I’m so sleepy it hurts… and I have miles to go before I sleep

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
by Robert Frost

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village, though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there's some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

I can’t get enough sleep lately. I’m exhausted beyond my normal limit of exhaustion. Why? I don’t know. Everynight by 8pm I am so tired my body is aching from head to toe and I start getting a headache. I have been in bed before 10:30 everynight this week – that’s really good for me. Then when I start thinking about how tired I am, I stop for a moment and think about how tired Bethany must be. Every single morning she wakes up by 5 or before (and has no choice to hit the snooze button), gets herself ready, gets a 4 month old baby ready, dressed & fed. Off to the babysitter in the boro about the time the sun rises, works a full 8 hour day, picks baby EJ up at the babysitter, drives 30 minutes back home and immediately begins preparing for the next day to do it all over again. Even at that… I am simplifying it. She’s got diapers to change, bottles to make, baths to give, clothes to wash, supper to prepare, & diaper bags to pack. Wanna hear the best part of it? She’s starting a new journey separate from all the rest. She’s running. She’s biking. She’s loading up her bike and getting in a good workout during her lunch break. I’m sure she’d rather run to McDonald’s, grab something quick and take a quick power nap instead. In the evenings on top of everything else, she’s taking time for herself and kicking her heels. I am impressed. I am motivated and inspired! What a great example! Bethany, you rock!

My week seems easy compared to hers, so I have no excuse. Monday evening I went for a short 3 mile run after work. I just wasn’t feeling it :-/ I felt like a bum since I only went 3 miles so I planned to do my first brick of the year Tuesday morning. I rode the Staggerwing Duathlon course, which is a 19 mile out and back and finished up with a 2 mile run on legs that felt like jelly. Wednesday I got up and did a refreshing 6 mile run through town. I’m thinking this took me like – 53:51. 8:58 – overall pace.

So, this morning when my alarm went off at 5:20am, I hit the snooze button. POP! It went off again at 5:29am, grrrrrrr…. I peep out my window hoping for rain. No rain. I look at the sky in hopes of dark clouds, no dark clouds. I lay back down and snooze attacks again. Ok, that settles it. I let Hattie out to do her business and I get dressed and brush my teeth and pop in my contacts. I parked at the rec center and did an 8 mile loop. It was all I wanted!!! I started off by leaving the rec parking lot and ran to hwy 53 to interstate drive – Beep! 1 mile. I made it to the end of interstate drive – Beep! 2 miles. I made it to Waite St, where the greenway merges – Beep! 3 miles. Trotted onto the main intersection and took a left on Hwy 41 all the way to American City Bank – Beep! 4 miles. I meandered over through Oak Drive, McCord & Belmont to finish up the 5th & 6th miles & proceeded back down hwy 55, back through the greenway to get an even 8 miles in 1:11:20, which was an 8:55 overall pace. Man… I was winded really bad and had to stop on the way home and grab a Gatorade!!! I took a shower & headed to work.

Hopefully it’s going to be a nice, relaxing and fun weekend…. Even if it does rain. Sometimes I am all about some rain. It’s comforting to me and it’s an excellent opportunity to be lazy. It does the soul good!

Goodluck to Tim, Chris P, Michele, Don & anyone else who’s doing the McMinville City triathlon this wknd!!!

Black Betty rolls 100!

"A big wheel keeps on turnin'
Proud Mary keeps on burnin' rollin' rollin'
Rollin' on a river
Rollin rollin rollin on a river"

I am all smiles this weekend knowing that I met one of the milestones I thought I'd never have a chance to meet. That's right guys... I did it!!!! I rode my first century - a SWEET 100 miles! Harpeth River Ride 2008. This ride was awesome. So many things went right. Only 1 small knee issue around the 40 mile marker, but it wasn't enough to take me outta the ballgame. It never got a whole lot better, yet it never got a whole lot worse. Roll on, baby...... aint stoppin!

There was a mass start at 7:30am at Thompson Station church. Lana and I arrived there later than expected - imagine that! We signed up, got our t-shirts, then got our bikes off the rack & air'd our tires. With no time to spare, we were off!

Felt great from the start. This route was awesome.... it is roller coastering the whole way. There were no headwinds, the temp could not have been more comfortable, and I wasn't sick this year like I was last year! Right around mile 14 was the infamous Theta hill where I wanted to put a gun to my head last year. This year... it was tough, but not in the league as it felt last year. Made it to the top, piece of cake. I never doubted one time I wouldn't make it. In cyclying it seems like once you make a hill the first time, it never enters your mind that you might not be able to do it. I was GLAD to have that over with. I've dreaded that for 1 year! We coasted on by the first rest stop to try and conserve time. I knew it would be close to mile 35 till the next one, but it was worth rollin on. We took a little longer at this stop than we really wanted... we had to stand in lines to fill up our bottles and it was getting very congested. I tried to fuel up as much as possible, by eating a half of pb & j, 2 orange wedges, and a half of banana. We took off and I was so full from the banana I felt bad for about 3 miles. As in - puking bad! I don't like bananas anyways, but I wanted to avoid cramping if possible. Screw that idea - I think I'd rather get a neck cramp then throw up.

Right around mile 40, I started getting this weird knee pain that I haven't felt since my injury during marathon training. Where is this coming from? It wasn't good for awhile. I was thinking of how embarrased I would be when I had to blog that the SAG Wagon had to take me back to the start. We finally got to the 55 mile rest stop (I was soooooo glad) and this time I ate a watermelon wedge, 2 orange wedges, a rice krispy & filled up my bottles. I stretched my knee and it started feeling better. So off we go! Still rollin and feeling fine at mile 55. Looks like I may have a good shot at makin it! However, other fellow-cyclists were nicely reminding me of what we had ahead of us. Stillhouse mill - that would be HILL. Large climb at mile 75. Oh and I must not forget.... I was still managing to ride with Lana & she was still managing to hang back with me! We traveled down some extremely rough roads and this section seemed slower than the rest of the ride. We climbed a few more hills and mile 73 presented us with Stillhouse. So, up we go - and I'm taking it slow because the easier the gear I was in, the less pressure on my knee. We both made it to the top and celebrated at the 75 mile rest stop with some KILLER banana bread, warm homemade chocolate chip cookies, and orange wedges. Lana and I hopped back on our bikes still feeling surprisingly well, except for neck pain, which is to be expected at 75 miles. Mile 80 and I'm realizing that I'm going to make it. And even though a century ride is a walk in the park for most of my training buddies, I actually got emotional just thinking about it! And thinking back to last year - I said "I will never try 100 miles. That's impossible for me." I thought I was going to cry, but I pushed it back and focused on getting my pedal on! Still rollin! We reached mile 87 to see the last rest stop, but we blazed on by. We wanted to be done and we had plenty of fluids. I was fatigued, but still A-ok! Mile 91 I remember thinking "Wow. My body hurts." But I am about to complete my first century.... I really don't hurt too bad when I think of the reward. So we make it back to the start with only 96 miles. Ouch - I mean - I came to to ride 100 miles today. NOT 96! Whatta ya do? You keep rollin. You do a 4 mile out and back and I do believe we had to pick one of the hilliest out and backs I've ever seen. lol.

I got off my bike and my legs were shaking so bad it was all I could do to get my clothes changed! We went to the finishers tent and grabbed a small bite, a drink and headed home. With one big huge accomplishment for me! And Lana's 2nd century ride! I had a lot of fun and really enjoyed it! If I can do it, ANYONE can!

"The definition to insanity is doing the same things over and over and expecting different results."

The inevitable. Don’t you hate it when you know you’re headed in one direction, you’d really rather not go there. It’s not just going to be uncomfortable, it’s going to hurt. It’s too late though. Brace yourself. Plant your feet into the ground and stand firm – because you’re going. It may not be the right decision or right action to take. It also may not be the wrong action to take. I suppose even the wrong action is better than no action at all. Standing in the middle and taking no action at all has gotten you nowhere but further behind. It’s caused you to doubt everything you’re encountered with. The uncertainties of life knock on all the doors. They are little devils that tap me on the shoulder and say “Holly, I’m back. I’m going to make you wonder who you are, what you’re all about. I’m going to question everything you do. I’m here to bring you the gift of doubt. Don’t trust yourself. Wait wait wait!!! There might be hope? Or maybe not? Just sit tight. Don’t do a thing you might regret. Idle yourself.” These uncertainties shatter our confidence into a million pieces. The next thing you know, you’re right in the middle of a hamster cage, repeating the same vicious cycle. It’s hard to go. It’s equally hard to stay.

Onto the positive notes of this week…. Tuesday I managed to get in a 5.5 mile run during the middle of the day. I really wanted this to magically be a 7 miler, but my starting point was a little closer to my destination than I had originally calculated. It was hot, I am tired emotionally and physically, so I headed back to finish with 5.5. I could loop around again & make it an even 6? Nah! Woops… forgot to do my lunges. I thought about it the next day. Lol. So much for that!

Wednesday I needed a bike ride since I am being coerced into attempting my first century ride this weekend at the Harpeth River Ride in Franklin. Lana & I had originally planned to commute to and from work, but she had some other shiz going on with her Ironman plan so I did my own thing. I sat out for a 16 mile mach tenn course ride. I averaged 19.2 on the first half of it… but by the time I had to get off my bike twice to toss it over the barricades and bulldozers blocking the bridge, my total average was only 18.8. Why am I slow? I should be able to break at least 19.5 out here. Oh well… keep spinning and try again later. Yesterday I slept right on through my 5:30am alarm. I brought some running clothes with me to make up for it during lunch. I wasn’t feeling it at lunch either though. I forced my mind and my body to not let myself down. I knocked it out after work. A 5 mile run in 46 minutes and 20 phat seconds.

As far as today goes, I’m commited to being lazy. I am worried about tomorrow. 100 miles? What is that going to feel like? Will I get to the 42 mile split off that separates the 60 mile ride with the 100 mile ride and settle for the 60? I have not ridden enough to attempt this. Once again – I am going to show up for an event only about 50% trained. Same story, different day. I tried to convince Lana to leave at 4am with me this morning and head down to the redneck rivieria (any destination within 8 hours of here that sits on the Gulf of Mexico) and spend the day on the beach, get up at 5 tomorrow morning and instead of doing the Harpeth River Ride, just create our own ride. I already named this ride! "Redneck Riviera Ride." Ride 100 miles along the coast and our rest stations will be air conditioned gas stations. I offered to pay for every stitch of it if she’d agree to go with me. All I could think of is vegging out on the beach with a beer cooler after completing a flat 100 miles. Not a care in the world! Cell phones are dead. Then eating snow crab legs for dinner. This girl would not agree to it! She has kids, therefore she has obligations. Can’t blame her. But ohhhhhhhhhhh........ it was a grand idea! :-/

Roo Running

While I sit here and blog I am bopping back & forth to Jack Johnson. I am not really even a JJ fan and after his outstanding performance at bonnaROO Sat night I decided I like this dude after all! I need more a meloncholy side to me anyways! :-) I am sad that Bonnaroo is gone... I drive by it everytime I leave my house and wish it was year-round. I am sure it would not be as good if we experienced it everyday, but to me it was like a vacation. Everyone is so nice at Bonnaroo. Kinda like JJ sings "Where'd all the good people go?" Most are freaks.... or what we southern "by the book" people would consider freaks. But I think they look at us and think "look at that freak!" And maybe they aren't freaks... I think they're great, actually. You gotta admire someone who will just let themselves go. Pack in tens of thouands of good freaks letting themselves go - I call that a vacation, my dear :-) And I like it... I think it's good for us.

So, onto training. Well, it's been kind of few & far between to be honest. Last Wed I got in a 17 mile ride at lunch, Thursday I managed to run 5 miles at 5am & Friday morning I met the speed demons (Tim, Holly, Heather, Tammy, & Lana) at 5:15 and I was thinking we would run anywhere from 7-10 miles and I was leaning towards the least distance. However, these guys got me out there and many times I was checking my garmin and we were hitting 8:05 & 8:16 paces... and the next thing I know we are headed right through the middle of Bonnaroo... and we were at mile 6 and I know it's about 5 miles back to our starting point. No wonder I am DYING!!! We made the joke that this run would be called the "Roo Run." LOL. Ok, so now WE'RE the freaks! I struggled to keep up! We hit a cloud of 2nd hand mary..... wow! Took my breath away and gave us a really nice laugh! LOL. Then a cloud of porta stink. Gag! But it still made us laugh. We stopped in at my house and grabbed some water & gatorade and headed back. It seemed like an eternity getting back. Lana checked her garmin when we got back and she said overall pace was 8:37. That is just out of my league unless it's 13 degrees outside! We ended up with 11 miles! It was a far cry from 7, and I'll tell ya what... I was BEAT DOWN!!!!

I worked all day and headed home. Jamie was here to see me! We hung out for awhile and she dropped me off at the main Bonnaroo gate and I trekked in to see Willie Nelson. I started seeing tons of people I knew - it was so cool! I ran into my old buddy Josh Cole! Delightful.... I thought a wild alien had stolen him off the face of the earth. Then I found K & we enjoyed Chris Rock & Metallica. Then we found Lana, JT & Mary Beth.
Me, Lana, Mary Beth

Saturday I napped to try and sleep off some of the roo-ness, and Lana & JT picked me up around 6 and we headed back for more. I loved it out here.... it was like a different planet full of peace and love and serenity. Someone just bring a hammock & a mich ultra & I'll make a career outta this! I met up with Bethy-roo, Jerm, Kim, Brad, Katy, Heath, & more! We watched Jack Johnson and then the main act Pearl Jam.

Jerm, Bethy-roo, Kim
Lana, Bethy-roo
JT, Me, Lana-roo

So, I sat on my butt and did nothing but accumulate lots of calories Sat & Sun. Today at lunch I joined some speedy triathletes for a 19.2 mile ride. Tomorrow is a run day and Wednesday I believe the plan is for Lana & I to be commuter girls again. LOL. Hopefully the weather will cooperate!

Mach Tenn & Black Betty travels 70 miles!

Saturday morning was the Mach Tenn triathlon. I wanted to volunteer out on the water in my kayak, but kinda waited till the last minute to get all of that organized and just didn’t end up messing with it after all. It doesn’t help matters that I have a kayak, and no personal method of transporting it. So, I was on foot all day! Lana had a great swim time of just under 18 minutes and then her bike was even better – 45 & some change. She wasn’t too pleased with her run, but I am VERY impressed with a 32:__ for a rolling 4 miles! Nevertheless, it was enough to get her a 2nd place AG award! Awesome!!!! 
There were several other locals who brought home hardware: Charles Parish with a 1st place AG, Chris Parker with a 3rd place AG, & Bob Alt 1st place AG. Lynn Moore from Nashville got 3rd overall female!!! Man, she is so fast!!!! Missy, from Nashville, got 5th in her age group and had an awesome race!!! Lookin good in those braids! Justin Crites made a come-back this year and did awesome. My good friend and training partner, Tim Gorman competed in his first triathlon ever at this one. No one woulda ever guessed it to be his first – this guy looked like a pro out there! Patrick had a really strong finish also! Congratulations to everyone!!!! You all did really really GREAT! Maybe one day I will be able to add “See Jane Swim” to my blog title and join you guys!
Here is Tim running in for the finish! Me with the two triathletes - Lana and Justin Lana in T1! HAMMER TIME!

So, I guess I was so inspired by all the stellar performances on Saturday that I agreed to a Sunday morning 70 mile road ride with Don, Tim, Ben Gallagher, Mike E, Lana, & Brian. I am still not even believing that I went 70 miles. I just never thought it was possible for me to go that far. But I did!!! And I didn’t even feel as rough as I felt on the 61 mile ride the week prior! It was good fun until we hit some head wind on Maple Springs road for the last 10 miles. I really didn’t need anything pushing me backwards from mile 60-70!!!!! I guess what didn’t kill me made me stronger?

I got up Monday morning and did a 4 mile run and today I am resting. Mainly because I did a few minutes of lunges after my run and well….. my boo-tay and all up under it and my inner thighs are sooooooooooooo sore from them. So I hope to get in a good ride tomorrow and run Thursday and Friday.

And guess what’s in town – Bonn-A-ROO!!!! Like, practically in my back door! Led Zeplin, Pearl Jam, Jack Johnson, Willie Nelson, Chris Rock, Kanye West singing one of my favorites “Sweetest Thing” aka (Dolla Bill) lol.

Commuter Girls Just Wanna have Fuuu-uun!

Oh blogosphere, blogosphere – where art thou???

Ok… so it’s been an eternity since I’ve blogged. I never even finished up on my Gulf Coast series! :-/ I really have no excuse except that I’ve felt extremely busy & overwhelmed lately. The evening air outside on my deck feels so good I can’t convince myself to touch the laptop…. I just want to soak it up. I’m sure you have all followed Lana’s blog on her awesome performance at Gulf Coast…. And my relay team’s shocking 4th place finish! Tim, Lee & Kevin rocked it out also! This race was a freakin blast!!!! Combine beach, cool people & swim/bike/run and you will never go wrong!!!

I’ve stayed pretty consistent with my workouts since then. Averaging probably 15-20miles per week of running along with 1 or 2 road rides per week. Last Sunday there was a group of 5 of us that did 61.3 miles. This was from Manchester, to Wartrace, to Bell Buckle, to Beach Grove, climbing Noah hill….. then on back to Manchester. It was me, K, Lana, Kevin & Don. I’ve managed to also get in a couple of kayaking adventures. Both times floating the Duck River. Briar and I floated on the Sunday of Memorial day. It was a lot of fun until a terrible thunderstorm set in. Also, Jamie & I paid a visit to Fayetteville over the holiday weekend to hang out with Jeramy and Bethany & the rest of Lincoln County at a huge shin-dig! Then last Saturday, K & I floated the same Duck River and made it all the way to the mill! We saw a snake!!!!!! I found myself immediately wanting out of that river.

I didn’t exercise Monday due to the 60 mile ride the day before. Tuesday I ran 5 miles before work, and yesterday Lana and I commuted to & from work on our road bikes! It was fantastic! We just kinda cruised and didn’t really push it. Relaxing for a change! We took 2 different routes. Going home we had a more difficult and longer ride by Normandy Lake. I ended up with 42 miles for the day & saved probably about $7 in fuel costs!

This morning I ran 6 miles at 6am. Whew! It was hot out there!!! But I’ll take that any day over the cold.

This weekend is the famous Mach Tenn Triathlon. Also, another big weekend for K! The Oak Mountain xTerra off-road triathlon in Pelham, AL. I am excited about cheering everyone on!!!