New Kicks

Because Morris is the BEST cat ever in the entire world (I hope you all are sensing the sarcasm) I had to buy new shoes today. A few weeks ago, I came home from work and found the following:



Yes and the cat did this and yes I do feed him, alot, probably too much. Anyhow, I have been sick and then busy and then sick AND busy so I haven't been running so it wasn't an issue. Until today.

Last week was my (hopefully) last week of antibiotics and I was in a celebratory mood. I searched out some running plans and a tri plan to start in a few weeks. So tomorrow I start over....again. But that is ok, starting over is fun!

However, running tomorrow morning with those shoes wasn't going to happen. So I headed over to Second Sole and grabbed a new pair of kicks. I have been getting the same pair of new balance trainers for years, the 1000 series. This year's model is 1063 and they look snazzie!!!



I've never been a great runner or a big fan for that matter, so I'm going to start slow and do some intervals for a few weeks and see how things are going. I grabbed a plan off runnersworld.com and got a tri plan off of trifuel.com. Right now here is the plan: do an 8 week moderate build on the running front, with a simultaneous bike build. I grabbed my goal mileage bike wise for the week ending on April 26th (my first scheduled race) and wanted to do 30 miles for a weekly total. I reduced my weekly goal by about 10% each week to bring me to tomorrow. This is going to be way less than what I was doing before I got sick but with the added runs it won't matter too much.

As I'm sure you all have noticed, there was no mention of swimming. That's because I'm not swimming right now. I have alot of craziness going on at work and have multiple grant applications that I'm working on, so it takes up alot of my free time as well as keeps me very busy throughout the day. Swimming only once a week isn't going to add anything plus my lungs aren't totally full force yet and can't handle what I'm used to in the pool. As a result, I'm going to focus on my running because it is my weakest area. Then when I get to a point were I feel more comfortable there and in a good routine I'll add my swims. I build fast in the pool so playing catch up won't be too bad. :)

I have to head over to the clinic either tomorrow or Tuesday and get another set of chest xrays to verify that the fluid and swelling are gone. Fingers crossed!!! For now though, I'm off to change my sheets (yippee!) and play some rockband before bed.

Happy training everyone!

not so deep breathing

Since I started working I have been battling various germs floating around. Seriously, I have done pretty well with it, until now. I was sick with a bad cold a few weeks ago and I thought I had beat it. So this weekend I started feeling really run down and I just haven't been able to shake this 3 week old cough. I gave in and went to the walkin clinic. Lo and behold, I am sick and have thickening of my bronchial and peribronchial walls. So that means one of three things: 1. I have pneumonia, 2. my asthma from childhood really never went away and since I'm in denial of it and don't treat it, it is taking longer for me to get over the cold because my lungs are irritated by it and/or 3. my allergies are far worse than I believe and aren't being treated properly. I'm honestly hoping for #1. ;) So again my workout schedule has been derailed and I have to 'rest' which sucks.

Luckily for me, I hadn't planned any events until April 19th so if I can get through this and ease into a training schedule by the beginning of March I should be able to make the event. I think that since I got in there BEFORE it got too serious, it shouldn't take the standard 3 months for my lungs to recover.

Part of this was my fault for several reasons, but most of all I was still working out the first week I was sick. I wasn't doing more than 30 mins a day but I guess it was still enough to push me over the edge.

Anyone have any remedies for getting my lungs back in shape???

2009 Races and Goals

I began my race schedule yesterday and while I'm sure it is going to change because life happens that way, I'm pretty happy so far with what I've set up! Here is the schedule, with the possibility to change:

• Buzzard Bi - April
• Silver Springs Bi - May
• Blossom Time 5 miler - May
• NEO Tri Kickoff - June
• Sunday in June Ride - June
• SummiTri - June
• She Rocks Tri - June (maybe)
  
• Lighthouse Tri - July
• Bright Side of the Road - August
• GCT Sprint - August
• Vermilion Harbor Tri - August
• Portage Lakes Tri - September
• Cleveland Race for the Cure 5K - September
• Pigskin Classic 5K - November
• Reindeer Run 5K - December
• The Great New Year's Eve Run 5K - December

It kinda stinks that the swim got cut last year from the GCT because I'm revisiting two tris of my three last year and I would love to be able to compare my times and see if I've improved. I also decided that I'm going to shoot for 5 tris this year, that way I have a better chance of actually getting to complete more tris with swims. ;)

Here are some of my goals:

1. Get a 10K under my belt - one that I get to finish!
I would really like to do the Dirty Dog again but I feel like I need a 10K finished first and one that is easier than the DD. So I'm shooting for the Towpath 10K in October. I love the Towpath and I know it is going to be a very nice run with awesome scenery! Then I can try the Dirty Dog again in 2010 with my ladies and tear it up out there!

2. Swim, Bike, RUN
I did 3 tris in 2008 and I was never able to completely run the run. I always did intervals or walked at quick pace. I was just always so slow and when I would time my pace I realized that I could walk as fast as I was running so I walked. This year I really want to run at least one of the 5Ks at the end of my tris.

3.Get the excess off!
As you all know, I was diagnosed with PCOS in the Spring of 2007. It came after some serious and quick weight gain that didn't seem to be impacted by what I was eating or my level of exercise. I worked hard over 2007 and was able to lose about 20 pounds of the weight. After my stupid hip flexor injury in February of 2008, I wasn't able to run at all or even swim (for more than 30-45mins) until about May and the weight started to creep back up. So this year, I'm hoping I can put a dent in the number on the scale and at least get half of the excess off. I would love to get it all off! But I also want to set realistic goals and not put myself in a position to be disappointed. Although silently I'm rooting for more! ;)

While, three goals might not seem like alot, I think they are good solid goals to start with and very within my reach! Plus, these all fall into my overarching goal of taking better care of myself (i.e. going to bed early, eating better, getting my workouts in no matter what the house looks like, etc.)

So bloggy friends, what does your 2009 look like? What are you hoping to achieve???

CTC Indoor Tri

Sunday we had our first indoor tri in the CTC Indoor Tri Series. It was at the Macedonia Rec Center and the facilities there are very nice! We had a pretty decent turn out and everyone seemed to have a great time. Here is a slideshow of some photos I snapped.

Our next one is on 2/14/09!!! Check the website for more details!

December & January

So I have been just overwhelmed with tons of stuff! Work has been going well but just plain busy. We are working on getting things ready for our door to door inspections and also grant applications that have to go out at the end of February. Also, I have recently joined the board for the CTC and have been busy with all of that. Here is the run down:

December

The CTC had its first annual winter banquet and we had a blast! The food was great and we all had a great time. One of the fun things we did was give out awards to our members, some for achievements and others just for fun. Bike Authority was also generous enough to give away a great Trek bike to raffle off. I was crossing my fingers and hoping that I would win so I could give it to Steve. He has expressed some interest in racing and the clunky old bike he rides now is really only good for short commutes. Because it is so old and clunky and heavy it is just not good for racing. Guess what!? I won!!! I was so excited and Steve didn't really believe me until we made the trip to BA. So thank you, thank you, thank you BA!!!

The holidays were good but long and exhausting. I got a great gift card from my mom and was able to pay for almost all of a new fluid trainer!!! My friend Chris came in for New Year's to visit and it was so great to see him and be able to catch up!

January

Gosh 2009! Thing have been so busy for me so it has been hard to get virtually any training in. I'm planning on changing that this weekend! Steve and I setup our bikes on our trainers in the office and keep saying we are going to start getting some miles in but just haven't had the time.

So now that it looks like this outside


we can still get some time in on the bikes!



I have decided that since I was able to get in 3 tris last season that 5 would be totally doable this year. I have to watch my food more and just really commit to making time for workouts. Over the first half of 2008 I gained back a significant amount of weight that I had worked hard to get rid of in 2007. So that is of course a goal too!

I have been trying to get the CTC Race Calendar updated on the website and that has been a much bigger job than I anticipated. At least most of these events are yearly and next year all we will have to do is change the date and the rest of the info will be there. As I do this I'm also trying to get a schedule together for the new race series the CTC Cheetah Series and of course my own race schedule. Sheesh! I feel like I'm busier than ever!

If I can just get in a better workout groove then everything else will fall into place. Getting my swim time in has been really hard because of the frigid temps here. I of course have to be outside alot for my job so by the end of the day I'm ready to go home and snuggle with the cats!

Tomorrow we have our first of three indoor tris. I'm hoping it goes well!!! I'm going to attempt to be productive for the rest of the night and then get to bed early since I have to be in Macedonia by 6:45am.

Thanks for reading after a million year absence! I promise to return to blogging again consistently!

back in the swim of things!

Wow! Things have been so busy and moving sooooo fast! I can't believe that it is the middle of November, where did September and October go!?

So here are a few updates:

Car is good. Honda came through and picked up everything except the battery and the tow! Woohoo!

I'm battling with a graphic design client for the cash that is owed to me, over $1000, and he is playing games. I, of all people, totally know what it is like to be without cash but I just feel like he is totally screwing me over and feel like I busted my ass to get shit done for him and now I've been waiting (and still waiting) for several months for him to compensate me. :(

Work still rocks! It is hard some days and very draining on all levels. But I really like all the people I work with and I don't let the grumpy (some completely justified!) residents get to me. It is frustrating that I can't do more to help though! :(

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This past Friday I attended the OPC Zoning and Planning Workshop in Westlake. So much fun and really informative!!! I hope that we can implement some of the ideas from the workshop in SEL!

Saturday I met up with a couple people from the Cleveland Bioneers group so we could talk about revamping the website. We settled on using Ning, so we can have something that is more interactive and easy to update/transform! Stay tuned, I'm going to use you guys as guinea pigs so we can get some feedback.

Today was the first day of the awesome Reddy Tri Swim Clinic. I did the clinic last year pretty consistently until my hip got all weird and I really think that I benefited from it. So I signed up this year so I could hopefully improve even more! Today was great! And for not swimming in at least two months, I did pretty well and was able to keep up with the rest of the gang pretty well. My goal this week is to fit in at least 4 swims. I would really like to get my distances up so I'm thinking of working up to an everyday swim of at least 30 mins and then the Sundays I don't have the clinic doing a nice hour long swim to keep my endurance up.

I'm hoping that some money comes through before Janaury so I can take advantage of my discount at the bike store. I would really like to get a new trainer. Mine isn't horrible but it is used and just a plain wind trainer and I would like to get something a little more high tech. I bought it off of another tri club member form $75 so I figure I'm not out alot of cash if I get a new one this year. Plus Steve can hook up his bike to the one I already have.

So my goals for the winter training season are as follows:

-improve my stroke mechanics and endurance
-improve my running endurance and times
-build a good bike base

Here is the thing. The first one and the last one I truly look forward to. However, the running part - not so much. It is something I've never been very good at and last year just when I started to hit my stride, I had a hip that decided running was out of the picture, for a while. So I haven't been very good at getting back into the swing of things for several reasons. Hopefully, once I start to get in a better swim and bike routine, the running will fall into place!

I have another training session/workshop tomorrow, so I need to get some work done since I will be out of the office again.

I hope everyone had an awesome weekend and stayed cozy warm! :)

the good, the bad and......

The wedding!

Congrats to Jon and Deborah! :)



As Friday began to wrap up, I got a phone call from my brother around 3pm. My car was not working/running. In fact when I answered the phone he said, "You're car just broke!" I was envisioning a wheel falling off. I said, "It broke? What do you mean it broke?"

Apparently, my alternator went. :( which makes me very sad for several reasons:

1. My car is an '05 with about 46,000 miles on it. That just shouldn't happen!!!
2. I have no car until it is repaired (possibly Tuesday) and the rentals are $25 a day.
3. Because I don't have an extended warranty, it is going to cost almost $900 to fix, the majority of my paycheck.

So the dealership wasn't very helpful in terms of going to bat for me with Honda, so I have to call myself tomorrow and see if I can get them to cover some of the cost for the repairs. I was able however, to get the service guy to admit that not only was it odd that my alternator went but that it shouldn't happen and that he hasn't seen an '05 with this problem. Not that that is going to ensure any sort of success with Honda corporate but a girl can hope!

As a result, I wasn't sure I would be able to attend my friend's wedding. Thankfully, one of our mutual friends was able to bring me down to Newark, Ohio for the wedding.

The wedding was beautiful and it was sooo awesome to see some great friends that I don't often see! Needless to say, the weekend rocked and I was super happy we had an extra hour this am! :)

I hope you all had great weekends and good luck this Tuesday when casting your vote! :)