Um, what did I just do?

Yeah that was my thought last night after I hit the submit button. Well its official, I am registered for the inaugural Ironman Miami 70.3 event on Oct 30, 2010. What better way to say good-bye to Athena's 39 & under :) Yup in just over a year I will graduate into the master category :( I have never done anything longer than an Olympic/International distance tri, but I've done 2 of those and finished them thinking I could go a bit longer. I remember when just a couple of short years ago I thought a sprint would be nearly impossible, I have to run 3 miles??? Yeah funny. Well I don't run very fast and I walk alot, so my goal for this race will be to finish before the cut-off. I'm a descent swimmer so I intend to focus more on getting faster on my bike and trying to get down to a 12 minute mile! I have alot of work ahead of me I know, but I have a year to train. My hubs is supportive, as soon as I mentioned Ironman was coming to Miami next year and its right after my birthday, he suggested I sign up. Huh? Seriously? I know I think about it alot, but I wasn't expecting him to be so gung ho about it. I asked if I should sign him up too. He asked how long the swim was and then politely declined, hehe. He needs to work on swimming so he can join me out there.
On another note, my best friend and I signed up with a personal trainer once a week. We got tortured yesterday :) We worked out just over an hour and it was miserable because my head would not stop pounding! I had the worst headache that would not go away. Normally I would eat the training up, but it was all I could do to get thru it. Way to make a great impression on him, lol. Oh well hopefully next week it won't happen and I can bust thru it :)
I am anxious to get running. Ideally I would like to drop about 40 pounds in the next year and I am hoping this is the year it will happen. Between IM training and my trainer and my best friend, I am feeling very positive!
Oh I can only imagine the roller coaster experience I am in for! Let the fun begin :)

Back among the blogging!

Well I haven't been blogging for a while, I blame Facebook :)
So quick catch up... Hurt my low back at the end of April, had to pass on the MS150 ride from Miami to the Keys at the beginning of May. That was such a bummer because we worked so hard to raise the money. Good news is that we are ahead on fund raising for next year. My best friend that was gonna ride with us, happened to hurt her shoulder around the same time, so I guess it worked out. I wouldn't want to ride without her because unlike my husband, she actually rides with me :)
So after months of low back pain, x-rays, an mri, countless visits to chiro and ortho, no one can figure out what was wrong with my back. Both doc's agreed that the MRI of my back looked fantastic "you have the back of a teenager" I was told. Guess thats a good thing, but why was it hurting. It was soooooo annoying, it would be okay all day and then I would lay down at night and get this SUPER SHARP pain if I moved even the slightest amount. Kind of made it hard to sleep. I would go for about 2 days with no sleep, then pass out the 3rd night from lack of sleep. Nothing touched it. I had some painkillers left over from my c-section 4-1/2 years ago and they seemed to help me sleep, but there were not many left. The likely scenario is that my piriformis muscle was going spaz and irritating my sciatic nerve. The chiro also thought my s/i joint was going out of whack too. Luckily that really sharp pain did not persist for more than a week and then I was back to just a lovely dull pain in the ass. I mean it was literally a pain in the ass, right there in the butt check. At times it would be on the left side, then it would shift to right cheek for a few days, then it would shift again. I'm telling you it was weird. No idea what triggered it or why it was suddenly resolved itself, but it has and I am grateful!
So not alot of training has happened this summer. We took a 10 day vacation at the beginning of August and when we got home mid-august, my daughter started back up in pre-school. After one week, she came down with a horrible cold/flu. We were up at Disney for daddy's birthday and she woke at 4am burning up. I mean this kid was on fire! I have never felt her so warm. So being the good mommy I am, I have to go find a 24 hr walgreens to get some Motrin. Motrin broke her fever for a while, but she awoke the next day hurting all over and having a very sore throat. Needless to say, not much of Disney happened :)
So a week later, I come down with it. Starts like a cold, drippy nose, then bang sore throat & 104 fever! I spent 4 days in bed sleeping! I couldn't talk, I had no voice. I couldn't watch TV cause my eyes hurt. I didn't eat, only tried to make myself drink. I had that stupid high fever every night for 4 nights! I would lie in bed with a sweater and long pants on underneath 3 blankets! Yeah that sucked so bad. I sure hope it was the H1N1 flu so I don't have to go thru that again. Doc wasn't sure and didn't bother testing me. Its so widespread down here now. Just told me to stay away from everyone and gave me a variety of medicine to help with my symptoms. Hubby got it a week later and was every bit as miserable.
So the beginning of this month I ventured back into the gym. Started doing some weight training and spin class. Trying to get back to running, since it has been since April! Back isn't bothering my, but what little running stamina I had is gone :( My strength feels like it has returned and I feel better and stronger after every spin class! Hoping to get enough training time in to make a race or 2 in oct/nov. I am hoping to come up for IMFL to volunteer, because I think that would be a blast.
Works been slow but we're surviving. Things actually have been starting to pick up, so I hope thats a sign of things to come!
Ok so that's my quick update.

Happy Thanksgiving

Hi peoples of the internet!
I know I haven't blogged in a bit, been soooooooo busy with work and feeling run down. I just wanted to say that I have kept up on my blog reading, but not my writing. Congrats to all the IMAZ participants out there. I owe a race report for the Miami Man race, which was tiring, but great!
Had a stupid moment of weakness and signed up for the Disney marathon on Jan 11 and I have never gone farther than 13.1 miles, and I thought that was pretty darn far. My hubby has been training for it for a few months now and the mother-in-law will be here visiting so in my moment of profound stupidity and seeing capacity at 99%, I signed up. Now I don't actually expect to complete 26.2 miles, but it would be cool to finish. The problem with Disney is the 7 hour time limit. I am a walk/jog kind of gal, but I don't know how long I can keep a 16 min mile pace going.
The half last year was really cool, so I figure what the heck, why not! I do need to commit to a long run/walk at least once a week and I have not :( I had the Miami Man a couple weeks ago and that was 4 hours of good cardio. I've got a metric century a week from Sunday or a half marathon with hubby, need to decide soon I guess.
Any sorry for the rambling. I need to get some workouts in before Turkey day so I don't feel guilty for all the yummy stuff I will be stuffing myself with, hehe. Have a happy one! Hopefully doing the Run for the Pies on Turkey Day morning with the hubby. Hoping he will win us a pie, haha.

Breast cancer awareness ride

I know I have been busy and I haven't posted in a little while. Between work and getting my taxes together, it has been a crazy October. I just realized a couple days ago that my Miami Man international tri is less than a month away, aghhhhhh. So today I was back at the gym "running". I did went for 44 minutes and did around 3 miles. 1st mile was13:40 and I did 2 miles in 28:10. Not bad for taking a little break. My shoulders were bugging me a little bit, but feeling better all in all. I am hoping to drag my booty out of bed at 5:15 am for the early morning spin class, I really need it. Not to worried about the swim cause it's only 1,000m.
I did get out Saturday on my bike and did the Trek Breast Cancer Awareness Ride. We did just over 13 miles and it was super hot. They kept the pace slow and we had a great time. Trek gave out some AWESOME schwag. We got cool girly T-shirts, cycling socks and a water bottle. they also had lots of samples of Powergel soda flavored gummie things, they were okay, a little on the large size though. Trek also sent all the stores some great prizes to raffle off. Lucky for me & my buddies, this was the 1st year this store participated, and they only signed up 11 days prior to the ride, so needless to say, there was not a big crowd. My best friend one a Bontragger women's saddle and I won a Trek clock that I put on my daughters bike and she loves it! It was a great event and I am looking forward to next year. Hoping they do a 25 mile option because they should have alot more people coming. Thanks again to Teacherwoman for blogging about the ride!
Well that's all for now. Everyone in our house is feeling good, no one is sick, so life is good! Work looks like it's picking up a bit, so yahoo!

Gotta get my butt in gear!

Haven't posted in a bit. Been busy with work and my little one has still been sick :( After going to the dr like 3x in the last 2 weeks, I think she is finally getting over it. She has been hacking really bad for a month now, and it looks like it was walking pneumonia, more than likely. So the antibiotics were not agreeing with her and we had a rough night the other night, but she is doing better now.
My best friend was in Target the other day and came across 2 WiiFits! Oh yeah baby, we got one. I have only been looking since April and been kicking myself every day for not pre-ordering one! I gotta say that I love this thing! All 3 of us have been on it & it rocks. The little one has a hard time with some of the stuff, but it will certainly teach her some feet-eye coordination! What cracks me up the most is that it told me I was a good runner, LOL! My hubs said that too bad I can't do my tri and run on the Wii. Yeah in a perfect world. Sad part is I actually enjoy running to the Wii. You don't run on the board, you just run in place holding the controller and your little Mii runs down a trail. I unlocked a new trail tonight, but I haven't run it yet, but I will tomorrow.
I really need to get back to training. I have been putting myself last lately because I have too much stuff going on, ugh!
Hopefully I can at least squeeze in a few workouts this week, even if I need to get up at the crack of dawn and hit the early spin class, I need to do it. Someone please kick me in the butt and get me moving! My eating has not been great lately either, I have got to make better choices and I am gonna start sliding backwards!

Back away from the carrot cake!

I can't believe that Tuesday is over already! Aghh.
Did 43 minutes on the elliptical tonight, burned 600 calories to make up for having carrot cake for breakfast. My day just started off on a stressful note and stupid me heads straight for the food! Go figure :(
So I was a little sore yesterday from Sunday's tri. Today I am feeling more back to normal, but I am still having some knee pain, like right under the knee cap. What is up with that? It is also feeling a little sore and swollen. I am hoping in another day or two I can start running on it again :)
Its been an incredibly stressful week and its only Tuesday. The good news is that I am getting stuff checked off my list, but the bad news I still have a ton more things that are about to come crashing down onto me. Oh well I will pull myself thru it somehow, as I seem to thrive on stress.
Good news today too, it looks like I saved over $2,200 on my homeowner's insurance! Yeah baby, that rocks. And no I don't live in a mansion, I live in Florida where it is legal for the insurance companies to rape you for years and drop you the second you make a claim. And when we replace our roof this winter, we will be able to switch to an even better company and save more money!! Double yeah!! At least I got a bit of good news today :)
Oh yeah by bubs is still coughing her little head off. I think she is going back to dr tomorrow, its been like 3-1/2 weeks of coughing! They've gotta be able to do something to help. I know they don't like to medicate little ones, but none of us are sleeping well with her hacking all night!

Prelim AFAC Tri Race Report

Well I survived the "Athletes for a Cure" Olympic distance triathlon. My time wasn't great (4:17), but ironically it was identical to my Chicago time a month ago. Well at least I am consistent :)
So my breakdown looks like this:
Swim: 42:55
T1: 5:58
Bike: 1:36:49
T2: 2:31
Run: 1:49:28
Finished 9th out of 9 in 1-39 Athena. I am the definition of "back of the pack!"
I am happy that I finished, it was a fun race for the most part. The run course sucked a bit because it was 2 loops and 1 mile of the loop was thru some bumpy grass, it was not a path ever, it was mainly a canal embankment. Many people were afraid to run here for fear of twisting an ankle. This was my least favorite part.
Will have more to follow later, as I am sooooooooo tired. We just finished driving back from Orlando and of course I had to take my bubs to the theme parks after the race so I am beat.
Also I had the worst nights sleep last night, but more on that later.
All in all it was a great experience and I had a good time!