Wow

It's been a crazy couple of weeks.

First off, the softball game went well. I wasn't great by any means, one of the worst on the team in fact, but I had a great time out there. I enjoyed playing and that's what matters. We won our first game by default and lost the second by one run. It was a placement game, so we'll see where we end up. Season starts next month...

After that, I went almost directly to Houston for a wedding. I only got work out once and it was a short 20 minute jog. Nick and I did spend a few hours at the pool goofing around during the trip too. Everything was fun and good. It was great to be there.

I didn't come back to Stillwater until Monday morning within 10 minutes of when I had to be at work. (I didn't want to drive home Sunday because we'd been in the car so long already!) Monday was crazy long and hot. I didn't want to run during my lunch break because it was hot and I hadn't spent any time at home. I held off, hoping to have time after work. No such luck. Long meeting...it was already dark. (And the gym closes at 9 too!) Tuesday was busy, too. During my lunch, I went to the store to get a new cell phone, which took and hour, and then I had to play with it. All the time, I'm trying to figure out how I can get out of town to see a hospitalized friend. I ended up rushing to OKC Wednesday after getting off work at noon. No workout then either. Right after that, I had to drive to Tulsa to do some Father's Day with my dad before crashing at Nick's parents for the night.

We left for our next vacation the next morning. We went to the Buffalo River with Nick's whole family. It was great trip. Much needed relaxation. Leave it to a triathlete to take a vacation and turn it into a mini-training session. I brought my goggles and practiced a little open water swimming in the lake. It felt good. Friday we went hiking, which took about two hours. The walk up, let me tell you, was a bitch. Very steep and hot. It was good though, since it'd been so long since I'd worked out. We spent Saturday on a canoe trip on the river. We really did more swimming than canoeing, but I got a nice burn...err, tan. Sure. Fun times. We came home Sunday and while you'd think I'd have learned my lesson, I ended up crashing at my parents instead of coming home last night.

Which brings you up to date. I didn't work out today for the same reason as last week. I figure I will be "hitting it hard" starting tomorrow. I'm motivated to get started again, but these two weeks were just so crazy, I didn't want to stress out too much about a workout...or 10. 83 days until the tri, though, so I know I can't mess around anymore.

New adventure

Don't worry...I'm still focusing on triathlon.

But...I've joined a softball league. For those who know me, this seems impossible. I was the type of kid who let others "bat" in front of her in kickball/whatever in elementary and then went far off as possible when my team was in the outfield. I was the type of kid who could just stand around during tag and no one would tag me because that just wasn't fun. I'm totally uncoordinated, and I tend to shy away from things I'm not good at. But, right now, I feel like I'm at the time of my life to try a lot of new things and jump and new opportunities, so hell, when I was asked if I wanted to join the company softball league, I said yes. Our first game is tomorrow and I couldn't be more panicked!

I'm not much of a batter, can't really catch, and my throws are OK. I'm really afraid I'm going to look like an idiot out there and have elementary school flash backs. I bought a glove that cost more than entering the league. Those things aren't cheap! Our plan is to not practice and just go out there and play once a week. Awesome. So basically, I'm terrified. Any quick advice?

Training's been difficult this week. I'm going to get a swim in during lunch tomorrow. Right after the placement game, I'm heading to Norman for the night and then off to Houston for my friend's wedding! I'm totally excited for the weekend! I'm going to try to get a workout in Saturday morning because there won't be time Friday or Sunday.

That's all for now. I have to shave my legs because the $7 Nair I bought proved fairly worthless.

Since I've been gone...

I've been busy since I've not been posting.

My legs are tired. Since my last rest day, I've:
- Run/walked 4.25 miles (longest ever for me...)
- Nice, short 20 minute run
- 18-mile bike ride
- 1.8 mile run, plus 0.8 mile walk with a little jogging
- 4-mile bike, 500m swim, 4-mile bike
- 3.2 mile run, with a little walking

I get a rest tomorrow. I'm sure they'll be pleased.

Few things of note:
- The 4.25-mile run. I was really pleased that I did it in one hour (I'm slow). At one point, about halfway through, I was feeling really sick, but I pushed through, telling myself it was all in my head. I think part of my nausea is in my head because I know if I start feeling sick, I'll walk and take it easy. My body's figured it out, so I'm going to try to ignore myself.
- The 18-mile ride was supposed to actually be 22 miles. I went to Tulsa just to ride with my parents. I told them I wanted to do between 20-25 miles, so my dad planned out a 22 miler. Not far into the ride (a few miles), my back tire gets a shard of metal in it, and blows. Awesome. When my parents catch up (yeah, catch up!), I tell them and we walk to a nearby bike store (It was close). They weren't quite open yet, so we waited. I spent 12 bucks and about 25 minutes to get it fixed. I got to shop at the bike store and I wanted to buy it ALL! I want gloves, more tri clothes, etc. Plus, there was this beautiful $1,700 bike that I sat on and fell in love with! It was a tri bike with fancy aerobars. Love it. Anyway, the ride had to be shortened for time restraints, but it was a great ride. My mom told me I "kicked her ass" on a hill, and my parents ride a lot, so that's a high compliment. I was in the lead a lot of the time. My mom like to take her time, for sure. We went against the wind for the last half, but it wasn't too bad because it was a nice breeze...I drank a Corona very quickly at the cantina after...
- Today, I went on a run with a few people from work. They (maybe both) are training for the Tulsa Run, too. The guy is starting to train in boxing for a column for the NewsPress (more details to come). He actually kept us at a great pace for the first half of the run. It was faster than we've been running and it felt good. I'm going to try to get myself there. It felt right. It was cooler today, so that may be why I felt so good during the run. I'll take it, though.

Those are my weekly highlights. I've started abs, inner thighs and pushups again. I've decided I have to do it before the workout or I just won't do it. Today, however, I wasn't good. I went to run straight from work, and we went to eat and I'm full now...

*Warning: Shameless plug*
One last thing. I'm going to do a shameless plug for my newspaper. My coworker (who I mentioned above) started training with this champion boxer. He's writing a twice a week column about his experiences. He admits he may be in the worst shape of his 23-year-old life. I know a lot of my readers are also transforming their bodies, so I thought you might enjoy it. Some highlights from his first workout include: "There wasn’t a muscle in my body that didn’t feel the workout — which lasted less than 35 minutes — after I was done. I sat on my living room couch wrapped in a towel for two hours afterwards. Not because it was comfortable, but because I couldn’t bend over to put pants on." I wouldn't forward you to crap, this will be quality stuff. I laughed out loud numerous times today. If your interested, visit our Web site to read more.

T minus 16 weeks!

Oh my, I've started the countdown early!

I'm going to focus on running these next few weeks. I've decided against focus weeks, except for running. This should be fun...

I've felt pretty strong these past two days. I ran yesterday and while I had to stop a walk a lot during my 2.5 or so mile jog, I felt much better than I had the previous week. These two weeks of focus will hopefully improve my run significantly, so I can start off near where I should be. I swam today and let me tell you, my 400s this week felt so much better than my 350s last week! Faster, stronger and I didn't have to use backstroke. I feel like I'm getting into the groove of training again.

I had a late night last night, fitful night sleep and stressful early morning at work this morning. I was exhausted all day. But never did I let myself consider skipping the swim. Not once. I let myself go home at 4 p.m. instead of go straight to the gym, but it was nice and I laid out a bit and had dinner and then went to swim. I wouldn't let myself think about not going because I could have convinced myself not to go today. While I understand this is easier said than done, this is my plan for the next 16 weeks. Not even consider skipping training. I also want to do a better job of eating healthfully on most occasions.

During my swim today, I kept thinking about my first tri. I smiled in the water. Feeling strong and thinking about why I love the sport will get me through September when I rock it out at Lake Hefner!