Athlete of the Month

I totally forgot to write about this earlier this month.  My coach named me "Athlete of the Month" for her Multisport Mastery program.  She gave me this honor not because of some achievement I had received, but because I have been embracing the whole picture and working towards bigger dreams.  She sent me a series of questions to answer and ask me for some pictures and VOILA! 

Check it out here!  Thanks Liz for thinking of me, pushing me, and being the best coach I could hope for.

Books Read in 2016

Last year for Christmas I got a Kindle and I made good use of it this year.  I didn't read as many books as last year, but I still managed about one book per month.  I can't say that any of the books stood out to me as overly awesome but most of them were entertaining and pretty easy reads.  Here is my list:

"The Martian" by Andy Weir
"The Do Over" by Karlyn Pipes
"The Boys in the Boat" by Daniel Brown
"Running: A Love Story" by Jen Miller
"All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
"Insurgent" by Veronica Roth
"Me Before You" by JoJo Moyes
"The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up" by Marie Kondo
"Sixty Meters to Anywhere" by Brendan Leonard
"The Girl on the Train" by Paula Hawkins
"Yes, My Accent is Real" by Kunal Nayyar
"The Girls from Corona del Mar" by Rufi Thorpe


What did you read in 2016?  What can you recommend to me to read next year?

#ParentoftheYear

The little one was in daycare one whole week before he caught his first cold.  I'm not really surprised as one day I picked him up and the boy playing next to him had snot just running out of his nose.  Anderson's cold was so bad that on Monday he stayed home from school and daycare.  When I came home from work he curled up in my lap and fell asleep (heart explosion!!).  Then he crawled in bed around 7:00 and went to sleep without any dinner.  The next day I noticed his sinuses were so backed up that it was leaking out of his eyes.  I know that can happen to kids so I thought nothing of it and took him to daycare.  Wednesday morning he woke up and his eyes were glued shut with goop.  Lovely.  It took a warm washcloth and some prying but we got them open.  He seemed to not be feeling as well as he did on Tuesday but nonetheless he went to school and daycare.  But I was getting concerned about his eyes.  When I picked him up from school to take him to daycare, his eyes were very goopy and he just looked bad.  While at work I searched the internet.  WebMD told me he was going to go blind and his eyes would fall out.  Everywhere else told me he probably had bacterial conjunctivitis.  I called the doctor and got him in right away.  And you know what?  Yep, he had conjunctivitis.  I had sent him to school and daycare for two days with a very contagious eye condition.  Lovely.  So, Thursday he stayed home, we started him on prescription eye drops and by Friday he was good as new.

#ParentoftheYear

This is an interesting development

I got this in my email today:

I guess by just being on Team USA for the aquathlon this past year that it automatically qualifies me for the triathlon national championships.  Two years ago I qualified and trained for it only to get injured and never got to compete.  The Husband has done it and says I should do it someday.  But, I don't think it will be in 2017.  It's the day before we leave for vacation and I don't want to ship my bike all over the US getting to the race and to vacation.  And then there's that whole....I hate to ride my bike thing.

Thursday Thoughts

I haven't even started my new job and I was contacted yesterday to provide a list of 5 small gifts that I'd like to be part of a secret Santa thing.  Here's my list:

Colorful socks
Lottery scratch off tickets
Toothbrushes
Ultraswim shampoo
Paw patrol bandaids

My sister, who also works for this company, told me I was weird.  What?!  I think those are great small gifts.

So, what would be 5 small gifts you would want in a work gift exchange?

The Long Awaited Job Update

Back in July I posted about going back to work.  Well, I have been working.  I mean, going back to work full time at a big girl job.  At the time I had been offered a promotion at the Y to become our swim lesson coordinator.  It was a job I really wanted and knew I could do a good job at, but the hours would suck as would the pay.  So I told my boss I still wanted to be considered but that I was keeping my options open.  I thought I would be finding a job quickly as I was contacted by my previous employer about a new position, had an interview, and then I waited.  And waited.  And waited.  Finally I was told that the position was not going to be filled.

Foreshadowing: this would become a theme.

I decided to keep looking.  I sent out applications left and right.  I tweaked my resume.  My husband and I became experts at composing a cover letter.  About 95% of the time I couldn't get past the freakin' computer program that read my resume and immediately turned it down without it ever getting to the HR department.  Seriously, I got turned down for a job I was well qualified for within 12 hours.  I had a few interviews, one of which went amazingly well.  I was told at the interview that I would be coming back for a second interview.  I thought for sure that one was a lock.  Then two weeks later again I was told that they were not going to fill the position.  Disappointed.  Devastated.

And yet I kept looking.  In total I think I sent out over 25 applications.  I got turned down for all of them - except two.

I accidentally stumbled upon a position at a small company walking distance from my house.  I wasn't expecting a whole lot from it, but my interview went great and the very next day they gave me an offer.  I also got an interview at another company I had worked for before.

Although the second place probably would have been a better career choice, I took the offer from the small company.  Home, job, preschool, and daycare are all within two minutes of each other.  It's a good way for me to transition back into full time work and allow the little one to transition as well.  I start on Monday.  I'm nervous and I've cried a lot of tears about being a working mommy, but I'm pretty sure I've made the right choice.

Working moms, tell me I'm going to be alright.  Tell me my child is not going to be all screwed up because he's in daycare.  Tell me I've made the right choice.  Please!  I need some reassurance!

Thanks for Giving 4 Miler 2016

Like all warm blooded Americans who like to run, I too ran a race on Thanksgiving morning.  And I freakin' rocked it!

I didn't get much of a warm up in so I thought I would use the first mile as a warm up.  Well, if you consider a 7:13 mile a warm up then so be it.  The whole race would go this way.  I just kept catching people and zooming through the miles in the low 7:00s.  During the last mile I passed one of my high school coworkers who recently went to the state cross country meet.  WOAH!  The final time was 28:07, a 7:02 average (I had the course a little short, but hey, I'll take what they give me), and a 1:23 PR.  I finished 6th female and first in my age group. 

If you don't look like death at the finish line, you weren't running fast enough.  Also, how can you not feel fast when you're wearing a Team USA shirt from the world championships?

So in addition to working my ass off for the last year, I've made some serious nutritional changes in the last couple of weeks that have made a huge difference for my training, racing, and every day life.  More on those in the coming days.

I Got Locked Out

Sunday I did my long run.  It was an hour and 25 minutes.  While away, the husband took the boy to the park for a "nature walk."  I figured they were going to the local metro park as they had asked me to go with them and run there.  I took a key just in case they weren't back in time.

I finished the run, walked up to the door, opened it, and BAM!  The freakin' security chain was on.  Oh crap!  And they weren't home yet.  I sat down on the front step thinking they would be home shortly.  The waiting became longer.  I took out the newspaper and read some article.  They still weren't home.  I went through the ads and picked out the coupons for the week.  Still not home.  My stomach started tossing and turning (as it does after most runs anymore).  I worried I was going to have to find a hiding spot on my property and drop trough.  Still not home.  I moved into the sunshine.  I was getting cold.  I looked at my watch.  I had finished my run an hour ago.  Where the hell were they???  Oh yeah, I should mention, I didn't have my phone with me.  I don't carry one when I run (safe, right??).

Finally, they came home.  Dave knew as soon as he pulled in the driveway what had happened.  Guess we'll be going to the Home Depot this week to get one of those garage door security pad thingies.

Races, Races, RACES!!!

Have you ever counted up the number of races you've done?  The husband and I were wondering how many half marathons I had done.  It's my favorite race distance and it seems I race it often.  So, I counted.  And then I started counting the rest of the race distances.  Um, bored much?  Here's what I came up with.

1 mile - 4
5k - 42 (for a gift who doesn't like the 5k, I've sure done a lot of them)
4 miler - 8
5 miler - 10
10k - 7
7.5 miler - 1
10 miler - 4
Half Marathon - 28
15 miler - 3
20 miler - 3
40k - 1
Marathon - 17

I didn't count triathlons or aquathlons or relays or any of the distances within those races.  Totals?  118 races.  Dude, time to find another race...

Columbus Half Marathon 2016

The last time I ran the Columbus half it was a real sh!t show.  Literally.  My stomach just exploded and I had to take three port-a-john stops.  This time I had different thoughts.  I wasn't nervous, my stomach emptied early in the morning, and we had good logistics and I was able to stop into the port-a-john before the race without incident.

Things started pretty well.  I goofed and didn't have my watch on autolap per mile, which of course, I didn't figure out until three miles in.  Just in enough time for my stomach to revolt.  You have got to be sh!tting me!  Literally.  I got lucky and cut a guy off to get an open port-a-john somewhere in the three to four mile range and decided to just do my watch manually.  That's probably better anyway as my Garmin is always off from the mile markers (especially in a race downtown).

I was cooking.  I was moving.  Things were going well.  I really felt like I was racing, like I was back to the old Meredith. 

Mile 5 - 7:35
Mile 6 - 7:31
Mile 7 -  7:54 (uphill? long mile? gel?)
Mile 8 - 7:24

Then my stomach started to bother me again.  You have got to be kidding me?!  How can this keep happening to me?  I have, literally, raced more than 30 half marathons including faster ones than this.  How are my guts not cooperating?  I took another bathroom break.

Mile 9 - 8:23 (bathroom stop)

Dave saw me right after this.  I didn't see him.  But I was angry that I was losing time so I know I was going fast here.  The picture even looks like it.

Mile 10 - 7:22

Alright five kilometers to go and my legs and lungs and heart still feel good.  Come on Meredith.  Salvage a good race here.

Mile 11 - 7:40
Mile 12 - 7:48
(Both of those were uphill into downtown.)
Mile 13 and 0.1 - 7:49 (7:11 pace)

The overall time was 1:41:43.  Ya know, I'm okay with that time.  I haven't done a half marathon in over a year and I didn't have any specific training for this race.  I was able to take the endurance and speed I had from aquathlon training to turn this into a decent race.  If I wouldn't have had the stomach problems I wonder what I could have done.  For years my goal has been 1:35 or better.  I know I've got this in me. 

PS - Dear Marathon Foto, it you're going to charge me $24 for a single download, I am totally going to steal your images and put them on my social media.  Love, Me

Official Pictures from the World Championships

I spent about a million dollars to get four pictures from the world championships.  This might be a once in a lifetime opportunity so I HAD to get the pictures.  Right?  RIGHT?!?!

Coming into T1.  I like that you can see hair stuck to me as this proves how freakin' humid it was even with only a 1.55 run.

Coming out of the swim.  I don't know if I am starting to look like I've got swimmer's body or I just need to slim down my arms/chest.  Either way, doesn't everyone look stupid in a swim cap?

 Heading out on the second run.  Look at the focus.  Or, I'm saying, "where the heck is everybody?"

And the finally, quite possibly the coolest finisher picture of all time.  The time is irrelevant as it was from the start of the first age group wave and I was in one of the last waves.  But how cool to have the finish line all to myself, waving my flag, with my hands up in victory?!

Week in Review

I got back to business this week and totally kicked ass!  With the little one in preschool several days a week I have been able to do ALL my runs outside.  I also did some core work and got back in the pool.

Swimming - 4950 yards
I missed one swim this week.  I had intended to do it on Saturday but forgot there was a swim meet that closed down the pool.  Maybe I'll try to fit it in next week.

Running - 29.02 miles
Woah!  You read that right.  I had a great week of running - 4 runs, all outside.  I did a fantastic track workout of several 800s, the fastest one being 3:12.  I haven't hit that pace in a long, long time.  I also did a long run with hill repeats.  I found the steepest and longest hill I could find and made it my bitch!  Half/full marathon training has begun.  It's my happy place.

Strength - 0.5 hours
I did two small core workouts this week that left me crazy sore.  The first one was done with our middle school swim team.  I totally schooled them, but was sore for days.  The second workout was done at home, late at night, waiting on the bug-a-boo to fall asleep.

Next week - more running, more swimming, more core.  I see PRs in my future!!!

September Totals

Can you believe September is over already?  Man!  That went fast. 

September was all about the WORLD FREAKIN' CHAMPIONSHIPS!!! And, oh, there was still good training.  Check it out.

Swimming - 13,036 yards ~ 7.4 miles
Yes, this is a weird number.  That's because I did two 1000 meters swims in the ocean and I converted them to yards in my spreadsheet.  I also passed 200,000 yards (114 miles!!!) for the year this month.

Running - 67.1 miles
Not many miles, but when you're training for a fast 5K there really doesn't need to be a whole lot of miles.  Don't worry!  There will be a lot of miles coming up in the next couple of months.

YMCA Visits - 11
Cost Per Visit $3.42

After Anderson started preschool and we returned from Mexico, I just got tired of taking Anderson to the Y.  And frankly, I got tired of going to the Y.  All of this will be changing soon.  Another blog post on this soon.

October is here which means pumpkin everything (yuck), Halloween (my least favorite holiday), and miles, miles and more miles. 

Foto Friday

Here's a few more pictures from our trip to Mexico.  We stayed at an all-inclusive resort so we didn't do a whole lot of anything.  Lots of pool.  Lots of snorkeling.  Lots of drinking.  Lots of sleeping.  So, we didn't usually have a camera with us and there wasn't a whole lot to take pictures of, but here's a few that we did take (not race related).

Gosh Mexico.  You are so ugly.

So, so ugly.

 I once caught a fish THIS BIG!!!

 Before and after the practice swim.

Aquathlon World Championship 2016

Err.  Umm.  Errrrrrrrr. 

How do I even write this post?

Ten months of training.  Forty-five minutes of racing.  And now the biggest race of my life is behind me.

Mexico is hot.  Maybe I should say, Mexico is humid A.F.!!!!  I had trained for it (sauna, overdressed, general summer training), but seriously it was humid.  Between checking in to transition and the start of my race was about three hours.  By the time I started I was sweating like I was running a marathon.  I had sweat rolling down my back and the front of my uniform was completely soaked.  Thank goodness there was going to be a dip in the ocean in the middle of the race.

Let's get started.  My wave started at 9:50am and had two other age groups in it, 40-44 and 45-50.  In total there were somewhere between 50-100 ladies starting together.  I lined up somewhere in the middle and tried to not get nervous about what was about to happen.  The gun went off and it was time to move.  The race was all inside a park inside of a marina and there were lots of turns.  The first turn was within the first 100 meters and then the first water stop was 100 meters from that turn.  I lined up to take the turn on the tangent and then skip the first water stop.  I mean, who needs a water stop 200 meters into a 2.5k race?  Well, the chick in front of me, that's who.  She came flying from the right side, cutting in front of me to grab the bag of water (yep, BAG of water) and I pushed her out of the way.  Sorry chick.  You don't need water that close to the start of the race.

I stayed in the pack for most of the first run, probably running into transition in the top 10 of my age group.  Transition was quick, shoes and socks off, grab cap and goggles and I was off.  It was long run down to the dock and I took it a little easy to get my heart rate down.  And then I did the most graceful thing ever - I jumped like an 8 year old boy into the water.  The previous day at the swim practice I dove into the water and my goggles came off and filled with water.  I wasn't going to risk that during the race, so I just jumped and immediately started swimming.  I doubt I even lost a second and my goggles stayed put. 

I thought I had a great swim.  For me it was a great swim.  I swam confidently and strong.  My line probably sucked, but with the water being so clear I just looked for other competitors and swam toward them.  The whole backside of the swim I had a girl tapping my feet.  The whole damn way!!!  At one point I told her not so politely to GET OFF!!!  Then in the last couple hundred yards I was able to get on feet myself and swim in the draft.  That NEVER happens to me.  It was the fastest swim I have ever done in open water and yet, it was a solid two minutes slower than most of the competitive girls.  I've come leaps and bounds this year with my swimming but I still have a long way to go.

The water was so beautiful and clear.  There were fish and corral and I really tried to concentrate on my race.  I saw those things the day prior in the practice swim and while I was snorkeling earlier in the week.  But the coolest thing was that there were scuba divers at each turn pointing you in the correct direction.  I couldn't help but smile and wave to the first one.  So neat.

Anyway, I was out of the water and running up the dock into the second transition.  Cap and goggles off, shoes and race number on.  I had decided to do the second run with no socks, which I had never practiced.  I didn't want to waste time putting on socks and it was only for a mile and a half.  Who cares if my feet got ripped up.  But, I struggled with the stupid tongue on my right shoe in transition and in my head I'm screaming, WHO CARES!  GET MOVING!!!  And so I did.  But I was in no-man's land.  As much as I could run with those chicks, I fell behind them in the swim and there was no longer anyone to catch.  Well, I did catch about 5 girls during the run but only one was in my age group and all the others were from the previous wave.  I thought I was running well, but I was a solid minute and a half slower than the first run.  I kept running, though, and as I made the last turn onto the finishing chute, my team manager handed me an American flag and I got to have my own personal victorious moment at the finish line. 

In the end I finished 17th in my age group.  Top 20 at the World Championships?  I'll take it.  And I went from the 10th American to qualify in my age group to finishing as the fourth American in my age group.  I race confidently and without fear.  To me that's a victory.  But I have to admit, I'd like another crack at the race.  I believe I can do better.  Unfortunately, I can't go to the 2017 world championships as I already have vacation plans paid for during the championship.  But coach and I have already devised a plan to get to the 2018 race.  I'm ready for revenge!!!

August Totals

How can it be September already?!?!

Although this blog has been nothing but crickets this summer, I have been training.  I haven't been as consistent as I would have liked, but I'm getting it done.  Less than two weeks until the big dance and I'm feeling ready.

Swimming - 26,300 yards ~ 15 miles
I swear my hair and skin are just going to fall apart with all this swimming.  To be honest, I'm ready for a break from the pool, but considering it's my job to be in and around the pool every day, I don't see a break happening.

Running - 68.59 miles
Sure, I'd love to be running big miles, but the long runs stopped weeks ago in favor of short fast runs with lots and lots of intervals.  Nowadays, long runs are about 7 miles.  That will change after the world championships as I have a half marathon on the schedule.

YMCA Visits - 20
Cost Per Visit - $1.88
Some day soon I'd like to break up with the Y too.

Let's do this September!!!

Pajama Jog 5K 2016

Oh hi!

Last weekend we traveled to Colorado for Dave's big race - Pikes Peak Marathon.  Oh yes he did.  And hopefully he'll write about it here soon.  (I think I said the same thing about the Myrtle Beach Marathon he ran in March.)  While we were there I did a small race, the Pajama Jog 5K in Denver.  Secretly I had hopes of winning this race as it was super small, but damn!  Elevation is no joke!

That's me with the blue shirt and white sunglasses, on the left.

I started out great, hanging with another woman, leading the way.  It felt forced but okay.  And then I looked at my watch.  Man!  Sometimes I hate that Garmin.  Next time I'm racing without it.  It said I was doing 6:38s and I knew I couldn't sustain that with the elevation so I dropped back.  Then I was in no-man's land.  No one in front of me; no one behind me.  The race wasn't exactly marked well.  I came to an intersection where I had no idea where to go.  I stopped (and stopped my watch in the process, WTF Meredith!) and turned back to the closest competitor and asked where to go.  We took a turn, hoping it was correct, and kept running.  I was getting closer to the lead female but my pace was slowing.  I was tired, my legs were cranky, and I couldn't get a breath in.  Is this race over yet?  The last part took us past a million (only slightly exaggerating) geese.  Ugh!  I hate geese.  

I finished second female in 23:17.  Not a great time, but you can't argue with second place.  Too bad I couldn't win the sucker.  The winner got a tent, some socks, and a gift certificate to a brewery.

Next race: Aquathlon World Championships!!!

Colorado.  Check, check!

And Then Things Got Interesting

Of course. 

My manager texted me on Friday evening asking if he could call me.  This was the conversation I had been dreading - finding out if I got the job or not.  Honestly, I didn't want to answer the phone.  After a brief conversation I was offered the promotion.  I told him I would have to think about it, telling him I would let him know in the middle of next week.

Let's back up.

I mentioned in the previous post that I had applied for my old job, a job that I loved.  In addition to formally applying, I had gotten in touch with my previous lead (now manager) and when things didn't go anywhere with that conversation I even contacted my senior director (now vice president), someone who I know and trust and really like.  Friday afternoon she sent me an email letting me know someone would be in touch with me regarding a job within a certain department (not my previous job).  After some searching, The Husband and I figured out what job she was probably talking about.  A job I was well qualified for.  A big girl job.  A salaried job.  A responsible job.  I was/am excited. 

So when my manager offered me the job I had to tell him the truth.  I had to tell him that I had some other possibilities pending that I would need to let him know in a few days.  I didn't want to hurt his feelings or take him off guard.  He was very gracious and told me I needed to do what was best for my family.  I like him.  I hate that I may have to disappoint him.

There are a lot of thought rolling through my head right now.  I'd be crazy not to give the new job a chance.  It would be a great opportunity with a lot of options for advancement and a chance to shine.  But, I could also hate it and dread going to work and worry that I made the wrong choice of putting my child in daycare.  I also don't want to disappoint anyone.  Plus, I only have a few days to decide and technically, I don't have the other job yet.  I would be going into a decision blindly and hoping everything worked out.  Or I might just be unemployed. 

I hate decisions.  This makes me almost as miserable as not having any options.

The Real World

Let's get real.

I haven't had a whole lot to say on here as I'm been going through a really rough patch.  Life has been tough lately.  I haven't yet seen a silver lining.  Most days I'm just going through the motions.  I'm hoping there's an end to all of this soon.

This started a few months ago and has been building since then.  The Husband got his dream job late this winter and started at the end of April.  It's what he has been working his whole career for, and I'm super proud of him.  But it has also made everything a little more difficult.  First, he took a pay cut to take the job.  It's not that much, but all money makes a difference, ya know??  So the real kicker has been the time commitment.  He loved that this job would not require any extra hours or work from home or being on-call - all stuff he had to do at his previous job.  The commute, though, has basically wrapped all of those into one big chunk of time that has made my life miserable.  His previous job was literally right around the corner.  One mile.  He would ride his bike in the summertime.  He would leave after we got up in the morning and would be home ten minutes after he said he was leaving.  We would have lunch with him at least once a week.  It broke up a long day with the little one and helped me feel not so much like a stay-at-home mom but a co-parent.

The new job is downtown.  Sure, it's only like 16 miles and we don't have nearly the traffic as most major cities, but the commute seems to take up a large chunk of time.  He leave before the kiddo and I get up in the morning.  He does this so he can get out of work earlier, but even earlier his commute is still an hour to get home.  The Husband usually gets home about one minute before I leave for work.  Which means, I basically hand off our son and run out the door, only to return after 10:00pm without having said goodnight to Anderson or tucked him in or eaten a proper family dinner, etc.  I went from being a co-parent to feeling like a single parent without a spouse or a friend or anything to do.

In addition to the daily time commitment of our jobs and never seeing each other on the weekdays, I have worked every Saturday and Sunday this entire summer.  We recently bought a camper (more on that some other time) and every time we've gone camping I've had to leave to go to work or miss a day to stay back and go to work.  It sucks.  There has been zero family time this summer.  Plus, as I've noted before, we are doing renovations to our whole house which has come to a complete standstill because it's nearly impossible for one of us to do anything if the other isn't around to entertain the little one.

I mentioned that Dave had to take a pay cut for this job.  Again, no big deal, but for as many hours as I spend at my job and the responsibilities I have, I make next to nothing.  Seriously.  Most of my biweekly paychecks come back less than $300.  THREE HUNDRED FUCKING DOLLARS!!!!  What the hell am I supposed to do with $300?!?  I can buy nothing.  No repairs for the house, no adventures for the family, nothing.  Plus, I can't even afford any childcare to be able to work more hours to be able to make more money.  And I'm not going to just keep him at Child Watch at the Y just to be able to pick up more hours.  I hate taking my child to work with me and I hate that all he does is play.  He's learning nothing; no one is loving on him; and there are germs galore.  Right now, I'm soooo sick of the Y.

Back in June I decided it was time to go back to work full time.  If I am making the right kind of money I don't have a problem getting a nanny or putting Anderson in daycare so that we could spend more time together as a family and give us the money to be able to do things like renovations on our house, camp together, and other adventures.  To date I have applied for eight jobs.  Two of which I have worked before, one being my previous job which I loved.  Another of the jobs is actually a promotion at my current job.  I'm not thrilled about the idea but at least it's something.  It's been a solid six weeks since I began this search and apply process.  To date I've had two interviews for the promotion, been turned down for two jobs without even a call or an interview, and have heard absolutely nothing about the other five jobs.  This is including my previous job in which I have the same manager and senior director, both of whom I have contacted to help me out.  I am so frustrated, disappointed, and frankly, desperate.  Each day I wake up with hope that "today's the day" and by the afternoon I am beat down and worn out.  Why does this have to be so hard?  I have an engineering degree and worked professionally for years, for crying out loud, how am I not qualified for any jobs????

So there you have it.  My summer of depression in a nutshell.  I'm still training a ton - lots of running, lots of swimming, but everything else in my life just feels like I'm going through the motions.  Cross your fingers for us, say a little prayer, do a little dance, whatever.  We seriously need something to happen and for me, it can't come soon enough.

New Swimming Record

I said I would write more and then .... crickets.  Good job Mere!

So let's start with a short and sweet post.  Last week I set a new weekly yardage record in the pool.  I swam until I thought my arms were going to fall off.  My everything hurt after spending that much time in the pool.  And my hair was so gross I thought I would never get a comb through it (time to cut it all off again).

Anyway, last week I saw 12,250 yards.  That's just around 8 miles.  On top of that, I had four hours of in-saw inservice where I had to practice all my lifeguarding skills.  Personally, I'm a little tired of the pool and ready for a break from all the swimming and chlorine.  But, I don't think that's going to happen any time soon.

Analyzing rhythm. Shock advised. Clear!

I am a horrible blogger.  I used to write all the time about anything on this space and now it seems to be race reports and complaining about this, that, and the other.  In 2009 I wrote or posted a picture every single day.  I think it's time to get back to that.

Let's start at the beginning for those new readers (are there ANY readers out there???).

I began this blog to have a place to talk about my running.  I've run a gazillion marathons (really, 17) including Boston four times.  Then I got into triathlon, which I didn't love, yet signed up and tried to finish an Ironman.  It didn't go well and messed me up in the head for a long time.  Last year after a major injury, I raced in the aquathlon national championship and got myself a ticket to the world championships this year.  This year I have raced my heart out and have gotten back into the shape that led me to great things 7-10 years ago.  I should probably write about that more.  I mean, I WILL write about that more.

Let's see.  Other things.  I am a mom.  I've got a three year old boy who has the biggest heart and can drive me absolutely insane at the same time.  Motherhood has been the hardest thing I have ever EVER done.  Way harder than the Ironman.  Way harder than Boston.  Way harder than my engineering studies in college.  Many days I want to crawl under a rock and hope it crushes me, but I love that little man and all his awesomeness.  I'm not really sure what life was like before him.

So if I'm going to blog more, I need your help.  I need topics.  Do you want to know what I eat while working out?  Do you want to know my favorite stuff - shoes, socks, clothing, etc.? Do you want to see more pictures of my beautiful son?  Do you just want me to shut the eff up?  Please feel free to comment and let me know!

I'll be back here tomorrow, hopefully, with something interesting to say.

Official Pictures from Run for the Rainbow

I must have done a good job at hiding because I found several pictures of just my head or half my head.  I do, however, have two finisher pictures from the Run for the Rainbow.  Want to see what death looks like?

We'll start with the 'alright' picture.

I don't know why I care that I was stopping my watch since I had muffed it up at the beginning and it wasn't accurate anyway.

And now for the 'oh my gosh' picture.

This was, I think, the first time I have ever run a race without a shirt and it very well may be my last.  I am the smallest weight I've been since I've had my son, but no matter what I do I'm still going to look a little on the chubby side.  Look, I'm 5'1".  There's not a whole lot of room for anything.  On top of that I'm extremely short wasted so no matter what I do I look a little on the chubby side.  I'm as fit as I've ever been but I'm never going to look like an elite athlete.

It's Here!!!!

Look what came in the mail today?  Isn't she beautiful?????  Isn't she fierce??????  I may finish dead effing last at the world champs, but dang it, I'm gonna look like a badass doing it.

Run for the Rainbow 5K 2016

I went to work on Friday morning and my coworker said, "you running the race tonight?"  Why, yes.  I am.  Game on, Eric.  Game on!

I showed up to the race plenty early.  Dave and Anderson were able to enjoy all the festivities - the race benefited Nationwide Children's Hospital so there was a small petting zoo, free food and goodies, face painting, balloons, etc.  Heaven for a three year old.  I checked in, went to the bathroom one thousand times, and warmed up.  It was a hot one, but the warm up went great and I thought I would be having a good race.  Just a few minutes before the start of the race I went off to a side street to do a few more pickups and then I looked over and the race had started. 

WTF?!?  It was still six minutes until the start of the race!

Who starts a race early?!?

So I took off like a bat out of hell to try to get around everyone and hit the first mile mark in a 6:49.  Now, I should be able to hold that pace but immediately I felt like the monkey jumped on my back.  I felt terrible.  My heart was jumping out of my throat and my legs would not go.  I slowed down and just tried to hold on.  And then I did something unbelievable in a 5K - I walked a water stop.  Yep.  I took in the water, got my stuff back together, and took off again.  Unfortunately, my legs still wouldn't go and I did all I could to get to the finish line.

My finish time was 22:12.  Not bad, but certainly not what I was thinking I would do.  I finished fourth female and first in my age group.  And my friend Eric?  Just 20 seconds back.  Woah. 

And I enjoyed the festivities too.  I got some ice cream and then watched my son man-handle some baby chicks.

 Eric, myself, and his sister.

Official race pictures are supposed to be posted soon.  Hopefully there'll be at least one where I don't look like how I was feeling - death.

May Totals

May was a pretty good month.  I buckled down and got the work done.  I only missed a handful of workouts.

Swim - 24,850 yards ~ 14.1 miles
I wish I could swim more, honestly.  Our daily lives don't always allow us to get to the pool as often as I should/want to.  And I'm no longer able to go to masters in the morning since Dave started a new job in April.  He goes to work WAY earlier now.

Run - 100.51 miles
Yay!  I finally ran 100 miles in a month this year!!!

Strength - 0.5 hours
Well, something's got to give to fit in all the swimming and running and unfortunately, it was strength this month.  MUST.TRY.HARDER.

YMCA Visits - 19
Cost Per Visit - $1.98
(And I'm currently interviewing for a new position/promotion that would make my Y membership FREE!!!!)

Overall, I'm really pleased with how May went.  Things are starting to fall into place.  It's exciting.  I can't wait to move onto June!

Columbus 10K Finish Line Pictures

 As hard as I ran, I deserve to look a little bit like death at the finish line.  Seriously.  Death.

But look at those guns?!  Swimming does a body good!

Columbus 10K 2016

Our weekend was busy.  Dave was out of town running a relay race in Maryland, so I was on my own with the kiddo and dog.  My parents helped out as I had to work on Friday night and Saturday morning, then my sister had a family dinner on Saturday night, and then I made the decision to stay with my parents on Saturday night so I wouldn't interrupt everyone to go run my race on Sunday morning.

That was a dumb decision.

Anderson and I shared a bed, which would have been fine, except he was still awake at midnight and my alarm was set for 6:00.  On top of that, our dog was sleeping in bed with us, which is normal, but she kept hopping off the bed any time I got up and she wanted out at 1:00am.  And finally, my parents' dog, in his crate downstairs, barked all night long.  Needless to say, I did not feel rested and ready to go when I got up in the morning.  AND, everyone in the house was awake and downstairs when I left for the race at 6:45.

It poured down rain as I drove downtown and continued to rain right up until just a few minutes before race time.  I wore a hat because of the rain, which was a total mistake as the humidity was like 1 billion percent and the hat was hot, hot, HOT!!!  My warmup kind of sucked, but I was gonna run it and run it hard. 

And I did.  I started out a little too fast, but held on and ran hard until the end.  The race was highly competitive.  I did my best to hang on and race anyone down I could.  The course was honest with rolls and turns.

My final time was a 45:35, which is a 5 second PR and a 7:20 pace.  I finished 5th in my age group and even picked up a little award.

I have been working really hard on my speed and endurance this year.  It's great to see it paying off.  And I hate to admit it, I'm really loving these short, fast races.  Plus, a new PR after 15 years of running?  Icing on the cake.

Foto Friday

Obviously, a very serious conversation going on about swings and physics.

 Just like that, the first year of preschool is done.  And if we don't get potty trained this summer, there won't be a second year of preschool!

New Moon Quarter Marathon 2016

Y'all?!?!?  I am having one heck of a racing season!

Saturday I ran the New Moon Quarter Marathon.  I had no specific plans or thoughts for this race, expect go out conservatively and finish strong.  Oh, and my fellow life guarding friends were running it with me so of course I wanted to beat them.

Between the long drive there, parking forever away, picking up my packet, and using the bathroom, I had less than 10 minutes to warm up.  I took a stroll around the block and did some pickups.  Everything felt great.  It was going to be a good day.

I started out what I felt was comfortably.  Dave said the look on my face would disagree with this statement.  However, I was able to have a conversation with him and everyone around me early in the race.  At the first turn, the girl in front of me, who was running the half marathon, got a bike escort for first place so I knew I was cruising and doing well.

Mile 1 - 7:36
Mile 2 - 7:40

This is where I saw Dave and he told me I was in 4th place. 

Mile 3 - 7:29

I passed the lead half marathon female going up a hill here.  I saw Dave somewhere again in here and he told me I was in third.  Actually I was in third the whole time since he didn't know the girl initially in front of me was doing the half marathon.  I was now hunting down the girl in second.  I was FLYING and felt great.

Mile 4 - 7:19
Mile 5 - 7:13

I caught the second place girl in the sixth mile and was now within sight of the first place girl.  I wanted her bad.

Mile 6 - 7:31

I chased and chased in the last half mile (0.69 miles according to my Garmin).  I was now going full-on and basically sprinting.  I was putting everything I had into it.

Last 0.55 (0.69 Garmin) - 6:45 pace

 

I did not cross the finish line first.  She was right ahead of me.  But she started in the corral ahead of me and each corral was held for 30 seconds, so in the official results I won.

I FREAKIN' WON!!!!

Wouldn't you know, there were no awards for this race?  What the heck?  But, my medal does glow in the dark which is really cool. 

Oh, and I beat my friends from the Y.

Just Another Day at the Oval Office

Fridays are track days.  The kiddo is at preschool (for one more week) and I am able to spend a little bit of time by myself usually without interruption.  The last couple of weeks the track and football field have been filled with middle and high schoolers playing games and running around.  It has made for an interesting time, but I've been able to get in my workout.  This week it was one minute to five minute intervals at fast times.  The one minute interval was done at a sub-6:00 pace and the five minute intervals was a 6:26 pace.  I was moving!  Getting faster!

But that's not the most interesting thing that happened to me at the track.

Another runner came to the track that morning and he looked serious.  He warmed up off the track and then came back and did some drills.  The dude could drill.  I stopped to get a drink and he started talking to me.  He asked me about my Hokas and if I liked them.  Funny, considering he was covered in head-to-toe Saucony.  Literally - shirt, shorts, shoes, spikes.  Everything.  He asked me what I was training for.  I then said, "you look pretty serious."  He said, yeah, that he trained in Ann Arbor (boo!) that he ran the 1500 and that he was heading to Philly for a race this weekend.  He asked me my name, I asked him his, we shook hands, and went about our workouts.  I watched him run.  Holy crap was he fast!

When I got home I googled him.  Of course.  And I found out he's kind of a big deal.  His name is Julian Matthews and he runs for New Zealand's national team.  Yes, he's sponsored by Saucony.

And he's a nice guy.  I left him a message on his Facebook page and he responded wishing me luck at the aquathlon world championships.  He listened and seemed to care.  Cool guy.

So maybe I ran those intervals fast because the training is paying off and I'm getting more fit.  Or maybe it's because one hell of a stud athlete was sharing the track with me and I wanted to save face.  Either way, it was a great day at the oval office.

April Totals

Every month I hope for a hundred miles of running and so far I've fallen short.  I either get sick or have a total meltdown and lose momentum.  April was no different.  I had one week where I just said fuck it and tried to survive life.  So here's the numbers, in all their glory.

Swimming - 16,800 yards ~ 9.5 miles
During vacation I did not swim at all.  Then I had a week where I just didn't want to do anything.  This number should have been higher.  I still had a great swim test, though.  Swimming is coming along.  I'm getting faster and learning new things.  There might even be a swim meet in my future.

Running - 78.38 miles
The week I was on vacation I totally rocked my runs.  Of course, I had baby sitting and didn't have to figure out when to go to the Y and run on the treadmill or when the track would be available.  The week after I hardly ran at all.  One of these days I'll put it all together.  I did have a great 5K while on vacation.  That's fun.

Strength - 1.75 hours
I'm trying harder to do basic strength training, mostly core work.  I know this is important for being able to race fast and to keep from getting injured.  These workouts only take 15 minutes.  I hope to keep this up.  My abs are starting to look pretty good.  :)

YMCA Visits - 12
Cost per Visit - $3.14

Week in Review

I had a pretty good week last week.  I'm trying to not get caught up in all the details of life that are dragging me down and just be.  Here's how it all went down.

Swimming - 4950 yards
I bailed on one swim that was not going well.  And then I had a meltdown.  Then I was able to put together two good swims including one that included lots of fun stuff.  Hopefully more on that in a few days.

Running - 16.93 miles
I didn't get to do my long run this morning as I had the world's longest in-service at work and spent over 4-1/2 hours in the pool without a break.  I plan on doing this run tomorrow.  The week did include an amazing speed workout that was 4 x 6 minutes at descending paces.  I hit my last one at a 6:35 pace.  That was after 50 minutes of running!  Now why can't I put that together in a race??

Strength - 0.25 hours
I only got in one strength workout but it was a doozy.  The whole thing was done with a kettlebell and was basically all squats and lunges.  I was sore for days.

Next week is a fall back week.  I couldn't be happier about it. 

I'm Losing My Shizz

Y'all, I've had a rough couple of weeks.  Last week I said f-you to my running shoes and swimsuit and sat on my couch eating myself into a tizzy.  I told my coach I hated "fucking" multisport.  I worked a gazillion hours, ripped out all of my landscaping, and slept more hours than I care to admit.  I was a mess.

And yesterday I flipped my lid in public.

I have gotten my haircut by the same girl for more than 6 years.  She works at one of those uppity salons where everyone has to wear black, has made up names so no one has the same name as someone else, serves champagne or whatever, and charges and arm and a leg for a stupid haircut.  She doesn't really fit the mold there though.  I've never seen her wear a skirt or dress.  She's never pushed me to buy any products (and has even told me she hates that part of her job) or get my hair dyed for the sake of making more money or tried to sell me on any other services.  I like her.  She does a good job.  She always changes the price for me so I'm paying for just my haircut and no other up-charges.  I almost wish she didn't work there.  I wish I knew her real name so I could seek her out outside of the salon.

Anyway, yesterday I made an appointment to just get the back of my hair trimmed.  I'm still growing out the stupid pixie cut and the mullet grows daggone fast.  This was going to be a 5 minute haircut that was going to cost me all of $13.  I made the appointment as late as I could, 3:15, hoping that my mom would be able to watch Anderson.  Unfortunately, my mom wasn't going to be able to (should have checked with her first) and I had to take Anderson.

Here's the rub...this salon has a no child policy.  Yep, you read that right.  If you're child is under 10 and does not have an appointment, he/she must be attended to at all times. 

I took Anderson with me.  He had a monster truck in his hand and I had my iPad in mine.  They have free wifi there and it was my intent to have him watch Mighty Machines on Netflix ON MY LAP while she cut the back of my hair.  Therefore, he would not be unattended and I would be following their stupid policies.  We walked in and I tried to check in.  The stupid greeter was not happy to see my three year old and reminded me of the policy.  I quoted, verbatim, to her the policy and told her he would not be unattended.  She told me I'd have to talk to a manager.  That's when I lost my shizz.

I told her, "YOU'RE POLICY IS BULLSHIT!"  I told her she could pay for my child care and my haircut, that she was bullshit, and that I was leaving.  We went out to the car and I cried.  Cried and cried and cried.  Who treats you like that in front of a child?!  And my child, in all his lovingness, says "why won't they let us in there?"  God, that hurt.  I was livid.  I was angry.  I was mad at them.  I was mad at me and my stupidity and my inability to control my shizz. 

Today I'm still angry but a little embarrassed.  The thing is, I still need a haircut.  And I don't know what to do now.  I don't really want to go back there with my tail between my legs and give them and their stupid policies my business.  But, I don't know anyone who will cut my hair or who has hair like mine that can give me a recommendation. 

I think it's about time to talk to my therapist again.  I'm, obviously, a mess.

Pinwheel 5K 2016

Where have I been?  On vacation.  And what's a vacation without a race?!  I have been to Florida more times than I can count and yet, I have not run a race there.  This year we finally figured it out.  We traveled Friday to Friday and were able to pick up a race nearby on Saturday. 

The Pinwheel 5K was a smallish race at a beautiful rowing facility in Sarasota.  The two things I love: rowing and running.  I was in heaven.  The weather was sunny and not so hot, which made for great racing. 

There's not much to say about a 5K.  I went out hard and held on for a dear life.  Actually, I felt pretty good for about 75% of this race.  At the turn around I was able to count and see that I was in 5th.  Dave was right behind me and my dad also let me know my position.  I quickly caught 4th place and then spent a mile-ish hunting down 3rd place.  I really felt like I was on the hunt the whole time and felt great.  Until I caught everyone I could and then it was everything I could do not to get caught.  Each time we had a turn I looked to see my position.  It was close but I was able to hold on to third.

This is the second time I have placed in the top three at a race and also the second time there were no awards for top three - only first place.  And I wish I could have caught that girl.  First place got a $100 gift card to a local running store.  That's a heck of a lot towards a new pair of shoes! 

Anyway, I did win my age group.  My final time was 22:09 which is a 7:0-something pace.

It was a good day for Dave and my dad.  They both took home 1st in their age groups too.

I'm starting to like the 5K.  Don't get me wrong.  It sucks.  It's hard and painful, but at least it's over quickly.  I hope to race some more soon.

Pictures from vacation coming soon!

Bad Boys, Bad Boys

Saturday we got pulled over by the cops.  We were not even two miles from our house.  A police woman had pulled out behind us.  Dave was super careful to go the speed limit so we thought it was a little odd when she put her lights on and pulled us over just down the road.

"Did you know you're tags are expired?  Is your birthday in December?"

Dave has not had to get a new license since we moved so the state believes he still lives at our old address.  Therefore, we never received our update about our license plate tags, and therefore, Dave did not update them in December on his birthday.  He thought he had updated them for two years.

"Can I have your license and insurance card?"

I got out the insurance card and it was expired.  Awesome.  Our new ones were obviously sitting at home.  Luckily, she was able to look this up because it is the same insurance.

In the end we got off with a warning but had to drive around for another two days before the BMV was open and we could get new tags.  She told us we may get a ticket in that time.  And funny enough we were both followed by cops in those two days. 

As of Monday, we're no longer fugitives from the law.

Best Swim Test EVER!!!

I did a swim test yesterday.  It was a CSS test, which stands for Critical Swim Speed.  After 1200 yards of warmup I had 400 yards all out.  I had a goal in my head, and I went for it.  I pressed hard, needing to breathe every stroke in the last several laps.  My legs were going numb; I wasn't seeing straight.  I was swimming as hard as I ever had.  When I hit that wall I was all...

5:54!!!!  That's a 1:28 per 100 yards!!!  I have never been able to average under 1:30s!!!

Then I did another 400 yards easy and then it was time for another test.  This time it was 200 yards all out.  Again I went for it breathing hard, kicking and reaching, and swimming for all it was worth.  Eight laps later and this...

2:53!!!  Eff yeah!!!! 

Of course, now I have a threshold pace that scares the crap out of me and I have no idea how you even do threshold repeats with your head underwater.  For now, I totally won the gold medal.

Being a Parent is Hard

I came home from work yesterday and Dave was giving me the look that I give him nearly every day when he returns from work -- Take the kid. I need a break!

We easily broke Anderson of the pacifier last week but we've struggled with naps ever since.  And by struggled I mean, he hasn't taken one in a week.  It's not really a big deal except that he's not sleeping longer at night and therefore, he's pretty grouchy and cranky by the end of the day.

Last night he threw a fit about something.  I don't know what it was, but it really upset him.  So much so, that he cried so hard that he vomited on himself.  I stripped him naked, threw the clothes in the wash, cleaned up the floor, and put him in the shower with me.  By the time we finished it was after 7:00pm so I wanted to put him in his pajamas and settle down for bed.  The boy did not like that idea one bit and fought me.  Finally we settled on just a diaper and he went out to the couch to watch some TV.

Dave had locked himself in a room by himself (not kidding, and I've done it myself when I need a break).  I laid in bed to just settle down.  A few minutes later Anderson comes running into my room, no diaper on, and yells, "I pooped!"  What?  Where?  And that's when I saw the poop on his leg.  Oh my god.  "On the carpet," he said.  "Come with me."  I went out into the living room and there I saw it.  A big chunk of poop on the floor along with pee sprayed all over a pillow.  I picked him up, gave him to Dave, told him to clean him off, and then I cleaned up the mess in the living room.  After that we put him straight into bed.

This morning I cleaned up another mess of apple juice and water both spilled on the floor within a few minutes of each other.  And then I had to deal with a total meltdown over three, freakin', M&Ms that he wanted to bring into the Y with him.  Oh my god!  I could have pulled my hair out. 

I texted Dave and told him that if he didn't get a vasectomy this year that I might leave him.

Tossing My Cookies

This morning I hit the track while the little one was at preschool.  I didn't have a terribly long or difficult track workout: warmup, plyometrics, a few short sprints, and cool down.  The main set was 7 x 200 with decreasing recovery intervals, starting at 90 seconds and going down to 15 seconds.  I got my head out of the way and tackled this workout.  I stopped for nothing.  Rock in my shoe?  Keep going.  Snot on the face?  Keep going.  Super thirsty?  Keep going.  I was super consistent with my sprints, knocking out all of them at just under a 6:00 pace.  The last interval was super tough.  Fifteen seconds rest?  I barely stopped and then I was sprinting again.  I pushed and pushed and when I finished that booger, I tossed my cookies right there on the track.  Coach was so proud.  What a great workout.

March Totals

*sigh*

This wasn't the best month.  After my race in Myrtle Beach I got sick.  Really sick.  I got the flu, even after having my shot months ago, and spent five days in bed before I felt GOOD enough to go see the doctor.  Unfortunately, you just have to wait out the flu so I spent several more days in misery coughing and snotting and sleeping.  So, I missed a whole week of training.  Then when I did come back, the cough lingered which made it hard to run and I lost a lot of motivation too.  So, the numbers were low.  As Nature Cat says, Onward and Yonward!!!

Swimming - 21,400 yards ~ 12.2 miles

Running - 36.1 miles

Strength - 1.25 hours

YMCA Visits - 12
Cost Per Visit - $3.14 (pi!!!!)

I am DETERMINED to get it done in April.  April, you're my bitch!

Big Boy

The baby turned three on Sunday and everything has changed.  Yesterday started with a visit to the dentist for Anderson's first cleaning.  It went okay.  He didn't love how the twirly tooth brush tickled his lips.  But he did love the sucky thing.  I held it and kept putting it in his mouth, getting it stuck to his tongue. 

He has been a pacifier kid since day 1 and the dentist let us know that it was ruining his bite.  Instead of weeing him off of it and keep it around through our vacation coming up, we decided to go cold turkey and throw the dentist under the bus for the reason why he couldn't have it anymore.  It's been a little rough, mostly at bedtimes.  He cries and cries, "my pafier, MY PAFIER!!!"  He hasn't taken a nap since taking it away either.  Oy.

This morning we had our three year check up at the doctor's.  He weighed 31 pounds and was 37-1/2 inches tall.  He did well answering questions.  The doctor let us know that potty training was coming soon.  Please.  PLEASE!!!!

Now all we need to do is get him (a) potty trained and (b) into his bed.  He still loves to sleep in his crib and asks to sleep in it.  He's so big.

Whirlwind of a Weekend

You know how on HGTV the people looking for a house or those remodeling the house always say, "we love to entertain?"  Yeah, I'm not one of those people.  You'll never hear me saying that.  Inside I would love to be social and would love to have people over all the time, but the truth of the matter is that I'm socially awkward and that having people come to my house gives me anxiety.

So this weekend was just hell for me.  Friday we hosted a small birthday party for Anderson.  Family came over and we had pizza and cake.  Anderson opened a few small presents, mostly trucks and cars, and we surprised him with a new playground for home.  It won't be here for a few weeks.  He's going to love it.

Just last week my mom reminded me that I agreed to host Easter.  I did what?!?!  With my parents retiring next year, my mom has decided that my sister and I need to step up and starting hosting some holidays.  My sister loves to entertain; me not so much.  What fool decided to have a birthday and Easter in the same weekend?  Oh yeah, me.

Anyway, my family pitched in and brought over their cooking specialties while Dave and I prepared a ham and some other stuff.  We also hid hundreds (not kidding) of plastic eggs in the yard that contained money or candy.  The kids went to town and did very well.  I swear, Anderson has more candy from the egg hunt than from Halloween.  That is not good for my waistline.

I was so glad when the weekend was over.  Going back to work never felt so good.

Do you like to entertain?
What did you do for Easter?