Happy Hump Day!

So the last week or so has been a bit insane for me. Last week was spring break in Pasco county and for lifeguards that means pure insanity on the pool deck for the entire week. Like I said in a previous post, thank goodness my recovery week was last week because I needed it after the crazy days that I had. So glad that's over.

This week has been really good and I feel like I'm going to be well and ready for my first triathlon this year. I had a slight change of plans regarding my first race. Due to insufficient funds, I need to keep all of my races close to home and cheap so that mean no Madeira Beach for me this year. I will instead do the race at Honeymoon Island in Dunedin. I'm excited and as soon as I get paid this week I will be signing up for that and the 5K that I am going to run on the 24th. It's been a while since I've done a 5K race and need to get a feel for where I am at time wise. All good things coming up for my races and I'm very excited.

Although my work outs have been great this week, personal issues have been messing with my sleep and my mood. I told myself a long time ago that I would never let my ex back into my life. After not speaking to him for 7 or 8 months I had finally healed from the pain he had caused me. Of course, being a woman, we always hope that when a man says he has made changes he is sincere about it. Excuse me one moment....HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...ok, got that out of my system. That is a joke, don't ever believe a man when he tells you this. Unfortunately for me, I believed him and it got me right back to square one. He is no longer in my life (again) and I am having to go through the emotions that I did this time last year. The one thing I have realized is that this is a horrible cycle that I have gotten myself into and now need to get myself out of. I'm not going to lie, this is so hard for me, especially given the history the boy and I have. We have been through a lot together, but that doesn't mean I have to sacrifice my happiness because of some fantasy of us being meant for each other we had. I cannot continue to put myself in this position and get hurt and get stuck in this cycle. I need to move on and it's hard and it hurts sometimes and it even keeps me awake at night thinking about him. I just cannot accept or tolerate him taking me for granted and not treating me the way a man who says he loves you should. The man that loves me will walk over hot coals to be with me, I don't think that the good ol' ex would do that.

In the words of Jo Dee Messina...my give a damns busted!

Low energy week...

Ughhhh what the heck is my deal this week? My energy is just so low. I think part of it was the fact that I wasn't drinking enough water. Solved that problem, spending 5 hours every day this week in the sun = a gallon of water a day (literally I carry a gallon of water with me).

I ran on Monday, if you want to call it running. I ran 1.5 miles and my legs just felt like they had lead in them. I swam and lifted yesterday which all went well. Had a slight case of insomnia last night so my run will have to wait until this evening. I am scheduled to run a 3-4 mile tempo run. Hopefully now that I've put it in writing(typing) I will do it. Well I have to do it, I have to run 4 miles tonight after work. There I said it now I will do it! :)

Well, I'm off to a fun and exciting day of sun and fun and small sreaming children.

Spring Break + Lifeguarding Mon-Fri = Hell Week!

My active recovery week couldn't have had better timing. I will certainly need some recovery time this week between my tri training and the fact that it is spring break, which promises to make life a work hectic this week.

I went for a 5 mile run yesterday and could barely keep up my desired pace and again this morning...I take that as a sign that I might need a little rest so I cut my run a bit short this morning. It stinks becuase I hate taking breaks, but when that happens it's like "here's your sign". So I will cut back in all aspects of training this week for a little r&r and then get back at it hard next week.

The end of May is approaching quickly, I've got to be sure that I am ready for the Madeira Beach Triathlon!

Speed work success!

So today I did a ladder work out for my speed work and was hoping that I would be able to keep up with my goal pace which was an 8 min. goal pace.

Speed work recap:

Goal time vs. Actual time

400 meters 2 min/1:42 min
600 meters 3 min/2:47 min
800 meters 4 min/3:49 min
600 meters 3 min/3:02 min
400 meters 2 min/2:00 min

Woo Hoo! I have a 5K coming up April 10th and hope to set a new PR! :)

Today was a good day, I have a new boss at work and think he is the bomb digity. As a long time employee of the Y, it's nice to finally have a boss again that is trying to help me move ahead in my career and sees my potential and values my experience. I have 9 years experience as a lifeguard and some of those years have been very challenging for me because some of my supervisors just haven't gave a damn. So, YAY for new bosses that are awesome!

Reason #2 for my good day was for my workout! I had a nice long interval workout on the indoor trainer bike. It's just too freakin' windy out to ride and the pollen is out of control. I would die! After my intense intervals I lifted, my least fav thing to do, but felt good that I got it in!

Tomorrow I have a speed workout...I'm excited about it for 2 reasons

1. I haven't done a speed workout in 2 weeks because I was sick.
2. I get to play with my Garmin watch, which I am still figuring out all the intricacies of this technological masterpiece!

No case of the Monday's here!

"Oh hello Monday, how are you today? Oh really, you didn't want me to get any sleep last night? Cool, thanks a lot!"

So last nights sleep sucked, guess I was a little more bothered by this situation the I thought I was. More for letting him back in the door then him leaving again. However, today I worked my butt off during my swim and my run. I ran until I couldn't run anymore! What a great feeling!

My swim today was pretty bad @$$! I did a ladder and then finished up with 14 X 50's and completed them all in 45 seconds or less. This made me very happy, however, I think I need to put a little more emphasis on drills. I hate drills but some of them are really helpful...others are just dumb to me. (Especially some of the weird drills I see people do when I'm lifeguarding) So a few drills to warm up from now on it is!

After my swim I did 3 x 1 mile repeats (actually it was 2 x 1 miles and 1 x .75 mile). My legs just gave out on me! It felt good...I like exercise therapy, it makes me sleep like a log at night!

Tonight I'm feeling like a little Twilight...I've bought and watched New Moon a couple times (by couple I mean 5ish) :) What can I say? I am a Twilight Saga geek, I read the book series in 2 weeks about a year ago. I'm actually working of reading Eclipse again because the movie comes out June 30th!

Well one day after the departure of sissy boy out of my life I am feeling good! Refreshed even, like I need a little change in my life. Could a trip to Pittsburgh be in my near future? Quite possibly!

Boys are dumb, throw rocks at them!

Oh boy oh boy oh boy...so in my first post I made mention of a manfriend who was trying to win his way back into my heart by coming to a race and waking up at 4am. I'm not quite sure why I let him back into my life in the first place, but I did. I wanted to give him another chance, we had so much history with each other and I couldn't just let go of that.

Turns out I should have let go of that. Today he goes and does that same thing that he has always done...when things get a little stressful in his life he runs away. I'll give you one guess what happened??? Yep, he ran away like the little sissy he is.

I couldn't help but laugh at this though as this is not the first time it has happened. In a way, I am glad this has happened and that I have the strength to walk away without putting up a fight for him. I have realized that he just isn't worth my time or tears. I deserve a real man and someone that I have soemthing in common with. Maybe a nice lean runner type. :)

At this point, I am happy with my life...as happy and one who is unemployed can be.

Like Jay-Z says..."it's on to the next one"

Week 2: Not a complete failure

At the begining of the week I was not feeling so hot, actually, I felt awful. I don't know what I had, but I am happy it's mostly gone. I am a bit congested still, but that will clear up soon enough.

Although I had to rearrange my workouts somewhat, I have managed to get in nearly everything I had scheduled for this past week. The only acception is my tempo run that I plan on doing tomorrow.

So here's what my week turned out to look like:

Monday: I did my swim with no problem, it wasn't until later in the day I began to feel that something just wasn't right with me. By the evening, I knew it, my mother had given me her cold (or whatever it was she had).

Tuesday: I actually had to get someone to cover part of my shift. My boss thought it would be funny to tease me about the fact that I had to come in for part of my shift. I, in turn, threatened to share my germs with him and get him sick. I don't think this fool knows who he is messing with. NEVER mess with the sick person! We have ways of getting our revenge. :)

Wednesday: I completely over estimated how recovered I was and decided to go for a bike ride. BAAAAAAAAAD BAD BAD idea. I coughed and sneezed the whole time (it probably didn't help that the pollen count was like 9.5). So I don't really consider this workout very productive performancewise. However, I just got my new clipless pedals and shoes and put them on and was able to practice using those.

Thursday: I'M BACK BABY! I swam in the morning and took a spin class at night. The spin class kicked my a$$! It was great, especially given the fact that it has been an incredibly long time since I've taken one. Additionally, I met a gentlemen who heads up a local running club and found out a little more information on that. Thursday was my most productive day this week.

Friday: Nothing special, my most dreaded workout...lifting. I guess because of all the suffering my coach put us through in college...I loved it then but not so much now.

Saturday: Ran 5 miles, not my best run of all time. This was my first run of the week and still have a little congestion which makes it hard to run for me. Oh well, I can only get better from here!

Sunday: I will be running my tempo run this day...I'm excited for that!

Week 2-2: Still feel like death

Let me make this clear: I HATE BEING SICK! HATE HATE HATE IT! I fee like death and my sinuses are on fire and I've gone through a box and a half of tissues in one day. Please someone come and cut my nose off. K, thanks.

Week 2: Feeling a little bit like death

Ughhhh! Just when I'm all pumped and ready to get my training started I get sick! Thanks Mom and Dad for getting me sick, you are awesome. Right now I'm trying to overload on Vitamin C so I can get better fast!!!!! We will see how tomorrow goes.

Week 1: So far so good!

I'm 2 days into my triathlon training and so far so good, actually so far so great! I feel like I'm in the best shape that I have been in for a very long time (I don't think I will ever have the time to put in to reach my college volleyball days).

So here is how my first two days have shaped up:

Day 1 - Swim - 1250 yds.: I did a ladder 100, 200, 250, 200, 200, 100 on 20 seconds rest in between sets. Then I did 8 x 50 ascending. I've learned that with the shorter distance swims sets of 50's help so much because you are swimming about 1/4 mile and need lots of speed along with the endurance to make it through your bike and run. Anyway, this was a good swim, especially since I haven't been in the pool much because of the cold weather.

Plyometrics: I decided that I needed to incorporate plyos into my workouts. I've done them for a couple weeks now and can already feel the difference in my running. Thinking back about it, when I was at my very best running-wise I was doing plyos. So I will continue doing them and let you know how it goes!

Day 2 - Run - 800 repeats: I ran 4 x 800 repeats on 4 mins and here is how I did;

800-1: 3 min 44 sec
800-2: 3 min 54 sec
800-3: 3 min 50 sec
800-4: 3 min 52 sec

I'm very pleased with this because I managed to run all of my 800's under 4 min (no matter how few seconds under 4 min I was).

All I have left for today is to lift which I will do after my shift at the Y today. Lifting is my least favorite thing to do, but it is a necessary evil. :)

Week 1 cont'd:

So the rest of my week didn't go exactly as planned, but who's week ever does?

Day 3: I did an interval ladder on the stationary bike and went for about 45 minutes and ran 2 easy miles later that evening. I also got to play with my new watch during this short run, which was really the reason I did it in the first place. LOVE MY NEW GARMIN!

Day 4: Got to wax the inside of the slide at work and after breathing in all that dust I was suffering. I have horrid allergies and this did not help my cause. So I went home, took some benadryl and took a little nap action.

Day 5: Swam 1000 yds and did short bike intervals on the indoor trainer. Also decided it would be an excellent idea to go out this night with out a nice hardy dinner. BIG MISTAKE! I am not 21 anymore and can not hang. I am a sissy and cannot handle a night of drinking. Needless to say, I was so hungover Saturday I didn't workout.

Day 6: F U Florida! Why do you always rain on my parade! Sunday was just a yucky nasty day. I really wanted to take my bike out with the new pedals I got for it. I've got to perfect my riding with clipless pedals.

It's getting to be that time of year again!

FINALLY! Some nice weather! Good Lord it has been gross in FL the first few months of the year. I guess this is what they mean by March coming in like a lion and going out like a lamb? We have some "lamb-like" weather now and I've actually been able to run outside in the sunshine! Woo! :) So I went on a few runs this week, went in the pool a few times. Nothing with a whole lot of structure to it.

Monday - Swim - Great swim but my arms were on fire! It's been a while since I've put my poor little triceps through something like that!

Tuesday - 4 mile run - Like I said in a previous post, this was a great run! I'm happy with the results!

Wednesday - Swim - Getting a little better with each stroke.

Thursday - Stationary bike - Just a short little ride on the bike in between my shifts at the Y.

Saturday - 5 mile run - Good start to my run, did short intervals. 3 min hard and 2 min jog recovery. Should have drank a little more water the night before. I've run into this and know better. What I need to do is glue a water bottle to my hand so that I always have water on me. Water and I are good friends, I just sometimes forget just how important it is to me.

This next week is when it all begins. Structure, two a days and getting back out on the good ol' bicycle! I'm expecting my cycling shoes to come in the mail this week, already have the pedals waiting!

I'm pumped to get back out there and start doing some hardcore training again! Two weeks off was much needed, but I'm glad to get back to it!

Negative Nancy...

I've been sort of a Negative Nancy lately, but with good reason...

1. I have no job
2. Every employer I apply with tells me "sorry, there were other candidates who qualifications better met our requirements at this time"
3. Florida's unemployment rate is outrageously high!

Ok, thank you, done venting. But seriously, something has got to give! I invested so much time and energy into my education and still do not have a wonderful and fulfilling career. Don't get me wrong the little bit of work that I do have right now is better then nothing, but it's not helping me move forward in my career at all. Nor is it helping me get any closer to getting the hell out of my mother's house! Good Lord, never in a million years would I have thought that I would be stuck 25 and still living at home and be unemployed. That word has such a negative connotation with it too...when I used to hear of people collecting unemployment I thought "lazy bastards". How wrong was I? Apparently very wrong and maybe this is karma kicking me in the ass. All I want is a good job and to move out of the bedroom I grew up in! :(

Until that time, I've got to find something to do during the days when I am not working. Possibly volunteering, I've got to get out of the house!

The one rainbow in my grey sky is triathlon season and starting my training plan for that next week!

My money has officially burned a hole in my pocket

Ok, so I have been saying that I need to get tri-shoes and pedals to go with since I bought my new Trek in January. I FINALLY broke down today and spent the money (that I had already saved up) on these two items. Buuuuuut, in light of last weekends race and the fact that I have trouble pacing myself, I decided I needed to do a bit of research on watches. I bought one of those too today...a Garmin Forerunner 205. It is affordable and gets the job done! I shopped around all over online to make sure I found the best deal possible between shipping, taxes and the actual cost of the product on each item. I think I did pretty well, spent $312. My mother should be proud of me since she is the one who has taught me everything I know about bargain shopping! I can't wait til my goodies arrive in the mail!!!!

Ok, time for a nice run at Starkey Park...5 miles-ish

Ok, ok, only did 4 miles, but they were the fastest 4 miles I've ever run in a training session! 34:15...I thought I misread my watch when I was done! It was so great feeling and I feel like that now that I have the miles that I ran for the half-marathon under my belt these shorter distances are like a warm up! It is in encouraging to me that I have completed this today because it only means I am going to get better! I have yet to reach my potential and I can't wait to see how my hard work is going to pay off this triathlon season.

Motivation...in need of a little bit of that

As I sit here on what by all appearances seems to be a beautiful Saturday mid-morning I am realizing that I cannot get too complacent with my week of rest. It has also dawned on me that I can run faster and harder then what I have been doing and I need to get my ass in gear to reach my potential. The problem I have realized is that in all of my workouts, I workout alone. Now, I started off liking this way very much because it was a chance for me to clear my head. Well, my head is clear now, I have bigger goals to reach and I need to find a group of runners that share in my need for peer motivation! The only problem I foresee is the fact that I live in New Port No Where, FL and if there are any running groups in my area, they sure have done a good job of keeping them a secret from me! It looks like it's time to reach out to my handy dandy running resource at the YMCA to see what he can tell me.

First Post: I'm not a half marathon virgin anymore!

I recently ran my first half marathon which prompted me to write start this blog becuase I hadn't kept any training logs of my accomplishments over the last year. I really suck at keeping a running diary, but am online often and think that this would be a great way for me to share my experiences. Don't get me wrong, I have all of my medals proudly hung around my bedroom from 5k races I've placed in and I scrapbook every detail of my life, but for some reason I just can't seem to keep up with the details of my training. (No matter how much I try)





So here I am, 8 months since my first 5k race and I have completed a half marathon is quite a respectable time as far as I am concerned; 2:21:55. Thank you! :)

I couldn't have asked for better conditions during this race. It was a beautiful morning, very cold for Florida this time of year (40-50's), but great temperature for a run especially with the sun shining and no wind. From what I have heard the wind along Bayshore Blvd. is historically awful for this race. I guess I lucked out for my first time.

I got there at 5:45am with my gentlemen friend (the ex who is trying to win his way back into my heart; getting up at 4am to cheer me on in a race is a pretty good start). With his high tech camera in tow we made our way down to the start/spectator area. He wished me luck and probably made some smart @$$ remark (it's in our nature), however, it was too early for me to react.

As we parted ways I ran into another family that I know from my local YMCA, great people and always smiling. It was a good pre-race pick-me-up to chat with them for a moment. After, I made my way down to where all of the pacers were holding up their sticks with goal times attaced. I chose to run with Pacer Gabby; goal time 2:20; pace 10:40. I chose this time becuase this was my first race over 3.1 miles so I didn't want to over shoot my abilities. In all actuallity, I wanted to finish without having to stop to walk (MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!).

As I stood there with this group of strangers, some of whom had run several half marathons, I became more and more confident in my preperation for this race. I thought to myself, you can do this, you have been training for months and you can do this. I loaded up on GU and took some water with it becuase those things are gross with out a sip of water to wash it down. The normal pre-race announcements that only the people in front can hear were made and the national athem was sang. Then the gun went off and we started moving like a heard of cattle.

It took about a half mile for us to get to a point where we were doing more then shuffling our feet over cobblestone streets in the dark. We made it to mile 1 and were on pace! Pacer Gabby said that this was a rare thing to be on pace the first few miles becuase of the crowd; I guess it's because we were a bunch of Bad A$$e$! :)

A few miles into the race it hit me, this is a race unlike any other I have ever done! I've done lots of 5k's and even competed in my first triathlon last October, but this was different. The energy from the runners around you and the idea that we are all in this together was very prevalent. What amazed me even more was the people that could have stayed in their nice warm beds in the neighborhoods we ran through decided they were going to get up and cheer thousands of runners on! How much more encouraging can you get?!? There was one gentlemen that was all over the place during the race, I must have seen him 3 or 4 times; the final time I gave him a high five and thanked him for cheering everyone on.

When we made it to the half way point we had to go through the finish line. As we did this a car forced everyone to the right becuase the first runner was finishing...FINISHING?! Yeah that's right, I took an hour and 11 mins. to complete half and this guy was finishing the race (in 1st place needless to say). As I ran through I saw my man friend cheering me on, it was really nice of him to come and do that for me, my own mom wouldn't even get up for this.

So we went through Tampa's downtown area and up a hill (by Fl standards, this was a hill). That was a challenge, but I made the most of it on my way down. Pacer Gabby was doing a great job of keeping us on pace and making us laugh while doing so. Thank goodness for Pacer Gabby! By mile 10 I had a small burst, but just couldn't keep it up. I soon realized that I should have maybe eaten a bit more for breakfast, GU can only go so far. I was just so excited that I didn't feel hungry after I ate my bananna and handful of frosted mini-mini-wheats. However, in my first 10 miles I had stayed on pace well enough that it was ok I had to slightly back-off and ended up not missing my goal time by very much.

When I finally saw that finish line all I could do was sprint for it...this was the end...I was almost there. I passed countless runner in my all out sprint in my last 200m and cross that finish line with all the pride in the world! I proudly accepted my finishers medal becuase I worked damn hard for that thing! Got my picture taken by the photo man and found my man who took some picture that I do not have to pay for! :)

I couldn't believe I had finished, I made it across that finish line and reached my goal of completing a half-marathon. Something I said I would only do once...yea, I'm a liar! I have to do this again, I want to relive that experiece! I have my eyes set next year on two halfs...Gasparilla in Tampa and up to run with my cousin at the Pittsburgh Half Marathon!