NOW is the time

Above is a photo taken of my immediate family on Christmas Eve morning. We all went for breakfast at Valentino's which had an amazing view of the lake. It was super overcast and I had wished I brought my other camera lens as I probably could have spent all day down there taking photos of snowy covered trees, roads, snowbanks and the lake (below). In the photo: my mom and dad, myself and my sister and my two grandmothers. We are a pretty good looking bunch :)

Goodbye, 2010.

A new year is upon us....leave your regrets, guilts, relationships, and un-resolved resolutions from 2010 at the door. New resolutions, please remove your snow boots and come on in; the coffee is on.

What gets left behind?
*another year of financial issues
*my house (see above)
*an up and down, drawn-out-dirty-at-times-relationship
*coulda shoulda woulda moments

Where am I headed?
*maintaining my head slightly more than above water financially
*continuing to put every day into real-live perspective
*"Miller" for a last name
*weeky workout goals (mini-goals) to monitor progress and behaviors (physical, mental, nutritional). this helps me focus - something I have learned I need, thrive on and excel with.
*embracing the onset of my 34th year in June

My best boys Ben & Jerry are quoted saying, "If it's not fun, why do it?"

Hello, 2011.

Stay tuned,
Erin Elizabeth

Little pieces of awesomeness

I had such a dang good day today. Nothing epic or extraordinary happened, it was just full of random little pieces of awesomeness. Let me share the details.

Today is Wednesday, which if you've been paying attention to my rambles here or on the FB, Wednesday is a power workout morning for me. My latest plans include getting to Gold's early enough to get on the treadmill for 15-20 minutes (thinking about trying for 25 next week), go immediately to spin class (that starts at 5:55) for 45 minutes, then go immediately back to the treadmill for a low intensity run for anywhere from 30-70 minutes. It's so awesome....runbikerun. And sweat like a crazy person. I put so much Body Glide on today....and it didn't seem to help in one particular area on my chest. ARGH - need more new workout tops. Anyway....today I was still wondering why I felt the need to do plyometrics on Monday night. And by "I" I mean, "my quads." Climbing out of the saddle today wasn't too fun...and the run hurt nearly every step, but didn't stop me. Today: = 15 run, 45 spin, 60 run with increase in pace the last 20 min. Glorious! I topped it off with a good stretch (which I always do) some ridiculously painful foam rolling (seriously if I didn't want to sound like those big-chested lifting boys, I would SCREAM) and a little bit of upper body lifting. I love having the time to do all this in the morning.

Got home and chose not to shower which may disgust you, but no, not me. Consider it me acting in a sustainable way. I had a bowl of cheerios and skim and made two bottles of water, crystal light and nuun to guzzle in hopes my first pee wouldn't look borderline orange and got a text from one of my besties, Matty! Not only was I pumped to hear from him he also asked if I could cover two of his high school events this week. I jumped at the opportunity. We went back and forth throughout the rest of the morning. In the meantime I think my blood sugar was speaking to me....help! My next weapon of choice: a pear. I then got a text from Mark that just dang near made me pee my pants...which would be challenging considered how dehydrated I was. I went back and forth with him, laughing constantly along the way, throughout the morning as well. So damn funny!

I got to work about 10:45 and ran into Robin first. She asked me if I would present to the indoor track/field team in January at the end of winter break. Of course I nodded my head vigourously!! My favorite topic to lecture on....SPORT NUTRITION! I made my way down to the cave and proceeded to cross a few things off my to-do list and went to Don's 11:20 sports medicine class to be a guest speaker on concussion management. I miss teaching so much so when Don approached me on Monday to do this I jumped at the chance! A chance to talk in front of a group little sponges eagerly nodding their head in tune to my soapbox on the often exciting, often boring topic.

Right after class I forced myself into a tub of 47 degree water that today for some reason felt like 17 degrees instead. While in the tub I ate an apple and some pistachios...thinking that having to open the pistachios would help pass the time. It did. Sort of. It's really not actually being IN the tub that's so challenging and cold, it's recovering AFTER you get out. Especially being that I have to go to the ice rink later in the afternoon....I need to be warmed up!

While grazing on my lunch today I did the following...followed up with a few emails, crossed three more things off my to-do list (it's currently all crossed off for the moment) read a few of the blogs I follow somewhat regularly, discussed Pandora music stations with Sami, discussed Christmas presents for Remi and Reggie with Julie, built myself a pair of custom Oakley's, discussed Sean's 21st birthday (today) with him and then left for the rink. WHERE upon realizing that only 7 players were showing up today, I proceeded to fill the water jug only half-way and ventured in to the skate rental office where I picked out the crappiest pair of rental skates to put on so I could skate with the players. They outfitted me with gloves and a stick too! I quote Rolo, "Erin, what kind of skates are those?" (as she bends over to look at them peeking out of the bottom of Helminen's sweats she borrowed me). I respond, "size 6. I'm a RENTAL MENTAL!" She responds with, "they look like bowling shoes with blades on the bottom of them." LOL

I "skated" with them for about 45 minutes when I felt like simply STANDING in these horrible skates were going to compromise my ability to run without a foot transplant anytime in the near future I ventured back to the locker room to change back into my jeans, boots and mittens (no more hockey gloves). I was gabbing with Kuhl while watching our awesome friend Peter coach his Apollo boys hockey team when I spotted MATTY on the bench. The very Matt I was texting earlier in the day. At this point I figured nothing major could happen on our side of the rink when the coach to player ratio was 1:3.33 so I ran over to see him where we proceeded to spend the next 30 minutes solving the world's problems.

After hockey against my better judgement I turned LEFT (after what seemed like 12 minutes) onto Veteran's Drive and headed towards Target for 3 things: tampons, shave gel and Scope. Odd, I know especially since I dropped a hundo there on Sunday.... I was in and out in like 7 minutes: I rule.

Back home I prepared myself to make and not eat, PB filled Ritz dipped in calorie-free chocolate almond bark. I also baked oatmeal-craisin cookies and oatmeal chocolate chip walnut cookies. I only ate three PB Ritz chocolate pieces of goodness...very proud of myself. Of course I did a calorie analysis of these little circles of goodness! Don't act surprised...125 calories/cookie. Doesn't seem too bad...mostly good fats from the PB! I was also using reduced fat Ritz....however, if you're like me, you find power and strength in numbers. In Duluth a few weeks ago, I promptly shoveled 5 of these in my mouth in less than 2 minutes. No lie. My mom just sat at the table across from me and said, "one more and go for a half dozen?" I said, "watch it, lady, one day I will be a professional triathlete and across my chest on my racing kit it will read, "powered by peanut butter."" Do the math: 5 pieces of goodness = 625 calories in your gut in a matter of 120 seconds. ouch. And it was like close to 9pm...and I try to refrain from any eating after 7pm. I am convinced that is why my 8.5 miler the next morning went so well :)

Other tidbits....thanks to a new pound of Breakfast Blend from Starbucks I haven't slept more than 5 hours/night since Sunday. This is not like me, nor is this good for me. I made an executive decision to refrain from any Breakfast Blend today with hopes of an early bed time. At this point, it could still happen. Run (hoping the quads are less killing tomorrow morning) on the treadmill followed by a swim in the pool is my plan tomorrow morning. The short sleep nights are going to catch up soon enough...so I'm REALLY hoping for a good one tonight. My training plan goal this week is 12.5 hours...most I have done in months....so I NEED the SLEEP. Which reminds me of Mark's text this morning. He was commenting on my FB status which was "my fav runbikerun workout this morning...y'all need to join me for this one sometime. it's sooooo fun!" He texted, "You need to join me for my fav drink eat sleep workout sometime." Maybe I'll take him up on it, especially the sleep part. And Lord knows if I eat and drink, I'll sleep.

Mercigiving

As I have been mulling/humming/daydreaming/nightdreaming over life the past few years, nothing has made more sense to me other than the feeling I have of gratefulness/blessedness/thankfulness/lucky-ness as of late.

I have a handful of ridiculously fantastic folk in my life and a few deserve special mention in 2010.

**Kari has been my sounding board through some of my ugliest days. We've shared more than several bonding moments over wacko life events and more so she has listened to me complain, rant, cheer, rave, cry and ponder nearly every single thought that has crossed my mind. She is also responsible for keeping me in the loop of current pop culture! Kari opened her basement to me in August when I found out I needed to be out of my house in 48 hours; a mentally and physically exhausting weekend. She helped me pack up my kitchen (and I will hire her out to anyone who needs a quality-control specialist in dish packing), and then filled her car with all my food and other kitchen items that I didn't want to put in the 10x20 and unloaded it in her basement. It was a "come on knock on my door..." lifestyle for about 3 weeks living with her and Dan, her "special friend" ;). It was also a great time-and I often wish I was still there. And I am forever grateful, thank you so much.

**All of the doctors, nurses, surgeons, family and friends that have diagnosed, cut open, sewn back up, sent cards, infused with chemo drugs, handed kleenex to, facebook-friended, drawn blood from, hugged and smiled at my mom deserve a big ol' hug from me. Through a crazy several months of a cancer diagnosis and on-going treatment, thank you for caring for her. I am constantly amazed at how dang strong she was and is, through all of this. She remarked the other day that 1-she can't imagine what life was like before all of this and 2-that she thinks she wants to show off her incoming (grey) hair. Thank you to everyone for being there for her as I cannot be there every day. My whole family is grateful for your love and support now and in the future.

**Lindsay is one more rock in my life. My summer schedule was nuts again this year (the first half anyway!) and during my down time Lindsay and I would spend it slathered in product on her deck, in the pool or at a baseball game. My favorite summer moments are spent with her and her fantastic family. We made several trips to our home-away-from-pool Target Field, Walgreens for a late-night pharmaceutical purchase and drank perhaps one too many beverages from time to time. Lindsay understands what I am going through with my mom...she lost her aunt to the same disease about one year ago. About 30 minutes after I told her I needed to pack my entire house (which was about 8 minutes after I found out myself) she picked me up and brought me to Target to purchase Rubbermaid bins. We packed (sort of) for a short while and decided that drinking heavily was the best coping mechanism at this time. What started with pizza, commentary from Keith, baseball and birthday cake for her brother proceeded to martini's and 21-year olds at the Martini Lounge to quasi-bar hopping through downtown to special-needs employees at McDonald's in the drive thru window, to peeing on a tree at the golf course to watching Jersey Shore in her brothers bed eating the McDonald's. It was a night to remember and exactly what I needed (other than a major hangover while trying to pack that next day). Lindsay also knows my trials with my ex and knows his behavior patterns....offering me a place to stay anytime I need it. Her family is a huge part of why I love her so much - I love all of the Andersons. I am grateful for everything ALL of you do for me - thank you so much. I cannot wait for another summer of WTP and getting nutty.

**My dad was my sherpa, or as he called himself, "my caddy" in Racine for my biggest race of my life (so far). We traveled from St. Cloud (him from Duluth) to Racine, WI together for Ironman 70.3 Racine in July. He helped me haul all my stuff around, held my bags, drove me nuts a few times, cheered for me, played photographer, drove me back to the hotel when I forgot the race number for my bike, walked the mile down the beach the morning of the race and kept me calm, kept me up at night with her Boeing-like snoring, supported me through the entire weekend and bought me my first finishers beer. I will always remember seeing him at the finish line with his hand up for a high-five yelling "alright, Erin!." He understands sports and he understood how much preparation I put in for this event. I cannot wait to have him caddy for me again this year! Thank you, dad! I'll say it again, I could NOT have done it without you.

**I spent a fantastic 3 days in Vegas with Ryan at a completely inappropriate time relative to my training for Racine and how I rounded up the funds for this trip has yet to become clear to me. The trip gave me a chance to get out of town and away from some of the ugliness that seemed to rear its head during that part of the summer. Living it up in Vegas with him as well as his awesome aunt and uncle was everything I needed at the time. This out of Erin-character behavior included drinking quite a bit, staying up ridiculously late, becoming even more skeptical and adjusting my ethnicity while lying in the Vegas sun. Thank you for your friendship, I miss you all the time. So does Nip. And Sweet Lo sends her best.

**Brian and Julie - my boss and my boss; my brother and my sister; my friend and my friend. I have worked with each of you for more than 10 years now and I hope for 100 more. Thank you for supporting me through everything I have been through. Nothing needs specific mentioning as we know what "everything" is. Thank you for offering me a chance to make a living doing everything I love doing; while doing it side by side two of my best friends.

I was sitting at "the home" enjoying alittle geriatric gathering last Thursday (me and my two grandmothers and great aunt aged 92, 89, 85-ish) when Mabel asked me how I was doing. My response, which was the same thing I said to my Grandma Miller earlier in the day, was "I am healthy. I have a roof over my head. I have friends and family that care for me and a job (or two or three) that I love to keep me slightly in the black." I've always been a pretty happy-go-lucky girl...I am very, very thankful for everyone who plays a role in my so-called-life :)

Two (three, actually) recent races with some THANKS built-in

FOREWORD: About a week ago I decided I would write about what I am THANKFUL for - I have a lot... It will be a belated post, but it's ok to be thankful year-round. This post will have some THANKS built-in :) as I report on a few recent road races I completed to increase my long sleeve t-shirt collection.

When I first thought about the THANKFUL post I was up earlier than necessary getting ready to run in the Jingle Bell 5K sponsored by my former full-time employer, St. Cloud Orthopedics. The morning was A LOT chillier than I had anticipated. As I stepped outside my building I realized that my capri length tights were probably not a great choice. My capri tights end just below my knees...my lower legs were unhappy with my clothing choice, but they chose to cooperate thank goodness. I am SO THANKFUL FOR SPANDEX - more specifically, RUNNING TIGHTS. I made it through the race and finished In 25:08 and 31/268 in the female group - I was fairly pleased with this given my desire to NEVER taper for any race that is a 5K or shorter and "racing" just is not in my blood. (I'll save a lecture on fast twitch muscles vs slow twitch muscles for another day.) I did "make it hurt just a little" at the request of one of my besties, Sheena, who would not be able to join me for this year's Jingle Bell. She is the reigning women's champ - missing her lots this time of year. Anyway, I got to see several of my favorite former co-workers after the race and had a GREAT time chatting with 3 of them specifically. Mel, Amy and Lib...fantastic race this year Lib. I am always happy to be a part of it! I am THANKFUL for having the entire SCOA/OSC organization in my life.

Fast forward to Turkey Day, just 5 days later, in MUCH chillier weather and two races on my morning schedule. I am in Duluth, staying at my parents. I signed up for the Tough Turkey 1 mile race followed by the Gobble Gait 2 mile walk. I am walking with my sister and she is acting as my sherpa for the 1 mile.

Let me say a few things first, that 1-Duluth received 3-4 inches of snow the night before so my first warm-up for the race was shoveling the driveway so we could get the car out. 2-This is my 2nd 1 mile road race EVER. The first was the Proctor 1 mile in like 1995 or somewhere in the middle of that decade. I ran it in boxer shorts; that much I remember. 3-Temperature in the single digits, windchill near -3 degrees. 4-What was I thinking? The range of ages in the 1 mile race was 7-40 years.

I think about 25 of us competed in this race. My plan was to make it hurt the whole time. (If you've been following me lately, you know that "make it hurt" has been a theme over the past several weeks.) Like my friend, Kari, said to me via BBM a few days ago, 1 mile will go by so quick!

I warmed up -a much shorter warm up than originally planned and wore my Garmin so I could have record of this monumental event. I started out slower than planned, it was so damn cold. My fingers hurt SO BAD. The course was a modified out and back - with the "and back" going with the wind and slightly downhill! Whoo hoo! Most everyone started out at light-speed, including a guy that was probably twice my size (and the same height as me). As I suspected, he was walking a few minutes later. Which more importantly means, I passed him. It's all about passing people as I speed up. After I made the turn at the cone (and the race organizer dressed as a turkey) I was going with the wind and passing kids, including knocking one down. Oops, but that's what happens when 10 year olds can't run in a straight line as their pace slows. Sorry, bud. At least your dad was there to pick you up. There was one other female ahead of me (about 8 years old), but I never did catch her. A quick glance down at Garmin (my sister caught this with my camera phone) showed I could actually finish sub-8 which was my dream goal! Especially on a damn cold morning like this! Crossed the line in 7:47! Wahoo! Second female to cross the line and first in my AG. Time to jog it out and get ready (i.e. DRESSED....THANKFUL for full-length tights and fleece layers this morning) to walk the 2 mile with my sister.

The two mile walk (which I slowwww-jogged at random times) was a lot of fun for us. This race also goes through downtown Duluth (and by this time it was sunny out and perhaps raised the temp to HIGH SINGLE DIGITS!) She overheated, which is funny given the temperature and my choice of apparel over my sweaty race clothing was suiting me just fine. This race wasn't chip-timed, but Garmin told me we finished (she ran to the end - yay Christal!) in about 27 minutes or so. We stayed for the awards (PIE) and got some bagel bites (which are alone a great reason to race in Duluth) and coffee from Great Harvest/Peet's Place - major yum - and then headed home to shower and get ready for gobble gobble. This morning I was THANKFUL - as I am daily - that I have a strong set of legs and lungs that help power me to complete races like this. Christal said two or three times that morning, "this will be our new tradition!" I couldn't agree more :)

Current plans...

I've been working on a fantastic 2011 race plan/calendar using Excel, naturally, because why not use Excel!! Love Excel! Currently 38 races are on entered in the spreadsheet...no way I could do all 38 primarily because there are often more than one on any given day. Hey, it's Minnesota, the race season is pretty short.

Breakdown looks like this
14 road races (5K, 7K, 10K, half marathon, 20 miler, full marathon)
2 duathlons
22 triathlons

What to do? What to do?
Lots to plan...and think about.

What I WANT to do at a bare minimum this: one sprint triathlon, one olympic-distance triathlon, one duathlon, one 20 miler or full marathon and a 70.3. I would LOVE to get a full Ironman on the calendar, but for several reasons I just don't think it's going to happen in 2011. Anyone growing a money tree?

For the rest of 2010, surprisinly I might be doing more races in the remainder 1.5 months of the year than I did all of 2010. Sad, but way to go, me!
November 20 - Jingle Bell 5K
November 25 (official turkey eating day) - Gobble Gait 2 mile walk (with my sister) and possibly the Tough Turkey 1 mile before the walk if possible. This is in Duluth!
December 11 - Snowflake Shuffle 5K

I am currently working on increasing my total training volume. The intensity creeps up there on some of my runs, but overall, I am keeping it moderate and bumping the volume up primarily with my runs. I am loving doing bricks right now...all inside of course. Example: 45 minute spin class followed immediately by 45-60 minutes of easy to moderate pace on the treadmill. Get a phenomenal sweat on and throw back a Gu if necessary. Burn, baby, burn. This is of course followed by a deep freeze AKA ice bath.

Stay tuned... :)

Race Report - Monster Dash 1/2 Marathon

I ran my first legit half-marathon race last Saturday - that's just the running part, no biking preceding the run. The Monster Dash Half Marathon...they also host a 10 mile, 5K and 5K-9...about 8000 finishers. No, I did not wear a costume. Next year I'm thinking of dressing up as Wilma Flintstone. Who woud like to be my Fred?

www.teamortho.us


I set a few goals for the race which I "trained" for about 7 weeks using the RW 2:00 or under article/plan (Sept or Aug issue?) as a skeleton. I put in the long runs, but I wasn't very diligent about the mid-week runs as I love spin class and the pool.


1- 2:00 or under (this was my dream goal)

2- To finish strong (my primary goal). I am usually a great negative-splitter, but I wanted to let it all out, make it hurt and work towards being less conservative as I have been for 32 years.

3- To build my running-leg strength throughout the training as running is my weakest link.

4- See what I needed for recovery if I truly did finish strong...


Results:

1- 2:08:00

2- Put my head down and pushed the last 5 miles, especially the last 5K...2 runners passed me and I passed 242 runners. My last mile was around 7:54 pace (trying to remember as I type this without my garmin report in front of me). I was very, very pleased with this. Now, can I push this earlier in the race? At what point?

3- I surprised myself on the long runs and am confident they are helping to build a stronger running base for me.

4- A little stiffness, nothing major (ice baths and foam rolling are regular events for me). Elliptical and some biking Sunday and Monday, took Tuesday off due to sooo little sleep the night before, Wednesday back to my usual Wednesday routine (spin class followed by 60 minutes on the treadmill) no problem.

Recovery: The Ice Bath

Recovery: The Ice Bath

I am a humongous fan of ice baths. I practice what I preach in several ways; this is one of them. I have taken ice baths at home, but having the facilities at work is a luxury that I take advantage of. My favorite temperature is about 46 degrees....15 minutes is perfect. At home a 6 pound bag of ice in the tub only cools to about 57 degrees - not cold enough ;) The video suggests an ice bath following runs of longer than 90 minutes or rides longer than 3 hours. I believe ice baths are beneficial for workouts shorter than this as well - particularly if it was a high intensity workout!

I guess I CAN run without RIDING before the run.

This past Saturday was my first real-live Half Marathon. I signed up in early fall and located a plan in a RW that promised to get me across the finish line in 2:00:00 or under.

Any of you know that while I yes, I do run, I will never consider myself "a runner." I was looking at the opportunity to run a half-marathon as a way to get more running in my legs to ultimately better prepare me for the triathlons that I enjoy.

The following are reasons why I did not follow the plan exactly and therefore may have something to do with why I did not finish under 2 hours (2 hours, 8 minutes, 0 seconds to be exact).
1-the plan called for running about 4 days/week with a few rest/cross training days scattered throughout the plan. That's just too much running for this girl...I need to have some rides and some swims thrown in there. And Lord forbid I not get my chlorine fix. Good cross-training, right?
2-I have discovered one of my new FAVORITE workouts. Wednesday morning Road Rage (40-45 minute "spin bike class" followed immediately by trashing myself on the treadmill. Some will see this as a "brick" workout, which it is! I just simply choose to go balls to the wall. For example, two weeks ago I ran for 60 minutes at varying speeds on the mill following spin. Hello endorphins!!! To give you an idea how much I sweat that morning...I drank almost 60oz of my recovery beverage (nuun plus crystal light) and didn't pee till the afternoon. OOOPS. This wasn't in the plan - may have affected my running legs just a bit. I'm just sayin'
3-If the plan called for 11 miles at 10:26 pace I would do 11.5 miles at 10:14 pace. For example...

What I have learned:
1-I am not a single sport athlete (did I just call myself an athlete?)
2-I do believe I developed slightly more "running legs" through this training
3-I will do this again :) Full marathon anyone?

Full race report to follow...stay tuned!
Thanks for reading!

re-visit

I've been humming and hawing over this blogging things for months....stay tuned. I'll be back.

it's not the destination it's the journey

It's that what they always say? I'm really starting to believe that saying more and more every day.

I (we) are always looking towards some day (weekends), some hour (5 o'clock), some age (18 so you could buy smokes (never have), 21 so that you could drink; legally). Our parents/grandparents have always told us to quit wanting to be older, to quit wishing time to go faster just to get us to our "destination" but we're not happy with that. I believe there comes a time when we DO start to realize that time is moving fast and perhaps waiting impatiently for a day or time or birthday to arrive only puts us in a frame of mine that causes us to not live in the moment. When this happens we fail to breathe in that part of the journey.

I've never felt this way more than I have before in the last several months. The first time I truly remember hearing it was from a colleague of mine when I announced my engagement. She told me "enjoy the planning." At the time I was like, sweet, yes, sure will! I realize now she meant, enjoy all time spent together planning all the details that go into one day; the biggest day of your lives thus far. It wasn't necessarily the destination in this case (even though that was a big deal) but going through ALL the planning of a wedding celebration that was the focus. (We all know how this event panned out...the DAY was a rock star amazing event...the rest, well, that's for another time ;)...)

I will quote a line from a favorite film of mine...
"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." Any guesses on who said that? Anyone? Anyone? (ps that was your hint...)

It's true.

My current destination of choice is one I have had for several years to be honest and that is this darn race 7.25.10. After interviewing many plans I have found one I feel will fit me best and currently "week 4" is an "easy" week. I'm going crazy. I won't explain how I felt having to -lift- ONLY on Monday and Wednesday this week, but instead I will rant that tomorrow (Friday) I am only to do a somewhat specific bike workout...for 30 minutes. kas;dflj asjflaksj;fj..grrrr... That's it? 30 lousy minutes on the bike?

I keep telling myself that this plan is set up in a very specific way...3 weeks "hard" followed by 1 week "easy." The woman who designed the plan is QUITE SKILLED at what she does; I assume that this "easy" week is going to pay off next week, right? I have to keep telling myself this. I have to keep telling myself this....

The destination would cease to exist without my journey. The journey of "easy' weeks followed by not-so-easy weeks. All in all, I am loving it so far. Today's workout was a swim. A specific warm-up which I only modified slightly....a specific "main set" followed by a specific "speed set." The "cool down" was "my choice" and due to time restraints (hey, i was in the pool by 4:39am, I'm doing my best) was only 100 yds. This is what it looked like: (distance is in yds, RI = rest interval, pull = arms only w/pull buoy, kick = kickboard, no arms)

Warm up
300 crawl
150 kick
150 pull

Main set (all crawl here on out)
300 / :25 RI
300 / :25 RI
200 / :20 RI
200 / :20 RI
150

Speed set
6 x 75 (25 cruise, 25 strong build, 25 easy) :25 RI

Cool down
100
TOTAL 2300 yds in which I felt really really very very good.

Tomorrow's 30 minute ride is part of my journey towards 7.25.10

I try to stop and look around every day. I've learned that I cannot worry about what tomorrow may bring. I cannot change what happened at noon today (nothing really, just a crutch fitting and a serious cleaning out of my yahoo inbox (over 2700 emails down to 134, thank you very much). I can only live in the moment. Enjoy that moment and look forward to the next. Now, I have a tad of sarcasm in me that comes out periodically...I don't want to sound like a fool here. I'm just being real. I cherish the time I have with my family more than ever. I cherish the time I have with my friends. Getting older (22 in June, baby!) and going through some ugly struggles in the past couple of years has taught me these things. I'm just sharing them with you....
Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while... you could miss it. Enjoy the journey....so that the destination rocks even more than you could have ever imagined.

*not* working 9 to 5...what a way to make a living...(sing it)

One of the perks of my J.O.B. (as Lori puts it) is that I have never worked normal 8-5 hours. This works well for me...at least up to this point. I run my own life...no children (hopefully someday soon however) and no significant other (anymore) to plan my day and night around. I never was that way as I feel it is VERY important that people have their own life first and then others can fill in around it; or mesh together nicely. I see too many of my friends change their personal plans (short term or long term) waaay too often for a significant other. My post from last night probably indirectly reiterates my clearly obnoxious independency...man, I am off topic...

ANYWAY! (as Virg puts it) weekends are a normal work day for me. In fact, I believe I will be working more hours tomorrow than I did today. I GET to do the following tomorrow. I should point out that there will be much multitasking tomorrow as all 3 of these events practically overlap and are practically at opposite ends of Stearns county.
*sports nutrition presentation to the Blazer TF/CC team tomorrow morning. I am stoked...this is my passion, my love, my past J.O.B....I can't wait. I have a sweet powerpoint ready to go that includes photos I have taken of Blazer TF athletes at the 2007 MIAC conference meet AND 2007 NCAA DI Nationals. whoo hoo!! (Ryan, these photos reminded me of our sweet Iowa trip and I miss you)
*Tech boys hockey game (jv and var) at NHC. I'm NOT quite as stoked for this...but I don't get to work boys hockey too much so this will be a nice change of scenery.
*Blazer basketball game. It's National Girls and Women in Sports Day and a co-worker is being honored (go Libby), but I'm actually going to be "working" the game as Julie is quite ill at home (sad). I will get to see the hilarious sports medicine students I bonded with this past fall. I AM pretty pumped for this!

Today's workouts were not quite as I had planned for a couple of reasons.
This morning I biked for 40 minutes (mostly spinning drills) and did some very quick UE lifting. The snooze on my alarm was set for 10 minutes instead of 5 which set me back a bit...yes, I plan my snoozing for the morning the night before (see yesterday's post, again). I had planned for at least 50-60 minutes on the bike...

After OSC work I planned on "finishing" the morning bike or even doing a little treadmill, HOWEVER, I chowed a bit too much at lunch (again, what is my problem this week?) and wasn't feeling sweet in the belly area...SO, I warmed up on the elliptical before some more focued lifting and some planks. I hate planks BTW. I don't use "hate" much...but I'm not wild about planks...especially side planks.

"go confidently in the direction of your dreams...live the life you have imagined" ~thoreau

killing two birds with one stone

I can't count the number of times I have heard my father use this saying. For example: grandma needs to be picked up from church and the Sunday newspaper needs to be purchased. Dad says, "I might as well kill two birds with one stone and pick up the paper on my way home from dropping off Grandma." Simple yet classic example.

I find myself killing these birds in flocks....MULTITASKING is my word for it. My weekday (and often weekend) mornings are chiseled down to the second. Every second counts and I haven't an extra second to spare. The multitasking does not stop there as 24 hours in a day are approximately 2.4 hours shy of what I find would be ideal. I cannot control time while at work, but the rest of the day is under tight regulatory control via the black planner pad (many of you are familiar with this often phone book size document keeper/calendar I drag with me everywhere)... Here are a few more unique examples of how I manage to decrease the birdy population.

*Contact lens case is filled while I am sitting on the toilet.
*I have been known to bring my laptop to the bathroom...
*Teeth are often brushed while making a feeble attempt at dressing or undressing.
*Morning cereal bowl is often consumed while applying makeup.
*Food is often consumed while driving - terribly unsafe and I was busted by the aformentioned father once -
*Depending on the time of the year, I have often "gotten ready" at work. Hair, makeup, etc. in the early mornings in the clubhouse.

I presently find myself at the ripe age of 21 going on 22 (do the math, that is fine with me). I never in a million years thought I would be in the situation(s) I am in now. If you would have told me I would be working several jobs at my age STILL to make ends meet I would have looked at you as if you told me that I could never eat cereal & milk again. I am truly lucky and blessed to BE working I know that and very much so that these "jobs" I have hardly feel like work; I honestly love what I do. Spring and summer (my absolute FAVORITE season) are upon us which means my current 40-60 hour normal work week will expand to a 52-75 hour work week. During these glorious sun-filled weeks I am a multitasking nut case.

I've been promising a brief explanation of my latest fitness goal...you may or may not know that I have enjoyed training for and often competing in triathlon. I am not looking for a podium finish, just simply enjoying workouts and the pure satisfaction I feel crossing the finish line is enough for me ~ July 25 in Chisago Lakes ~ a 1/2 ironman-distance triathlon is my GOAL race. By far the longest distance I will have tackled in my 10+ years of swimming, biking and running.

To even dream about this will require a more rigourous schedule than I currenly live by. I will need to plan out nearly every minute of my schedule between my primary job, my MAC job, my workouts and my other committments. I am waaay ok with this, but concerned I will not have ample training time...and I wonder if multitasking will take on a new definition this summer?

I had a fantastic day of training today!
I am a rare breed in that I actually enjoy the treadmill (just don't change the tv station!! See one of my latest rants on Facebook for a detailed explanation of that one).
I did 7 miles on the treadmill this morning and an easy 1200yd swim in the pool this evening. I feel pretty damn good.

Perhaps killing 3 birds with just one stone is possible? Perhaps with a tee shot from #1?

"Fatigue is not biomechanical, it is biochemical." ~Coggan

the lunchtime tapeworm

I write this as I am BB messenging two other people at the same time. When did we, or more specifically I, get so darn dependent on constant communication?

So back in college, specifically, senior year, my roomies (anna, katie and mandy) and I would return from night class with a case of "tapeworm" where we would raid the pantry over and over and over again. Door open, door closed, door open...you get the idea. I have that tapeworm. These days it's called a "lunchtime tapeworm" where I come home and feed my face like I haven't eaten all day. We know this is a lie as I must consume something of substance every 3 hours like I am a diabetic or something.

Today's lunch time tapeworm consisted of 3 pb sandwiches (1 piece of bread each, folded in half with so much pb it oozes out the side) and a chocolate soy milk "juice box" Not bad, till I got my hands in the dark chocolate covered edamame container. In and out in and out of that container interspersed with the opening and closing, opening and closing of a ziplock containing these yummy pretzel thins. I know, most of you will say, geez, you're crabbing about eating all that healthy stuff? Most of you know I am a fairly "healthy eater" it's the pure QUANTITIES of food I can consume...which is the problem here and I can't stop.

This morning's workout (more on the 1/2 ironman distance later) was the 5:00am spin class. 45 minutes of spinning, or biking for the lay person. Kristen leads the class and is the BEST of all the spin leaders at Gold's. Her music selection is out of this world....and she works us the hardest. I am dripping everywhere when I am done which is JUST as I like it. I have no time for lifting after this due to my work schedule...not sure if I will swim tonight... PS I had sweet new "sugar short" bike shorts to wear this morning - I was pretty pumped for their debut and they did NOT disappoint. Best shorts I have for biking yet. I felt sooo Lance in these.

I should point out right now that I like to pretend/visualize/imagine that I am Michael Phelps when I swim and Lance Armstrong when I bike. While I still don't see myself as a runner, nor do I have an idol for this sport, I do have a craze for Kara Goucher...so I suppose I could imagine myself with long slender legs like hers....yeah, well, I said "IMAGINE."

Attempt to blog via my crack....was i successful??

I'm always on the go...

I've been thinking about blogging for quite some time now...I enjoy reading others here and there and figured this was a way I could share my thoughts a bit more than my usual and very random FB status updates....which I know most of you enjoy.

Ultimately, this blog may hold thoughts, quotes (which I love), photos (which i really love) and my ultimate quest to LiVe WeLL, LaUgH OfTeN and LoVe MucH.

(just figured out that cut and paste doesn't work here...)
Here are some thoughts you can expect to surface... (Yes, i use "...." a lot.)

Heaven on Nuthatch
My "D" as it's known
my workouts...particularly as I attempt to train for a 1/2 Ironman Distance Triathlon this summer
family and friends
friends and family
books I am reading
books I want to read
books I want to buy
magazines i love to read
random blog fodder

comments welcome, encouraged even, I guess!
For those of you know really know me, are wondering why I'm not asleep if it's 8:55pm and i'm not at a game...
Good night!