There are 2 types of runners.............

The type of runner that sees a steep hill and says, 'no way', and avoids the hill....and the type of runner that embraces that hill, saying, 'this makes me a stronger runner.' My husband made this little quote up. I admit, I used to be, and still may be at times, the first described runner ;) BUT, I am learning to be the second runner more and more every day.

Last week was our second week of prescribed hill repeats from our coach. We have a hill a few miles from our house that Matt likes to call "The Beast." Yeah, does that explain it well enough? ;) It takes about 1 minute or maybe longer to reach the top of the hill. This may not really seem like a long amount of time to most. Why don't you just try it, OVER and OVER again. Sprint up it as fast as you possibly can, only think you are through the pain, for it to steepen up even more to the point you feel like you are hyperventilating. THEN, sprint down the hill, using fast strides, and when you get to the bottom, then break out the wind sprints for 1 minute x 2. Then, as if that wasn't joyous enough, do it all again multiple times ;) Did I mention it was 5 am and still dark while we are doing this? This is after warming up for around 5 miles beforehand. It totals up to be almost 10 miles when we are finished. (uh, "finished" can be taken many ways :)

I'm sure we are known as "The Crazies" around these parts ;) We only get up that early to avoid traffic on that route. Otherwise, running the hill wouldn't be possible.

We are getting stronger, nonetheless, and hope to conquer these hills with a little more ease by the end of August, when Ironman Canada nears ;)

Pollen here, pollen there..............

Pollen, pollen EVERYWHERE!!!!!!!!!





These pictures really don't do it justice :)
They were taking the Easter Sunday afternoon. We spent the weekend with my family, and had very good intentions of getting this ride in Saturday morning/afternoon in Meridian. Factor in the rainstorm first which postponed the ride, then the drive all the way to Meridian to find that the route we had mapped out was closed due to road construction, and we ran out of options. We decided to turn the planned Saturday long bike into a long run. Luckily, we had brought our running shoes/shorts because we had planned on doing a brick run after the bike that day.

On to Bonita Lakes=====I haven't run these trails since I first moved to Meridian. When I ran the trails, I would run the single-path trail. I believe it was a 6.2 mile route, maybe? Our friend, Stacy, told us the new gravel trail was around 4.6 miles, so we decided at first, that we would run it 3 times, and we should be good to go for our weekend long run. Notice I said, "at first". Holy crap!!!! Some of those inclines were so steep it felt like we were walking up the hill instead of running. Maybe trail shoes would have been a good investment?! Now, maybe I am dramatizing just a little, or maybe our legs were trashed due to the 10 mile hilly route with multiple sprint/hill repeats we had just done 2 days earlier. Either way, this run wasn't very, errr, refreshing for the two of us ;) We ended up getting in 2 laps of the trails, and added on mileage around the lower lake. It was, however, BEAUTIFUL!!! You could not ask for a more beautiful time of year----spring had definitely sprung..........dogwoods in full bloom, tulips and daffodils around the lake, bradford pears in full bloom. We got in our car and both decided that we needed to plan to come back to the trails, and bring our Ironman Canada trainees, before Canada to work on our marathon training.

We got lots of family time on Easter, and enjoyed spending time with everyone.



Sunday after church and breakfast at church, we packed and headed back. We are a sight for sore eyes, all packed in with 2 Doodles, a crate, and all of our luggage and bikes ;)

Easter Candy and Ironman training doesn't mix

This week kicked off our first week of brick workouts and intervals on the bike. Tuesday and Wednesday mornings are bricks. Wednesday will probably be our toughest, most tiring day of the week----a brick that morning, then a swim that afternoon/evening. Tomorrow will kick off longer mid-week runs with hills............ask Matt about my love for hills. No comment. But, I keep telling myself: Power/hill intervals + hill work = stronger legs!!!!

Last week was a recovery training week for us, which means that our workouts were cut in half----so nice and needed!!! We have become Lost addicts, so every night last week consisted of eating dinner, then laying in bed to watch Netflix back-to-back episodes of Lost............yeah, we're old......and spoiled. "Wait till kids come along. There won't be any more of that laying around." Yep, we know. That's why we are enjoying it now and getting it all out of our systems, because I plan on being a baby-makin' machine in the next few years ;).........with some training thrown in there between babies, of course ;)

Work is crazy this week!!! I got 6 patients today---I think the hospitals are discharging everyone home before the Easter holiday, so they are all coming today and I'm sure tomorrow.

Tomorrow night kicks off the first team group ride of the season----I hope we have a good crowd. I am still enjoying being president, although this last month has been extremely busy trying to get all our 2010 season apparel, sponsors, etc. complete.It feels nice to see it all come together every year though.

I am excited for the weekend!! We are going to my mom's and taking the puppies!! Contemplating a 5K in Meridian, and a long bike ride after with a few Meridian friends for training. I love Easter sunrise service. It's so special to me.

Matt and I are trying to lean up a little this month, since New Orleans Ironman 70.3 is in 2 weeks. Restricting our carbs at night has been a little tough, to put it lightly :) We both love our carbs, not to mention it makes nightly meals a little difficult. "What would you like tonight dear, grilled chicken or baked chicken? Brocolli or green beans?" That about sums it up every night. We dream of Easter candy and carbs on a daily basis. Right now, until racing season is over, we are trying to restrict it to weekend nights. You should have seen me in Fresh Market, raiding the candy bin aisle last weekend. BADNESS!!!!!!!!! LOL :) What is it about candy I love so much I will never know.................see ya later. I'm headed to bed to dream of Cadbury mini eggs and Peeps ;)

Manic depressive cyclist?

Matt and I were about 30 minutes into our 70 mile ride Saturday when he turned around on the bike and stated, "I feel like I'm manic depressive!!!---one second, I'm feeling good, the next second I'm about to die to get off this BIKE!!!!" It was chilly, windy, and boring. We were alone the whole ride along the Natchez Trace, and neither one of us was quite, uh, feelin' it this morning.

Ohhhh, the joys of long bike rides----------the one reason we said we might never do another Ironman again ;) And, yep, here we are in the middle of another Ironman. Will we ever learn ? :) They say you have to forget the hurt of the race before you are ready to race again. Hmmmmmmmmm. This was our longest training week so far for Ironman Canada. We had two 2hour,5 minute trainer rides on Tuesday and Thursday, two 8 milers on Wednesday and Friday, and I lifted leg weights Thursday. How do ya think the legs felt? I'll give you a hint------------not like a "spring chicken" ;)

So, let's fast forward to Sunday. Hail and snow? Seriously?!! 70+ degrees the day before and then snow? Wow!!! We decided to make Sunday morning our recovery ride on the trainer and swap around our long run until that afternoon. We headed to church, and afterwards while we were eating at Newks, we noticed the 20+mph gusts as we were leaving, all while the snow flurries were picking up in intensity. Seriously? Mid-march and snow?? Did I mention that already?

We debated back and forth for a little while on our long run vs. being lazy bums the rest of the afternoon. The decision?

Long run completion-0
Lazy bums- 1

I have never quite enjoyed laying on the couch so much....mix that with eating brownies (hey--they were "healthy" brownies at least ;) and cinnamon pita chips, while we watched back-to-back episodes of Lost from Netflix, and you have a perfect day. Man, was that a much needed mental and physical relaxation day!! We knew we wouldn't appreciate getting our long run in before work, but that didn't stop us. We only got off the couch to grill dinner, and then get in the bed for more episodes of Lost. Ahhhhhhhhh laziness, how I've missed you ;)

The run this morning was brutally tough with ice/mist and heavy winds, but we perservered through it and the lunch time swim, so now it's all recovery for the week!!!!! YES ;) The little things that make me happy :)

Today's forecast? 32 degrees. Tomorrow? 78 degrees. As they say, if you don't like Mississippi weather, wait a day. It will change ;)

Wetsuits optional but encouraged ;)

---The image that comes to mind when jumping in our gym pool for the last week
Just to prove my point, we wore our wetsuits for our swim this morning. Ugh!!! The pool heater is out and they had to order a new part.........they say it should be in within the next few days. I know I'm sayin' a prayer ;) 70 degrees in a pool first thing in the morning is NOT my idea of fun!!!!

What IS fun, however, is Easely Amused, a painting place where you design your own painting ;) I took my friend, Staci, for her 31st birthday on Monday night and we had a good time!! We made a Family Tree. SO fun!!



Flashback to the past weekend: I had such a good weekend with Matt. We went to Nagoya Friday night, and then did a little SUV browsing. I have the itch to buy an SUV within the next year........maybe my early nesting to prepare for a baby? ;) Anyway, we "slept in" Saturday morning and met friends for a bike ride on the Trace......a lil chilly and a LOT windy, but we ended up helping a friend survive her first 84 mile bike ride that day, so it was motivating seeing her tough it out in not-so-fun conditions. Way to go Mel!!! We were so hungry by the time we finished biking that we decided to bust up in Sweet Pepper's deli at Renaissance. Oh the funny looks you get from random people when you're dressed like a cycling freak ;) I couldn't help but laugh, because the image that came to mind when we were walking around the deli was this:

Heeeheee heeee ;)

On to the rest of the weekend-----We had a good lunch, then came home and relaxed a little more. I was having a craving for Mexican queso dip, so we went out and got some take-out queso at a restaurant, then swung by Penn's and got some boiled shrimp (another craving-------no, I'm not pregnant ;) .........just tri-trained like a mad woman who hasn't seen food in months ;D We rented 2012 and had a little picnic in bed while we ate and watched the movie. Fun!!

Sunday was a long run morning, followed by blueberry muffins (Matt's Sunday morning tradition that has formed over the last year) and church. we took the puppies for a walk around the subdivision after lunch. They LOVED it and it was such a beautiful day!! Even though it was windy again, we decided it was worth it to go on our recovery bike ride outdoors to enjoy the weather a little more!! We biked around the rez area, from our house, came home, and I grilled out that evening to enjoy the daylight savings time. These are my FAVORITE types of weekends!!!!!!! We're such homebodies, and I wouldn't change a thing ;)
Monday morning, we decided to sleep in and Matt got up to leave for work a little bit before me. In the kitchen was the perfect end to such a great weekend ;)

Triathlon Training helps with Parenting :)

I must say, I am growing a bigger and bigger baby-itch every passing month. I try to dimsiss it, but like that little itch on your leg that starts off small, the more you ignore it, the more that itch starts to grow. I told my mom to prepare herself, because for Christmas 2010, not only does my wish list for her include a sewing machine, I am expecting HER to re-teach me how to use that thing from years ago, along with monogramming/applique ;) I'm sure she's excited!! ;) I have high hopes of making lots of cute baby clothes, etc. once I am pregnant. I'm positive I will wonder what I was thinking once I get knee-deep into it. I tend to take on big projects, and not finish them until they are perfected. Just ask my husband-----once I get my mind on something, there's NO stopping me until it's done. A gift of determination or a curse of stubborness? Let's go with the determination one. Yeah, I like that trait better ;)

Let's fast-forward to the article I ran across today. Everyone says our lives will change when we become parents----no doubt. I am not questioning that at all. I do, however, think this article is quite humorous, in a triathlete-sorta way.

P.S. You will only find it entertaining if you are/were a triathlete ;)


Triathlon Training Helps with Parenting
Posted August 23rd, 2006 by Jim Kaese


After 7 years of trying to have a child, we were blessed with our first this past June.

As most mothers and fathers will convey, the initial 8 weeks of parenthood certainly does pose quite a few challenges. However, I’ve noticed that my triathlon and marathon training–believe it or not–has helped me adjust to life with a newborn. How? The similarities between raising a newborn and training/competing in marathons and triathlons are surprisingly numerous:

1. Early morning wake ups…real early
I always dread the 4am alarm-clock-buzzer race day wake ups that are requirements for any triathlete or runner. But, I must admit, experiencing those ridiculously early rises at Hampton Inns across the country made getting out of bed for my daughter’s 2am and 4am overnight feeds much easier. Each night, it was a relief to know that after 30 to 45 minutes of bottle sucking, I would be snuggling under my warm and soft covers again instead of jumping into a freezing lake for a raucous swim. Piece of cake!

2. Transition Area For those of you not familiar with triathlon, the tranisition area is the place at a race site where all partipants are assigned a small, 3 foot wide by 8 foot long, space to put all of your gear. Your bike, running shoes, towel, cycling shoes–everything you’ll need for the different stages of the race goes here. As you can imagine, organization is key. Most triathletes will tell you that it takes at least 3 or 4 races to learn how to organize and arrange all of your gear: helmet upside down on top of the aerobars, sunglasses inside the helmet, cycling shoes attached to the bike pedals, running shoes on the opposite side of the bike as your swim stuff, etc.

During the first few nights with my newborn daughter, I found myself using the “transition” skills I learned from triathlon to help minimize the amount of time she was awake out of her crib. Before I went to sleep, I layed out a swaddle on the floor, put a burp cloth on the chair, opened up a disposable diaper checking to make sure the tape was on (every so often you’ll get a disposable diaper without the sticky tab on it), poured her formula into the feeding bottle, and scanned the nursery to make sure everything was in place for my next 2am arrival. It was just as if I was looking at my transition area spot for the last time before returning after the swim.

3. Pee and Poop
Some people are grossed out by this with babies, but I gotta tell ya, after competing in Ironman races where I’ve pee’d on myself during the bike (5 hours on a bike, what else you gonna do?) and having #2′d in some porta-potties that required holding one’s breath, seeing, smelling, and cleaning baby-sized poop and getting sprayed with a little urine is hardly a big deal.

4. Eating quicklyI find myself eating meals a lot faster now because neither Mom nor Dad know when baby is going to wake up. It takes only one or two times of getting caught in the middle of breakfast or lunch having to attend to your child (and thus ruining your meal) to learn that eating quicker is better.

Fortunately, thanks to triathlon, I’m used to eating on the run…and on the bike…and even on the runs in between the run and the bike. So, learning to eat quickly and efficiently (e.g., a Clif Bar while baby is burping on the shoulder) was a simple task.

5. More to come
I’m sure as the weeks progress, I’ll find more aspects to child rearing that are made easier by triathlon and marathon training. Maybe I’ll try using her Formula as a recovery drink?

"I'll have what he's having"........

Apparently my husband took some kind of stimulant this morning, or else he's been cheating on me with his bike at night when I fall asleep. Should I be worried? Hmm.

I am not sure if there was an extra shot or two of Monster energy in his Gatorade this morning, or what. (or maybe I'm just a weenie........Charlie, you backin' me up on this one? ;)

We decided to bike outside for the first time since, ohhhhh, last August. Yeah. Trainer rides were becoming a LITTLE, ughhhh, OLD, and this was the first chance it might actually turn out to be a beautiful day, so we wanted to take advantage of it. We had a 3 hour ride scheduled, and the Ride for Orphans didn't start till 8am. It was chilly at the beginning, but we layered well and my hands/feet were the only thing that actually got cold, even though I think the ride started out at around 35 degrees? The longest option was 62 miles, so we took that option.

8am:

Off we went. The "really fast" group started off and we hung with them for oh,
maybe 2 minutes :) I was going to just draft off whoever was around Matt. The
first 20 miles were ok. I knew I wasn't used to hills, and expected a few hills
since we were in Madison. I DIDN'T expect my husband to fly up those hills
QUITE as swiftly as he did, however. He forgot his heart rate monitor/watch at
home, so he couldn't go by that. Well, buddy, I could, and my heart was
screaming "STOP child!!!!!! You'll never make it 62 miles up these hills that
fast, especially after the tough week you've had and the tiredness you've been
experiencing!!!!" But, oh no. It was either draft like a crazy woman from hell,
or get left and be out on my own. I chose option A. Bummer. I know. I was the
only woman around and didn't even know it until around mile 35 or so, when we
took a water/food break. Hmm......this isn't good. Where's girls to whine with
when you need them. I just whined to Charlie since Matt was so far up ahead
there was no way he could hear. Sorry Charlie ;)

I kept reassuring myself, "This is how you get faster. There is NO hope for you
on the swim, but you can make up for it on the bike and the run." My legs just
didn't want to agree with me at the time. I hung in there pretty well,
for our first outdoor ride with hills since last year. I gotta lot of work
to do before Canada though ;) I think I said to Matt once we got up Lake
Cavalier (my FAVORITE hill in Madison, by the way) "Canada is going to chew me
up and spit me out." I don't remember his reply. Or maybe I didn't hear his
reply b/c of the loud nostril/mouth breathing thing I was experiencing after
Cavalier. Ok, I am exaggerating. A little. ;)

The thought of doing this up Lake Cavalier DID cross my mind ;)


So, thanks dear for one heck of a ride in Madison today. In a few hours, I may
forget the visions of you ahead of me on the bike that I saw for 3 1/2 hours.


But,hey, I WILL thank you for it this tri season when I am a monster just like you on the bike. Maybe. Don't hold your breath. I love you dear ;)...........except when you're Satan on the bike ;)