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!