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!