Anniversaries

Can you believe it is one year since I signed the papers on the house?? I sure can't. Yep, Labor Day weekend last year, I was moving in the hot, hot sun. Major differences between then and now....I have less money now, more furniture, a year of equity in the house, and a true home.

Also, can you believe it has been one week since I did my triathlon?? I sure can't. Yep, last Sunday, I was sweating in the hot, hot sun. Major differences...I gained back3 pounds of the weight I lost training during this week of no exercise and eating what I wanted. I will go the gym some time this week. Maybe even tomorrow.

"Jennifer needs" game

Here's a fun little way to spend 5 minutes. Go to google and enter "your name needs" and post the first ten appropriate entries.

I'm a little scared.

1. Jennifer needs to be in a mental health facility right now (If I say that I am crazy, does that mean I'm really not, because only a sane person would realize they need help?)

2. Jennifer needs a smack daddy (I don't even know what to say about that)

3. Jennifer Needs To Give Birth In The Next Week (My gestation period is obviously much faster than the normal human's. In that case, I am proud of myself for doing the triathlon in my condition)

4. Jennifer Needs... My friend Jen over at Mythbuster Beauty tagged me in this fun little game. Google your first name and the word "needs" to find out the top (It's like deju vu all over again)

5. Jennifer Needs A Shave (No one laughed at me in my bathing suit today...surely it can wait until morning?)

6. Jennifer Needs a Cane (Yes, I can barely hobble)

7. Jennifer Needs Your Support (No, thanks, a cane will do)

8. Jennifer Needs Help! (Ok, if you won't give me a cane, I will accept your help)

9. Jennifer H. really needs your help to help her reach her goal of 3000 this month (How did they know my last initial??? I should be more specific in my goals. I forgot what my goal was. 3000 hours watching the Olympics - check)

10. Jennifer Needs To Go This Week (I usually try to go every day, not just weekly. I find it much more comfortable. Except when you have to go in a yucky port-a-potty before your triathlon)

I could have used more spin classes

I survived my first (only?) triathlon! That is the most I can say about it. I finished. That was the goal. My friend also finished. It took me exactly 2 hours.



I will just say that I was not prepared for the biking part. So hilly. And being on a mountain bike instead of a road bike didn't help matters. And that led me to not be prepared for the run part. I only jogged maybe half of it. But even with all the walking, I finished the 5k in about 35 minutes. That just shows how slow my jog pace is since I was finishing with minimal walking on the treadmill in 31 minutes. I actually felt better at the end of the run than the beginning - perhaps due it to being downhill and shady at the finish line.



Maybe after I rest for a week I will give more details.



Yours truly,

Triathlete,

24

Just over 24 hours to go. I hope I am ready!

I didn't get another workout in yesterday or today, but I got tons of prep work done on my bike that I didn't even know I needed. Thanks to b/f, I now have two new slime tubes in my tires (supposed to be better against flats) and a seat bag, that contains stuff to help me fix a flat.

To be honest, the thought of a flat tire had never crossed my mind concerning the race. He showed me how to change my tire, and I hope I could do it again if I have, too. It was pretty complicated and lots of little steps. But I have to do something several times before I get the hang of it. I decided it would be much easier to just never get a flat. He agreed. I wonder if my AAA membership would extend to a bike flat?

After a lot of sweat and struggle and only a little help from b/f, I was able to put my bike in my 2-door car without having to take off the front wheel, something which I have not mastered yet. I didn't want to put it back in at 4 in the morning, so I just left it in the car. I sure hope I can get it back out. That would be an embarrassing reason to forfeit.

I am about to print off the directions now. I will have to leave my house around 5 am. Yikes! I guess that is about it! I will let you know how I did after I take a massive hibernating nap tomorrow. Yes, I'm pretty sure someone will bring me my laptop at the hospital.

In the homestretch

Tonight I rode my new bike around the neighborhood for about 30 minutes. Lots of hills. I was tired.

I picked up my race packet today. Got my number...365. There are 365 days in the year, so it is a lucky number, right? I will ignore the fact that it means I gave the 365th slowest swimming time of all the competitors.

This week will probably be the most days I have woken up early ever. One day at 4:45 to catch a flight, one day at 5:45 to catch a flight, two days at 6 for work, and who knows what time I will get up to make sure I am signed in by 6:30 am at a place that is an hour away from where I live. I'm not looking forward to doing that math.

An Army Of One...Or I Don't Wanna Be A Soldier!

On the treadmill, I took the "Army fitness test". I scored a 5.5. That's great. Or I'll tell everyone it is great, because they didn't explain it. 5.5 out of what? What is the minimum? Would Uncle Sam want me??? Inquiring minds want to know. Maybe I need some career options, people.

I can't believe I spent $11 to work out. Since I am traveling for work, and I haven't worked out since Sunday, I felt it was pretty necessary. What with the whole triathlon coming up in like 3.5 days, I decided to use the hotel's gym. It is an actual gym that regular people use, so I had to pay for a daily rate. And that is the discount hotel price.

So let's break down how the $11 was spent. Refrigerated towels (nice!) - $4. Polite but not particularly helpful front desk attendants (no tour or any words about where things were) - $2. Water cooler that ran out of water when I needed to fill up - $2. Huge Lysol wipe dispenser - $2. Fancy equipment with individual TV screens that I couldn't figure out how to use the volume or closed-captioning - $1. Working out instead of being lazy on the huge, fully-pillowed king bed - priceless. OK, not priceless - $11. I already told you that.

Back to why you are here. I did 30 minutes on the bike (8 miles), followed by 2 miles on the treadmill (21 minutes). Guess what??? I ran the 2 miles without stopping! I think if I can get past the first .75 mile desire to stop, I can run for much longer than I think I can.

I am worried after the bike ride though. I selected the hill program. I was shocked to discover after being on the bike for 3 minutes, it said I had only gone .25 miles. Normally, I go a whole mile in less than 3 minutes. So I seriously hope that either this bike was on drugs or that the race path does not have many hills.

I'm not sure about training the rest of the week. I figured I would rest on Saturday. I definitely need to swim at least one more time. So maybe another semi-long workout tomorrow night, and take it easy Fri/Sat. All I know for sure is that I plan to go to IHOP tomorrow to eat lots of carbs in the form of pancakes.

One, Two, Three Times the Fun (and pain)

With the scary T Minus One Week countdown looming, I kicked my butt in gear and did the full mini-triathlon at the gym. All I will say at this moment is that I did it without throwing up and I'm still alive. I will wait until the morning to see if I can still feel my legs.

It took me less than 2 hours. But that was inside. I wonder what it will feel like in 90% humidity.

At the very least, I needed a good calorie burn. I skipped working out for 3 days, and this weekend was a major piggy contest. Wedding dinner with wine and cake, homemade pizza with 2 Dr. Peppers in one day (one of which had some Malibu mixed in...solely for medicinal purposes), cookies, and more.

I emailed the triathlon and asked if they could bump my time up to 15 minutes for the swim instead of 10. He did, but said big mistake. Although he hasn't seen me swim. I actually lost count of my laps today, so I either did 10 laps in 10:20 or 12 in 10:20 .... and 12 laps in12:30 or 14 laps in 12:30. Who knows.

A Success!

B/f birthday went well. I was a little nervous about both the restaurant and present. But he said he loved both.

I was nervous about the present because they were these headphones that are supposed to isolate the music, while reducing outside noise. And he is a major music guy, so after I bought them, I thought he probably already has what he wants, and would know more about the kind to buy. And after I decided to get them for him b/c he mentioned he can't really listen to music on planes b/c he can't hear well b/c of the plane noise, so I thought perfect...then he said he wouldn't really like to mess with them. But he was referring to the next upgrade in technology that blocks all sound, and has a battery. He said the kind I bought were perfect. Hopefully he isn't just being nice. Anyway I gave him the gift receipt and permission to exchange/take-back.

I wasn't really that nervous about the restaurant choice. I thought we had discussed the fact that he hadn't ever been there before a long time ago, but then at the last minute, I thought maybe it was someone else I had the conversation with.

We went to a place in Addison, the Brazilian steak house place. He had been to a different chain in Ft. Worth, but he said he enjoyed this one much better. I think it was due to the company :) The service and food were both excellent. I was glad I made reservations b/c it was crowded. And he did get a free dessert! He picked the cheesecake and it was delicious. I was afraid they weren't going to do anything, but they pulled through. They even wrapped up the wine bottle so we could take our leftover home. He loves surprises, and I was able to pull off one at least.

Since neither of us could move after stuffing our faces, we just finished the night watching the Olympics on his couch. I dozed off with only one apparatus left for the US. Woke up around 11:20, and then didn't get home until midnight. But it was worth it!

Oh, and I gained 2.2 pounds at dinner. Yes, I weighed myself both before and after dinner. So definitely going to the gym tonight. And yes, it was still worth it. Although might not be saying the same thing when my credit card bill comes ;)

New Kicks, New Lease On Life?

I had a strange day yesterday...lots of wasted gas running errands. At lunch, I planned to go to Lowe's to buy a gift card for a wedding this weekend. After I drove through construction zone and lunch hour traffic, I realized that the store I was heading to was a Home Depot. And I didn't know where Lowe's was by work. So decided to do that later since there is a Lowe's close to the house. But it wasn't a total loss...there was a Taco Bueno on the way back :0

On my way home, I decided to stop by a Luke's Locker with a recommendation from a friend. I mapquested the location, but didn't print the map. Instead, like I do for errands (not important events), I didn't want to waste the paper printing, so I just drew myself a little map on scratch paper. And like it happens regularly, I got lost. I couldn't find the place. I drove around for 30 minutes, but got to see some really nice houses in Colleyville. I was about to call and ask for directions, but the store closed at 7:00, and there wouldn't have been time to do any actual shopping. I was frustrated, and saw my chance of doing an outside running before night time slipping away.

Since I was on that side of the highway, after I got to a familiar landmark, I decided to go to that Lowe's and there happened to be a Kohl's across the street. They had way more running shoes than I expected (but no knowledgeable sales people)...so it took me awhile. I tried on about 5 pairs of shoes, and finally decided on these (I think).

http://www.asicsamerica.com/products/product.aspx?PRODUCT_ID=240010971&TITLE_CATEGORY_ID=250001549

I have never bought this brand of running shoes, so hopefully they fit well with my feet. They were on sale, and I'm sure Kohl's will put them even more on sale with the no tax holiday weekend. Oh well, I'd rather not shop in that mess.

I rushed home, petted the cats for about 2 seconds, threw on my clothes, grabbed my ipod and water bottle, and drove to the track (only .6 miles away, but I didn't have time to dawdle..it was after 8 by this point.

Running outside is hard! Even in the new shoes. I only did 2 miles (getting too dark, I was very sad :) in about 23 minutes. And sweated a ton. It felt good to know the pace though. Felt so much slower than on the treadmill, but my time was about where I expected it to be. I didn't have the energy to bump up the speed - the treadmill makes it easier since it forces you to go that extra speed.

So far, no blisters from the new shoes. They were pretty comfortable.

Almost halfway done with my "hell month." Tonight is b/f b-day...going to big dinner so I should eat light for lunch. Oh was that me that just went to the vending machine to get some chips for my sandwich? I actually called and made reservations last week! McDonald's employees act like I'm crazy when I try to do that. They asked if it was a special occasion, so maybe we will get a free dessert!

Goggles, not just for swimming anymore

I have a new marketing direction for swimming equipment manufacturers: Speedo in the Kitchen.



I used my swimming goggles while I cut up an onion. The last few times I have chopped that veggie, whether white or red, my eyes burned uncontrollably. So I thought if my goggles prevent water from contacting my eyes, why not fumes? And it worked perfectly! No tears! I probably wouldn't recommend it for people who have a tendency to cut themselves while chopping. The goggles give you a slightly distorted view.

Friday: nothing, except shopping. Ann Taylor had a pretty good sale. And I finally put away all of the laundry that was piled on my bed. I can now return to sleeping in it instead of the guest bed.

Saturday: mowed. Decided to rest my knee one more day. And also didn't feel like going outside to run.

Sunday: did a mini-mini-triathlon. Wanted to swim first to see if I could do the other parts of the triathlon in my wet bathing suit since I still don't' know for sure what I will be wearing. But the pool was packed, and I didn't' feel like waiting. So I headed upstairs in my dry bathing suit. I did 20 minutes on the bike (just slightly over the halfway mark of the distance of the race). Then got on the treadmill after a few stretches. I did my 3 miles in 33 minutes! Not bad. I ran for 1 mile, 0.8 miles and then finished strong by running the last 0.9 miles...only 0.3 of walking. And my knee felt pretty good. Now my hamstring hurts, but we won't talk about that unless the pain doesn't go away. Then headed back to the pool. While I was able to do all those activities in my suit comfortably, I smelled really bad. I think the suit sucks in the odors. I don't' know. Anyway, after a shower, I finished with 14 laps in the pool and a nice little soak.

Now it is nap time. I'm trying to pick up some tips from watching the Olympics.

Ouch!

Tues: Nothing

Wed: Played tennis. Sweated a lot. I will not tell you how my b/f, who has only played tennis maybe 5 times in his life, came close to beating me. I will chalk that up to my good coaching.

Thurs: I was 2.6 miles into my jog...feeling decently strong. Starting to run my last .4, and then my knee felt funny. I slowed to a walk for a minute, and then tried again. Still there. It was a slight pain, but not sharp. I definitely could have worked through the pain. But it felt like my knee was giving in when I put pressure on it.

So I stopped early, since I was almost done anyway. Didn't try to push it with weights, even though that didn't seem to aggravate it when I tried one or two reps. I don't think it is anything major b/c I am able to walk on it normally. I will ice it and hope that tomorrow is another day.

Saturday: the PLAN is to get up super early and try to jog at the track outside. See if outside jogging can compare to inside climate controlled exercise. My guess is no. Or that I won't make it out of bed before it gets to be beastly hot.

It was such a Monday today

Monday: Surprisingly, I wasn't very sore in my leg muscles from the spinning class. However, I do feel slightly bruised in a certain area that we don't need to name. If they make gender-specific seats for bicycles, why can't they make exercise bikes with different seat types?

Even though I didn't want to, and it would mean 3 days in a row at the gym, I went tonight. Monday nights are always packed. I did 14 miles on the bike in 37 minutes (at a measly 4 out of 20 intensity setting on the bike). Then I went to the treadmill and did 2 miles in 24 minutes. I only went 0.5 miles jogging in a row, but it felt like a pretty good workout. I was able to go at 6.5 and 7.0 mph at the very end.

After pigging out on two Mexican meals in about 15 hours, I think I back-slid a little on the weight loss. Oh well. I can't say that is exactly our primary objective, as the shy scientist Fairaday said on Lost.

Since I was already sweaty when I got home, I put out the trash and recycling for tomorrow, and watered my little growing trees and a few shrubs who aren't looking so good. Hopefully these 107 degree days won't last much longer. It is a good feeling waking up and knowing that these tasks are done already.

Spinning Class Is The Debil.

I made it to the 10:00 class. I was ready to leave by 10:05. Everyone else stayed for the hour, I left at a little after 10:30. Satan, I mean the instructor, was actually very nice. I was the only "first-timer" so he helped me adjust my seat height, and sat next to me for a few minutes to show me proper form. But I had to sit A LOT when everyone else was standing doing the hill climb thing. He said I was doing a good job, but I hear the devil lies. I felt a little sick afterwards.

I don't imagine I will return to the class. But who knows. Maybe, like childbirth, I will forget the pain and think it is something I will want to do again.

I swam for 16 laps, mostly backstroke.

I rewarded myself with a Sonic cherry slush. It is summer after all, right?

Gratuitous Cat Pictures

I don't remember putting him in the dryer! This is why I need to fold my laundry immediately. So next time you see cat hairs on my clothes, you will understand a little more about my life.

And next on the runway is Tigger, sporting a 100% pure plastic Target bag halter dress. I don't understand cats' fascination with bags, but it is very pervasive and annoying. He gets it caught around his neck, and then it gets caught on his collar. And he freaks out a little. Speaking of freaks, check out his possessed eyes.







Despite all the growling and hissing and scratching, occasionally there is some harmony in the house. Enjoy the peace while it lasts.

Foiled Again (but I'm not really sad about it)

Thursday: No workout. Had some digestive issues that morning and didn't want to find out at the gym that it hadn't gone away. That was my lame excuse anyway.

Friday: No workout. Made a lovely dinner for b/f and a nice relaxing evening.

Saturday: I keep forgetting about the early closing hours on weekend evenings. I planned to both jog and swim, but ended up only running, with a few weights thrown in.

I actually had a pretty good run today. 3 miles in 34 min and 45 seconds, 2 minutes less than last time! Apparently, if I walk less of the distance, my time improves. I must remember that. I did 1.25 miles jogging, walked .15, jogged 1.01 (yes, the .01 is a big deal), walked .2, and then finished jogging for .6 miles.

I may have found a secret to my success. I downloaded 2 short podcasts, one was a news piece from Onion radio (who knew that existed), and the other was a This American Life story from NPR. While listening to these, my first half mile flew by. Maybe it was because it was my first half mile and I am getting in a little better shape, but it seemed to distract me more than the music usually does. I wish I had more of them downloaded for this jog. Maybe next time. I hope I can wear my iPod in the race. I don't see why not. I'm guessing it is not a good idea on the bike portion, but hopefully it will be a legal distraction during the running.

There's another thing to add to my to-do list...create my race day playlist! Fun!