Where, oh where did my flat abs go?

An unfortunate and expected side effect of pregnancy is a bad stomach after birth. It's true what they say about coming out of the hospital looking six months (or so) pregnant, and that you may look pregnant for some time afterward. At 8 weeks, I think I'm about down to 4.5-5 months pregnant-looking. And I've got quite a ways to go. My mother likes to keep reminding me, and it is good to keep in mind, that it took 9 months for the belly to expand and grow and so you shouldn't expect miracles before 9 months post-partum.

Now that I am 8 weeks in and have started exercising more frequently, I need to start focusing on my abs. I've searched for some exercises that will help and which ab muscles should be targeted. This is important, as I've read that by only doing regular crunches you are not working the right ab muscles to pull the pooch in and will only keep you from gaining a flat stomach again.

That's where I found that the transverse abdominal muscles are the key to getting the flat abs back. I've started doing specific exercises to target these muscles this week. While training my abs to go back to their original position and picking up my walks and swims, I'm hoping for a miracle sooner rather than later. :)

Let the games begin

Since mid-September, I haven't been allowed to workout. (And I still can't get over it.) My dry spell ended mid-December when I (finally) set foot at the gym. And boy did that feel weird. I felt like the new person who just joined and knew nothing about working out. I wanted everyone to know "I have a four-week-old at home!" yet I wanted no one to look at the pooch under my shirt (which probably didn't help the newby look in my eyes).

Actually, I guess it ended two days from being home from the hospital after delivery and we took Emmy for a walk. It was exhausting and painful, but was so nice to get out. After a few more walks and a few more weeks of recovery, I moved up to the gym. I may not be like many endurance athlete moms out there, but I decided to make it an easy recovery and not do any strenuous activity until after six weeks. I wanted to avoid any possible injuries or long-term effects of working out too soon. This meant no running (and still, to this day - 8 weeks later - I haven't run).

During my sixth week post-delivery, and after my doctor check-up, I decided to take the plunge - in the pool, of course. Wow - did that feel weird. I'm so glad I kept up swimming during my pregnancy; I think it made it a lot easier to get back into it, not to mention help my delivery and recovery. Like I mentioned before, I believe working out during pregnancy is so important (but please make sure you've cleared it with your doctor beforehand AND make sure not to push yourself too hard).

It started with 30 minutes in the pool. I've now swum four more times in the last two weeks and I'm almost to my old swimming self - almost. The second swim I must have been swimming in mud, but the third and fourth were better. I started doing intervals, and doing drills every swim to work on the ol' form. The only thing I wish would snap back is my swimsuit body, but I'm being told that'll come in time (ugh).

Mixed in with the swims are walks outside, on the treadmill or time spent on the elliptical, and some weights. My legs are already more toned, I can see my arms coming back to form and my sides tighten up. But I can tell this is going to take a few more months. Too bad I don't have as much patience for this as I do with Emmy!

Doctor's orders

Bed rest does not a happy athlete make.

If you were to tell me 8 months ago I would be on bed rest during my pregnancy, I would have laughed. But fast forward to today, and here I am - on bed rest. Have been for the last 3 weeks. Oh sure, baby is doing great - she hasn't missed a beat. It's just baby and body are not cooperating and I someway, somehow went into early, preterm labor. It must have been all that shopping I did earlier in the day on a day off from work.

From all the reading and the childcare classes and all the stories, I always swore I wouldn't be "one of those pregnant ladies" who mistook Braxton Hicks contractions or think every pain or twitch was something important enough for a run to the hospital. I started having horrible ab pain on Friday late afternoon, the last weekend of September, and tried to feel better. I finally decided to look up what ab pain in pregnancy could mean (I was thinking more along the lines of stretching pains, but in the back of my head contractions). I found that if I'm still hurting after a period of rest, to call the doctor. So I figured I'll go to bed and if the pain is still around in the morning, we'll call the doctor.

Long story short, we wind up in the hospital to get checked out "just in case," though while walking in to the hospital I felt like such a lame duck and embarrassed and thought we would be out of there in a few hours, and a few hours turned into a few days. Turns out my body was gearing to go, and at only 32 weeks! Now we're just trying to make it as far as we can. I'm at 35 weeks tomorrow and I'm just waiting to make it to 37 weeks - after that, I'll be happy for Baby R to make an appearance any time!

In one day, all my efforts to have an active, fit pregnancy with any hope of bouncing back 'fast' after childbirth flew out the window. In a few short days I felt like my muscles were in atrophy and weak. But now, with some breaking of the doc's orders, I've been doing some cleaning and stretching that makes me feel a little bit better. An endurance athlete forced to do NOTHING has been interesting, challenging and difficult. Through this pregnancy, I've not only had to overlook the others going for long bike rides and runs but now I've had to step back completely and do absolutely no sort of working out.

Maybe it's good to have a break in training after 4 years...

Fighting exhaustion one day; thinking of Ironman the next

Week 26 for me was a little disconcerting; after my spell of exhaustion last week, I halted any workouts - my one and only was last Monday, which was 45 minutes of fast walking (3.5-4 mph) on an incline of 2.0-3.5. Not quite my idea of staying in shape and keeping the weight gain in check, but better safe than sorry, right?

I felt much better after working from home last Thursday and was able to enjoy a dinner Friday night with our training group for us Ironmen to share thoughts, tips and ideas on our experiences at Ironman to some Ironman hopefuls. All the talk about Ironman was making me wistful for another go at the distance, if not just any triathlon distance. It really got me thinking about which one will be my next... 2011 Ironman, anyone?

Hopefully my center of gravity is one of the first things to improve - this past weekend I was stumbling all over the place! Rather humorous, but it's not fun feeling this clumsy 24/7!

Here's to a better week 27 of pregnancy - only (only??) 13 weeks to go!

My pregnancy is my training, apparently

I was going through some of my past research on the effects of pregnancy on the body of an athlete and thought this should cheer me up (and others, if you're struggling like me):

Pregnancy does, in fact, have a training effect on you much like exercise does. It is nicely graduated as the baby grows, and unlike your exercise routine, there is no taking a day off!

Here are some of the systems in your body that are enhanced by pregnancy:

• Cardiovascular: During the course of pregnancy your blood volume increases by about 40 percent and your heart rate increases about 15 beats a minute to supply the growing baby with nutrients and oxygen. This is the equivalent of doing mild exercise 24 hours a day over 40 weeks, adding just a little more load each day.
  
• Breathing: Your respiratory rate increases, thus raising your oxygen uptake.
  
• Musculoskeletal: Your skeletal system strengthens in response to the progressive weight training that the baby affords. At the same time, the hormone relaxin, released to expand the pelvis for the birth, will make you the most flexible you have ever been in your life, and you can get a real jump-start in your stretching routine.
  
• Hormones: Your body pours out huge amounts of hormones to support and strengthen itself and the developing fetus.

So basically, I expect to improve my sprint, olympic and half Ironman tri times by 10s of minutes next season!

Exercising during pregnancy pros (and my mental cons)

It seems that more and more exercising during pregnancy is becoming commonplace. Maybe it's just because I'm around athletes a lot who don't consider "off season" in their vocabulary, but it's still interesting - yet fun - to show 'the others' that it can be done (yes, you stay-at-home women at the Y pool who look at me in my two piece swimming laps). And while I have not been doing group workouts so that I can keep it at my pace and my comfort level, I have found that I'm still not too far off from being able to 'hang with the group.' Which thrills me, really, because I need to make sure I come back from post-partum ready to rock and roll, kick butt and take names. :)

Sidenote: is it wrong to feel like a loser that I can't participate and can't continue to train while all these other people are racing and improving their times? I was talking to a fellow preggers triathlete in our tri group who has been feeling kinda the same way - it's difficult to know that our husbands are going out and riding 60-90 miles on Saturday while we're stuck away at home (or I'm trying to do an hour swim) cleaning, working on the to-do list, etc. instead of us out there with them, kicking butt on the bike. Man I miss my bike...

Anyways, like Tuesday, when I swam 2000m in ~40-45 minutes. That's approximately 1.25 miles. And while I have swum that faster in a half Ironman triathlon, it's still better than most who aren't carrying an alien inside them. My husband came back from a Master's swim and said they did 1800m; "In an hour?" I said, to which he said yes, "But we did, like, 5x200s in 6 minutes or so." So what - all my sets are between 200 and 400 meters, so I guess I could actually kick y'alls butt still. :)

But what really gets me is not being able to ride or run. I gave up riding outside on the streets around month 4 because I felt I don't need to be selfish and risk an injury or cause some major damage to my belly. And after a while, I had to give up spin because my hips were just not making it comfortable for me at all. I figured an hour spin wasn't worth the two days post-spin to be in pain - I'm uncomfortable enough as it is without it. And running has become minimized a bit - I've resorted to race walking and occasional run pick ups. And my "long runs" are now "long walks" on Sundays - which equates about one hour to 1h 15m because walking any longer than that is just not that exciting and it starts hurting. I do miss my runs around the lake or through some of my favorite richy-rich neighborhoods.

The other thing that gets me about not being able to participate in group workouts - don't worry that I don't even attempt to make the morning workouts anymore b/c there's no way I can get up that early right now - is all the new people coming into the group. I keep asking Bryon about them and every time he's out there with them I get more and more upset. It's just the competitor in me, I know, but it's very, very, VERY hard for me to just sit back and let this pregnancy - and baby - take me over. I just pray that the rumors behind the new moms who train during pregnancy come back afterward faster and stronger than before is true! (Some reading for that.)

All in all, once I quickly look past my competitive edge, I just remember the below points of why I really should continue my exercise.

Reasons your baby (and your body) will thank you for running (from here and here)

• Babies who are born to active mothers often have normal growth but decreased body fat at birth which may have lifelong benefits
• Regular exercise during pregnancy builds stamina and prepares & strengthens muscles and body for delivery
• Running while pregnant can increase your baby’s ability to self calm
• Moms who run have increased fetal movements which studies show may help with oral language acquistion later on
• Regular exercise during pregnancy better prepares the baby for the transition from the womb
• Running during pregnancy increases the circulation of blood and placental efficiency.
• Cardio exercise increases blood flow from the placenta, supplying nutrition and oxygen to the baby
• The endorphin rush that you feel when you run crosses the placental barrier and gives your baby its own “runner’s high. The feel good tranquilizing effect of endorphins can last up to 8 hours after exercise

Come December, when it's nice and chilly and I can cover all my baby fat with layers upon layers, I'll get my chance to pick it up again during the racing off season and begin preparing for next racing season. I just hope my age group is ready for some butt kicking, so get your popcorn ready. :)

You say 'weight', I say 'bleh'

I always imagined that I would stay within the 20-30 pound weight gain during my entire pregnancy. Ok, ok, probably more closely to 30. Up to 20 weeks, I was doing great - only gaining 11 pounds. Then I go in for my 24 week check up last week and I gained 7 pounds in ONE MONTH! What?? So of course my doctor says weight gain is fine but a little on the high end, so watch this and that and blahblahblah. Bryon jumps on board and starts throwing things out there like "so no cereal, no sweet tea, no this and that." Thanks for throwing me under the bus, dear! And the fact she threw in there that my glucose test is at the next appointment, in four weeks, and that I should be 'careful' because 'we'd want me to pass the test.' Really? Are we THAT worried?

So I freak out. I've never really had to watch my weight, except when I discovered I gained - and then immediately lost - 12 pounds in one month before my thyroidism was diagnosed.

So what do I do? Pick up my workouts, of course. Sure, I can tell I'm losing some muscle mass and the legs are getting flimsy, but I've cut out cycling and spinning (the hips are just not allowing that) and cut out full-on runs. So now I'm focusing on fast walks with some runs splattered in there intermittently, weights and swims.

What I've done since my dr's appointment last Wednesday:
Thursday: I can't remember, but I think I did weights and cardio? I've already forgotten...
Friday: 1800m swim
Sunday: 1h5m walk/run covering 4.5 miles
Monday: 45m walk on treadmill, on incline
Tuesady: 2000m swim

Six days later, I've actually lost about 1.5 pounds. Call me crazy, but "yay!" My baby's still kicking and I felt great the whole time, so I don't see an issue.

Long delay with big news

I've been MIA, I'll admit it. Every time I came to do a post, there was only one thing I wanted to talk about. And that one thing I absolutely couldn't talk about until very important people in my 'real' life knew. Of course, that happened at the end of May, which means I could have posted this a month ago. But that's beside the point. :)

What is this that I'm talking about?

I'm pregnant! The above photo shows just two of the FIVE tests I took over the first three days we found out. I just really had to make sure - I couldn't believe it! (Plus, we bought two different packages and since they come with two tests each we may as well use them all up since there's no use in keeping them for the next time...hopefully not for quite awhile after this first one!)

We found out back in March. Based on timing, bambino is pretty much our 1-year anniversary baby! The story on how we found out is actually funny: I woke up on a Thursday morning to go to the bathroom and decided to go ahead and take a test since I was still 'waiting' just to calm my head. Took the test, sat it on the bedside table, dozed off a little more and woke up to check it not expecting anything (I had a few negative tests before and was trying not to get hopes up). Took a look and could hardly believe I was reading 'Pregnant.' I woke up Bryon, scaring him a little, and told him to read the stick because I just wasn't believing it. He looked, I looked, we looked at each other, and after our eyes welled up we thought out loud "What the heck did we just get ourselves into???"

Ever since, it's been so hard to keep quiet especially when everwhere we turned, someone else we knew was announcing they were pregnant. For example, the day after we found out we went to our Friday morning group run and one of the girls turned to me and said she was pregnant. I know I paused with a dumbfounded look on my face because the first thought that jumped in my head was "I am too!" Luckily I bit my tongue and said congratulations instead. But, I ran with her as she was going slower and I was already feeling morning sickness, and of course I had to make an excuse as to why I was sticking behind. There are at least 12 women I know either at work (5!) or in everyday life who are expecting. It's a Baby Boomer's children's baby boom!

Since then, both of our families know, my office knows and all our friends know. And in this day in age, when telling more and more people, we had to constantly say "Don't put it on Facebook until you see something from us!"

We've had two ultrasounds - one at 5.5 weeks to confirm the little peanut was there and one at 12 weeks (above). It's amazing to see the difference in such a short time! Our next ultrasound is the first week of July, where we'll found out the gender, though during our 12 wk screening the doc guessed it was a girl by one image is was able to capture. He says he's right 4 out of 5 patients, so we'll see if he is.

Two preggers out for a ride before we both get too big.

I'm 18 weeks along, and they say Baby R is the size of a bell pepper or sweet potato. I'm definitely showing but don't have any belly pictures as of yet. I've been running/walking, swimming and weightlifting sporadically but slowly getting back to a rhythm of working out now that I actually feel 'normal.' (Though I don't know how you can feel normal with a protruding belly that I've never had before.) Now that I've posted this initial post I'll be keeping up with how my workouts are going. I can tell you now as an endurance athlete I am out of my element!

Moving along

For some reason, it's feeling more like March than May right now in North Texas. It's raining every day and it's even been getting a bit chilly. And while we're smack in the middle of our kitchen remodel, the rain is not really a friend of ours, though I know we could definitely use it.

But, it has made for some nice mornings for runs, except for Friday. I actually showed up to the Friday run group to do a short, slow 3 mile run, and I felt like I was sweating a bucket of sweat. It was so humid! All day it was like that - did I move to Houston? I don't think so, so please go away. Well, it did, and Saturday and Sunday were actually chilly.

I have actually done 3 workouts in 4 days! Yes - me! They aren't great workouts but I'm moving, and that's what counts, right?

Thursday night - 40 min elliptical, some arm weights
Friday morning - 3 mile group run
Sunday morning - 50 minute run

It's not what I was doing a year ago, or even six months ago, but with everything going on in my life right now, it's what I can handle.

"Training is the opposite of hoping"

Hmm. This quote is so true, yet the last month and half I've been doing more hoping than training - hoping that my lack of working out is just a good break for my body and not doing anything horrible to it by not working out. Think it will work?

Well, not exactly. Although this extended quiet period from me doesn't mean I completely fell off the face of the training world, it does mean I've slacked - er, relaxed - my necessity to train. But, mostly it's because of things happening outside of my training life, and things I can't quite control. But more to come on that later.

In the last six weeks or so since my last post, I've done a run here and there, bits of swimming and jaunts in the weight room and on the elliptical. But I miss my set training schedule, I miss my energy to get up every morning and MOVE and I miss racing! (Who knew I would ever really say that?!?) However, in these few weeks, I've thought about my passion for triathlon and wondered if it would be right for me to take a break and pursue something else.

How about trying to qualify for Boston? Watching the women's race was exciting, though I was eating mac & cheese at my desk at work...doesn't really get me on the right foot to do so! However, I first need to leap the hurdle of completing my first marathon-only race (still!). (By the way, anyone registered in the lottery for New York? Can't wait to find out if I made it in or not...) But lately I've been reading more and more tri blogs and getting my itch again. A bit of bad timing, but I'm hoping it'll help me keep my sites on for next season. We shall see. In the meantime, I'll just stick with running and swimming and see where it takes me.

Week in review - Spring is here!

First of all, I can't believe it's already almost April! Yipee! I just can't wait until May...

But, first, the past 8 days have been busy for me (what else is new??) but also quite successful in terms of getting my workouts in. They aren't long or hard but I'm getting moving. :)

Monday - Spin
Tuesday - Run, 4 miles
Thursday - Weights/cardio
Friday - Group run, 4 miles
Saturday - 30 min swim
Sunday - Run, ~4.5/5 miles

I may either spin tonight or just stick with some weights and cardio. I have to keep my workouts easy for now so I think this is pretty darn good.

Oh, and I did yard work yesterday - that counts as an arm and ab workout! :)

Hope everyone gets to enjoy such pretty weather as we have been in Dallas this past week. Although we're supposed to get some storms this week, it's definitely been nice and sunny. Too bad I didn't have spring break to enjoy it!

Weekend warrior

I was never a weekend warrior. In fact, I strived not to BE a weekend warrior. (And for those of you who aren't familiar with the term, it's basically only training on the weekends.)

But, it seems I may be in a "weekend warrior" kinda funk right now. You may recall that last week I completed an 11-mile run on Sunday. But where was Saturday, Friday, or any other day that week? And today I'm writing to tell you that my weekend workout was great, in fact, but that was three days ago. So what did I end up doing?

Saturday I - actually! - swam at the Y, getting in about 2400 yards. I showered off and then did weights. Deadlifts, leg extensions, leg curls and some arm stuff.

Sunday, I got in a 10 mile run with Bryon. 10 miles! I'm not sure what's up with these double-digit long runs in my body, but I think it's all thanks to the exploration I've been doing through the multi-million dollar neighborhoods a few blocks from my not-so-multi-million-dollar neighborhood. Bryon tagged along, with the stipulation that he CANNOT push me or be annoyed that I'm going too slow (he's just darn too fast). I did well enough for me - somewhere around the 9:30 pacing. It was a chilly day, and we didn't run until 11:15 or so, which was weird.

Monday, I did spin class with Coach Jason, and the focus was on tempo as there is the first sprint tri of the season here in Dallas next weekend. Helped the legs get moving a little more and losened up.

As for Tuesday and today, well, I did set the alarm and we did plan on getting up, but we're hitting snooze and sleeping "in" until 7 or so.

So, this has been going on for a couple of weeks now, and I hope it's just a short phase; I'm not saying being a weekend warrior is bad, horrible and lazy. No, I'm just saying this isn't like me, it's been a long, long time since I've only worked out 3 days a week, and while it seems nice, I'm not happy with it.

Training takes a stall

A quick update on my training. I was on a hot streak but it took a dive this last week (mostly due to my monthly visitor and a busy, busy schedule). Hopefully I get it back in gear - and I'm sure I can - but maybe I just needed a little break too. Especially my shoulder. My next ART treament is this coming Friday so I hope we're knocking these tight muscles out of their sleep and getting them going again.

So, without further delay, my lazy week and a half:

Thurs, Feb 5 - 3000 yard swim
Fri, Feb 6 - 30m elliptical, weights
Sat, Feb 7 - 2700 yard swim; 1h45m indoor bike for ALS
Sun, Feb 8 - 7.8 mile run
Sun, Feb 15 - 5.5 mile run

So, yes, you read that right: one workout in the last week. Of course, that doesn't count my countless steps I've taken for my little volunteer projects I did last week. That counts for something, right?? :)

Let the training commence

I've actually got an update on my training! So exciting - I think I've gotten over the bronchitis and the slacking off, and back to waking early and getting my workouts done.

My last week and a half included:
Sat., Ride on the trainer 1.5 hrs
Sun., Swim 2,000m
Mon., Indoor spin class with coach
Tues., Swim 2500m
Wed., Ride on the trainer 1hr
Fri., Elliptical for 30min and weights
Sat., Swim 3,000m
Sun., 4 mile run with Duke
Mon., Indoor spin class with coach
Tues., Swim 2400m

Now, however, my left shoulder is now tweaked again, but I had a first bout of ART this morning. It's an old injury that last flared up really bad during my Ironman training in which I got 3 cortisone shots within 9 months.

Anyhow, no upcoming race updates yet, so training is purely for *fun* and get my base back up.

On my plate

And no, I'm not talking about food (although I know my husband would love to share to all my "10-year-old diet")...

My lack of posts is equally equivalent to the lack of training I've been doing. I don't want this to be a forum of complaining and I don't have any exciting workouts to share.

But, I think I've finally kicked the last of my bronchitis. Yay! I've given the doctor the one extra week of no workouts that I said I would give her. But - it's been so long, I don't know what to do and I'm not sure I want to do anything with my group yet. (I'd rather jump back in by myself so no one sees my struggles to get the workout done...)

So, these past few weeks, with the no workout plan going on, I've been thinking about what my 2009 game plan is - what my races will be, which determines my training schedule. 2009 is bringing new opportunities for Bryon and me, and we have so much in the air! This is the first year in my years of racing (does that make me sound experienced??) that I don't want to nail down any certain races. I feel that this year will bring more obstacles (good obstacles) that will make me/us forgo a race we've signed up for which is a loss of money - and frustrating!

Jan - ?
Feb - ?
Mar - ?
Apr - ?
May - Mini Marathon Half Marathon, Indianapolis, IN
June - ?
July - Swim coordinator for Playtri again?
Aug - ?
Sept - Tour des Fleurs event coordinator
Oct - Komen Race for the Cure volunteer; Livestrong Challenge, Austin, TX
Nov - Lottery entry for NYC Marathon?
Dec - ?

(Hmm...there's no tris on here....)

What's your 2009 racing plan? If there were 1 or 2 KEY races that you could only commit to, what would they be?

Lots of holes, but lots on our plates in other parts of our lives! Here's to 2009 and great racing - and injury-free racing - for everyone!

The ho-ho-holidays and what it did to me

Well, it's back to the grove, now that the holidays are over, right? Well, not so fast for me unfortunately. Seems like I didn't quite survive the frequent run-ins with shoppers, extended family members and kids, along with the -4 degree weather in Chicago. Yep, I'm sick. And not just whimpy ol' sick, but bronchitis!

I never get sick.

But, apparently, somewhere along the way I did.

I will say I did complete a great 5.5 mile run on Christmas Day. It was sunny and WARM in TX and I was running in shorts and a tee! Go figure. (Gotta love TX weather.) Then the following Monday, before New Year's, I decided to pull myself out of the house and go for a run, and I had the worst run I've had in years.

I was so tired. I had to walk in the FIRST MILE! I knew something was wrong when that happened. I hadn't had to do that in a really, really long time. My chest was heavy and I was spitting out a lot of phlegm (not to get too into the nitty gritty details for ya). I stopped at the Y and considered calling my husband for a ride back, but I thought maybe - for some strange reason - I lost any amount of endurance since the Thursday before, which is completely doubtful. I decided to do some weights and run back instead. The run back was a bit easier (of course, this was all down hill, unlike the first 1.5 miles uphill), but still wasn't easy.

Tuesday I took another try at running to the gym before doing a swim. A little easier than Monday but still not good. My swim was as good as it could be for a workout on my own and a couple weeks out of the pool. And then I hitched a ride back with Bryon, who was doing weights (and drove my swim bag up to the gym - thank you! :)).

After Tuesday, I went completely downhill from there. My sinuses kicked in, which led me and our tri group to say it was the over-chlorinated indoor pool at the Y, but then by Friday I was exhausted. Saturday and Sunday were spent in PJs all day long and on the couch.

So much for my last week of vacation.

Fast forward to this week. Monday and Tuesday my chest wasn't feeling much better and now I was exasperated when walking down the hall in the office or talking. FINALLY went to the doctor Wednesday and did several tests and an X-ray to determine I have bronchitis. Gee. Good times. I asked when I can start training again and she laughed at me and said "Please, give me one more week!" Ugh, fine.

Well, I didn't quite listen to her - I did weights this morning while Bryon ran for the first time since the Turkey Trot and his back injections. Then one of our training buddies said I better be careful or I can enlarge my heart. What?!? Yikes! I slowed down after that.

Anyways, due to the unfortunate event of this illness, it looks like I have to bail out of my group's 100x100 swim on Sunday. Yes, that 100 100yds swim, which would equal out to 10,000 yards of swimming. Which equals 5.68 miles. Bryon and I were going to relay it, but we'll see how I feel...

Hope everyone else made it through the holidays healthy and moving!

Football and training

Thanksgiving has come and gone. Nothing like Thanksgiving with family and the Dallas Cowboys! We had a fun time tailgating and hanging out at the game.


And with Thanksgiving gone and Christmas coming soon, nearly two months have passed since my last training program. Yeah, I've done a few gym sessions here and there, but nothing related to swimming or biking (I did have a few runs - and they were great! Funny how some time makes you feel better. :)).

Well, Sunday I finally kicked my rear into gear: I swam. Yes, I got into the pool for the first time in two months. In ANY body of water, for that matter. It was Sunday, it was by myself, and it wasn't too bad. And the way I always think, it had been so long since I had swum with the group that I had to swim by myself and "get my toes wet," no pun intended.

Monday I had the day off so I did the 8 a.m. spin class and listened to all the moms talk about their holiday. One mom seemed to be welcomed back to the class - must have been gone on hiatus for a while - and she said "Yeah, well, my youngest started kindergarten this year and I just haven't used my time wisely." Gag.

Today was a successful day too! Swim with the tri group - FINALLY! - and spin class after work.

I figured I'm on a roll, so I should just keep going... Is it too much too fast too soon? I don't know, but I'm feeling good during all my workouts, completed all the workouts. Could it be I haven't lost too much of my endurance? Possibly, but I don't think I had a good enough training going into Longhorn. Oh well. I just knock on wood I don't get injured.

Here's to the holidays and trying to catch up to the food-consuming and partying!

Off season

It's the off season now. And I am definitely OFF. Longhorn 70.3 was nearly two months ago, and here's what I've accomplished:

• some runs (once or twice a week, but at this point, I haven't run in almost two weeks)
• no bike
• no swim
• once or twice/week weight workouts

With that last one, I have made it to the gym at LEAST once a week. Do at LEAST 30 minutes of cardio and then some good weight workouts.

And the best part (or the part that's making me complete less workouts per week than during regular training): I have not once gotten up at 5:30 a.m. to do a workout. Of course, this does mean I have been getting to bed later and later which in turn does not allow my body to function enough at 5:30 to get out of bed even to pee. I haven't even bothered to bring my cell phone into the room to set the alarm on it. Because I know I WON'T GET UP. I've accepted it.

I do have to say, though, I haven't been all that lazy. For the last four weekends, hubby and I have been redoing our front landscaping. Yep, I tillered, laid new soil, laid the metail trim thingys for the beds and planted more than 30 plants. Doing all that is a workout in itself.

But, I will need to begin again. Thanksgiving's in two days, and then Christmas - I've got to stay on top of my body while gourging on all this food!!

Different strokes for different folks...

Trying to fit into Dave Scott's shoes

Motivation comes in different ways to every person. My motivation changes daily, hourly, you name it - it changes as much as my moods do. But I try to latch on to what works and what doesn't and go from there.

With my first big race in a few months coming up in less than two weeks, I've got to start digging deep. Why do I keep putting my body through this? Who would want to wake up at 4 a.m. on race mornings and line up in sometimes chilly water and race for sometimes hours on end? When will I ever get to sleep in and not feel guilty that I skipped a workout?

Bryon's motivation - for a second at least

Anyways, I guess you always have to question reasons why you do things. Makes you sane, and ultimately, makes you human.

Is that too philosophical?

But for now, my motivation is a reasonable finish time, better my time from my first half Ironman in 2005, ice cream sandwiches, and a steady fitness that will carry me through the winter and into my first marathon-only race in March or April.

Yum...ice cream sandwiches. Time for dessert!

How far is too far?

Disturbing bit of news I read today - a Taiwan ultramarathon woman had both her legs amputated after getting blisters on her feet during an 18-day race that popped and got infected. She's a mother and was slated to run in another race directly after this race in France. What a disturbing finish to a race. She didn't stop after they popped and finished 17th out of 44 runners.

Would you have stopped?

In other news, I've been getting my training in this week (knock on wood for the rest of the week!).

Saturday: 20 minute open water swim, 3 hour bike, 15 min run
Sunday: 45 min bike, 1h45m run w/ 1 min pick-up every 10 minutes (and after Saturday's ride - ugh!)
Monday: Off
Tuesday: masters swim
Wednesday: Bart Yasso's! 3x800, 4:00 min with 3:00 min 400 rest

Coming up:
Thursday: masters swim
Friday: 45 min run
Saturday: 20 min open water swim, 3.5 hour bike, 15 min run

And the biggest news ALL WEEK! Lance Armstrong is coming back! I think he's been having some discussions with Brett Favre lately. I don't get it - what's with all the retiring and coming back? Are they just being quitters at one point or another and then feel guilty for quiting? Were they looking for news? I'll never know, but this is huge for cycling and the Tour...

Happy training!