How do you take your temperature when your dog eats the thermometer ?;)

Good question-----luckily I found another one in our bathroom drawer! That Ollie dog is something else!!!! Today has been a rather "blah" week for me........luckily Matt hasn't gotten the sickness yet. It started Tuesday around noon. I felt great and had a fast (probably too fast) 11 miler that morning. I had to do an inservice for the Gastroenterology group at Baptist and it went great---got a doctor to write a referral while I was still giving the lunch, so I was super excited about this!!!! The rest of the day, I just continued to feel weak with body aches and sore throat and congestion---made it through the day and when I got home checked my temp-
100.7 Ugh---this is no good, I thought. I had to call in sick yesterday and pretty much did nothing all day or night........I literally had to give myself a pep talk to take a shower........"come on, Amanda, you can DO it" ;) Seriously, though, I have felt like pure crap. Last night, temp got up to 102. Matt said maybe it was God's way of slowing me down a little bit..........I tend to take on a little too much sometimes, for those of you that don't know me well ;) LOL! I woke up this morning with no fever so decided I would try to make it through the work day. Still not feeling great this morning, but I am taking a week off for NY in a couple weeks, so I hated to miss any more days. You don't often realize how great it feels to feel healthy until you are sick. Wow! It reminds you to count your blessings for sure.
I went to the screenprint shop to pick up our new long-sleeved MS Heat tri team shirts ---they look awesome! We are having a meeting this Sunday with a great speaker, Dane Rauschenberg--he wrote the book, 52 weekends, 52 marathons. We should have a great crowd!!
As for the half marathon this Saturday, I really don't know what's going to happen. I am playing it by ear. But my 3 options are

1) Race it----(don't know if this will be wise--even if I am feeling wonderful tomorrow, most likely I am not fully recovered yet and might go back into relapse--the last thing I want is to not be ready for NY marathon!)
2) Run it as a training run(my plan calls for a 17 miler this wknd---I would run the course since I paid $80 for this race anyway--and do a 2 mile warm up and 2 mile cool down to get in the full distance
3) Skip the half marathon all together and try my long run for Sunday (this might
mess things up for the next week of training-on the other hand, it would give me
more rest to fully recover)

Decisions, decisions........ugh. But, I am definitely thankful it is not the week of NY marathon..........talk about a moody woman in the household!!!!!! My friend from Shubuta, Staci, is going to be in town and she will be racing as well. She is going to do great as always!! At least I can cheer her on if I don't race!

Matt is on call this weekend, so he won't be able to run the race. He is going to try to get up and possibly get a 15 miler in before work (work is at 7:30am !!!!) Bless his heart, I don't know how he does it.

That's all for now...this weekend will be a last minute decison. Weather looks to be perfect at least!!

Rain, Rain, Go Awayyyyyy

Hello again! I am considering taking up a part-time job to build an ark. I really wonder if I could get some business? ;) Is it EVER going to stop raining??!!!! I know we should be thankful for the rain, but man, it is starting to get a lil depressing.............maybe I could start marketing umbrellas as a friend suggested?;)

Not much news around the Cassell household. I have finally begun a slight decrease in my run volume starting today. I was beginning to feel the impact of the high volume weeks. Last week, I got the flu shot and didn't feel good for a couple days after, but that's much better than getting the flu I suppose!

We have found a new love for sushi (or shall I say Matt has found a new love for sushi-I have always liked it!) We enjoyed very good sushi at Nagoya Friday night. Matt always gets hibachi, but I love the sushi. The Nagoya roll is sooo good, although not the healthiest of sushi :D We hung out with friends Saturday afternoon-watched the game, grilled some burgers,and played with their two kids. We realize we are very spoiled now with no kids!!!! The house is so quiet when we come home and we are free to do whatever we please.......we both remind each other from time to time that we better not take it for granted now because once our family starts growing, I doubt we will have many relaxing days :) Our friends told us that as well ;) lol! We also went to the movies to watch Couples Retreat...........so funny!!! I loved it!

Sunday, Matt took his first shift at the VA from 2pm-8pm. It's a great way for him to make some extra $$$. Although I would much rather have him at home, a few hours at the hospital is great for supporting all the lovely trips we like to take ;)

I'm still debating the half marathon this weekend that I planned on running. My friend called me today to let me know that the deadline was at midnight tonight....glad she called because I am somewhat of a procrastinator and would have waited until Thursday night and then my choice would have been answered for me!

I arrived home today to find that Ollie had closed himself into the laundry room......no idea how but leave it to Ollie to find a way ;) He had made him a little bed on the towels on the floor and was napping away until I came home. It wasn't until after I noticed that he wasn't on his usual spot on the couch that I heard a loud bump (that would be him letting me know he is in the laundry room:) Oh, fun times!!!

Surprise Getaway :)

So, my surprise that was "to be continued" from the last blog took a turn. Turns out he was planning on surprising me the same weekend ;) ha! He called me at work Friday and told me that we were planning on getting out of town Saturday after we did our long run that morning, but he wouldn't tell me where. Exciting!! He made it through his stressful presentation, and I was so happy that he was finished with that because I know how much he hates speaking in front of large crowds. Friday morning, we ran 18 miles and got packed up. I'm not the best at packing for getaway trips; I'm ESPECIALLY not the best at packing for get-away trips where I don't know where we are going ;) We headed out after lunch and ended up in Greenwood at The Alluvian Hotel. Matt knows I am the absolute worst with direction and he could take me anywhere and I probably wouldn't know where we were headed. I would blame it on the left-handedness I have, only problem is that he is left-handed as well. Dangit!! I'll blame it on my mom for inheriting it from her then ;)

For any of you who haven't visited this place, it is really amazing! It's a little chic boutique in the middle of nowhere, with a spa and a Viking cooking school across the street from the hotel. I was impressed!!! That night, we made a Southern Italian dinner, which consisted of Italian Wedding Soup, Chicken Parmesan over sauteed eggplant, herb and olive oil pasta, salad, and a dessert which they had pre-made for us. It was VERY hands-on and we started cooking around 6pm and left the school around 9pm. They pass out bottles of complimentary red and white wine, and give you snacks beforehand so you don't get too hungry. The meal was fantastic!!! I would highly recommend going here for a getaway weekend! The beds in the hotel are plush and huge!! The shower is a very large walk-in sit down type marble shower with huge glass doors. It is an amazing place!











Matt is so unbelievably good to me. I don't deserve him!! God has really blessed me and I am not ever going to take it for granted. It was the perfect getaway for both of us and we slept in on Sunday and then had a huge,full breakfast waiting when we woke up----cheese grits, biscuits/gravy, ham and bacon, waffles/bagels, eggs....everything you could ask for.....and the best part is that it was FREE ;) Yum!!

In other news, I hit 70 miles this week on my run volume for the first time ever! Ollie completed those last 3 miles with me in the rain :) It was a fun experience, to be honest ;) We were running an 8:10 mile yesterday......go Ollie!! Only 4 more weeks until New York Marathon........legs don't fail me now! I don't know if this heavy volume training is going to help make me any faster or if I will get worn down from all the training, but I have always wanted to try a heavy volume type marathon training, so we will find out. That way, I will have at least tried it out and know what the experience is like. I thought there was no way I could ever manage heavy volume running, but so far it hasn't been bad. I am through in the morning very early, but I am more exhausted at the end of the day. I have been taking LOTS of ice baths and sporting the compression socks under my scrubs at work during the day ;) ha! Definitely getting in the nutrition I need after hard workouts must be helping as well. I have grown to love lowfat chocolate milk after hard, long workouts!!

Please say a prayer for my little niece, Ann Elise. She has the swine flu :( Also, my stepmother needs many prayers lately. She is having a hard time with her memory and my dad is scared it is Alzheimer's......I sure hope not. I am praying that they both get better soon and if you would lift them up in your prayers, I would be very grateful.

Until next time................

If we could all just live by these verses............

I posted a couple verses from Matthew 22:36-40 under our blog title today. These are a few of Matt's favorite verses and they really do give you the key to living a Godly life. If we could all just live by these verses alone, the world would be a better place. I ran alone on Thursday morning around the reservoir. Matt and I both agree that there is something about running in the cool weather, when it is still dark and most of the world is still asleep. It is so peaceful when you can hear your feet hitting the pavement, seeing your breath in the air from the coldness of the morning. I listened to a mix of Jeremy Camp while I was running and it was my time with God. I seem to think most clearly when running. My mind wanders from nothing to anything on my runs alone. I stopped and took a picture of the sunrise because it was so beautiful that morning.



I went to Meridian, my old home, for work this week. I ran into a lot of good friends there on my visit. Matt and I are going to have to make a decision by next year on where we will continue our future. We are still undecided but are hoping that God will let us know somehow where we should start a new family together. That run helped me to realize not to worry about little things. God has a plan for us all and He knows our future----there is no sense in worrying---there is a peace in knowing that it is all in His hands.

On another note, Matt has finished his very stressful month. Today is a big day for him---he has to give a presentation and he is very uneasy in front of large crowds. I know he will end up doing great, but I know he is super-stressed and ready for this day to be over ;) I have a little surprise for him tonight :)......to be continued!

P.S. We are OFFICIALLY Ironman Canada 2010 trainees as of January 1st, 2010 :) Yay!!!! We got signed up last night!

Thank you God for a cool morning!!!!

This morning was a God-send for certain! It is absolutely amazing the difference temperature/humidity makes when it comes to training. Matt's schedule at the hospital this month has left him no choice but to train EARLY in the morning since he has to be at work so early. I woke up with him one morning last week at 4:00 am........not my choice for a wake-up call ;) He amazes me at being able to wake up and put in the miles that early, get to work on time at the hospital, see all of his patients, still help with the chores around the house, and usually come home in a good mood everyday. I'm not so sure I could handle the accumulation of early mornings quite like he does...........the grumpiness in me usually comes out when my sleep starts lacking ;)

I had a particulary interesting run last week I would like to share. Let's just say it didn't go as planned, to say the least. I started very early to run 14 miles. I didn't check the weather, but Matt said he had checked Accuweather the night before and no chance of rain until later in the morning. He got up super early again and I just wanted an extra hour. All went well to start the run, besides the fact that I feel like I have exercise-induced asthma the first few miles due to the humidity we had last week! I started running with my Blackberry a few months ago---I just plug in my headphones, start up Pandora, and go. This gives me a wide variety of songs so I don't have to listen to the repetitious ones on my Ipod. I saw a few friends along the Reservoir, all was well, good run, life is good.......................until the bottom dropped out. I don't just mean a little rain, people. It was FLOODING!!!!!!! I don't usually get embarrased when I am running in the rain, but that day I was. I was praying that cars could even see me, as the rain was pouring so hard I could barely see. My shoes felt like they weighed 10 pounds and did I mention I still had 8 mile before I finished the run??! At first, I said, "what the heck? A little rain might cool things off a bit." I kinda grinned about it and just took it in stride. After the 2nd mile of pouring rain, I really wasn't lovin' life ;) I was trying to hide my Blackberry so it wouldn't get wet---tried the sports bra........uh.....no. Tried to put it in the mini-pocket in my running shorts-negative-too small. Hmmm........Oh well. Nothing was going to work. I was just praying it might still work when I got back to my car. I finally got back to my car and was relieved to have the run over. I reached in my pocket to get my key out and whatta ya know? Yep, NO key. Fabulous!!!! I have a Blackberry that is no longer working and now I can't get into my car. This day is not looking so good ;)

I went into the gas station and asked the clerk if I could please use her phone. She said, "Baby, u a lil wet, ain't ya?" ha!! Understatement. I called Matt and he had to get through his rounds and come unlock me with the spare key. I ended up having to buy a new Blackberrry and still haven't found my key. Oh well, what doesn't kill ya right?!!!!

In other news, we are still watching the live feed for Ironman Canada so we can pull the trigger. Once it hits 100 spots available, we are signing up ! I am feeling stronger every week on my long runs and tempo runs. I ran 15 miles this morning at an average 7:45 pace. The last 5 miles were all at a 7:20-7:30 pace, so I can feel my running legs improving. I did speedwork on Monday- 1/2 mile repeats, so my legs were still tired from this and from the 21 miler on Saturday. I was very happy to hold that pace today considering yesterday's speed work and my heavy mileage lately......I think the cool weather motivated me and I was so happy to be able to breathe!!!!!! Matt is clearly ready to be back on his new bike more and I am getting the itch to bike and swim more too. We are still aiming for 2-3 times per week of swimming, although the volume is way down from triathlon training. I am ready for a vacation in New York!!!!!!!! We are trying to book things a little more before we are too late.

Below are some photos of the house we will be staying at next August with some of the IM Canada crew from our tri team. It looks SWEET! Check out the view from the deck!!!!!

Hey All!!! Testing this thing out again................I really have NO absolute idea what I 'm doing on here, and until I learn, blog posts may be sparse.........as you can see from the date of my last post ;)

Matt and I are in training for 2 marathons this fall season-New York Marathon and St. Jude Memphis Marathon. I wish Matt could do New York with me, but he didn't get in through lottery like we had hoped, and it is much harder for a guy to qualify than a girl :( I am very happy that we can still do our long runs together though---he really rather dislikes marathons, so it is sweet of him to train with me ;)
I haven't decided if I am going to race New York or just run it "for fun" and take a camera and run as a training run. If I do this, I will definitely try to race Memphis for a PR. We shall see.......New York is November 1st and Memphis is December 6th.......Yep, 4 weeks between marathons!!! Legs don't fail me now ;)

In the most recent news, we are planning on entering Ironman Canada via community fund. Yes, we DID say we would never do another full Ironman. Yes, we ARE doing another full Ironman :) Never say what you will NEVER do again ;) We figure, ya know-------we have another year or 2 before we begin to extend our family, so why not? When the family expands, the chances will most likely decrease for us doing more full Ironman events ;) We have about 12 local triathletes that have signed up as well, and some friends of ours have rented a cottage for 8 days in British Columbia, only 8 miles from the Ironman start. It has a swimming pool and is located in the vineyards and a beautiful area in Penticton!!!! If I can figure out how to post photos on my blog, I will post a few of the cottage we have rented. VERY excited about this experience over the next year!! The race will take place on August 29, 2010. It is a very hilly Ironman, so we will be taking lots of road trips to more hilly locations after marathon season in order to get our legs in gear for the elevations of Canada.

That's all for now. My goal is to make this a training blog for different races this year with a little personal life thrown in , so stay tuned!!! God bless!!

Hello everyone!!! I am just typing a little paragraph today to see what all the blog fuss is about ;)
Be patient with me, as I still have MUCH to learn!!!! I thought this would be a fun way to keep up with everyone. Until I figure this out a little more, have a good week!!!!