Limits

You know what is NOT a good time to discover you are reaching or at your limits? I'm sure there's lots of unfavorable spots for this to occur, but for me.. it was about 10mi in to a 35mi ride today.. YIKES. I'm not sure what the deal was (oh, yeah.. baby growing in me might have something to do with it..).. if my legs were tired from the week? tired from my run this morning? It was only 5-ish easy miles.. hardly something to wipe a gal out.. But almost instantly on my ride today, I noticed my body wasn't quite operating as it should. Nothing terrible.. just..legs felt heavy and slow, efforts seemed harder than normal.. and on the 1st decent hill of the day, I had had it.. heart rate shot up, breathing was out of control.. Now. You can't exactly stop on a hill..not an easy task when you're clipped in, and pretty fruitless, at that, because, unless I was going to pack it in and head back to my car by myself.. I had to make it up the hill somehow. So.. I dropped 'er in to the lowest gear I have (tri bikes aren't exactly known for climbing.. thinking about getting a different crank with easier gears so I can spin easy the rest of pregnancy and also use them for hilly rides once I'm back at real training.. we'll see, though.. that would take some real gumption on my part!) and just cruised it up...nice.. and.. slow.. As I watched my crew pull further and further up ahead.. Luckily, they are all super nice and hung back and let me catch my breath and ride easy for a bit while I got over the shock of being humbled by such a mild hill (thanks, guys!). So anyway.. I guess I rallied because I did manage to make it through the ride in not too shabby of form, though I was a bit slower than usual in some parts.. especially the end, which was into the wind and I was out of steam.. But.. we got it done. Just in time for the cold drizzle to start falling (sorry to the folks that were still out there! It wasn't a downpour, so hoping it wasn't too bad for ya). And that was that! As I was riding today, I was thinking about how I had a pretty decent week of 'training' with about 4mi of swimming (total guess.. I hit the pool 3x, but don't count my laps right now.. should be more than 3mi, but likely a bit less than 4.. but I use the 'pregnant round-up' right now!), 100mi of riding and my 20mi of running for the week.. but then I realized.. that's not even a whole IM?! Ah, how the mighty have fallen.. Granted, I obviously know that's plenty of activity for someone 5mo pregnant and not training for anything.. but it's just funny to compare it to what I was doing a yr ago and what I had completed in just 1 day.. But I shall be back, IM.. It might be a while.. but I will return..

BOO.. Rain..

what is this.. spring or something? How dare it rain out our training today. It was one of those 'back and forth' moments.. some brave souls from the TNT Tri team came down to Greenwood ready to ride and run with me today.. As of 'go' time, it was cold, windy and starting to drizzle/rain.. but we were all bundled and trying to be optimistic. But as the rain picked up a bit, we took one last look at the radar and saw the dreaded 'yellow band' a'comin our way.. so we made the decision to bail. I always feel bad about bailing.. but as we sat at breakfast (yes.. our training turned in to some major 'noshing' at Sophia's Pancakes) watching the sky get darker and darker and eventually open up to a full on thunder/lightning/downpour, I felt vindicated for making the call to back out for today.. So my nice ride/transition run workout day has turned in to a rest day.. Not exactly a bad thing, I don't think. I know some were planning to ride their trainers.. which I suppose I could do.. but with 2 rides already done for this week and still a 'hopeful' ride for tomorrow.. I think rest is better.. Nothing else too exciting from the week to report (wow.. nothing MORE exciting than a foiled workout plan? can't believe it..). Thursday was a 'lighter' day, after wednesday's craziness.. woke up to swim and then ran a few with Mason later. It wasn't a great swim.. or a great run, for that matter. I think I might be 'tapping out' of masters swim workouts soon.. I'm just not able to keep up enough in the LCM pool to make the workouts that they provide really work for me.. And any 'sprint' work is out because they wipe me out and make me feel sick.. So I'm thinking just slow, easy, good form swimming is in order for me. Hopefully it'll get WARM enough by the time they open the lovely outdoor 50m pool at the gym.. then I can do some easy cruisin' in style! The run was just tough, for some reason.. nothing in particular.. except I learned that I am, in fact, ALL TALK when it comes to confrontation.. You see.. I always internally (or sometimes on facebook) bitch about those dog owners that have the nerve to let their pooch crap right on the trail (or sidewalk, but I only notice it on the trail because other than that, I'm on the road.. not a whole lot of dog poop on the road, luckily) and then don't clean it up. RUDE, right?? So we were running along behind a lady jogging with her pooch (not on a leash.. but they seemed to be doing alright with it, so I'll leave that one alone).. and sure enough, she let him squat to poop right in front of us and then just called him up to her to continue their jog.. WHAT??!! I mouthed.. she didn't seem get the picture.. I motioned angrily at the offending poop.. still nothing.. THEN, I even had the chance to say something as we passed her... still nothing.. Aw, MAN. Who am I. How am I ever going to save the world, one careless person letting their dog crap on the sidewalk at a time, if I don't even speak up when it's RIGHT in front of me?! The shame.. Next time, though.. Next time?...she's gonna hear it from me.. Don't worry. I'm kicking my own ass for being lame. But what was I going to say.. she knows she left the poop there.. it's not like she forgot it. She knows I saw it.. I just couldn't think of anything to add to the situation that would be constructive and not just make me look like a total tool. Anyway.. So that was that. Friday I guess I woke up all sorts of ambitious because I went for a solo swim at the Y.. I've avoided swimming at the Y for quite some time now.. pretty much since the outdoor pool closed back at the end of last summer.. because the water is always so blazing HOT!!! And a lot of times it's crowded, as well.. Which I actually think is cool, the fact that there's so many triathletes and folks that enjoy swimming that the lap lanes fill up most mornings.. Most of the folks swimming are pretty decent lap swimmers.. except those that aren't, of coarse.. but there really are quite a few out there at our Y, waking up early to get some good swimming in.. some to train for tri's, some as cross training for running.. but it's nice to see such active folks.. except when they're in my way.. Anyway, where was I.. So I thought, after my realization on thurs that masters may be over my pregnant abilities at the moment, that I should give the ol' Y a go.. Not bad! It didn't feel too hot.. warmer than the Nat at IUPUI, but not too 'life sucking' hot.. It probably helped that I was the ONLY person in the pool for the majority of my swim.. Not sure if it will always be like that on fridays, but it wasn't a bad re-introduction to the Y indoor pool. I kept it pretty easy.. lots of pulling, and drills, and kicking, and then some breast and back stroke.. just wanted to swim easy, because I had plans to grab a quick run when I got home, too! That went fine, as well, though it was a little chilly.. but a nice morning and definitely redeemed thursdays crummy run.. Then I went to crossfit later, which was a bench and pull-up workout.. went fine, but now I'm nursing a pretty sore shoulder. I think the combo of not having benched in a while, then going straight to doing, like, 70 or so at 95#..maybe not super smart on my part? and then doing pull-ups in between those reps.. Not to mention my, apparently 'loosening' joints with pregnancy.. put that combo together on a platter and you have yourself a sore shoulder! So.. here's hoping the weather gets its act together so that I can get a good run and ride in tomorrow.. Still have some running miles to get in and then a nice spin on the bike.. sure will be nice.. Hear that, weather??!! Please work with me here.. But for now.. REST.

IM State of Mind

So I had a nice little wednesday of workouts here.. I'm tired and a little muscle-sore (as opposed to any pregnancy related soreness.. everyone always seems to jump to that conclusion, dare I say I feel anything other than 'great'.. it's always assumed something is going on with pregnancy related stuff.. And, in fairness, it's been a lot of crappy feeling stuff that IS related to pregnancy.. but this pain? this pain has nothing to do with the little nugget in my tummy.. just wanted to clarify! Start off a blog post with parenthesis? Indeed, I will) from it all, but overall, I felt great! It feels good to still be able to get in all the fun things that I WANT to do right now.. for some reason, I feel pretty sure that my days are numbered for when I'm able to head out and do all of this fun stuff.. so I'm compelled to get out there NOW, not pass anything up.. because the time's a coming where I won't have as much free time.. I mean, this can't last forever, can it? (seriously.. can it? Please, Matt??) SO. It's not out of the ordinary for me to do a run, then crossfit early in the day, and then a bike ride later. None of that seems unusual to me and I'm always more than OK to complete everything that I want to do. Today, though, with some evening child-duty related things looming.. and a storm a-brewin.. I decided to cram all of that in to the morning hrs (I actually didn't finish my ride until after noon, though.. but you get what I mean). I get sideways looks ALL the time when I talk about any plans I have for activity..sometimes when the person doesn't even know I'm pregnant! I know it's a lot.. but I think something happens to a person after going through IM training.. something that can't be reversed, or, if it can, it would take years of being out of the 'IM routine' of things to really, truly change. After all those long hrs of training..then over 12 hrs in 1 day of racing.. stacking back to back to back activities seems like no big deal at all. You learn in IM training about the importance of proper fueling and recovery and such.. so I'm always very good about packing ample snacks and fluids for whatever it is I'm planning to do. Obviously neither IM training, nor during pregnancy, is any of this about wt loss.. it's purely because a) I can, and b) I really enjoy it. Again.. I know at some point this will change.. either by choice or by lack of time to do it all, but for right now.. I just seem to keep on keeping on with my 'IM State of Mind'. I haven't quite gotten out of it yet.. and I think I'll be kind of bummed if and when I ever do. It's fun to be able to think 'sure, I can do that', and not doubt it.. only give pause to consider what I'll need to pack for clothes, food, water, etc.. but I know that my body can handle it. So. todays's workouts? Started with a nice 6mi run around the neighborhood. It was a lovely sunrise run. It's starting to rise earlier now, so I actually get to see it come up and get fully bright.. which afforded me some time to listen to some ipod while I ran the 2nd half of my run (I won't run with headphones in the dark). My ipod was just on 'shuffle'.. as in, shuffling my entire music collection! That can be pretty scary, since I have 80's hair bands to jam bands and everything in between.. Usually I use one of my pre-made 'mixes' (see.. mix tapes are still cool.. even better now without the radio dj lead ins..), but I learned that sometimes, maybe your ipod knows better than you about what you 'need' to listen to right now. I got reconnected with an awesome song that took me back to my college days.. it's called 'Jellyfish' by String Cheese Incident and it's a gem.. funny, got a nice rhythm.. good for a run! I was actually smiling.. and maybe dancing a bit as I ran along to this song. Then what do I need next, ipod? 'When I See you Smile'?! Thank you very much, yes I do! Anyway. It was a nice run. After a quick cool down/clean up, I took off for some crossfit fun.. it's wednesday, which is my favorite!! Today did not disappoint.. and it wasn't all that long, either.. It was called '300'.. as in, there were 300 reps of stuff.. between pull-ups, push-ups, deadlifts, box jumps, 'window wipers'.. or 'floor wipers', maybe? can't remember what they're called.. in gymnastics we called them windshield wipers, I think, because your legs kind of go back and forth like windshield wipers..it's an ab thing, but didn't hurt, so I was able to do it.. single hand clean and jerks.. I think that about covers it. Took me about 18 minutes and felt pretty good. Now.. of coarse that wasn't quite enough fun for me.. so I got changed, ate another bar (bar # 2 of the day.. Luna bar and choc coconut water on the way to crossfit, now Lara Bar and water on the way to ride.. also ate something before I ran for those keeping track), and took off to meet up with a friendly group that I have ridden with before.. They are generally 'older', but very nice and it's a good way to get out and enjoy a nice day.. and get 30+ miles of riding in. So I met up with them and got just what I expected.. 35 miles of flat, slow, easy riding. It was a great day for it.. most of the way out was a bit of a head wind (like..maybe 15-20mph..nothing like the 30-40mph winds of monday's ride), so the way back was even MORE enjoyable with a healthy push (finally!) from ol' mother nature. So that was that. I'm not saying that a workout line up like that is for everyone.. or that I'll plan to do it every week, but with an easier day looming tomorrow and a day of feeling pretty good.. I'll take it. I had another Luna bar on the ride, lots of gatorade (actually.. it was IM Perform because it was on sale when I bought a big tub of mix), some stinger chews (those things are delicious!).. Then a nice lunch when I got home.. pork fajita things that I made on sunday in the slow cooker.. some chocolate milk.. I'll stop with my food recall.. My point is that I fueled throughout and am now in recovery mode.. will probably spend some time on my foam roller and such this evening. Tomorrow I have an early swim and a short stroller jog on tap.. and that's how I roll!

Beat Up By the WIND

Oh, wow.. next time I see 30mph winds in the forecast, I'll take them more seriously?! Now.. the real question is.. take them seriously enough to bag a ride? Hmm.. Not sure.. But tonight's ride was pretty brutal. Even when we 'should' have had a tail wind, we were whipped around by some nasty cross winds that would knock you sideways and take your breath away.. Not ideal, to say the least. BUT. I suppose we should look at the bright side.. we did get about 27mi in. I'm struggling for another positive.. I like my riding buddies? But the wind was so tough, we didn't really get to 'visit' much.. too busy fighting to stay upright and alive to chit chat. Oh, well. I had the great idea of telling my friend, Jeff, who is training for Cedar Point Full Rev, which will be his 1st full IM, that he needs to 'embrace the wind' and get out there and ride in windy conditions, because chances are pretty good that he will encounter at least some kind of wind while he's out there on the ride.. Good advice, right? Not a good idea was not having the foresight to realize that if I just told my riding buddy to 'embrace the wind'.. who do you think will be tagging along on those windy rides?? Duh.. didn't think that one through. BUT, I am not too proud to hop on his back tire and let him drag me through those windy rides.. and that's just what I did! Since the last 10mi were all directly in to that 30mph wind.. yikes! I was dripping.. eyes, nose, mouth..it wasn't pretty. But, again, we made it.. so we'll count it a 'win'. What wasn't a 'win'? Aside from the wind? My choice of 'pre-ride fuel', which was delicious veggie pizza.. but it was not sitting so well on the ride.. I guess I just have to be really careful about what I eat now before rides. I usually am able to eat whatever when I ride and only have to watch my intake when I'm running.. But I guess that's changed for now! I'm definitely not ready to give up on riding yet.. so careful food choices it is. That is all!

work in progress

It's monday and, I guess you could say I'm back at it. After a pretty low key weekend, workout-wise.. though very busy with Mason stuff, since Matt was out of town (does anyone sleep well when their spouse is away? I slept like crap.. up almost every hr..and not just 'check the clock' up, like.. 'wide awake, so I watched a movie' up. Anyway, thankfully he's home now!) and I was kinda 'single-mom-ing' it. Side note.. I have no idea how single parents do it. Really. Glad I'm not in that situation.. So anyway, this weekend I did NO running, swimming OR biking (who am I??).. did 1 crossfit on saturday morning and it was a good one.. took about 42 minutes and it was a partner gig.. I enjoyed the workout, though a lot of the reps fell to me.. which, of coarse, was fine with me. All of the movements were things I could do just fine despite my growing belly and growing # of limitations. So anyway, that was it for the weekend workouts. Friday I think was just a crossfit day, too.. so hadn't run or anything since thursday?! As I mentioned before, I had some new shoes calling my name, so I couldn't wait any longer and woke up early (Mason was crowding us out anyway.. he had a rough night of throwing fits after he didn't take a nap and then had his 1st parent-free swim lesson.. so, exhausted, all the little fella knew to do was throw fit after fit until he fell asleep.. by about 6pm.. so he came to our bed around midnight and slept the rest of the night away with us.. in a Queen bed, that can get cozy!) and went out for a brisk, still night run (5:30...not that bad and used to be quite the norm!). It was great! Even though those 30 degree temps are hanging on after that teaser a few weeks back when it was warm, but oh, well.. I bundled up and took off for a little over 3 mi, since I had a 30min cutoff to get back home so Matt could go to work.. But I think it was a good start to the day and week. And so far, so good with the Kinvaras.. though I did have to wear socks today (because of the cold), so no barefoot testing just yet.. But I think these will be keepers. No more returns for this go-round.. After my run, I cleaned up a bit (pregnant nose can't handle much stinky sweat on sweat build up.. hence today will probably be at least a 3 shower day) and went to crossfit. After a bit of a history of pukey mondays, I was determined to do better with listening to what my body needs, as far as working out while pregnant and NOT spend the rest of the day in the fetal position.. which is what I mean by my being a 'work in progress' right now.. I think I did well! I'm very good at knowing what my body needs from me in the context of triathlon.. food? salty food? more fluid? slow down? speed up? more rest? I can figure that stuff out on the fly and can easily adapt as needed.. I think that's a huge part of what makes me capable of training for and completing half and full ironman with minimal, if any, recovery issues. BUT. Crossfit is more 'new' to me, so I'm not quite as good at knowing my limits there.. And I've never done any of it pregnant before, so that's completely new to me and I think that may have been part of the problem with why I would feel so cruddy after some of the workouts. Totally my fault. I know to watch my breath and all of that stuff, but little things like knowing that doing movements that require me to 'crunch'/squat down, thus squeezing my belly.. makes my feel like I'm going to thow up.. and when I try to do multiple reps of that in a quick-ish way? definitely not feeling good. So I told 'the boss' about what my limits seem to be at the current time, which meant instead of squat cleans, which cause basically 3 points of nausea.. squat to pick up, bar across my neck, squat back down WITH bar at neck.. all = pukey. SO I did hang cleans.. feel a little wimpy about it, but definitely didn't make me feel sick.. so I think it's a win! For now, anyway.. I just have to keep listening to what 'the belly' needs. Which, speaking of the belly.. it's growing, that's for sure! I'm about 1/2 way through and finally succumbing to more 'maternity' type clothes.. mostly because of the need for comfort and so I don't feel squeezed (also makes me feel sick) all day. By the way, if anyone doesn't shop at Old Navy, but enjoys comfy clothes.. you should check it out. They must be the home of the drawstring/stretchy waisted pant. The pants I already had like that were from there, and I just bought some more.. most of which aren't even maternity stuff.. just stretchy and comfy! Not sure if it's cool at all.. but at least now I have some more options of stretchy waisted things to put on, so I don't need to sweat pant it up all the time.. which is good for everyone involved..I think that's all of my 'deep thoughts' for this lovely, but chilly monday. I'm planning to rest and eat and get ready for a nice ride tonight.. may or may not run a mile or 2 after.. Have to see how the ride treats me, I guess. But that should wrap it up for monday!

The Shoe Walk of Shame

I bought a new pair of saucony mirage II shoes on Saturday and I was all jazzed about them..until I ran a few miles in them. I don't know if it was the crowded store, the hungry belly, or the bright blue and pink color, but I totally missed a big problem that I should have known would be an issue for me. I'm not the easiest foot to fit.. I have bunions and flat-ish feet, but still manage a pretty neutral gait.. But my 1st test of a shoe is always to stick my hand in there (after first looking at the overlays up front to see if anything looks like it would rub my bunion the wrong way..) and feel along the inside of the front of the shoe to see if it has a 'sock liner' type feel to it, because in addition to having 'trouble feet', I also prefer to run without socks..hence the need for a shoe with a smoothe inside that won't rub and cause blisters. I have no idea how I missed it (damn shiny blue shoe), but the tongue is sewn in there with this big ol' overlapping material thing that was just waiting in there to give me a blister. First run was short and felt ok..not great, but I thought it would be alright.. Next run gave me the blisters.. Believe it or not, I still wasn't convinced and I ran again in them.. Still not terrible, but I couldn't help noticing the redness and the slowly growing blisters continuing to form.. I knew what I had to do. To me, you should look forward to running in a new shoe..not have to plan for how you can best avoid a painful, bloody mess.. And I was not looking forward to this shoe. As bummed as I was and as much as I wanted to keep toughing it out, I knew it was best for me to drag myself back to the store..for the shoe walk of shame.. To beg for mercy and ask for a swap out. Of coarse, I bought these at a good running store, which allows for returns up to a certain point, and I knew I fell well within those guidelines, so they took 'em back with a smile and were helpful and patient with me as I felt up all of their shoes. I must be alone in this whole 'tongue flap rubbing' issue because it was looking like ALL the damn shoes in there had that darn flap.. But the nice fella found me some Kinvaras, which don't seem to have any overlays or tongue flap things to rub my feet. I tried them out on the treadmill, and though there was some concern of pronation, we decided to go for it. Here's hoping they feel great! I don't think I can bare another shameful return to the store to beg for more foot forgiveness.. These will have to be pretty offensive to get me back for a second swap..so wish me luck! So, in short, buying shoes without fully testing them out is a bad idea..know what is a good idea? Stopping at Walgreens for some discounted easter candy! We actually went in there for the much more important necessity of an ice cream treat for Mason (why Walgreens, you ask? I was lazy and didn't want to go to a full grocery store, but had promised Mason we would pick up an ice cream treat..enter Walgreens!), but when we walked in, we were greeted with a table full of discounted goodies. We each picked out a chocolate egg.. Masons had a 'marshmallow ducky' in it..mine had some pb creme, or something..it was only ok.. But Mason enjoyed his.. How do kids get SO messy when eating chocolate? Beyond me.. But very funny (for the record, I took a pic of him with my iPad because I am too lazy to go through the multi step process of taking the picture with my camera, then hunting down the attachment thing to plug into the computer to download the pic, then upload, or whatever.. I thought I could take the picture on my iPad..check.. Then blog on my iPad..also check.. But I can't figure out how to add the picture.. Too bad, too, because it's super cute.. Maybe I can just paint a picture with words? Wouldn't that be a treat.. I'll work on it and maybe figure it out some day, but today is not that day.. Just thought I'd let you know!) In other news, it's looking like it will be a bit of a lighter workout week this week.. I did get 2 rides in this week, and I doubt I'll get any more in, so I guess that's it. As I mentioned, Monday was kinda crappy and thus, my Monday ride wasn't so great, either.. But yesterday's ride was better. Much less vomit-burping, had been able to eat better, so had better energy, felt like I was moving pretty well out there, too. And it was an incredible day out, so an extra bonus there. I finally made it to a swim today, which was rather unremarkable, except it did feel good to get a swim in when it was starting to look like I wouldn't get any in.. So I guess I have that going for me! It was a good crossfit workout yesterday, too, except I may have overdone with the rope climbs at the end (it was a workout called 'dirty dozen' and it took me just under 20 min) because I felt a bit pukey after and am now also super sore.. But all in all, good stuff. I'll get maybe 1 or 2 more crossfits in and probably another short run to round out my weekly 20.. Not super light, I suppose you could say, but light-ish. Not much else to report! So I bid you adieu...

Biggest Losers?..Biggest Tantrums

So I don't think I've ever written about a TV show before.. or popular culture.. I don't remain loyal to many shows, but I think I've watched most of every season of Biggest Loser.. even when it annoys me, or frustrates me with the way they view nutrition and a healthy, balanced lifestyle.. which I think is something they have improved on lately, but still I don't see much talk about how these folks are going to take this extreme situation and make it work in a balanced way, day to day, for the rest of their lives. I'd say pretty much everyone, when they do a "where are they now", gains wt from their finale wt.. because they acted like unhealthy psychopaths to get to that weight.. So it's a good thing that they gained a bit. What I don't like is how we celebrate those up there with the crazy eyes, clearly wound up from lack of nutrition and are just over compensating up there.. But anyway, that's not the point of what I wanted to talk about.. I just HAD to vent about this weeks episode.. Anyone watch? I'll give a short cliff's notes version, here.. basically, the 5 remaining contestants heard that the show was going to allow ALL participants, including those that had been previously eliminated, to take part in a final challenge and the winner of that challenge would automatically be in the finale.. Meaning that one of those actually left on the show, if they lost, they might be booted out of the finale and someone that had been home for a bit might be on. OK.. So that might be a twist in the 'game' that some might not have loved.. But at this point, at the end of the day, it's a GAME. Hopefully these folks went on the show to change their lives for the better.. they put in the time and took the chance that they may be away from their families for a while.. to better their lives and the lives of their families. As Alison (on the show) said, the trade off is that they put in the time, effort, blood/sweat/tears, etc.. but they are also there to motivate those that DIDN'T have the privilege and opportunity to go on the show, be trained by the BEST trainers, have time to do NOTHING but lose weight, go on vacations (Hawaii), visit the White House and meet the 1st Lady, have food and dietitians available to them.. all these great things that they have had access to all season.. And now, now that there is a twist in the game that they don't 'like'.. they want to just throw it all away and quit. All 5 of them originally said they were going to leave. The show had legal come talk to them.. I don't know if it was to talk sense into them or to cover the show's butt or what, but as they bitched and moaned about how it 'wasn't fair' and they didn't like this twist in the game and they didn't know this would happen, etc, etc.. me, me, me.. the lawyer showed them that it actually, specifically spelled out that this WOULD happen this season.. It explained it exactly as it was happening.. and they signed the contract. So now what? Well, 2 of the guys still stuck to their 'it's not fair' point of view and they packed their shit and went home. I have this to say.. you know who says "that's not fair" and stomps off to pout?? My 3 yr old son.. Toddlers. Toddlers act like that. Not grown adults who were given this awesome opportunity on a platter, but the minute things didn't go their way? Took their shit and went home. 1 guy really doesn't have much more wt to lose, so though he was still being a baby about the whole thing, I think this was just a scapegoat to give him an excuse to bow out and go home.. though he still could have benefitted more from being there and playing it out as he should.. especially since he had previously convinced folks to allow him to stay and to vote someone else to go home when he was in danger of elimination.. Now you just want to go home? He should be ashamed.. And the other guy I think just a) misses his family.. he DID have a newborn son at home.. but he had to know his son would be born while he was there when he signed up, right? Not sure how far in advance these things are signed, but I bet he had a chance to back out prior to the show starting, if he thought he would get so home sick. and b) I also think he just followed what his buddy was doing. But this fella still has quite a bit of wt left to lose.. AND.. could have had a chance to win the whole thing?! Uh.. I know this is about changing your life, but wouldn't that grand prize $$ also help to change your life? If I was either of their wives, I'd be PISSED when I saw what went down because.. they went that far. Took that much time off from the family and work and all other obligations, just to QUIT when something happened that they didn't like?! Oooooh. It just burns me. Maybe no one else feels this way or cares about any of this, but I didn't have anyone else to vent to, so there ya go! Maybe I'll go check out a chat group or something to further share my point of view on all of this.. because it's so important and all.. How can I tie this in to real life? Well, just like on the show, if you start any challenge.. see it through?!! Don't let any outside influence bring you down or cut you short of your goals. Kinda like how I hate it when folks get all worked up about the weather on a race day? It's out of your control, but you're going to let a little race day rain/wind/heat/whatever get in the way of the goal you've spent all this time, effort, hours, family time, etc to get there? Why..it's not 'fair'? You're right.. it would be awesome if everything worked out perfectly and went just 'our' way every time.. or would it.. It's called character building. Injuries 'aren't fair', but you have a decision to make when they come your way.. do you pout and cower and get all "WWWWHHHHYYYY???!!", or do you look the challenge in the face, figure out how you can work with it, around it, whatever.. and continue on to reach your goal? That's what I choose. To those fellas on the show that buggered off when the going got 'unfair', I'll say to you what I say to my 3 yr old (since that's clearly the level we're working with, here).. Life isn't always fair!! We do what we need to do to move forward and get on with it. So put the fruit snacks back (OK, maybe that last part wouldn't apply to them). I suppose that's all I have to say about that.. I'm sure I have much more to say, but I'll stop with that.

I guess I like some Roller coasters..

I've never really been a fan of roller coasters.. not in my adult life, anyway.. Especially since my motion sickness seems to have kicked it up a notch since becoming a mom.. I never remember really getting car sick/motion sick before, but in the past few years.. definitely not good. Right now in pregnancy? Even worse, thank you very much! So I'm not really a fan of fast moving, wiggly, jiggly rides, such as roller coasters. What does this have to do with anything? I'm making a connection, here.. give me a minute.. I was talking with a friend of mine on a ride yesterday about his upcoming 1st Ironman and as I discussed the IM ride (because I'm SO all-knowing, having done ONE whole IM and all..), I found myself comparing it to a roller coaster.. of emotions, that is.. And in how your body feels.. Sometimes you feel like you're flying and doing awesome and totally conquering this thing.. and other times you feel like you're barely moving and never going to make it to the end of the ride.. Highs and Lows.. like a roller coaster! See? Getting to my point.. What else is like a roller coaster? Pregnancy. Extreme highs and lows. Going through months on end of feeling sick, wondering if you're doing the 'right' thing and everything's going to be OK.. then, at times, feeling awesome, like you're the best, coolest, strongest baby-grower ever.. and then feeling low again, like you're never going to make it through 10 whole months of this if you already feel this crappy all the time.. Again.. roller coaster. BUT. I guess this is where the comparison ends because I don't find the end of a roller coaster to be all that rewarding.. but the finale of both IM and pregnancy are beyond compare and make you quickly forget all the low points, all the doubts, the pains.. all worth it. Long story short? Pregnancy and IM are kinda similar!.. I'm sure the comparison has been made before, but I had that thought this morning on my lovely early morning run.. thought I'd share it with ya! Yesterday was a rough one. Jury is still out on today. I woke up early because I was going to go swim.. but I kept going back and forth on whether or not I should go.. by the time I got out the door, I was going to be late, so I didn't feel like driving all the way up there to be late and then have to leave early.. Plus I was still having the lovely side effects (roller coaster) of feeling pukey and enjoying vomit-burps.. which also didn't sound appealing or conducive to a good swim.. SO I decided that an early run would be better.. afterall, it was 45 with NO wind.. you know I can't pass up the non windy days.. So that's what I did. I ran. Got 4 miles in and felt pretty good (I don't even consider nauseous runs to be 'bad' anymore.. just normal for me these days). Yesterday I started off the day with a crossfit workout.. and it was a good one, but by far the pukey-est I've felt yet. Usually I feel better once I get moving and probably forget to focus on how I'm feeling.. but not yesterday. No, sir. Through all, nearly 18 min of double unders, kettle bell swings and handstand pushups.. I was on the verge of a mess. Then spent the rest of the day not able to eat much because nothing sounded good, so I figured I should rest. Smart, right? Well..I'm not that good.. because I still kept to my plan to ride with my friends later that afternoon.. but I HAD rested ALL day.. and the way I see it, I can't exactly just lay down in the fetal position for the next 5 months.. So I just do the best I can with getting through the things I 'need' to do and things I 'want' to do and hope for the best. Well, after the great ride from last wed, I guess it's only fair that I follow it up with a crappy ride.. I had tried to quickly get some calories in before the ride because I knew I hadn't eaten well all day and didn't want to completely bonk.. so had what I thought would be 'tummy approved' items of a stinger waffle and some gatorade.. but I got to continue to enjoy those all through the ride. So at a turn point, I voiced my discomfort and, with the support of my understanding ride buddies, we opted to cut the ride a few miles short and do a short run after, instead. You see, the upright-ness of running seems to set better than the leaning over of riding. We got about 3 good miles in of running after our 16-17mi ride.. So not bad. But, again.. couldn't really eat much after, so that's never a good thing. I guess we'll find out at the next appt if this whole nausea thing is affecting my wt gain at all.. if so, I might need to figure something out, here.. Otherwise, I don't think there's much I can do. Don't work out you say? I don't really know that that would help any. Usually, when I'm running, especially, exercising is the only time I'm able to feel pretty good.. yesterday aside. That was the 1st time in a while that my pukey feeling didn't go away with activity.. which is why I dialed back my original plans a bit..cut back on the ride and run, cut out the swim today..until I can at least eat better. Anyway. I guess that's all I've got for now..

And now, we dance

..and by 'dance', I mean 'rest. So I was looking at a lovely forecast of "maybe it will rain and storm all day...or.. maybe it will be fine out.. good luck!", so I figured I'd check the ol' hourly forecast at about 6am and go from there.. it said I had until 7:30am until the heavens would open up and, with 100% certainty, it would start raining. Well.. I know they usually aren't super accurate with weather reports, but 100%? Can't really argue with that. So I got up and dressed and planned to run from 6:30-7:20.. get my 5 miles in and avoid those storms ('thunderbolts and lightning, very, very frightning!'.. that was pretty much my soundtrack for my run, thank you, random songs that pop into my head). And guess what..that's exactly what happened! I got my run in (though I kept thinking I saw lightning.. I think it was just a glare off a street light bouncing with my run, but I was on high alert!), felt pretty darn good (aside from a few vomit close calls.. but if you try to tell me that my pb/choc sugar cookie bar creations aren't the perfect pre-run fuel, I'll smack you right in the mouth.. because you're just wrong.. It really is pretty much the same as a bar or other manufactured 'thing' that we all swear by.. though maybe more fat, but other than that, I'd guess it's pretty similar.. So BACK OFF), got in.. low and behold.. 7:33.. RAIN! Go me. Go weather team. Feeling very good about this, for some reason.. Word must have been out about the storms closing in, because I saw a few other runners out and about, too. I might have even had to pick up my pace a bit to avoid that '1st pass' I've been so worried about.. you know.. the 'aw, look at the slow runner.. don't give up' sad eyes as they cruise on past? At least they would have been running and not the 'walk pass' I've been just sure was about to occur on a few of those 'death march' runs.. But I wasn't ready to give in to being a slow, passable runner just yet, so I plugged along and kept ahead of 'em 'til our routes split (thank goodness.. definitely felt that pick-up later!). And now, with a rainy weekend ahead, I do believe it is time for me to rest.. a bit.. I got in my 20 mi running for the week.. and 3 swims.. but only 1 bike. Oops! But it was a really good bike.. does that count for extra? I was originally going to ride today and tomorrow.. but with rain and other things taking up my time, I don't think it'll happen. If the mood strikes me tomorrow.. the weather is beautiful and someone calls up and says "lets ride!".. I will.. But mostly, I think I'll be laying low. I think weather should be good for the race tomorrow morning, so that should be fun to get out and watch all the excitement. I'm looking forward to that.
I also got my 4 crossfit's in, though yesterday was pretty much a 'wash' because my pregnant brain can't count past a hundred?! It was an AMRAP (as many reps as possible) of 4 different movements (toes through rings, squats, burpees and double unders) for 2 minutes each.. I had been told that keeping a running tally would be easiest.. so just keep the count going up through the whole workout.. Well, after I hit 100, I started to get confused on what # I was on.. and then it was completely gone. No clue at all.. Ah, guess that one was just for fun, then! Oh, well.. it's all just 'for fun', really, so no real loss there.
Anyway.. that's all I got! Now we wait to see if my little guy will get to play in his 1st soccer game of the season, or if the rain will cancel it. Hopefully he won't take it too hard if it gets called, because I kinda have a feeling it will.. I'm sure he can be easily distracted with playing cars, or some other super exciting activity! And that's all I have to say about that!

Glutton for Punishment

What can I say.. I can't help myself. I do not learn from just 1 bad experience.. unless you count a refusal to give in.. a bull-headed determination to try the same 'failed' experience again, without really changing anything that might help to ensure a better outcome 'learning', then consider me brilliant, because I pretty much wrote the book on that one. Most, however, consider that to be the definition of insanity.. 6 of 1, 1/2 a dozen of the other.. whatever floats your boat. But sometimes it works out for me. A lot of times I find myself disappointed and wondering why I really thought anything would be different. But this time I tempted fate, looked that bad, mid-day, stroller pushing run right in the stink eye and I said, "you will be mine". It's a lovely day.. mid 50's, sunny, and for the 1st time in as long as I can remember, there's NO WIND!! It's been 10-20mph winds for months, it seems, so I was not going to let such a day pass me by.. But my only option for today was to try the ol' mid-day stroller run again.. the one that left me wondering what the hell I was doing out there yesterday? Yeah. But I saddled up, bundled up (Mason did not require the full body cover up this time.. much fewer 'judging eyes' this time around) and decided to take on not only the same time of day, but also the same route! Which includes a few more 'inclines' than I usually do when pushing Mason around. I know.. all kinds of caution to the wind today. But I'm happy to say that today's run went much better. I still wouldn't say I felt like I was floating on clouds or anything, but I felt like I was actually moving forward and much less like I was dying! Didn't feel like I was dying at all, in fact.. major success! I also swam this morning, so that could have hindered me a bit.. but I guess today was just my day. Yesterday..not so much. I shouldn't be so dramatic, I suppose. I had a decent run on monday and a great 'moonset' run on tuesday, but MAN can a suck-ass run really pull you down quick. Lucky for me, I get right back on the ol' horse. My legs are a lovely shade of SORE again today. Not sure my hamstrings ever actually recovered from last friday's crossfit workout, but today it's more the quad area that's screaming at me. But that's a-ok with me! And yes, for those keeping score and shaking your head in dismay at my lack of balance, that does mean I have run all 4 days in a row, thus far, this week.. but I plan to take tomorrow off of running, probably run a few on saturday, then probably take sunday off of running.. may or may not get a ride in somewhere.. we'll see. This weekend is all kinds of non-training related things, which I'm trying to remember that this is the time to embrace those kinds of things, since most of my summers are consumed with trainings and racing.. But I still have a longing to ditch some of my more relaxing, 'mom' type duties in leu of a nice ride or something.. BUT, I plan to lay low, relax some, enjoy Mason's first 'soccer' (I use that term very loosely.. it's more like 'running around, pushing kids, falling down, sometimes chasing the ball, but mostly running aimlessly and pushing kids.. then my mom yells at me not to push, so I don't for a minute, but go right back to it when I think she's not looking or maybe has forgotten that she doesn't want me to push'.. but I guess it's easier to call it soccer) of the season, go on a date night with Matt (not really any furniture to buy this time.. what ever will we do with ourselves?!), help out/coach/cheer at the first tri of the season.. and fit any riding or running in there that I can without cutting in to the other things going on.. Wish me luck!

Ah, Redemption

I just had to check in real quick to let you know of the slight upswing in my workouts..and I really needed it, after my sucky run earlier today.. So I did stick with my plan to ride tonight.. It was a nice, crisp evening..and it felt so great out! I even noticed I had a little 'rose colored glasses' thing going on out there..sky is blue-er, grass is greener..and I can still ride like I'm not slowly morphing in to slow pregnant lady! I went out with a couple riding buddies and I was really starting to worry about me being too much of a burden to ride with.. Slowing them down too much and all, but for probably the first time this season, I glanced down at the trusty ol' speed-o-meter to see that I was cruising around 20mph.. And NOT down a hill! That's better.. I really needed a good workout.. A 'win' in my training log book, if you will.. So it felt good! Now let's see if I can keep it up.. Much like this angel-like impersonation my son is taking on this week..this, too, I'm sure will pass.. But let's enjoy it while we can, shall we?! Sounds like a plan! Operation 'not feeling like I'm slowly drowning' in the pool tomorrow morning is ON.

Don't Fail me NOW?!!

Whew. I sit here.. wednesday.. after what feels like must have been my worst. run. ever. I know I had made the revelation that early am runs are the only way to go for me.. but with the reappearance of 30 degree mornings and the added bonus surprise of a missing daycare provider (I'm hoping we just forgot that she told us she'd be gone?? Very strange.. hoping it's just my memory that's missing, not their family!), my early morning run plan was foibled (is that a word? I wanted a better way to say 'messed up'). But, I figured.. oh, well.. we can still try to get a few miles in later either on the treadmill or with Mason in the jogger.. So off to crossfit, because wednesday workouts are my favorite.. usually a longer list of several different movements.. nice to have some variety and get every part of you into the action! This one made me more tired than usual.. I'm going to attribute that to my continued state of non-stop nausea and my growing mid-section that I'm sure makes jumping and what-not more difficult. I was probably only 10 or 20 calories (different way of measuring how far you have to row.. instead of counting the distance, it calculates how many calories you've supposedly burned through.. I feel that my metabolism must be slow because it takes me so darn long to get through those 'calorie rows'!) in to our 50 calorie row and I was already winded.. Great, since that was the 1st thing on the list for the workout! but I soldiered on.. wallballs, check.. box jumps.. starting to get harder, but check.. and so forth and so on and then finished off with 40 burpees and 50 double unders. All said, took me about 25 minutes, but I was sweaty and a bit winded at the end.. I'm sure none of that had anything to do with my piss poor run that followed the workout.. why would one have anything to do with the other? Anyway.. So my plan was to run a few with Mason in the stroller when we got home from the workout.. and when I make a plan.. I usually stubbornly stick to it. So we bundled up and head out. First, I might add that the temps had only risen to mid 40's, so I had Mason very bundled and had a blanket over most of him.. then with about a mile left to go, he said his "mouth was cold", so we pulled the blanket up to his little face and only his eyes were peeking out. He was laughing and was fine.. then he decided he'd pull the whole thing over the top of his head so that he could eat his snack under the warm comfort of the blanket. Again.. he was fine and enjoyed himself, but I'm sure I was quite the sight with my 'struggle bus' face trudging along into the cold wind with my completely bundled up child in the stroller.. If CPS isn't already on the way, I'm sure the GCS (Good Common Sense) Police should be here any minute. I swear, though.. he wanted to go on the run.. and he was fine.. Anyway, where was I. I guess I can wrap it up with saying that the run was the longest 30 minutes of my life. I know I was going super slow, but those 30 minutes felt like 30 miles, so I'll compromise and just count it for 3.. so far 12 miles for this week.. dang it, I wanted to be to 15 by today, but I might be able to do a decent run on saturday.. I'm sure it will all work out just fine..
Tonight, though again.. common sense would say to be done, already, with the workouts.. I have a ride planned and, depending on how things work out with my riding buddies and with Mason and Matt.. I'll stick to the plan. It's what I do, ya know..
Not much else to report.. except I suppose I would be remiss not to mention how, after the huge meltdowns of Easter, where Mason pulled these holy terror fits where I literally looked at him and said "who are you?" and he then proceded to hit his father like a punching bag, thus causing him to lose ALL of his Easter treats (?! I know.. way harsh.. but at least I kept Matt from throwing them out and talked him in to letting Mason try to earn them back).. well, so far this week? He's been an absolute angel. He's earned a few of his things back and is always very excited and surprised (he thinks the Easter Bunny, which he also thinks he's being clever to call him 'bunny', is bringing them back.. we might be playing along with that idea just because it's cute) to get something back and hasn't been really asking for them.. just happy to see them again when they appear.. it's been such a treat! I hope this can hold up..though I know I can't be that lucky.. but I'll enjoy it while I can! 3 yr olds.. so up and down.. tell me 4 is better??! Actually.. just keep it to yourself.. I know what's comin..

Easter message.. enjoy the sunrise!

So I had a few more thoughts about Easter and other random things.. like to hear it, here it goes (I keep trying to use that 'In Living Color' quote.. not sure anyone knows what I'm talking about, but that's hardly anything new). So, I'm not a hugely religious person (after all, I am the creator of the 'easter-beer hunt', which started our junior yr of college and then continued our senior yr.. we all celebrate in our own way!), but I do feel like I have my faith and I go about it in my own way. We have become 'regular' visitors at our church.. by that, I mean that we go every Christmas and Easter.. regularly! BUT, I don't feel like that means that I don't 'worship' and appreciate the lord in my own way.. and the (at least the part I heard) message at church on Easter supports my view! I've always liked to say that my worship happens when I'm out for a nice ride or run (or swim, when our outdoor pool is open) and that's where I do my best thinking and sometimes those thoughts go toward being thankful and grateful for what I have.. isn't that what we are supposed to be doing when we attend church? just with less 'chanting'.. oh.. I mean, 'reciting' of the creeds and whatnot. Our paster noted that "if you spend too much time looking down, it's easy to miss the sunrise".. He was speaking of when folks look too much at the negatives and the things they aren't sure of or are worried about, they miss the good things going on right in front of them.. What I heard? Was affirmation that my enjoying my sunrise running IS my church! Of coarse, I agree with both the Pastor's meaning and my understanding.. just thought it was nice to hear that the pastor is picking up what I'm throwing down.. ya know? Anyway..
So today has been so far, so good. It's gosh darn windy again, but that didn't bug me too much on my run today. We had a good workout at crossfit.. 12 min worth of wall balls, burpees, box jumps and pull ups/dips. I'm starting to really notice the growth going on in the ol belly these days, but not too much.. just might have to start altering things a bit. For example, as much as I enjoy box jumps and can still do them fine, I noticed they hurt the belly a bit today. Probably will give it another try before I throw in the towel and lower the height, but those might be the next movement to bite the dust.. fall prey to the growing wee one.
Speaking of the wee one.. got to hear the heartbeat again last week! Doc was able to look right at my belly and knew just where the nugget was hanging out and got a nice, strong, 160 heartbeat.. always good to hear that and know things are going well. Count down to 'operation gender determination' is ON! We get our ultrasound appt 3 weeks from thurs.. so let's go, little one. Prepare to be seen and you best be ready to show us what you're working with so we can get going on getting ready for you! Mason will be coming with us and I'm already trying to talk up what he's going to see, so he's appropriately excited about it.. Not sure it's working.. so far I just get 'm', as the answer.. "won't it be exciting to see your baby brother or sister in mommy's tummy?".. "m", then quickly moves on to something FAR more exciting, like 'playing truck', where's my airplane, remember when we saw the easter bunny at pancakes (breakfast.. he always gets pancakes, so just calls the place 'pancakes').. Not too interested. As long as he doesn't freak out and cry or something.. it's all good.
My run today was a pretty decent one. I like to start the week off with a nice, 6mi run.. mission accomplished on that today and it actually felt pretty good. My legs are still sore from the whooping of last friday's crossfit (it actually felt great at the time.. the effects didn't settle in until some time on saturday.. I think I knew by the time I woke up on sat that the hammies were 'can't straighten your leg out right' sore), but other than that, it went well.. when I wasn't being blown backwards by the winds. It's actually good I ran early, though, because the winds are really whipping now! We had thoughts of a ride this evening, but I'm actually glad that no one could join me, because.. as much as I'd never bail on a ride JUST because of wind.. this one would have been pretty brutal.. they say gusts are in the 30mph range.. that's enough to knock a sister off the bike, if it catches you at the right angle at the wrong time.. definitely don't need that! So I think I'll go and enjoy a lil swim before I coach for the TEAM tonight. My 'plan'.. I seem to shoot for 2k these days, as that seems like a fair distance, given that swimming sure takes a bit out of me these days! So I'm thinking 'broken 400', or short ladder, how ever you want to look at it.. but 25, 50, 75, 100, 75, 50, 25 each of swim, pull, breast, back, kick.. 2k, right? So that's the plan.. we'll give 'er a go! Speaking of.. I'd better get going..

ah, Easter..

Wow.. been a whole week already? Well, my original post that I dreamt up while enjoying my moonset/sunrise Easter morning run was SO much more joyful.. But then.. the day happened.. The joys of being Mom to a 3 yr old. It wasn't a 'bad' day, just.. 'up and down', as I like to say. It started lovely, as I mentioned before.. nice, early start, thanks to a 5am wakeup from our excited little guy.. fun Easter egg hunt for him, lovely run.. 5 mi to complete my 20, yet again, for the week.. Then cleaned up in our sunday bests to go to breakfast and church.. Sounds nice, yes? Too bad that was all before noon.. so much day left! Then I started feeling sick.. again.. so home to rest for me. All was going fairly well until... the fits began.. the hitting, screaming, 'that's not my child' fits. Ugh. Exhausting. But anyway, as I said.. that's life. It's not all bunnies and candy and sunshiney running.. some of it can be rough. But anyway, enough about today.
Back up to last week.. I know I got my running in, though..what did I do last sunday? Oh, yeah.. a rest day! Trying to get back to that a little bit here. We were going to ride, but the day started with rain and then we just couldn't get together to get out.. and I'm not riding solo when I'm pregnant and not training for anything.. I love to ride, but really.. it's OK to miss a day here and there, too..
The week started off fine. I won't go through all the details, but I know I started with a 6mi run on monday.. did a couple miles (yes, as in 2. 2 whole miles!) with Mason on tuesday.. wednesday started with a treadmill run, which I swore I was done with, but I woke up to thunder, so basement miles it was! I kept busy with some riveting TV..'the Voice'..I varied the speed each lap and each mile, then finished off with the pregnant version of 'sprints'.. not too bad. 4 miles in the books.. Then went upstairs to get ready for heading to crossfit or whatever else I was going to do, but it was lovely out?! What was with all the thunder earlier? Why did I just waste my time sweating it out in the basement when I could have been outside? Well, I'm not capable of letting a beauty of a sunrise pass me by when I have the time to run, so back out I went for another 3 or so miles.. it was great! I did run a few more on the 'mill on thursday, but REALLY avoided knowing how much I was running by doing some reading while running?! I never do that, but turns out, if you're running slower, you can do some decent reading.. not too bad. Friday and saturday were off from running, then my 5mi today.. I'm not going to add it up.. well, ok, maybe I will.. let's see.. carry the 1..I guess 23-ish miles again this week? I very much estimate my distance, so have no idea how accurate it all is.. who cares! So that was the running for the week.
Is it just me, or has it been windy every damn day these days? or at least windy every time I head out to ride. Or...possibly, I'm just a little wimpy about the whole thing.. But I did get 2 decent rides in outside this week. I thought about an indoor spin some other day in there, but just didn't feel like it. So just 2 rides this week. Maybe I'll fit 3 in next week. My riding is pretty weak right now, so could probably stand to work harder on it, but... I'm just riding for fun, so no big deal, I just feel bad holding my riding buddies back! Oh, well...
Got all 3 swims in this week. Still doing shorter swims and taking my sweet time in the water.. resting lots at the sides, but I'm out there, making sure I don't completely lose all the work I've done on my form.
Which brings us to crossfit. Workouts went pretty well this week.. except for one.. It was tuesday and it was a 'double under' (jump rope) workout. I thought I had worked on this skill and had gotten fairly decent at it.. but this just wasn't my day for it. It happens.. some days I 'have it', some days I don't, but it really sucks to not 'have it' on a day where you really, really...really just needed it! Tears actually welled up a bit from the effing rope whipping my leg in the same ever loving, effing spot over and over.. and OVER again until I had these huge welts on me. It hurt so bad. I had to take a moment, pulled it together and managed to do the workout, but MAN. That was not a cool moment for me. The rest of the week was fine. I'm starting to really have to cut down my weights a bit, but still get a good workout with the lighter weights. My hamstrings are actually STILL sore as I sit here on sunday night from the workout on friday. Not even the swim on saturday.. or the ride.. or this mornings run could 'shake' it out. Back to the roller for me! And back to the double unders.. But with pants on from now on! Good lord, that rope hurts.
I think that's all I got. I always have these other ideas of things I want to talk about here on the ol' blog, but then I ramble on too much about workouts and lose my desire to keep writing. Some day I'll get better at it.... Some day.. But for now.. Later!