Challenge Issued

In the past 2 days I've had a few challenges issued to me, not sure whether I'll be able to accept them or not.



The people who have issued the challenge haven't worded it as a challenge, but believe me, if I choose to accept this challenge, that's EXACTLY what it's going to be.

Challenge # 1: Don't keep track of my mileage when riding my bike or running this next year.

I have kept track of how many miles I've ran this year & how many miles I've biked this year. I have it on an Excel spreadsheet and everything. I even have weather I ran on a treadmill or if I biked outside or on a spinning bike, etc.

If you haven't guessed it yet, I have OCD! Now, I don't have OCD where you have to flip a light switch 7 times before leaving a room, but I do catch myself washing my hands alot, etc. But, we could go off on that on another post. Lol.

One of my friends on Twitter who has done many Ironman's says that you should really ride or run for your heart rate and intensity and not necessarily mileage. I mean, go ahead & keep track of your mileage for that particular ride or run, but don't add up your mileage. In the long run (no pun intended), do those miles really matter?

It honestly gives me a little bit of anxiety thinking about not keeping track of my mileage. I look at how many miles & calories I've burned this year and to me it's an achievement, you know?

I did ride my bike on the bike trainer last night for 1 hour without knowiing mileage. I didn't know the mileage because my bike computer wasn't working & I don't have a heart rate monitor right now. Yes, it does kind of bug me that I don't know how many miles I went or how many calories I burned.

Challenge # 2: Throw out my bathroom scale.

This week has been a VERY rough week. I started out the week being sick. I felt like I had a cold, so I took a couple of days off from working out & started with the cold meds. When I don't workout I seem to lose all sense of self control. Then take in to consideration, I've been having major anxiety with my job lately. When I have major anxiety, the one thing I want to do is eat. All I've done all week is eat, eat, eat!!! I've eaten everything in site!!! It hasn't been good.

I can tell I've gained weight. I usually step on the scale every Saturday morning after my workout & morning shower & weigh myself. I've been doing this for 3 years. After I weigh in, I put that number on an Excel spreadsheet & calculate how much weight I've lost to date, etc.

I posted on Twitter today something to the effect that I'd gained ALOT of weight this week from eating crap because of anxiety and other factors and I'm gonna have to work hard next week and jump back on the band wagon and get this weight off. BananaBuzzbomb replied saying "Don't let that crap get to you. You're better than that!" Then she told me to throw out my scale. I need to stop looking at myself as a number.

Now, here's the difficult part. When I first started my weight loss and triathlon journey, I set a goal weight of 150 lbs. As I continue to workout, I've learned that is not a realistic goal. Why? Because I'm gaining muscle. Muscle weighs more than fat. So, size wise, I could be the same size as someone else who weighs 150 lbs, but I don't think I'll EVER see that # on the scale. I'm ok with that. What I'm not ok with, is seeing the # in the 170's. To me, that is just not good enough.

I'm scared to death of being 280 lbs again. It scares the bejesus out of me. Even when I gain 2 or 3 lbs, I feel like I'm 280 lbs again. Another friend on Twitter joined the conversation and when I told them that I'm scared of being overweight again, they told me "You will never be that size again. Ever. Weight will fluctuate at time. Focus on training, performance, not a number." THAT is my goal.

Honestly though, it scares the shit outta me to throw out my scale. I honestly don't know if I can do it. I haven't decided if I will weigh myself tomorrow or not to see how much weight I've gained this week. If I do decide to weigh myself, I need to promise myself not to get upset about it. I know that on Monday I will jump back on the band wagon and I will be working out twice a day.

Do you wanna try & join me in these challenges?

Failure is NOT an option

It really hit me earlier this week that failure is just NOT an option in my book. It just isn't. Period.

About 3 - 4 weeks ago, my hip finally healed and I was able to start running again. Last week, I got done running 4 miles on the treadmill and as soon as I stepped off the treadmill I could feel shin splints coming on. I couldn't believe it! Seriously? That's the last thing I need right now.

It just seems like if it's not one thing, it's another. I record on Daily Mile all of my workouts & I've got friends on Daily Mile. I see people running at a pace of 8:30, 8:15, etc. Man am I jealous.

I found myself saying last week when I got my shin splints, if I didn't want to hear "Ara...YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!!!" SO bad, I would totally give up on this running, etc. It seems like if it's not one injury, it's another. But, you know what? You will NEVER see me give up. NEVER.

Busy as a Bee

Sorry I haven't blogged in a couple of weeks. I've been busy with work and the gym that by the time I get home, the last thing I want/need to do is blog. :( This weekend I'll try & get a few blogs posted for your reading pleasure. Happy reading! :)

As Luck Would Have It...

I was going to start running this week. As many might now from previous posts, or from my posts on Twitter, I've had a hip injury. I tore a muscle in my hip and I haven't been running in 4 weeks.

I was talking with my personal trainer on Saturday and he asked me how I was feeling. My hip has been feeling pretty good lately. I can go days without it hurting. So, B.J. and I decided that he would slowly start easing me in to running again. He would only put running on my workout schedule for like 1 to 2 miles at a time and it would be after a bike ride or something.

I was SO excited to start running again. But...as luck would have it...I came down with a cold yesterday. The picture below is EXACTLY how I feel. :(



I've started taking cold medicine and I'm taking it every 4 - 6 hours around the clock, so hopefully I'll be able to kick this cold as soon as possible.

I can't wait to get out & start running again. I want to start training for my full marathon in May!

Spinning Bike vs Stationary Bike

I mention alot on Twitter that I go to spinning classes and that my gym only has 2 spinning bikes and that I hate riding the stationary bikes. Someone on Twitter asked me the difference between a Spinning bike and a Stationary bike. I honestly couldn't answer the question. I had NO clue. So I went and researched it.

The best information I found was at: http://ask.metafilter.com/81620/What-is-the-practical-difference-between-a-spinning-and-regular-stationary-exercise-bike

A spinning bike:



Vs.

A stationary bike:



"Spin bikes have a heavy, weighted flywheel that is directly mechanically linked to the pedals. This makes them like fixed-gear bikes, in that if you stop pushing on the pedals, they will tend to keep spinning due to the inertia of the flywheel. This is as opposed to regular bikes or regular exercise bikes, which have some kind of freewheel system that allows the wheel to spin freely if you stop pedaling.

There's a good deal of debate out there on fixies vs. freewheels which would apply similarly to spin bikes vs. regular exercise bikes. The biomechanics is different, it's better exercise, it's worse exercise, it's hard on your knees, it's good for your form - it depends who you ask, and these things are subjective, really. Certainly the inertia will lead to a higher pedaling cadence, which is part of the spinning experience.

Also, the shape of the bike is different - a spin bike is generally designed much more like a real road bike, and your posture on the bike will reflect that. Most exercise bikes are more upright, have wider seats, and generally are more "comfortable", at least to people who aren't used to riding a road bike. To me, they are less comfortable. Again, subjective, but different posture will focus on different muscle groups."

Now that someone has spelled out what the difference is between the two bikes, it makes alot more sense to me.

Question of the Day:

Do you prefer riding a spinning bike or a stationary bike?

Do you have a bike trainer so that you can ride at home in the winter months?

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving friends!!! How was your Thanksgiving? Do you and your family have any fun traditions?

This year Thanksgiving was a little bit different for me. Last year I did my first 10k on Thanksgiving Day. I was determined to make it a tradition for me, but this year I'm on the injured list with my hip injury, so I didn't get to do that. But, Thanksgiving was a little bit different in other ways as well.

The past 2 years we had Thanksgiving at our house. Last year my Aunt came and so did my grandma and grandpa. The year before I think it was just my grandma and grandpa that came (I can't remember). It was VERY stressful. Well, this year it's going to change.

I found out the other day that this year it's going to be up at my grandma and grandpa's house. My Aunt might come, she might be out of town though. My other aunt, her family has gotten so big with her 3 kids and all of their kids, that they just do their own Thanksgiving now, which is very understandable.

Well, as I've stated many times in previous blogs, I feel like I am the black sheep of the family. Whenever we have family get togethers, nobody ever talks to me. I try to make an effort to insert myself in to conversations, but it never works. I feel very left out with my family and extended family. Now, I'm not saying that the entire converstation needs to revolve around me, but I need to not be ignored as well.

I was going to go up to Cracker Barrel for Thanksgiving; however I decided not to go that route. I heard something yesterday that seriously FREAKED me out. I was watching TV before I went to work & they were saying that the average Thanksgiving meal is 3500 calories!!! HOLY CRAP!!! That is more calories than I consume in 2 days! Now I'm sure the 3500 calories is if you go back for seconds and thirds on EVERYTHING. One of my friends on Facebook said the average calories is 1500. That's about what I eat in a day, maybe a little less.

Because of all of the weight I've lost, I'm very conscious of what I eat. Because I'm not running right now, that makes me even a little more conscious of what I eat. I allow myself one day a week (Saturday) to eat whatever I want, and even then, I watch what I eat. Because a little while ago, I was sick and I was injured, so I put on more weight than I would've liked; therefore, I'm really trying right now to lose that weight again. I want to go through one holiday season of not gaining a massive amount of weight like I have the past couple of years.

So, this is what I ended up doing for Thanksgiving:



It was only 290 calories!!! I can handle that. Then I had a Smart Ones dessert that was only 130 calories.

Now honestly, I have to say, I think I have some sort of eating disorder. I don't think it's normal for someone to freak out this much about Thanksgiving dinner. I'm working on figuring out how to deal with it & I hope that one day I can not worry about Thanksgiving, have it with my family and not worry about my calorie consumption.

Meet Jagger!

Jagger is a Jamis Xenith T 2011 Time Trial bike. I can't wait to ride him!!!! Now I just need to get pedals and shoes for him. Anybody have any suggestions?

Swimming Apparel

Alot of people have asked me what kind of swim wear I buy and what different equipment I use when I swim.

About 1 1/2 years ago, I found that THE BEST swim wear for practicing is Dolphin brand Uglies swim wear. I know the name is funny, but the swim suits last SO much longer than others. The swim suits are made out of polyester, so I can normally get a swimsuit to last 6-8 months. Before I wore Uglies, I was buying a new swim suit every 2-3 months. That can get expensive. A couple of the designs on the swim suits aren't the most attractive, but they've got some awesome swim suits. Plus, they have seasonal ones.






As far as goggles go, I used to use Speedo Baja goggles, but my personal trainer suggested TYR Tracer goggles. I've been hooked on TYR Tracers ever since. I always have a pair I wear for in the pool and I have a pair for open water swimming. TYR Tracers have a really good seal to them and they don't leak water at all.




Last but not least, I use the TYR buoy and TYR hand paddles. I've never used any different, so I don't know much about the other brands. My personal trainer suggested TYR hand paddles because they are shaped like the hand and you can kind of grow in to them if you need to.




As for swim caps, I use whatever. I usually get a free swim cap in my race swag bags, so I use those. I usually end up replacing them every 3 months, but I just got a new swim cap for my birthday and I can't wait to use it.

Question:

What brand of swim suit do you use?

Do you have a favorite goggle you use?

Do you use the hand paddles and buoys?

Swim Drills & Cycling

Friday I was supposed to go swimming and do 1400 yards of drills. I was going to blog about it because I know when I first started swimming I'd never heard of these swim drills. Well, I totally slept through my alarm Friday and couldn't go swimming.

Saturday I decided besides my cycling workout B.J. had planned for me, I was going to do Friday's swim workout. I got up early Saturday morning, drove 20 minutes to a different swimming pool and paid $5.50 to go swim (there was a swim meet at my normal pool). I walk in to the pool area and there was a Masters Swim class going on. I should have just jumped in with the class but I am VERY intimidated by the Masters Swim class. I am working on that. I ended up just leaving, going back to my gym and doing my cycling workout.

If I would have been able to swim, this is what I was supposed to do.

200 swim, 200 kick, 200 pull.

200 yards of the skate drill. The skate drill is where you lay on your side with one arm resting on your leg and the other stretched out in front of you. Your head is resting on the arm stretched out in front of you. You just kick your way across the pool and then when you turn around to come back, you switch arms.

200 yards of the under skate drill. This is the same as the skate drill, but about every 5 - 10 seconds, you turn your head in to the water and swim like that for 5 - 10 seconds. You need to try and not move your shoulders when you turn in to the water.

The next couple of drills, I'm just going to post videos about them because it's easier to show you than it is to try and explain it to you.

200 yards of the shark drill.


200 yards of the stop switch drill.


200 yards of the triple switch drill. This one took me a while to get used to. I think this one is one of the harder drills.


200 yards of the catch up drill.


Last one, and I still have a VERY hard time with this drill is the finger tip drag drill.


I hope these drills help you like they'ved helped me.

Since I didn't get to do any of these drills, I ended up just going back to my gym and doing the cycling workout B.J. had for me, which was a 30 minute warm up and then 1 hour at a steady effort, and then a cool down of 10 minutes.

I would normally LOVE to go out on the street, but with it being winter now in Utah, you can't really do that. My gym only has 2 spinning bikes. I LOVE doing the spinning bike. It is the most like going outside. I was crossing my fingers that when I got to the gym a spinning bike would be available, but the way my luck was working that day, it wasn't. I ended up sitting on a stationary bike for 1 1/2 hours. A stationary bike is VERY hard for me to comfortably sit on. But, I did it. I was able to stay at a resistance of 14 the entire time. I got a really good workout. I burned 1360 calories. I figure that was pretty good.

There really isn't too much to write about when talking about cycling, so if you have any questions, please feel free to ask.

Question:

Do you have a typical swim workout? What is it? Do you do these drills or do you have different drills you do?

How long do you do your cycling workout?

But My Bed Is Soooo Comfy...

I swim three days a week. I swim on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. At the Rec Center that I workout and swim at, it's easiest to go swimming in the morning. In the evening, there are swim lessons, open plunge, etc., and it's hard to get a lane to do your swimming.

Well, it's REALLY hard for me to get up in the morning to go swimming...especially in the winter time. To get a lane in the pool without having to share with anybody and before the Masters Swim Team and the local high school team invades the pool, you have to be up there and on the pool deck by 5:00 a.m. At 5:00 a.m., I'd much rather be doing this:



Add in the cold weather outside and that makes you REALLY want to stay asleep in your warm, comfy, bed.

Well, I need to get back in a habit of going in the morning. It's SO much easier to go in the morning. Get that portion of your workout done for the day and everything.

Well, this morning, I dragged my ass outta bed at 4:50 a.m. and headed up to the pool. Surprisingly there weren't too many people there yet. There were quite a few lanes available. I was surprised to see that Earl (one of the regulars) wasn't even there waiting to get in the pool.

I got up there just in time this morning. The lifeguards had just taken there seat, which is the queue to us swimmers to hop on in the pool. I didn't have to sit around on the pool deck and wait for the lifeguards.

I dipped my feet in the water before I got in and HOLY CRAP it was freezing!!! Gah!!! It took me a few minutes to get used to the temperature before I could start swimmming.

I always start out each swim with a 200 swim, 200 kick and a 200 pull.





Normally I don't swim on Thursday's, but because I didn't swim yesterday, I'm made up my swim today. So, after my swim/kick/pull, B.J. (my personal trainer) had me do the following workout:

3 x 300 with 45 second rest
3 x 200 with 30 second rest
3 x 100 with 20 second rest

I swim in a 25 yard pool, so 300 yds is 12 lengths of the pool, etc. My goal is to swim each 50 yards in 1 minute or less. I used to be able to do it and can still do it sometimes, but because I haven't been consistent with my weights, I tend to be a little slow in the pool. :(

I did ok this morning in the pool. I kept track of my time for the first 50 yds and then I kinda gave up, just because I knew I wasn't going to reach my goal of 1 minute or less for every 50 yards I swam. My first 50 yds, I swam in 1:03. Not too bad considering I haven't done weights in a while. After my first 300 yds, and I started on my second set of 300 yds, I watched my time for the first 50 yds again, and I swam it in 1:02, so I was ok with that. I was still right around the same time.

By the time I got to my last set of 200 and all of my 100's, I was pretty slow. I knew I was without even looking at the clock. Because I can't do a flip turn, when I get to the edge of the pool, I have to grab the edge of the pool, hurry and turn around and push off the wall. There was a longer pause every time I went to turn and push of the edge. I was getting tired. It's pretty typical for you to slow down though.

I know another thing that would help me with my timing in the pool is if I could do a dang flip turn. I'm SO uncoordinated I can't do a dang flip turn. I've never been able to do a hand-stand in the pool and I've never been able to do a somersault in the pool. Even when I was a little girl. Plus, I'm always afraid to practice because I'm afraid everyone around me (including the lifeguards) or gonna look at me and go "Oh look at that girl who can't do a flip turn tee hee hee." Granted, I'm sure they have better things to worry about, but still.



I did weights tonight and I'll do weights again on Saturday. B.J. likes me to do weights twice a week. Typically on Monday and Wednesday. But, this week, my workouts have been kinda busy and all, so I didn't get my first set of weights in until today. So, then I'll do more weights on Saturday. Hopefully I will start seeing an improvement on my swim time soon.

Now, my swim workout for tomorrow is going to be interesting. B.J. has me doing the 200 swim/kick/pull and then drill 200 on each of the following drills: skate, under skate, shark, stop switch, triple switch, catch up, and finger tip drag.

Before I started swimming I didn't even KNOW they had drills like this. So, I will try and do another post tomorrow night about my swim workout tomorrow night.

Blog Topics

I'm going swimming tomorrow morning and I've been given a request by one of my Twitter followers to blog about my morning swim tomorrow. So, I'll do that tomorrow night when I get home.

In the meantime, I just want to put out there, if there is a specific topic you want me to cover in my blog, please let me know. Hopefully within the next week, I'm going to have some blog posts on swimming, soda and how it affects exercise, and swim wear and accessories. :)

I'm SO Over This

I'm SO over being injured. It's really getting boring. Right now all I can really do is swim. I've found when my hip hurts, the last thing I can imagine doing is sitting on an itty bitty bike seat for 1 - 2 hours and pedal away. Plus, I'm afraid if I sit on a bike, that motion still works the hip and I'm afraid it will do more injury.

But most of all, I just want to get out and run!!! I miss bundling up and going outside for a run. I miss pounding out miles on the dreadmill up at the gym. I miss getting bored running around the track up at the gym. I'm ready to get out and start training for my first 26.2 in May 2012. I want to challenge my body & I'm looking forward to those long runs on Sundays.

I've only got 2 more days on the steroids and then I guess I need to call the doctor and see what to do next. I can definitely tell there is some improvement in my hip, but it's VERY slow improvement. I hope I don't have to do more steroids. Weird as it sounds, alot of people have told me that these steroids are going to make me HYPER and I'm not going to sleep at all, but they actually make me tired. They do nothing as far as energy is concerned. I wonder if it's just the combo of all the other meds I'm on for my depression, anxiety and thyroid that the combo doesn't make me hyper.

Well, here's to hopefully being able to get out and run again soon!

Hip Update

In one of my previous posts I talked about how my hip has been hurting me. Well, today I went to the doctor and found out what is going on.

Good news: I don't need surgery. I might need surgery eventually, but not now.

Bad news: I've torn part of the muscle in my hip. :( Dear Lord it hurts SO bad today. The doctor poked and prodded and pushed and manuevered my hip around and I can definitely feel it.

So, no running for me for a little bit. It is actually quite upsetting and kind of depressing. I use running to help with my depression, plus it's something I LOVE to do and I'm good at. Now I can't do it for a while.

My doctor has put me on steroids (Prednizone Pack) for 6 days (oh boy!) to help with the healing process. I would like to think that after the 6th day I'll be able to run again, but I've never been on steroids, I don't know how they work, I don't know how fast I'm going to heal.

In the meantime, it hurts to sit, stand, lie down, everything. Ugh.

I Could Cry

I never thought I'd say this, but I miss running. I honestly miss it so much I could cry.



Running is something I now have a passion for, along with swimming and biking. When I have a bad day at work, the first thing I want to do is come home and head up to the gym and just run on the treadmill and sweat my guts out.

So I'm sure you're thinking, well then, get your butt out there and go running, what is stopping you?!?!

You know what's stopping me? Stupid shin splints are stopping me!!!



This is the second time I've had shin splints. The first time they got SO bad I could barely walk. This time, they're not too bad.

I haven't gone running since Wednesday and I was hoping to go running tonight, but I couldn't. While I was swimming I could tell my shins weren't ready for it yet.

So, I will continue to wear my compression socks & use KT Tape and ice down my shins after every workout and hopefully I'll be able to run again soon.

26.2

I've finally signed up for my first full marathon!!! Yay!!! I'm so excited. Seriously.



I will be running the 2012 Zions Bank Ogden Marathon on May 19, 2012. My friend Christy was going to come down from Spokane and do it, but it sold out before she could sign up. BUT..Sylvia is gonna do it with me and so is Rob! Yay! It's gonna be a TON of fun.

I feel like the 1/2 marathon distance isn't really a challenge any more. The only challenge is to improve my time, but the distance isn't a challenge any more.

I've talked with my personal trainer and he said that the Ogden Marathon is probably the best marathon in the state. There is some downhill to it, but it's not a steep downhill and the course is just beautiful. I can't wait!

I'm sure the closer it gets, the more nervous I'll get, but right now I'm just excited! Yay! This means I'm one step closer to competing in an Ironman!

My Hip

Lately my hip has been hurting REALLY bad. Whenever I run more than 4 miles, my left hip hurts really bad. Also, when I walk, there is a clicking in my hip.

I found out last night too, whenever I sit on a hard surface for too long, that doesn't do well for my hip either.

Up until now, I've just kind of dealt with the pain. It seems to be getting a little worse, so I've made an appointment with my orthopedic surgeon and on November 9th I'll see him. Let's hope it's nothing too bad.

Las Vegas Ragnar Relay 2011

Last weekend I had the privledge of participating in the 2011 Las Vegas Ragnar Relay. I had SO much fun and made 8 new friends. I already knew 3 of the people on our team.

Now, let's back up a second. When I found out I'd be doing the Las Vegas Ragnar, I had just got done running the Epic Cache-Teton Relay. In the Cache-Teton relay I ran a total of 4 legs and it wasn't a challenge, so I told my Las Vegas Ragnar captain (Sylvia) to give me a challenge. A challenge I did get!

I was originally going to be in van # 1 with Sylvia, David and Khris, because we were all co-workers, but when I told Sylvia to give me a challenge, that put me in van # 2. I became runner # 7.

We left Thursday night from Sylvia's house and drove down to Mesquite. We didn't want to stay in Las Vegas Thursday night because we knew hotels would be expensive. Plus, Mesquite was only 1 hour away from the starting line and 1 1/2 hours away from the first major exchange. Half of us left Sylvia's at 4:00 and the other van left at 6:00 because they ahd to work.

We ended up carbing up in Cedar City at Arby's. Not my ideal way of carbing up, but when you're traveling, you take what you can get. Lol. Had a BLAST on the way down. Got to know Rob and Katie well on the way down.

We met up with van # 2 when they got down to Mesquite and we quickly called it a night. Van # 1 had to get up at 6:30 a.m. to head to the starting line. We had a start time of 9:00 a.m.

After van # 1 got off on their way, I met up with my van mates (I didn't know ANYBODY) and we started to get things ready to go. We knew we had to be at the major exchange between 12:00 - 1:00 p.m. because we still had to go through safety training and check in and I would start running around 2:00 p.m.

Side note: My only concern about running the Ragnar Relay in Las Vegas was the heat. Granted, it was the end of October, but it's still alot hotter than it is up here in Utah down in Las Vegas.

Well, we went to the local Wal-Mart, picked up the stuff for PBJ's, went and carbed up at McDonald's and then hit the road.

Not long after we got on I-15, we had a VERY unpleasant surprise. Traffic was HORRIBLE. It was backed up as far as we could see.

I started tweeting out to my fellow Twitterers that were doing the Las Vegas Ragnar to see if they were running in to traffic, but they stayed in Henderson, so they were already at the exchange.

I was starting to get SUPER nervous about getting to the exchange on time. I didn't want Khris to have to run in to the exchange and have nobody to pass off to.

We finally came upon what was holding us up:



I don't know if anybody was hurt. There were no ambulance or anything there. The truck that was pulling the trailer didn't seem to be too banged up. I hope nobody was hurt too bad.

After we got through the traffic jam, Ryan FLOORED it. We finally made it to the exchange and got checked in. Got to go to the potty. We were standing in safety training and we'd been listening to the schpeel for about 5 minutes and I see Khris run in to the exchange. I decided to duck out of safety training (oops) and go get the hand off from Khris. I promise the safety training was almost over & I'd heard it from a previous training.

As we were driving in to the exchange, I got a preview of my run. OMG!!! It was NOTHING but hills. I didn't think it would be too bad. I'd have water with me, it was only 6.1 miles. Oh Lord was I in for a treat.

First off, I started out on that leg too fast. :( Second off, this was an unsupported leg. My van could have stopped and helped, but because we were told this was an unsupported leg, nobody stopped. At mile 0.5 I ran out of water. Not good. I stopped and was walking, I felt weak, I just kept saying over and over "I need more water". Well, another runner must have heard that and told some people ahead, because not long after, a girl came up to me and said "Someone said you need water. Are you ok?" I told her I didn't have water and needed it. She was so kind. Her name was Emily. She walked with me for a while, filled up my water bottle twice with Gatorade, and gave me ice to stick down my bra and on my forehead. Finally she had to leave and stay with her van and I made it a little farther.

Then, another guy stopped and walked with me and gave me his water. I don't know his name, but I remember talking to him and he said he was from Kaysville. He gave me ALL of his water & we walked & talked for a little bit. He then left me & said if I needed anything to holler. Well, a few minutes later, I see him walking back towards me. He asked if I'd had any salt. I told him I'd eaten a pack of energy beans before I started running and then I'd had 2 bottles of Gatorade. He gave me a salt tablet thing and that seemed to help a little bit.

We FINALLY made it to the first water station at mile 4. I drank alot of water & and filled up my water bottle again and headed off running. The guy from Kaysville left me again. He said I was looking much better and said he'd see me at the next exchange. Apparently I wasn't looking too hot during that leg of the race. But, I was able to run the last 2 miles to the next exchange.

My van was so kind. They said I ran in to the exchange looking really strong. I wish I felt strong. But I passed off to Lisa and Lisa started running. I wish I had pictures from my first leg, but I don't. :( Sorry.

I ran/walked my first leg of 6.1 miles uphill in 1:23:34 (not my ideal time) and I burned 1,356 calories. :) No kills, but alot of deaths.

I believe Lisa passed off to Emily.



Emily passed off to Ryan, Ryan passed off to Kirsten & Kirsten passed off to BJ. BJ & Ryan are SUPER fast runners.

Before we got to our major exchange where we passed off to van # 1, we had some pretty good runs. Everybody ran really well. I was really impressed with how well our team did.

BJ passed off to Rob at the Lake Las Vegas resort. Holy cow that place is BEAUTIFUL!!! I wish I got pictures while we were there. I would LOVE to be able to stay there one day, but I don't know if I'm rich enough. Here is a picture of the resort I got off the internet.



By this time we were all hungry & we were in Henderson, so we stopped at Panda Express to carb up for our next time we had to run. I don't make a habit of eating there very often, so I asked Ryan what was good to eat there. I got 2 sides and fried rice. It was DELICIOUS!!! I got orange chicken & shrimp for my sides.

Weird thing that happened while we were at Panda Express. A couple of different Ragnar teams stopped there to eat. I was sitting at our table and this guy walks up to me and says "Hi, my name's Chris. How are you?" My first thought was who the crap is this guy. So, I was being friendly and said hi back. The next thing he says is "You do alot of races don't you? I think I saw you at the Layton Triathlon, the Willard Bay Triathlon and you did the Layton 1/2 Marathon two weeks ago, didn't you?" Holy crap!!! This dude is stalking me. Lol. Everything was right except for I didn't do the Willard Bay Triathlon. Come to find out, he trains at the South Davis Recreation Center where I train too. He was at the pool Thursday morning when I was there. He trains with a company called Blonde Runner. I didn't think people really noticed me at my races. Well, apparently I'm wrong. It's kind of cool.

After we got done running, we made it to the next major exchange and we were all going to nap, but my parents came to that exchange, so I was able to hang out with my parents for a little bit before I started running.



This was an awesome place to be a major exchange. There was alot of grass to nap on if you were given the chance, lots of restrooms, etc.

I felt kind of bad for Khris. When he came running in to pass off to me, he didn't realize it until he came upon it, but after running about 6 miles, he had to climb a TON of stairs to get to the exchange.

I felt pretty confident about running this next leg. It was only 6 miles, it was alot cooler because it was 11:00 p.m. There were hills, but they weren't as bad as I expected. It was all uphill, with maybe, if I was lucky, about 100 yds of flat. I was able to run the entire 6 miles.

I told my van to stop every 2 miles to see if I was ok. They weren't able to stop until about mile 3.5 because I was running fast and they had to pack up the van and everything. They gave me water at mile 3.5 and then just met me at the finish. I was good with that.

When you're running the Ragnar, you anxiously await the 1 mile left to go sign. I got to the 1 mile left sign and then that last mile seemed to take FOREVER!!! The last hill I had to run was the hardest, but I knew at the end of that hill Lisa would be waiting for me.

I ran my 2nd leg of 6 miles in 66 minutes and burned 1,156 calories. Towards the end of this leg, my hip and my knees were starting to hurt, but it wasn't anything too bad. I got 2 kills on this leg.

Everybody else ran their legs really fast. I was pleasantly surprised. After everybody finished their legs, we headed to the last major exchange where we would be able to catch a few hours of sleep before I had to start running my last leg.

Here is a picture of BJ getting ready to run his second leg. It's not a good picture, but that's what you get when you're running at night. :)



Ryan was our driver most of the time. In the Ragnar Bible, the driving instructions to our last exchange was basically to follow the runners. :( Not good. It took us 2 hrs (driving down a dirt road) to get to our exchange. By the time we got to our exchange, the place was PACKED. It was FREEZING cold because the wind was blowing. We found a place to park the van and we all got our sleeping bags out and fell asleep.

I got to sleep for about 1 hour until I had to wake up and move so another van could get out because it was time for them to start running. Once I got up then, I was awake. So, I got about 1 hour of sleep. By the way, we were sleeping on gravel. Here's a picture I got of the rest of my team bundled up in their sleeping bags sleeping.



Since I couldn't sleep, I decided to get up & get ready to run my last leg. I walked around & cheered on other runners, made a potty stop & found out that a local scout group was at that exchange selling pancakes, eggs, and sausage. I ran back to my van, got some $$$ and bought me some unlimited pancakes, eggs & sausage. What an awesome way to carb up for my last run.

Finally, the rest of my team woke up & before I knew it, it was almost time to start running my last leg.

This last leg of mine, I was terrified. It was the "Ragnar" leg, which is the hardest leg on the course. It was starting to heat up outside. I decided that I was going to run with my music to keep me sane. I decided to run with my phone too. I was going to run with my phone because the van that was next to us, they'd done this race before and they said that sometimes you see interesting things on the side of the road. I thought, well, to make it more fun and keep my mind off of how hard this leg of the race was, I would run with my phone and if I saw anything interesting or funny, I'd stop and take a picture.

Well, no more than 10 minutes before it was time for me to run, I just got terrified. I ended up having a major anxiety attack. I called my dad and was just sobbing. I was terrified. I knew I just needed to start running. I just prayed that Khris got there soon. Sylvia saw me panicing and just came up & told me that everything would be ok.

Finally, Khris came running in and I took off. I made sure I started out slow this time because I knew that part of my problem on my first leg was I started out WAY too fast.

Luckly on this leg of the race, they had water every 3 miles. More lucky than that, van # 1 and # 2 decided to stop and support me. It was AWESOME!!! I SO wasn't expecting it. Plus, all the other vans that were supporting their runners had squirt bottles and water guns that they were spraying every runner.

Van # 1 was the first one to stop & support me. At about mile 2, Rob got out & gave me some cold water. I took whatever water I had in my water bottle & poured it over my head. Even though I ate some energy gel before I started running, about every 2 miles I ended up needing some gel or gu or sports beans or something.

Mile 3 I got more water from the water station and then between mile 3 & 4, Rob got out of van # 1 and gave me some energy gel 'cause I hollered at them that I needed some more. When van # 1 stopped and Rob gave me more water and energy gel, I ended up giving him my phone because I was soaking wet from pouring water over me I was afraid that my phone was going to get ruined. They met up with my van somewhere and gave them my phone.

Mile 4, my van stopped & gave me water and then about mile 6 1/2 they had another water station. When I stopped at the second water station, I told them, please tell me I am at least at mile 6. They told me I was about 0.5 miles from the top! I was THRILLED!!!

Van # 2 was stopped at the top to give me more water, but I didn't need it. I just told them to meet me at the exchange. The last 3 miles were all downhill and I was booking it. Everybody that I passed they told me that I was cookin' and I was going super fast. That gave me confidence.

On this leg, I got to run past a brothel. I wish I would've had my camera with me, but I had already passed it off, otherwise I would've taken a picture of it. It was disguised as a "bar", but hello, we were in Pahrump, NV, they're known for their brothels, I knew better. Lol.

I got to pass off to Lisa and Lisa had to run 4 miles downhill. She did awesome!!! But, here is a picture Ryan took of me running the "Ragnar" leg.



The "Ragnar" leg was a total of 10.2 miles (7 miles, uphill, and then 3.2 miles downhill). I gained a total of 1500 feet running uphill (can you see why I was scared Lol). I ran it in 1:53:05 and I burned 1,833 calories. I was able to run all but about 200 yds of the leg. I only stopped to walk when I was eating the energy gel and blocks.

When Lisa passed off to Emily, Emily got to run through Blue Mountain, NV. It's a cute little town. We pulled off to support Emily right by the Blue Mountain Town Park. Here's a picture of the park:



Yes, you are viewing this correctly. Donkeys in the park. They were SO cute. There was actually a donkey on the highway. It was really throwing the runners off.



Emily passed off to Ryan. Ryan wasn't too confident about running as fast as he normally would, but he did great! He ran faster than I normally would. We stopped & supported all of the runners.



Ryan passed off to Kirsten & Kirsten passed off to BJ. Both BJ & Kirsten ran like rock stars!!! Hell, everybody on my team ran like rockstars!



As soon as Kirsten passed off to BJ, we had to book it to the finish line. BJ didn't have far to run & he was running fast. We still had to find a parking spot at the finish line and wait for BJ.

My dad was at the finish line & we all gave him our cameras so he could take pictures of us running in to the finish.



Here's BJ leading the pack in to the finish. I was desparately trying to catch up to him and nobody really caught up with him until we crossed the finish. He was on a mission! Lol.


Here's a team picture of us at the finish line in our team t-shirts.


One last team picture.


My well deserved finishers medal!

Our two vans:

Chuck the Champion Chrysler



Donna the Dodge Destiny

I had a TON of fun with Team Kick ASSphalt on the Las Vegas Ragnar. I made a TON of new friends & I hope to do many many more races with them.

Winter Running

I went to a clinic the other night at Salt Lake Running Company about winter running. I thought I'd do a recap of the clinic on here because I learned quite a bit. I hope I can do it justice.

One of the first things they tell you is if you wear underwear while running DO NOT wear cotton. I've never had a problem wearing cotton, but the longer the run, I can definitely see. Cotton absorbs the moisture and doesn't wick it away, therefore it can cause a rash, infection, etc. :( That's no bueno in my book. They highly recommend either wool or synthetic underwear. I don't know about you, but when I think of wool underwear, I think of itchy scratchy heavy duty wool socks, but they had a fashion show at SLRC and the underwear looks REALLY nice.

SLRC has a layering system that they call S-VIP.
S = Support - Elminiate chaffing and aid in moister transfer {non-cotton underwear}.
V = Ventilation - Keep the skin dry. Wear wool or fabric that will wick the moisture away.
I = Insulation - Manage your body temperature (read further down).
P = Protection - Shield the skin from the wind and elements. Usually people wear shorts over tights.

Manage your body temperature: If you get hot, take off your gloves. Your hands cool down the fastest on your body and if you take your gloves off, it will help cool your body down quickly. Also, try & get tops that have zippers, but only have a 1/2 zipper so that when you get hot, you can unzip and then when you get cold again, zip right back up.

I found it interesting that they said that neon yellow & green are best with if you aren't wearing a reflective vest. Your eye will gravitate to that color fastest. But ALWAYS wear a reflective vest if your running in the early morning or evening. If you have a headlamp, wear that as well. They said that if you have freshly fallen snow, black is a good color to wear because it stands out against the white.

Last but not least, they said to run with a HOT water bottle. By the time you get out and running and need a drink, because it's cold, the hot water will have cooled down and you'll have a cold beverage.

How Do They Afford It?

I read one blog of a gal up in Oregon that does triathlons. She is SUPER enspiring. So far this year she's don IMCdL, she did Augusta 70.3 and she's getting ready to do IMAZ.

It's not just her that does alot of Ironman's. My personal trainer did IMSG this year (he always does) and he qualified for KONA, so he went over to KONA too. Plus he did a bunch of Olympic distance triathlon's.

I've looked to see how much registration fees are for an Ironman and they are EXPENSIVE!!! If I remember correctly, they are close to $600...for one race!!! HOLY CRAP!!! Granted, it's worth it. It's definitely worth it when you cross that finish line and hear that YOU are an Ironman.

But good grief, how do people afford to do multiple Ironman's in a year? I wish I had the money to do a couple of Ironman's a year AND have the money for the traveling expenses too.

Next year, all I'm going to do are Olympic distance triathlons (with the exception of a full marathon and the Wasatch Back Ragnar Relay) and Olympic distance triathlons are expensive. They're usually around $70-80 a race. I'm definitely having to scale back how many races I do.

The year that I do my Ironman, unless I strike it rich between now and then and win the lottery, that will be THE ONLY race I do that year.

I just don't get how people have the $$$ to do all these races. I guess they all have better jobs than I do and make more money. :)

Wordless Wednesday...Kind Of :)