It's Been A While...

It has been a while.  I hope you all haven't given up on me.  Life has been quite busy - networking, working and more working, the little ladies, and the everyday stuff.  I admit fully that the thing that had to give (because something had to) was my training. Unfortunately, that meant no training.

I've been doing marathons of another sort - working or networking or doing meetings each night until 11 pm and not being able to drag myself out of bed at 5:30 to get the work outs in.  But I will say that even though a bit stressful, I'm having a great time with it all.

Yet, I was constantly missing physical activity.  Sure, I play some with the kids but going from triathelete to not exercising at all definitely left a hole - not just the pressure of not having gotten a workout done, but the physical need for movement AND stress relief.

So this Monday, I got out of bed at 6 am and went for a 2 miler.  I figure I am starting over at this point.  But amazingly, it wasn't as bad as I thought.  I've retained some stamina at least.  My back has been twingy (probably thanks to high heels being reintroduced into my wardrobe) so I didn't push it - I alternated running 0.25 miles with walking 0.25 miles and still made it home in less than half an hour.  I definitely need new shoes - they squeaked the whole way and my knee (which only bothers me when it's time to get a new pair of shoes) twinged toward the end.  It felt so good to be out and moving again.  And I felt good when running.  My lungs burned a little but then I just slowed the pace a tiny bit and that stopped.  I didn't wear a watch so I'm not sure how long it took me, but I know it was less than half an hour... I think around 25 minutes.

This morning I got up at 5:50 and after a quick look at the internet because our phone is not working but our DSL is, I did half an hour of yoga.  Oddly enough, after the yoga was done I wished I had run again.  But for now, the plan is to get back to doing 5/1's in a 2 miler and then slowly add more distance.  I have a feeling I can still do the 5/1's but my mind has to believe it more than my body.

It may be a little bit until I am able to figure out how to get tri training in and enough sleep and everything done, but for now I hope to get  3-4 five mile runs in a week and do yoga for 1/2 an hour on the other days with Sunday off.  Of course, this morning while doing a one-legged down dog pose the thought came to me - a full IM the year I turn 40.  That's 5 years from now, so we'll see but even down deep and in my dreams I'm still a triathlete.

The girls are doing great by the way... looking forward to Santa.  Angelfish is definitely driven by Santa and presents - she modifies her behavior and tells us that she's thinking of Santa and whether he'd think she was being nice or naughty, and that she loves Santa Claus.  Ladybug is stubborn still but she's getting better at making "good choices" instead of just insisting on her way.  But she may get a little coal in her stocking to prove a point... I just can't decide if that would be too traumatizing for her or not. 

We attempted to take them ice skating the other week (yes in Florida) which was more of a hassle than anything.  I don't think 4 year old balance was quite good enough to endure.  But I will say I was really proud of their effort.  They were on the ice a good 15-30 minutes before giving up the ghost.  Lots of falling but no crying.  Amazingly, I did not fall despite holding the hand of a small child and attempting to keep the child up and moving without injuring them or me.  It was kind of like cycling in a windstorm... I would bear down with my quads and steady my lower body while still moving but then was using my upper body to pull up on the kiddo.  My lower back wasn't thrilled by the end of it all, but I think they had a good time all the same.  Mr. Darcy said that he won't contemplate attempting it again until they're at least 7... so 2 1/2 years from now, stay tuned.

I hope you all are well - I have to admit that my blog reading has been nonexistent.  So I have a ton to catch up with...

Love is in the Air - or at least the Love Bugs are...

It is love bug season here in Orlando, and it's a rather cosmic infestation this year.  The girls' daycare is evidently extremely attractive to the love bugs, as one day the entire front of the building was covered in love bugs.  Over the weekend, they had even found their way into the girls' classrooms through a crack somewhere and the floor was covered with dead love bugs.

Now, I'm not sure about you all, but when you can't walk outside without getting love bugs on you it doesn't really induce me to want to run or bike.  Especially bike - I envision my face having those splattered love bugs all over it like my windshield does. Yuck.  And that goes double yuck when I think about the fact that those love bugs that are stuck together are in fact copulating. Double yuck.

Monday I took the girls to daycare, so that took up my morning workout time.  Tuesday I did an hour of yoga, and the 2nd half hour was a difficult third eye opening sequence with planks, side planks and more that left me super sweaty... and made my tricepts and my hamstrings a little sore.  I take it as a good thing.  This morning, I was stressing over some stuff that I can't talk about in the blog just yet, so I got up and sent a few emails and then went for a 2 mile run.  I did it in just a little under 20 minutes, which I was happy with.  It's my first run since the bronchitis and I only stopped coughing sometime around last Friday.  My lungs felt good, but my mind was all over the place.  I figured since I haven't really run, run in about 2 months (very pathetic to see that in writing) I would start with a good solid run for 2 miles.  I didn't wear a watch so I'm pretty sure my running stretches were longer than 5 minutes, especially since I hit the half mile mark before I walked a minute and then didn't walk again until after I hit the mile mark, or the 1.4 mile mark and then didn't walk until I got home.  All in all I was pleased.  Although I realized that I need to wear my watch and do the 5/1's because it's like a contract with myself - I know I am going to run for 5 and walk for 1.  When I run without my watch, my brain likes to try to say things to me like "you can stop here and then walk to there and then run." and sometimes its after just a silly little space of distance... and it wasn't just today, it's every time I don't run with a watch.  So my running watch will be my constant running companion from this point out.  It had rained yesterday, and evidently the love bugs don't like rain because I had a nice love bug free run. : )

Of course, love bug season has caused some interesting discussions around our house.  Ladybug has decided that she loves the love bugs.  As she tells me, "Mommy, I love the love bugs and they love me too."  She is very sensitive to all of God's creatures, including red ants and any other sort of bug.  She was a bit distraught one day though and asked me "Do love bugs suck all the love out of your heart when they land on you?"  I told her no, and asked where she heard that one.  From one of her little daycare friends who I happen to know that her parents just got divorced.  So I had to explain why they are called love bugs.  But, since I personally am not ready to have the S-E-X discussion with my 4 year olds (mainly because Mr. Darcy would  probably pass out), I left the fact that the bugs are copulating out of the discussion.  I told her that they are called love bugs because the ones that are attached to each other are like people who are in love - they always want to be together.  Then she asked "but what about the ones that aren't attached?"  I had to think quick, so I said "those are the ones still looking for their true love."  Other than saying she was sad for those love bugs because they were lonely, she was good with that.  You have to be a quick thinker with these kids...

We've also been working on manners, and it must be sinking in because this weekend Angelfish was having a difficult time saying "surprise" - she kept saying "urpise."  So I helped her by saying the word for her and really emphasizing the "sur" part of the word.  To which she responded, "Mommy? Is it "sirprise" and "m'am prise"?  Mr. Darcy and I had a nice laugh over that one and I of course explained that while it sounds similar it's two different things.

And that my friends, is all the news that is fit to print... for now!

The Verdict

I had a feeling this morning what the doctor was going to say.  I woke up knowing I had to take the car to get repaired and pick up the rental car since it's supposed to be in the shop until Friday (which I wonder why since my little dent is NOTHING compared to every other car I saw in the car yard today - there was one vehicle whose entire backend was in pieces on the ground behind it.  I couldn't help but look and wonder at whether everyone was okay in those other collisions.  Mine literally is just a pushed in corner with some missing paint on the left corner of my bumper and nothing else.).  I could barely talk and my cough sounded a bit like a barking dog, and worst of all my chest felt super heavy while just breathing.  The tell tale signs of bronchitis.

I got up and did what I needed to do, showing up in a Gold Chevy Impala whose engine is so quiet that I can't tell if it's on while I'm driving.  It's so quiet it's a little disconcerting.  It took some doing to get the car seats latched in... I had to enlist the help of the car rental employee checking the vehicle out to me.  But anyway, those two little things and I was wiped out.  I actually fell asleep waiting for the doctor to come in to see me, and I wasn't back there all that long.  Not the greatest.  Nor was it wonderful that almost each time he told me to take a deep breath I coughed hard afterwards.

So the verdict? Severe Bronchitis.  How this happens just from Sunday forward I have no idea.  But there it is.  And so I am working on my laptop in bed today as the doctor told me that I am to rest.  Working in bed is resting, right?  Well, it's as close as I'm getting because I teach a seminar on Tuesday and my paralegal is out on PTO for the rest of week as of 1/2 an hour from now.  No time to rest.  It's bad enough I'm missing 2 events this week and my friend Belle (who I do not blame at all for her decision) has opted out of our weekend visit because it would be a very bad time for her to be sick as well - lots going on at work and such.  But we'll reschedule and have lots of fun when we are both well.  But no training until I am feeling better either.  At this point, I'm determined to do the 1/2 Mary - even if I have to walk it!

But for now, I am drinking lots of hot mint tea, taking my Z-pack as prescribed, and the mucinex and Robitussin DM....

The Angry Coughing Froggy Lady

That title is me.  I am coughing and when I do it hurts in my lungs.  I feel like I have an egg in my throat - even when I'm not coughing.  My chest feels heavy when I'm just sitting around, you know... breathing.  When I talk, I sound like a mess and am often interrupted by coughing while doing it.  Turns out my doctor's office is closed today.  The doctor and the PA (who are married) are out of town and have not left another doctor to see their patients in their absence.  Not sure I care for that, but I do love the PA.  If she were a doctor, she'd be the best doctor ever.... between her bedside manner and her knowledge and her ability to say I'm going to look into that for you, she rocks.  Anyway, I talked to the doctor on the phone because I put in a call since I had left a message and it appeared that the office was closed... they should have had something that said the office was closed until tomorrow not just the office is currently closed because that sounds like it's opening up today to me.  Anyway, I felt bad about bothering him when he was on vacation but I thought the office would be open or that the doctor on call would be a different doctor if the doctor was not in today.  But the pain and pressure are something that needs attention.  I don't mess with my lungs - my whole life I've been prone to bronchitis and have had some doozies of near pneumonia in my life, so I know what feels like I need to see a doctor and be on antibiotics... the throat thing is the part that I'm not sure about but the egg thing is not fun.  He told me that the office would be open tomorrow, he was out of town, but that they would work me in tomorrow and to call again in the morning and that there is a nasty bronchitis going around, get some mucinex DM and drink lots of fluids in the meantime. 

I then asked the question... can I be around people?  I'm supposed to be at an event tonight with about 15 small children and about 10-20 adults.  He said not to go. Stay home because I don't want to spread it around.  And that dear friends is why I am angry.  Not at the doctor but at the situation.

This whole getting sick thing is really inconveinent for me right now.  Today, this very day, is the very first session of our HIP Kids Club.  Seriously.  My Co-Chair, Assistant Co-Chairs and I have worked very hard getting this program together.  We've dealt with changes in administration at the center, dinners that cannot be provided the way we thought they would, hunting down speakers and food donors, and much more.  Our committee has been great in that they show up excited and ready to go.  This is our first week with the kids - we have 17 kids signed up, and I want to be there.  I want to meet them and talk with them and see "Our Kids" for the program.  I want to see how they react to our lady who is talking about the importance of breakfast - in a fun way - she's even doing a breakfast rap.  I want to see it and have fun.  I know there will be another session each month between now and May, but this is the FIRST one.  While I am tempted to go anyway, I won't unless my Co-Chair and Assistant Co-Chairs tell me to go because they want me there - germy and all - and I'll just keep my distance from everyone.... I don't want other people to get this.  It's not fun.  Mr. Darcy and Ladybug had this and both ended up on antibiotics, and now Angelfish and I have it.  I already told Angelfish that if her cough doesn't get better by Thursday, I'm taking her to the doctor on Friday.  But if it gets as bad as mine before then, I'm taking her immediately.

This week and next are just not a good time for me to be sick.  I have too much on tap. Tomorrow I have a networking event, so depending on whether the doctor says that I can go to that, I need to go.  I just sound terrible, so I'm not sure if that's the best plan.  Of course the doctor may tell me not to go to that too. Sigh.  Thursday is Open House at the girls' school.  Friday is a working lunch and a dinner party that evening (at our house no less).  Saturday I'm going to Tampa to spend girl time with Belle who is now settled in her new place (while Mr. Belle is on a guys weekend).  Sunday I have a meeting at 5 pm, and I have to pack because Monday and Tuesday I am in Pittsburgh for work, to return Tuesday night and head from the airport to our Junior League Council meeting.  Wednesday is a Junior League event in the evening followed by a UF Law Alumni Happy Hour on Thursday.  But Friday and after is much clearer sailing.  So, as you can see - I just don't have time for this.

And then of course there's my 1/2 MARY TRAINING!  My spirit is completely willing but this cold is getting in my way.  It's bad that when I talk it makes me cough, so I'm thinking that speed sets wouldn't have been a good idea this morning.  But I'm really getting annoyed.  Plus, the training always helps take the stress and the pounds away!

Let's hope this is better and fast!  Train hard so I can live vicariously!

Monday... Already?

What is that wierd hacking noise you ask? Only some odd cold that I have.  It's odd because I had a runny nose for a few hours and felt tired, and then woke up in the middle of the night after Ladybug kicked me on the hip bone and all of a sudden started hacking.  Which, in combination with my cardiology appointment this morning, cancelled this morning's workout... that hacking session where I tried not to pee my pants while hacking up the giant green glob convinced me that I should take the day off.

But we had a nice weekend... not much running got done, but there's always this week. I am optimistic.  Last week I got my 45 minute run in and my yoga, so that was good.  Friday I drove up to Gainesville and socialized first with law students and then with law alumni and some professors from UF Law.  By the end of the night my feet were killing me from my heels.  I need a pair that have a shorter heel.  I've deemed it so.  Saturday I was up early for our law council meetings and then wandered off with my friend Lauren and my lovely Mr. Darcy who turned 36 this weekend to the football game.  We won, but it wasn't pretty and it certainly wasn't looking good the first half.  Second half it was like they realized they could play football afterall.  And it was HOT.  So hot that I sweated clear through my clothes by the end of the 1st quarter.  Drank 4 bottles of water and did NOT have to pee until hours later, and poured water on my head only to have it evaporate before it even left the top of my head.  It reminded me of triathlon!

After that we caught up with friends of Mr. Darcy's (Mr. Darcy had spent Saturday morning with them... I have to admit I was surprised at their sobriety - I expected intoxication) for a little bit.  It was good to see the old guys Mr. Darcy hung out with in college.  Then we were off in search of food.  Ended up with a greasy burger and fries that for some odd reason tasted amazingly good.  Felt awful afterwards, but great while eating it.

Then we drove separately to Mr. Darcy's parents and saw the girls.  It was so wonderful to spend some time with the little ladies.  At bed time, I was so tired that I fell asleep with them in the guest room.  That Ladybug though, she's a bed hog.  And she kicked me 1st in the hip and then the knee.  I decided to save my joints and get up and that, dear friends is when the hacking began.  Not fair.

After birthday cake and party time for our niece and Mr. Darcy (4 and 36 respectively) we headed on home.  I drove the girls while they watched "Sleeping Beauty" followed by "Kung Fu Panda."  Along the way Angelfish told me I was "the most stupendous Mommy ever" and Ladybug figured out a way to wrap a beaded necklace around her hands so tightly that I had to pull over to untangle them - it was like she had on handcuffs.  If she didn't look so worried, I would have laughed my butt off right then and there.

Finally home, we skipped bath time and went straight to bed... okay, well, the girls went straight to their playroom and colored and we figured out ways to get them into their pajamas and then straight to bed.  This morning we all tried to pry ourselves out of bed, and I discovered Mr. Darcy failed to tell me that Ladybug had homework (yes, VPK homework) due this morning.  We decorated our fabric swatch with glitter and drawings in marker.  Not sure if that's what the teacher was looking for in "decorate this fabric swatch with your child and return"or not, but that's what we did.  Ladybug had her own ideas and didn't want my help anyway, although I successfully suggested a flower as part of her artwork.  Then it was off to the cardiologist.

When I got to see the doctor, he asked me what I had been doing differently.  I told him I hadn't really been running or anything in the past month or so but that I had cut out processed food from my diet as much as possible.  I thought he was going to tell me something bad, but he said that my VAP test was awesome.  My cholesterol was down to 113 and my particles were now large and buoyant again, and he was happy that my weight had gone down a bit too.  Go ZONE!  So I am charged with keeping it up, although he suggested I also go back to my exercising.  I told him that was the plan since I have a 1/2 Mary in November.  And then I coughed my lungs out.

Delta also messed with me today - moved my flights to visit my friend in New Hamshire to the point that it was ridiculous.  At 1st they told me that I would have to take crazy flights that would make me only be there for about 1 1/2 days out of what was supposed to be a 3 day visit when we 1st scheduled it.  Then they said that if I didn't like what they could give me they would give me my money back.  I asked if they could just change the flights for me to add another day and they said I'd have to pay change fees and all of that.  I hung up and said I'd call back.  I found flights that were cheaper than what I paid for but adding a day, so I called and told them to refund my flight, they sent me to another person who did what they should have done all along.  The last person waived the flight change fee because it was Delta's fault, and then refunded the $79 that was more than the flight they moved me to, and booked me on the new flight with a seat assignment.  So I went from being annoyed to being happy all in one fell swoop.

Our 1st HIP Kids event is tommorrow.  I'm pretty happy about that... although we still don't have an exact number for the group yet.  It's supposed to be around 15, but the director of the facility could only tell the other Co-Chair that parents have been signing their children up and that she'd have to figure out the exact number for us because she didn't know.  As long as kids are signing up... I had a nightmare a week or so ago that we had everything perfectly planned, but no children to attend.  In the dream there were reporters and all sorts of craziness too.  I doubt that will happen, but it's nice to have your subconscious soothed as well.

Tomorrow is supposed to be a speed set.  I plan to do it unless the hacking gets worse.... or I get a fever.  I am hoping neither of those occur.  This girl needs to run!

A Nutty Few Days... but then What's New!

We had a nice Labor Day weekend.  I even bought some suits (work ones, not tri ones), or so I thought.  I did 5 miles with a friend too.  YAY! 

Tuesday morning I went to do some routine bloodwork - checking to see if my cholesterol went back to happy bouncy cholesterol instead of the crunchy kind thanks to my thyroid.  I decided I would stop by the tailor with my new suits.  Turns out my lovely suits could not be altered.  I'm not sure if I ever told you all that I'm built like a swimmer - or a line backer depending on your perspective - and always have been.  I have very broad shoulders.  Even back before the twins when I was a size 4/6, I always had to get at least an 8 in the suit jacket and then have it tailored in.  Many times what fits in my body does NOT fit in the shoulders - the end of my shoulder usually ends up 1 inch past the seam where the sleeve begins.  Well, to get the suit jacket to fit, I had to have a certain size which also made it 1 size too big in the waist, etc.  But they were pieced in such a way that you couldn't shorten the sleeves OR take in the back, waist or chest.  Okay, well, you could but it would cost almost as much as the jacket did to begin with.  So I found out I had no suits after all and would have to take them back.

So I hatched the plan to work the day and then use my lunch at the end of the day to have a little more time to shop.  Mr. Darcy would pick up the ladies.  I discovered that a scaly patch of skin I had found 2 months ago was still there, and got an appointment with a determatologist for today (yay for whoever cancelled)!  My Mom had basal cell carcinoma when I was younger, so I don't play games with these things.  Then  I set about my business and around 11:30, I get a call from daycare.

Angelfish fell while playing on the playground equipment (there's a bridge that connects two parts of the play area - she was running, tripped and fell) and split her chin right open.  Two years ago she did something similar while running on tile at daycare.  But this time, when I got there and saw it, I was pretty sure she split it right down to the fat layer.  I rushed her to the urgent care center only to be told that I could "have an appointment for 3 pm" that day.  When I asked why they were trying to make an appointment because wasn't it an urgent care center? They told me that they did appointments now.  I told them that was crazy because if I wanted to wait for an appointment or for 3 hours to have my daughter who was bleeding seen, I'd go to the ER or call her pediatrician. I'm still perplexed as to how it's an urgent care center if they're giving out appointments.  It would have been one thing if they had told me that there was an estimated 3 hour wait (which I asked and they said not necessarily but this is how they're doing things), but to give me an appointment? 

Anyway.  So I called her pediatrician and found out that they could squeeze us in at 12:20.  It was 11:47.  I was a woman on a mission, and we got there by 12:15.  The pediatrician's office is across town.  Angelfish  is a complete trouper.  She told me she cried at first when her boo boo happened, but the school told me that she stopped after a minute or so and asked if she could have a bandaid so she could keep playing!  She didn't cry when I looked at it, and only when I asked if she was doing okay while we were in the car did she say that her chin hurt - it was throbbing.  The only time she wimpered was when the doctor was looking at it and she thought she might get a shot!  The kid is tough.  Her pain tolerance is a little scary, actually.

Mr. Darcy took his lunch hour to bring us some lunch because Angelfish hadn't gotten to eat because she was hurt.  He hung out with us and then went back to work after the appointment was over.  Then due to Angelfish's incessant interest in her newly glued chin and the seri strips on top, I took the rest of the day off.

Angelfish and I played ball for a little and then went shopping.  Along the way we were talking and singing and having a grand ol' time when all of a sudden I see a police car with flashing lights behind me.  I glance down and low and behold I am driving 60 in a 45.  I had no clue I was driving so fast and there was no one around us for miles on the road.  I pull over with that feeling like you just want to vomit.  But I was driving that fast, and I believe in the consequences of our actions so I was ready for the ticket.  The police officer was a very nice man.  I apologized to him and told him that I had been talking and singing with my daughter and did not even realize I was speeding until I saw his lights and then looked down at my spedometer.  And he asked me, "So m'am.  When you glanced down at your dash, how fast were you going?"  I told him that I wasn't going to lie to him, I was doing 60.  He said that was exactly what he clocked me at.  Told me that the fines for speeding recently went up in our county and that my ticket would be $404.  I almost burst into tears, but I didn't.  I don't believe in the boo hooing.  But I could tell that he realized that I was exasperated by the price and overwhelmed.  He asked me how my driving record was.  I told him it was good, but was honest and said that I had a warning for speeding several months ago because my aunt had died, I wasn't paying attention to my speed and didn't realize that the speed wasn't 65 anymore but was 55 in the spot I was at, and while I realized that didn't really substantiate my statement that I don't speed regularly I wasn't going to lie to him either.  He took my driver's license and disappeared into his car.  For what seemed like an eternity later, he came back.  He asked me how old my daughter was - I told him she was 4 and we weren't having a very good day because she split her chin open earlier and we were off to walk around the mall since I had taken the rest of the day off of work to be with her.  He then did a very, very nice thing and told me that he was going to make my day better because he was not going to give me a ticket.  He told me I really needed to pay attention to my speed, and sent me on my way.  I really wanted to throw up about the whole thing, that his kindness was astounding to me.

We made it to the shops, where Angelfish exclaimed at how beautiful the mall was.  It really is, if you stop to look at it.  She was amazing - she colored and talked to me, and even told me what she thought of what I tried on.  We rode every escalator, elevator and took all the stairs we came to in the mall, but it was fun to shop with her.  I ended up returning my suits and not finding anything else - the other things I liked on also had issues with being able to be tailored.  So I'm without a skirt suit for the Law Alumni Council meetings, but I'll wear a pant suit and survive I'm sure.  I've been reading how pant suits are a no-no for female attorneys so, I really didn't want to wear one but it was that or a suit dress, and I think the pant suit will work out better - don't want to be taken for the secretary instead (which is what the book I'm reading says happens when you don't wear a jacket over a dress). But I will survive.

We made it home in time for dinner with Mr. Darcy and Ladybug.  Turns out that Holland was so worried about Angelfish that he knocked on Mr. Darcy's window as they were leaving daycare to find out how she was. Very cute!  After all of that excitement I was a bit tired, so once we got the girls in bed, I fell asleep too.

This morning I headed off to the dermatologist... I had a head to toe skin inspection, and the doctor asked me "With your fair skin and light eyes, you stay out of the sun right?" To which I answered, well I'm a triathlete so no... but I use a lot of sunscreen.  To which I got the response - I'm surprised you don't have a lot more skin damage.  And that scaly spot? They think it's a patch of extra dry skin and gave me a cream to use on it.  If it goes away, all is well.  If after a month it is still there and still scaly, I go in for a biopsy.  So I'm voting for the cream to make things go away. Evidently as "we age" spots like this can occur.  I loved how it was related to age, and was extra glad that I made sure to do my strength work this morning so that didn't stress me out as much as it would have otherwise.

I've got a 45 minute run on tap for tomorrow, which I am looking forward to.  The stress of the past few days seems to make that run all the more desirable.  Along with a margarita.  But I'm resisting the margarita and placing all my hopes into the run instead.  Much healthier option.  Plus, I won't have to clean the blender.

2 Miles and a Plan!

This morning, I ran 2.1 miles (to be exact).  I have to admit that I did the short run because well, I was a little bit scared.  I know it's silly - the allergist said I'm fine and all that.  But it was like recurring nightmares of back when I was 16 and almost died.  So I decided 1st day on the open road (and yes, I'm still running by myself because this whole trying to have someone to workout when I'm able in my crazy schedule ends up with me not working out and last night I decided it was enough), I would go 2 miles.  I didn't wear a heart rate monitor or a watch.  I simply noted the time when I left and when I got back. 

During my run, I thought that perhaps my asthma was acting up (which I think it was).  But it eventually seemed to subside - I had to think hard about my breathing and slowing it and all, but it worked.  I ran for longish distances (it was 2 miles after all) and then walked a little and ran.  I figured it was close approximation of my 5/1s.

The nice surprise was to return home and discover I had run the 2 miles in 21:38. Beautiful!  Around a 10:19 pace.  You can't shake a stick at it for being out of things for about a month!

So then I turned my attention to an email I got reminding me about the Women's 1/2 Marathon in St. Pete that I'm registered to run in.  And I put together my plan for the next 11 weeks. Oh yeah.  I may not end up being super fast (or even beat my time from earlier this year), but I'm gonna get her done!  I've got one day with yoga, 2 days with cycling, 3 days of running on the calendar.  Yup, I know.  There's no swimming on it.  I decided that for the rest of the year I'm focusing on the run primarily and some cycling.  There's some strength training in there too.  Besides, Mr. Darcy is no where close to using our Y membership and he's finally admitted it, so we will be keeping the $55 per month in our pockets from now on.  And the $37 from the LA Fitness got scrapped too because I only use it for the pool 1-2 times a week.  I may get myself out to Lucky's on some of those bike days if I miss it too much.  But for now, I'm going to focus on the 1/2 Mary.  And in January I'm going to see about those triathlons again.

But in a way this is my version of cutting myself a break.  I've missed my training a ton in the past month.  But I'm also running around between networking and Junior League and my dayjob. And something has to give.  I love Mr. Darcy and the Liliputians  (Great name for a rock band if anyone is looking for one.)  so I'm not going to cut into more time with them than I already am.  I'm still eating healthy as can be and sticking to my zone paleo eating - although I falter every once in awhile but it's usually only once in the week at most and I attempt to balance it.

Funny thing is that I haven't been that hungry since I wasn't working out.  Today I've been ravenous - 2 miles running must have kick started things.  So I'm drinking a bunch of water and sticking to the zone. : )

I'm excited abotu my training plan.  I'm going to do yoga tomorrow for an hour and then run on Saturday for 4 miles.... hopefully with my friend J who is doing the race with me.  She and I figured that at the very least we'll finish and get that cool medal!  And if I end up beating my earlier race, great!

Hullo!

It is I the missing blogger.  I only have a minute as I am a little busy at the moment, but I wanted to drop by and say hello, apologize for not reading blogs (I will catch up eventually), and say that I will be back soon to say more... but here are some quick blips:

• The allergist said that he thinks my reaction was an unknown random event.  I can exercise with my epi pen in tow and if it happens again, I'll go back in.
• I did an hour of high level yoga yesterday and my shoulders are sore.  Sad.
• I did not work out this morning because I overslept after a glass of wine, chocolate, and cheese - oh and recovering from hitting a parked car as I was backing out at the Callahan Center.  It was perfectly in the blind spot on the left side of the minivan.  Talk about ruining a day.  Luckily, no one was hurt, I found the vehicle's owner, and I was going slowly.
• HIP Kids is really shaping up to something that I'm really proud of... we almost have everything in place and we're unveiling our program logo at the Junior League General Membership Meeting this evening!
• We took Angelfish and Ladybug to Animal Kingdom this weekend.  It was a blast!
• It also resulted in Ladybug blurting out in the middle of church "I miss Jesus AND the dinosaurs!"
• Later in the day, Angelfish told us that she misses "Miss Lili (her old teacher) and the rides at the Animal Kingdom."
• Yesterday while talking on the phone with her Grammie, Ladybug told her "I'm sorry Grammie, but I am busy reading a magazine right now.  It has my dentist in it."  (which it did - there was an article about their pediatrician's practice and how great it is.)
• Angelfish informed me this morning that "You are the bestest Mommy and I love you so much that I want you to be my Mommy forever!"  I didnt' have the heart to tell her that she's stuck with me.  But that really put a smile on my face.

And now it's off to the circus again...

Feeling Happy.

Happy Thursday everyone!

Today I slept late.  No alarm clock, and strangely it felt good.  Of course, I've been burning the midnight oil as of late with things.  Still wanted to work out like mad, but with us running so behind it didn't leave time for me to break the moratorium on workouts.... yet.  I'm trying to be a good girl, but it's getting harder everyday.

Last night was the parent meeting for VPK.  We rushed to gymnastics - the girls and I - and they wandered on to class.  In the car they told me they do not want to do gymnastics anymore.  Soccer they say.  Really?  Soccer? Yes.  You all may remember that their idea of soccer was to hang out on the sideline running around the external portion of the field, refusing to play except with each other, leaving me every practice an irate parent based on behavior and a reminder that I actually cannot control my children's behavior they have to buy in to it too.  Even Mr. Darcy tried to convince them that they really want to do gymnastics.  But nothing could change their minds - even after having fun at class.  But at the same time, I'll save the $ per month if they don't want to do it.  It's expensive.  Now I am plotting their next activity - I am all about keeping these kids active.  I want them to avoid ever being out of shape... so I'm between pre-ballet and tap class (they LOVE to dance around the house) and karate (they love to pretend to do karate too after seeing the original "Karate Kid" with Mr. Darcy).  We'll have to see which (if any) of these they have an interest in.

Once Mr. Darcy arrived at the gym, we chatted for a bit and then off I went to VPK.  We weren't supposed to bring children with us, but there were plenty there.... including another set of twins!  These twins are known to us too - they were on the soccer team with Angelfish and Ladybug, but they actually played a little.  One will be in Angelfish's class and one will be in Ladybug's.  I talked to their Mom a few minutes as well as Holland and Connor's Moms.  I really like these two ladies a ton.  We're going on our first "girls' night" together and I am quite excited!!  We're going to have dinner and see a play... like real grown ups!

So back to VPK itself... the rules are the rules, nothing unusual.  The thing that struck me though was what a good job they did in placing my girls with the right teachers.  A friend's daughter had one and her Mom raves about her, and the other teacher is in with the owner's child so I figure she has to be good.  Their styles are totally different.  One is definitely a orderly kind of person, definite rule establisher and follower.  She talked to the parents in a group with a formal discussion, and the other was more of a come up to me and have a chat type of gal.  Angelfish is in with the more laid back kind of gal, which is perfect for her.  You try and force her to do something because it's a rule and she gets defiant... she'll be sweet about it, but she'll do all that she can to get her way.  So a softer approach works better with her.  Ladybug on the other hand does not need soft. If she gets soft, she tries to take charge.  So being with the rule establisher is good for her.  I left feeling happy... except for the fact that they want us to bring in a 2nd pair of shoes along with 2 changes of clothes AND they're requiring them to wear sneakers. 

I personally love sneakers, but my girls like to wear "dress" shoes.  After fighting with them for months, we realized that as long as we put them in good supportive mary jane's it really doesn't matter.  You should have seen the look on their faces when I told them they have to wear sneakers to school... not pleased.  We're going to get them backpacks this weekend.  Not sure they 100% need them, but at the same time it will be good to cart things back and forth from school.  Ladybug has to have a family picture and a folder too. I don't even think we have a recent picture that has all 4 of us in it.  Lots of pictures of the kids, but not too many with grown ups in it.  We may have to just take our own picture together this weekend...

VPK thoughts make me happy.

HIP Kids.  Things ironed out a bit.  The food bank made it so that while we couldn't get in to pack our packs, they will have volunteers do it for us. So at least we will have packs to deliver during the month of September! YAY!  Then I found a restaurant to do our 1st Family Night Dinner - I have to admit it helped that the owner of the restaurant is also a committee member and then she also had found someone to do the food for our 1st HIP Kids Club as well.  So we are rolling!    That made me happy too.

LLS (Leukemia & Lymphoma Society).  I didn't mention much about this yet and I'm not sure of all of the details yet either.  BUT, even though I can't do a TNT event because of time constraints and such, I'm going to be involved with them as a volunteer... not sure of my duties quite yet, but I'm excited!  I should know more by the end of next week.  I just couldn't give up the mission.  I want to erradicate cancer too badly!  So this too made me a happy girl!

Museum Day.  Okay this isn't until September 25th, but I still got excited and happy about it when I found out about it today - Smithsonian affiliated museums across the country are providing free admission for two people on September 25th.  To get your free tickets, visit: www.smithsonian.com/museum - they also have a list of participating museums across the country.  I got our tickets for the Polsek Museum & Sculpture Garden - I figured the girls would enjoy that (and so would we)!  YAY! Museums!

I guess I feel like in some ways things are finally coming together again.  I loved living in Atlanta and didn't want to leave because we had such wonderful friends and I was involved in my community.  Last year, I moved past missing Atlanta and started embracing Orlando.  And now I feel like I'm getting that sense of belonging again - I'm starting to make friends and get involved again.  I need the feeling of interconnectivity with my world.  And working from home makes that very, very, very difficult.  But now things feel better like I'm getting interconnected again.

And that makes me happy... and once I can start training again, life will be complete!

Joining the Circus

Thank you all for your comments to my last post.  They made me smile.

Lately, that's sometimes how I've felt.  Like I was part of a crazy ol' circus.  Things will settle down and then more bumps in the road appear to get me going again.

The identity theft appears to have been more of a hassle and a bit frightening than anything.  No money has been taken or charged improperly at this point, and we think we're in the process of having the credit bureaus in line as well.  So that is good.  Knock on wood.

The allergies... well, I'm still waiting for that appointment next week.  Today was torture not to work out.  If I feel like this tomorrow morning, I may just have to break down and do a yoga video.  Just a half hour one.  Because I seriously am going through physical activity withdrawal... which makes me a little grumpy at times.  This is where I step into the Big Circus Tent

HIP Kids.  I love HIP Kids.  My co-chair and assistant co-chairs are awesome.  I feel like we're becoming friends and I really like chatting with them and seeing them.... which is a good thing because since June we've pretty much seen each other every week. No joke.  We are women on a mission and all quite capable of making things happen.  We've gotten our logo designed and approved by Marketing and Branding, and as of today will have our labels ordered for our food packs.  We've got a great committee of women who are all signed up to plan their event for the kids, and have their theme idea and are starting to plan.  We have a good speaker for our 1st Family Night.  We have our ducks in a row.  BUT then there are issues like the food bank telling us they can't help us at all with dinner for the Family Nights - so we're racing around trying to find a donor/someplace we can order in budget; and we had to push the 1st dinner Night back a month.  The center is changing directors and we're not sure how many kids we'll have for the 1st session... let alone if the new director will want to change anything, but we're hoping to meet with her soon... it's just the fear of the unknown in light of all our hardwork!  And then our good packs were supposed to start delivery on Aug. 27th. But the food bank emailed and said they delayed ordering the food in order to get a lower price so there is no food for us to pack - or distribute - oh and they can't get us in to pack our food until September 25.  So if there's no food packed, that means we miss not 1 but 3 food pack deliveries.  Not okay.  So we're trying to work it out with them pretty much as we speak.  This is the main event ring of my circus, but I do love it all the same.

Those are the main things.  The little things involve things that I love and keep me busy too.  Like trying to get more involved with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society because I love Team in Training and it's mission but right now cannot add a TNT event to my plate.  And doctor's appointments.

Good news from the doctor's appointment... I've lost 12 pounds and the nutritionist told me that what I am doing is exactly what I need to do. She happens to be friends with 2 professional triathletes so that was cool to talk about.  I'm hoping that when I go back in 6 months to check on the ol' thyroid (which is still doing fine on the medicine) I'll be even smaller than I am now. 

And little Ladies.  Angelfish was a sad little girl yesterday.  She even broke into tears at daycare because she wanted her Mommy.  So I snuggled up with her and gave kissy monster kisses (I cover her face with little noisy kisses) and tickled her and chatted.  It makes me wonder if balance isn't quite being achieved between work, my extracurriculars, and family.  Although today she was a happy little imp dressed in a pink frilly skirt and shirt that is white with multicolor flowers, singing about muffins and coloring before leaving for school.  It could have just been the day. Funny how I'm always finding fault with myself first.

Yesterday Ladybug picked out my jewelry for the day - she actually did a good job.  Today she insisted that if I was to wear pants (she wanted me to wear a dress but I wore a suit dress Monday and a skirt outfit yesterday), that I had to wear a cute pair of white capris and a turquoise tunic top.  Kind of dressed up to sit in my house and work and do conference calls, but I'll look good for the mandatory VPK orientation meeting tonight.

That's right - they're starting VPK on Monday!  I can't believe that they are getting to be such big kids.  I definitely can see myself crying on the 1st day of Kindergarden - maybe even the 1st day of VPK.  My little ladies...

Life may be a circus right now, but its my circus and to be quite honest I wouldn't trade a minute of it - other than the identity theft stuff - for the world.

Good News

My childhood allergist's office called and gave me 3 names of doctors they recommended... 2 were in the same practice.  So I called and I have an appointment next week!

Here's hoping that I can hang in there without exercise until then.  It's making me crazy, quite honestly.  What's wrong with a little run, bike, swim, or yoga? So what if it could potentially result in hives or anaphylactic shock?  I mean really!

Ladybug has announced that she will be a triathlete when she grows up and she'll "work at a school telling people what to do" in addition to being a Mommy."  Angelfish has declared she'll be an architect like Mr. Darcy and brought him home a picture she drew of a house.  It's her very 1st design, and Mr. Darcy is bringing it to work for his desk... when he told me about it, I thought he sounded teary eyed.

The sweetness of parenthood.  If only it didn't have to involve Ladybug being afraid of the dark because she says that "monsters, witches, mean cats, bad guys, werewolves, and Frankenstine" can come in her room at night - evidently they use the door, the window, and ooze through the walls and come up from the carpet.  The kid has a vivid imagination - I didn't even know she knew about Frankenstine or werewolves.

So I've invented the spray to get rid of them all - water with oregano, garlic and red pepper flakes.  She wanted fire but I was able to convince her that red pepper flakes are so spicy that it would be like fire in a bottle of water.  She has the water bottle and can spray at will.  Oh and I explained that beds come with invisible force fields to allow good kids to go in and out of their beds but to keep monsters, etc. out.

We'll see if it works.  We're also bribing her - stay in bed all night every day this week and she gets a goody out of the goody bag.  It worked to get her back on track with potty training after she decided she didn't want to go to the VPK class because she'd miss her teacher so she would just stop using the potty so they wouldn't let her move up.

Intelligent, creative children.  A blessing and a challenge.

Allergens and Me

So yesterday, I woke up.  I felt pretty good, but thought to myself.  "Let's not tempt fate.  Just do yoga today.  When all is well, then tomorrow we'll hit it hard."  Uh yeah.  30 minutes of yoga then after 10 minutes of sitting.  Red, itchy hives covered my cheeks.  Within 30 minutes, my entire face, down my neck and my chest.  I called the regular doctor who said "Why did you workout?"  I reminded him that he said I could if I didn't itch.  He said, "no more working out until you see your allergist." I said, "what allergist?" 

It turned out he meant to (but didn't) tell me to make a follow up with my allergist, of which I am/was without one because my old one (who I went to once) is in Atlanta, and my even older one (from when I was 16) is in my hometown where I haven't lived in quite a rather long time. The doctor refused to see me saying that the Solumedrol shot he gave me was still in my system and that I could take an Atarax every 6 hours (which would have put me at 1 pm).  He then told me to get in with the allergist to be seen.  I couldn't because well they're specialists who are completely booked up.

When you work from home and the only other "person" in the house is your dog, your face is covered in hives and your tongue is swelling but you're not having breathing problems, it's a little disconcerting to be told to just wait and see what happens, and if you need to just use your epi pen and then go to the ER.  I don't think it's a great idea to drive yourself to the ER after having given yourself a shot because you can still pass out.  I almost died when I was 16 from eating onions and shrimp and then going for a run, so I don't really like to "wait and see."  But that's what I did.

Mr. Darcy ended up coming home after I pretty much begged him to come home.  I couldn't declare it was an emergency, but I was also freaked out by the chance of it becoming an emergency.  He was willing if it was an emergency, but well I couldn't say it was an emergency because I wasn't keeling over, but still...

By the time he got home, it started subsiding.  So I felt a little bit bad, although I was annoyed that I had to beg to begin with.  But that's another story.  Then the doctor's office called and said, "do not work out again until you have your food allergy testing done, and we made you a doctor's appointment with a different allergist."

So this morning I went to the allergist they set up the appointment with.  I will not be going back there.  The doctor was fine, but there were no nurses - or if the woman who helped me was a nurse then she is a bit incompetent as I had to spell pretty much every medicine and medical issue I have for her.  And I had to explain what endometriosis was and what IVF was.  Not to mention that there were signs in the office related to getting allergy shots and having to just wait because they were given in between scheduled appointments.  And when they brought me back to weigh me, they walked me into the same room as 2 other people who were getting shots while I was in there.  And the floor was dirty.  I am not a neat freak by nature.  I don't care 99.7% of the time if something is a little bit dirty.  There are 3 exceptions: doctors offices, dentists offices and the grocery store.  While the doctor seemed to know what he was talking about, I wasn't comfortable.  I may be overly picky about doctors, but I've heard enough stories about (and had my own run in with) bad doctors to listen to my feelings of discomfort.

So I made an appointment for September 10th with the initial doctor they recommended but who I couldn't get an earlier appointment.  The problem?  I'm not supposed to exercise at ALL until I go to have my food allergies tested.  Why?  Because as you get older your allergies change, so while we think it's the onion flakes in the Mrs. Dash it allegedly could be something else.  The other thing the allergist told me today - I am not allowed to workout EVER without a buddy.  Realistically, this is not something that can happen.  I can't always have someone working out with me because it's just not practical.  And I don't necessarily want to wait until September 11th to be able to workout again (especially since I have a triathlon in Clermont scheduled for September 12th).

I'm contemplating going to my old doctor back in my home town if he has earlier availability.  My parents still go to him.  And I can't help but wonder if I can get in there earlier.  And I know his floors are clean.

Talk about Itchy!

Yesterday evening, I went to the Tri Club meeting.  I was in a BAD mood. I had discovered that the fraudulent address is showing up on my credit report now.  I was trying to be nice, but I wasn't doing overly well.  I had warned Training Buddy, and he even said, "Wow.  You ARE in a bad mood."  Despite my bad mood, I think I'll like the tri club once I get into going regularly.  They are a pretty serious group about workouts - Friday nights around 7:30 are their swims.  I am guessing that these folks don't have young children.  But that is okay.  I've already decided that I will go to the group workouts that I can (primarily the during the day Tuesday and Thursday workouts - a good way to use the lunch hour) and do other training on my own.

Then I came home and had meat loaf for dinner... that I used Mrs. Dash Italian Blend in... which turns out has onion flakes.


I had a night full of nightmares (very rare for me) and woke up head to toe bright red (like a had a really bad sunburn), itching like mad, hot all over, but when I scratched an itch it hurt. So logically, I took a shower thinking it could be topical and was in pain. The doctor thinks that I had the reaction to the onion flakes even though it's not typically how I react with onions and exercise. (Although I greatly prefer this type of reaction to the anaphylaxia that I usually end up with...)

The doctor said that sometimes you have a minor reaction when the amount of the allergen is small - and onion flakes is small. Got a lecture about not having an epi pen (along with a prescription for one), a shot of some sort in the bum, and then a prescription for the itching that the doctor referred to as "benedryl x 2"... I had to take a half hour nap!

Which of course means that since it's an food dependant EXERCISE induced allergy, that I am not allowed to workout today and can only workout tomorrow if I am not itching anymore... which meant I didn't get to workout with the Tri Club today. Ugh.  And I'm still itching.

Here's hoping for tomorrow.

The Opposite of Good with Positive Reminders

Would be BAD.  And that's kind of where I'm at right now.  Rather happy that I will have my 1st meeting with the Y's tri team this evening.  Informational 1st and then a small workout.  Not sure whether I'm going to be happy with the results of the workout as it's been 3 weeks since my last real workout (not counting yoga).  But so it goes.

I am writing this in a way to remind myself about the good stuff... my Mom is still doing good; my parents are healthy in general at the moment, Mr. Darcy and the little ladies are healthy, we have jobs and a roof over our head, and food in the pantry and refrigerator.

The bad.  Little frustrations all around, lack of outlet for stress, oh and someone stole Mr. Darcy's identity.  Yup.  Not sure if I mentioned that someone had changed the address on his credit card account, and we got that straightened out.  Mr. Darcy told me I was being over dramatic when I told him, they're coming and they're going to try to steal all our money.  Have I mentioned before that I have this annoying tendency of being right about things 95% of the time? (Possibly higher.)  Well, it's true.  And it's friggin' annoying. 

They went after the bank accounts.  But I have to give Bank of America props.  Big props.  They caught it.  And our money is still where it should be... in our pockets. Not some two bit, good for nothing punk who not only has the uncommon undecency to steal Mr. Darcy's information (to the point that they called and provided personal information in a positively scary way in order to do what they did) but even worse is using the address of a church as a front to their scheme.  Well, my theory is that God has a much bigger reach than I do (via the police of course - no vigilantism on my part), so if karma doesn't get them on earth they will have one heck of an after life.

But that's how I spent a good chunk of the end of last week and the weekend.  Dealing with things.  Police reports. Credit bureaus, etc.  As did Mr. Darcy.  We even filed stuff with the FTC and the Postal Inspector.  And on all documents, we want to prosecute if they ever catch the MoFo.  (Sorry, that's the best I can do for censoring today.)

So to say the least, I'm REALLY looking forward to getting back into working out.  I've missed my training regimen.  The angry side of me finds it almost an inspiration to try to get the FBI or some other type of government group to take me (if I'm not going to be too old - this 35 year old rule is really a little silly.  I do triathlons. I'm not too old.) so I can do financial fraud investigations.  Problem of uprooting the family every so many years is really the only deterrent at the moment.

But I am counting my blessings.  Things could have been worse.  The family is all safe and sound despite Mr. Darcy and I feeling a bit violated.  I can hope and pray that the person gets caught, although even with the cellphone number they tried to claim was our new phone number I am doubtful they'll get caught. 

My positive mind is a bit grey and cloudy.  Bring on the workouts!

Good News

Hello Bloggy Friends!  My Mom's surgery went super well yesterday.  She's not having much pain and at the follow up appointment this afternoon, they told her she looks great and is healing up already... and they removed the drain (yeah, they put one in yesterday afterall).  She's talking away, doing some upholstery knitting to make a shopping bag for a friend and is her usual self.  She's doing so good that I'm actually going to drive home after dinner tonight.... literally because they do not need me to do much of anything.  They are pretty much feeding me, letting me sleep and I've been working all day while sitting on the sofa with Mom.  So I decided to surprise the kiddies in the morning by waking them up, and to surprise Mr. Darcy in getting to see one another. YAY!

Another YAY is that the Y Tri Club starts with a "fun workout" not sure what that will entail and an informational meeting at 6:15 pm on Monday.  My sinus infection appears to be gone baby gone, and I'm looking forward to getting back in the swing of things.

I'm also excited because I'm getting involved with UF Law Alumni Council... which doesn't take up a ton of time but will benefit my alma mater and let me meet other Gator Lawyers in the area. Networking and a good cause, what more could a girl like me ask for! Tee hee.  I think I may be a compulsive "do gooder"...

But as a birthday gift to myself, my goal is to keep my evening calendar empty the entire week leading up to my actual birthday.  I do have something on the 24th, but it's the Jack Johnson concert for which I've had tickets to for MONTHS.  It's a bit of a treat for me, so I don't count that one as a meeting! Whoo hoo!

The only bad thing is the a/c in the mini-van went out on the way to the padres yesterday morning.  So it will be a rather warm drive home.  But I'm an endurance athlete.  I can endure anything for 2 1/2 hours, right? : )

See you all on the flip side!

August is Here

I cannot believe it is August already - other than the weather.  Temperatures in the 100s and heat indexes even higher. Wilting the moment you walk outdoors.  Temperature wise it seems like August has been here for weeks, but time wise I can't believe it is here.

This week will prove itself to be a nutty one I am sure.  I am in all honesty trying to figure out what to do workout wise.  I missed spin this morning because 1) Ladybug was up 5 times in the night, for no other reason than she claimed she "just couldn't sleep." 2) Mr. Darcy is sick - and was sick all weekend - so I was coaxing him into seeing the doctor and attempting (unsuccessfully I might add) that he should stay home from work today. Which meant I ended up having to take the kiddos to school instead of workout. and 3) I am having nerve pain down my leg.  Not sure where that came from, but there it is.  I stretched my back out this morning after coming home from daycare.  Today will not only be filled with laundry, but also with a full day of work... and if my nerve pain lets up a little I'm hoping to get the bike trainer out and do 45- 1 hour on it.  I miss my workouts.  And there's no pollen inside...

Tomorrow will be a bit crazy.  I'm going to do 1/2 an hour of yoga in the morning and will start work early because I have blood work at 8:45.  Then back to work, dentist appointment at 2 pm. Back to work, and then to a Junior League Committee "meeting" - HIP Happy Hour at 7pm with the committee to get to know each other and answer any questions anyone has about the committee. Then I have to pack.

Wednesday, my Mom is having her last reconstructive surgery from her breast cancer.  They have to put the finishing touches on the mastectomy side and then reduce the other side to match what they reconstructed.  It's supposed to be a little bit more intensive pain wise than the mastectomy itself, but without the drain (thank goodness... I handled it just fine but if you don't have to have a drain, all the better.).  So Wednesday morning I drive on over as soon as the kiddos and Mr. Darcy are out the door.  I'll use PTO for Wednesday, and then will work and help take care of Mom on Thursday and Friday.  Friday after work I'll drive home and hopefully make it before the girls' bedtime.

And this weekend, Mr. Darcy's parents will be spending the weekend with us.  They were supposed to come last weekend but with Mr. Darcy sporting a temperature ranging from 101.2 to 101.8 both Friday night and all day Saturday (it finally broke Saturday evening) and me quarantining him to our bedroom (I slept in the guest bedroom) they decided to postpone their trip until this coming weekend.  Not to mention that Mr. Darcy's Mom is suffering through a bad Diverticulitis flare up.

With all this whirling around, I realized two things on the ride home from dropping off the girls at school (where Ladybug greeted her teacher who had been on vacation last week with a big hug and "I missed you so very much!" which made us both smile).  One, I turn 35 this month. Sigh.  Two, I am going to consider this my "recovery period" and will just get back into the swing of things with my training.  I am signing up for the Y's Tri Team, so that will be good.  They start with the official start of the school year, so that will be at the end of this month too.  All will right itself.  I am just missing my rides and runs and swims but realistically know that I need to do what I can do and not kill myself... and perhaps missing the height of the heat and pollen season might not be such a bad thing for me this year.

Which reminds me... I have to go take my medicine for this dang sinus infection.  Off I go!

Crazy Times

Thanks for all your comments on my last post!  It's been a crazy week, and I think the inability to run or bike this week has helped add to my craziness.  The other day I had so much energy in the evening that I ended up straightening the entire house, including my office, and then filed and painted my nails.  By 10:30 pm (which it is rare for me to see on a clock), Mr. Darcy was already sound asleep and I was making myself lay down in bed to coax myself to sleep.  Of course, it could be the sudafed too... luckily I'm only taking one dose in the morning...

Tuesday was "breakfast" with the Mayor.  It was a wonderful meeting.  He was really interested in our HIP Kids Program, and I got to say a few words about what we were doing and the sessions we had planned so far.  He was happy to say that it really fit with his vision of what that area needs and that we also were adding a nutrition component which was something they didn't really have the ability to address as readily... and then he said they were going to look into whether the Community Garden had any plots available and if it did, he was going to have them set aside for the HIP Kids Program. Oh Yeah!  The discussion was wonderful, but the breakfast (I ate before hand thank goodness) was a plate with muffins on it and a break room type set up for coffee.  They should have said it was a Meet and Greet or a Morning Chat, not a breakfast.  I had an idea of well, breakfast, eating and then chatting because they said "Come have breakfast with the Mayor."  But that was the only "drawback" and it was very minor.  Afterwards we had our group take a picture with the Mayor for their records and ours.  I have to say, it was the highlight of the day.

Yesterday was crazy in general.  At 10:30 I was given a research project that had to be done by the end of the day, and that was a bit like finding a needle in a haystack - and the haystack happened to be state and federal cases for 10 states.  I really enjoy reading cases and case law and doing research, but this was a bit much.  I had one search with 200 cases resulting, another with 181 results, and another with 36.  I had to laugh because the 36 were ones that I had already seen in my 1st 2 searches (and luckily there were duplicates in those too).  How many cases did I find that were at least close to on point (there weren't a lot that were 100% on point because the question was definitely a needle) out of all of those? 11.  I finished at 6:27 right before I was supposed to have my Junior League chairs over for our meeting at 7 pm.  Mr. Darcy was kind enough to pick up the kids and attempt to take them to gymnastics (which was not going on because it was the 5th week in the month), then went to the store and picked up food for dinner.  He forgot that I asked him to pick up fruit, cheese and crackers too, so he headed back for the cheese and crackers while I showered (luckily I had done yoga that morning and didn't sweat TOO much) and got ready.  I cut up the fruit we had in the house and made a little fruit platter.  Then it was meeting time, which went well.  I really like the ladies who are part of the committee leadership with me.  Then we got the kids in bed and I pretty much fell asleep while watching TV with Mr. Darcy.

Today is hopefully going to be a slower paced day.  I took the girls to school this morning.  Ladybug was cracking me up... she wanted to have "cereal squares" (Quaker Oats Oatmeal Squares cereal) in a bag.  But she originally wanted to eat them with a spoon.  I told her she could but that it might be a little difficult for her... so she decided to use chopsticks.  Yup.  Chopsticks.  She ate her cereal out of the bag by picking up one or two squares at a time with the chopsticks, and even handed a few to Angelfish on the way to school.  Those kids are a hoot!  And I've having lunch with a friend.  And working. And hopefully resting so I can get back to my exercising!!

Yoga in the morning.  I'm hoping to get the kids and Mr. Darcy out of the house early enough that I can do an hour's worth.  Fingers crossed... What workouts are you all doing? (So I can live vicariously...)

Sinus Infections and Other Fun

So last week I didn't feel that great.  Neither did Ladybug.  In fact, Ladybug spiked a temperature at school and had to stay home a bit.  Come this morning she was raring to go.  Meanwhile, I was worse for wear.  Not only was I now having the sweats, inner ear pain, and headaches that kept me from pretty much doing anything other than yoga last week, but now my entire brain felt like it would pop.

I have breakfast with the Mayor and the Junior League Executive Board tomorrow - turns out I may have to even talk a bit about our HIP Kids program which is pretty exciting.  Heck, I'm just as excited that I went and bought a suit dress and a cute chocolate brown blazer to wear over the top.  I actually look like I have an hourglass figure in the dress, so of course I had to buy it. 

With that in mind, it dawned on me around 10 am that perhaps I should see the doctor so I would not have to miss the breakfast.  They had cancellations, so I was in by 11 am.  The bad news: I have a very nasty sinus infection and now am on sudafed once a day, antibiotics twice a day, nasonex spray (2 squirts each nostril), and my regular clairnex. The good news: I've lost 11 pounds since starting my Paleo-Zone!  Whoo hoo!

It definitely motivated me to skip the ice cream that Mr. Darcy has been plying with me this past week.  Good thing the carton is empty.

Yoga it is for a few more days... and then I start the planned MWF run, spin, abs class, run and the TR yoga and body sculpt classes.  Saturdays will be either run or bike days.  If only my sinuses would cooperate!

The Whirlwind of Life

And so it goes... some of you have noticed that I haven't blogged as of late.  No injuries, no atrocities.  Just simply and utterly busy.  Some of the busy was good.  Some of the busy was trying, but none of the busy was bad.  It was only a moment ago that I realized it has been 2 weeks since I last posted.

So let's see if I can catch up a bit. If I can even remember that far back.  I don't think I ever got to the 4x800 sprints.  I think I did an hour on the trainer, followed by another day of yoga because I overslept, and then I got up early - the crack of dawn... before that actually - and ran the 1.3 miles to the Y, did the 45 minute spin class which was rather hard... doable but hard, more for the jumping from position to position, and resulting in my quads and my abs begging for mercy by 30 minutes in... then 1.3 mile run back home.  And yes, somehow I ran it.  I remember that my run to the Y was rather good for me.  1.3 miles in something around 24 minutes.

My parents visited that weekend and it was a good visit.  We took them and the kids to my Dad's Cousin's 65th birthday party, which was a good time even if Mr. Darcy pointed out that we were one of the youngest people there (aside from our kids) to which I remember responding, "it's a 65th Birthday party, what do you expect?"  It was wonderful to see some of the New Jersey family.  It was not wonderful however to be asked on 2 separate occasions by 2 separate people whether I was pregnant.  That spiralled a little bit of overindulgence on the cake eating... because if I'm working so hard and still look pregnant why bother right?  But then the stomach pains and intestinal issues the next day took care of such behavior after that.  I have to say that honestly I am highly considering a tummy tuck at some point in the next couple of years. The irony was that morning I turned to Mr. Darcy and said that really my arms look good, my legs look good and my back and butt even look good, it's just my stomach.  Which I guess is why I look pregnant. Sigh.

Monday it was back to work and lots of Junior League stuff.  Our 1st meeting - a meet and greet and "here's what we expect of you" chat went really well.  I think people are enthusiastic about our program and getting to work with the kids, so I'm optomistic.  Then it was off to Charlotte for 2 days for work.  4 planes in 2 days.  Always a thrill.  That Friday was the girls' annual check up where they were pronounced healthy, looking great and precocious, although Angelfish was acting a little immature which frustrated us.  Then I went to dinner with friends, had some drinks and saw "Eclipse."

Saturday I woke up at 5 am and came super close to not getting out of bed... which would have been a problem since I had a triathlon at 7 am.  A sprint.  All I wanted to do was sleep.  2 big glasses of white sangria and a cup of coffee that had me wired until about 1 am really weren't the best for the night before race day.  Luckily I had slept relatively well Thursday night.

The Moss Park race was good.  I went to transition and ran into several friendly faces as the Team in Training Nations Tri Team was doing the sprint as well.  Then I wandered off for the bathroom, took a dip in the lake which was rather warm (but then it was about 86 before the sun came up and humidity made it feel like a sauna anyway), listened to the pre-race talk about the swim course, and then waited for my wave - all women were in the 2nd wave. 

I was determined to give it my all.  My goal was to beat 1:30, but I also had the goal of not putting too much pressure on myself and having fun with it because to be quite honest the past 2 weeks had been a whirlwind and not a ton of training was had during the week leading up to the race  I didn't quite meet my A goal of 1:30, but I cannot complain because with a time of 1:39:20, I still PR'd by more than 7 minutes and placed 3rd in the Athena Divison.  Hardware!  The other thing to point out is that my previous PR was done in the lovely weather during March while this one was done in the sweltering Summer.  Not to mention the 4 plane rides, only 4 1/2 hours of sleep, and 2 cocktails (1 had me tipsy) the night before.  It made me wonder what I could do if I hadn't had all of that going on.  Proper rest and nutrition might have been the better idea.

So here's a quick race report.  The swim, I felt pretty proud of... 750m in 15:17 or a 2:02 pace per 100m.  I didn't freak out and even pushed another swimmer off of me when she tried to swim right over me.  I wasn't having it.  I was racing!  (I just checked and compared to the last time I did the swim I was 2:02 faster!)I knew I definitely pushed myself on the swim when I ran to transition and was panting so hard that I had to sit down in order to get my shoes on because bending over made me feel like I was going to pass right out.  Total transition was around 4:30 ... about 2 minutes for a 1/4 mile run from the lake to transition and then sitting on my bum for shoes and socks. 

Then I was off again.  The bike was great.  I felt awesome on the bike.  I was tearing it up.  I got passed only about 4 times and was passing tons of people on the bike.  It was great.  My average pace was 18.4 mph.  And I finished in a little over 40 minutes. Oh yeah!  (Last time I did a sprint, my average pace was 14.5 mph - definite improvement!).  When I got off the bike, Mr. Darcy and the girls were there.  Mr. Darcy cheered and the girls looked at me like they didn't know what the heck to say or do because I was jumping off my bike.  Unfortunately, I also felt like puking.  Other than caffeine and alcohol perhaps trying to get out of my system, I had not other reason for wanting to puke.

Transition here felt slow but it was less then 2 minutes, which for me is one of my better transitions.  Again ironic because I switched shoes sitting down and breathed in and out slowly a few times to keep the puke from rising.

Then it was off to run.  Here was the problem.  I know I can do better.  A 13:11 pace.  Looking back, I should have pushed myself much harder on the run.  But I was cramping.  Amazingly it wasn't necessarily my legs, which is why I think I should have pushed a lot harder.  The cramp would rotate from between my clavicle and my neck, to right under my right rib cage, to my right calf.  So I walked a little more than I should have and ran a bit.  I should have pushed through the pain more.  This is the only thing I was really annoyed with the day after, but at the same time it was sweltering and they ran out of water at mile 2, and well, I wasn't exactly in prime prep'd shape for the race to begin with.  I've been running on my own around 11 minute mile paces (and sometimes less), which if I had run in the race would have probably brought me in under 1:30 and moved me to 1st on the Athena podium.  But, it is what it is.  And I had a bloody great time doing the race and getting 3rd (not to mention having a great time with my friends the night before)!

After the race and getting my plaque, it was home for a shower and to hang out with the girls and then we headed to a bowling party for Mr. Darcy's alumni association gathering.  The girls were great thank goodness because I had a splitting headache and needed a nap.  4 pm rolled around and we headed back to the house where I promptly took a NAP!

And all between this, I have been working on a little something.  A little corporation... where I can do estate planning, probate, corporate and tax law (and maybe some guardianship) on a part-time basis outside of my 9 to 5 job. Independent consulting on the parts of law that I love - the "I feel like I actually helped someone today" sorts of things - for a good friend's firm.  I hadn't thought about having a part-time of counsel position on top of my full time job until Ms. J. started planting hints in my brain over the past few months and sending her law partner to me with questions about estate planning that she was attempting for folks and got those juices flowing again.  Extra money is never a bad thing, and some fun legal work outside of my full time gig isn't a bad thing either.  I'm not much of a risk taker when it comes to every day life stuff (other than triathlon and that stint of skydiving I did pre-children), and even though this really isn't a "risk" it sort of feels like one.  It's good to get out of the box.... even if figuring out details and forming a professional corporation have been eating up a bunch of my free time (ok pretty much any waking moment that I'm not working my full time job or watching the kids).

Because of the little something, I may have to cut back on some training at first which is a bit of a bother but I'm finding that I really don't have time for every single thing.  But not to fear.  I have a plan.  MWF of running to the Y, spin class kicking my butt possibly followed by the abs class, and then running home.  TR with yoga and a total body toning class.  This week was supposed to be the start and then I realized how many conference calls I had - not to mention having a hard time getting out of bed ... I am wondering if my thyroid meds need to be increased...so I am 100% committed to starting it next Monday. On the dot.  I hate to say that my blogging may suffer as well, but I will do my best to blog from time to time and keep in touch with your blogs as well.

Oh, and I've joined the ranks of the evil.  I have purchased a nook... with some gift cards "earned" through my world points credit card over the past year and a half.  I could almost hear books screaming as I made the purchase... telling me I will be sorry and miss turning those nice paper pages of my friends the books.  But then my bookshelves will thank me as they are overfull and have to be thinned out with donations to charity of books that I can part with.  My nook can store 1 million books. And it has a snazzy woodcut of Edgar Allen Poe with a raven when it's off and charging.  plus I can download a book at the beach.  Or when I just plum finish a book and have to find a new one to read.  I am going to have to pace myself.  I'm already anxious for it to finish charging.  Why don't they come pre-charged?  I was all set to read The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest for some evening wind down, but for that charging nonsense.

But then it gave me a moment to take a break from the whirlwind that has been my life as of late, and hit some blog reading... so perhaps it did me a little favor.

Planning to Run, Back Gets in the Way but Yoga Saves the Day!

I awoke this morning with lower back pain.  But unlike other times when it was definitely nerve pain, this seemed to be muscle pain.  Of course, it could be muscle pain caused by things not being quite in alignment.  Believe me when I say I was bummed.  I literally dreamt last night about doing running intervals - the plan was 4 x 800m fast with 2-3 minutes recovery between each, after a 10-15 minute warm up run and followed by a 10 minute cool down.  I even had mapped out on google maps the exact 800m loop I could use (I get bored running on a track sometimes, so I thought I'd go for making the neighbors wonder what, exactly, was up with me.).  My toes were literally itching to be in my running shoes. Oh I had plans.

But when my back is talking to me like it did, I have two options: 1) run anyway and see what happens; sometimes it loosens up and sometimes it sends me to the chiropractor; 2) postpone my run until tomorrow and do an hour of yoga, followed by a few minutes with the foam roller hitting all the major points from my upper back down to my calves.  With a race on the schedule for 10 days from now, I decided to go with option 2.  I don't want anything to get in the way of race day... even if it's not an A race.  I've already had to forego one race this year and had back pain that prevented me from running the right way in another race.

I didn't pick an easy yoga set to do.  In fact, it's one that I can't 100% do... but I'm getting closer.  I can do all of it except for one pose in the middle of the sequence. The Crane Pose. I have a feeling that I'm not quite doing it right and that if I had a little more help, I could get it.  That and I have to get my brain to believe that I can in fact balance the weight of my body via my knee/thigh area on the back of my arms which are bent in a bit of a push up sort of position (oh and my torso is sort of bent in half at the waist as well).  I can get myself up onto my tip toes in this position, but can't seem to get my toes off the floor.  If you want to see what I'm talking about go HERE (and where I found, in fact, I am doing it wrong.... I didn't realize you're supposed to get your knees up into your armpits.  I'll have to remember that for next time...)

I'll get there eventually.  Lots of strength and balancing poses this morning... the type that look easy but are harder to actually do and you really have to maintain your breathing with your movement.  It was great.  And at the end when we did the twisting postures for cool down, my back went click-click.  And no more muscle pain.

So tomorrow I'm bringing on the run.  4 x 800m  Here I come!

For some reason I am itching to make our back yard into a garden.  I don't want to put in a fence because we back up to a nature preserve and I like having deer and other animals wander on through, but I want to do something - something with color and that is inviting.  I know how to mow the lawn, plant shrubbery, prune bushes (even cut down trees) - you learn all that being the only child of a high school biology teacher (who spent most of his masters thesis on something about trees in West Virginia).  Selecting plants and how to arrange them just so is not something I've done before on as big of a scale as this.  I secretly oooh and aaaah over all the gardening articles in Southern Living every month.  Somewhere I don't trust myself to jump right in and do it, but it is calling to me.  Especially after the July article in Southern Living about lilies.  I love lilies, and according to Southern Living, they'd like my back yard.  Full sun.  I think they'd back the perfect background - especially since the article said to treat them like shrubs in the planting.  I'm a sucker for a garden with wispy tall things with lots of color in the back ground and then medium size plants and then shorter stuff in front.  The question is how and what plants.  I have a Southern Living Plant Guide book somewhere in this house.  I just have to find it and enlist Mr. Darcy - not to mention asking my friend K, who in Atlanta is the plant expert.  Plants, gardening and time share law.  Her opinion will definitely be sought.

So don't be surprised if I end up with a marathon gardening experience pretty soon. : )  Once I get up enough courage to try my hand at it anyway.  There seems to be something peaceful about being in the yard and digging in the soil to create something beautiful that is calling me.

Of course, so is work.  And getting the girls to gymnastics before heading off to my Junior League Committee meeting tonight. (Not to worry Mr. Darcy is meeting me at the gym to trade off on the parenting duties - I would never just leave them there!)  So I better "run"!

Fast Swim and Growing Up

I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July Weekend.  The weather here was rainy and/or overcast the entire weekend, which at least meant it wasn't in the upper 90's, but was a bit problematic for outdoor outings.

After having great chat the RockStar Tri about triathlon training, especially in regards to getting faster, I fully intended to change up my workouts.  Didn't get to it.  But I hope to work on the schedule this week.  I got mad at myself on Monday because I hadn't done any training on Saturday or Sunday.  But I did do a tough trainer ride on Monday while Mr. Darcy went out for a 27 mile ride.  I did a 10 minute warm up, 5x1 one legged drills (each leg of course), 10 minute recovery, 5 minutes in the big chain ring on my toughest gear standing up and pedaling, 5 minute recovery, then alternated sprinting 5x1 minute in a slightly harder gear and 1 minute recovery, and then a 10 minute cool down.  I knew I was really pushing myself because the girls were asking me questions about the horrible "Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea" that Mr. Darcy bought them and I could barely talk. (I can't stand the movie, but I have to admit I like the girls' title for it "The Little Mermaid has a Baby.")  So I was happy with the trainer ride, angry at myself because I didn't do more this weekend - I realized I was doing the "I don't want the girls to be upset if I go, and I don't want Mr. Darcy to have to worry about being with the kids on his own." thing.  No one else's fault but my own.  I didn't realize I was putting the world other than what I wanted first again until Mr. Darcy said Sunday night he wanted to go for a ride on Monday, then Monday woke up and put on his bike clothes without saying much of anything to me or the kids, and then disappeared when we weren't looking.  I wasn't mad at him.  I was mad at me.  Why can't I do that?  Well, you know what? I can.

So this morning I did.  One thing I realized in talking to the RockStar is that I don't do training tests. As in ever.  I don't know what I am capable speed wise of doing.  That sounds funny I'm sure since I go and do stuff every day.  But that's about can I get it done.  I have no idea what I really am capable of.  I left the house at 7:05, which included an extra 3 minutes for Angelfish who asked me if I could stay a few more minutes, had no traffic (I actually wondered if there was something I didn't know about because there were literally NO cars on the road in the neighborhood.), and got to the pool.  I found a book (yes, you know me and books) that I'm now waiting for the next Barnes and Noble coupon to come out so I can get it - Swim Workouts for Triathletes.   I use Barnes and Noble because I'm a member and save oodles on shipping and the prices USUALLY are the same as elsewhere, although every once in awhile they are a little more expensive.  I like saving money when I spend money.  Anyway. One of the sample pages happened to be a training test for Olympic Distance or IronMan Distance Triathletes.  3x300 as fast as you could - without losing form and as long as there was not a greater time differential than 15 seconds between your 1st and last.  Well, I did the 3 as full out as I could.  4:10, 4:15, and 4:12.  Then average the times and then divide by 3 to determine an accurate 100m time for a longer distance swim.  I was happily surprised because I thought I'd only be capable of 1:32-1:36 for my 100m pace.  But with this, it tells me that my average is 4:12.18 for the 300m.  Divided by 3 to get the 100m pace, that's 1:24.06!  Happy girl... now let's do that in open water. I didn't know I could go so fast. : )

In other news, I'm sort of realizing that I'm a "grown up" these days.  I mean, I get it - I have kids, am married, have a job, etc. But I never REALLY thought of myself as a grown up.  Somewhere over the past few days this has been really hitting me.  Probably because I realized I will be 35 in just about a month.  35.  Not old, but not young either.  Hitting what's referred to as "middle age." (Although I plan on living to well beyond 70, thank you very much.) But the nice thing I realized about being a grown up is that this means I should be able to set my own rules.  I've been kind of looking at things as "I'm committed to do this because I'm a parent" or because "I have a job."  But in reality, yes I am a parent and I have a job that I need my paycheck from so I can send the kids to college and retire at some point, but I can set my own rules about how I do it.  So I'm going to look at what is it that I really want, and how best can I go about getting it.  Because as an old lady, I can set the rules of my life (I do realize there are limits to this though... I can't run off and join the Marine Jag Core without at least involving Mr. Darcy in such a decision).  A positive from getting older. 

Knock on wood my turning 35 won't also turn my hair grey.  Mr. Darcy (who will be 36 in September) got his hair cut yesterday.  It was overdue for a cut.  There was a LOT of white hair there.  I had noticed it earlier in the weekend and said to him that he was getting more grey hair.  He didn't seem to notice it... untill he saw it on the floor at the barber.  And that's when he said something.  Luckily for him, it's all cut short now so you can't see it unless he's just in the sun light the right way.  I can't quite do that with mine.  Okay, I could, but I don't want to have the Sinead O'Connor look.  It looked awesome on her, but I just don't have the right face structure for it.

I'm off to seize my destiny... HAHAHA! 

Thoughts that Could Provoke a Headache

I've had headaches this entire week.  Every day around 4 or 7, I've gotten a headache.  Wednesday it started at 3:45 pm and lasted all the way through the rest of my work day, through my Junior League Meeting (which was a long one - this planning a brand spanking new program stuff takes some doing, I tell ya), and all the way home.  Not sure if it's a bad thing to take 1 aspirin and 1 execedrin migraine together, but it and sleep seemed to work (and at least I didn't take the full dose of the migraine medicine...).  Yesterday it started around 7 pm.  I had flashing lights but only when I closed my eyes, and sensitivity to light.  I only took the aspirin (I have to take one every night with my 1000mg of niaspan since my cholesterol while good decided that with my thyroid being it's little self that now it would be the evil crunchy kind of cholesterol - at least that's the doctor's theory because you know it's all hormonal.) I woke up with a mild headache this morning, and when Mr. Darcy rubbed my back it was like needles (No, I didn't tell him that.).  So what a good reason not to train right?  I decided - no excuses.  I'd like to drop 10 more pounds (not sure how many I've dropped because I'm not getting on a scale, but I'd definitely fitting into my size 8's again) by my birthday.  August 26.  I'll be 35.

I got Mr. Darcy to bring the trainer inside for me (it's a rainy grey day here), and I did 45 minutes on the trainer. (I had hoped for 60 but we had a late start to the workout due to Mr. Darcy and I not getting out of bed until a later hour of the morning.)  10 minute warm up, 5x1 one legged pedaling (both sides of course), a 5 minute recovery spin, 10 minutes at 95-100 cadence, and then a 10 minute cool down.  I'm pretty sure I hit that 95-100 cadence too... the entire 10 minutes I kept having the urge to put myself in a higher gear, which is what I do when I am on the road and my cadence is 95-100.  Amazingly, my headache went away during the ride and for about 30 minutes afterwards.

As soon as I got off the bike, I made my smoothie (strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries, almond butter, whey protein, water and ice - yum!) and hear a commercial for some sort of treadmill with this incline that supposedly would blast the fat away.  And one of the selling points was that there is a video screen that lets you run or walk or whatever through any place in the world, including the route of the Boston Marathon.  A woman said, "I can run or walk anywhere I want to in the entire world - all from the privacy of my own home!"  I couldn't help but think that this is what's wrong with Americans.  Excuse my "french" but why the F#ck would I want to run inside while pretending to run outside?  If I'm ever fast enough to qualify for the Boston Marathon, I'm not going to be satisfied by "running the course" while on my treadmill.  And until that time, I shouldn't be okay with "running the course" on my treadmill.  The privacy of my own home does not equate to the world outside - you know, the one with people and culture and amazing sights? 

Granted, I realize that I spent the morning training session on a bike trainer inside, but that's because it was RAINING.  The world is out there.  You have to go find it.

And that led me to think more about what has been ailing me - and what I think might (other than the high pollen count) be causing my headaches this week.  I have a source of unhappiness that I got to get away from while on vacation, and now that I'm back so is the unhappiness.  The economy prevents me from doing much about it, but I'm going to keep trying.  Eventually something, the right something, will be there and when it is, I'll be ready.  But for now, I need to suck it up and hang in there while I try to find what I'm looking for in the world out there.

Last night, I literally dreamt about what I've been eating.  I'm going to try to go almost full paleo as part of my paleo zone.  Still eating in the proportions of the Zone, but I think I'm going to try to faze out dairy.  I have a strange love for cottage cheese and cheese in general, but since I've been eating more paleo it's almost like I can taste salt in my low fat cheese. And only salt.  Same with the deli meat - and we get the low sodium stuff.  Plus, I feel like there's some sort of chemical aftertaste after I eat the deli meat.  Not to mention canadian bacon. Ugh. So I'm imagining that this is going to be a little bit of a pain because I'll have to cook my meat for lunches from now on, but while I may hold on to fat free cottage cheese for a little bit longer I think I'm going to go without dairy and deli. We'll see how it goes.

I've also been contemplating what it is that has caused me to lose some of my "mojo" if you will for triathlon this year.  And I think that it's a couple of things... primarily that it is not new any more, and second my kids are old enough to want their Mommy around more, or at least to notice when I'm not there, and third I LOVE being with my kids and if the world were a perfect place in which I did not have to work I would be happy home with them full time.  And I've sort of noticed in my attempts to put my schedule together, I'm good at doing workouts that someone tells me to do (even if it's me), but I'm not altogether sure why the workouts are the way they are and how I need to change them to fit the fact that I can go the distance now.  Sprint, Oly, HIM.  I know I can do it.  The question is how fast can I do it.  I want to get faster.  The first year was about being able to do it.  The year should have been about doing it faster, but I'm realizing it part way through my year.  My workouts aren't completely aligned with my goals.  So I'm working on that (with the help of a RockStar and some other friends)... and I found some good articles (including one by Matt Fitzgerald) about cycling workouts.  And now that I understand a little more about the cycle of training for the year, I'm going to try to plan next year better (Recovery Period, Base Building, Peak Cycles - see the Tri Bible did sink in a bik) and to tie it also to the Tri Power book.  That book is awesome but I'm completely confused as to how to fit it in at this part of the year... so I'll start by planning out next year with it in place.  It's as though the clouds have lifted. 

I'm starting to look forward to the Moss Park Tri on the 17th.  Still wierded out about the swim, but since I switched to the sprint for this one I'm feeling a little better about it. 750m with a couple hundred people should be okay for scaring off random alligators.  And my race plan is just pound out everything I can on every leg.  I've always "saved some in reserve for the next leg."  This time, I want to kill it.  I realize that I may not be as fast as I would like even with killing it since the past few weeks have been rough in getting my training in, but I want to know that I gave it my all on every leg.  I aim to win Big Daddy Diesel's pukie award and to still finish with a smile on my face. DNF is not an option.  The only thing that has been bothering me mentally about the race is that this is the same course I crashed on last year.  So I've been working on mentally picturing that turn and me making it out of the turn in a lovely way and continuing on the ride like a bat out of hell.  And I'm working on not worrying about dying on the run after doing my absolute hardest on the other legs. It will all work out!

The girls did great at the dentist yesterday morning - which functioned as my workout yesterday.  Hefting Ladybug into the car and having to put her seatbelt on her while she tried to fight me off was all I managed to get in since their appointment was 1 1/2 hours long.  After pitching a fit about not going for 3/4 of the way there, Ladybug declared that "Going to the dentist isn't so bad, I kind of like it!"  And evidently said to one of her teachers about going to the dentist "what you have to realize is that they're giving you healthy teeth so you can be healthy!"  Her teacher swore that was the exact quote. The kid cracks me up!

Happy Independence Day Weekend to you all - whether racing, training, or cooking out.  I hope it's a great one!