Done & Done!

I did it!  I finished!  I'm officially an Iron Nut!  WooHooo!!  And it wasn't as horrible as I expected.  I mean, it was rough, don't get me wrong.  But there was no throwing up, no passing out, no crying and even very little walking on the run!

The swim went pretty well although between the traffic in the water, the cramps in my feet, and the different pool, I was one minute longer than I expected.  I started swimming and thought that I was probably pushing it a little too hard too early in the water.  But then I decided that the swim was the only part that I was going to be good at so by golly I was gonna push it!  I placed 3rd in the swim overall, out of 29.  That helped my total time a lot because my bike and run were pretty slow.  I think the bike took me an hour and 40 minutes and the run about 33 minutes.  My total time was 2 hours and 10 minutes.

I finished first in my age group, though Shar and I were the only two in our age group.  And I would have gladly taken either spot!  Shar had to stop twice on the bike and put her chain back on.  Thank goodness that didn't happen to me..... 'cause I don't know how to put a chain back on.  True story.  I thought the bike route Would.NEVER.End!  It was pretty darn tough and I was getting passed left and right by folks on nice road bikes while I poked along on my mountain bike.  Most of them gave me nice words of encouragement while passing me.  :)  I loved it.  I needed it!

Super-duper athlete Kevin of course finished way ahead of any of us and he ran the last half of my run with me.  Which was a HUGE help!  I ran faster and harder when he ran with me.  I had to stop at the beginning of my run and stretch my calves.  They were cramping up really bad.  But luckily once I stretched them, I was O.K. again.  I finished the race, and much to my surprise, I was alive!

Dr. Ann came in on the bike and Kevin ran with her (as he did with Shar and I).  On Ann's last lap we all ran with her and she was BOOKING it!  Shar and I could hardly keep up!  But the best part was that we all had a really good time I think!  I really enjoyed it! I'm so glad I did this.  Dr. Ann, Shar and I have already been talking about what's next.  Though I think we'll leave the Iron Man distances to our super-duper athlete.  This distance was just right for me I think.

Here's some fuzzy pictures my dear coach, cheerleader, and Greatest.Daddy.Ever took.

That's the transition area where you rack your bike and transition from swim to bike and from bike to run.

Here we are!  About to begin our quest to become Iron Nuts!

I think that blurb in the third lane is supposed to be me.

And that's me in the water.

That's me transitioning from the swim to the bike!

And me riding off, starting the bike route.

That's Kevin heading off on the bike route.

And Dr. Ann beginning the bike route.

That's me transitioning from the bike to the run.  Bike racked, helmet off, visor on, Run!

My first lap of the run.  That was tough.

And here I am coming to the finish!  (Kevin is on the left where he had been running with me.  AFTER he finished his whole race already.)

I finished!!

Thanks loves for your support, kind thoughts and prayers!  You're awesome.  We did it!!

Punt

It was hours before I was to take an exam in a notoriously hard class in college. My brother was in the same class and we studied together for that exam. My brother shut his notebook, stood up and said, "Well sister. What do you do when it's 4th and long?" I starred at him trying to relate the chemistry of animal nutrition to football. "You drop back and punt the hell out of it," he said. Point taken.

It's time to punt folks! Time for studying, training and planning is over. Tomorrow we punt! Ohhhh, I hope it's a long, beautiful, high punt that lands just inside the 1 yard line. That would be lovely. But at this point, I'll be happy with a 20-yard punt. Just enough to keep me in the game.

I could have trained longer, harder, and faster for this Tri. But for my first one, it's jusssst satisfying enough that I trained at all. Plus I'm getting less and less competitive as I get older. I long more to enjoy the process and the high from a sense of accomplishment than I do to set PRs. But even tomorrow I'm gonna set a PR! Even if only cause its my first Tri. ;) Super-duper-athlete Kevin keeps reminding me that the slower I am in this Tri, the more I'll improve on my time next time.

Tomorrow is scary, especially after driving the bike course today, but I'm as ready as I can be. And I found out today when I picked up my packet that it's a small crowd participating. Just 29 individuals and 2 teams. That made it seem less daunting. But that also means the fewer people that I have a chance to pass. But thats ok! Im just tickled to be competing in my first triathlon and to have some great friends to do it with.

There looked like some Serious Iron Nuts picking up their packets today. Like, bad mamajamas. Legs of steel. 0% body fat. Bulging biceps. All serious iron nuts. I consider myself more of a PeaNut. Just crazy enough to try it. :)

Thanks for reading, praying and supporting loves! I'll let you know how it goes!

Hugs!

Chitter-Chatter

Chitter-Chatter Chitter-Chatter.  Hear that?  That's my teeth.  Chattering because I'm STINK'N Nervous!!  The scary dreams have started!  The other night I dreamed that I was late to the Iron Nut, didn't know where to go, didn't have my stuff together and didn't know what to do.

Yesterday, I took a quick swim in the 50-meter pool that I'll start in at Iron Nut.  It just opened Saturday.  I knew.knew.knew that the 50-meter pool was going to be tougher than the 25-yard pool I've been working out in.  BUT GOLLY!  I forgot just how much more difficult it is.  Not to mention that I was dodging a gazillion kids that.aren't.supposed.to.be.in.the.lap.lane.anyhow.ahem and had burning eyes from all the chemicals dumped into the pool, no doubt in preparation for the grand opening just days before.  Long strokes will be key for surviving the swim.  It really stinks that the 50-meter pool was only open one week before Iron Nut.  That doesn't allow us to train in that distance pool.  At least most people in the tri should be on equal footing there because I don't know of another 50-meter pool within a two hours drive.

I still haven't driven over the bike course.  I hope to do that tomorrow just so I'll know where I'm going and hopefully won't get lost on the bike route.  I started packing my bag tonight so hopefully my dream from the other night Won't come true.  At least the part about not having my stuff together.  I washed my race suit, picked out my shorts and shirt to wear during the bike and run, dug out my ultra-glide to help prevent chaffing, packed my sunglasses, just-remembered-to-pack-my-sunscreen, and packed a change of clothes for after.  And my tennis shoes!  Which reminds me to go pack some socks.....

Tomorrow, I will pick up my race packet.  I have no idea what will be in it.  For running races, the race packets usually include your race number (bib number), some coupons from sponsors, a race chip if they use those, and a t-shirt.  I don't know what comes in a triathlon packet!  Have I mentioned I'm nervous?  As if the physical aspect of this challenge isn't daunting enough, I feel like there is all this technical stuff that I don't know and am not prepared for (such as transitioning from event to event, etc).

Shew.  DEEP BREATHS!  Super-Athlete Kevin recommended we get a good night's sleep tonight since tomorrow night our nerves may keep us from getting really good sleep.

DEEP BREATHS!!

I'm Alive!

I was just resting for several days.  As you know, Friday I about died.  Saturday I went hiking and hiked 9.5 miles through the lovely Jefferson National Forest.  

See, told ya it was LoVely.  :)

And I saw some beautiful black angus cows grazing in the national forest.

This is my friend Megan contemplating how to best go about walking upstream.

We had a really great time.  But my legs burned most of the day from Friday's bashing.

On Sunday, I rested.  My legs were spent.  I talked to Dr. Ann at church on Sunday and she and her ultra-athlete hubby were going to do a brick workout Monday morning, biking the actual course.  They invited me along but after thinking about it for a bit, I had to decline because my legs were just so pooped.  It's time to taper down anyhow, so on Monday I rested as well.  And ate.  A lot.  Cause it was a holiday of course!

Today, I planned to swim in the 50-meter pool that the triathlon will start in.  However, my luck would have it, just as I pulled into the parking lot, it started thundering.  Sigh.  Two of the last three times I've tried to swim it's been storming.  I plan to try again either tomorrow afternoon or Thursday.  Neither will be opportune times but I'm going to try my hardest.

Dr. Ann's hubby sent us an email today of what to expect at the triathlon.  Shew.  I'm getting nervous!  I don't know what to expect other than that email.  I'm afraid I'll get lost on the bike route.  Or wreck my bike.  Or do something wrong while transitioning from one event to the next and get disqualified.  Or, or, or.  Yikes!  So much to know!  So little time left.  I'm feeling ill-prepared!  Which I HATE.  I'm so glad I have two other girlfriends doing this with me.  Hopefully, if I get freaked out or lost, I can spot one of them for a boost of assurance.  If I can catch them that is.

Just THREE days 'til showtime!

Just Crazy Enough

Oh.my.heavens.  If I thought I was overdone yesterday, today I might as well be turkey jerky.  You may know that I'm near crazy enough to try anything.  Except bungy jumping.  I'm cautiously adventuresome.  I enjoy a challenge.  Competitive, not so much.  But I do just like to see if I can DO it.  Whatever that may be.  Sometimes it's climbing a mountain, one time it was running a marathon, now it's doing a triathlon.... You get it.

Yesterday I said to Brian, "I might take a half day off tomorrow.  Though I don't know what I'd do."  He replied, "go do something crazy like bike the entire Creeper Trail."  ........... I could end this post here 'cause y'all know what happened next.

But I'll keep goin'.  ;)  I got on my bike in Abingdon and got on the trail.  I kept thinking to myself that I had two options:  I could ride all the way to Damascus and back (17 miles one-way); or I could ride to Alvarado (9.3 miles one-way) and back to Abingdon and then run 2 or 3 miles.  So ya know what I did?  I rode to Alvarado, ran about 1.5 miles, rode on to Damascus and ran another mile once I got there.  And then I rode 17 miles back to Abingdon.

Hell.Fire.Burning doesn't even begin to describe the sensation in my legs.  Not really even close.  When I got to Damascus, I did rest a few minutes before I ran.  It helped.  I have been getting a bit nervous about the Iron Nut and my ill-prepared abilities.  But on the ride back down to Abingdon I got to thinking.  So what if I have to take a 2 minute break between my bike and my run at the Iron Nut.  Sure, it's not ideal but I'll still accomplish what I wanted to.  I'll still finish.  It's not the end of the world.

I'm not out to win this monster.  I'm just crazy enough to try it.  I'm gonna have fun with it.  If I can.  :)  I did see Dr. Ann on the trail today!  I should have warned her that biking to Damascus and back with or without running was a bad idea.  34 miles of a bad idea.  At least now I won't feel bad about wimping out on my last chance work out.  Done and Done!

The hike I have planned for tomorrow may be a little tricky however.... especially if my legs are blocks of hell.fire.burning concrete in the morning.  We'll see!

Overdone

I think I might have overdone it on the weights yesterday, y'all.  I'm sore.  My legs and arms are sore but legs super sore.  Like, don't take a full step kind of sore.  Use your hands to sit down kind of sore.  The soreness will dissipate in a few days but until then, owie owie owie.

Today I went swimming.  I hadn't been in the pool for 3 weeks friends.  And I felt like a sinking battle ship.  Big, heavy, and sinking.  I swam the half mile I'll have to swim in the Iron Nut and even though I felt like a sinking battle ship, it took me the same 13 minutes to swim it that it did the last time I timed myself on a half mile swim.  Then I did more interval swims until my arms felt like jelly moving through the water.  I like there was just no muscle left to pull anymore water.  I talked myself into finishing with another 500 yard freestyle, but 100 yards in, my left shoulder started hurting so I pushed on until I finished 250 yards and let myself stop.  Shoulder pain is not something I want to mess around with this close to race day.

I'm not sure what I'll get into tomorrow.  Not many opportunities left for a strong workout left.  I'll start tapering  down on Sunday or Monday.  Shar is out of town so I'm responsible for kicking my own butt this weekend.  Wish me luck!

Rain and Nice People

It's been quite rainy the past few days.  But I don't mind the rain.  Rain makes the grass grow so our cows can eat.  It makes the crops grow that make the feed that feeds our cows that help feed the world.  And it makes the flowers pretty.  :)

It does, however, make for tough workout scheduling.  I don't really even mind to bike or run in the rain.  So long as its that biking and running appropriate rain.  That is, more like a steady drizzle or light rainfall.  Downpours, thunderstorms and other sorts of events that bring water from the sky, I'll pass on running or biking in the rain.  There's really just no sense it.  That's why they say, "she don't have sense enough to come in from the rain," silly.

Yesterday we had lots of thunderstorms.  Dark skies, loud thunder, heavy rain, etc.  The sky cleared up right above my office for a bit and I decided to risk it, even though the sky in both directions looked ugly.  I ran 3.2 miles (maybe a little more) and tried to run fairly hard.  And it was hard.  Because of the storms there was pretty much no one else on the trail.  When I was about at the finish, two men came barreling down the trail from behind me and passed me like I was moon walking backwards.  They, however, looked as if they were just out for a Sunday stroll.  Their 6-foot-something frames, slender build and feet as steady as a horse told me that they did this running thing quite a bit.

I planned to go swim after I ran but the pool was still closed due to the storms.  And as soon as I got back in my car at the pool, it came another rat-drowning downpour.  Close call.

Today the rain continued.  I had to plan ahead because I was hosting small group at my house tonight and still had to get dinner ready for the group.  I left the office a little early and it was pouring the rain.  The rain drops were gigantic.  I was drenched from head to toe before I got myself, my purse, and my laptop safely in my car - which was parked about 10 feet from my office door.  I was leaving the office later than I had hoped, barrels of water were falling from the sky and I still had to get dinner ready for small group.  And make my bed before company arrived.  Ssshh!  But after seriously considering skipping a workout today, I puffed my chest out and said, "No my dear. You're Going to workout!"

I went to the gym.  Uugh.  That place with so many machines I can't count them all.  The place with super-fit people doing things that look like they're in a lot of pain.  That place where there are trainers walking around with clients from machine to mats to pully-things.  That place where obnoxious people wear their curled, flowing hair down and touch up their makeup while they "workout."  That place where guys pumping iron take pictures of themselves in the mirror.  (Seriously guys?)  And Worst of all..... that place where the trainers, the super-fit people, the girls with their hair down, the guys pumping iron ..... are Friendly!  WHhhaaat?!  Don't speak to me!  It scares me!  Don't tell me to let you know if I need help with anything you nice gym-owner man!  Gosh!!!!  Don't smile at me cute girl with your hair curled when you're getting off the treadmill!  Don't move your gym equipment out of my way trainer man!  Don't Do It!

Why am I petrified of these people?!  I have no idea.  I always dread the gym.  I have to see People!  That are nice to me.  It's horrifying.  I know, I know.  I'm working on it.

Regardless, I got it a pretty good workout.  I lifted weights for a bit with the good ole' fashioned hand weights.  'Cause I'm scared of everything else.  And then I did a hill-interval workout on the elliptical for half an hour.  None of that left me time to shower before small group but that's okay. 'Cause that's how we Christians are.  Come hungry, come thirsty, come dirty, come poor.  Receive love.  And sloppy joe's (tonight anyhow).

Another hump day down!  And a long weekend coming!  Enjoy loves!

Courage

Today I was TiRed.  Realllly tired.  As the day went on, I didn't get any less tired.  I began the day with the intent to workout at some point.  By mid-afternoon I was much less unsure about that plan.  I came home and thought that maybe after it cooled down some I'd go for a run.  Then I cleaned.andcleaned.andcleaned the house.  While I was cleaning, I kept telling myself, "just a little bit more.  You're almost done."  Like I was pushing myself through a hard workout.  Psshh.  I didn't workout.

I cleaned.  I ate a sandwich.  I laid in my hammock and read.  Then I checked out ted.com.  Ted.com, in case you don't know, has short talks by all sorts of fascinating people.  Some talks are science based, some inspirational, and some simply informational.  It's good stuff.  Sometimes if I have lunch at my desk I'll listen to a Ted talk while I eat.

This evening I came across a talk by an incredibly inspirational woman, Diana Nyad.  She attempted to swim from Cuba to Florida, I believe three different times (but don't quote me on that).  Once when she was young and recently twice, at the age of 60.  I really connected with her story (I know that sounds cheesy).  It's so inspiring.  We have one precious life.  Make it count.

In part of her talk I listened to today, she shows a picture of her during training.  She's smiling in the picture.  She says that she doesn't recall this moment during her training -  she doesn't recall ever smiling during her training.  It's not fun.  It's hard.  It's excruciating.  It's grueling work.  But she has one life to live and one wild goal.  Now that, I can relate to.  When I'm training really hard, I'm not smiling.  I don't even want to smile when it's done.  Sometimes I want to cry, or at least whimper.  It's hard.  It's not fun some days.  A lot of days it's not fun.  But I try.  I set a goal in this life I have to live and I'm going after it.

Diana didn't make the swim.  She didn't reach her goal.  Three times she attempted it.  But you know what?  She had the courage.  She is courageous enough to live the life she's got.  Courageous enough to set an outrageous goal and go after it.  Even at the age of 60.  She's an incredible inspiration.  Live life.  It won't always be fun, but it's always worth living.  We get one shot.

Here's the link to her Ted talk:  http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/diana_nyad_extreme_swimming_with_the_world_s_most_dangerous_jellyfish.html

Now I'm Nervous

O.K. Now I'm really nervous.  I'm 13 days away from Iron Nut.  And I've ALWAYS WANTED TO DO A TRI-ATHLON!  But I got a pretty dang good taste of what to expect today.  And it wasn't pretty.

First, say it with me now:  Shar is a freaking nut!  Shar is woman, hear her roar.  And I can't keep up.  But that's besides the point.  At church this morning Shar said, "Let's go do the full tri today."  I stuttered a bit as I said "O.K., suuuuu-urrr-e."   The whole thing Shar?  Bike, swim and run like the whole way?  Yup.  I cleared my throat, rolled my eyes and said O.K.!  It was a superior idea after all.  Next week we need to taper down and we really need to push it this week.

Off we went.  First up was the bike ride.  We rode and rode and talked about what pace we should keep and dodged small kids on tandem bikes.  We made it to our turning point, took a swig of what little water was left in Shar's water bottle and headed back.  The up-hill back.  Yuck.  Of course it's yuck, but when you're with Shar it's !#%$%@#! YuCk!  We were in high gear all the way back, I was chasing Shar as best I could.  It was hot.  My legs burned, my hard breathing came and went, and my legs burned some more.  The last 4 miles, Shar suggested we do Indian Runs on our bikes.  One of us would sprint ahead and after we got 20 yards or so ahead, the other one would sprint and catch up and get in front.  And so on and so on.  For.The.Next.FOUR.miles.  And so we did.  Until I couldn't catch up with her anymore.  Luckily, we were almost done by that point.  With a quarter of a mile to go, Shar commands me to race to the finish.  With the teensy bit of energy I had left in me, I raced.  I thought for sure that before I got to the finish my legs were going to catch on fire literally or my heart was going to explode.

We did it.  Shew.  17 miles.  Next up with no rest in between was the run....  Y'all.  That was worse.  I didn't even have enough energy to speak, or mumble, during the run.  I just followed Shar.  Step by step.  We both wanted to walk but Shar said no way.  It was really hot.  I did not load up on enough fluids for this excursion I suddenly realized.  The run was going to be rough.  My nose was running.  I couldn't breathe through my mouth for the phloem that was choking me.  Gross, right?  Three different times on the 3-mile run I thought I was going to yack.  I kept thinking how I haven't thrown up from exercising since I was 8 when I was swimming the 100 yd Individual Medley in the city swim meet.  Oh yeah I did.  Came in 2nd.  Touch the wall at the finish and yacked into the gutter.  Nice.

We finished the run and walked another mile.  I still couldn't speak.  We got in the car to head to the pool and made a pit stop for water and Gatorade.   I chugged nearly all mine before we made it out of the store.  We checked in at the pool only to find out the pool was closing.  That very minute.  Exhausted but disappointed, we headed back to the car.  We were both sooo tired but we really did want to finish our "full tri" out.  Unfortunately, it just wasn't in the stars today.  But we did have an amazing workout and got more than a taste of what this tri is going to feel like.  It's going to hurt.  It's going to be very hard.  It's going to be challenging, physically and mentally.  I could not have finished the run today without Shar.  I'm not sure I could have much more than started the run without her.  This tri will take a lot of sweat.  Hopefully, there won't be any blood or tears.  But there might be some of both.

I'm hanging in there.  Thirteen days to go!

Pain Is Only Temporary

Pain is only temporary.  It matters not what aches you.  I am with increasing frequency reminding myself of that.  Moving on now... Yesterday, I did a quick run before I met my small group from church.  It was hot and a little hilly but because it was a short run, it wasn't too bad.

Today, the Shar Machine and I were going to do another killer brick workout (bike and run).  BUT, it came a boomer-flash'n-downpour'n evening.  Not suitable for biking or running.  So I slowly drove home through the downpour and lightning streaks and decided on some yoga.  Ahhh, yoga.  My calves, quads, hamstrings and arms have all been very tight and sore for a few days.  Yoga did me some good.  It wasn't the cardio workout I was looking for, but it was something.

I'm going to be out of town again this weekend, which always make workouts hard.  But I'll manage.  Hopefully, I can get a run in Saturday and/or Sunday.  ONLY ONE WEEK OF HARD TRAINING LEFT!   The week before Iron Nut, I'll taper down and hopefully get in one or two swims in the 50-meter pool.

You know what I saw today?  Something I have Never Ever seen before.  A rainbow surrounded by nothing but dark dark clouds.  I always thought rainbows came out after it rained when the sun was starting to shine again.  I thought that I learned in elementary school (in addition to being a sign of God's promise) that rainbows were a result of a;kldjfahonfdakna;efndadnfadl and something having to do with the reflection of light off the rain or clouds or .... something of the sort.  I listened well :)  But the moral of the story is that THIS rainbow had absolutely no sunshine or light anywhere near it.  And it was still shining.  It was completely surrounded by really dark clouds with no sign of sunshine.  And it was STILL SHINING!  A rainbow shines even when everything around it is dark and gloomy.  Even when no one expects it to shine.  It still shines!  Can I get an Amen?  What a blessed day when God gives us little unexpected lessons.  It means so much.

Go be a rainbow in dark clouds!  Shine my loves!

Love and Hate are Funny Things

Let's talk about a love-hate relationship.  Her name is Shar.  The game is exercise.  Holy Schamolee y'all!  Shar says yesterday, "wanna workout tomorrow?"  Sure Shar.  Let's do it.

My body was pretty sore from Jillian's workout yesterday.  To make a long story short ('cause it's late, i'm TiRed and I wanna go to bed), Shar and I rode our bikes up Every hill we could find in town today.  And we live in the mountains y'all.  Not around the mountains.  IN the mountains.  Therefore, as deductive reasoning leads you to conclude, we biked up some BIG Ole' hills today.  And lots of them.  My quads were BuRNinGonFiRe!

We get back to our cars and I am WhiPPed.  And Shar says, "let's go run now."  Ah hem?  Sure Shar.  (whattheheckisshethinking?)  "Lead the way Shar."  Ha.  BAD answer!  She loopy-dooped me around the same daggum hills and mountain sides and then some, FORRRREVERRRR!  Each hill we climbed and each turn we made that led us away from our cars, I wanted to reach out and smack her.  But I couldn't.  She was too far in front of me.  So instead I just yelled out, "I hate you Shar!"  :)  I'm so sweet.

Ya know that gazillionth hill I didn't want to run up?  Yeah, well, Shar literally smacked me to make me keep running.  I said, "Shar, I'm gonna have to wa..." - SMACK!  "I hate you Shar!" FINALLY she let us run back to our cars.  HALLELUJAH!  Or so I thought....  Ha!  Shar says, "Oh yeah!  We need to do push-ups and crunches."  Ohhhh My GoodFreak'nGollyGeeWhiz Shar!  And so we did.

The woman is a machine.  A Scary scary machine.  But I don't hate Shar.  Not even a little bit at all.  Even if she did almost kill me.  The truth is, I LOVE a good hard workout.  I LOVE having a workout buddy.  I LOVE having someone to push me.  And I'm SUPER DUPER TIRED!

Goodnight loves!

My Momma

I know Mother's Day was yesterday, BUT, today I got to work out with my Momma!  So I'm gonna talk about her :)  Today was one of those i.cant.get.up Mondays.  I was dog sitting at the farm last night 'cause my folks were out of town.  This morning the dog tried to arouse me, the alarm tried to arouse me (5 times), and the dog tried some more.  I was in that i'm-awake-but-don't-wanna-move state.  And then a light bulb went off in my head that flashed a neon sign saying Work From Home Today!  Psssh, totally! Five minutes 'til work time I rolled out of bed, started the coffee pot and plugged in my computer.  And I kid you not, before I knew it, it was 5:00.  My days in the office do.not.go.like.that.  It was awesome.

Shortly before 5:00, my momma and my poppa came rolling in.  I said, "Momma, before I have to go, come work out with me."  And she said O.K.!  My mom got through a KILLER work out today and I am sooooo proud of her.  We got super sweaty with Jillian Michaels and kicked butt.  My mom, who is not a real athletic type, pushed and pushed and pushed and did Soooo awesome!

You know those people in love that say they grow more and more in love each and every day, even when they're 75 years old?  At the age of 29, I become more enamored with my mother every day.  Every single day I see just how strong my mother is a little bit more.  Heaven knows that my family has seen many trials.  But over the past two months, we have been through the worst, longest-extending trial that I in my 29 years recall or could imagine my family going through.  And y'all, my mother, my wonderful - amazing - strong - God fearing - brilliant - talented - loving mother, has handled it with more grace than I knew existed in this world.  If I had the strength of heart, mind and soul that my mother has in just one of her pinky fingers, I would be blessed beyond measure.  Momma teach me.  Teach me to love like you do, to be as strong as you and to be as God-fearing and graceful as you.  I may not have been willing to learn so much when I was that sweet, irresistible age of 14-now, but I'm ready.  I'm gonna watch and learn.  I've already learned so much.

Now go hug your Momma!

Three weeks 'til Iron Nut!!!!  Ack!!

Happy Mother's Day!

My training hasn't been much the past few days. I was going to take a quick run Friday so I stopped by my office to change (since I had been working out of town). But instead of running I got stuck on a few phone calls and then had the most wonderful talk with my sweet friend that works in the office next to me. We talked and talked and talked and it was so completely lovely. Sometimes a good chat with s good friend is as good for the soul as Sunday morning.

Then yesterday I traveled to South Cackalaky to see my 3 year old niece dance her heart out to Mickey Mouse Club. And today I'm celebrating my amazing Mother and all the other wonderful women in my life that encourage me, inspire me and teach me. Thanks Mommas! Enjoy your day!

Dern

Shucks Dern It.   I didn't do it.  I didn't train today!  Well, first, let's back up to yesterday.  Yesterday I biked another 8-10 miles.  I'm totally guessing as to the mileage.  I biked for an hour.  Over LoTS of HiLLs.  Big ones.  Again.  After my tough workout Tuesday, I hopped on my bike yesterday, felt O.K., until I started up the first baby hill.  Aiiiyiiiiyaiiiii!  My legs burned something like crazy.  They weren't happy.  But I kept peddling and all went pretty well.  No wrecks, though I did STiLL struggle with the changing gears thing.  Sigh. Practice makes perfect.  Mediocrity should get me through the Iron Nut ;)  Ha.

Today y'all was a ReaLly long day.  I am traveling for work and I drove and drove from the crack of dawn this morning and I worked and I worked until I was kicked out of my working space and then I checked into the hotel.... and laid on the bed in corpse pose.... for a while.  I did manage to convince myself to throw out my yoga mat (which just so happened to be in my car along with everything else I could possibly need to workout) and do a very brief yoga workout.  I did a few sun salutations and twists and decided to go to the book store.

Working out tomorrow is going to prove to be a challenge too.  Maybe Saturday and Sunday I can manage to muster up the time/courage/energy.

See my car?  What more could you need?  Really.  This is embarrassing.

Doin' it!

Y'all, today was the Best workout I've had since I started training. My friend Shar (yes, we call her that. Just go with it) and I did my very first "brick workout." A brick workout is where you bike and then run; ideally a long bike ride and a run of any sorts. We took on the hills of Lebanon today and Ohh my!! First, we rode our bikes about 8 miles, give or take. Which isn't a whole lot of mileage, but we tackled some mad crazy hills. And I STILL cannot get the hang of changing gears! I'm working on it. Better than I used to be at least.

Shar is what I like to call... a sand bagger. I hopes she's reading this. Shar preps me for today's workout by saying "now don't laugh at me, I'm really slow." Y'all, I couldn't keep up with her on a bike going Downhill. True story. Sand Bagger.

Anyhow, after we got done biking those mad crazy hills, we ran them. Four miles on them y'all! That was the first time I've ran over 3.2 miles since November. And we rocked it.

All props to Sand Bagger Shar for today's workout. It was her idea and motivation. I showed up ready for a measly 3 mile run. She's awesome.

I did almost wreck today while trying to talk to a good look'n fella in a good look'n truck. Woops. I did almost get hit by a car while jogging my bike across the road chasing Shar. Told you I was a bad bike rider. Here's more proof. Pedal marks all over my legs. These are becoming a permanent fixture.

Toodles! Life is good y'all. Praises to the King.

Monday Happened Again

52 times a year.  It happens.  Monday comes.  I'm just glad to check another one off the calendar.  But Mondays don't always bring good news you see.  I know you know.  I went to one of those specialty running/walking shoe stores today to have them recommend a shoe for me.  I told them what I wore, told them about the pain when I run, showed them my foot where it's still swollen from NOVEMBER, let them watch me walk around a bit.... and the fella says, "Well, I think you're definitely in the right shoe for you."  *Cough.Cough*  Dude, I just told you my feet hurt like crazy when I run.  I just SHOWED you the swollen spots on my foot that have been swollen for Six MONTHS!  Dude!  Then he says, "yeah, those swollen places don't look good."  Sheeeez.  Ya know, they don't dang feel too good either.  Grrr.  So I'm in the right shoe.....  I guess my next stop is the podiatrist.  When I get up the nerve to go.  Once these blisters get in bearable running condition, I'll try again with my "newer" shoes and old shoes and keep on until I give in and see what this podiatrist business is all about.

Today I biked 14 miles.  My main focus today was getting through my workout and not hating life.  It was a close call when I got here.

But I went Full Steam ahead!  Not gonna let those hills get me down, oh no.  I've got to keep on moving.  (You're welcome.)  And I conquered them.  No wrecks and no stops.  I just kept on peddling and peddling and peddling.  And felt super accomplished when I climbed those hills!

I've had a hard time enjoying life lately.  And rather than be one of those awesome people that like to give life a big punch in the face and kick butt along the road to awesomeness, I just want to sleep.  A lot.  Sleep has ALWAYS been my drug of choice.  I just love it y'all.  But, as I said Saturday, my focus this week is to enjoy my workouts.  To breath peace and joy and love and count my blessings during each workout.  And who Wouldn't want to do just that when this is your training ground??

Yep, that's where I ride my bike.  It's sooo lovely.  Today, I did enjoy my ride.  And when I got that phone call with crappy subject matter during my ride, I looked around and said, "it doesn't matter."  What matters is that you have people that love you and a God above that has great things planned for you.

Today I read a parable about a man in a village that kept having bad things happen to him.  After each increasingly bad event, he would go to the elder in the village and say, "this is the worst thing that can happen to me."  The elder would say each time, "Maybe so.  Maybe not."  The moral to the story was that each time something bad happened and the man thought it was the worst thing that could ever happen to him, something good came of it.  Each time.  I made me a sticky note and put it on my computer.  It says, "Maybe so.  Maybe not."

On my drive home from this nofunday Monday, I saw TWO rainbows.  Not a double rainbow.  But two, separate rainbows.  Do you know the meaning of rainbows?  God placed a rainbow in the sky as a promise that he would never again flood the earth.  It's God's promise to us.  God holds promises for me.  For ME!  And for you.  For Us.  And I plan on cashing in on those promises as soon as He'll let me.  :)

Thank you God for the blessings I forget to count and for the blessings I don't deserve.  Amen.

Dual or Duel

Yesterday, for the first time, I did two "events" in the same day. First, I swam 1300 yards. For the first time yet, I swam half a mile (or 875 yards) without stopping. Normally, my swim workouts are a mixture of laps on intervals and shorter sets such as swimming 200 yards four times with 20 second rests in between. I usually warm up with a 250 or 500 yard swim. Yesterday, I hopped right in and swam 875 yards before finishing the workout with some sets of 100's. It took me 13 minutes to swim half a mile. So now I have a pretty good idea of how I expect to perform on the big day.

After my swim I went on over to the trail and did a 10 mile ride on my bike. All went pretty well. My feet are still too sore to run but my blisters are making progress.

It was a day of a mini dual-Athlon but it was also an internal duel. It's just so hard to get going sometimes. There's other distractions I would much rather focus on. I need to learn not to feed the duel and use my training as time of internal peace and clarity. That's what I'll work on this week. Everything's a process, eah?

Update

Two days off. Blisters not doing well and consequently neither is my training. Yikes. Blisters hurt much worse than I recall blisters ever hurting before.

Busted

It busted. Big time. The big blister that is. I went to do my workout tonight in the hotel gym. Lifted just a few weights and hopped on the treadmill for a 3 mile run. A mile and a half in the blister on my left foot started hurting real bad. I thought, well, it either busted or is just hurting really bad. But Surely I can make it to 2 miles..... Nope. I made it another quarter mile and decided I must stop before I turn my ankle by running on the side of my foot. Ohh it hurt. But I wasn't ready to completely give up so I did some squats and a few more weights before I hobbled off to my room to check out the damage. Y'all, it was yuck. It had busted and worse yet, the bluster pad that was supposed to be so great had peeled the skin off. Yuck! The blister on my right foot was oozing too. I know. So pretty.

So, do you know how bad it hurts when WaTeR gets in an open blister?? 'Cause then I had to shower. It hurt so bad my foot just went numb. And then I showered with my foot in the side of the wall, standing on one leg, for the rest of my shower.

Soooo busted.

Yazooo!

Y'all, blisters are no better. One of them is worse. For real. Yesterday I ran 5k that had several hills. I had to make a loop 3 times. The second time 'round I had to stop halfway up the Very long hill and walk a bit. The third time round I talked myself into pushing through. After my run, I went directly do.not.pass.go.do.not.collect.$200 to the pharmacy to find blister pads. See exhibit A.

Today I biked 10 miles and kept it in high gear. Literally. I biked on the trail today which is pretty flat. It's ever-so-slightly downhill one way and slightly uphill on the way back. So because I was only doing 10 miles I wanted to be sure and make it a tough 10 miles. This was the first time I've been on the bike in 3 weeks. And let me just say y'all, I don't know how dudes ride bikes. And that's all I'm gonna say about that. Yo.

So I've made it through 2 days of this very crazy work week and managed to work out both days so far. Here's hoping for the same good results the rest of the week! And better blister-healing too!

BLisTeRed

I'm blistered :(  Goofball me, went out of town this weekend and forgot..... my socks.  SOCKS!  When I looked in my bag this morning and couldn't find my socks, I thought, "oh well.  I'll just run without socks.  It's no big deal."  Mika Brzezinski (co-host of the greatest morning news show ever, Morning Joe) runs without socks all the time!  She claims socks are an "unnecessary step."  Ewww.  They are very necessary to me.  However, until today, I didn't realize how necessary!

I've got one of those of both feet, same spot, same size.  Unfortunately, this ain't my first rodeo.  Once in college, I had a blister 5 times the size of these on one foot.  For me, I have come to learn that the best way to deal with blisters on the bottom of my feet, is to pop them, carefully.  I am NOT giving out medical advice here and don't really recommend popping blisters!  But I have to.  I can't help it.  I was Very VeRy careful in this process because the last thing I want is infected or raw feet.  I used a little sterilized needle and poked a tiny hole in one little spot.  And used lots of peroxide.  Hopefully, in a day or two I'll be left with some dead skin instead of blisters that hurt and feel uncomfortable and will eventually end up popping themselves most likely during a run.

However, I RocKed it on the treadmill this morning!  And to that, I owe all to my weekend travel buddy and increasingly sweeter sweetheart.  There was about a 60% chance that I was gonna putz out and skip working out today.  And would you know, that my incredibly supportive main squeeze (who has no desire to workout himself) pulled me down to the gym and walked on the treadmill next to me while I ran.  Y'all, that's awesome.  And of course, because I wanted to impress him so, I ran like a mad woman.  Ohhhh yeah. Well, I hope it worked at least.

I'm in for a crazy work week so wish me luck with my training this week!  Hugs!

On the Road

Friday! Finally! And what a C.R.A.Z.Y. Day! Seriously insane at work. But I like busy days for the most part. MUCH better than dull days. However, the best intended plans are no match for days like today. I was soooo gonna get a quick bike ride or run in before I left for the weekend at 5:00 sharp (or before.... Shhh). I was gonna. And then the day exploded, at about 8:30 this morning and never ran out of dynamite.

Thus, no workout today. I finally left work at a "sharp" 6:30. Crap. But alas, I'm on the road for some fun and R&R this weekend. But I DO plan to run in the morning!

Yesterday I got a really great swim in. I swam 2000 yds hard core. It was excellent. And now I'm getting carsick so toodles! Happy Friday!!

Waivers

Oh goodness.  I haven't posted in 2 days!  It's kind of hard for you to keep me honest if I don't keep you posted.  No pun intended - but I like it.  Ha.  Let's see..... on Tuesday I swam.  I swam 1800 yds and felt like I had been swimming for hours.  But no.  Less than one hour, actually.  It took me about 9 minutes to do a leisurely 500 yds.  Remember, for the race I'll have to do 800 meters, which is about 875 yds, give or take.  So if I did 500 yds (leisurely) in 9 minutes, I should be able to do 875 yds in twice that time and hopefully faster.  Though it is more difficult to swim in a 50-meter pool than it is in a 25-yard pool, because its longer (obviously) and you don't get to do your flip turn and glide off the wall as often as you do in a yard pool.  Which is a nice break for your arms when you're swimming half a mile.  I hope that I'll get to get in some practice swims in the 50-meter pool before the race, but I'm not sure when they're opening the 50-meter pool for the season.

Anyhow.  Yesterday I ran 3 miles.  It went pretty well.  I've still been having a bit of knee pain in my right knee but it didn't bother me while running yesterday.  It's bothering me now a bit, but at least it held off 'til after the run.  I wore my old worn-out running shoes again and had just a teensy bit of pain in my feet but not too bad.  I plan to look for a new pair of running shoes this weekend.  My quads are a little sore today but I feel pretty good.

I'm not sure what kind of workout I'll get in today.  Right now, it's raining cats and dogs, so perhaps another swim or maybe a pilates class.  But I'll keep you posted!  ;)

Now onto the real business.... I'm finally getting around to filling out my entry form for Iron Nut.

See.....

Next year I'll age up!  Yikes.

And for the Serious business....  The Waiver

Y'all, I signed my name to some serious language.  In this Waiver, I certified "that I am physically fit, [and] have sufficiently trained for participation in this event...."  Define "sufficiently" for me please.

Also in this Waiver, I "assume any and all risks associated with participating ... including but not limited to falls, contact and/or crashes with other participants..."  Contact and/or Crashes!  Y,all.  I will crash during the biking leg.  I Probably will crash INTO someone else during the biking leg.  Probably.  Will.  Oh boy.  At least they require everyone to wear helmets during the biking leg.

Teedle-Dee!  Stay dry wherever you are!

Flow

Today I flowed.  Ya know, flowed like a RiVer, like a FouNTain, like the yogis with their head between their knees.  Hehe.  Not quite, but I tried!  I dug in for some stretching, strengthening, breathing and twisting today.  It was LoVely!  I turned Pandora on to my yoga station, rolled my mat out and went for it.  I love yoga.  I just don't do it enough.  I finally found a class near my work once a week, but in March they quit having it.  And I hadn't done it since.  It felt really great.  And boy were my muscles tight.  Poses that I used to be able to settle into almost flawlessly and with deep stretches took quite a bit more effort today.  But that's O.K.  I went at my own pace, stayed in each pose as long as it felt good and challenging and just breathed.  Ahhhhhh.

It was really really nice.  No, it didn't do much for my cardio needs, but it was good for my mind, body and soul.  A big part of yoga is meditation.  I use my meditation as a time for prayer, to seek the spirit within me and give thanks for how incredibly blessed I am.  It was a good way to end the Monday workday.  'Cause Monday workdays are no good.  But This, was GOoD.

xoxoxo

Just Keep Swimming

One of my favorite Disney movies is Finding Nemo.  It's so adorable.  Little fishies.  Facing real world fishie problems.  And having the courage to "touch the butt."  If you haven't seen it, find a kid to watch it with you.  So you don't feel so ridiculous watching an animated Disney movie.  Or just own it, like I do.  :)

Anyhow, "Dorey" is this sweet little fish that has amnesia.  She can't remember stuff.  She can't remember where she's swimming, why she's swimming, or where she's been swimming.  Dorey's tag line through everything is "just keep swimming."  When you don't know which way is up, just keep swimming.  Many people feel that way about running.  For those folks, running clears their mind, gives them the great "runners high," and just makes them feel better, feel good even, sometimes grrrreat.  (That's not me.  Nope.  Huh-uh.)

However, swimming does do great things for me.  I can't say that it gets me an endorphin high, but it clears my head, relaxes me and makes me feel good.  I grew up swimming from the time I was 3.  I was a little water baby.  And while I never grew to be a championship swimmer or made a college scholarship out of swimming, I ENJOYED it.  I ENJOY it.  It relaxes me.  I know how to do it.  I don't stress over how well I'm doing it (though that wasn't always so).  It steadies my heart when things are in flux and takes me back to those easy days of being a kid, in a pool.  You know it was awesome.

Y'all, today I was Dead.Dog.Tired.  I had a fabulous week buried in mud, tarred with manure and feathered with cow hair.  I Love that stuff!  Yesterday winded up a very long physically demanding week, but a week that was good for my soul.  And after a lovely date a fine-fine fella, I passed.out.  In a coma-like state.  At like 9:45.  (Which is super early for me.)  I got up to get ready for church this morning and my eyes were still half shut.  I was Drag'N.  I made it to Sunday School.  Totally got sleepy during church.  (Don't tell Pastor Will.  It really was a great sermon!)  Met mom and dad for lunch and nearly climbed over six tables to get coffee.  And I yawned, a lot, while a guzzled my coffee.    

BUT, because of YOU, I knew I had.had.had to workout today.  I have not worked out since Tuesday.  Although every bone and muscle in my body ached this morning.  Sooooo I committed to going for a swim, even though I was soooo tired. 

As a compromise to my aching bones and muscles and my exhausted state, I did a short swim.  I swam 1,000 yards and timed myself on four 100's.  Most pools are 25 yards in length (some are meters) so that's 4 laps.  In the triathlon, I will have to swim half a mile in a 25-meter length pool.  That translates to about 800 meters or 875 yards.  On the Iron Nut application, I have to submit an estimated time for what it takes me to swim 100 meters.  My times for the four 100's I timed today were 1:28, 1:25, 1:25 and 1:20.  I'm not sure if on the application they want the fastest time that we can swim 100 meters, or what we expect to swim 100 meters in at an 800 meter pace.  Since I timed myself in yards, I have to leave a little leeway to convert to a meter time.  So I think I will submit an estimated time of 1:45 for a 100 meter swim.  That should give me plenty of time for the yard to meter conversion and be a good estimate of a relaxed pace.

I've still got a lot of work to do!  But hopefully this week I'm back on schedule and ready to roll.  With the one exception that my right knee feels like it might rather be amputated.  I kid.  It's not funny.  I don't mean that at all.  But it does hurt in a mad mama-jama way.  So lots of ice for now.  Fingers crossed it feels better soon.  I must get back on the bike this week.  It's been way too long since I've tackled that mountain.  

Many blessings to y'all!

Dirty Girl

So I've been a complete slacker on my workouts, Again.  BUT in my defense, I've been working hard.  We have 11 head of cattle in a sale tomorrow and if you don't know what that entails, just trust me, it's a lot of work.  But work that I Love, so I'm not complaining.  Regardless, I did not work out the past two days and I'm just tell'n ya now that I won't tomorrow either.  However, for some reason that I have yet to figure out, my biceps are sore, so maybe I got a sliiiight arm workout somehow.  Also, my right knee is absolutely killing me.  It aches when I bend it and it aches me to sleep at night.  I think it's from a lot of the up-down up-down in cattle preparations.

Yesterday, I washed all 11 head of my lovely sale cows.  And this is what I looked like after....

As my friend Rachael says, "I'm so pretty."  :)  I do love dirt.  And cows.

And here is one of my sweet baby cows that is selling in the sale tomorrow, playing hide and go seek.  Either that or she thought she was camouflaged.

So I've been super busy, but not a bit of it is Iron Nut related, unfortunately.  And there's only 5 weeks to go..... ohhhh goodness!

Happy weekend y'all!

Hello, my name is Excuse.

No workout today.  :(  Unless you consider unloading bagged mulch, herding cows uphill in the mud, carrying 50 lb. feed sacks down the hill in the mud and meticulously clipping awholebunchof fuzzy hair in the dark, a work out.  It really was no sort of work out in any legit way, but BOY am I tired!  Dad is out of town so I'm holding down the fort trying to finish things up for the cattle sale this weekend.  And there was just no kind of time for a workout today.  I know, excuses excuses.  I'll just go ahead and tell ya.... Friday and Saturday, it ain't happen'n either.  It'll be all cattle business on those days.

Tomorrow's going to be super busy too between work and cows.  But I'm gonna try my hardest to squeeze something in.  I had hoped to make it by the shoe store today, but between a meeting, an impromptu lunch "meeting" and a lost wallet at the gas station (yeah.... that'd be mine), I didn't make it there either.

So here's hoping for a good workout tomorrow!  And a good night's rest tonight!

Teedle-dee!

Shoooooe(t)

Y'all... today I had a great revelation.  A revelation that has taken me literal MoNths to come to.  Y'all, it's tHe ShOooooes!!!!!  This horrible foot pain I've been having for months and still have a lump on the side of one of my feet from.... I'm blaming the daggum shoes.  At least for today.  I had this thought while I was running in pain yesterday, "I'm going to try my old worn out running shoes tomorrow and see if my feet still hurt."  Ah-Ha!  At least for today.... no foot pain.  So my old running shoes are seriously worn out.  BUT, they didn't hurt my feeeeet like my new(er) pair.  Stay tuned for achey feet updates.

I ran 3 miles today and it was a cool 60 degrees.  Whether it be because of the lack of foot pain, cool weather, or just a general I'm-feel'n-good kind of day, I didn't need to stop halfway.  Normally, I've been stopping halfway and doing squats and all that jazz I told ya about yesterday.  But today, I was feeling pretty good so I kept on trucking.  And I ran the entire 3 miles without stopping.  Much improvement from the past few weeks!

And now I've succumbed to eating potato chips while I write this post.  Woopsie daisies.  O.K., off to the barn now for an evening with my mommas and baby girls!  (Which SOMEONE is making me sell more of them than I would like on Saturday.....DAD.)

I'm Baaaack!!!

Remember me?  Uh-huh.  The girl that whined through my entire training for the Secret City Half Marathon in November.... yep.  I claim it.  Not proud of it (the whining part that is) but I'll man up and claim it.  What now you say?  WELL!  'Member that triathlon I mentioned that I Really wanted to do?  Ima gonna do it!

Here's the facts:

Iron Nut Triathlon
Town:  Abingdon, Virginia
Date:  June 2, 2012
Race:  Half-mile swim, 17 mile bike ride and 3.2 mile run

Now, you're probably thinking.... "errr, that's just SIX weeks away!"  O.K., well if you're not thinking it, trust me, I am.  I had this great and bright idea back in February.  And in March, I did start training, sort of.  And then the first of April came and things went to pot.  Life happened and I let it get in the way.  I didn't want to do anything.  For two weeks straight.  And so I didn't.....  Yikes.

That's where YOU come in, Again!  Aren't you lucky?  This is my "keep me honest" page.  I must keep going.  I've always wanted to do a triathlon and now the opportunity is literally at my feet and I don't want to blow it!  And the Best part (!), is that I have two girlfriends doing it with me!  Wahoo!  Two girlfriends, who I might add, are significantly more motivated to train than I am.

So off I go again.  This week, training is going to be very difficult as there's lots going on at the farm and lots of work to do.  I was determined to workout today, so I took the opportunity of my lunch break to take a run.  Shew.  If you don't recall, I.dont.like.running.  :(  I've tried!  So hard to love it!  But running and I are just like oil and water.  We can co-exist.  But we will never blend.  I ran 3 miles today.  I stopped midway and did some squats, push-ups and inverted froggies. (Which is in no way a technical name but what I call the exercise where I lay on my back, legs in the air, heels together, bend my knees out and down, heels together, and push my legs straight back up, heels still together.  It's a killer workout for your inner thighs.)  Then I ran back to my office but I did have to stop and walk twice in the last half mile.  Not great, but I'll get there!

I'm still having feet problems that are residual of the half-marathon training.  And occasionally still some knee pain.  But I'm not gonna let it get me down.  Noooope.  Ima gonna do it!  Regardless of the fact that I'm a HORRIBLE bike rider.  True story.  A story for another day.

Happy (as it can be) Monday!