Man, it’s about friggin’ time. Of course, I’m sitting inside watching America’s Funniest Home Videos and on my laptop. Slightly pathetic. But I did get out for a lovely 2-1/2 hour coffee ride with the club today. Honestly, it’s been at least 3 years since I’ve been on the Sunday Coffee Ride. Not sure why we stopped going. It was one of my first entrances into group riding. I still remember that first one. It WAS my first group ride. I fell on the way there at a stop sign because I couldn’t clip out of my pedals and I was all scraped up and embarrassed and didn’t want to ride because I was scared. It’s amazing to think of it now and how mornings like today ARE my zen time. Something that scared me so much 6 years ago is such a relaxing pleasure now — just goes to show you.
Today was our official kick-off coffee ride for the season. Tracey, the owner of the Bwood, had scones and coffee for the group pre-ride. James and I got there early, for once. In time to enjoy some treats before heading out — at least until I realized I’d forgotten my helmet. How do I always do that?? Forget something?? Lucky, Tracey also had a helmet I could borrow. Thank goodness.
The coffee ride route isn’t my favorite ride through the cities. But the pace was good — a perfect recovery from yesterday’s long run. I got to chat with a lot of peeps and we had a few challenging hill thrown in there to keep us honest. I think we averaged around 17-something mph for the 2.5 hour ride. Although, to be honest, I never looked at my computer to see how far we were going. It’s nice to have a ride where you just don’t care — you’re just there.
After the ride, we hung out at the cafe and had lunch with teammates. We finally had to get our butts in gear at 1pm. We needed to grocery shop for the week and do chores around the house.
As for yesterday, my 18 mile progressive run was a challenge — but a good one. I was supposed to run at 10% below Marathon Pace for the bulk of the run and then increase pace the final 30 minutes and finish the final 10 at MP. The goal for this was 11-minute mile 10% below pace with MP @ 10-minute mile but I actually ran at an average 10:30-minute mile pace and finished the final 30 minutes at 9:30. I think I am going to finally rethink my MP goal. But I need to do the math.
I will say, I was SORE after this run. We went out for dinner at a wine bar with some peeps in the evening and after 3 hours of hanging out, eating and drinking wine, my legs were stiff and could barely make it to the bathroom — let alone to the car. Then, this morning, getting out of bed was it’s own challenge. Going downstairs really hurt. But the ride loosened me up and I feel much better now.
So, next week is my first multisport race of the season! It’s the Oakdale Duathlon: a 3 mile run, 12 mile bike, 3 mile run. I guess that means I should put my aerobars on my bike and practice TT position.
5 second summary of today’s race: a 51-minute 10k was not accomplished.
That said, it was a decent race. Finishing stats below:
Time: 53:03
Pace: 8:33/mile
Overplace place: 238 out of 1638 women
Division place: 34 out of 285 women age 35 - 39 (although, I guessing at the total by the last woman in that age group who finished her place).
Not bad. I finished within the top 15% of women overall and within the top 12% of women my age. I was shooting for a goal pace of 8:30/mile and I missed that by 3 seconds. 51 minutes was just a goal I threw out there — dummy me didn’t even realize that was a 8:12/mile pace until later today when I actually did the math. But I still think it’s a good goal. It’s a time I’d like to see myself hit for this distance and I think it’s possible. Especially given my 8:44/mile paced half marathon from last year.
That said, today wasn’t without its challenges. The weather was probably the first. Forget the spring-like temps we finally received last weekend, this morning I awoke to snow. SNOW. I had to scrape the friggin’ car. And it didn’t just snow. It was snow-ing. That’s active tense. The wind was blowing. The snow was falling. Weather.com was predicting mid 30 temps with mid 20 windchills. And while I run pretty strong in cooler weather, this was a little much. Where are my 50s and 60s????
So, the other “less than ideal” factor was that I hadn’t picked up my race packet yesterday. In fact, I didn’t even know I was supposed to until I was reading about parking late last night (and well past the pick-up hours). How did I not know this? I didn’t see anything when I registered. I looked at the race site earlier in the day to see start times and location and I didn’t see it there either. I’ve only done 2 other 10ks in my life and I figured it was like all the 5ks I usually run with race day pickup. Oops.
Luckily, there was same day packet pick-up (for out-of-towners). But the Web site said this was only from 7am until 8:15 am. Race time was 9:30!
But I took this as my punishment for not reading the site thorougly. I knew this was a big race (the biggest 10k in Minnesota, apparently, and the 15th largest in the country). So, I wasn’t opposed to getting an early start. I drove to the parking area with nary a problem (not many people were out yet). I hopped right on the shuttle to the park and I arrived at pick-up by 8am. There were no lines, no hassles. I had 90-minutes to wait.
Luckily, I brought a book. And, although it was cold and snowing, I found a seat in the pavillion where I read for a bit. People began to arrive. The pavillion began to get more and more crowded. Finally, at about 8:45, I decided I needed to gear up and get ready to race. I put away my book, put on my tunes and hit the rest room. I then packed up my non-race clothing and handed over the belongings for storage. I headed out for a warm-up from about 8:50 - 9:10. My feet were cold. My fingers were cold. Luckily, the light running began to warm me up.
After my warm-up, I got in line for a port-a-potty for one last rest stop. I jogged around the area a bit more and was ready to line up for the start.
During the warm-up, my heart rate monitor was giving me grief. Lately, it’s been kind of wonky at unpredictable times. Two weeks ago, it wouldn’t register during a long run and drove me batty. In Texas, it started registering off the charts (between 175 - 200 bpm) during the final 20 miles of our 110-mile ride. And quickly into my warm-up today, it was registering 185 or nothing at all. I adjusted the strap. I restarted it numerous times. I began to get very aggitated and frustrated because I’d planned on using it to pace myself — especially now that I know 163 is my lactate threshold and not 158. I wanted to go out and aim for 160 bpm for the run and see where that got me.
But it wasn’t in the cards.
When the race started, I messed with it a bit. But I soon had to give up or my performance was going to suffer. My monitor was clearly not going to cooperate and I would have to go by pace.
Because this race is so large, the start was lots of dodging around and getting past the slower runners (and this was when I even lined myself up at the 8-minute mile pacers. I don’t know my first mile pace was (because I was fussing with my watch), but I think it was around 8:16. I have no idea what Mile #2 was. But, from then on, I clocked in the remaining miles as follows:
I felt like the pace was tough but manageable. There were some rolling hills. It certainly wasn’t a flat course. The wind on the Ford Bridge sucked ass with the snow and wind. I had a couple of women that I used to keep me going at the end. A woman in pink kept catching up and I’d speed up to match her. Finally, in the final .2 mile when I thought I was cooked, she started to pass and I just booked it with whatever I had left. I crossed the finish line feeling I’d left everything I had on that course.
Thank goodness for the lady in pink and her making me work at the end because I felt close to giving up a few times.
So, decent race even though snowy, cold and more challenging that I’d imagined. I’m a little dissappointed that an above 8:30/mile pace cooked me so much. I’m even more disappointed that I couldn’t record my heart rate during the effort.
But it is what it is. And I can’t complain. There was a point out there in the race today when I looked around and it was mostly men and a few women around me and I kind of admited to myself that maybe, yes, I’m actually an athlete.
So, I finally had it. After a few months of frustration with nutrition and weight, I finally signed up at Lifetime for a Resting Metabolic Rate test as well as an Active Metabolic Rate test. I haven’t hinted much at it on the blog lately. I don’t know if it was embarassment, frustration or denial, but I’ve been steadily gaining weight. Slightly gaining, but gaining nonetheless. I’m up 6 lbs. from where I was at the Racine Half Iron last summer. And while that is only 6 scant pounds, those pounds have been much more noticable than the other other 10-15 I’ve gained since hitting my goal weight at Weight Watchers in 2005.
The thing is, until recently, the extra poundage hasn’t really bothered me. I knew I was up 10 lbs. from goal, but my clothes were still fitting. I was still in that 8 to 10 size-frame. Then, after Christmas, my clothing started to get tight. Once that began to happen, I knew it was time to lay the law. I tried (multiple times) to jump back on the Weight Watcher’s bandwagon. Only, I’d get crazy-hungry and give up. I also started monitoring my calories on Training Peaks (where my tri training is logged), but I had no idea what I should be aiming for.
Then, after two “active” vacations of Dog Sledding and riding in Texas, I was still at this uncomfortable weight. I spent an evening scouring the evening looking for what my RMR should be – and the numbers were so mixed. Should I be shooting for 1500 calories/day? 1800? 1200? More? Less?
I just didn’t know.
About the same time as this, James went in and had his active metabolic rate tested. He told me about the test and I was curious. I signed up.
I had the test on Friday and it was kind of a freaky thing. The Personal Trainer gave me an oxygen mask and hooked me up to a computer and hose that would monitor my oxygen input. The first test was for my RMR. Prior to the test, I had to fast for 12 hours as well as refrain from hard exercise for 24 hours. I got hooked up and I had to lay on a massage table while the computer monitored my breaths. I tried to relax (although, it was kind of hard considering I’m hooked up and laying down in such an odd fashion). This lasted about 15 minutes. At the end of it, I got the magic number: 1320.
My RMR was 1320 calories/day.
At first, this number sent me into panic. Only 1320 calories a day to eat. And if I wanted to lose weight, what was that – 870 calories? 1170 calories? That’s nothing.
Of course, then my PT explained that the 1320 was if I laid in bed all day and did nothing. Adjusted to my lifestyle, I have a BMR of 1830. Sounds better, no?
After the RMR test, I went downstairs with the PT. We got hooked up at a treadmill where I had to wear the oxygen mask and it’s attached hose to the computer, but I had to run now for the test. I was instructed not to talk. And I was told we’d get to AT (aerobic threshold), and I should hang in there. He had me start walking at 3.0. Then 4.0. Then at 5.0, I went into a weak jog because it felt too weird to walk at that rate. Finally, we got to 6.0. I felt good. This is my comfortable pace. We stuck here for a while. We were approx. 6-8 minutes into the test and then he started to adjust my incline. First 4.0. Then 6.0. Then 8.0. The oxygen mask started feeling uncomfortable. I felt like I wasn’t getting my normal amount of air intake. I could see my heart rate. For 158 - 159 BPM, I felt way more uncomfortable than I normally do. Then we were at a 10% incline. This was hard. I saw my heart rate at 161. I felt like it was way higher. I felt uncomfortable, like I couldn’t hold on, like I couldn’t do it anymore. I knew I wasn’t supposed to talk, but I wanted to grunt, yell or scream. I finally made a noise, but then he asked me if I was okay and I had to admit, yes. I gave him the thumbs up — but I was suffering. “Just a few seconds more. You’re doing great. Use your arms. Hang in there,” he coached.
It was one of the longest 10 minutes of my life. But I got there. I reached AT and soon as I was allowed to rest my feet to the sides as he lowered the speed. I got back on at 3.0 mph. I started to recover. The oxygen mask was suddenly less claustrophobic.
“You okay?” asked the PT.
I have him the thumbs up.
We were now registering my recovery time.
At the end of the test, I found out my lactate threshold is 163 bpm. This is for running on the treadmill (so it could be lower for cycling). But that is a full 5 beats lower than I thought. I’d been training with 158 plugged-in based on my Joe Friel threshold tests. When it came down to plugging the numbers in and getting my HR zones, I can be working harder. Good news, because it means I have the capability for more. Tough news because it means I should be working harder.
My VO2 Peak number was 44.3 — almost in the 90th percentile for my age. My recovery times were strong, too. I have a strong aerobic base. I’m fit. Just a little overweight.
When we sat down to look at my numbers, we talked about caloric intake. I know what number to plug in. We also put my VO2 max number into my heart rate monitor and, along with my settings, I should know now exactly how many calories I burn in a workout. Using this, if I create a 3500/week calorie deficit, I should be able to lose 1 lb. a week.
We also chatted a bit about strength training. I admitted it’s something I slack on. Trying to swim, bike and run 2 - 3xs a week makes it tough to fit anything else him. He still stressed the need. Promised to chat with me at a later date (after this information sunk in) and follow-up with some routines. Perhaps I’ll listen. ;)
The greatest takeaway? I have a number to plug in. Since I’ve been using Training Peaks for coaching, I can use it for nutrition as well. I can plug in my daily caloric aim (1830) as well as my workout number (whatever it is) and aim for a 500 calorie deficit. Logging the food can be a pain, but at least I know it’s a target.
And to be honest, I’ve been doing this since Friday and I think I already have a huge revelation: I’ve been eating too much on my days off and not enough on my hard workout days. It’s easy to go over 1800-2000 calories on any given day. But on days when I workout for 2 to 3 hours, I have to add another 1500+ calories. That’s more than it sounds — and I probably haven’t been doing it. So, essentially, I’ve probably been starving myself on hard workout days (and shutting my metabolism down) and then over-eating on non-workout days. Hence the weight gain.
Only $200+ dollars for testing to figure that out. ;)
All kidding aside, I’m glad I took the test. I feel good about the target. And I know what I have to do in order to make this season a good one.
That said, I had a strong 15 mile run yesterday as part of my marathon training. I averaged a 10:35 mile pace which has me, again, questioning my goal pace (with a goal pace of 10-minute mile, my slow runs should be at an 11-minute mile pace). But I felt pretty shot after the run. I was useless the rest of day.
Today, I had a late brick workout. I wanted to wait for the sunny weather. We did 22-miles of somewhat hilly biking (approx. 16 mph avg.) and I finished with a 5.13 mile run at just over a 10-minute mile pace.
Biggest takeaway from the weekend? Thank goodness, Spring is Here! Now go eat - and track it, girlie. We have a marathon to run in June and, Lord know, I don’t want to carry any excess baggage to that finish.
Friday April 18th 2008, 7:44 pm
Filed under: random, cooking
So, last night, James called me at work. He was leaving Cupcake, from a meeting, and on his way home.
“What did you get me?” I ask.
“What?” he answers.
“Cupcake. What cupcake are you me bringing home?”
“You’re always complaining that you’re fat. I didn’t want to do that to you,” was his answer.
Wrong answer. I don’t care if I think I’m fat.
It’s Cupcake. They make Red Velvet and S’more cupcake goodness. Who cares that I complain when he brings home anything calorie-laden and tempting — every time.
Cupcakes don’t count. Isn’t that the cardinal rule??
So, I arrive home. Cupcake is forgetten. I lay my laptop bag in the office. My gym bag goes in the hall. I remove my shoes and begin rummaging through the day’s mail. I wander into the kitchen as James prepares the Trader Joe’s artichoke tortellini and a nummy marinara sauce from the co-op for dinner. Asparagus is roasting in the oven.
And then I notice it.
A white bag on the counter.
The kind of waxy bag that only comes from a bakery.
“Is that a cupcake?? Did you get me a cupcake???”
Suddenly, I’m gleeful and ripping open the bag.
Yes. Two cupcakes. From Cupcake. And the pink one is mine. It’s called Betty Crocker. Very fitting since I work on the Web site, after all. Even more fitting because it’s super-sweet traditional pink frosting on a classic moist yellow cake. There was also a double vanilla cupcake in there for the boy. But the dense Buttercream frosting atop that cupcake was so not my bag. I like my frosting sweet, yes ma’am.
I took pictures first:
Then I rubbed my finger along the edge and put the sweet, pink sugar goodness to my lips and to savor the exquisite frosting-ness. Eventually, I dug into the exposed moist yellow cake.
Sooooooo
Gooooood.
I left half the cupcake. I needed dessert after dinner, after all.
But a Betty Crocker cupcake.
How perfect.
[EDITOR’S NOTE: the total irony of the situation is that I had to start fasting after 7pm for my resting metabolic rate and aerobic zone testing that was to follow in the morning. Knowing what I know now, the calories in that lovely cupcake were a good third of what I should be eating daily. Thank goodness ignorance is bliss. And there’s room for a little Betty Crocker cupcake in everyone’s life even if it’s only monthly.. or bimonthly. It’s about balance, right?]
Wednesday April 16th 2008, 4:47 pm
Filed under: random
I’m stealing the link because it’s THAT good
My dear (and VERY SMART) friend just posted this link via Facebook. I adore it. She also works at a great digital content agency. Obviously they’re great if they hire peeps like her.
Since my job involves working on a cooking / recipe Web site, I spend a lot of time looking at other sites. I receive loads of foodie emails and I’m always wandering around looking at what is out there.
Long run Saturday turned into long run Sunday because of the inclement and COLD weather we’ve been dealing with here in MN. I normally consider myself a “winter” person. I don’t complain too much. I enjoy all seasons. But this cold and snowy Spring is becoming a little too much and is seriously depressing me a little. The snow storm on Thursday? So not fun. I can take it in March. April, not so much.
So, even yesterday was still residually cold. It was still cloudy, too, with spitting snow. The high for the day was in the lower 30s. It was kind of windy, too. I knew I didn’t want to do a long run in that so I posponed until today and instead went to the gym where James & I took in a horrible spin class (I didn’t know it would be horrible, but the chick’s music collection was from the 70s and she’d literally sing along to the music IN THE MICROPHONE. It was more than a little painful). After that, I continued my brick workout with a 6-mile run while James swam in the pool. We met afterwards in the Life Cafe, had our recovery drinks before showering and heading off to Trader Joes for the week’s grocery shopping. The club was busy, too. Crazy busy. Everyone must have been avoiding the outdoors like we were.
So, today was my long run and, I have to admit, I was still hesitant to head out. I checked weather.com and it didn’t looked like it would get above the 30s in the morning. I waited as long as I could and finally left the house at 11am.
I’m following this plan on RunnersWorld.com. The plan has more pace work than the typical beginner’s marathon plan in an effort to build some speed. Today’s long run was a progressive long run meaning I’d started and do the majority of the run at my 10% below goal pace effort. But, in the final 30 minutes, I’d increase my pace to Marathon Pace (MP) + 20 seconds; then MP + 10 seconds and then finally MP. It was a 16-miler, so I knew it would be long. I packed my iPod with podcasts of This American Life, Sound Opinions and Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me (I know, I’m a total public radio nerd) and I put some hardcore tunes on the back end for the pace increase portion of my run.
The cold temperatures weren’t horrible, but it certainly could have been warmer. At the last minute, I decided to leave my gloves at home and I wish I hadn’t. Even though I was wearing a shirt that has thumbholes, the constant presence of wind made it a chilly one. Luckily, other than my hands, the rest of my body stayed warm.
I felt good for pretty much the entire run. The 30 minute pace increase at the end was certainly challenging, but nothing I couldn’t handle. I also made sure I concentrated on nutrition. I went through 4 Gus, 1 water bottle and 1 bottle of sports drink (approx. 500 calories). At mile 10, I stopped at a gas station to use the restroom and purchase the aforementioned sports drink.
I do enjoy the long runs and their easier pace. They allow me to kind of zone out. It was nice to see the sun and geek out with podcasts that I adore.
Today’s This American Life (actually, the one that aired last week and is a repeat from 2000) was a really good one. There was a story of a sister and her born-again brother and their relationship. It is a fascinating story. Tacked on to that, the sisters in their 70s who still dress alike and do nothing without the other? Well, that was just plain weird.
Sound Opinions was also a good episode. I totally want the new Moby CD now and I was educated on the difference between vinyl and digital sound.
And the best part of Wait, Wait Don’t Tell Me was probably the fact that it’s made me want to see Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle (or whatever it is called). Isn’t that timely with the sequel just out.
I finished my run in 2:51:14. Under my 11-minute mile goal pace which has me re-thinking my original goal pace for the 10-minute mile marathon just a little bit. But, I’m going to hold off still a bit on any decisions there. I don’t want to get ahead of myself — especially since I’m feeling so good with how the training is going thus far. Injury-free is my numero uno priority.
Okay. Nap time now.
And, as a final note, Ariel @ Inside Voice is racing Ironman AZ today. Good luck, girl!!!
When I closed last time, I had two final pieces of our Day 2 to share. The first was our Poo lesson, the second was slepping outside and how to stay warm.
As we were relaxing in the wall tent after our first crazy day and finishing up our meal, Anna Lisa started the topic of going #2 in the woods while winter camping. Up until our trip, I was wondering how this would be managed. I’d heard stories about Outward Bound rafting trips and a “poop box” — so I was fearing the worst. The good news, however, was we wouldn’t have to be toting our Poo around. The bad news, though, was that it still included some procedures:
(1) Poop at least 200 yards from camp. Since we were camping on the river, we wanted to make sure it wouldn’t be washed into the water so a “poop trail” was created that would take us 200 yards out.
(2) Veer off the path and mark your territory. After walking down poop trail, we needed to veer off for our own little “place.” Here, you drop trou and get to business. When finished, you are to cover your poo with snow and then lay twigs in the form of an X so that no one would walk in your poop
(3) Bring out our used toliet paper and burn it. We did get TP. It was kept in the sled. But after doing business, we had to bring it out (using two twigs as chopstick-like utensils) and put it in the fire to burn it up. The only problem I had with this is that when we were in the Wall Tent, the only fire was in the wood stove. This meant you had to enter the wall tent with your used-TP and twigs and ask an instructor to open the fire door to burn up your waste. Nothing like announcing to the group, “Hey! I just pooped in the woods!”
That first night, I certainly didn’t have to poop. I doubt anyone else did, too. Although, after that, I did get pretty comfortable with the process (minus the re-entry into the Wall Tent with dirty TB, never got comfortable with that).
After the poop discussion, we had one final set of vital instructions left. Sleeping.
Normally, sleep isn’t something that requires much discussion. But since we were sleeping outdoors (not even in tents), we had certain rules to follow to ensure that we’d stay warm. We did sleep under canvases to keep any ice or snow from falling on us, but other than that, we were most certainly out of doors.
The first instruction was how our bed was made. We had a plastic sheet covering the snow. Then we were to lay down our first shorter sleeping pad that was about as long as our torso (and placed approximately there). The second sleeping pad went on top of that. This one was longer — probably as long as me (but not as long as some of the boys). After this, our bags went on top. We had an outer bag and an inner bag.
When going to bed, we were instructed to take our gear and make things accessible. We were to sleep in our long underwear and clean socks. Our outer clothes could go in our bag. Our gaiters and choppers (ginormous leather mittens) could go between our pads to keep them warm and our boots could be tucked top ends into the sides of our pads to both keep them somewhat warm and serve as a little bumper to keep us from rolling off our pads.
If there was room in our bag at the bottom, we were instructed to keep extra clothing in there so that there wasn’t extra room for cold air to be trapped. Finally, we were given our Nalgene’s full of hot water and covered in our insulating sock to throw in the bag to add a little extra warmth.
Once things were set up, we were told to do 15-30 jumping jacks or something active to get the body warmed back up before hopping into our bags.
Finally, we were to zip up our bags, both outer and inner and, if still cold, could use our down coats as an additional blanket over our chests. We were also instructed to not breath in our bags. In an average night, up to 16 oz. of water can be breathed out into the bag and you didn’t want that. So, either breathing into a balaclava or having your nose and mouth positioned to the opening the bag was recommended. The last note was that, if we had to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night (and we most certainly would), we had to go. We were told to just get up and get it done. Go right outside of the sleeping area and then go right back to bed. Not going to the bathroom would keep you up all night.
These instructions were given to us as a demonstration. Anna Lisa showed us what to do and I felt pretty comfortable heading off to sleep.
However, actually doing all this was much more difficult than it looked. It was colder than I’d expected outside. It was hard to get my clothing off in my bag and my face and hands were cold as I tried to get everything in order (I did wear my glove liners and hat the whole time). My head kept hitting the top of the tarp, my headlamp kept getting bumped and I was beginning to get cold. I also kept losing things like my balaclava, my gloves, my socks, my liners. When I was finally unrobed, I began zipping up and even this was difficult. I had a hard time pulling the zippers up. I felt like I was wiggling all over and slipping off my pads. The snow was a little bumpy around me and I began to get out of breath from the effort of just trying to go to sleep.
When I was finally zipped up, I turned out my headlamp and kept it close to my chest in case I needed it in the middle of the night. I also pulled my balaclava over my mouth and nose because the sudden lack of activity was making it very apparent how cold it was outside. I rolled the warm water bottle between my feet and concentrated on trying to fall asleep while listening to my co-horts get themselves zipped up and off to bed.
It was hard breathing in and out of the balaclava, but every time I took it off, my face would become too cold. I tried not to breath in my bag but the small opening around my face felt, at times, like too much exposure.
I did manage to doze on and off throughout the night, but I’d wake up to the moisture of the balaclava on my face. I’d remove it for a few minutes, my face would get cold and I’d put it back on. I didn’t feel like I could sleep on my side because of the bag and snow that was molding to my body. I also had to pee but didn’t want to have to deal with getting out of my bag and finding a place to go. I know they told us to go if we had to, but I didn’t want to.
Somehow, I made it through the night. When I awoke, there was ice around the edges of my bag, on my eyelashes and on my balaclava. Everything was frozen and frigid. We learned later that it was at least 10 degrees below zero when we awoke.
Jeepers. Where did my weekend go? So, no updates — again — to my vacation tales. But I did just upload some more pictures from our dog sledding trip including a few of me chopping wood — how fancy is that?
Otherwise, my weekend was a blur of workouts and home stuff. I ran 12 miles yesterday because I HAVE to get on my marathon training schedule. I’m trying a new program from Runner’s World that includes both Steady and Progressive runs. It’s a 12 week schedule that begins (eek!) tomorrow. But that was assuming a certain amount of, ahem, base mileage. It was nice to have a solid 12 mile run (albiet slow) and feel good during and after the effort. I think I’m confident to begin the program.
I also spent mega amounts of time grocery shopping and doing errands with the boy. After being out of town so long, we had NO food in the house. In the past two days, we’ve hit SuperTarget (twice), Trader Joes AND our coop (Mississippi Market). I’ve spent almost $300 on food. I think we should be set.
We also did some mega cleaning. James was a dear and did a fair amount today in preperation for our triathlon team season kick-off meeting which we hosted (he even cooked the chili and made the salad, too!). And we also squeezed in a nice 27 mile ride this afternoon. It was sunnier than expected and it was a great day to be in the saddle — I just wish it could have been longer.
Our team meeting was pretty good as well. It was nice to catch up with everone and see what their goals and upcoming races are. I also got scared for a bit because it sounded like my two season openers were closed — luckily, I went online right afterwards and found I could still register for both Buffalo and Maniou. Whew!
Now, I need to hit the sack. I have a swim scheduled in the AM as well as coffee with a buddy and then swim practice after work. AND we’re supposed to get another snow storm. Fun.
Me? I was one of the lucky kids who got to taste the entries. Tough job, I know. At every tasting session, I was continually amazed at the creativity of the submissions. Who knew you could do that much with cookie mix? And being the recipe-follower that I am, I can’t even begin to imagine writing my own recipe — let alone, find something successful enough to submit to a national contest.
Life is all about balance. Y’all know that. So, while I try to be good and eat clean and healthy 80-90% of the time, nothing beats a damn-good cookie every once and a while.
