Nothing too exciting to report

Sticking to the schedule
Monday - swam and ran
Tuesday - ran
Wednesday - swam (or is it swum?? Grammar is not my strong point!)

The rest of the week
Thursday - Bike
Friday - Run
Saturday and Sunday - Bike

I haven't fallen, tripped over anyone, or been really annoyed by people. It's odd... There is usually something!!

Comfortably Hard

Today was a good workout day. Started by getting up at 5:30. As I stated before, getting up is NOT easy for me, but I did. Mainly because Roxanne was going to be at the pool. It always helps to have a partner. I had to wait 15 minutes for a train, so we didn't have much pool time together. But, I did what Coach wanted, a good 2400M. 400 warm up, 4x400 - comfortably hard, 400 stretch cool down. Now, seriously, comfortably hard... That means moving quickly for 16 lengths of the pool, but not too hard, keep it comfortable. It just made me laugh a bit while I was swimming. I celebrated with my favorite latte - a light white sugar free raspberry

After learning my largest project at work isn't going well, my 3o minute run on the schedule was looking pretty good. Out I went for a beautiful 55 degree jog. This is the weather that makes DC beautiful. Sunny, clean, and crisp air. Something that does not happen very often.

By 4, I was ready to hide under my desk and take a nap. No such luck, but I did make it to the end of the day, and feeling good about my schedule.

Beautiful Day

At 1 pm, it was about 55-60 degrees, slight breeze and sunny. Just a beautiful fall day. I tore my self away from my new obsession with cable and internet to go biking. I was quickly reminded how much I love being able to toss Carlos in the back of Marcus and be on my way. It cuts out so much time!!

Anyway, I hop on Carlos and take off, yelling "On your left" to pass all the casual walkers. Most of the time, people move. Today, not so much. But, I didn't hit anyone, fall, or get hurt. All positive signs of a good ride. Afterall, it's October 27 and I can still bike outside.

Also, I was able to use my new sunglasses. When I was little and would go visit my grandparents in Missouri, we would always stop at Bass Pro Shop - a favorite of my dads. The most recent trip, I picked up a pair of Polarized sunglasses for $18. My mom, dad, Kristin, everyone talks about how much they love the sunglasses.

For $18, it was worth the try. And what did I think... I LOVE THEM!!! I really didn't think I would notice much of a difference, but I really did. I need to go and get a few more pairs. I know I will drop them, run over them, or just misplace them. They may not look the best, but I don't care, my helmet and spandex tights doesn't do much for me either.

Woo-Hoo!! Internet!!

This is my first post from my apartment with Internet! YAY! And I have cable too. It makes me really happy. Even though I had to wait from 11-2 for the guy to come; so I biked on the trainer for an hour (it was raining til around noon) and he didn't come until 3:15, it's all good.

I was counting down the time on the trainer, but it's something I will have to get used to. Tomorrow should be in the 60's, so I am hoping to go out in the afternoon, after Marine Corps Marathon. I want to go cheer people - and the city (and streets) shuts down for the morning.

Off to watch Boston play

PAUSE does not mean STOP

Ready... Take 3!!

So I am ready to start my Ironman training for a third time. The actual first time, after the tonsil surgery, and now after the passing of my beloved grandmother. After a 16 hour drive, catching up on sleep, unpacking, a few too many 'beverages' one evening, and a few tears: working out seemed like a good idea that I just couldn't get my self to do.

I made my self go yesterday.
It's raining, and has been for 3 days, so the treadmill it was. 35 min of walking - basically because my HR is still too high.

I tried again today for 40 minutes. My gym is in my office, which means there are co-workers everywhere. I am self conscience - especially about my slowness. After my warm up, I hit the PAUSE button on the treadmill. I hopped off and grabbed a magazine to cover my speed and distance. I stepped on the 'stopped' treadmill to start my jog. Only, it wasn't stopped. Nope, PAUSE does not mean STOP. It means "Pause for a few moments, than start again without the person using the treadmill knowing it."

So, I am pretty sure you can picture the scene. I attempted to step on the treadmill, expecting it to be PAUSED, and fly right off. Step a few more times again in confusion, scrapping my knee, and hitting my ankle.

Yup, everyone stopped and stared - all those co-workers. Great…

(There are no good pictures of people falling off treadmills, so I attempted to create this one. Bad, I know... But it's a Friday)

Lessons learned
1. Don't use the pause button
2. Should not have let the fact I didn't want people to see my speed/distance interrupt my workout.
3. Look to see if a treadmill is moving before stepping onto it.

I hope all you readers can benefit from my workout today.

Happy weekend!

Inspirational video from Coach

140.6

From my coach

This is why I picked him. He knows me pretty well

I love you Grandma!

I learned last night that my grandmother passed away. She was by far the strongest woman I have ever known and will always been in inspiration to me.

Needless to say, I will be out of touch for awhile. I know she was proud of me for the things I have accomplished and all I plan to do - and for that I am forever grateful.
I will love you always

Sometimes Dinner is more Important

Things have been busy, it happens. I was so tired last night, and I am really sick of being tired. Work is busy with meetings from 8-4:30, followed by all the work I should have been doing during the day. I know, I know, things could be worse.

Well last night I had a HH at one of my favorite places with my former running group. My plan was to stay for a drink, head home to Carlos, than get up and swim. Well, my friends talked me into dinner and I was way to tired to get up. Was it worth it??? YES!! In time, I won't be able to do this, I know. I am going to have to make sacrifices, I realize that. But sometimes, a good laugh and a hug from people that care about you is a thousand times better than a hour on my bike and an hour in the pool.

Good Morning Sunshine!!

I think when I was little, my dad called me Sunshine. I vaguely remember being a happy child when I would wake up. If this is true, I really didn't last long.

Every once and awhile you have those busy weeks. You know what I mean, you have a few happy hours, friends you haven't seen in months call and make plans, dinners, no clean laundry, no cooked food, etc. Now this is all good stuff, but it limits the times you can get to your workouts. At lunch, I can only jog. That leaves biking and swimming in the morning and evenings after work. Now when you have plans that come out of no where and fill up your evenings for the next 2 weeks, that only leaves mornings.
This is basically me in the morning. I know, so beautiful! I don't like getting up and out of bed. Really, I don't.

But, this morning I made it to the pool. It was not easy, my bed was warm and it was cold out - but I went anyway. I am glad I went (because yesterday the couch and I had some quality time together) and hope I can make this a habit. They say if you work out in the morning, it should energize you through out the day... don't feel it yet, but maybe if I keep trying.

Tomorrow morning - Carlos and I on the trainer watching Matt Lauer.

I "heart" ebay

I just won my second heart rate monitor!

I bought a Nike Imara heart rate monitor a few years back and love it! The strap broke and I was using tape to keep it together. I thought about getting another kind, but I know how this one works, does what I need it to, and just like it. A few weeks back, I bought another one on ebay.

Well, I do a lot of workouts at home and at work. I keep forgetting to take it with me back and forth, which is no good because Coach always wants my HR info. Soooo, I kept bidding on another one, okay - a third one - and someone would outbid me the last minute. I FINALLY won one!

Back on the bike too

Where did this 'cold' weather come from?? It has been sooo hot and humid, you would think I was happy with the cold. Yes and no. I prefer to be chilly than warm, but I also like a slow progression towards the cold weather. 2 days does not count as a slow progress.

Saturday was my first cooler biking day. I wanted to do something that wasn't flat (like Hains Point which I usually do) but didn't have the time to drive somewhere far out (DC is pretty flat). So I went to the Capital Crescent trail. I park in Georgetown, bike about 7 miles to Bethesda, which has a slight incline the entire way, than fly down back. It felt good to be on something a bit different than flat ground, but my toes were very cold by the end. Overall, I stayed on the trail for an hour and 30 minutes. It was also my first bike my right knee didn't hurt. Unfortunately, my left one did :-(
Why is it always something?!?!

2200M baby!

Woo-Hoo!! Friday was a good day. Decent run, and FINALLY a decent swim.
500 warm-up
5x200 with 30 sec rest
500 stretch
200 IM

It felt so good to have a good swim. I have a 2.5 mile swim in a week and REALLY needed this to make sure I can do the distance. It won't be fast, but I am not very confident I can do entire race.

Another Perfect Day... Just a little windy

I am not really on a set schedule right now. Just trying to get a few decent workouts without pushing too hard. I can tell I am still not fully recovered from the surgery, but getting there. Today I had another jog. I am getting tired of my typical National Mall route, so I decided to change it up a bit. It helped, felt decent (still not great). But I had better control of my speed and heart rate, which is good.
I think a big factor to this is the weather. It was 60, sunny, and at times a strong breeze. When I say strong breeze, I mean jogging into dust, leaves, and debris flying into my eyes. Even when I would turn to go down a different street, still the wind was in my face. Not sure if it was ever at my back - which just isn't fair. But, this is one of the better jogs I have had, so that is a good sign.

I do love fall and I am glad it is finally here!!

I know I need to work on it

Today was perfect. 60 degrees and no humidity. Should be perfect for a run, right? Not if you are me!

I am 'running' slower than I ever have. It's really frustrating. I can't keep a slow enough pace to keep my heart rate down, so I have to walk - a lot. I am giving it time, but just don't see any improvement yet. I know I just had surgery and was off for over 2 weeks, but still. I miss that good workout feeling. Yes, I could keep going longer than I am - but it's because I am moving so slow. Coach keeps saying PATIENCE. I think he says that at least once in every e-mail. I trust him, I do... I am just annoyed at another slow, not going anywhere, trot.

Not swimming well...

I don't know what is going on. I am some sort of funk. I tried to swim last night, but it didn't work. My stroke was off, still had a hard time breathing, and I lost a contact. So I tried to keep going, but couldn't. I got out after 15 minutes, it wasn't worth it. This is getting frustrating.

I was going to run during lunch, but spent 4 hours total trying to get my DC tags for Marcus. 2 different DMV's because Carmax is dumb, and just waiting for 2 hours to explain to the wonderful hard workers at the DMV, which took another 30 minutes. I will try and jog tonight, even though it's still really hot here. I am in real need for a decent workout.

Update from the weekend

Sorry for the delay in posting. It wasn't the most exciting of working out every, but here is my update

Saturday - Carlos and Marcus worked out great!! It was soooo nice to just put the bike (Carlos) in the back of the car (Marcus) and go. Lauren, bless her heart, was at my apartment around 8 and we went to Hains Point. I was biking and she was running. She was also making sure I didn't have any problems or end up on the side of the road. Little did we know that the Race for Cooperative Development 5k Run/Walk was going on at the same time. It made for an interesting bike, but it went okay. 9.5 miles is all I could do. It was soooo humid and I couldn't breathe, so I stopped earlier than I wanted.
But, we followed up the bike/run with the Taste of Bethesda and ate some really yummy food.

Sunday I went for a swim at the Y. Again, not great. When I would breathe, the air would get caught in my throat, almost like when you cry. Not fun and not a great swim.

Monday was Columbus Day and I honored him by going back to Hains Point for more biking. This went better and did a little over 16 miles. It was still hard to breathe, but was much better.

Not too exciting, but at least I am getting back into the swing of things... slowly

I'm Back in the game!!

I just had my first workout in 15 days! It wasn't much, just a slow 30 min trot, but it felt good. I mean I was still frustrated at how high my heart rate gets, how often I have to walk to get it to go back down, how slow I go and what little distance I trot, but it felt nice to be back out side and sweat a bit (but that might have had more to do with the 75% humidity). Either way, it is good to start again.

This weekend I am going to try and bike. Marcus and Carols will finally meet, which for me is very exciting. I know you are all jealous of my very exciting life! HA!

When you can't workout towards Ironman... Shop for Ironman

What to do, what to do when you can't workout. I know there will be a time when I really want time off - but not now. So instead of swimming, biking and running, I am on-line shopping for things that will help me swim bike and run. My regular readers know I am in need of a new wet suit and luckily All 3 Sports had a sale!!
Woo-Hoo!
The one I really wanted was out in my size, but my second choice was there. So I snatched up it and put it on my credit card. I checked again later in the day and it was gone. Good thing I didn't wait!
I am also trying to check out the sales to get ready for winter (and I use the term loosely because it really doesn't get too cold out here) running and biking. I have found a few deals on base layer tops and pullovers. I know I have stuff now, but isn't part of the fun on an Ironman is the new clothes?!?!

1 More Week

This is killing me!! I went to the doctor this past Friday. He said everything is looking good, healing properly - and even looks to be a bit ahead of schedule.
What - ahead of schedule!?!?! This is taking FOREVER!!!
Anyway, he said to continue taking it slow, drink lots of ice water, be careful with the solid foods, and stay away from anything warm or hot for 4-5 more days, at least.

When can I work out again - not until the weekend. That is more than 2 weeks! AHH!!!!!

This weekend my parents came out. It was great to see them and spend some quality family time together. Unfortunately, I couldn't do too much. I had to take a few naps, really couldn't go out to eat much, or do DC stuff. But we found stuff to do and I hope they had a good time. I think the high light of their trip was finding a good sports bar on Sunday to watch my Brett break the record for career touchdown passes.

Until the weekend, it's just more liquids, soft food that is easy to chew and swallow, and sitting like a bum until I recover a bit more.