She's ill

It is kind of funny; I have lived with the diagnosis of lupus for two(ish) years now.  I have done my homework, I have done my research, I understand what living with lupus means, but it hadn’t really set in until this past month.  I have dealt with minor flare ups, weeks of exhaustion, but this past month I spent the majority of my time flat on my back.  I was relying on pain pills and muscle relaxers on a daily basis.  It hurt something fierce trying to go grocery shopping.  My boys are amazing and helped out in every way they could, and don’t get me started on my sister!  Even though I was down and out life kept moving forward.  Last week I finally started feeling a little bit human again, I am still sleeping for hours on end, but I am not hurting anywhere near as bad (but I still hurt).  After going grocery shopping on one day and kiddo appointments the next I end up in bed for the next few days because I have no energy to do anything else.  I cannot believe how horrible this is.  I mean, I get it you hurt, you get fatigued, but this is insane.  I can’t even go for a walk about my block and that is less than a half mile.  My poor fur babies are confused beyond all get out! Not that they are complaining about all the love time they get, but are still confused.

While we were out shopping this past weekend my sister made the comment about me being ill.  I know it is true, but it hurt beyond all get out actually hearing someone say it out loud. Anyway, I will recover and I will be back out there on the course.  Lupus may slow me down but I refuse to let me it stop me all together!

~If you hear that someone is speaking ill of you, instead of trying to defend yourself you should say: "He obviously does not know me very well, since there are so many other faults he could have mentioned"~

No iron distnace this year :(

I guess it is time to update this.  Sadly I will not be completing my first iron distance this year. Shoot, I won’t even be starting it.  For the past month I have been pretty much stuck in bed.  Rheumy says I am in a full fledge flare up, doc is worried about my kidneys. Come to think of it, I am pretty sure it would have been safer to hide this entire month.  That is ok through.  I am taking it easy listening to my body, trying not to bite anyone and everyone’s head off (thanks to the prednisone) and when my body is ready to start over I will start at square one and slowly build up again (I can’t even go a half mile without being in excruciating pain right now).  This is just a stumbling block for me, nothing more.

Thank you Beach2Battleship for having a refund policy.  The more I have to deal with them the more I like them.  My first iron distance WILL be Beach2Battleship.

I am not going to push it, but I would like to do the Turkey Trot 5K in November.  If I can’t, I won’t, but it gives me something to look forward to.

~If you hear that someone is speaking ill of you, instead of trying to defend yourself you should say: "He obviously does not know me very well, since there are so many other faults he could have mentioned"~

Tri for the Cure – Race day

4:00 am came WAY to early! But I managed to get up, took my meds (must be taken an hour before eating).  Luckily I had packed/laid out everything I needed, the morning went pretty smooth.  I stopped by the front desk to request a late checkout, luckily there was no issues.  We got in the truck and headed to the reservoir.  In the past early parking was at the high school which was nice and close (sort of) to the race, for some reason they changed the parking arraignments and the distance to the start doubled!  Jose and I went ahead of my sister.  I set my bike up in the transition area and then head out to visit with my sister and Jose and eat my breakfast.  My poor sister was almost in tears.  Turned out the bag with the food ripped and the bottle of Starbucks shattered on the ground.  She tried to clean it up so no one would damage their tires going over it. All I could do is laugh, it fit perfectly with the way everything to the start of the race!  My sister told me point blank if my body even twinge wrong to stop right there and call it a day. 

Finally the race started. I was in wave 14 so I had a little bit of time to wait.  When it was my wave’s turn I was in the back on the outside of the pack.  The horn blew and we were off.  I went through my normal open water panic; I stuck with the breaststroke until I could relax.  Once I calm off I went.  The water temp was a nice 76 degrees.  I was concerned about my hands (can’t handle the cold), but I had no issues.  I finished up the swim feeling pretty good (wish I had gum to keep the disgusting taste of water out of my mouth).  When I got out of the water I was a little… dizzy isn’t quite the right word, a smidge disoriented, I guess.

I calmly walked to my bike put my helmet on, put my bike skirt on, my bike shoes, grabbed my bike I was off.  I finally got to the bike mount line, crossed over it and then headed out (a lot of ladies mounted before they crossed the mount line).  I was trying a new nutrition on my bike, it was apple and banana fruit snack stuff, I took a mouthful and YUCK!!!!!!! It made me nauseous for a little while, but luckily that cleared up.  I need to spend more time on hills, but other than that, the ride went well. 

I got to the bike dismount like and I hopped off.  Again, calmly walked to my area, pulled my bike shirt off and put on my running skirt, threw my t-shirt on, pulled my socks on (toe socks with powder in them), shoes on and of course my hat.  I brought a water bottle (Nuun was in it) with me because I was on the thirsty side.  I took it nice and easy up the hill, once I got to the mile marker I started jogging a bit.  My left big toe felt like it was broken (it has been like that for a while), and I could feel my feet getting tender again.  During water stops I would grab a cup and squirt a bit of Nuun in, take a sip and discard the rest. I ran the last ½ mile, and I was able to pick up speed at the end with a comfortable finish.  My final time was 2:05:39. I was super slow, but it gave me the information I needed.

Things to work on…	Things going well…
Need to add weights back into my training plan	Hydration – Nuun seemed to work really well
Need to work on hills – bike and run	Swim felt great
Nutrition
Need to figure out what is going on with my feet

 

~If you hear that someone is speaking ill of you, instead of trying to defend yourself you should say: "He obviously does not know me very well, since there are so many other faults he could have mentioned"~

Tri for the Cure – Pre-race

Technically I guess race weekend began on Friday.  Three out of four of my boys were going to hang out with Grandma and Papa for the weekend.  We decided that two of the boys really should have a bath before heading over to the house with the light colored carpet. We stopped by Wag-n-Wash for bath time and nail trimming. Charlie LOVES bath day, Freddie not so much! We got both boys nice and clean and the brought them in for nail trims.  After a visit to the bakery we headed out. Once again my car would start up for about five seconds and then die.  This is the third time this year and at least the 5^th time since I have owned my car so I knew exactly what was going on.  I called my mom to come pick us up and then the tow truck to get the car.  While we were waiting I got my stuff together, I keep my running shoes in my car more often than not, plus we had Cuervo’s stuff and the fur kids’ weekend stuff.  My mom arrived and the tow truck arrived.  The five of us got in my mom’s car and headed over to the dealership (they are the only ones who can fix the problem).  Once my poor car was checked in we headed over to my parent’s house.  My sister met us over there to give me and Jose a ride home. 

Saturday morning I had hoped to be out of the house by 10 am but my sister had to go in to work (she is usually off on the weekends), while she was at work Jose and I got packed, got the truck ready to go.  I had to wait until my sister got home to get my running shoes out of her car plus a few other things I needed for the race. When my sister finally got home (after 11) I started collecting my stuff and could only find one shoe.  You have got to be kidding me!!!!! We finally got on the road and headed up to Aurora.  Went to packet pick-up, got my stuff; went to the expo, luckily Skirt Sports was there I needed a new bike skirt because the padding in my previous one had lost the padding after it was washed.  There wasn’t a whole heck of a lot else to look it so we jetted.  We stopped by McAllister’s for a carefully chosen lunch (keeping sodium as low as possible).  When we got to the hotel we couldn’t check in yet (room wasn’t ready).  Off to King Soopers to get breakfast for the next morning.  When we got back to the hotel we were able to check in and we took some quiet time and I got everything ready for race day.  I found out that my running watch was dead and I didn't have the charger with me, I reminded myself it was just a training run and all was good (I was trying to keep positive).  Dinner was spaghetti from Carrabba's Italian Grill. Unfortunately I didn’t get to sleep until after 2:00 am.

~If you hear that someone is speaking ill of you, instead of trying to defend yourself you should say: "He obviously does not know me very well, since there are so many other faults he could have mentioned"~

She Lives!!!!

I know, I have been very quiet lately.  Well, today that is going to change. I have reviews galore and updates!

First with the updates.  It took my feet about a month to heal from the Slacker Half Marathon, I was finally able to get a pedicure to get the skin removed from my feet.  I swore Hillary was going to kill me when she saw how bad they were, and I was right!  She was very careful with them and man did I get a lecture! I have just a smidge of blister residue left on my feet, but I am able to get back to normal running!

I have decided I need to take a break from spin class to spend more time on my actual bike.  I am sure Jose is happy with that because I have been dragging him to class every week (he is doing an amazing job). 

Swimming I have been slacking on, but that is going to be fixed this week. 

Reviews!!!!!

Big race is coming up; hydration is a HUGE issue…  I have less than three months to get it figured out.  So I did what any smart triathlete/runner would do I hit a sporty type store and picked up a few choices (with low sodium).  Last week I did my long ride with Nuun Hydration (fruit punch) tablet thingies. I am not a huge fan of the Alka-Seltzer after taste, but it wasn’t to bad.

This week’s long ride (ok, it wasn’t as long as I had hoped, but I am happy with it), I went with Nathan Catalyst pomegranate and blueberry.  All I can say is YUCK! Now, when I got home I let kiddos try it and Jose liked it better than the Nuun.  I am not a huge fan of sweet drinks (you should see the faces I make when someone tries to give me sweet tea) and Nathan’s is sweeter than Nuun.  So take my review with a grain of salt!

Today I also got to test run a new piece of triathlon attire!  I have raced in De Soto tri capris and love them.  Ok, that was three years ago, but I remember them fondly.  I recently got a new pair and the style changed (of course!), Carrera Tri Capri with Folding Waistband.  I wore them on my ride today with Sport Skirt’s Cruiser Bike Girl (any extra protection to the neither region is always appreciated!).  I love the fact DeSoto kept in mind that 1/3 of the race is on a bike bent forward.  The waistband can either fold down (to below the bellybutton) or up so no one confuses you with a plumber!

This time next week is my first tri of the season, I am looking forward to it.  I just have to make sure I take my meds like I am supposed to if I want to actually participate next week!!!!!

~If you hear that someone is speaking ill of you, instead of trying to defend yourself you should say: "He obviously does not know me very well, since there are so many other faults he could have mentioned"~

Slacker Half Marathon

I want to preface this blog by reminding everyone that I have lupus and not only are my kidneys enjoying this disease my live has been effected too. Lupies have to take extreme precautions when in the sun.  I do not spend any time in the sun without have at least 80 SPF on, I wear hats (my sister has helped my collection of big floppy sun hats)…

Ultraviolet light is the invisible radiation in sunlight. "Sunlight may trigger a lupus rash and it can also trigger symptoms of joint pain and fatigue," notes Dr. Bishnoi. Lupus is a disease that goes through periods of quiet and periods of increased disease activity called flares. Many people with lupus experience flares if they get too much sun exposure. http://www.everydayhealth.com/lupus/sun-exposure-and-lupus.aspx

 I do not mean to bash the race or the directors when I say this was the worst possible race for me. 

Wake up call was around 3:30 am. My running buddy (and good friend) Lynne and I were carpooling for Georgetown for the Slacker Half Marathon which was scheduled to start at 8:00 am. Lynne got to my house at around 4:20(ish).  We loaded up in my car and off we went.  We got up there before the crowd really hit, we parked and went to pick up our bibs.  We ran to two of our running buddies (Felicity and Cindy)  as they were picking up their bibs too.  We went back to my car to get ready for the race and I finally got to meet Renee!  Lynne and I got all ready to go and we loaded up the bus… shortly after the bus departed Lynne realized she forgot her sunglass, so she had to ride the bus back down to get them! Once I got to the start area I ran into Felicity and Cindy and let them know about Lynne. We stood around and chatted for a while and then Renee caught up with us.  The race start was postponed a little bit because there were still busses on their way up with runners.  Luckily Lynne made it back in time.

This was the good part of the course!

This part of the course kicked my luppie butt!

The race start was pretty uneventful, there was a MAJOR bottle neck at the beginning (really needs to be reconsidered).  The first 4(ish) miles were on a bike path and there was a lot of nice shade.  Water stops every two miles.  The temperature was climbing pretty quickly especially since I was going pokey pace (I was having breathing issues – might have been the altitude, the fires, no idea!). Once I got out of the shade I was screwed!  There was minimal along rest of the course and I started battling cotton mouth around Mile 9. I was ready to throw in the towel, my bottom of my feet were covered with blisters there were no water stations in sight. The emergency personal I asked about water was a complete ass hole!  I finally got to a water stop at Mile 11, I stopped and drank more water than I should have, it all came right back up at Mile 11.5 (just in time for a tourist train to go by!!!!!!!!).  Thank God Lynne was at Mile 12, she walked with me to the end.  I was hurting!  I had no business touching this race, there is not enough shade and there sure the hell wasn’t enough water!  I am sure it would be a great race for people who do not deal with photosensitivity.   The scenery was amazing! The trees are beautiful, but this race is just not one that belongs on my to do list again!

~If you hear that someone is speaking ill of you, instead of trying to defend yourself you should say: "He obviously does not know me very well, since there are so many other faults he could have mentioned"~

Crazy day!

After yesterday’s swim I wanted to get to the pool this morning and give it another shot.  Unfortunately today was going to be a busy day without any workouts, but I got up and out the door with my kiddos and got to the gym.  I had to wait a little bit before a lane freed up but once I was in and situated I have no issue getting my entire swim in.  It felt great!

I hit the hot tub for a very short time before I had to get out and get going. My next stop today was the rheumy.  As usual we went over my shopping list of meds and then discussed my current issues.  I told him about the weird thing that happened with my hand and he told me that happens because of my RA. My lower back is still an issue, but I am doing what I can.  The things on my hand are something we need to keep an eye on, but he isn’t worried at this point.  Blah, blah, blah, I didn’t get any new meds (YAY!!!!), and I don’t have to go back for three months.  In the lupus world that is HUGE!

With only a short break I was off to class.  It wasn’t too bad, but knowing how nice it was outside made me want to get out early.  Once class was over I hit the trail on my bike for a short ride.  Wasn’t quite an hour, like my schedule said for today, but it was first ride of the year outside on my bike. 

Tomorrow is Cuervo’s graduation form elementary school! So tomorrow will be another go, go, go day. Hopefully I will be able to start my morning with my 41 minute run and my 1800 meter swim. 

Oh! And Saturday is my ColorRun 5K race, which should be a lot of fun (and Very messy!)

~If you hear that someone is speaking ill of you, instead of trying to defend yourself you should say: "He obviously does not know me very well, since there are so many other faults he could have mentioned"~

Don't do that honey!

Last night my old friend insomnia hit me, again! Or is it still, either way I was up much later than I wanted to be. So this morning when it was time to get up it was a bit of a struggle.  I did get up and off to the gym I went wear a Sparkle Skirt a dear friend gave me.  This was the first time I had ever worn that brand, I wasn’t too sure about it.  Typically, my fluffy belly bounces the waist down (so I am pulling it up ever three seconds and my “tree trunk” legs make the shorts go up (typically I wear capris under my running skirts).  I got on the treadmill (I have a 51 minute run on the books today) and I did my five minute warm up and everything was staying put except the rock in my shoe.  Ok, on to the walk 1 “run” 4 minutes… After 40 minutes of that I had done no skirt fixing, the last 6 minutes I was doing sprints and STILL no skirt fixing!!!!! It is nice that a company has made a running skirt that works on fluffier athletes!

As far as the pool went today it wasn’t anywhere near as successful as the run was.  I have blister on my feet and pushing off of the wall was not fun, my iPod died so no music while swimming and I just couldn’t get into it. So after 300 meters I called it quits and hit the hot tub (I have time before my doctors appointment tomorrow to hit the pool so I will try it again tomorrow!).

I get the in the hot tub and I know it is not great for one’s health but it is soooooo relaxing.  At first I am in there by myself, then a mom and her child come over (there are signs everywhere saying not for children under 12).  Mom tells the kid to sit on the edge.  Next thing you see kid has his feet in the hot tub, then his legs then he is up to his waist and then he is all the way in.  When his mom FINALLY notices she tells him to get out… what does he do? He just stares at her and continues to walk around in the hot tub.  I am sorry, but I would drag his butt out if I were his mom and he ignored me like that.  People wonder why kids are such problems these days!

Oh well! Tomorrow is pool time and a bike ride (hopefully I will actually be able to get some time on my bike.

~If you hear that someone is speaking ill of you, instead of trying to defend yourself you should say: "He obviously does not know me very well, since there are so many other faults he could have mentioned"~

I wore him out! I wore him out!

Today was supposed to be bike power intervals, but spin class was more of an endurance ride today.  We did hills, we did sprints, so I am chalking it up to a successful training day.  After spin class it was off to class class! I am already halfway done with this quarter, which means I am that much closer to graduating!

This is not one of my kids (human or fur!).

After class, I had to zoom to an appointment and then zoom home, I beat Cuervo home!  I asked both kiddos about homework, they both said “Nope! Nada!!” (which is understandable, they only have three days left before summer break!) I told them to get running clothes on and we headed to a run group.  I figured we would go Jose’s pace, ok, I made him pick up the speed, but I wanted to get done at some point tonight. I told them by the end of the summer I want them to be able to run the whole distance.  Poor little Cuervo was so tired on the way I was doing the happy dance because I wore him out!!!!! Hey, that is not an easy task!

Tomorrow is run and swim day (and more school!)

~If you hear that someone is speaking ill of you, instead of trying to defend yourself you should say: "He obviously does not know me very well, since there are so many other faults he could have mentioned"~

Rest Day

I know, starting the training week with a rest day is a little odd, but hey, you go pick up and the book and read what it says on page 294.  The training week starts on Tuesday, which is actually a good thing.  Jose went out the door, no issues.  Cuervo decided to curl up at the foot of my bed after getting dressed and went to sleep.  He kept coughing (we have had the cruds going the family for a good week or so).  We managed to get out the door, but came right back in not to long after.  Poor little guy returned to the foot of my bed (not sure why he didn’t go to his bed) and slept.  He woke up around lunch and asked for soup and hot tea and then went back to sleep.  He was feeling better went he went to bed tonight (after he had his honey water [hot water with some honey in it]).

While I was hanging out at home I figured I would get a question that has been bugging me a little bit answered.  Why change during T1 in an IM… so I went to a group I knew would give me some good information, the Pikes Peak Tri Club.

PPTC Member #1: If you're swimming in salt water, it's worth a change. I changed to regular bike shorts in T1 for my first IM and I'm glad I did. I didn't even think about the salt water! And then you changed out of the bike shorts for the run? PPTC Member #2:  as PPTC Member #1 said the advantage to changing you can change into bike shorts which obviously have more padding for the bike. You then have to change again into running gear unless you wear a swim suit then change into a tri short for the bike and run. Ive done Cozumel twice and didnt change and no issues. If your in salt water it can be more chaffing for sure. good luck PPTC Member #1:  I did. It was my first so I wanted to be comfortable. Me:  I am doing Beach2Battleship in NC, the swim is salt water. When I did 5430 (before IM bought it) I wore a bike skirt over my tri shorts for the ride. Any possible way to reduce chaffing I am ALL in for!!!!! PPTC Member #3:  I just did IMSG and I changed top and bottoms both times. Cycling shorts (not bib) and cycling top for the bike and tri shorts and tri top for the run. Cycling top had larger pockets that I pre-stuffed with food and arm coolers AND the larger pockets are great for stuffing supplies from aid stations like an extra water bottle. Try top has much smaller pockets, but they had gel in them already. Also changed my socks at T2 and again from my run special needs bag. The time it takes to strip off the clothes and put on fresh is well worth it - probably added less than 1 minute total to my transition times (time yourself changing - should be able to completely change in less than 30 seconds). That time is saved back in the long run by just having fresh clothes. Volunteers are there to help pick it all up and stuff it back in the bag too. I highly recommend a full change. Mr: Extra socks in special needs run bag... GOT IT!!!!!! thank you all for the information. I know I still have 5 months, but I am starting to get very excited and trying to start getting my ducks in a row. PPTC Member #4:  In my ironman I changed in each transition, and will do again. As john said, better to be comfortable for that next phase. Obtw be prepared for Anything, I wish I brought cold weather gear for Florida. Seriously you can't be over prepared. Good luck and train smart. Me:I keep reading about how cold it was last year. I already have on my shopping list gloves for the bike, thanks to lupus if my hands even get chilled I can't use them, so I NEED to make sure they stay nice and warm. I don't care if the weather man says it will be 80 degrees, I will have cold weather gear with me!

 Very helpful information!

Tomorrow spin class and then maybe head downtown after kiddos get home and do a group run with them.

 

~If you hear that someone is speaking ill of you, instead of trying to defend yourself you should say: "He obviously does not know me very well, since there are so many other faults he could have mentioned"~

5 Months and Counting!



Love this tattoo! "I believe you can keep going long after you think you can't"

Five months from now I will be in the middle of my first iron distance triathlon.  The closer we get the more excited I get.  In a way I am not too nervous, yet. I don’t officially start training for another two weeks.  For now I am working on improving my endurance in the three disciplines.  This summer will be very race shy.  I have a 5K coming up next weekend, ok, I admit it is more of a very fun run (Color Run) than anything else.  June I will be doing a half marathon with a friend, hopefully that will go better than my last one, I am still not sure what happened.  July is off, August I have a sprint distance as part of training, September is a half iron distance, again part of training.  And then the big day is five months from today!

The running is getting better again (thankfully), the spinning (haven’t been out on my bike yet L) is feeling better, my butt doesn’t hurt as much! Swimming…  HUGE improvement.  I know I still really need to work on my nutrition and race hydration. 

I was reading some blogs and I came up with a really weird question…  during shorter triathlons you go straight from one event to the next.  I have read multiple reports about changing between the swim and the bike… I am not sure if I want to go that route or not.  I don’t know what the benefit really is.  Ok, you have nice dry clothes on for the bike, but….  I don’t know.

This week's plan... (Using Essential Week-by-Week Training Guide by Matt Zitzgerald [this is copywritten information so what I post here will be VERY generalized information])

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
Plan says	"Rest"	Bike - 1:00:00	Swim – 1700 m Run – 51:00	Bike - 1:00:00	Swim – 1800 m Run – 41:00	Bike - 1:00:00	Swim – 1800 m Run – 1:05:00
actual plan	Swim?	Bike - 1:00:00	Swim – 1700 m Run – 51:00	Bike - 1:00:00	Swim – 1800 m Run – 41:00	5K	Swim – 1800 m Hike – ????

~If you hear that someone is speaking ill of you, instead of trying to defend yourself you should say: "He obviously does not know me very well, since there are so many other faults he could have mentioned"~

Back in the saddle again!

After a week of recovery and unexpected mishaps I returned to the gym in fine form today.  Before Colorado Half marathon I had a schedule of so much time on the treadmill and this and that and blah, blah, blah.  Today I went in with a little bit of a different take on things.  I figured I would do three miles on the treadmill and a mile in the pool.  My treadmill plan was to “run” more than I had been  (mind you my “run” right now is a VERY slow jog).  I did a nice 10 minute warm up and then went straight into a comfortable walk 1 minute, run 4 minutes; until the end, I ran the last .6 miles.  After my nice run, it was pool time.

As I was getting into the pool I noticed my legs were a little stiff, but I wasn’t too worried.  I started swimming and as I swam I could feel everything relaxing and everything started feeling good all over.  At the end of my mile I looked at my watch and noticed I had shaved off another two minutes! I still have another five minutes to get back to where I was, but hey, every little bit helps.

On the medical front, things are going as cheerful.   I went in for a follow up and found out that I had blood in my urine.  The lupus has started messing with my kidneys so this is not happy news.  My doc isn’t worrying yet, she is hoping it is just a fluke and has ordered another urine test to see if the results come back the same or if they come back normal.  I am trying to keep my mind off of it, but it is kind of hard.  We then started talking about natural treatments for lupus and I told her about the whole no land animal and we started talking about gluten free.  I am not ready to try gluten free, but it is something I am more than happy to do research on and at some point in the near future I will give it a test run and see if there is any differences or not.  I am up for anything that will get the damn chemicals out of my system!

~If you hear that someone is speaking ill of you, instead of trying to defend yourself you should say: "He obviously does not know me very well, since there are so many other faults he could have mentioned"~

Colorado (Half) Marathon 2012

Sunset in Fort Collins

I signed up for the Colorado Marathon back in September, little did I know what all was going to take place between then and race day.  I have been going in and out of mini lupus flare ups which has not made training easy by any stretch of the imagination!  It started looking like I was not going to be able to run it at all and then things started to improve, finally! Wednesday, 2 May 12, my sister finally gave her approval for me to run the HALF marathon.   I know it sounds nuts that I had to get my sister’s approval, but trust me it is for my own good.  I will keep pushing myself until I am in a complete an absolute flare up!

We left for Fort Collins Saturday morning it was nice clear sailing all the way up.  We were introduced to McAlister’s over the summer and fell in love with their iced tea, now  sadly there is no McAlister’s here in Colorado Springs, very sad if you ask me; Fort Collins has two!!!!! We got into town around lunch time so there was no question where we were going to stop for lunch.  After lunch we got to the hotel, got checked in and headed to the expo.  Staying at the host hotel has it’s advantages one of which is you don’t have to travel anywhere to get to the expo!!!!! I went and picked up my marathon bib and then traded it in for a half marathon bib (I was a little sad that I had to do that), then I went and checked out rest of the expo.  Over the past few years the expo has grown vastly, the first time I ran it the expo was in this little room and wasn’t a whole heck of a lot of stuff.  We played on some of the equipment and checked out some of the vendors and headed out.  We grabbed our bags and went up to the room.  It was a lot smaller than what we usually got, but such is life.  We figured we would relax for a bit before heading out to dinner (I like to eat pre-race dinner around 4:30 – 5:00 pm).  On the way out we stopped by the Brooks bus and I won a free pair of running shoes!!!! YAY!!!! We decided we would go somewhere different this time for dinner (we always go to Olive Garden).  We ended up at Bisetti's Ristorante, the food was ok, not really what I wanted, but whatever.  We made a quick stop by Sports Authority (I always forget something!!!!!) then back to the hotel.  I was in bed by 8:00, asleep by 10:00 (at the latest).  For the first time that I can remember I had a dream that I woke up late and I ran to the bus in my jammies with my running stuff in hand.  Needless to say I kept waking up and checking the clock to make sure I didn’t oversleep (I had the alarm clock set, my phone set, a wake-up call placed… did I really think I would over sleep? I guess so!).

I was up at 4:00 am, I got dressed (Moving Comfort Jubralee bra, Under Armor bra [huge mistake], Nike t-shirt, Moeben running sleeves, Feetures running socks, Skirts Sports Tough Girl Skirt  )and headed downstairs.  Did I mention not only did the host hotel have a bus pick up for the race start they also had Starbucks in the lobby?!!!! I was down stairs somewhere around about 4:30. I got my half caff coffee, a banana nut muffin and a banana (notice anything missing?  I don’t like protein?) I sat down on the couch and enjoyed my coffee and my muffin.  The bus came and we loaded up.  Since we weren’t full we made a stop at the transportation area and picked up some more runners and up the mountain we went!  I looked at the weather so I knew it would be chilly up there so I had a Skirt Sports Tough Girl Top and a sweatshirt with me! I refused to get cold! As soon as I got off the bus I was pulling layers on.  Before the race started The sweatshirt went into to my bag which went on the truck to meet me at the finish line.  I tied the Tough Girl Top around my waist, just in case I got cold.  We got to the finish line and all of a sudden people started running… no National Anthem, no gun, no nothing. 

I had planned to do a nice comfortable 15:00 minute mile pace, I was taking it nice and slow (I didn’t have my inhaler, oops)!  I was chugging along, Mile 1 - just under pace, Mile 2 – feeling good, Mile 3 – still under pace, passed by the first marathoner!!!!!!! Mile 4 – still going strong, Mile 5 – no issues, Mile 6 – about a minute under, Mile 7 (with that stupid hill) – I was right on pace.  Then something happened.  My feet started hurting???? (my shoes are not brand new, I am used to those socks, and I have gotten long runs up to 10 miles in, this should not be happening!!!!!)  Mile 8 – still chugging along (over pace), Mile 9 – eh, Mile 10 – vertigo starts (excuse me?????  That is new!), Mile 11 – I am going to finish this and that is final, oh! And I will not end up in a flare up!) Mile 12 – I send my sister a text to send Cuervo up the trail to meet me (vertigo was really kicking my butt).  Mile 13 – I have my little buddy with me (I am having to hold on to him to make sure I don’t fall over).  Little man and I cross the finish line we both get a bottle of water and I get my hardware.  We leave the finish area and go sit down to wait for everyone else.  I get my shoes off, and I have blisters all over the bottom of my feet????  Then I go to take a step and OH $#!|!!!!! I figure it is a Charlie Horse in my foot.  I can’t walk on it! Luckily Jose and Curevo are getting taller and I get one on each side and we make it look like we are just walking around. 

Latest bling!

We get back to the hotel, and Cuervo like a wonderful child starts getting ice.  I take an ice bath for a while and then take a nice warm bath.  Afterwards I prop my foot up (I realized it was not a Charlie Horse in my foot) and ice it for a while.  It is still unhappy right now, but at least I can walk on it without to many issues.

My plan for this week training wise is a lot of pool time! I am not even going to spin class this week. I am thinking about some weight training but this is my pull back week and I have no intention of strapping on my running shoes until the end of the week at the earliest. 

It was a good run, there were some weird things going on, but that is ok. 

~If you hear that someone is speaking ill of you, instead of trying to defend yourself you should say: "He obviously does not know me very well, since there are so many other faults he could have mentioned"~

Condescending

28 April 2012

I am not sure why there are times when people, who don’t mean to be, sound down right antagonistic, while others don’t.  The week before I did Moab, I was slower than dirt on the treadmill and I just wasn’t feeling it.  I was in the locker room getting changed and this woman made a comment that I motivated her to keep going.  I am sure she didn’t mean it this way, but all I could hear was I didn’t want to let the fat chick out do me on the treadmill so I kept going. She went on to talk about half marathons and blah, blah, blah.  For whatever reason it stuck me wrong.  And I commented back about the fact I have already completed around 10 marathons at which point her jaw dropped! This week, on Wednesday, I wasn’t feeling it, but I went ahead and was working on my lower body weights and this older gentlemen who was obviously a weight lifter made a comment about keep up the good work or something like that.  For whatever reason I appreciated that comment.  I don’t know. 

I want to say this week was better than last! The schedule was pretty much the same, to a degree. 

	Cardio	Weights
Monday	Treadmill Swimming	Lower body
Tuesday	Treadmill Spinning	Upper body
Wednesday	Treadmill Swimming	Lower body
Thursday	Treadmill (outside and inside!!!!)	Upper body
Friday	Yoga	OFF!
Saturday	10 miles	Off!
Sunday	Off!!!!!	Off!

Last weekend my car crapped out again (same thing happened less than two months ago) so of course it went back to the garage… lucky for me the garage is less than three miles away so when it was time to pick up my car (again) I just worked it into my training session! I did half of my run on Thursday outside and the other half inside!  The bad thing is on my way to school less than two hours later I was zooming down the interstate and my tire shredded!  I was so greatful I got my amazing workout in otherwise I don’t think I would have been that calm!

 

Tomorrow is a rest day and I think my body is really looking forward to it! Next weekend I am hoping to be running a half marathon, but it is up to my sister to determine if she thinks I can handle it (I will try to push myself to hard)

~If you hear that someone is speaking ill of you, instead of trying to defend yourself you should say: "He obviously does not know me very well, since there are so many other faults he could have mentioned"~