"Compassion is the basis of all morality." Arthur Schopenhauer

Each & everyone of us makes mistakes daily. We all mess up. We don't always have good intentions. We say things to hurt. We even do things to hurt. We have feelings and those feelings get stepped on. Therefore, we are vengeful. We get our hearts broken. We are a self-seeking society. We make poor decisions. We don't always learn from mistakes & we add to those poor decisions. How do we get off-track? What gets us in these situations? We are human. We are SO imperfect. We are SO undeserving. We walk this earth with our hands and our hearts extended out. We always want more. Our hearts long to be loved by people who are never capable of loving. While all of these things seem disheartening, it's dropping to another level below any kind of general mistakes or bad attitudes.

This world is changing, my friends. Anything goes. Literally - anything. I am having a hard time adjusting to this. Commitments & promises have lost all value. Standards & morals are practically non-existent. Devilish offers & invitations are gladly accepted among those whom you would never imagine. Those who are closest to you. It is gut-wrenching. People you love turn against you and scrape below the surface of the earth. Betrayal & rejection are two emotions that way too many good people here in this world are getting double-doses of. Does anyone have any self-value?

It seems as if everything is changing all around us. Perhaps it seems abundantly clear to me because of some of the circumstances I have (unfortunately) been exposed to. But as Jake & I were just discussing last night, "What ever happened to morality?" Could you guys help me out and explain what EVER happened to morality? Why are the most immoral acts to mankind suddenly acceptable & popular? When did people simply become objects? What happened to respect & compassion? What makes us think we can abuse what God has so graciously blessed us with? If you can't find any self-respect, where is your pride? There is absolutely no shame. Discouraging, to say the least.

The more I'm around people, the more I like dogs!

Well... today is a special day! It's Hattie's 3rd birthday. I have had such a great 3 years with her and this sounds silly, but I can't imagine not having her. She continues to be such a blessing in my life & I am very thankful to be her owner!! She has been an angel to me in a lot of different little ways. After the loss of Wrigley, I have been even MORE aware of how much I enjoy her. Even when it's annoying to make sure she's gone out enough, make sure she has food & water, etc.... it's still fun. It's fun because I love her. And isn't that what life is REALLY all about? I enjoy loving. It's just me. It gets me in trouble sometimes because it isn't always reciprocated back..... and that's when another life lesson is learned. At the end of each day/week/month/year I think the pro's of this "hang-up" of mine should probably outweigh the cons. So, I'm just gonna keep on loving. Cause that's who I am. Right or wrong, different or indifferent, painful or easy, strong or weak - I can't change who I am. How's that? :-)
So, I'm starting to notice a difference in the lifeguards when I walk into the pool area. They don't seem so stressed and worried anymore. Today is the first day that the lifeguard did not put on his/her whistle, grab the enlarged hotdog looking float & climb up in his chair. He actually sat in a regular office chair in front of the office & didn't seem to be in the "ready" position! LOL. That means somebody must be makin progress!!!!!!!!!!!! Woot! Woot!! Why can't I have this lifeguard? I bet I'd never get any better because I'd be so distracted. LOL.

Monday I ran 4 miles on the treadmill, then swam for 25 minutes. This was my best swim so far. Not that any of them are worth saying I am actually continuously swimming, but as far as me surviving - my survival rate was highest on this day. Tuesday I slept a little later and got my workout in at lunch. I ran 6 miles in 51:48 at an 8:38 pace. This morning I got up at 4:50, got on my trainer and did a tough 1 hour ride, then threw on my swimsuit, packed my work clothes & headed to the pool for a 30 minute swim. I only swam 700 yards, BUT I am getting more comfortable each time. I am not scared to death anymore & I am actually anxious to see improvement. Still..... stopping between each lap. :-( I've got to figure out a way to swim the RIGHT way to where I am not smoked after 50 yds. To the best of my knowledge, there is no triathlon with just a 50 yard swim!

Tomorrow I plan to do a 5 mile run & then on Friday I want to do nothing but a 1 hour swim before work. This may be where I see great improvement! Well - that's what I'm hoping for!

Thanksgiving '08 - Food, Poker, Shopping & Swimming

The Sain family seems to be recovering from their loss of Wrigley. It has not been easy though. Wrigley will always live in our hearts. I will continue to pray for them.

Overall, this has been a lighter week for me. Now for the play-by-play...

Monday morning I got up and did a 1 hour trainer ride before work. Afterwards, I tried to mix in some squats instead of lunges to see if I could work some different muscles. I did 40 squats, but felt no soreness at all the next day :-/ I finished out the day at work & Hattie & I headed out to my parents' and spent the night! I don't think we have ever done that before!! I was so exhausted I passed out into one of the deepest sleeps ever by 10pm!! Early for me!

Tuesday morning I got up & headed for the rec. I bundled up in my cold gear & fleece & did a very very very frigid & stiff 5 mile run through town. Geez - it was frigggggin cold!!!! I was hating it, to be honest. Then the hard part was next. Convincing my frozen body to move towards the door of the rec center & jump in the pool. Thank God the water was warmer than normal!! I didn't have a lot of time, but I managed to get in 25 minutes, and that is 25 minutes of much needed time in the water. Better than zero minutes. This time I only did 2 laps of 1-arm drills & the rest I swam. It went pretty darn well considering how terrible I am! I am not as afraid anymore. This is the girl who (3 weeks ago) would not swim past the shallow end. At this point - Holly Jane is surviving in the pool! :-))) It is nothing short of a miracle. I promise! Ask Lana! I am the one who is too embarrased of signing up even for a beginner class. My idea of swimming has always been floating around in shoulder deep water with a float in one hand & a frosty beverage in the other. Freestyle has never been in my future. But today is a new day :-) I still do not claim to be an actual "swimmer," so you guys don't get your hopes up. I'm just in the water!! lol. Lana & I went to Jack's for lunch & had a good hearty vegetable lunch! Yummm... That night momma came over & we cooked green bean casseroles & chess pies for Thanksgiving. It was fun for both of us!!!

Wednesday morning I went into work early so that I wouldn't be there all evening on Thanksgiving Eve. At lunchtime Lana joined me for a 6 mile run. I had planned to do lunges & remembered at 3:00 that afternoon while sitting at work. Darn. Oh well - it's technically Thanksgiving. Skip them.

On Turkey day I slept until about 9am, & we all gathered at my parents' for good times & good food!! I felt as if I could eat, and eat, and eat.... and never stop. This was my official rest day. I soaked it up & by taking a nap & then playing poker that night. Fun!




Friday afternoon I got up at like.... 12 noon. LOL. And I got on my trainer & rode for 1:15 - I guess I added the extra 15 minutes to burn off that extra 1500 calories I took in. :-/ Then I did 4 sets of 10 pushups. And I can still feel those 4 sets in my back, shoulders & around my armpits! That means I need to do them much more often. That evening I met Bethany at O'Charley's for beverages. Then to Lana's for more poker!

So, Saturday afternoon (yep I did it again) Hattie actually beat me out of bed! Now that is bad. Finally at 1:00pm she came and sat on the couch. That's embarrasing!!! Even the dog couldn't stand it any longer. lol. So, I managed to throw on some workout clothes, pack a swimsuit & towel & literally forced myself to the rec. This was one of those days where I tried 100 different ways to convince myself I didn't need to workout. KNOWING in my brain - that I needed it in a million different ways. Bethany messaged me the following: "4 miles in 48 minutes!" Way to ROCK it girl! Ok, Holly get your boo-tay UP & stop feeling sorry for yourself! A million beats a hundred & so I found myself on a treadmill running 5 miles in 47:20. I did about 15 minutes of upper body weights & scooted on down to the locker room where I changed into my swimsuit. I swam for 30 minutes. I saw a slight improvement again. That is my 9th trip to the pool. After taking a shower, I headed to the boro and somehow managed to spend $580 at the Avenue. Geez....... dangerous shopping trip!!!!

Lana gave me the book "Total Immersion - Triathlon Swimming Made Easy." I read 5 chapters the first day. That is unheard of for me!!! I get bored reading. It is really good & it's discussing how important balance is. And how you must become "ONE" with the water & swim "slippery." LOL. I'm heading to the rec bright & early in the morning to run & then try this swimming thing again!

Hope everyone had an enjoyable Thanksgiving!

Hard workouts plus a hard loss :-(

Wednesday morning I did my 1 hour trainer ride and 70 lunges befoe work. Thursday morning was another "oportunity" to run and swim. So I took off for a 5 mile run at 5:45am from the rec. 27 degrees. Total time 43:40. I think I was colder on this run than I have been since my 12 mile run in 13 degrees last year. I was all bundled in a fleece boggin, cold gear, fleece vest, gloves, etc... I kept thinking I'd warm up naturally. I'd pick up the pace and there just wasn't an ounce of warmth to be had that day. I have to say that I was miserable the entire time. I was so cold when I finished, I tried to have conversation in the rec with a few people and my mouth and face wouldn't move to allow me to talk. :-/ The last thing I could think about was getting in a pool of water - unless it was hot tub temperature. Well of course - the water had to be cold that day... but I didn't let that stop me. After I did some upper body toning, I got in the pool and swam/drilled/floated for 25 minutes. I headed for the locker room, got a HOT HOT LONG shower and headed onto work.

After freezing my butt off on Thursday, it was hard to think about doing a 7 mile run on Friday, especially since everyone kept saying it was the coldest day all year. Oh great. My heart had a major battle with my brain trying to decide if I should go for it. I finally decided it was just worth a shot - to keep my sanity. So around 12:30 (lunch) it was 33 degrees but felt like 26. I wore a fleece JACKET instead of vest over my UA and was much more comfortable. I ended up having a really great run because I finally wore my IPOD again. It took me 1:02:13, which comes out to an 8:53 overall pace. I felt alot of peace after getting that out of the way! And for the week that gave me 21 miles of running, a trainer ride and a swim and toning was planned for Saturday.

Saturday morning I slept in and it was great!!! I don't understand how anyone could want to get up early on Saturdays. I had a half a serving of oatmeal & headed to the gym. I completed 20 laps in the pool. Here is the breakdown. Laps 1 & 2 were 1 arm drills to focus on staying on my side and my breathing. Then I got into my routine where I'd do a one-arm drill and then swim the next 2. The last 3 laps were swimming and the big news is - Lap #20 was nonstop. Meaning I did not stop when I got to the other end of the pool. I tapped the wall, turned around and kept on trucking! First time for everything and I know that seems so ridiculous but that is a huge accomplishment for me. Mainly - it is the fear that gets me.

I changed clothes and went upstairs for 40 minutes of toning. I did a dumbbell routine to work my shoulders, chest, biceps & triceps but I am only using 7 & 10 pound weights. Then I did a lap of lunges around the track (which I am feeling today) and finished up with some light incline, shoulder & rowing.

I came home & felt the spirit....... the spirit of Christmas. My tree always makes me smile :-)


This morning the plan was for me to keep my nephew, Bo while Briar and his dad went to the Titans/Jets game. Lana is in Memphis/Tunica with my parents. I went to pick up Bo at 9am this morning & as I was in the driveway I was debating in my head if we should just take Wrigley (their blonde cocker spaniel - Hattie's best friend) with us for the day. Well... we can... but we are going to eat breakfast & he will have to hang out in the car. Alright, maybe after breakfast we'll run out here and get him.... Bo chooses McDonalds for breakfast & we head onto Walmart. Just as we are trying to find a parking spot, Briar calls from his cell phone. He broke the bad news to us -- Wrigley had just been hit by a car. Oh dear..... my heart is broken. I loved him!!! He decides to come and stay with Bo & I instead of going to the game. So, we are mourning the loss of a very very special part of our family. I took them to Walmart a little later on and we did the "anything you want, you get it" game, then to Wendy's for lunch. I feel soooooooooooo sorry for them and I am so sad that we no longer have Wrigley. I'm doing everything I can think of to try and help matters. Milk & cookies always warms the soul....

Hattie is doing all she can do....

3 Sports?

Ok so now that I have challenged myself to get in the pool, I now see how cumbersome it is to try and fit in all 3 sports. Throw in a small amount of toning, and you've got your plate totally full and you feel like nothing but a gym rat. Last week went fabulous - well, most of it - here's the breakdown.

Sunday - Holly Jane's first official swim. 1 hour, 10 minutes. Or whatever you might want to label it... lol. I got in the freakin pool and that's a huge start! :-) I'll be honest. It isn't fun. I swallowed so much water, I almost didn't make it home in time to pee.

Monday - I ran 5 miles with Lana during our lunch hour.

Tuesday - Got up at 5:15am and headed to the rec. I ran 4 miles on the TM, lifted a few upper body weights (very light) and jumped back in the pool. 30 minutes. Splish-splash there I go. LOL. I really need to get someone to video this - no doubt it's terribly comical. I'm way out of my comfort zone. Then I met Bethany that evening at Starbucks for some training chit-chat & a simmering drink that warmed our souls. Good times!

Wednesday - Got up at 6am for an early morning 50 minute trainer ride (first trainer ride of the year) plus 60 lunges. Trying to tone the tush tush..... running just doesn't do it. Trainer rides are good. They induce more sweating out of me than any other workout.

Thursday - Headed to the rec around 5:45am and busted out 5 miles on the TM. This was not a good run for me. Mile 4 and I lost all my peripheral vision and could only see large silver streaks. Not sure what the deal was. I pushed on, blindly, and finished out that last mile. I never exactly felt "faint" but my vision was just tunnel vision with lots of silver streaks - like lightning bolts??!!! Granted, my diet has been horrible lately. As in - not enough fuel. For almost 3 weeks I have averaged 1 or less meal per day. Combine that with me picking up my training and I think my body (or at least my eyes or blood sugar) didn't agree. An older man at the rec offered me a piece of candy while I was lifting weights. Not because I looked like I felt bad. He just wanted me to try this new candy he found at Russel Stover. I accepted out of not wanting to hurt his feelings and literally - 2 minutes later my vision was normal. Did the candy fix my problem? Strange. So I was able to follow through with my plan and this little rubber ducky dove into the water once again!25 minutes. I have noticed the lifeguards grab their elongated red floats when they see me. LOL. How embarrasing, but it's probably not a bad idea?! I showered at the rec and headed to work.

Friday - was going to be my rest day. However, I scoped out the weather for the weekend and decided if I wanted to run, today is the day. Saturday and Sunday were marked very uncomfortable for exercise outside. So around 1:30 (late lunch) I struck out for 6 miles. I felt GREAT the entire time. It was one of THOSE runs.... the kind you only get about once per month where you just feel like you can go forever. Well, my pace explains why. Total time - 56:56 :-( Oh well - it's 6 miles on the book which put me at 20 miles for the week.

Saturday - I put it off.... and put it off.... and put it off... until finally around 1:00 I forced myself into a bathing suit and went to the rec for my 4th swim. I actually could see some progress with my breathing this time. I think I've been swimming on my belly and my mouth sucks in water when I inhale because I'm not efficiently flipping on my sides. I also realized my left side is my better side for some reason. I put 45 minutes in, then headed upstairs for 30 minutes of upper body toning and some lunges around the track.

The weekend was relaxing, yet fun. I enjoyed every single minute of it!

That brings us to this week....

Monday - Lana and I used our lunch break for a 5 mile run again. It was FREEZING!!! We managed to pull out an 8:56 overall pace. Better!

Tuesday (today) - I made my way to the rec at 5:45am and ran 4 miles on the TM in 37:40, lifted some very light upper body weights for 15 minutes, then once again I forced myself to slide into the ol bathing suit and jump in the cooler than normal water. I could see some progress once again, even though I am still just a complete joke. I am doing 1 arm drills and alternating with 1 lap of swimming. Still working on the breathing as the main focus and teetering my body from side to side. Some laps will go somewhat smoothly, and some laps will be downright CHOPPY and I will get strangled in the middle of the pool and have to pause, tread water, cough it out, & catch my breath. This was my fifth swim. I am hoping by my tenth swim, I will see a significant difference in my comfort level. I am just not a water person by nature.

For the rest of the week, I'm hoping I can keep it up. Tomorrow the plan is to do a 1 hour trainer ride & 70 lunges, Thursday do a run, lift weights and jump back into the pool and Friday - I want to do a semi-long run.

For now I am going to be nice to my body and my mind and reward it with some sleep.... I earned it :-)

"No one can drive us crazy unless we give them the keys."

Did someone say "crazy?" Yeah... that would describe several moments of my life over the past month and a half. I feel sorry for those who got the raw end of the deal. Where do I start? The crazy moments (multiple auto accidents) - or the crazy (that is an understatement) in sane people who so jealously and devilishly think they have actually gotten one by me? :-) It really is a joke to a handful of us! And you haven't fooled us for a second. But nice try! It just wasn't worth it. It is sheer entertainment. Onto better things that actually matter.....

Ironman Florida 2008.

Lana Sain is an IRONMAN. Michele Emerson is an IRONMAN. Missy Hulbert is an IRONMAN. Dee Davis is an IRONMAN. Abby Olson is an IRONMAN. Jere Pope is an IRONMAN.

Need I say more? Absolutely! Because my SISTER is an iron sister! I know most of you guys have read her race report. And yes it is a great race report - but none of it replaces actually being there. And being her sister and watching her accomplish such an amazing goal. Watching her and knowing (only when a sister/training partner knows)when she is down. And watching her gently rise to the occasion with such courage and character! Coming back and coming back strong!! And me wanting to jump in there and give her a push!!!! And me wishing I was right there racing with her :-) I felt like my heartrate was as high as hers each time that I saw her out on the course. As I stood on the front row with my volunteer band helping each swimmer, but really just interested in Race # 2139 - to meet her coming out of the gulf of Mexico on her last stretch of the journey to victory - guys.... it was SWEET! To say that I am proud does not do it justice. So I will let you try and imagine my feelings.... my family can probably tell ya :-) And all you guys that I was text messaging with hourly updates!!!


Homecoming 2008

Wow.... it was really great! It's such a long day/night, but it always gives you such a warm/fuzzy. Got to see my college peeps. Loved it! As Will said last night "Holly has been resurrected tonight!" LOL. I got to the official Arnold/Riddle tailgating headquarters around 3pm. We opted out of the game and chilled on the campus like we were back in school again. Campus has really changed a lot in some ways - or not really changed. I guess it is the people who have changed. The spirit of homecoming seemed to be way more alive now than it was when I was there. It was cool and it seemed like everyone was having good fun! I saw people I had classes with and never really talked to until homecoming 2008. Isn't it funny how it works that way? lol. Seeing familiar faces after so many years makes you not want to take those moments for granted. After the campus rally, the crew headed to Buffalo Wild Wings. I was so glad to finally be "resurrected" after all of those years. Thanks, Will, William and Jason! I have new life! lol.




And as far as the training goes, well, I'm hangin in there. I'm back at the rec and on the days that I don't make it out on the road for a run, I try to hit the treadmill a couple of times a week. I'm trying to tone my upper body by getting my money's worth in the weight room and doing lunges around the track. The last time I road black betty was the Saturday before IMFL. I rode 26 with Iron Lana. I am about to put her on the trainer for the season and cross-train here and there on my mountain bike. Oh... and this is huge..... check it out.
True! lol.... and the best part is I have an Iron Coach!

Happy Campers

So, here we go comp hours – just like I promised you. Sizzle your little hearts out – because you are officially ashes! We had a fantastic time! Very relaxing, very serene, very simple, very peaceful, very fun, very exciting, and very – EVERYTHING A CAMPING TRIP IS MEANT TO BE!! :-) And guess who our honored guest was. Hattie. That’s right! Hattie Jane Matthews. She is an adventuresome little girl and she loves to be outdoors! But she doesn’t like to be away from her mommy. I figure that there are many vacations I will want to go on, when it is just not feasible to take her along. But this one – well, it was perfect for her. And yeah… it was a little bit of trouble here and there, but really almost none and it was so worth it. To see her running her little heart out to stay with K and I out on the mountain bike trails was good for my soul. And good for her heart and lungs! When we arrived at the Tsali campground we started unloading. K setup our tent, we put on our mtb shoes and decided we’d take Hattie on her first trail adventure. We headed for the right loop and she went 3 miles with us! I think I was more excited that she was going than she was! I am a real fool for this dog if you can’t tell :-/ We got everything settled in and got plenty of firewood gathered up for the night and we cooked “Campfire spaghetti.” We weren’t sure if the spaghetti was really just THAT much better than spaghetti you cook at home or if we were just so starved by the time it finally got done that it seemed better. Nevertheless, we both had a big plate of spaghetti and garlic texas toast. Who counts calories on a camping trip? Not I! We cleaned up our mess, grabbed a cold one …. Or two…. Or three….and kicked back in our chairs around the fire. The temperature/weather could not have been more appropriate. Mid-70’s during the day and mid 50’s at night. We got out our deck of cards and played a few hands of black jack and K gave me some poker lessons. Then it was Smores time! We got out the goods. We toasted marshmallows in the fire and wrapped hershey’s chocolate and graham crackers around it and gave it a good SMOOSH and whatta ya know ladies and gentlemen – it’s a homemade fan-damn-TASTIC SMORE! I was in heaven! Those things are off the freakin HOOK! And they literally get all over your face no matter how hard you try not to. You can only imagine – I am not shy when it comes to chocolate :-) Around 9:30 K and I decided it was getting close to time to turn it in and there were some bathroom issues to be dealt with. Ya know… I needed to wash my face, put my contacts in their solution, moisturize, etc…. and take care of bizness on the potty. Well K walked up to the bath house first and I wasn’t paying much attention but for some reason – assumed the womens bathroom was the door on the left and the mens was the door on the right. So I be-bopped on into the left door only to see that my 1 bathroom stall was occupied. Bummer…. Cause Holly Jane had to GO. That campfire spaghetti and smores was not going to hang out for much longer. Well hell…. Whatta ya do? Wait it out. So I pranced through there again to make sure there really was no other stall while I had my little “bath bag” with towels and wash cloths, soap, contact solution etc…. on my shoulder and all of the sudden the poor lady who had my stall occupied had a major TNT fiasco!!! If you need a definition of TNT, please refer to Lana’s blog for details. We are talking – she let the hammer down. And I squinted my face out of embarrassment for her and promised myself really quick I would not let out a single giggle and pretend I never heard it. About 4 seconds later I hear “Holly – you’re in the wrong bathroom” I jumped – still with my little bath bag on my shoulder. “huh?” I say very proper-like. “You’re in the men’s.” And it’s K. And I say “IS THAT YOU?!!!!????!!!” and he dies laughing and says “yes” and I say “Well, there IS a urinal in here. Hang on – let me go check." So I go look at the sign on the door again and sure enough – it was a boy with pants on. No girl with a skirt. Oh geez…. So after laughing so hard that we were both nearly in tears, I took my little bath bag next door and took care of bizness and all that other cosmetic stuff. Back to the campsite and soon enough we were all 3 in the tent. Yep, I said all 3 :-) Hattie is a bit spoiled, but I love her anyways. Saturday morning we got up and K had the bacon sizzling and I scrambled the eggs. We had a wonderful breakfast and it’s so cool to cook outdoors in the wilderness. And to pull it all off!! It’s awesome. So we got our bellies full and put on our riding gear. Off we go to the Thompson loop. This was about a 9 mile loop and it got my heart pumping! I am a nervous mountain biker anyways – but I haven’t been back on that thing since our Oak Mountain trip in May. So I was a bit squirely….. and I forgot my knee pads. No big deal though – I never needed them the entire weekend. Never crashed. K is a phenomenal mountain biker. This guy is loaded with zen. If I could look and feel half as comfortable as he is on the bike, we’d be in bizness. The more technical the trail, the better he rides. For me – I am the opposite. I like a nice, smooth single track where I can relax and concentrate on power. After the first loop, we headed back to the campsite to check on Hattie. She was there – waiting with tear stains all over her face. We busted out the hotdogs and roasted them on the fire for a little lunch snack, then we decided to hit it again – the Mouse loop is next. It was around 8 miles. We ran up on a couple of girls who had mechanical problems with a chain and of course K was the good Samaritan by taking the chain apart and putting it back together for them so they could continue on without pushing the bike for another 3 miles. So, we finished strong on this loop knowing we were done for the day and I followed K down a pretty big drop off back to the campsite. I really could not believe I had the guts to plunge in like that, but I thought “Well the worst that can happen is I’ll definitely crash on my face and I will at least be giving it a shot. “ I didn’t crash though – I stood up and leaned way back over my back tire, dragged my brakes pretty hard and held my balance to the bottom. What a rush of adrenaline!! Back to the bath house for a shower – this time things went a bit smoother and if there were any TNT episodes I never knew about them! LOL. Back to the campsite for some dinner! Wow, this was a lot of eating. No wonder I feel 10lb heavier! The menu for Saturday night read – Grilled chicken marinated in Italian, wild herb rice & some good ole Texas toast with a cold mich ultra! Another fabulous meal prepared by two happy campers – for sure! We were down 16 miles for mtb’ing and our appetites were hearty! Since it was Saturday, guess what that means. At “Camp-H&K” Saturday night means it’s double chocolate night! Get out the graham crackers, the marshmallows and pull double Hershey bars – it’s going to be decadant! We roasted smores and doubled up on the chocolate. Guys – I ate 3. With double chocolate! LOL. Well heck – if you can’t live on the edge when you’re camping, when can you? K had pure entertainment sitting there watching me eat them all. It wasn’t long after the Smores contest and it was bed-time. Tent-time. Till the sun rose the next morning. We got up, packed almost everything in the vehicle and headed over to the Nantahala river and had breakfast at a very neat little restaurant overlooking the river that we ate at last time we were in that neck of woods. We also shopped around a little in the NOC and got some killer deals on some t-shirts. We headed back to Tsali to the campsite, got on our riding gear and took off for our final ride before departing and heading back to good ol Tennessee. We rode the Right Loop, which is the race course. We didn’t do the entire loop because we were running low on time and knew we’d be on the road the rest of the afternoon. But we did get in around 8.5 miles. It was on this loop that there was about a 4ft black racer snake hanging out in the middle of the trail. Ewww…. We both hate snakes. This loop had beautiful views on Fontanna Lake. This lake looked like a tropical carribean destination. It was turquoise and clear. Very cool. We finished her up and got changed and headed west to get back home around 5pm Sunday night. This was a vacation well worth taking. It was just about 2 days too short. And happy campers we are :-) Yesterday I knew I had to do something about the massive amount of smores I ate over the weekend so I met Lana for a 6 mile run at lunch that pushed me to the max!!! Total time- 53:53. I hadn’t run in a week! I did finally get to try out my new Mizuno Wave Nirvana 4’s and they felt great!! You never realize how bad you need new running shoes until you finally get them. Today I did an 18 mile lunch ride with Lana. I really needed more than that to try and prepare for LOL.

"She works hard for the money, So hard for it Honey!"

Work is getting in the way with my personal life and my training. I don't like that. I am getting calls at night and stuff. But guys - I have comp time that needs to be burned. And I am going to burn it in tons of flames this weekend in North Carolina - Tsali. I didn't get to go last weekend so I will be making up for it camping and mountain biking. Last Friday was K's birthday. Me, him and G went out Friday night and celebrated. Saturday morning I got up early and struck out for what I had planend to be a 60-70 mile ride, but I saw that at mile 50, I could get back home in 56 and honey... I pedaled for the door! I am SICK and TIRED of getting chased by dogs. I was chased on Old Woodbury Hwy, Matts Hollow Rd, and Mt View Rd. I rode from my house to Old Woodbury Hwy, Matts Hollow, Farrar Hill, Hwy 41 to Blantan's Chapel all the way into Tullahoma and back home through AEDC. My legs were sore! I averaged 17.5 on the full 56 miles. Saturday afternoon was UT getting their butt stomped by the chomp chomp Gators. Monday morning I managed to run 5 miles at lunch. K & I met some friends and watched Monday night football - well - until halftime. Last night we rented Sex and the City and boy did I love it!! I love that show anyways - but the movie was great, I thought! And guess who met me for a 26 mile ride yesterday. K! We rode through Smith's Chapel, over into Lynchburg and back to Tullahoma. Fun ride with a lot of climbing.

LOL is a week from this Saturday. I'm starting to get extremely concerned about the level of suffering I am going to endure!

LOL is in my near future....

I'm trying to think back over the last 2 weeks.... but I'm having a hard time! Too much has gone on I guess so I'll do the best I can. I have been keeping a steady training schedule (with a little bit a'golf here and there) trying to get in 2 rides and 3 runs per week. Last week I ran 5 on Monday, rode 20 on Tuesday during lunch, I got up at 4:15am & ran 6 on Wednesday morning where Tim, Lee, Holly J, & Lana found me out on hwy 41. I was enlightened running my last 2 miles with these speedsters! I ran 5 on Thursday during my lunch break and boy was it hot and humid out there!!!! As for Friday - I deemed it a much-needed rest day. Rest for the weekend right? Yeah.... until Saturday morning when we met Tim, Lee, & Don for a 43 mile ride through Beechgrove and Firelake. Could that have been better riding conditions? Yea, it was a little breezy, but man was it pleasant out there! Tim was sporting his new Cervelo P2C! I think this is the first time I've gotten to meet her! She is really sweet. I am trying to do some long rides from now until LOL Century Ride on October 4th. I am really looking forward to it this year. I am mainly looking forward to peaking at Crystal Ridge, while still clipped in and barely barely moving the pedals........ but knowing there's no stopping me. Hold on black betty! It's going to be a ride of a lifetime :-)

As for this week - well I'm going for it. Monday morning started out with what I had planned to be a 5 mile run starting at 6am. Until I got out there and even with a Garmin - I somehow miscalculated my distance and forgot about my home-stretch being 1 mile longer than expected. Luckily, I felt great during this run and was willing and happy to finish with 6 miles in exactly 54 minutes. Today I joined Lana for a 23 mile ride during lunch through Ledford Mill, climbed Brinkley hill (which we are convinced is no harder and maybe not as tough as the 3 steps climb)then on over to Motlow College Road and back to Cedar Lane. This was also - one heck of a ride. Very enjoyable and relaxing. When we ride we don't stress. We will hammer for awhile when it seems fitting, climb a few hard hills, recover for awhile and talk and laugh, then back to hammer-time, etc... But no stress, and no competition. I like it :-)

Tomorrow morning the plan is to run somewhere between 6 and 8 miles and possibly ride to work on Thursday???? This weekend ahead of us has a lot to offer!!! I am really excited even though the plans are not in stone just yet. It's either going to involve camping and mountain biking at Tsali - or the UT/Florida game. I don't think there's a bad choice in either of those - do you? :-)

Catching Up

So…. Ok I’m not doing that great keeping my blog posted. My life has really been booming lately! Work has been in sanely CRAZY. I’ve kept up with my training for the most part. Last week I managed to do 2 bike rides and 1 run – ok, so not so hot after all! But this week? Has been different, my friends. Monday morning (Labor Day) a 4 mile run. I deemed a success since I did not fall out with a heat stroke. K and I hung out the rest of the day running errands and being productive – by actually doing things around my house that have been waiting for almost a year. After a nice Mexican lunch we watched UT get stomped by UCLA with some other peeps. Then back to work on Tuesday – yuck. A 24 mile bike at lunch with Lana, spaghetti for dinner and wouldn’t ya know it!!! K built us a fire! We watched a movie, then sat around the fire pit! Not a better way to unwind for the evening! A 5 mile run Wed morning, and a 17 mile bike with Lana on Thursday brings us to today – R-E-S-T.
Thank God it’s the weekend!!!
Goodluck to Lana and Tim this weekend at the Elk River Valley Century – climbing Alto at mile 60 or 70 should be fun. Or not. But you will be stronger – no doubt!

How to Prevent losing time at Chafing Stations - LOL

I have a friend of a friend who once chafed so bad during a half marathon that he made reference to the aid station that offers vaseline as the "chafing station." I have found myself regretting the fact that I did not apply Body Glide liberally enough from time to time. However, for the most part -- if there's a chance I need it, I apply. I would say any runs over 8 miles require body glide. This stuff is great... it has never let me down. They even make it with sunscreen in it! I ran the entire Country Music Marathon on 1 single application of Body Glide in all critical areas before the marathon start. I was convinced I'd probably need to stop at a "Chafing station" somewhere after 16 miles or so and reapply. However, body glide held it's own and after all 26.2 miles was complete - I hopped in the shower back at my hotel and not 1 little spot was chafed. I highly recommend this product to anyone who consistently runs more than 6 miles. It is also great for biking.

"I..... Have Made Fire!"

Famous quote from mine and K's favorite movie - "Cast Away." That's what we've been doing a lot of lately! Making fire. I love sitting around a fire and laughing and talking. Grilling out, and just soaking up the wonderful weather this time of year brings us. Not too hot and just a little bit chili at night. Telling funny stories around the fire warms the heart!
Outside of us making fire several times, here's what else that's been going on. After the Stag, I had to give myself some time to heal so I took a week off. But I'm coming back! I've been riding with Tim, Lee, Lana and Don some. Today at lunch I actually rode by myself. I am trying to ride 2-3 times per week and get in at least 3 runs per week. Last week I rode with Don, Tim and Lee one frigid morning before work, then I ran 6 the next day, rode 14.5 the next day in Normandy from K's house. Hills, hills, hills! Then ran 5 the next day, and 5 the next day! Friday night we shared a good ol time with Brant & Dylana out on the lake. As soon as we got there to eat, an older man had a heart attack and it really scared me. Saturday I was too lazy to get up and be in Sewanee at 7am to ride with Lana and the "rimmers" so I slept in and boy did it feel great! :-) When I woke up it was starting to drizzle rain and I just had no regrets at all! I managed to clean my house (most of it) and K and I went out for a fun date in the boro! We bought some neat chairs at Dicks. I like the name of them. They are called "Lazy loungers." LOL. Sunday morning, I made up for my Saturday morning laziness. I got up and rode 21 frigid miles (57 degrees on a road bike is cold), came home and cooked breakfast and we headed to church! It was a great, relaxing weekend!

So, for this week? Yesterday I met Lana at 5am and we ran 6 miles through town. I felt pure exhaustion last night after work. K & I (once again) grilled out and for some reason the food was just off the HOOK! We had grilled chicken, rice pilaf, steamed veggies and a nice fattening piece of garlic toast. Oh, and just to add to those calories, we had dessert! The rest of the night we watched the Olympics - we are addicted to them and I am going to have major withdrawels when they are over.

Today at lunch I decided since I was on a roll with my workouts this week, I wouldn't stop now. I rode 17.5 miles and I think tomorrow will officially be my rest day. I am thinking I need to start putting in some long rides to prepare for LOL '08.

Oh... and just in case you don't keep up with my "iron sister," she is approaching the thickness of her Ironman Florida training. I'd like to ask you to please pray that Lana remain safe and healthy throughout each of her trainings. It is extremely taxing to the body, as well as the mind. Michele is also following a similar training plan and I'm sure would appreciate prayers as well. I am SO looking forward to seeing you guys ROCK THE HOUSE on Nov 1!!!!

Gettin My Swing On!!!

Golf swing....... that is! :-) Thanks to everyone who has given me sympathy for crashing my road bike!!! Saturday I had the opportunity to watch the Staggerwing Du. I was driving down hwy 130 all bandaged up at 6:45am, and when I rounded the curve and saw that array of cars and bikes, my heart just sunk. I felt tears fill my eyes... as I wanted so badly to do this race. Sigh... whatta you do? Suck it up, Holly. You're not racing today. You're in no condition so get over it. I got to talk to many friends who were setting up their transitions and before you know it, READY, SET, GO was the word. It was a fun event to watch, and I managed to hop on the back of my dad's HD, flip around backwards and take some AWESOME pics of my training partners who were giving it their ALL! And what about my big sis bringing home 1st place overall female!!! Way to go LANA!!!! And Michele holding her own with a 2nd place overall female! And Tracy getting 1st place masters AG! You guys freakin ROCK!

So later that afternoon, K and I and another friend went out for 9 more holes of golf! Since I'm too sore to train right now, I might as well be sharpening up my golf skills! My putting is better than ever before, for some reason. I like it! We went out to eat that night. So, as if 2 consecutive days was not enough golf for us, we hit the driving range Sunday night!! LOL. I lost my touch there, because we played AGAIN Monday after work and I stunk it up out there! He finally beat me! LOL :-)))) So that meant I had to cook supper. lol

So, enough is enough of this laziness. I jumped up at 6am today and decided I needed to put my running kicks on. My wounds are healing and scabbed over and the one on my shoulder is already peeling. I am still having trouble sleeping at night though - just extreme discomfort like the right side of my body belongs in the burn unit at Vanderbilt. However, 1 week of doing nothing but playing golf is about enough so I ran through Normandy for 33 minutes this morning. I'm estimating I was right on top of 4 miles when I stopped.

J is coming over this weekend. Hip-hip hooray! I am so looking forward to it because there is much catching up and much fun to be had!!!