SLUGG-ISH Day

The rest of yesterday was a bit sluggish. I had a great dinner at a friends house and caught up with some friends I haven't seen for awhile. It was good times - I made a fruit pizza for dessert :-) It looked (and tasted) really good, I don't have a picture, but it was close to this.

Today I woke up still feeling sluggish. It was raining and the morning actually flew by. I haven't heard from Coach about this weeks workouts, so I just assumed I will be doing a repeat of last week. I hit the treadmill for a 40 minute tempo run. The first 12 minutes were easy and I was very happy with myself that my heart rate stayed down. By the time I did my 4th 3 minute hard part, I was really pushing my self and it felt great!!

And then I got back to my desk. The high wore off and I was back to feeling sluggish. Now I know I should be going to bed early, however Kristen and the girls were in town from New Orleans so I had to make them a priority. I held the baby (Kate - and I would have posted the picture but it looks like I have 17 chins) and watched Addison the 2 year old act like a 2 year old. It doesn't help when I laugh at her, but she is just too darn cute! Kristen and I finally got to go out and catch up. It was like she never left and we picked up right were we left off - I love that. I am always happy how you can power through a sluggish day.

My First Casualty

I knew it was going to happen, I just thought it would take a bit longer. It happened during the marathon training, but maybe 2-3 months in with some serious mileage. I have the time in, but not the mileage. Anyway, I lost half my middle toe toenail on my right foot. It was bothering me a bit during my run this morning but I just thought it was going into the next toe. Nope... that was an unpleasant surprise. So much for my pedicure...

I was going to take and post a picture, but that is a bit gross, even for me. Instead, today is the peak of the cherry blossoms. So, here are a few pictures I took from a few years ago.

Getting There

I woke up and it was 35, feels like 30, degrees out. I am sorry, but that is waaayyy toooo cold to go biking. So I went back to sleep for an hour.
Woke up, did my a.m. yoga, made breakfast (okay, brunch) and got my bike ready to head out. It was still a bit cold for biking but knew I had to get outside.

I went back to Beach Drive to do my 90 minute ride. The first half was good. I leaned back in the saddle and down went the seat angle. Not fun. I spent the next 20 minutes trying to get it back to a normal position and hold, however I have no idea it if is at the correct angel.

Now this bike was supposed to be a 90 min "get out and ride, get used to the bike, and aero riding as well as the surroundings. No pace or heart rate info. Just ride easy, and enjoy." This sounds like Zen Biking to me. I did pretty good at not looking at the distance, however was not good with the heart rate. I kept looking and was so annoyed that it was so high! I kept telling my self "Zen bike, you are zen biking". It didn't work. I think it was like that Friends episode where Monica was leaving a message for her friend, the ex, Richard

MONICA: "Hi, it's Monica. I'm just checking in 'cause I got this message from you and I didn't know if it was old or new or what. So, I'm just checkin'. So let me know, or don't, whatever. I'm breezy."

JOEY: Hey, you can't say you're breezy, that, that totally negates the breezy.

I think it's the same thing with biking. Saying you are biking zen negates the actual biking in a zen state.

Stupid Right Eye!

Anyone catching a theme here? I am not just making excuses, but things just keep happening! Okay, maybe they kind of are excuses... but could also be considered good reasons for skipping/missing/cutting short workouts.

I was at the pool, swimming along in a very crowded lane.
And on that note, seriously, why were there so many people at the pool on a Friday!?!?!
Anyway, I am swimming along and my right eye starts to bother me. I finish my 1000M, take off my goggles and rub my eye - trying to not let my contact fall out. I am trying to find the contact and put it back in place. I look at my finger and there is half my contact. I never found the other half and really hope it's not floating around my eye somewhere. I didn't want to try and swim with one contact so I hopped out after 1500M total. Not too bad...

Tomorrow is a biking day. Either with the Saturday group ride with the bike shop or on my own later in the afternoon. It all depends on the weather. If I wake up and it's 35 degrees, back to bed. If it's 45, to the group ride I go.

Oh, the Left Side of My Face

There many excuses I use to not get out of bed and workout. I think today was a really good one. I had to go to the dentist and have a filling. At 9 am, I had some strange guy with a drill in my mouth. I think that is a good reason to not get up and swim :-)

I did make it out for a lunch run. Merissa and I check weather dot com and made it out in the small window it was not raining. It was a pretty good run, with not a lot of tourists due to the rain. Everyone was happy!!

AND - I must apologize for a previously posted picture. Tonight I had a quick dinner with some friends. One of these friends, who would like to remain nameless, asked about a certain picture on a post. She thought it was along the same lines of a Georgia O'Keeffe painting... if you know what I mean. I am not sure why, but it just really made me laugh because it never even crossed my mind, or one of the other people at dinner (who also reads this blog). However, I do want to apologize if anyone else thought I was posting inappropriate pictures. It still makes me laugh...


UPDATE
I am TOTALLY back on track. I just got off my bike on the trainer for a really good 45 minute ride. Knee pain was limited, the isolated leg trills were hard but good, and I am getting used to the aero bar position a bit more. I know things will be different when I get outside, but this is very promising :-)

It was H-O-T Today

Wow, it was pretty warm today at lunch. I mean, 65 degrees or so, and sunny, and no real breeze. I really wish I remembered my shorts... Everyone and their brother was out running on the mall - Arin, were you there :-)
The crowds must be learning because very few people let their children wander out in front of me and a few times I even heard "Hey, you have to look where you are going! You almost walking right into that person!" It was music to my ears!

That's really about it. I am off to dinner with Jersey Sarah. It is convenient that work sent her down and I get to spend some quality time with her before the big move to Seattle. I do have to drive out to Tyson's... Blah... But, she is worth it.

I Almost Forgot!!

I could not go swim tonight because I had a much more important engagement tonight. I had to do some stalking to get this meeting, but I did it! My hair was in dire straights and needed to be cut - badly. I have alluded to my laziness before, but it is really bad with my hair. Now I have been going to Alyssa for about 4-5 years. In December, I called her salon, but couldn't get in - she is that good. Well, I called about 2 weeks ago and found out she left!! Now I can't blame her for not getting in touch with me because I go about every 5 months - but I am loyal and she knows that. Luckily, her old salon gave her new phone number and I got my appointment.

It was really good to see her and have someone know me so well. I have posted before how important a good hair cut is. Alyssa is great because she
1. knows that even when I say I will come in more often, I won't
2. knows when I say I am ready to have a trendy hair cut and will take the time to do my hair, I won't.
3. knows that the most important part of my hair cut is putting into a ponytail - even when I don't say it.

So, I am very happy with my cut and it fits in a ponytail. YAY!

This is an old picture - after she cut off my 9 inch ponytail I donated to Beautiful Lengths.

But she is great and working at Salon Revive. The website is down, but a Google search will give you a phone number that works.

And I did not get a discount for posting this about her ;-)

Ugh... Tourists!!

I tried to get up this morning. I really did. I set the alarm, woke up, but just couldn't do it. And that extra sleep... sooooooooo good :-)

But, I did make it for my run at lunch and dragged Jess with me. It wasn't just a normal run, it was the tempo run. 3 times 3 minutes fast/hard/high hear rate followed by 3 minutes easy/walk/trot. This was the first time Jess has attempted something like this. She kicked some butt and stayed with me for a part of each of the 3 fast intervals. I think she pushed harder than she thought she could do - I am very proud of her.

The bad part of the run, people are on spring break - and that means tourists. They get in the way, do not pay attention, DO NOT CONTROL THEIR CHILDREN, and kick up a lot of dust.Okay, it wasn't this bad but at times it felt like it. Especially when people were getting off the metro. Now, you might be asking "Amanda, why don't you just run somewhere else?" Well, I am supposed to be running only on the side of the roads or gravel paths. It's better for the knees and the mall is perfect - close to work and really good conditions.

I have a feeling I am going to post a lot of complaints on this topic...

I know, I know - my life is so hard...

Running Out of Reasons

Today was my follow up bike fitting - a tweaking if you will. I didn't get the same warm fuzzy feeling I usually get from the store, but that's okay, everyone has a day off.

So we set up Carlos on a trainer and I warmed up. We discussed the knee pain a bit more and how the x-rays and MRIs did not show anything. He did some measurements, adjusted the seat a bit (but feels it may be a bit too high) and repositioned the cleat on the shoe. Basically, that's all there is to do... I don't know, I am not a wimp, really, I am not - or at least I don't think I am. I just hope this works itself out. I really feel I am running out of options.

I am back to a hard week. Unfortunately, I didn't realize that until tonight, after the bike fitting and out for a birthday dinner (not mine). I guess that means I should go to bed and get up to do my swim. I really should because I am getting my hair cut tomorrow night and everyone knows you can't swim after getting your hair done.

We Are Starting on Monday

First of all, Happy Easter!!

Second - onto training
Coach said we are staring up again on Monday. So, I will do a quick ride on the trainer but enjoyed a nice long relaxing day. Went to a friends and watched TV, ate junk food, and sat on the couch. It was one of those great Sundays of laziness. Sometimes those are just needed, and today was one of them.

Third - this is my favorite Easter cartoon.

Ahhh... A relaxing Saturday Morning

This morning was one of those great mornings... Slept in past 7, did my a.m. yoga, made a tasty breakfast, and watched a movie I have had since November - you have to love Netflix!!

I am doing some light cleaning up as I want for some friends to go to lunch.

I am updating my NCAA tournament bracket.

Yes, I should just go out for a small run or sit on my bike for a bit... but I am sure I will get there soon enough.

I am just enjoying my day - not shoveling or digging out of inches and inches of snow. He he he...

Both Happy and Frustrated

I had my results today from the MRI. They came back normal!!
The good news is that it's nothing serious. YAY! It just showed a slightly beaten up knee cap (thank you 14 years of soccer) and some swelling.
The frustrating news is that I am not a wimp!! I know something is not right when I get worried about standing because something is going to snap in my knee. And I still don't know this is happening.

So, I can keep going. That is good and I am excited to get back into it. I understand my body is not mechanically built for what I am trying to do, but my mind is there and I really want to keep going. And by that I mean I will keep going.

Lifeguards should do their job!!

Okay, I am not talking about saving lives. That, I think they do pretty well. Plus, at the Y when there are 5 out of 6 lanes used for lap swimming, saving lives is not the real issue. The real issue - keeping people in lanes that are close to their speed is really their correct job!! I have posted before about my frustrations with circle swimming. Today that wasn't the issue. I was happily splitting the lane when I saw an extra set of legs on one end - so I moved over to start to circle. He was much faster than the two of us, so I adjusted when necessary. But I was wondering why this super fast guy was in our lane and not the "Very Fast" lane.

And then I saw the person in the "Very Fast" lane. Now I saw him while I was swimming and I thought I was going to have do a rescue. He was not even close to parallel with the surface, the stroke was nothing remotely close to free, and just should not have been in the "Very Fast" lane. It throws off the flow of all the lanes.

So, the 3 of us are merrily swimming along and then I see a super fast guy go by on the other side. And then another. After the proper "let the fast guy pass" moment, I realized there were 4 other people in my lane, all way faster than me. And the "Very Fast" lane - another guy who was doing this side/breast stroke thing had jumped in and they were happily splitting the lane.

UGH!!!

I really think in situations like this, the lifeguard should move people to a more appropriate skill level lane.

OUCH!

Here is the thing - when your knee hurts, do not, I repeat, do NOT bang said knee on your bosses desk. Or any desk for that matter!!

Once again, I could not find a picture, so I did the best to create one. I banged my knee and yell "Ouch" (okay, maybe something more than ouch)
My boss says "Was that the knee you just had your MRI done on"
Me - "Yes"
Him - "Well why did you do that? It wasn't very smart"
Me - "Thanks... You are very helpful"
Him - "Well, at least you have a before picture if you really hurt your knee"
Me - "Once again, you are very helpful"

It's nice to have a supportive boss.

Bike in the Saddle

Sort of...

After the almost clean bill of knees, I decided to put Carlos back on the trainer and did an easy 30 minute ride last night. No, I didn't hear from Coach that it was okay, but I figured how bad could 3o minutes really be. I used my strap around the right knee and it seemed to help. But the best part, I finally got to use my new bike toy!! I biked 7.5 miles, on my trainer!! It was fun to see the distance go by, sitting still. It seems to work great which makes me very happy.

Today I was going to go outside for a jog, but it looked gloomy and there was a treadmill open. So, 30 minutes on the treadmill was enough for me. My heart rate was actually down and it felt pretty easy. All that rest...

Oh, and I was looking for a picture to accompany the "Back in the Saddle" title of this post. This picture came up and it really made me laugh.

The Luck of the Irish Strikes Again!!

This morning was the much anticipated doctors appointment.

The good news - the x-rays show nothing. YAY! That means my knee caps are back to tracking correctly, nothing is cracked or chipped, and both knees look okay. The Dr. sent me off for an MRI, just to make sure nothing else was wrong, but he doesn't think it will show anything. Woo-Hoo! I had that appointment this evening and the results should be back to the Dr. in 2 days, so I will hopefully make my appointment for the end of the week to know for sure.

What I don't fully understand is if nothing is showing up, why does it hurt when I bike, run, stand... He said it was 'runners knee', I am to use the strap things (which I have been - so that is good) and gave me some other info. I know that over the next 5+ months, I am going to go through some pain - okay a lot of pain, but I thought more muscle/joint/can't move pain - not if I stand something will snap pain.

So, I get to workout. I sent Coach a very long winded e-mail about the results. He was on his way out the door, but said I can do some 30 minute runs on gravel/the side of the road - no pavement and would get back to me.

I am feeling pretty positive. I just need to tell Coach when things are hurting: but also learn the difference in pain. Keep taking ibuprofen, icing, stretching, rolling the IT band, and hope for good luck. That is what the doctor said is a huge fact in attempting this distance - luck.

It's St. Patrick's Day, so I guess today is a good day to hope for some luck; and luck to carry me through the next 6 months.

Ahhh... Nice and Relaxed...

Spa day is the best. I had a massage and pedicure and the rest of the girls (and moms - they came this year too) and a verity of services and were very happy.

Now usually for my massages, I focus on my back, especially my left shoulder. But this time, I had them focus on my hip/gluteus maximus area as that has really been hurting. Apparently, my SI or sacroiliac joint (I think) needs some work. Not only did I get a good massage, but I learned about how to work on the joint and what I can do to help work it out with a racquetball and breathing.

I took yesterday off and over all - my knees are feeling better as a result of the week off. I am going to try and get to the pool before my flight, but we will see. It has been a quick trip home and I do want to spend a bit of time with my parents. Tomorrow is the sports medicine doctor so hopefully a lot will be answered...

Ahhh.... Home...

Today is one of the best days of the year - SPA DAY!! I am super excited to spend the day with my gals and just relax.

Getting in yesterday was a bit of drama. There was an issue at National that I still don't fully know what happened, and can not find any news articles on, so it must not have been that big of a deal; and it only delayed my flight by an hour. My parents picked up my stuff from the airport, gave me a car, and I headed to meet some friends at a going away party. Right as I sat down, I was served a tasty beer and ordered the fish and chips. I do love this town!!

It was much deserved after my run yesterday. Jess and I went out on a beautiful 50+ degree afternoon for a jog. I am not sure what happened, but I think a bug flew down my throat when we started because I just began hacking and gagging - and laughing a bit which was not making it easy. However, we persevered and kept going.

Now I love Jess, she knows this, but sometimes I like to challenger her a bit. Yesterday was one of those days. We have both heard of zen running, but laugh at the idea as we have never achieved such a thing - we do love our gadgets. So I took her watch. Not just any watch, but the GPS, calculates your time/pace, does everything for you, watch. As much as we both love gadgets, we both love control. I took hers away and try to get her to just concentrate on breathing, not worry about time, when the next walk break was, how far we had gone, when we would be done - just to go. Move forward, one leg in front of the other and go. I think she was ready to punch me at times, but she did great. Listened to her body so she could push but also when to slow down. I was very proud.

Okay, I am off to spa day!!

Heading Back to my Homeland!!

This evening, I am heading home - YAY!! It's just a quick trip, but a much needed weekend away. Since I can't really work out much, a relaxing trip home works out just as fine.

And, it's not just any trip home, it's SPA DAY with The Girls. Now, I mentioned before that we usually do this Memorial Day weekend. However, because of schedules, this weekend worked out better. A massage and pedicure do wonders for the spirit.

Have a great weekend!!

Ummm... Dinner...

Today I got to go for a 30 minute run. It was fine. Nothing hurt during the run, only after - that's good right??? I just felt a little off - my stride, my breathing, my look - hey, it matters!! ;-) I don't know, I think I am just too much in my head and worried about my knees. I am taking my ibuprofen, icing, stretching but things are feeling better. I mean my go-to, swimming, isn't even making me feel better.

I have got to snap out of this!!! I can't do anything other than what Coach says until I go to the doctor on Monday.

Nothing helps like a good dinner, especially with good friends and sangria. Kristin, Lauren and I went out for tapas and it was good to catch up.

Off to do my core, upper body weights and some yoga.

This is Not FUN!!

Well I can't believe I am this down about not working out. I think it has more to do with the fact that my knee might be worse than I think...

But, when I can't workout, I do the next best thing - shop for stuff I can wear when I can workout again! But I didn't buy anything, just put a lot of stuff in my cart, and closed out of the site. It's just better that way for the pocketbook.

I get to run tomorrow, which is exciting.

That's really about it.

This is a nice sunrise picture of Ironman Wisconsin. Something to remind me of why I keep going.

Carlos Has New Toys!!!

I just spent 2 and a half hours at Conte's bike shop. Not for me, entirely, but for Carlos. He was feeling neglected and wanted new toys. I am not one to let my bike down, so I obliged.


The first hour was a complete bike fitting. I got new inserts for my biking shoes, another new stem, and the seat and handlebars were repositioned. The bike fitter said my components would take me through September (YAY) and hopefully with this fitting, I won't need a new bike - even though I know it's a bit to small for me. So, instead of buying a new bike and/or components, I bought my self a new bike computer. Carlos is now wireless!! I am pretty excited to have a new toy. Don't be jealous Gadget Girl!

And of course with all this good news, there has to be some bad too. My knee, especially the right one, has been hurting a lot lately. I kept telling myself it was just a twinge. A twinge that won't go away. I finally told Coach and we just got off the phone. He is putting me on rest for awhile - only swimming with a few runs here and there. Lots of ice and ibuprofen. I know rest now so I am not hurting later - but I am already so close to the 17 hour cut off, I need all the training I can get. Logically, I know that if I don't take care of these things now, there will be no race to go to.. blah blah blah... I am going to call that doctor I saw last week at the tri club clinic and hopefully I can get in for some physical therapy.

BAH!! Stupid right knee hurting when I bike and stupid left knee hurting when I run!

I am going to go play with my new bike computer to make my self feel better.

Getting Old!

I remember being little and wondering why my parents would never sleep in. I don't remember exactly what the answer was, but I think I am starting to understand. This weekend I did not have to get up to workout. I took yesterday off and today I only have to bike 45 minutes. I was super excited to sleep in, especially with losing an hour due to day light savings time.

However, it was my unpleasant surprise when i woke up at 8:15 (really 7:15 for my body clock). WHY CAN'T I SLEEP IN!?!?! I really wanted, and could use, the extra sleep. But nooooo.... Because for the past few months I get up at the same time, for work or my workouts, I can no longer sleep in. I do remember this being a reason why my parents said they don't sleep in much.

Today is a day of cleaning. And I mean deep cleaning - shredding paper, organizing bills, cleaning out the crumb tray of my toaster oven. I do have to get in a 45 minute ride on the trainer, but I shouldn't have any problems in between alphabetizing my DVD's and rearranging my refrigerator.

Wow, I hope I am not as sad as that sounds...

A Nice Saturday Off

I arranged my schedule to have today off. It was nice and I have no idea when the last time I didn't work out on a Saturday.

Yesterday Jess and I took a long lunch and a nice long jog around the World War II memorial. It was right before the rain started, so that means the humidity was pretty high. I went a bit further than I needed to, but I figured Jess always adjust to my workout schedule, the least I could do was do the same for her.

Oh, and I saw this article and found it a bit interesting/funny. I blog about biking/running laps around this area pretty often. I will be sure to not leave anything lying around.

6 months.. Oh Geeze... 6 MONTHS!!!

Today is March 7, 2008. In 6 months, exactly 6 months it will be September 7. That has been the day, Sept 7, 2008. People ask me when the race is and it just flows out of my mouth "September 7, 2008". Wow, that is now only 6 months away.

6 months. That's it, only 6 months. 6 MONTHS!!

So, what do you do when you have the biggest race of your life 6 months away??? Sign up for something you know you will enjoy. I have been wanting to do the Reston 1 or 2 mile open water swim for awhile. But, it always falls on Memorial Day weekend, and that is always reserved for my girls back in G-Dale. Well, this year due to a wedding, trip to Europe, a baby, grad school and training for an Ironman, Memorial day didn't work out for the 5 of us and I will be here. Talked it over with Coach and thought it would be a nice break from the pool and I can always get my long bike in Monday, as I will have the day off. On Saturday there is an open water swim clinic and Sunday I signed up for the 2 mile, wetsuit division. It is 1 week after my first triathlon of the year and 2 weeks before the 4.4 mile bay swim. I am sure I will learn at least 1 thing from the clinic and and open water practice is always a good idea.

Should be fun!

Oh, did I mention that Ironman Moo is 6 months away...

Ho-Hum Day

Not too much going on today.

I always feel like I am a bit more tired on off weeks. I think it's because I feel like I have more time to do the stuff I put off: cook, clean, relax, read, sleep, etc. But instead of doing that stuff, I go out with friends or sit. Now most would think that the sitting is relaxing, however I think about the stuff I should be doing and that is tiring!!

I know, I know, my life is so hard! HA!

Tonight was an easy 30 minutes on the bike. This was followed up by some really good stretching that I learned from the clinic yesterday.

I really have no appropriate image to post with this Ho-Hum day. So, I will do a shout out to my friend Jersey Sarah (who is from Albany and lives in Phili) who is moving to Seattle in a few weeks. I am a bit sad she is going so far away - Phili was the perfect distance to drive and get away from DC. And she is a great friend to hang out with. But, it's just another city to go visit. I will miss you being so close but can't wait to come out west (after Ironman ;-) !!!

Good News is So Great to Hear!!

Today is one of those good days. Heard some good news that just made me happy. Made some good progress on a project at work. Had a decent 30 minute run. Swam a mile and was pretty consistent on my 100's. AND I went to a tri club event on preventing triathlon injuries. This doctor was pretty straight about problems and how to prevent some common injuries. The evening ended with dinner and season finale Project Runway with Lauren. My pick didn't win, but that's okay.

Anyway, today was just one of those good days.

A Good Sandwich Makes a Sad Day Better

Today started with me missing my swim for extra sleep. Surprise, surprise.

I get to the metro, there was a train on the platform with the doors closing. The problem, one door wouldn't close so they off loaded the train. Everyone rushes onto the next train, a door won't close, so we off load again. I finally get crammed on a third train and make it to work about 45 minutes later than I expected.

Then my brother calls with the WORST NEWS EVER!! He got the e-mail from our dad first. It put me in a funk for awhile, I never got to see him play in person. Some friends were great and understood my sadness...

So... there is nothing to make me feel better than a good sandwich. Merissa and Jess were there for me again. We headed to the "best tuna melt in the city" according to Mer and I have to say, they had a pretty good peach margarita. I am not a fan of tuna so I had a Rachel and it made everything better.

That was until I got home and Carlos was there looking at me. I only had to do a 30 minute ride, starting with a set of isolated leg drills, but dang... A full stomach, while trying to bike, it's not a great feeling. But I still managed the 30 minutes and I am still really full and I am truly sad that I will never get to see Brett play again.

Another Light Week... YAY!

I am learning to enjoy these down weeks. I get to do things like catch up with friends, go Costco shopping and pick up my apartment. Okay, I didn't do the last one, but I did do the first 2.

Today I only had a 30 minute run. Merissa and Jess went with me which is always fun. We took a little loop around the mall and Capital. I think I push them a bit and they keep me from going out too hard - which I always do. AND, it was a BEAUTIFUL day. 50-ish degrees, sunny, no wind. You just can't ask for better days than ones like today. It looked something like this.Now, I am going to try and get up in the morning for a swim so I can go to dinner...

40 Degrees is Warm, But Not That Warm

The sun is a bit deceiving. I knew it was supposed to warm up today, so I wanted to try and get outside for my 90 minute bike ride. Well, around 11 I started getting everything together and headed to Beach Drive. Marcus said the temperature was 40. My minimum bike temperature is 45 (okay, it's actually 50). I was already dressed, and it was sunny, so I didn't think it would be that bad. HA! My hands are STILL thawing out as I type!!

But, the ride was pretty good. It was the first time I went 90 minutes straight, no stopping, not even after biking up the big hill.

Here is the thing I don't like biking with a colder temperature - how much my nose runs. It's kind of gross. Now Rose (I hope she doesn't mind me saying this) but totally kicks butt on the 'snot rocket'. She has been working with me over the past few weeks and I just can't get it. I was trying today with very little success. In fact, I believe I had a little string off my right shoulder for the majority of my ride. Yup, gross. And my gloves were soaked through. Still gross. My nose feels a bit raw and when I saw my self in a mirror when I was done - DANG! White and crusty is all I need to say and I think you will get the picture. Yes, I am one H-O-T LADY!

Made Up For Missing Workouts Yesterday, Today

Today was a pretty good workout day.
After some discussion with people I 'run' with, we decided to start later and have a finish meet time instead of a group start time. Anything that gives us more time to sleep works for me! So we went back to Great Falls and everyone did there own thing. It was nice because I started on my own, but saw Rose right after I turned around, Sherry and Erik passed me towards the end, and Jess and Kate were waiting at the end to go to brunch (the ran too, I just didn't see them on the trail).

So after our run, we all went to my new favorite bagel shop. It's one of the main reasons I like to go running at Great Falls because this is where we go for brunch.

After some great brunch conversation, I realized I was avoiding my swim. I had to drive past my apartment to get to the pool, but I went and am glad I did. I had a 3000M straight swim to do, and added an extra 200M to get to 2 miles. It felt pretty good and strong. I can definitely swim 2 miles easier than run 2 miles.
But, as Jess would say "That's how I roll".