See Jane Run, See Jane Cycle

Breaking it down in Birmingham! Mercedes Half Marathon Race Report

2009-02-17T21:55:00.017-06:00

After my successful 14 mile run at an 8:22 pace I collectively kept thoughts in the back of my mind for the Mercedes Marathon/Half marathon on Feb 15. There were 8 others going down - so there was no doubt it was sure to be a GOOD time. 6 of them planning to do the full and 2 to do the half. So, the plan was -- just in case I decide that I wanted to go to Birmingham and shoot for a half marathon PR, I'd need to run around 10 miles on the Friday before. That's exactly what I did. Starting the week off with a hard core swim class on Monday, a 5 mile run on Tuesday, another run on Wednesday, a trainer ride on Thursday and Friday I met the group at 4:15am and they did 12 miles and I did 10. Somehow I managed to once again crank out an 8:22 pace for the 10 miles in 1:23. It was then that I planned to do Mercedes half. I planned this specifically shooting for a PR, which would mean that I'd need to break my 2006 Memphis half mary time of 1:55. I kept saying I was really going for a 1:50 though. I wanted a 1:50. After doing the math, better than a 1:50 was totally out of reach for me. I knew a 1:50 would be pretty darn painful.... but I wanted it.

So the following week I kinda tapered down a little and did two 5 mile runs, swim class on Monday and Wednesday night, Advanced spin class on Tuesday night and nothing on Friday or Saturday. Saturday the plan was that all of us runners met in town at 12 noon and headed to the 'ham. It was a fun ride down - flew by!! Tim can drive the fastest 72mph that I've ever seen. We got to the expo and I got registered, etc... we shopped around for awhile and then headed back to the hotel where my parents met us! :-) About an hour later we all decided dinner was in order. We headed to Olive Garden for a valentines/pre-race pasta feast. It was fantastic!!

I think I got in bed around 11 that night. Not ideal but about par for my course. Alarm went off at 5:15am... oh my... I'm tired. I got up around 5:45am and got dressed, ate an oats and honey bar, drank 2 cups of water and off to the lobby we go! Everyone converged, chit-chatted, took a few pics & headed to the start line.

The start line was cool. They were playing U2's "Where the Streets have no Name." All nine of us high-fived each other, wished each other luck, said our goodbyes and off we go!!! "BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP........BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP.........BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP" The chips were ringing - my GOSH that is a beautiful sound!! MUSIC TO MY EARS!!!! :-) Gives me chills just thinking about it. I ran with Tim & Lee for about the first half mile, then Tammie, Holly & Jonathon until about mile 4. Then I was on my own - just me and the asphalt and the other bad asses huffing and puffing all around me trying to beat an 8 min pace. I was feeling great. I saw my parents again and they were cheering loud!!! It was so fun to have them there! My first 3 miles was 23 min & change. I took water at mile 3 water station. Water again at mile 5. Mile 6 I was feeling a bit uncomfortable. My 10K split time was 48:56. 7:54 pace overall. Hmmm... that tells me I have some time in the bank for a 1:50. However - anything can still happen. Mile 7 I took powerade. I was needing it - I could tell. Mile 8 - I felt like sh%t. I was really noticing the intensity of the pace I had been running. I was wondering if I would even make it!!! So I took a GU. Vanilla. I remembered Lana saying you MUST chase them with water or the stomach will reject. So I chased with H20 and thought "If this doesnt work a miracle I am toast. I have pushed too hard" I kept noticing prior to this on my garmin I was hitting several 7:45's. Right around mile 9.5 I suddenly found some life!!! My 10 mile time was exactly 1:20.I believe that is exactly an 8 min pace overall. I knew that the week prior I had run 10 miles in 1:23. It was encouraging to know I still had time in the bank for the 1:50! I felt somewhat decent but then at mile 11 I felt really rough again. But hey - it's mile 11!! You still gotta push. Do not give up now! I felt like I was stomping a few times - the hills were plentiful! The downhills were almost just as hard on me. I passed up the last water stop at mile 12 and went all out for the finish line!! I could hear the crowds, I could hear the announcer & I was PUMPED! I turned it on!!! This was it - right here! Get on your horse... I spotted my dad on the left side of the finish line and found my mom. Total finish time - 1:45:16. Wow! I was so shocked and SOOOO happy! :-) I never thought a 1:45 was in my reach. That is an overall pace of 8:03. Of course I'd like for my overall pace to start with a "7" but I'll take that 8:03 all day long!

After the race I hung around for a few minutes watching others finish, then mom and I went to the hotel room and I took about a 40 minute HOT shower! She fixed me some coffee and had it waiting on me when I got out! It was OH so good because I was FROZEN! I headed back down to the finish line just in time to see my peeps finish the full. They are all so awesome!!! These times are approximate. Jonathan did a 3:31, Holly J did a 3:44, Lee did a 3:46, Tim did a 3:52, Tammie did a 3:54, and Heather did a 4:11. Great races for all of them!!! Amazing! John D and Jay B also did the half with me - John pumped out a 1:54 & Jay brought it home with a 2:01!

When all of our guys got in, Dad and I headed to the free lunch/free beer party, then back to the hotel to pack up and come home! It was such a fun weekend and my 1:45 half mary time made it that much sweeter!

Monday when the final results were posted I saw that I had finished 27th out of 275 in my age group! Jonathan placed 6th in his age group and Tammie actually placed 3rd in her age group!!!! Congratulations everyone!

Good Times, good runs, good spins, decent swims... and more good times!

2009-02-03T21:50:00.018-06:00

I have GOT to start blogging more often so that I don't get so far behind! Ok, just where we left off last Tuesday I attended the 6:30pm advanced spin class taught by the famous instructer, Don.\ What a class! Ten minutes into it, I was dripping sweat from my chin and we never let up! The music is just awesome - you can really get the most of out spin with the right music. I did some weights and lunges before and after the class, and enough abs that I am STILL sore from them - a week later. I never workout my abs and boy can I tell! I feel like I've broken a few ribs! Wednesday night I ran 5 miles on the treadmill and then attended the master's swim class again. I really enjoyed the class and felt like I was making some progress. There are still a few moments during each class that I will be swimming along and all of the sudden I will get a real PANIC feeling - like I am smothering under the water and can't hear, can't breathe and just feel like I need to BAIL!!! It's so unnatural. Swimming is for fish - not humans. I just HAPPEN to require oxygen for crying outloud. After swim class it was Winger's Wednesday - and you know what that means. "Triathlets gone Wild." Several of us met at Manchester's finest new establishment for wings and drinks. What better way to wind down for the evening? Thursday I did nothing in anticipation for the group run at 3:45am Friday morning. Everyone who is going to Birmingham had 14 miles to cover. Holly only had 10 - just because I am in my own world and not thinking of Birmingham Mercedes Mary. So, I rise outta bed at 3:15, and meet everyone at 3:45. We covered almost 8 miles before we got back to our original meeting spot where we met Ros. Well, that means I have 2 more to go. Everyone starts telling me I can push on and just do the 14 with them... I'm like "No way guys... 10 is good enough." Somehow, someway I ended up going on for the 14. Am I that easily persuaded, even in pain? What is wrong with me? LOL. And this run happened to be my best run of all times I do believe. 14 miles in 1:57, which was an 8:22 overall pace. Un-freakin-believable for a chik like me. I don't run that fast. I am a 9 min girl. On a good day :-) I gave it just about all I had - not to mention the HILLS!!! I owe it to the great people I was running with to push me!! Thank you, Tim, Holly, Heather, Tammie, Lee, Lana, Jonathon. I was PUMPED all day long about it... and my hip flexor felt broken along with a few blisters on my feet. 14 miles is my longest run since CMM last year. I was so on top of the world!

But after work my world got sleepy..... and I had to come home and crash!! I took a 2.5 hour napper and it was total bliss! I got up and Jamie and I went out and found a little fun to dabble into.

I slept until 1pm on Saturday!!! Well.. my phone was blowing up so I didn't sleep continuously till 1pm, but mostly. Ahhh... can't get enough :-) Got up and headed for the pool. I swam 1500 yds - half of it freestyle and half of it pull with paddles. Then I headed upstairs for about 25 min of weights and lunges. I was surprised my legs would lunge even one time after Friday's unexpected 14 mile run, but they never even really got sore? Weird?

Saturday night rolls around and it's a little bitta shopping for the girls, little bitta Outbacker and martinis for the girls - and little bitta roosta for the girls. But hot diggity-dog... I ran into so many people I went to college with and even some of my running buddies! Hell I even found a long-lost cousin's ex in there! It was fantastic! This was a really late/early morning for us!!! Which brings us to Sunday for mountain biking. Several of us met out at the base and rode. The weather was amazing and we met some new people from Hermitage. This made me want to go back for more!! The trail was in great shape except for one muddy section.

Superbowl Sunday, here we come. We went to two different parties. Party 2, we crashed hard. Jay and Tammie were the gracious hosts in their beautiful home and I'm telling ya what - they did it up RIGHT! It was "triathletes gone wild" all over again except it was escalated a bit this time! :-) It was good times for all - and ya know... there's something special about people who you can suffer with on long runs or rides and then turn around and party with. I love it!

This morning the news came out for the Bonnaroo lineup. I have been anxiously waiting - since June 2008. lol. Looks like it's gonna be pretty decent but not Pink Floyd like I hoped. Bruce Springsteen, Phish, Beastie Boys but the best part is -- MERLE HAGGARD! YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!! :-)

Turning up the heat again!

2009-01-25T19:44:00.017-06:00

I'm ba---aaaack :-) Wow. Where do I start? First, let me say it's good to be back. I hate it when I skip about a month of blogging and then so much has happened that I haven't a clue of what is most important or the most entertaining to blog about. At any rate, I'll try to condense it all down into the quick version or at least the things that I can somewhat remember.

The new year was pretty good. I've had better and I've had worse :-/ I won the Flash's Bowls contest for the college bowl games this year. I have never even placed in the top 10 of this contest and somehow I guess the bowl god's saw it fit to drop that $535 plus the crown right, down into my hands this year. I am greatful! What do I do with the? Hmmm... lots of ideas. Vegas? Time trial bike? XBox plus Rock Band? Save it? I dunno.... it will be used fashionably well regardless :-)

The Masters Swim program kicked off at the rec 2 weeks ago. This is fuuuuun! I am improving quite a bit and learning a lot about form and slowly making some progress. I like it because it is sure to get me in the pool a minimum of twice per week. Now if I can just keep from getting lapped multiple times in the Ironman Lane!!! lol. Another fun aspect of this activity involves going out for dinner and drinks with my fantastic swim buddies on Wed nights. The people who I train with are so awesome. They are not only training partners, but they are friends and almost feel like family to me. They encourage me so much and I appreciate that so much! It's like they have never given up on me.... thanks guys :-) The encouraging emails, text messages, & phone calls have meant the world to me. Dylana & Jamie - thank you for all that you know you have done. All the late nights and early mornings! ha! And last but not least, Bethany has been there. She has SOOO been there.

I have not done as little as you might think. Overall, I have stayed pretty consistent. Not neccesarily gaining, but not losing either. I think there was about 1 week right around Christmas when I didn't do a thing, but other than that I have tried to get in 2-4 runs per week, a swim or two here and there and 1 or 2 trainer rides per week. I have GOT to get on my mountain bike. I am starting to crave it and Leslie is going to help me get there :-) This past week was one of my best week's so far. Sunday was a 6.5 mile run with my peeps. Most of them are training for the Birmingham marathon and did 20-22, but Leslie and I are not - so we opted for a 6.5 mile out and back. Good run! I needed it!!!! Then I went in to the rec and swam for about 40 minutes. Monday I did a 40 minute trainer ride, then onto Masters swim for the evening. Tuesday - nothing but rest. I needed that too! Wednesday I ran 4.5 miles, then onto master's swim, then onto dinner and drinks with the group. Good times!!! Thursday I did a 4 mile run at lunch and Friday morning I broke my record. The earliest I have ever met this hard core group of friends for a run is 4am. Well I met them at 3:30am Friday morning. They did 16, and dropped me off at the rec at 8.33 miles at an 8:50 pace. Wow - they really push me! I am always close to 9 min miles give or take 10-20 seconds if I run solo. I pushed hard to stay with them! This was my longest run in probably 2-3 months. I even went into the rec and busted out 2/3 of a lap of lunges around the track and a very very few arm weights. I gotta get goin on that - before you know it, April will be here and my sleeveless shirts will be begging me to lift weights with my arms!

So, what is my plan??? Well... it's hard to say. Until I can get a good reading of how my swim is going to turn out it's just difficult to predict or even plan. I am wanting to follow a half ironman training program for the bike and run portions.... and hopefully the swim will follow suit - but obviously I have a LOT of improving to do before I can even fathom the idea of doing an open water swim - much less in the ocean. So, my plans for 2009 just aren't in stone yet. I know I have some goals - and that is good enough for now. I would like to pick my swim up to be able to do a couple of triathlons this year. And the MS 150 Jack and Back.

Other mischellaneous items: I went to the Titans playoffs game. Lana and I have had some "fun girls" nights :-) I think I've gained about 3 lbs :-( I've read a really awesome book called "Bounce Back" and have picked back up on the Total Immersion - Triathlon Swimming book. I have considered med school.... and had a lot of other crazy but true ideas. I am learning a lot about myself!! Scary stuff, man :-) Attended the 2009 Mach Tenn/Highland Rimmers Winter party.. And I am having fun! The pictures are worth a thousand words.

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

2008-12-22T01:21:00.003-06:00

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!

2008-12-03T17:58:00.005-06:00

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

2008-11-30T21:17:00.003-06:00

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 :-(

2008-11-23T15:58:00.004-06:00

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?

2008-11-18T21:37:00.003-06:00

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."

2008-11-09T22:02:00.013-06:00

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

2008-09-30T16:35:00.022-05:00

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!"

2008-09-24T15:06:00.005-05:00

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....

2008-09-16T15:48:00.005-05:00

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

2008-09-05T17:00:00.004-05:00

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

2008-08-24T22:09:00.002-05:00

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!"

2008-08-19T15:21:00.004-05:00

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!!!

2008-08-06T20:48:00.004-05:00

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!!!

Tough Luck :-(

2008-08-01T15:06:00.008-05:00

Tuesday night after work I went out and did the best brick I've ever done. My times were better than ever and I felt strong the entire time. I rode 20 miles on the Staggerwing course and followed immediately with a 4 mile run. I saw what I had and I predicted exactly how I would do this Saturday. This was my 6th week of "official Staggerwing training." I felt great about it and was really looking forward to the race.

So Wednesday after work I jumped on my bike for a short and final ride before race-day. I want my legs to be rested, but not so rested they forget what it feels like to be on the bike. I was just planning to ride to my parents' house - probably woulda been pushing to make it a 10 mile ride. Just a good warm-up.

As I proceed down Ragsdale rd and turn onto Taylor Rd, the thought crosses my mind that I've never ridden this road before - well not since early last year. "I wonder if there are dogs out here??? I'm not able to get a ton of speed up because the road is so curvy..... so I hope not. Stay on top of your game Holly.... be aware of your surroundings." Cruising along around 18-19mph...... Approximately 45 seconds after those thoughts permeated through my brain BOOM! OUT OF FREAKIN NO WHERE! THE DITCHES! On me like white on rice!!!! 2 dogs - 1 which is very large and black and is almost as big as Black Betty. RUFF RUFF RUFF RUFF!!! GRRRRRRRRRR..... GRRRRRRRR.... OMG........ they're going to KILL ME! And they are not AFRAID. THEY ARE OUT FOR BLOOD!!!! OMG, OMG, OMG.... NO!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!! WHAM! (black betty runs over or into very large black dog) and UP UP AND OVER the bars I go and BANG onto the pavement on my right hip and shoulder and I slide..... and slide....... as the skin on my shoulder, hip,, elbow knee & calf sloughs off into the tar & chip road and I finally lose momentum and I'm flat in the road - on the opposite side of the road I might add - and I look up and dogs are barking and growling and Black Betty is on her head in the ditch.
So I pull my backpack off and attempt to call my mom but she wasn't home - she was at the rec. A very nice lady, Renee Taylor, pulled up and helped me. She wanted to clean me up. She insisted to load me and Black Betty up in her van and take us home, but I played it off cool.... and told her I was fine and I pulled Black Betty outta the ditch, put her chain back on and proved to her that she was rideable and I finally (after catching my composure and remembering my address) jump on the bike and head BACK to the house. As soon as Miss Renee was out of sight, I lost it. I cried. Hard. Like... the kinda crying that makes you lose your breath!!! I was in a lot of pain, but that's not what I was crying over. I was upset because I know the blow my body had just taken - and I knew there would be no Staggerwing race for me. I am so close - 3 days from race day. What about all those 5am mornings to brick? All those evenings when I really wanted to veg out on the couch but I was counting the weeks till the Stag... and I knew it would pay off. So I trained. And I trained harder than I've ever trained for anything. I am stronger than I've ever been. I am improved all the way around. And who knows... I may have gotten there on race-day and done terrible and God may just not want my pride to be hurt. But still.... it sucks to have your plan shot to hell. Especially when you've put so much into it.

But whatta ya do?? First, you thank the good Lord that you survived your road crash. Not everyone is as lucky as I was. Second, you call your sister and she rushes over and helps me clean my wounds. Lana just went through a similar crash (minus the very large dog) a few weeks ago and is just now healed. She peroxided me, aka SET ME ON FIRE. LOL. And she felt my pain..... physical and emotional.I was in a mess. My parents came over and brought bandages and tape and more peroxide and hibi cleanse and a bag of reeces :-) Chocolate heals everything, right?

So, I tried to sleep that night but it just wasn't happening. I was in a lot of pain - well everything on the right side of my body. My hip has 2 large bruises, my shoulder is bruised and less 1 layer of skin and my knee (as of Friday morning) has finally stopped bleeding. I am worried that I am going to be timid on the bike now. :-/

K and I spent Thursday just kinda.... doing nothing because there's not much I can do. We are both on vacation and we had planned to go hear 'the band' play that night. We ate dinner and then it started raining and there was someting more appealing to just staying in and watching movies. Plus I was still in a lot of pain. We rested up and got up this morning for a round of 9 holes of golf! alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5229651238428571634" /> This is about all the activity my knee can handle right now. I guess this might be a great week for sharpening up my golf skills? We both did pretty good and it was fun to be doing a sport that isn't taxing the body to it's maximum effort! Hmmm... I could really get into this?!?! :-)

So I'll be heading out in the morning to watch my training peeps setup their transitions and compete in the Staggerwing Du. I am thinking of this as a great opportunity to volunteer. And hopefully.... it won't bum me out too bad to be standing on the sidelines. Goodluck to Tim, Lee, Eric B, Michele, Tracy, Lana and anyone else participating tomorrow. Once AGAIN, I hope to get some great pics of you guys! :-)

Rest Days are essential...

2008-07-27T21:57:00.004-05:00

Wednesday I ran 5 miles before work.... I really wanted to use this day as a rest day, but I had knew I had a dentist appointment that afternoon and really didn't wanna take the risk of feeling less than enthused to workout on Thursday if I used my rest day on Wednesday. So, in order to avoid potential 2 days of rest, I went ahead and did my run and opted for Thursday being rest. Until Lana convinced me to ride at lunch. Ugh... I just wanted to do nothing, but I suppose I could actually do nothing on Friday instead. So, Thursday put 24 miles on the books for me and Friday was a well deserved day for nothing. Saturday morning I planned to run with Lana. Until Friday night just kept me out way too late. There were so many things to get done in a small amount of time over the weekend! So, Saturday morning's run was slept right over the top of!!! That means either just skip it and feel the guilt all day, or bite the bullet and battle the heat. I started my run around 1:30pm. It was 81 degrees. When I completed my run less than an hour later, the temp read 92 degrees. Ouch... it was so hot and the humidity was off the freakin charts! I only went for 6 miles and really did not even feel like doing 1 since I hadn't gotten any sleep the night before. I felt great on this run... for the first time in a couple of weeks my legs felt flexible and I felt light on my feet. I was clocking a pretty good pace and just had the feeling of floating. FINALLY! It musta been that reset day on Friday. Guess I didn't realize how much I needed it? Now we know. Rest days are just as important as training days. Mile 2 and I felt like death though.... it was so hot and I just felt dehydrated. Mile 3 I can't take it another step so I dash into the post office praying for a water fountain. NOTHING. Geez.... that didn't give me a good feeling about USPS. So I had no choice but to keep forging ahead. I saw the public library up ahead. It's been years since I've darkened that door, but I do remember the used to have a water fountain. I was right - it was a God-send. I guzled it. Couldn't get enough. So I stepped in the womens bathroom and soaked my face and everything from the waist up with cold water from the sink. Then back to the fountain for more H20. Off I go - I had 2 miles left and that should get me to the end. Thank goodness it was OVER!!!!

So, Saturday night was interesting and FUN! K and I threw down with all of our friends -- plus others who were unknown, but cool! What a party!!! Wow. Sweet!!!! :-) Good times! Bedtime didn't come until 4:30am!!!!! So, today has been a recovery day for both of us! I feel like a zombie I'm so tired! Check out some of the pics!

Too Many Late Nights....

2008-07-22T13:54:00.002-05:00

Since Saturday I feel like I have gotten very little sleep. And my body feels it when I'm working out!!! Saturday after our bike ride, K & I & a host of other friends met up and we ended up staying out entirely too late!!!! It was good times though!! We planned to go to church Sunday morning, but that didn't happen! We went out for lunch & the rest of the day consisted of naps. And more naps! haha! :-) But still, not enough sleep!!!

Monday morning I was dragging, but I did get out and run 5 miles before work. Then last night we fixed spaghetti for dinner & watched a movie. It felt good to just chill out since we have been on the go nonstop lately!!! However, I still don't think I'm getting enough rest because I did a brick this morning. I rode 20 and ran 3 and my legs were fatigued. My times weren't as good as I had hoped, but that's alright.

We have a fun & exciting weekend ahead of us, so catching up on sleep this week is going to be essential!!

"Pain is Only Weakness Leaving the Body" Tom Muccia

2008-07-20T22:06:00.006-05:00

I have fallen behind on my blog, once again. I have been sick with a nasty cold and at the same time, I have been able to get my workouts in. I've been doing bricks on the Staggerwing course, I've been doing all the runs I'm planning to do and trying to keep up the streak of working out 5 days per week. My favorite day of the last couple of weeks has got to be yesterday - Saturday. For 2 years I have heard of the infamous "Alto" climb, which no one who I've talked to yet happens to know the exact gain in elevation or the exact altitude. For 2 years I have shy'd away from the invitations to go "climb the mountain." I've heard about the suffering that goes on out there.... and to be honest, it just scared me. There is no other climbing like the Alto climb. And then some of these peeps are strong enough to ride on over to Sherwood and climb it as well. Which equates to approximately a 35 mile ride with somwhere between 8-9 miles of steep climbs. I just never saw that I could do it. I've wondered for 2 years what it must feel like. I've asked "So, how does 'such and such' compare to climbing Alto?" The answer has always been "Nothing compares to Alto."

So, what did I do Saturday? K & I loaded up our road bikes and drove straight over to just outside of the foot of Alto. He has climbed this many times over the years so he knew what to expect. There was another group who went earlier that morning and many of those guys got to experience it for the first time like I did. Lana, Justin, Ben, Mike, Nathan, Nate & Tim. K & I were battling with the mid-day heat.... so that made it a little more uncomfortable than climbing a mountain on a road bike should be. We took off about 1.5 miles from where the climbing begins and I told K I was scared 2 times during that mile. I was afraid of failing.... not making it. He assured me that I would make it. I had big question marks flashing in my head everywhere.

So, the climbing begins. One pedal stroke at a time. Then we approached the horse shoe curve where the REAL stuff begins - it feels like it's almost straight up. Here's where the men are seperated from the boys - for the next 2 miles there's no break. I'm out of gears - and I've got a good ways to go. Suck it up, Holly. You're here to climb the mountain. And those pedal strokes got slower... and a little slower and I continued to push, with one goal in mind. Seeing the top. I tried to keep my breathing in a rhythym as much as possible. I dropped my head several times and counted my breathing - I'd promise not to look up for at least 10 breaths. Then do it again, and again. Finally, I realize I'm at the top. My legs felt a bit shaky and my body was swarmed with chill bumps as I realized I have once again conquered a fear. I timed myself. It took approximately 19 minutes. Believe it or not, that 19 minutes felt more like 10 minutes to me, even with all the pain. I was so excited!!!! K rocked this climb as well!!!

I guess that wasn't enough, because we rode on over to Sherwood which was about an 11 mile ride to the bottom. I knew when we were descending down this beast, it would be extremely tough. The thing that is so special about Sherwood is that my grandmother lives there. And I've driven this mountain for a long time now. Never did I EVER think climbing it on a bicycle was an option. So after we stopped in to see my grandma for a few minutes, she gave me a piece of cantaloupe and we filled our bottles up and off we go! To climb Sherwood! Geez, it was so hot. This is a continuous 5+ miles of climbing right off the bat! There is no break and it is grueling. For me, it's a toss-up as to which is harder - Sherwood or Alto. Sherwood is obviously longer, but Alto could be a bit higher in grade. I had to talk myself up this one! To say that I suffered is an understatement. Because at this point my legs were toast from the Alto climb. Give those toasty legs some credit though -- because they pushed me to the top of Sherwood. To say that I felt like a million bucks when this ride was over is putting it lightly. :-) I never dreamed I could do either of these, much less on the same ride. And it was fun! Am I crazy? :-) I love the year 2008. I have done things in this calendar year that I never imagined were possible. If I can do it, anyone can. The body is so amazing. I ran a marathon! I rode a 100 mile century ride. And I've climbed Alto and Sherwood! I have to say how thankful I am for my body and mind that God has blessed me with that has allowed me to push to another level. I am also thankful for training partners and special people like Lana and K - who inspire me to give all of these excessive challenges a try.

"Because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. And I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord." Martin Luther King Jr.

In Memory of Bozo the Clown....

2008-07-07T15:21:00.005-05:00

This morning as I was on my way to the rec center to run I heard some sad news on the radio. Larry Harmon (aka Bozo the Clown) has passed away at age 83 with congestive heart failure being the cause of death. I sure did love to watch the Bozo show when I was little. I wanted SO badly to someday aim and toss that ping pong ball into bucket #6! This show would sell out for 10 years at a time! Unbelievable! Guess I’m a little late……. :-/ My hat’s off to Bozo!

So, July 4th weekend involved a visit with Jerm & Bethany over some bud lime Thursday night. Friday morning I was able to make it to the group ride leaving from the rec center at 7am. Riders included me, Don (the pet ambulance service), Tim, Nathan C, Jay B, and Nate H. Great ride! Beautiful morning to be out!!! We did the Normandy loop and then after making a pit stop at the beautiful home of Jay and Tammy’s where they were so gracious to fill up our bottles with Gatorade and water, we headed back making the loop backwards! We ended up with 37 miles and it took right around 2 hours I believe. My knee is still giving me a little bit of trouble when I’m riding – mainly climbing.

Saturday morning around 10am, I was motivated for a long run. It was hot though so I strapped on my fuel belt with 3 bottles (2 gatorade, 1 water) and I managed to complete a 10 mile run. This is the first time I’ve used my fuel belt in temps over 40 degrees. Wow…. The stuff doesn’t stay cold. It’s up against my body, which is steaming with heat and sweat and even though my bottles were frozen when I started, by mile 3 they were already luke warm. Mile 7, and they were officially hot. This run took me a little longer so I’m blaming it on the heat. Completed, drenched and red-faced in 1:31.

So, I was treated to a day at the lake/cabin with my friends! Great times! You can always count on your cheeks (face cheeks I might add) to be sore from laughing nonstop after a day and night like Saturday! Especially when it involves a round of PARTINI! And Bethy…. What is your recipe for those margi’s and slides?????? REAL nice.

Somehow I made it to church Sunday morning. It was really very good to be there. The singing was so uplifting and it was worth getting up for!!! Sore legs and all! This morning I trekked my way around town for a 5 mile run before work. Tomorrow is either going to be a ride, or a brick!

Hanging Tough

2008-07-02T15:59:00.004-05:00

Catching up….. Last Saturday K & I went for a 19 mile ride through Tullahoma, Moore County and back through Normandy. It was windy!!!! We had several things to attend that evening, so Sunday I found myself exhausted! I also found myself waking up from a 2 hour nap on my mom and dad’s couch with Hattie curled up at my feet. Wow – I think that is the first nap I’ve had in 6 months? It felt GREAT! Now I’m not so sure cutting out my naps was the best thing for me. I’ve always required a nap. Sounds silly, but it’s true. It makes me less grumpy :-) I ended up mowing my yard that evening. I love mowing the yard….. to me it is incredibly therapeutic. I wanted to mow every yard in my subdivision!!! Now that my lemon mower has successfully mowed my entire yard without pieces flying off! LOL. It hasn’t won me over just yet though. P.O.S.

Monday I was determined to get my week started off on the right track so I got up at 5:30am and ran a 5 mile loop through town – 8:49 pace. Monday night Briar’s all star team beat the Tullahoma all star team and I was there to see it! Tuesday the plan was to do a brick after work. The clown I was supposed to do a brick with, backed out. I went to Briar’s ballgame and watched them win 22-0. I made up for it today at lunch. I went longer and faster on this brick than I did last week’s. I rode the Staggerwing course plus a little extra for 19.5 miles & I slapped my running shoes on and finished out with a 3 mile run at an 8:25 overall pace. My legs aren’t killing me as bad this year on the bricks as they did last year. What is up with that? I have read that the aero position can help save the legs since that position uses some different muscles. I’m wondering if this is really making the difference or if I am just a little stronger this year. I’m starting to wish I had a harder gear on my bike. Now… Black Betty does happen to be a road bike. And I have a compact crank. I just noticed that most of my ride I stayed in my 2 hardest gears and there were a few times on some downhills that I couldn’t gain any speed by pedaling. I don’t think I race or compete enough to invest in a race or tri bike, especially since I do not swim. However, I do wish I could put some faster/harder gears on this bike for courses like the Staggerwing or other times when I may want to hammer.

Manchester American League All Stars play Tullahoma again tonight. Lana will be in the stands with her rock shakers and Heather will be against the fence getting her groove on & The Flash will be there with his camera :-)

Check out Hattie with her new toy that is a fake piece of chicken. LOL.

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

2008-06-27T14:18:00.004-05:00

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!

2008-06-22T22:15:00.010-05:00

"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."

2008-06-20T10:49:00.004-05:00

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

2008-06-16T22:00:00.004-05:00

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!

2008-06-10T15:04:00.009-05:00

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!

2008-06-05T16:40:00.007-05:00

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!!!

Pre-race Day Pics -- Gulf Coast Half Ironman

2008-05-09T22:05:00.007-05:00

I got up this morning at 8am & went for a very toasty 4 mile run along Front Beach Rd

Here is Lana getting into her wet suit for a practice swim. The ocean is rough -- it's a scary sight to see. You can do it Lana!
This girl's got it all day long! No Fear!
Free pasta dinner for all race participants!

Arriving in PC Beach

2008-05-08T22:41:00.007-05:00

My plan was to head out this morning at 5am. I woke up feeling.... not so hot. Not so motivated. Searching for excuses to convince myself this was not a good idea - heading down to Gulf Coast HIM -- alone. I went back and forth rehearsing this conversation in my head: Scared girl: "What if you have an accident? "What if you cannot complete the 56 mile bike ride? You are SOOO not ready or trained for it. You will be hurting so bad by mile 25, you will not see the end in sight" Strong girl: "Get your butt up and get down there. You know you'll be glad. Stop with the pity party. Perfect timing for a get-away. Go. Do not look back. Go." Scared girl put up a good fight. She got in some really really really good punches - had me down a few times... the countdown had began.. Strong girl would jump up. Don't you fold on yourself Holly. A phone call from Bethany at 7:27am - to get me in the right gear & lend an ear...... and I was out the door. :-) Loading up black betty, throwing in the cooler and the suitcase, and making a pit stop for gas - Strong girl aint turning back.

I passed several vehicles headed to the triathlon - sweet bikes loaded up and USAT stickers -- can't be but one place they're headed. There's something neat about feeling the common bond with pure strangers on the interstate. 6 hours of driving and my neck hurts!!! I was on hwy 231 - about 45 miles from my condo and winds were bad. All the sudden I look up and black betty was so tired of the wind that she did a front flip!!! OMG. Yeah - she was on her head (flipped upside down and thrown from the back of the bike rack to the very front and almost completely sideways. Betty???? Good grief! If you're gonna jump ship, give momma some warning! :-/ So I slow way down and pull over to the side of the road - put her back in place - strap her a lot tighter and take off again. 5 min later Betty was gettin jiggy again and had done another front flip. These winds were brutal! I pull over, yet again, and add 2 more bungee cords to tie her down and she decided to give up. No more flips. That made my heart stop!!!!

So I got here and checked in. Very nice, clean condo. Weather was perfect. Beach was beautiful. I had to make 2 trips to get all my bags and bike in the condo. I'm on the 11th floor. I pulled my hair back and went for a 25 min beach walk. It was fantastic. Now it is just all about enjoying the festivities. All the welcoming events and the excitement in the air. And tomorrow is all about picking up race packets, setting up transition, and last but not least - SOAKING IT UP! ON THE BEACH! With a tasty margi & a host of friends! :-)

A New Day, A New Week... and a Vacation!

2008-05-05T09:42:00.007-05:00

Well today is Monday & I typically hate Monday's, but I'm only working 2 days this week so I'm feeling a bit more tolerant today :-) Thursday morning I'm leaving for PC Beach for the Gulf Coast half ironman. Lana is competing in her first half IM & I'm mainly going to cheer her on. I'm also part of a relay team, doing the 56 mile bike portion of the race. I feel sorry for my teammates!!! I am not EVEN trained! I have been on my road bike a total of 2 times this year, not including the trainer rides. But hey.... the name of our team is "Here for the Party!" so...... I'm not too worried about it! Thursday is going to consist of vegging out on the beach with a very tropical -tini, -rita, or something along those lines. The weather is forecasted to be beautiful... highs in the low 80's and lows in the upper 60's for the evenings. So, Saturday there was supposed to be a 50 mile group ride meeting at 7:30am. I desperately needed at least 40 so my body doesn't go into complete shock Saturday morning. However, it stormed Friday night and was still drizzling rain Sat morning. So, I had two options & riding in the rain was not one of them. 1) Push the ride off until Sunday morning 2) Plug Black Betty into the trainer & spin for 2.5 hours.

I chose #2. Ugh.... that was my longest trainer ride by far. The first hour I was entertained by CMT's top 20 countdown. That's a drag when you're riding your trainer, but it was that........ or stupid cartoons. I tried to work in about a 50 minute routine and do it twice. I cannot say that I even rode all that hard because I wanted to make sure I just spent 2.5 hours in the saddle. I definitely worked up a sweat!!! My sports bra expelled around 8oz of sweat when I rang it out afterwards and I basically had to mop my floor under the trainer.

Saturday night? Wedding bells were ringing in Wartrace! My good friend Brian tied the knot with his beautiful bride Angel. This wedding was totally goregous being outside on a farm & the weather was blissful!!! Afterwards, Bethany & I went to the reception. There was a margarita machine & we couldn't wait to check it out! We stuffed our faces full of Bell Buckle cafe catering & then mainly focused on the margi's. The dance floor was hopping!!! But I think the party really didn't get started until Bethany claimed her fame to the special song that she owned :-) You go girl! She dropped it like it was HOT! :-) LOL

Sunday morning? Church. Yep, that's 3 in a row for me. Me & Jesus are talkin more lately... that's a good thing. I think I overheard him tell me the other day he's got a lotta work to do on me!!! :-)

This week I am going to try to take it semi-easy again so that my legs are rested for the relay at Gulf Coast. Today I am going to do an easy 5 mile run during lunch & Wednesday I plan to try and do 7 miles. That will be all unless I take a nice easy stroll Thursday evening at the beach when the sun is setting.

"If Life Throws you a Lemon - Make Lemonade." ~ Joan Collins

2008-04-30T20:22:00.004-05:00

I briefly blogged about my broken lawn mower a week or so ago. This thing has been nothing but a thorn in my side since I acquired it last fall. I aint gettin NO lemonade outta this P.O.S. It was supposed to be this great deal on a riding lawn mower - the owner took SUCH GOOD care of it, supposedly he even waxed it when he washed it! This thing is supposed to ride like a PHAT caddy, big ol grass catcher on the back and all. Not to mention a WHOPPING 52" cut on it! It will mow my yard in less than 30 minutes! Wow - how did I EVER get so lucky? So, it like... mowed my yard once & there were issues with the steering. As in -- the wheels mysteriously felt as if they would wobble right off! So, I think it made it through 1 more mowing for the year & K worked on the steering - 100 more dollars invested. However, the steering still wouldn't cooperate. So over the winter I didn't know you had to periodically start the lawn mower to keep the battery alive. So the battery was dead, 3 tires were flat, the choke cable was broken, the starter was bad, a lower belt on the deck was broken, and the steering was still screwed. Sigh.... what is a single girl to do with a broken lawn mower that won't even start or roll with flat tires. So, my yard got so huge this spring it caused an allergic reaction in my dog when I put her outside for a couple of days. All the weeds were up to my knees. So my dad helps me out and comes to load my _______ lemon lawn mower to his favorite crew of mechanics so they can fix me up. So, after several rounds of parts ordering this crew is finally convinced they have me ready to mow! FINALLY!!!! I can be an independent home owner!!! Who needs a man, right?

So, all week I was looking forward to cruising on my phat mower and making my yard look sweet!!! I change my clothes after work today and get on the mower and I get a "eeeeeeeeeeeekknnnnnnnnyyyyyyyy" this thing won't start. Great. P.O.S! So I call my dad and he comes over to jump it off & we discover it has no gas. Brilliant, Holly. So I make a quick run to the gas station and get 5 gallons of gas. Rush back, we fill 'er up and it finally starts!!! So my dad takes off on it and he gets about 2 rows trimmed and we notice the grass catcher is clogging up and dropping huge mounds of grass. We say to heck with that thing and disconnect it. He mows one more round and I look up and the front wheel is like.... literally 15 yards from the mower. Super.... :-/ So, he rigs it up somehow and gets the wheel back on and off he goes again! We're in business now!

Only until this thing starts sputtering - and eventually dies. We roll it around to my front yard and jump it off again and it starts fine. Ok... well. Whatever. It mows 1 row of grass in my backyard and sputter sputter sputter... there it goes again and it dies and I am just READY to get the baseball bat out and beat the daylights out of this _____________ ___________ _____________ lemon lawn mower.

Excuse me, but GOOD FREAKIN GRIEF!!! I keep waiting for that lemonade......... I disagree with that quote. My version is -- If life throws you a lemon, TRASH IT! Don't try to fix a lawn mower!!!! And my version of that quote should be my new strategy in life. If you are presented with what appears to be a SWEET sitution.... you better just mow with it a few times and see how it works when the going gets tough. The new (or the wax) will wear off. More times than not, it was not a sweet deal to begin with. You keep putting time & money into this thing & it keeps fizzling out on you. It would really just rather you do all the work and stay out of it's way. Don't ask anything of it. Just continue to invest resources into this selfish piece -- after all -- you shouldn't expect anything out of it to begin with. It doesn't answer to YOU! You just hold up your end of the bargain & when it gets ready to mow -- it will mow. Until then - let me take up space in your life -- or your garage -- I'll let you know when I need you. DITCH HIM! Or IT! My post-marathon resolution is - DITCH ALL THE LEMONS IN YOUR LIFE.

Anybody in the market for a lawn mower? ;-)

Sigh.......... the joys of owning a home as a single woman -- trying to keep it together and never making progress. I appreciate the fellow who stiffed me on this crappy lemon lawn mower.

A few more CMM pics...

2008-04-28T18:08:00.006-05:00

All of these were taken between miles 20-26. And the porta-potty one says it all!!! :-) LOL

This was my last stop! LOL

Me & Lana

We all thought this was pretty cool!

Lessons Learned, Medal Earned! :-)

2008-04-27T08:35:00.020-05:00

I did it!!!! I went the distance. Every step of 26.2 is mine. No one can ever take that away from me. It's here to stay! I got the t-shirt, I got the sticker, I learned a few lesssons, I earned the medal. I am stronger than I've ever been - mentally. It makes me crave more. I really want to do better. I pushed through pain I've never experienced before. I wanted to quit. I suffered - more than I expected. I was SPENT at mile 17 - with 9 to go. I did it - like I said... it was not pretty. I completed the marathon. I'm not pleased with my results, but this will bring me to my knees enough to know I need to train harder, run more often and most of all.... do more semi-longer runs in between long runs. Granted, it was near impossible with 2 knee injuries setting me back on weeks 6 & 9-12. Now I think I realize the importance of those 10 & 12 milers on the weeks you aren't doing a long run. I'd have to say those are building your base. And your base is going to be more important than your long run - at least it is for me. Yesterday my base was not there and it showed. It was somewhat expected, but it's still a bit dissapointing! I carb-loaded the week before, I rested, I stretched, I did everything I could think of to do because I knew I didn't have enough training miles in the bank. Just so ya know, there is NOTHING that can make up for not enough training miles :-) I am honored that God has blessed me with the legs, the drive, the family who supported me, and the 2 guardian angels who pushed me to the finish yesterday.

I got to Nashville, around 2:00 Friday afternoon. Checked into my hotel, made my way down to the convention center around 3:30-ish to the expo. Complete chaos & madness in downtown. No parking, raging traffic - it was a mess. The expo was just as bad as the streets & parking lots. By the time I got out of there I wasn't brave enough to try and find the kids marathon. I made it back to my room and around 6:30 went next door to TGIF's & ordered chicken bruchetta pasta, & an ice cold mich ultra! Shortly after, K made it up & we headed back down tno TGIF's again so that he could eat. Got in bed around 10pm. I think I woke up about every hour from anxiety. Alarm goes off at 4:32am, I order room service. I had oatmeal and a piece of toast with pb & honey. K had eggs, sausage & toast. We got ready and headed to the start line in our ponchos. Yep! It was raining. We found Lana & Mike at the gear check. Then it was 5 minutes till 7am & I couldn't find Lana anymore so K & I rushed to the start line. But 5 min later, Lana popped up! She started with me in coral 4. Yippee!!! I think we took off around 6 minutes after 7 & I felt great. I was keeping around a 9 minute pace and was only focusing on holding back. I just wanted to save my energy for 10-20. 5K time was 28 minutes - yikes... a little fast. I tried to slow it down, but it just seemed like I wasn't even running. Guess who I saw at mile 4! My daddy! :-) He spotted me in his binoculars and snapped a pic of me. He showed me where my mom was standing & I looked over and she was screaming as loud as she could and cheering! I couldn't resist - I was so happy to see them, I had to run over and give her a hug & a kiss on the cheek! After all, this is supposed to be fun, right? I was so proud to see her there! It is amazing that just 4 weeks ago she was undergoing major spinal surgery and she is doing awesome.

Here's me running over to hug my mom!

I was feeling great! Legs felt good & kept an eye on the garmin - it looked like I was hitting below 9 min miles, but to me it felt like I was only running 10 min miles! The support & entertainment on the first 11 miles was awesome. I saw my parents again right after the 10K mark where my overall pace had dropped to an 8:51. I pretty much know at this point I've gone out a little too aggresive. One of the Belmont churches had a choir & band out there singing a beautiful "Halleluia" song at mile 7 that gave me chill bumps and put total perma-grin on my face for a couple of miles! These guys have the right idea!!! Mile 9, I'm scanning the crowd for the yellow "Livestrong" shirt on the sidewalks. K had planned to meet me somewhere between mile 9 & 10 :-) Mile 9.7 he drops in with me. At the 10 mile marker my garmin said 1:28, which was an 8:49 overall pace. By mile 11 I started getting a really fatigued feeling on the back of my legs - like... where the leg meets the buns. Was it the hills? This was where I took my first gel (strawberry banana) & chased with water. Mile 12, I started having lots of pressure. As in - bathroom pressure. K & I stopped at the next porta-potty and I relieved myself with at least 5 min wasted - couldn't help it. It was a really strange poo & I'll just leave it at that :-/ I felt better. But then at mile 15 I started feeling bad again!!! We stopped and walked for a couple of minutes - I was starting to feel like a real loser & I realized my time was shot!! And at this point I saw no end in sight. I could not imagine running 11 more miles. The top back of my legs and hips were SCREAMING at me! We pushed on through 16 and mile 17 presented us with a hill that looked as if it were 3 miles long. However; I think it was probably only about .75 of a mile or so. I did another gel (Tangerine) at mile 17 & ate 2 pretzels & drank a small cup of salt water. Mile 18, there was severe bathroom pressure again & I didn't think I'd make it to find a porta-potty. Finally one showed up & I spent a good 5 or 6 minutes in there. It was never-ending & I can't figure out where all this goofy looking poo was coming from!!! LOL. I would think "goodness that has to be the end of it!" but I was wrong! Surely I've evacuated my system!!! K was holding strong -- continually supporting me & telling me how strong I was. It was REAL REAL good to have him out there with me! I needed it! Miles 19 & 20 turned into a slow shuffle. At the completion of mile 20, you head back into downtown. Thank Goodness because miles 13-19 are completely DEAD and boring!!!! I saw my daddy! He was waiting to get pics!

Mile 20 I'm expecting Lana. She was right when she told me earlier this week she'd push, pull or drag me to the finish. She had a camelbak with my gatorade endurance & anything else I might need. K decided to go ahead and finish out the last 6 with us, which gave him approximately 16.3 miles for the day. WOW! We all 3 got about a half mile & I got a side stitch and had to slow down, breathe out really hard & finally just stop and bend over for about 15 seconds to relieve it. Starting back from walking is like... the most painful thing. It was like my hips and legs were locked and I had to pry them back open everytime. Looking back on it, I should have been rolling it out with a jog instead of thinking I would get relief from walking. There was no relief. It was almost more painful to walk than to jog. And mentally it broke me to pieces. I was disgusted. Mile 21 - pressure - ugh-oh guys... look for a porta-potty. This is a bad one!!!! Oh my! I am not sure if I'm goin to be able to hold it!!!! Lana reminded me to squeeze it in tight! LOL. K finally saw a porta-potty in the distance & sprinted ahead to make sure one was available for me. When I got there, this guy had it set up RIGHT! He had cleaned the seat (as much as possible) and it lined it with toilet paper. It was a good thing. I was in there awhile - still wondering where this bizare stuff is coming from! LOL. And the flow just continued. I finally had nothing left! So we take off and get to around mile 22 & I have to stop AGAIN at a porta-potty. This time... it was just mostly gas but after the other 3 episodes you don't trust gas! Right before stopping we passed Michele & Heather & they were on mile 24! These girls rocked the CMM & sub-4'd!!!! AWESOME!!! Lana convinces me to gel it up! She said if there is anyway I can stand it, right now is the time to take it to push me to the finish. I did a caramel one & chased with water from the medical tent. I do think it may have given me a bit of a push, but that push just don't last long enough. We jogged it out to around mile 24 where I was just in so much pain, 2.2 miles seemed like an eternity. I didn't think I would make it. Then one of the bands started playing the song "Lovin.... is what I GOT! Remember THAT!... Life is too short so love the one ya got or might got run over or you might get SHOT!" and all three of us started singing it! It was a great moment that can never be replaced!!!! K & Lana mentally pushed me & encouraged me to shuffle. I would try but it just wouldn't last too long and I'd be walking again. And I almost just wanted to stop and just lay down in the grass. This HAD to be my most painful run ever! I hurt much much worse at mile 16 than I did on any of my long training runs. Mile 25 there was a final water stop & I walked it & took in as much water as possible. From there on out we shuffled to mile 26 where Lana & K peeled off & I surged to the finish line probably as hard as I could go at the time. The finish chute is awesome!!!! Total time: 4:33. Not exactly what I had hoped for or even feel like I am capable of. It was a finish though & now I am a marathoner! :-)

I must have looked pretty bad at the line because a medical person with gloves approached me & said "Are you ok??? Do you need anything?" And I said "Nah! I think I'm fine. Thanks though!" lol. I got my cape, my medal & as I was trying to find where to get my chip cut off I saw Tim. Who was going for a PR (approximately a 3:45) but suffered from severe cramps in his calf & didn't make his goal. However, he still rocked it out with a 4:07!!! I got my chip cut off, grabbed an apple & took two bites, a small container of pineapple and wanted OUT of there to find my family. I was hurting bad. I found them!!! They were so happy to see me & I was happier to see them! K was feeling fine from his 16 miler & Lana was tickled to death for me even though she put in a total of 18.1 miles for the day including her 1:54 half mary time, plus meeting me at mile 20. What a support crew I had! How did I ever get so lucky? They got me to the finish. I don't think I could have made it without them!
This is me & my proud Momma!
Me with Momma & Daddy!

Me with Lana & my mom.

And me & my proud Daddy!
Me & K

And.... this picture speaks for itself! I love it. It brings tears to my eyes.

Congratulations to Tim, Lee, Heather, Michele, Mary Beth, Amy, Audra, Patricia, Rosiland, and John D, Lisa, Holly J, Karen H, Mike & everyone else!!!

T minus 32 hours!!

2008-04-24T22:08:00.004-05:00

Ok, so this is the latest I've stayed up all week! Ahhh.... go to bed Holly. I've slept like a baby all week - haven't felt any stress, pressure or anxiety. What's up with that? Is it all waiting to hit me tomorrow? I don't know. We'll see. I can only feel excitement! Even when I think about the predicted rain - I just feel excited. I'm sure that excitement will die down when I get to mile 11 - the split off between the half and the full!!!

Guys, I have all my stuff packed (except for contact solution and toothbrush). I love being prepared. I love knowing I have done the responsible thing not waiting till the last minute to be stressed and wondering if I've forgotten half of my stuff. Here's the plan - Tomorrow.... going in early to work, and leaving at lunch-time. Coming home to grab my stuff, and tell Hattie goodbye and let her wish me lots of luck :-) lol. Heading to NashVegas to check into my hotel, making my way to the expo, watching my nephews rock the streets in the Kids marathon, eating din-din (pasta-pasta), saying a really deep sincere prayer, and hitting the bed! K has plans to meet me in N'ville later and see me to the start line Sat morning.

Now - for the pre-race week nutrition. I have SO carbed it up!!! I don't think I've ever eaten this many carbs. Every meal. And I've done great by eating no grease. No fries, no potatos. My carbs have consisted of mainly pasta and rice. Protein? Grilled chicken, roasted turkey, meatsauce for spagetti. I've junked it up too! Rice crispy treats, 1/2 of a Wendy's frosty, hot tamales, captain crunch, the list goes on. I cut out cokes on Tuesday and have been saturating my body with around 65 ounces of water plus water with meals each day.

I am looking forward to the marathon experience. I am looking forward to seeing many many friends reach their goals - lots of them finishing a half marathon for the first time. I am looking forward to that finish line too!

Goodluck to everyone doing the half and full! My beloved, supportive, supa-fast sister Lana, Boston marathoner Holly J, Tim, Lee, Michele, Ronnie, Heather, Mary Beth, Amy, Audra, Mike, Lisa, Rosiland, Patricia, Trevor, John D, David & anyone else I may have overlooked. And I will personally miss Kim R! What a bright, warm, and encouraging friend she is!

Hopefully next time I post, you'll see me with a medal around my neck!

I HEART TAPER!

2008-04-17T18:16:00.003-05:00

This week is taper-time :-) Finally! 15 weeks down (almost) with 1 to go. I started my plan Jan 12, and before Jan 12 I was preparing by running several 8 milers. Sunday my legs were toast. I wanted to MTB at Lock 4 with Jamie and others but the rain ruined it once again.

Monday my legs were still toast - however I managed to get in a 4-miler on the treadmill that morning before work due to the never-ending rain. Oooh.... legs. They felt like they weighed 80lb each!!! Still broken down from that 20-miler. This run was designed strictly for burning out some lactic acid in those 80lb bad boys. It was a slow one -- like 48 min or something. I didn't care!! It's taper time baby - anything goes :-) So Tuesday was going to be a rest day until I walked out to my car during lunch to discover the weather was bliss! 59 degrees with a slight breeze. Hmm... I've got some old running clothes and shoes in the car. I just started changing in the car and opted for a 5 miler. Still slow - 44:30. So Wed??? Well it was definitely a rest day! For sure! It worked out GREAT!!! By Wed night my legs felt normal again. I'm not sleeping at night though. I think I am worried about the marathon.... as well as some other things going on. Mean people suck. Uncaring people suck. Selfish people suck the worst though. Selfishness is incurable. Granted.... each and everyone of us has selfish tendancies, but some are just over the top "ALL PEOPLE IN THIS WORLD WERE PUT HERE FOR ME." I don't like it. It sickens me. Broken lawn mowers suck. Not being able to sleep at night sucks. I am up every hour. I even tried good ol faithful white zin last night - still didn't work. I keep seeing myself at mile 21 - and it's not a pretty sight.

So, today I rode 19.5 miles on my road bike at lunch. I did the Staggerwing Du course plus about a mile. The wind was brutal - on the way out AND on the way in. But mainly on the way in! Somehow I managed to keep a 17.8mph average. While that's not too hot on that particular course.... it was better than I expected with the winds that made me too uncomfortable to get in my aerobars on the way back! It was supposed to be an easy spin anyways - just a litle cross-training and #1 goal was to preserve legs for the marathon next week. I didn't push a harder gear than I should have. I kept it comfortable.

Tomorrow? My taper plan says "7 miles!" Boy - I can't wait to just run 7!!!! Then it's going to get even better by next week! I'm hoping this taper is going to be the magic I need for a finisher's medal next weekend.

Vingt!

2008-04-13T12:49:00.002-05:00

Yep! That's right! Twenty = Vingt in French. I finished off my week and my marathon training (minus taper) with a vingt miler. Ouch. And yes I know it's a little late in the game to try and catch up with a 20-miler. However, I did it for the mental aspect of training more than anything. My body was cursing my mind at mile ten. Ummm... that's a little early. I was only halfway there at mile 10??? My legs were DEAD. I went trail running Thursday evening since the winds were so brutal. I did a 6 mile trail run in 53:30 for a 9:15 pace. I have never trail run that fast. It makes the outside of my calves, shins and ankles really sore from where the trail is sloped and I'm constantly stepping on obstacles. Tuesday I did a 5 mile run during my lunch break. So... I'm just not sure if this was a good thing or a bad thing because this 20-miler hurt me. It sucks to hurt for 10 miles. Here's what I did as far as fluid intake. Mile 5, 4 oz of water. Mile 7, 4 oz of water. Mile 10, 4 oz of gatorade endurance formula & a 1 minute speed walk. Mile 12, 4 oz of water. Mile 12.5, Powerbar Gel caramel flavor chased with 3 oz of water. This was my first gel. I was nervous it would make me sick, but it didn't. Actually right around mile 13, I think it pumped a little bit of life into me. I felt better until I hit mile 15... hmmm... didn't last long. Mile 16 my legs are TOAST!!!! And numb! I guess I can expect to feel this way at mile 16 since my last 3 long runs have felt as if I was in bonk territory at mile 16. Mile 16, 4 oz of water. Mile 18, 4 oz of gatorade endurance formula. Miles 17.5-20 were sheer shuffling/scooting/pain/this garmin WILL NOT hurry up and hit 20. I would be convinced I had run at least a half mile only to find that it was only .20 of a mile. I ended up finishing with a total time of 3:08:50 - which is a lame 9:26 pace.

I'm really not sure if I should be proud of myself for actually doing a vingt-miler or if I should accept the fact that I am obviously NOT trained for this race. I should not be in extreme pain at mile 16, and have 10 more to go on race day. I've always thought extreme pain should not occur until you are within 3-5 miles of your finish. I once again have found an unreal amount of respect for marathon finishers. There have been times when I tried to imagine how they must feel on the last 1/4 of the race. I think I have no idea and can't really imagine how painful it is going to be for me. I wish I were trained better, but guess what. I'm not. And it's past time for my taper.No more long runs allowed. Rest is the only thing on my side at this point (thank God) and I will have to accept the results of an untrained marathon finish. Where I'm at -- is just where I'm at. And it's not pretty. It's not the ideal level I was hoping for. My whole body is sore and tight today and I was a bit sick yesterday afternoon until I ate dinner last night. That same flu/stomach issues/headache/dehydrated feeling. I am better today!!! I am thankful that I completed a 20 miler, even though it did not feel like a strong one. I pushed on when I didn't think I could. So if nothing else.... at least I know what to expect up until mile 20... and I'll kinda know what it's like to shuffle my legs when they are dead. Until Apr 26 - I am ready to soak up that taper :-) And I am all smiles when I say that :-)

Black Betty Hits the Road!

2008-04-07T22:18:00.005-05:00

This beautiful 72 degree weather called for my first road ride of the year! And boy did we break it in nicely! :-) Black Betty whispered in my ear the other day and said "Hey Jane... I need some fresh air. Can we get our pedal on?" So today was her day :-) We met Lana & Miss QR at her work parking lot around 11:30 and headed out to do part of the Staggerwing du course, and added a nice couple of climbs (Brinkley and Ledford Mill) to complete a total of 22.4 miles. I think John Brinkley rolled over in his grave when he heard the vulgarities coming from my throat as I GASPED for air climbing his steep 4 letter word hill. Talk about some burning! Lungs and Legs!!!! I even got desperate and tapped my gears to see if another easy one would miraculously kick in. It didn't. So I cranked on... without much choice. The entire ride took just a little less than 1:20. It was a wonderful wonderful wonderful ride!!! I expected to feel bad thinking that Black Betty would be hard on me today... but she cooperated well! I felt a bit stronger than I expected and I was able to get in some good beginner practice for those slick little aerobars I added! Still not hardly able to hammer as often as Lana.... but that's ok. That makes me work harder! Which in turn - makes me a better, stronger rider. Check her out as we cruised down some of the most beautiful rural land ever!!

As I blog, I am icing my hip flexor that's been giving me fits for a couple of weeks. I'm hurting all night long now and even just walking is bothering me. Why so many injuries? Not enough stretching again?

I found this new video for my sidebar. I thought it added a nice kick since I've brought Black Betty out of hybernation and off her trainer for a fun-filled season which hopefully includes a century ride this fall!!! I have to admit this song plays over and over in my head when I ride. LOL.

Catching Up: Mud, Good Samaritans, & 18 miles

2008-04-06T00:18:00.003-05:00

Geez... I gotta blog more!!! Ok, so we'll start with my Thursday Mar 27 mountain biking adventure at Chickasaw. Final pre-ride before the big race! I took the day off work and spent the night and next day with my mom until around 1:30. I had a hair appt in the boro at 5:30 so I was really pushing it. It was a beautiful day and I felt like I should slip in a final lap at Chiki before race-day! And boy was it a good ride! I took another 4 minutes off of my lap time for a 55:29, 8.8 avg speed! I was so shocked!!! As I gathered all my stuff up to leave, the first thing I always do is remove the helmet, I sat it on top of my car and said "Don't you leave that!" and then got all my gear together, bike on the rack and OFF to the boro I go to get a hair-do. I was totally pumped!!!

Got my hair done, and went on my merry little way for the rest of the wet rainy weekend just like all week had been :-/ Not good at all for mtn biking especially at Chickasaw. Evidentally... it's like a nightmare trying to ride there if it's the least bit wet. Saturday night I got all of my things together for the race. Let's see....... got my shoes, shorts, gloves, jersey, water bottle, camelbak, helmet in the car - always leave that in there. It started raining again in the middle of the night. I had called Angela earlier that evening to see what her feel of the trail would be -- and she had gotten word it was terrible!!! Sunday morning I am wide awake at 5:30 raring to go and all the sudden I get this awful feeling. After hearing about the damage mud can do to my precious gary fisher, and watching a Youtube video of some dudes mtn biking in the mud..... I had second thoughts. I finally decided my first race did not need to be a miserable one and I chose not to make the trip. I was totally bummed for a couple of days until I saw the results and saw that last year's winner in my class was 17 minutes faster than this year's. Then I heard from Angela and she had some major crashes because of the mud and ended up with a really terrible cut which required 5 stitches! So I am content with my decision now! :-/

So, Monday I ran 4.5 miles in Normandy where 2.5 of those miles are brutal hills. Then Tuesday, nothing - rain. Wednesday I plan to hop on my road bike for the first time off the trainer. I planned an easy spin during my lunch hour. I go out to my car to get my clothes to change and discover the helmet is not in my car. Wait a minute.... it's always in my car. It can't be at home??? When's the last time you saw it Holly "the first thing I always do is remove the helmet, I sat it on top of my car and said 'Don't you leave that!'" Oh no. NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NO!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am devastated. It's gone. What a careless ridiculous stupid freakin mistake!!!! So I thought I'd try one last thing before ordering another Giro Atmos black size small - $185... I emailed Angela with the Columbia Cycling Club to see if there was a chance anyone woulda turned it in IF it was found and not smashed and if so.... is there a place or a person to contact. 1 hour later I receive an email from a man over the club telling me that a good samaritan by the name of Wade Combs had found my helmet -- last Thursday! OMG... you are kidding. There really ARE good people out there! I was ecstatic! Wade -- my HERO! So I call him and describe the helmet and sure enough - it's mine! YAY!!! So it's prob a good thing I didnt make the trip to Columbia Sunday to race withOUT my helmet. I woulda felt like a tool with a capital T! Turned out Jamie works next to his work in Franklin so she delivered it to me yesterday on her way to the big Niota, TN! :-) Thanks Wade. Thanks Angela, Thanks Columbia Cycling Club, Thanks Jamie!

So, Thursday evening after work I did a 6 mile run. I felt pretty darn good the whole time! 53:39 - 8:56 pace. I'll take it! No knee pain. At ALL! This morning my plan was to fill up my fuel belt with sport beans, shot blocks, and fluids. I took off from Rayfields around 8:45 thinkin I MIGHT make it around 12 miles before I fall out and die. I have no idea what I am capable of right now - probably not much! But we'll find out - and this is going to determine if I am going to scale down for the half mary on Apr 26 or if I am going to go with my original plan prior to 2 knee injuries and a deathly stomach virus. Well, it just so happens.... I went freakin 18!!! Total surprise! Here's how it went: Mile 5 - 3 oz of water. Mile 6 - 3 oz of water and a shot block. Mile 7 - 3 oz of gatorade endurance formula. Mile 9 - 3 oz of water. Mile 11 - 3 oz of gatorade EF and a half of a shot block which had to be expelled because I got a bad nausea feeling and couldn't stomach swallowing part of it. Mile 12.25 - I died. I was hurting... and still feeling sick and light-headed. I conceded and speed-walked .25 of a mile - around 2 minutes worth. Starting back hurt like hell! But I tell myself my body will only do as much as my mind allows. So, mile 15 I do 3 oz of water. Mile 17 I do 3 oz of gatorade EF and I ended up seeing that I would only hit 17.1 if I went straight back to my car. So I had to run back and forth on the greenway (I picked a flat section) until I hit 18!!!! I DID IT!!!!! Victory!!!!

So... I don't see that it's possible to add 8 more to that. How in the world will I ever do that in 3 weeks? I can't imagine adding 2 more to be honest. At mile 16.5 I had the dead robot leg feeling - like they wouldn't bend and I was doing all I could do to push out a 10 minute mile. It was not pretty. Total time: 2:49 Pace: 9:23. And guess what - no flu like stomach issues after my run finally!!! Talk about self-fullfillment! Wow! It's been a great week!!!

My mother is improving my leaps and bounds recovering from her surgery. That makes me so happy :-) I got to enjoy about 3 hours of fellowship, wine and dessert with Bethany Friday night. Good times! That was good for the soul! :-)

"Courage is being afraid but going on anyhow." ~Dan Rather

2008-03-25T23:28:00.009-05:00

Courage... that's what I saw in my mother's eyes today. My heart cried with my sweet momma today as she was faced with fighting a battle.

Kathy Diane Matthews vs Fear.

My mom has been in excruciating pain since February 12 with bulging discs in her neck - C5/C6 & C6/C7. She has struggled through physical pain in her neck, arms and hands as well as weariness, fatigue, and most of all - fear. Today was the day that was set to take care of this problem. That's a good thing. The end is in sight. However, does it get much scarier than someone poking around on your spinal cord? We arrived at the hospital at 6am. Me, Lana and my aunt Dana. About 15 minutes after my mom and dad. When we walked in, my eyes met my mom's eyes. She's scared. I would have gladly taken her place. Seeing my momma scared hurts me. I looked at my Daddy. Daddy's nervous. I bet we hadn't been there 5 minutes and they called her back to prep her for surgery. What?? So soon? I want to sit with her. I want to talk with her and tell her how strong I know she is. "Sorry folks... we just need the patient." LUMP in my throat. As I heard those double doors slam behind her, I wept inside of me. "I want to do it for her. That's my momma & she's scared. Please be good to her. Don't leave her alone in there. She's scared. I'm scared." I looked at my watch. Lana and my dad went back to be with her for a few minutes. Our youth minister had a prayer with her.

Kathy Diane Matthews WINS!

Soon it was time for them to take her to surgery & they weren't allowing anymore family members back. 9:17am to be exact. Those minutes ticked by slowly as I silently prayed for God to hold her. Right around 9:25 we get the call - "Matthews family??" That's us. I jump up - anxious to hear that things are well. The doctor informs us the surgery went well & everything looks good. My heart leaped for joy! She was very scared about nausea after the surgery. This is something we had spent a lot of time praying about. I had personally pleaded with God to not allow this! God is good. God answered that prayer (and many others!) & she did not have to deal with after surgery nausea!! It wasn't long until she was walking, talking, laughing & once again... reaffirming how blessed she is. And once again... I am reminded of how truly blessed I am to have her. She is so courageous, so strong. Such an awesome example to me. She did it! Now we are on the road to recovery & I am excited about that!!! There will be struggles, pain and weakness, but with her courage and determination it is merely just one more bridge to cross. If anybody can do it, SHE can :-)

I couldn't help but to be reminded of the Celine Dion song "Because you Loved Me." This song has always reminded me of my mom. Her love for me is as deep as I've ever seen or felt any love. I am not worthy of it at all, but there is nothing I could do to make her stop loving me. There's just one place that kind of love comes from.... our God. On the same token, my love for her is indescribable. I just hope that in the upcoming weeks I can be there for her as she has continuously done for me.

If you have a moment, view the music video below and celebrate with me for what Jesus did for us so that we can experience moments of courage, truth & love like I have felt today & everyday with my mom.

"You block your dream when you allow your fear to grow bigger than your faith." ~Mary Manin Morrissey

2008-03-22T22:45:00.004-05:00

I could not WAIT to be able to sleep in this morning. I've waited all week for this. I went to bed around midnight last night (Fri) savoring in the thoughts of how sweet it would feel to sleep as long as I'd like. I can sleep the rest of that parasite right on outta me and I am going to feel SPRY for mountain biking!!! 7:30am I am awakened by the loudest most obnoxious chainsaw in the state of Tennessee. My lovely redneck _____ _________ ______ CLOWN of a neighbor decided he would SAW down bushes by his house at 7:30 on a Saturday morning literally 20 yards from my bedroom window. This neighbor is the one who has the 1973 (& I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt) chevy pickup with no windows (not even plastic with duck tape) that he apparently must MAUL on the gas pedal every morning by 7am in order for it to run. It is so loud he makes my windows rattle & each time I am convinced there's a terrible thunder storm coming through. The joys of a subdivision :-)

On a more positive note, I did something great today. It made me feel awesome! I fixed water bottles, gathered bicycle goods, put my Gary Fisher on the bike rack & headed to Columbia, Chickasaw Trace. As in..... ALONE. That's right folks. All by mySELF! I questioned my sanity at times while getting ready. Am I fool? I do not know how to fix a flat on this bike, I do not know how to do ANYTHING to this bike but reset my computer and clip in my pedals. I am no bike maintenance person. Thus -- it isn't smart to go alone. But... my plan all week was to mountain bike on Saturday & nobody wanted to go but me. I thought of every excuse in the world that I should back out. The bottom line is -- if I want to race in the Chickasaw Classic race next weekend, I gotta go. I can't show up for that race & not ridden the course at MINIMUM one more time. If I don't go today, my @ss aint racing! I had to talk to myself..."Holly just go. Right now you're scared, but think of how much better you'll feel when you make this journey on your own. You're a big girl! Saddle up. Throw your fears aside and stop being so conservative. Don't let fear keep you from reaching your goal." So, I strike out for Chicki!!! Just ME :-) Just 1 bike :-)

So just me and my bike trek off to Columbia. We get there and man was that the spot to be! Cars everywhere. Looks like there may be lots of participants this year in the race. Cool! I get all of my gear on & take off on my bike. Oh boy... I just couldn't believe I have the guts to do this on my own. Mtn biking kicks my BUTT & I've been known to have some pretty nasty crashes! I made the first rocky section further than ever this time before I pushed over the freakin boulders that they are trying to kill us with! Jumped back on the bikey and tried to go fast. I easily made several sections I've hesitated on before. Miles 4-6 are all climbing. I tried to find spots in the trail that were safe and open enough to hammer so I could increase my overall avg speed and decrease my total time. I finally made it to the end of the 8.25 mile trail with a total ride time of 59:25!!!! Yay! Last time my total ride time was 1:04. I was SO pleased! This is still not good enough to bring home much better than last place at the race, but guys...... you just have no idea how far I've come!

I loaded up my stuff with a big smile on my face and headed out. The whole way home I heard 1 great song after another on the radio. It made for a great, sunny, warm, satisfying ride home. I decided I'd celebrate with a french manicure in the boro! HA! Have you EV-ER?!!?!?! This chik goes mountain biking, and stops on her way home at the nail shop? lol. Yeah... who says mountain bikers can't have pretty nails anyways? :-) I found it to be a bit unordinary... but again - it's cute to be unordinary. I guess? lol.

Attacked by Parasite(s)

2008-03-21T23:14:00.003-05:00

So... I have my whole week planned out. It's gonna fall together like bread and butter. Sunday I'm going to run semi-long, so I did my 8.5 miles. I'm going to run again on Monday because Tuesday I want to mountain bike. Wednesday I want to run again. I'm going to push Thursday in as a rest day because Friday morning I'm goin to go for that 18 miler! I might have a chance at CMM after all!

Monday it was windy during lunch hours... I just didn't have it in me to run through the wind. Fine... I'll hit the rec tonight and that will also give me the option to lift some weights, do abs, etc.... Summer is well on it's way. Sleeveless shirts and shorts are in sight - get your tone on, Holly.

6:15-ish I hit the treadmill thinking I'll do about 4. Dangitt! I left my water bottle at home. Oh well! But then at like.... 3.5 I get the urge to go 5 miles. So I finished my 5 miles in 46:39, dying of thirst I head to the water fountain looking sheepishly at it and thinking "yikes! I hate those things!!! Tons of sweaty, heavy- breathing people getting their mouths milimeters from the same nozzle and slurping water just grosses me out. There has to be germs all over those things no matter how careful you are... you know they JUMP out on you! I'll keep my distance, grab a quick drink and I'll be good." Then I headed over to do some incline press and then work with free weights. Then a few abs... out the door I go! Nice workout - very pleased :-)

Onto my parents' house. Mom fixed my favorite -- pintos and sour krout. I walk in, fix myself a plate and INDULGE. Ahhh... it tastes so good. I come home feeling rejuvinated, get in bed around 11pm and fall fast asleep. zzzzz.....zzzzzz....zzzzzzz....

1am my eyes are open. Blink. Blink. Ummm... am I dreaming? I feel funny. "Close your eyes and go back to sleep Holly." Blink. Blink. I'm feeling funny AND funky. Uh-oh... sumthin's gotta give. I roll over. Whoa... GIIIIRL - you betta HIGH STEP IT! I had several rounds of severe diarhea and I think "well something obviously didn't set too well. I still feel really weird but I'm goin back to bed. I'll sleep it off." 1:10am eyes are open. Blink. What's goin on with me? I am feeling a bit pukey. I think I better be safe and go sit in the bathroom awhile. Boy am I glad I did. I projected tons of pinto beans, corn bread and sour krout into the toilet - several HUGE wooshes out of my mouth. OMG that hurt! OMG my throat is on FIRE! OMG I'm so sick. I crawl across the bathroom only to make it to the garbage can where I hurled some MORE! I can't hold my head up at this point. I called my parents. My dad told me not to move and rushed over around 1:30-ish. He came in, helped me clean matters up and got me settled back into bed. 2am - I'm running to the bathroom puking again. This time from the abrupt attempt at getting my head in the toilet I was not exactly too successful. My poor dad. He would barely get the mop put down before he was using it again. This went on literally all night - until around 6:30-7am. I totalled up 7 episodes from the mouth and 13 from the other end!!!

I was so thirsty I could not stand it. But each time I would eat 2-3 small ice chips it wasn't 20 minutes till I was back on that freshly mopped floor or my head was stuck in the mop bucket throwing up. By around 4-5am I am feeling very dehydrated. Very fever-ish.... whatever that was - I declared it a death sentence. I needed some liquids but was so afraid to try. I remember racking my brain - "Who would I know that might have an IV needle handy?" Mom came over around 7:30 and brought me some sprite and jello & anything else she could possibly think of to help. I was able to hold this down. Am I lucky or what? I have been weak from this ordeal since Tuesday. Today (Friday) is the first day I've been able to actually EAT anything. Thank goodness for parents who love me!!!! A sister, Lana, who brought me a plate of food, fruit, drinks & even a new toothbrush! I really do not know what I would have done without them. This was undoubtedly the worst sickness I've ever been plagued with. It really lasted about 3 full days. Body aches from head to toe, exreme fatigue, nausea, and the rest of it.

Needless to say, since I am finally feeling back to about 75% today... my 18 mile plan did not come through. :-/ I did 3.5 instead and it was ALL I could do on no fuel. Sigh.................

Gaining strenth... but it's not gonna be enough

2008-03-17T16:40:00.002-05:00

I wanted to run long (long for me) on Saturday but everytime I'd go to get dressed, I would hear more thunder. So finally after 3 attempts I gave up, took a shower and K & I headed to N'ville to Cumberland Transit and then to J Alexander's for dinner. So that left it for Sunday afternoon. Ugh... I really do not like to waste a serene Sunday in my running shoes. I like being lazy on Sundays. I strike out from the middle school, out to Lincoln street for a royal trail loop, then around Heritage Place, right on Oak Drive and back through hwy 41 and hwy 55..... hoping this made-up loop in my head will be somewhere close to 10 miles. I was a bit short - however, very satisfied with my effort and distance. I had that tight/dead feeling in my legs so I figured I had pushed enough and when I got back to my car, I was at 8.5 and I called it a day.

I see that I am not going to reach my goal for CMM. So I am just going to do the best I can do and mainly try to enjoy the marathon. I am hoping I can run long this weekend.... we will see. I am having to be really cautious with my knees. I am also trying to incorporate biking into this marathon schedule because I am included on a relay team for the Gulf Coast half ironman on May 5.... and I'm the biker chik :-) So that is a 56 mile bike ride.... without much time for preparation. I am also craving to race at the Chickasaw Trace Classic mtn bike race on March 30. Seems like the last 2 weekends have been covered with rain and I'm not able to go to the trail and learn it. Not sure if that will be a sucess either. But I have goals - and even though I may not perform to the best of my abilities - on those days -- I'll do all I can do, and it will be my first for both a mtn bike race and a marathon. I'm ok with that. I don't get real caught up in trying to break a record or being number 1, 2, or 3. I like to enjoy myself more than being on a podium. Especially when it's my first attempt at something. So... all of that to say I ran 8.5 miles yesterday in 1:14. I think that is somewhere around an 8:42 pace.

Last Thursday Lana and I rode the 13.5 mile mountain bike trail at AEDC. Boy was that a fun ride!!! Total ride time: 1:34 averaging 8.6mph That is a PR for me! Yay!

Daddy's Little Girl

2008-03-12T16:49:00.005-05:00

Today is a really special day in my family. Today is my daddy's birthday!!! We all celebrated Monday night at the Olive Garden. I have been blessed with the best dad one could ever ask for - no matter how biased that may sound - I believe it and that's what counts :-)

Well, I am pleased with this week thus far. I have managed to exercise 3 days in a row - that's a great reason to finish off the week as good or better than you started it!!! I did another test-run on the knee today. Good to go!!! :-) YIPPEEEE!! Virtually no pain. Right around 1/2 mile there was a bit of discomfort but I slowed my pace down a little bit and tried to get my mind off of it. 2 weeks of rest was the right prescription! No side stitch today - however... running is just HARD. 4 miles = 36:32.

I've been on my trainer a lot lately and it got me to thinking about how if my heartrate is out of control, I can just change gears and give myself a bit of relief and recover. But in running.... I suppose you can slow your pace down some and sorta kind recover -- but there is really no recovery involved in a run. You have NOTHING to help you out. No gears to rescue you. It's just you - and the hard @ss pavement. You are all the power you have. You have almost no momentum to carry you, unlike on a bike. It's just a totally different workout. I am still so out of breath when running!!! It's that terrible out-of-shape feeling! I am hoping this is going to subside with a few more runs and I will feel like a runner again instead of a stomper! I have no idea where I'm going to go from here.... my training plan is shot. I had an 18 miler on my schedule for last week. I'm not sure when I should actually try that. Should I give it about a week before I run long? 2 weeks? I don't know. I am 7 weeks from race-day and have only peaked at 16 miles. OMG - I'm in trouble! I'm supposed to start tapering in about 4 weeks! This is not good.

Congratulations to Lana for blistering the infamous "ALTO" climb yesterday. That is TOOOOOOO awesome! :-)

Starting Over from the Bottom

2008-03-10T23:08:00.003-05:00

Today I planned to take my left knee on a test drive... I haven't noticed as much tenderness or soreness lately. I haven't run on it in almost 2 weeks and that was only a 3 miler. Since then I have vowed to do no running until I can do it almost pain-free or until I've seen a doctor. So this past week I rode my trainer for 55 minutes Tues night, 1 hour Thursday night and 1 hour and 10 minutes on Saturday.

I am expecting around a 1/2 mile for the pain to set in and intensify around 1.5 so bad that I will be back in the same boat. So, at lunch I slide into my short sleeve tech shirt and went out for a leisurely jog in 62 degrees. Goal? 3 miles. No pace, no nothing. Just trying to see how much progress I've made with no weight bearing activites for 2 weeks. Just an experiment. There is something serene about a run where there are no expectations, no set pace you feel compelled to hit, and no certain distance you are locked into because "the plan says so."

Mile 0.5 - feeling good. Hmmm.... COOL! Mile 1.0 - nothing. No pain. Still doing well except for this gosh-awful side stitch that is in my extreme lower abdomen on my right side. Talk about a CRAMP! Ouch. Usually I push right through anyting like this and heck -- it's been forever since I've gotten one. What is wrong? Am I already totally out of shape so bad I'm starting over and my body is freaking? Have I forgotten how to breathe? My legs felt heavy, I didn't have any sort of rhythym in my stride or my breathing. I think the 2 week break made my body forget how to run!!! I couldn't take the pain anymore. I walked 50 yards pressing it as hard as I could until it went away. Mile 1.5..... a slight twinge of pain in the knee. Hmmm... Ok, so if I have to rate it on a scale of 1 to 10 I would say my pain level was only 1.5!!! I can tolerate that. However, I do not want to push it. Still sticking to 3 miles. It took me 27:23 for the measley 3 mile run. That's ok though! I am back in my running shoes. I may have forgotten how to run or how to breathe, but I can start over can't I? I've done this before -- just not on week 10 of a marathon training plan! :-/

A couple of verses in a Cher song "Starting Over"

Starting over again
From the second time around
Coming back to win
Starting over again
Take the first step
And let it begin
Starting over, starting over

Take another look inside
Where you always have a fight
Never dream of giving up, never
No looking back

Black Betty - UPGRADED ~ Aerostyle :-)))

2008-03-09T22:25:00.005-05:00

"The secret to mountain biking is pretty simple. The slower you go the more likely it is you'll crash." ~Julie Furtado

2008-03-03T14:34:00.008-06:00

Sunday was beautiful -- in every definition of beauty. There is nothing more peaceful and liberating than when the seasons begin to change. 70 degrees and breezy. I caught myself sitting out on my deck at 10am with a simple bottle of water, a tank top and an old pair of shorts soaking it up. If there had been any dandilions in my yard, I would have pretended to be a little girl and picked them. That's how excited I was over this weather! I felt intoxicated by the sunshine. No sunglasses, no sun block, no pony-tail holder... I wanted to take as much in as possible. Wonderful way to start the day--besides not going to church. I do believe there are times when one can commune with God just as easily or easier in the presence of no one but himself. Surrounded in the pureness of his creation with nothing to distract. It was nice.

K picked me up at 1:30 and we headed to Chickasaw Trace mountain bike trails! It takes an hour 15 from my house. We pulled into the park and saw my zenful buddies - Jamie, Abby, & Angela! They had just finished a lap and they were chilling out! We hit the trail around 3:00. I am terrible at this first section - it's probably 1/3 of a mile or less and it freaks me out. I have never even attempted to ride it. I get off my bike in anticipation of this section. I started pushing -- and I started pushing before it even required a push! I wipmed out. Just looking at that section was enough for me to bail... K thinks if I would not think about it so much and pick my line, I could glide right through it. Hmmm.... I don't think I have enough testosterone in me to try it though! This hurt my mph average - Pushing at 2-3mph for quite a ways hurts when you're trying to average close to 9 on a climbing trail. Even though I didn't make EVERY single section -- (I pushed here and one section at mile 8 on the black hills part that's pretty technical)-- I did make it through many more sections than I even attempted last time. Which is just enough to make me want to go back for more.

I think I feed off of the least amount of progress. I love getting better at things. Whether it's work-related, fitness level, skill level or whatever -- if I can see the slightest bit of improvement, I crave a little more! I just knew I could not make the longest climb on the course. I have made 2 failed attempts at it in the past. This time K climbed it and I watched intensely so that I could follow his line. Then he came back down to climb it again behind me!!! Brave soul!! I wouldn't want to be anywhere close to me on a technical climb, especially when my confidence level is near zero! But I took off in my next to easiest gear on the back, but still in the middle ring on the front to create a little resistance since I was standing. I dodged the roots on the left, then I dodged the roots on the right which allowed me to keep my speed up just enough to stay clipped in and barely moving. When I finally fought my way to the top (which seemed like eternity) I jumped off the Tassajara, laid her down, and I joined her flat on my bike! Total WUSS! My chest was exploding to the max looking for oxygen and my legs were shaking incontrollably! What a sight!!!! Pure exhaustion!!!! There were several other sections that I was successful on for the first time. Some of them I would look at it and think "You're going down Holly. You realize that. Just DO IT. At least try it. All you can do is just pedal hard and try to pick the most sensible line and do not slow down no matter what or the obstacles will crash you! Pedal, my friend -- PEDAL!!" It was a great feeling and just 1 lap of 8.11 was enough for me. I was SPENT!!!! My clothes were soaked! This was the toughest 8 miles I've ever done. I am dissapointed in my time though - 1:04. That is not what I was hoping for. I was hoping for closer to 1:00 even. Regardless, I am pleased because my effort level stepped up a notch and my confidence is building by leaps and bounds. Even though I am no where near a competitive race pace or skill level, I am making progress. And most of all -- I am having fun. And having fun is really what it's all about :-) Oh... and I almost forgot. No CRASHES!!!! YAY!!

MTB with Protection!!!

2008-03-01T18:01:00.010-06:00

I wore knee pads on this mountain bike ride to protect my terribly banged up knees that have NOW knocked me out of doing any marathon training. Thus... the reason I trekked out a 14.5 mile mountain bike ride at AEDC today with K and Jamie!!! I'll post more later on the ride... in the meantime - check out the pics!!!

Ok, so after I've just stuffed my face with a hawaiin ribeye and baked potato, I am back to posting! Jamie and I came to my house and showered and headed to Boskey's! Ah.... what a day! So, it all started with getting up at 8 & letting Hattie out. Then the bed just kept calling for me and I caved in. I mean - dove in! The next thing I know it's 10:50am! YAY! That was good sleep and I loved it and I don't care that I slept the day away....... I'm all for it! So I met Jamie and we headed to the base and met K. The weather was beautiful today! 58 degrees and SUNNY! We rode about 2.8 miles into the trail and Jamie comes walking towards us pushing her bike. She looks rough. Pale. Then she gets sick out on the trail! OMG... poor thing!!! We still have no idea why she was so sick, but she felt better about 10 minutes later and finished the first 8.1 mile loop! Can you say SOLDIER? So we sat around for a few minutes and I finally got K to take me on another loop. This time we did the tougher part of the trail by going right at the fork. This is more technical and way more climbing. I rode HARD!!! I tried to keep him in my sight but it is still slightly impossible. However, one time he stopped at the top of a climb to wait on me and said I was about 1 minute and 15 seconds behind him. Heck... compare that to last year - it was like... a 10 minute wait for him probably! So I am making some progress.

We finished this loop completing 6.4 miles for a total of 14.5 miles for the day averaging 8.0 mph. This second 6 mile loop beat me DOWN! I was fighting for a breath of air just 2 miles into it. My back was aching and I felt smoked from head to toe! I think this is the only way I'm gonna improve though - ride hard pretending to race... even though my pace is not quite up to a race pace. Great news - no crashes. 14.5 miles and not a single crash. There were a couple of near mishaps, but I fought through it! So, even though I didn't actually utilize the knee pads.... I have to admit I felt a bit better about them being on my brickle knees.

Isn't it funny how cycling doesn't irritate my knee at all and it never hurts but running a half mile buckles it under and it shuts down on me? Well... there may be some irritation. It's extremely stiff tonight and not wanting to bend or straighten.

Sweet..... or not so sweet 16

2008-02-23T15:52:00.005-06:00

My knee has given me fits all week. Not the injured knee from the skiing accident, but the knee I smashed last Saturday in a mountain bike crash. It's still swollen, extremely tender, scabbed over and blue-ish, red and I'm having problems with it being really stiff. When I sit at my desk at work and don't move it for awhile it literally will not bend. When I have it straightened out and try to bend it, it doesn't want to do that either. This week I ran 4 Monday morning before work - it hurt very very badly - right around mile 2 if I woulda had my phone, I woulda been waking someone up to come pick me up! Tuesday it seemed to feel some better so Tues night I went to the rec and ran 5. At mile 2, it was excrucitating pain. So I stay off it the rest of the week. No trainer - nothing - until yesterday. I had 16 on my schedule for my long run. So I reported to work early and left around 3-ish to do 16 miles in Tullahoma. Mile 1, I can feel a twinge of pain in the knee. Mile 2 - still feeling it. Mile 3 - hmm... still there but this is tolerable. If it doesn't get much worse I think I'll be ok. Mile 8 I climb a hill on Carter Blake road that really set me into a fit. I took a shot block & drank more water out of my fuel belt. So I gutted out the last 8 miles probably in the most pain ever. I was running right around sub 8:30 miles until I hit mile 13 - the pace dropped to around 9:10 I think.... mile 14 - I died. I look at the garmin - PACE-10:36. OUCH!!! My body is not wanting to go forward. PUSH, Holly PUSH. You are too close to stop now. Meet our goal!!! OMG... Outta gas. DEAD LEGS. That was the point where I'm saying "pick up your right foot, now scoot your left foot" and I felt like I was shuffling out the last 2 miles and every part of my body was shot - gone! I completely broke down at mile 14 - I think that's the first time I've ever really experienced a true breakdown where I didn't think I could make it. Pure misery after mile 13. I really did not expect to feel like that until I did an 18 miler.... but I was wrong. Total time: 2:23:55 - 8:59 pace. I am not as strong as I thought - the 16 miler was a whole different ballgame. How will I EVER add 10 more to that? I don't see it. Even 1 more woulda been outta the question. I think I'm going to start trying some GU.

My knee is in a pittiful shape today. It hurt for even a blanket to touch it last night in bed. I'm taking ibuprofen which seems to take the edge off.... but the tenderness and stiffness is indescribable right now. How do I handle this for this week's training?

So, I've noticed a trend. After every long run (12 or more) I have flu-like/stomach virus symptoms for approximately 3 hours afterwards. We are talking.... cold chills, almost as if I'm running a fever. Extreme stomach and digestive issues and can't decide if it's going to come out of one end... or the other. It really sucks because I am SHOT for pretty much an entire day when I do a long-run. This time I even forced half a blueberry muffin down when I got home to try and avoid the sick feeling. I did not feel any better until I got up this morning. Anyone have any advice or suggestions? Am I dehydrating myself and it's causing nausea? What am I doing wrong?

Zen in the air... and over the handlebars!!! :-/

2008-02-16T13:13:00.003-06:00

Today was an awesome day for mountain biking. K & I met Brent and Jason at the AEDC mountain bike trails at 8am this morning. It was so much fun. I felt a lot better about riding today after riding last Saturday at Chickasaw Trace with Lana, and 2 new friends Mandy and Angela. Wow, this was such a fun day. After Chickasaw we went to PF Changs. After stuffing our faces we headed for the Grand Ol Opry.... excellent as always. Then onto the STAGE :-) I always have fun in there.
Angela taught us about riding with "zen," - control and flowing with a mountain bike where no wheel can be placed wrong. I was very relaxed today - for the first time ever. K & Brent are super fast... so I knew keeping up with them was outta the question. This was Jason's second ride ever, and he gave me all I could handle. Impressive! :-) We did the hard section first by taking a right and doing most of the hills. The trail was in excellent shape!! It's being ridden more this year and that makes it easier on all of us. I had 2 major crashes. 1) I was heading down hill with lots of sliding rocks and met Bob Alt head on, got a little distracted, started sliding, tried to unclip and I am really not sure what happened but my bike went down with a vengeance! Ouch my left knee (the only healthy one left) slammed on a sharp rock and OMG - PAIN. PAIN and the PAIN increased. I sersiouly felt like I was going to puke everywhere. The guys wanted to stand around and wait for me to recover but OMG - I really wanted everything and everyone away from me. I was scared to look through my cold gear, so after about 1 minute or so I jumped up and took off again. It looks like my knee has been hit with a sledge hammer. Skin is broken but that's not the bad part - it's the huge knot on it and I'm having trouble bending it. As I type, I am icing it. :-/ It is scary looking - like there's a small plum sitting on my knee cap. 2) K & I had just climbed our last major hill. I was on his back wheel like white on rice - getting a little too frisky. Just as I was about to make a snide comment, his brakes slam (brake check to the MAX!) to make a turn, I SLAM my front brake and my snide comment was called to heaven. I ate his back wheel, somehow he survived with no crash and I felt myself flipping in the air. WHEEEEEEE!!!!! - front flip over the handlebars. All I could see was my beautiful blue mountain bike flipping over me and I gracefully landed on the right front of my head. Thank God for a helmet. My head took a blow like never before and I saw major stars and felt extremely discombobulated. This was just short of 5 minutes of when Brent showed us how to jump a huge log - where he "ZEN-fully" flipped over his bars and body-planted into the ground. OUCH!!!!! These were some true kodak moments.... that I failed to capture :-/ Here are some pictures of our ride that I did manage to snap though.

Personal Record - BROKEN! :-)

2008-02-08T10:54:00.000-06:00

"The mind learns the body can go at least a bit farther even though it feels increasingly uncomfortable." - Pritkin

I did it!!! I went further than ever before! I never thought I'd see the day I'd attempt anything longer than a half marathon. But today, February 9, 2007 starting at approximately 4:20am and finishing at 6:30-ish was the day! I met Lana at the rec center at 4:17am temp was 38 degrees, only to hear a hard-core chest cough she had. I wasn't so sure she should attempt it. It seems like she never lets anything stop her? Wish I had that in me! If I heard myself cough like that, I would STILL be laying in bed. We snapped a quick picture, strapped on our fuel belts and took off.

We ran to interstate drive and took a right. Ran all the way to the main intersection, where we took a left. We took a right on Jackson St (Food Lion), a right on Parks Street (United Regional hospital - or "Old hospital" as most often referred to) a right back onto McArthur, straight through the main intersection. We hit the greenway, ran a couple of laps around the parking lot until Mike got there. Mike has announced that he will be running for state senate. He met us at 5:30 to run the last 7. We waited around for 2-3 min while he got ready and we took off again for the 2nd half of my longest run ever :-) I was feeling great. This run seemed like CAKE compared to the 12 miles in 13 degrees at an 8:35 pace. I made comments on how "comfortable" I felt compared to how numb and cold my face was 2 weeks ago! So, on our second half of the run Lana's chest issues got worse and she started feeling bad. I felt horrible for her... I really can't imagine what it must have been like. I know she was not up to par because she stopped talking and once I turned around at mile 11 and looked at her and her eyes were completely shut. I said "You ok Lan????" She responded with "I'm here." We pushed on and finally finished. Total time was 2:12 for a 9:25 pace. Much slower than normal, but we did have that 2-3 minute lag of time in the rec parking lot so that accounts for some of the lost time.

"Anybody can do just about anything with himself that he really wants to and makes his mind to do. We are capable of greater than we realize."
- Norman Vincent Peale

I am THRILLED that I went longer. And I felt stronger! That's great for the confidence. My knee never hurt me the first time.... until I drove home and got out of my car. I did think it might explode!!! I came home and took a hot bath, thawed my hair out and got ready for work. We have a safety standown meeting at 12:30 and OMG...... will I EVER make it through it without falling asleep? That may be more challenging than the 14 mile run!

Tomorrow Lana & I have plans to go do the Women's Beginner pre-race ride at Chickasaw Trace mountain bike park, then to Jamie's to take showers and get ready for the GRAND 'OL OPRY! It is at the Ryman this weekend and the Ryman is my favorite upright structure in the world. After the Opry if we have anything left in us we may hit the BIG BANG - piano bar across the street! I am SO excited! I have such a good sister! Now, Lana, GO TO THE DOCTOR! :-)

Week 5 is complete. 11 more weeks until CMM. I logged 25 miles and a Suffer-O-Rama trainer ride for this week... and 2 laps of Chickasaw Trace if all goes well tomorrow!

Goodluck to Tim, Lee, Heather, & Michele this weekend in Birmingham! Those hills are only as bad as you perceive them. Hang in there guys! I'm looking forward to seeing some great results. You can DO IT!!!!

"To a crazy ship all winds are contrary." George Herbert

2008-02-06T19:29:00.000-06:00

Well you know what it's like when your alarm goes off....... and for ONCE -- I repeat ONCE -- in two weeks you are finally sleeping like a baby. The alarm BANGS out at 5:45am and instead of hitting snooze, or staying calm you jump.... grab it with both hands and skip clean over the snooze and hit OFF! That's right. I don't want you to remind me in 9 minutes to get up and cycle out to Suffer-O-Rama. I demand that you leave me alone. To hell with it! :-) That was me yesterday morning.

So you know what that means... Tuesday night I had a date with Coach Troy Jacobson. Troy was in the mood to make me stand, sit, stand, sit, stand, sit. My knee did not like Troy. About 2/3 of the way through the 55 min video we adopted the strategy of only standing every OTHER time he said "Stand up!" I am glad because my knee was screaming at me this morning when I got up. When the video was over (finally!) I cleaned up the sweat off the floor and did 3 sets of crunches on my ottoman. I think that is my first ab exercise in at least a year, if not more. I had planned on doing my arms a bit, but I think I got distracted and never did. Ha! See how focused I am? Hmmm.... sounds like something I need to work on.

Last night the storms were awful! I woke up at 4am and would have bet a benjamin the big window by my bed was going to shatter onto me! So, Hattie and I made our way into the living room (the center of my house) and piled up on the couch and spent an hour with the weather man. When things calmed down, it was back to the bed until 8am!

Hattie got groomed today. Isn't she a prize! :-) Well, I think so and that's all that matters! :-) So I rushed her to the groomer's this morning and I finally got to work... only to wish I wasn't there. Things have been SOOO crazy lately. There needs to be 6 of me. I have so many things to do I catch myself looking at the wall not knowing which one I should work on next. And should I juggle them and do a little on each? Or ignore everything else until I get the first task completed? Oh well - at the end of the day it all pays the same.

I spent my lunch break in awe at how powerful our God is.... and how powerful his mighty winds were!! Let's hope the old song "Storms Never Last," by Waylon Jennings and Jessie Colter still stands because I won't get far with my training plan if the winds don't die down! It was great when it was at my back - the first 3.8 miles. But when I turned around to head back for the last 2.2, I felt like I was running against a concrete wall. I was determined I wouldn't quit. "Push Holly. What if it's like this at CMM? You better be prepared. Think of how easy the next run will feel if the winds are calm?" I was having to hurdle big garbage cans, jump off the sidewalk to avoid small ponds, etc... It was ironic that I was out running in the elements of nature. I feel as though my life has been so stormy for 2 weeks now. And I was reminded that even though the winds were pushing me backwards, and whipping my body out of control, and I was hurdling objects in my way..... I'd make it back to my car. I'd finish that race. Just like I'll make it and finish with honor (as Bethany reminds me) in the other areas of my life. Thank you stormy winds for reminding me of these truths. Hey.... I made it. I am stronger for it! 6 miles in 52:20. Average pace = 8:43.

Tomorrow is a rest day. So the next time I post, I am hoping to post that I just completed my longest run ever. 14 miles!!!! Stay tuned....

I Found this Song....

2008-02-04T20:59:00.000-06:00

"Cry Out to Jesus" by Third Day

To everyone who's lost someone they loved
Long before it was their time
You feel like the days you had were not enough
when you said goodbye

And to all of the people with burdens and pains
Keeping you back from your life
You believe that there's nothing and there is no one
Who can make it right

There is hope for the helpless
Rest for the weary
Love for the broken heart
There is grace and forgiveness
Mercy and healing
He'll meet you wherever you are
Cry out to Jesus, Cry out to Jesus

For the marriage that's struggling just to hang on
They lost all of their faith in love
They've done all they can to make it right again
Still it's not enough

For the ones who can't break the addictions and chains
You try to give up but you come back again
Just remember that you're not alone in your shame
And your suffering

When you're lonely
And it feels like the whole world is falling on you
You just reach out, you just cry out to Jesus
Cry to Jesus

To the widow who struggles with being alone
Wiping the tears from her eyes
For the children around the world without a home
Say a prayer tonight

Isn't that touching? Or am I just feeling soft lately? I feel like that song spoke to me. It seems like it's a song of "release." I tend to live my life holding onto things that are better off letting go. I am long-suffering. I do not go down easy. I will fight...... and fight...... and hurt.... and hurt. I will justify things that are simply not justifiable. I will beat myself down & convince myself that I deserved the unfairness and wreckless actions of other people towards me. Where is my breaking point? Surely it's coming soon? When do I throw in the towel? Or will I ever? What's it gonna take? Something bigger than me, that's for sure! I think I need to throw it. I think I need to give it to God.

Speaking of long-suffering.... I suffered a long 8 miles on the treadmill Saturday morning. Whew! My longest treadmill run to date! Not something I really want to get used to. I'm craving the road!!! I pulled my cold gear on this morning around 6am, headed to the door only to hear "Grrrrrrhhhh!!!!" Thunder? You're kidding. I check weather.com. What's the deal guys? It wasn't supposed to rain was it? Website says currently light scattered showers. Hmmm... I aint SKEERED! I'm dressed. I'm freakin doing it. Little rain won't melt me. I haven't felt all that sweet lately anyways :-) I fill my water bottle and see "FLASH!" out the window and "Grrrrrhh" again. The PPSSSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHH!!! Rain is pouring. Well, I just got a little sweeter and decided I didn't wanna do that to myself. I rip the cold gear tights off and throw on a pair of shorts and t-shirt. So there I am - beating out 5 miles on the treadmill. Trying to simulate hills with every mile.

Tomorrow is a trainer day - I get the joy of doing Spinervals Suffer-O-RAMA! 55 minutes of Coach Troy - this will be my first Spinervals. Guess what this weekend has in store for me!!! Friday - my longest run EVER. 14 miles. My first run that will require a fuel belt! This is going to be huge for me! I know it's not to the rest of the bloggers.... but for me - this is a record broken. IF I make it. I hope I do..... let's pray I push through it simply for confidence. And Saturday??? Well I am excited. Lana & I tenatively have plans to go to the Chickasaw Trace mountain bike women's pre-ride! Thanks to Jamie for letting me know!!! Last time I rode at Chickasaw I prayed for weeks afterwards thanking God for allowing me to survive!!! I'm not a very natural mountain biker at all. Very herky-jerky and have no guts at all. The whole time I feel like I'm going to cry. Afterwards we are talking about finding a shower somewhere and hitting PF Changs!!! Yesssssssssss!!!!!!!! I love me some CHANGS! Then possibly the Opry? What a fun day!!! I hope it all works out!

1 Week of R&R + 2400mg of Ibuprofen per day

2008-01-29T16:52:00.000-06:00

So, I don't think I'm exactly outta the game juuuuust yet. I broke down and went to see the nurse practioner about my knee today. She seems to think I may have a minor tear or done some minor cartilage damage when I was skiing. I got some prescription strength I-BU and FNP's orders to stay off of it for a week.

I did manage to get in a 4-mile run with Lana yesterday during lunch. 36:22. No major knee pain after about a quarter of a mile. No major knee pain last night! I woke up at 4am this morning. Tried to go back to sleep for 25 min - couldn't do it. Too much on my mind. So I hopped on my trainer for a 1 hour dvd. What a workout! The question is............ will I obey FNP's orders or will I hit the road and finish out week 4? :-/

"Oh Girls Just Wanna have FU-UUN....."

2008-01-27T15:26:00.000-06:00

Friday when I got off work I headed to the boro to meet my aunt Dana! She bought my dinner & we had a great time just chit-chatting! We just almost closed down the Chop House! :-) I made it back home in a state of EXHAUSTION after the 12 mile run that morning. And OUCH! My knee! It hurt me all night and all day on Saturday.

I had to be at work by 8am for that good ol PeopleTools 8.47 patch. I got my backups complete and patched my 4 servers. Everything went smoothly - thank God! Then the test team came in and load tested it all and everything passed with flying colors so I got to leave around 3pm. Came home, took a quick 25 min power nap and started getting ready for a girl's night out in Nashville. I met Erica, Libby, Melinda, Chastity, & Misty and off we went! Charla was already up there so she joined us during our hour and a half wait at Spaghetti Factory. Yummmm.... that cheese bread is sinful. I had a "trolley car" and a "pirates punch." That's the last trolley car I'll ever get - it was nasty. But lemme tell ya - that pirate's got a PUNCH! Mmm... that was good! So after we stuffed our faces we walked to Decades. Danced our BOO-TAYS off. Then to Cadillac Ranch. See pics below.

We made it back home around 3am. Boy am I TIRED today! And my knee??? I'm beginning to think I need to go to the doctor. Something is just not right. It's hurting just as bad as it did on our last day in Tahoe. I am wondering how I'll be able to do this week's training. Maybe I'll wake up in the morning and it will be better? Hopefully. If not, I think I'm gonna bite the bullet and get an appointment.

12 miles in 13 degrees! And only a frozen face!

2008-01-25T11:51:00.001-06:00

Well I did it! I actually got up at 4 this morning and met Tim, Lee, & Lana at the rec center. We did NOT tary - no stretching on my part. We wanted it OVER with! I had on my cold gear, a pair of fleece pants and a sweatshirt for my 2nd layer, $80 goosedown/gortex gloves and a $34 wool/fleece hat!

We ran out to Old Stone Fort and did a hill. Tim & Lee are running the Birmingham marathon, which is notorious for hills. We made a loop around the picnic area on the way out and jetted across the street to do a Morton's Lake loop - where there was a steep/semi-short hill that really got my heart STOMPING! At this point my body is pretty warm, believe it or not. My face? A different story. Numb, throbbing, stiff, frozen! So we head down 41 back to the bottom of jail hill and climbed it, of course! We ran all the way out to Walmart, thru the parking lot and made a loop next to the front door. Tim made the comment that if the Garmin would still get signal we coulda made a loop inside walmart. Geez.... it sounded GREAT at the time! Room temp? Anything over 30 sounded HOT and HOT was good! Any other time you can barely pay me to go in Walmart! haha :-) So back over the interstate, and this is where I really started hurting. Right around mile 8.5-9. I was having stomach issues. I was stupid and didn't eat anything but an oreo for dinner last night. And lunch?? Well it was a salad. No wonder the ol tummy is freaked out! I had to play that ILOC game. "Hello pain. How's it goin dude? Well I knew you'd be here and I expected you about right now, actually! You gonna run 3 with me? Maybe you won't stick around too long. Hey just so ya know.... you're attacking my face and I don't even know it because I'm numb!" all the way through town, down jail hill and about 100 yards from the rec parking lot Tim's garmin beeps 12 and we all stop with a 1:43 time which was an 8:35 pace. Ok, that's gotta be my fastest long run to date! These peeps can RUN! I am not sure how I could hang for the whole run except it was so freakin cold I really wanted to be finished ASAP!

So I get home right about the time the sun is coming up and I come in and grab Hattie because at one time during the most frigid run of my life, I did not think I would live to see her ever again! I immediately start peeling off frozen clothes, make sure my coffee is brewed, and run a hot whirlpool bath. I get in... it feels good for about 25 seconds and I really wish the water is hotter because I need to thaw! I sipped gatorade while soaking. I stuck my injured knee on a jet and let it massage it. Got out, dried off, dried the hair (a hairdryer never felt so good!) and jumped BACK in bed under my elec blanket. Next thing I know I'm waking up with terrible stomach cramps and a virus type feeling. I make 3 trips to the bathroom that were not pleasant. :-/ Was it the gatorade on an empty stomach? It almost felt like food poison but there was no food in my belly! I weighed and had lost a few pounds from the time I woke up until then. I felt so weak! I popped 2 saltine crackers and headed to work. Now.... I think I should do the smart thing and eat a healthy lunch!

Gotta work tomorrow - PeopleTools Patch 15 for my production systems! The great thing is.... I DID what I said I'd do again even though it was painful... and now it's time to cut loose for the weekend! TGIF!!!!! And POOF! Week 3 be GONE! I stomped yo butt! :-)

Big things happen on week 3!

2008-01-23T15:19:00.000-06:00

This is my official 3rd week of marathon training. So far, I have not slacked! Monday I did a 6 mile treadmill run at 6am at the rec. 55:15. Tuesday night I did a 1 hour training dvd on my trainer and today at lunch I ran with the long-lost sub-4 sista.... Lana! We started at East Middle and did a loop around Tara, then a loop around Macon Manor. I was only going to do 4 today, but I gave into doing 5 for some company. Then we get out there and she wants to talk me into 6. I almost did it and then I said "No... Sorry but I really just still want to do 5!" LOL. We ended up with 5.25 miles and it took us 47 minutes on the dot - 8:57 pace. She seems pretty speedy these days!!! So, tomorrow is a rest day...... and wouldn't you know I've got a long run to do Friday morning. As in - 12 biguns! Ugh... I hope I can hold up for it. I hope my knee will last. It is going to be around 15 degrees I think. I have never attempted a run outside below 20 degrees. Will I get hypothermia?

Yesterday was a great day at work! Something that was long-awaited was FINALLY given to me. Whew!!! It's about time! Things got a little rocky as the day went on.... and other big things started happening in my life and let's just say - it is time to go one way ~~~ or the other. And that's exactly what happened. :-)

Getting better everyday!

2008-01-19T22:31:00.000-06:00

We flew back Monday and I didn't actually get home till 10pm. Ugh.... a whole day lost just in travel-time. It is Saturday night - and my suitcase STILL isn't completely unpacked. I have no excuse either. While I was gone my gracious mother cleaned my house, did laundry, bought a lot of the essential staples for a house that I was out of, and basically took care of pretty much everything (mainly Hattie).... even down to a fresh fruit basket on my kitchen bar! I feel like I left one resort and came home to another!

My knee is getting better everyday. While I was in Tahoe I was convinced it was really blown out. Every step was excruciating. So Monday was rest, Tuesday rest, Wednesday rest and Thursday morning I got up at 6am and rode my trainer for an hour before work. Then Thursday night I might K at the rec and he swam 1000 meters while I, for the first time since Saturday, ran 3 miles on the treadmill. Friday was rest. This afternoon I got brave and ran another 6 miles on the treadmill. It's just too cold for my liking right now - the high temp is like.... 32 degrees. I am hoping that by Monday I'll be back to my regular planned training schedule. I have a 12 mile run on there for next weekend. Let's hope my knee continues to heal and I meet my goal!!!! I actually did have a doctor's appointment yesterday, which I cancelled. I really believe it is going to take rest and Aleve. Plus I had major issues to tend to at work and didn't feel like I should miss.

Last night Jamie came down from the boro and we had dinner at Boskey's and then headed to Tullahoma. We had a pretty good redneckin time! K, G and I went back to Boskey's for dinner tonight!!! Yummm!!! We watched "Wedding DAZE." I do NOT recommend that movie. It is one of the dumbest movies I've ever seen.

I think my schedule for this week goes sumthin like this... 6, 4, 1 hour trainer video, 12. I'll cross my fingers my right knee stays "soldier" strong and I'm back on the plan without too terribly much lost!

Havin fun in Tahoe... besides a knee injury :-(

2008-01-13T15:15:00.000-06:00

We've had a blast so far! However, I must admit....this resort is too advanced for me. There is no given route where you can take all easy to moderate slopes. There are either steep blues or black diamonds no matter which lift you take. I am not at that level. I like to enjoy my experience instead of shaking and fearing for my life the entire time. Even riding the lifts is scary enough! I have yet to get on a lift where my legs didn't pulse from weakness! 80% of all the people out here are smart enough to have a helmet on. There's a lot of back country skiing - not as many defined slopes. I twisted my knee pretty bad on Friday during a crash. I remember thinking "OMG.... my knee is shot!" But I got up & kept going. I didn't think too much about it. It was sore a little yesterday.... nothing to keep me from hitting the slopes again though! I only had 1 wipe-out yesterday.... and it really didn't hurt - I dont think? Last night before K & I went to eat, I bent down in front of our fridge to grab something and I feel excruciating knee pain - same knee I twisted. I get up and think I can't make it down the hall!!!! Last night was not a good night... I didnt get much sleep at all because the darn thing was throbbing, pounding, thumping, SCREAMING all night! We got eat breakfast. I pop some aleve and getting up from the breakfast table was a chore. Ugh-oh....I just may be outta commision for the slopes today. SAY IT AINT SO!!!! This is our last freakin day here! K heads on out to the slopes and I stay in and ice the knee hoping the aleve and ice will give me enough relief that I can at least come down the mountain one last time. It is now 1:23 here.... and I'm no better. While it's not thumping and throbbing, putting any amount of weight on the leg and trying to bend it or take a step hurts pretty bad. I concede. :-/ I'm bored. I'm watching everyone else out of our window gliding through on skis and snowboards and I'm in this room with my leg elevated. How am I going to run? How am I going to train for CMM????? I'm hoping it's a minor sprain that will heal fast.

On a lighter note, congrats to LANA on a long-awaited sub 4 hour marathon at RNR Phoenix!!! I am so proud for her!!! What an awesome run she had! 3:56, avg pace was 9:01!!! Great job!!!!!

Lake Tahoe Pics

2008-01-11T15:29:00.001-06:00

From Ten Miles to Tahoe...

2008-01-09T16:13:00.000-06:00

So, T-minus 14 hours & K & I will be heading to the airport for a Lake Tahoe ski vacation! I am very excited. I haven't ski'd in over 3 years and I have a feeling it is going to be like starting all over on the bunny slopes. I am not going to enroll in ski school or anything, but I am concerned about my CSBA skills :-) We are staying at a ski-in/ski-out resort with an ice skating rink, bars, restaurants, mountain bike shop, apparel shops, spa and massage services, an outdoor and indoor heated pool (including lap swimming).... and the list goes on!

Yesterday I started analyzing my marathon plan. I started getting realistic about how my marathon plan was going to coordinate with my ski trip. I remembered how sore I always am after just 1 day of skiing. My plan calls for a 10 mile run on Saturday. Hmmmm.... after skiing all day on Friday - what's the odds I'll be able to move enough to even pick up my running shoes on Saturday.... much less do a 10 miler in an unfamiliar area???? Odds are not good. So, determined that I will follow my plan & not start slacking on week 1, I get up and do the 10 miler this morning at 6am. My main goal was to make this as comfortable as possible until at least mile 8 no matter what the pace, time, etc.... I needed this for self-confidence. My first 5 miles averaged between 9:15 and 9:30 miles. I dont EVEN care! I just want to make it & I know I'm gonna need all I can get after mile 8. I managed to accomplish that. I felt fairly comfortable until about mile 9. At mile 9 my achillies felt tight; however, who can't suffer through 1 mile? So I finished with a 1:31:15 - 9:07 pace. Good enough for me! Like I said, pace meant nothing to me today. I am still shocked that I pushed through the 10 miles. Now I have the luxury of 2 days rest and vacation! I've gotta do a 4 miler at some point before the week ends. I hope to fit that into my ski package!

Stay tuned for Lake Tahoe pics..... and maybe even some videos!

Goodluck to Lana this weekend at RNR Phoenix!!!

Week 1 - 8:30 pace where art thou?

2008-01-08T12:25:00.000-06:00

16 weeks away from CMM! Wow, I am having a hard time visualizing my body making it 26.2 miles. Sunday was a rest day. It's a good thing - I stood on my feet in little pointy boots TOOO long Sat night in N'ville. So, yesterday was a 6 mile run. Believe it or not - I got to enjoy this in 70 degrees on Jan 7! No joke! OMG... it was blissful! It was awesome running in shorts and a tank in January! I kind of had a hard time though. Legs felt like they weighed 50lb each, heartrate was high, and attitude was struggling! I ran from East Middle to King's Ridge, to Country Club and made an extra loop through another couple of neighborhoods for 6 miles in 53:55 for an 8:59 pace. And I was shocked I did a sub-9 min run!!! I woulda settled for a 10 min pace!!! I noticed some tightness all through my calves, shins and achilles mainly. Last night I did about a 10 min stretching routine which alleviated it immediately. I am really lazy about stretching. But I dont think I should be anymore!!!!

This morning my plan says to ride my trainer for an hour. Alarm goes off at 5:50... and I'm not feeling it. Snooze..... 9 minutes later..... BLAH BLAH BLAH (some loud music) Hmmm... SNOOOOOZE!!! I finally start coming to my senses and realize I have a choice to make. I can lay there and stay snuggled up to my precious little Hattie-girl..... or I can jump up and cross-train like my plan suggests. I finally decide to go ahead and ride the trainer. Boy did I ride it! I worked up the best sweat yet! This time I did the whole thing in a harder gear. 1 hour mountain bike interval dvd, brewed up some drip. While the drip was festering I threw down right there in the kitchen floor and did 3 sets of pushups. I jumped in the shower, headed to work....... and man did I feel like a million bucks!!!

I love it when I DO what I say I'm going to do. I love to conquer the evil one and get in a great workout and get my day started right!

Tonight I'm packing for Lake Tahoe, and cleaning my house to have things in order for the best dog-sitter in the world - my wonderful mother :-) Hattie sure is lucky to have someone who loves her watching after things.

Looks like I've got a 10 mile run on the schedule for my long run this week. Ouch. I hope I prove myself wrong and bust it out!!! Cause my last two runs haven't felt too hot.

8 MILES from Suds N Duds!

2008-01-05T15:53:00.001-06:00

Today I woke up at 7am..... let the dog out, let the dog back in. And we both went back to sleep. I once again succeeded at not officially getting up until after 10am. Ahhh.... I miss those days! Well, my goal for today was to clean my bathrooms, take the comforter for my bed and wash it in a triple load washer at the laundromat, run 8 miles & go out on the town in Nash-vegas with the girls!!!

So far, I am 3 for 4! I cleaned both bathrooms, slapped on my cold gear and running shoes, loaded my comforter up and off to Suds N Duds we go!!!! I pop that puppy into a triple load washer along with $3.25 and a little detergent, walk out the door and there I am.... on my 8 mile run! I got out there and thought "maybe I just need to do 7.... that would still be good" But I ended up guilting myself into pushing onto 8. I HURT on the way back - for the last 3 miles really. My last 1/2 mile was up hill.... I honestly thought my bowels were going to explode all over the sidewalk. My whole lower body was aching, my stomach was cramping & I felt like death! It really was not a very enjoyable run. I guess that is to be expected though!!! Maybe it will at least make me appreciate the less painful runs. The outside of my calves are SOOO sore and tight from trail running on Thursday. Total Run time: 1:09 Pace: 8:37. Sure, I'll take it. I wonder if I need to slow down a bit to try and make these runs not so painful? I have 10 on my schedule for next weekend. I think I'll take it easy.... else I may not make it!!!

So, I can't stop here! I've got to finish this day with 100%! Gotta go get ready to head to Nashville. Pictures to follow.... :-)

ILOC inspires me

2008-01-03T19:57:00.000-06:00

Ok, so I've been doing fairly well lately just because I've been doing all the workouts I plan to do.... even when I'd really rather be doing something else or doing nothing at all. I am going on and doing it knowing I'll be glad. So I rewarded myself yesterday. I bought a book called "The Non-runner's Marathon Trainer." While I hesitated on making the purchase (I hesitate with every purchase no matter how big or how small) because I really do not consider myself a "non-runner." Not to toot my own horn or anything, but I've been running pretty steadily for almost 4 years. Anyways, I went on and bought it and it's got some good content. While there are some sections I'm not all that interested in following (such as Run Without a Watch) there is still lots of things worth reading. The author talks about an ILOC. ILOC stands for Internal Locus of Control. This is basically something most of us have to train ourselves to inhabit. It means creating your own reality. For instance it's like you have been granted all the materials you need to build a brand new beautiful mansion for a house. You can choose to build a small shack without much to look at, or you can take what you were given and build a dream-home. Your destiny is up to you. While we may not be able to control some of the circumstances we are faced with, we can control how we react. So basically when you are training for a marathon, he recommends you adopt the ILOC state of mind. When you are on a long training run, know what to expect. When you start to hurt, welcome it. No pain, no gain. "Hello pain. I've been waiting for you. I knew you'd be here! Come and run with me!!" I totally believe in this ILOC theory. I've used it many times myself, whether on mile 12 of a half marathon or a steep climb on mile 53 of a metric.... trust me.... IT WORKS!

So, I had a really happy new year and an even better New Year's Day. I cooked for K and my parents. We had cubed steak, mashed potatos, fried okra, black eyed peas (my mom brought), and rolls. Wednesday morning I woke up and rode my trainer from 6am to 7am doing the mountain bike training dvd. Today it was time for another run. I decided last night I'd beat Mr Weather man and do a trail run instead of running on the road in 18 degrees. So at lunch, I headed out to the mountain bike trails and did a 5 mile run! Haven't trail run in almost a year - very tough. This trail is not a very smooth one.... I almost bit the dust 3 times. It was much warmer in the woods. My face was frozen but other than that... I was comfortable. 5 miles in 48:28 for a 9:41 pace. It was a nice change and there's something about being out in the woods. I always feel like little red riding hood or something. :-) Tomorrow is a rest day and TGIF!

Happy New Year!

2007-12-31T17:57:00.000-06:00

Well, it's new year's eve! Why am I blogging at 6pm on NYE? Hmmm...Well, I'm getting a late start ringing in the new year I guess. I've been lazy all day! Yesterday I got up and made it to church... Wow! What an uplifting service! That was good for the soul. I came home & straightened my house up and K came over. We headed to the boro and had a late late lunch at Toots, then headed on over to Dick's Sporting Goods. He got a pair of $100 ski pants for $38! YES! I love bargains. And I took the gift card my aunt, uncle and cousins gave me for my b-day and used it on a ski jacket I've had my eye on for about 2 months. It is a SPYDER and I LUV it! Then we went to Binks but didn't make a purchase. They don't have anything on sale like the rest of the retail world. They'll learn one day! :-)

We headed home and my mom called and said my aunt Dana had made me a batch of peanut butter balls and she had them and was also about 5 miles behind us on the interstate. Oh wow! These things are off the hook delicious! I can't stay out of them. They are very addictive!! I think I am popping a PB ball about every 10 minutes at least. So, K and I watched college football and an auction for a mountain bike on ebay. We went to Cracker Barrel for lunch, came back and did nothing but pop PB balls and watch more college football.

Around 4pm I headed to town to run 6 miles. Mile 1 running up jail hill was exactly 9 minutes. I just knew I was going to cough up about 4 PB balls on the sidewalk. I felt so full......... my stomach was holding pinto beans and corn bread and numerous PB balls. Man, could I tell!!! It really made me feel terrible. First 3 miles took about 26 minutes. I finished out the 6 miles in 51:10 for once again an 8:31 pace. How am I doing that? I have no clue. I know on my way back for the last 3 miles each time I looked at Mr Garmin he told me I was averaging between 8:10 and 8:40 miles. Oh well.... I'll take it. I've got to slow down on the PB balls.... I look like I've already gained 5lb.

Marathon training starts next week. I am nervous just thinking about it. I am afraid I'll go out for a long run and just not make it and I'll be down and out. I hope K & I hit the mountain bike trails again tomorrow to ring in the new year. If not, I'll have my butt on the trainer for an hour. Not sure what we're doing tonight..... no big plans or anything so we'll just see if anything comes up.

Happy new Year to all bloggers!!!

Back on the Trails & No Crashes!

2007-12-29T12:13:00.000-06:00

This morning at 7am I met K, Phillip, Steven, Brent, Cole, Ortner, John, & John's dad, Gary at the AEDC Saddle Club mountain bike trails! Yep that's right... I'm the only girl! It was cold!!! 34 degrees! I get so stressed out when I even think about mountain biking. I made my last right hand turn onto the road for the trail and just honestly thought I would pass out my heart was beating so fast and I was so nervous! I haven't mtn biked since July.... and my skills were totally lacking then. I've had some pretty bad crashes before... and it has kinda scarred me. I mean, nothing where I've broken any bones or done any real damage - just broken skin and bruises!

We took off on the trail & I volunteer to bring up the rear. These guys are going to hammer - NO DOUBT! I am most comfortable there - I guess I have no confidence. That way if I wreck I'm guaranteed to not get smashed by another rider behind me! It's called 'Eliminating further damage.' :-) Well, we make it through the first 5 miles in about 47 minutes - NO CRASHES! I'm feeling a little more at ease now. Ortner wasn't feeling so hot... he felt like he could have possibly had a stomach bug. We were at a point where he could have easily gotten back to his car. So finally Steven says "Ortner! You goin with us or headin back?" Ortner releases a HUGE burp and says "I'm goin w da BOYS!!!" So it was ON! We head on across the road to the lake section - man it was slick over there! We just got a really good rain yesterday. This section is a little over a mile and then across the road back to the other trails. It got pretty technical here(technical for a girl)... and some climbs that had my heart STOMPING to high heaven! My legs were burning and I was breathing hard! We stop again right around 8 miles or so. And guess what.................... STILL NO CRASHES! YAY!

We take off again and everything was still going well. I can tell I'm getting a good workout because all the sudden I start feeling hungry! I was enjoying myself.... I got some confidence and trained myself to look ahead instead of turning the corner and flying up on a technical section out of control and slamming the brake. Gary was kind enough to stay with me for most of the ride while the rest of the fellows hammered it out probably a half mile ahead. Right around mile 11.5 I spot Gary's gray sweatshirt on the trail and I see that the trail is going to come out on a fire road soon. I'm hoping he knows I'm not going to have any clue which way to turn from here. He must have assumed I knew..... he was no where to be found. I ride a little ways down the road...... no Gary. I stop and unclip to see if I can hear a bike and follow my ears.... no sound. Nothing. Ugh-oh... I'm lost. You've gotta be kidding me.... I've stayed with them the whole way and with 2 miles left I'm lost? 4-letter word! I take off back the other way where I came from hoping someone has realized I'm lost and coming to get me. NOPE! Not a soul in sight! So I wonder if maybe they are all at the end of the fire road waiting... I take off and the next thing I know I'm back to the main hwy that can take me back to my car. I have two choices - I can try to jump back on the trail and guess which inlet I need to take........ or I can go the way I know is back to my car. I choose to decline the unknown and go for the known :-)

So I get back to my car and my computer reads that I've read about 13 miles. I waited for several minutes on the crew to come back but they didn't. I loaded my bike up, took some of my gear off, changed shoes.... still no one in sight. I was getting cold. I thought "I hope they're not out there looking for me." Then I remembered that they probably haven't even looked back since we were so close to the end... and when they see my car is gone from the parking lot, they'll know I'm ok. So, I headed on home. K called me in a few and I told him I was fine. I am feeling pretty bad that I didn't just hang around in the parking lot for the rest of the bunch to get back. That could have been the wrong decision on my part..... I think from now on if that happens I'll wait. I'm not sure that was good mountain biker etiquette :-/

I had a great ride & a great workout! No CRASHES! There were a few close ones.... but never went down! I'm sure I will be very sore just from working different muscles. It was worth it though!

Total Ride Time: 1:31
Average Speed: 8.1mph

Crazy 8?!

2007-12-27T23:50:00.001-06:00

I finally got my butt outta the house today and took in some fresh air. 8 miles of fresh air. I drove to the rec center (the dogs out here by my house are viscious!)On my way I said "I'll try 7." Then I got outta my car and thought "5 would be real good too, ya know." Then I felt pretty strong on my first mile - climbing jail hill and checking my pace after mile 1 was 8:50. Hmmm.... not too bad... maybe I can push onto 7? Keep in mind the last longer run than 5 that I did was on Thanksgiving - 6.2 miles.... at a really slow pace & felt HORRIBLE! Since TG, I haven't run more than 5. I feel ok at 3 miles... and think "Heck I would be real proud of myself if I go 8 instead of turning around at 3.5 and just making it 7." So I keep going past 3.5 miles and when the garmin beeps at 4 I turn around, challenging myself to 8 miles. Well, I did it! I really started feeling pretty tired around mile 6. At mile 7 I was really glad I only had 1 more to go! I finished in 1:08:10. I calculated that on my pace calculator......... and holy smokes! That was an 8:31 pace! How in the world did I do that? Beats me....... but I'll TAKE IT! I tried to imagine myself doing 8 miles two more times plus 2.2 more....... it literally seems IMPOSSIBLE to me.

Back in the Saddle!

2007-12-26T19:00:00.000-06:00

Wow! I sure did have a wonderful Christmas. I feel so blessed. I got to spend time with all my favorite peeps, received way too many gifts and ate way too much food! K came over Christmas Eve night and we exchanged gifts. He got me a trainer for my bike! YAY! He also gave me a sterling silver necklace and earring set that is the shape of a road bike, another necklace that is the shape of a road bike and a beautiful AWESOME lead crystal with a road biker etched in so that it is 3-D and can be viewed from all sides! It is so cool and I love it! I also got a super neat magnet for my fridge - it is a mountain bike! I finished up wrapping presents and cooking and we just chilled for the night.

Christmas morning we went to his family Christmas and had breakfast & opened gifts. Then we went to my family's Christmas! My parents always do way too much. And wow! What a dinner!!! Turkey, ham, dressing, sweet potatos, green beans, red potatos, corn, brocoli/cauliflour salad, cranberry sauce, rolls and more! I rode my trainer yesterday for the first time. I love it! I did a 1 hour mountain bike video that consisted of lots of speed intervals. So, that is the first time I've been on my bike since Oct 20. It felt good to be back in the saddle!!!

Here are some pics. Some were taken with my new digi camera that my parents gave me for Christmas!

I Prayed...... and Then I Clicked The Button!

2007-12-24T14:20:00.000-06:00

K & I went out with some of his friends last night to London's. I played my first ever game of shuffleboard. Pretty fun! Among this group of friends, we found a marathoner named David. David just completed the Memphis marathon a few weeks ago and was encouraging both of us to do CMM. My mind has already been made up about CMM. K is still battling through it in his head. I really think he'd feel much better if he just goes ahead and signs up. Sometimes trying to decide on something like that is harder on you than just taking the plunge.

This morning I'm sitting here at work with ZILCH to do on Christmas Eve.... I realize there are 7 days until a price increase for CMM. I decide I'm going to see if my coupon code works but not sign up. I go through the whole checking out process, add my coupon code and BOOM! My registration fee just dropped from $85 to $70. I couldn't resist. What if my coupon code doesn't work tomorrow? Or over the next 7 days? My shopping cart is ready to go.... I know I really want to do it.... I already have my hotel room booked.... I think I need to do some serious soul searching before I commit to this. Perhaps I need to talk to God a little bit about it? I take a few minutes to see what the big guy says :-) I tell him I'm worried that other issues in my life will effect my training/motivation. I want to be able to go on and train regardless of what goes right or wrong in my personal life. The next thing I know I CLICK the button and I'm signed up and recieve a confirmation email.

So all you fellow-bloggers please remember me in your prayers..... it's going to be a long road getting there. I am excited, scared and PUMPED :-)Above all, I want the entire thing to be a positive experience. I want the race to be fun and I want to thank God everyday for giving me the legs, feet, and mentality to get to the finish line. If I can just stay this motivated I'll be ok. However, I know the reality of it is, there will be good days and there will be bad days. There will be days when I'll question why I signed up. There will be good training runs and miserable training runs.

I got out today at lunch and ran 5 miles in 42:54 - 8:34 pace. I hope this compensates for some of the massive mounds of calories I am about to take in over the next few days. I've got to stop by the store on the way home and get something to fix for K's family Christmas breakfast in the morning. 9 hours till Christmas day! I love some Christmas! :-)

"I Got 5 On It!" :-)

2007-12-20T20:06:00.000-06:00

Remember that song? haha... I used to love that song. I had no idea the entire song was about weed when I was a teenager and liked it so much. Innocence is bliss!

Ho Ho Ho!!!! Merry Christmas everyone! I love these last few days before Christmas!! To me, they are more exciting than Christmas day.

Today I got up and met the crew at the rec for 5 miles at 5am. The crew consisted of me and Michele! Guess everyone else had too much eggnog last night? :-) So, we took off down the greenway, to hwy 55 up to the main intersection, took a left at Eckerds, a right on Hills Chapel, a right on Oak Drive, a right on McArthur, a left at Walgreens onto 41, all the way down jail hill, back onto the greenway for a 48:50! Not exactly speedy.... but it was 5 miles on the books on Dec 20, 2007. Anything outside this time a year is a real accomplishment in my opinion!

I came home and for the first time in....... 13 months I got out my resistance band and did about 10 minutes of work on my arms, a few pushups and 30 lunges. I am afraid to do too many lunges because ... well... if you've ever done lunges and tried to run the next day, it hurts. Your legs feel like tree stumps. I used to be heavy into lunges - I'd do 2 laps around the track at the rec with 8lb weights in my hands. I have not done any toning in 13 months so I'm starting slow.

After my 10 minutes of toning I jumped in the shower, dried the hair and the next thing I know I'm waking up in my bed at 7:45. Oops... I laid back down and boy was that a GREAT little cat-nap! Much needed. I headed onto work. Had a great day. I enjoyed a peaceful lunch with my mom. There are not many things better in this life than sharing a lunch hour with your mom... or your sister! At least not for me. We had lunch at a local tea room.

I finished my day out at work, came home, bathed Hattie in some new "Ooh Lah Lah" pawberry scented shampoo. Now I'm cooking for Christmas at my aunt's on Saturday.... and feeling sleepy. It must be that vigorous toning workout I endured this morning ;-/ zzzzzzzzzzzz........zzzzzzzzzz..........zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Tis the season....

2007-12-18T19:54:00.000-06:00

Well those 64 degree temps are gone. :-( Winter has set in and we are lucky if the high temp hits 50 all the sudden! This means 5am runs are in 30 degrees and under. Talk about lack of motivation! It's really hard for me to let Hattie out at 4:30am when the 25 degree wind chill slaps me in the face as I open the door.... and turn around and not crawl into my warm, cozy bed. I guess this is to be expected since we are 1 week from Christmas :-/

Saturday we got lucky and had some warmer weather than expected. I did a 5.2 mile run from the rec through town. This was supposed to be a 7 mile run and I felt great and have no doubt I coulda gone 7, but the temp was dropping (it was 14 degrees colder 46 min later) and a cold rain started hitting me at mile 2. I had on shorts and a t-shirt. But hey.... 5.2 miles is better than zero miles. I had a nice enjoyable run & it made me regain some much needed motivation.

It was too hard for me this morning though. I skipped. I was going to meet Lana at the rec for 8 miles. Unforseen circumstances rose to the occasion, therefore I did not get any sleep. The sleep I was enduring felt like.... half sleep. Or sleep in a dump truck going 80mph. So at 4:30, I think I was still half sleeping and knowing I hadn't taken in any food since lunch the day before... I didnt feel like 8 miles was a good thing for me. I did happen to meet her there last night for a bit of weight lifting and a swim attempt! Yep that's right folks.... I actually DID attempt to swim this time. It was not pretty. It was not as ugly as last time, but it was not pretty. I actually made it to the other end of the pool for the first time without stopping! I know that's pretty pathetic but I am completely intimidated by the water. I've never liked being under water... I feel like I am suffocating. I've got big issues. Almost everytime I come up for a breath of air, I get about 1/10th of the breath in only to realize I had water all in my throat and so BOOM! It stops my breath and decides to strangle me. DIDN'T TAKE! So there I am gasping and wheezing for air! And thinking "I need to go home. This sport is not for me."

Today at lunch I managed to slide in 4 miles - 36:29. I was proud of myself for getting out and not being lazy. So now.... it's reward time! I get to curl up on the couch in my pj's with a cup of starbucks hot chocolate that Mary Beth gave me for my birthday! Speaking of that... here are some pics from last Thursday.

28 years gets ya 3 miles with Daddy! :-)

2007-12-14T15:46:00.000-06:00

I turned 28 yesterday. I have mixed emotions about turning 28. We won't go there! :-) I called my dad Wed night and told him all I wanted for my birthday was for him to meet me and Lana, and the rest of the gang at the rec @ 5am for some running! He didn't sound too encouraging that he would be there. I was persistent. I want to run with my daddy! So around 4:45am yesterday morning, I get brave & I call him. He sounded very asleep.... which is normal :-) He didn't give me a straight answer as to whether he would show or not. Around 5:03am we see him creeping through the parking lot in his beloved Titans car :-) YES!!! He made it! We ran 3 miles and he kicked BUTT! How can he just bust out 3 miles with no training? Or has he been training in secret? We had a ball! I hope he comes again. That is the best birthday gift one could ever get! Thanks Daddy! I love you.

Me, Lana, & Mike ran almost 2.5 more miles and got DRENCHED in the rain. I have never ran in the rain that hard before. They informed me that it's good to practice in inclement weather because this could happen at CMM! haha.... that was a good one :-)

I drove home, jumped in the shower and got back in bed for about 30 min. Never could go back to sleep though. I headed to work and had lunch with Lana & K, finished the day out at work & went over to Mom and Dad's for an AMAZING dinner that she had cooked for me. They gave me a beautiful ring for my birthday! I love it & am so excited to have it!! My nephew colored me a special easter egg for my b-day and wrote our names on it. :-) LOL. Don't ya love precious innocent children!! It did go on my fridge as soon as I got home. K joined us later at my parents. He & I challenged each other to a mini RBI baseball tournament. He beat me. I am not sure how except that he stuck me with the really bad team & took my good team for the championship game. That's alright - I'm not giving up my nat'l league all stars next time.

Not sure exactly what the weekend has in store, but I hope it is a good one. I hope I get to exercise some, but we are expecting bad weather and I'm not a gym girl.

My Rocket City Hero - #112

2007-12-12T18:02:00.000-06:00

Ok, I haven't been very bloggified lately... so I'm late on this post. We'll start with Saturday morning. My alarm went off at 5am and I met my parents at 5:30 for a trip to Huntsville to watch my sister, Lana compete against herself for a sub-4 hour marathon. Also running this race was Michele, David, Lisa, & Tom. Before the marathon started I wished Lana luck, the gun went off, the music started & all the sudden...... I feel emotional. Excited, scared, worried, pumped UP, and HAPPY :-) that I am there. That Lana (race particpant #112) is racing... shooting for her goal she has trained so hard for. Nothing I can do bout it now but pray & cross my fingers. So, we jump in my dad's truck & find the 6.2 mile marker. We stand & wait on our athletes. My dad (the flash) is on a mission to find Lana, his oldest daughter whom he could not be more proud of! We spot her! I hear him say "Blue shirt blue shirt!!! That's her! There she is! Does Kathy see her? This is IT!" I look up the sidewalk to see my mom jumping and clapping for her. I walk out into the road to snap a pic with my phone & I get a big high-five from my sis, a big smile & she says "Feeling good! Feeling good!" (Whew! Thank God!) She is right on pace for a sub-4! Somehow I miss Michele & David?? We leave the 10K mark & wait at the 11 mile marker. This time I see Michele & David running beside Lana. She seems to not feel as well. I confirmed this when she told me she was off pace & only feeling "ok." I tried to encourage her and tell her not to worry about it & just enjoy the run. So off we go to mile 18 where my dad was prepared to make the transaction of 2 additional fuel belt bottles & I am to jump in to help push her through the last 8 miles. We wait...... we wait....... we keep waiting. David sees me on the sidewalk & informs me that Michele & Lana are both not feeling well & have dropped back. My heart is filled with sadness, but that is ok. We will make it! Finally we see Lana & Michele & neither of them are feeling well. You can see it in their eyes. They are dissappointed. They are sick too! I join in & we walk a little ways & when we get to mile 19 I can tell something isn't right with Lana. She turns pale, then begins to cringe. I knew it was coming. She tosses about 2 gallons of lemon-lime OS Endurance. Oh man..... it was a scene. When I was comfortable with the fact that she had completed her final woosh, I bend down and wrap my arms around her, tell her it's going to be ok, help her up & we begin to walk. For most of the rest of the marathon I carried a bottle of water & a cup of gatorade. I tried to remind her to take small sips so her stomach isn't gushed with fluid. Her lower back was really hurting her bad & there were times when I was worried we needed to stop at medical. I was really glad to be with her. We ended up walking/jogging to the finish. Even though she didn't meet her goal of sub-4, that girl is my hero. I've never seen anyone fight so hard to finish anything in my life. Humidity was high, nerves were frigid, & OS Endurance didn't want to cooperate that day. Given the circumstances, I declare her a soldier! Sub 4 is in her future - no doubt. December 8, 2007 just wasn't the day. Congratulations Lana! Congratulations Michele! Congratulations David! Congratulations Lisa! You guys did awesome! Now... all of you just remember on April 26 (CMM) I'm going to need some support! I don't know what it feels like to run 26.2. I'm scared!!!

Lana and I found a real nice way to celebrate yesterday at lunch. It's pecan cobbler and MAN is it delicious! We declared it the best post-race food in the south. :-)

Monday night Bethany took me to Cracker Barrell to eat for my birthday, which is this week. Thanks girl! Had a great time as always!

Yesterday morning I met Lana, Mary Beth, Tim, & Lee at the rec center at 5am for 5 miles. Tomorrow, I plan to do the same & I'm thinking I want to trail run on Saturday.

5 + 2 = 7(hike)

2007-12-07T16:50:00.000-06:00

I feel like I'm washing my cold-gear everynight. After Tuesday's run I washed my cold gear. I ran in it yesterday and now I need to wash it again! I'm assuming I'll be washing it again Sunday night! Perhaps I should invest in another set? Hmmm... I don't know. Thursday at lunch I went out and did a 5 miler. 43:17 for a 8:39 pace. Now.... I had planned on floating. I am not sure how I got the 8:39 pace.... except I had a lot of crazy things on my mind + I remembered my IPOD!

This morning at 7am I ran 2 miles with K - including hills! Then I felt like I was hiking up a huge hill back to his house. We sorta took the back way and walked a hill full of dirt, leaves, rocks...... and 2 beautiful deer!! So, I'm calling it a brick! 2 mile run plus a hike!

Now the weekend begins..... TGIF! I'm going to watch the Rocket City Marathon tomorrow in Huntsville. I am very excited just to be in the atmosphere of a marathon again...... but not as excited as I am to see Lana reach her sub-4 goal that she has worked her butt off for.

Maybe I'll be so motivated, I'll come home and do a little bit of running myself! We'll see!

I'm Back! Sort of..... ;-)

2007-12-05T16:43:00.000-06:00

I woke up Sunday morning feeling soft all over. Just like... my muscles are dwindling away because I haven't worked out in almost a week! I still didn't promise myself a thing though. I'm not feeling it. Monday morning I start getting this burning desire to get out and run. However, it was nasty outside. The winds were gusting up to 20mph and that burning desire suddenly started cooling off & the next thing I know... it wasn't hot anymore. Furthermore, it was gone :-/

Tuesday morning I'm getting ready for work. Still not so sure if I wanna take another stab at it. But I go ahead and pack my cold gear (I've decided from now on anything under 50 degrees calls for Cold Gear - I'd much rather be hot than cold.) By lunchtime, I think it's going to be a fine idea for me to go out and do a run, under one condition and one condition only. That I float. Slow... I don't want to go out there & feel like I'm dying... because guess what?! I won't come back. So I float out a nice 4 miler - 37:08 (9:17pace). YAY! I know it's just 4 miles... at a floating pace, but hey - it's 4 miles further than I had gone in a week. While I run, lyrics from Tom Petty's "I Won't Back Down" run through my head. I heart Tom Petty!! He is doing the halftime show for the superbowl this year. Can't wait! So my goal is to run AGAIN this week and probably still just float.

I'm excited because this weekend Lana, Michele, & Lisa are doing the Huntsville Rocket City marathon! I am making the trip for spectator/support purposes.

Visions of a tin roof in my crystal ball....

2007-12-02T16:25:00.000-06:00

So, I think it's only fair that I share the good........ and the bad. We'll start with the bad. I haven't worked out, lifted a finger (besides walking the dog), or done anything active since running 4 miles on Tuesday. Lots of things goin on my world lately..... circumstances that are heavily weighing on me. This kinda stuff drains me. Sometimes I can handle it ok & continue to workout just as much and more, and then there are times it knocks me to my knees & I have a hard time getting up. So usually I will go ahead and force my way through it and say "You WILL go run. You WILL feel better. You WILL be glad." For the first time I looked up and said "I don't want to do it. I've got things going on that are taking too much out of me. I want to rest. I don't want an estimated date that I'll 'start back,' I don't want to pursue anything at the moment except rest & peace. I won't beat myself up over it either. I may run Saturday.... Or I may not? I won't do anything until I want to. And I don't know and don't care when that might be." And guys... that is exactly what I've done. Notta!

Now... for the good. Well, Lana & the boys came over yesterday and we had a ball watching Ironman Kona! I just wish they made the show last longer. I could watch it for 24 hours straight I think. We munched on some banana bread. The boys were thrilled with all the presents under my Xmas tree!! They were totally entertained. Lana and the boys went home & I met up with Jamie & Abby in M'boro. We found the tin roof in Franklin & gave it a whirl! It turned into some fun as you can see from the pics.

We had finally had enough and headed home. I don't think I actually made it to my house till around 3am! Needless to say, I soaked up my bed till 12pm today. So... as far as this week goes??? We'll see. I'm hoping some special powers are going to invade me & I will kick my heels at least a few times and hopefully the sh*tty circumstances dragging me down will not be so sh*tty this week. A lot of that is in my court.

"The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result."
~ Albert Einstein

Gobbler Gallop + Christmas shopping + Family time = Great Weekend!

2007-11-27T16:30:00.000-06:00

Thursday morning I messaged Lana & Michele at 7:30 to make sure the 10K/5K Thanksgiving day run (or as K refers to it - The Gobbler Gallop) was still on & they both responded back with a "YES," so I slid my cold-gear on, & headed to the rec center. It was misting rain & pretty darn cold! But it warmed up real fast when I pulled into the parking lot and saw about 15 cars! YAY! Running buddies :-) My daddy (The Flash) was there to lead the run & take pictures.

Lana & Michele

Lana & Michele finishing strong!

Group picture of some of us "Gobbler Gallopers!" :-)

So we took off down the greenway & the two groups split & I realized there were only 5 of us doing the 10K. Me, Lana, Michele, David, & Mike. When we got to the halfway mark I realized I wasn't doing all that hot. I felt like I was pushing it pretty good, but my time wasn't reflecting that. It appeared that I was running right around 9:30 miles. I expected much better? Oh well... it's Thanksgiving... at least I'm out here! I must have picked it up on the 2nd half because my finishing time was 54:40. 8:49 pace. I was pretty disappointed, but then I again I never get too torn up over stuff like that. I got a great workout & burned quite a few calories so I'm cool with it!

I came home, brewed some coffee, took a hot shower & got ready for the family Thanksgiving in Sherwood, TN! I got to see my cousins that I don't see much so that's always great. I got to see Megan, Laura, Sammy, Steve (from New Orleans), Stacey, Lisa & last but not least my sweet sweet grandmother "Ma." Here is a pic of me & Mom just after stuffing our faces.

So later that evening I came home & K came over & we got hungry around 9pm again! We headed to Crockets & shared a few brews & food. Friday I met K @ T's house & we met up with some more friends at Fast Jack's. I drank too much wine & we had to go home early :-/ Saturday was a slow, dreary day. I went to visit with my parents & Sat night K & I hit the boro for some big-time Christmas shopping! We finished up G's & his parents' gifts & then ate at Romano's Macaroni Grill. Sunday we went to church, then after church it was O'Charleys! Do ya think I ate enough this weekend? I haven't weighed since then for fear of the damage I've done! Sunday night I took the plunge & got my new running shoes. I know myself well enough to know needing new shoes woulda been a great excuse to keep my lazy butt from exercising this week.... so I did not allow that! "Self... you know you want to do a marathon. You know you need shoes to train. Buy the shoes & quit being a tight -@ss!"

Today I ran 4 miles at lunch. 35:37, 8:54 pace. It was cold! My hands got numb pretty fast - I do not think I dressed appropriately! Then I very reluctantly went to the dentist. I had prepared myself for a nice little root canal but got lucky and we're going to try just a filling for now. So when I got home I was in such a good mood I took Hattie for a 1.6 mile walk & boy did she LOVE it! :-)

Lana Tagged Me!

2007-11-26T21:20:00.000-06:00

Rules:-- link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog-- share 5 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird-- tag 2 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs-- let them know they are TAGGED by leaving a comment on their blog.

1. I got kissed (more than once) by a boy at my first junior highschool dance & went along with it because he was a 9th grade football player. My parents found out and grounded me from all school dances until I got to highschool.

2. When I was a junior in college, I went on my first ski trip for a week to Steamboat Springs, CO with only one person out of about 40 that I knew. She was my roommate. We ended up making tons of friends, ski'd our @sses off, & got certified as CSBA! WhooooopEEEE! When we got back home, I dumped my boyfriend of 2 years & experienced the "real" side of college.

3. I started riding a road bike in March of 2007. I worked my way up to riding my first metric (Harpeth River Ride) just 3 months later & went onto complete my 2nd metric in October! Something I never found possible when I first started riding and just 15 miles was a huge challenge!

4. I love shopping by myself.

5. I hate dry skin.

I tag Bethany & See Joe Run, See Joe Swim!

New Blogger in town!

2007-11-21T14:15:00.001-06:00

Today is a rest day for me. Tomorrow I am planning on participating in an unorganized/partially organized/ partially supported 10K run from the rec center. Lana, Michele and I were going to do a run in Nashville but things got too complicated and decided we'd run here for free. The great part is... we've got several peeps coming to join us! I'm looking forward to it. Now if we can just get the rain outta here!!!

I met Lana at Casa Mexico for lunch. Oh and guess what - good report at the eye doctor! I am allowed to try contacts again starting tomorrow for the first time in 6 weeks! YippEEEEEEEEE!!! She said my eyes look 98% better and I'm changing contact solutions. She's got me using Clear Care which is a peroxide based solution with no preservatives. You must leave your contacts in it for at least 6 hours in a specially designed case. Then rinse them with saline prior to putting them in. Ok, so that's more trouble than I'm used to. But if it will get me outta these glasses....... I'LL DO IT BABY!

My good friend, Bethany has created herself a blog! Bethany & Jeramy are expecting their FIRST baby in March! "Ce.......lebrate good time, COME ON!!" :-) If you have a chance, please welcome Bethany to bloggy-world!

Here is a pic of Bethany completing her first 5K race! Great run!

Oh... and HAPPY THANKSGIVING! I can't WAIT to commune with sweet potatos for as long as I like! Yummmmmm!!!!

4 mile floater feels good!!

2007-11-20T16:04:00.000-06:00

Beautiful weather (71 degrees in TN today!), lovely red, orange, & yellow leaves cascading down one at a time, nice breeze, and knowing in the back of my mind that in 48 hours I will be stuffing my face with all the sinful carbs & dessert a southern Thanksgiving has to offer!!! Those were the thoughts running through my head as I shared a slow, stress-free, run with my sister Lana today at lunch. I thoroughly enjoyed it, accept for a few stomach issues that set in around mile 2. We had not planned on running together but we were emailing each other at work & I get one from her that said she was about to go do her recovery run and this was about the time I was headed to change for a run also. So I call her and we decide to share the run! Good call! She didn't wear her garmin, but I did manage to start & stop my watch to see how long it would take. We did the 4 miles in 37:02 = 9:15 pace. I'm cool with that considering how easy it felt!

I found some Merrell running shoes in my closet that are really geared more towards trail running, but I gave them a shot today instead of running in my asics. I've probably only worn them 5 times, total! My hip hasn't hurt me yet, but I did a slow, short run so there could be a number of reasons why!

Oh! And guess what!!! I've been wanting a trainer for my road bike.... but I'm a bit of a....... hmm.... we'll just say I try to play it pretty conservative when it comes to spending money!! :-) I want to train on it this winter on some cross-training days so that I dont have to start over when it's warm enough to ride on the road. Well..... I shoulda known..... K was generous enough to get me the hookup on a bad-@ss trainer!! K has a "way" of always making sure my athletic needs are met. Whether it's surprising me with a new pair of SIDI road shoes in the Shoney's parking lot on a lunch break, or breaking out a sweet Polar heart-rate monitor 2 hours before our first half-marathon together, or actually finding me a road bike (free of charge) to ride for 3 months to see if I would enjoy cycling. So, Lana, & Michele, I'm looking forward to suffering on our trainers together very soon!!! :-)

I left work early today... not a lot going on, office is pretty empty & my stomach wasn't feeling so hot. It's so pretty outside today I'm craving to take my dog out for a walk and play a little with her! Check out this pic of Hattie!

Time to retire the Asics...

2007-11-17T17:54:00.000-06:00

Today I wanted to go long. I decided I would try for 10 miles. I actully got in bed at a decent hour - before 11pm and had a very calm, relaxing, non-eventful Friday night. I did, however, work late for the 5th out of the last 6 Fridays. That's getting old real fast! :-(

So, I woke up without the aid of an alarm around 7:15-ish. Had the urge to just "get it over with." So, I let Hattie (my cocker spaniel little girl) out and she takes care of her business while I fix myself a half piece of wheat toast w/peanut butter & honey for a little fuel. I gathered up my cold gear (42 degrees), fleece vest, gloves and ear warmer & dropped off a bottle of propel at the halfway mark of my route. I did two loops of 5. From the end of my subdivision, down Shed Rd, Right on Ragsdale Rd, Right on Bushy Branch and back to my house is precisely 5 big ones. So, off I go. I'm feeling pretty good on the first loop but right around mile 4 I'm noticing significant hip pain which has been a problem on almost every run since I ran a half marathon in September completely untrained and unstretched, etc... Not smart. I fight it off and finally get to the halfway mark, gulp down some propel, contemplate for about 4 seconds on going on back to my house since it was 1/10 of a mile from where I was and decided I'd better not think too long or I'd make that turn. First 5 miles completed in 45:50. So off I go on another lap determined that I'm going long today. Mile 7 and I'm feeling BAD. I have pain shooting from my left hip down through my left knee. We're talking.... lightning bolt pain! I suffer for about another half mile or so and finally cave in and allow myself 2 minutes to walk. I feel like such a failure when I do something like that. I take off again and at mile 8 I get a side stitch! Ugh.... this is turning into a disaster. So I let myself walk that off for 1 minute and that's IT! No more wimping out!!!! You're better than this Holly! So basically for the last mile I did the ol "Just run to that mailbox & don't think about the rest" plan. Point to point running just to get me there till I'm finally done. I walk for about 4 minutes to cool down. I stretch paying special attention to the left hip. It's hurting. I haven't bought new running shoes in almost a year. Typically I should get new ones every 6 months if not more than that. However, over the last year I've bought a house, did a huge-@ss upgrade on my system at work that consumed about half the weekends of my entire summer, and had other things such as laziness keep me from busting out the miles. I think it's definitely time to retire the asics though. I'm hoping this could be some of the problem with my hip???? Total time for 10 miles = 1:33:03 for a 9:18 pace.

I think I'll pop a few Aleve, stay off of it for a couple of days and buy new running shoes!

Early 4 miles

2007-11-15T07:33:00.000-06:00

Today I got up at 4:30 and met "the group" at the rec center for 4 miles @ 5am. I had originally planned to try swimming after the run until I realized it might not be a great idea considering the fact that my eye doctor has me out of contacts and only wearing glasses for... let's see.... I'm on my 5th week. Yeah, it started out being a viral infection & it seems I'm having a tough time shaking it. They were red again this morning... this could be due to lack of sleep. At any rate, I figured chlorine is not a good thing for the peepers at this point.

So, we took off around 5:10am through the greenway, out into town and back to the rec center for a 4 mile loop. I forgot to get the time or avg pace from the garmin owners of the group. They were in a rush to splash into the pool! This is the first time I've done an early run in a long time - I've been avoiding the cold & doing training runs at lunch when the sun is out!

So, next on the list? I'm thinking a longer run for Saturday. We shall see!

Serious Consideration for CMM

2007-11-13T21:16:00.000-06:00

For the past 2 weeks I have seriously considered taking the plunge and doing a full marathon. I really don't know exactly what has driven me to this point, except that it's something I've wanted to do for more than 2 years. So far, I've completed 2 half marathons. St Jude's Memphis half and the Murfreesoboro Middle half. I've watched my sister, Lana complete two full marathons and she is currently in training for her 3rd. Wow, I'm so impressed! My friend, Michele is also on her 3rd! These girls are going for a sub 4-hour this time around. I can't say I'm going for a specific time at all. My theory is if I cross the finish-line that will be a miracle! I wanted to do a really cool marathon in the late spring-time, to minimize below freezing training runs. However, the selection is not all that plentiful. The only one I could find was the San Diego Rock n Roll. That sounds like a blast. But I think I would be in San Diego by myself! So, I finally decided I'd go with the local event and simplify it. I'm doing Country Music Marathon in Nashville, TN. Yep, that's right - April 26, 2007. I plan on using the famous FIRST training plan to get me there. Go ahead and kneel down on your knees and let the prayers begin!

So, we'll start with this week. Sunday I met Lana at the rec center for a 5 mile run. A nice, relaxing 5 miles. 9:34 pace. It was refreshing to have company on a run. For the last couple of months all my runs have been alone except for a select few. I'm getting tired of my IPOD songs. After the 5 mile run, I showered and our family all met at my parents house for 1 awesome dinner for my nephew Bo's birthday. Bo turns 6 tomorrow. Time flies.

Monday was rest. I firmly believe in rest days..... and honestly look forward to them! Today I skipped the rain and did a 6 mile run at lunch. 53:41 - 8:57 pace. Tomorrow is a rest day and Thursday I'm meeting Lana and Michele at the rec at 5am for a 4 mile run & another frigid attempt at a swim. Let's hope the lifeguards are good and awake! Swimming is my biggest challenge yet. Someday I'd like to think I could do a triathlon, but I've gotta get my boo-tay in the water and learn a stroke or two!

I'm looking forward to next week. Lana and I are wanting to hit the mountain bike trails again before work and our goal is to try and get in a weekly routine. This is great for cross training, not to mention just plain ol fun!