Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to all!
Going for a PM run today and then mid morning brick on New Years' Day!

What are you doing to celebrate?

Early Run

Just a quick note. Today's early run was cold, wet, foggy and asthma-inducing.

That being said, I did the typical 3 miles in 31 minutes.
Going to do another 3 tomorrow.

I listened to:
Beyonce, Crazy in Love
Depeche Mode, No Good
Depeche Mode, No Good*
Something I can't remember cause I was wheezing.
Janet Jackson, Rhythm Nation
Kanye West, Stronger
Katy Perry, I kissed a girl
Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch, Good Vibrations

*This song played twice in a row. Weird.

And the good news just keeps on coming!

I just started reading through all the e-mails from my inbox over the past week.

From my NEW thesis advisor I received an e-mail that read, "Hi Karen, I've read your thesis. With a few minor edits, I would be happy to approve it. Come see me the first week of next semester."

Uhm, WHOOOHOOOO!!

Finally--progress! As many of you know I took a great deal of time off of my training in late fall to try to scrape together my thoughts and get them to my new advisor.

I am so happy!!!

Awesome Week!

Happy Saturnalia, everyone! I hope everyone had an awesome week!

Santa brought me some cool workout gear so I was very happy with that! And the rugrat managed to score a bunch of triathlon gear (I found it at 60%-75% off!!) so she's stylin' in some zoot and descent clothing. She also got a camelbak, which we tried out on sunday.

I pulled out the ol' mountainbike, got geared up (new mountainbike jersey/shorts) and we all went for a mountain/trail ride on some single track around folsom lake. I cannot tell you how much fun I had. This time, I didn't break a rib when I fell down. I fell only once and that was into some nice soft bushes after the 5-year-old boy in front of me decided to stop his bike going uphill. I was trying to pass him just as he stopped and he started to lean to his left--just where I was passing him. So I bit it into some bushes, but got up and kept going. I didn't go too long but I really enjoyed it. Maybe I can figure out a way to go today after work. Hmmm.

Next weekend, a local multisport company is sponsering a FREE duathlon so workout partner and I are thinking about doing it and dragging at least two of the kids along to do it too. Nice FREE family fun.

That's it for now. Later.

Garmin 405 or 305 or none

I have a question about the new Garmin 405 and the older 305.

Are these waterproof? I am considering asking Santa [a-hem] for one but then I read somewhere that Garmin is not waterproof! If this is true, then do triathletes use them? I wanted one to use during all three legs of races/training. Am I totally mistaken about this issue? Does anyone use these products? If so, what are your impressions?

Blogger lost my account. Again.

I'm sorry I was gone for awhile. Blogger does not like me. They lost my account again.

Please bear with me as I regroup and try to find some old posts.
So many things happened while I was away!

Steve started doing the nordictrack dance
Carol began doing Yoga
Rebecca was in Triathlete Magazine!
Catra ran another 40,000+ miles
Misty started doing strength training
Xenia sent me the popener and I used it on a nice bottle of Guiness.

Have a good day everyone!

My 12 Pains of Running

Based on Diggin' It's post, I've created my own, 12 pains of running...

The 12 Pains of Running

The first pain of running the marathon gave to me
One gross blackened toenail

The second pain of running the marathon gave to me
Two arthritic knees
And one gross blackened toenail

The third pain of running the marathon gave to me
Third degree sunburns
Two arthritic knees
And one gross blackened toenail

The fourth pain of running the marathon gave to me
Four cramped calves
Third degree sunburns
Two arthritic knees
And one gross blackened toenail


The fifth pain of running the marathon gave to me
Five blood-y blisters!
Four cramped calves
Third degree sunburns
Two arthritic knees
And one gross blackened toenail

The sixth pain of running the marathon gave to me
Six stiffend illio-psoas muscles
Five blood-y blisters!
Four cramped calves
Third degree sunburns
Two arthritic knees
And one gross blackened toenail

The seventh pain of running the marathon gave to me
Seven miles of ITB pain
Six stiffend illio-psoas muscles
Five blood-y blisters!
Four cramped calves
Third degree sunburns
Two arthritic knees
And one gross blackened toenail

The eighth pain of running the marathon gave to me
Eight GU-flavored burps
Seven miles of ITB pain
Six stiffend ilio-psoas muscles
Five blood-y blisters!
Four cramped calves
Third degree sunburns
Two arthritic knees
And one gross blackened toenail


The ninth pain of running the marathon gave to me
Nine side-stitches
Eight GU-flavored burning burps
Seven miles of ITB pain
Six stiffend ilio-psoas muscles
Five blood-y blisters!
Four cramped calves
Third degree sunburns
Two arthritic knees
And one gross blackened toenail


The tenth pain of running the marathon gave to me
Ten minutes of runners trots
Nine side-stitches
Eight GU-flavored burning burps
Seven miles of ITB pain
Six stiffend ilio-psoas muscles
Five blood-y blisters!
Four cramped calves
Third degree sunburns
Two arthritic knees
And one gross blackened toenail

The eleventh pain of running the marathon gave to me
Eleven noseblows
Ten minutes of runners trots
Nine side-stitches
Eight GU-flavored burning burps
Seven miles of ITB pain
Six stiffend ilio-psoas muscles
Five blood-y blisters!
Four cramped calves
Third degree sunburns
Two arthritic knees
And one gross blackened toenail


The twelfth pain of running the marathon gave to me
Twelve debilitating coughs
Eleven noseblows
Ten minutes of runners trots
Nine side-stitches
Eight GU-flavored burning burps
Seven miles of ITB pain
Six stiffend ilio-psoas muscles
Five blood-y blisters!
Four cramped calves
Third degree sunburns
Two arthritic knees
And one gross blackened toenail

4 a.m. run and the hulk

Began my 4:30 a.m. runs again today. It was really tough getting out
of the nice warm bed to go into 34 degree weather. Really tough.

Dressed in layers--something I haven't done in a long time. Thick REI
tights, REI longsleeve top and then a short sleeve top over that--and
a running jacket, with earwarmer, and gloves.

Had hot coffee, a chocolate gu and water. Hooked IPOD to my ears and was off.

Within half a mile I was sweating. Since I was easing into my running,
we only did 2 miles and at the turn around point I shed the jacket and
tied it around my waist. Perfect.

Pretty slow today--1 mile was at 9:30 and the way back was a lot
slower, 10:25 or something like that. But hell it is a start and my TP
(training partner) said she thought I did well all things considered.

That's it. Going to CIM expo to meat Dirt Diva, Catra tomorrow--even
though I am not running, I am going to pick up the $95T-shirt I got
for registering. :) My friends told me I'm not supposed to wear a
shirt unless I actually COMPLETE the race, but "eff'em". If I pay $95
for a race, I'm wearing the damn shirt.

Oh, here is something pretty funny. Last night I went shopping at the
local mall. I wanted to buy something for myself--a dress
specifically--that I've been eyeing for a month or so now. It was
originally $175, then went down to $99, then to $59 and yesterday I
got the Banana Republic e-mail that it was $39.99!!! I called my local
BR and asked if they had the dress in stock in two sizes (I wasn't
sure which size I would be). They said, "yes, we'll hold both sizes
for you."

So I raced to BR. I skipped to the dressing room with the two dresses.
I put the smaller of the two dresses on. Common sense would have told
me that since I struggled so much to get it on, it wouldn't be pretty
trying to get it off. As I've said before, I have wide shoulders/back.
So I managed to get the dress on. (You all see where this is going,
don't you?)

Then I couldn't get the dress off.

I struggled, I squirmed I tried to pull it over my shoulders, but
everytime I did that my arm/shoulder muscles felt like there were
tournaquets on them. So I tried to pull it down over my hips. Nope. So
there I was stuck. I tried again. I opened the dressing room door and
looked out. For once, a sales "Mosquito" wasn't buzzing around asking
if I needed help. Great. I peered out further into the store, but I
couldn't see anyone.

So I went back into the dressing room and did something bad. Really bad.

I flexed my back muscles and the damn dress tore. Not the seam--THE FABRIC.
6 inch gash down the back of the dress.
I was able to finally get out of the dress. I hung it up on the
hanger, got dressed and went out to find a sales person to tell. I
felt bad that I tore it.
I couldn't find anyone except one woman behind the counter who was on
the phone with her boyfriend for 5 minutes. She kept talking while I
waited and I got annoyed.

So I put the dress back in the dressing room and left.

I'm not sure if I should cut back on the swimming or what.
When I got home, my repeated the story to hubby and 13 year old who
promptly reminded me that two years ago I tried on a shirt at a store
and --again tried to squeeze into it. The top two buttons popped off
and flew across the dressing room.

Nice. Thanks for reminding me.

Stinky Sweaty Workout

Last night I headed to the gym and did my first weight workout in ..
uhm... well nearly 2 years I think.

I did the circuit training route, carefully avoiding anything heavy
for my upper arms-shoulders since, according to hubby I am freakishly
huge in my arms, shoulders and back. So I mostly did legs.

Squats, the QUAD burner, adductor/abductor machine, and hamstring
machine were my friends. Then they were my frenemies. Then ultimately,
after the third set, my enemies.

I tried to convince my workout partner to do "TWENTY-ONE" but she
refused since it would require us walking across the gym to some mats.
So we did 100 situps instead.

I noticed that the "Adductor/Abductor" machine directly faces the
"wall" of treadmill machines and LUCKY FOR ME the treadmills were full
of men staring. Great. Nice. Twenty-year old, pimply faced freaks
staring as my training partner and I spread our legs then closed our
legs. Training Partner(TP)got embarrased and put her bright pink hand
towel between her legs--like THAT didn't call attention to our
discomfort.

I don't go to the gym much to do weights --like I said above-- and I
am wondering--does it ALWAYS stink like that? Every so often someone
would walk by or we would pass them and a malodorous FUNK permeated my
nostrils. Seriously, you could almost see a green tinged amorphous gas
trailing them. I wanted to say, "Eww. Really? You stink that bad from
doing weights? What the hell do you eat?"

Anyway, I was going to do a run at 4:30 this morning but decided to
bag it. I was just too worn out after the weights--maybe thursday I'll
do a run.

Workouts Commence

I turned in my feces, oh, I mean thesis, Monday (11/24) to my new
advisor. He said he would take a look and let me know what more I need
to do in order to finish SOON!

So now i'm back to working out. Funny thing is, I don't want to do it.
I've become accustomed to being fat and lazy. My gut hangs over my
jeans now -- my 13year old informed me it is called a "muffin-top".
Great I hate muffins.

Evenings are punctuated by a glass of red wine.
Or 2. Maybe 3 if it is friday. At 125 calories a glass, that is a lot
of extra "junk in the trunk" (another euphamism that my 13 year old
used to describe me. Nice.)

On Saturday I ran 1.2 miles in 16 minutes. Slow. I ran with the 13
year old and we walked a few times. We both had really great moods
after though.

On Sunday I swam 14 laps in the pool--how far is that? 50X14=700 yards
so almost half-mile.

Today, I'm going to hit the gym for some weights and maybe a little
crossfit. I think I'll try the TWENTY-ONE.

"Twenty-One"
20 push-ups/1 sit-up
19 push-ups/2 sit-ups
18 push-ups/3 sit-ups
17 push-ups/4 sit-ups
16 push-ups/5 sit-ups
15 push-ups/6 sit-ups
14 push-ups/7 sit-ups
13 push-ups/8 sit-ups
12 push-ups/9 sit-ups
11 push-ups/10 sit-ups
10 push-ups/11 sit-ups
9 push-ups/12 sit-ups
8 push-ups/13 sit-ups
7 push-ups/14 sit-ups
6 push-ups/15 sit-ups
5 push-ups/16 sit-ups
4 push-ups/17 sit-ups
3 push-ups/18 sit-ups
2 push-ups/19 sit-ups
1 push-up/20 sit-ups

Hopefully will start running again at 4:30 a.m. soon.

I have to admit I am a little bummed--Sunday December 7 is California
International Marathon. I am registered but not running. I'm really
sad about it and trying to figure out how to mark the occasion. I may
do a long run on the american river bike trail--just to get out and
see nature and celebrate that my legs still work, and my heart is
still beating.
What do you think?