November Totals

The first month of triathlon training has come to a close. I missed almost all of last week being sick, so my numbers are lower than I thought they would be. I'm having a hard time letting go of running a lot of miles. It seems weird to have a month where I've only run 30 miles. I'm hoping the running comes back! This was a big month of weight lifting. I haven't done that much since high school. It worked back then and I think it's going to work now. On to December!!

Swim = 15,500 meters (That's over 9-1/2 miles of swimming!)

Bike = 87.46 miles

Run = 33.55 miles

Other = 4.75 hours

Purchase a Piece of Meredith

It has taken me all day, but I finally got my Etsy shop, "Mostly Square Photos", up and running. Yep that's right! If you love my photography, and hopefully you do, now you have the chance to purchase a select number of my through the viewfinder prints. I don't have everything I want available for sale yet, but more prints will be added in the next couple of days. And because I am celebrating the grand opening of my shop, all purchases between now and December 11th will receive free shipping. Check out my Mostly Square Photos here. And happy shopping!

Miscellany for Saturday

A little miscellany for this Saturday:

• This has been the weirdest Thanksgiving. We had one with my family, one with Dave's family, and I'm yet to have any turkey. Not because I didn't want turkey, because there wasn't any turkey. My family's never got done and we had roast at Dave's family. Weird.
• Our puppy Sloopy is starting to come out of her shell and develop a personality for us. She's a bit feisty. We're also struggling to come up with a signal to let us know when she needs to go out. We've had a few accidents. She did really well, though at the vet. She didn't cry at all when she got her shots.
• I've been sick all week. It's starting to tick me off. I don't feel horrible, but I've got a mad case of laryngitis. At Thanksgiving I was only able to whisper. In a family of 12, whispering was worthless.
• I've had two inquiries to take some pictures for Christmas. Although I've shut the business down, officially, I'm still interested and am really excited to do these portraits.
• Good luck to my friend Niels and Miss Bree Wee racing in Ironman Cozumel tomorrow.
• Big announcement coming in the next few days!!

And because how cute is a picture of my dog, check her out blogging:

Exciting News for 2010

I got some great news last week. I found out that I got sponsored for 2010 by Trakkers. Trakkers is such a cool device. It is a GPS worn during races and workouts that allows your family and friends to track you. It uses a map interface that can be zoomed into the street level and can even allow your family and friends to tell what side of the street you're on. Although the device does not give feedback to your during your event, you can download the performance information afterward and see how good or bad you did. Although the Trakkers GPS is not currently available for the general public, it has been successfully tested in many races and should be available soon.

Not only is Trakkers a cool device, the sponsorship is a fantastic opportunity. Trakkers has paired with Rev3, a series of races that aims to offer a fun, first class racing experience. As a sponsored athlete I get the opportunity to race in a Rev3 race and be part of all the team events at the race. I'm hoping to do the olympic distance race in Knoxville and Dave is planning on doing the full iron-distance race at Cedar Point.

There are several other sponsors that I will discuss in the future. They're great companies and I'm excited to try out their products.

Thanks Trakkers for choosing me. I look forward to being part of the team in 2010.

Flying Feather 4 Miler 2009

Hey, this is my 900th post! Let's celebrate with a race report!!

I've had laryngitis since about lunch time, so I've had no speaking all afternoon and evening. If you know anything about me, this is killing me! So, it's great to type and feel like I'm communicating.

Anyway, the Flying Feather 4 Miler is my favorite race of the year. Not only is it a family tradition to run a race on Thanksgiving, but this race gives away a bottle of wine to each finisher. Score! Our blogger and now real-life friend Carrie was in town for Thanksgiving and joined us for the race. Since she has a torn labrum and a possible herniated disk in her back and because I've been sick, sick, sick this week, we decided to dog the race and spend the time jogging and compare training notes.

Pre-Race

Carrie and I ran negative splits, starting at a 9:41 and ending somewhere around 8:08. It was fun to get faster and faster and faster and pass more and more people. If we were racing we would have ran the perfect race.

Post-Race

Unfortunately, we got beat by my dad and Dave. Buggers! Either way, we win!

Celebrate!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Thursday Thoughts (on a Wednesday)

Tomorrow there will be a race report as we're all running in the annual family Thanksgiving Day race. Unfortunately I'm sicker than a dog, so there probably won't be a whole lot of racing.

So the obvious question, what are you thankful for this year?

I am thankful that I took the leap and tried out running my own business and so happy we've been as successful as we have. We started this year with two paid events and ended the year with nearly 40. For 2010 we already have 11 confirmed events on the schedule. We even got interviewed for Columbus Bride magazine. I'm excited for what's to come.

We Are Parents!

Please welcome the newest Gordon to the family. We named her Sloopy.

It Was Fate

A few weeks ago I mentioned Dave and I were thinking of getting a dog. We talked about it and decided to wait until at least the new year to make a decision. Last week my mom sent me an e-mail letting me know a friend of hers had a puppy Morkie that she had just adopted that she wasn't going to be able to keep due to allergies. She wanted the dog to go to a good home. Tomorrow Dave and I are going to meet the puppy and see if it might work out. Everything happens for a reason and we're so excited to potentially become dog parents this week.

Week's done; let's celebrate!

Another week of triathlon training has come to a close. This week was tough for me. Last week I had terrible headaches and this week I woke up with sore throats every day. At first I thought I was catching a cold, and therefore didn't do any workouts on Tuesday, but every day the sore throats would subside later in the morning. I also struggled to complete one of the weight lifting workouts as it was like 900 degrees in the gym and I was beyond hungry. I left the gym after only six exercises as I thought I was going to get sick. After dinner I felt much better.

The workouts themselves are getting easier and better. I don't dread slipping into the pool, straddling the bicycle, and because of some unseasonably warm weather I have gotten out to run without any problems. Obviously the excitement will wear off, but right now things are good.

Next week is a fall back week. There are less workouts but still complete workouts. I will be racing with Dave and my dad on Thanksgiving in the Flying Feather 4 Miler and looking forward to seeing Carrie and her husband there too.

Now, I am going to toast the week with a yummy dinner and perhaps a beverage. :)

Six Years in a Row!!!

I have lived in Columbus, Ohio my whole life. I have no idea what it is like not to live in a college town. This town in CRAZY in the fall. It's football, football, football!!! This week was no different as we clenched the Big Ten title and the Rose Bowl bid last Saturday. Then we geared up all week for the big game, Michigan. Or should I say, "the state up north." Game day in Columbus is a sea of scarlet. Everywhere you look people are wearing jerseys and sweaters and t-shirts, all Ohio State gear. If you go to the grocery store before the game, there are tons of people buying food for parties. If you go to the grocery during the game, it's a ghost town. Not a sole in sight. After the game, people high five perfect strangers. You can hear cheers of O-H...I-O across the street or any public place.

I love living in a college town. I wouldn't want it any other way.

Go Bucks!

Foto Friday

I'm kinda a camera collector. I've got my big, fancy camera, but it's too cumbersome to carry every day. I have my point and shoot which I do carry with me frequently. I love to take pictures "through the viewfinder" of my old non-working cameras. But today I'm talking pictures taken with my iPhone. There are a lot of great photo apps out there for the iPhone. My new favorite is called ShakeItPhoto, which basically takes your photos and turns them into Polaroids.

Here's a few of my favorites:

Thursday Thoughts

The time has come. Yes friends, it's "Twilight: New Moon" weekend. I must admit, I am a fan. I've read all the books and saw the first movie. I will be seeing the second movie. I got asked to go at midnight tonight, but I just cannot stay up that late. I'm not sure if I'm going to see Twilight this weekend because of how crazy it's going to be and also because I'd like to see The Blind Side and Precious which both open this weekend.

So, will you be seeing Twilight?

By the way, I'm totally Team Jacob. Have you seen that kid (and kinda gross that he's still a minor)? He's HOT!!!!

Tsk, Tsk

On the Today show today, Matt Lauer and a panel of experts discussed spanking children. Yes, I was spanked as a child. A LOT. My parents would say that's not true. They obviously are going senile in their old age. ;) Anyway, I got spanked again today. This time by Coach. I was bad.

You see, I've been attending a core class at the gym every Wednesday since I broke my finger. That's 12 weeks ago if you're keeping track. And some day it may stop hurting. Getting back on topic, I didn't think it was a big deal I was going to this class. It wasn't aerobic and only a half hour so I didn't figure it was any different than doing crunches on my own at home. But when I discussed on my Facebook page today that I enjoyed my workouts this morning and was looking forward to my swim this afternoon, Coach pulled out her paddle and gave me a public lashing. Yikes! She didn't realize I was going to core. I guess it was a bigger deal than I thought it was.

No big deal, though. I postponed the swim until tomorrow. I recorded the core workout. Hopefully we can find a way to work it out that I can keep going to core and still get in all my workouts in a week. I have to admit, when training for my marathons I would often vary the training schedule to match my mood or my daily schedule and still got in all the workouts in a week, but I'm finding the triathlon training is not that flexible. Maybe I'll have to be the flexible one.

Tomorrow will be a new day

It was inevitable. It started last week. The headaches came around 2:00 in the afternoon and would stay until I went to bed, no matter what I took. Every workout felt sluggish. I was tired all the time, took some great naps, and went to bed early. This morning I woke up with a raging headache and a sore throat. Oh crap! I thought I would make it through the whole quarter of gymnastics without getting sick. This is week 9 of 10. Almost did it.

I don't feel horrible. I feel about 85-90%. I probably could have worked out today but decided to take a nap instead. Tonight I will put some medicine in me, drink some cranberry juice, and get some great sleep. Tomorrow will be a new day.

I'm here to pump *clap* you up!

Coach has been putting weight training on the schedule. And I have been doing it as assigned. Today, though, I decided to mix it up a bit. Dave and I attended a class called "Strictly Strength." A few years ago we went diligently to the class, but dropped off as I got more and more into running and less and less into triathlon. Now the sports are reversed and I decided to give it another try.

Holy mackerel, that was a hard workout! My arms quivered, my buttocks clenched, my body said NO. Yet, I did all the sets until we got to planks. Eight years of gymnastics has hurt my wrists and shoulders too bad for planks. Tomorrow I will be very, very sore.

I'm totally going back next time it fits in the schedule. :)

Week 2 in the Books

Week 2 of triathlon training has come to a close. Eight days in a row, and I am fried! There was three bike rides, three swims, three runs, and some weight training. The goods: my lady bits are feeling much better. I could ride my bike wearing only one pair of bike shorts. The weight training didn't make me feel like I needed to crawl across the room just to move. And, I had a great quick run even though it didn't feel fast. The bads: I was extremely exhausted with the training this week. In the pool on Saturday, Dave was swimming circles around me. I went to bed Friday night at 10:00. That's early for me. The hungries have subsided but I probably should have been eating more to not feel so excited. I need to do a better job of following my calories to make sure I'm getting enough.

Next week looks very similar except with one more weight workout. Physically I can already see changes. I'm still excited about what lay ahead.

Stopping to Smell the Roses

My Buckeyes have done it again. For the FIFTH year in a row, my beloved Buckeyes has clenched the Big Ten and punched their ticket to a BCS game--probably the Rose Bowl. The last time we were at the Rose Bowl was my freshman year at OSU. A long time ago! I am so excited! I have never been to a bowl game. I'd REALLY like to go. Hey all my SoCal friends, how can I get tickets? Who's going to put us up for a few days? :)

Gosh, I love being a Buckeye. Bring on Michigan week!

Foto Friday

I mentioned yesterday that I bought myself a present. Well here it is:


It's a Polaroid PoGo photo printer. It's a little bigger than a digital camera and prints via Bluetooth from computer or cell phone. Of course, it doesn't work with my iPhone, although I have found some evidence that it does. Or, you can plug your digital camera straight into it and print. The quality is not high, but who cares? It prints 2 X 3" stickers. So much fun!


I really like it because I keep a journal about my running. triathlon, and races and it will make it so much easier to include pictures now.

Maybe I'm a teenage girl, but I just think this is the best gift (to myself) ever!

Thursday Thoughts

I did a bad thing today. I bought something for myself that should have been on my Christmas list. It's something I do every holiday season. When I find things I want, I want them NOW. This was too much fun to pass up. I'm not going to say what it is now, although if you're friends with me on Facebook you know what it is. It will debut tomorrow on the Foto Friday.

So I want to know, what are you most likely to buy yourself before the holidays?

Nodding Off

Thanks for all the suggestions about the swimsuits. As much as I like the Splish suits, even with the discount they are more expensive than the swimoutlet.com suits. I'm just going to wait as long as I can and hopefully Christmas will come before the suit falls apart.

I mentioned last week I was already getting the munchies. Thank goodness this week they've subsided. I think it was more about getting back to training than anything else. This week I'm suffering from the sleepies. Holy Toledo, I am tired! I've been comatose at night, taking LONG naps in the middle of the day, and nodding off while watching TV at night. At 8:00! Man, I hope I get used to this. I've got things to do.

Speaking of things to do..it's 10:15. Time for bed!

"Crack" Me Up

Yesterday I went swimming in my favorite suit. And it was starting to show its wear. The edges were stretched and everything was fading. Yikes! I'm the owner of ONE swimsuit that fits me and that was it. I've got swimsuits on the Christmas list, but I'm not sure this one's going to make it until the holidays. I've blown my budget already this month. Yes I know it's only 10 days into the month but I needed to pay for some race entries. Triathlons are WAY more expensive than running races.

Cross your fingers. I've got another swim tomorrow. Let's hope that swimsuit holds up.

I've Been Slimed

I have impeccable timing. As I came into the locker room after my swim today a woman dropped her expensive, glass jar or lotion on the ground. It broke and splattered lotion everywhere including my ear, face, and arm. I had been slimed!! But at least my left ear and left arm are now smooth and smell delicious. :)

Speaking of swimming, it was drill day in the pool. OMG! Drills kick my butt! I once thought that fist drills were the worst, but I've decided that head-out swimming is awful. And swimming next to Dave while watching him swim away from me, yeah LOVED that. But I know that these drills are good for me...blah, blah, blah. :)

Love you Coach!!! :)

Week One is Done

You know, I've trained for 13 marathons and they've all been hard. Throw in that mix two half Ironmans I've done. Yeah, that was hard too. But triathlon training with a coach is a whole different ball game. Today I completed week 1 and I've got to say, I'm exhausted. I've done almost as many hours this week as I've done in peak weeks of marathon training. I am so sore I feel like I've raced a half or full marathon. I'm so tired I've napped almost every day for 2 hours and then slept 8 hours at night. I've been trying to pay attention to what I eat and keeping it good food, but holy cow am I hungry All THE TIME!!

If this is week one, what the heck is yet to come?

Beat Michigan/Beat Cancer 5K

A week ago I got a text message from a girl I work with. (Side note, yes I own my own business and that's my full-time job, but I also teach gymnastics part-time.) She let me know there was a 5K that the gym was a sponsor of and we wanted to surprise our boss by signing up as many staff members as we could. Well crap! First week of triathlon training and I had to ask Coach to rearrange my workouts and promise her I wouldn't race. I'm sure reluctantly, Coach agreed.

After getting home from an event at 1:30am this morning, Dave and I got up a few hours later to meet everyone for the race. It was a brisk morning with a temperature that was on the edge of shorts or tights. I went tights. I should have gone shorts. We met at Gini's house. She was so excited to be having everyone over. She had cinnamon rolls and fruit, juices and water. She made me giggle. We went to the race early to watch Wendy's daughters participate in the 1-mile fun run. It was super-cute to watch all the little kids run around and around the track.

Then it was time for the 5K to line up. We met up for a before-picture:



The gun went off and Dave and I ran together. I let the little kiddos dash off. I held back and ran comfortably. First mile: 8:18. Hmm, a little faster than I should be going. I felt like I was keeping the same pace, but I started to notice Dave breathing a little heavy. And then he wasn't there at all. Mile 2: 7:42. I SWEAR I was not running hard! The race was a two loop course. Just after mile 2 I started to catch up with the people walking. I moved outside the cones just so I could get some running room. Then there was a bus right beside me. Yikes! That was close! I then moved back inside the cones. Finally I turned inside the track. Mile 3: 7:24. Yes it might be faster than I should be going, but I swear I was not running hard. Final time: 24:10.

Soon after Dave came in (I didn't see him) and several other girls that I work with. After everyone finished, we took another group picture:



It was a fun race. It's nice to do a race with no pressure and to be out there with great friends.

Foto Friday

I'm not used to biking more than one day a week. I've got to be honest, my bones "down there" are killing me. For yesterday's ride I had to wear two pairs of bike shorts just to get through a 45 minute ride. I'm still in the process of adjusting to the new seat and adjust the new seat so I'm hoping with giving it a little time, things will be comfortable. In the meantime check out my totally awesome cycling outfit:



I think the Uggs make the outfit. :)

Thursday Thoughts

Let me first say, it was not my intent to stir any controversy yesterday about which marathon is better than another. Personally my favorite is Boston and always will be. I'm sure NY is a fantastic marathon and maybe someday it will make my schedule.

Moving on...

A few weeks ago I put together a more complete racing schedule for 2010. I really want to race more so I chose one race a month, with most of them being extremely short sprint races. One of them is an indoor triathlon which is about 3 miles from my house at the YMCA. My sister happens to be a member of that Y. You can guess where this is going...I asked her to participate. My mom called me a few days later and said she didn't think Amy was going to do it. Really, Mom? Then why did she call me and ask me when it was? :) Today Amy called me to confirm that she and two of her friends are going to be doing the race. Nice! I've already started talking up the Tri for the Cure in the summer with her. I'm such a devious and proud older sister.

So, how do you convince your friends and family to participate with you?

Very Proud

I have to admit, I think the NYC Marathon is overrated. I had a close, personal friend run it several years ago and he said it sucked. (His words; not mine.) And although I'd love to qualify for it, I'm not sure I'd want to run it, mostly because of my fear of bridges. Lastly, it angers me that it gets so much media when there are other great marathons (Boston, Chicago) that should get the same amount of coverage.

But there was some force that drew me to tuning in this year. Sunday morning I got up and logged onto universalsports.com. The website, for us, is hit or miss if it's going to work. Luckily after a few tries, the marathon was live. Both the women and men's race were so excited that for 2+ hours I sat in front of my computer without moving. And with about two miles left in the men's race the tears started to roll down my face. An American was going to win. It was beautiful.

There was a lot of conversation about Meb in the following days. Unfortunately a lot of it was incorrect and downright hurtful. Meb not really an American? His win doesn't count because he's "naturalized"? That's just crap. And luckily those idiots have taken back their stupid words. Maybe Meb wasn't born here, but damn right he's an American. He proudly wore his USA singlet; none of the other 5 Americans who finished in the top 10 did.

As a runner I am so excited about what I saw on Sunday. It has inspired me to work harder. As an American I'm excited to see the future of our distance runners.

Thank you, Meb!

Buckeye Bike

Man that swim wiped me out today. Not only did I sleep a full 8 hours last night, but I also took a 2-1/2 hour nap this afternoon. I was beat! But, no rest for the weary. Today was a bike workout with lots of drills--one leg drills. Geesh, these are hard!!! Both Dave and I were grunting towards the end. The best part about the bike workout was the new bike seats. Check out my flashy red one. I'm now building my Buckeye Bike!



And check this out! I got asked for my thoughts on marathon recovery. Head on over to That's Fit blog and see my advice.

Day One

Let's start by saying this...it's been a long 9 weeks since I've been in the pool. By the end of the first 100 my body was already tired. And I had 2100 more to go. :) There were one arm drills, which I suck at (especially on my left side). There was a lot of pulling. Dude, seriously, my arms are weak. There was backstroking, which I am better than Dave is. It felt like a very long workout and I am very tired now. Day one is done. Ten more months to go.

By the way, swimming really hurt my finger. This has been the LONGEST recovery!

The Triple Crown

Today is the triple crown of perfect days...end of daylight savings, first of the month, and beginning of Ironman training. I love days like this. It feels like everything can be a do-over. And that's how I'm going to start the beginning of my training. It's time to take my training seriously and learn how to be the best triathlete I can be. I need to have patience and really focus on the fundamentals.

Not only am I going to track my progress in meters, miles, and countless hours, I want to track my progress physically. Let's face it, I am a scrawny runner. My arms look like they could hold up about two pounds. I'm hoping that's going to change. So, I got out my tape measure and took some stock of my stock. He he he! Every month I'll check in and see how things are changing.

Starting weight ~ 117 pounds (I'll be weighing myself at the gym tomorrow morning)
Quads - L: 19-1/2"
R: 19-1/2"
(By the way, my quads are only one inch smaller than Dave's.)
Biceps - L: 10-1/2"
R: 10-1/2"
Waist - 28"

I took some pictures but I'm not very happy with the way I look so I'm not going to post them. Hopefully as the body gets tighter I will show comparison, but for now I'll use them as fuel for success.

October Totals

Considering my month of working out ended on the 19th, I think I had a pretty good month. Just wait, though. There will be LOTS of working out starting on Monday.

Swim = 0 meters (not for long!!!)
Bike = 24.22 miles
Run = 65.9 miles
Other = 1.25 hours (stretching and core)

Foto Friday

Despite the warm temperatures this week, it's no secret, winter's coming. With the start of November and my new training schedule there are hours and hours of indoor training ahead of me. This year I vowed there would not be bikes in the living room like last year. So, Dave and I have spent the whole week cleaning out the basement and have put together our workout area. We're not done with the space yet as we hope to make it not seem so "basement-like" but for now it will have to do. Check out our set-up:



Our treadmill is so old it doesn't have buttons; it has sliders. But, it works and we only use it when the weather is too awful for running outside. Usually I try to run outside in the winter. My bike is in the middle, in case you couldn't figure that out based on the fact the bike looks like it would fit my 6 year old nephew. Dave's "Charlie Brown" bike is on the right. There's more to the room too with weights (although I prefer to do weights at the gym) and we're hoping to bring down our exercise ball and roller. The television is hooked up to cable and we hope to get a DVD player so we can watch movies while riding.

I think it's a pretty good set-up!

Thursday Thoughts

In honor of Halloween, I want to know what is your favorite candy?

Mine is Reese's Cups!!!

Happy Freakin' Halloween

It's not officially Halloween, but tomorrow is beggar's night around here. I have an admission to make: I don't like Halloween. I have been trying to come up with a way to get out of handing out candy this year. I was hoping that beggar's night would be on Saturday like I thought it would be, so I could make plans for Saturday night. But alas, after reading my local paper, I discovered beggar's night would be on Thursday. Begrudgingly, I dragged myself to Meijer and bought three bags or Reese's Cups. We live in a neighborhood of 300 houses and yet we rarely get more than 20-30 kids. I probably bought too much candy but I'll take it into work and get it out of my sight if we don't hand it all out. I'm glad I bought the candy today, though. I've already eaten two pieces and if I had the candy for longer, I probably would have eaten a lot of it. Let's hope we don't have any teenagers trying to come in and take the candy they don't deserve tomorrow. Bah humbug! Happy Halloween!

On the Horizon

Every day for the last week in the half I've been looking in Training Peaks to see if Coach had put any workouts in yet. Nope. Nope. Nope. And then today...YES!!!! There are workouts starting next Monday. Thank goodness. I've been going absolutely stir crazy in this break. I don't know how to organize my life when I don't have a workout to start the day. The first workout: a swim. It will be a full 9 weeks from my last swim to my next swim. Oh swimming, how I've missed you! You know what else I noticed with my workouts? There is usually more than one a day. Yikes! I'm 10 months out from my race and there are already two workouts a day. This is going to be a BIG change. Patience, Meredith. Patience.

On Second Thought

Sure we talked about getting a dog yesterday on the blog as sort of a joke, but there's actually been A LOT of discussion and research between Dave and I about getting a dog. We'd really like one. We'd think it would be fun and comforting. We're also kinda picky about what we want and know at this time that we just can't afford it, even if we adopt it. Plus, Coach is right, we shouldn't be making decisions right now coming off the marathon and heading into Ironman training. You CANNOT make decisions while on a rest period. Your world is upside down. And my world right now is upside down and inside out right now.

So, Dave and I are going to put the dog talk on hold and wait until the new year to revisit the issue. At that point we'll both be training, we'll be in a better place financially, and we'll have a few more questions answered.

Thanks for all the thoughts and ideas on the blog and on Facebook. In a few months, we'll check back in and let you know how it's going.

If you thought Cujo was cute...

Dave and I have been talking about getting a dog. Sure we couldn't keep our fish alive, but if we want to have kids before we turn 50 we might want to learn how to care for something other than ourselves and fast. So, we've been talking about getting a small dog. We've picked out a name, Chewbacca, and are looking for dogs that match that name. We think this looks like a Chewbacca:



Honestly though, we can't afford a dog, but if we ever get one we are definitely making one of these:

Nicole Caldwell's Photography Blog

Check this out! Here is a blog entry of the wedding I was in back in September. Especially check out the very last picture. Dave and I know how to work a photo booth.

Foto Friday

Molly has some BIG dogs! Check this out:



Cujo's head is like 6 times the size of mine!!!

Thursday Thoughts

Dave and I just went to see "Ride Across the Sky", a documentary of the 2009 Leadville 100 mountain bike race. All I've got to say is Lance Armstrong is a beast!

Would you ever consider doing an "unconventional" race, ie-ultra, mountain bike, etc.? And if yes, which race?

The Beauty that is Me

Seriously, I take the best running pictures, EVER!!!

Final Thoughts

There have been many, many emails exchanged between Coach and I since the marathon and I have some final thoughts.

• I wasn't upset with the fact I could not run the time I thought I should be able to run. I was upset that my body would not go and I could not keep it together mentally.
• But, I need to let that go and be okay with the fact that the course was REALLY hard.
• I need to stop competing with others even if really the competition is only in my head. I am only responsible for myself and only how I can perform against myself.
• I have a lot of mental work to do before "the big one" next year. Coach and I have also learned some physical weaknesses that were exposed this weekend that will need sharpened before Ironman.
• I want to race more.

And now, I'm letting go. The soreness is still strong but subsiding and I'm starting to get hungry for what's ahead. This will be the first time since I got injured in 2004 that I will not be training for a marathon during the year. Sure, I still have some goals I want to achieve in the marathon but doing something else for a while will only make me a better marathoner. It's going to be a long two weeks without any workouts, but I'm excited for what's next.

Heading Home

No blog post today. I'm sitting in the airport and my computer is out of batteries. Expect a wrapup of the marathon tomorrow.

Nike Women's Marathon 2009

I never imagined a race that had 20,000 women in it would be as hard as it was. I've run the Boston Marathon four times, and this was much harder than Boston. To say there were hills in this race is to grossly underestimate the severity of the hills. I swear to you, this race felt ALL uphill. And the points that weren't uphill were sharply downhill.



I really felt like I started conservatively. The first couple miles were in the city and downhill heading down to the piers. My splits were right around 8:00. The run along the piers was flat and easy and helped me to settle into my run. After the piers there is a left turn and a climb begins toward Lombard street, but it's only for a block. Then we cut over heading towards the Golden Gate Bridge. This is where the steep climbing begins. At mile 4 the run is on a trail that goes straight up and straight down. It's short and steep but nothing compared to what's coming up. Mile 7 is a LONG, one mile, steep hill up toward the Golden Gate Bridge, followed by a steep downhill, and then another build in miles 8 and 9. This is where I saw Dave and I knew it was going to be a long day. I told him the hills were relentless and that I was struggling to keep my splits in the 8:00s. Here's a video he shot. It was also really windy out on the course as you can hear from the video.



After mile 9 there is this long, sharp downhill that got us down to the beach area on the other side of the bridge. You run a long here for only, like, two miles where you can see the finish line. Then it's into Golden Gate Park where another climb begins. This one is not as steep but definitely long--like three mile long. In this park the half marathoners break off only to be reunited with the full marathoners right before their finish. For the marathoners we have a turn around in this park where you can see where you are. To my amazement, I'm doing better than I feel, but I also know there is a long way to go. I see Dave a couple times in this park and let him know that I'm struggling. Cardiovascularly, I felt great, but my legs just would not go.








Around mile 14 I start running with a girl who I run with for the next 3+ miles. I told her I was jealous of the half marathoners who were almost done with their race. She says to me, "don't look at the finish line when we pass it." I didn't. I tell her I'm struggling; that I thought the race was harder than anticipated. She says she is too. We say we'll get to mile 16 and see what happens. We get to 16 and then we shoot for mile 17. At 17, I had had enough. Right at the mile marker I stop to walk. She says,"NO! NO! NO! Run until the next water stop." I tell her I hate her but keep running until the next stop. She says, "You're going to pass me anyway because there is a hill up there that I'm going to throw up before going up it and then throw up again after going up it." I giggle. We get to the water stop. She stops to walk, I keep going. That was the last time we saw each other. I hope she didn't get sick on that hill.

I think I made it to 18 before I totally lost it. Once the half marathoners broke off, this race got really lonely and it continued to be a rough course. Pass the zoo, we turned into another park (which I can't remember the name of) and go around a serious of lakes/ponds. Again, climb up to the top of this park, and then come down the other side. Except this time there are NO spectators and there is traffic on the left. This was the longest point of the race. At one point I stopped, started to walk, and started to cry just as runners were coming the opposite way on their Sunday run. They yelled to me, "NO! NO! NO! You can do this!" I picked it up to a jog again but crying made it tough to breath and I had to tell myself that I had to get my head in the game.

I tried to do everything to keep myself entertained and take my mind off the horrible marathon I was having. I counted. I sang. I told myself that I would run 5 minutes and then take a 1 minute walk break. The miles began to get longer: mostly 10:00s but I think I even through in an 11:00 in there. Things were going on a downward spiral and fast. It seemed like forever before I was back on the Pacific Coast Highway and heading toward the finish line. Despite how horrible I felt the race was going, my time really wasn't reflecting the way I was feeling. Around two miles to go, an official tells me I'm #180. And he gave a number to the gentleman in front of me, so I was obviously placing higher than that. (I was surprised how many men ran this race.) A few people passed me after that as I continued to run and walk all the way to mile 25. In the last mile I saw Dave and Molly. Finally the finish came into view and I was done--3:49:XX. Not spectacular, but it was over. I got my necklace (cute), my finisher's shirt, some water and chocolate milk, and my mylar blanket. I found Dave and Molly, hit a port-a-john and then it was a long walk back to the car.

It's been a few hours now since the race and I have a few reflections. But, I'd like to wait to talk to coach and then save them for another post.

Marathon season has come to a close.

You Call Those Hills?!

Sorry about the lack of the post yesterday. I felt like I had been hit by a bus! I love to travel and see things but I HATE the traveling part. After getting up at 4:00am and being up for umpteen hours, I couldn't see straight, I had a sore throat, and my head was stuffy. I slept 10 hours and feel like a million bucks.

Friday after we arrived, Molly picked us up and took us downtown to the Expotique. What a disappointment! I'm not a huge fan of expos to start with but there was NOTHING at this expo....unless you're girly, girl and want to get your nails painted. That's not me. I picked up my packet, got my corral wrist band and we headed to lunch.

After lunch we drove the course. Why does it always feel like it takes FOREVER to drive the course? The course? Well, it's hilly. A lot hillier than I anticipated. The hills are short and steep and mostly in the first half of the race. The second half where it will only be marathons seems like it could be a little lonely. But, that's never bothered me before so who cares.

The rest of the weekend has been filled with eating, hydrating, and resting. It's a little weird not to be staying close to the action. I don't really feel like I'm running a marathon tomorrow, but then again, I'm also feeling really relaxed going into this race. The last two races I have not posted any time goals on the blog and it's really taken a lot of pressure off of me. Tomorrow, my plan is to go out there and run.

Check back tomorrow for the race report. It might be a little sloppy, though...the dinner menu includes margaritas. And since I've been holding off for several weeks, the margaritas will be had and Hall and Oates singing might commence.

Check back later

I have been awake for 16+ hours, fighting a bit of a head cold/allergies, and just want to konk out. Check back tomorrow for some adventures from NoCal.

Thursday Thoughts

I was talking to Molly earlier this week about my superstitions with food pre-race. I have to have ravioli the night before the race and toast the morning of the race. Do you have any food superstitions before your events?

Happenings at the Gym

Today I went to the gym as I do every Wednesday. Wednesday is core class so I incorporated it with a 30 minute run on the treadmill (it was raining outside). I have been going to this gym, a national-chain, high-profile gym, for five years now and have pretty much been able to stay in the background. There's usually only one person who talks to me there, besides Dave, and it's a guy who I went to high school with who works at the gym. Today, though, I must have been wearing a sign that said "TALK TO ME!!!" It started when I walked in and the front desk guy noticed I was wearing a Chicago Marathon jacket. He asked me if I was doing the Columbus Marathon this weekend and I began telling him about the marathon I am running this weekend. Then during and after my workout I had lots of other people talk to me. I think it may have had something to do with the fact I was wearing tiny, spandex running shorts. :)

I also saw some things at the gym today that really bothered me. The first was a personal training session with a male personal trainer and a female pupil. (That's how they do it at my gym--so shady!) Anyway, the girl was doing standing shoulder presses and they were all wrong. First of all she was walking around. She should have had her feet planted with her knees slightly bent. Secondly, the weight was too heavy for her. She couldn't get her arms straight and she was arching her back to get the weight up. She was asking to get injured. And what was the personal trainer doing while he should have been helping her? He was watching ESPN. Seriously. I believe personal training is somewhere in $150/hour range. There should probably be some PERSONAL training in that charge. Give me a break!

The second thing I saw that wasn't so shady as something that just really bothered me happened in another personal training session. One of the female trainers was working with an overweight woman. The woman was doing good work but really being challenged. The last part of the session was on the treadmill right beside me. The trainer had her walking on the 'mill with the incline at a pretty good percentage. It was all the overweight woman could handle. The trainer had her stop. The thing that bothered me about this was that the trainer had her stop. I wish she had changed the workout to keep the woman moving and finish the workout on a high note.

Ah, just another day at the gym.

Did somebody say hockey?

You guys are going to hate me. Being that I am racing this weekend and then have to take the next two to three weeks off, I just don't have a whole lot to talk about regarding my running and Ironman training. Today's topic has nothing to do with either.

For those of you new to the blog, and I know there's quite a few of you, I live in Columbus, Ohio. Cow Town, USA. Columbus is also College Town, USA with the largest university in the US right downtown. Our world revolves around the university and especially Ohio State football. The world shuts down on Saturdays to watch the game. You may laugh, but I remember in 2002 when we made the national championship game, high school basketball games were rearranged so that people could watch the game. Yes, that's how serious we are about our Buckeyes. And being that I am alumni and lived here my whole life, I LOVE IT!!!

But, we have two emerging sports in Central Ohio that are doing great and no one knows about. The first is our professional soccer team, the Columbus Crew. Last year our team won the MLS Cup and this year we have clinched a spot in the playoffs yet again. And being that my company has worked with The Crew many times this year, I cannot say enough good things about this organization. They are grade "A" and are very good to their fans. I am now a fan for life.

Another team gaining respect in town is the Columbus Blue Jackets, our professional hockey team. I have to admit, for a while I was quite skeptical. I grew up a fan of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Mario Lemieux. But, they kept getting better and better and last year we finally made it to the playoffs. This year we are in first place (for now) and 4-1 overall. Tonight I attended my first regular season game. We were in the second to last row, but we were center ice and could see all the plays open up. Jackets won 2-1 with two awesome goals in the second period. Frankly, the score should have been 6-1 as we had three pucks hit the posts and one goal that went in but I guess the referees had already blown the whistle. What a crock! I had a lot of fun. I hope to go again sometime in the next ten years. :)

Horrible, Too True Nightmare

It's no secret that I am horribly, horribly scare of bridges. No, no; it's a phobia. I freeze up. My heart races. I sweat. I think I will die. Seriously, it's bad.

In four days I leave for San Francisco and they kinda have a very famous, very big bridge there. Dave says I HAVE TO go across it. I vehemently say no. NO!!!! Not walking, not riding. NO!!! Molly, do not let Dave talk you into this. Just say NO!!!

Last night I had a dream, nay, a nightmare. I was being forced to go across the Golden Gate bridge. It was awful. I woke up in full panic.

Seriously, I'm not crossing that bridge.

Miscellany for Sunday

A little miscellany today...

• Watching Ironman yesterday scared the devil right out of me. People looked like HELL crossing the finish line. Louisville has the possibility to be as warm as Hawaii. Yikes!!
• Generally I don't get involved in politics (yeah right) but seriously, Ohioans, we have a big scheme on our hands with Issue 3. Do your homework. This article is an editorial, but it sheds some light on the things the casino companies are hiding.
• I've been filling out some sponsorship applications and going back through my last couple years of racing results. Holy wow have I made improvements in the last year! Seriously, I was bad.
• I hate to shop. :) I spent an hour and a half in one store today, tried on several, several things and walked away with nothing. I love how fast I've gotten, but my body has totally changed into total athlete. Clothes look horrible on me now. Damn you Anthropologie.
• Last week before the marathon!!!

Log on

No new blog post today. I'm watching Ironman today. You should be too. I have even tried pausing it while we are working our wedding tonight.

See ya tomorrow.

Kick Some Kona Butt!!!

Good luck to all the athletes racing in Kona tomorrow. A special shout out goes to Marit and Bree. Kick some major a$$!!! Dave and I plan on following along as much as we can tomorrow, but we do have a wedding (and there is also college football). Next year, I'll be there. Ha ha ha!!! :)

Thursday Thoughts

Ugh, it's been a week of painting. The room is a burgundy color which means layers and layers of paint. Hopefully it will be done tomorrow. In the mean time, it's chores I don't enjoy.

What are the chores you despise doing and why?

Feeling a Little Bloated or Swollen

It's been 6 weeks since I broke my finger and it is starting to feel better. I can finally bend it and can almost get it into a fist. It's still super-sore, but definitely better. I have to wear the tape for one more week and will probably wear it through the marathon just for protection. Today I tried on my wedding rings just to see. Luckily I was not wearing my rings when I fell and did not have to have them cut off. But I've been worried if they'd ever fit again.



I'm hoping I'm still really swollen. I'm going to wait several months and then make a decision if I need to get my rings resized.

I really did some good damage when I took this spill.

Total Destruction of my House

I might have mentioned previously that Dave came home from Yellowstone with thoughts about how he wanted to redo our master bedroom. I have tried to lay low and let it blow over, but he keeps persisting!! He cleaned out his half of the closet and put his dresser in there, which of course meant I had to clean out my half of the closet. Then he decided he wanted to paint the rest of the walls (we had one accent wall and hadn't painted the other ones). Instead of having an accent wall, all the walls would be the same, BURGUNDY! color as the one wall. Again, I laid low, didn't help and watched as my bedroom began looking like a cave. This past weekend we made a trip to Homegoods and that's when things took a serious turn. After dropping a whopping $500!!! we came home with a new set of awesome chairs and a set of new bedside lamps. Game on! Of course, the stuff is sitting in my living room right now. Or maybe I should call that my storage closet--bikes, photo booths, chairs, ugly couches. The only thing I like in my living room is my HDTV. Anyway, Dave and I are now working collectively on finishing the painting. We have 12 foot tall ceilings so it takes A LOT of work. Hopefully we'll have it all done by the end of the week and will have the chairs and my dresser in place. I'll post pictures when there is more progress.

I'm Feeling Fast (and my legs are fried)

I did the hardest run of my life this weekend, races not included. Coach had a LONG interval workout on the agenda that was 15 to 30 seconds faster than race pace. I thought my lungs were going to explode. I kept telling myself, "Meredith, if you want to achieve X:XX in the marathon" (seriously, I'm no longer talking about my goals on the blog) "then you have to be able to do this run." And, "Meredith, Ironmen work hard!!!" It worked. I killed this run! First interval, 7:19 average: second interval, 7:12 average. I remember when those paces were full-out sprints.

One more key workout to go and then I'll be shutting it down. Taper time!!!

Don't Tell Anyone

Ssshhhh! I've got a secret to tell. This biking stuff...it isn't so bad. Ssshhh! Don't tell anybody! Especially not Coach. I've been riding now twice a week, with most rides being between 30 minutes and an hour. The soreness is going away. I've been able to increase my RPMs comfortably. And my mileage is coming up. I think the thing I like most about it is it's a nice respite from running. Marathon training has been extreme and I'm ready for a break.

Speaking of break, after the marathon Coach is making me take a mandatory 2-3 week, absolutely no working out, break before Ironman training begins. I think I might die during that time.

Achy Breaky

I'm not a fan or tapering. Others talk about feeling bloated or like they need to train more. Tapering for me always makes me feel achy. And by achy, I mean my body hurts and I wonder what happened and how I will get to the start line. Right now my right hip is bothering me, which somehow is also causing a pin-pointed pain in my right inner thigh. My left achilles hurts. And of course, my finger is NEVER getting better (okay, that has nothing to do with running). Somehow in two weeks all the pain will go away and I'll feel nothing for 26 miles. I'm so excited!!!

The Plans are Set

It's two weeks until we leave for San Francisco and our plans are coming into place. We're staying with Molly. We're so thankful she's taking the crazies in for a weekend. She'll be just a few weeks away from her Ironman and will have tons of training to do. Dave's going to join her on an ocean swim. I'm going to watch from the sidelines. We've found a bar to watch the Buckeyes' game if we can't get the channel at the homestay. We'll be attending the expo on Friday and driving the course. Speaking of the course, I checked out the profile online today. Yikes!!! But, if I can conquer Boston, I can conquer this one.

Two weeks!!!!

Thursday Thoughts

I mentioned in August that I got a parking ticket and I was upset that I got it because I did pay for my parking I just couldn't read the parking spot number. The next week I started making some phone calls and it seemed like everything was going to be taken care of. I kept my cool; they kept theirs and I waited to hear the outcome. Unfortunately no one called back, so I decided to just pay the bill. When I sent in my check, I added a letter explaining the situation and who I had talked to. This morning I checked my PO Box and to my surprise I had received a letter back from Parking Solutions and to my utter shock, they sent my check back and told me the ticket had been voided. WOW!!! I am so impressed. Thanks Parking Solutions!!

What has been a good deed you have done or received recently?

September Totals

Wow!! September was HUGE!!! I can't believe it; I didn't miss a workout this month. This might be the first time since I started working with Coach a year ago that I haven't missed a workout in a month. September included two twenty milers and for the first time in six years, September did not include Reach the Beach. :( There was no swimming since the finger may be broken forever, but that gave me the opportunity to start working on my biking. And I also started attended a core class.

Swimming = 0 yards/meters
Biking = 60.24 miles
Running = 128.91 miles
Other = 3.25 hours

Surprisingly, this is not my biggest month of running. That would be in March 2006 when I was running nearly 50 miles a week every week.

Next month will be marathon time and then it's on to Ironman training.

Inquiring Crotches Want to Know

Today I returned the demo bike seat we've been testing out for the last week. Dave loves it and is ready to order is. I am a little more torn. There were things I liked about the ISM Adamo like it didn't hurt me in certain areas, it made it easier to stay in aero, and it didn't rub me in ways that would cause rashes. But there were certain things I didn't like, like it was slippery, I adjusted it like a hundred times and never found that sweet spot, and I thought it was really hard. Tomorrow I have an hour long ride and have my other seat on it. Tomorrow will really determine if I like what I have, decided on the other one, or keep looking.

For those of you out there, especially the women, who ride on the Adamo, what do you like about it that made you switch to it? If it's more personal that putting it in the comments, please send me an e-mail. I REALLY want to know.

The Finish Line has GOT to be around the corner.

You'd think after the last long run, my second 20 miler on Saturday, I'd be tapering for my marathon. But alas, this week looks ugly. Sure I don't have a super-long run (although there is a 12 miler on the schedule) but there is tons of speed work. Today I had short intervals, which were hilarious. I am still SOOOO sore from the 20 miler just two days ago. My hip flexors could barely lift my right leg up to turn it over. Even keeping my arms in the correct position was difficult. Come on, y'all know what I'm talking about--when your body hurts and you pull your arms up and out to take the pressure off yourself, yet you're only making things worse?

In addition to the running, I've got more biking. It's starting to become a theme. I can't wait for this swimming hiatus to be over!! I really should have gotten a new tattoo during this time. :)

Hopefully this will be the last week of hard workouts. I'm looking forward to the taper.

2010 Races

Bummer. If I had run the Homestretch 20 Miler race this morning (although it was pouring rain and I didn't get home from the wedding last night until 1:15am) and had run the same time as my training run yesterday, I would have won my age group. But, you learn more by pacing yourself and being in your own head, so I think I made the right choice.

Anyway, I'm trying to put together a race schedule for next year and all I have on it is Ironman Louisville on August 29th. I would like to have a half Ironman in early summer like mid June. Do you guys have a favorite race around that time? I'm looking for one that has a somewhat hilly bike course, one that I could swim in a no-sleeve wetsuit or no wetsuit at all. And I don't want to be swimming in the ocean and preferably would like to stay in the Midwest so I could drive to the race. I'm looking to compete but also simulate race conditions for Louisville. I'm also looking for other races like Olympics or sprints around the same time. Any ideas?

Ready to Roll

Today was the last long run leading up to the marathon in three weeks and I kicked it's a$$! I had hoped to run the 20 mile race tomorrow, but due to our wedding schedule tonight, it was unrealistic. So I set out to do 20 miles on my own. Makes you tough! I was supposed to do everything like I would in the race: fueling, food, and mostly descending pace (except the last two miles were cool down). And I nailed it.

Mile 1: 9:20
Mile 2: 9:19
Mile 3: 8:58
Mile 4: 8:39
Mile 5: 8:33
Mile 6: 8:26
Mile 7: 8:08
Mile 8: 7:57
Mile 9: 7:56
Mile 10: 8:08
Mile 11: 7:52
Mile 12: 7:47
Mile 13: 7:34
Mile 14: 7:30
Mile 15: 7:45
Mile 16: 7:46
Mile 17: 7:49
Mile 18: 7:55
Mile 19: 9:40
Mile 20: 8:56

I struggled through miles 15-18, although I think it was more mental than physical. I was still a long way from being done and was running all by myself. And did I mention it rained almost the whole run? It's too bad I didn't get to run the 20 mile race as I would have PRed and probably would have placed in my age group. I'm ready to roll!

I'd rather be at the gyno

Today I did something I don't like to do. Yep, I rode my bike, but that's not what I'm talking about. :) I went to the grocery store. I HATE going grocery shopping. Seriously, the last time I did a full trip to the grocery store was in June. But Dave and I really would like to go to Phoenix to watch our friends in Ironman Arizona so we're trying to save some money and eating in will certainly help.

Why do I hate the grocery store so much? It is not the place for a type-A personality like myself. I can't just go to the grocery and pick up food. I have to start with a meal list. Then I turn that meal list into a list of ingredients and other things I need at the store. From that list I number the aisles that each item comes from. (And, wait for this, I do this in Excel.) I then sort the list and put it into order of the aisles and the way I walk through the store. Finally I find coupons for the items and then I put them in order that matches the items. Seriously, this takes a whole day to do and I HATE doing it. Today I took that list to the store and put it in action, with the aid of some music on my iPod, and did this all by myself.

I need a drink...

Thursday Thoughts

I own the book To Our Children's Children which is a book that helps you create an autobiography to pass down from generation to generation. My mom owns a copy and I own a copy and I've really tried to keep a journal that I can pass down to my kiddos, or if I never have any, my sister's kids.

The book is a series of questions each within a topic like family, community, etc. Today's question comes from the chapter of politics and history.

Is there a time in history you think it would have been fascinating to live in? Why?

Bike Seat Review Part 1

Today my ISM Adamo demo bike seat was delivered. I was excited to rip open the box, watch the tutorial online and give it a try. Unfortunately, my engineering degree didn't help me whatsoever! When I purchased my bike, I had ALL of it fitted with a professional. And luckily, I've had nothing go wrong, not even a flat tire, that I've had to fix or adjust myself. Seriously, it took me an hour to put this bike seat on. I need octopus arms to have enough hands to hold everything together. Then it was test, test, test to figure out the correct positioning of the seat. I'm still not sure I have that correct.

I did do a 45 minute scheduled trainer ride with the new seat. There were certainly private parts that felt better and parts that didn't feel so good. And I'm not sure what is supposed to not feel good and what is normal. I would think that it should feel like I'm sitting on clouds, but everything I keep reading says my "sit bones" will get used to the riding. So, it's supposed to hurt down there?

This weekend I'll take the bike outside and give it another ride. Another review will follow.

This post will make you say, ahhhh...

A friend of mine recently got engaged after only dating her boyfriend for only a few months. Woah! That seems awful quick, but when you know, you know.

And I knew immediately that Dave was the one. Within two weeks of dating, I was in love and knew Dave would be forever. Today is our 7th wedding anniversary. I'm not sure Dave knew what he was getting into, but I'm so glad he came along for the ride.

Seriously, weren't we cute (and skinny)?

Hi Ho Hi Ho...

...it's back to work I go.

Well, it's been a good summer, but tomorrow I head back to work. In case you didn't know, in addition to owning my own business, I also teach gymnastics part-time. Last year I taught between 10-15 classes per quarter, but this year I'm only teaching 6--3 on Monday, 3 on Tuesday. This should be the perfect schedule between a HUGE schedule of weddings and parties coming up and continuing for the next year and my continued marathon and Ironman training.

The summer without working, though, has been great. I've traveled to Idaho, Alabama, and California. I've participated in two triathlons and a half marathon, placing in my age group in all the races. I've spent my first week alone since Dave and I got married (I did NOT enjoy this, but survived, nonetheless). I've been to at least one weekend every weekend except for two weekends the whole summer. I've logged hundreds of miles on my legs and many, many hours of naps. And one bad trip has left me with a finger that is still not useful (I start occupational therapy hopefully in a week).

I've loved this summer and although work starts tomorrow, I'm looking forward to the next few months and seeing how 2009 rounds out.

It Must be Fall

I played tennis in high school. In Ohio, girls tennis is a fall sport; boys tennis is a spring sport. Anyway, I always knew how deep the season was getting not by how cold it was but by how windy it was. I had forgotten how windy fall can be until this week. I only had a few short run this week but boy it's been windy! This morning was no different. I headed out for a snappy run and the wind was pushing me around. The run was all based on heart rate and it was hard to control it when I was working so hard against the run. (Guess I better get used to this since I'm sure there will be A LOT of windy bike rides in my future.) I still had a really successful run hitting intervals at 7:44, 7:38, 7:41, and 7:31 paces. I looked at the schedule for next week and there's one more 20 miler looming. It's almost time....

Foto Friday

This is a picture of the sun setting at the Ritz Carlton Laguna Niguel.

Thursday Thoughts

Another one of the great Table Topics that we took from the wedding two weeks ago...

If you lived to be 100 would it be more important to have a sharp mind or a fit body?

Lady Bits, Revisited

Yep, I'm gonna talk about my lady bits again.

There's parts of me that are really excited to have signed up for Ironman. There are other parts of me that are screaming "What the hell are you doing?!" One part screaming are my lady bits. I'm not gonna lie...I really don't like riding a bike. Why? Because it's painful to me. Unlike most people, bike riding does not hurt my behind. To me it hurts my pelvic bone, way up front. My bike was fitted with my seat sitting way far forward so that I get most of my power while riding in aero. While this is good, it causes tremendous pressure where I don't really like it. And, I'm not sure I can stand a whole year of it.

So, I took some friend's advice and decided to try out a new bike seat. Dave and I have decided to demo the ISM Adamo racing seat. Dude, it looks so weird, but with it's shortened length and cut out, I think it will take pressure of my privates and Dave's as well. :) The demo has already been sent. I'm looking forward to trying it out and will report back with my findings.

The Way Back Machine--My First Marathon

This past weekend while running with Mary and Molly, I started thinking about my first marathon. Molly is training for her first one and it was fun to listen to her descriptions of training and reminisce. I remember training for my first marathon: how excited I was just to run 5 miles without stopping and how daggone tired I was all the time. I've always kept a journal about my running. Today I found my first marathon race report. It's short and sweet but I thought it would be funny to share.

Chicago Marathon 2001

It's over! Thank goodness. The day started really cold--only around 40 degrees. I decided to wear long sleeves and shorts. The start was quite warm because there were so many people standing around. Once the gun went off it took me 10 minutes to even get to the start line. The first half of the race went very well. It too me 6 miles to get back on a 9:55 pace and by 13 miles I was thee minutes ahead. However, starting at 13 my legs started to hurt and I began to feel tired. I took a PowerGel at the half way point. I don't really know if it helped. One of the women I came to Chicago with caught me at 13 and ran with me until the next water stop. I lost her there because I desperately needed a drink. Miles 13-18 were a blur. I do know during that time we ran through the slums and a Mexican village. Starting at 18 I had had enough. I walked several times between 18-24, including all water stops. I was so frustrated with myself that I would start crying and had to stop because I couldn't breathe. I also got choked up going through the tunnel because they were playing "Chariots of Fire." I ran all the way from 24 to the end. I didn't reach two of my goals: (1) don't walk and (2) finish in 4:20, but I am satisfied. I think I did pretty well. I am looking forward to a little break and then I will start running again. Halleluia, though, it's over.

It's the most wonderful time of the year

We're about one week away from my favorite time of the year: premiere week. That's right, I'm a TV junkie. As I've gotten older or maybe it's the quality of the shows, but each year I get less and less excited. There are several shows I'm looking forward to including Greek and Glee which have already started and I'm also looking forward to The Big Bang Theory. One new show I'm looking forward to is Community.

What shows are you looking forward to most this fall?

Even if Dave doesn't listen to me, somebody does

This past week I encountered something that shocked me. While walking from the gym to another part of the mall I saw a gentleman sneak between two Pepsi/Coke machines and light up a joint. How do I know? Dude, it smelled! I've been to enough rock concerts to know what marijuana smells like. Here's the real kicker...it was a guy who works at a restaurant at the mall whose uniform is obvious. There is an employee smoking area at the mall so the fact that he was "hiding" and smoking solidifies what I smelled. I was so appalled that I gave explicit details about what I had seen on my Facebook status.

This afternoon I got a Facebook e-mail from someone I didn't know. To my surprise it was from the manager at that restaurant who saw my status and wanted to assure me that they have a strict drug-free policy and once it is found out who was breaking this policy he/she would be fired. The manager asked me to follow through in the future if I see one of the employees breaking policy again.

What a fantastic manager to be on the internet searching to see what people are saying about their specific location. What a great way to improve performance and reputation at their facility. Social media at its finest. Or maybe it's worst?

Going Long

Today was a LONG run. There is only one place in Columbus to run long and that's the Olentangy Trail. When you run there on a Saturday it is crowded, like hundreds of runners. I started the run with my dad but soon found my friends Mary and Molly who are also running the Nike Women's Marathon. I ran with them for about 9 miles before I had to change zones. I felt bad that I had left my dad, but he was only running 12 and there were others he was running with. I was feeling good until about 17 miles when I had had enough. I sloughed through the final miles and completed 20 in just over three hours. This is the end of my three week build and I couldn't be happier to be done. My knees ache, my back is killing me, and I'm ready to sleep for days on end.

One more long run and then it's time for the marathon. Where the heck has the summer gone?

Long Road to Recovery

Yesterday was my two week check-up for my finger. And guess what? It's still broken. What I didn't know is that it's REALLY broken. I knew that it still hurt, that it was still swollen, that it was still bruised, but I didn't know the extent of the damage. You see, I broke off part of the bone right below the knuckle on the palm side of my finger. The piece is still attached closer to the base of my finger, but the rest is not going to reattach. And according to the doctor we cannot put a pin in it because the piece is too small and the bone would shatter and I guess removing the piece is also not an option. Instead it's going to be a LONG recovery that starting in two weeks will require hand rehab. Right now I can't bend my finger at all. It's going to take aggressive rehab to be able to use my finger again. What's worse, is that I go back to gymnastics in a week and right now I cannot do anything physical using my finger. It's all really frustrating. I wish they could just do the surgery and we could move on. For now, we're still heavily taped and still in pain.

Thursday Thoughts

At each table setting at the wedding last weekend, there were conversational cards called Table Topics. The questions were intriguing and made for perfect Thursday Thoughts. I took Dave and mine and I hope to pick up the box to have all the questions.

Which is more important: intelligence or common sense?

Big and Bold

A few years ago I put pen to paper and came up with my life list. The first item on that list--finish an Ironman. I watch it on TV every year and every year I say I'm going to do it but fear has kept me from signing up. I've completed two half Ironmans, have spectated two Ironmans, watched Dave go through all the training and successfully finish the race, and have seen many friends do it. Yet, I couldn't.

We have a bridal show this weekend and a big bridal show in a few months and our 2010 schedule is going to fill up quickly for the photo booth. I needed to put a racing schedule together this week for 2010. And it had to include an Ironman.

Dave and I met for lunch today and put together a pro and con list between Ironmans Arizona and Louisville. It came down to this--Arizona has the easier course and potentially better weather, but Louisville is only four hours from home which means my family and friends can come cheer me on. My aunt lives in Louisville so I'd have free lodging, I wouldn't have to buy airline tickets, and I wouldn't have to pay to transport my bike. My biggest expense would be the registration. Plus, one of my biggest fears of the race is the mass start and Louisville doesn't have a mass start. After talking to Coach the decision was made.

While shaking, feeling nauseous, and weeping like a little girl, I hit the submit button. Just like that I was registered for Ironman Louisville.

Kids Say the Darndest Things

Last night my parents hosted a family meal. While at dessert my oldest niece, who is turning 8 this month, asked me when Uncle Dave and I were going to have kids. Immediately I turned to my family and asked them who prompted her to say that. After everyone skirted the issue I did not answer the question.

What I didn't know was earlier Dave was confronted with a very similar scenario. Dave was out playing with the kiddos when the oldest niece said to Dave "When are you and Aunt Meredith going to have kids?" Dave answered more politely than me just claiming he didn't know. Our oldest nephew, age 6, said "so when you guys want to have kids Meredith will be pregnant?" Dave said yes and then the niece said "I know why Meredith isn't getting pregnant." Dave was a little concerned by this comment. He was worried he was getting into a birds and bees conversation but instead she said, "it's because you guys run too much."

I'm starting to wonder what my mom and my sister are saying to everyone....

Must See TV

Besides running and triathlon, my favorite sport is actually tennis. I started playing tennis going into high school and that's when my serious love for it began. I watch it pretty much every time it is on TV and have even gone to a few tournaments including the Western and Southern Tournament in Cincinnati in 2007 and the US Open in 2005. This week, with the US Open going on, my TV has been on non-stop. And I have to tell you, it's been super-exciting. In general, I have been bored by tennis the last several years as I can't stand Roger Federer and think the Williams sisters are obnoxious. But this week with the emergence of Melanie Oudin has certainly brought a new level of excitement to tennis.

What you've never heard of Oudin? Neither has anyone else!

Melanie Oudin is a 17 year old from Marietta, Georgia who burst on the scene at Wimbledon by beating Jelena Jankovic, a recent former number 1. At the US Open, Oudin came in as the highest ranked American woman behind the Williams sisters at number 70. After this tournament she'll at least be in the top 50. She has beat 4 Russians to get into the women's quarterfinals including Pavlyuchenkova, Dementieva, Sharapova, and Petrova. The last three being ranked players. Dementieva was #4. The last three matches have gone to three sets as Oudin has lost the first set in each match.

This girl is amazing to watch. She's spirited, she has an amazing work ethic, and her game plan she follows to a "T". She plays again on Wednesday. Tune in if you get a chance.

Weekend Wedding

I am so glad to be home.

For the last five days we have been in Southern California being a part of a friend's wedding. A few months ago my friend got engaged and asked me to be a bridesmaid. Happily, I agreed. Then she told me it would be a destination wedding. First it was in Miami, then Cancun, then in their backyard (this one I was happy about--we live three miles from them), and finally they settled on Laguna Niguel, California. With all of these changes, I was still in.

As the months rolled by, there were a series of parties and get-togethers but because of my photo booth schedule, I was unable to attend any of them. And honestly I was conflicted about all of it. For her this was a second marriage. I wasn't sure what was protocol for a second wedding. If she was having a second baby, for instance, there would be no baby shower. But because I missed all of these events, I did not get to know any of her other friends, especially others in the wedding party.

This was a mistake. After we arrived in Laguna there were several events planned for the wedding party. First we spent a day at the beach together. They drank mixed drinks. I drank water. They wore their TINY bikinis, I wore my two-piece TYR. After the day at the beach, they all went to the bachelor/bachelorette parties. I went to bed early to get up to run in the morning (yeah, you read that right, Liz). The next day there was what we dubbed "the opening ceremony." A wine tasting with even more people in attendance. We got to meet some more friends of the family who we really grew to enjoy, yet I didn't spend any time with the other bridesmaids while they continued to become better friends. Finally it was Friday and time for the rehearsal and dinner. Dave and I were the first ones there. As more people continued to file in, we got lost in the shuttle. At one point I saw the bride pick up her phone and begin dialing. I said to Dave, I bet she's calling me. Sure enough she was, and yet I was not even 5 feet from her. I was truly feeling invisible this weekend. And the misery continued. As we walked out to the ceremony site, one of the girls said, "where's Meredith?" I was walking right behind them. They said I looked "different." Thanks for that compliment. At dinner I drank. How much? Too much. We made it home just in time for me to toss my cookies several times. I woke up Saturday dizzy, hungover, and still nauseous.

Finally it was Saturday. Time for the wedding. The wedding was at 6:00pm, but my day started at 9:45am. That's when the bridesmaids had to report for duty. And because I was the ugly duckling, I guess they designated me to go first. I had my makeup and hair done. At the end of it I looked like a movie star. Honestly. I was sitting on the couch when I noticed one of the girls staring at me. She looked at me, looked at the magazine, looked at me and said, "you look just like Zooey Deschanel" while showing me the cotton ad. Yep, that's what I was going for. For hours I sat with my hair and makeup done in silence. When I tried to join conversations, conversations would change. When I walked into a room, the other girls would disburse. I just wanted to go home. The wedding took all of 5 minutes. No lie. The reception was a huge dance party, something I do not partake in, but I didn't know how long my role of bridesmaid needed to continue. Finally at midnight I was tired and was ready to go home. I said my goodbyes and was happy to know I could go back to being myself.

There were good parts of this trip, though. I did all of my training while I was there, including a 15.35 mile run with jeff which may have been the easiest 15 miles I've run in a long time. Dave and I also had lunch with Marit and Nathaniel and really enjoyed hanging out with them. We met my aunt and uncle for coffee and breakfast, along with meeting some of their friends. My aunt and uncle are so cool and so were there friends. Definitely a highlight of my trip. Dave even got to go to the beach with them, while I was playing bridesmaid, and work on his body surfing.

And now a few pictures. Seriously, you will never see me looking this good again.





Guess which legs are mine?

The blog will be updatedtomorrow with a full rundown of the weekend wedding. Good night interweb.

Foto Friday

Thursday Thoughts

We're in SoCal right now and we're part of a weekend-long wedding event. Tonight is what we're dubbing the "opening ceremony," which involved a wine tasting and get-together to meet all the parties involved. The wine, cheese, and goodies were excellent.

Today's question, what is your favorite kind of wine?

Expedihuh?

Guess what? My finger is still broken, and so Dave has volunteered to take dictation tonight. (Hi everyone! - Dave)

Today was our day of travel: Columbus to Chicago, Chicago to Orange County. The flights were uneventful, but the adventure was about to begin. A week ago, another bridesmaid asked us to share a condo with her and her boyfriend. We contacted Expedia, but were unable to get a refund on our hotel room. Today, we showed up at our hotel to find out we had no reservation! Supposedly, Expedia never transmitted the information to the hotel. Although this wouldn't seem like a big deal, being a holiday weekend, the hotel was sold out on Saturday. We spent an hour on the phone with Expedia and negotiating with the hotel. Finally, the hotel, along with management and Expedia, kept our reservation and even upgraded us.

This is not the first time we've had trouble with online travel sites. We once went to King's Island, only to find out that our reservations were for the next weekend. Another time, we showed up to a hotel and found that our reservations were at the hotel across the street. (That one was our fault) But this one was kind of outrageous. They had already charged our credit card months ago, and never bothered to actually make the reservation. Expedia blamed it on the hotel, but the hotel said that they never received the fax from Expedia. We believed the hotel staff. Because we're here for a wedding and have many friends and family we could have crashed with, we kept our cool.

And grande margaritas didn't hurt either.

Yeah, I said before that I gave up drinking until my race, but I'm on vacation dammit. :)

Leaving, Again

2009 seems to be the year of travel. We've been to Chicago, North Carolina, Boston, Alabama, Yellowstone, Idaho, and tomorrow we leave for the OC. This is the closest to a "vacation" we're going to get this year. We didn't choose this one, though. Yep, we're going to Laguna Beach because I'm a bridesmaid in a wedding this weekend. OMG!

The week will be filled with "festivities". All of which I have to wear a dress for. Gah! (I'm sure pictures will be taken.) But, I'm still making time to do things I want to do. Because of my broken finger I can't play in the ocean or pool like I want to, however, I plan on at least sticking my toes in the ocean. My aunt and uncle live in the area and we're getting together for coffee (or in my case, hot chocolate). And finally, I've got a long run planned with my friend jeff and some of his running friends.

If anyone else wants to hook up out there, drop me a line. Our evenings are filled, but lunches or breakfasts are available.