So this is the second Saturday that our big bike/run has been cancelled due to inclement weather...ugh! However, we did manage to get in a 4 mile run at the Tobacco Trail in the rain, of course. I also ran into my spin coach- Linda- on the trail. Let me tell you, this woman is inspiring! She is a true athlete. Very cool. I am disappointed we couldn't ride as I needed a good workout. I don't want to lose speed. At this point, I feel like I should be ramping it up. We're going to try to make up the ride (20 miles) tomorrow (Sunday).

It was a beautiful day today and since I have to facilitate tonight at the Postpartum group at Rex, I had to get my workout in this a.m. with Audrey. It went well. I did 4 miles with her in the jogger. She loves seeing all the dogs, ducks, geese and turtles. I saw a banded water snake as well. At least that is what someone told me it was and I chose to believe her over my fear it was a copperhead. Anyway, I am slowly starting to tell that the cross-training is helping my running. I am moving a little quicker with more ease. Glad the hard work is paying off!

Good times...

Yet another 45-50 (did I mention that I can't count) lap swim tonight with the team. Coach Tom took some video of me and my swimming "form." Oh boy....I look like I am gasping for my last breath as I work my way down the pool. I've always been like that. Decent stroke but I crank my head way up to breathe probably for fear of sucking down the water. I am told that won't happen but I guess it's a bad habit. Anyway, the best part of practice was when we put all 6 of us in one lane and raced for 25 meters. Let me just say that I am learning that fear really motivates me (like fear of getting kicked in my face or punched in my ribs) because I flew that lap! Good times...

I made my 5:30a.m. spin class this morning...hamstrings felt tight from the run yesterday but otherwise I'm okay.

So due to not being able to exercise yesterday, I felt the need to get out there today and do something. However I had to fit it in after church and a birthday party as that was my only window to get it in. Audrey was napping and SC was in quiet time. For the most part, I have been able to keep on schedule with workouts but it gets a little tricky when I have to shift my workouts around as there isn't much time/energy to work it around family life. On the other hand, the workouts are important as it's hard to maintain the level of training we are doing if you don't keep up. So I hit the pavement today and this time ran to Lake Pine, did a lap and ran back. So 6.5 miles in 60 minutes. Not too bad as there are a few good hills in there. My right hamstring is tight though. I hope to get my spin class in tomorrow morning.

Our brick (bike/run) was cancelled today due to bad weather...  ;-(

Life is like a box of chocolates...

So today my intention was to run 4 miles around Lake Pine. Instead, I barely ran two because, alas, nature called.Yes, today I saved a baby squirrel. The same species I wish away when our garden takes a hit in the summer. However, I am a sucker for babies and this one needed me big time. As I was jogging on the trail, I saw this big fluffly kitty. Then I saw the baby squirrel just a couple of feet away flailing around in the leaves. Eyes still not opened. I couldn't leave it. I flagged down 2 teenagers (they typically frighten me) but these kids were sweet. They distracted the cat with french fries while I scooped up the wee squirrel in my ball cap. I headed off down the trail wondering what the heck I was going to do with a baby squirrel who needed more than I could give. I panicked. I started asking random passerbys if they knew anything about baby squirrels. One woman growled at me (I think she really did). But 2 other women stopped and took pity. Of all things, one worked in a vet office and the other had nursed another baby squirrel to health. The gods were smiling on me. They told me to take it to the Wildlife Rescue place off of Glenwood (for future reference). I proceeded around the lake to my car with baby squirrel curled up in my hat. So adorable. Yet I must have appeared slightly overwhelmed having visions of night feedings and such. Then the gods smiled on me once again as one of the women came running back to me. I kid you not...she took off her shirt (thankfully a running bra was underneath) and she said she would be happy to deliver the baby to the rescue place herself! True story. Not such a great workout but a reaffirmation of the kindness of people. As the saying goes, "Life is like a box of chocolates..."

Train Endure Achieve Matter

Okay, so I've fallen a bit behind in my blog posts but, not to fear, this train is still rolling. I am just a little weary! This past Saturday, we ramped up the mileage and did a 20 mile jaunt on the bike near the American Tobacco Trail. It was a beautiful ride I must say...

I took this pic as we were passing Lake Jordan. Not a bad way to spend a Saturday morning! Shortly thereafter, though, I lost my chain. Yep, I think I dropped my gear too quickly and, as a result, the whole thing went kerplunk as in spinning air and going nowhere fast. Uh-oh. I knew I should have taken that biking basics class the other weekend. Seriously, if you are thinking about doing road biking, it's a good idea. Anyway, I did the only thing I could do at that point and threaded the chain back on and thankfully it worked. Close call though. This time I tried again to stay with the lead pack but I just couldn't keep up. It landed me in the middle of the pack with another rider who rode just behind me. Thankfully though, the rest of the ride went pretty well (minus the gun shot) in the not too distant field. I picked up the pace a little and waved my arm just to be sure. Then came the run. It was totally flat but dang if I didn't do an 8:50 mile for 2 miles!

I did however miss Sarah Cowles's first soccer game of the season since I was at the training. Mommy guilt is a factor here. That hurt a little. I knew there were going to be sacrifices and there have been. I miss dinner/bed every Tuesday evening and Saturday mornings. I have been preoccupied with training and fundraising but I am okay and my kids are okay and Jason is fine. We are good. After training Saturday a.m., I drove to VA with Sarah Cowles to send my brother off to Bulgaria. It was good to be with family and especially spend one on one time with SC.

I take Sundays off....ahhhhhhhh

On Monday, I made another 5:30a.m. spin class! It is probably not my favorite form of exercise but it gets the job done and the best part is that I am done by 7a.m. just in time to start my real job  ;-)

Last night (Tuesday) was swim practice. Ooh, la, la...I have to admit I think I started feeling a little sorry for myself this week. I mean. This training is tough! I started doubting myself about being ready for the event even though we're several months away from the big day. Can I really swim a whole mile? We're swimming 50+ laps at practice but with quite a few breaks, too. And then, we're a small team. There are ~6 of us that are training consistently together. But sometimes that means you're alone for most of the bike ride or run or sometimes the swim. I start feeling sorry for myself and want some company but then I start thinking of why I am doing this. Why I am training. I think of Mary Anne and how much she would give to be here on this Earth being out of breath and tired. I also think of the patients and survivors (Ed! and Patti!) who have fought so hard to get better and beat cancer. And then I look at my wrist band and it all comes back to me: Train Endure Achieve Matter. That's why I am doing what I am doing through the ups and the downs. Go TEAM!

1400m/25m = 56 laps!

Holy cow...no wonder my body is feeling it today! So we swam 56 laps last night at swim practice. When you think that on a typical (pre-Team in Training) swim, I would stop at ~25 laps, I would say that I have made some progress! I swear it is the group dynamic that pushes you further and faster than you would normally go. I know that is true for me at least. I swam hard tonight. I guess I felt good. I think it may have been the Greek yogurt I downed on my way to practice which also included a 2.25 mile jog before swim practice. I am eating lots of protein these days. The knee is feeling better thank goodness. Got home around 8:30p.m. Took a shower. Ate a bean burrito and fell fast asleep. Taking the day off of exercise tomorrow...woot, woot!

Cock-a-doodle-doo

Went to spin class this morning at 5:30a.m. (applause, cheer). I didn't go all out for fear that my knee was going to act up again. I also didn't stand up too much in the seat. Do I like spin class? I'm not sure. I do think it gives you a good workout but they really should have bikes that have digital readouts of heartrate/mileage/calories or something to keep you motivated. For now, Lifetime just has hand adjusted turn dials. Plus 2 big screens of pro bikers climbing hills etc. with pulsating music. Yee-haw!

Trying to keep up with the big kids...

We biked at a different place today- up at Research Triangle Park. I decided today that I was going to try to keep up with the "big kids." I wanted to push myself a little bit more on the ride. And so I did. I kept up with the lead pack for about 5 miles but the little engine that could fell behind and then I was by myself. Slower than the fast bikers and faster than the others. My legs felt good though. I was worried about knee strain as I had not biked since last week's 1.5 hour spin class. It is interesting to me how more comfortable I have become biking on the roads. Some of this may be false security as I probably only know enough to manage out there. But I am not as fearful as I was my first ride and am actually enjoying these rides. It is a freeing feeling to be on a bike going far and sometimes fast. We bike with maps taped to our handle bars. However, one stretch was like 7 miles and at least once I came to an intersection with no signage. Once I had to flag a car down and ask how far until the next road change and another time, I had to call coach to see if I was still on track with the map. Next bike ride, I hope to have the pedometer in good working order! Thank goodness for cell phones!

We followed up the 17 mile ride with a 3 mile run. My legs felt good. The tricky thing with this event is that it's hard for me to gauge how hard to push on the swim or bike leg so I don't poop out on the run. I am still trying to figure it all out...spin class at 5:30a.m. on Monday here I come

Weight lifted tonight to help my knee- did a bunch of hamstring and quadriceps exercises. I need to work this into my weekly routine to keep my knee from getting out of whack.

I can't count

Tuesday, March 7- Tonight was swim practice. One thing I have learned is that I have a hard time counting laps correctly. You would think that I would have a lot of time to think about what lap I am on when I am swimming but alas perhaps I over think (or get tired) and confused. So what did I do last Tuesday when I got tired? I just followed the pack. See we swim 2 or 3 to a lane and trail each other up and back. So I assumed that my teammate in front was on the ball and so even though I thought we had swum 8 laps, I noticed she kept going. And for that, we both ended up swimming 2 more laps than necessary which was so not what I needed or wanted to do!

Tough practice- Two 100m, four 50m, one 200m, two 100m and ten 25m 

M'am, that is the prettiest blouse...

Today I finally went running! I've been swimming and biking all week for the most part and I was actually looking forward to getting back to my long, lost friend- running. It was a beautiful day in the mid-70's. I could have taken Audrey with me in the jogger for a run while Sarah Cowles was in preschool but I intentionally did not. I needed some just me time without having to multi-task between running and entertaining her at the same time. It was just one of those days. So I went to Lake Pine where they have a beautiful 2 mile loop. I ended up doing 2 laps or 4 miles. I felt good minus the fact that I started having some knee pain yesterday. It is a familiar pain as I have dealt with it since a soccer injury and subsequent chondromalatia in my right knee. Typically it is side-to-side activities that aggravate it but alas it has resurfaced probably due to the intensity of training since starting TNT. So I will hit the weights sooner than later and hopefully get that knee/muscles in shape.

On a completely different note, while on my runs, I have recently discovered the pleasure of listening to NPR on my fancy phone- Android, I think. It's great. Real adult "conversation" for more than 5 minutes at a time! I crave this stuff as a full-time momma to two little ones! Anyway, today's podcast on Talk of the Nation was titled:

Trading The Road Of Anger For The Path To Patience 
http://www.npr.org/2012/03/01/147736933/trading-the-road-of-anger-for-the-path-to-patience?sc=emaf

Hey, not that I am ever angry or impatient (I jest) but it was a nice story to listen to as I hoofed it around the lake. They took calls from people who wanted to share how they had learned to be patient in certain instances. In case you don't have 16 minutes to listen to the story, here was my favorite segment:

BETH: I was a having a very busy day with lots of errands a few years ago and went into a post office where I was the only customer. And the attendant was taking his time rhythmically stamping a very tall pile of envelopes. And he didn't even look at me. I stood there for about five minutes. And finally, I just laid it into him, at which point he looked at me and he said, ma'am, that is the prettiest blouse.

(SOUNDBITE OF LAUGHTER)

BETH: He completely disarmed me. And I thought what a great tool to have in your toolbox when somebody is impatient, to be able to use something like that, that completely changes the subject and gets you see how unimportant this little delay is in the bigger scheme of things.

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Pretty cool, huh? Workout and wisdom. Looking ahead...no workout tomorrow. Another brick (bike/run) on Saturday...wahoo!