Feeeling Better

Wow. Whatever little nasty bug bit me, it sure bit hard. After feeling bad for almost 10 days I have been gradually trying to get back into the swing of things.
The first baby step was the Berbee Derby on Thanksgiving Day. That went pretty good, the 5K instead of the 10 but still a step in the right direction.
Friday I carried the admission referral pager and after going into work for a few hours, Mike and I headed out to do some shopping on Black Friday. We found a couple things -mostly for us- and realized that the Christmas shopping was going nowhere fast.
Saturday we went into Madison for a different bunch of stores. We actually got much of our shopping taken care of with just of couple of the nieces and cousins yet to find something for (TEENAGERS are SOOOO hard to shop for!!!). Not bad for a days work. Between shopping and laundry I didn't get much else done. Feeling guilty about it on Sunday, I climbed on the spinner while the football was going and I don't think anyone in the house even noticed I had left the room to watch chick flicks and Lifetime from the saddle for almost an hour.
Tonight we went to Marshall for the SWAT swim workout. I just plain love swimming. Did 2300 in an hour of drills and it felt awesome. I could have done another 2300 - it felt that good - but Mikey bailed out of the pool 400 before I did as it was and I am sure I'd have ended up walking the 10 miles home if I had even tried. But I thought about it......just for a second.
I have GOT to start running again outside. I have put it off and put it off and put it off. It's time to quit wussing out and get out there. But not tomorrow. Tomorrow I have Leadership, a monthly meeting that is always a marathon session, I'll be lucky to be home by 5 (ICK).

Save Second Base with a simple Click of the Mouse

Click here and go to the Breast Cancer Site and click on the icon to donate a mammogram, your vivst is tallied and is used to provide mammograms to women in need.
Everyone knows someone affected by this disease - a wife, a friend, a mother, a grandmother. heplp be part of the front line of prevention.
Do It. Do It. DO.IT.

The Fastest Thanksgiving Day Parade.... a/k/a The Berbee Derby

The past few days I have been feeling gunky, crappy, feverish, and generally like poo. I have snuck in a few rounds of yoga, but that's about all the strenuous activity I've felt like doing. So the past few days I have been wrestling with what to do about our Thanksgiving Day race. We had planned to do the 10K at the Berbee Derby, but after honestly assessing my current status, we opted for the 5K instead. On the positive side, I have a camparison to last year but I also really wanted to do 10's as much as possible from here on out.

Got up early and spent a half hour hacking and blowing the gunk out of my nose and lungs - (where does all that crap come from overnight???? I just don't get it!). It was a balmy 26 degrees outside, so we loaded up on the cold gear to get ready. It snowed a little yesterday, just a dusting really and overnight the slushies had frozen so there was a sheet of ice under the snow to boot.

My mom and dad pulled up to come along and spectate. My mom got out of the car and asked "are you sure you guys want to do this??" - funny. My sister pulled up a minute or so later, and off we went to Madison.

Here we are in the "staging area." I think we all have about 4 layers on and it was still nippy out.

This is our little group before the run started. R->L: my sisters friend Audrey, Mike, Michele, and me.

After a while we got started and it was a nice course, kind of hilly which I recalled from last year. I was moving along pretty good, but had to stop a couple times to walk a little, just the effects of the past week catching up with me.

I looked around at the finish line area for my mom and dad but really there were so many people I just couldn't see them. My dad was on picture duty along the finish. My mom got recruited to strip chips at the finish. Had I known, I would have found her to strip mine!

It was cool that they came to watch - it's always good to have a fan club. Next time we need to get them some bells! I realized standing at the end of the chute waiting for Michele and Audrey that my pants felt weird. I had on 2 pair of lycra pants - blue tights with some looser Adidas pants over the top. While I was running I thought I felt the pants slipping down so I kept yanking them up while I ran. While I was standing there, I looked down to notice I was blue tights from the knees down and I had yanked the overpants up to my knees, all bunched up at the crotch, thereby discovering why I was getting a few funny looks.

Final time by my Garmin: 35:36

Official Time: 35:42 (5K: 1376/1639 overall, age group-87/113 )

Not to shabby for Mrs. Cough-y.

Then we quickly drove home to finish the Turkey Day spread. Mike and I did all the prep Wed night so all we had to do was have the kids pop the buzzard in the oven while we were gone, then we had to stick the dishes in the oven or turn on the crock pots when we got home, quick shower up and voila - dinner was served! Went pretty slick to do all the prep ahead - I think I will do that again for sure.

Here is a pic of Mike and I, my mom and my nephew Jacob draining the drippings from the bird to make gravy. Mike poked a hole in the side of the aluminum roaster and made a stream into a sauce pan. Kinda messy but it worked.

It wouldn't be a Keeney meal without the obligatory picture of the food. The meal was really good and we were thankful to be able to share it with family.

This is my niece Izzy, who will be one in a couple weeks. She is so fun!

After dinner, we played some Scene It and other TV trivia games. Here are Lucas and Michele gloating over their win.. I think they cheated.

Ugh..... a sick day

We seriously need to have a discussion about what I meant when I said it is just polite to share. I really didn't mean to have head colds included in that sharing thing. Please file that one for future reference. Also exclude other fun stuff like cholera, TB, hepatitis........... I think you get the idea.

This is what I feel like today so I am going to load up on Zicam and Aireborne and head to bed.

I Hate Conference Day

Nick is good kid, very smart. He does well on his tests and doesn't turn in homework.

Lucas is a diligent student, does what is expected of him, and is a little too social at times.

I spent 2 1/2 hours hearing this today. I knew it before I got out of bed.

Back on the Road Again

Lately I will admit I have felt a little like a slacker. I look at my activity calendar for FitDay and see that there are several weeks where I only did 3 or 4 days of activity, far less than the 5-6 days/week I strive for. I still am striving for 1600-1800 calories a day, but finding the "extra treat" days are coming more frequently. My Google-15 weight average is creeping up a couple pounds too.
So, I made sure to get in a 6 day week for the second week in a row.
Today, I made up for yesterdays off day by hitting it hard. After work I did:
- 35 minutes of power yoga
-45 minutes on the spinner (alternating sprints, stand drills, SLPs)
-30 minutes of strength training at the Y using the Cybex machines
- 1+ hours of SWAT swim practice drill work

I need a focus for the upcoming months, especially the rest of November through Christmas/New Years since it is easy to get off track then with everything that goes on.
I ordered some more yoga and pilates videos from Amazon as well as a couple training books. Lucas is going to teach me some Ab work drills from football.
I will stay on the good eating wagon and get through the season. I will break through my plateau and lose that last 20 pounds. When I get there, I will reward myself with a Plastics consult to talk about trimming of all the hangy skin. (Someday I'll post a pic - it's gross...)

Football Abs reminded me: One day when I was feeling sore last week, Lucas was going to teach me some of the "stretches" they do for football. The first was "inchworm", which really was Cobra Pose. Then he showed me a relaxation stretch- I know it as Childs Pose. He showed me a stretch they call the teepee or something.......... also know in yoga circles as Downward Dog. Funny how they manned up those yoga poses with manly-man names and called them stretches. Struck me funny. It's still YOGA!

Much Ado about Nothing..... a/k/a the story of my life

Friday was a day off for me, mandated by the best boss lady ever after a stressful week.
As many of you know, I am the DON of a busy subacute rehab unit and we are subject to a lot of regulatory rigamarole, including among other things our annual state survey. This is usually a grueling 3 days of state surveyors crawling all over your patient records, policies, and procedures in conjunction with grilling and observations of the staff, and of me. In years past I have actually had surveyors waiting outside the bathroom to "talk to me for a few minutes" ........ very stressful and intense, something I DREAD every year. They come every year, unannounced due 3 months before our anniversary date through 6 months after - so basically anytime, all year. We started the week off with a surprise visit from 3 surveyors. Needless to say, it was a rough start to the week - I was high stress and high maintenance. The first day, I made it a point to find out where the leftover Halloween party candy stash was and weaseled a few Pixie Stix from it for myself.
It was interesting - only about a day and half and nothing but good things to say about how we perform. We even got a request to share some of our procedures for them to train others in Best Practices. So, we were clinically Citation-Free for the 3rd year in a row which is a pretty impressive accomplishment - Pretty Cool. My administrator Lee Ann basically told me I had better take Friday off to relax, which I gladly did. Besides a little "Me Time," it got me away from those Pixie Stix....... God I hope they are all gone by Monday.........
So, since I was home Friday all by myself while all the men in my life were at work or school, I slept in a little bit, made a little breakfast, and set off for Jenny's day of fun. I spent a little time

o the puter catching up, waiting for it to warm up enough hang out outside a while. After the kids were home on their lunch break, I bundled up and took my bike out for a spin.
It's funny that my kids now know exactly what I'm doing by how I'm dressed. I came downstairs in my Trek cold gear with my booties in my hands and Lucas says "I hope ya have a good ride." It was nippy, but I have some good cold weather gear so the chill was kept away for the most part. I tell ya, those neoprene shoe booties are the bomb. I have been neglecting old Angelina lately, so I did about 25 miles, about as much cold as I could take. Not only was it cold, it was windy. It's amazing how much of a wind break the cornfields are. Now that they are all knocked down and plowed under, there was absolutely NO protection and the wind was just a-whipping. I felt like I was putting out 20 mph effort most of the time and I would look down at the Garmin and it would read like 9. WTH?? I averaged about 15 I think, but RPE was at like a 9 or 10. It was really kind of fun. I am contemplating doing Frozen Fools this year if Janet is out of her back brace in time so I guess I better get used to it.
When I got home, I ate a little lunch, thawed out, and headed to the den for some Yoga videos. I really like to do that stuff (actually I like Pilates better than yoga though), but I sure feel like a klutz tying myself up in knots and falling over. Mike got home mid-video and laughed at me which didn't make it any easier to balance. next thing you know he is snapping off pictures of me in Downward Dog and Warrior Pose. I think perhaps they are headed for some underground site for people who like to laugh at people doing stupid things. Whatever dude - I know where you sleep and paybacks are a bitch!
I wanted to take a nice long run and make my day sort of my own multisport day, not really a triathlon. I was calling it The Trifecta in my head. My run was quickly vetoed by the boss man as "we have stuff to do." That translates into I have a lot of piddly crap to run around and do and it is essential yo come and watch. Whatever - I went along. I guess that makes it The Bifecta?? I don't know, it was a relaxing fun day anyhow. Lucas had a pile of friends over so we just hung around home and watched movies, just to be sure no one blew the roof off the house or anything.
Today I had every intention of going to the SWAT pancake run. They start from the library about 8am run for an hour or so then eat breakfast at a little restaurant next to the library. My big plan was to leave the house at 7, run the 4 miles from my house to the library, run with the group, eat a little breakfast, then run home, making it both an outing with the group and a nice long run on my LSD run day. Well the best laid plans............
I am not a morning person. Seriously not. The alarm went off at 0645. I slunk out of bed, let the dogs out for a minute, saw that there was frost all over the ground, and went back to bed "for another 5 minutes." I had every intention of going to the group run. I just could NOT get my crack out of the sack to do it. COULD.NOT.DO.IT. We finally crawled grudgingly out of bed at 0930 and took off shortly thereafter for a 6 miler or so. We were gonna run it together, but my hip was bothering me again so I got off to a fartleky start and waved Mike on ahead since I know that drives him crazy when I do that. ended up getting on about 6 1/4 miles in at a less than lightning fast pace, but they were forward movement so I'll take it.
Tomorrow is supposed to be up to like 60 again, so we will take a big ride on the bike either by ourselves or with the SWATs - it might be our last hurrah of nice weather so we better get out and enjoy!

Weekend Update

After a big swim night Thursday, I took a well needed night off Friday to rest my sore wings. Saturday Mike had to work in the morning, so I got up relatively early, read the paper, ate a good breakfast and waited for the frost on the grass to clear so I could take off on a nice long run before Mike got home. We had made plans to swim a few laps at the Y when he was done working. i took off from the house a little before 11, thinking I would get 6 or so miles in before going swimming. I headed out towards the country club and shortly after passing it I heard a clown car honking at me about 20 minutes into my run. Mike and Lucas pulled up in Black Lavender (Yarus), so I cut the run short and hopped in the back seat. He did a quick spin around towards home and we changed and went right to the Y pool. Got in 1040 yards and the shoulders were still sore, so Mikey wanted to call it a day. I am feeling pretty good about it. They were slower easy laps but I have taken to doing all my laps freestyle and no longer have to break the crawl up with breaststroke laps to be able to keep swimming, so that is forward progress.
Today, I went out an a nice long run by myself. It was pretty crisp out yet. The high for the day was 55, but this was long before we got the high for the day. I had some Sugoi running mittens I tried out today and they worked pretty well to keep the paws warm. Up until this point, my favorite long route (about 10 miles) stops in 2 city parks with drinking fountains, so I have had great places to stop and refill my water bottle. Today I discovered that this was the week they winterised the parks, which meant that among other things all the water fountains were shut down. Sooo......... I nursed my first bottle and for some reason (telepathy??) I had tucked a $5 bill in my waist pack, so I made a quick stop at a quickie mart for some Propel.
It wasn't a fast run today but I did get some miles in. Again, my right hip, knee, and first tarsal head were hurting me so I had to do a little walking or slower running when those twinges got too bad to run full speed. That's getting a little frustrating - not sure why it's happening, but seems like there is always something with me so I'll just ride it out and see.
Oh yeah - my microwave has been not working right the past few days. It has been causing a major crimp in our style as that appliance gets more play than any other in our house. Today Mike did some monkeying around with it (his electronics degree at work here) and rigged up a bypass within the panel so that it runs when you turn it on, but the plate spins when the door opens. It's kind of weird to grab your food off a spinning glass plate. We are probably irradiating our brains too somehow with this setup - I am convinced of it. I am the first person I know who has a hot-wired microwave....... too funny.
Went to the football awards program tonight for Lucas. He got an attendance medal and a certificate. He also got some good motivation or next year seeing the older boys who got all-conference honors and other recognitions. If he can keep that fire going, he has a lot of potential. It's nice to see the boys wind things up like that, but I sure do miss watching the games! Seems like they prepare forever and the season just flies by like nothing! I say we petition for year round football, anyone with me?

They Swim with the Fishes

Tonight we went to our first swim workout at Marshall Middle School pool. Mike and I got there about a half hour before the SWAT workout started and got in some easy warmup laps. Before long, my favorite brother in law Jeff joined us in the lane.

Once more of the group arrived, we got started with the true speed workouts Allison was nice enough to put together. We did 200x kick/pull/swim, 12 x 50 sprints on the 1:30s, 3 x 100 w/30 sec rest, then 100 x swim/pull/kick. We blew off the last 100 swim of the warm down and only did 50x the last pull/swim, otherwise we got it all done.

It felt good to get in and let her rip. I drove us home in Delilah and found I was having a little trouble moving my arms around. By the time we got home, the triceps were downright painful. I had to work really hard to get my arms out of my sweatshirt and honestly thought I might just end up sleeping in my swimsuit and sweatshirt because I couldn't move the arms to get them out. Finally, I managed it by leaning over so the arms hung forward.

I am in for a really sore night I think. I lathered them up in some freebie from a race called Sore No More, and know I have arms I can't lift above my waist that REEK of menthol and camphor - PHEW!

Tomorrow should be fun. Hope I don't need to do any CPR...........not sure I could make it happen.

It's a good sore though, the kind that comes from hard work and building muscles.