vet appt!

after spending ANOTHER $150+ at the vet this week... the motivation to workout was minimal...
Instead I came home, fed the little guy and his buddy that is visiting... we listened to music and danced around for our evening...
playing fetch to some goldfrapp is rather fun...

ordered some take that imports too... old habits die hard!
one of these days I WILL buy my own copy of Sing When You're Winning

jump in the water...

finally got an outdoor swim with KP into the mix...  we did 4 sets of 250... my pace was within range of where it has always been 5:30 for the set...  i had pushed myself with the idea of swimming fast and that seemed to kick in.. just not sure in time for the race in 11 days....

the one thing that really got me with the swim - how crazy WARM just short of HOT that the pool was.  it was so close to uncomfortable.  like sweaty uncomfortable.  how can that be when you are in a body of water.  made me think - is this what it would feel like to swimming in dubai?

tonight is vet night - so not sure what type of workout will be worked in this evening

tomorrow is supposed to be wine after work at a friends house - was considering how to swim, let the dogs out (yes, dogs - B has a buddy visiting), and get there....  have to give that some more thought...

then this weekend is the last of the mini tri swim/bike/run training...

storms dont make for a good workout...

so last evening was another attempt at swimming...
standing in the workroom of the office compiling reports i looked outside and noticed the trees were bending in the wind.. wind?  where did that come from?  by the time the reports were compiled it was getting dark outside... not a good sign...  i finished up work and headed out.  i had hoped that maybe the storm was only passing through near the office and not near home...  NO SUCH LUCK!!! 
by the time i got 3 miles down the road - the rain was coming down so hard, i could barely see the road in front of me...  and it didnt let up until i got close to home... 
and the random thunderstorms passed by all night...
so no swim, no workout...
amazing that i did so much better with the workouts last week while on the road

nothing yesterday!

i have done a pretty good job of overprogramming myself this week for work...  i have some meetings right in the middle of the day that warrant drive time etc...  and cuts right into that middle of the day and other tasks at hand...
so i didnt get home from work until after 8pm last night
and i thought i would be OK for not eating and go work out... i was wrong... it just got to be too late and i got too hungry... 
gonna try again today....

no morning run today...

they are so consistent you would be surprised right?  HAH!!
when i was still tossing and turning at 1:30am it is surprising that I even let the alarm stay on...  tossing turning... thoughts running running running through my head... and some stupid song - Mr. Saxobeat by Alexndra Stan...  I actually like the song that is until this morning as it is STILL running through my head...

I have packed up my gym bag - running gear... swimming gear...  garmin... sneaks... headset...
I have a late meeting so it will be up in the air as to what I can get into...

in good news - shed some nasty travel pounds over the weekend - now some crazy push between now and race day to get that a little more reasonable than it was as of getting off the plane on Thursday

if i obsess long enough

i will find what i am looking for..

and hopefully since I just watched in its entirety it will not porduce an out of coutnry error message like i have been getting... this version is so much better than the X-Men version of the video...
and to think after all these years of Robbie obsessing... it was a link through Jason Orange that had me stumble upon this...  sure Robbie looks good in the video - but Jason grew up rather handsome as did Howard - both of whom I never noticed the first time around....

couldnt wait to get home

Struggled for the ride today. But I did get 10 miles in. So coming in for the home stretch after covering 8 miles in the crazy Sunday late for church traffic... Some little kids comes running in front of me to pet some guy's dog. The mom or parental person saw me. She didn't reprimand him for that because the kid was still moving with speed towards this dog that was almost as tall as he was. And somewhere in there the owner told the boy NO. I heard him say as follow up- I really don't trust him. THIS was what he was being scolded for. Good thing since he just didn't seem to be minding those instructions. And then behind me I heard the bark of said dog. Yeah, not to friendly...
Kids need to be more mindful of their surroundings in these parks. I know it is safer than cars on the road but there are still dangers.
And if your dog isn't friendly why bring him to such a public place.
Well headed home now. No run. Gonna try that yoga thing later.

running

so i went back through the history of my runs on the garmin site...  i wish there was a way to overlay the reports and graphs for comparison...  the only comparison is distance, time, average pace, maximum pace, average heart rate, maximum heart rate...  and when i look at that it doesnt realy look like i have improved at all over the past few months... and that PISSES me OFF!!  I can't compare how long have I run in one shot, what was that pace?  what was that heart rate?  that's what I'd like to compare...  there is something different about yesterday's run with quarter mile stretches of running versus the 1 minute of running...  i may have to tinker some more with the reporting process, send some suggestions to garmin, and determine w ork around for now...  or i could just get out there and run some...

my shoulder blade is really bothering me so now i am on the fence about how much to do today....
AND even though I thought I was getting ane arly start to things - looking at the clock across the room - that does not look to be the case...errr

87.2 Yards

I had to go back to previous entries this fall to remind myself of the actual length of the pool at the gym.  I had started counting in sets of 4 because the math was easier than the off yard here and there....
So I have been swiming 3 sets of 4 to give me an estimate of my swim time for the traithlon.  That works out to be 261.6 yards.  So for all intents and purposes this is a good test.  I knew the total length was around 80 so I knew i wa within reason.
I have been counting 10 sets of 4 as 800 yards but in reality it is 872..  no bige deal one way or the other just need to remember that it is not 1000 yards.
Yesterday I hit a new high - well at least for this time around - 14 sets of 4 - oh now where is that calculator???  ahh, 1220.8 yards...  I am happy with that.

There are 1760 yards in a mile but for some reason swimming distance recognizes 1650 yards as a mile.  Something to do with meters versus yards and miles getting caught up in the distinction..  And in viewing that - I am not too far off from swimming a mile...  We'll call it 5 more sets of 4...
So I guess the goal for my swim with the remainder of the summer will be 20 sets of 4...  and I will slowly increase my amount over the next 6 weeks.  That shouldnt be too hard. 

Need to think about short distance speed though for the next 2 weeks....  Speed is not a mind set for me out there so I need to do that.  But for today - having played some fetch with the dog and walked around a bit with the coffee etc...  today will not include a swim...

that would be a shoulder blade

Yesterday was a productive day when it comes to the training.  I was really pleased with all events.  I pushed myself oh just a little bit on each one...  And it felt good. 
With my evening I obviously watched the rest of Long Way Down.  But I also did a bunch of laundry and cleaned through a few closets of stuff.  Some of those internal conversations that just say - get rid of that stuff.  You have had it for ages, you dont use it, it is just taking up space.  I wouldnt say there was all that much in the mix but it felt good.
AND somehow between the swimming and the yucking things about my shoulder blade decided to make itself known.  I didnt feel it until later in the evening so I am not sure if it was tired and then in pulling and pushing and moving stuff I aggrevated it.  OR - if it was just from the swimming and when I finally had some down time and it had a chance to rest it decided to hurt some.
I am trying to decide if it similar to my knee pain - just sore and stiff and once you start moving it about it feels OK... or if it is a let it rest type of pain...  I amleaning towards a let it rest type of pain.
Unlike the road bike - I can swim in the evenings after work.  The road bike I need to do as much as I can over the weekends as that is the only time I get to ride a real bike... Although we did determine last week or so that stationary bike has an impact all of its own. 
So much for letting the shoulder rest - little guy looks to want to play some fetch over morning coffee.

I take that back... LWD was amazing

I got tired of my DVD player being on the blink... so I found the rest of the Long Way Down series on youtube...  I take back my original comments - the gorillas and the elephants and the whitewater and bungee jumping and hippos... were all pretty darned amazing!!!
And in the midst of it all they knock the wind out of you with a trip to the genocide - yes genocide - museum in Rwanda... 
I watched the whole Hotel Rwanda thing when it was released a few years back.
I have watched Black Hawk Down a few times - yes, Ewan is in that.
I dont remember any of this in real time - I don't know what I was doing at the time...
But this museum was sombering to say the least - it is at a church where civilians were hiding and in a matter of a day 5000 of them were killed with grenades, machetes, hammers and fire...  One of the displays were the skulls bones and clothing of the deceased... Yes, sombering.  Like a modern day Auschwitz for lack of a better description.  And how sad that we can find a comparable event throughout other times in history....  What a shame humanity can continually be so inhumane...

I hope to find only happy attractions on my upcoming road trip to Ireland....

Long Way Down

I am sure I must have commented on this over the winter.. I found myself sucked into the Long Way Round series on DVD.  It is a bit addicitve if you like a little Ewan McGregor and Stereophonics as a soundtrack...
So now I am watching Long Way Down.  It is slightly less entertaining.  I dont know why - I think because I am not finding the trip through Africa to be as interesting.  I dont know why I found the trek through Europe and Asia more interesting - maybe because I didnt know what to expect.
http://longwayround.com/
But with Africa you expect to see zebras, elephants, and monkeys.  And they keep saying I have never seen an _____ in the wild before.  Well isnt that why you are in Africa?  To see all that?  And how many in the audience have seen these wild animals in the wild?  Maybe it was that IMAX movie about Africa I saw in ATL YEARS AND YEARS AGO that ruined the surprise for me. 
Of course the 2008 version of Libya and Egypt was amazing in comparison to today's news.  And the fact that the Americans traveling with him are having different difficulties with some of the countires.

Anyways this is what the little guy and I are up to after this morning's big workout.
12 miles on bike, 2 miles on foot, not too sure how long that ride was.
Yes, I know I am supposed to go look at new bikes today - but I dont really feel like parting with any money today so why bother.
Instead I will just tinker around here...  Unpack.  Thaw out some food from the freezing for dinner.  And actually do some work... 
AND GO TO BED EARLY!!! to do it all over again...

SMC - Run - 2miles by delbda at Garmin Connect - Details

SMC - Run - 2miles by delbda at Garmin Connect - Details
The run portion of my morning. I think if I keep at this, I may be able to run that first mile during the race. We shall see.

SMC - 12 Mile bike ride

Untitled by delbda at Garmin Connect - Details

pretty happy with my results today... probably fall asleep from exhaustion soon...

thank you work related stress

I assume that's what this is...  It started back in September... first I had some medical tests done and my concentration for the Sept RR disipated and I did not compete...  I had lots of help in the mental game to convince me not to do it.  Soon after that one co-worker dropped out of the mix.  In an effort to keep things moving forward without problems - some tasks were added to the mix to keep things on an even keel...  That made for a stressful October...  November another co-worker took themselves out of the mix.  It wasnt that the work at that point was beyond reasonable.  It's just that any other time was spent doing that.  Stress levels were high, bad decisions ensued.  Working out fell by the wayside.  Eating healthy became too much work.  Beer or wine after work seemed like a good way to blow off steam.  That lasted through the holidays where food and distraction is already at an all time high.  With the onset of the new year and everyone wanting to hear more about what we do - the road trips started.  Monthly trips out of town - you think you can master all that there is to keep a handle on - but again it is hard when you are on the road to make the right decision.  Driving after hours for 4 hours - you dont say "hey, let me stop off at this grocery store at this random exit off the highway and buy something healthy"  you say - not too usre exactly where i am and to be safe I think I will just grab some processed fried chicken or beef sandwich in a drive through and since it's easy I think I will get those fries on the side"  Lunches at your destination and dinners could be a little healthier but the salt content in most of those foods is through the roof...  And it all continues to build up.
When you do get home - there is no food in the fridge, there is a suitcase of dirty clothes just waiting for the laundry, a dog that wants attention, and a house & garden that could use a once over and still no food in the fridge... the propsect of going to the supermarket and buying something healthy to grill up for a meal just seems exhausting at that point... so you opt for a frozen meal - usually a pizza that is supposed to feed 4 but somehow you manage to most of it...  and the cycle continues...
one year later - or at least one year since the last RR - you find yousef 10 pounds heavier - when all along you wanted to be 10 pounds lighter this time around...  and now it is only 17 days away....
you dont look at the times from the last race - you dont want to burden your 10+ self with that thought... you just plod along and try to do get through the training so finishing is an option...
and then you realise - if all remains the same - those next 17 days will actually entail NO travel!  and the next time you are currently scheduled to sleep in a hotel is at the Adare Manor in Ireland...
and there, the motivation tries to kick back in...
17 days 'til race day - probably NOT going to drop those 10 pounds but you can make some headway in that direction... and 10 weeks to Ireland - you could probably make some headway there as well...
so the concerted effort begins - let's hope that the world keeps a distance and does not try to dissuade me..

17 days until Ramblin Rose

and i will be home between now and then so have all this time to concentrate on training...  and maybe but probably not get back down to last year's race weight...  that is a whole other topic for me to talk about...

OFTR

Stainless steel stall doors and high tech heavy duty air hand dryers... Ahhh, bathrooms in the plant. But hey throw in some trendy music in the background and a tv and you could call it the gym locker room.

I hit the hotel gym Monday and Wednesday. I tried today but slept miserably so that didn't happen.

Home tomorrow and it is a busy day for a Friday. I should have taken the day off just because I knew I would be so tired but I didn't put that thought together until now.

Back to the swim, bike, run combinations for this week. SO looking forward to it!

people watching continues

I have sunglasses on the top of my head holding my hair back. I don't consider this an acceptable accessory for a hairstyle but I often times find myself using it. It keeps the glasses safe - especially when you have to pick up all your stuff and move to a different gate.
Now I am watching this older gentlemen. He has on a navy blue blazer with a crest on the pocket and a coordinated yellow shirt - not oxford, not izod, one of those shiny brushed cotton older gentleman type of golf shirts. On the bottom he is wearing jeans. But where the outfit really takes a turn - the Keen waterproof hiking shoes. I bet he thinks the same thing about my dark grey sauconys and my pale yellow prana capri pants. A fair amount of military personnel have passed both coming and going.
Lots of iPads.
Can't wait to nap on the plane.

sauna

When I was a member at the Y, I didn't spend much time in the sauna. I was far more a fan of the steam room. I would even stretch while I was in there I enjoyed it so much. I may have mentioned the new gym only has a sauna. I have acclimated well with the sauna. I have worked it into my mix. TODAY however it was a whole new experience. There was a woman in there that started to ask me about my Garmin. Some 30 minutes I left and man was my corp temp high. I think I need to try that again.
Conversation was good too. We talked about Crossfit and triathlons and marathons and training in general. In a small world moment - we had met before -last year - during one of my work meetings. CRAZY small world.
It ended up taking up time I had allotted to something else. Now, with the flight delayed I am glad I got all that I needed done - done. But also bummed for the hurry up and wait scenario. Reminds of that time I waited in ATL to meet a friend. Waiting and waiting and waiting around an airport...

sitting in the airport

So last week I made some notes with the assumption I would post about them later. Well that didn't materialise. So this week as I sit here:
My flight was initially scheduled to leave in 10 minutes. I am so surprised at the amount of people JUST arriving at the gate. I suppose that also supports the some 4 to 6 people I have already seen sprint by me this afternoon. I KNEW there were multiple reasons for always wearing sneaks to fly. But some people go high fashion. I wouldn't be surprised if they find themselves in pain by the time they arrive at their destination.
As always the people watching is top notch.

bitchin' camaro - the dead milkmen...

so bike store guy had a new car yesterday...  and it has finally given me the opportunity and reason to reference this song...  HAH!!!  hadnt listened in so long i forgot how funny this was...

feeling very accomplished!

since wednesday or thursday i have been working on the workout routine and the travel time table to convince myself that i could in fact work in a training bit today...
as i sit here with about 10 minutes before leaving for the airport i can wonderfully admit that i did in fact accomplish that goal...  i didnt fit the run in - remember i have been griping about that..
i am thinking that i small walk along the treadmill when i get to the other end - i mean sitting on a plane all day does warrant some stretching out... and doesnt the long walk through the airport count as something?
i covered 8 miles on the bike and 11x4 in the pool...  the biggest things i noticed - my legs were sore after yesterday's onslaught of activity... probably confirming that i should not the splash & dash or mock tri the day before the race...  also the yoga stretch program isworking the muscles in a different way...
as for the swim - i did swim 32 lengths without stopping... think i am getting my rythm back
YAY ME!
now to load up the car!

conversations with the dog

one thing i notice and it is not a recent occurrence, the pup and i sometimes have conversations - OK in other words I talk out loud to myself and the dog becomes the audience... of course when i am out riding and running he's not there but i still do some talking...
yesterday's conversation as i was grilling up the chicken for lunch - it is a toss up between taking the money i have set aside and getting a new grill or getting a new bike, in the scheme of things i have been using my bike a whole lot more these days than i have been grilling, so maybe i should get a new bike...
truthfully, i have been looking on line just havent put aside any time to look in person - with road trips and all in the future...
so we are sitting here watcing Ewan and there is a knock at the back door - NO LIE - it is the local bike shop owner...  now, for those wondering how and why he is at the back door - that is where my driveway is, that is where my bike sits poised for this morning's ride on top of my car, and he does know me...
how completely random!  i hadnt been by the store in quite some time - he doesnt mean to intimidate me with his knowledge of biking and all - he just does...  i hadnt even thought of going there knowing my price range and his price range were 2 different ranges...  it seems there is a used bike there i can look at that sounds to be in my range, just not sure on the size - or he can find me a new bike that would be at the high end of my new bike range - of course still not in the range of that could buy a vespa for that amount of money bike i sat on last year.... 
i just thought it was wonderfully coincidental...
now i need to get a move on - got a plane to catch and all later today - so need to be on my game

lovely day part II

i was interrupted and never really finished yesterday's story... probably a good thing because the day took some interesting turns.. 
so i did the whole get up early have my coffee routine - same as i am doing now - then went out on the road to ride my bike, it was a peaceful morning and i am becoming more accustomed to the cars passing me.. i am really beginning to like the road rides - they just have to be planned for the right time of day and traffic...  yesterday's ride highlights - dead possum?  i suspect it will be all bloated and smelly today as i ride by especially after yesterday's rain; road kill?  not sure what it was but it was all over the road - which does remind me - last week i saw Bambi and his mom scampering along a side road as I was driving in my way to my ride, and I also passed a dying Bambi on the way home the other night - that was sad; diesel fumes?  this one always catches me off guard - i am riding along, a truck of some sort passes me and the next thing you know i am thinking of motorized scooters... the diesel fumes always remind me of sitting on a scooter in the winter time in Bermuda or having a bad seat on a boat...
i only covered 8 miles as i was in a rush to get to the gym to swim before the water aerobics class - i have observations of that that i will just need to share later
as i walked to the locker room i noted that all 3 lanes we taken - i thought i can somewhat take my time as i get ready, but as i entered the locker room i cam across another woman in her bathing suit and realised today would be a lane share day...  and that it was...  i did 10 sets of 4 before being booted out for the class... the highlight there was i did get a moment to have a nice chat with that other woman that was swimming... she is doing the ramblin rose in september - so has me thinking I should sign up - we shall see...
i had a nice lunch of grilled chicken and roasted kale with a side of ewan mcgregor - promised myself I would not get sucked in and lose lots of hours with the Long Way Down DVD that was delivered by Netflix... OH, I did a good job of spacing that out...
late in the afternoon - somewhat out of boredom, somewhat out of bad timing - i went on my run... i did a little over 1.5 miles - i dont think a run will happen today - no need for the TMI from the other post but the aches go on...
i also did about 45 minutes of yoga - before a fast moving high gusting storm blew threw and interferred with the rest of the day/afternoon/evening...
then we sat around with the power out for about 3 hours... oh joy!  i couldnt even get ewan out of the dvd player to watch on my computer!  sat around with some neighbors that were unexpectedly locked out due to the power outage...  ultimately the power came on and i stayed up too late watching the last 2 episodes i had on this dvd.

lovely day....

yesterday was a long day - work...  prepped for next week's meetings, printed maps and directions, odd emails...  got to the gym later than anticpated...  oh and did i mention i had 2 meals of junk food including variations of fried chicken on fatty bread and ice cream...  i was hoping to knock out a big ol' workout to counteract it all...  i did 8 miles on the stationary bike in the cardio theater... watched some more of avatar in there... then out on the track to run- UGH the run...  here is a little bit of TMI when it comes to me and running - the bra, swim suit mix need to be just right or the run will not happen and I suspect that the amount of salt and fat and water retention as result of all the junk food added to the misery of the long combination  - so only a HALF a mile was covered and mostly at a walk... from there i was going to swim and i should have but i did not...  headed home instead
had a nice chopped salad of turkey, beets and feta for dinner and pretty much went to bed...
that wasnt the lovely day - that would be today...

triathlon maternity clothing

i am continually amazed what people search for and how my blog gets pinged...

vet visit

nothing like a little puppy stress to take some time out of your day and consume your brain...  the little guy has been having some bladder control problems..  so we hung out at the vet - for over an hour - to have him checked out...  $$$ and 2 drugs later, he will be medicated for the next 2 weeks to see if that helps him out... i am thankful that he is so easy with taking medication - drop in with food and off he goes...
and hopefully when it is all said and done he will be back to normal - i can lug out the carpet cleaner - and then the house will seem back to normal...

of course this has interferred with much of my mental concentration to work out this week..
so the last thing i did was run wednesday morning - and since i slept so bad wednesday night i forgot to reset my alarm to get up early this morning to work a run in...  so i am going to try to do a whole lot this evening at the gym...
still thinking about what i am going to squeeze in as a workout on Sunday morning...

gas in car this morning...  gotta head to the lake...  and then regroup for ms

opted out of this evening's training

wine and time with friends took precedence...
think the workout would have been better for my mood...
oh well
tomorrow night is a vet visit for the little guy and his overactive bladder...
suspect an infection or just old age or perhaps diabetes...
could run myself ragged on thinking about it...  just need to come to terms with the fact he is aging...
11 this year

Morning Run

I got myself out for that run this morning.  It took some motivation from friends to get on out of bed.  And the promise of cooler temps this morning helped as well.  Plus those stats that if you take more than 3 days off you don't progress with your efforts for improvement.  So lying there in bed - Sunday, Monday, Tuesday... Wednesday was a MUST for the run.
And I have added some new goals to this run - ultimately I would like to be able to run the whole loop by the end of the summer.  I did it once - JUST ONCE - before.
The following is more for my benefit as I doubt it will make much sense to those not on the road with me...
The first walking loop is fine.  Starting to run at the top of the sidewalk should continue to be that start point.  The end point down around the corner for that section is OK.  HOWEVER - the next part of the run needs to go longer.  Now this is the beginning of the longest stretch of hill in the loop so it is a bit daunting.  I just need to push myself every time to go a little longer.  And then on the next section I need to start a little earlier.  This would get some uphill run training in the mix.  I went a little further today on the run that starts in the far culdasac and that needs to continue.  And those last runs are OK for now...
Need to revisit after race day
As for next week.  Should be able to workout before my flight on Sunday.
Monday there probably wont be time for much.  Maybe an AM run?  But not sure. 
From there we drive for a few hours so suspect there wont be much time at the end of the day.
And the next day starts REALLY early - that impacts the morning workout and the PM energy level.
Maybe Wednesday AM and Thursday AM will see a little treadmill action but that's about all I can imagine.
SOOO that would be back to a full run of events for Friday when I am back in town.
Similar to this weekend's objective of swim/bike/run Friday/Saturday/Sunday
Gonna try to add those two disciplines in today as well.
BUT NOW - time to get ready for work!

YO! Gaaaaahhhh

I just couldnt lug myself out of bed yesterday for a run.  It was more to do with tight legs from gardening and lack of motivation.  Spending a portion of my mid day in the car and working late after having been sucked into sorting an excel spreadsheet... making my way to the gym last night did not happen!  I started to call it my OFF day.  But let's be realistic next week is going to entail more off days than on.
So I opted to make it a yoga day.  I dont work yoga into my routine on a regular basis.  I am not sure why - probably lack of time. 
However I found a great little beginners video on exercise on demand tv that I think I will keep in my mix as long as it is accessible.  It sure helped with stretching out all the tight spots. 
Now just need to figure out how to work that extra hour into the mix a couple times each week.

hotel lobby and restaurant music

somehow when i travel i always find myself kicking about the lobby of the hotel - sometimes that's where breakfast is served... other times i just find myself waiting around for others...  and i am always surprised at the music that plays...  a while back it was "Better Than This" by Keane... this time it was "She's the One" by Robbie Williams...  just amazes me...  I also heard Vampire Weekend while eating dinner at Bonefish Grill...  I have converted to listening to 100% satellite radio when in the car and Pandora or Absolute Radio when near a computer or Blackberry...  most local radio does not appeal to me so I find it funny that random muzak has entertaining tunes

observations from the road - MKE/WI style....

so shall we recap some of the people watching from last week?
first there were the complaining airline employees - i dont know that they were actually USAir employees or employees of the commuter type fligts...  they were complaining about shifts and no one was around that had been fully trained... my two thoughts on the situation -- (1)  I guess they dont train about reprimand in private praise in public; be mindful of audience and you situation with your behavior; when you're down talk up...  and (2)  gosh i hope the people that fly these things are fully trained...
THEN there was the lady in the white sundress - the type of sundress that goes real well over a flashy bright coloured bathing suit and not over undergarments... and we were at one of the furthest gates at the airport.. she had lots of distance to cover in her very shear dress...  I probably wont be buying a white dress any time in the near future...  which does remind me of thoughts I had about the new bathing suit but that will have to wait...
some recent fads are doing a good job of demasculating (is that a word/verb) the American man...  let's take a look at the use of iPads - they are convenient and cool but when you want to type away on them you end up with part screen part keyboard AND that keyboard is quite small and dainty...  I watched a guy with pinkies extended typing away on it and it just looked so silly..  followed by these other men on the other side of me sipping pink smoothies through straws...  fruit smoothies?  does anyone else think those are kind of girly?  men should be drinking chocolate peanut butter protein shakes not smoothies...
And while we are speaking of the colour PINK -

lost my wireless signal in the middle of that post
dont recall what i was writing...

and that song always reminds me of this song

and now i  really need to get a move on out the door to start the day...

music you hear while working out...

yep - still on the take that band wagon these days...
and i am just so amazed and fascinated by the things people do with their free time
OK maybe writing in a blog isnt that productive either but...
this cracked me up on so many levels...

Let's work backwards...

I have four weeks until the race so it is down to the wire to get my act together.  AND next week I am on the road again so the training will be adhoc for next week...
Yesterday I went to the gym after work to get the swim on.  I never looked at the class schedule and thankfully I made it in time to get in 30minutes before the water aerobics class started.  I also ended up sharing a lane which I think is a great way to prep for race day.  The pool is so congested during the race it does help if you experience some of that while training.
I did 12 sets of 4.  I need to go back to previous posts to remind myself of the length of this new pool.  I think that 4 is approximately 80 yards.  So I am already at half a mile - so that's cool.

Over the weekend I did 10 sets of 4.  The problem is I am not up to the whole 250 in one shot yet.  So I can cover lots of length with breaks but I really need to get consistent length in there...

I also covered 10 miles on the bike out there on the road.  There is a part of me that wants to start doing that lap twice.  OR adding some more side streets to the loop to add to the distance.  I think I will have time to get in a workout this Sunday before heading to the airport.

And then the 2 miles on foot.  I have been trying to go by distance these days instead of time.  My goal was to do quarter mile on quarter mile off.  I did well with that on the first mile Sunday.  Then this older gentlemen - older than I suspected when he started telling me about his open heart surgery and meidcare - was out on the path and chatty and seemed to really be looking for someone to run with and chat with.  I did OK on the second mile.  Could not keep up.  But he also interrupted my game plan.  As I was leaving he was approaching some other walker that had a weight jacket on.  I suspect this was his way to get out of the house and have conversation.

Today was to be an AM run day... but my legs are  real sore and you know the sad part of that?  I think it's from gardening on Sunday.  So I will work a bike and run into today's workout - well unless I find I cant fit in some errands over thte coourse of the day.  Then that will be my evening objective.

running behind

In the blogging that is. Made all these notes from my trip to blog about. The people watching. The oddities of travel. I just have no desire to go back and expand on my notes. So I am home 4 days and back into life here. Recounting 3 days on the road seems minimal. Especially when there will be 4 days on the road - oh wait 5 - next week.

Swam for the third day in a row this evening. Gonna go to bed and give my arms a rest.

we interrupt these regularly scheduled workouts...

for semiannually scheduled work travel...  i knew that i would have to be on my a game for training this month...  i had 6am meetings yesterday at a location an hour away - you do the math... when the last set of meetings ended at 5pm there was no way i would fit in an evening workout either
i was asleep by 930
i am leaving today as well on travel... i am supposed to squeeze in a walk along the lake this evening... i dont suspect it will be any sort of heart rate raising event but at least it will be better than the normal 5000 calorie meals we usually spend our evenings with...  the next 2 days are 7am days as well so i dont think the workouts will happen there either - that is always a toss up depending on how breakfast works at the restaurant..
so that brings me to firday night when i get home - I MUST make sure i work out every day that i am home because I do turn around and leave again - and that next trip - there is NO room for workouts... 

bags under my eyes...

how about that for a take away from all this working out?  i am moving moving moving hoping to make my heart stronger, hoping to mak emy msucles stronger, hoping to find a way to be healthy...  and what to i walk away with?  GOGGLE marks!!!
I dont know if there is a science to the goggles to kep the water out but keep the indentations down.  If so, I have not found them.  And unfortunately - which is the case for me with sleep lines and sock lines as well - the goggles leave a nice circle around my eyes.
Above the eyes - the eyelid portion - can be hidden with proper placement of eyeshadow.  In fact, it may even help.
Unfortuantely underneath - accentuates bags.  Maybe not to others but to me.  Guess I need to start to pack anti-puffery eye firming lotion in my gym bag along with skin lotion to offset all that chlorine and swimmers ear drops...
Ahhh, so much work behind the scenes...

i DID get out of the house!!!

i straightened out the house to some Progress over Grooveshark and eventually made it to the gym... it helped in giving myself a reprieve in the amount of training i would do...
I did a little over a mile in the run - even hit some good personal bests...
I did a little over 5 miles on the bike - sat in the cardio theater and watched some of Russell Crowe's Robin Hood...
Then I went back in the water...  It was better today.  The irrational thoughts from age 8 weren't as strong.  I mean really?  Sharks in the water.  of course all this talk of the sharks will result in nightmares this evening...
But it felt great to get out there and just move.  It is so nice to just let the music play and your body move.  Now if only I could find the chutzpah to dance along the track instead of run - NOW THAT would be fun!

today was a slow day in starting

it was a busy day of training yesterday and i hadnt gotten to bed before 11am the past 3 nights...  making it to 10 is normally a major feat for me so... 
last night i had dinner at a friends house... why do burgers always taste so good after a big workout?  i am sur it is the protein fat combination - chicken doesnt normally cut it for me... eggs do as does tuna salad - hence my thought that my body is craving some fat as well..
from there i proceed to get sucked into this week's guilty pleasure some more...  there is so much crap on youtube you can waste so many hours!

does it piss the distributors off that i could watch the whole directors cut version last night via youtube?  it wasnt available on netflix.. and i wasnt going to order an import... and here it was... i swear it was 90minutes + later that i got through it all and went to bed...
and then i have the whole marching sound of kidz running through my head and settling into sleep is difficult...
so today starts off slow..

how to insure you get hits on your blog

so i was looking at the stats page and had to laugh at what people search for on-line and how disappointed they must be when they land here....
i was referencing naked coconut water - silly people
and it is an all women's triathlon....
and then yesterday i threw in the term locker room...
HAH!
i wonder if I should throw in a post about the mud run?

observations from the locker room

Well really I suppose they could just be observations from the gym.  As noted, I was a little slow on the exit to workout this morning.  So I decided to cover all aspects of the training at the gym.  I didnt do an hour of each - I remembered on my way there that the clinic I used to attend at the Y did 30 minutes each.  So I went with that gameplan instead.
(1)  there were women in the locker room having a chat... i am not a good judge of age but i would say there were older than me.  and they were talking about some guy and how he had apologized for something and all these guidelines about apologies and moving on...  all i could think to myself was - WOW this seems like a lot of drama for a Saturday morning... and i am still surprised to learn that my theory that drama subsides when we get older is UNTRUE!!! 
(2)  i am also shocked at how many people either make friends at the gym or come to the gym with friends...  there are always people chatting away when i am in there...  i was asked yesterday by the guy in the previous post if i was an extrovert or introvert...  i like to think that i straddle that line - and in this scenario i verge on the side of introvert -- sweaty and half naked trying to get from one discipline to another, shower, sauna, lotion, change -- it does not occur to me to strike up a conversation with someone else... and i dont know that i would be any more or less productive if a friend was with me...
(3)  there is occassional eye candy at the gym!  this gym is a good mix of people - those of us trying to get fit, those that are fit... runs the whole spectrum  (ALTHOUGH I ALMOST FORGOT!!!  SP told me last night that by this time I am an athlete.. I am not a poser anymore... I was so pleased to hear that - and theuse of the term poser made me smile)... 
(4)  and YES i can still scare the crap out of myself when swimming in a pool all alone...  today the water was a bit murky... and the sun from the outside had the deeper end looking a bit dark...  every time i pushed off the wall i thought of scuba situations where you cant see too far ahead of you...  and the imagination JUST GOES WILD!!!!  needless to say (needless because those of you that know me, know that THIS is probably my top irrational fear) i only swam 4 sets of 4...  better luck again tomorrow...
I did cover 2 miles on foot and 6 on the stationary bike - overall a good day!

suit and shorts on

this week i will remember to remove the hrm before entering the pool... BUT I AM STILL ON THE COUCH!!!!! 
while i was getting dressed and switching out some items in my gym bag i was reminded of a conversation from yesterday...  i spent the better part of the day at a client site..  unfortunately it was set up like -she's here if you want to swing by and see her - no real structure and not much interest...  i ended up having a conversation with the guy that brought in lunch...
typical sales guy - he's telling me all these things about how to help people understand finances and how i can get them as a captive audience.. UM hello!?!?  you brought in a boatload of food from Chilis!!!  these people do not want to talk financial health... they do not want to talk overall health... they just want to eat heaping plates full of food....  and truth be told - this is the general consensus for most people - free food beats out helathy choices any day....  perhaps i should get this guy to travel with me - he wasnt talking with there people - just eating with them... so perhaps i could tag along and do some sort of mock up presentation with the captive audience over their food... maybe next year...
anyways we both ended up leaving at the same time and were parked next to one another...  first he was surprised that i did not eat any of the free food - that the fajita meats, cheeses, guacamole and tortillas weree not that bad for you...  still pondering that one...  then he saw the bike rack on the top of the car...
what's that for?  A BIKE...  oh like mountain biking?  TRIATHLONS...  oh, cool...
it made me smile
OK maybe now I will get off the couch...

procrastination

the dog got the memo that the race is in 5 weeks and i really need to stick to my training... so he made sure to make enough noise for me to wake up by 630...  i however was disregarding the memo and was trying to sleep in...  it was a crazy week and the idea of sleeping in sounded so appealing... but he was having none of that...  so i got up, took him out, opened all the doors as it was the coolest morning in 2 weeks according to the news, made some coffee and kicked back...  2 hours later i have had some scrambled eggs and bacon and am still sitting here with my last cup of coffee - it is luke warm now but the kona blend still tastes yummy...
so now i am contemplating what that work out need to look like - unfortunately i think at this hour the roads are too busy and taking the same 10 mile loop as last week is probably not an option...  i thought about doing a reverse tri at the gym...  hour on the track, hour on the stationary bike and an hour in the pool...  i know THAT will surely warrant a nap afterwards...  but it would be cooler than outside and allow me to listen to some music AND help me feel like i do occasionally get my money's worth out of the gym...
of course there is a water aerobics class at 930 which gives me excuses to procrastinate even more...
oh yesterday's workout did not happen
the 530am run was interrupted by fat tires - and not the ones on a bike.... Errrr ASO
the evening swim was interrupted by a dinner invitation...
SO I really need to get out there today and ourge the body of all the nastiness and feel good about the workout...

left side breathing

every time i get back in the water this is one of thing that i work on...  most of my drills are focused on the breathing...  and i have to say that i feel like i am getting stronger with the left side breathing....  the drills still freak me out.  i still get water up my nose in an effort to find just the right placement to be able to breathe but not have my head stick too far out of the water.  but my sense of balance on the left side is definitely getting stronger.  that will be my focus the rest of this week... then i need to focus on speed... 
fun fun!

Guilty Pleasure

Without A/C the other night and nothing new on TV...  My mom watched repeats of NCIS.  I sat very still with my headset in and fell prey to the faves of the faves when it comes to the British Pop Rock obsession....
How could you not...
So Take That ... I may not have been cool but happy now...

AV - AM Run by delbda at Garmin Connect - Details

think i forogt that i could automatically link this here
AV - AM Run by delbda at Garmin Connect - Details

all windows open

in the past 2 years or so - opening windows in my house has not been as frequent as it used to be
one of my friends had given me some guidelines from their allergist with respect to allergies - closed windows is a big PLUS whne trying to manage allergies...  so i started holding back on always having my windows open... I LOVE the smell of fresh air in the house but it just wasnt possible - the headaches were getting to be too much...
well in the past 36 hours I have had to open the windows - with the A/C not working au natural has been the cooling approach of choice or at least necessity...
and you know what - well except for the fact it makes putting on nice suits or dealing with makeup a bit much - i have liked the fresh air
of course when it hits 95+ again today i will think otherwise