TNT Weeks 15 & 16

The last 2 weeks of training have been fairly easy as far as distance...4 and 5 miles. The only struggle I had was with the heat and humidity! I waited too late in the day to run and it was horrible. I was dreading the 6am marathon start time, but I'm actually glad now because it will be cool. I fly out tomorrow and I am so excited for the trip. I'm a little nervous about the run, but hopefully all the training I've done is enough. Everyone is asking me what my goal time is and my goal is to finish!! If I decide to do a second one, then I might pay attention to my time and pace. Wish me luck!

*an update on Miss Bella.....she's huge!! and has shown some signs of labor so she should deliver any time now. I hope I'm still here to be with her.

Spoke Too Soon

You may remember me telling you about this crazy love-making machine and his lovely rocket pocket that was 100% bullet-proof????

Well, it was either operator error or he has magically flying bullets because I now have a dog that looks like this:

Due next weekend while I'm in San Diego for my marathon. Thanks kids.

TNT Week 13, 14

Week 13: 4 miles. Piece of cake. Not too much to say about that!

Week 14: 10 miles. This is the longest distance we will run until the big race. I was dreading it. I had to do it on my own since it was my weekend to work. I was nervous and had so much anxiety about my knee and being able to finish. I've been seeing Dr. Jesse who has been working on my knee and this was the true test. I had all my run gear ready: water, Gatorade, energy jelly beans and gummies, ipod, garmin, and cool comfortable clothing. I decided to try a new trail here in Olathe. My friend Theresa was coming to ride her bike along with me to keep me company and give me a push. I started ahead of her. I don't think I ran a half mile and I was already lost. I ended up in a neighborhood and the trail just stopped. I turned around and thought I was heading back to where I started, but was stopped by a flooded bridge so had to turn around again! I finally found my way back to my car and decided to take the trail the opposite direction. I don't know how Theresa found me, but she did and it was a quick 2 miles out of the way just trying to find the right path to stay on. Having her there really helped. Chatting with her kept my mind off of the long distance that seemed almost impossible to finish. I must be in better shape than what I thought because I finished the 10 miles without stopping and felt fabulous! Didn't even feel out of breath! My knees were a little sore, but it was so nice to run without the constant worry of them giving out on me. Thank you Dr. Jesse!! You really are a miracle worker! Beginning this journey I thought there was no way I was going to be able to do this. After today I know I can......and I WILL! I'm excited about the race and the weekend in San Diego. Not too excited about the 6:15am race time. Can you believe that? They start shuttling people to the race at 4:15am!!! Now if I only didn't have $1200 left to raise......and only 7 days to do it. I wasn't expecting to donate that much of my own money in order to do this. People really surprise you when it comes to asking for donations. If anything I thought they would be glad to in order to help ME out.

Family Vacation 2010

We just returned from a wonderful family cruise to Puerto Rico, St. Thomas, and St. Maarten. We went to celebrate mom and dad's 40th wedding anniversary and their birthdays! Here are some of my favorite photos. In San Juan we took a bus tour and learned about the different forts and history with the United States. We were also able to take a segway tour which was a lot of fun. Dad was the trouble maker on wheels and made our tour guide nervous. While on St. Thomas we went snorkeling at Turtle Cove. It was a lot of fun and they served up boos and tattoos on the way back to shore. On St. Maarten we took a fun-mobile tour around the island and stopped at the beach. It wasn't a "nude" beach but there were a lot of topless women walking around and of course I had to take pictures, but I'll leave this post PG. We had some relaxing days on the ship and enjoyed the nightly entertainment and activities. It was so nice to escape work for awhile and enjoy some R&R with the family.

TNT Week 12

Pretty short run today at 5 miles. We met at Shawnee park and for those of you who haven't been there it is hilly!! We ran around the lake up and down the hills, and oh man were those hills torture! In my head all I could hear was my mom yelling "Beat the hill ladies, beat the hill!"

Catch Up - TNT weeks 9, 10, 11

Yes, I know, I've been slacking......but not on my training! I've had a lot going on the past few weeks and I just returned from a relaxing week on a cruise to the Caribbean ( that will have to be a different post!). So, my training the last few weeks has been:

Week 9: 8 miles. I thought I was going to die. By the end of the run I could barely stand up my knees hurt so bad. Any type of incline was unbearable and stairs were impossible. I have a lot of problems with my IT band and it takes me a long time to recover. This was my main worry when beginning this training; I wasn't sure my knee was going to hold out. One of my high school friends is a physical therapist so she gave me some exercises to try. Hopefully with her help I won't experience so much pain.

Week 10: 4 miles. I thought this was going to be a piece of cake compared to the 8 miles the week before. Wrong!! It seemed like 8 miles was easier (minus the excruciating knee pain at the end). What the heck!!

Week 11: 9 miles. On a cruise ship. No. Way. My coach suggested I run 5 miles one day, 5 miles the next. Overall I was pretty satisfied with my working out while on vacation. I made it to the gym 4 days. The 5 miles were a challenge, not to mention the sore muscles and blisters from the constant swaying of the tread mill, my thighs rubbing together, burping and sharting from the morning buffet, etc., etc., but this was my view so can't complain too much

TNT Week 8- The weather man lied!

I missed the team training this weekend since I had to work. I have Fridays off when this happens so I usually make up my long runs then. It wasn't a bad run this week; only 4 miles. There was a chance of rain Friday, but my trusty weatherman said it wasn't supposed to hit until 10 or 11am. It was about 9 when I went out so I wasn't worried. I knew I would be back in 40 minutes or less before the rain came. I headed west on my run.......it looked really dark ahead of me, but I knew I could make it. I hit my 2 mile turn around marker and started making my way back home. I was in the clear now.......so I thought! I felt a few drops.....no big deal. Then out of nowhere this horrific wind came! Signs and debris started flying everywhere. I was going with the wind and it was blowing so hard I couldn't keep up. I was sprinting so fast and I felt like I was flying. I couldn't stop! And then the rain came. It was pounding and I was still over a mile from home. Out of nowhere I saw a Fastenal truck go by. DEVIN!!!! He was out on deliveries and just happened to be going down the road I was on. He pulled over and I couldn't get to the truck fast enough. The wind was so strong I couldn't get the door open and once I did his papers went flying!! Thank goodness he came, but then he tells me..."I didn't know whether I should stop or not"........WHAT??? REALLY?? With my stubborn and competitive attitude he thought I would get mad if he interrupted my run and didn't allow me to finish. On the news later I found out the wind was 70mph!! Trampolines were blown away and even roofs were blown off. Yep. And I was out running. The weather man lied.