Just Tri and Finish

Aloha........

2011-09-06T15:33:00.000-05:00

Labor Day weekend for us was pretty laid back. No major parties or get together's. We played golf Friday, baseball tournament Saturday/Sunday, watched a ton of football and enjoyed the VERY WELCOME nice temperatures.

Yesterday I taught my THIRD spin class --- all 80's sound track..... it was fun music for a fun day. I have had my classes grow each week by one person - started with 12 and yesterday had 14. very.freakin.excited.

I hope they continue to grow, I think my class if fun, a great workout, and educational - but hey that's me :)

Other than that, we are prepping for Maui on Friday! I can't believe it's here..... really HERE! I've been waiting for what seems like forever to be going on vacation and I just can't stand it any longer.... ready to board that plane and head west.

So far our itinerary looks like this:

Thursday - full day of work; take off from DFW to SEA at 9:45pm

Friday - Leave SEA at 9:30 (Seattle time) and land in Maui 1:30 (Maui time ~ 6hrs of flight time)
- Drive around the island and explore - grab some fruity drinks, get an ocean swim, explore, explore.
explore!!!!!

Saturday - Pick up the jeep rental at the airport and drive the Road to Hana - with MULTIPLE stops during the 60 mile one way trip including, water falls, natural swimming pools, red sand beaches, black sand beaches, a nude beach and plenty of hiking! (talk about a great workout!)

Sunday - (through Wednesday) Check in at the Ritz Carlton and my 5 days of relaxation begins.... Bill is playing golf two days and I'm planning on spa-ing it up - massage and facial and all the amenities of the spa - i.e. plunge pools, steam rooms, saunas, hot tubs, fresh fluffy towels, robes and slippers........ cucumbers on the eyes.... you name it I'm doing it. Relax by the pool with fruity drinks, take a dip in the ocean, eat my face off, and probably get a few runs in........ done and done.....

Thursday - Check into a beach side cottage and settle in for the remainder of our trip through Saturday. We are planning on snorkeling, taking a morning volcano tour with breakfast and a bike ride down. And other hiking/swimming/island adventures on our own.

Aloha!

I just peed my pants.....

2011-09-01T16:27:00.002-05:00

Today we acquired 5 NEW SPONSORS for the Ride 4 Jess!

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you to Shannon and Michelynne for their support in this race and cause!

Michelynne, owner and friend extraordinaire.... RM2 Productions - Michelynne will be helping me with design for promotional material and such.... Thank you Miche for dedicating your time and efforts - you are such an amazing friend!

Shannon - of the fantastically inspiring IRONTEXAS MOMMY - and all of her ambassador-ship signed up the following sponsors:
- Aquaphor -
- Fit-n-Wise - a FREE entry into their 2012 triathlon race series will be given away along with a tshirt and water bottle so you are fully equipped to KICK BUTT at their tri series in the spring.
- Wise Regional Health System -
- Clinical Care Associates -

Thank you so much to both of you for being just completely AWESOME and selfless.

Ah-mazing!!!!!

Par for the course......

2011-08-29T14:06:00.000-05:00

Pretty par for the course these days that I am overwhelmed and WAYYYY behind on blog reading.

As in 1000+ unread blogs....so many that google has stopped counting.

My sincere apolgoies for falling off the face of the earth.

I haven't been doing much EXCEPT working the REAL job, working the LTF gig, and planning the RIDE 4 Jess on October 9.

Very excited to annouce that we have a sponsor for the event:

Nutrition Addiction: There mission is to bring good nutrition to community members and to provide the valuable service of informing people about the importance of good nutrition and regular exercise to achieve optimum health.
There GOAL: To fill the gap between the desire and the action, giving members the tools to help those that want to make a change for a healthier lifestyle. Providing solutions, motivation, education and a friendly atmosphere where they feel valued and supported with like minded individuals.

We will be starting and ending the ride from their location in Grapevine - all proceeds from smoothie sales that day will be directly donated to the National Brain Tumor Society. Along with that they will post up an aid station around mile 6.5 of the first loop, mile 19.5 of the second loop and mile 32.5 of the third loop which will serve the HerbaLife Prolong Product mixed with water.

Prolong is a dual-source blend of maltodextrin and low glycemic fructose facilitates carbohydrate utilization with a 12:1 carbohydrate-to-protein ratio with ultrapure whey protein isolate that helps reduce muscle breakdown during exercise. Bioavailable electrolytes help maintain a cellular environment for proper muscle contraction and B Vitamins support carbohydrate metabolism. Provides 500% daily value of Vitamin C to scavenge cell-damaging free radicals.

In layman's terms....the stuff is delicious.

So that's where I am right now with THAT! I am very excited that this has taken on a life of it's own and we are a little over a month away from actually hosting the ride.

Don't forget you can participate virtually - just make a donation to my fundraising page (ANY AMOUNT IS APPRECIATED) and let me know you are participating either by commenting or emailing me at
allie0622{at}yahoo{dot}com.

If you are going to actually be able to BE THERE on October 9 - let me know that too.... email or comment!

We will have donation tables set up for credit card donations the day of the ride! Donations will be accepted through November 5!

Happy Monday Y'all!

New Format for the Ride For Jess

2011-08-23T14:14:00.000-05:00

Due to previous commitments with Life Time Fitness Cycle Club; I'm going to be unable to do the 12 hour bike ride on October 8.

I didn't realize when I picked the date that I was going to 1) be hired at LTF as the coordinator (it was still up in the air) and 2) have a mandatory expo that day.

So here are the new details

When: Sunday, October 9, 2011
Where: White Rock Lake
Why: To Raise Money for the Brain Tumor Foundation Dallas/Fort Worth Walk on November 5

The Nitty Gritty:

Anyone is welcome to ride, run, walk, jog, skip, scooter, segway, skate around the lake.

All I ask is that if you are going to come out and participate you make a DONATION to my FUNDRAISING PAGE (any denomination is appreciated!) and either comment here that you are going to participate or email me and let me know.

Take 1/2, 1, 2 or even loops around the lake whatever works for you! I will try and have ride leaders for 1 loop, 2 loops or 3 loops.

Runners - feel free to come out for your long training day.

Also - if you can participate virtually that would be awesome as well! Just a make a donation and let me know that you are going to participate!

Hoping to have a few sponsors that will provide some giveaways on race day.

I hope to have your support if you live here in the area and very much hope that you are able to participate!!!!!!

Every day is a new day to get re-motivated...

2011-08-17T16:18:00.000-05:00

My coach sent me that in an email on Sunday when she sent me my weekly workouts.

It was just a what I needed.

Monday I went to the spin class that will soon be "MY" spin class... as in I'm the coach/instructor/i'll.kick.your.butt.with.one.little.red.dial

Very excited about that. Monday 8/22 I'm waiting for you (and all the spinsters at the gym) EEK!!!

Tuesday I had to go to Little Rock for work so I woke up early (SHOCKER!) for the first time in about a billion years and headed to the track for a workout with the Life Time Fitness Run Club.

Best 3 mile run ever.

Not the fastest, not the easiest, but best ever. Knowing that I was "back out there" doing what I love...training.

I think I like training more than racing? Is that normal?

Any who - tonight is a 4 miler-ish with my girl Courtney! LOVE RUNNING WITH HER! We always have so much fun and the time passes so quickly!

Off to run.......

a post about rain

2011-08-15T09:46:00.000-05:00

Saturday morning I woke up to rain outside.

Seriously - rain; I forgot what it looked like. I was kind of confused and thought that perhaps the sprinkler system had busted again and my excitement would be whisked away by a rogue sprinkler head, but alas I was wrong and the water was actually FALLING FROM THE SKY!

I woke up early on Saturday, loaded all my gear and headed for our fitness expo at Life Time Fitness. We were launching our cycle club and from the looks outside I just knew it was going to be a slow day at the gym b/c of the rain. Since we haven't had RAIN in what seems like YEARS, I just knew everyone was going to take advantage and have a lazy rainy Saturday.

I was in deed right....

I stayed at the gym until around 12:30 and then headed home. My phone rang I was driving the 3 miles home and Bill lovingly said "the a/c is broke....again".

*this is the third time it's broken this summer*

We called out the A/C company, I stayed home while Bill went and picked up his Dad from the hospital. In short, we need a new outside unit.

They are replacing it today at 12. Hallelujah! We've stayed at the house that was formerly on the market the last two nights.

At least we have a place to go I guess.

Happier news.... 23 days until Maui........ .

Now...go get me a mai tai :)

PS - major changes coming in regards to the ride 4 jess.... hopefully this week so stay tuned

2011-08-08T20:53:00.000-05:00

I've been at a loss for words actually, shocker I know, but between full time work (real pay check), part time work (fun pay check), planning a 12 hour bike ride (that most likely will have the date changed), studying for a professional designation (for real paycheck work), AND keeping up with a house, a boy, and three dogs, blogging has been pushed down, down, down on the allison-do list.

I'm sorry :(

I promise I will come back with soooon --- until then I leave you with this challenge;

I NEED MUSIC FOR MY SPIN CLASS - READY, SET, GIVE ME YOUR FAV WORKOUT SONGS!!

A Must Read

2011-08-03T13:02:00.001-05:00

http://cooktraineatrace.com/marathon-makeover-north-dallas/

108 is too friggin' hot.....

2011-08-01T11:22:00.000-05:00

Seriously - this is ridiculous...

What a nightmare - how do the "workout gods" expect you to actually GET OUT and run/bike/whatever in this miserable heat????

I love summer, I love the heat and I certainly love lounging in the pool but this heat is ri-donkulous.....

Instead of riding outside today (or taking spin class) I'll be on my trainer for 1.5hrs. getting back in the saddle and gearing up for the ride on October 8.

Lots of trainer time over the next few months (and spin class too!)

How do you beat the heat and stay motivated? For me it's really difficult but I know I HAVE TO DO IT!

Please please please visit - RIDE 4 JESS (on BLOGGER HERE and on FB HERE!) Follow us, like us, donate to us :)

Join in on the F-U-N and stay tuned for details!!!!

Ahhhhhh

2011-07-29T09:16:00.000-05:00

Friday is here! YAY!!!

It's been a crazy summer and I've barely had time to blog; BUT I'm so glad I did get the announcement out about the Ride 4 Jess..... I am so excited to share this with everyone and I thank you for your support!

Have you "liked" us on FB yet??? You should! Please go NOW and like us - follow the new blog Ride 4 Jess and keep up to date with all the information surrounding the ride.

This weekend is jammed packed (as summer weekends usually are) but I'm thrilled to hop on my bike and start riding away.

The bike ride will definitely be a challenge; but it will all be worth it in the end.

If you have any ideas on how we can better promote this ride and cause please email me and let me know!

If you are in the DFW area and have connections at news stations, radio stations, newspapers, etc I would love to utilize your resources.

The more I can spread the word about this cause, the more money we can raise, research can improve, patient advocacy can improve and WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

HAPPY FRIDAY Y'ALL!!!!!!!!

Ride 4 Jess Blog

2011-07-28T15:11:00.002-05:00

http://ride4jess.blogspot.com/

Visit, browse, follow, donate.......

What can you do???????

2011-07-26T10:54:00.000-05:00

THANK YOU for all the wonderful and supportive comments about my ambitious 12hr bike ride! I really appreciate them and am so excited to embark on this journey!

So many of you have asked "what can I do to help"????

My initial list of TO-DO's is growing..... but that's for me to worry about and not you...

The #1 thing YOU CAN DO is to SPREAD THE WORD!!! Please share my fundraising page with ANYONE and EVERYONE you can! Post it on your blog, FB, Twitter, WHATEVER - send a carrier pigeon; JUST GET THE WORD OUT!!!! Even .50 would help....this goes directly to the National Brain Tumor Society - it does not go to me, my bank account or anyone else.

Step #2 - if you donate (which I sure hope you do) - Engage your corporation for a matching donation. It may take a few extra minutes but I know my company will match up to $5,000 of contributions is a calendar year!! That means if I donated $100 - they will match that and make it $200 total!!! Think about how that could change a life!!!!

Step #3 - RIDE WITH ME!!!!!! The place is To Be Determined - I'm hoping it will end up somewhere public but it may just happen in my living room (let's be honest) - You can hop on your bike Saturday October 8 and RIDE TO FIGHT BRAIN TUMORS!!!!!!! Let me know that you are going to participate; details regarding the ride and riding in your hometown will be delivered shortly.

Step #3.5 - WALK WITH US!!! If you live in the DFW area and want to participate in the walk in Fort Worth on November 5 - JOIN OUR TEAM, FACING GIANTS, HERE If you don't live here but still want to get involved you join as a virtual participant! ($10)

Step #4 - I'm working on a giveaway to host for all of you that donate............ so stay tuned for that!!!!!!

A new blog/website dedicated solely to this effort will debut sometime in the near future....working on that too.....

Now off to spread the word (you should do the same!)

LET'S UNITE TO FIGHT CANCER!!!!!!!

The BIG announcement

2011-07-25T09:18:00.000-05:00

It's a BIG announcement; but without many details - it's still in the infancy stages...

So many are familiar with the great EMZ, you read her, you love her (instantly) and you want her to be your running buddy, best friend, champion, and second mom (what a lucky little girl peanut is).

She is awe-inspiring, has the best abs known to man, the greatest belt buckle ever created, and a compassionate heart.

She has inspired me through her blog posts for quite sometime now, her shoe collection is unreal.... and she got me thinking.

Like.freaking.thinking

I was standing over a pot of spaghetti one night thinking about Jess, EMZ, Sojourner and the Brain Tumor Walk - how can I MAKE a difference THIS YEAR (remember here?)

and then it hit me......

By.riding.my.freaking.bike.

A 12 hour bike ride for Jess.

EMZ ran for Sojourner - I will ride for Jess (and all other BT patients, families, survivors, friends, caregivers, researchers, etc)

So ... here it is...

When: October 8, 2011

Where: To be determined...

Why: Ride to fight Brain Tumors 2011

How can you help: GO HERE and donate to my fundraising page

More details to come…. Trust me lots more details….

Oh yes, I’ll be back with an update about where I’ve been lately; after I read my 847 unread blog posts in my google reader…… YIKES!!!!

47 days until Maui……. Ahhhhhhhhhhhh

75 days until the 12 hour ride for Jess

5 states, 5 days

2011-07-13T15:29:00.000-05:00

I started in Texas on Friday - delayed three hours, Landed in Louisiana, drove to Mississippi arrived at almost midnight Friday --- back to NOLA on Saturday to pick up Bill, back to MS to the anniversary party for my aunt and uncles 50th wedding anniversary and then back to Louisiana on Sunday where I sat in an airport for close to 10 hours (does not include the two hours we spent in the french quarter) to catch a flight that would take me to TX and land me in my door at 1:00am only to leave at 7:30am to head out to Philadelphia on Monday and then drive to Delaware on Monday afternoon to be in a three day training session...I leave DE to drive to PA to fly to TX ..... to be HOME on Thursday night.

*BIG FAT YAWN*

It's been crazy crazy around here - which would be the reason I haven't posted in 14 days. Workouts have been limited at best...and I have a sprint tri on Sunday which is going to KILL me... seriously I may die... which would suck b/c then I would be able to make my BIG ANNOUNCEMENT HOPEFULLY NEXT WEEK....keep hagin' in there...

Up on the docket this weekend... Wedding Friday night, baseball playoffs Saturday, Tri Sunday.... I'm tired thinking about it... Monday I hope to get a massage... I need one to RELAX!

Anyway - just thought I'd check in from DE and let you know that I was in fact alive and racking up the airline miles (hello Hawaii........maybe one free ticket at least)

We will return to your regularly scheduled programming soon......

Rollin' Rollin' Rollin'..........

2011-06-30T14:31:00.000-05:00

Things have been rollin' along around here at Tri and Finish.... We started our week(s) of travel.... Want to see what it looks like??

I was gone Tuesday/Wednesday in OK for work, came home last night (Wed) we leave tomorrow (Fri) for Houston for a baseball tournament...return home Sunday.

Following Wed (July 6) Bill leaves for a work trip to TN - the Jack Daniel's Distillery...rough work trip I know... and I leave Friday (July 8) for MS for my Aunt and Uncle's 50th wedding anniversary party. Bill will meet me there on Saturday (July 9) and we return home Sunday (July 10).

I leave Monday (July 11) for Wilmington, DE for work and will not be home until Thursday (July 14) - then I have a tri on July 17 ... I'm tired just typing that.....

Have you missed me?? I've been kind of MIA on here (not just posting, but commenting too - but trust me I've been reading...can we say lurker??) and on Twitter.... but you know what, LIFE is CYCLICAL and you have to ROLL with the punches...

I have a HUGE idea in my head right now - that's really really really really really really really really hard to keep secret - but I can't let it out JUST yet... in case you know it doesn't come to fruition... but think of an epic idea and times it by 100.......not that I can take credit for the WHOLE idea b/c I can't .. .but darn skippy it's a good one....

Trying to get back on track to regularly blogging (and blogging about good stuff)..... training is semi-halted right now just b/c of the schedule. Oh - yes - I didn't tell you....

I'm in the process right now of getting on board with Lifetime Fitness as a cycle instructor AND the Cycle Club coordinator. Which would mean 1 indoor class per week (maybe 2) and then 1 outdoor ride per week. I'm super excited about it and I hope it all works out - I think I will love putting my passion into a paid (albeit small) position....what a way to earn some extra cash though :)

So as you can see - things are movin' and groovin' over here... house is still on the market... grrrrrrrr...

and I'm counting down the days until we go here:

approx. 75ish days......

ALOHA!!

If I could make the sound of a bugle call into words that would be the title of this post......

2011-06-20T16:09:00.000-05:00

I will have to finish up on my post(s) about my week of vegetarianism later…. Because this is just too freaking fantastic to wait….

It was scheduled to be a “normal” weekend for us, dinner on Friday with an out of town friend, training, baseball, a little lounging, a birthday for Bill’s niece, and celebrating Father’s Day with Bill’s dad. Busy but typical. I had a scheduled hair appointment for 9am Saturday morning. I love going to get my hair did. It is probably one of my most favorite things to do. I woke up early on Saturday; refreshed and ready to start the day. I hopped in the shower, piddled around, got dressed and picked up my friend Laura (who’s in from out of town) and we went to Starbuck’s. She went with me to get my hair done.

Our plan for after my appointment was to head back to my house, meet up with Karen and her boyfriend, Randy, grab Bill (after his baseball game) and head to lunch before we spent the day getting’ mani/pedi’s and just having a fun girls day. Laura had never been to the house since I relocated to Bill’s abode so we were going to meet there.

We pulled down my street and up to the house…. I saw my mom’s car in my driveway. I was very confused; but thought maybe she stopped by b/c she was in the neighborhood or something. Laura walked in before me as I stepped through my front door I heard “SURPRISE!!!” and about 25 people were standing in my living room!

I had zero idea of what was happening.

Then I started looking around and saw the 30^th bday decorations, the premade drinks that Bill made; the Happy Birthday plates, cake, and napkins. It sunk in…. **Yes it took me a while to figure out that this was for me! **

Bill had Cayla hand me a gift wrapped box…. I opened it and inside was a new dress and a HUGE FLOPPY HAT!!! It was so cute…. Then he told me that in about an hour a party bus was picking all of us up and taking us to the horse races.

YOU HAVE GOT TO BE FREAKING KIDDING ME!!!

I was stoked! I ran upstairs and changed into my new outfit as fast as humanly possible.

When I came down; people kept showing up – and I was definitely brought to tears at one point for how thankful I was and how loved I felt. I have never been short on words; but all I could say over and over was THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!

The party bus arrived and we were off to the races…..

We arrived at the track and I saw this……

And this…..

And then this when we walked into our air conditioned semi-private room (complete with all you can eat buffet….boo ya! And private bar!)

The ponies raced, we laughed, drank, won some, lost some –but it was an epic way to spend celebrating my impending birthday! I cannot believe Bill went through all this trouble for my birthday. I know it must have taken him weeks of planning, secret keeping, and all around sneaky-ness and I was nothing but SURPRISED!!!!

I thought I would share some pics with you…. HOW FUN IS THIS!!!!!?????!!!!!!!!!!

On the party bus!

Little Stinker Laura told me she was in town for her own going away party!

Cayla and Amber - best secret keepers ever!
Amber hadn't spoken to me all week b/c she was afraid she would give it away!
Cayla - talked to me everyday and didn't once give me a CLUE that this was happening!

GIRLS!!!

Cayla and me in our Derby hats!

Cousin Sheri, Me and my mom

Guy's Wife Stephanie couldn't be there so he pretended to pose with her!

Best boyfriend ever.......

Loved his hat!

Even Dave-o loved my hat!

Paul (bill's brother) and Alaina - Paul had lasik on Friday and STILL CAME! (hence the weird goggles)

Jonas and Cayla

Newly engaged TIm and Claudia!

I had to get one of our new outfits... Bill went all out - ordered his pants at vintagethreads.com, bought the horse shirt and the gambler Fedora hat... all for my Derby themed 30th bday party!

The tickets even had my freakin' name on them!

Precious Della - 22 weeks pregnant!

John, Amber, me and Bill! LOVE THEM!

Bill and Jonas sharing a ~~moment~~; I mean margarita

Me and Cay

I am so thankful to have so many wonderful friends and family to celebrate turning 30 with. Wednesday's the big day - for now I'm going to enjoy the last 48 hours of being in my 20's... **Tear**

Metroplex Sprint Tri - Race Report

2011-06-16T16:21:00.001-05:00

It was an eventful morning on race morning.... my alarm was set for 4:15 am for an allotted 15 min of snooze time.....I was going to hop out of bed, eat some breakfast, braid my hair and grab my stuff to be out of the house by 5:15am at the latest........

This is what happened instead...

Something woke me up but not my alarm. Maybe it was the vibrating from my phone when Cayla texted me, maybe it was my perpetual fear that I'm going to oversleep but I woke up and my watch said this...

5:28am

My iphone said this.....

*never mind the flea comment*

Holy Crap! It was a 40 minute drive to the race site and the entry to the park where transition was closing at 6:30am. Needless to say - I had time to throw my hair in ponytail, brush my teeth, grab my bag and scoot. I had loaded my bike up on Saturday night so all I had to do was grab my water bottles, my transition bag and go go go!!

I hauled ass for 36.1 miles to the park entry. I was relieved when I made it by 6:15a.m. and still had an hour before my wave went off. Cayla pulled in right behind me and we pumped up our tires and headed to transition.

This was day 2 of a 2 day race. So the field of athletes were smaller...transition was smaller, waves were smaller, the race was not stressful at all.

Swim:

Transition area from bike in/out

I was surprisingly calm before the swim start. I normally have serious nerves and anxiety; but this time I was calm. I remember telling Cayla before the gun sounded that it was like swimming in bath water. The water temp was 84 degrees race morning. (we almost hit 100* a few times last week)

The sun was up and we were ready to start. I was in wave 1 - yellow caps - M/F 30 - 39.

The gun went off and I started in the back of the pack (just where I like it)... I took in water for the first 100m or so... I could not get my timing down from the waves coming in and my breathing; I just kept going and tried to sight like Jason taught me during one of our OWS practices.... from Cayla's recollection I didn't do so well at swimming in straight line

I hit the first turn buoy and finally felt like I was in a groove - I kept the buoys on my right and passed a few people as I covered meter after meter. At the second turn buoy I kicked someone and realized it was Cayla! YAY! She was right there - later she told me she stayed behind me the entire time I probably swam double the distance because of my inability to sight correctly. In fact her exact words were, 'you swim like you walk' - that's was best friends are for!

After another 10 or so strokes my arm hit the bottom and I was up and running out of the water towards transition.

Swim: 400m

Time: 11:24

Grade: A- I'm happy that I beat my time but I need to work on sighting. Swimming in a straight line is apparently not my strong suit.

My heart rate had skyrocketed towards the end of the swim and into transition. It took my breath away almost and I thought I was in for it on the bike.

I took an extra 30-45 seconds in T1 trying to get my garmin on... I had technical difficulties all day with my Garmin and my Polar so I had to just go without the gadgets and enjoy the race. It was actually nice :)

T1 - 2:30

Grade - F I forgot to add in T1 and T2 times in my goal..

Bike:

The bike as an out and back 11 mile course. It was flat and supposed to be fast, known to be a PR course for the sprint distance. On the way out I got up to 19 mph and my legs were feeling good. We had a bit of a tailwind on the way out but you know what that means....head wind on the way back in.

The course went out over the damn - u-turned at the end of the damn and back in. Once you got over the water it was kind of a mix between a head wind and a cross wind on the way back in so that was no fun.

Cayla and I stayed together on the bike course and switched off who led and who followed (don't worry no drafting!) It was fun to be out there racing again

Bike - 11miles

Time - 38:51 - 17mph avg

Grade - A I'm happy with my performance on the bike. I hammered down and really wanted to average over 16mph. I probably could have pushed harder looking back; but I met my goals and was overall happy with my performance

T2:

Pretty uneventful - 1:14

Grade: B Just need to work on getting this a little quicker

Run:

First off, I am a terrible runner... why I thought I could pump out 9 min. miles is beyond me... wishful thinking I guess. I told Cayla not to wait for me on the run... I knew she was killing it and I didn't want to hold her back. You have to race YOUR race and I know that running is my weakness and it is her strongest. I didn't want her to miss out on a great first race of the season because of me.

I struggled on the run. I have had some ITB issues since the RNR Dallas 1/2 in March... I was OK in NOLA but it still acted up and today I had hammered on the bike and was afraid it may get a little angry on the run. I was right.

There was an aid station about a 1/2 mile into the run; I grabbed some water and walked the length of the table and that's when Cayla and I separated. I thought a little break on the pounding would help. I picked up my run and just wanted to be done.

I hate running.

I wish I like it but I don't. OK I said it.

Run - 2m

Time - 21:36 - 10:48/mile

Grade: F - for obvious reasons....

I love racing with Cayla - I'm so glad we were able to race again. This was the first time since 2009 and it felt great!

Cayla ended up placing third in our AG with a pretty sweet bronze medal:

Best Race Partner ever!

Wanna come to the gun show?

And me in my bling! Run for the bling of it challenge month 6 complete! (I guess I should recap my May bling huh?!)

Just to let you know - that was the last diet coke I've drank...right there.... I want it...... really really really really want it......

The One Week Vegetarian: Day Three: BRICK oven veggie pizza

2011-06-15T21:09:00.001-05:00

June 15, 2011

Breakfast - nada... I was running super late....I know I know - you can scold me.

Lunch - Mixed Green Salad with water

No Afternoon Snack

Dinner - Brick Oven Veggie Pizza.

Dinner tonight is a recipe from Jason at Cook Train Eat Race. He is vegetarian and houses a ton of awesome recipes on his site CTER. Not only is there recipes there are a ton of posts on nutrition in general, race reports, exercise facts, Q&A, etc. It is a repository of useful information - stop by and check it out.

He features a weekly spot called The Athlete's Plate. Where he picks a different blogger each week to be featured. The recipe I swiped from him was the week he featured Summer Brooks of The Blue Line Runner blog. I knew I wanted to make pizza one night and this one fit the bill.

Pics are limited...

Step One - Take the mashed sweet potatoes, flour, and other dry ingredients to make dough...

Step 2 - roll out (or attempt to) and place in oven to bake for 10 min at 400*

Step 3: Spread ricotta cheese thinly on the bottom and then place tomatoes, garlic and I added basil along with Asiago Cheese

Step 4: Bake in oven until cheese is melted... sorry no final pic.

True test: Again this recipe was a WINNER!! Bill loved it; I loved it and it was filling and delicious. We loved the sweet potato in the crust along with the thickness of the crust without being too filling. The light cheese and veggies was just enough to make our tummy's full without having that too greasy icky feeling from an order-in pizza (even the veggie ones)

We were both pleased with how this turned out. Want to make your own BRICK oven veggie pizza? Just CLICK HERE!

I have now gone 3 days with no diet coke. I've had a bit of a headache today but nothing unbearable. I know I have not drank enough water today which frustrates me because it something I NEED to be doing. Other than the coffee yesterday I have had no caffeine. I've limited my sugar intake and am feeling great (minus the headache today) I was down two pounds when I weighed my self this morning. I will not weigh again until Friday.

Workouts - I was supposed to run but it didn't happen. I could give you a million excuses as to why I didn't but the plain and simple fact is I was tired and drained this morning and wanted to sleep in. I could have gone after work and ran on the treadmill but the though of running on a treadmill makes me want to puke and it's 100* outside until like midnight. So my run got skipped. I was scheduled for two off days this week any - so I plan on just shifting around and making it work.

So that's that :) Happy Hump Day!

Day Two: The One Week Vegetarian: Ratatouillie

2011-06-15T20:48:00.002-05:00

Day Two - June 14, 2011

Breakfast - Overnight Oats in A Jar: - If you aren't familiar with this delicious little delicatessen you should familiarize yourself with them QUICKLY! They are just about the most awesomest things ever. If you follow me on twitter you see me use #OOA (I've always referred to it as overnight oats addict but apparently it's really anonymous) and #OOIAJ (overnight oats in a jar) - If you follow the recipe below and you tweet - be sure to use the hashtags and @ mention me so I know you tried them! They will seriously change your breakfast life.

I did have a cup of coffee with breakfast.

I found out about this morning treat from Jason and I'm so thankful - Here you go

Ingredients: 1/3c rolled oats, 5oz greek yogurt, 2/3c HoneyMilk (Vanilla or Honey Flavor), 1/2 banana sliced thin, 2 strawberries sliced thin, 1/4c dried pineapple, 2tbs chia seeds, 1/3c shredded unsweetened coconut, 1/4c almonds, 1tbs agave nectar, 1tbs nut butter (optional chocolate chips, M&Ms, dried fruit)

Directions: Do this the night before

In a bowl combine all the ingredients except for the agave nectar and nut butter.
Once well combined pour into an empty jar (old nut butter jar….I use a plastic jar by Bell)
Place in refrigerator and let sit overnight (now you understand the overnight oats part?)
Next morning after your workout take out from fridge and add agave nectar and mix.
Take the tbs of nut butter on your spoon and begin to eat. With every bite you will get a taste of nut butter and the overnight oats.

Lunch:

I had lunch with my friend Karen and opted for tomato soup and a spinach salad. No recipes or pictures to report. Lunch was filling and I was satisfied.

Afternoon snack (pre workout) - Power Crunch Bar

Dinner:

When I posted on here I was going veggie for a week Mrs. Adventure (the super awesome host of all the giveaways that end FRIDAY JUNE 17) suggested Ratatouillie. I had never heard of it before but the name alone intrigued me.

Here's the breakdown


Bloggers being a pain in the a** and won't post the picture correctly... GRR!!

Step 1 - Saute eggplant with parsley...

Step 2 - Layer veggies (recipe link below)

Step 3 - Bake - I added mushrooms on Bill's half and sans mushrooms on mine....

Step 4 - enjoy!!

Want to make your OWN at home Ratatouillie? CLICK HERE

Bill loved this recipe and loved dinner! It was another hit!

Day two was another great day food wise... it was terrible in all other aspect. I am now 3 days (including today) without Diet Coke. More on that in the next post.

We did break down and have a frozen yogurt cone. Shakes had a seizure - we were on our way to the emergency vet and he stopped. It was a stressful day for me with work and with Shakes. Bill (being the best ever) pulled through and got us yogurt as we were driving home from attempting to take Shakes. (I think Shakes just wanted a car ride).

All in all it was great day - I had an awesome spin class and when I weighed my self this morning (6/15) I was down 2 lbs.

Day One: Black Bean Burgers

2011-06-14T09:59:00.000-05:00

I was nervous waking up Monday morning.... I stepped on the scale...weighed myself and was prepared for an increase in "that" department. I was right... but that was OK - I had a plan. A plan to see what one week of being a vegetarian would do to me....

Would it kill me?

Would it help me loose a few lb's?

Would it increase my energy?

And so many more questions.... I had so many because I have never been a vegetarian. I have lived on red meat my entire life and it has always been a part of my diet. I didn't understand why people wouldn't eat meat (unless for religious/cultural reasons) - why would you CHOOSE to not eat the bloody red goodness of a cow's rump? Anyway, I embarked on this journey for one week to see what would happen; will that one week turn into one month, one year, one lifetime? Who knows but here is my experience with Day One of the The One Week Vegetarian.

Breakfast - typical breakfast - Quaker Oats in the a.m. and some water. I skipped the morning coffee and diet coke just to see if I would get a splitting headache. I supplemented with lots and lots of water. I peed a lot from 8am to 11am. No workout today so all was well with one breakfast.

Lunch - no headache yet - SCORE! Getting nervous about what to eat considering I didn't pack a lunch. Decision time came and the team opted for Thai food. Veggie spring rolls and brown rice it was for my first meat-less lunch. It was delicious - topped off with an icy cold Pellegrino. Yummy....

Afternoon is when I get my sweet craving. I continually drank water to keep my tummy full and curb that sweet tooth. It worked. I traded my afternoon sweet tooth for about 19 trips to the bathroom - but by this time **Too much info to follow** I was peeing clear and that means adequate hydration (or that I'm drunk but I definitely was NOT drunk)

Dinner: Thanks to Matt over at The Athlete's Plate for posting his favorite recipes. I swiped his recipe for black bean burgers and headed to the kitchen.

I tried to document in pics... except the finishing pic of me actually eating the creation...

Step One - get ingredients - CHECK!

Step Two - Saute veggies in a skillet...Easy enough...

Step Three: Rinse and Drain black beans while veggies are cooking...

Step 4: Take sauteed veggies and pulse in food processor ( I forgot to take a pic)
Step 5: Add in cilantro - no pic
Step 6: Add in and pulse beans ... again no pic.

Step 7 - take bean/veggie mix and combine in bowl with bread crumbs, egg and spices.

Step 8 - form three patties and put in cast iron skillet

Step 9 - Cook 8 minutes..

Steo 10 - place on your favorite whole wheat bun, top with your fav veggies and VOILA!

I am clearly not a food photographer (or any real photographer for that matter) so sorry for the images.... I tried :)

This was one darn good black bean burger. The cilantro in the pattie along with the spices make it taste a little Mexican/Southwestern which is totally fine with me. I would put cilantro on anything. I topped mine with fresh spinach, tomato, avocado and a little feta cheese.

But the real test is ... what did Bill think?

He liked it so much he ate the third one! I sauteed mushrooms for his - he loves them; I hate them. He said he loved it and would like to add it into our dinner rotation.

All in all it was a deliciously filling dinner that is a recipe for the keeping. Thanks Matt for recipe! If you are interested in creating this black bean burger for yourself... click here!

What's your favorite burger and toppings??

The One Week Vegetarian

2011-06-13T10:56:00.000-05:00

I'm going vegetarian this week.

I planned my menus last week and will be posting as I cook and eat them and will be sure to let you know any and all feedback from me and Bill. It should be interesting.

I'm planning on total vegetarianism for 7 days starting today as well as a low sugar diet. I have a problem with cookies. I have a problem with brownies. I have a problem with cake. I have a problem.

I made my last batch of cookies last night. They were delicious... I savored every bite of them. And then said goodbye. It was traumatic but totally worth shoving my mouth full of them as I watched Dirk win his first championship. Go Mavs!

And then this morning.... we had a meeting with everyone in the office...the breakfast of choice...donut holes. Luckily I had eaten my Quaker Oats and was pretty full but the donut hole box and I had a discussion; it wasn't pretty but my angel side won out against that devilish box of sugary goodness. NO donut holes for me.

In preparation for my week of vegetarianism my friend Courtney and I went to the farmer's market in downtown Dallas on Saturday. If you are not familiar with Dallas - the farmer's market is a staple in south downtown.

The farmer's market was established in the 1800s as farmers came to town to sell from their wagons. In 1939 the market was officially established and formalized with the first shed being built to house the farmers. Today there are 4 sheds as well as various street vendors, and an entire street dedicated to floral. It is an amazing place on Saturday morning. The sights, sounds, colors and samples of the locally grown produce are overwhelming and delicious.

I went to the farmers market as a little girl with my family but hadn't been back in years. It is totally worth the 25 minute drive and I plan on making it frequently.

So here was my produce shopping list for the week:

2 avocados - They were a little pricey
6 white onions - They were also a little pricey - I can get a bag at the store for less than a basket
1 red onion - Wasn't able to purchase a single red onion
~~4 tomatoes~~ - came home with 6
~~4 sweet potatoes~~
~~2 bell peppers~~
~~2 bunches of fresh spinach~~
2 Portabello Mushrooms
10 White mushrooms
2 chipolte peppers - only available at the grocery
~~2 egg plants~~
~~1 bunch cilantro~~
~~4 jalapenos~~ - came home with 22!
~~3 zucchinis~~ - came home with 4
~~18 garlic cloves~~
~~3 shallots~~ - came home with 8
pears - FORGOT!
dried cranberries - Didn't find any dried fruit

*Plus I came home with a pineapple (they were 2 for $5)

It was a great day with a great friend! Tonight after work it's off to the grocery to pick up the remaining needed items and then it's my first attempt at a vegetarian dinner.

Happy Monday!

P.S. Don't forget about the 10 giveaways going on at Mrs. Adventure... you can click the links right over there -------->

Pre-Race Report - Metroplex Sprint Tri

2011-06-10T08:51:00.055-05:00

I'm racing this weekend...first time since NOLA~~69.1~~ 70.3.

It's not put on by my favorite group; in fact the RD can be A HUGE P.I.T.A. (Pain.In.The.A**) But it's a great fast and flat course and it's local AND it's cheap...so Win, Win, Win! Cayla is racing with me and this will be her first race of the season in preparation for her first HIM in October; the Longhorn70.3. We haven't raced together since 2009 the 2010 season I only raced one tri b/c of my shoulder surgery so I'm VERY excited to race with her!

SWIM
The swim is 400m and a triangular course. I'm assuming the buoys will be on our left and if I can estimate correctly it will go something like this...actual map I just added the distances.

My goal for the swim is 2fold.... #1 Control the Freak Out. Although I've swam a few times in open water this season with Jason and Greg - I have yet to RACE in open water. Two totally different things. The distance is short but I still have to control the mental aspect of this discipline. For me - it's all about focus and not fighting...just go with it; swim and before I know it - it will be over and my feet will be on dry land.

Secondly, it's about time...I would like to push myself through this race. It's a shorter course and I think I really "leave it all out there" this weekend.

Distance: 400m
Goal Time: 12 min (3:00/100)

BIKE

The bike course is an out and back, fast and flat course. (just the way I like it) I want to hammer down on this race and push myself. The run is only 2 miles so I think I can push hard on the bike and still have enough in the tank for a successful two mile run. Plus Cayla is running with me and she is a strong runner so I know she will push me through the run.

Distance: 11m
Goal Time: 40 min (16.5 mph)

RUN

As I said before, it's a 2 mile run so I'm hoping I can bang out an average of 9 min. miles on the run. It's inside the park and flat as well

Distance: 2miles
Goal Time: 18 min. (9:00min/mile)

COURSE:

Total Goal Time: 1:10:00

**of course I will have my T.A.A.N with me all day!

We shall see - stay tuned for a race report next week! AND head over to Mrs. Adventure for her day of giveaways...

Giveaway #1 - Wholly Guacamole! (delish!)

Giveaway #2 - Vedette Shapewear

Giveaway #3 - Big Kitchen's Ceramic Knives

Giveaway #4 - Healthy Steps (kitchen fun!)

Giveaway #5 - Blue Platypus (tshirt)

Giveaway #6 - Stonehouse 27 (sauces)

Giveway #7 - EO Products (bath products)

Giveaway #8 - John Boos Cutting Board

Pappy!

2011-06-09T10:45:00.001-05:00

The birthday boy!

Monday was my grandfather's 89th birthday! What an amazing age - to live 89 years and have the stories to tell! Can you imagine??

Anyway - we went over for an impromptu dinner to celebrate with my sister, Anna, her two kids my grandfather and our family friend Marion.

Me and my
Pappy

In other news... I've been pretty busy this week. I've missed a few workouts but I'm ok with that.... I need to jump back on the bandwagon but right now I feel good about where I'm at and what I'm doing. I need to get through a test next week and then I will feel much better.

Pappy and 2 of his 6 great grand kids

I mentioned on twitter that I'm going vegetarian starting Monday June 13, for one week - I've tried this is something that I've wanted to do and it's on my 30 before 30 list. I need to put together recipes for 7 days of a meat free diet... I plan on blogging along the way as well. Any ideas or recipes you want to share you can email me at allie0662 {at} yahoo {dot} com.

Thank you for the sweet notes on Monday's post... June 4 is never an easy day and I'm thankful I have a forum that I can openly express my feelings... you guys are truly TRULY the best.

Don't forget tomorrow JUNE 10 is MRS. ADVENTURE'S DAY OF GIVEAWAYS.... Go visit her for a new giveaway at different intervals throughout the day.

AND - I lost a follower....booooooo.

2 years

2011-06-06T10:22:00.000-05:00

Two years ago on Saturday (June 4) I lost Jess to Brain Cancer.... as I thought about her all day I wrote this that evening...

Dear Jess -

Two years - it's been two years since I was driving to work and received "the call" - "the call" that changed my life as I knew it. I will always remember where I was on Luna Road that morning.... it will be a place that when I drive there I can't help but remember the ring, Della's voice, and the calmness in my voice that said - "Della, I need to get to work and I will call you back." I knew I had to wait until I was stationary, off the road, and not be a hazard to other drivers. Crying while driving is just as dangerous as drunk driving...at least crying in the state that I was in.

I made it to work - parked, got in the building went to my office, shut the door and called my mom. Came out of my office - went into Luann's and set there and bawled until I could piece myself together to call my boss and get home. I knew that with this news meant a lot of people would be coming over. I went home, changed all the sheets on the beds, cleaned the house, and prepared for a few days of chaos and many people. I knew the couple of hours I had to do that was the only hours I would have alone for up to a week. No one was going to let me be by myself. And that was ok.

I wanted to call Bill - I texted him instead. All I wanted was for him to wrap his arms around me.... but that was going to have to wait. We were still apart at the time you passed ....

June 4 will never be the same...it will be the day that I was robbed of years with my best friend, it will be the day that I will never forget where I was, what I was doing and the flood of sadness that engulfed me that day. It will be the day my heart broke into a million pieces for your family, your friends, all of those that loved you. It was the day I realized we will never go eat soup and salad at Olive Garden or nachos at Cristina's... we will never go spend way too much money at the mall or just randomly go see a movie again. It was the day I realized I would never be able to call you when Bill and I got back together (even though I believe you had a hand in it while sitting up in heaven smiling), it was a day I had a sobering reality that my partner in crime, my best friend, my sister, and I would never speak/text/email again. It is a day that breaks my heart each and every time I think about it.

I know that you would want me to not be sad, to live a life to the fullest, that brings awareness to the awful disease that took you too soon so I do.... I wake up each day with a smile on my face, thankful that I woke up and have a day to enjoy. I'm thankful for my health and the steps I take to ensure I have a long, healthy life with my family, my friends, and my future children. I wake up each day and throughout some point think of you and how you changed my life even after you were physically gone from this earth. I wake up and thank God that he gives us angels like you.

I wake up and think about this...

“God, whether I get anything else done today, I want to make sure that I spend time loving you and loving other people – because that’s what life is all about. I don’t want to waste this day.”

xoxoxoxoxo

Don't forget about Mrs. Adventures DAY OF GIVEAWAYS ON FRIDAY JUNE 10!

Catching up {and a totally awesome giveaway preview}

2011-05-30T21:35:00.002-05:00

I think this is officially the longest I have gone without posting.... it's been a whirlwind of the last ten days.

Holiday weekends are notoriously super fun; but also jammed packed with activities, family, baseball, pool parties and not enough lounging. But I did get to lounge a little today. So holla!

Over the last ten days; my grandmother passed away. Thank you for all your supportive comments and concern. She passed on Saturday and her services will be Wednesday with a viewing tomorrow. Keep my family in your thoughts if you have a few extra moments over the next few days.

I also traveled last week - so that totally knocks my schedule around and makes it all cattywhompassss... yes it's a word... at least for me it is... I went to Little Rock last week and had a great visit with some clients there.

Friday was early release from work; but I worked a little later just to get somethings done and not have them hang over my head all weekend....Bill and I went to dinner at our fav Greek spot (as usual on Friday nights) and then saw the Hangover 2. Have you seen it? What did you think? I thought it was funny (but don't want to talk too much about it and ruin it for those who haven't seen it)... But I will tell you it's VERY similar to the first... ok enough with that....

Saturday was jammed packed with Baseball - Bill had two games, Coop had 1 and Kaylee had 2 - I made it to one of Bill's game and one of Kaylee's game...go me..... after that we had a baseball team party at one of the players parents houses.... THAT was fun; they have a SUPER HUGE AWESOME house and pool.

Sunday I got up and went to Yoga (first time in YEARS) and Bill had 2 more games (they lost in the championship) and I hung out at the pool all day at a friends house. Drinking my fair share of John Daley's (the alcohol version of an Arnold Palmer - sweet tea vodka and lemonade...YUMMY!)

Today - I did and hour and a half cycling/lift class and then 45 minutes of Yoga followed by laying on the couch and watching the replay of the Biggest Loser (since we missed it due to weather) and Bill worked (no holiday for alcohol reps). I am sore for the first time in a long time. Just sayin'

Tomorrow I have my spin audition - as well as my grandmothers viewing...and the first game of the Mavs vs. Heat series... big day.... wish me luck.

I did put together my "routine" for my audition - I'm super pumped about it, but really nervous as well. I'm hoping it goes over well and that I can start teaching sooner rather than later.

Now on to bigger and BETTER things (b/c I'm sure you read this to find out what I do every second of the day)

MARK YOUR CALENDERS: JUNE 10.....

Why you ask?

It's an ENTIRE DAY OF GIVEAWAYS over at Mrs. Adventure.....

Mrs. Adventure and I have been bloggy friends for quite sometime; I feel like we are real life friends but literally have only had one conversation over the phone....but she is super awesome chick who hosts THE BEST giveaways!!! On June 10 - she is hosting a full day of giveaways... I've won things from here like these....

and these...

pancakes, toast and milk not included...bummer.....

Do you want in on the fun???

Check back to Mrs. Adventure's site on June 10 to enter to win in 10 giveaways in ONE DAY!!!!

Feel free to share the excitement and grab the button up there!

Sneak Peek of a two of the giveaways (just b/c you are special readers and I love you)

http://www.sodastreamusa.com/

www.easycanvasprints.com

More sneak peek's to come - so stay tuned!!!!!!

oooo - and go leave Rach some love :) tell her I sent you!

Things I've learned this week.

2011-05-20T15:58:00.000-05:00

I CAN in fact survive without Bill - I just don't LIKE to survive without Bill (he doesn't get home until Monday - sad sad face)
Don't always trust those you work with..... people will do anything to get ahead, including talk about you, text about you, and just be generally heinous.
A good swim fixes all the feelings born from the above bullet point
The dogs all fit in my car...... Winning!
One jumping picture out of every eight will be right on point...

Take 1....

#2.....

#3 - Better but scary face.....

#4....

#5 - good up's but hair in the face

#6 Awesome ups - but scary face...

*A big thanks to my friend Ryan at work for following me outside and going along with my crazy ideas

For Your Viewing Pleasure....Shannon's 140.6 SHOUT OUT!

2011-05-19T12:53:00.005-05:00

Shannon (along with a slew of other peeps - including my coach!) are racing IMTX this weekend....

Shannon was so supportive of me during NOLA70.3 I had to return the support ...

Please ignore my mushroom head/curls

Shannon - you are going to rock it this weekend!!

How to deal...

2011-05-16T11:04:00.000-05:00

I'm having a very "out of body", weird feeling. I've never experienced it before.

In short - my grandmother is dying. As in, will probably pass today.

I have really never had a "real" relationship with her. She is my father's mother, and if you know me, you know that the relationship I have with my fathers side of the family is strained (or non-existent) to say the least. I have never been close with them. The last time I actually remember seeing my grandmother was my high school graduation party. That was 12 years ago.

This is very different from when my maternal grandmother passed. I was a basket case.

I'm not sure how to feel.

My aunt called me last night to tell me that they were making her as comfortable as possible and if I wanted to come see her I better come quick. I didn't know how to react. Of course, I'm sad, it's death. But I've never had "these" feelings before.

It's strange.

I felt like if I didn't go I would feel guilty, but I didn't want to go only to make sure I wasn't going to feel guilty. I didn't want to be uncomfortable. I'm still working on the relationship with my Aunt that called me in the first place; and my other aunt and uncle I haven't spoken to since my dad passed away in 2006. Overall, it was going to be an awkward, strange experience. Plus, what would I say to my grandmother, my aunts, my uncle? It was all too strange and a situation that I wanted to avoid. I stayed home.

My sister, Paige, called me this morning and told me that more than likely it is going to be today. Her oxygen levels have depleted and are very low. She continues to respond only via eye blinks.

I have dealt with death often. From my maternal grandmother, my father, Bill's mom and Jess it seems like I should be good at grief; but this time it is different.

I know there is no "right" or "wrong" way to feel.... they are YOU'RE feelings and no one can you tell that they are right or wrong; but what if you don't know HOW you feel?

Foto Friday

2011-05-13T13:26:00.000-05:00

The new ride.... sorry for terrible pic

The inside....front (it has two more rows of seating....can we say Mom car??)

Kitchen painting project.... It started lime green and was painted the khaki color on the right

Finished....

Anna even made my chalkboard wall cute :)

Breakfast area

a triathlete's cup holder.... two bottles of water, honeymilk, power crunch bar and body spray!

Ran this morning at 6:30am with Courtney.... I love my 4all for Jofit running skirt I won from Karen and my CEP socks I won from Felice over at Happy Runner

My favorite post run treat/second breakfast!!!

2011-05-11T18:40:00.000-05:00

Since I’ve been in a bloggy funk – I thought it was appropriate to update you on a few things that have been happening around my crazy filled life…

Work:
As I stated yesterday, work has been crazy. I also started the second of three classes that will earn me my professional designation of ARM, Associate in Risk Management. I know I’m a nerd…. Between that and managing an entire 4 state territory all by my lonesome I’ve been jammed packed with requests for quotes for international insurance and servicing our already existing account base. Enough with the nerdy insurance talk…

House:
Days on Market: 64
# of showings: 13...which averages to approximately 1.44 showings per week.
# of price decreases: 2

My loving sister, Anna, repainted my kitchen for me over the last two days. Apparently people don’t like the color grasscloth as much as I do. My kitchen was soooo cute – but now it’s Brown Teepee; still cute (same color as my living room) but not FUN green! Hoping this entices more buyers and makes the house more “turnkey” – coupled with the price decrease, the end of school and the summer approaching I’m hoping my house sells F.A.S.T.

Car:
I bought a new ride. It’s pretty sweet if I do say so myself. A 2009 Honda pilot touring edition; Gray on the inside, Gray on the outside. (to the tune of “cream on the inside; clean on the outside – ice cream, ice cream, ice cream paint job” – anyone with me on that?) Anyway…

It’s a dark gray on the outside and light gray leather interior, navigation, Bluetooth, six CD changer, power seats, windows and doors…third row seating and enough room for the doggies!!!! I got a great deal on it at Sewell Cadillac in Grapevine – so if you are looking for a car and you are in the area – you should go there…they are awesome!

I’ll post pics soon!

Triathlon
My training has been lax for better terms……. But I’m excited to get back on the band wagon and start training for my Olympic distance race in June. I've also planned out my race schedule through the end of the year so now I have something to look forward to - and not just training to train with no goal in mind.

Here is what I'm thinking:
June - Olympic Distance Race - Play Tri Festival
July - Olympic Distance Race - Disco Tri
August - Hula Girl Sprint Tri - put on by the FABULOUS Shannon
September - Prairieman 70.3
October - Cheering on Cayla, Jason (and whoever else decideds to race) at the Longhorn 70.3 + Livestrong Challenge for year 3
November - DRC Half
December - Full Marathon!! Either Vegas or White Rock.....depends on funds

I ran 4 miles on Monday, took Tuesday off b/c of work events and rode on my trainer for an hour tonight. Tomorrow is OWS with Jason and possible others, then run on Friday, bike Sat/Sun (maybe a swim Sunday depending). We are headed to San Antonio on Saturday for Cayla's sisters wedding...so that should be fun!

Other than that .... next weekend, May 21 I'm getting my SPIN CERTIFICATION! I love spinning...whether on my trainer or at the gym and I love people so combine the two and I thought - HEY what a way to earn a few extra bucks and do what I love! We shall see how it goes - but I'll keep you all updated.

Now I'm off to make homemade whole wheat pizza and salad for dinner!

Disconnected...and tribute tuesday

2011-05-10T10:50:00.000-05:00

I have been very very disconnected in blog land lately (as in the last month) and it's bled over into twitter, fb and all other forms of social media I once perused with diligence and excitement...but lately getting on a computer to type, or read, or interact has been more of "a thing on my to do list" rather than something I've wanted to do or even had the energy to do.

I tweeted a while ago that I lost my groove..... I was speaking to my "wanna be triathlon" groove - but my "groove" has now taken on the definition of anything outside of work.

I've been exceptionally busy at work; which is a GREAT thing - more responsibility = more pay but that also means earlier/later hours - more events - less time to train - less time for laundry - less time for general housekeeping -less Bill time - and less time all together.... this typically means blogging, FB, and Twitter gets pushed to the back burner; which makes me sad b/c I loose track with all my virtual friends.

I feel like a BAD BAD blogger but my blogging funk has got to pass - right?

Until then - I may be a little sparse...... hold tight - this to shall pass.........

Tribute Tuesday Week 8 - (I kinda stole this one from my 30 day challenge too - but updated it a little)
(not sure what TT is... click HERE...)
My sisters.....

I am the baby of three girls. (all of us are blonde) :) Paige, Anna and Allison....
Paige:
We all share the same dad but Paige has a different mom. We are technically half sisters - but our relationship is anything but half..... Anna and I grew up with Paige at family events etc but she was raised by her maternal grandparents . They adopted her when my Dad and her mom divorced.

As we got older the separation grew and eventually the relationship was non-existent. I remember the first time I saw her after being an adult, at our Aunt's wedding a few years before our dad died. It was awkward but I longed to get to know her. The last time I remember seeing her before that was at her wedding when I was in the 8th grade. She is 10 years older than me.

Of course when our dad died we were thrown together like strangers in a locked room. What do you talk about...what do you say? We had two totally different (yet totally similar) relationships with our deceased father...talk about a loss for words. and I rarely have those....like EVER!

I remember walking up to the front door holding hands with Bill to our "family" meeting regarding services for my dad and I looked at Bill and said "Oh by the way I have another sister" - we had been dating 12 months and I never told him about my sister! He was so freaked out.... Is there a need that early in a relationship to air all of your families laundry? We laugh about it now and more times than not when going to any family function, even 6 years later, he asks "So, are there any other sisters I don't know about" - at least we keep it humours.

From that moment my relationship with Paige has never been the same. We are so close. I was in the delivery room with her and my brother in love when my precious baby girl Shelby was born. A little over a year prior we hadn't spoken and now I was helping her deliver a baby!!!! It was THE most surreal moment of my life. Paige and I have become more than sisters...we are friends and I'm super proud to call her both. I love her and her family so much and am thankful everyday that with such a hard situation of loosing a parent brought me a sister. She is my silver lining.......
Anna:
Anna and I are more "typical" - we are separated by 3 years and 10 months. We had the typical sibling rivalry growing up. She hated me for a period of about 6 years when I wanted to do everything she did. I was always a round bugging her and annoying her and she ~~hated~~ loved every minute of it. She is outspoken, opinionated and fiercely loyal. She is 6'0 - strong and every ounce of dedicated. When she puts her mind to it she ~~can~~ WILL accomplish ANYTHING! She has two great kids, Kaylee and Cooper that I am so proud of.

When we were kids she was so mischievous.... I on the other hand was by the book (more times than not). She was 16 (maybe 17) and had her own phone line...that puts me around 12/13....

I had an old school radio (that played REAL actual vinyl records) - it was plugged into the same wall that her phone line was on. If you tuned the radio to the right station you could tune in her conversation...I'm totally serious - not exaggerating AT ALL. I would listen - get some good juicy gossip and then use it against her when she would try and call me out on something I had done wrong. It took her FOREVER to figure out what was going on - It was golden for me :) Until my parents found out - then I got in trouble.

Anna loved to see me get in trouble... I think it was satisfaction for her in some form.... She is my biggest cheerleader and the best advice giver. You can ask her anything and she will have good advice for you.

My sisters are my best friends... each of them are independent, loving, and special to me in their own ways. Without either of them I would be lost on a daily basis (and not be an aunt -which would s.u.c.k.). I love them more than chocolate cake - and that's a whole freakin' lot.

To my sisters - I LOVE YOU MORE THAN YOU WILL EVER KNOW!

Tribute Tuesday - Mother's Day edition

2011-05-03T13:51:00.001-05:00

Tribute Tuesday – Week 7 – Sorry I missed last week; things just got away from me…..Not sure what we are doing? Click HERE

In honor of Mother’s Day I thought I would tribute my Mom (my mommy, mother, patti, meme, and so much more!)

I wrote this below – a while ago during my 30 day challenge about my parents and thought it was perfect to repost today with pics!

My Mom:

The youngest of two children, the only girl. She grew up riding horses and was more than once the rodeo queen. She raced barrels competitively and loved being around her horses. She was a cheerleader as well and was every young man's dream.

She went to college for a short time and decided it wasn't for her. She ended up graduating from secretarial school at the advice of my grandfather who said "you don't have to go to college, but you have to do something". She was employed shortly after graduation at Southwest Airlines where she continues to work today.

My mom is the prime example of hard work, dedication, unconditional love and acceptance. She had a strong disciplinarian hand but a soft heart. There was always more love than you could imagine, even when she was exceptionally pissed off. She can put anyone in their place...from jackasses to CEO's and attorneys. She is completely fearless, a pillar of strength, and every ounce of what I hope to be as a mother.

She is timeless, the perfect MeMe(grandmother), the perfect and BEST mom I could ever ask for. She gave me my determination, drive, and every strand of my blonde hair. She can't deny me - we look way too similar. She is my mother, my best friend, and mentor. I am lucky to call her MOM and I hope she feels like she won with me!

Me and Mom

Our family

At my first half Marathon!

Christmas Eve - wine is ALWAYS included!

At Jess' wedding

Always there to support me!

And have a few coldies....

And then do a little jig....

I love you MOM!!!!

Confession Monday

2011-05-02T16:56:00.000-05:00

I was so overwhelmed last week with over 500 posts unread in my google reader - I hit "mark all as read"..... I've never done that before...but I started fresh today with 153...I will get through them
I took a starbucks coffee into a wedding on Saturday - I was exhausted..... the wedding lasted one hour and twenty minutes - my guilt subsided when I realized had I not had that coffee I would have surely fallen asleep and snored...and THAT would be embarassing
I slept through Masters Swim today b/c I was up too late watching the news on Osama bin laden's death.....
I laughed last night when fox news made a typo on their ticker and instead of OSama bin laden it said OBama bin laden..... freudian slip
We watched Little Fockers last night - definetly the worst of the triology
I only worked out twice last week.... need.to.get.my.groove.back
I started this post at 9:40am - it is now 4:53pm
I started mixing a box of what I thought was brownies last night - it ended up being a cake - I was disappointed when I took it out of the oven and realized it....but I ate a piece anyway (and some of the batter)
I really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really want a new car
I really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really need to sell my house first
I really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really want you to buy my house
I really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really love my new curling wand!!!

Think that's about it...... Happy Monday!

Ochsner Ironman New Orleans 70.3 Race Report

2011-04-26T10:17:00.001-05:00

It’s now taken me over a WEEK to sit down and write my race report… I’ve been thinking about it – I mean obsessing about it. I will start with two disclaimers:

1. this is really long

2. this has a TON of pictures

How am I going to put all of the emotions into words??? And find time to do it…

I’ve said it on here before that work has been busy lately; so busy in fact I still have 468 unread blogs in my google reader…. So sorry about that…. I promise I’ll get through them, and hope to comment too.

I thought I would break my race report up into sections…..

Thursday – April 14

I had a crazy day at work, I was hoping to get out early, around 2pm, but that didn’t happen. I ended up leaving at 4:45pm. I got home; we loaded up and hit the road. By the time we got out of Dallas we had an 8 hour drive ahead of us. That’s.a.long.time.

We stopped in Shreveport, about 3 hours outside of Dallas, and had dinner. Other than that the drive was pretty uneventful – we made it into NOLA around 2:00am… crawled into bed and slept – until 10am J

Friday – April 15

Bill and I got up and ate breakfast at Café Du Monde. A MUST if you are in New Orleans. We walked around the French Quarter and took in all NOLA had to offer. Bill had never been so I wanted to make sure we did all the walking and exploring on Friday so I could rest up on Saturday in preparation for the race on Sunday.

After we explored around town (sans camera due to dead battery … grrrr!) we headed to packet pick up and the expo.

Packet Pick Up

Packet pick up was very well organized. You had a series of stations that they sent you to – starting with waivers, then pick up packet, then chip check in, t-shirts then bag pick up. After all of that – it led you straight into IRONMAN village (expo).

Signing my life away

I was surprised that IRONMAN village was so small. But I did get a sweet deal on a $10 polo shirt J

After packet pick up (and a 15 minute session with the Recovery Pump) Bill and I headed back to the hotel to rest up and then out for a nice dinner.

I really, really, really want one of these....

Bill was so sweet to take me to a wonderful dinner at Bourbon House. The redfish on a half shell was UNBELIEVABLE! (And the bourbon milk punch was even better)

We finished off dinner with a homemade chocolate chip bread pudding. To.Die.For.

The best after dinner drink ever....

We sat and listened to a jazz band play on a patio...

Saturday – April 16

Amber flew in at 9:40 on Saturday morning so we went to the airport and picked her up. We promptly headed to Café Du Monde for the second straight day for Café Au Lait and Beignets. Saturday morning at Café Du Monde is terrible….the lines are outrageous. Even the back side to-go line…. Lucky for me I found a rogue waiter. We placed our order; paid him cash and were G-T-G (good to go).

He was sassin' me

We walked to Bourbon Street (Amber has never been to NOLA) and took in all of the nastiness that is Bourbon. Amber and Bill rode a bull….. We took crazy pictures and enjoyed the beautiful day. We stopped for Alligator and Gumbo for lunch.

We do what we are told....

This picture = a huge bruise on my leg

Alligator and Gumbo

After lunch it was time for bike-check in. This is when the reality of what I had signed up for set in. We arrived at transition and saw the blow up bike in/run out tunnels were set up….the racks and signs were up…bike support was there…. It was REAL…and SCARY.

Checkin' in the bike

I checked my bike in and we headed out back to the hotel for an Athlete’s briefing.

The Athlete’s briefing was basically a verbal version of the athlete’s guide I had studied front to back about a billion times. But it was nice b/c the swim course had changed and they went over that to make sure we were aware. The water was wet suit legal so score on that too!

Overlooking the swim area

That's my transition rack!

During this time, Bill and Amber were scoping out places for dinner…. When I was finished at the briefing I met up with them and we headed to dinner at Pie; an awesome little Italian place across from our hotel in the warehouse district. It was a super cool building with exposed brick walls and fun music. The bruschetta was amazing…..the tiramisu – not so much.

Carbo loading

We walked across the street to the hotel, grabbed the car and I dropped Amber and Bill off at Bourbon street. After they were safely on their way to debauchery I settled in for a little rest and relaxation. Immediately – I took a hot bath and soaked my nerves away in the tub. I laid out all of my gear – re packed it and checked my list (about 4 times)

As I soaked in the hotel tub...Bill was soaking a bird bath..

I hopped on twitter and found out from another athlete that was racing NOLA70.3 that a plane crashed on the bike course. Omen #1 that maybe NOLA70.3 wasn’t going to be all that I expected.

I turned on the local news to see the story about the small single engine plane that decided to land at one of the intersections of the bike course…..hope that doesn’t make us bottleneck tomorrow…oh yea, I also hope that everyone was OK.

*the pilot walked away just fine FYI

My mom was schedule to get in around 9:30 so I expected her back at the hotel around 10pm. I fell asleep but woke up when she got there… I was happy she made it – rolled over and headed back to sleep for sweet triathlon dreams.

Sunday – April 17

PRE RACE:

4:00am my alarm went off. I jumped out of bed – rested and feel great. I was excited…pumped up – ready to go!

I checked the weather on the ipad – 7mph winds – awesome J Flat water – no wind on the bike – I was ready to rock.

I ate my granola bar, drank a bottle of water and half of a Gatorade by 4:30am. I knew I needed to eat 3 hours prior to race time…I was scheduled for 7:31am start…perfect! I woke up everyone, they got ready and we were out the door by 5:15am.

Transition area

It was about a 15-20minute drive from the hotel to the race start. I was nervous the whole way. We arrived at the site – traffic/parking was so organized it was ridiculous. We parked easy and headed to transition to get set up.

On our way in – I heard the news. NO SWIM. I’m not going to lie – I was excited at first. The swim is what makes me puke…the swim is what scares me the most, the swim is what I have been dreading for 29 weeks. Then it hit me…no swim=no 70.3 The winds were sustained on the water at 25-30mph and gusting 40+ mph. They would not even deploy the kayaks to drop the buoys the winds were so bad. The race officials deemed it “unsafe conditions” and the swim was thus cancelled.

Amber pumping herself up!

I was really discouraged. I texted Jason and told him the swim had been cancelled…he responded back “You can’t control it, don’t get flustered – Do your best on the bike and run. Focus on that.”

By this time word had come down that the bike was going to be a time trial start and I was severely disappointed.

The swim is where all the competitive juices get flowing – sure you get kicked, hit, your goggles may come off, your heart rate soars, but it’s the start of the RACE! It what makes you feel like you are RACING….. it is where your mind is going in 90 different directions and although mileage wise, it is the shortest part of the race – for me, it’s the longest…it feels like it will never end – BUT it’s where can feel the race atmosphere and inevitably gets you in the right mind set for the next 6+ hours.

I felt sad and cheated and was upset that I wasn’t going to feel ALL of that….

SWIM:

Non- existent

BIKE:

I ended up starting about an hour and half late…so now my nutrition routine was off. I ate a honey stinger waffle while waiting to go off on the time trial bike start. I was hoping it would hold me over until I could get into my nutrition on the bike.

A time trial bike start is where you start with 3 or 4 other people about 10 seconds in between each group. Almost like a road rally type feel. B.O.R.I.N.G.

I was already in the mind set that this was a long workout day and not a race. Probably not the best mind set but it is what is.

We lined up “conga” line style on our way to start…before I knew it I was off….

We exited out of the chute to the right and went out 5 miles did a turn around and headed back towards transition. On the way out I was averaging 21+ mph. (Thank you tail wind) on the way end it was closer to 14mph (I hate you head wind). After we crossed back through transition I sat in for another 46 miles of biking around New Orleans.

We went out about 5 miles on high way – crossed over two draw bridges and then made a left hand turn on to country type road where we straight away for 13 miles to the ½ way turnaround point.

After you turned at mile 28 we went up another 5 miles or so to another country road took a right hand turn and headed down there for about 8 miles to another turn around point and then we were home free back to the highway and to transition.

The entire bike race had more drafting than I ever thought would be allowed and I only saw one race official the entire time. I did not draft (although tempted with the winds). My nutrition was spot on during the race. I was consuming about 80 calories every 30 minutes and drinking either water or Gatorade every 15 minutes. I never felt hungry or thirsty and knew the entire time I was going to be prepared for the run. That was a good feeling.

All the way from mile 29, home to mile 53 I was jockeying position with Jorge. Jorge was singing on his bike the whole time I was around him. It was in Spanish so I have no idea what he was singing – but he helped me pass the time and the miles. Jorge was on a mountain bike and looked as if he was just out for a Sunday ride……. I would pass him, he would pass me and we did this dance all the way to mile 53 when I pulled away and pushed it home to transition.

Mile 53 – I immediately wanted off my bike.

I tried something new on race day….I know they say never do this – but I thought what the hell….

I slipped my feet out of my bike shoes before I dismounted and ran in my socks through transition. I’ve always been scared to do this for fear of crashing my bike – but it was a great decision – running in bike shoes is never fun. However, transition was in a HUGE grass field so I had a few stickers to pick out of my socks before putting on my running shoes.

RUN:

The run *dare I say* was not as difficult as I expected it to be. This could be because of my nutrition plan on the bike, it could be the level of fitness I am at (that I didn’t realize) or it could be that I just generally was EXCITED to get off my bike and run!

I headed out of transition and saw my family sitting on the curb….I had a HUGE smile – I was so happy to see them; and headed out for 13.1 miles of fun! I told them “I’ll meet you in 13.1 miles for a hurricane”

I ran my first mile in 8:50. WOWZA – I’m not that fast – my legs felt like jello and I wish I had that pace in me for an entire half marathon. But that is my pipe dream!

At mile 1 – and the first aid station – all of my proper hydration hit me. I had to pee. It was the most glorious 30 seconds of my life.

I hit the aid station, a little water and an orange slice and was off. I ran the first 2 miles pretty steady and then decided it was time to deploy my run/walk strategy. I had planned on running 8 minutes walking 2 minutes to get through the distance but I ended up having to change it up. We ran through 2 different parks…. Each had light poles about equal distance apart for a good portion of the race. I would run the distance of 3 light poles and then walk the distance of 1. I did this until mile 10 when we turned to head into the French Quarter.

Mile 10 I started running distance between streets….run from one street to the next, walk the next so on and so forth.

At mile marker 11 – I flipped. I flipped shit…..I just about finished NOLA70.3 in jail…and not b/c I was a drunk idiot like Nicolas Cage.

I hit mile marker 11 and was ecstatic to be so close to the finish; when this douche bag police officer tried to make me stop. Here was our conversation (to the best of my recollection)

DBPO(Douche Bag Police Officer): Ma’am hold up!

Me: Excuse me?

DBPO: I said Hold Up!!! We have a parade coming

Me: You have GOT to be shitting me – I’m on mile 12 of a freaking 70.3 mile race and you are telling me to hold up?

DBPO: Ma’am you are going to have to wait until the parade is over…

Me: Sire you are crazy……– *sprinting through the intersection and on to Esplanade *

*Enter Lori*

Lori: Was he serious?

Me: I hope he isn’t yelling at us…

Lori: He can’t catch us….lets go!

Lori ended up being my angel that day. I swear had it not been for her I would have continued my walk/run routine until people could actually see me on Decatur Street.Lori encouraged me to finish out STRONG and PROUD – we finished in the finishers shoot at 9:30/mile for the last mile.

Lori disappeared….. I can’t find her on the competitor list either….maybe she really was my angel…Who knows…..

As I crossed the finish line it was probably the most amazing moment of my life….honestly. (Short of never being married or having babies) – I sobbed, I stretched, I had a jungle juice and then I iced bathed…..

ICE BATH

After the race we met up with my cousin and his wife for a hamburger at Port Of Call. It was great seeing them and catching up!

It was an amazing experience, even without the swim, and I look forward to my next race. Now it’s time to sit back and plan out my summer race schedule……But first…. Work calls..boo!

GRATUITOUS PHOTOS: (b/c some are really cute)

Bill, Mom and Amber - Gambling while I was racing!

Oh yes and drinking!

Finishing in the french quarter

My mommy!

My love!

My bestie!

This one was for Cayla since she couldn't be there! HULA HOOP!

Finisher!

She attacked me - b/c she was the coolest girl on the street that day!

Mom and Amber dancin'

Nothing like a little stretch with a Jungle Juice!

The night after the race - I couldn't wait for a HAND GRENADE!

official finisher pic!

NOLA by numbers

2011-04-19T12:42:00.000-05:00

947: race number for NOLA70.3

69.1: actual miles completed on 4.17.11

617.84: number of miles on Dolce during training

268.05: number of miles ran during training

30: number of miles swum during training

4: number of miles walked (Jess’ Brain Tumor Walk)

2: number of half marathons completed during training (3 if you include race day)

Immeasurable: memories over the last 29 weeks

597: number of blogs that remain unread in my Google reader

53: mile at which I wanted off my bike immediately

12: mile on run which I met Lori (more to come)

3: number of people that came to NOLA to support me

Countless: number of people that supported me from home

2: number of hand grenades I had on

Bourbon Street

after NOLA70.3

4: time my alarm went off on race day

1,400: number of miles driven to, around and back home from NOLA

1: number of plane crashes that occurred on the bike course less than 24 hours prior to race

2,000⁺: number of racers at NOLA70.3

2,000⁺: number of racers that were pissed the swim was cancelled at NOLA70.3

2: number of tennis shoes worn out during training

1: number of bike shoes worn out during training

763: estimated number of single socks I have sitting at my house at any given period

120: pounds at which I feel I would look somewhat acceptable in spandex

18: number of dollars I paid to spray tan prior to NOLA70.3 – tan chub is hotter than pasty chub

53: number of dollars spent at the NOLA70.3 expo

10: number of dollars spent on a kick ass polo that was on sale at the expo

4: number of water bottles taken to NOLA

5: number of water bottles that came home to Dallas with me from NOLA

89: average dollars spent per night at our hotel - thank you priceline

2: number of NOLA police officers I almost took out during mile 11 of the run – by “take out” I mean beat up.

9: number of race pictures I actually like from NOLA70.3

6:44 – hours/minutes it took me to complete 69.1 miles

**Race report coming soon - with LOTS of pics; you know how I roll***

NOLA Here we Come!

2011-04-14T15:49:00.000-05:00

We are headed out to NOLA tonight -when I can finish up here at work - load up we are hitting the road. More than likely will be at rush hour but oh well...too much to do with the profession.

I had planned on posting on all my goals on here today but since I'm pressed for time I thought I would just send you over to super awesome Shannon - CLICK HERE! Is she not the sweetest thing?!

I will more than likely be disconnected on blogger throughout our trip - so follow me on twitter if you want to stay tuned! (@allie0622)

If you want to follow/stalk me on Sunday the website is www.ironman.com - I'm bib #947.... boo-ya!

Next post and I will be an ironman 70.3......oooo that's scary!!

Tribute Tuesday - Week 4 - NOLA Edition

2011-04-12T10:53:00.001-05:00

There is a saying in triathlon that goes like this:

The swim is all about focus, The bike is all about patience, The run is all about heart......

At least for me - this holds true. Open water swimming is my least favorite thing EVER - behind mushrooms and mayonnaise. If I can get through the swim I know I will be OK! More on my plans for each discipline later this week....

Tribute Tuesday Time again and this one is special. Not that ALL of them haven't been special but this one is really special because it's NOLA time. 29 weeks of training - 1 day - 3 disciplines and 1 very pretty medal at the end. (I actually have no idea what the medal looks like, but it could be the shape of a cow turd and I would be happy)

Not sure what Tribute Tuesday is? Click Here....

Tribute Tuesday - Week 4 - The New Orleans Edition

This week I thought I would pay tribute to all of you who have helped me in this process of training for NOLA. It hasn't been easy all of the time, it hasn't always been fun, but it's always worth it and I am proud to compete and have all of you Angels/Ninja's with me on Sunday.

I wanted to pay special tribute to some very special people so I broke up the race into the split times and dedicated each segment to a person. So while I'm on that part of the course I will be thinking of that person (along with many many other things/people I'm sure).

So here we go.....

Swim - 1.2 miles - Coach Lea. Lea has been integral in my training. Without her I'm not sure I would have done this. She was a God send to me the day I called Run On! asking for someone to speak at my work for our wellness initiative. God knew what he was doing when he sent Lea to my office. She has pushed my limits and coached me to places I never thought I would go. She has celebrated with me, encouraged me and continues to push me beyond what I think I am capable of. She is an amazing woman, wife, and triathlete. Her heart is made of pure gold. I dedicate the swim to her because she has helped me immensely with my swim. She had me go to Master's swim a few days a week and through her coaching and others at Masters I improved my form and time (and a flip turn here and there). Lea’s voice will be with me as I swim in NOLA – stay focused, don’t push it to hard, breath and HAVE FUN!

Bike – Split 1;28 miles (1-28) - Cayla. Need I say anymore than this post? She is the reason I am a triathlete today. Without her diving into this crazy sport 2 years ago with me, I wouldn’t be here. She is the best friend a girl could ask for. I know you will be with me as I hop on my bike and head out into NOLA – I maybe thinking about the crazy times we’ve had in New Orleans on girl’s trips (which will make me crave a hurricane) or the wonderful conversations we’ve had on our bikes or a host of many other things we’ve been through during the last 10 years. But you will be with me silently motivating me and pushing me to the end. Thank you for your unwavering friendship.

Bike – Split 2 – 28 miles (29-56) - Jason. You probably know Jason – he’s like an Internet sensation with his super amazing blog Cook Train Eat Race. He is an inspiration and if you don’t know him you are surely missing out. His blog is full of healthy food, tips, reviews, and generally everything you need to know about everything…seriously – he’s like an encyclopedia! Jason has been an inspiration to me since the day I found him on the world wide web. I can’t remember what led me to his old site but I read his profile, realized he lived in the town I grew up in and VOILA! We met for the first time at our blogger meet up before White Rock. I also met his adorable wife, Karen (WHO NEEDS TO GET A BLOG), Lesley (Racing It Off), John (Emergence) and Jason’s coach – Claudia (IrunItri). Jason has been a constant go-to source for all things triathlon, food, etc related. He is full of knowledge, motivation, inspiration and laughs. We’ve had two enjoyable rides together and our last ride on Saturday was just what I needed for that final boost of confidence heading into NOLA. Jason constantly drives me to become the best me I can be – whether that is through comments on my blog, twitter, fb, text, conversation – whatever the mode – he makes me better at what I love to do. Jason, thank you for all your support, your help, and your friendship. You will never know the great strides I have made that I can attribute directly to you. You are the best and I am so thankful I met you and Karen. You two are wonderful examples of marriage, family and healthy living. Thank you for all you have done for me.

Run – Split 1 – 3.275 miles (1-3.275) – Cassie. Cassie doesn’t have a blog so I can’t link to her….but hopefully she will soon enough! Cassie just finished her first half ironman in Galveston last weekend and I am so proud of her it is overflowing! Cassie and I have known each other since college. We were in an organization together, Aggie Orientation Leaders. She is truly a wonderful person. Her heart is full of compassion, determination, self discipline and true grit. She knows how to get into the trenches and do the work. She is an inspiration to me every day and another driving force behind why I started triathlon. While on FB one day (over 2 years ago) I saw that Cassie had completed her first Sprint Distance Triathlon in 2008 and had posted pictures. This was coinciding with the time my girlfriends and I started our weight loss challenge. I thought – man that is interesting and impressive. Because I had seen that she had competed in a tri – it sparked my interest. Cassandra – if it wasn’t for you I don’t know if triathlon would have ever crossed my mind. Because of you I found the sport I love. I watch you and your accomplishments and you drive me to do more. I know we don’t talk that often, or train together that often (which should change!) but you should know that you are always with me, motivating, inspiring me and helping me become the best I can be!

Run – Split 2 - 3.275 miles (3.276 – 6.55) – Amber – At this point in the race there is a good possibility I will see you, Bill and my mom with hurricane in hand chasing me through the streets of New Orleans. I am so thankful you are going to be there to cheer me on and support me. You are such an important part of my life and I am so thankful over the last 2 years we have reconnected and developed the friendship we have today. You are my daily blessing. Thank you for coming to NOLA to be part of my support team – because of you I ran my first ever 8 miler (remember dancing down Avenue I?) and my second half marathon. You are the best friend, a loving wife and a wonderful mother. I am lucky to call you my friend and am so lucky I have you in my life

Run – Split 3 - 3.275 miles (6.55 – 9.84) – Bill- OH Bill…what can I say about my love! Without him I KNOW this wouldn’t be possible. Because of him THIS IS POSSIBLE! His commitment to me and my lifestyle is more than any one girl deserves. He is continually pushing me beyond my brink in regards to this journey. He believes in me MORE than I believe in myself and knowing that you have that kind of support behind you is what keeps me going. (That and his amazing hugs). I do this for me – but inevitably it makes OUR life better. You are the love of my life and I thank you for all you do to make this possible. The days when I feel like crying you are there to push me out the door on my bike. The days it hurts to run – you run with me. The days I don’t want to swim – you go to the gym with me to make sure I get my work out in. You are the absolute best thing that has happened to me and without your support this would all be for nothing. You make sacrifices so I can get my training in – you stand for hours watching me run in races, you are always there with a camera and a smile at the end. The feeling I get when you say “I’m proud of you Al” is the best feeling in the world (next to I love you) Knowing that I have done something to make you proud makes me smile. You are an amazing man Bill and I love every little last piece of you. Thank you for all you do for me – the dinners, the laundry, all of it… without you this wouldn’t be possible. Through the last few miles of this race I will run faster knowing that you are at the end waiting for me.

Run – Split 4 - 3.275 miles (9.85 – 13.1) – Jessica. If you are new to the blog you may have searched through the posts to learn about Jess. Here’s a quick few links if you want to learn more ( TTwk1, Letters to my BFF, another letter, tri for a cure )
I dedicated the last part of my run to Jess, although I know she will be with me the entire race. My angel – she is with me all of the time. But I have a hankering feeling I will need her most at the end…when it hurts, when I will more than likely be in tears, I will need her to carry me on her angel wings to the finish. She would be so proud and no doubt would be standing at the end waiting for me to finish. I miss you Jess but know that you are with me everyday. Watch out for me on Sunday while I tackle this course as you tackled your disease. Be with me through every splash, turn of the pedal and stride on the run; carry me on your wings to the finish and know that through this all I think of you every day. You are my inspiration.

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Race Week...

2011-04-11T13:37:00.001-05:00

Holy Crap - 29 weeks of training culminate this week in New Orleans... I can't believe it's here. I woke up this morning so super excited...also with a cough and runny nose. I need a doctor STAT to shoot me up with some B12 - I will be calling around.

I can't believe it's here.... I've been thinking and mulling and agonizing over this week. It's going to be the longest 4 days of work EVER...EVER!!!!!

So this weekend was packed full of training and fun...it was my last long ride/run before NOLA and the sun was out and shining.

Jason and I headed out for a 2 hour on Saturday.... I came home with this...

OUCH!!!

Sunday - I ran a lazy 5 miles (I was supposed to do 7). Bill was running in the Original Mud Run in Ft. Worth so I trailed behind them taking pictures...it was a great way to log some miles..... I didn't kill myself but wasn't really "running" either.....ah well....it is what it is and I felt great afterwards!

So I've been thinking about all I've learned/accomplished over the last 29 weeks.... Here's a few...this week more than likely will be dedicated to all things triathlon (NOLA especially) so hang in there...then I'm sure I'll have more stories similar to brownie batter and hummus :)

Things I've learned while training for a half ironman....

1. It is possible to train for a long distance triathlon and maintain a decent pedicure. Ask me...I routinely got pedicures during my training :)

2. Wear sunscreen - always wear sunscreen....don't believe me? Look up....

3. You can train alone - although it's more fun with friends. Thank you to everyone who has logged miles with me be it on a bike, in the pool, or on the pavement. You have each inspired me more than you know.

4. Sometimes a long run by yourself is just what you need to shake "that kind of day"

5. Working out (training for something in particular) makes me a better person. I feel better knowing I'm working towards something.

6. I take TERRIBLE Race pictures.... what an example?

Why can't I look "cool" on the bike - maybe it's because I'm so pale I look pink-ish in color

Amber looks cute! I look like I'm in PAIN!

I actually like this one :) Gratuitous shot!

7. Having a blog to categorize every inch of my life, my training, has been a remarkable asset for me. Having a bad day? I can blast it to all of you and immediately feel better! More than that I can recap my entire experience through my posts and that makes me smile.

8. You don't have to give up your life to train for something you want. You will make sacrifices. You will cry sometimes, you smile sometimes, but it's always worth it.

9. People think I am WAY cooler than I really am when you tell them "I'm training for a half ironman" - I am a nerd at heart and at no point up until the last 29 weeks did I ever consider my self an "athlete"

10. I know that I have a lifestyle that is healthy which will eventually provide my children a healthy life, give them a mom who will be alive for a long time to nag them, love them, hug them and guide them through life.

Don't forget tomorrow is Tribute Tuesday...... Click the page up top to see what it is all about!! And head over to Janette's blog and wish her Congratulations!!!!!!! Exciting things happening over there!

My new favorite number....

2011-04-08T08:38:00.000-05:00

947

My bib # for NOLA.....

Have an awesome weekend!

The "C" word.....

2011-04-07T14:05:00.000-05:00

This morning as I was driving into a meeting downtown for work, I became overwhelmed.

I'm driving down the tollway, Starbucks in hand, ready to start the day. I had a terrible day yesterday - a crazy bad headache knocked me on my ass and I went to bed at 6 - woke up at 8pm, ate a little bit and went back to bed and slept until 8am this morning.

Immediately when I have a bad headache I think of Jess.

I know it's not healthy, I know my headache was tension and stress induced, I KNOW this, but I can't help but think "what if"..... anyway...

I'm driving into work, drinking my coffee, checking emails while sitting in traffic (I know - bad driver) all of the sudden I look up and see a billboard....

"We treat your Cancer differently here"....

Then I actually start listening to the radio show blaring through my speakers. The morning drive with The Musers (I'm a ticket-chick) They are interviewing Rhett Butler, a talented guitar player, also a family member left picking up the pieces after his brother passed from brain cancer last May. He is releasing a movie about his brother at the Dallas Film Festival this weekend. He's fighting the fight after his brother passed, he is DOING something!

I automatically become stricken with sadness, lonliness, and guilt. .

Why guilt?

Because I feel like I'm not doing ENOUGH to help in the battle to find a cure for Cancer. I feel like I could do more...... I feel like I put so much time and effort into other things - I haven't done what I need to do for Jess - or others who are battling this terrible disease.

I want to do more.

But what? I raise money, I try and promote awareness, and keep Jess' memory alive...but I want to do more.

I don't really know what MORE is, yet, I'm sure it will come to me one day. I would love to be able to work full time fighting for cancer legislation, helping families and loved ones who are going through the battle, and ultimately make a difference in the fight against cancer - but I am not Lance Armstrong or Susan G. Komen or the American Cancer Society........

I am a working 29 year old girl who grieves the loss of her best friend - who doesn't want ANYONE to feel the pain that she felt and Jess' family felt. I want to make a difference....but the looming question is ... How?

Do you ever feel like this? You know you WANT to do something to help - but don't know HOW to?

Tribute Tuesday - Week Three.... Grab a C.A.B.

2011-04-05T16:09:00.002-05:00

Sorry for the delay in getting this posted today - no excuse other than I've been busy at work.

Not sure what this post is about... click HERE... I added a page dedicated to our linky party! Or you can access it from up there at the top of the blog!

Tribute Tuesday - 4/5/2011

I've decided that this post is not meant only to pay tribute to the sweet sweet people in my life who I love and adore or who motivate me, or who put up with my neurotic, borderline straight jacket, ways but to let YOU into my life. MY REAL LIFE...not my fake, I have a blog and I'm going to pretend like everything is hunky-dory, sunshine and roses, unicorns and candy life.....I mean my REAL it sometimes sucks, most of the time is pretty awesome (you only have one), bad things happen but you can over come them with a smile and a vodka, LIFE - L.I.F.E. Live It Full Everyday!

"Life is what happens to you while you are busy making other plans"

So this week...you get to meet C.A.B. Cayla, Quayla, Queef-la (don't ask Bill named her that), Cay Cay, the peanut butter to my jelly, the salt to my pepper, the "pay day" to my "skittles" (more on that later), she's been there through just about every life changing event in my life (including this triathlon stuff)...
Cayla and I met the summer before my junior year of college. I had decided to go to A&M and her roommate, Kristin, had decided to move home to Houston. I needed a place to live and through our mutual friend, Karen, we met, sub leased and VOILA – roommate we were!

It was a rough two years when Cayla and I lived together…. We didn’t like each other very much. In fact, we didn’t talk all that much, except in passing… you wouldn’t know that now considering we talk everyday, usually 2 or 3 times.

I won’t bore you with the details – but we became close in 2003 when Cayla’s fiancée (at the time) was stationed in Killeen. They were going to a military ball one weekend and a friend needed a date, enter me, the rest is history….

When Cayla’s ex-husband was deployed to Iraq I spent many many days and nights on the road between College Station and Killeen, as did Cayla. The 12 months that he was deployed was probably when Cayla and I became close. We spent the summer of 2004 floating the river and trying to kill time until he came home. It ended up being the best 12 months b/c we grew so close. It was miserable at times, what she went through while he was away, but I’m thankful we had that time to grow close and develop the friendship we have today.

Cayla is my partner in crime. Period. Pretty much any crazy idea either of us have we go with it. For example, triathlon.

In 2008, after Bill and I had broken up, I was laid off, and absolutely miserable…..I knew I had to do something. I had to get up off the couch…I had to stop literally lying in my misery day after day …. I couldn’t continue to do laundry, search for jobs, and drink wine during the day…people frown on that.

I decided to start working out. About this time all my girlfriends from college had decided to start a “biggest loser” type contest. We had all packed on a few L.B.’s and loosing a few wouldn’t hurt. The contest started in November 2008. By the end of November I was job-less, boyfriend-less and fat…. Not a good combination.

While I was searching on the internet one day, and probably a few glasses of wine in I found a link to an event titled “My First Tri” – I immediately called Cayla. This is how I remember our conversation…

Me: “I found an event – My First Tri”

Cayla” WHAT!” (laughing)

Me: “You know My First Triathlon…swim, bike, run, I think”

Cayla: “and….”

Me: “I want to do it”

Cayla: “I’ll do it with you”

Me: “OK – I’ll sign up”

This tells a lot about us…. She is ALWAYS there for me…no matter what. Just this weekend she rode with me for 30 miles around downtown Dallas after being in Odessa until like midnight the day before.

She is selfless.

She is loyal. She is beautiful. She is strong. She is determined. She is smart. She is successful. She is someone to look up to and gives great advice. I am so proud to call her my friend – and more like a sister.

Cayla – I love you to pieces and just don’t know what I do with out you. You have inspired and motivated me in ways I never thought possible. I remember one day (back in like 2009) we were riding our and I said to her... "Did you ever think 1 year ago we would be riding our bikes around Grapevine lake?" and she said "No, but I love it" and I said "me too"

Something’s are better shared with other people!

And now for your viewing pleasure….. PICTURES!!!!!!!!!!

The weekend before we started our weight loss challenge in 2008. Me, Jess, Cay

Buying our first tri outfits....mandatory dressing room pic!

last weekend at Tour Dallas

One of my favorite pics of Cayla doing her best Sarah Palin impression

Girls Weekend 2007ish... lots of beer, lots lots of beer!

Cayla's Graduation party when she graduated with her Master's

Being Silly....

One year after our weight loss/active life style beginning

Finishers! My Frist Tri April 2009

In Kona HI for vacay!

She took care of me when I had surgery

Silly girls....

Weekend trip to L.A.

Many o' Ranger's games!

Urban Dare Dallas 2010

White Rock 1/2 - She is always there to support me!

And makes really good birthday cakes!

Tri #2 - Las Colinas, Texas June 2009

I have no idea... I just think this pic is funny

Two peas in a pod - um - I mean photo booth

Pay Day and Skittles....... our rapper names

I have Grand Ideas....

2011-04-04T13:04:00.000-05:00

But it's Monday - which inherently means work is insane. InSaNe people.....seriously.....

So I have LOTS of fun ideas for posts - BUT they will have to wait...siiiiiighhhhh.....

I have been blessed in bloggy giveaways recently.... SOOOO a big shout out and thank you to the following peeps for hosting such AWESOME giveaways and to Random.org for being pretty bad--a and selecting me :)

Felice - The Happy Runner - I won CEP Compression socks that I'm waiting on to get tooo me. I can't wait - I'm itching to run in them prior to NOLA 70.3

Lesley - Racing It Off - I won her Running Chics giveaway - which I got myself a pretty sweet new tank

Jim - 50 after 40 - sent me a completely motivational sticker that I look at every morning...and stare at while on the trainer :)

Jason and Christel - CUPCAKES!!!!!! I won the cupcakes for the cupcake 1/2 marathon!!

Karen - Working It Out - Jofit Skort (I picked the black side pocket skort)

and finally - yesterday - I found out I won Katie's (Run for the bikini) Ryders giveaway!

So pretty much I have a won a complete out fit (minus shoes, sports bra, and socks) - once all my fun goodies are delivered I'll be sure to take a pic and post (complete with cupcakes!)

DUH!!...WINNING!!!

2011-04-01T09:48:00.001-05:00

Happy Friday blogland! I am especially excited today because it is opening day for my TEXAS RANGERS!!!

C.J. Wilson will be taking the mound at 3:05 CT for a showdown against Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Jon Lester. (my money is on C.J. and his blue glove) AND Bill JUST called and got me a ticket! BOO-FREAKIN' YA!

It really is like Christmas today - I LOOOOVE baseball season (Sorry about your Royals Jim; I was rootin' for them!)

On to the winners....

There were 71 comments entered into random.org for prize pack 1....

The lucky #46 is ZOE! From Run, Zoe, Run! Congrats Zoe!!! email me at allie0622 {at} yahoo {dot} com to claim your prize!!

For prize pack #2 there were 46 comments entered into random.org ...

Lucky #15 was selected - Nolls4 - Nolls; email me at allie0622 {at} yahoo {dot} com to claim your prize!

*Prizes must be claimed within 72 hours of winners being posted - if prize is not claimed a new winner will be selected*

Brownie Batter and Bill

2011-03-30T10:36:00.000-05:00

Thanks for all the super awesome comments on my race report and Tribute Tuesday... you guys rock!

ALSO - WELCOME NEW FOLLOWERS!!!

Hope you enjoy my crazy posts!

As I mentioned a few times Bill was out of town Saturday until yesterday. He was having a manly weekend at Spring Training in Surprise, AZ watching our beloved Texas Rangers. I was (and maybe still am) a little jealous. (I'm a lot jealous he is going to opening day WITHOUT me on Friday),

I love having Bill around...we laugh, goof off, argue, talk, watch insane amounts of TV and just genuinely have a wonderful time together. Bill also (as of late) has been the chef around the house.

He gets home from work before I do - so by like 6 he's worked, worked out, showered and started dinner. I'm a pretty lucky girl since lately training and work has been taking up a lot of my time. Anyway.... he cooks. And he cooks like a freakin' rock star. One night he made rack of lamb (on like a Tuesday), some nights it's a fish creation, others a salad....either way .... he feeds me and he feeds me yummy delicious (and mostly) healthy food.

Bill was gone............I didn't go to the grocery store........ I ate what I could find....... here's what it boiled down to.....

Saturday:
      Breakfast: Starbucks
      Lunch - McAlister's with Amber and John (1/2 of a tuna salad sandwich and baked potato soup)
      Dinner - Coal Vine's (pre race dinner with the peeps - pizza, pasta and dessert)

Sunday: (race day)
     Breakfast: Luna bar, 1/2 of an orange, a 5 hour energy, and water
     Lunch: Chicken Fried Steak Fingers and cheese fries (don't judge I was hungry)
     Dinner: Cheddar's with Cayla - A veggie plate.... (a little better)

Monday:
    Breakfast: Normal weekday breakfast - coffee and a granola bar
    Lunch: A sub sandwich from the deli downstairs from my office
    Dinner: Brownie Batter and Hummus

Tuesday:
    Breakfast: Normal - coffee and a granola bar
    Lunch: La Madeline
    Dinner: Salad and a pizza (bill was home and we ordered in b/c we were both exhausted)

7 out of 12 meals were eaten out, one meal consisted only of brownie batter and hummus made by mojitio masher.

*side note* I couldn't find the blender, the food processor is at my house (the one being sold), so all I could find to mash garbanzo beans was a the little utensil you use to mash the mint in the mojitio. Please don't judge me.

As you can see - things may fall apart slightly when he isn't around....what am I going to do when he is gone for a week at the end of May? Anyone want to adopt me? (and the three dogs?)

Tribute Tuesday - Week Two - The Athlete's Edition

2011-03-29T07:23:00.000-05:00

Not sure what we are doing? Click HERE to find out and link up to our Tribute Tuesday posts!

Tribute Tuesday - Week Two - The Athlete's Edition

I haven't always been an "athlete" - I use the term loosely. If you remember from last week I talked about how uncoordinated and awkward I was during seventh grade volleyball. In 8th grade I ran track....I am not a sprinter, nor was I long distance runner (why did I run track again? It got me out of off season basketball) So the track coach thought I may be a good hurdle-er.... umm.....I'm a small skinny white girl with the ups of an elephant (did you know that elephants are the only land based mammal that can't jump? See you are learning things here at triandfinish.) She put me in the 300m hurdles.... I tripped and fell in front of the stands at our district meet, in front of the boy I had a crush on and all the other spectators (they didn't really matter - the boy was the only one that mattered) Since then my "athlete" status has been in question.

When I found triathlon I was reluctant, not only because I was a terrible swimmer, hadn't been on a bike since I was 12, and ran at the pace of slug - but because I didn't know ANYONE who had done this before. No one to ask advice to, no one to bounce ideas off of, and no one understood why on earth I wanted to attempt to swim, bike and run individually much less in one day. I found a training program online and began training for my first triathlon. Thank GOD Cayla is an awesome friend and jumped on board with me. We began this journey - geared towards weight loss - and that Sunday, April 19, 2009 my life changed....

I couldn't do what I do without the love and support from some very special people in my life. (Don't worry Bill is going to have his own Tribute Tuesday post soon enough) Between my family, my friends, my coach, and the blog world (that means you reading this right now) there are plenty of days that I wanted to quit and you kept me going.

But this post is not meant to be generic in nature - it is meant to highlight someone special...so....who will it be this week? She is probably not expecting this - and probably would never think that I would feature her on this installment....but her inspiration to me is so motivating and moving it deserves recognition. (Not too mention she is about to pop any day now and maybe some extra emotion will help that baby come out quicker)

Christy - of Christy's Catastrophes

Christy and I have known each other for quite sometime. However, we always attended different schools and had different friends - we still knew each other (does that make sense?) We did go to college together but again had different circles of friends but ran into each other occasionally. I found her blog a long time ago and started reading. She cracks me up - seriously - you should follow her - HILARIOUS. But beyond that she inspires me every day. Just the other day I was feeling anxious about NOLA and I went back and read her posts leading up to her IMCOZ debut. I thought - if she can hammer out a freakin' Ironman - I can hammer out half of it.

(she's in the lime green)

Christy always leaves me sweet comments on my blog and super sweet FB messages and I know she is always there for a quick email advice on different things be it a bike, bike shoes, gear, gadgets, etc. I remember when I first was thinking about buying clip in pedals and wanted to buy used ones off of Craig's List..... she sent me a super informative email on what to look for, the different types of pedals, etc etc.

She really was my only resource for all things triathlon for quite sometime.

Christy - your hard work, dedication and love of triathlon over flows and inspires me each day. You will never know the role you have played in me becoming a triathlete and the continued progress I make toward my goal. You are a dedicated wife, a loving future mother (I would love to be your kid FYI), and a triathlete that I strive to be like. Your dedication to the sport you love is admirable and I only hope to compete with the grace that you show each and every race.

Thank you for continuing to motivate and inspire me and helping me become the best triathlete I can be. You are truly the best! I wish we lived closer so we could swim.bike.run together!

Just a couple of reminders about "the particulars"

1. Be or become a follower of Triandfinish
2. Be or become a follower of Janette's blog
3. Grab our button and post on your blog - html code in the upper left corner
4. Once you create your Tuesday post - link up via the Simply Linked Widget above

Two Quick Things...

2011-03-28T12:17:00.000-05:00

1. Don't forget to enter my favorite things giveaway HERE - it ends Thursday, March 31!

2. Tomorrow is Tribute Tuesday! Who do you want to tell that they inspire you, that you love them, that you think they pretty much rock your socks off??? Don't know what I'm talking about? Click HERE and join the linky party tomorrow!!!!

Now - off to work - oh yes and to ice :) Massage at 6pm can't come fast enough!!!!

P.S. Here's the link to my latest race report.....Rock and Roll Half

Rock and Roll Dallas Half Marathon Race Report

2011-03-27T23:35:00.000-05:00

**Warning Major Picture Overload**

Let me first start off by saying what a great race RnR Dallas was. The race and expo were well organized and moved quickly (and on schedule) and overall the race experience was a great one.

I haven't talked much on here about preparing for RnR Dallas for two reasons.... 1) I was using it as a "long training" day run three weeks prior to NOLA70.3. 2) I was running with Amber for her first 1/2 mary and I was more excited for her than I was for me. Honestly, it's kinda like Christmas - I get WAY more excited about giving gifts than I ever do about getting my own. Make sense?

We like to take silly pictures

Saturday I had a work philanthropy event in Las Colinas for the Make A Wish Foundation a 1mile fun run and 5K. I signed up for the 1 mile b/c my friend at work's daughter is a wish kid and they were walking the 1 mile; plus I didn't really want to run a 5K on my "off/rest" day....but had to participate since I chair our philanthropy committee. It was a great event and if you live in DFW (or any city where they host this race as a fundraiser) I recommend you participate in the next one. Seeing all those kids get so excited was truly heart warming.

After that Amber, John and I ran some errands and then headed downtown for the expo. I.heart.expos. I spend way too much money, sign up for too many things, and genuinely get too giddy - but hey - that's me. Packet pick up was smooth sailing and then we began shopping. I found my new favorite obsession, HoneyMilk Chocolate. Seriously try it - it will change your life. I picked up my SPI Belt (that I've been putting off buying) I know I will need it in NOLA and it was 20% off so SCORE!

We wandered around the expo for awhile and picked up some nutrition, sport beans, chomps, honey stinger waffles (read my review here), and then matching headbands to wear on race day. We then had our gait analyzed by the Brooks team (videoed while running on the treadmill), scored a free tshirt and then headed out. (OH! Don't forget our Elvis Pic)

Hunka Hunka burnin' love......

Amber and John booked a hotel room at the Magnolia that was 2 blocks from the start of the race; so I crashed with them since Bill is out of town. ( he is in Phoenix at Rangers Spring Training) We showered and headed out for dinner at Coal Vines (the same place I ate (and bloggy meet up) before White Rock).

Cayla, Me and Amber

We shared pizza and pasta and made it our own "family style dinner". It was a great night with good friends - I'm sad Bill wasn't there to join us and to enjoy the food but he's mingling with pros so he's not suffering :)

Amber and John

After Dinner we headed back to the hotel to prep for the race! CONFESSION - I have a thing - I have to set out all my race gear the night prior to any race. It makes me feel prepared and I look at my outfit right before I fall asleep and visualize the race the next day. It can be called a little OCD but - hey - it works :)

Amber's outfit on the left - mine on the right

We drifted off to dream land around 10:00ish. At 2:30 we were rudely awaken by the noisy neighbors next door. I assumed they had just gotten in from a long evening on the town and would be passing out shortly thereafter. After listening to them yell, scream and screech I had enough. I called the front desk (6 times before they answered) to report the room next door. The front desk sent up security which promptly shut the neighbors up for 2.5 seconds. Literally. When they got loud again (and I was increasingly getting more irritated) I opened our door with intentions of knocking on theirs. The security guards was still in the hallway. My statement to him "Are you taking care of this" - I wanted to follow with "or do I have to" but he answered before I could finish.... He was in deed "taking care of it". At 3:30 he knocked on their door the second time. Politely asked them to quiet down. They now have had multiple complaints and after two warnings with no attempt to pipe down he would call the Dallas PD. One of the gentlemen (use this term loosely) went out into the hallway and talked to the guard - for another 20 min. I heard their entire conversation. We are now almost at 4am. y 4:30 I was back asleep and waiting for my alarm at 6:15. It was a restless (nearly sleepless) night. Good thing I picked up those 5 hour energy's at the Make a Wish event.


Did I tell you we LOVE Silly pictures?

The alarm went off and we were up and at 'em. Dressed and feeling strong - we were ready to head to the start line and get this party started.

At the start line in our corral

WINNING!

We met Joe Dirt/Brett Michaels in our corral

The lines started moving and we made our way to the start..... off we went.

Not much to report miles 1 - 8. It was a great run...I enjoyed showing Amber parts of Dallas she had never seen before. We saw John and Cayla around mile 7....

Right before the 15K mark - nature called 2 times (if you get my drift). I didn't want to stop - by this time we were in the middle of Swiss Ave (no port-a-potties). Great - this could be fun. My stomach started cramping so we backed off the pace and I just hoped to make it to the finish without crying. We saw the port-a-potties at mile 10ish but I didn't want to stop - we were so close and I was hoping to beat my WR time (even if by a few seconds).

Mile 11 and 12 sucked...as usual..... it hurts by this point and I think I said about a billion times "HOW ON EARTH AM I GOING TO DO THIS AFTER BIKING 56 F'ING MILES!"

We entered fair park and the cheering picked up, the bands were playing and we saw our support system.

Finally a kind of cute running pic......

We finished holding hands ... I know so girly..

Cayla Amber and me after we finished

I really only do this for the BLING!!!!

We ROCKED RnR Dallas!

Official finishing time: 2:20:47 (40 seconds slower than WR - I blame the stomach cramping)

Silly Picture Outtakes:

Favorite Things Giveaway!

2011-03-25T07:00:00.004-05:00

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you! I hit 100+ followers and I’m so excited! I never thought I would have THIS much support from the blogging community. You ALL inspire me each day in different ways through your own blogs! (you lurkers too)

As promised when we hit 100 – I would host a my favorite things giveaway. Because I know you all want what I have!

The Details:
Two prize packs are up for grabs – tailored to the TWO different parts of my life...triathlon and non-triathlon

Prize pack #1 – Triathlon/Running option

An assortment of GU products!
My new favorite addiction - Lemon Lime Sport Beans
One Roll brand new roll of KT Tape (it's hot pink!)
Running Chics Alo Mesh Back Tank

Andrea at Running Chics is totally awesome and has agreed to include the ALO mesh back tank in this giveaway. Running Chics has some of the best performance and t-shirt gear. I wear mine to work out, run errands, etc. You will instantly fall in love and want ALL of her products!

Winner will be able to pick the color/size/and chic for their tank

Prize Pack #2 – IRL (In Real Life) option

Bath and Body Works Twilight Woods Body Butter…. You will love it - trust me. I use it every morning!
Itunes Gift Card - I love my Ipod (even though I've been running without it lately) and I bet you could use some new tunes on yours!
Starbucks Gift Card - I can't get through the day with out my morning cup of Joe! (Grande Skinny Two Splenda Vanilla Latte) So here's your next morning cup on me!
A surprise favorite thing... you will have to win to find out

The Rules:

Mandatory:
1) Be or become a follower of my blog - leave a comment
2) Tell me which prize pack you would like if you win (you can't pick both - 2 drawings will be held - one for each prize pack) leave a comment

Optional

1) Follow me on Twitter - leave a comment
2) Blog, tweet, FB - social media it-up - leave a comment for each that you do

All entries (based on the prize pack you choose) will be entered into a drawing and winner chosen via random.org. Comments will close Thursday, March 31 and winner will be announced on Friday, April 1.

Cupcake Marathon in pics...

2011-03-23T22:25:00.000-05:00

Run #1 Pics 2 mi 18:44

Run #1 again

Bright red face - Run #2 Pics 11 mil 2:07

Run #3 - 3.56 miles 37:44

With my homemade Bib

Attempt #1 jumping self pic

attempt #2 - better

attempt #3 - better but not perfect - wish you could have seen my feet

The bib

Cupcake Runs and Confidence

2011-03-23T16:34:00.002-05:00

Crazy at work today but wanted to take a few minutes to post on last weekend.

I have been in such a workout slump lately that I needed to shake it. Last week I had planned a long run (11mi) with my friend Courtney. Her boyfriend and Bill work together and we have become pretty close over the last year. We met in Cabo last year at a work trip for Bill. We instantly clicked and have been developing our friendship over the last 9 months.

She is training for her first full (Big D) marathon April 10 and needs to log miles too - so what better way to run (sans ipod) than with a friend.

We met up on Sunday at 4:30 at the DRC clubhouse. I was looking forward to redeeming myself since I had pretty tough run the Sunday prior. 10 miles about killed me and I needed the confidence back. Before I knew it we were at mile 6 stopping to take in our nutrition. (FYI - I love Lemon-lime sport beans).

We chatted about life, work, school (her BF is in grad school), kids, and pretty much everything else under the sun. I heard my Garmin beep waited a bit and looked down. We were at 9.4 we had looped White Rock and only had 1.6 to go . We went out .8 and back in .8 to round out the 11. We pushed through the last .5 picking up the pace and visualized that we were finishing our respective races.

2hrs and 7 min of a much needed, much enjoyed run!

terrible, terrible picture of me

Saturday I went to White Rock as well and set out for a bike ride. I should have started earlier but I got in 21 miles and had a great ride! The wind was fierce but it will only make you stronger right? I also was able to get in some vitamin D and some pretty rockin' tan lines. Ready.for.summer!

I finished my cupcake runs... I signed up for the half since I wasn't sure what my running schedule was going to look like leading up to Rock N' Roll Dallas this weekend. I finished them this morning in 3 runs, 3 hours, 16 miles... see my cool bib I made?

Just need to have Bill take a pic of me with it tonight and send everything to Jason!

This morning I did a 3.5 mile run before work. I was supposed to run 4 yesterday but time got away from me (and I went and watched my precious niece at gymnastics - so worth missing the run) . I went out this morning for 4 but miss calculated and got 3.5. I have another 6 miler on Thursday (a couple of bikes and a swim) and then int RNR Dallas on Sunday.

Amber and I will be running together and I'm super-de-dooper excited! (Brett Michaels is performing afterward!)

Let's see - tonight is a 45 min. trainer ride then it's off to dinner with Bill's dad, Survivor and Modern Family!

Pretty much sums up my night!

Also - does sparkling water hydrate you like non-sparkling?

P.S. 2 more followers and the giveaway starts!

Tribute Tuesday - Week One

2011-03-22T09:00:00.001-05:00

Tribute Tuesdays is a new weekly installment that will be jointly hosted here at TriandFinish as well as over at my friend Janette’s blog, Johanson Journey.

Janette was inspired by my letters to BFF post(s) and contacted me to jointly host Tribute Tuesdays. We often times forget to tell the people in our lives how special they are and what they mean to us. Every day I tell Bill I love him, but how often do I tell him WHY I love him or recognize the little things he does? Similar to my relationships with all of my girlfriends; they know I love them but do they really know how special they are to me?

I realized this when Jess got sick; so when Janette came to me with this idea I absolutely could not pass it up. I think telling the people who inspire you and make your life better how they enrich your life is very important. So without further a due, I debut (see how that rhymes)…….

Tribute Tuesday Week One.

We will start off with the particulars …… (Everything has rules right?)

Be or become a follower of this blog
Be or become a follower of Janette’s blog
Grab our button and put it on your page (you grab the code in the top left corner of my blog)
Once you create your Tuesday post – link up via the Simply Linked Widget below!

Each week we will pick one blog that has linked up to be the SHOWCASE BLOG OF THE WEEK (Sounds exciting huh?) We ask that you follow that blog as well….pretty soon we will have blogged hopped all over and can read each other posts.
You can tribute a friend, a relative, a co-worker, a training buddy, a teacher, a doctor, get the point? You can tribute anyone……

Some things to think about when compiling your post….if you need a jumping off point – if not go ahead and start writing....

*         How/Where you met
*         First thoughts and impressions
*         What made you two compatible
*         What you like most about that person
*         First Special Moment
*         How you are alike yet different
*         Things you love
*         Things you hate
*         Photos (I LOVE photos)

* Silly moments

* Traveling

Again, these are just ideas – roll with this how you want – I think that is the great part of our blog-o-sphere we can be creative and say what we want, when we want – right?

Tribute Tuesday – Week One – Jessica Ashley Gage Bonesio (BFF)

Jessica and I met the summer before seventh grade at Forestwood Middle School in Flower Mound, Texas . She was the “new” girl and we all knew that the “new” girl was the high school football coaches daughter. She was skinny with long legs and braces…. A little awkward but so was I so I knew we would be instant friends. We instantly gravitated towards each other during that volleyball practice. Neither of us were really good with coordination so as the other girls either excelled or miserably failed; we were somewhere in the middle together.
That was August 1993.

By September we were inseparable.

We were so glued to each other’s hips, in fact, we often spent many school nights at each other’s houses. My parents didn’t mind if I spent the night there b/c her mom was the high school nurse and her dad the football coach, so it was highly unlikely we would stay up too late and miss school the next day. She lived in the neighborhood across the street from our middle school so we were able to walk but nine times out of ten her mom dropped us off.

Jess’ family quickly became my family. Her mom was my mom and I was a staple at their house for chicken enchilada night and crescent chicken night. (Those are my two favorite dishes of her mothers.) Her dad was just as protective of me as my own father; even more so since he knew all the boys in school (and heard them talk in the locker room) and her siblings became my little sister and brother too. I tormented them like she did, played with them like Jess did, and overall loved her family as if they were my own; blood doesn’t necessarily make you family.

Over the years we formed to be one unit. Jess and Al. It wasn’t likely through the high school years that we did anything without each other. She was a cheerleader and I was a basketball player (not a good one at that) but by our senior year I quit basketball. With a coaching change and my reality that playing beyond high school was unlikely – I opted to quit the team and have a relaxing senior year with my friends. Both, SBJ and Jess were cheerleaders and Amber was the mascot… inevitably it made sense for me to DO SOMETHING with the cheer squad. I can’t tumble, I’m not very good at cheering and the mascot places were taken…so I was the manager.
Allison…the cheerleader manager. I got a lot of shit for that one.

It ended up being the best thing I did. I earned a free trip to Disney senior year with the squad to compete at nationals; I spent the summer at cheer camp with my three best friends, and countless Friday nights cheering on our high school football team. I would easily say I had one of the best high school experiences any 14-17 year old kid could have. Most of that was attributed to my friendship with Jess.

After high school we went to the University of North Texas together; where, after first semester we convinced our parents we would do better if we lived on campus. (They seriously believed this) We moved into the dorm together on campus at UNT and proceeded to have one of the most fun yet most unproductive college semesters anyone could have … EVER.

Living together proved it’s difficulties – when are you THAT close to someone; their idiosyncrasies that used to be “oh that’s just her” become somewhat annoying….but we tolerated it and had a fun semester living together.
When I moved to A&M a year later Jess and I hadn’t talked in a few months. We had a large falling out (over a boy – silly I know) and our relationship became strained because of it. It didn’t take long after I moved to realize that her not being in my life was not something I wanted (or could take for that matter)

She was the one person who, literally, knew every inch of my soul. I didn’t have one secret from her. Not one. She was the one person; no matter what, you could have a conversation with, the topic didn't matter, and her big green eyes would never pass judgment. She was the kindest, dearest, truest soul and was much wiser than her years.

When I found out that she was diagnosed with brain cancer my world was forever altered. Saying this out loud makes it sound silly compared to the way her life and her families life was altered, but the world as I knew it with my best friend changed.

We would soon be having lunch over long hours of chemo or after a session of radiation. We would now talk about her medications rather than what bar we were going to that weekend or what double-date nights we had planned with her husband and my Bill. It forever altered our conversations, the underlying importance of our friendship and it shook me to the core.

It never really hit that my best friend had a terminal illness. Jess was sick, but she carried her self in a way that never led you to believe she was sick. She was strong, steadfast in her beliefs, and completely unwavering in her Christianity. She had to have internally questioned why God would stricken her with this illness, who wouldn't; but she never led her family and friends believe that she questioned it. She always said “God would never give me anything I can’t handle”

She not only was my best friend, my biggest supporter and the person who knew, literally everything about me – she was someone I looked up to.

I loved her because she was funny, I loved her because she was smart, I loved her because she was exactly how I would want to carry myself if something so devastating happened to me.

I want people to know Jess through her legacy of grace, resolute understanding of life and God’s plan for her, her selflessness and above all a wonderful testament to her parents of what a fantastic human being she truly was.
She wrote in a journal as she studied “The Purpose Driven Life” series when she was sick. After she passed one of her quotes her parents found in her journal, that has remained so important to me and gives you, who don’t know her a window to look into what an AWESOME person she was, was this:

She loved her family, her friends, her God and above all else she made sure we knew it.

To my best friend, Jessica Ashley Gage Bonesio, I love you and will forever treasure you. You are gone but never forgotten. I think of you constantly and wish you were here to share in such a wonderful life you were destined to have. But until we meet again in the house of our Lord – I will continue to strive to carry on your legacy, your kind heart and fight to find a cure to this terrible disease that took you away too soon. You are now my angel; as well as so many others.

I love you forever and always – BFFASSFAEAEAEAEAE!

Quickie....

2011-03-21T09:14:00.001-05:00

Quick post today because I'm heading out to Tyler, Texas today for work.

But, I wanted to let you know a few things....

1. I had an AWWSOME 11 mi run with a great friend yesterday. We took it easy on the pace and enjoyed the run. Who knew 11 mi could pass so quickly and you could actually enjoy a run! We had so much fun chatting, catching up, and dreamed of cocktails and champagne :) she is training for her first full (big d on April 10)

2. 4 more followers and I'm hosting a "my favorite things" giveaway. Two prize packs will be up for grabs. So make sure to tell you're friends to tell their friends. So on and so forth....

3. HUGE new installment coming tomorrow. You are going to want to hop on the bandwagon....trust me.

4. Weekend recap will have to come later. BUT I'm only .1 miles from finishing my Cupcake Marathon.

Toodles!!

Sorry for any mis-spellings. I'm on my iPhone.

Friday!!

2011-03-18T14:44:00.000-05:00

I've never been so happy to see Friday :) Pretty much today has been a dooooozie... I have been swamped at work today...glad to finally have a breather :)

Not too much else going on - I still feel like working out sucks so I skipped my run yesterday. I know - sue me. But I have an 11 miler this weekend so the cupcake marathon is still in my sights. I also REALLY want my shirt to come in before I start loggin' those miles for the virtual race.

Gets me thinking.... I really want a cupcake.

Bill and I went out last night for dinner and drinks. Can I tell you how much I just love hanging out with him? We just have so much fun.... just the two of us ... it makes me smile!

That's about it for me!

Look out on Tuesday for our first Tribute Tuesday post..... It's going to be f-u-n!

Also - 6 more followers and I'm hosting a giveaway :) Tell your friends!!

Off to finish up work so I can have some relaxing workouts this weekend and regroup!

xoxoxo

Hump Day = Suck Day

2011-03-17T13:56:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was probably the toughest mental and physical training day since I started this epic journey 25 weeks ago. Over the course of the last few weeks I have been becoming increasingly burnt out. It’s been awhile since I have enjoyed a workout, although I find the ways to push through them (and occasionally skip one or two – I know, I know) I just haven’t been having fun. I used to LOVE working out. I loved pushing myself as I reached higher and higher mileage. I loved being able to watch my speed on my bike increase as the weeks progressed. With the winter we’ve had and my ever increasing lack of motivation my bike fitness has decreased I feel and as I’ve said a hundred times before; I’m just feeling like I’m totally unprepared for NOLA.

Enter yesterday:

The last two days at work have been crazy. I’ve been out of the office all day both days visiting different accounts around town with my Regional Executive as well as my boss. It’s tiring. The same speech account after account…. The same depressing talk about our losses in Japan, New Zealand, Australia and the US. Send me business, blah, blah, blah. I’m sure you know the drill. But yesterday I was looking forward to ending early, around 3:45, heading to the gym to swim 2600 yds (straight) and then hop on my bike for an hour. (I love that it is lighter later now!)

Everything was shaping up nicely at work. Meetings in the morning, a sushi lunch, afternoon meetings went well and then the gym. Around my second afternoon appt. I started feeling queasy. Light headed, a little loopy and felt like I was coming down with something. Bad sushi? Perhaps. I pushed through my last meeting and headed to the gym. I felt better after a couple of chomps and some water and hopped in the pool. And off I went. A straight 2600 yd swim; no break; no warm up; just go.

I got to around 850 yds and my toes started cramping on my right foot. No biggie – push through it – you can’t stop in NOLA. It eventually subsided – but decided to reenter on my left foot. Push through it – you can’t stop in NOLA. By 950 yds both toes were cramping so bad I could barely kick. I stopped. (I guess that’s what those kayak’s are for). I attempted to rub them out in the water. It wasn’t working… but it felt ok enough to continue swimming. I got to 1100 and had to stop again. This time I lifted my left leg onto the side of the pool (bad idea) – My quad felt like it ripped in half. Literally. It hurt so bad I thought I was going to vomit in the pool. Vomit is not good in any pool.

I lifted myself out of the pool and limped to grab my bag. I cried all the way to the locker room – where again thought I was going to vomit as a woman walked around completely naked. COMPLETELY NAKED……

I changed out of my suit – and headed home. I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to ride my bike b/c of my quad – but I thought what the hell – it’s an hour – it’s light outside and I can do it. I WILL NOT QUIT. As I walked in the door; I plopped on the couch next to Bill and proceeded to cry for an hour. After I was done I loaded my bike and headed out for an hour ride. I got a good 45 minutes in but the wind was crazy, the trails were super crowded and my toes were cramping again. I had been beat down just about as low as I have ever been during training.

Needless to say it was a rough day.

When I got back home Bill and I chilled the rest of the night. We even got dessert to make me feel better (dessert will ALWAYS make me feel better – and vodka…which we had too)

Something has to change over the next 30 days. I need to find that passion, that desire, that motivation that I had. It is all gone. I’m depleted; I’m empty and the thought of triathlon makes me want to vomit. What happened to the love (lust) that I once had for the sport has pushed me beyond any limit I ever thought I would reach?

I decided to change things up – I signed up for the tour Dallas bike rally the first weekend in April to get 30 miles in that weekend with a group of peeps. Next weekend is the Rock N’ Roll half which will be super fun with friends that are running it. And then before we know it NOLA will be here. I’ve never been ready for a race to be over as I am right now. I hope that the weeks after NOLA I find my passion for this sport that I have grown to love. Maybe smaller distances are for me? Maybe I will love the 70.3 so much it becomes my favorite distance? Who knows what the future holds for this AG’er triathlete…. But all I can hope is that something changes between now and April 17.

In happier news: (PINK SCREAMS HAPPY!)

I totally won The Happy Runner’s Compression sock giveaway which I’m totally stoked about!! I just bought calf sleeves but I haven’t had socks! VERY EXCITED!!! (If you don’t follow her you should!)

We are almost at 100 followers at triandfinish. Once we get to 100 a super fun giveaway (2 prizes) will be up for grabs in honor of hitting such an awesome milestone!

Also, my friend Janette and I will be hosting a weekly installment starting next Tuesday titled “Tribute Tuesday’s”. Janette was inspired by my “Letters to BFF” post(s) and came up with an awesome idea that we have partnered on. You can grab that button up at the top of the left hand column and on Tuesday link up with us to participate. It’s going to take the blog world by storm so you should totally participate

One more thing – do any of you read Jack Sh*t Getting’ Fit? Go check it out – it’s a very inspiring blog and he does a fun installment of W.I.D.T.H. (Why I Do This Here)…. I submitted my sticky note…. Will you?

Happy St. Patrick’s Day Peeps – hope you are wearing green and are not getting pinched!

Now back to work, a 7 mile run and then it’s on to green beer and Irish food……….

A hill country weekend and 10 miles

2011-03-14T10:26:00.002-05:00

This weekend was very fun! We celebrated Cayla’s 30^th birthday in Austin as well as Fredericksburg and Luckenbach. (If you aren’t from Texas - You’ve probably only heard of Austin). Fredericksburg is a small German settled community in the middle of the Texas Hill Country. It’s located about an hour and a half outside of Austin and is known for it’s local Texas Wineries (Check out Becker Vineyards if you are ever in the area), Downtown shopping district, and 15 miles outside of town is Enchanted Rock State Park. The neighboring town, Stonewall is famous for their peaches; Former President Lyndon B. Johnson’s ranch is in Stonewall also, he and Lady Bird are both buried there. Luckenbach is a tiny (and I mean tiny) town, it’s not even a town really…it’s basically a dance hall, a store and a walk up bar. It was made famous by Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson when they released the song “Luckenbach, Texas” – the town slogan “Everyone’s Somebody in Luckenbach”.

Now that you’ve had your Texas history lesson for the day:

We had a blast….if you know me or have followed me for awhile you will know that my all time favorite band is Reckless Kelly. In college we used to travel hundreds of miles and probably spent thousands of dollars on tickets (and beer…and merchandise)….although my time traveling to see RK has been drastically reduced since becoming an “adult” – I still try and see them whenever I can including last year on my birthday when I combined my two favorites – The Texas Rangers and a post game concert by RK. Too bad it was 107 degrees outside…I thought I was going to die….I thought my mom was going to die….

I digress….this was supposed to be about Cayla…

We loaded up Friday after work and headed to Austin where we met up with Cay’s childhood friend McKenzie and Cay’s little sister, Katy. We ventured downtown and had dinner at Iron Cactus (I actually turned down a margarita…*gasp*!) Then zig zagged around Sixth Street where we ended up at Pete’s Piano Bar. No matter how many times I go there, and am fully aware of their shtick…. I have fun. We sang, danced, got Cayla up on stage and had a great time!

Saturday we headed to Fredericksburg for an afternoon at the spa, some good German food and Reckless Kelly in Luckenbach.

It was a great celebration of a great friend and I’m so happy Cayla had a great time for her 30^th bday!

I got home yesterday around 4:30 – took a short nap and headed out for a 10 mile run.

I laced up my shoes, strapped on my Road ID and Garmin and hit the pavement. I knew it was going to be tough….I wasn’t properly hydrated (I drank a 40 oz bottle of water on the way home in preparation but knew it wasn’t going to be enough) and I missed my last long run last week b/c of house stuff. But alas – I was going to push through.

I headed out of our neighborhood and planned to run 4.2 miles to the nature preserve….one loop around the nature preserve ~1.5 miles and then head home for a total 10 miles … (throw in an extra turn to round out the 10).

I started out feeling great….I was averaging about a 9:50 pace for the first 2.5 miles. I knew I wasn’t going to last at that pace so I backed off…plus the street that takes me from our neighborhood to the nature preserve is pretty hilly…hilly in Texas terms mind you…..at mile 3.5 I saw road kill. EWWWW!

I reached the nature preserve and felt awesome…. This is where I ran my fastest six mile time last week in 1hr flat so I knew I could pick up some time here. I pushed it…and finished my loop then headed back. The sky was starting to get dark and I was afraid they were going to open up on me and pour. Luckily – I missed the rain…I got a few sprinkles but nothing like it appeared was going to happen.

At 7 (and the second dose of road kill) I bonked out. It felt like I had nothing left in my tank. Zero…empty….no energy, no water, no fuel. I blew through my chomps when I hit mile 5 at the preserve and stopped at the water fountain there. (I hate running with water bottles so I try and plan my runs where there is adequate hydration stops…be it fountains, gas stations, friends houses, etc)

I had only about ½ mile to go before I could hit up the 7-11….*high five to me for remembering cash in my belt*

I ran in 7-11 (letting my Garmin track every step until I was in the store) purchased a bottle of water *best purchase ever* and headed home. 3 miles to go. I knew that even if I had to walk every step of that 3 miles – it could take me 30 minutes, an hour, 3 hours, whatever I was going to finish this run. Even if f it killed me.

I hit the pavement (water in hand) and started running again. I pulled off my ipod and just listened to my feet pounding the pavement….my breath *in and out, in and out*, and visualized being three miles from the finish in NOLA. Then psychosis set in.

I started talking to myself…. I realized too I wasn’t talking to myself in my head but I was ACTUALLY vocalizing my thoughts. (Hope someone doesn’t hear me and call the looney van to pick me up)

I remember saying…

“You can do this”

“You are going to finish”

“You do this b/c it makes you happy at the end and a better person”

“You do this b/c you want to be healthy and live a long time”

“You do this to give your future kids an active/healthy mom”

“You will do this b/c you love it”

“You will do this b/c you set your mind to it”

“You will do this b/c people believe in you”

“You will do this b/c you believe in yourself”

Then low and freakin’ behold I was around the corner from my house and the run was over

10 miles – 1hr and 48min – 10:48 pace

One last thing – I’m so close to 100 followers!! When I get there I’ll be hosting a giveaway of my favorite things! I’m so excited – 9 more to go – so tell your friends!!!

Random thoughts....

2011-03-10T14:05:00.000-06:00

37 days until NOLA..... this isn't really random as it stays in the forefront of my brain about 99.9999999% of the time. Including when I sleep, eat, work, watch tv, go to the bathroom, workout, read, drink a beer, shower, etc
I was inspired Jim's (50after40) mantra - "Be Great Today" - so today I was great - I ran 4 miles at lunch (no worries I showered)
I'm really freakin' hungry and because I was great and ran at lunch I don't have time to run out and get anything. Since I sucked and slept in and didn't run this morning I didn't have time to pack anything; which means I'm stuck with four icky choices for lunch. The crap deli across the way from my building, the other crap deli down the way from my building, the crap pizza place across the street or the overpriced Japanese place across the street....none of which sound appetizing at all.
Bill's going to the Maverick game tonight..... in a suite....I'm a little jealous
BUT b/c I'm not going I'll be able to get in my hour trainer ride....and catch up on Survivor and Brothers&Sisters.
I will be exhausted when he comes home....he will be full of good food and beer.
One of my best friend's from college Grandma died Tuesday - her funeral is tomorrow and I'm sad. She was the sweetest lady and best pseudo-grandma ever. We will miss you Grandma Jane.
That same friend just told me she is pregnant - she is due Oct. 21 and I'm super excited for her!
Cayla and I are going to Austin this weekend..... Her 30th bday is tomorrow so be sure you follow her on Twitter (@cayalaann03) and wish her a happy birthday. If you follow her you will be able to read her crazy work stories...she is a high school assistant principal and always had good stories.
I had another showing at my house yesterday...no feedback yet - but hope to hear some today
The first showing feedback was:

My kitchen is too "loud" - as in too green....it's paint - it's easily changed.
The kitchen could be "upgraded" - I'm not sure what else she wants but I have brand new appliances, a new sink, a pretty kick ass faucet, ceramic tile, large amounts of cabinet space, an eat in breakfast area AND a good size pantry. Besides granite counter tops it isn't missing anything.
The yard is overgrown - it was a LITTLE high - but it was scheduled to be mowed today anyway.

I'm too emotionally attached to my house and need to remove my emotions out of it.

this is hard to do.

Pics from my house... I'll take more (and different ones to show all rooms) but these are from the listing:

I have no idea how to read a course elevation map.