Friday, April 29, 2011

Random Friday Facts: This morning's bike ride

  1. This morning's ride was the best ride of my life to date.
  2. Katie and I rocked the hell out of it and we were feeling A-mazing! Even at the end, I could have kept going. (Which I did, Katie and I parted ways at 64 miles and I kept riding)
  3. Pink Lady and I are back to being best friends after I wrecked her in the mud 2 weeks ago.
  4. We started at 6 am.
  5. We took the Washington and Old Dominion trail all the way out past Hernon, VA (32 miles out from the start of the trail)
  6. I have sweet tan lines on my thighs and arms from my bike jersey and shorts.
  7. My hooha hates me right now.
  8. Pink Lady has some new gear- an xlab and enough nutrition to feed a family of 4.
  9. Except I ate ALL my nutrition on today's ride.
  10. I really love the EFS sport drink I tried today- tasted great and I had lots of energy
  11. Distance PR. BOOM! 73.25 miles, baby!
  12. I had 400 calories for breakfast, and 600 during the ride. I probably should have had more.
  13. I am going to go shower and eat everything in sight within a 3 block radius.
  14. Have a great weekend! Mine is off to a fabulous start!
:)


Thursday, April 28, 2011

Three Things Thursday: Pug edition

If you read this blog often you probably know that I love my dog. She is the most ridiculous little snorting machine this side of the Mississippi. She runs circles around the dining room table until she tires herself out. She lays on your lap even if you are trying to do work or write a blog post. She licks the crap out of your legs after you come home from a sweaty run. So here are three amazingly silly pictures of her just to make you smile.


Waiting for Phil to get out of the shower

Asleep on my lap and laptop.

party animal!


Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Self-Coaching

As I mentioned in last week's Random Friday Facts, I will be straying from the team training plan since I am participating in a race that the rest of the team is not.

The way Team Z works is that you follow a "track" such as Olympic focus, 70.3 focus or Ironman focus. You are then given a training plan for the track you are following. The tracks usually have 2 "A" races for the season. Since I am following the Ironman track we have a 70.3 as our first A race of the season and then Ironman Cozumel as the big kahuna A race.



My issue is that I signed up for Eagleman 70.3 before I joined the team and their 70.3 A race is 5 weeks after Eagleman. I couldn't just follow the Team's plan or else I would be in the middle of a build cycle when June 12th came around. So I improvised...

I took the knowledge I have learned from being an athlete, the books I have read about triathlon training, online 70.3 training plans and made my own plan for the next 7 weeks. (holy crap only 7 weeks until my first 70.3...) I think it gives me plenty of long rides, long runs, recovery days and even a nice little taper before the race. I think it is a good plan, but since I am pretty new at this I have no real idea!

But I made a detailed plan that I think is going to work for me and I am going to trust that I know enough about myself and my abilities and follow the plan. I need to not freak out in 3 weeks and stray from the plan...that would be no good.

Are you guys self-coached? If so, how do you design your plans? Do you ever question yourself?

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Can it be Friday now?

I know it's only Tuesday but since I can't control my excitement for this weekend I figured I would do the "Yay it's the weekend!" post that usually comes on Friday, today. I like to switch it up a little.

My weekend will consist of riding my bike (which had to get new brake cables because of all the mud from my big fall the other weekend) longer than I have ever ridden it before. Distance PR, bitches. That means 60+ miles.

Once I turn my legs to jello on the bike I am heading home to Philly to celebrate the engagement of my big sister, Nikki to her awesome fiance Anthony. My sister and I are really close and continue to grow closer as we get older. There was once a time where she did pull my hair and step on my face because I wouldn't listen to whatever she was telling me to do. Those times are over now, I think. :)

Nikki and I are winners!
I get along with Anthony really well and have gotten to know him well over the past 9 years they have been dating (I know, long time!). Nikki and Anthony like to make fun of me...see below.


In Disney World 2 summers ago they reenacted me tearing all the ligaments in my knee while skiing. Whatever, jerks I can laugh about it now (3 years later!).

Nikki and I have great guys in our lives and we are two very lucky ladies! My parents approve as well :)

Family vacation 2009
After stuffing my face with Italian food in honor of their engagement, I will be running the Broad Street 10 miler the following morning. One of my best friends was supposed to run this race and I was going to go cheer her on, but she hurt her foot and is now benched from the race. I know how that feels. Not wanting her bib to go unused (and the fact that I had 10 miles on my training schedule anyway) I offered to take the bib off her hands. While I would rather be watching Rach run her first 10 miler, I am still pretty excited to run.

The course is on a slight decline and goes in a straight line down Broad street for 10 miles. It is a point to point race. Did I hear someone say PR? Ok good, because I plan to. Ive only done 1 other 10 miler and it was in the first few months of my running career. If I don't totally kill my legs on my long ride I should be able to crush my current PR. woot!



After the race I get more family time while shoveling brunch into my face hole. Biking + family + Nikki's diamond ring + lots of food + running + friends + and more family = a kick ass weekend.

Hope you are excited for your weekend too and I hope the rest of the work week flies by!

Monday, April 25, 2011

Tweet!

So on this weekend's burrito ride (simply a ride with two lovely ladies where after we ride we stuff our faces with burritos) it was brought my attention that all the cool bloggers have twitter accounts.

Since I aspire to be a really cool blogger...I made a twitter account.

I have no idea how to use it yet but I'll figure it out!

If you use twitter you can follow me @LaurenRtriDC

Friday, April 22, 2011

Random Friday Facts

I am stealing this idea from Katie's blog because I ran out of ideas wanted to share more about myself with the few that read this lil' blog of mine.

The way it works is that I share random facts about myself, you read them, you laugh/cry/think I'm weird/whatever and then you feel like you know me better. Got it? Ok, let's get started.

1. There was a time that I wanted to quit college and go to culinary school. Instead, I majored in accounting.

2. I finally figured out what I want to be when I grow up...but I cant tell you just yet.

3. Both my sister and Phil's sister got engaged in the past 2 months. I am really excited about it!

4. I am the girl that has been dreaming about her wedding since she was 5. My mom has a business where she hand makes amazing wedding invitations and place settings and all that jazz...she already knows exactly what I would want for my wedding.

5. I am still getting used to my custom orthotics in my sneakers...at first it felt like I was walking with tennis balls at the arches of my feet...now it feels more like large golf balls.

6. I am taking Pink Lady into the shop to get tuned up and the mud scraped from out of her brakes. It took me over an hour the other night to wash all of the mud off of her. Poor girl.

7. I love french fries.

8. I need a hair cut.

9. I didn't drink until I got to college. I quickly learned to like cheap beer.

10. I now like more expensive beer...but I can still chug a bud light.

11. It makes me smile when I call my parents and the first thing they say is "You did yoga on the grass this morning! I read your blog!" Hi, mom! Hi, dad! Ps- they celebrated their 29th wedding anniversary last weekend!

12. Eagleman is in less than 8 weeks and I am straying from the Team Z training plan because Eagleman is not incorporated into that training. With the help of some online sites and a few friends, I created my plan for the next several weekends leading up to June 12. I really hope my plan prepares me for my first 70.3 race.

13. and I hope that I never get kicked in the face during an open water swim again or else I am wearing a hockey mask during the swims. USAT rules don't say anything about not being allowed to wear face protection!


happy weekend :) I have alot of fun stuff going on this weekend like another long bike ride with my favorite blog friends and a homemade Easter dinner with triathletes!

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Aw, shucks...

I just want to say thank you to everyone who commented on my post about my disaster of a triathlon that went down last weekend. The kind words are very appreciated- not to mention you guys made me feel like a total bad ass! The bruises to both my body and my ego are healing nicely :)

 I am already able to crack jokes about last weekend. This morning while jogging on the trail a guy rode past me and said "Hey, I did that race!" (I was sporting my race shirt) and I yelled back "Yea? I was the girl in the mud pit!" heh.

And for your viewing pleasure, a few pictures from the mud bath triathlon:

i cant feel my hands or feet...or face


what a ham.


Finishing strong

praise the Lord, there is the finish line!
Please note the mud down my whole left side.

and PS- less then 8 weeks until Eagleman. holy cow!

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Makin' Lemonade

I love recovery weeks! After last weekend's race I am very happy to see "40 minute easy run" or "40 minute easy spin" on my training schedule.

Team Z offers a Yoga for Triathletes class during recovery weeks and this morning I decided to go and give my body a nice stretch. I really needed it!

When I arrived there were several other teammates waiting outside of this little tiny community center with yoga mats (I didnt bring a yoga mat!) waiting for the instructor. After 15 minutes of chatting we realized the instructor was still not there...so we took our lemons and made lemonade! A teammate who is studying to be a yoga instructor lead us to the grassy area infront of the building (since we didnt have keys to get into the building!) and began leading the practice. I was impressed! I was also getting muddy hands and feet since I didnt have a mat (I love getting muddy...not).

A few minutes into downward facing dog the instructor showed up and lead the rest of the class (she lost power last night and her alarm got turned off! I hate it when that happens). Since we started outside, we finished outside.

People at the bus stop were very ammused by 30 triathletes all bent over on the front lawn at 6:30 am.


Loved the class, loved the instructor (and the make shift instructor who got the class going!) and I look forward to the next session!

Except let me note that this was not an easy smeasy yoga class....at one point while holding some crazy pose I said "I thought this was recovery week!"

Monday, April 18, 2011

Rumpus in Bumpass Race Report: A Tale of Survival

Oh, Rumpus in Bumpass...where to begin?

Side note: if you are offended by use of profanity, you may want to avoid this post. Thanks!

I was pretty excited for this triathlon even though all week the weather was calling for thunderstorms, heavy rains, and wind. Either way I kept a positive attitude about it because everyone was going to be dealing with the same elements. I also had some pretty high hopes for time since my training has been on point for the last several weeks.

Phil and I were all set up and ready to go by 9:30 for the 10 am start time. We said our goodbyes, good lucks and I love yous as we parted ways to race.

The Swim:

This was my first open water swim but I was confident in my swimming and I told myself to just remain calm. My plan was to go out strong, settle into the middle of the pack, follow someones feet if I could find them, and just do the damn thing. When the horn blew for my age group to start I started out swimming hard until everyone separated a little and I had my own space. And then I found feet! YES! The water was murky but clear enough to see my hand infront of me and the feet of another girl. I was remaining calm and counting my stokes and sighting the yellow buoy and feeling awesome....and that is when it all started to go down hill.

I turned my head to breathe and as I put my head back into the water one of the feet I was following so lovingly made direct contact to my face. Pow- right in the kisser (or should I say smeller?). Direct heel to nose uppercut. God damn it hurt but I kept swimming.

I stopped at the yellow buoy to calm down after the hit and as I am bobbing up and down in the water the kayaer says "whoa! You're bleeding!". I am!? I touch my hand to my face and sure enough my nose was gushing blood. She paddles towards me and I hang on to her buoy and she asks me if I am ok and touches my face to make sure my nose isn't broken. Its not. She asks me if I want to go back to shore on the boat. "Do I have to?" I say. She tells me she will give me 10 minutes for my nose to stop bleeding before she makes me get on the boat. After about 8 or so minutes my nose stops bleeding, I thank her for her help and I continue swimming, stopping every minute or so to touch my hand to my face to check for blood. Needless to say, my swim time was not ideal.

I put the shitty swim experience behind me and moved onto the bike...where things only got worse.

The Bike:

It was rainy and windy- not very wonderful bike conditions. I kept a pace I was happy with and tried to mentally reset from the swim. I sung to myself and started feeling better. I passed a guy on a Cervelo and he said "Did I seriously just get passed by a girl on a hot pink bike!?"....yes, sir you did. That was my high point on the bike. Minutes later came my lowest point of the whole race (yes, lower then the nose bleed).

I got off my aero bars and onto my brakes getting ready for the sharp left hand turn coming up. I swung out wide to avoid crossing the yellow line and to give myself plenty of space. I was not trying to be a hero by taking fast sharp turns on a windy and rainy day. As I am turning, a guy passes me to the left and *almost* crosses my front wheel. I panic and lose control of my bike. Me and Pink Lady (my bike) take a powerful fall into a mud pit on the side of the road. Did I seriously just fucking wreck my new bike at the first tri of the season? Lucky both her and I were ok except for a few scratches, bruises, cuts, scrapes and serious embarassment.

Phil happened to be right behind me and see the whole thing. He stopped to make sure I was ok. I kept telling him to go and I didnt want to mess up his race but since he is the best boyfriend in the whole entire universe, he said some sweet words just as I was starting to cry and made sure that I was going to get back on my bike.

The USAT official asked me if I wanted the sag vehicle to come pick me up. I thought about it. I almost threw in the towel. And then suddenly I was filled with rage. No, I am not going the let this fucking race beat me. I dont give a shit about time goals anymore but god damn it I am getting to that finish line.

The Run:

Nothing special about the run. I was sore from the bike wreck and I had to stop twice because I was very close to getting sick to my stomach. Must have been all of the blood, nuclear water, mud, and Gu I ate during the race.

The Aftermath:

I was happy I finished the race. I would have been really upset with myself had I given up. I dug deep to get to that finish line. Even though I am glad I finished, I still feel dissapointed in myself and slightly embarassed by my performance. Although hearing stories from Kate about getting 2 flats during her first Oly, and then Ray reminding me that he was hit by a car once during a tri made me realize that not every race is rainbows and furry puppies. Some races are going to test your limits and they are going to suck- and Rumpus was that race for me.

When I awoke on Sunday morning (the day after the race) my legs were not sore- which made me feel like I didn't give it my all out there. And then I quickly remembered that I left my blood in the lake and my body imprint on the side of the road, had a very sore nose, and have dozens of scratches and bruises as battle scars. I gave it my all given the situations that arose.

I am also having a hard time being positive about the season when it is off to such a rocky start- ankle injury to bench me from the marathon I trained for 4.5 months for and then a really shitty first tri of the season. But it can only get better, right? I hope so because Im not sure I can survive more nosebleeds and mud baths.

Friday, April 15, 2011

You know what's awesome...

...when you get a product for free and you actually like it and use it!

A few weeks ago when I was on a swim relay for the Multisport World Expo, each swimmer was given a pair of Blueseventy open water swim goggles.



I threw the pink goggles into my bag and didn't even remember I had them until earlier this week. These things are awesome! They fit my face really well and don't make my eyes feel like they are going to explode after 15 minutes of swimming. Plus, the pink lenses are different from the lenses of my other goggles in the sense that the pink lenses are made to enhance light in low light conditions...such as heavy rains and cloud cover which will be present during the race tomorrow. Bring on the clouds and rain, mother nature, because I'll have these nifty light enhancing goggles that I got for free! boo-ya!

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Thee Things Thursday!

  1. I am really really really hoping and praying that the weather for Saturday's race does not include thunder around the start time of the race...and right now, that is EXACTLY what the forecast is calling for.  I can deal with rain and being wet for 3 hours. It would be miserable but I could do it. But if there is thunder and/or lightening then the race becomes run a 5k, bike 25 miles, and then run a 10k. My ankle (and myself) would not be a very happy camper if that happened. But if it does, Ill roll with it and my time goals will be out the window!
  2. Phil and I have friends visiting from Omaha this weekend! I am excited to play tourist. Sometimes I forget that I live in such an awesome city...however, one can only visit the Smithsonian's so many times.
  3. I have missed a few workouts this week due to my work schedule. However, I did get my ass out of bed early as crap this morning to get in a good ride on Pink Lady before Saturday's race. However my legs felt super sluggish- I hope that goes away!

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Pink Ribbon bake sale! Fundraising effort numero 2!

On Sunday evening after a wonderful weekend, I decided to bake some goodies for my coworkers. But here is the catch- I made everything in the theme of Breast Cancer Awareness. I sent an email early Monday morning saying I baked treats and that if you would like to make a donation to Tri to Save the TaTas you could. I would say my second fundraising effort was a success! Coworkers handed over that spare dollar they had sitting around their desks and a few made very generous donations directly to my team page. Thanks coworkers! I need to think of a few other fundraising events that will be fun and raise some cash...perhaps a beer pong tournament? ;) If you have any suggestions, leave a comment!


sugar cookies and cupcakes!

I made those ribbons out of pink chocolate- aren't I fancy?!

this has nothing to do with cupcakes but she sure is cute!!

happy hump day! 3 days away from the first tri of the season! Everyone cross their fingers there is no thunder on Saturday because then it would be turned into a duathlon (run, bike, run) and my freshly healed ankle will not like that much running!

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

AHH!

When is one supposed to find time to run/ bike/ swim/ prepare for this weekend when one is stuck at work until 10pm!?

damn you quarterly reporting-  you are f'ing up my week.

that is all.

Monday, April 11, 2011

Weekly Miles

As you can tell by the little Daily Mile tracker thingy to the right that I log all of my workouts. Daily Mile allows me to keep track of my miles and hours spent in the pool/ biking/ and running. It's quite convenient!

You get a "weekly training report" every Monday that details how your training was for the prior week.

I kicked booty this past week! Check out the stats:


Over 100 miles! 10 workouts! 9 hours! and more calories burned than 3 burritos!

Here is the breakdown of those miles:

Swim: 3.18 miles (5600 yards)
Bike: 91.3 miles (got almost all of my mileage here!)
Run: 7.1 miles

Along with the miles I also did 2 strength work outs.

It was a good week. Those miles are only going to increase as Ironman gets closer!

Sunday, April 10, 2011

The Inaugural Burrito Ride and a Dress Rehearsal

Weekend Recap!

I was planning to run the Crystal City 5k on Friday evening, but once Kate suggested going for a beer instead I changed plans. Having a beer sounded much better than running a 5k in the rain! Fridays are my rest days anyway :)


On Saturday I met up with Emily and Katie for a long bike ride. We had discussed going about 40 miles but then when we were 20 or so miles in Katie says "How many are we doing today? 40? 50? 60?" Bring on the miles! We rode all the way out to what local cyclists and triathletes call the "T"...basically a T intersection all the way out River road with tons of rolling hills. I clocked 57 miles which is my longest ride yet! (last weekend I did do 80 miles but that was on two different rides!). The three of us rode really well together- Emily kicks ass on uphills- Katie flies down hills like she is being chased- and I lead the paceline on the flats for most of the way. Five miles from home we were so hungry that we stopped for burritos...and then the Burrito Ride was born! Nothing better than a long ride with awesome ladies and tex-mex. Caint wait for next time!


nothing says sexy like a bike helmet!

Sunday morning I went for my longest run since my ankle injury 7 weeks ago. I covered 5 miles in 42 minutes which is a great pace for me! I was very pleased since I didn't feel like I was pushing it at all and I had no ankle pain. I ran in my speed laces to test them out for next weekends tri!


After my run, I practiced my transitions for the race next weekend. I had done this before the Richmond Sprint but I needed a refresher! I set up shop in the middle of a service road close to my apartment. It was perfect- no cars and no people to wonder what I am doing!

dress rehearsal!
The rule of thumb is that you don't want to try anything new on race day- so I made sure to do the whole kit and caboodle today. I ran in the grass barefoot to my make shift transition area- put on my bike gear- ran with my bike to the "bike mount" line (which was just a line on the ground) - mounted my bike- rode around the service road a bit- dismounted my bike at the line- transitioned into all my running gear- and ran a bit. I am really glad I practiced because the first time I started running without taking my bike helmet off, the second time I forgot my hat and race belt, and both the first and second times I forgot to start my watch. FAIL. It took me a good 7 times to get it right. Let's hope I can execute it smoothly next weekend.

I also had to practice riding with this monster in between my aerobars!


It's a water bottle! My parents got it for me for my birthday. I don't ride with it normally but for a race it will be nice to have water right at my mouth when I want it instead of having to get off the aero bars to grab a bottle from my bike frame.

It's bed time! I have to be at work early since I have to leave early to get my butt kicked by the physical therapist. 6 days until the first tri of the season! I'm excited!

Friday, April 8, 2011

Five things Friday: confidence boosters

  1. Work has been super duper busy this week with late nights and no lunch breaks but I still managed to get in every single one of my workouts. I may have not have slept a full 8 hours every night but I can sleep when I'm dead, right? Or when Q1 close is over...
  2. I am feeling super strong on the bike. My average mph has increased and I don't get tired nearly as quickly. I was barely sore after riding 80 miles last weekend! I am still learning something new every ride (like last weekend Phil told me there is a certain way to breathe while riding your bike...who knew!). I have worked a ton on pedal stroke, single leg drills, speed drills and endurance and it is really paying off.

  3. During my swim workout last night, after warming up a few hundred yards I did 1700 yards straight through as practice for my first tri of the season next weekend. I had never swam this long without a rest so I wanted to make sure I wouldn't drown :) Good news is that I did 1700 yards without stopping for a break. Better news is that I did it several minutes faster than I expected. Best news is that I felt like I could have kept swimming..which I did, but after a rest and a few sips of water!
  4. Even with everything going on this week, I managed to eat dinner with Phil two nights. Dinner may have been at 9pm but hey, quality time is quality time and I'll take it. This time management thing is a serious skill.
  5. My ankle is feeling great and my legs are nice and refreshed from my 6 week vacation of running. The other day I was able to run for 3 miles with no pain and at a pretty decent pace. I has concerns about running the 6.2 miles at next weekends tri but I think I'll be fine. It may not be as fast as I would hope, but that's ok!

    tons of fun going on this weekend! happy friday!

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Weekend Recap: The start of total domination

This weekend was pretty awesome. In my post on Friday I listed a few goals I have for April- one of them being meeting my DC area blogger friends and another one being to seriously kick ass on the bike this month.

Friday night I had the chance to meet Beth and Katie while cheering on the runners at the 5k that was happening in Crystal City. We chatted about running and triathlons and agreed to meet again for some more blogger fun and perhaps a few bike rides :) I forgot to snap a picture though!

On Saturday morning Phil agreed to take me on a 60 mile bike ride along with one of his teammates. We hoped that the weather was going to hold out so we set out on our ride. Riding with Phil and his teammate Karl is always fun- they make me laugh by the insane (and sometimes gross) things they talk about. They are also both really strong cyclists so even when they "slow down" so I can keep up, I am getting my ass kicked! I did really well and managed to hold somewhere between 18-22 mph on the flats.

When we were 30 miles into our ride the skies opened up and we got totally drenched to the core. It's also really scary to be riding on hills when you can barely see a few feet in front of you! In true cyclist style we rode to the closest Starbucks that was 8 miles away and tried to warm up and dry off.




Once the sun was shining again we hit the road to head home. Lucky for us, Karl knew a short cut that shaved about 10 miles off the ride home. We were freezing. It was the most awful 20 mile ride home ever. Phil said that cursing and singing made him feel warmer so in between the f bombs he was singing jingles of how cold he was.

Once home I stood in the hot shower for at least 30 minutes. It was awful but I still got in a 50 mile ride!

Saturday concluded with ordering Pizza Hut and playing Rock Band in sweatpants :)

This morning Phil cooked up some banana pancakes to start our day. Obviously Brizzy had to help. My parents bought me this padded kitchen mat for Christmas and the pug thinks its her personal area to sit while you are trying to cook! Look at her stare at the spatula!

what a Fatty.
After stuffing our faces with pancakes we loaded our tri bikes in the car and headed 30 minutes south to Prince William Forrest Park to do a few loops on the scenic (but really hilly!) course. We wanted to avoid DC and the trails today since it is Cherry Blossom Festival time!

ready to go!
Prince William Forrest Park is really great for cyclists. There are very little cars and 1 stop sign for the whole loop which is just over 7 miles. Not to mention it is lined with trees and very pretty! Just be prepared for the hills.


Phil and I were both wearing outfits that matched our bikes so of course I took a picture.



We did one loop together and then Phil sped up. He was planning to do 5 loops and I was going to do 4. I knew he secretly wanted to try to catch up to me so I made sure to go fast enough that he would not be able to lap me. You'll be happy to know that he never caught up to me :) The loop is really hilly with hardly any flats at all. I was happy to have had an average speed of about 16mph with all of the hills (and a 50 mile ride not even 24 hours before!).

There is one hill with a pretty awesome descent. On the first two laps I got off my aero bars because it was scary going over 30mph while in the aero position. On the third loop I tried to keep my big girl panties on while going down the hill but when I looked down at my computer and saw that I was going 36.8mph I quickly got out of the aero position. It's so scary!! Maybe next time?

I managed to get in a great, very hilly, 28.78 miles while Phil got in round 35. I rode just shy of 80 miles this weekend at paces that I was very happy with. It was also a total confidence booster to tackle those hills on my tri bike. Her and I are getting along verrry well so far. The bike domination has begun!


so sweaty
When we got back from the ride, I remembered that I was cleared by my PT to go for  a twenty minute run!! My first actual run in SIX WEEKS!! I was not expecting much since I haven't ran in well over a month and I rode about 80 miles this weekend. Either way, I grabbed my ipod, laced up my shoes and hit the trail (which was super crowded!!).

lots of people at Gravelly Point!
I'm not sure if it was the pure joy of finally being able to run, the music pounding in my ears or just the grace of god but my legs felt shockingly AMAZING. I covered 2.6 miles in 22 minutes averaging a pace of about 8:27. Not too shabby given the circumstances! and no pain in my ankle at all! woop!

People were looking at me funny because I had this huge grin on my face as I whizzed past them. What? A girl can't (really really really) enjoy her twenty minute run!? Sheesh.

When I came in from my run Phil wasn't home for me to tell him how excited I was so I immediately called my parents and the conversation went like this:

me: I ran! I ran! and I rode 80 miles this weekend!
dad: You ran 80 miles? I thought they told you to only run for 20 minutes?
me: no, dad, I RODE my bike 80 miles. I cant RUN 80 miles.
dad: oh, okay. Yea that sounded like a lot.
mom (screaming from the background): Im proud of you Laur!

I am one happy lady right now!

Hope you had a fantastic weekend as well!

Friday, April 1, 2011

Hello, April!

I debated writing a funny April fool's post about something totally not true...like deciding to be done with triathlon and join a convent to become a nun.

I quickly decided against all of that because my parents read this blog (hi mom and dad!!) and I didn't want my mom calling me in hysterics. So I will stick to the traditional "Goodbye March, Hello April!" blabber.



All in all....I am glad to see March leave. It was a rough month dealing with not running due to tendonitis in my ankle. Being a cheerleader for the Shamrock marathon was really really hard because I wanted to be out there running it. I shed a ton of tears due to this silly ankle. Luckily for me, I can run for twenty minutes this weekend! Moving forward.

April is going to be fabulous! With the exception of work totally sucking because it is the end of the quarter and I will somehow have to find time to train while working late and through lunch (5am workouts, huh?). I look forward to adding running back into my routine gradually, becoming BFF with my bike(s), and having a little fun thrown in.



April Goals:
  • Kick ass on the bike. Seriously rack up some miles. Total. bike. domination.
  • Ease my way back into running to keep my ankle happy
  • Continue to do my PT exercises for my weak muscles
  • Rumpass in Bumpass!
  • Bake at least twice
  • Learn how to make mushroom risotto from scratch (um, help please?)
  • Meet my DC area blogger friends in person
  • Did I mention kick ass on the bike? Because I'm going to.
Happy April!!!