Tag! You're It!

I was tagged by RunBubbaRun.

This is how it goes

1. Find the nearest book.
2. Name the book & the author.
3. Turn to page 123.
4. Go to the fifth sentence on the page. Copy out the next three sentences and post to your blog.
5. Tag three more folks.

The nearest book is Pathway to God's Plan, by Lenya Heitzig and Penny Pierce-Rose. It is a study on Ruth & Ester. I'm heading out the door to facilitate discussion from this book and it is within arms length at the moment.

The first four sentences on p 123 were questions...I count the fifth one as an answer that I had written in. Here are the three after that:

"As I was walking in the Sandia Mountains one spring day, I stumbled across a cluster of fragrant flowers thriving among the rocks and weeks, unnoticed and untended. I breathed in their sweet scent. It made me think about some of the women attending our women's Bible study who live beautiful and fragrant lives but often go unnoticed."

So now ShyTriGirl, Chad, & RunLiaRun, consider yourselves tagged and let us know what you're reading!

New Shoes - Paolo Nutini

If you have your sound on, you will notice that i have added a song to my blog - New Shoes by Paolo Nutini. For some reason, this song reminds me of the mental transformation that happens when I put on my running shoes.

Anyway, doesn't this song just make you want to get out and run?!?!?

If I could make a few lyrical changes as suggested in red, the song would go like this:

woke up cold one tuesday,
i'm looking tired and feeling quite sick,
i felt like there was something missing
in my day-to-day life,
so i quickly opened the wardrobe,
pulled out some shorts and a t-shirt that seemed clean,
topped it off with a pair of old shoes,
that were ripped around the seams,
and i thought these shoes just don't suit me.

(chorus:)

hey, i put some new shoes on,
and suddenly everything is right,
i said, hey, i put some new shoes on
and everybody's smiling, it so inviting,
oh, short on money, but long on time,
slowly strolling in the sweet sunshine,
and i'm running late, and i dont need an excuse,
'cause i'm wearing my runnin' shoes.

woke up late one thursday,
and i'm seeing stars as i'm rubbing my eyes,
and i felt like there were two days missing,
as i focused on the time,
and i made my way to the kitchen,
but i had to stop from the shock of what i found,
a room full of all my friends bloggin' round and round,
and i thought..
hello new shoes, b'bye blues!

(chorus)

take me wondering through these streets,
where bright lights and angels meet,
stone to stone they take me on,
im runnin' to the break of dawn. (x2)

(chorus (x2))

take me wondering through these streets

Spinning

Still can't run or cycle outside due to snow and icy on the roads, so this morning I opened my newest Spinervals - Big Gear Strength and hopped on the bike trainer.


Now, I realize that I am a below average cyclist, but this one is REALLY hard. He lost me in the middle when he had us hop off the bikes and start doing lunges. I simply couldn't keep up and maybe got half the lunges in. I was happy to get back on the bike after that.


These things used to discourage me, but I know that if I keep at it, I will get stronger and be able to keep up. :)


I intended to head to the pool after that, but discovered my rear passenger tire to be completely flat. Bummer! Put some air in and went to get my tire repaired. An hour and a half later, I'm home, but now I have work and other obligations. Blah!


If I'm lucky, maybe I can get some core/strength work in later this afternoon.

Oh good! I'm not the only one!

"Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: What! You too? I thought I was the only one." - C.S. Lewis

About this time last year, I created a blog to track my progress toward my first sprint triathlon. It was so boring, and nobody read it, and I was sure nobody would want to read it...so I deleted it after a few months. Several months later (after the Triathlon), I decided to start blogging again because I simply needed an outlet.

My friends and family are supportive, but they really can't relate to latest run or swim or cycling attempt. I might as well be speaking a foreign language if I mention aerobars, a pull bouy, 200 core, or an LSD run. To them, a training schedule is what baseball teams have during the spring and gel is something you put in your hair.

And so, I just wanted to stop and say THANK YOU to those that occasionally read and give supportive comments on my blog. I really appreciate it. It is good to know that I am not alone in this new language that I speak and in my goals and aspirations. I'm feeling sane again.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Tenacity pays off

Tenacity (n): persistent determination
Synonyms: doggedness, perseverance, persistence, persistency, tenaciousness, pertinacity

That was insane! It was cold. The course was uneven. My ankles hurt. My back hurt. My hips hurt.

I told Husband to come back at about 50min after the race started and try to get some photos of me finishing. He waited and waited. He walked out to look for me. He walked back thinking maybe he missed me. And waited some more.

I was slow. In fact, I was slower than slow. I hiked part of it and only went a tiny bit slower than when I tried to run. But I got it done.

Are you ready for the best part? I placed first in my age group and came home with a medal.

Don't even think about bursting my bubble by asking just how many females 40-49 got up on a cold snowy New Years Day morning to do such a foolish thing. I was out there, I finished the course, and nobody in my age group finished before me. We'll just leave it at that.

Now I'm ready for a nap.

When life gives you snow...

Husband and son enjoyed the 12+ inches of snow that we ended up getting. You know how boys are, we couldn't just have any snowman...it ended up being 10+ feet tall.

The 10K I was fretting about is tomorrow. The course has been shortened to a snow packed 8K. I think I'm going to wear hiking boots and just plan to have fun with it. No race goal anymore, I just hope to stay upright and enjoy the scenery. Getting there in the morning might prove to be tricky; our driveway and neighborhood streets are a mess.

Whatever your plans are, please stay safe this New Year's Eve.

More snow in New Mexico

Who ordered this weather? It was delivered to our house by mistake. I kindly request that it be returned to its rightful owner. Today I woke up to more snow in New Mexico.

According to the weather channel, there is a 30% chance of snow here today. Given that it has been snowing for a good 8 hrs straight, I'd think they could at least predict the chance of snow a weeee bit higher than that! Updated Saturday morning - it snowed all night and is still snowing. 11 inches so far!!

I've done well against my training plans all week until today. I think I'll just do some core exercises and call it a day.

And, btw, thanks Flatman for suggesting Sports Tracks. I downloaded it and am trying to figure it out. So far, I am finding the various map options to be pretty cool. :)

After Christmas Ramblings

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. We've been playing a lot of Mah Jong as a family, which is a tradition at our house for this time of year. But I would have to say that my most cherished Christmas memory from this year would have to be when my 13yr old daughter said grace before the Christmas meal. It was a beautiful, heartfelt blessing that almost brought a tear to my eye. Even though the teen years can be 'trying', I am really enjoying watching my kids develop into the distinct individuals that they are becoming.

Santa brought me a Garmin 205; I can already tell that I am going to have fun with this new gadget. If anyone can suggest some training analysis software that is better than what it comes with, please let me know.

I started feeling motivated to get moving again after being mostly lazy last week. I ran 4.8 miles on Christmas afternoon with my husband while the turkey was cooking. Yesterday I did some core and strength work in the morning and went on a 12.4 mile bike ride in the afternoon. This morning I was in the pool at 6am for 1750.

Plans through Friday: Repeating the 4.8 mile loop later this afternoon (and compare to Christmas day run... oooh...ahhh...data...*drool*). Spinervals and more core/strength work on Thursday. 2250 swim and 6mi run Friday.

Oh, and apparently I have created a substance potentially harder than diamonds which is now stuck to the bottom of our 5qt stock pot. Cool, huh?

Beginnings

"With the possible exception of the equator, everything begins somewhere." - C.S. Lewis

First off, thank you all *so* much for the encouraging words about my upcoming 10K. I really appreciate it. I failed to mention that said 10K is 9 short days away. Yikes! I think I'm stressing because it is so close.

Yesterday I got my butt kicked by Coach Troy (Spinervals No Slackers!) and later went on a 6 mile run in my Z2/Z3 HR. Not so sure what will happen when I start out at my 5K pace on race day, but everything begins somewhere.

Today I took it easy - 1250M swim and 6 mile bike ride. I thought about riding longer, but there are still some icy patches on the road so I cut it short - better safe than sorry.

Merry almost-Christmas-Eve!!

Fears and Doubts

"Some say if only my fears and doubts will leave then I will get to work. But instead you should get to work and then your fears and doubts will leave." - Dwight L. Moody

With a little bit of fear and trepidation, I have signed up for my first 10K. For most of you (maybe even ALL of you), it won't seem like much of a milestone, but you have to realize that I haven't been in this as long as you all have. I did a grand total of six 5Ks and one Sprint Tri in 2006. I can add one more 5K to the list if we look back to 2005. Before that...nada.

What fears am I chasing down exactly? I guess I'm concerned that my slownest and general lack of athletic ability will be exposed for what they are.

But you know what? I could let that stop me from experiencing a lot of things that I intend to do this year. Bah humbug, I say! Instead, I choose to chase down this fear. Finish line, here I come!!!

Snow in the desert

Could we possibly have a white Christmas? Seems unlikely. But then again, maybe, just maybe, since these are the scenes out the front and back of our house this morning.

Today will be a bike trainer (spinervals) and core day. With a few snowball fights and some snowman building thrown in for good measure. :)

Update: Accomplished the following: spinervals training ride, snowman, snowball fight.

Blew off: core workout - go figure! playing in the snow was more fun. :)

spondyloarthropathies

Husband & I ran in the Jingle Bell Run for Arthritis this morning.

Son ran his first 5K also.

I wore a santa hat just to remind myself not to take this race too seriously. :)

The course wasn't easy. It started uphill for about three quarters of a mile. When I saw the hill, I knew there was no chance of a PR for me today. However, since I train on hills, I also knew that I could run the whole thing in my own slow runnin' kinda' way.

All in all, it was a fun way to spend the morning. :)

Looks like the local run raised over $10K for the Arthritis Foundation. This has special meaning to me. My husband suffers from Ankylosing Spondylitis - a chronic rhuematoid condition affecting the spine and sacroilioc joints. As for me, I spent the full 2004 year in pain from Reactive Arthritis triggered after a shigella dysentery that I picked up in India. Apparently his disease and mine fall into the family of spondyloarthropathies. Try saying that three times fast!!

Anyway, it was my disease going into remission that triggered my interested in Triathlon. I TRI because I can...and every day that I can is truly a gift.

Slow Cyclin'

I took off this morning for a bike ride feeling pretty good after my big swim yesterday. It didn't take long for my bike to remind me who's boss.

I suppose I'm not going to get any better by wallowing in self pity. Sigh. I just need to get out there more often and ride.

Big Swimmin'

Today I did an insanely huge swim workout by my standards. I added it all up - warm up, drills, speedwork, other strokes, kicking, cool down - 3200 in total. Then I came home and ate everything in sight.

Plodding on...

Okay, so blogger beta issues notwithstanding...it is time for me to think about and plan my 2007 season. i'm not as sophisticated as some of you (yet) with being able to put them on my sidebar. For now, I'm just happy that I have some semblance of a plan. Capiche?

My main goal this year is to complete an olympic distance triathlon. I'm targetting the Las Vegas Triathlon (Storrie Lake) which should be at the end of July. This will be my A race.

To get there, I hope to compete in the Rio Rancho Duathlon in early April and the Milkman Triathlon in early June.

I will compete in a few other sprint tris unrelated to that goal - Jay Benson and Socorro come to mind quickly.

I will definately need to buy a wetsuit, practice in it, practice in open water.... I hope I don't freak out.

I may finish last, but I intend to finish.

I think I can, I think I can, I think I can....

Rut Roh George!

I switched to blogger beta and now my old comments mostly show from 'anonomous' when they used to show from other blogger users. BUMMER!!!

Pennies from Heaven

I really like listening to the Elf Soundtrack at Christmas time. One of my favorites is Pennies from Heaven

"Ev'ry time it rains, it rains pennies from heaven..."

Found new meaning in that last night. My daughter asked to go Christmas shopping for her friends. She wanted to buy for 6-7 girls. She had a budget, we found some things on sale, and she promised to pay me back.

When we came home, she presented me with a pile of change. Uggh. At first I was not at all happy that she was paying me back in pennies and dimes and such.

But then she explained that she has been saving her change from lunch for the past several months so that she would have money to buy Christmas gifts. And she had counted it out and knew how much she had. And she promised me that it was all there.

"...pennies from heaven....for you and me"

The Battle in my Mind

I'm just about ready to head out on my traditional Sunday Morning Run. The run I so look forward to (except when it is freaking cold out). Just wanted to clear my head before I go out.

I have just been been exhausted this week and it affected my training plans. I hope next week is better. When stuff stops me from achieving my training gooals, I find myself fighting THOSE thoughts again. The ones that say I'm never going to be any good at this, so maybe I should just give up. How can I expect to go longer or faster if I can't even find the energy to do my planned workouts? Who am I kidding, I am *not* an athlete, much less a triathlete.

I need my run this morning if only to drive those thoughts out of my head!!

On a more positive note, I have been thinking about ShyTriGirl, Geek Girl, and Chad who were all doing Sprint TRIs this weekend - looking forward to race reports.

And....husband, son, & I are running a 5K next Sunday. It will be son's 5K debut! I hope this is the beginning of something for him.

UPDATE AFTER RUN: My run was supposed to be 70min. I ran a little far before turning around and it ended up taking a few minutes longer than planned. Somewhere on the way back, I heard my own voice say out loud "Don't give up, Lisa".

ONE MORE UPDATE:
James 1:3-4 - For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be strong in character and ready for anything

Favorite Snack Bars

For anyone who might be reading this, I'm wondering what your favorite snack bars are. Favorite as in the ones you most enjoy eating (not necessarily the best performing).

These are my top 3 personal favorites.

#1 - Clif Mojo Bar - Honey Roasted Peanut. I think this is the best thing out there. Luckily for me, I may be alone in that opinion if my family is typical - they think these are horrid. I would try other Mojo flavors, but I'm alergic to tree nuts, so this is the only one they make that I can eat.

#2 - Clif Luna Bar - Chocolate Peppermint Stick (Peanut Butter Cookie is good too). Even the kids like this. They are temperature sensitive though...too hard when it is cold outside and the little coating melts if it is too hot. Just right at room temp, though. :)

#3 - Kind Bar - Banana Oatbran (i think - I ordered these and ate the last one so i don't know if that is the right name). Again, it is the only one they make without tree nuts, but very yummy.

Inner Fool-1; Inner Athelete-0

I have been trying to figure out why exactly I am putting myself through all of this nonsense. I think I have been trying to wake up my inner athlete, who has been asleep for a good 40 years.

Yesterday, I managed to wake up my inner fool instead. My inner fool thought it would be a good idea to go for a 70min run before church. Why that might sound good on paper, let me just say that it was freaking cold outside. I have no idea what the temperature was exactly, but while my inner fool had me out there trying to move my body, my inner athlete was wisely curled up in a ball trying to stay warm.

I'm thinking my inner athlete would be more successful if my inner fool would just stop trying to sabotage the plan.