DryMax Socks

I love race expo's, I love to walk around and see all the vendors' and all the new stuff I have not seen. Several years ago it was Bondi Band- I bought several and I still use from time to time today. Then there was the wooden medal holder that I saw and purchased at Little Rock half marathon expo, that is completely full, leaving me to wonder what I will use for 2010 season. This year in Dallas the first booth that I passed that drew me back was the Drymax Socks booth. I see a guy with socks playing with them in a bowl of water, so I thought to myself this is something I have got to see. He rolled and dipped the socks in the water and then he told me that he was going to press then down on a dry paper towel and the towel would stay dry. Well as I am thinking that is the biggest piece of BS I have ever heard, he touched the sock to the paper towel and not even a drop of water was there. I let him go through his sales pitch about how these socks prevent blisters more than any sock out on the market, blah blah blah. He told me that they were normally $10 a pair but at the expo if you bought 3 pair it would be $20, So when he finally quit talking I said sold. Little did he know he had as soon as he put the socks in a bowl of water. You see I am the blister queen, I put Vaseline on my feet to run 3 miles, because if I don't I get a blister- I don't know why since I also use the proper anti-moister socks, some of my previous posts have described the ugly,awful blisters I have earned running over the past couple of years. So back to the Drymax, I have used these sock twice on my runs since Dallas h/m once for an easy 4 miles and last Sunday on my 20 miler and guess what no Vaseline (cause the directions say not to use it, and NO blisters. This is the first time ever that I have run over 10 miles without at least a hot spot or blister and my feet stayed dry. I will never buy another sock other than these. Thank you whoever you were for dipping those socks into the bowl of water as I strolled by your booth. Check them out at www.drymaxsocks.com

Merry Christmas All

I hope to see you on the roads soon!

Graduation

It was a big weekend in the Baugh house. My hubby graduated with his master's on Friday night. I am so very proud of him as he has worked really hard the past few years trying to get back into school and get his degree. About one semester before graduation he deicided to get his teaching certificate and then his master's. So he has been a busy boy the past 6 years. After work Friday I went and got my hair trimmed and then rushed home to get dressed. Graduation was at 7 and we gathered in the pavillion and waited. It was me, mom, brother, sis-in-law, father-in-law, mother-in-law and a few close friends. After graduation we went to have dinner and drinks at The Grove, delicious food, BAD service, beautiful setting and great drinks.
Saturday I rested a bit, cleaned house and finished up some last minute Christamas shopping. Later in the evening we went to a Christmas party at The Grube's, great friend and great food.
Sunday was my 20-miler getting me ready for Houston full marathon. I met up with fast Russell and Kathleen at 6:15 and we headed out basically all the way to the back of The Woodlands, turned around and came back. 20.06 miles finished and now time to taper.

Work Monday and Tuesday and then done until January 4th.

Merry Christmas to All and I hope to see you on the roads soon.

Post race recovery and A little bit of bragging.

I seem to be recovering well after my half marathon (PR) on Sunday. Monday was a nice rest day that included crawfish and beer with my family. Yesterday I was looking at some of my stats from the race and although I am no where near fast or was no where close to winning. I took pleasure in some of mt results. My splits were all negative, @ mile 6.214 my avg pace was 10:29 (gradually all up hill) @ mile 3.784 (still mainly up hill) and finally going down hill the last 3.109 miles were @ 9:08 avg pace. In the final 3 miles I passed 411 ppl and was only passed by 13. There were 3083 woman that finished behind me and 1717 a head of me. The last one I will brag about is that I beat 39% of men. So I did not win the race but I kick alot of azz. Last night I went to the track for 3.5 easy miles. I felt tired after my run but not sore. Tonight is Master's swim.

Hope to see you on the roads soon!

Dallas White Rock Half Marathon

My goals for this race were to race healthy, have fun with friends, and high hopes of a PR. All of these goals were accomplished on Sunday. My friend Kathleen and I drove up to Dallas on Saturday morning. When we got to Dallas we went straight to the expo and meet up with Russell picked up our packets and started walking around looking at the different booths. Bill Rodgers was speaking so we listened to him for about 30 mins and then finished walking around. We were about to leave when he walked right up and started talking to 2 men standing behind me so when he was done I introduced myself and asked for a photo. Unfortunately the only camera I had was my blackberry so the picture is not that good but oh well. After the expo we headed to Hard Rock for lunch. After lunch we went to the hotel to relax and rest our legs. At dinner time we went to Chamberlin’s where my cousin Lance is the manager had some yummy seafood apps and a beer or two. I felt like a rock star at this restaurant, the chef came out to our table and introduced himself and thanked us for coming in and wished us well in our race on Sunday, the hostesses, waitresses and bartenders all came by to meet us and wish us well too. Not mention they took care of us 100%. If you are every in Dallas look up Chamberlin’s Seafood Market and go eat there, they are right off the Dallas Tollway. After diner we went back to the hotel and laid out our race clothes a pile for cold weather and a pile for warm weather & went to bed around 10pm. I slept normally like I do the night before a race- restless tossing and turning, dreaming about waking up to late etc. Wake up call came in at 6:15- bathroom, shower and got dressed, went down to the lobby for continental breakfast, which included a banana, one egg, half of a pancake and a small piece of sausage. This is not my normal pre race breakfast but it was good and I took a chance with trying something new. Sorry Coach Kim! We left out hotel for a short 10 min walk to the American Airlines Center, when we got there we saw Althea, dropped our bags and stood in line for one last bathroom break. This is where I saw my next celebrity, Crazy Tracy from the biggest loser- she looked fabulous and excited about her race. I noticed she was in the same wave as Kathleen and I but after leaving the bathroom line I never saw her again. The first wave started at 8:00am I was in wave C, but we were across the mat in about 10mins 30 sec s after the first wave. The course was decent; it was a slight elevation gain for the first nine miles, then a slight decent, in which about 3 miles were on a beautiful trail. Cons of this race were, aid stations were horrible, water and Gatorade were not ready for runners when we came through, each aid station I stopped at I had to wait for them to pour my Gatorade into a cup. Water stations were not well marked and volunteers were not yelling out. The course was way too congested, they need to reroute so accommodate the 22,000 runners. A lot of time was wasted on trying to get around other runners/walkers on small streets that were also congested with parked cars. Coming into the shoots were difficult to again they were very narrow and there were several runners who thought it was a good time to stop and high five family members or kiss their loved ones 20 yards from the finish line. The finish line was a fiasco as well, the stuffed the finisher shirts, medals and finish line photos in an area less than 20 yards long and when you got through there you had a football field length of nothing before you went to the finishers tent. The finisher’s food consisted on hard cold bagels, granola bars and fruit- But lots of beer and two great bands. So as a Beer lover they redeemed themselves with having plenty of beer. I ran a good race, I felt good for most of it, my calf hurt a bit between mile 11 and 13 but I was going for a PR and it was all downhill so I ran through it. When I crossed the finish line my Garmin said 2:11:20 but when I checked my chip time it was 2:12:16 a little disappointing- I guess my Garmin jacked up and I didn’t realize it, but I still got a PR and I had fun and I feel great today. Pros of the race, a great expo, great entertainment, scenic course, lots of beer, nice participation and finisher shirts, lots of crowd support. I would recommend this race and would probably do it again especially if they fixed the congestion issues.

Hope to see you on the roads soon!

3 sleeps until 13.1

3 more sleeps until Dallas White Rock half marathon. Am I nervous? not really. Is it driving me crazy with what I hope for and what will be? YES.. The most important thing I want is to be healthy and that's what I am sure of no matter what. What I hope as far as goals, 2:00-2:12. So I guess we will see on Sunday.

Last night was Master swim, it was better than last week and I think it will get better each week. Took it easy (slow, even slower than normal) since I am racing this weekend. Swam 1700.

Hope to see you on the roads soon.

Houston had a snow day

Yes Houston Texas had a snow day. My company even let us leave early on Friday, some areas around town got several inches, The Woodlands which is where I live got screwed, we had an hour of big flurries but nothing stuck. I did however use this is a rest day and stayed indoors by the warm fire. Saturday morning some of our running group decided to sleep in and start our run a little later than normal, to let the ice on the roads get the opportunity to melt before we headed out. At 9 am we meet at Starbucks and set out for a 32 degree run. It was not a great day for me, I had 15-16 miles on the schedule and around mile 10 the pain started to settle in. Just before mile 14 I was in excruciating pain from my hips to my calves. As soon as I hit mile 15 I walked the .75 back to Starbuck's and drank a Grande Peppermint Mocha then headed home for a hot soak in the tub. After the long soak in the tub feeling a little better I decided to head to the mall and do some Christmas shopping for my man but I can't tell you what I bought him in case he decides to read my blog someday... Sunday was our running club holiday social, great food and good times, I took Sunday off as a rest day. Monday was my final furlough day thank god that I will be getting full pay checks again this will help out in the upcoming purchase of my new bike. Will post pictures as soon as I get it. I met up with my girl Robin for lunch and some shopping for me, then a 5:00 massage from Cruz, my calves will probably be a bit sore for a few days but they are much better than they were Saturday and Sunday. They were so bad she broke out a hot stone to workout the knots. My honey finally got home from Florida last night or early this morning is more like it, but I am glad he is home, I missed him like crazy. Tonight a track workout. 2-3 x 1 mile. Wednesday master swim- still makes me sick to my stomach.

Sunday is my half marathon in Dallas. #1 Goal is to PR anything under 2:13:00. #2 would be to get in under 2:10:00, Long term goal is sub 2:00.

Hope to see you on the roads soon!

Thanksgiving Day 5 miler and other updates

On Thanksgiving morning I ran Run Through The Woods in The Woodlands. It is a great local 5 mile race that is about 1 mile from my house. It also includes a children's 1 mile race and a 3 mile family walk. It is a flat coarse other than 1 overpass that you go over twice. Every year this race seems to attract more and more ppl, this year there were about 5000 participants. It was a cool morning and the race went well, my coach and I had talked about what my goals were for the future that include a 1/2 mary on Dec 13 and a full on Jan 17. I had decided to have fun with this 5 miler and not really race it. With all that said it turned out to be a great morning, I felt good and I ended up with a PR- unintended but everything felt right and it just turned out that way. PR 50:11.

After two days of completely stuffing myself full of food with Thanksgiving turkey, potato's, greenbean casserole and stuffing I ran long on Saturday. I ran my first 20 miles since completing Oklahoma marathon back in April. It was a challenging run for me, I started out with a couple friends who are a little set back with injury but after about 7 miles I was on my own. I tried to stay focused and when the Garmin beeped at each mile I drank fluids and depending on mile I was at ate a Gu or took endurolites. When I arrived back at Starbucks Team Strive all cheered me back in and congratulated me on completing 20 miles- the longest run of the group that day.

Monday night I headed to the track for 5.25 easy miles.

Tuesday TRACK w/o was canceled boo

Tonight is the first night of swim clinic with Woodlands Master swim- I am swimming with the big boys tonight- I am kind of nervous..

Happy Anniversary to my wonderful husband Logan (who does not even read my blog).

Holidays

The holidays are finaly approching, the weather seems to be wanting to cool off a bit and after today I be on a weeks vacation. What more could a girl ask for? My brother and sister in law are going to be in town for a month after a 6 month journey to Central America and then they will head back to sunny California. I have lots to look forward to and to be Thankful for over the next month and a half. To start Thanksgiving day a 5 miler that I will get to enjoy and will not be racing this this year and then Thanksgiving dinner for with family. My anniversary on Dec 2nd that I will be unfortunatly spending alone this year because my hubby will be out of town- he will be making up for I AM QUITE CERTAIN OF THIS!!! On Dec 13 I will be running a half marathon in Dallas (WR) with some friends and hope to be bring home another PR. More family time through out the month and Christmas which I will have another week and a half of vacation. And finally into the New Year I will run Houston full marathon on January 17th.

My new job is going well I am learning new things. I am running 18 miles in the morning. My hubby and I are going to The Texas Reinacance festival on Sunday. Who knows what all I will get into next week- exciting for sure. Oh and from my last post I tried out the new wetsuit the other day and it fits great, easy to swim in and I love the fact that I float on top of the water- no more sinking when I get tired. Thank god for that!

Hope to see you on the roads soon and Happy holidays to all!

New Purchases

This is my newest run-purchase. I decided to try these puppies out to help with recovery after long runs. It took me several months of going back and forward to decide if these would really help me and if it was worth spending the money. After watching the New York marathon a few weeks ago I decided to take the plunge. So far I have run 3.5 miles, an 8 miler, and on Saturday I used them in my 16.67 mile run. On Saturday afternoon I noticed a big difference in the fatigue in my legs, yes they were still tired but they were not sore nor did they feel the beating they took in that run. So I am very happy with my purchase. They are very tight to put on, but I felt like my calves held in place and were not bouncing around. And then even tell you which foot they go on. Great purchase. I also recently purchased an Xterra wetsuit during a promotion for $99. Tonight in South Texas it is possible that it will be about 55 degrees when I hit the outdoor slightly heated pool, so I will taking along the wetsuit to see how it swims.

Hope to see you on the roads soon!

New boss, no tme to blog

Everytime I think about blogging I am handed something else to do at work. Yes I blog at work because I am never home to blog from home. Work is going great it is nice to be busy and to have a job. Since my 25k I have gotten in some good workouts, Monday was a night off of coarse, Tuesday 4.15 miles at the track, Wednesday spin class (all pyramids) great workout. Yesterday I met up with Kathleen after almost 6 miles it was dark but we ran up the water way in the light and completed 8 miles. I am hating this warm weather we are going to have for the weekend. On Monday we are finally supposed to get a cold front. Let's hope so.

Hope to see you on the roads soon!

A 25k

Sunday I ran my first 25K, not the furthest distance I have raced, but the first race that was 25k distance. It was 3 loops of 5.5 miles each. Thank god for my running partner Gena that carried me through the final loop. The weather was muggy/humid even warm at times, plus anytime I have to see the finish line more than once and pass it just plain sucks. Gena and I had a plan to run the first loop as warm up the second loop a little faster and to hang on to that pace through the 3 loop. First loop was great we stopped and drank water at each mile and held a good pace. 2nd loop we picked up the pace a bit and ran strong. By the third loop my IT band was bothering me so bad that I wanted to cry. Gena could feel huge blisters on the bottom of her foot. So we struggled bad, both of us took turns encouraging each other and reminding ourselves that it was the last loop and we had it in the bag. Unfortunately with our pain this was by far our slowest loop, but we finished in under 3 hours.. 2:48:33 chip time which we both had 2:47:40ish on our Garmin. We hung with other Team Strive members Mike Flake, Scott Meyer, Scott Farrand, Melissa Hammond, Donna Ryals and Blake Henning. When I got home I grab a bit to eat took a shower, got in my recliner and iced my knees and hips. Yesterday I was still in pain will walking but today I feel better. The race was fun but defiantly the worst race I have had yet (based on how I felt during/after the race).

Hope to see you on the roads soon!

Why give up?

After completing my very first tri a couple of weeks ago it reminds me how fortunate I am to be healthy and active. Last night I had the opportunity to attend a seminar at Luke's Locker with Team Strive. Chris and Denise Arthey spoke to us and told us their story from last year when they were hit by a drunk driver while on their motorcycles on their way to Corpus Christi Texas. Both very active and athletic, Chris a sub 3-3:15 marathoner both now have prosthetic left legs. It was very touching to hear how they first of all survived this horrific crash (a head on collision with a combined speed of 135 miles an hour)and how they deal with everyday life. It has been a year of pain and multiple surgeries for the both of them, but they live each day in the moment. It made me realize that some days all I want to do is sit on the couch.. and that's ok, but why give up? Training is not always easy, there are aches and pains, there will be cold, rain and heat, you will get sick and run down. There are days that you will have to rest and you need to listen to your body. So I will ask myself is it really painful, am I sick or do I want to just skip my workout? Listen to your body, but don't ever give up. Chris will be receiving his running leg in a few weeks. We see Chris and Denise at Starbucks every few weeks on our Saturday morning runs, I hope one day he will be running with us.

Hope to see you on the roads soon!

I am Recovering

Since last Sunday I have not done a whole in my training, but taking some time to recover. Monday after I got home from work I stayed in my recliner until I went to bed. Tuesday I felt great so I laced up and went to the track for an easy 3 miles. Wednesday was a different story, I felt tired again and a little under the weather so after conversing with the girls I decided to get in my recliner again and rest. I am thinking that was a great idea, because today I feel much better. I am hoping the rain clears so I can get in an easy bike ride this afternoon- after I change the flat on my bike.

Hope to see you on the roads soon!

Try Andy's Tri

So first off I will say I suck at writing race reports, but here it goes. Up at 3:45am Sunday morning nervously get dressed, bathroom x 2, load bike and transition bag. I am pretty much quiet the whole way down other than the 5000 questions I have to answer that mom shoots out. I think she finally got the hint that I could not answer anymore questions when I finally blurted out I JUST DON'T KNOW. We arrived with plenty of time for me to get my bike and transition area set up. I took my time and visited with other athletes that were racked next to me. Then it was just wait and think about getting into the water and having to swim. I met up with Gena, so she talked me through what was going to happen and what to do, I was cold oh yeah did I mention it was 50 degrees and the water was 72, they actually made the race wet suit legal the day before the race. Only a few ppl were a wet suit, like me most were beginners and did not have a wet suit. About 7:15 we walked over to the swim start and off they went wave by wave. I ran into Jenny Miller, Viv and Andrew, we all talked and I tried to take my mind off of my swim coming up very quickly. When I got in the water I could not touch so I tread water (not expecting that). I tried to get away from the other ladies so I would have my own swim space. Then the gun went off, bodies were flapping in the water, I stuck my face in and took a few storkes and nope, was not happening. So I swam most of the 300 with my head out of water, I got grabbed and swam on a couple of times causing a little bit of panic so I flipped on my back twice for comfort. Finally before i knew it I am being helped out of the water. (Swim 8:34.2) I run by and hear Gena's voice "ok now have fun". I am running to transition thinking OMG I am so tired, when I got to transition I ran down the wrong rack and here Jenny yell at me to come over there. (Thanks Jenny for steering me in the right direction). Grab my bike, helmet put on shoes and I a out of there, oops I jumped on my bike before the line (2:42.3 T1). Bike went well I passed 7-8 ppl, that was a cool feeling. The bike had a few over passes and some light head wind but I felt like I was riding good considering I was on my HEAVY mountain bike (38:35.4). When I came in I jumped off my bike early than I thought I needed to so I did not get yelled at again, ran into transition took off helmet, grab visor and race belt and off again (1:04 T2). By the time I get out of transition I feel like I have my legs back (for the most part)before I know it I am at mile 1 grab some water. I thought to myself don't stop running, just stay focused this is the easy part, this is what you know. I felt great a Little soreness in my legs but I know it is just a little fatigue and then I hear bagpipes so I know I am less that 1/2 a mile from the finish. I ran steady and then I can see is 100 yards away, I can here ppl cheering. I cross the finish line and get my medal. I did it. (30:32 run) Total time was 1:21:29. Time for a new bike. Will I do this again? HELL YEAH!!

3 sleeps until Try-Andys-Tri

Well there are three more sleeps until my triathlon debut. Last night I had a great swim (what I call great). Started out with a warm up and some drills and then finished off with intervals. I have not mastered mt form and body position but my endurance gets better each time I get in the pool. Last night I was actually excited when I got out of the pool. Tonight I have a brick w/o.. 30 min bike ride and 10 min run and will run through transition. Friday I will make the hour drive to pick up my packet in Sugarland, run a few errands and then rest my legs. My race report will be here next week.

Hope to see you on the roads soon!

A washout at track

I am so tired of the rain, heat and humidity and I am so done with bitching about it. Last night as I left for a track workout the sun was bright in the sky, I then drove about 5 miles to the track where it was gray and gloomy. As soon as I got out of the car to start my warm up it started to rain heavily, I decided (more like hoped) it would quickly pass (and I do like running in the rain)so I began my warm up, it was raining so hard that the drops pierced my skin. I finished my warm up and began a light w/o 4 X 400. After 2 x 400 my track work out was called off because major thunder and lightening. Big bummer. Today there is only 30% chance of rain but it has been raining off and on since at least 6:15 am when I left my house for the drive to work. Rain is good but when it makes me miss swims and runs it starts to piss me off. Hello rain I have a few more important workouts to complete before Sunday (at least it will make me feel better to get them in).

Running in the rain

Once again the weather was crappy here and it rained all day long, I had a 4 mile run or a cross training day to choose from. Normally on Mondays I swim but with the weather and the fact that I swim in an outdoor pool, I opted to run. The weather had lightened to a sprinkle so I decided I would head out before more thunderstorms came in. I did not make it 1/2 a mile and the heavens opened up again, very quickly I thought to myself head home or keep running. Then I remembered how much fun it was to play in the rain as a child so I ran. We have great paths around my house to run on they are mostly black topped and easy on the knees, but not until today did I notice elevation changes. At times I waded through puddles that catfish would have a party in. Thank god I thought to bring a chamois to wipe out my eyes, because it was quit difficult to see. I cut the run a little bit short and made it 3.5 miles because me shoes were squishy squashy and my clothes were stuck to me. All in all it was a great run the rain was cool and it was fun to act like a kid again. Two lessons learned were to wear old shoes and to wear my visor the next time I plan an adventure in the rain.

5 More sleeps until Tri-Andy's-Tri.

Hope to see you on the roads soon!

Ten For Texas

Saturday morning I got up at 5am to get ready for my "training run" at Ten for Texas. It thankfully was a nice and cool morning about 57 degrees. I pulled into the parking garage at Market Street (about 6:15) at the same time as Coach Kim, Greg and Gena, Molly and Kim. It was great to see my coach and fellow Team Strivers so early. As we walked up to the movie theater where we decided to hook up everyone started coming from everywhere. At about 7:10 we went on our warm up for about 10-15 mins and then headed to the start line. The gun went off at 7:30 and approximately 1900 runners were off. I used this event for as a training run instead of as a race. I ran with Lynn and Vickie which was fun I pretty much listen as they chatted answering when questioned (I am not a big big talked when I run). My main focus was to keep the heart rate low and enjoy the nice cool weather. I was able to maintain a high 2 to low 3 hrt thought the entire race. Another goal I had was to run in less that 2 hours, which is a big improvement compared to 1-1/2 yrs ago. My time was 1:56:32 so both goals were reach. Here is a photo of me having fun at the Mile 9 water station.


And a finishing photo. I should remember to wait until after I finish crossing the finish line to hit the Garmin. Most race photos I am looking down:(!

Afterward they had a great post party with food from Taco Cabana, Panera Bread and Chick-fila. The best part was the FREE ICE COLD BEER.


So now the focus is Tri-Andys-Tri coming up in 6 more sleeps. This week I will begin to tapper and prep for my first tri. I am trying not think about it to much cause it makes me feel like I need to poop. Seriously, this used to happen to me the week before a run only race, I finally got over that after a few half/marathons. You would think I would be over it, I mean its just a race right. I have so many emotions right now scared but excited for my new adventure seem to stand out the most.

The weather has been sucking these last 2 weeks so it has hampered swims and bike rides. But this week I will have to fight the weather and get a few miles on the bike and a few yards in the pool despite the weather.

Hope to see you on the roads soon!

A tapered track workout

This week is a taper week before Ten for Texas on Saturday. And though I am tapering I am pushing a little harder because I am not "racing Ten for Texas". At the advice of Coach K I am taking it easy and will enjoy the nice weather and (my advice) the cold beer after the race. As most of you know from previous posts my first tri is on October 18th and Coach wants me to be well rested since I have never raced the three in one. Swimming is getting better, defiantly not great but much better (everyone keeps telling me it takes time). Monday night I noticed I am gaining endurance in the pool and feeling more relaxed in my breathing. Last night the track workout was 1 mile at goal race pace, since I am not racing I pushed harder and ran 1 mile at 8:39. Then we had 4 X 400 at race pace. I ran 1:59, 1:55, 2:02 and 1:45.

I broke down and signed up for another tri this morning. April 24th Lonestar Sprint.

4 days until 10 for Texas
12 days until Try Andy's Tri
13 days+ until I decide if I will do another tri. (Since I am already signed up for Lonestar Sprint, I am guessing what the decision will be). After this decision is made I will decide on a new bike.

Still here

I am still here just been busy and have not had the time to blog. Nothing to major or exciting to blog about, just training and anticipating the up coming tri. I have been swimming twice a week and have improved my 300 by 30 secs in the past week. Last week I went to a friends house and practiced transition, now if I could only get in a brick workout. Saturday I am running 10 for Texas, not racing just running for fun. It is a great local race in The Woodlands that I have managed to miss the past two years due to travel and other races.

I will send in a race report of 10 For Texas on Monday.

Hope to see you on the roads!

I bough some new shoes (Mizuno's) last week and so far they are feeling great. I have been very faithful to Asics since I started running but I felt it was time for change. So far they have made feet feel loved through 2 track workouts, a few shorts runs and an 11 miler. I think they are here to stay, so thank you Asics I will always love you but you have been replaced at least for now!

Track work out was awesome. Temps were cooler and a light rain kept me cool. 1.8 w/u. 6 X 800 w/2.00 rest. 1 (800) 4.33, 2 (800) 4.33, 3 (800) 4.24, 4 (800) 4.25, 5 (800) 4.25 and 6 (800) 4.19 and finally a walking .5 c/d.

Hope to see you on the roads.

1250??

Last night I tried to get in a quick run before the rain, as soon as I turned out of my street it started to rain. About 1.4ish into the run it started to thunder so I turned around and went back home. 2.75 miles not bad. I started to wonder if I would miss my coached swim, but the sun came out and to the pool I went. Coach Laura had me start with 200 to warm up, I did. 8 X 50 drills with 25 flutter kick with board and 25 catch up i did. After that she had me do 50 in 1:20 X 3 (20 rest), 50 in 1:15 X 3 (30 rest) and 50 in 1:20 X 3 (20 rest). Finally after 1250 I was done. This was a nice accomplishment for me, this is the furthest I have ever swam- to be honest a few times I felt like I was going to drown but I know I will get better. Yeah for me!

Hope to see you on the roads!

Trying to remember

I am trying to remember what the hell I did this week in my training. I forget to blog and thus I forget what all I do. So it goes something like this. Give or take. This blog is really boring because I don't have anything to exciting to say.

Tuesday track w/o. 1.25 w/u, 3.5 continuous miles at zone 4-5a avg 9:42; .5 c/d

Wednesday legs were on fire so I took a rest day.

Thursday 6 miles on the tread mill yuck and boring I HATE running on the treadmill but i got the work out down.. 11 avg pace.

Friday swim lesson with Coach Laura 1/2 hour working on stroke and left breathing (which I suck at, I am a right side breather) I really like Laura she is nice and helpful. Friday night spent time with friends for a birthday, drank alittle more than I like to admit. I am a beer drinker and I drank fruity girl drinks. Needless to say on Saturday morning I did not feel so hot.

Saturday 10 mile bike ride. Like I said I felt like poo in the morning so the bike ride was late in the day but I got it in and felt great after the ride.

Sunday 11 mile run. Rested in the recliner and watched football all afternoon. I love Sunday's. On Sunday my husband showed me how to change a flat tire. My fingers are feeling that this morning.

That's all the boring stuff I know for now. Hope to see you on the roads.

What's It All For?

Everyday we wake up in the morning weather it be to get up and go to work, school, run, get on our bikes, take the dog for a walk, get the kids ready for school, etc. Some mornings we spring out of bed others we drag ass, some mornings we crawl back in bed and put the covers over our heads and hug our pillows. So I ask you what's it all for? This morning I woke up and thought about my friend Pam, today has been 4 weeks that she passed. I thought how lucky I am to have one more day with my friends and family. I am so blessed to have completed a 10 mile run on Saturday, a 10 mile mile bike ride with my hubby on Sunday. To me getting up in the morning may not always be easy but it is one more day. One more day that I am lucky to live.

Training has been going well, I am about 4 weeks from 10 for Texas, 5 weeks from my first tri, 13 weeks from Dallas White Rock half and about 18 weeks from Houston Marathon. What a great few months I have a head of me.

Hope to see you on the roads!

Labor Day Weekend

Well I can honestly say I had way too much fun over Labor Day weekend in other words partied like a rock star come to mind. Friday morning I got up and headed out for a short run 4.2 mile loop close to my house. We headed to Austin a little after noon. So we had 3 straight days of lots of beer and food, in fact I think I could have put on a few more lbs. Saturday night we ended up at the UT ULN football game, being that I am an Aggie fan the fact that UT won I was not to excited but I never for once believed that ULM would win this game. More importantly the guys enjoyed the game so I enjoyed watching them have fun. Sunday we headed to Krause Springs in Spicewood, cool water beautiful scenery great fun. Yesterday the drive back was a little rough considering how tired we all were, when I got home I called Russ and asked if he wanted to go on a bike ride. The bike ride was rough but we did 16.8 miles, not sure if all the alcohol made the ride rough or if it was the first time I had ridden that far. Russ took it easy on me, thank god for friends. All I want to do id finish in October, other goals will come at a later date. I know I can get through the run and bike... now all I need is the swim to come together.

Ready for Labor Day

I am so ready for labor day week end it can not get here fast enough. This week I have jumped back in to training with both feet and I have been so tired when I get home all I want is to shower and sleep. Monday it was a legs night I did a half hour of strength training then 1 hour of spin class. Tuesday a track workout w/u 1.08 miles 4 X 800w(40 sec rec) then 400 w(about 3.00 min rec). I was something like 4:26 1:59, 4:19 1:56, 4:19 1:58 and 4:15 2:01 walking cool down 400. Give or take a few secs since I do not have my Garmin in front of me. Wednesday morning I took a few extra secs to get out of bed and into the shower. last night was my first swim w/Team Strive and Coach Tommy and Coach Steve, it was an experience I spent about 50 mins in the pool trying to work on head and body position, learning to swim correctly at 33 SUX. But I have signed up for this mission and I will learn to swim no matter what it takes.

I am headed to Austin tomorrow for a long weekend. I hope to stop at the Austin tri on Monday morning and catch up with some friends racing. Good Luck Team Strive.

Hope to see you on the roads!

Coming Back

We all have experienced coming back after periods of not working out. Weather it be a few days, weeks or longer we all at some point in our training go through this transition. I only had 3 weeks of this but still found it a little difficult this past week. After 2 great workouts on Monday and Tuesday I found myself either sore/tired or just plain lazy. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday were all a no go. Saturday morning I woke up at 5am still not wanting to get out of bed- finally I drug myself out and ran around the house frantically trying to get my shitz together and meet Team Strive at 6 for a run. I had 12 on the schedule but after talking to Coach K it was reduced to 8. I was pleased when I arrive at Starbucks to see several teammates including Coach, I have known my coach for a couple of years and this was this first time to run with her. Ok so I didn't run with her, we took off at the same time and we crossed paths near the turn around and I saw her after I finished and we had coffee. I ran with Gena, which was awesome we ran a nice pace, the weather was cooler than it has been in a looooonnnngggggg time. 8 miles in about 1:30.

Sunday I went up to the gym and swam for about 15 mins. Swimming is really not fun for me yet. I hope this starts to come easy sometime soon. My stroke is brutal, my breathing well we won't go into that. My gym is not really set up to swim laps so I had a girl in the pool with me doing aerobics, I guess the waves she was making helps with choppy lake water training. Also sharing the pool with me were two ladies floating on noodles. A few times I quit swimming and then moved around them. After my not so pleasant swim I went out for a short bike ride (8.25 miles). My first ride in a very long time. I figured since I have my first tri coming up on October 18th I should ride outside for a change. I am a bit nervous about this coming up so quickly- my only hopes for this race are too finish and to learn.

Hope to see you on the roads.

Pure Craziness

These last few weeks have been crazy. After having moles removed and the passing of my friend little training was done for about three weeks. I jumped back in on Monday like a kangaroo, I went back to the gym for Krazy Kellie's spin class and beat a spin bike to bloody hell. That bike just may never be the same but it felt great to unload some sorrow and frustration. Tuesday I rejoined team Strive for a 20min TT. Not bad for returning after 3 weeks w/o training 9.19 avg pace. Last night I was a little sore and tired so I took the night off.

Hope to see you on the roads.

Passing of my friend

Yesterday early in the morning my very dear friend Pamela went to be with her maker. She is no longer in pain or in fear, but looking down on her children, her family and her friends with a huge smile. Though her life on earth was short lived her spirit in our hearts will last forever. I have so many memories to look back on and to share with her kids. I look forward to the day when they are big enough to tell them about their mom. Loving, full of life, free spirited and how she cared for all people. She was a wonderful mother, daughter, sister, aunt, wife and friend. I have lost a great friend and will be able to see her everyday or hear her laughter but I know that each day I have anew guardian angel with me. Rest in Peace my butterfly girl!

Getting out of town

Tomorrow is Furlough Friday so the hubby and I are headed to Corpus for a weekend of the beach, drinking and just taking our minds off of things going on in Houston. Logan has been going to summer school and running his business this summer so he has decided that these last 2 weeks of August is his vaca time. We have rented a condo at the beach for our get away. I am looking forward to catching up on sleep and hanging out with family and friends.

I spent a few hours last night with Pam, she is still hanging in there strong.

Tonight I am getring the "roots" touched up and a trim then I will finish packing.

Hope to see you on the roads.

"Active Rest"

Since I have been stopped by the moles and on "active rest" as Richard puts it, I have been trying to keep from going in sane. Actually this could not have happened at a better time in life. Normally I spend at least 5 out of 7 days in my training, I am either at the the gym, at my swim class or getting in my mileage. Since I have been out on rest I have been spending my training time with my very dear Pam. She is in her final days of her battle with colan cancer. I met Pam about 13 years ago at work and we have been like sisters every since, we have lived some fabulous days together. I will miss her dearly, but I know I will see her again some day soon. So I may have complained about not being able to train but this time off has been truly precious. The pool will always be there to swim, the gym will always be there to lift and the roads will always be there to pound on. But it will be a while before I will see Pam after she's with her keeper.

Live each day like there is no tomorrow!

Stopped by Moles

Who would have ever thought that having moles removed would interupt my training? Definatly not me! Yesterday I went in to have 2 moles cut out that came back as abnormal cells from a biopsy a few weeks ago, when the surgeon says ok Misty no strenous activities for 10-14 days. Ok Doc so you dont know that I am in marathon and tri training, so can I swim? bike? run? Not for 10-14 days he says at least until the stiches come out. I am going to go crazy. Hopefully in a few days my cuts will be closed and I can do some kind of activity.

Garmin take me away

It seems the Garmin 305 is pissed at me. Last night at a very brutal track workout she decided to go psycho on me. I have been having some concerns of an elevated heart rate lately, I say lately because until about 10 weeks ago I never paid attention to heart rate. Heck most of the time I would not wear my strap for the simple inconvenience of chaff on the boobies. I know body glide is my friend but I just did not see the point of applying it there or wearing a heart rate monitor. All this until I started training with my wonderful Coach who always trains by a heart rate monitor and stress it's importance. So once I programmed the Garmin and started to pay attention I found during all runs the Garmin states that I pretty much stay in zone 4-5. Not good! So when I finally mustered up enough nerve to talk to Coach K about it, she agreed this is not a good thing. So now the mission is to find what the issue is, is the Garmin/heart rate monitor reading correctly? Or WHAT? I am hoping it lies in the Garmin. After talking to coach Sunday afternoon we decided to run my track workout as normal and to try not get over 159 on my run Thursday night and then to report back. Well last night the Garmin "effen" went spastic, it started clicking and the screens were flashing, it would not stop and it took 20 mins for me to get it turned off. I was able to complete most of my workout before this crash 1 mile w/u 400/800/1200 CRASH 1600/1200. So here is what I am trying to get the Garmin up and running again changing the battery in the strap, re-uploading the new Garmin software and then resetting the device, if these do not work I will be sending it back for repair or replacement.

And for the heart rate problem, we are watching it closely and I will be borrowing a polar for this Thursday's workout from my surf sista Viv.

Hope to see you on the roads!

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3 day weekend

My three day weekend has left my very tired. Friday I got up bright and early and headed to the gym for a spin class. Kelli as always kicked my booty. When I got home from spin class I was delighted that it was finally raining, it had not rained at my house since May. Thank you God for the rain. It rained all day. I ran a few errands and cleaned house the rest of the day. Saturday morning I was up at 5:00 for a long run. 11.32 miles at 11:15 pace, unfortunately the humidity was horrible after all the rain we got. I hate summer running, my short were soaking wet when we finished and when I got home and in the shower I was surprised with the pain of water hitting chaffed skin, in places I have never chaffed before. Now I have more places to apply Body Glide before runs. After the long run my hubby and I went to Grapeland for a family reunion. We got home at 1am. Yesterday we spent the day at my father in laws for a BBQ and a few adult beverages. This morning I am dead tired and wishing I had the day to rest.

Hope to see you on the roads.

An End to the work week

Today is my Friday this week, thanks to furlough- or not. I would much rather still be on a 9/80 schedule, these days I get to work 72 hrs of an 80 hr bi-week. Yes I get every other Friday off, and yes it is great that I am still employed. My only bitch is that my running funds are getting very low. Lets all hope for more reasons than this the economy will pick up sooner than later. So tomorrow I will hit the gym in the am for a spin class and then make my way to MD Anderson to visit a friend. Tonight's workout includes a 5 mile run on the treadmill (cause who really wants to run in 98 degree weather) and a make up swim class from when I went to Costa. I am thinking about drinking a few beers after this workout.

Wednesday night w/o 30 mins upper body strength training and 30 mins swim.

KILLER Track Workout

Track work out was a killer but I made it through.

Lactate reps, 10x400
Lactate repeats. Warm up 1.5. Then 10 x 400m fast (recover 30-45 seconds). Now I am just guessing when I say this but I am am about 100% sure of this. It was 94 degrees at 6:45 when my warm up started. And about 93 at 7:45 when the work out was finished. Warm up was about 10:15 pace. 2:06 2:05 2:01 1:56 1:58 1:57 1:58 2:08 1:58and finally 1:58. Finished at 9:01 overall pace including w/u. Not bad for me in this heat. 1 x 400 WALKING c/d. I guess I was somewhat consistent except for 8 but either I slowed down or I was going to puke and with feeling kind of shitty anyway I did not want to puke my guts too. By the time I walked my 400 I was feeling much better. I am still waiting for October to get get here where some of our track workouts will be 75. Living in Texas is great but it so "effen" HOT and HUMID here.

Apologies to Coach Bill and Coach K, I will defiantly be more careful what I post on my blog. In my defence the work I was talking about making up Friday is a strength and cross training w/o not a RUN workout.

Also on this day I broke the news to my runner partner that I will be adjusting my "long" run schedule. Starting real soon I will be running long on Saturday's. Also with this change I hope to be adding bike rides on Sunday so that I can A.) Learn to ride my bike and B.)Get ready for my FIRST sprint Tri in October. I am only testing the waters but everyone tells me that I will fall in love. Oh and I have finally come to terms with this race will be in Sugarland and not in Clear Lake. Thanks to Shellie and Gena who did not want me to show up in the wrong city on race day.

Earlier in the day my boss informed me he was leaving the company, which makes me nervous. The oilfield as every other industry is hurting in the times, but my boss has done a wonderful job of holding our group together. He will be hard to replace and will be missed dearly by all of us. Good Luck LU. Hopefully our VP will bring us somebody as great as him.

Well that was my Tuesday, it was great, crazy and hard all in one.

Hope to see you on the roads!

1st day of training crash and burn

I woke up yesterday feeling a bit under the weather, hoping that by the end of the day I would get in my workout. NOPE did not happen, after work I still felt like dog poo so I opted to take some meds and the night off. This morning I feeling better so I am hoping this lasts through the day and I can get through my LT repeats track workout tonight. Since I took the day off yesterday I plan to get in my Monday workout on the regular scheduled day off which will be Friday.

Scheduled w/o today: Planned distance: 4.0 miles
Lactate repeats. Warm up 1.5 = 2 miles + 2-3 strides. Then 10 x 400m fast (recover 30-45 seconds). With c/d.

Hope to see you on the roads!

Here we go....

So today is my first official day of marathon training. The cross training days will be fewer and the run days will multiply. Just so happens that Monday is a cross training day and strength day. The workout plan is 30 mins of strength training and 60 min cycle class. I am ready for my mojo to kick in, I was hoping for it this Sunday on my long run and everything about that run was CRAP. But today is a new day and what happened yesterday is gone. Did not count anyway right!

Hope to see you on the roads!

My swim

For some reason the first 10 mins I get in the water, I freak out or something. I end up fighting the water, forgetting to breath and end up with a very elevated heart rate. As soon as I calm down I am fine. Any words of advice as to how to get over this?

Swim 30 mins drills, freestyle and back stroke. Also tried a few flips (now that was really funny).

Marathon Training Begins

This week we are wrapping up a session of Strive, it has been a great 12 weeks. The new session begins on July 27th and I am really looking forward to getting started on my marathon training. The last 12 weeks I have been spending my Tuesday nights at the track with the "tri" group. This is an amazing group of men and women that have amazing abilities in multi-sport. They range in all ages and have helped me realize that no matter age/gender or athletic ability that I can do anything I put my mind to. On Sundays I usually spend my mornings on long runs with old and new friends from WF and TWRC. These individuals like Team Strive all have so many accomplishments and have all inspired me to be the best that I can be. So thank you to all the new/old friends I have met in the running community over the past 2-1/2 yrs, you all have helped me become the "athlete" I am today.

So starting this weekend the mileage on Sundays will go up & I will be adding more days of running. So bring on the marathon training season.

Monday- spin class 60 mins
Tuesday- 1 mile warm up; 6 x 100's (hard effort) with 300 moderate recovery

Hope to see you on the roads

Photos from Costa

I did not run during my vacation, but I tried to remain active between eating and alcohol consumption.

Hiking at Rincon de la Vieja. We hiked on a beautiful trail, very much like "Sunmart trails". This was very much an up/down hike that includes waterfalls, boiling mud pits and hot springs.

Me and Logan getting geard up for the Jungle canopy tour, we propelled 11 zip lines, the longest zipline was 400m. I don't even want to know how high we were off the ground. We even saw some white faced monkeys in tress.

Yummy food and drinks in Costa Rica.

Paddle boats are not "that" fun in the ocean when the tide is going out. My legs were killing me after 25 mins.

Fun with family and beautiful coast line. One of the best vacations I have ever been!

Back from Vaca!

I am back from vacation but defiantly not back in the swing of things. As you all know it is difficult getting back to everyday normal life after a vacation. I am happy with the fact that I only had a 2 day work week to come back to, making things much easier. My training of coarse suffered a bit while in Costa but some fun exercising did exist. Now that I am back stateside I will ease back into the norm. We arrived late on Tuesday due to storms in Houston causing me to miss my track workout. Wednesday I managed to peel myself out of bed for a cycling class at the gym, in the evening I went to swim class and got in about 300 yds.

I will try to get photos of my Costa trip uploaded to share with you. This photo was taken outside the airport in Liberia. My brother, mom, ME, sis-in law and her little sister. More about the Costa Adventures to come this weekend.

Costa Rica baby

In 25 hrs I will be boarding a plane to go to Costa Rica for a family vacation. Along in our travels will be mom, step daddy, my sis-in laws family (mom, dad, sister). I usually do not enjoy a "family" vacation but this time it is ok because we are all going to see my brother and sister in-law. We saw them for a few days at Christmas before they moved over there, but this time I get to spend a solid week hanging out with them. Yippy!

Last week was a very long week. My girl Pamela is not doing well, her cancer has become so aggressive and doctors can not do anything for her. She is at MD Anderson now and will probably not get to come home. We were hoping that she would qualify for a clinical trial, but infection has set in so at this time she is not a candidate. Doctors are treating her for pain and trying to keep her comfortable. I saw her and visited over the weekend and she was in pain but she was in good spirits- even a little bit bossy. I am praying she is still here when I come back from my vacation, so I can see her at least once again. I will miss her very much and will always cherish the 12yrs of friendship and memories. God bless the Amador and Clayton family.

Workout Update
Wed.- ran for 30 mins, core 30 min, swam 30 mins
Thur.- ran 40 mins on treadmill
Fri.- Day off
Sat.- 1 hour spin class
Sun.- 7.62 miles in heat/humidity

Texas Heat Sux

It is crazy how in the "cooler" months I so easily forget how hot it gets in the summer. We are dealing with 95+ degree weather and humidity on top of that. I went out to the mail box yesterday when I got home from work (the box is in my yard) and was drenched in sweat by the time I got back into the house. This morning at 6:15 it was already 80 degrees with a high of 101 predicted for today. I truly enjoy my cross-training days because they are done in-doors.

Since last Thursday I have been working out very consistently, I am trying to get used to it since I will be in Costa Rica next Tuesday with no gym. I do however have the beautiful sand and the ocean to use for my workouts, I just have to do it. For some reason it is difficult for me to workout while on vacation, not sure why.

I opted to take the day off on Thursday because I had worked out 6 days in a row.

Friday- spin + 20 mins on treadmill
Saturday- spin
Sunday- 6 miles
Monday- spin
Tuesday-track workout 8 x 400's w/2 min recovery. 2:12, 2:07, 2:09, 2:07, 2:09, 2:10, 2:04 and 1:44.

Tonight I have 30 min run+ core+ 30 min swim.

Nothing.. Boring

I have absolutly nothing exciting to blog about except that I have been working out like crazy.

Monday- 30 mins of upper body work out, 1hr spin
Tuesday- Track work out 400/800/1200/1200/800/400 at 9:15 avg pace (hot & humid)
Wednesday- 1 hr Cardio Strength class, 30 min swim class

Hope to see you on the roads

Tire Drama

Thursday I left work for my dentist appt and did not get far. I had a tire that separated at the tread. It was the weirdest thing, the tire was still round and still had air in it but no tread. I was very luck y that a nice man gave me a toe to Discount Tire for very cheap. After more drama with crossed lung nuts, I had not one but two shiny new tires on the Xterra. But that's not all, the car is still in the shop because the tread separation decided to take out some wire along with some of the plastic on my car. So I am having some electrical difficulties. Hopefully Ms Reliable will be back on the road asap. With all of this drama I ended up missing my Thursday night waterway 5 miler.

Friday night I had a vino/pedi night with Viv and a couple girls from the gym. After our pedi's we went and ate dinner and had a couple margarita's.

Saturday spin class and then to Logan's golf tournament. I love to watch my hubby play golf, he is my Tiger Woods and then some. He played great had lots of great drives, his short game was a little off, but he shot an 81. Saturday evening I spent the night with my best gal Pamela at the hospital,

Sunday I just barely made it from the hospital to see Logan finish the back nine of the final day of his golf tourny, better puts and he finished with at 75. After a long hot shower I was in bed and asleep in no time. So we will just say I gave myself a little bit of off time for the weekend.

A Pool Workout

Last night was my first swim class with Jordan. Jordan is a young 16 yr old that has been swimming "for 10yrs". I really did not think about the fact that a kid would be teaching me form technique in the pool, I am not sure why I didn't think of this but I did not. We started out with a floating device and our heads in the water and kicking. I was thinking to myself I did not sign up for the novice class why are we spending time on this? I am guessing it was a good thing because the guy in the class with me in a VERY novice swimmer. After we did a few drills so she could see where we were in our swimming we swam laps showing her our back stoke and freestyle. After swimming about 200 yards I realized that swimming is a lot of work, something I forgotten since I was a child. At the end of class Jordan informed us that she was going to be out for two weeks and her friend "Katie" would be our swim teacher, but it would be ok because Katie is really good with adults. I nearly pee'd the pool, are you kidding me?

30 mins in the pool- drills & 200yrds out of breath. But I hear this gets better.

Track

Last night I had my track workout. 3 X 1 mile 200-300 recovery. 1.25 mile warm up and .5 walking cool down. The heat and humidity were a "B" the workout was great. I ran with Dee because the last few weeks I have found she and I are really close in pace. 1st mile we went out to fast 9:17, 2nd lap was perfect 9:30 third lap was a little more difficult and hrt was high I am guessing because of the heat so we slowed down to 9:47. I am happy with it.

I have been on the look out for a good used road bike to start playing around on, I have been watching craigslist and I tell you it is hard to find a small bike at a good price. Yesterday I found 2 so I am trying to negotiate something, so we will see how it goes.

Tonight I am starting a swim class.

Just wanted to Share

A couple of weeks ago we celebrated with Pamela a very special birthday for Ciara and Catia. These precious babies turned 1 on May 22nd. Caleb is 3 years old. My beautiful friend is battling cancer and has been since just after hers girls were born. Things are not going as well as we would like in her treatment. God Bless this family.



Monday night workout- Bicepts, tricepts,shoulders and chest. 1 hour spin class.

Zapps Voodoo Gumbo Chips

If you have not tried these DO IT!! I finally found these in HEB. I have been hearing Viv talk about these for several weeks and now I know why. I nearly ate the whole bag in one sitting. I will defiantly finish this bag with my sandwich for lunch today.

Long Weekend

Wednesday I decided that I needed a rest day, so Logan and I went to eat dinner. On Thursday I meet Russell at the waterway and we ran our 5.1 mile loop of East Shores and the waterway. Since Friday was my furlough day I had a 3 day weekend. Friday morning I got up and headed to the gym for a cycling class I met Viv up there for 30 mins of core before the spin class. After my class I met with Robin and Kathleen for lunch. After lunch I ran errands for instance we had no groceries in the house so I stopped at the store. Then I went to Bike Lane and got me some shoes. When I was done with errands I went home and started laundry. Saturday back to the gym in the morning for another spin class. After lunch mom, Logan and I went to see my grandmother. We went to pick her up and drove around downtown for a few hours and then took her to Double Dave's for pizza. Sunday morning 9.25 miles.

Saturday I received a call that Pamela had been admitted to the hospital for with sever abdominal pain. After speaking to her I learned that the new chemo they were trying is not working, she has developed a new tumor on her colan that is 15cm. Her doctor is consulting with other doctors to see if they have a new avenue to approach. As of now they are stopping chemo and hoping that maybe they can do surgery. Of coarse surgery is a scary option because it could be much worse. Her length of stay in the hospital is unknown at this time. They are using morphine to treat her for pain at this time. Her blood pressure has been very low and the doctors say the cancer is causing her body to start shutting down. Not to mention they also have found a blood clot they are treating with medication. She is trying to stay optimistic but is very sad for her family and what they are going through. I spent some time with her yesterday and she is trying to remain in good spirits. She has had lots of family/friends that came into town or that have stopped in at the hospital to see her. Please keep my friend and her family in your prayers- they need a miracle.

Work outs:
Thursday- 5.1 mile run
Friday- core and spin
Saturday- spin
Sunday- 9.25 mile run

Yes, Bacon Vodka- Umm No Thanks

Created by Black Rock Spirits after two years of testing, Bakon Vodka celebrates the renaissance of our favorite salty slab. With no tongue-in-cheek, they are “bringing home the bacon.”
The website says: “Our vodka is column-distilled using a single heating process that doesn’t ‘bruise’ the alcohol like the multiple heating cycles needed to make a typical pot-still vodka. No tinge or burn on the tongue, no obnoxious smoky or chemical flavors, just a clean refreshing potato vodka with delicious savory bacon flavor.”
But we’ll have to wait for it to arrive in our parts: It’s only available in the Pacific Northwest for now but NY Magazine says it’s heading east.

Ok so I am from Texas and I love bacon and I love vodka but seriously? Has anybody tried this shezt? I cannot imagine that this could be good in anyway. Glad it is not making it south soon.

As for my workouts:

Monday spin class 1 hour hella hard workout with Kelly. In fact I iced my calf's when I got home people.

Tuesday track workout. 1 mile warm up. 8X100 hard effort w/300 moderate effort @ 9.30 pace avg and 1 mile walking cool down.

This afternoon we are supposed to have some bad weather rolling into H-town, that will determine my w/o for 2-nite. And I am finally gettin my hair trimmed/did- that may depend on my w/o too, if my hair looks really pretty, don't want to mess that up.

Hope to see you on the roads.

Great Weekend

My weekend started when I got together with a few girlfriends for a couple glasses of wine Friday night. We talked mainly about running- go figure out without the men, great wine and we talk about running. Saturday morning I went to the gym for sin class, the line started forming outside the door at Pure before 8 am. These ladies are serious about their cycling, looks like I will need to be there bright and early every Saturday. Saturday afternoon I took my mountain bike to get a new tube and to see if it was worth sinking some $$ to get it road ready, and it is not so I plan to ride a few months and then get me a new shinny bike- I hope. Sunday am took the dogs on a short bike ride and then put me shoes on and went for a run. It was not my best run in a long while but I got 6.4 miles in. The weather had been great for the last few days with very low humidity. I wish it could stay this way but I am not banking on it.

Hope to see you on the raids.

I joined a Gym

I have not run a whole lot since last Wednesday but I joined a gym last night. I went over to check Pure Fitness where my home girl Viv teaches spin and I loved the club, it is for women only. So bring on the fitness.

Track workout

I had a killer track work out Tuesday night. 6 X 800's in 90 something heat/humidity. I am loving working out with the tri group. I may even have someone helping me look for a starter bike. After I find that maybe I will try some swimming.

See you on the roads.

Memorial Weekend

Let's just say this year was a lot different than past, usually I am on the lake in a boat drinking beer or at the beach drinking beer. This labor day we stayed at home, Thursday through Saturday I was helping out with a princess party for my favorite nieces. I participated in making 40 tissue puffy balls, 40 butterfly cupcakes and pulling off the best princes party ever. So am I growing up? Hell no, I just had more important priorities this year, there is plenty of time to get in a boat, layout and drink beer.

Other things that happened this weekend include the birth of my cousin's baby girl. Awh. Congrats to Ashley.

On a sad note a little angel that did not make it into this world but went to be with Jesus instead.

Finally I did not get out an run at all. Alot going on and when I was at home I just felt like resting. Back in the game tonight.

I did it!

I made it through spin yesterday after doing bootcamp in the am. I was dead tired when I got home, we made pork chops, salad, and spinach w/mushrooms for dinner as soon as I ate I hit the shower and to beddy by I went. I am contemplating my workout today, to skip it and make up tomorrow or to get it over with and rest tomorrow. This afternoon I am headed to Pamela's to spend then night with her and the kiddos. Saturday is the twins first b-day party so we will be making puff balls and other decorations for the party late in the night and all day tomorrow. I am hoping to try and fit my run in today before, but time wise is not looking good.

Trying to get the bikini body

Monday-rest
Tuesday- Track work out Warm-up + drills + 2 X 800, 2 X 1200 and 2 X 400.
Wednesday am- Bootcamp- hopefully I will spin tonight with Viv!

Hopefully this all = bikini in Coast Rica (July)

Keeping Up

I started running in July of 2007 when I had decided I needed to get back in shape. I joined Woodlands Fits and started meeting some fabulous friends. The past 2 years I have spent finding many things out about myself that I never thought possible. I have made the best friends and have met the best coaches. Until a couple of weeks ago I would run here and there and shoot for running at least 3 times a week and an occasional bootcamp. This has seemed to work for me quite well, in fact in helped me accomplish many races and several PR's. But I needed more, so 3 weeks ago I signed up for Strive- Kim Hager Sports, and it is like a whole new ball game. I have been keeping up with a 6 x's a week of running and cross training. I am learning about my heart rate, training in different zones and how to race stronger not harder. I am so thrilled for the chance to work work her and Bill this session.

Wed- spin class w/Viv
Thursday- rest
Fri- 3.5 miles 35 mins
Sat- bootcamp
Sun- 5.75 miles 60 mins

Prom Season

Ok I was tagged, so now I also tag you to upload a prom picture and tell your story.

I was dating this guy Jeff that was in collage at Iowa State University and promised to take me to my senior prom. (Notice only women in the picture) I got the dress, the shoes, tickets, and made plans for us to ride/eat with my friends and their dates. Well about 2 weeks before prom he disappeared, and would not return phone calls, so I ended up going with a "guy friend" and took pictures with the girls. A week after prom Jeff calls and makes up a lam-o excuse about finals and a sick grandparent. The bad thing was I was embarrassed cause I had been bragging about my "collage guy". But the good was I had the best time with my friends and did not end up in a fight at the end of the night. I moved from Iowa 3 weeks later. What was I thinking with my bangs? Ewh...

Biggest Loser

I must say this was a fantastic season for the biggest loser. I was truly amazed at the weight loss for these contestants this season. Helen.. Wow she is one hot momma. I think when she got to the ranch her girls weighed more that 117lbs. I think it is wonderful that The Biggest Loser helps people achieve their dreams. My husband had to tell that if I had Julian Micheal's kicking my ass for 5 months 4-5 hours a day and I had a kitchen stocked with all healthy food that I did not have to pay for that I would have won the Biggest Loser. (awh how sweet) What I can not figure out is how they all complete a full marathon without any marathon training. Yeah they worked out hard core and did lots of weight/cardio training, but hell as a marathon runner we all know that it takes many hours of hard core running. Tara ran her 26.2 in 4:54- holy crap I defiantly have a new goal this season.

I met with Coach K last night to talk about race schedule, I had to explain to her that I am the type of runner who climbs the wall when I do not have something in the near future to train for. I went to her with 4 possible marathons, 3 half's and one 10 miler for October-February. She explained to me what was more important was my goals for these races. So now I am working on concentrating on which races are more important. The only problem is I don't have anything to do until October. So I am still climbing the walls.

Track work out last night 30 min TT with 1 mile warm up, 2 X strides and drills. Great workout with Team Strive.

Busy Mother's day Weekend

Happy Mother's day to all Mom's, I wish all of you the best and hope you had wonderful weekends.

Friday I cruised out to see Pamela and the little princess's Catia and Ciara. I was greeted with huge smiles a little bit of hair pulling and lots of drool. I totally love these kids, I have none of mine own yet so I lurve the shitz out of these kiddos. They are about to be one in a couple of weeks and they are about to start walking so pretty soon instead of laying on my back and letting them crawl all over me I will be chasing them in circles. Friday night we took mom-in-law to eat Mexican for Mother's Day.

Saturday am went to bootcamp, Octavious thought it would be a nice day for push ups, 500 of them, followed with 500 bicep curls. Yes that was our 1 hour workout. Oh and 15 mins of core. After that I went to see my Grandmother, she to wanted Mexican so we ate at Mi Sombrero.

Sunday morning run 6.15 miles in hot humid yuck. Breakfast with mom at IHop. Crawfish, Landshark and Rockets game- then home finally for rest.

Hope to see you on the roads!

Spining w/Viv

I took Viv's spin class tonight and I must say she is bad ass. I have not been to a spin class in a very long time so I met her there early and she got my bike all set up for me. She is great spin instructor and does not let you slack fo sho. I am a little sore in the "girl area" or "the Gina" as Marcy would say. Thanks Viv for a great hot and sweaty leg burning work out.

1st offical track work out with Team Strive

Last night was my first official workout with Team Strive, everybody else started last week but since I was coming off my marathon in OKC I just went for sh*ts and grins. Last night 1 mile warm up, 100 pick ups with 300 easy/comfortable recovery fro 15 mins and then cool down. Total miles 3.03 avg pace with complete work out 10:19. Felt great after the workout. Then celebrated Cinco de Mayo at Lupe Tortilla with Team Strive Tri group, mucho fun.

I am starting a new supplement today called Healthy Trim.. Seems to help you loose weight- we'll see.

Go Rockets

I have nothing to blog about today. I did not run yesterday nor did I go to bootcamp. I decided to take the extra day off and let my legs heal one more day.

I am very excited that the Rockets beat the Lakers, I never thought that would happen. Thank god Kobe was sick with the flu. You think it could be the swine flu?

Tonight I have a track workout and then maybe head to Lupe for Cino de Mayo with the tri group.

Weekend in Review

Friday night we headed to a friends at the board walk for beers and a free Dave concert. We did not have to fight the crowds or pay sh*t load of $$ for beers(super cool), we could not see Dave but we could hear him loud and clear. Hella good night with an old friend. Saturday morning bootcamp an hour of getting my azz kicked. Later in the am I went to a baby shower and Saturday evening dinner with the hubby. Sunday 5.6 miles with Russell, this was my first run since OKC last weekend and I felt a little tired and my azz checks were sore for bootcamp. Sunday lunch crawfish and beer then at 5pm got my rub down from my chicka at Massage Envy. Thanks Cruz for workin out the kinkz, I am mo betta today. Great weekend, ready for a great work week.

Hope to see you on the roads.

Canceled Again

I always love my post marathon massage, it is all I think of while I am running. On Sunday I was dreaming on coming home and having my sore muscles worked on for an hour, unfortunately it did not happen, on Monday I got a call that my girl was sick. It is partly my fault that I am picky but I have two chickas at MEMS that I just lurve. I have tried others and that just don't get the kinks out like M and C do. So of coarse I rescheduled for today at 6pm. At 2:15 I get the dreaded call that again I have to reschedule. The next appointment that seems to fit both my schedule and C is not until Sunday. M I hope you feel better and C please don't get sick on me.

Drinks tonight with Robin, Russell, Najat and Kathleen.. yum yum

Compression Socks

Can anybody give me the down low on compression socks? Who uses them? Do they work? My shins are very sore from the hills in OKC, I am still walking like an old lady. If I could get rid of the shin pain I would be running already-at least for a couple mins anyway.

Thanks- Hope to see you on the roads soon!

50 hours later

Well it has been alittle over 50 hours since I started running the OKC Memorial Marathon(45 since I finished) my shins, quads and back are still a little stiff but I am feeling much more rested this morning. If I sit for to long and try to get up to fast I waddle around until the legs loosen up. Last night I was looking forward to stopping off at the track to see my coaches, but the monsoon that has hit Houston changed that. Tonight I plan to stop by and say hello, and maybe walk a few laps. Recovery is a biatch but more importantly I am thankful that I am healthy and I am blessed that I get to go through it after each race.

OKC Memorial Marathon- VERY LONG!!

We arrived in OKC Saturday morning around 10:30, after catching our hotel shuttle and checking into the hotel we headed out to lunch and to the expo. The expo was at the Cox Convention Center and was amazingly small, and laid out poorly to say the least. You had to walk all the way to the back to pick up your bib and chip. After that you walked to the far left side to make sure your chip was activated and to your name. To pick up our t-shirts back through the crowd to the very right front of the expo, finally we walked through the expo and look at items to purchase. I picked up an OKC marathon hat, pink tech shirt and a pair of double layered socks on sale for $2.

After the expo we went over to the memorial and walked around outside. In our packets we received a coupon for a free entry into the museum. This was an amazing tour; we saw photos, news casts, and articles of many items that were found in the rubble after the bombing. We heard a tape of a deposition that took place at the actual time that the bomb went off that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. After a very long day we headed to eat dinner and back to the hotel. We had watched the weather off and on all week leading up to this because we were so worried about the heat and the wind. By Saturday morning we were just hoping the race would not be canceled because it was rumored that OKC may be getting thunderstorms that included hail and possible tornadoes. Saturday night was no different; in fact Sunday morning when we woke up and discovered it had not even rained we were happy.

4:15am alarm goes off and we start getting ready. I made a cup of coffee and ate part of a power bar, but my stomach was in knots so I could not finish it. 5:00am we were in the lobby to catch the hotel shuttle to the start line. This was a little nerve racking, the hotel had told us they would run shuttle buses from 4:30 am until race time, so we were in the lobby standing in line when the lady at the desk announces there would not be another shuttle until 6am. (Hello the race is at 6:30 and you have 60+ people in line for 9 passenger vans). We made a stupid decision to try to catch the trolley that was to run every 15 mins a block from our hotel, after waiting 30 mins and no trolley (plus seeing 2 of our shuttle vans go by) we hung our heads and went back to the hotel and finally got on a shuttle to the start line with 10 mins for the bathroom and stop at gear check.

We lined up in the back instead of trying to push our way closer to the start line, but even with 19,000 people we were across the start line in about 10mins. The first 13 miles we had some wind mainly to our backs, but whoever said the OKC is flat needs to have their head examined. In fact I would rather run a half marathon on Flintridge than to run the hills in OKC again. We got to the lake at the half way mark and that’s when the wind started to pick up and they were no longer at my back but about a 25-30 mph head wind. The head winds never went away, for the next half of the race I was fighting the wind, a few times it almost knocked me backwards. At about mile 21 I knew that I would get a PR, I was not sure by how much but I knew even if I walked the last five miles I could probably get a PR. I started talking to a girl that was from OKC and had run the marathon 2 times before and she was complaining about the humidity and asked if it was bothering me, so I told I was from Texas and I did not even notice it was humid. I asked her if was always this windy and she said “pretty much, but the wind is your friend”. I am not sure if it was or not, but it showed me that I am stronger than I thought I was because I had to fight hard to make it to the end. When I finally saw the finish line in the distance I sighed in relief and I ran as hard as I could when I crossed the finish line and saw a dark headed lady with a medal I started near her and she said “sweetie I will come to you, thank you for running for us.” She put my medal around my neck and I made my way to get my finishers shirt, my Carl Jr’s hamburger, Gatorade and finisher picture. All in all despite the wind and hills it was a great race for a great cause. Fabulous volunteer’s, scenic course and another memorable completed marathon with great friends.
5:08:36 PR