Limited Edition Wheaties!

Today's workout:
Off

Walk-60 minutes with the pups
Yoga-Zen In Your Den

I went grocery shopping today. I was stocking up on cereal, and was looking for the new Wheaties Cereal box that is going to feature Chris "Macca" McCormack-the Kona Ironman champ 2010. I don't think it's been released yet, but I did stumble across a Limited Edition "Ironman-In-Training" box of Wheaties! Check it out!

I thought it was pretty cool that they dedicated a box to the Ironmen-To-Be of the world! Here's the back side of the box.

It might be kind of hard to see so here's a close-up.

I don't know if they've released this edition nation-wide, so if any of the out-of state blog readers want a collector's box, just let me know. It'll probably be worth a lot on May 22, 2011.

I did another session of Zen In Your Den yoga today. Chris was kind enough to take some photos so I can see how my posture and poses look compared to the lady leading the session on tv.  Here's one of my best poses. I think I look pretty good here.

Yea right. That'll never be me! Hahahaha!

Here's what the Crescent Pose is supposed to look like...

And here's me...

Here's what downward dog is supposed to look like...

And here's me...

Here's what it's supposed to look like when you touch your toes...

And here's what it looks like when I try to touch my toes....

Here's a pose that Chris and I have been practicing...I think we look pretty good here.

Ah, the fun you can have with yoga. Who knew!? Regardless of what I look like when I do yoga, I think it does help me to become more flexible. At this point, I don't think I could possibly become less flexible!

A nice relaxing day off. Life is good. Brownies just came out of the oven. Good thing I got extra milk at the grocery store today!

Happy New Year's Eve!

M :)

TGIT

Today's workout:
Run-70 something minutes
Weights-2 x 12

Walk-60 minutes with pups

Thank goodness it's Thursday. It's been a good week so far, but I'm looking forward to having tomorrow off! We had a great workout, but I can really feel the second set of weights that we added today.

This morning I took the girls for a nice long walk around UT. I love when it's break time-the campus is deserted! We had the entire campus to ourselves! I love standing at the foot of the tower looking downtown at the Capitol. Not another soul in sight! Caribia and Cheyenne loved the walk-especially after the rainy days we had this week. They get much shorter walks when it's raining outside!

Here's the run workout we did today.
Light jog-warm-up to the Austin High track. About a mile and a half.
Then we did two laps with accelerations on the straight-aways and chill on the turns.
Then we ran 8 minutes at a zone 2-3 pace, with a 3 minute recovery.
Then we ran 7 minutes at zone 2-3 pace, with a 3 minute recovery.
Then we did the same thing again for 6 minutes, and then 5 minutes.
After the last recovery we did drills-high knees, butt kicks, and skipping. Two sets of each.
Then we light jogged back downtown as the cool down.
It was a 7.5 mile run workout.
Phew.

We all did really well-it was perfect weather-really overcast and about 60-65 degrees or so. For the 8/7/6/5 minute intervals Kristi was averaging about 7:30s, I was about 7:40s and Wayne was at 7:55s. Not too shabby for the Jiggly Middles!

Club Macca was hopping today. There must have been at least seven people in there today, including the three of us! We bumped up the weights today to two sets of 12. I could totally tell a difference with the second set. I'm still at my measly light weights, but it's still quite a workout!

I'm looking forward to yoga tomorrow!

That's about all the news that's fit to print for today!

TTFN,
M :)

Goggles

Today's workout:

Swim-75 minutes

Ride-96 minutes

How is it possible that they can make submarines and scuba gear to keep people under water for hours, days, and even months, but they can't make a pair of swimming goggles that don't leak? I've always used the traditional little goggles that most swimmers use, and always had problems with leaks. Until last Spring, when someone at Deep Eddy had a pair of mask style goggles, that didn't quite cover the nose, but definitely provided more coverage over the eyes and a wider view. I asked the person about them and they said they were great-no leaks. So I got a pair. Here's a photo of me in my really cool mask goggles.

And in case that one is too blurry, here's a better one. 

Sometimes people confuse me for Dara Torres when they see me in these goggles. I guess they make me look like a pro. 

But these particular goggles have good days and bad. Somedays they are perfect-I don't have to empty them out at all throughout the entire swim. Today was not one of those days. I had to stop almost every lap to let the water out. I tried to re-suction them to my face, I tried to put the back straps in different positions, and I even tightened them to the point where I got a headache. Finally I got them to stick to my face enough where I only had to stop every 15-20 minutes or so. (Needless to say I had "mask face" for about an hour after swimming today...)

So I'm in the market for a new pair.

And wouldn't you know it, it's as if Kristi was reading my mind. On the ride today she said out of the blue, "What kind of goggles do you use?" I just started laughing because I was already writing my blog in my mind all about my crappy goggles. She told me that Wayne has a great pair which are more flexible than the ones I'm currently using and that they don't leak, and that they minimize the adorable post-swim mask face. So I guess the submarine and scuba makers of the world have finally got it right! A pair of swim goggles that don't leak! Yea!

This afternoon was gorgeous. The rain stopped mid-morning (by rain, I mean Texas rain, which means, a light mist, no actual drops...) and the ground dried really quickly since we're officially in a drought. So at 2pm we all met at Mellow Johnny's for our ride. I had to leave my bike at MJs last night to replace the brake pad from the piece of metal that Wayne had to dig out of it the other day. When they went to change the brake pad they noticed the rear tire had to be replaced. I knew that was coming because the last time I had a flat, the bike shop guy had to pull ten pieces of glass out of the tire. And then he said that my chain only had another 100 miles or so on it, and that I'd be needing a new chain. Apparently a chain only lasts about 2500 miles until it starts to break down some crank shifty thing which can cost hundreds to replace. This is my second chain in a year and a half on this bike. Better safe than sorry with the distances that we're doing now. I'd hate to be caught 30 miles outside of town and have the chain or crank thingy break! 

So at 2pm, the sun was trying to peak through the clouds and it was nice and warm. About 70 degrees. Shorts and a short sleeve jersey today! We rode for 96 minutes, 22 miles. We averaged 13.8 mph. It was a zone one ride. Nice and easy! I'm going to try and embed the map on the blog from Wayne's iPhone. I think I mentioned before about his phone being able to track us while we're riding. Here goes, let me see if I can get it to work.

Yippieeee!!!  It worked! I had to seek assistance from the resident computer expert in the house...Caribia really is good with computers! Hahaha! (Thanks Peanut!)

I'll have to play around with that embeding thing a little more to see if I can get the elevation to show too. This is really going to be cool once we start doing long rides.

It was a very good day today. I love vacation!

TTFN,
M :)

Pedal Hard

Today's workout:
Bike-60 minute trainer
Run-20 minutes treadmill

Santa got us a session at Pedal Hard, which is Kevin Livingston's Training Center at Mellow Johnnys. Pretty darn cool. Last time I did a workout there, Kevin himself actually taught the class. Tonight there was someone else, I don't think she rode in the Tour de France, but she certainly looked like she could have! Before class started I took a couple photos of Lance's bikes that are on display.

I was hoping that Lance would show up to cheer us on tonight, but no such luck. Here's a pic of what the studio looks like.

There are only eight spots set-up and every two bikes shares one tv monitor. The whole thing is completely computerized. The person working there gets your bike all set up on the Compu-trainers and enters your weight and then calibrates the system once you start pedaling.

This is the start line. It's cool-as you bike the scenery changes. It's like you're riding through the country. Kristi and I had a hill workout on our monitor and Wayne had a sprint workout on his.

The computer tells you your wattage/output, your cadence, speed, calories burned, and distance. The lady in charge walks around and tells you what your workout is. So after the warm-up Kristi and I had to maintain watts at 160-180 on the hills and then recover at under 100. The watts are different than the cadence. It's pretty neat to see what your effort is compared to speed and cadence. I can see how the more often you attend Pedal Hard classes, the better you can tailor your training.

The training was good, but I think we all agreed that our regular Tuesday night trainer workouts are more difficult! There seemed to be a lot of recovery time tonight.

It's been raining on and off all day and it's pretty chilly (low 60s) and just kinda miserable outside, so we decided to run the 20 minutes on the treadmills at Club Macca. Club Macca is my new name for the gym at Kristi and Wayne's place. Macca is a nickname for anyone in Australia who has a last name that starts with "Mc" or "Mac". So, Club Macca it is.  It's amazing to me that Kristi and Wayne can both just jump on the treadmill and start running 10 minute miles. I got on and was groaning at 13 minute miles! It definitely takes me at least a mile to warm-up. Kristi thinks that I'm playing around when I grunt and groan my way through the first 10-15 minutes of a run. Old age is catching up to me! (Or rather I'm catching up to it!) We ran for 20 minutes. By minute 10 I was going a good pace-up to 8:20 minute miles for a few minutes, then an easy cool-down. I love that we run after almost every bike ride. I can tell it's going to make a difference when we do a real transition from bike to run in the race.

This probably won't be as funny to anyone else, somthings definitely loose their funniness in the telling, but here goes. Bonnie sent an email to Kristi and I recommending a really inspiring book about the fireman in NYC who decided to become an athlete after 9/11, ran a marathon, and a month later was run over by a bus. He had 40 surgeries, and tons of rehab, and worked his way back to running another marathon. (That's not the funny part....) So tonight, Kristi said that she's almost done with the book she's reading and that she wants to read the book that Bonnie recommended, the book about the triathlete who was bitten by a shark. (Now that's the funny part!) But I must admit, a shark bite would make a pretty inspirational story too!

Tomorrow is supposed to be rainy again. Texas winter, I tell ya.

TTFN!
M :)

So thirsty!

Today's workout:
Swim-75 minutes

Walk with pups-60 minutes
Zen In Your Den yoga-21 minutes

I have been so thirsty today. No matter how much water I drink I'm still thirsty. I suppose the gallon of chlorine/salt water I accidentally ingested at the pool today doesn't help matters. Since it's Monday, it's drill day at the pool. There are a couple of drills that when I do them, my face barely comes out of the water. So when I go to take a breath, instead of air, yup, you guessed it....lots and lots of water. Yuck. I must look like such a fool-trying to do the drills-which I know I'm not doing correctly, and then stopping half-way down the lane to cough up the water I drank. I noticed there is a video/security camera in the pool area at the gym. I wonder if they'd let me have a few minutes of footage so I can post it to the blog! Hahahaha! That would be a good laugh!

I added a few "sprint" drills to the workout. Mary sprinting=turtle running. I timed myself swimming a lap at my normal comfortable pace. It took me 1 minute and 6 seconds. My heart rate was 96 beats per minute. Then I tried to do a lap as fast as I could. It took me 56 seconds and my heart rate was 162 beats per minute.  I don't really know what this means, or how significant it is, but I thought it was interesting to chart. I guess I can see any progress in speed if I keep trying to do a few "sprint" laps during the Monday workouts each week.

I was perfectly full during the swim. Not too full and not hungry at all. I'd eaten a good bit before the swim. But then I went to the grocery store after the swim and in a matter of seconds, it was as if I hadn't eaten in a week! It was funny to get to the check-out lane and find that I had Mint Milanos, Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies, Brownie Mix, and a loaf of that "Hot Out of the Oven Bread" that grocery stores make periodically throughout the day, all stacked up in my cart. I was clearly needing some quick sugar energy! While I was waiting in line behind the world's slowest person ever, I was soooo tempted to eat a hunk of the bread. It was still warm and it smelt sooooo yummy. My mouth would have been watering if I hadn't been so darn thirsty! I almost had a hunk of it, but then I heard Kristi's voice in my head, "I can't believe you try a grape before you buy them! That's stealing!" My argument for the grapes is that you have to make sure you're getting a good bunch. No point in paying for a lousy bunch of grapes. But I knew the bread would be yummy and couldn't find an argument to eat it before I paid for it. Other than the fact that I was about to pass out on the floor from hunger. Finally I made it through the checkout. I ate an entire banana before I even got to the exit door! Then I had a hunk of bread on the way home. I could only have one hunk of bread because it acted like a sponge and sucked up any last remaining saliva I had in my mouth. I needed water badly.

After lunch (and about a gallon of water) I took the pups for a walk. What a beautiful afternoon. It was freezing this morning, (literally), but had warmed up to the 50s or so this afternoon. While on our walk I realized that there is a part of me that is looking forward to being a little old lady. I hope that when I'm a little old lady I won't feel the need to try to make every single crosswalk when the light is green, having to run across the second half because the crosswalk sign hand has stopped blinking. Instead, I hope that when I'm a little old lady I will see the hand blinking and say to myself, "Well, I missed that light so I'll just have a seat on this bench and wait for the next safe crosswalk sign. Then I'll cross in a sensible fashion with my little old lady helper dogs." Ah, That'll be the day. I keep telling Kristi and Wayne that after the Ironman race I'm talking up sewing. They don't believe me.

Yoga was good-I definitely like the stretches and they are getting easier each time I do them.

That's all for now!

TTFN!
M :)

Calves. And I'm not talking livestock here......

Today's workout:
Run-75 minutes (roughly-I forgot to check the actual time...)
Weights-1 x 15

So I have to open with a photo and a survey today.
Here's the photo.

And here's the survey.

Whose legs are bigger? He-man's or She-Ra's?

(I may have to explain these names since Wayne is Australian and Kristi is too young to remember the 80s....He-Man and She-Ra were part of the Masters of the Universe, a cartoon in the early 80s. They were twins who battled the evil Skeletor to save the earth.) Here is a picture of the them.

(Does anyone else notice an uncanny resemblance to Todd and Bonnie here?)

Anyway, I digress.....So Wayne is under the impression that his calves/legs are smaller than Kristi's. He thinks that his calves extend back, and not necessarily out to the side. We should have taken a side and back angle photo too. We welcome all comments and feedback about calf size.

And while I'm on the topic of size, here's another photo from the gym. This one is on the Lat Pull Down machine.

Now, maybe it's just because I teach sex ed, but does anyone else think the company could have illustrated how to use this machine without being so anatomical about it?

So back to the run. It was 35 degrees when we ran this morning, but beautifully sunny with nice crisp air. We ran the seven mile loop with Chyenne, who was still pooped from yesterday's excitement, but still did great and had a fun time. It works out so well that my number one fan drives down to pick up Cheyenne after our runs so that we can go straight to the gym to lift weights. Cheyenne can't get her paws around the freeweights very easily, so its best that she goes back home with the papa.

My ankle is still bothering me which is becoming annoying. I've been stretching. Maybe I'll take some aleve before the next long run.

The weights were good today again. I can still feel the last 2-3 reps of each exercise-especially the arms ones. My little chicken wings can barely lift the five pound weights! Bock! Bock!

We caught two pros in action at the gym today, so we took a couple of photos of the precise way to do the exercises. The pros were kind enough to....oh wait...that's Wayne and Kristi! They looked so confident and strong in their exercises I thought they were professionals! Hahahaha!

We all weighed in today-as we do every week. Nothing new to report. We're all staying pretty even with everything. Wayne is gaining about a half pound of muscle every week! (I think he may be beefing up to  try-out for the new Masters of the Universe movie...)

Bonnie just texted and said that she and Todd are thinking about coming down to Houston to ride the race course sometime before the actual race, just to learn the course. That would be so awesome!!!!  I hope it works out-it's a great idea to preview the course. If we can ride the entire course as well as do the 2.4 mile supported swim here in Austin, I'll feel more more confident about the race.

So that's about it for week three. Time is flying by. Only 21 more weeks until race day!

TTFN!
M :)

Merry Christmas!

Today's workout:
Day off

Hiking-75 minutes with the family
Eating-60 minutes-Christmas dinner, apple pie a la mode, dove and godiva chocolates, pillsbury cinnamon rolls, needless to say my stomach certainly got a workout today!

Merry Christmas!
What a nice relaxing day. Chris and I and the pups went to Turkey Hollow for a Christmas Day hike. We went early enough that there weren't a lot of people. Caribia sometimes doesn't get along too well with other dogs, so the fewer dogs on the trail the better! They both spent a lot of the hike off-leash and loved every second of it! Cheyenne was on a mission to enjoy all the woods had to offer-leaping over boulders and piles of sticks, splashing through the water, sniffing cacti, chasing her sister up and down the path...Here are some fun photos from the day.

We had a nice dinner from Whole Foods after the hike with apple pie a la mode for dessert. We talked to all the family on the phone...everyone seems to be having a wonderfully relaxing day. Everytime I get tired/bored/ancy form sitting on the couch for too long, I just stand up, stretch, sit back down again and remind myself that this is the most relaxed I'm going to be for the next 5 1/2 months so I better enjoy every second of it! Hahahaha!

TTFN!
M :)

New Track Suit!!!

Today's workout:
Bike-85 minutes
Swim-30 minutes

We switched today's rest day with tomorrow's workout since tomorrow is Christmas! Yea! And since it's a back week, we didn't have to run after the ridiculously short ride today! This has definitely been an easy week. So far the training is good-it's not pushing us too fast-I would say that's good for injury prevention, but considering Wayne and I have already had injuries, maybe not! But we're both on the mend now. My leg doesn't hurt at all today.

It was raining an hour before the ride, so we thought we might have to use the trainers, but lucky for us it stopped raining in time for the ride. We have to practice on the wet roads in case it's raining on race day. There wasn't too much traffic today so it was a good day to practice. We rode really slowly. There were a couple of blog-worthy comments/conversations, but I think we all decided that some things just need to remain in the blog pact-that is to be talked about, but not to be put down on paper! Hahahaha!

The swim was good-nice and slow. Kristi and Wayne told me that they are both able to swim from one end of the 25 meter pool to the other without taking a breath. Kristi does it completely underwater swimming breaststroke and Wayne does it along the top swimming freestyle. So I warmed up today and tried it. I first tried it with breaststroke. I got half-way across the pool. So I swam a few more easy laps and then tried freestyle. Again, only half-way across the pool. That just goes to show what a weak swimmer I am! They both said it was easy peasy and I can't even make it more than half-way! Oh well, something to aim for.

The highlight of my day has to be my new track suit!

Pretty snazzy! Now I can look oh so cute when I go to the gym for my swims! It was a pressie from K and W. They must have ben reading my mind. I was looking at track suits, but couldn't justify getting one. Now I have one to keep me cozy all winter long!

So that's it for today. Merry Christmas Eve everyone!

M :)

I could really get used to this....

Today's workout:
Run-45-50 minutes-fartlek workout
Weights-1x15

Walk-60 minutes with pups
Yardwork-90 minutes

I have to say I'm really enjoying my winter break. I could really get used to not working! I had a nice long walk with Jenni and the pups this morning, followed by a lot of yardwork. I cleaned the entire side yard-seven more bags of leaves! Thank goodness the pecan trees are all empty now. Just the backyard left to do.

After the yard, it was time for scrabble and reading. Chris took the day off from work today! We just chilled on the couch. Perfect day for it-overcast and in the 50s-60s. Lunch at Java and then we picked up our Christmas dinner form Whole Foods. After all that I realized that I hadn't drank any water today, so I started drinking a lot. Then Kristi texted and it was time to workout! Wayne finished work early so we were able to run in the daylight.

It was perfect running weather. 60 something and overcast. We had a fartlek workout scheduled for today. I had to stop to use the restroom, so K and W went on ahead. I was trying to take it easy since my leg was still sore. I managed to do three and a half fartleks for 90 seconds each with two and a half minute recovery between each one. I focused on keeping my stride short so I wouldn't pull the muscle anymore. It stopped hurting once I was running-after the warm-up.

I met up with K and W at the water stop. They said they had a good workout-they had shorter recovery time between the fartleks.

There's a fun garbage can at the water stop on Auditorium Shores. I can't remember if I already wrote about it in one of these blog entries- but when you throw something into the garbage can, it talks to you and says one of a few different things-like "Score!" or "Nice shot!" or it makes the sound of people clapping. I love that garbage can-it's so fun to watch people look all over the ground for garbage to throw out! What a unique way to Keep Austin Beautiful...and Wierd!

After the run we went to K and W's gym. I love love love doing weights at their gym. It's always practically empty and really clean. Today's highlight was the muscle man who was doing free weights while we were there. He would take about six free weights-about 30-40 pounds for each one and place them all over the ground by the bench. Then he'd put the bench at different angles and do different exercises. He would grunt, groan, and blow air out of his mouth really loudly with each lift. After each set he'd dramatically drop the weights to the floor and shake his hands out in the air-all the while breathing like he'd just sprinted a 5K. I'm sure what he was doing was very difficult, I'm only on the five pound freeweights myself, but it sure was entertaining to watch his technique and recovery!

Tonight we did one set of 15 for each exercise. That's three more than last week. I could definitely feel the extra three reps! My poor little chicken wing arms can barely handle five pounds! Hahaha!

Well, Chris just arrived with dinner-yummy Wahoos!

Until tomorrow!
M :)

So long Northside Peeps!

Today's workout:
Swim-71 minutes

Walk-60 minutes with pups

So my local pool heater is back up and running! A lovely 82 degrees today! I'll miss my North Gym friends, but I just can't beat the convenience of the central location. It was really empty today-all the college kids go home, leaving the gym to the local yocals. It was a good swim today. I decided to count laps just to pass time. I got bored and started to lose count, so I switched to counting lengths instead and it worked! Time seemed to pass pretty quickly. I was at lap 59 when I reached 70 minutes, so I had to add one more lap to make it an extra 60! At my pool, 87 laps is roughly 2.5 miles. Which means that I'm at an ok pace to finish the actual race on time. Granted today I didn't have any waves, weather, elbows, or people trying to swim over me, but it still helped to see that I have about a 30 minute cushion time before the swim cut-off. There's going to be a supported 1.2 and 2.4 mile swim at Lake Travis in March. I'll have to get more details about that because I'd like to try it. I think an open-water swim will definitely help my swimming confidence.

I was going to do yoga and yardwork today, but I pulled something yesterday-I think it was on the bike when I was trying to get my legs to spin abnormally fast...and the back of my leg hurts-I think it's my hamstring. I'll do some gentle stretching today-I already rolled it out once. But no yoga or yardwork. Perfect day just to chill on the couch with the pups and my book.

TTFN!
M :)

First day of winter sunburn

Today's workout:
Bike-75 minutes on the trainer
Run-15-20 minutes

Yoga-21 minutes Zen In Your Den
Walk-60 minutes with the pups
Yard work-60 minutes raking and bagging seven bags of leaves

I think it was officially 79 degrees today. Making this the best winter day so far! Started the morning off with a nice long walk with the pups over to Jenni's to let the chickens out. They're getting nice and big! Then off to the PT for one more apt to work on the achilles tendonitis. Painful fascia massage followed by calf exercises and finished off with about an entire roll of tape up my leg. The pain is pretty much gone away-still a little pain during the long run on Sunday, but hopefully today's visit cleared it all up for good.

After the doc it was time for some serious yard work. The pecan tree is finally bare. An hour's worth of raking yielded seven bags of very dry leaves. We haven't had rain since October. We're officially in a drought I heard on the news. It's really nice having these warm winter days, but I keep thinking that the warmer this winter is, the less chance we'll have that wetsuits will be legal for the race.

Then onto the deck for a few more hundred pages of my 1000 page book. Good thing I put on sunscreen. I got some color even with sunscreen!

When the mosquitos came out for dinner, I went in for Zen In Your Den.

5:30-Trainers all set up, workout taped to the wall, and Wayne back in full force. It was a  tough workout for me. A lot of repeats in an easy spin keeping rpms over 100. The very last set really hurt my legs-like they were on fire. Kristi is in such better aerobic shape than Wayne and I are-and she kept talking to us and we couldn't answer! I can barely breath when I have to move my legs so quickly! It was a great workout though-and we all had very fast heart rate recovery.

7:00-The pups were all decked out in their reflective gear  as was their mama. Wayne and Kristi opted for the highly reflective dark running outfits tonight. Kristi, when you read this, write yourself a reminder to bring your reflective jackets next week! Haha!  Up to Central Market, around and back. We all felt great. The weather was perfect and we kept a nice zone one pace.

Apparently Kristi and Wayne were having a Stink Contest tonight-and they tried to sucker me into being the judge. Kristi had a caesar salad for lunch and kept breathing all over Wayne. Wayne decided to take revenge and let loose an SBD (Silent But Deadly) just as we arrived back at the house-all on the porch about to go in the house.  He didn't even try to blame it on the dogs! Hahahaha! I declared them both winners tonight.

Last night I was up at 2am. Starving. Had to have a power bar. I think they should market a Midnight Snack Powerbar.

Today wouldn't be complete without a shout-out to a follower who provided the blog's first comment! Thanks to Jamie! And to everyone else who follows our crazy training on this blog.

Enjoy the weather y'all!

M :)

Sunscreen anyone?

Today's workout:
Swim-70 minutes
Pilates-40 minutes

175 sit-ups
Walk with pups-one hour

Wow. 77 degrees and sunny this afternoon. Perfect winter day! Perfect time to be on vacation! This morning I walked the dogs.  A nice long walk. Kinda overcast and humid this morning. A slight chill in the 57 degree air. (Spoken like a true Central Texan!) After the walk, a short nap was in order. Not a planned nap, just a little shut-eye while I tried to read my book. Then off to the pool. The "Aqua Class" had just ended when I arrived. "Aqua Class" must be the code name for "Little Old Ladies Social Hour" because there were at least 40 women in various stages of undress and preening all over the locker room! They all knew each other-conversations about family members, shopping for presents, and aches and pains. Lots of holiday sweaters and bathing suits with skirts. Ah, North Austin. A world away from campus!

I swam for twenty minutes to warm up. Then I decided to try some actual breaststroke drills-not ones that I made up! I found this website   http://www.goswim.tv/entries/c/11/breaststroke.html  and it's chock full o' drills. I didn't understand half of them, so I chose about 10-12 that I thought I could figure out, watched the accompanied video, took notes, put my notes in a plastic ziplock baggie and set them by the side of the pool for reference. So after the warm-up, I started the drills. I had to stop half way down the lane because I was laughing so hard-there was no way I was doing it right. I must have looked like a total fool. It's a miracle nobody used the rescue stick to try and save me! I was floundering every which way! But I stuck with it, and some of them were easier than others. It was pretty tiring to do all the drills! Some of them made me quite breathy.

The drills took about 30 minutes. Then I swam a 20 minute cool-down for a total of 70 minutes. My muscles were the most exhausted they've been so far in the swimming workouts. I was a little shaky after showering and changing-I must not have eaten enough before the workout. Luckily there is a little smoothie bar at the gym, so I had a Blueberry Vanilla Protein Shake. I couldn't help but thinking about the little cartoon Iron Man telling his lady friend that they could go work out at 4:45 in the morning and then have a "protein shake". Hahahaha! I sat at the little bar and drank it up.

When I got home the sun was shining and it was already 70 degrees. So I put on shorts and a tank and read my kindle on the back deck. I love Texas winter. The mosquitos came out for dinner around 4pm so I came inside to do yoga. I decided to try pilates today. I don't like it as much as the yoga. It doesn't seem to stretch my muscles as much. I'm back to yoga tomorrow.

Kristi and Wayne are at the outdoor pool today-I bet they're having a great swim with this weather! I think Bonnie and Todd are still in the Mini Apple-probably freezing! Bonnie sent an email today that suggests we don't eat before early morning workouts. Todd read somewhere that if you don't eat before a morning workout it makes your body more efficient. I think my stomach might start to eat itself if I didn't eat before a workout!  But I might try it just to see how it feels, but have a powerbar by the pool just in case!

TTFN!
M :)

So many changes of clothes!

Today's workout:
Biking-60 minutes
Running-60-65 minutes
Weights 1x12

There are so many clothing changes involved in this training! It's three in the afternoon and I'm in my fifth outfit of the day so far. Who knew there'd be this much changing. Something that's not mentioned in the training book! It's like you're packing for a trip if the workout is not at your house. We seem to have a good system though. We all have those little reusable grocery bags that stand up on their own. Very convenient for packing a particular workout's clothes.

The highlight of today has to be Wayne "Baryshnikov" McCulloch. Here he is!

Well, actually, that's the pose he was going for, but ended up with this.....

Not too bad, really. I bet Baryshnikov never had to pirouette in cycling shoes with clips! Hahahaha!

The ride was nice and uneventful. About 45 degrees or so. We were dressed right again today and the sun was out so we weren't cold at all.

The run, however,  was very eventful, thanks to the two sniffing, peeing, pooping, and aggressive companions I brought along. (No, not Kristi and Wayne!) It was Caribia and Cheyenne. How many times can a dog stop to pee on a 6.5 mile run? Apparently a lot. If it wasn't one of them, it was the other one! And then.....I hear Kristi warn, "DOG UP". The dog was behind the fence on its property, but it was only a wire fence. The dog started barking and running along the fence line and Carib went ballistic. Frothing at the mouth, snarling, barking...completely Cujoed out on me. And Chy wasn't much better-pulling and barking...just not aggressively so. I have the girls attached around my waist when we run. Which is usually fine unless they do what they did today. Their weight seems to double as they pull me wherever they want to go. I was able to stop running at least so I wouldn't fall down, but it wasn't pretty. I'm going to have to be careful running with them-hoping I don't get tripped or dragged face first across the pavement some day!  Caribia received a C- for the run today and Cheyenne received a B. Not too bad, except for the near attack!

Then we drove down to the gym at K and Ws place. 1 set of 12 again today. I was feeling the last two of each exercise! My muscles are tired today. Actually, the rest of me is pretty tired too, as I sit on the couch in a sunlit spot of the living room typing.

The weigh-ins were pretty good today. We're all maintaining weight, gaining a little muscle.....dropping a year or two in the metabolic age...except for Kristi of course who is already 12!

Well, that's about it for week two! Week three is a back week, so a few things are shortened and/or cut-out from this week's training and we're going to switch the days around a little since Christmas is on Saturday.

I'll end with the official cute photo of the week.

Later gators!
M :)

Beautiful Saturday

Today's workout:
Bike-156 minutes
Run-15-20 minutes
Swim 30 minutes

Walk pups, 175 sit-ups

What a beautiful day! Sunny, but chilly! It was 41 degrees when we set out for the ride this morning and probably only in the low 50s when we finished. I wore two long-sleeved shirts and a long-sleeved jersey jacket, biking shorts with new fleece lined leggings, two pairs of socks, cycling booties, a hood from one of the long-sleeved shirts, a neckerchief thing that goes up over my face and nose (with mesh around the nose so my glasses don't fog up), and two pairs of gloves. Kristi was dressed similarly. Wayne planned on staying at the house and using the trainer. His injury is pretty sore still. Here are our outfits form today!

The bike ride was great and we were dressed perfectly. There were a few technical difficulties. My new fleecy pants turned out to be really slippery and I kept sliding all over the seat. So about 3 miles into the ride, we stopped so I could switch the shorts and the pants, to put the shorts on top of the pants. But keep in mind that I had my bike booties on, so I had to undo everything to get my shoes off to get the pants and shorts off! Haha!

At about mile 28 or so I had to stop to take off my neckerchief thingy and one pair of gloves. Kristi took off one pair of gloves too. Then we were perfect temperature for the rest of the ride.

After the ride we changed, got the pups and had a nice chill 15-20 minute run-up around Central Market again. It's a nice little loop.

After the run I headed up to the gym. Nice chill 30 minute swim. The pool was nice and warm.

Wayne skipped the run, but went swimming. Kristi and Wayne are still swimming outside! Brrrr!

This is a pretty boring blog today because I'm a little distracted. I'm writing it while watching the Kona Ironman Championships on tv. It's so motivating to watch! They were showing some of the age groupers finishing the swim. They showed two people who didn't make the swim cut-off and they showed the race person telling them they didn't make it. The two people then collapsed and cried on the steps coming out of the water. I got all choked up! On the ride today, Kristi asked me if I didn't finish the swim, bike, or run by the cut-off, would I do it again next year. I said no way. But now....after seeing this coverage today....you never know!

It's cool that we got to see Macca speak at Jack and Adams-it's fun to have heard his side of the race and to now see it on national coverage!

Ok, time to go watch the Ironman with full attention!

Later gators!
M :)

Winter Break is here!

Today's workout:
Nice long walk with the pups
Zen In Your Den yoga

The last day of work before break! We just a had a short little meeting, then we were free to go! I slept so well last night. Asleep by 9pm and slept pretty much straight through until 7:15! That's really late for me. I find that I'm getting really thirsty at night. I drink almost a whole bottle of water each night. I'm drinking a lot during the day, so I know I'm hydrated, but I'm still thirsty at night. I do drink more than most people though anyway.

Today I took a nice long walk with the pups. It's pretty chilly-about 57 degrees and overcast. I had to wear two long-sleeves, a scarf, and gloves! I know it's nothing compared to Bonnie and Todd, but compared to our 80 degrees earlier this week-brrrr! We're going to be really cold for tomorrow's ride. But it's back up into the 70s for next week supposedly!

Yoga was good. It gets easier each time I do it, and I can definitely feel a difference in the workouts. Not as sore and stiff. I may work my way up to a longer session than the 21 minute Zen In Your Den workout.

So that's it for today. Time to snuggle on the couch with Carib and Chy and a good book. Oh yea, and some Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls with lots of frosting! Heeheehee!

Later gators!
M :)

I can barely keep my eyes open...and it's only 6:20pm

Today's workout:
Swim-65 minutes
Run-44 minutes-fartlek workout
Weights-1 set of 12

I am sooooo tired. I can totally tell it's Thursday. The quote of the day is awarded to Kristi. We were in the gym and I was doing some arm machine thingy. I said, "I can barely keep going. My muscles just want to stop." and she said, "We're almost done, just a couple more exercises, then stretching, then we're done. And it's Thursday, so we have a nice chill weekend coming up." I looked at her like she was crazy, thinking about all the stuff we have to do this weekend, but I couldn't say anything because I was counting my reps. She must have read my mind because then she said, "And by "chill weekend", I mean "Chill Friday"." Hahahahahaha! And here it is, 6:20, and I can really barely keep my eyes open. Welcome to Iron Man training!

It's been a good week tough. This week felt better than last week. I think it's because I slept better and knew what to expect as far as workouts, soreness, stretching, etc. The swim was fine today-pretty uneventful. The run was good. Perfect weather-about 65. We did a warm-up, then 5.5 sets of one minute fartleking with two minutes recovery in between each one. I had to send Kristi on ahead when we did the fartleks. My old bones just can't keep up! I did my best, and didn't finish too far behind.

Short entry today. The pups are curled up all cute on the couch. I'm going to try and do a pedicure before I fall asleep. EBT-7:30. (Estimated Bed Time...)

Oh, I just realized I haven't eaten anything since 12 noon....maybe that's another reason why I'm so hungry....there's just too much to keep track of with this crazy training schedule! How's a girl supposed to remember to eat!

TTFN,
M :)

Oh, so that's what the swim is supposed to be like....

Today's workout:
Swim-70 minutes
Bike-60 minutes

Sit-ups-175
Walk-1.5 miles with the pups!

What a world of difference a heated pool makes! Instead of wondering how I will ever make it another five minutes, I was able to do different drills and actually enjoy the swim! 82 degrees of swimming bliss!

So a new adventure-up to the north 24 Hour Fitness gym. It is a pretty nice facility. The pool is much bigger than my regular gym. There were a lot of people there, but I only had to wait about two minutes to get a lane. The first difference I noticed were the people that were at the gym. Wrinkles, hairy backs, protruding tummies, I finally found my peeps! So much more realistic than my regular gym which may as well have a fraternity and sorority attached to it. At my gym, hulking twenty-somethings walk around with a pained look on their face and a gallon of water. Puhleeze. Who drinks a gallon of water during a workout? The show is entertaining though! So back to the gym up north-a bunch of really nice, old, out-of-shape people!

I swam 15 minutes warm up, then used some hand bouys and did some resistance stuff that I made up. The training book has drills for freestyle, but not for breaststroke. Even though I made them up, I think it went ok. I did 70 minutes today to make up for the 45 minutes on Monday! We should be at 65 minutes this week, working our way up 5 minutes each week to get to 90 minutes on a regular basis. I even did some freestyle today!

I had to ask a little old lady if I could get behind her to my locker. She kindly moved over and asked if I'd been in the water. She and her two other old lady friends and I had an extremely pleasant conversation about aging knees, sore hips, and the lack of motivation to get in the pool now that it's winter. Sweet ladies.

Then I was at the mirror combing my hair and eating a powerbar. Another chatty friendly lady said, "That's a good idea." I wasn't sure if she was talking about combing my hair, putting my gymbag on the counter, or what. She went on to explain that it's good to eat right after a workout. It helps keep the muscles strong. All in all, a very pleasant experience at my new gym for the next few weeks.

So after the swim I went to get a loaf of yummy cinnamon chip bread for the Great Harvest Bread Company. The only one in town is coincidentally right next to the north gym! Yea! And I also got a smoothie. I was giving my order to the smoothie order guy, and he asked me what size. I said, "Small.". He said, "12 ounces or 16 ounces?" Thinking he didn't hear me, I said again, "Small". He again said, "12 ounces or 16 ounces." It was all I could do at this point not to say, "Unless I just entered a parallel universe where 12 is larger than 16, I'd like the 12 ounce smoothie please." But instead I said, "I guess the 12 ounces, since that's smaller than the 16 ounces." To which he replied, "They're both small to me, so I just wanted to check which one you wanted." I wondered if this man might think a Denny's All You Can Eat Buffet looked small too.

So with my 12 ounce smoothie and yummy bread in hand, I went home. Kristi decided to hoof it from her house to mine-a nice little 2.5 mile walk. Wayne decided to take the day off to rest his injury. Kristi and I biked our regular 14 mile loop. A wonderful ride-lots of sunshine, 80 degrees, and a pretty moderate wind from the south. Sure do love Texas winter! Here's a couple of fun pics. Now that I know how to add them to the blog, I'm going to try to take a lot more! The photos will be fun to look back on!

It's nice now that winter break is almost here-we can do the workouts earlier in the day and have the evenings free! After the ride I went for a nice walk with the pups. 

TTFN!

M :)

Mosquito bites in December

Today's workout:
Bike trainer-70 minute turbo
Run-15-20 minutes

What a great workout tonight! I feel awesome! The bike set-up under the carport works so well. I taped the workout to the wall so it's easy to follow. Some single-leg drills tonight and some power work in the high gears. We did the majority of the workout in high zone 2. Except the warm-up and cool-down of course. We were sweating it up big time! It was about 70 when we did the workout. The mosquitos were ridiculous! But I'll take a skeeter bite over snow anyday! Poor Wayne had to skip the turbo workout and just spin lightly. He's walking with a slight limp and is wearing a long compression sock. It's good that he was able to spin still tough. He said it was boring and that he'd rather be doing the tough workout! Me too, just spinning on a trainer is really boring.

Here's a pic that Chris took of us on the trainers. I recognize Wayne and Kristi, but who is that crazy towel lady in the background?

Wayne RICEd his leg while Kristi, Caribia, Cheyenne, and I ran the 1.8 Central Market loop. Nice and easy-the transition runs are always zone one. Gotta love zone one! Kristi and I both got crazy hungry at about the same time on the run. It's amazing how much we have to eat to sustain the training-and it's only week two! I can only imagine what it's going to be like in a month or so! I guess that's why it' so important to watch what we eat just as much as how much we eat. That way we're sure to get good quality foods with lots of protein, good fats, etc.

I was sure to stretch again tonight. Stretching is slowly becoming my friend. I'm using the foam roller a bunch. It really hurts on parts of my legs, but that only means I need to use it more often on those parts. I'm hoping the stretching and yoga will go a long way towards injury prevention. I'll also be sure to stay away from tennis.

TTFN!
M :)

Zen In Your Den+Cheyenne=Hahahahaha!

I decided to do a yoga workout tonight since I felt like I wimped out on the swim. "Zen In Your Den" is a 21 minute yoga workout that's on Exercise On Demand TV. It's a perfect little workout-not too strenuous and I feel great!

I've been sneezing since I left the pool and blowing my nose non-stop. So I plugged my nose by stuffing a tissue up there for yoga. I was doing sun salutations-which includes a downward dog, an upward dog, and a cobra. I was right in the middle of an upward dog, transitioning to the cobra and downward dog, when Cheyenne wanted to get in on the action. She did the downward dog with me-cute as ever, and was trying to hold my hand with her paw during cobra. Then she saw the tissue sticking out of my nose. And she just thought that was the oddest thing ever-she sort of tipped her head to one side and then the other. I guess she decided that the tissue shouldn't be sticking out of nose, so she took it upon herself to try and remove it! So with each of my positions, she would get closer and try to pull at the tissue with her mouth! Hahahaha! You can just picture the chaos! The whole time this was happening, Carib was curled up in a ball on the couch napping! It was a nice cozy little ending to a sorry workout.

M :)

Hypothermia

Today's workout:
Swimming-45 minutes

I've decided to write a letter to the head honchos of the USAT board and kindly request that they change the third event of the triathlon to something other than swimming. Perhaps hiking? Dog walking? Or even shuffleboard? This swimming stuff is for the birds! Or more accurately the penguins! The pool heater is still not working, and each day without a heater, it drops a degree or two. There is no way the pool was over 63-64 degrees today. I was the only brave (or crazy) soul in there today. One lady sat by the side and dipped her feet in and quickly pulled them out. She said, "Do you get used to it?" and I said, "No, not at all. I can't feel my toes or fingers." That was 30 minutes into the swim. I was using all my mental toughness to complete the assigned hour swim today. At minute 40, I stopped for a pee break and realized I was shivering so badly that I couldn't hold my hand straight. I had a major headache, and even the goosebumps weren't helping to insulate me against the cold. Something wasn't right-so I swam until 45 minutes were over and jumped out of the pool. I had a nice hot shower, but the goosebumps wouldn't go away. I could barely open my locker because I couldn't get my hands to cooperate-they kept shaking! Finally I got all changed-after dropping everything I tried to pick up...no coordination! I made my way to the desk and asked about the pool. At least two more weeks until the heater is fixed. If not more. Man. That really sucks. I will be able to use another gym location though. It's just not conveniently located to my home and work. Better to have a commute and a warm pool then no commute and a block of barely defrosted ice to swim in.

I was blinded by sneezes on my way home.

Kristi and Wayne are at Dick Nichols pool today. An outside pool that is heated 80-82 degrees. Sounds like a Caribbean vacation compared to the gym pool! Bonnie is debating between joining a Master's Swim Class at a high school near her house or continuing to swim at her gym pool. The high school is closer, which will be nice when the temperature starts to drop for them. Oh wait, that already happened-high of 12 degrees!

So we've had our first injury. Wayne strained his calf playing tennis yesterday. He iced it all night and received top-notch care from the family doctor so I'm told. Treatment included pizza and rest on the couch. Today he had major dental work-out from work for half the day! And yet, he is still swimming tonight. Wayne gets the trooper award for today!

I have to give a shout-out to my number one fan tonight. My darlin Chris. He has been so supportive this first week of training-taking care of dinner each night, making me feel better when I'm exhausted, and encouraging me to keep going. It is so awesome to see him at the gym after my swim on Monday nights!

Stay tuned for more updates on the swimming fiasco.

Later gators!
M :)

First week officially done!!!

Today's workout:
Run 75 minutes (7 miles with stops)
Weights-30 minutes

Yeehawww!! We finished our first week! The big news today is that this week I gained weight, lost both bone and muscle, and aged two years. Hahahaha! That's what the scale said anyway! Wayne dropped weight and age, and gained muscle. Kristi gained weight and gained four pounds of muscle! (Can you say Incredible Hulk?) Are we all doing the same training? It'll be interesting to see what the scale says month-to-month. I feel like week-to-week includes so many factors-how much did we eat that day, did we poop yet, how far did we run, etc....but I think the month-to-month will be a good snapshot of where we are. Wayne is keeping a most excellent spreadsheet of all the info.

So, I have a question. When I say "breathy" what do you think of? Yup, me too. A trashy romance novel by Danielle Steele.  An excerpt might read...."He dimmed the lights and took off his shirt exposing his chiseled abs. As she lay poised on the bed she became breathy with excitement."

You may be asking yourself, "What on earth does trashy romance have to do with Ironman training?" And it would be a good question....unless you were training with Kristi. Then you'd completely understand. When we start to get into Zone 2 or 3, and start to get "winded", or "out of breath", in Kristi's world, we get "breathy". It always provides a good chuckle when we get to those zones.

The run was great today. We did the seven mile loop around the lake. It was 45 degrees or so, but perfectly sunny. We are supposed to stay in Zone 1 for the Sunday runs. I almost had to use Cheyenne's leash on Kristi to keep her on pace, and I'm sure she got a neck cramp from turning around to talk to me the whole time! I tried to keep us at about 9 minute miles. I did want to go faster, it was perfect weather, but it felt great to go around 9s. Cheyenne is the perfect running pup. She spends the first mile or so exploring the trail and doing her business. But by mile 2 she's right at my side, looking up with a big smile every now and then. For some reason she wanted to get into the lake today, but I didn't let her because that would have meant the cold water would have been sprayed all over me when she shook! She met two friends at Auditorium Shores, January, a big huge furry goliath, and Lois, a little scrappy pup about her same size, who just wanted to play with her!

After the run we went straight to the gym at K and Ws. We did 1 set of 10 of all the prescribed activities. We're still not sure what a few of them are. After the weights we went to their pool so I could feel the temp. I said that wouldn't be necessary, but they insisted. I could see white caps forming on the pool-it was so windy! I stuck my hand in-holy cow. I can't believe how cold it was. The thermometer said 50 degree water! I told K and W that they should sit in the pool as an ice bath after some of our longer/tougher workouts. They said haha.

I can't believe we're done for the day and it's not even 1pm yet! Time to sit on the couch and catch up on my reading.

Happy Sunday everyone!
M :)

Test...

http://www.mapmyrun.com/run/united-states/tx/austin/357125121028862936


This is a test to see if my Map My Ride route can be posted to the blog. It looks like I can post photos and stuff too! Fun fun!

Mini triathlon today!

Today's workout:
Bike-145 minutes (36 miles)
Run-16 minutes (1.8 miles)
Swim-30 minutes

We started at 10 am this morning. It was a great ride-about 75 degrees for most of it and sunny. Really windy though-a cold front is on it's way through tonight. I'm going to try to post the route that we followed.  Wayne has his iPhone set up to record all kinds of things-speed, distance, route, elevation...he can then upload it to his computer! It seems as if the battery in his phone will last for a while-and he has an extra battery pack that goes around his phone to give it extra charge time. It might even last for some of our longer rides! The ride was supposed to be "zone one". I think that means that we should be comfortable and able to talk for most of the ride. I think it went pretty well. Until Kristi asked me to tell a really long joke going up a hill-zone four! Zone four alert! So I looked up the zones to get a better idea of where we should be...

Zone 1-Easy pace "This is where you will be in the early season and in between hard workout days during the season. For many people, this is the hardest place to be. That feeling of "I'm not working hard enough" seems to be difficult for many people (Kristi). This is the zone, however, where you can maintain your fitness while recovering from harder work."
Zone 2-"Relatively easy zone to be in, but requires steady, moderate effort."
Zone 3-"This is where many people spend most of their time, because they "feel like" they're at or above 78%.
Zone 4-"Hammer zone-not used in Ironman training-usually Sprint or Olympic. Excessive time spent in this zone will quickly lead to diminishing returns."

It was kind of hard to tell our zone today because of the wind. The wind definitely makes my asthma act up a little, so I'm breathing harder anyway. Here's another way to look at it-from the training book-on a scale from 6-20 of Perceived Effort, Zone One is between 6-10, Zone Two is between 10-14, Zone Three is between 15-17, and Zone Four is between 18-20.

Ok, enough of the boring stuff. So we finished our ride, changed, got the pups, and ran our prescribed 15-20 minutes. Up, around Central Market, and back for 1.8 miles. Then a quick yogurt, two chocolate digestives, and some water-then off to the gym for a 30 minute swim. The heater isn't working yet. But surprisingly it wasn't too bad after the first couple laps! When I was finishing up, a lady was trying to get in the lane next to me-she asked if I was cold and I told her that after the first couple laps you get so numb that you can't even feel the cold anymore! She said it was like Barton Springs without the sun!

I decided to swim freestyle for the 30 minutes today. It was a nice change of pace. I took breaks every few laps to empty my goggles. I figured I should probably take the "easy" 30 minute swim on Saturdays to even out my arm muscles from just swimming breaststroke. 30 minutes seemed really easy today.

Kristi just reported in to the Blog Master-says her pool is 60 degrees. Ridiculously cold! I couldn't do that. No way.

Bonnie reported in-Ran this morning in the "wintry rain". I don't miss that weather at all! She's going to do the long ride on the trainer tomorrow.

If I had to sum this training day up in one word, it would be "Hungry". Here's what I ate today:
6:30 am-A bowl of gross rabbit food cereal with a glass of OJ/H2O.
9 am-Smoothie and two eggos
During the ride-Almond snickers and a bag of honey stingers
After the run-Yogurt and two cookies
After the swim-Spinach salad, cauliflower cheese soup, and another smoothie.

I bottomed out with hunger twice-once before my second breakfast, and once at mile 33 on the ride. But the swim was good-no hunger at all. And I'm nice and full now. Toasty warm, sitting on the couch with the sun streaming in through the windows. I should sleep well tonight!

Later gators!
M :)

Yoga and stretching day

Today's workout:
30 minutes stretching and yoga

Well, tonight's version of "yoga" proves it. I am officially the least flexible person I know. I had to abandon one yoga workout on Exercise On Demand TV because it was too strenuous! So I decided to do the roller stretching instead. Ouch. Chris did find an EODTV workout that will be more stretching and not so much contortion. I'll try that one on Monday after my swim.

Yoga and stretching is always fun when you have two puppy dogs who have barely seen you throughout the week. "Mama! Whatcha doin? Can you tickle my belly now? Mama-why are you hanging upside down? Mama-can I lick your face now? Mama, mama-look at me rolling on my back underneath your downward dog! Mama-can I lie down under your plank? That roller sure looks like fun mama!"

So today I am tired. Just plain and simple tired. I think it's a combination of the increased workouts and the types of workouts along with not sleeping very well. Whenever I have to get up early, I wake up every hour  thinking I've overslept when in fact I still have 5, 3, 2 hours before the alarm goes off. I am excited to sleep tonight-we're biking at 10 tomorrow instead of 9 because K and W have a work holiday party tonight that goes pretty late. And knowing them they're sure to tie one on. Hahahahaha! J/K!!!!

Tonight I'm going to find a 35 mile route for us tomorrow on the bike. I think it's supposed to be pretty nice-around 75 degrees! Gotta love Austin winter! (At least for now...you never know what you're gonna get around here!) Sunday morning is going to be in the 30s for our run! High of 50 on Sunday.

Bonnie is on the trainer tonight up in Chicago. Says she's pretty bored at last report. She's watching the snow come down outside her window. We still have the doors open here at 6pm. It's a balmy 70 degrees still. K and W found out today that the pool at their condo building won't be heated anymore this winter. Not that it was really "heated" to begin with-their reports have been freezing cold water that even a wetsuit can't combat! Sounds like they're going to keep swimming in it though...they are already "Iron-Men" (computer voice here....from the you tube video that's too inappropriate to post) if they can pull off swimming outside year round!

My laundry is all done for the week. I still have to iron though. I wonder if it makes sense to iron on Friday nights in front of the tv or on Sat/Sun evenings so that Fridays can be even more relaxing. I guess I'll have to see what I feel like after a few weeks of the training.

Well, I guess that's about all to report for now. Kind of a lot-considering it's a "day off"!

Later gators!
M :)

Phew! Four days done!

Today's workout:
Swimming-60 minutes
Running-45 minute fartlek workout
Weights

Yea! It's Thursday! That means tomorrow is Friday-a day off!!! Today we had another hour long swim. Normally we won't be swimming on Thursdays. So I went to the gym to swim again before work. The water was so cold I credited myself a minute swimtime just for sitting on the side of the pool and dipping my feet in the pool! I almost bailed after 30 minutes because I was freezing-teeth chattering freezing, but I decided to practice my mental toughness and stick with it. I told myself that I was going to need the mental toughness in the race, so I better take every opportunity to pretend that I have it! Haha! I also needed some physical toughness this morning-I had a crazy headache from the goggles and I think also from my sore neck from swimming breaststroke-keeping my neck in that position for three hours of swimming this week. Puts a lot of strain on my neck! A couple aleve helped with the neck and headache. The chlorine is already doing a number on my hair too-it's turning a lovely shade of brassy orange.

I forgot to add in here that I stopped on my way out of the gym to ask about the pool temperature. The guy at the front said that the pool heater is broken! Great news! That means it's only going to get warmer once they get the new part in! He said that most of the regular morning swimmers have been skipping their swim because the water has been so cold! So it will be warmer, but more crowded to, it seems like.

I got a new swimsuit today so I don't have the SSS anymore. (Saggy Swimsuit Syndrome). I got a black and red swimsuit. It's pretty stylin! I got red and black because Bonnie always wears red and black and she's faster than me, and Kristi just got a snazzy new red and black coat, and she's faster than me, so I figured I can't lose! Maybe it's not the training after all, maybe it's the color of the workout clothes! Hahaha!

Tonight we had a 40-60 minute fartlek run. It was a beautiful night-about 60 degrees. We ran at Town Lake. We warmed up for 15 minutes and then did two sets of 3 pick-ups for 45 seconds each. Then cooled down for about 10-15 minutes. After the run we went to the gym at K and W's apartment building. It's a great little gym-all the equipment we need to do the prescribed activities. We are still trying to figure out what a few of them are! I'm going to find a coach at school tomorrow and ask them. We pretty much had the gym to ourselves courtesy of Kristi floating a couple airbiscuits and her repetitive rendition of "We Are The World."

Another good day of working out. I am missing the morning routine with the pups-I'm glad next week is a short week at school so I won't have to swim before school. There's already a lot involved with this training-besides the training itself-all the packing for the day's workouts and extra laundry....I'm pretty tired-I think from the swimming and from not sleeping too well. I think I haven't been sleeping so well because of the early morning workouts. I wake up every hour thinking that I've overslept. I'm excited to sleep in until 6:30 tomorrow!

Time for bed now.

Later gators!
M :)

First Wednesday

Today's workout:
Swim-60 minutes
Bike-60 minutes

5:30 am-Alarm goes off. Granola bar and orange juice in the car on the way to the gym. Warm winter hat-Brrrrr-it's cold outside!
5:53 am-In the pool swimming. Brrrr!!!!!
6:15 am-Still brrrrrr!!!!
6:45 am-More brrrrr!!!!!
6:53 am-Thank god that's done! Brrrr all the way to the shower....nice hot shower...brrrr all the way to the changing room-nice warm clothes-hair dryer to warm me up!
7:21 am-Leave gym-HEB for a muffin and banana. Yum!

I managed to remember everything I needed! Made it to work by 7:45! A pretty good workout considering it was swimming! But it sure was cold!!!

Work all day....home by 4:45-change into bike clothes, while packing for tomorrow's workout-swim in the morning and run/weights in the evening. Quick bowl of cereal, then out the door for a ride! Nice night, but chilly. Brrrr again! One small accident on the ride-Wayne fell over at a stop sign-clipped into his pedal. He's ok though-he says he took most of the weight on his wrist-which is still sore from his last fall on the bike! I hope it's not too bad! Wayne has to swim tonight-and it's cold out there! Kristi swam this afternoon when the sun was out and was still cold.

After the swim, a nice hot bath-my toes were almost blue they were so cold! Now I'm on the couch with the fam....Cheyenne is all snuggled up next to the mama. Early bedtime again tonight-up early for swim in the manana! I think I'm warm for the first time today!

Poor Todd and Bonnie went to Orlando for a nice winter get-away and it's freezing there! So they spent the day in the movie theater-it was too cold to be outside!

The word that sums up the day all around is....yup, you guessed it.....BRRRRRR!!!!!!

Later gators!

M :)