January Totals

January was a tough month. The first week was a whirlwind of activity involving the bridal show. And last week I was on a cruise in Mexico (stay tuned this week for posts about that). Needless to say, I struggled to get in all my workouts, but I did the best I could. I stayed healthy and really that's what is important.

Swimming - 13,550 meters (~8.5 miles)

Bike - 107.98 miles (and this doesn't include the two, one hour spinning classes I took on the cruise)

Run - 72.63 miles (I missed the 18 miler because we had a snow storm--It's on the schedule this week)

Strength - 3.5 hours

In other news, I signed up for a few more races including THE BIG ONE!!!

Let the (mental) games begin

When I first starting marathoning I trained with an organized group in town, MiT. I was part of the very first MiT group and was the youngest person there. I trained with them for 3 years until I qualified for Boston. Then I was fast enough to train with my dad and his group of friends. Within that group, I picked up a training partner and we trained and raced together for many years. She accepted a job in Colorado. I hired a coach. And now I train all alone and have for a couple of years.

I have a threshold for what is an acceptable distance to do by myself and what is not. That number? 15. Fifteen miles seems like an okay distance to do by myself, but anything over that takes a lot of motivation. Right now I'm in the thick of marathon training. Seems early to be doing the miles that I am, but last week had a 16 miler and this week has an 18. And adding to getting myself worked up to get out the door for the mileage, I started my 16 mile run with the temperature around 19 degrees. This week's 18 miler should be even colder as the temperature is supposed to be between 11 and 18.

I got through my 16 miler. I'll get through my 18 miler. And I'll tackle the further distances that are yet to come. But for now, I need a little motivation:

A view of my bathroom mirror.

Monday's Menu

Each week, I will feature a recipe on Monday that Dave and I cooked the previous week. If you'd like to contribute a recipe, please leave a comment below or send it to me via email: meredith-gordon@insight.rr.com.

Over the holidays Dave and I tried a couple different of pasta sauces. This was particularly tough for me since I think my mom makes the best spaghetti sauce in the world, but I was willing to try. The first one we made was just not good (in my opinion) and I can't find the pictures we took, so I'm not going to write about it. The second one we tried was better and I do have the pictures, so here we go!

The first sauce we made was spinach-based and bland as a lot of our recipes have been. I gentle told Dave that I like my foods spicier and he came up with this: arrabbiata sauce. I have to mention I had just finished a really tough workout when we made this and my stomach had not yet settled so I really didn't have anything with making this sauce.

Here's a few pictures of the process:

The wine made the sauce really sweet, but the red pepper over-powered everything and made it almost too hot to handle. There was definitely some heartburn after this one. Dave really loved it and froze some for himself. Me, I'm going to stick with my mom's sauce.

Foto Sunday?

I meant to post all of this on Friday, but time just got away from me.

I do two days of strength training per week: one is a class at the gym and the other is TRX at home. Now, I don't have a real TRX. My first TRX the husband made but we quickly found out it was not going to work. Then I went to Dick's Sporting Goods and found a knock-off TRX for $39. Yeah you read that right. THIRTY NINE DOLLARS!!!! But then the company was sued and I think this is no longer available. Score one for me!

Anyway, here's a few pictures from a recent strength training session.

Bicep curls. Look at those guns!

This is an ab exercise. You roll out like you were on a ball. But seriously, look at my leg muscles. :)

This one can be done in two different ways. Check out those calves. I must be a runner. :)

Product Review: CEP Calf Sleeves

I broke down and bought a pair of calf sleeves. I've really been conflicted about this purchase as (a) I didn't want to look weird wearing them and (b) I didn't really know if they worked. But after three good reviews from people I actually knew I thought it was time to get some.

I bought the CEP black calf sleeves in the smallest size they had available. Why CEP? Well, it's what was available at the local Road Runner Sports and because Dave and my dad love the socks. I got the black ones because I tend to rub my feet against my calves when I run and because sometimes I might pee on myself while running a race. :) White obviously would not have worked.



I have worn them now for two long runs: 13 and 14 milers. And I'm not sure they did anything at all. I take that back. My upper calves felt great after those runs, but my lower calves were extremely sore. I tend to be a forefoot striker as the pace picks up so when I get to the recovery parts of my runs, I notice how tight my achilles/lower calf is. The calf sleeve did nothing for this. I don't know if wearing the full socks would help this but that's not something I'm willing to try. I'm kind of picky about my running socks so I prefer to wear them. The calf sleeves have also helped keep my lower legs warm during these winter months, although I'm not sure they were meant to be worn as leg warmers. I am going to continue to wear them during my long runs at least through the marathon and then decide if I'll continue to wear them. Heck, they might help me on the bike too!

Bridal Show Wrap-Up

This past weekend was the big bridal show here in Columbus. Dave and I have been preparing for months to have the best show we could. A little background for the newbies to this blog....I own a photo booth business. We rent photo booths for special occasions like weddings, parties, corporate events, etc. Last year we had an amazing year at the bridal show. This year there was a lot of competition, but I think we still did well. Check out some pictures of our booth.







And set your DVRs this morning. Dave and I will be on "Daytime Columbus" (11am, NBC4) promoting the photo booth. We'll be running a special with a "secret code" during the show.

Summing it Up

This has been the craziest, busiest week. Bridal show week always is. No matter how early we started this year (a month ago, by the way) we still had a million things on our to-do list this week. And because of that my workouts suffered. Not really suffered....I should say, didn't do. But, I still feel like I got in some quality workouts: one swim, one bike, one strength, and two runs, one of which was a long 14 mile run.

Next week will be different as I'm back on the training band wagon. There's a marathon coming up and I'm looking to smash it!

Thursday Thoughts

Dave and I spent the afternoon yesterday visiting with my grandma. She was extra talkative, telling us stories from your youth. Many of the stories I had never heard. One thing she mentioned was how much she loved playing cards with my grandpa. When the two of them played together they would play Gin Rummy. My family has always been a bunch of card players. Our favorite game? Euchre. And we're competitive. During family Christmas parties we would actually play competitive euchre for money. It's a good thing I married someone who loves cards as much as I do and is REALLY good at euchre. Our favorite game to play, just the two of us, is Five Crowns.

So, do you like playing cards or board games? If yes, what is your favorite?

I'm In!!!

The Best of 2010

I have dwelled enough on the bad that happened in 2010. It's time to turn the page and look towards 2011, which is going to be awesome. But quickly, let's review all the amazing things that happened in 2010.

My Most Amazing Moment: Having Chrissie Wellington put my medal around my neck at Ironman Kansas.

New States Visited: Missouri and Kansas. That brings the total of states visited to 29.


New States Raced: Tennessee and Kansas. That brings the total of numbers of states that I've raced in to 11. In 2011 I will add Michigan, Washington DC and possibly Colorado and South Carolina.

Places and PRs:

• 23 minute PR in the half Ironman distance triathlon
• 17 minute PR in the Olympic distance triathlon
• 3rd place age group at the EAS Distance Classic 20 Miler
• 1st place age group at the Deer Creek Fall Challenge Sprint Tri

Weddings: I attended 38 weddings in 2010 and only one was as an invited guest. (Of course, I worked the photo booth at that wedding too.)

And finally: 2010 was the first full year of Sloopy!