Thankful Thursday

I must confess that I am not a very good cook. I can follow a recipe and I can make a delicious trifle like nobody's business, but I just don't know how to "whip" things up. I prefer to bake, but in general I am A-OK with takeout, with the exception of breakfast which I LOVE and will cook more frequently. On some nights I come home either after a workout or work and just eat random items.

I used to do a much better job of preparing meals in advance and eating the leftovers for lunch. It wasn't until the other day that I realized how lazy I'd gotten with my food prep. I came home and my roommate said, "So is tonight the night you just eat yogurt and a cereal bar?" Ouch.

So I went to the grocery store and bought some items for a snack that I really enjoy during the summer and that can help tide me over before and after a workout. I present: Peanut Butter Protein Balls!

Ok, so they don't look super delicious, but trust me, they are. You can find the recipe HERE. I make them and store them in the fridge since the peanut butter can get soft if you leave them out. I use Pubix (store) brand Natural PB (KC's recommendation!) and EAS chocolate Whey Protein.

HUNGRY B.O.B.!

Today I am thankful for easy, yummy snacks. This is a recipe for you if you love peanut butter and are a lazy ass like me.

What are you thankful for today?

*After massage and icing, the quad feels 100% better. I won't run until Saturday still but things are looking good!

Greedy

I believe in karma. I also believe that my version is often instantaneous. For example, I'll call someone dumb and then immediately stub my toe. Or I'll chuckle at someone falling and I'll run right into a door jam. It's true. I am karma's favorite friend. Don't be jealous.

As I posted yesterday I have a lot of races in July. I just kept signing up for them. I couldn't help it. I admit it. I got greedy.

So guess what? This morning while do my regular 5 miler, I felt a strange pain in my right quad. I thought it may have been a cramp because I've never felt anything like this. I asked my running bud to stop so I could stretch and massage. I stopped and did as such and continued on my run. It didn't hurt, but it felt like the muscle was sore.

I could have stopped but we were halfway through and I didn't want to walk back, plus it doesn't hurt as much as it feels sore or bruised. After I got home I immediately WebMD'd myself (I could totally BE a WebMD at this point) to see what the deal was with a pulled quad.

Turns out that it's not so bad. I could potentially still run, so long as it's "easy" and the usual R.I.C.E. and such. Plus, I've got a massage scheduled tonight so that could help flush out some of the toxins. I'm currently all Arctic Ease wrapped and plan on some swimming tomorrow or sofa surfing. One of the two.

I actually think I may benefit from this little running set back (if it turns out to be a set back at all). If I skip my track work tomorrow and can't run on Saturday it's really not a big deal. Whoa. Who just said that?

Me. And you want to know why? Because now that I've found myself enjoying the biking and swimming, a little extra in those two can only help me in the races I've got lined up. I'll be careful and watch it and if I have to jog the midnight 10K, so be it.

I've got bigger fish to fry.

P.S. I am not freaking out about this and I really believe it's because I am starting to enjoy my time with Dolly and lord knows I need more practice on the bike. Will wonders never cease?

P.P.S. I had some cute photos but blogspot is being difficult. Feel free to google image the word "greedy" and pretend those are in this post.

Race addict and etc

Upon looking at my calendar yesterday, I realized that I have registered for a race almost every single weekend in July. Thankfully July has five weekends or I definitely would have had a race every weekend. Hmm. What can I do the 24th and 25th? Kidding. Kinda.

I signed up for a 10K on July 4th that starts at midnight. (It goes from the 3rd to the 4th. If that makes sense.) Guess who else shall be racing this night? None other than Jamoosh from Last Mile Lounge. Of course he had to go all tough guy and top me by doing all three races that are offered that night, the 1 miler, the 5K, and the 10K. Here's hoping I get to see him and Lady J out there.

I feel as though I can do all of these races because of all the cross training I am getting in. I may take it easy at either the 10K or the 5K so that I don't burn out during my tri's. These two upcoming tri's may be my last ones until the 1/2 Ironman Relay...but then again, I have been a race addict lately so we'll see.

In other news I got my ride in this morning since I missed one on Sunday. Dolly and I got up at 4:30 AM and headed out for 21 miles. I felt good this morning and realize that although I love the spin classes, I really just need to spend more time with Dolly. She misses me.

Looking forward I want to continue with my cross training but am a little skeptical that I'll be up to it once I get into heavy running mileage for Miami. I can see myself sitting on the couch on my rest days thinking, "Nope. My ass is tired." Heh. Another item we'll have to see on. Any thoughts on this from those of you who cross train?

I leave you all with this quote I found by Albert Einstein seemed fitting: "Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving."

Come and knock on our door

Since I put Ironman on bucket list I figured why wait? I'll just go ahead and do the whole shebang this year. In September.

GOTCHA!

I'm crazy, but I ain't nuts.

But what I did sign up for is pretty damn exciting and has the word IRONMAN in it. I'm doing the 1/2 Ironman Augusta as a relay. Pretty flippin' sweet right? I'm going to be the runner while Aloha Kris swims and our friend Dig will be riding. Since we are two lovely ladies and one cool dude we are team: Three's Company.*

I don't know if I'm Chrissie or Janet, but we definitely have our Jack Tripper. Anyone want to be Mr. Roper?

Aloha Kris and Dig, I am totally making us do this pose cause surely this is how one looks after a 1/2 Ironman Relay. Am I right?

I'm all about the three person relay because, it's a cool race with only one third of the pressure. No pantsing the poop on this one!

Speaking of tri's, I got my run and swim on this weekend but my bike...notsomuch. I had fully intended on getting in a long ride but the weather was not cooperating on Sunday. I'm going to attempt a moderate ride on Tuesday morning and we'll see how it goes.

Here's hoping your weekends were splendid. Happy Monday!

*Thanks to Red for the amazing team name. The girl is a genius. And that's why I love her.

Friday Fun with Red & B.o.B.

Since Red and I are such good friends, it should be obvious that we have a lot in common. For example, we both love running. And reading. And sushi. And of course, blogging. A lot of our conversations actually revolve around blogging. And how completely nerdy we are in accordance with our blogging.


Earlier this week we were discussing how much our "100 things about me" posts have changed and decided it'd be fun to post some of those changes to our blogs. Ok, well, it's fun to us. Haha. We both love lists and looking back at my 100 alone makes me laugh at some of the stuff I wrote. Nothing has changed fundamentally. I still love dancing, coffee, and music. And I still miss my dad every day. But there are some things that have undoubtedly changed since that post from October 2009.

Let's have a look shall we? Come down the rabbit hole Alice....

1. While my pantry did always contain South Beach high protein cereal bars, I must sadly say that it no longer can. BECAUSE THEY DISCONTINUED THEM! I am furious.

2. While I was on the fence about the whole marriage/kids thing, these days I'm leaning toward the no kids ever thing. One trip to Disney in the summer was like the world's best birth control. I've heard that when they are my own I'll love them, but ...

3. I said in 2009 that, "I never in a million years thought I'd end up in sales." And well, I am no longer in sales. See how that works? Heh.

4. I used to be an all the time undies under running shorts kinda gal, but lately I've been free ballin', er, free...you know what. Wink, wink.


5. I thought talking about breast implants was TMI, but since I've shared so much since then on this blog (see above), I realize there is little that is TMI. And I'm free....free ballin'.....

6. I still believe there is less traffic on the high road, but every now again, man I want to cause a twelve car pile up!

7. Still thinking about those implants. TMI? Naaaaaah.

8. Am removing Daniel Craig from my top five hot dudes and replacing him with Leonardo DiCaprio. Inception pushed him right over the edge for me. In case you forgot the other four were: George Clooney, Ryan Reynolds, Bradley Cooper, and Jensen Ackles (TV show Supernatural hottie!)


9. I wrote that I thought Ironman on a bucket list was bananas...but now.....ok fine. I'm in. Ironman is on the list.

10. Gwen Stefani was my girl crush, but she's sooooo 2009. Sorry Gwen, I still love you but now you're more like my bestie than my girl crush. You've been replaced by..aw who am I kidding? You're still my favorite, Gwen!

TGIF fools. Have a great weekend. And for the love of God stop imagining me with big boobs!

DollyB.o.B. says, "Ya'll head over to Red's blog to see what she's been up to with her 100 things. Go on now, git!"

Thankful Thursday

I am really looking forward to marathon training and I'm not sure why because there are some things that really stink while training for the marathon. And there is some stuff that totally blows while running the marathon itself.

Obviously, the finish is what makes it all worthwhile, but this most hilarious video highlights the highs and lows of what we go through durning that 26.2 race.

Today, I'm thankful for videos like this. They make me laugh and remind me how great it is to be a marathoner.



What are you thankful for today?

Wordless Wednesday

My nephews, Wesley and Bruiser.

(Sorry the photo quality is not so great. These two hate to sit still unless sleeping and a cell phone camera isn't the best thing to use for Wordless Wednesday.)

Obligatory Summer is Hot for Running Post

Guess what? It's official. It's the summer. And you know how I know? My calendar says so.

Even though it's pretty much been summer here in Florida since oh, I dunno, April, the highfalutin calendar says today is actually the first day of summer so who am I to argue?

Since I've signed up for two more tri's and a 5K next month I figure I may as well get used to the heat and just do what I do every summer...suck it up buttercup. That being said, on Sunday I did the four mile 5 PM group run and felt as though my face was literally going to melt off. Fortunately, Caribbean Steve was there to talk so much that I forgot how hot it was and could only think about telling him to shut the hell up. Just kidding, C Steve, I still knew how hot it was. And YOU know how your talking helps get me and everyone else through a tough run (See: Ft Lauderdale Marathon Report).

What's really awesome about running in this heat is how RED my face gets. See photo as evidence below, and this is RED face from that 8K in FEBRUARY. June RED face is much, much worse.


The one thing that does seem to help is an ice bath. Yep. The old ice bath really seems to help bring the temperature back down. On Sunday after the 5 PM run from hades I had my roomie dump ice into the tub while I sat there in my bathing suit. He thinks I am completely nuts, but I was still so HOT from the run that I felt like as soon as the ice hit my skin it melted. That's my way of saying, I'm hot. Tee hee!


This concludes my one and only post about it being hot and the summer and running in the heat and what to do about it and blahbitty-blah-blah.

Happy Tuesday folks. Hot enough for ya?

Weekend Rewind

Hola mi amigos! I hope you all had lovely weekends. Mine was pure bliss. As I mentioned before I had a fairly low key weekend planned and this made me very excited because it's becoming a rare occurrence in my life. My roommate always says that he doesn't know anyone else who is as non-stop as I am on the weekends. What can I say, I'm a weekend warrior.

Saturday AM I got my ten mile run on and felt pretty good. I miss my ten milers when I'm racing and such so I always look forward to them and the breakfast at Panera afterward with the group. We have started running at 6 AM now to avoid some of the heat, but it's Florida, so there's no way to really, truly avoid it.

On Saturday night I actually went out. Like out for drinks. And stayed out until 12 AM! I know, I know, total maniac. Heh. It's the first time I've been out that late in a while and I had a great time. I found this hole in the wall bar and the bartender was like the Julia Child's of drinks. He made me a cherry cheesecake highball and it was AMAZING. Did you know they actually make whipped cream flavored vodka now? To. Die. For.

Since I only had three drinks on Saturday, I managed to get up at 6:30 AM and head to the paved trail for a short 18 mile bike ride. I wound up running into a friend and he stayed with me for the first seven mile loop. It was a nice day and fortunately when an entire family of wild pigs ran across the trail, we were far enough back to enjoy watching them and not fall down, go boom.

After my ride I got to meet up with fellow blogger and local triathlete extraordinaire KC! It was like we have known each other for years. We spent two hours at Panera (I love me some Panera, can you tell?). We talked about everything under the sun and I can totally see us hanging out lots more. Yay for new bloggy buddies!!!

Aren't we tan? Yeah, Florida gals rule.

Anyway. After breakfast and a little nap, I got in a 1,600 m swim and a 4 mile run. I was a total tri machine yesterday. The swim was great and the run was HOT. Five o'clock in Florida equals blazing temps. But I figure, since I signed up for yet another Olympic tri next month, I may as well get used to the heat.

Yup. I added yet another race to the schedule. What can I say? I am a total addict now.

Happy Monday peeps!

A little funny for your Friday...

TGIF my peoples! I am super excited for the weekend and I don't really have anything planned! Yay! This weekend will be about getting some good, solid workouts in and just recuperating. I need to do some laundry and run a few errands since I've neglected that stuff while training for last weekend's race.

Actually I was thinking about that scene from The Sweetest Thing where the gals don't have clean undies so they are in bikinis and granny panties. Yup, that'll be me if I don't get to my laundry soon. I hate it so very much though. I'd rather buy new underwear than do laundry. Sigh. Oh well.

I officially signed up for the Miami Marathon in January and I'm actually looking forward to those grueling 20 milers. Please remind me that I said this when I start whining about my sore legs.

Happy Friday dudes. Enjoy the video and please disregard the weird translations at the bottom. It's the best I could find, besides it makes the video even funnier to me.

Thankful Thursday

Today's Thankful Thursday brought to you by...All Over the Place Blogging. When you just can't find a good theme, go with All Over the Place Blogging©.

Yeah, this image just felt right today. Heh.

Anywho....

I swear, thanks to this blog I keep meeting and setting up meetings with the stinkin' coolest people. For example, I got to do another interview for Arctic Ease with a kick butt athlete named Cheryl Fairweather.

Cheryl made it to the ITU Duathlon World Championships that are coming up in Spain. The duathlon scares the crap out of me for some reason but I guess maybe I should try one some day. Go HERE to check out that interview with Cheryl!

Also, I have a planned blogger meet up for Sunday with KC from 140 Point 6 Miles of Awesome. Don't you just love that blog title? I "met" KC on Daily Mile and didn't realize how close she lived. I am hoping to pick her brain on all tri things I can think of. And maybe I can teach her a thing or two on a being a Stooge during a race. What? That's all I got. Hahaha.

I am super thankful it's Thursday cause I am so ready for the weekend. Although this week has gone by pretty quickly. I am looking forward to my long run on Saturday. It's strange how much I miss my Saturday long runs when I don't get them in.

Hm. Let's recap what I'm thankful for today shall we? I am thankful for dumb LOL Cat pictures, meeting cool people (what's up Cheryl and KC!), it being Friday eve, and Saturday AM long runs.

Ah randomness.

What are you thankful for today?

Florida Challenge Triathlon Race Report

Since, yet again, I have a lot to get through on this race report, I'm going to dive right in. Get your popcorn ready and settle in.

On Saturday, the Tri division of my running group headed over to Clermont, FL, which is about 25 miles west of Orlando. If you google Clermont you'll see that it's geography notes it's "rolling hills." Keep that in mind.

A few of us were doing the Olympic distance (this includes me), a few were doing the 1/2 Ironman distance (or what they call the "long course"), and one (Cay-See) in our group was doing the duathlon. We headed over Saturday afternoon and checked into our hotels and then drove the bike course.

Driving the bike course, I felt ok. I thought the hills looked manageable except for the first one which just had no downhill to build up to it. You turned off a straight road and went straight up. Yikes! I was a bit concerned about getting lost on course since it was such a small race and the start times were still up in the air. It seemed to be unorganized on Saturday, but worked out just fine on Sunday.

I felt prepared for this race and tried to give myself positive pep talks and keep that "good to great" frame of mind. And when we got going on Sunday morning I didn't feel the panic that I had encountered before St Anthony's.

The Swim - 1.5K (.9 miles)
This was my first lake swim in a race. And I must admit that I really enjoyed it. It was the full 1,500 meter swim and sort of a triangle shaped course. I lined up in the front at this race and it seemed to pay off. Out of the 38 women who started the race, I got out of the water in 8th. I felt a little more winded then I normally do but I was happy with the swim. The only downside to the swim was getting off course on the way out to the first buoy.

Here I was swimming along and then all of the sudden I saw no other swimmers and for a hot second I thought, "Am I in first?" Haha. When I popped up I noticed I had gone pretty far off course and was in the middle of the course. Oops! I guess I need to work on my sighting a bit more.

Swim time: 27:46

Transition 1
Not terrible, but could always improve.
T1 Time: 3:25

The Bike - 40K (24.8 miles)
Ah, the bike. Me and the bike. Such a hot mess has never before been seen. This is where my "good to great" went right out the window.

Remember that first hill I told you all about? Yeah. It got me. Only about 4 miles in and I was slowly climbing and I could not get my legs to turn over in the pedals. I had to stop. I unclipped and started sliding back down the hill and thought for sure I was going to bust my ass but I managed to hop off the bike. I stood there for about 3 minutes as folks passed and thought, well there goes my swim lead...again. I also thought about walking up this hill. And every other hill in this almost 25 miles and the thought of walking up hills for 25 miles sounded daunting and miserable.

I quit right then and there. Pardon my inner French, but "Fuck it."

As I turned my bike around and started to walk down the hill I heard a very forceful, "Don't you walk down this hill!" It was an old friend He asked me what I was doing and I told him I physically couldn't get up the hill and was quitting.

He said, "Oh no you aren't. We'll walk up the hill. I've done it before and it's all in your head. Plus you are in the wrong gear!" I babbled and whined and my voice cracked, "But I can't do this for 25 miles! You don't understand! I don't want to walk up all those hills!" He told me I wasn't a quitter and to just walk back up with him. I felt awful. Here he was, stopping on a bike course he could easily crush, to help me.

Once we got to the top of the hill he told me to gear down and get going. He made sure I was back on the bike and moving before he got on his. And wouldn't you know, by the next hill I could climb, slow as shit mind you, but I didn't have to walk up another hill for the rest of the race. He passed me like I was standing still, but at least I was moving.

I peddled on and at about a mile from where we had walked I saw the same old friend stopped on the side of the course. I yelled, "What do you need?" He told me to keep going, that he was fine. (He told me later he didn't want me to stop for fear I wouldn't start again. Hahaha!) So I kept moving.

I climbed more hills than I can count and cruised down them, which I must admit is pretty flippin' fun. Scary? Hell yeah! But fun too. Tiny Tish was racing too and she caught up to me on the bike. We took turns passing each other and it was great to see her on the course. It helped me a lot. We came up to the water station and I hopped off to get my bottle. No way I was going to risk the sharp turn around and get a water while still clipped in. Oddly enough though, he had not caught back up to me yet and I knew something was wrong.

As I headed back toward the lake, the course sent you around the lake for the most part but had to take you away from it to get all of the miles in, I saw him sitting with no shoes on, as calm as could be on the side of the road. I stopped and asked him what happened and he told me his chain broke. I felt so terrible for him. Here he was stopping to get me going when I wanted to quit and he himself would now have no chance to finish. He told me he'd be fine as long as race official drove by and to get going. And so I did.

The miles ticked by slowly as I climbed more hills. I noted that at my slowest climb I was going 5 MPH and at my fastest downhill I was going 26 MPH. I couldn't believe how fast I went flying down some of the hills and the steeper ones leading into right turns I rode my breaks until they were squealing.

Tiny Tish and I continued to leap frog and talk as we passed each other and another gentleman in a neon green shirt told me to keep going when he could see me struggle. He and I leap frogged as well. At one point he said, "I'm not looking forward to the run." And said, "I am! I can't wait to be off this bike!" And I meant it. On the plus side, the ride went by quickly because of the hills. I had to focus on what I was doing and tried not to coast too much.

I finally reached the transition and almost cried when I saw the bikes set up cause I knew I'd be dismounting soon. The course official at the dismount said to a rider in front of me, "Run your bike straight through to transition." And then we he saw me crawl to a stop and slowly get off my bike he said, "Or walk your bike straight through to transition." I laughed with him and some spectators and made my way to my bike rack.

Coming into transition. You see a final small hill behind me and a smile of relief on my face.

FINALLY off the bike and headed to my happy place, the run.

Bike Time: 1:42:58 (14.5 Avg MPH)

Transition 2I was pretty slow in this one. But I didn't care. I forgot to start my Garmin when I got into transition so I chose to run without it. The bike had kicked my butt and so I laced up and ate some Clif Shot Bloks and off I went. Did not forget my race belt with my number this time since I did that last race. Hooray for lessons learned!
T2 Time: 3:21

The Run - 10K (6.1 miles)By the time I got off the bike, it was HOT. Since I didn't have my Garmin on I wasn't quite sure how fast I was running. I would have liked to have it and will remember this for the next race. The run course was an out and back and had ample water stops. They also had cups of ice and two water hose stations. The second time I hit the hoses I said, "Hit me again!"

I walked through the water stops and tried to keep it moving on the run. I was sweating buckets and just kept thinking about the finish line. As I headed back toward the finish after the 5K I knew I was home free and that I owed a lot to my old friend.

At one point I saw the man in the neon green shirt from the bike and he said, "I knew you were a runner," to which I replied jokingly, "Yeah, you could tell by my shitty biking!" Then we both laughed.

I caught up with a man named John who had recently joined the running group. I don't know him too well but I saw he was walking and I slowed up and told him to run with me. Since I got helped, I figured I would try my best to pay it forward. He started running with me and we stayed together for another half mile or so. Truth be told, helping him keep moving, helped me keep moving. He was dehydrated but I knew he would finish. He told me to go ahead and so I trucked along and could see the flags at the finish. I pushed a little and heard my spectating friends cheering. The Lazy Runner came out and took all these photos you see and so did fellow running group member Chris-Brian.

I wasn't running as fast as I should have but my legs were spent from the bike and I was hot. My "good to great" had gone to "ok to fine." Haha!

I got to the finish chute and have never been so relieved to finish a race I thought I might not get through.

Run Time: 57:38 (Avg 9:17 minute mile)

Coming into the finish and smiling - so ready to be done!

Final Thoughts
Were it not for friends on this race I would not have finished. I don't know who was looking out for me but I definitely needed my buddy at that exact moment I gave up.
I have never wanted to quit a race but because I physically felt I couldn't get up those hills and then I just mentally gave in. This is a first for me but as I have learned yet again, every race is a chance to learn and grow as an athlete. I'll be headed back to the drawing board on my "good to great" mentality and keep on trucking.
Me and Tiny Tish with our medals. She did great and was a huge help on the course.

Final Stats
Total Time: 3:15:06
3rd Place in my age group! Woo hoo! (Did I mention there were only three in my age group? I'll still take it! Plus I am patting myself on the back for being first out of the water amongst the three so there!)
27th woman out of 37 women.
70th out of 91 competitors

Give up the good

Yesterday while I was perusing blogs, I got to Nancy's blog Living the Dream and read this quote: "Don't be afraid to give up the good to go for the great." It was ironic because this is something I have been thinking about for a while now.

You see, I usually show up to races with a mixture of nervousness, excitement, and fear with a healthy dash of self doubt. I typically require a pep talk from a certain Redhead before I feel like I can even toe the start line. I know I trained and typically know I'll finish (with the exception of that first olympic tri) but I lack a certain degree of confidence and any amount of what I like to call "the eye of the tiger." The latter being a killer instinct or will to kick ass. In other words, I am that quote. I'm happy to finish and scared to push myself to the next level.

I've shied away from the BQ question both internally and externally simply because I don't want that pressure but honestly, I also don't want the let down and the sadness if I can't attain the goal. Obviously to run Boston would be pretty cool and I just assume I'll get there one day, but it's another example of me not pushing myself to the greatness because I'm ok with the good.

I certainly don't want to come across as whining about my abilities because I know I've come a long way and I know a lot of folks would be thrilled to just be able to run, so don't take this as whining or poo-pooing, I just feel that sometimes I give up mentally before I even start physically. In addition, to get better physically at this point is going to take some "eye of the tiger" mentally.

I know I can run a 5K and I know I can run a marathon but sometimes I feel like my mental game hurts me and I'm not aggressive enough and certainly could work on my confidence. This is particularly true right now during tri season. I look at some of my fellow triathletes and once they hit the course they are "on." It sometimes takes me a bit to get to that point of being a "competitor" in my mind during a race rather than just a "golly, gee, I'm here to take it easy and just finish." Because quite honestly, I'm not here to take it easy. And I don't think many of us are. Part of the reason we all do these races is to push ourselves and see just how close we can get to our version of "greatness."

So what does this all mean? Well it means that I'm going to be watching Rocky a whole lot. Just kidding. It means that I'm going to challenge myself to push back the self doubting thoughts and get tougher mentally so that I can get closer to my version of greatness.

Care to join me?

"What I've learned in my years as a competitive wheelchair athlete is this--what separates a winner from the rest of the pack is not raw talent or physical ability; instead, it is the drive and dedication to work hard every single day, and the heart to go after your dream, no matter how unattainable others think it is." ---Linda Mastandrea

Thankful Thursday

I love the blogosphere. It's a wonderful place to share ideas and learn new tips. It's also a great place to make new friends.

I had such an amazing trip when visiting Spike and Red and was jealous that they lived so close to so many awesome bloggers. I swear the Midwest blogging community is HUGE, especially the running/tri blogs.

One blogger I got to meet while up there was Jodi. Jodi was running the full at Cleveland and was so nervous. It would be her 2nd marathon if she finished, but her third marathon attempt. You see, her second marathon did not go well and she wound up in the hospital just shy of finishing. No wonder she was nervous this go round! But she finished Cleveland and I couldn't be prouder!

I was surprised and very honored when she asked to do a runner spotlight on me for her Thumb's Up Thursday. She does these runner spotlights and they are a delight to read and I hope mine is as entertaining as some of the others I have read.

Thus today, I'm thankful for Jodi. She's a fellow blogger and an athlete with a heart of gold. She shows that sometimes in order to overcome your fears you must face them head on.

Head on over HERE to read my spotlight and tell Jodi HELLO!

Happy Thursday, what are you thankful for today?

Bringing sexy back

I must first point out that today is Wednesday. However, it will not be wordless since I used up my wordless posts for the week yesterday. I must also point out that this is the SECOND time I've been mixed up on my days and been called out on it, and quickly I might add. That's what I get for smoking the crack.

Just kidding. Whitney lay off the crack!!!!

In other news, on today, this being Wednesday, I thought I would share with you all that Dolly got a tune up. Yup. Bicycles require tune ups. Who'd thunk it? Well, not me. But I guess other folks who are bicycle-y-inclined would have known that.

Apparently the tune up involves making sure the wheels are true (AKA not all wobbly like your legs after a long ride), brake adjustment (totally need that for reals!), checking chains, and some other bicycle-y stuff. I suppose one could learn to do this for themselves if they were so inclined. I am not so inclined. The good news is that my first one was free. Score!

Remember when I went all Three Stooges on Dolly at St Anthony's Tri? Well, I did. And I got grease all over her lovely white taped handlebars. And she's been looking like a hot mess ever since. And honestly, I would prefer Dolly to maintain her sexy. So I had the handlebars re-taped in black. Black is more slimming after all.

*Queue catcalls and whistling*

*Yes, that is a small dog successfully photo-bombing Dolly's sexy back photo shoot.

I'm totally looking forward to my race this weekend now that Dolly's all taped and lubed and ready to go. I'll admit that I'm actually excited for this race and feel much, much more prepared than I did for St A's. Granted this race is supposed to be somewhat hilly so we'll see what shakes loose.

Happy WEDNESDAY! Heh.

Wordless Tuesday

*Since Katie's dogs were wearing shades, Lloyd felt left out and wanted to show off as well. After all, his future's so bright....

**I have YET again got my days confused. This was Wordless Wednesday until Shannon let me know it was actually Tuesday. FAIL. Lol!

I'll be back

Triathlon training is dangerous.

At least, if you are me and danger prone it is. For example this weekend while out on a lovely 18 mile bike ride with Dolly I was eaten bitten by a vampire bat horsefly*. It seriously effed me up!

You see, what had happened was, I was riding along all happy yesterday and feeling particularly tra-la-la-esque when I approached a water stop to await some friends who were behind me. I unclipped and hopped off Dolly to take a breather. Then, all of the sudden, like a lightning bolt, I felt a pain on the lower-outside of calf. When I looked down I saw a fly the size of a blue jay big fly latched onto my leg. As I swatted at it, it hung on tighter and I swear I heard high-pitched laughter.

I flailed around like a no-headed chicken and finally got the little bastard to let go. I looked at my leg for a split second and saw blood! But I had no time to seek first aid since this fly meant business and was not about to give up the most delicious meal it had ever tasted. It came back at me like a damn terminator. I continued with my swatting, slapping dance and am sure any folks who happened to see me while riding up thought I was practicing some sort of dance routine for So You Think You Can Dance. Either that or I was having a grand mal seizure.

Through some sort of miracle, or just because it was appalled by my dance moves, the terminator horsefly finally buzzed off. He or she (I don't know the difference in gender of gigantic flies) angrily flew around the water coolers set up by the Park's Department. This biting machine was obviously just re-grouping before another attack.

Finally, a few other riders approached and I warned them of the terminator fly who would, obviously, be back. One of my fellow cyclists decided to go after the monster and prevailed in killing it after an epic battle.

Triathlon training is dangerous.

*I found this on Wikipedia about the horsefly, and since it's on Wiki, it must be true: "The bite from a large specimen is painful, especially considering the agile nature of the fly. Most short tongued (short proboscid) species of horse flies use their knife-like mandibles to rip and/or slice flesh apart. Flies with longer proboscides bite more like a mosquito, their stylet-like mouthparts piercing the host's skin like needles."

Thankful Thursday

It's been a while since I've had a list on here so I figured today would be a good day for one. Oh who am I kidding, I use a list on this blog like every week! Heh. I love a list.

Today I am thankful for:

1. Carnation Instant Breakfast (No sugar added) with Almond Milk. Lately, I can't get enough of this stuff. It makes me feel like I am drinking chocolate milk since it's super tasty and has a good amount of protein and carbs. I would actually drink chocolate milk if I was logging more miles so this is a great substitution until I begin marathon training.

2. Special K Protein Plus Cereal with Almond Milk. I am a little lactose intolerant so you can see the theme here with the Almond Milk and because of that I don't normally eat cereal, plus I had a hard time finding a cereal that seemed nutritionally sound. And then TA DA! I found this one. It's tasty and I don't feel bad about eating it on the mornings when I just don't want to scramble up some eggs.

3. Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts. I just finished this mammoth book and must say that it was lovely. It's a beautifully written, sweeping novel that is equal parts love story and action adventure epic. I highly recommend it. But be warned, it's a long one!

4. Dailymile.com. I don't have this site linked on here or on Facebook but I do use it and really enjoy keeping track of my stats. For May, I logged 82 miles running, 10 miles swimming, 100 miles cycling, and 63 spinning. You can find me on DM as Beth B.o.B. S.

5. The beach. Me and the beach are like total besties! I am going to be a leather bag in a few years and look totally like Magda from There's Something About Mary, but I just LOVE the beach. And yes, I wear sunscreen and have a big umbrella.

6. Bricks. Not the building kind you sillies, the workout kind. This morning I did a spin-run brick and it was a GREAT workout. I felt so good (after a mile and a half pit stop of course) on the run and feel so much more prepared for this next tri than I did for St Anthony's.

7. The hilarity of PajamaJeans. I just saw this ad the other day (I know, I am behind) but I was cracking up watching it. Let's just call these what they are ok? Fat pants. We've all got them for those days but the fact that they are dressing them up as "pajama jeans" is nothing short of an SNL skit.

8. Brussels Griffons. I am currently obsessed with these dogs. Lloyd is a one person dog and won't take to having anyone else share my love, but I just google these little guys when I need a pick me up. They are like little Ewoks!

9. Words with Friends. Yes, I have succumbed to this game and yes Red and I currently battling it out. (And also with Lindsay over at Chasing the Kenyans.) And yes, everyone else was playing this game like ten years ago and I am again, behind the curve. Man, when did I get old and lame? Oh well, better late than never! (By the way, ZA is a word.)

10. WALT DISNEY WORLD! I'm going and am so stoked. I haven't been in years. It's a small world after all...

So, what are you thankful for today?

Running yay!

It's National Running Day and I thought, what better day could I have to reflect on running and what it's done for me?

I know "running" is a verb and it doesn't actually do in the sense of, oh let's say, my laundry or walk Lloyd. But it does actually DO quite a bit for me.

I look back through this blog and it's like a running "this is your life" saga. Granted, I've recently ventured into tri's and I'm super happy doing so, but obviously the run is closest to my heart.

As a little B.o.B. history here, I'll fill you in on my life with running. When I was in grade school I loved phys ed. In fact, I won the phys ed award in the 6th grade and by the time I got to junior high I had a promising future in track. I ran the 800 and the mile and also got drafted to the sprint medley relay in which I ran the 330 leg. It kicked my butt cause I wasn't what you'd consider a sprinter. I can remember running a 2:50 half mile and haven't seen that time since then. I was also on the basketball team (I stunk) and a cheerleader (hated it!).

But then, I got to high school and decided I wasn't fast enough for track, I wasn't coordinated enough for basketball, and I definitely never wanted to cheer lead again. I wanted to do something different. I had always loved the water but never really knew how to swim. Enter the high school swim team. I learned all of the swim strokes and swam my little heart out. I loved being on a team and happily made it to states on the 4 x 100 meter relay. Of course, I was the weakest of the relay but I was so happy to be there it didn't matter. The other girls had been swimming since they were a lot younger than me so I was super proud to get to that point.

But then, college happened. I stopped swimming and running. I started drinking and eating late night pizza. I was a typical college girl on her way to the "Freshman 15." Except, never able to half-ass anything, I went above and beyond with the Freshman 30. I gained 30 extra pounds and by the time I graduated I was miserable.

I started the South Beach diet and joined a gym and the weight came off. I worked out about 5 days a week and was much, much happier. I ran a 5K here and there and thought about stepping it up to a 10K at some point. But then, one day in 2008, I was sitting at my desk at work and I was hearing about the Disney Marathon from a co-worker. I thought, well I've run some 5Ks, I can run a marathon....

And that's where it really started.

The rest of course is history, but I'll tell you that none of my time at the gym and in all of those different classes really gave me the joy and pride that running has. Even those first few 5Ks didn't really stick the way that the first marathon did. There is something so special in crossing that marathon finish line that it's almost indescribable. The running community and the friends I've made through running are like no other group of people I've ever known.

Running has given me a sense of purpose as an adult that few other things in my life have. Sure I have a job and goals in my career but none that are as controlable as preparing for a race and feeling that sense of nervous excitement while waiting at a start line. And nothing, no nothing, can compare to that finish line.

So on this National Running Day I say thanks to running and all of the joy it's given me. I wouldn't be me without it and I'm proud to say I'm a runner.