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Double Loop w/ Cindy & Liz March 17, 2010

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Run - 0.6 hours - 03/17/2010 March 16, 2010

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Signed Up for Swim Lessons March 14, 2010

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I bit the bullet and went to the Y and inquired about swim lessons.  Ten minutes later I had signed up for a month of lessons, 2 per week for 4 weeks.  It starts the Monday after Easter. 

I grabbed the schedule for the spin classes.  I’m going to do the intro spin classes at that time slot until the swim classes start.  That means, I’ll have incorporated one new sport in this month, and one new one next month.  After that, it’s just a matter of making to commitment.

Ahhh!!  Yeah!  I have a little plan.  It’s little…but it’s a plan.

Al Burress Park March 13, 2010

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I showed up to lead the Saturday run at a new park.  I was anticipating that the turnout would be low because of the previous days weather, but when I showed up and no one was there I was a little disappointed.  After waiting 15 minutes past our start time I decided I would at least go for a run myself and check out the trails.

I decided that I had better take my iPhone with me for safety.  I set out on a nice jog and was a little bit turned around at first because there were no maps for that particular part of the trail which dead ended into a local university campus.  You then cut through the campus trails to get to the next trail head which is marked.

For the first 20 minutes or so I was turned around, but when I got to the university trails my jaw literally dropped.  It was so gorgeous.  They had the trail running directly next to the river going through the woods.  It was small pea gravel the entire way, and there were multiple bridges which crossed the river so you could really take in the scenery.

I ran down to the next trail head and was equally impressed there.  I was so in awe that I actually stopped running.  I looked around and decided there was no hurry, I just needed to take in the beauty.  I walked the rest of the way.  It felt so good to just recharge.

On the way back I took the alternate trail on the university campus and found that they had created a mock 18th century village along the river and had the trail cut through the village.  It was amazing.   It had picnic tables and an old mill with a waterfall.  Dafodils were blooming everywhere.  Ahhhh, spring has sprung and I have found my own secret garden.

I can’t wait til next time to go back there and take some lunch and a good book to sit there and read.

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Disney Princess Half- Race Report March 7, 2010

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As usual I had quite the adventure on my long weekend.  It would seem as though there is a conspiracy to make sure that my vacations have twists and turns which throw them outside the realm of ordinary.  I suppose this time it was partially my fault, by I still blame fate for the majority.

Work took its tole on me the week prior to the race.  My cousin and I arrived on Thursday night at my grandmother’s house in Florida.  After our 7 hour drive I had to sign back on to work to finish up.  It was 1am Friday morning by the time I got to bed.  Even with sleeping in and taking it easy the next day I was pretty exhausted. 

I drove down to Orlando early on Saturday morning, and we spent a full day at the Magic Kingdom, complete with lunch with the princesses.  It was 5pm when I met all the bootcamp buds for dinner and everyone was talking about the expo.  “Jordan did you get your number yesterday or today?”

Ever have one of those moments where you realize you forgot something really important that was completely obvious to everyone else.  Yup, I had one of those.  “No, what time does the expo end?  I’ll just pick it up after dinner.”  “Oh it ends at 7, it might be close but you’ll be fine…oh wait, this paper says 6pm…uhm maybe you should head down there.”

I literally sprinted out of the resturant, hailed a cab, and upon paying the cabby sprinted to the expo.  Great, of course they have closed it down and they say “You have to show up at 4am to pick up your race number.  No garauntees.”  Greeeaaaatttt….just what I like to do…miss another hour of sleep before a race.  Let me just pat myself on the back for that doosy.  Straight back to the hotel to grab room service and off to bed.

Three am and I’m up.  Now, let’s keep in mind that this race is in Orlando, Florida in March.  I packed a jersy tank top, jacket, and running skirt.  I checked the weather everyday for a week and it said a low of 45 high of 75.  I figured I’d be chilly but not a popcicle.  That morning, Cindy and I turn on the TV and guess what the temperature is….28F.  Ok, no big deal, there are 8 of us, we’ll huddle and survive.

I arrive at 4am and all is well.  Race number literally took 3 minutes to get and I was on my way.  The holding area wasn’t that bad.  The tents and port-a-potties blocked the wind, and with several thousand people standing around it wasn’t terribly cold.  We stood for 20-30 minutes chatting when they came across the intercom and announced it was time for us to make our way to the start line.

For the next hour and a half I was just confused.  It was 4:30 am and our start time was 6am.  We were moved to another holding area not much larger than the one we were just in, but to get to this we had to go through the baggage check which was associated to our last name.  Since everyone in my group had a different last name that meant we all split up.  That was the last time I saw everyone until after the race.  Really thrilling when you have signed up and trained with your friends for the last 3 months.

After about 15 minutes of searching and finally giving up the crowd starts moving.  I thought, maybe since I was in one of the first corals they were doing an earlier start time.  We walked about a quarter of a mile and then I started to get worried.  What if I had un-knowingly ended up in the last coral and this was the walkers and everyone in my group had taken off.  I started to jog.

Another quarter mile later I find out I’m one of the first people in my coral.  There are maybe 50 people out of the several thousand in that wave that had already arrived.  Now I was feeling the chill.  The wind was whipping around and I was standing there shivvering, by myself.  They started playing the Cuban Shuffle, YMCA, The Macarena, etc….and as embarassed as I am to say it, I got my groove on.  It was essential to my survival.  I pictured the judges of “So You Think You Can Dance” telling me to “dance for my life” and I got down.  It helped for all of the the 3-5 minutes each song lasted.

I started chatting with other people in line and met some really nice people.  There were two cousins who were running the race together.  The one cousin had to be all of 4′8″.  She was so cold she climbed inside of her cousin’s pants and pulled them around her shoulders.  Oh, to have a cousin in my start coral…deep sigh.

Finally the Fairy God Mother started the race!  Praise GOD!  I took off at a nice easy pace.  It was so flat I barely had to do anything to get a good pace going.  There wasn’t much to look at in the way of scenery.  It was all on the highway, however, the Disney folks did have lots of music and Disney characters out there along the way those first 6 miles.  I believe it was at mile 2.5 that they had a float with 5 of the Disney Princes on it.  One of the girls running beside me said as we passed “Oh my, poor Tarzan!”  I looked over and saw this poor guy was only wearing a loin cloth and Tarzan wig.  Suddently I was alot more greatful for my choice in wardrobe.

We ran through the Magic Kingdom starting at mile 6.  It was nice to not be on a highway and have more to look at, but the surface was concrete.  I felt every step and was ready to get out of there.

After we got through the park we were on the highway again but this one had very little shoulder so there was no room for any of the characters to stand.  Instead there were just signs every couple of feet with facts about the Princesses.   Three miles of that.  Ugh.

Finally we were in that last mile though.  My best friend’s sister, who had been in the last coral, went sprinting by me.  Sheez.  I was impressed.  She started nearly 20 minutes after me and he she is getting to the finish at the same time (actually a minute or two faster).  Not too shabby.

It ended up being a PR, although this is only my second and it was really a flat course.  I adjust my time subtracting out stops for pictures with Princesses and characters along the way.  I figure that’s okay because it’s not often that you run and have photo ops ever couple hundred yards.  I had fun and I proved that I’m not completely worthless.  I’m jazzed up to really training for something now.

Workout:

Long Run thru Smyrna February 20, 2010

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Well, I had no excuse this weekend to not get miles in. It was either that, or show up for the Disney Half and suffer miserably. Notah gonnah happenah!
So we mapped out a 10 mile route, but it was really a 5 mile loop we were supposed to do twice. I wore my new CWX to try them out for the first time. Also, I realized it was 20 something outside and so I layered up just as I headed out the door, but thanks to my recent cleaning efforts I had everything by ear muffs and gloves for the tenderest of extremities.
I set out with Cindy and Liz. We had a great pace at the beginning. The first mile split was 8:15 and we were talking the whole time. That’s actually the fastest mile time I’ve run (at least that I’ve tracked). At the turn around point, Cindy suggested we take another turn which would lead us through some of the neighborhoods and extend the route to 9.5 miles rather than a 5 mile loop. All about not doing a double loop we headed out following Cindy.
Okay, so can I also say, that it was a bad morning for me because I realized my water bottle that I take on my runs obviously got messed up in the dishwasher. No matter how hard I tried the lid would not go on tight. So that meant I was running without powerade, and even though I had the gels, I couldn’t use them because i had nothing to wash it down with. At about mile 7 my pace dropped.
At about mile 9 I realized that my socks were too short and there was a blister forming on my left ankle. Nice.
That being said, it was sooooo gorgeous outside. And it did feel great to get some distance in. Once work quiets down again I’m going to knock out some long runs. The weather is just getting to pretty to not be outside.

Workout:

Field Manuvers w/ Bands February 15, 2010

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Since we’d already done Field Manuvuers once this month with the vets, Tommy and I knew that we had to step it up a notch to make this one a) challenging and b) different. Time to break out the bands!
I worked everything out the night before and I encorporated band work into all of the excercises. I also found a way to get some suicides in there. At the end of the workout my arms were burned out.
A result of Tabita Tim on Friday was a large raw spot on my tail bone from the carpet rubbing on my skin. That meant that when it came time to do abs I couldn’t even sit down without wanting to scream. I did the first set with everyone kind of doing it on one of my hips so it felt more like an oblique situp. The second set I popped it up and walked around the circle.
Everyone said it was a great workout and even I was sore, so it must be true.

Workout:

Tabita Time February 12, 2010

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Bryan lead a new workout today called Tabita Time. He swears that it’s based on this Japanese heath guru named Tabita. I don’t think anyone is buying it.
It was an awesome workout though. Basically, 8 rounds of 20 second intervals doing as many of one exercise as you can in those 20 seconds, then a 10 second rest between each.
Toe taps, as it turns out, really hurt after about 5 minutes. I definetly feel that one.

Workout:

Missed First Spin Class February 2, 2010

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I completly underestimated traffic. That coupled with my over-confidence in my general sense of direction made me more than a little late for my first spin class. :(
I did at least have foresight to call. By the time I did finally find the place I was 40 minutes late for the hour long class. I decided it was worth hanging around to meet the instructor and see if I could roll over the credit to another class. There I was in my red dress, stillettos, and up-do having come straight from the office. Yup, I looked ridiculous standing outside the room. On the upshot, if you are going to look ridiculous you might as well look fabulous doing it.
I did meet the 2 instructors. The one is the head of the Tri Club. I talked to him for a while and he encouraged me that he thinks with my background I’d be ready for a Sprint at the end of April. I’m going to try to attend a Monday group swim next week and see if he’s lying or not. Still haven’t heard back from the one swim instructor.
I also talked with the spin instructor. Super nice guy. He said I could have come in with 5 minutes left and he’d still be happy to see me. Maybe that was because of the outfit though. Who knows. He was also very encouraging and now I’m jazzed.
Maybe this Wednesday will be better. I at least know my way better now and perhaps I can jet out of work a wee bit sooner.

Guts & Guns Isn’t The Same w/o Me February 2, 2010

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So my favorite person decided to “mix it up a little”. Sure she did. Two other people got to lead my workout and let’s just say I am and always will be the master of the Guts. I think I might just do my own guts routine at home tonight.
I’d say I’d go for a run, but it’s the premiere of Lost tonight so not getting out of work til evening anyway means I’m cutting into crucial moments of television history.

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