Puppy and styling wallets

I babysat for the same girls again today as yesterday. They had a friend over and were happy to play, so I just played fetch with their dog for awhile. He's nice company.

Later on, the girls had a "duct tape session" during which we all spent approximately 2.5 hours making things out of duct tape. It was actually a lot of fun (I'm a child at heart!). Towards the end they ran into the other room to work on a secret project. At the end, they produced these two adorable wallets for me! I will use them lovingly!

When I got home, these tiny plums awaited! My grandparents bring us some every year, they're sooo yummy.

Check out NYC Running Mama's Ironman update! She did amazing job this past weekend at her first Ironman. She's amazing! 

I get email updates everyday with different tips/research/facts for athletes. Today's was about running in the heat. It directed me to this temperature calculator which is pretty cool to play around with. 85 degree temperatures can increase a half-marathon time up to 2-3 minutes and a full-marathon up to 7 minutes! Other races and runs are of course affected too, bear in mind! So if things feel rough during summer runs and races, check out the temps!

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Today's run was a 6.5 mile easy run. Every time I think about my triathlon, I run faster! I had to keep this fact in mind so I could consciously give my legs a rest. For the first time, I did an out-and-back route for this run, and I'm not sure how I liked it. It was very much up-hill the way out, and was a bit rough on my legs despite being an easy run. Next time, I'll definitely bring music. I haven't used music since the CLE Half, so I just haven't thought to bring it! For a simple, straight-forward run like this one, I'd definitely appreciate music though.  I'll be erging tomorrow and taking Friday/Saturday off. 

Funny kids

Today I left work early and babysat for my absolute favorite girls ever. I love spending time with them because they are hilarious and such a joy--I would do this without getting paid (but don't tell their parents:). A lot of kids that I watch make me never want to have kids but these girls (aged 7 and 11 plus a 7-year old friend) make me think it might be okay sometime...in like 15 more years.

First we hit up the pool where I spent hours and hours swimming when I was their age:

Then it was time for playground and selfie-central!

Accidental selfie while I was watching them play turned out kind of nicely!

Did some reading, too!

My favorite parts of today were some of their conversations. They all went something like this:

"Let's go to the playground!"
"No, let's go home and color first."
"Let's BRING our coloring TO the playground!"
"Oh my gosh yes."

And when swinging upside down...
"OMG, y'all have GOT to come try this. It's like the coolest thing to happen to planet Earth ever!!!"

And when Young Sister spilled blueberry smoothie on her white skirt, Older Sister was not too happy:
"I cannot believe you did that. That is a white skirt. That is never coming out. Like ever. Even with stain remover."
"Sorr-eeee! Gosh..."
"Honestly..."

These girls are funny. I think they're enjoying the age during which their biggest trauma is having the head fall off of one of their  Barbies in the bath. It's great to be around them.

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Today I ran in the morning (6:45AM isn't too  bad, but it felt bad for me! I usually get up at 7:30...), and erged in the evening right when I got home from work and babysitting. I did a 30-minute run at a pretty fast pace, though not all out. I'd consider it a pretty hard run though. My erg piece was 10X500 meters with 45 seconds rest. The recommended rest was 2 minutes but I didn't want the piece to take forever...so I shortened it. Consequently, it was really hard. It would've been really hard anyways though. I finished out the day with my favorite intense abs.

Energized with Swedish Fish

My coach sent me more from our alum row. Check out this short vid clip of us!

I love this shot!

Crewunion!

YESSS we finally had our mini crewunion!

Seeing everyone was soooo fun! Like I said last week, I always forget how much I love talking to my friends until I get to see them again. It was great to catch up, I'm so lucky :) Our row was great too! I should have more photos later in the week. The weather turned out to be perfect.

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Other than our hour-long row, I did 30 intense minutes on the erg. I actually broke it up in 20 and 10, thinking I might just do the 20 and do more if I had time. I had time for the second 10, and it was a great, hard work out. I had planned to run after the row, but didn't get home until about 8:30 when it was starting to get dark (and plus I was starving of course). I might get up and run before work tomorrow, and then do some erging after work. I'm going to start trying to alternate importance of my workouts; some days might be "running-important" and some days might be "rowing important." I do have rowing tryouts coming up shortly after returning to school, which I always like to be very prepared for. Looking ahead this week, I'll probably try to take Friday and Saturday completely off from any activity (maybe a nice walk on Friday if I get bored) to relax for my triathlon. I do need to consider taking it easy, because even though I'm not sure how much the sprint tri will take out of me, I need to consider that I'm tapering for my 10-miler that I hope to do in two weeks. The end of summer seems to be flying by with all of these activities--yikes!

New tires, Sunday ride, and lemon cake :)

My dad is the best! He got new tires for my bike and fixed it up for me. No more heavy tires! I went out for a 17.5 mile ride to celebrate this. The weather was perfect for it. My new tires felt great; they're beautiful!

Today was spent continuing to rest up from my crazy but awesome Saturday, bike riding, and continuing to research my triathlon. T-minus 7 days until race day! I'm so excited, but also nervous. The swim should take me 5-10 minutes (I really don't know, haven't practiced for it, and likely won't!) but I'm afraid I will FREEZE! Right now Lake Erie is just 70-75 degrees, and I've been in with a wetsuit and it's chilly. I won't be using a wetsuit for my swim, and though normally cool temps are a gift from the heavens on race-day, it might freeze me this time. I'm notorious for always being chilly, and the chilly swim could make me cold for the entire race. This, of course, is simply me being a whiny baby--my health is not in danger in these water temperatures. The worst that will happen is that it'll take my breath away, and I'll swim on. It's just an un-forseen problem, but I doubt it will tarnish my race experience. Plus, this is supposed to be fun! I'd love to finish in less than 60 minutes, but that would be an amazing time and could only happen if everything went perfectly. I'm sure things that I don't expect will pop up. So ultimately, I guess I should say that my goal is to finish :)

Couldn't go without a food pick! Check out this tricked out lemon cake that Alex's mom got for him! 

Burning River 100 experience

Today I joined Alex on his adventures as a sort of crew-member for his cousin during the Burning River 100--a 100-mile foot-race that travels all through some of the most beautiful rural parts of Cleveland. The experience was absolutely 987345893 more amazing than I expected. Our schedule today looked a little something like this:

• 3:40AM--Time to get going, we've got a race start to watch!
• 5:00AM--Burning River 100 starts
• 5:20-6:00AM--Wonder what we are doing awake at this ungodly hour
• 6:15AM--Remember why we are awake! Watch and support runners as they come through the 6-mile mark (first water stop).
• 6:30-8:30AM--Donuts.
• 8:30AM--So exciteddd! More cheering and support on the sidelines at the 17-mile mark.
• 10:00AM--Arrive at 26.2-mile mark and gasp in awe as these ultra-amazing runners speed through this landmark and continue on, 1/4 of the way done with their race.
• 10:30AM-12:30PM--Get completely (and embarrassingly) lost/disoriented!  Take an adventure.
• 12:30PM--After having found our way, we began to cheer on runners at mile 41! 
• 2:30PM--Go home. Finally time for US to eat (It now feels like 8PM to us)!

Alex ended up back down at another access-point on the course later this evening, and he will be stopping a final time this evening to run for the last 30 miles of the race with his cousin. I am in awe of this kind of running--just about 24 hours of constant movement, constant motion. To me, the ultra-distance is appealing in it's challenge to just keep going, and (in a lot of cases) not think about pace as much as you might with shorter distances--when you're asking your body to go through this, you simply have to judge running off of what you're feeling. Finishing is a world of accomplishment. I don't think I would ever do 100 miles--I think I'd lose my marbles far before the finish line! However, my experience today has brought an entirely new respect for the individuals who compete and complete at this level. I would most definitely crew for another ultra (especially this one!) in the future, and actually hope that it's something I can be a part of in that way. The energy of the athletes is just amazing, inspiring, at times entertaining, and overall an awesome thing to be around.

Things I Now Know About Ultras:

• It is not uncommon for a runner to order a pizza to a crew-access checkpoint and then run off down the course with it.
• Race belts (like in triathlons) are great--don't have to fumble with pins when you change shirts!
• Duct tape is a life-saver. Shoe falling apart? Duct tape it. Knee bothering you? Duct tape ice to it. Sprain an ankle? Put ice AND splint it, wrapping duct tape around the whole thing. It is NOT unusual to keep going in the face of physical or material crisis. Duct tape helps ease this process. 
• Bring lotssss of extra shoes. This actually makes a lot of sense (you might change wet socks, but you're stuck with wet socks again if you put your feet back into wet shoes!). Plus, you never know when something detrimental might happen to a shoe over the course of 100 miles...backups are great. We saw one crew-van with 5 pairs of shoes lined up in the trunk at one the checkpoints!
• Many runners will take a somewhat "leisurely" stance at some of the checkpoints. This is completely normal. Many runners will stop, sit down, chat awhile, eat a sandwich, change all their clothes, bandage wounds, get cleaned up, etc. before leaving the crew-access checkpoint.

It was really great to learn more and more about these amazing athletes and this race throughout this great (albeit long) day with Alex. This weekend is a memory that I will always think of with such excitement (and amusement--we're funny when we have to wake up at 3:40AM!). I hope to crew for ultramarathons with Alex in the future, and I can't wait to crew for him when he does his very own someday!

Sadly, I didn't get any photos of the race-course or runners because I didn't put my camera in it's usual spot and couldn't find it in my bag! When I got home I realized it had been in there the whole time (of course!). I should be able to dig up snapshots from a few people who I know did take photos--will share those when I can get them! For now a (slightly irrelevant?) photo of us will have to suffice, because I will miss this guy for the next 3 weeks.

Erg torture and special weekend.

Yesterday, I did a 20-minute piece on our newly renovated erg (it was out of commission for awhile). Normally I would do two 20-minute pieces for a good workout, but I was pretty beat from my hard 8 miles, and it's always hard coming back from such a long break from erging. I think this was a good starting place!

"Basement" is interchangable with "erg chamber of torture" in

my house.

The rowing machine is known for it's unforgiving nature but sometimes I wonder if all the discomfort is just mental--a stigma created by rowers. During my piece yesterday, I kept thinking how much "easier" running felt, but that's just because I probably don't know how to push as hard running as with rowing. I know a lot of non-rowing athletes that hop on an erg and do really decent work, and a lot of people who start rowing in college pull times on their first-ever piece that I couldn't even dream of. So, I do wonder if a lot of it is affected by mentality...we rowers create this big thing out of erging but perhaps it's really not so bad...

P.S. Guess who's coming this weekend!!! (love sneaking him on the blog hehe)

P.P.S. This is a very old photo...

Eeep! Tri Time!

It's official...I've registered!

Now the panic can really set in! While I was at work downtown today I took a picture of the view right near where the triathlon will be starting. I think it's breathtaking...

I think my dad will be missing my first triathlon (T-10 days!) which makes me sad but it certainly hasn't taken away from my excitement! Plus he'll be doing an awesome cycling trip to DC (I wish I could go!).

I was really pleased with my 8 miles yesterday, I relaxed afterwards by wearing my compression socks :)

and eating marshmallows!

This article came up in my ticker on Facebook yesterday, which is great because I'm trying to soak in all the information I can about triathlons! It suggests ways to speed up your time, and a lot of it involves hurrying through transitions. I'm not sure how the transitions will go for me, because I've not practiced or experienced anything like them before. The article suggests running through the water until you MUST swim, but on your way out says it'll speed you up by swimming as long as you can before you have to put your feet down. I'm not sure I'll be thinking too much about these details during my first triathlon experience but maybe they're good for reference!

I've also been reading a lot more of "12-Week Triathlete" which I wrote about a couple of months ago. It's actually really been helpful. The author suggested a triathlon called "The Escape From Alcatraz," which of course is located on Alcatraz in San Fran (my favorite place in the world). Now I'm dying to become a monster triathlon so I can complete that challenging race (and then stay on for vacay in Cali :) I even looked up the dates and was pleased to see that the race occurs when I would be on summer break for the next several years as a college student! Maybe some day (a girl can dream!).

Motivation, running 10 miles, and first new room deco!

I'm grateful that our motivation to run doesn't usually seem to come to this:

Runner's World featured an article today called "10 Reasons to Run 10 Miles." The article talks mainly about how running longer distance and building up your endurance is the perfect way to make it possible to be speedier on shorter distances. I think I've found this to be true (see my post on my most recent 5k) but I think I might like reason #3 the best. 

So true! My half-marathons and even my 10 and 12-mile runs make me feel so GREAT! I always am amazed at myself when I can cover that kind of distance. In fact, that might be a top reason why I enjoy distance-running so much...

My mom is the BEST for printing and framing this photo for me!

This was my boat this spring. Even though no one will replace my high school girls, this boat was GREAT and I love this picture (taken at our most successful regatta--an experience I'll remember for the rest of my life!)

Today my run was with one of those favorite "high school girls" who was on the rowing team with me. In fact, she was my co-captain! 

We did 2 miles of running, 2 miles of walking, and most importantly, 70 minutes of talking. This girl has been through so much with me and every time we get together I'm reminded of how important close girlfriends are! It was so great to catch up with her. She actually was the one who texted me about going running--I was thrilled! I love when people ask to run with me. Best feeling ever :)

Tomorrow's supposed to be those 8 tempo miles...hoping for the best!

My life in a nutshell...

I found this today, and my first thought was that it seems to sum up my running life pretty well...

Seems like I'm always running somewhere, after all! Not sure if it's wild running though... (I hope you know I don't take myself too seriously, mostly). In all honestly, this is a more accurate depiction of me now: 

(not my dog)

Today I did 6 easy miles. I've done hard runs for 3 ish days now so I really eased it up and just tried to think slow thoughts so I wouldn't go too crazy. It was pretty nice! It's only 71 degrees which makes for GREAT running, if you ask me. If HRG's easy runs are 8:30 pace and if Jake (future 2016 Olympian) runs his hard days at 5-something and easy runs between 8-10 something then I should be running easy runs between 9&10 something if not more! My goal for easy runs is that it should feel almost like I DIDN'T run--like a day off! Tomorrow I'll be going even shorter and easier which is going to be great for my legs.

Random, but beautiful view of Cleveland from the 6th floor of my parking garage at work.

After work is was absolutely pouring, so I FINALLY made the S'mores Cookies from HRG's recipe. Her recipe actually is for S'mores bars but I cookie-fied them. 

Fun Fact: I'm working on guitar! Taking lessons through a course online. Hopefully soon I'm playing like a pro instead of just taking pics with the guitar!?

First Brick!

Today was awesome because I got to do my first OFFICIAL brick training EVER! I did a bike/run to prepare for my triathlon that will be coming up in two short weeks. My dad came with me for the bike and the company made it a lot more fun.

Embarrassing that Garmin fits better on my bicep than my wrist... Skinny arm probs...

Usually on Sundays I like to do a longgg ride, and go out to the towpath for a couple hours. Today however I wanted to make my brick as close to race day as possible. In reality, race day will include an 8-mile bike and 1.5-mile run, but today we got it as close as we could with a 10-mile bike and 2-mile run. The run actually ended up being two miles because I wasn't paying attention/I was sort of disoriented. BUT it went well. The funny thing with running right after a bike ride: your legs are sort of numb! So it's easier than you might think to push the pace down. After today's brick, I think I have a better idea of what the triathlon will be like. I think I'll shoot to finish in 1 hour. It'll be tough with the swim (no idea how that's going to go) and the transition times but I should be able to do it! And if not, no harm done. Really I'm just going to be happy if I can finish; it's my first tri!

Post brick!

Change of plans...

So...sometimes with rowing, the weather really doesn't cooperate and rowing is a BAD idea. This was the case this morning when I woke up to loud thunder and pouring rain (and several texts/emails from our coach saying to STAY HOME). This made me really sad because I was so looking forward to seeing my girlfriends! However, this can be pretty easily rescheduled and we'll just have to do it someday soon :) Hopefully this week.

So, in the wake of the rain, I headed out mid-morning for a run. I wanted to do a longer run today but I knew I wanted to go see a movie with my sister at 12.45. This didn't give me enough time for an hour+ run, so I just did 5.5 miles at a pretty nice pace. The cooler weather brought in by the rain felt GREAT and helped make me speedier than I usually am for easy runs! It was one of the best runs I've had in a long time.

I got home with 20 minutes to spare before we had to leave for the movie. Miraculously, I showered, dressed, and inhaled a Gatorade before we had to go!

When we returned, my parents were also returning from errands. They went to one of my favorite places, Trader Joe's! Thank goodness they brought one of my favorite treats!

I was going to make cookies tonight but since we have so many goodies from TJ's I think I'll just wait for tomorrow. I did more research on the triathlon today; I'm thinking I might try a brick tomorrow! Maybe a bike/run. We'll have to see--as shown by today, plans can quickly change!

Favorite Things Friday!

I'm in the mood for a favorite things Friday!

1. Running through my neighbor's sprinklers like a ninja at the end of a SUPER SWEATY run.

2. Reading this book about this crazy guy (did you know Dean Karnazes once ran 100 miles through the night to a marathon, got there 5 minutes before the start, and then ran the marathon in 3:15????? Whaaaat!?)

3. Seeing the moon outside at night.

4. Stripey shirts:

5. An air-conditioned room at the end of a hot day.

6. Watching Cake Boss on Netflix before bed (oh yeah wild night life for meeee). 

7. Knowing I'll be seeing some of my best friends in the whole world tomorrow for a crew reunion (or crew-union?) and bfast! YAAAAYYY!

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Today's run was 35 minutes including a warm-up, 3 tempo miles, and a short cool-down. It was hard but GREAT! I waited until it was just getting dark and it was (only) 81 degrees and 80% humidity--almost chilly compared to the day-time high temperatures lately! This weekend should bring a cooler front and plenty of opportunity for outdoor activity.

Every time I do a successful tempo run I feel like I need to push it just as hard the next day. However, it's important to really make your hard workouts sparse--it's recommended that you do them no more than 15-20% of your runs! This means I should only do tempo-work or speedwork ONCE a week because I usually run 5-6 times per week and cross-train rest on the other days. It's hard for me to get this into my mind...EASY runs feel like they're just not hard enough work! However, I need to remind myself of why I need to do easy runs. They'll make my tempo-work faster and more meaningful and keep me healthier! They're very important. Plus, easy runs can still be "hard" in different ways; you can add mileage to these runs. For example, I might do an easy run but stay out for over an hour, or try to do 8 slow miles or something. I like to do this with my easy runs because it still makes a challenge within them. However, all easy runs shouldn't be turned into long runs. You've got to rest! Personally, I think I might benefit more from running only 4 days a week and cross-training in between. I'll probably adapt this method when I go back to school. For now, I can't stop! Here's a really helpful video on explaining why easy runs are important.

Still cooking and acknowledging your accomplishments.

Well, the weather has YET to ease up! Though it should be more running-friendly by the weekend... I hope!

Until these last few, sweltering days, I would've agreed with this statement...

Now, I'm not so sure! I've been wanting to do a 60-minute run all week but on Monday and Tuesday I stopped at 52 (both days) and today it was 91...and I stopped at 30 minutes, barely able to go another step! During my run I saw my high school rowing coach drive by (he honked), which was great because I always enjoying seeing people I know while I'm running. He sent me an email telling me it was him, and I guess it was a good thing he verified this because I also thought I saw Ryan Gosling at one point...the heat was getting to me! If I was in any sort of right mind I would've probably just gone back on the spin-bike for another hour+, but then my shoes did this:

...and I was sold on running. 

Speaking of shoes, I'm not sure if it's time to get new? I was planning on getting new by next month, since I'm getting closer and closer to 350 miles...but my mom (who did a LOT of distance running for many years) said that she only replaced once a year, with 800 miles on each pair of shoes. My wallet would certainly be a fan of this idea, since these guys don't come cheap! BUT I've really felt them breaking down, and recently sometimes I've been getting shin splints (not sure if it's related?). Since I get injured at the drop of a hat, it might be good to get new shoes before moving back to school. But do I really need to?

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I was looking through runnersworld.com and found a great article by Kristen Armstrong (a few months ago I read her book, Mile Markers). She wrote something that I thought was very important in her article the other day.

This is so important for us to do! Just the other day, I was thinking to myself :"...WOW...I actually ran TWO half-marathons???? I can DO that???" I realized that I've done something that most people don't do. I am so LUCKY to have done that and had that opportunity. I also deserve some credit for bringing myself to do that; training, treating injuries, figuring out the right nutrition, getting enough rest, etc. It's a big deal! It's great that I was able to finish both of those races. I'm proud of myself. I deserve to be proud, and to notice my effort. There are many other things that don't have to do with athleticism that I should also give myself more recognition for.

Stay cool!

Learning about triathlons and Prefontaine.

I love this Pre quote. I didn't know much about Steve Prefontaine until I read 14 Minutes by Alberto Salazar, who actually knew Pre. Both such great, breakthrough distance runners and role models. This quote says it all: we are SO lucky to have the abilities and opportunities given to us. I tell myself this every day.

Yesterday my run went much like Monday's.  I did the same pace/distance and it was the same temperature. Today, however, it's 90 and "feels like 97" so even I was reduced to spinning. I did an hour of spinning with a fan blowing straight on me. When I looked at the temperature, my thoughts of doing a bike/run brick floated sadly out the window. It's probably for the best, because I know I really needed a day off after those two long runs, anyways, especially considering the heat. Hungry Runner Girl seems to only take 1 day off of running per week, but I think I'm more of an every-other-day and cross-train in between type of girl. 

I've devoted the last couple of days to cramming a bunch of information about triathlons. I'm getting more and more excited, and I'm going to do this (the promise is stronger and stronger to myself everyday!) even if I had to do it in a make-shift tri-suit and with a big, heavy mountain bike with fat tires. Even if I'm the last one out of the water! Last night I found this adorable video of one woman's first triathlon experience...I love this video! It gave me a great idea of what to expect and was definitely motivating and very cute.

I did some reading to find tips/advice for first-time triathletes, as well. This article really helped me put things in perspective. I kept telling myself I couldn't do a triathlon because I didn't have the "stuff." However, I have more than enough to complete a triathlon. I'm certainly not going out there to win, I just want to finish. It doesn't matter if my bike is heavy or if I don't have a wetsuit! Seeing it in writing helped solidify this fact.

This article gave me some good advice on transitions... could avoid some really bad foot problems with this tip!

Everyone knows how much I like lists, and this thorough list should really help me get my things together before the race!

I know it's only Wednesday, but I'm already thinking about what I might like to bake this weekend (last weekend I talked about making delicious s'mores bars... this has a similar theme!). I found these s'mores cookies on one of Hungry Runner Girl's posts...will be trying!

Still HOT and chocolate!

The heat has not improved since yesterday but I still plan to go running when I finish this post...even though there's been an air-quality advisory...I'll see how I feel out there!

Today I went to get desert with my sister at one of our favorite local bakeries. We shared the Pot de Crème and crepe cake, and it was great! We went to see "Before Midnight" afterwards, which was really great. That whole "series" of films (there's 3 in the "Before" series) has a very anthropological and psychological feel to it and the films really seem to identify the truth in relationships. It was great (and a/c in the theater was a plus...)

YUM (the coffee was Sister's)

On the way out of the bakery, I spotted this beauty. I really wanted to ride away on it. Maybe one day Alex will get something like this and drive me all around in the side-car. I'm sure his version will also include the lepord-print seat covers...

I was reading NYC Running Mama's latest Ironman training post (girlfriend is doing Lake Placid in a few weeks, she is a BEAST)! She included this image which hits hard to home today in reflection of the whole triathlon thing, which is still on my mind! In my head, I'm promising myself I'll do it!

Alright, time to run! Hopefully I don't lose my mind out there!

HOT

Minutes: 52
Temperature: 88 degrees
Humidity: 85%
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It is astoundingly hot and humid today, but that did not stop me from running! I waited until a little after 7, and at that point most of my course was in the shade so it really wasn't bad. I went verryyy slow--the heat really slows me down but I usually feel fairly alright in it anyways. I felt really great after (jk, I felt really great after I cooled down and showered...) and definitely accomplished for doing a longer run on such a hot day without any dire consequences. I missed chocolate milk refueling after though :( Water with ice seemed too appealing and I just realized I forgot my favorite post-race beverage! I need to start putting a post-it note out on the door so I'll see it and remember when I get back from running.

Today I thought a lot about the triathlon I want to do in 3 weeks... I've been very hesitant because I know my swimming isn't up to par and I don't have a really steady means to work on it during the summer (not a member of a pool). My cycling and running of course is fine, and I've even practiced running right after cycling to get a feel for it. I did some research and most people recommend NOT doing a triathlon with only 3 weeks of training (even a shorter triathlon, like I'm planning on doing...). I talked to my mom about it though, because I do really want to do it, even though my lack of swimming prep says otherwise. She said...JUST DO IT. The advice out there on the Interwebs that I was reading was likely advising sedentary people not to do a triathlon without prep. I cycle and run several times a week, and am a strong (though not well-conditioned) swimmer--was on the swim team as a youngster and swam many-a-time at school this past year. I haven't swam (swum?) in a few months, and I certainly don't go very far when I do swim, but my abilities should be enough to get me through this short swim. I'm fearful of the thrashing madness that often happens at the swim-starts of these races...but if I go into my zen place and EXPECT the madness beforehand, I shouldn't be too riled up by it. So...hopefully all of this isn't talk for nothing and my dad can help me fix my bike up...because in my mind...I am DOING this. I even looked up what newbies should wear for their first Tri and found this funny blog. She has great advice! And now I think I know what I'll wear on the Big Day...providing it DOES happen!

Also, today I was thinking a lot about hydration before I went on that run. Usually at work, I don't hydrate very much because I work in the field and don't have easy access to a restroom. All my hydrating comes after work, and usually I'm parched and drink a lot of water. I've noticed that the water goes right through my body, and while my urine color might shift from dark to light immediately (sorry for these details, I'm not shy), I never really FEEL better hydrated. The liquids just go right through my body without becoming absorbed! I'm not sure if this is normal or not but I looked up some ways to avoid it. I think I might start feeling better both on my runs and in general if I get some more electrolytes...probably with Gatorade, my fave version of drinkable candy. I also read suggestions online of simply adding a pinch of salt (an electrolyte included in sports drinks) or cayenne pepper to your water. Today, I just remedied the problem by eating some pretzels. I usually don't care much for salty food and never add salt to anything...so I wonder if that's why my body is having trouble absorbing. Or perhaps when I overwhelm my body right away with so much liquid after work everyday, it simply can't absorb it all at once? Food for thought.

I forgot I had a story from yesterday to share with you. Every time I go on the highway, I see black cats on the side of the road. On one trip driving down to school, I saw SIX black highway cats and 1 of another color. After awhile, I thought it might be a delusion, but on one ride to and from school I pointed them out to my friend and she saw them too. I was on the highway yesterday to visit friends, and was surprised not to see any...until my dad texted me about something that was hanging out on the front porch...

Enough with the weird facts, time for a food pic! Blogging is hardly blogging for me these days if I don't post one of these. Here's a photo from one of my fave dinners!

Yum, green beens, hardboiled egg, and potatoes: good fuel!