Tuesday, March 27, 2007
No MTB race, Briar's first road ride, T-30, and a Slowwwww Run
Ok, well, I didn't make it to the mtb race Sunday. First of all, my legs were toast after the trail run. I guess it's been so long since I've made them race they forgot how to handle it. Plus, the front of my ankles and shins were complaining about the steep climbs...not injury, though, just soreness. But I was going to go on anyways, until I accidently woke Bo up while getting up and around and he begged me to stay home. How could I say no? So I decided 2nd place AG in the trail run was enough excitement for the weekend anyways. We all got up and went to church and enjoyed the beautiful day. And to make it all worth staying home, I finally got Briar out on his road bike. We rode to Green's Market, where he went in and bought a bag full of Snickers and a bottle of water...we ate a few, then stuffed the rest in his Camelbak, and headed home. Briar even climbed the hill behind Cracker Barrell!!! I could not believe it. First of all, he still can't get clipped in his pedals. I just don't know what the deal is there, but he can't figure it out. He's wearing mtb shoes, though, and they had enough tread to allow to ride without being clipped in. Without being clipped in, though, I figured there was no way he'd make it up the hill, and I told him to just get off and push if it got too hard on him.
Note: It's not like me to say something like that to him...but I have recently come to the conclusion that I have pushed the little fellow too hard in the past. I'm always pushing him to get stronger, run faster, hit the ball farther, throw the ball harder, etc. As a result, I think he sometimes gets discouraged and would just rather not run/ride/practice ball with me if he has to return home with his tongue hanging out in exhaustion. I haven't done this intentionally, but I think perhaps I might have, a time or two, crossed the fine line between instilling a good, healthy work ethic into a child and just plum pushing the child too hard. That's a little tough to admit, but I can take the flack for it...it's a fine line, butI intend to stay on the right side of it from now on.
So I tell him I'll see him at the top of hill. I get to the top and turn around, and he's still coming - he made it all the way to the top! Case in point - I backed off of him a little, and he stepped up and climbed the hill. And for the right reason, too - because he wanted to accomplish that, not because Mom wanted him to. ~sigh~ Parenting...it's hard, but I'm learning. Anyways, we rode 12 miles in about an hour and he really enjoyed it.
Monday Michele and I went to swim class and we did our T-30. After a 400 warmup, we swam for 30 minutes solid trying to get as many laps as we could. I did 30 and a quarter, which is basically 1500 yards. That was my goal, so I am pleased. One thing I'm going to have to do is to push myself a little harder in the pool. I am always afraid I can't make the distance, and I think I start out too easy. The guy counting my laps said I sped up a lot the last 500 yards. Michele did awesome as usual and got 1650 yards.
This morning I got up at 5:30 and set out for 1 hour run, in which I only got 6.01 miles. My legs are still sore, but I think the run worked some of it out. Hopefully a lunchtime bike ride will get the rest out.
We've got T-ball practice this afternoon, and the week just continues to get busier. Opening day is Saturday, and have GOT to squeeze in some shopping this weekend, as I have nothing left to wear for spring/summer that doesn't look pathetic. Gotta quit buying so many triathlon/training clothes and get something I can wear in my other life.
Monday, March 26, 2007
Chickasaw Trace 15k Trail Run
“Okay big girl – you just passed them back – you better kick it up these hills and not be holding them up.”
And I think I was so worried that they’d catch back up with me I pretty much sprinted up the hill and continued to run strong for as long as I possibly could. Then when I could no longer see them, I tried to get back to a reasonable pace and get my HR under control. I knew I had another steep climb coming up, and went up it fairly strong, but I had forgotten that once you made it to the top, you had to continue to climb for probably another 300 yards. I think I was getting pretty tired by then, and stumbled across a root in the trail and took a spill. It didn’t hurt, though, just skinned my knee a little and got me all dusty. I jumped back up and took off, and then walked through the next water stop catching my breath. The volunteers at the water stops were great. They were all so nice. This one guy said “Carry the cup as far as you need to – I’ll come pick it up!!”
So I made my way back to the starting point, and then did another little loop at the start of the trail as instructed. We then had to cross the road, and run up the grassy hill to see the finish line. At this point I thought I was closer to done than I really was, and I was running out of gas fast. I continued on, though, and crossed the finish line in
Heart Rate and Elevation
So, I got home around
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Two Chicks and a Chickasaw Trace
Let me back track a few days first. Bo and I were sick this past weekend. I think we caught some form of the flu from Briar, or something. Briar had the flu last week, and we thought we had escaped, but Bo started getting sick last Tuesday. I didn't feel too awfully bad over the weekend, other than a really bad sore throat, but it turned Saturday's "what should have been easy 5 mile run" into an "OMG I'm going to die before I get home and I have only been running 30 minutes" type of deal. Whew...gotta hate those days. With the lack of motivation I've been suffering from lately, I don't need too many more of those. I need the "Wow, what a beautiful sunrise. I've run 10 miles and feel like I could run 10 more with no problem. It's good to be alive!" type of runs. But anyways, I guess you play the hand your dealt as best you can and hope for a better one the next time.
So I changed the game on Sunday. H, K, and I traveled 2 hours to Chickasaw Trace MTB Park to check out the 9 miles of trails. K is an experienced rider here, he has even won his class at the race before, so H and I were happy to have his expert help. While K was still getting his bike ready, I rode a little loop of the very beginning of the trail, and got nervous right off the bat. So I went back and got H and took her to ride it, and she got nervous too. But we got over it before we took off with K! We had a blast riding the 9 miles of trails at Chickasaw Trace. Check out the pics:
But did we dismount?
No! Here is K showing us how it's done
And H coming on down
Note: I came down , too, we just didn't get a picture of it ;)
I tried this hill 3 times and never made it to the top.
H climbing
...and we both went down
Grinding it out...
Up a hill and over a rock!
Friday, March 16, 2007
Inspiration
Excellence can be attained if you Care more than others think is wise, Risk more than others think is safe, Dream more than others think is practical, and Expect more than others think is possible. "- Author Unknown
My mother sent me that this morning. I love it.
Thursday, March 15, 2007
There are some things in life you just can't have...
I am blogging for therapy right now, so bear with me. Or just don't read this post.
Problem: I had a Hardee's Hand Scooped Strawberry milkshake for lunch yesterday. I've been wanting to try one since they came out forever ago, but have always resisted the urge. It sounded good, but it just didn't compare with Sonic's Oreo Blast. So when I treated myself, I always chose the Blast. But for some reason yesterday, I decided I'd try that shake for lunch. One sip, and I swear there was a vaccum strong enough to drain Lake Michigan created in that straw. Oh.Dear. I knew this was trouble at the time, but I enjoyed that dang shake so much I didn't care. I won't tell you about the massive mound of whip cream on top.
Anyways...guess what I want today? Yep, you got it. A Hardee's Hand Scooped Strawberry milkshake. But I've already had lunch. So I can't use the "well, I am substituting this for a meal" excuse. Everything I look at turns pink. I finally decided to look up the Hardee's nutrition info online. I thought, 'if it's not too bad, maybe I'll just get another one today and eat a very light dinner.' Result of research: 700 calories, 33 fat grams, 68 carbs. No such luck. Little did I know yesterday that I should have substituted that thing for lunch AND breakfast. I pondered on it. 700 calories. I looked down at my belly....'perhaps I could run a few extra miles'...then came back to my senses. That would be like 8 extra miles. Not gonna happen. Shake and bigger belly or no shake and same belly. Which one? I went back and forth, and then I remembered my saving grace. My Athleta, Title 9, and Terry catalogs that I carry in my purse. I put them in there for a reason a couple days ago. I want some new clothes, but I want to look good in them. So I promised myself that when I wanted to indulge in terrible food choices, that I would look at the magazines, and that should take care of it. And you know what, it worked! I still want that milkshake, but not bad enough to go up a size. I hope this works the next time too.
The Necessary Evil
SMACK!!!(My handing smacking the snooze button)
…15 minutes later, sitting on the side of the pool
I won’t even go into why I was swimming this morning instead of swim class last night. I’m sure Michele will explain, so check her blog to find out. I’m supposed to do a 40 minute run today w/ a 30 minute time trial. Now I’m not so sure I have my heart monitor with me.
Briar got a 2 RBI single last night! He plays (scrimmages) again tonight. No T-Ball practice for Bo until Friday.
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
H is on the road
I got my bike ride in today, for the first time ever, with my sister. She did great! We rode, during my lunch break, down Hwy 130 on most of the Staggerwing Duathlon course. I plan to do the Staggerwing Du this year, and I'm sure she will too.
Now, if I can just convince her to get in the pool...ofcourse the way I've been whining about it myself, that won't be easy. Tonight is swim class again. I think we're supposed to do some kind of time trial or something to get our "T-30" pace???? I don't know what "T-30" pace is.
Wish me luck!
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Keeping my head above water...
Barely. Sorry it’s been so long since I’ve posted here. The last couple of weeks I've barely had enough time to get the essentials done, and I just couldn’t justify blogging with so much else to do. Let me explain.
First of all(drum roll, please), sing it with me, now:
Well, beat the drum and hold the phone - the sun came out today!
We're born again, there's new grass on the field.
A-roundin' third, and headed for home, it's a brown-eyed handsome man;
Anyone can understand the way I feel.Oh, put me in, Coach - I'm ready to play today;
Put me in, Coach - I'm ready to play today;
Look at me, I can be Centerfield.
I love it. So much so that I signed up to be the manager of Bo’s T-Ball team because he looked up at me with those big blue eyes and said “Momma, I want YOU to coach my T-Ball team.” So, being the manager of a T-Ball team, the biggest fan of Briar’s Little League team, and being somewhat OCD about practicing and winning – things just got very busy at my house.
And, as Murphy’s Law would have it, I got completely covered up at work about the same time. Making time for my husband, kids, my teams, and my job required me to scale back my workouts a little, and to obviously rule out a Half Ironman during this time. But that’s okay.
Right now, I’m following an Olympic Distance plan by Mike Ricci that I got from BeginnerTriathlete.com. I have set the conclusion of the plan to the date of the
Speaking of “keeping my head above water”, my swim is a whole ‘nuther topic for discussion. I have been awfully discouraged with it. I had followed the 8 week swim focused plan back in January and February, and started going to a triathlete swim class as well. This was exciting, but the fact that I was struggling to keep up in the class was discouraging. I was doing mostly drills (the “catch up” or “touch & pull” drill) to correct my bad swimming technique, and I felt like I was losing all my endurance. I could barely do 200 yards without having to stop and catch my breath. About 3 weeks ago, though, Coach Ashley, found that I needed to correct my head position(it was way down under water), keep my head still(I was turning it with every stroke, barreling through the water), keep my arm extended while I glide (I tend to drop them), and try breathing every third stroke(unheard of for me). I have been working on those things by swimming with fins only. I must confess, though, I haven’t exactly been gung-ho about it all. Trying to swim the way she has shown me had made me feel like I’m starting all over in the pool; like I felt the first time I got in the pool after deciding I was interested in triathlon. I’ve been having an ever so subtle pity party about it, too:
~sigh~ I can’t swim. I’m never going to be good in the water….
~sigh~ I don’t know if I can do any triathlons this summer since I can’t swim…
~sigh~ I don’t want to go to the pool today. It’s just going to discourage me.
Pretty pathetic, I know. Not exactly the kind of attitude that “Competitive Lana” likes to see. So this morning I was supposed to do a 1000 yd time trial after a 500 yd warmup, according to the plan, which actually had to be modified because I couldn’t get into the pool until
I started my watch and took off, focusing on my head position, arms, and my glide. 10 laps, and I felt fine. Cool, just 10 more. The next 10 I almost felt like I was getting into some kind of foreign-feeling groove, and finished with no problem, in