it's been a good ride

Friday and Saturday marked the end of my coaching career.  I took 9 swimmers to the State meet. We had two 7th place finishes, along with swimmers placing 13th, 31st, 24th, 10th, 32nd, 14th, and 28th.  An awesome way to end!

I have been the head coach of this team for 9 years, was an assistant of the cross town (semi) rivals for 2 years before that.  More than a third of my life has been spent coaching and I'm only 31.  I have either been on this team as a swimmer or coached this team (with the exception of 4 years) since the team first began. It has very much been a part of my life.



It's a little surreal right now. It will be weird the next few weeks with no practices.  But it will really set in next year when practices are going on and I'm not there at all.  I plan on staying connected with the team and helping in any way that I can.

At the meet thee were two coaches who wore some interesting attire.  Their school colors are red and blue.  Friday they blue and white checkered pants.  Saturday was a red diamond pattern.  See below. 

Our colors are black and gold so I found some overalls that my assistant, who is taking over next year, could wear. Unfortately, I dont think he is a fan of the idea.  :)

one of those days

today was one of "those" days. one of those days where nothing has gone right and all you want to do is cry over absolutely nothing. 

woke up to an email, text, and phone call from my athletic director that one of my swimmers is failing and unless he pulls his grade up by Friday, he can not swim in the state meet on Friday.  the kid is in a relay with 3 other kids, i have no alternates this year. the one year i dont have an alternate just in case something happens - i need one!  hoping that he can get his stuff turned in and his grades up by friday.  he is right on the border so it can be done.

then there was some confusion with a new medicine I am supposed to start taking in a week or so. i switched to a new dr's office and although i felt like the dr knew what he was doing, not so much with the nurse that helped me check out.  she didnt explain things well.  but we finally got that straightened out but not before ending up in tears.

came home, watched biggest loser (always a tear jerker) then took a nap with jeremy after a quick trip to walmart.  i had planned on running today but didnt have much time before i needed to start getting ready for work myself. after jeremy went to work, i decided to hop on the tmill anyway. although what i really wanted to do was just stay in bed. i used the garmin footpod for the first time on the tmill.  and what do you know? the treadmill was off!  i only did 1 mile (remember i was short on time). the tmill said i was at .9, when the garmin hit 1.0.  not as off as much as i thought, but it seemed the faster i went the more it was off.  i'm sure for running faster and for longer it would have shown a bigger difference. 

and to top it off i am really struggling with the no chocolate today!  the stress from the day is making it harder to resist.  but i have been strong and still no chocolate even though i was given 5 brownies!  i gave them away as quick as i could.  thankful for hungry college students!

What do you do to get you through "those" days?

Nook Update and 4+ miles

Thursday night after I posted "Nook Problems" my husband came home and i was explaining it all to him, showing him what it WOULDN'T do and what do you know? It worked, of course! :) I dont know what I did differently that time than all the other times in the hour and a half before, but whatever it was it finally worked.  I took my nook by Barnes and Noble yesterday and explained it to the person at the nook counter and he said bc of high winds this week their own wifi had been down and maybe that was part of the problem, he also said some routers dont connect well to the nook.  I downloaded a book there in the store to see if it would pull the same stuff it did on Thursday, but it worked fine and downloaded within a couple minutes.  :)

Moving along to Saturday.... I had a 5 mile planned and semi-mapped out. Turns out my 5 mile run was actually only 4.38 miles long.  Being my longest run in a month (3 miles was 4 weeks ago) I figured 4+ was close enough.

I did have one major victory - I only walked twice the whole 4 miles!!!  One time I walked it was bc there were about 3 dogs running and barking a couple yards down and i wasn't sure what they were going to do, the other time it was bc i needed to walk. Usually on my long runs I run 4, walk 1.  This was a vast improvement over that. Of course my pace was slower, not sure if that's bc it was only my fourth time running in 3 weeks or if it was bc i cut out the walk breaks.....

Funny side note, my husband and I bought an entire box of Gu a couple weeks ago, before i started my 'no chocolate' kick.  guess what flavor of gu we bought?  yep, you guessed it  - chocolate! luckily i did have one pineapple roctane one left so i took it along with my raspberry gu brew!

I ran on Saturday with a couple friends, Katie and Rhonda, for the first time. It was nice to run again with people.  I had missed that. The last time I ran with someone was last summer running with Twila. She actually ran on Saturday with my husband for 10 of her 18 miles.

Nook problems

Yesterday I got a nook. I have not been able to download any books.  It keeps either dropping the wifi connection or saying Que'd will complete later. 

I am so frustrated with it right now. I was so excited to get it but if this is how it is going to be all the time I wish I hadn't bought it!

Help!  Anyone know what is going on?

oh poo!

Today was absolutely gorgeous outside.  I even wore shorts and a short sleeve shirt to the park today.  the wind was a little strong at times but managable. 

i started slower than i did on tuesday and really focused on trying to keep my breathing under control. which seemed to work for the short amount of time i ran. 


let me back up and say that it was one of those days where I knew i shouldnt run.  my stomach was giving me warning signs and i knew i should probably bike instead.  jeremy said "go on and run, you'll feel good afterwards". not the case, not today.  made it almost as far away from the bathrooms (most of the bathrooms are closed for winter) as i could be when it hit.  :(  i saw a port-a-potty close and started heading that way. NO TOILET PAPER!!  the closest open bathroom was a couple tenths away.  it was a LONG walk! blah! 

i drove home, leaving jeremy at the park.  not to worry he was running with his brother who had a car there.  he called to see where i was when he was done bc i was supposed to wait for him.  I told him next time I tell him i think i should bike instead, not to question me. 


on a positive note today, my new Nook came in the mail!  i am very excited to get it! i have used a kindle before, but not a Nook.  I'm sure i will like it just as much!  yay for fun toys to make up for poopy days! (pun intended)

I just finished reading The Book Thief. Before that I read 4 of the 6 Percy Jackson and the Olympian books, so the last 2 will probably be the first 2 things I buy.  I am reading on and off Chicken Soup for the Runners Soul.  I like that I can read it inbetween other books.

Any suggestions for books? 

Just a Run in the Park

Yesterday I went for a run in the park.  This was my first run this winter that was not on the treadmill (other than the tri in Jan).  It was harder than the treadmill of course.  The park has those pesky hills that I hate.  I actually changed my route so I wouldnt have to run up the worst one.  It was a beautiful day for a run though! The sun was out and it was around 50 degrees.

The park has a pond in the middle of it where there are about 20-30 resident ducks and geese.  They made it a little tricky to run due to dodging duck and goose poo on the paved path. 

 The black/brown spots are the duck/goose poo. It wasn't as bad in the area as it was on the other end of the pond. 

I used my Garmin footpod (another running related Christmas present) for the first time yesterday while at the park.  I haven't used it yet bc I thought it had to be calibrated outside first before I could use it on the treadmill. Since I hadn't run outside this winter it hasn't been used.  Apparently you could calibrate it outside but it didnt have to be done. Whoops. 2 months of not using it bc I misread DC Rainmaker's directions!
:( But now I am ready to go either way and can use the footpod inside on the treadmill to see exactly how much that sucker is off by.

Going off today's outside run though, it's not off as much as i would have thought. :(  I really struggled the first mile and a half to catch my breath.  Not used to the cold air, wind, hills I guess. I was huffing and puffing. I did focus on my breathing trying to get it under control.  It helped some.  Finally I settled in and my breathing seemed to ease.  Unfortunately at this point I only had less than 5 minutes of my run left to do!  Not a PR run by any stretch of the means but it did make me realize I need to get OUTSIDE and run when I can rather than running on the tmill.

Being Tested

I started over on my "no chocolate" for 21 days.  It hasn't been easy, especially with Valentines Day yesterday!

My sweet mother-in-law brought over a bag of goodies for us. Mainly chocolate...of course.

One of the student workers where I work brought me a gigantic cupcake with chocolate frosting.  I was seriously tempted to just scrape off the frosting and eat the cupcake part.  But I was good and took the cupcake home for Jeremy to eat!  He saved me one of his raspberry cheesecake cookies from subway, so we traded.

I will succeed this time! The sooner I succeed, the sooner I can eat chocolate again! Ha!  I'm thinking of celebrating by either going to the Melting Pot for some peanut butter/chocolate fondue or a mint chocolate cake from Twisted Sifter. 

one happy camper

The past two days I have been with my high school swim team at the regional meet.  This is my last season as coach (due to my work schedule it just isnt feasible anymore). Boy did we go out with a BANG!

One of the kids that I have coached since 6th grade is now a senior.  He won both of his events and broke the school record in both of them! Records that have stood since 1997 and 1998!  One of my other boys (also a senior) won one of his events, came in second in the other.  He broke the school records in both them and even set the regional record in one! Both boys qualified for the state meet and are ranked in the top 5! I had one girl (a jr) get second in both her events and qualify for state and get school records in those events as well.   I had 3 relays qualify for state as well.  a total of 9 kids going to state!

I can't tell you how PROUD I am of these kids! 

Darn Frosty

Yesterday my team had their regional meet, which lasted all day!!  We left at 9am and got back at 8:30pm. 
I slept 11 hours last night. Hopefully I will be well rested for today, the second day of the meet. 

After the meet last night we went to Wendy's as a team to eat before heading home.  Without realizing it until about 5 minutes ago (when I was thinking about what I had eaten yesterday), I ordered a frosty......a CHOCOLATE frosty! It seriously didnt even enter my head at all last night that it was chocolate!  Ahhh! I'm so mad at myself!!!  I even steered clear of the yummy, gooey looking brownies in the hospitality room yesterday because of my "no chocolate" undertaking. 

I guess my 21 days of chocolate officially starts over again today.  :( 

doing double

today was scheduled as a run day. when i got up though, i was not feeling a run.  i was however feeling a bike.  i hopped on and did an easy 4 miles on the bike while reading.  this was a first. i thought it would be difficult and i would lose my place in my book, but surprisingly i didnt!  it made the time pass much quicker too!

i fixed lunch, read some more, and decided that i really needed to get my run in today. if i didn't, it wouldnt happen tomorrow or friday either bc of my swimmers competing in their regional swim meet and me being gone all day. 

i was scheduled for 25 minutes.  walk 4, run 1.  it felt really good.  i haven't run in a week and a half so i was a little nervous as to how it would feel to get back on, but surprisingly it was a really good run.  so glad i made myself go on and do it.  i even pushed up the speed on the last 4 minute run and ended up running through the last one minute walk. 

this double workout made me feel a little less guilty for not working out yesterday.  hopefully it will ease my conscience for not working out tomorrow too.  i think i might be able to get in a bike ride on saturday morning before we leave, just depends.

Any of you read while working out on the treadmill or bike?

giving some love

to my dad who is celebrating his BIRTHDAY today!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!

cookie close call

Today my husband, brother in law, neice, and mother in law went to a local deli for lunch. At the counter they have homemade cookies - macadamia nut and chocolate chip - for sale. I thought to myself  "hmm, i can have the macadamia nut cookie because there's no chocolate in them!" 

Sitting at the table, my brother in law gives us one of the macadamia nut cookies he had bought.  Then as I started to unwrap the saran wrap it hit me.  White chocolate! No cookie for me! My husband was even sweet enough to ask my brother in law, who is a chef, if white chocolate came from cocoa.  He was trying to help me out and find a lovely loop hole.  No dice though, white chocolate comes from cocoa or so he said. 

Thanks for all your comments on my "No chocolate" post yesterday.  This really is going to be a challenge for me and I'll need your support for sure!

7:00 pm update - 2 ladies at my husbands work gave him cookies tonight. of course they are no bakes and have chocolate in them!  AHHH!

No more chocolate!

Earlier this week I had an epiphany. Well not really an ephiphany since I have known this all along. But it wasn't until my dear sweet loving husband said it outloud that made me say "duh".

Sweets are my down fall. Desserts are my weakness.  I have to have something sweet after every meal.  Whether it be a cereal bar, a WW ice cream treat, a bowl of cereal even.  That last one probably explains my weight problem. I mean really who eats a bowl of cereal after they have eaten their meal? 

I decided I would give up desserts for 21 days!  My friend introduced me to http://www.habitforge.com/.  Its a really neat website designed to help you break habits.  Word on the street is if you can do it for 21 days you can make it a habit.  You put in what habit you want to break and you will get an email each day for 21 days asking if you were successful or not.  You select yes or no.  If you answer no, then it resets and the 21 days starts over. 

My goal was no desserts for 21 days.  I knew this wouldnt really become a 'habit' bc I just can't go the rest of my life with no desserts, but I figure this will help me in the next few months anyway.  After one day, I decided this was not going to work, since I consider other normal foods a dessert (such as cereal bars), does this mean i couldnt eat them even for breakfast?  So, I refined my earlier declaration and have decided no more chocolate for the next 21 days.  No chocolate milk, no chocolate chip cookies, no miniture candy bars that my coworker keeps in a big tub in her office.  (She keeps one tub for chocolate and one for non-chocolate)  

 Normally it's full.  Since winter term finals were last week it's running a little low.

 I am going to stay out of the non chocolate tub too just to be on the safe side.


I can do this!

Week in Review and What to do?

1/30-2/6
Sunday - triathlon
Monday - rest day
Tuesday - also rest day (work and senior night swim meet)
Wednesday - another rest day (just plain lazy, took a nap instead of working out)
Thursday - 1200 yard swim
Friday - 8 miles on exercise bike
Saturday - 6 miles on exercise bike
Sunday - 1300 yard swim

As you can see this was not a running week.  It definitly wasn't planned to be a non-running week but that's just how it ended up. 

The next three weeks are going to be hard running weeks too.  Next weekend (all day friday and saturday) is the regional swim meet. The following weekend is my next triathlon. The following weekend (all day friday and saturday) is the state swim meet.  I'm in a quandry of what to do running wise for my long runs. 

Do I just do my long runs on Sunday the weekends I have my meets? Or just push back the long runs on my calendar?  I have a 2-3 weeks that I can adjust and cut out if needed. 

Do I skip the long run the weekend I have the triathlon or do my long run on Friday in hopes of being recovered for Sunday?

Nathan Training Log Review

Ever since Jeremy started running he has never logged any of his times, milage, pace, etc.  He didn't know how many miles he had run last year, how many hours/minutes.  It drove me crazy! He did know his best times for different distances, but nothing was on paper.

I on the other hand used Microsoft Publisher to keep track of my activities.  I still use it bc I like to see the big picture and plan ahead even if it changes.  But I wanted something that I could keep track of and that was more mobile.

Christmas at our house was very runner friendly.  One of the gifts that I got Jeremy (and myself) was a Nathan Training Log. 

Starting Jan. 1 for Jeremy and the following week for me, we have been writing down our milage, times, course, weight, etc.  We have both really like using it thus far.

The days go Monday-Sunday. It has columns for date, course, time, distance, pulse, weight, and notes across the top. At the bottom it has total, weekly average and your year to date  milage and time.  LOVE IT!

Below is a shot of mine from last week.  I have added to mine at the bottom.  I bike and swim as well as run and wanted to keep track of my weekly and yearly milage in those specific sports as well, so I added a couple columns to the bottom right to make it work for me even more.

I recommend the Nathan Training Log + if you dont currently use anything to keep track of the milage and times of your run. 

What do you use to keep track of your runs?
Do you like what you use?
Do you keep track of anything else that isn't on the log?