5Ks, one 7K, one triathlon and one 10K.  Can I do it? I sure hope so.

So this week was busy at work. I stayed until 8pm on Monday, 6pm on Thursday and Friday.  I don’t feel bad about skipping work for 2 hours to watch Abbie’s state soccer game at the Metrodome…my last time ever in the Dome…sniff, sniff.  Unfortunately they lost 5-1 to a rude Benilde-St. Margaret team.  Being a good Catholic school you would expect better behavior from their fans but no. But Abbie is on the 4^th best team in state so she has that going for her.

Tuesday was the meltdown day…

Wednesday was pretty normal.  Work, Swim a half mile and Sleep.

Thursday was Halloween.  I was happy to get home in time for trick-or-treaters. We had around 25.  It was not as many as last year but it was colder.  Next year is a Friday so it should be better. 

Friday was another busy day at work and after work was another swim.  My life is sometimes a broken record.

Today was my long run day.  Swirl didn’t wake me up early enough to do my long run before my band council meeting so I had to do it around noon.  I’m pretty happy with the run.  I went 5 miles.  My first mile was really good, my second, third and fourth weren’t bad either.  Mile 5 was slow but I walked quite a bit of it.  I ran all but 2 minutes of the first 3.1 miles.  That is the best I’ve done…I think ever! I ran most of the 4.3 miles (that is a 7K which I have to run in March).

Here are my splits:

Mileage:

Week 7:  Swim = 1.1 miles;  Bike = 0 miles;  Run = 11.2 miles;   Total =  12.3 miles

What can I say, letting out frustration on Monday helped me I think.  I also got scolded by my friends.  So lesson of the week, even though I ran over 11 miles last weekend…I may not necessary see the results for a few days.  It is true. I just have to remember that.

So what did we do this week?  Well on Sunday morning I ran 3 miles (after doing the 10K on Saturday). Sunday afternoon we babysat Evelyn for a few hours while Greg and Celeste went to the play Wicked.  We took Evelyn to Edinbourgh Park, an indoor playground. It was cool. Afterwards when they came home we went out for dinner.  I was so stuffed I dragged Eric out on a 2 mile walk. 

The rest of the week was pretty boring. Monday I biked 4 miles on a stationary bike…I know shocking! I got sick of riding it after 10 minutes and moved to the elliptical.  I’m a little annoyed…there are 5 TVs in the workout room and to hear the sound you have to tune your radio to a certain frequency.  Well my radio player only works for one TV and it is set to Spanish!  You know how hard it is to listen to Two and a Half Men in Spanish.  ARGH! 

Tuesday was a volleyball doubleheader again. This time we had 5 players!  Woo Hoo! We won some games too. We have a new player that joined us this week.  It worked out great and she is planning on joining team.  Yippy!

Wednesday morning is my “official” weigh in day and I was down 11.8 pounds…I’m rounding that up to 12 pounds. YAY ME!  One problem with being so big is that 12 pounds doesn’t really feel any different.  Think about this. I lost 80 pounds in 2008.  The smallest size I wore was 18.  Well I was bad and went off the no fat diet (that I was only on because of gallbladder problems) and gained 40 pounds back after surgery.  I know, shame on me.  Anyways…40 pounds later and I’m only one size larger…20.  So for me, I had to lose 40 pounds to get down one size…it sucks.  After work I dragged Eric to swimming. I did 3/4 mile again.  I had to make it worthwhile since the pool was closed Friday.

Thursday is my off day…but I still have band practice so it really isn’t an off night.  We had elections for officers and section leaders and I am Low Brass section leader again.  Don’t get too excited… low brass people don’t want the extra responsibility so I basically have to do it.

Like I said early, the pool was closed Friday. :(  I had planned a bike ride to DQ for dinner and then biking home but it was too cold and rainy.  I didn’t make Eric suffer too much for his dinner…I just made him go workout at the community center. I biked on the stationary bike…AGAIN!  I did about 7.75 miles in 35 minutes. After we went up to Eden Prairie to some shopping and dinner.

Saturday has turned into my long run day. Swirl woke me up a little before 8 and pulled my butt out of bed and went for a run. It was 36 degrees and sprinkling.  The old me would have been forget this, I’m going to get donuts.  But nope, I went out in the cold and wet morning and ran 5.5 miles.  My time was 30 seconds faster than last week’s pace. Also, I ran the entire mile 3.  Mile 1 and 2 I did the run/walk shuffle but mile 3 was all running.  For mile 4 and 5, I went back to the run/walk shuffle. But I did mostly running so that is progress. 

After the run, Eric and I went to Wisconsin for the weekend. We meet Mike and mom at the bar for some pizza.  I did some things around the house for mom and we went to LaCrosse to do some shopping.  We finally got to Ed Sullivan’s for dinner.  It has been years since I last ate there. It was delicious. 

Today I went for another 3 mile run…man there are hills in Arcadia…I’m not used to hills.  It was a tough run and it was colder than yesterday’s run…it was so cold our car had frost on it and I could see my breath…but I did it. On the way home we went through Owatonna (because it is so on our way?!) to be with Abbie for the closing ceremony of her TEC Retreat…we were her pseudo parents as DJ had to work.  It was…interesting…Hugging and swaying…I’m not much of a hugger or swayer…or singing those Pop Christian songs…give me Amazing Grace or How Great Thou Art PLEASE!

Here is training update:
Something really shocking is going on here. So far in the month of October I have run/walk shuffled almost 28 miles and it is only the 20th.  I have a chance to make this month the most miles run. I’m only 7 miles away.  August 2012 I did 35.66.  But that was a lot of short 2 mile runs/walks for the “Get Fit Challenge” at work. (But in September 2012 I only did 6 miles)

Mileage:

Week 5  Swim = .75 miles   Bike = 11.75 miles  Run/Elliptical = 12.5 miles   Total =  25 miles

Sunday I went for a run in the rain.  It was cold rain.  But I did it. I didn’t quit which is the most amazing thing.

I finally jumped on my bike again this week. I did almost 7.5 miles on Monday.  It really isn’t that far but I was on my Townie and as I’ve mentioned many times before it is a major workout.

Tuesday was the first day of volleyball.  YAY! We had a doubleheader and only had 4 players.  Major Workout!!! Our season has started off on the wrong foot.  Angie is out for a while because of medical reasons and Jules started Grad school…in Arizona!  Fortunately, Jules played so we had 4. We have to have at least 4 players to not forfeit.  I’m trying to recruit more players…it is not going well. :(

Wednesday was another camel day at work. It was great. We sold almost $300 worth of snacks in an hour.  I guess when the VP is dressed as a camel and is selling snacks you pretty much have to buy from him.  High pressure sales!  I’m relieved that the Giving Campaign is now over.  Work is getting busy and I can’t be distracted the rest of the month.  I’m getting so old…I was so sore after volleyball on Tuesday. My arms, shoulders, back, chest and neck were all sore.  After work I went for a 1600 yard swim which isn’t quite a mile.  Eric lubed me up with Icy Hot after my swim.  It was awful but I think it helped.

Thursday after work we had dinner at my friend Jenny’s house.  Eric was watching her kids while we were at band practice.  I’ve mention the kids before.  They love Eric.  He only had to watch them for like 30 minutes but the kids wouldn’t let me leave so he stayed until we were done with band. 

Friday was pretty boring. I went swimming again. This time I went 3/4 mile and was way faster than normal so I was happy. I even did some flips at the wall.  Eric doesn’t even do those and he was on the swim team. I need to practice those (i.e. blow out the nose during the flip is a key thing to remember). LOL!

Today I did something I’ve never done before in my life…and something I never thought I would EVER do.  I ran a 10K…6.25 miles!  The longest I had run/walk/shuffled before was 5.2 and that was last weekend.  And not only did I go a mile further, my average pace per mile was a minute faster.  WOW!  I ran a lot of it.  It started off cold and I was freezing.  But I’m so glad I didn’t dress warm as I was burning up by the end.  I spent a lot of the 6 miles in the woods so I was shocked when I came out and it was so windy.  When I started the wind was calm.  I’m still very slow. My 5K pace was 45 minutes. The last 5K I ran in 38 minutes so I really need to get faster but I ran a 10K!!!  I’m still in shocked. And I’m still able to walk 12 hours later so my body hasn’t complete shutdown. I’m so happy with my run. 

After the run we went out for lunch and did a little shopping for flannel sheets. It is that time of year. I had an eye exam this afternoon (my eyes are still dilated) and bought some new glasses. I can’t wait to get them! After that we went grocery shopping…I’m sure I freaked everybody out who saw my eyes. I tried to avoid eye contact as much as possible. And of course my eye sight was blurry which made looking at the fine print on coupons almost impossible.  Quite the comedy.

Good news!  I’ve lost almost 10 pounds since I started triathlon training about 4 weeks ago.  So that is awesome!  I still have a long way to go.

Mileage:                                                                                     

Week 1  Swim = .9 mile      Bike = 22.3 miles   Run/Elliptical = 1 miles        Total= 24.2 miles

Week 2  Swim =  1.5 miles  Bike = 7.5 miles     Run/Elliptical = 6.9 miles     Total = 15.9 miles

Week 3  Swim = .8 miles     Bike = 0 miles        Run/Elliptical = 14.3 miles   Total = 15.1 miles

Week 4  Swim = 1.7 miles   Bike = 7.5 miles     Run/Elliptical = 8.8 miles     Total =  18 miles

I’ve made it 4 weeks!  Maybe blogging about the training is making me more accountable?  I was worried about Thanksgiving vacation because I tend to stop working out after vacations but Juliette, Eric and I are signing up for the Feast and Feathers 5K Trail Run on Thanksgiving morning in Omaha.  Yes!  I’m really doing it for the long-sleeved t-shirt. 

Triathlon Training Update:

Week 3 is done and I'm still going strong…but not biking. It is kind of unbelievable! But the weather has been nice so that has helped. We will see how I do when it turns cold and snowy and all my activities have to pretty much be indoors. Argh!  I have done quite a bit of running/walking.  I really need to build that up. It is the one area I will struggle with so I’m paying close attention to that.  With biking I’m not so concerned, give me a couple weeks and I’ll be fine.  Look, I did the biking at the last tri and I hadn’t been on my bike in over 6 weeks and I did fine. So I’m not worried about biking. I’m not really sure how much biking I do the rest of this year.  I hate stationery bikes so I highly doubt I’ll be using one this winter.  I’ll probably do the Elliptical on those days. It is a similar motion…right?  I sure hope my cocky attitude towards the bike won’t get the better of me next year.  I really hope not.

This past week was a bit spotty.  Last Sunday morning I did 4.3 miles of Run/Walk/Shuffle and it felt great! I actually enjoyed it! I saw the Renaissance Festival guys on bikes so it was entertaining too. I ran Monday too, but only a short 2.25 miles. My legs were tired but I did it.

I was planning on riding bike on Tuesday but my volleyball friends wanted to meet for dinner.  By the time I got home, it was too dark and I don’t like biking in the dark, especially on my Townie which doesn’t have lights.  So I went to the Community Center and did the Elliptical machine for about 2.5 miles. The Elliptical is strange because I always go way further and faster than I think I’m going.  I don’t think it really matches up to a real run at all.  The one nice thing about the Community Center is TVs. I got to watch the Pirates game.  I’m routing for them in the playoffs. They are like the Twins, small market team with no love.

Wednesday was another swim night.  I went 1400 yards…not bad.  I felt great.  I’m so ready for the swim portion. I’m not sure how I’d do in an open water swim…that will have to wait until next summer. I’m looking at doing the Spamtown Triathlon in Austin, MN next July. The swim portion is in the YMCA pool…which is great!  But eventually I need to hit the open water.

I took Thursday off like normal. I don’t have time to do work out with Band rehearsal. I also took of Friday. I had some last minute shopping to do before my family came up Saturday.  So I missed a lap swim. Shame on me!

Saturday morning I went for the longest run/walk/shuffle of my life 5.2 miles. I felt great. The temperature was cool but the humidity was high as it rained all night and rain even sprinkled on me during the beginning of the run…but I stuck it out and kept going.  By the time I came out of the woods, the sun was shining and it turned into a very nice day for the most part.  It was prefect weather for the corn maze. 

So that is my weekly report. Bored yet?  I think I am. By the way, I did almost 12 miles of running this week.  Crazy for me!

Mileage:                                                                                     

Week 1  Swim = 1600 yards  Bike = 22.3 miles  Run/Walk/Shuffle = 1 miles       Elliptical = 0 miles

Week 2  Swim = 2400 yards  Bike = 7.5 miles    Run/Walk/Shuffle = 6.9 miles    Elliptical = 0 miles

Week 3  Swim = 1400 yards  Bike = 0 miles       Run/Walk/Shuffle = 11.8 miles  Elliptical = 2.5 miles

Total      Swim = 5400 yards  Bike = 29.8 miles   Run/Walk/Shuffle = 19.7 miles Elliptical = 2.5 miles

Well I’ve just completed a week worth of training for my “may never happen triathlon” and I have come to a couple conclusions:

1)   All of my bikes are trying to kill me.  The road bike just doesn’t seem like it should hold my “beautimous” body.  But it does!  I still feel like I’m going to topple over and crash into a car resulting in my painful death.  My cruiser bike, on the other hand, is going to kill me via heart attack. Seriously, after riding the road bike for a year, the cruiser takes so much more effort. It only has 7 gears and I am constantly struggling to make it go.  How in the world did I go 15+ miles on this thing before the road bike? I must have been in better shape. The route I biked last night is one of my favorites (7.5 miles through town) and I can normally do it in 35 minutes. I took me 50 minutes last night…and I had to pedal…the…whole…time. I seriously want my road bike back from DJ.  (She is borrowing it for a road race she is doing in a couple weeks…she called me Monday to ask how to shift…LOL I guess I forgot to tell her. Oops!).  And my mountain bike is in desperate need of a tune up…the brakes still don’t work well. I wouldn’t even consider taking it out.  I can see it now…going doing the hill by Lion’s Park and my brakes fail and I run into a car…died.

2)   Running is really overrated. I don’t understand why some people are so happy when they run. They are strange or mental, or both.  How could you like it?  I dread it every time I go out and I’m still stuck on walk 5 minutes, run 1 minute.  It is more like a shuffle than a run but I’m moving faster than walking and according to Eric that is running. I feel good afterwards but getting there isn’t fun.  I managed to walk/run for 3.25 miles.  That is 3.25 miles further than I did last week so yay for me.  But last night I started to get pains in my shins again…ARGH my stupid shins.

3)   Why isn’t the swimming longer. I love swimming. I could swimming for an hour and still get out of the pool and go for a bike ride.  It is by far my favorite sport.  I’m not fast but I could hold my own in a race. It is probably my fastest event out of the three sports.   

So if I were to plan my own triathlon it would be ½ mile swim, 10 mile ride and 2 mile run.  I would walk of course with a little jog…or shuffle thrown in there.

Last night I did my first, what we in the triathlon racing world (LOL!), call a “Brick” work out.  I biked for 7.5 miles and immediately ran (walked and shuffled) 2 miles. My “transition time” was 2 minutes.  I basically dumped my bike in the garage, grabbed the iPod, slapped on my GPS running watch and out the door I went.  There are two transitions in triathlons.  Swim to Bike and Bike to Run.  The bike to run, I have been told, is the most difficult.  I believe it. After dismounting my bike my legs are like Jell-O and to immediately start running is hard.  But I did it.

I wonder if I keep blogging about this training if I would be more inclined to keep it up…probably not.  You have been warned you 4-5 loyal readers…whoever you are (and thank you for reading) that I’ll probably be yammering on about my training.

Training Update:

Week 1: Swim = 1600 yards; Bike = 16.8 miles; Run/Walk/Shuffle = 6 miles

So I have this crazy idea that I want to complete a sprint triathlon by myself.  A sprint triathlon is usually ¼ mile to ½ mile swim, 10-15 mile bike ride and a 5K (3.1 miles) run.  Swim…not a problem. I swim that regularly, a couple times a week.  Next is the biking.  Well I just did that at the triathlon on Sunday so that doesn’t scare me too much…I just have to make sure it isn’t an extremely hilly course…or I just have to train harder.  Finally is the part I dread the most…the run.  Can I do all three?  Yes!  Can I do them one after another in a short period of time?  That remains to be seen.

So I have started training.  Now I’ll probably stick to this training for a couple weeks. But inevitably I’ll fall off the bandwagon and in no time at all, I’ll probably be sitting on the couch eating cookies and watching TV. I hope not but I’m not very good at this training thing. All I had to train for the last triathlon was biking and I didn’t do a very good job at that. With any training program, there is a tapering period at a week or two before the race where you do less miles.  My tapering period was like 6 weeks before the race and I never got on my bike until race day.  So I’m not good at committing to this but we will see.

My training so far has been 2 swim sessions where I did 700 yards and 900 yards.  And a 9 mile bike ride.  So that is pretty good for the first 4 days of training.  You notice there was no running or even walking yet…right.  Yep.  Running ugh. I need to do that but in due time.  I need to ease into it.  Hopefully I keep it up.  But right now I want cookie dough…So I’m sitting on the couch and possibly will be eating cookie dough soon.  This isn’t a good sign. LOL!

Well, well, well.  Yesterday was the One Last Tri triathlon in White Bear Lake.  It was a very early morning as it is almost an hour away from home.  We got there with time to spare.  We ditched the bike in the transition area and walked around the lake. The water was freezing and the outside temp was around 60 degrees. I really feel for Carrie. She didn’t have a wetsuit. She wasn’t the only one but she was definitely in the minority.  They started the long course swimmers first and then the short course.  I had to hurry back to the bike area to get ready for the ride.  By the time I got back to the transition area, some of the long course participants were already on the bike.  That is crazy fast!  Carrie came in just over 13 minutes and we exchanged the timing clip and off I went on my ride.

I was really nervous that I wouldn’t finish or I’d be really slow.  It started out sort of flat but the first hill was a beast.  And it really was hilly and the first 9 miles was mostly up.

It really sucked and I wasn’t prepared.  I was cursing myself for not training more during that first 9 miles. The road was not the best but that is no excuse.  I only passed two people…one was fixing something on the bike and the other was changing a flat.  I was passed by a bunch of people.  When the long course bikers caught up to me at my mile marker 8 (their mile 24) it was a bit discouraging.  Oh and the 68 year old guy that passed me too.  I was on my bike just over an hour.  I got back to dismount area and ran into the transition area on wobbly legs. I gave Eric the timing chip and he was off on his run.  Carrie took some pictures of me with my bike, the missed getting me on it. 

We had some bananas and water and went over to the finish line.  Eric shocked me when he crossed the finish line 31 minutes later. 

He was saying he wasn’t going to make it and he would be dragging his ass over the finish line.  He is such a liar!  So here is our picture after we finished.  We survived!  Our times weren’t the fastest but we did it and we weren’t last! :)  Our overall time was 1:52…I’d like it noted that I did most of the 1:52! LOL! 

Survival of the Unfittest

After the race we headed to Caribou Coffee for some warm drinks…I was so cold!

We got home and left right away for Mankato for a picnic with DJ and kids.  We stopped at Emma Krumbees for raspberry picking.  Overall it was a good day…I’m a little sore now.

So I like to “countdown” to things and right now there are really 4 countdowns going on.

1 – Our 10th Anniversary (can you believe it has been 10 years!)

2 – Eric’s last class (hopefully his thesis will get approval)

3 – The Lone Star Baseball Adventure (on the road again…)

4 – Triathlon (I really haven’t trained, oh no)

So first things first…our 10th anniversary is coming up in a week.  We have had a crazy 10 years but I’d say most of it has been happy.  I’m sure I will reflect on that later.

If Eric gets his thesis approved, he will be done with school in 8 days and 18 hours. Fingers-crossed this will be the end of his master’s program but I’m very fearful it may not be.

The long awaited and highly anticipated Lone Star Baseball Adventure road trip is in 12 days and 20 hours. The name is kind of a misnomer.  Yes we are going to be spending many days in Texas and we will be going to two Twins baseball games (one in Arlington, one in Houston) but we are also heading over the he beautiful state of Alabama.  Even though my last trip to the Orange Beach area ended badly, I still have fond memories of the area.  I loved our hotel and I loved the beach.  When people tried telling me that Jamaica had white sugar sand beaches…I said no, these aren’t white beaches; Orange Beach, AL has white sugar sandy beaches. We are spending a few days there and then we are making the long way back home.

Last but not least is the Triathlon.  That is in 30 days and 12 hours.  I really haven’t trained. I’ve gone on a few long rides.  I know I can do it but I could do so much better if I was training.  Eric hasn’t trained either and said that the will be walking some of the 5K. It should be interesting…

Eric did the soccer and (is supposed to be doing) the writing; I did the shopping and biking.  That was our weekend in a nutshell.  

But what about the rest of the week?  Well Eric had a soccer game Monday.  I had a concert on Tuesday. Click here to watch the video. Wednesday we played tennis (and then celebrated our workout by going to KFC). Kind of defeats the purpose of working out but at least we worked out. ;) The rest of the week we did nothing.  And I mean we literally did nothing.

Speaking of shopping, look what I bought Swirl.  I think he will love it.  Actually the story goes like this, Thursday we went to Fleet Farm to buy tarp for our tent. (ok I guess we did something) While walking up and down the aisles we found these 6 foot cat trees. They looked so cool but we had the car so we couldn’t buy it.  Friday at work I decided to see what was online and found this one and it was way cooler and I’m so excited to get. I hope he loves it. Now I have to figure out where to put it. As I asked on Facebook, Can someone be considered a "crazy cat lady" if they only have one spoiled cat? The general consensus is yes :(

So Saturday I spent the day with Greg and Celeste.  We went to Culver’s for lunch, Ikea and Costco shopping and Pablo’s for dinner.  Today I went for an 11.5 mile bike ride. I was planning on going 14 miles but when I got to Eric’s soccer game I felt sick and faint.  I sat on a bench and drank some water and then biked home.  After that I made a great bar…again rewarding my workout.  I’m never going to lose weight if I keep rewarding my workouts! LOL!

Eric had soccer games all day Saturday and today.  Out of the blue, the Referee assignor for Shakopee assigned Eric to games.  He didn’t ref a game for Shakopee at all this year and then out of the blue he gets 6 games.  It is a bit odd, unfortunately it means he really hasn’t worked on his paper due tomorrow.  Ya, that’s about right.  Oh well, such is life.

Wow, my legs are tired today. We had a very busy weekend. Michael and Cassidy came up Thursday evening.  Friday morning, after we took Swirl to the vet, we started our first day of touring. We started out at the Sculpture Garden at the Walker art museum so they could see the famous Spoon and Cherry.  You have probably seen it; the NFL always show it whenever the Vikings are playing on national TV. 

After that we went downtown and had lunch and walked around Nicollet Mall. I took them to the downtown Target to show them the cart escalator. It is a crazy thing but I think it is cool and so did they. We buzzed by the Metrodome so Michael could see the Vikings home.  Next stop was the Guthrie Theater and the Stone Arch bridge followed by the Minnehaha Waterfall. We hiked down to the bottom of the falls and even put our feet in the water.  It was a little cold.  Then the rain came. We ran under a tree but it wasn’t letting up so we darted up the stairs to the car.

We hit the Mall of America and Nickelodeon Universe. We did a lot of shopping, probably the most I have ever done at the MOA.  It was fun though. We also went on two rides.  It was a fun! After the Mall we headed across the street to IKEA so Michael could get his meatballs.  When they lived in Virginia, they would go to IKEA often and Michael devoured the meatballs.  We bought him some frozen one to take home with him.  (number of steps: 15,545)

Saturday I did a 15 mile bike ride in the morning. We went back downtown, first to the Gophers’ new stadium and shop and then Target Field for a Twins game.

The game was fine but the wind started to really blow and then the rain came. Twins won so that was good! We got a picture of them in the glove.  I love this sculpture!

In the evening, DJ, Abbie and Beth stopped by for dinner.  Abbie had a soccer tournament in Maple Grove.  (Her team was undefeated in pool play but lost the championship game on Sunday with 50 seconds left in overtime.) After they left, we made another trip to the Mall of America.  Man, Michael likes to shop!  (number of steps: 23,471)

Yesterday I went for almost a 4 mile run. My GPS watch stopped working and was stuck at 2.73 miles for a few minutes.  When it reconnected with the GPS I was at over 3 miles.  It was pretty amazing I went from 2.73 to like 3.14 in less than 5 seconds!  My fastest pace ever!  The only bad thing is it didn’t get all of my miles logged so it was off by 2 tenths of a mile. After that, we went to Valleyfair and rode a ton rides.  My face got sunburned, I'm so red! And it hurts.  I'm stupid, I didn't think about sun screen. It was cloudy and 60 degrees. Oh well, I'll probably be tan here soon.  After that we just chilled at home. (Number of steps: 18,167)

So what’s the deal with the “Number of steps?” Well we are doing the Get Out and Get Fit Program at work. We are supposed to get 10,000 steps a day. Well my average for the last 3 days was over 19,000. :)  As you can tell, my legs are tired.

So I have convinced Eric that biking around the monuments in Washington DC makes more sense than riding the silly trolley again or walking again. Now don’t get me wrong, the trolley is great if you need the misinformed history lesson by tour guides who try (and fail miserably) to be funny.  And yes it is great for those who are immobile, like say after knee surgery.  But we’ve done the trolley (and also a private tour through the Department of Interior thanks to Callista Gingrich).  And walking the monuments is just a daunting task.  Trust me, we have walked the monuments.  Actually we did 5 monuments (Washington, Lincoln, WWII, Vietnam War and Korean War) by forced march in one hour…in 100 degree heat and 100% humidity.  That was courtesy of Hiram. So we have done it both of those ways, but we haven’t biked to them.  Doesn’t that sound pleasant? Let’s go for a little bike ride, stop to see the monument, go for another little bike ride, stop to see the monument, repeat. So that’s the plan, we are going to bike around the city.  I’m so excited.  And it isn’t really that expensive.  We can rent a bike for $35 all day.  That is a little cheaper than the trolley and less taxing on the feet than walking. 

Here is where the title comes in; do rent a tandem bike or not?  A tandem bike is only $60 for the day so we would be saving $10.  And how romantic does that sounds? “Eric and I rode our tandem bike down the National Mall.”  But alas, it probably won’t happen.  Firstly, we would have to agree on a cadence. Eric already complains when we are riding separate bikes that I never stop pedaling.  He always says “don’t you every rest”…um, no because once I get this big ass going, it is harder to stop and start than it is to keep going. So that is something we would have to work out. Secondly, there is the whole turning thing, not as easy when two are riding. And who would be captain controlling the turning??  And finally, there is only one gear.  I love switching gear often. Eric seems to get annoyed that I switch gears all the time. So we would have to cooperate with each other and to be honest, I see this turning ugly. Our nice vacation ends in divorce because of a tandem bike.  However, I just had a brilliant idea.  We get the tandem bike, Eric can do all the pedaling and I can take all the pictures while we are riding.  Hum, maybe that isn’t a bad idea after all.  

Has anybody ever rode a tandem and can offer some advice? Only 7 more days until DC. 

What the heck kind of forecast is this?  After 5 days of 70s and sun, it was a rude awakening this morning and this is what we have to look forward to for the next 5+ days.  We are suppose to get about 4"-8" of snow...REALLY?  The only person that is happy about this is Danielle because she wants a white birthday (May 2). Well Danielle it looks like you will get your wish!   This rain/snow crap is ruining my training for the triathlon.  I got a 8 mile bike ride on Monday and a run/walk yesterday but the next couples are going to be tough. Damn you weather!