No, really I am fine

For those of you who don't get this one: Read post below and visit the Arizona Wonder Woman's blog! She is as happy as I am sad today....boooooohoooooohoooooo

CONGRATS TO THE CATS

This picture says it all.
This guy: Williams,  came out to play and he did.
Am I sad my beloved Duke lost? Yes of course I am. It sucks.
The worst part is not just that they lost it is HOW they lost. 
They did not deserve to win.  The GAVE up in the second half and watched the Williams show.   That guy alone wanted to win more then all the Devils together.   What a shame.
I LOVE this game.  I always have since I am a kid.  This was painful to watch. 
As a player and mostly as a coach I hated loosing but I have never been a sore looser.

So my hat's off to the U of A.
CONGRATS TO THE CATS! and their fans: EMZ, BDD, Jess
We were all on twitter tonight, it was fun...for the most part...I was the only one rooting for Duke so I got some crap, it is OK I can take it!!

Chris K's Aztecs also lost.  Bummer.

Those Aztecs and Cats made my bracket explode.  I am still leading the pool but after the Elite 8 I am pretty sure I won't be.  Now here is some irony for you: for me to win the jackpot OF $700 guess who needs to win the whole thing?

YEP: those darn CATS!
Tonight though they played like LIONS!!!
ROAR ROAR!!!!!

Butler over Wisconsin, I like that.
Florida winning I also like that.

Tomorrow is another day. 
My Duke will be back.









 

Speedwork and little kittens

Today: Speedwork at the gym.  I did 8x400.  It is supposed to be at 5k pace, so for me 9:60.  I did first 3 repeats at 9:13 and the last 5 repeats at 8:57 with 90 sec rest in between.  Last 2 were hard..on the last one I felt the Special K coming up...yikes...
5 miles total.  My quads feel like mash potatoes now.  I stepped on the scale, minus 2 lbs again.  Took the kids for a smoothie after that workout, extra vitamins for me!

Tomorrow rest day and I had the genius idea to make dentist appointments for BOTH my sons.  Fun morning for mommy!  I am prepared to use blackmail, TARGET is across the street from the dentist! 

IS IT 6:45 PM yet????????????
I cannot wait for this to happen:

Meow..meow...meow....meow.......poor little cats are going DOWN in Anaheim!  Just 30 minutes away from me....how I wish I could be there in person!

Please make sure to send sympathy messages to EMZ later tonight, she will be in mourning and she will need a lot of support to get through this.

So I am already prepared for you see:

YOU ARE SO WELCOME!!!!
WHAT?
YOU WANT TO SEE MY SWEATSHIRT? SURE!
HERE IT IS:

GO DUKE!!!!!!

Oh I almost forgot.....Chris K you are next!!!!!

Half way

I am at the half point of my training plan.  This is is going by faster then the first time.
I had a pretty good week.  I am improving on pace and I ran a tempo run outside and it turned out to be easier then doing it on the treadmill.  I ran  8 miles for my long run.  Last time I did 8 miles was when I trained for my 1st half so it was in January.  Saturday I ran my 8 miles 9 minutes faster then I did in January.  That makes me feel really good about my training.  Also I tried a new fuel and it works for me.  So I am optimistic that my second half marathon will be better then my first and not just in terms of time.

WEEK 6
Mon: 4 miles: 4 miles
Tue: stretch and strength + XT: 30 min elliptical and 15 min bike.  Core workout.
Wed: 3 miles: 3 miles tempo
Thu: Speedwork: tempo 40 min yikes!: Speedwork 7x400m: 5 miles total.
Fri: REST: REST
Sat: XT or 3 miles: 8 miles
Sun: 8 miles: 3 miles
total: 23 miles.

WEEK 7: **Spring Break, I have to change the regular order of my workouts because kids are home, luckily Bill took Mon and Tue off so I was able to run outside! 

Mon: 3 miles: 3 miles
Tue: 4.5 miles: 4.5 miles
Wed: stretch and strength + XT:
Thu: Speedwork:  8x400m:
Fri: REST:
Sat: XT or 3 miles:
Sun: 9 miles: 

Disneyland Half Marathon is sold out already.  Good thing I signed up early.

Yesterday I got an email about THE BEACH CITIES CHALLENGE.

The Beach Cities Challenge is a race series that includes three Southern California marathons – the Surf City Marathon in Huntington Beach, the Orange County Marathon, and the Long Beach International City Bank Marathon. Runners who complete any combination of half or full marathons in all three events consecutively will receive a special Beach Cities Challenge Medal.

I am already doing the OC and Long Beach one and I had planned on doing Surf City instead of Carlsbad for 2012 so I am in for this Challenge!  A fancy medal is nice but I would prefer a discount on registration fees or a technical shirt. 

Looking forward to Thursday...

This is the shirt I wish I could be wearing:

 

THE CATS ARE GOING DOWN....and will cry like little kittens....meow, meow

GO DUKE!

2 down 4 to GO

I finished my week with 23 miles.  Today I went for 3 miles in the rain and #$#% wind.
This week is spring break for the boys and we are supposed to get rain ALL WEEK.  Yeah for me!!!  Hello treadmill at the gym.

Went to see THE LINCOLN LAWYER  today.  It is good, I recommend it. 

NCAA: Well Duke is still alive.  They almost gave me a heart attack today.  All that matters is that they won.  2 down, 4 to go.  This was Coach K's 900th win.  Next up: March 24th: Arizona Wildcats, that will be win #901.  Bring it on.   I had been leading my pool after the 1st round and today after Syracuse and ND lost I thought for sure I am out of #1, but no  still #1 after 2 rounds 37/48.  The guy who is 2nd has Texas and Pitt to the final 4 so that is good for me.  Best game so far SDSU winning over Temple in double overtime. 

This was messed up:



Was it really 5 sec? YES I think it was if I count I make it to 5 .  BUT the ref's count is what they go with and he was at 4, he did not complete to 5 before making his call and that is not OK.  He cannot say "in my head I was at 5" that is not how the game works. 

No games until Thursday, no more excuses not to clean my house and do the laundry I guess. :(

GO DUKE.

Happy!

Today I had 3 miles on the schedule but since we are getting rain this weekend and tomorrow is supposed to be the worst day I decided to go for my long run today.
I waited for a break in the rain and I went out for the 8 miles I was supposed to do tomorrow.  No rain but lot's of WIND.  I would have taken rain and no wind I think.  It went pretty good.  I ran against the wind for the last 4 miles.  I kept a good pace for me. 

I decided to try this new fuel I bought:  EFS Liquid shot.

Chris K is the one who suggested I try this.  THANK YOU!
This is IT for me.
It works! No GI problems, no side pain, no cramps.  It stayed in the stomach.
No more GU or other gels for me!
I am so happy and optimistic for me next half marathon now.
Last time I did so bad at fueling during the race, I hit the wall at mile 11 and I finished completely dehydrated.  I won a pukie award but I felt like crap.

They have 2 flavors of that magic stuff, I tried berry today and next week I will try vanilla.
The only negative thing would be it is a bit sweet, but I did not drink water with it and next week I will.   It goes down very EASY.  It does not taste bad at all. It is great.
It is not cheap but for me it will be worth every penny!  I am a really low maintenance kind of gal so this will be my one crazy expense!!

So for the ones who have GI issues like I do (I have GERD, no gallbladder, gastritis) I am telling you: give this a try if the other stuff is not working for you.

OK off to watch the Aztecs play!
I have them winning so FOR TODAY ONLY AND BECAUSE MY BLUE DEVILS ARE NOT PLAYING TODAY:

GO AZTECS!
So far today I got all the games right and I am still leading the pool
29/34.

DUKE ALL THE WAY

1 DOWN, 5 TO GO

REST DAY.  Normally I would have been miserable but not today.  DUKE won their first game.  When it is by 42 we call that a massacre.  A basketball lesson.  Be afraid. Be VERY afraid.!!!!  Some of you have a hard time accepting that DUKE is the best team and are "trying"  to be funny for your non friendly Duke posts...yeah you miss Jess over have Blonde ponytail  and YOU EMZ with your Tide add.  It's OK. I can take it.  When you gals come to your senses I will be happy to send you a shirt like this one:

1 DOWN, 5 TO GO. 
I am 27 out of 32 so far.
#1 position in my pool

Went to the allergist. Finally I can take my meds now!  I had the skin test that is with 30 needles that they stick in your arms, not the one on the back with only scratches.  The needle one hurts a little more but after giving birth twice It takes more then 30 needles to make me go aouch!  So I am allergic to Bermuda grass and mold.   Going back Monday to get instructional protocol to deal with this lovely situation.

Some people from an LA modeling agency  came to Jonathan's school today to ask a few parents if they were interested in having their kid work as a model.  They saw that picture:

and they asked me if I would be willing to have him come downtown for a session.   Hmm NO but thank you!  Of course I think it is nice that they asked but that ends there. 

I finished this book:

I loved it.  My friends told me to read it after they all read it for their book club.  They told me they think I am a "Skeeter".   They said I would understand when I read the book.  Now that I have read it, I take this as a huge compliment!  I think I would have been a Skeeter back in those days.

Now I must decide between these for the next book, I have them all already:

If you read any of the 3 in English and you loved it let me know!! 

GO DUKE.

“Ten Ways I Break the Rules”.

You all know SUAR right? World renowned poop expert and blogger.
So today she has this post about breaking rules and ask her fan club to play along.
So why not?

First the running.  Intervals today on the treadmill.  7 x 400m. 5 miles total. I am supposed to do that at 5k pace.  But I can do them faster so I did.  7x400 at 8'20" with 90 sec in between each repeat.  On the last one, I got pretty tired and I almost fell off the machine.  It was a close call. My foot landed way too close to the edge and well I had to grab the handle for a second or else I would have ended up on the bike next to me.  I scared the crap out of the guy who was on that bike.  OOPSY.
I am happy with my progress with the speework.  I will stick to it.  I will never be super fast but I can be a faster turtle!

Do you watch Idol? Who do you like?
I love Paul, Casey, although last night not so much, and James Durbin.  The girls can all leave tonight it would be fine with me.

OK the rules game now.
I am Canadian and we are known for being rules followers.  I am like that for the most part, I cannot help it.
But I do things that I should not and don't do some I should like everyone else.

1. I don't sleep enough, 8 hours don't remember last time I slept that long.
2. I don't lock the front door when I am home and I don't lock my car either: that drives Bill my husband completely MAD.  Back home everyone does that, my mom can go to the grocery store and leave the door unlocked.  Here in California it is a big no no.
3. I drink coffee everyday even though I have GERD and my Dr says it is not good for me.
4. I don't go to the dentist every 6 mos for cleanings but I do floss.
5. I park in the red zone when I go pick Will up at school.
6. I don't separate the whites from the colors when I do my laundry.  Waste of my time, so far so good.
7. I use the treadmill for more then the 60 min limit at the gym.
8. I bring food and water in the movie theater. I use my biggest purse and voila!
9, I never rinse dishes before putting them in the dishwasher. Makes no sense to me, it is called a dishWASHER for a reason.
10, I never finish my antibiotics.  If I am fine after 7 days then I don't take the 3 days that are left.


GO DUKE.

Sauter du coq à l'âne

Sauter du coq à l'âne?
For sure Anne knows what this means.  Maybe XLMIC and maybe Chris K.

What does it mean? Well literally: "to jump from the rooster to the donkey", makes no sense I know.  It really means to jump from one subject to another.

Enf of French lesson.

Here's some Sauter du coq à l'âne:

- Ran 3 miles today.  I did a tempo run.  Wanted to see if it is easier outside than on the treadmill.  Turns out it was.  Only problem is when I got home I realized it was too short for this week.  Was supposed to be 40 min tempo.  I ran 3 miles in 28 min.  Today I was supposed to do just 3 miles easy and tomorrow the 40 min tempo.  Tomorrow I am on the treadmill so I will do some intervals to make up for the shorter speedwork from today.  I can do intervals on treadmill but tempo it is better outside.  I am much slower on the treadmill then I am outside that is for sure.

- I got my personalized bib for Neil's  May 1st, 2011, Cool Kids Virtual Marathon!

The real one is in color, I just ran out of ink and I cannot  figure out how to upload the Pdf file to this post.  The blond hair on my head, all natural.  Anyway I love my bib! Thank you Neil!

- I sent my brackets.  Let's just say that me and the President of the USA don't agree.

Here's his pick.  Ohio over Duke.  I don't think so.  Kansas? Maybe.  I got them winning in one bracket and DUKE on the other.  I think it will be Duke/Kansas on the last day.  Oh and Aztecs all the way to Elite 8 Mister President.

I got these from school today.  They made me happy.  California's next top model? Just kidding!!!

Ode to my Maggie

First the running portion of this post:
4 miles today.  I did not feel like running at all at first.  I almost gave in to going to Starbucks with the other moms...but..........I DIDN'T!
First mile I felt so slow and my legs felt heavy, I thought OK let's just do the 3 miles I have Wednesday today and do the 4 on Wednesday.  LAME.   But by miles 2 all was better and I did the 4 miles like I had planned. 
---------
Last week:
WEEK 5Mon: 4 miles: 4 miles
Tue: stretch and strength + XT: stretch and abs + arms and 30 min bike
Wed: 3 miles: 3 miles
Thu: Speedwork: 7x400 at 5k pace: did 7x400m. 5 miles total.
Fri: REST: REST
Sat: XT or 3 miles: 3 miles
Sun: 7 miles: 7 milestotal: 22 miles
 WEEK 6Mon: 4 miles: 4 miles :)
Tue: stretch and strength + XT:
Wed: 3 miles
Thu: Speedwork: tempo 40 min yikes!
Fri: REST:
Sat: XT or 3 miles:
Sun: 8 miles:
--------------
I signed up for Neil's  May 1st, 2011, Cool Kids Virtual Marathon!!!
Did you? 
It is the closest I will come to be in a Marathon "race"
ha ha!!!
---------------

Today my beloved Maggie, best dog in the whole wide world,  is turning 9!
I waited 30 yrs to get a dog.
When I was 3 I started asking for a dog.  For my birthday, for Christmas, for Valentine, for Easter,  for good grades,  you name it.
I got NO every time, even got from my mom "it's me or a dog" and I had to think about it for a minute.  I was 7. 
So anyway, I finally got my dog at the young age of 33!
She is THE BEST, well worth the wait.

First day we brought her home!

 With Will when he was just a tiny peanut!

That is Will when he was 2! Mags was 4.

 HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAGGIE!!!

Now time to go work on serious stuff: MY BRACKETS!
In case you missed my post yesterday: My heart belongs to DUKE!