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December 31, 2008

Here I Come 2009!

Wow, busy, busy bee lately. I can't believe it's already Wednesday evening. And almost 2009 for that matter! Where did the day go? The week go? The YEAR go?

This week has already been a flash. Monday was masters (main set of 9x300 LCM - ouch), work and lifting after work. Tuesday morning a run, more work and then core once I got home. Today it was swim/bike/run in that order! O did the run with me and can vouch for the fact that it was insanely windy, cold and snow was blowing so hard we couldn't see where we were going! Quite a difference from last Saturday when I was riding my bike in shorts! But this is what winter REALLY is, so I guess I can't complain.

I'm looking forward to tonight where we are meeting our friends for dinner and to bring in the new year.

2008 was good to me. I had a lot of highs, only a few lows and in the end learned a lot about myself. But of course I want 2009 to be even better. And I have every intention of making it that way.

My big agenda items are building my own business that seems to be growing by the second (and with every email from one JH :) and taking that next step higher in the sport I've grown to love.

The past couple weeks I've been thinking of my goals for the season. Goals are very important to me because I'm HUGELY driven by them. It's truly the only way I get myself on the bike sometimes, or out of bed and into the pool. But goals are tricky - you have to make them high enough in order to reach and grow but not too high that you don't end every race in disappointment. Of course the good thing about them is that they can be changed.

And so now I'm ready for 2009. Goals are in order and I know where I want to go. What I want to be. And am armed with a plan to get there. 2009 Here I Come!

Happy New Year to you all. As one of my favorite sayings goes - may you all have the courage to achieve your dreams.

Posted by beth at 5:24 PM | Comments (8)

December 28, 2008

Today

Today I ran for 1:40 in shorts and a t-shirt. Rode my bike (inside since the temperature dropped about 35 degrees through the day). Went to church. Took a nap. Ate breakfast, lunch and dinner (and several snacks in between). Pet the dog. Watched A LOT of football. Cleaned the whole house (with the help of O of course). Took 2 showers. Stretched. Iced my feet and hamstring (twice). Read some blogs. Played on FB. Packed my swim bag for tomorrow. And read an article about Andy Potts.

Yep, that about sums it up.

Tomorrow back to work. Booo. But only for 2 days and then another 2 days off! Gotta love the holidays.

Have a great start to your week everyone!

Posted by beth at 8:00 PM | Comments (6)

December 27, 2008

Pinch Me

I'm still in disbelief that today, here in Pittsburgh, PA, the high temperature for the day was 69 degrees. Yes, that's right, 69 degrees.

I couldn't believe my good fortune this morning! I had heard it was supposed to be really warm but I didn't want to get my hopes up. But no, it was true! It had just been negative 15 degrees on Monday!

So first O and I went swimming and then, then I rode my bike outside in shorts and a short sleeve jersey! WHAT. THE. HECK?!?! And to top it all off I did my first brick of the season and ran off the bike in a sports bra. I swear it still doesn't seem real. And in fact when I was getting dressed for the ride, I felt very odd just putting shorts on. I felt like it was some sort of trick and when I got started on my ride I was somehow going to be very cold.

But cold I wasn't. It was actually quite pleasant as I was neither hot nor cold. And the ride was great. I will say that the wind was getting to me a little. A couple times I feared for my life in the crosswinds, but I kept reminded myself that that wind had blown in the warm weather so I shouldn't complain about it! And besides, you really have no right to ever complain when it's 65 degrees on December 27th. :)

So that was my day. I think tomorrow it's supposed to get colder but not before I do my long run in shorts tomorrow morning! :)

In other news, O and I had a great Christmas! I woke up early that morning to get my training in before we headed to O's parents' house for lunch. First up was a run. But about 3 minutes into the run the blisters that had formed on Wednesday's rainy run were killing me. Like really bad. I had drained the blood out of both of them and patched them up, but they were still quite sore. And running was not going to be possible without some major, major pain. So we turned around. BOOOOOO...

At that point I was sad and grumpy because the blisters just hurt and then I decided I didn't feel like riding my bike. So I threw a bit of a tantrum.

Me: I don't feel like riding my bike!

O: But you have to. Can't run. Can't swim. Get on your bike! (I was riding inside because Christmas morning was pretty chilly)

Me: WAHHHHHH! But I don't want to ride my bike and my feet really hurt and my legs are still sore from running on those stupid hills in Mt. Lebanon!

O: Well it's not like it's a 4 hour ride, and besides, riding will probably help to loosen you up.

Me: WAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! But I just want to be like everyone else on Christmas morning and NOT ride my stupid bike! *sniff* (feeling sorry for myself)

O: But you aren't like everyone else.

So I got on my bike. :) And it was fine. 75 minutes later I was done and we headed to Greensburg to have a great Christmas feast.

On Friday I was excited to meet Kari at Pitt to swim! Kari is a fellow triathlete and was home to Pittsburgh for the holidays (she is smart and actually lives in the south). I hadn't met Kari in person before but we had talked via email and FB for a bit so of course a swimming date was the next logical step. :)

We didn't really have masters practice on Friday but we were allowed to swim at Pitt so I brought a workout with me. A few other masters swimmers were there so we had some company and we did a great little workout and then Kari and I went to Pamela's for breakfast! More omelets and home fries for me! (I'm of the opinion that one can never eat enough omelets). Anyway, it was great to meet a new triathlete friend and I hope we will cross paths again at some races this year.

After breakfast I went home and tried the running again. This time things were much better because O bandaged me up and put ointment on the blisters and taped over everything and I didn't feel a thing. So I did the run I was supposed to do on Thursday and I lifted and then O and I headed to my grandfather's house to visit with him and my aunt and uncle! More Christmas fun! We entertained ourselves by watching Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader of which I found out that no, I am not. Sad but true. :)

And now, somehow, it's already Saturday night. The holidays go by too fast! Luckily this time of year, we still have some celebrating to do with New Year's almost upon us.

Here's hoping everyone had a very blessed Christmas and got to celebrate our Savior's birth BIG! And also hoping that wherever you are, you got some sun and 60 degree weather today too. Have a great night everyone!

Posted by beth at 6:55 PM | Comments (3)

December 25, 2008

Merry Christmas!

Just wanting to wish everyone a very blessed Christmas Day.

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighthy God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." Isaiah 9:6

Posted by beth at 6:55 AM | Comments (2)

December 24, 2008

A Run to Remember

So I survived the WPIAL Alumni Run this morning and quite enjoyed myself actually. I even put it on the calander for next year, that is if the blisters I developed on this year's run have healed by then. At this point in time, it's questionable. :)

Although I enjoyed the run quite a bit (okay, I didn't enjoy those stupid hills in Mt. Lebanon) I think I enjoyed the breakfast afterwards even more. It doesn't get more Pittsburgh than the hole-in-the-wall diner we went to in Carnegie! Not one plate matched and there was Pittsburgh "stuff" all over the walls. And the omelet, toast, home fries and coffee I had? THE BEST! Let it be known, I love home fries.

Anyway, back to the run. There were about 20 people altogether, 19 of which were men. And then there was me. It got sort of comical after a while. Professional runner after professional runner walked through the doors and really all I could do was laugh. It was sort of a game of "pick which one doesn't belong"! But they were all running their morning easy run and I was running, well, a race of sorts. :) O was nice enough to run along with me though in the case that I dropped back far enough that I couldn't see where they were going.

That never really happened though. Like I said, they were running easy. I did look down at my watch one time to see we were running 6:30 pace. It was at that point that I decided to stop looking at my watch. :) The hills were a killer for me. It's hilly where I live, don't get me wrong, but Mt. Lebanon is SOOOO hillly. Big hills too. There is a reason they call that region the South Hills!

Anyway, a few observations:

1) I have never felt so old in my life! I'm 29 years old and graduated from high school in 1997. It's not often that I feel old, I suppose because I work with people mostly all older than me. But this morning there was only one person older than me on the run. And that person was my own husband. :) A couple of the guys had run for Penn State also but I didn't know them. That's what happens when they graduated high school in 2003! I was already graduated, working and married by that point! :)

2) I always forget how gosh darn skinny runners are. Especially guy runners. Male triathletes are much bigger and so my concept of skinny gets reset hanging out with triathletes all the time. But WOW - this morning I was thinking "these guys need a cheeseburger or two!" Of course they don't have to swim or have the power to make a bike go 25 mph for hours at a time, but geez, they are skinny. I know there was someone there that weighed less than me. I just know it.

3) Runners are a hardy bunch. Not that triathletes aren't of course. But I do think that I sometimes forget how tough a sport distance running is. The bike and the pool are easier on your body. Runners? They just run twice a day every single day for years on end. In all kinds of nasty weather (I hate to say it but I don't know many pure runners who really EVER run on a treadmill...but triathletes seem to love that machine). And that's just what they do.

Anyway - it was a lot of fun! And I'm glad I went. But now I have to go and ride my bike. We'll see what the legs think of that. Of course that's better than having to go out and run again, like most of my running partners from this morning are probably doing right now...

The crew from this morning.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas!

Posted by beth at 4:18 PM | Comments (3)

December 22, 2008

Cookie-Burner

Well the cookie-burner masters swim workout did not disappoint this morning! Something different and something new. It involved doing pushups on the pool deck in between swims! And in the end the main set all added up to 78 laps total and 78 pushups total and some very tired arms on my part. Towards the end I was having trouble getting out of the pool to even get to the deck to even do the pushups. But I laughed (it's hard to do pushups on a wet pool deck while laughing in case you were wondering) and had fun and worked hard! Arms still tired. Tonight in the weight room arms STILL tired, even 12 hours later. ;)

Anyway, the swim set was continuous so essentially a straight 1950 (with pushup "breaks" :) and I was thinking that was pretty good preparation for the One Hour Postal Swim that I want to do in January. I've always wanted to try the postal swim but never got around to it. So this year I asked coach in advance and he said I could.

I don't swim that many straight sets so swimming 2K, 3K, 4K straight is a challenge for me. The postal swim should be interesting. I have no concept of how far I can get but I think I'm going to make my goal 4000 yds. I could be very wrong on that one. I guess we'll see in a few weeks!

In other news, it's cold here. Like way cold. Like negative 15 windchills cold. But that's old hat to people in Chicago and Denver. They've been having that cold of weather for the past couple weeks. No riding my bike outside today - that's for sure! But one of my friends who always rides his bike to work (and lives in Pittsburgh) still did so this morning despite the brutal weather. I will think of him the next time I'm impressed with my rides in 25 degree weather. ;)

Have a good night everyone!

Posted by beth at 9:20 PM | Comments (5)

December 20, 2008

26/17

New PR. 1:50 ride in 26 degrees with 17 windchill. It was cold. My hands hurt so badly the first 20 minutes I really wanted to cry. Seriously. My water bottle froze and I couldn't even get a sip out of it (I KNEW I should have started with hot water)! And I made the mistake of (unknowingly) riding with the wind for the first half of the ride so when I turned around I had to suffer into the wind the whole ride home. But other than that, it wasn't so bad. :) It was just one of those days when I had it in my head I was going outside and that was that. For me, it's about redefining limits.

Anyway, before the ride O and I went to the YMCA for a swim. I had some 300s and 150s on tap. I've decided I'm a fan of the 150. I also like the 200. And then I like things like 600s but the in betweens - the 300s, 400s, etc... those are tough. And the 50? Well of course I like it because it's over so fast! But I'm not exactly what you would term a "speed demon", so 50s aren't exactly my strong suit.

Speaking of swimming, last night I got an email from our masters coach with our holiday swim schedule. Coach also noted that Monday (as in Dec 22) would be a "special" workout and that it would be VERY challenging. Something about being a "cookie-burner" too! Now that is quite exciting if you ask me! I'm a little giddy at the thought of it. I can't wait to see what it is. I always loved stuff like this in high school/college when I knew we'd have a "big" workout coming up but our coach wouldn't tell us what it was. Ahhh the anticipation! Of course my giddiness might dissipate about mid-way through the workout too. :)

Anyway, next week should be an exciting training week, what with the cookie-burner swim on Monday, the WPIAL (crazy) Run on Wednesday and a friend who will be home for the holidays joining me on Friday for masters practice. FUN!

Oh, and that little holiday we know as Christmas on Thursday. :)

Stay warm everyone!

Posted by beth at 3:24 PM | Comments (6)

December 18, 2008

Temptations

Today in the mail a package arrived. From my sister. Uh-oh. This wasn't going to be any good.

I knew that the package had our Christmas gifts inside. O and I won't be seeing my parents or sister/brother-in-law for the holidays because we will be up here in (snowy and cold) PA and they will be in warm, sunny places.

So all the gifts from my side of the family were sent this year.

Well you see the problem is, I am a snoop. Always have been when it comes to Christmas gifts. I can remember sneaking up to my parent's closet when I was a wee one (okay, when I was in high school too...) and trying to find my gifts. Surprises don't do much for me. Oh, and I'm impatient too. Sooo...I WANT TO KNOW WHAT MY GIFTS ARE NOW!

I'm so bad.

Well my mom wised up and would immediately wrap the gifts as she bought them. But that didn't keep me up using my voo-doo tricks to carefully unwrap a corner (or two) and see what was inside before even more carefully taping it all back up without a trace...

Fast forward to 2008. Funny story.

When O and I saw my parents for Thanksgiving my mom gave us our Christmas gifts because they were big and bulky and she didn't want to have to send them in the mail. And of course she gave stern warnings that opening these gifts early would result in HEAVY penalties.

Quite frankly she didn't scare me.

But still, I wanted to be good and not open until I was supposed to. Or at least wait for Christmas Eve. Or at least the WEEK of Christmas.

So the whole longggg car ride home from North Carolina on the Saturday after Thanksgiving I stared at those gifts. I wonder what they could be? O's was really big. I couldn't imagine what could be that large. Maybe I should just sneak a peak. Nobody would know...

And then it happened. As O was carrying the gifts in from the car when we FINALLY got home, he dropped my gift on the sidewalk. Might have been because he was carrying about 10,000 things at once. Either way, this was very exciting!

Because now I definitely had a reason to open the gift. I mean first of all, the wrapping was all ripped up anyway and more importantly what if he had damaged the gift when he dropped it?! I mean really! I had to check to make sure it was okay right? That was the only smart thing to do. (and no, I didn't pay O to drop the gift)

So I opened it. About 4 weeks early. :)

And once I SAW what it was, there was NO WAY IN THE WORLD I was going to wrap it back up and wait until Christmas. It was a new laptop! Oh dear Lord did I need that bad. My old one was kind of...well...not too good. Slow. Oh, and I broke the spacebar when we were in Tempe so typing was a bit of an issue. Go ahead, try to type on a computer with no spacebar. My parents knew of my computer woes and knew of my plan to try my hand at this new business so they decided a new computer was in order so I had proper equipment.

Seriously, that was the bomb.

And even though I was wayyyyyy tired that Saturday night from driving all that way home, I still stayed up and set up the computer and was in 7th heaven to have such a fine machine to call my own!

Well anyway, this left O feeling left out. Because now that I knew what my gift was, he wanted to know what his was too. So he also opened early. We are BOTH so bad.

Of course the issue was, how now to tell my parents of our transgressions? I couldn't keep the fact that I LOVED the new computer to myself for the next 4 weeks. That, and the guilt of what we had done would have eaten me alive. So the next weekend when I called my parents to say hi, I fessed up.

My mom was not in the least bit surprised. In fact her only surprise was that we didn't open the gifts up IN the car and waited all the way until we got home. :)

And that brings me back to the package that arrived in the mail from my sister today. It's sitting downstairs on the kitchen table and I am upstairs trying very hard not to think about it. Christmas is only 1 week away. Can I do it? I guess only time will tell. But I may have to ask O to hide the gifts from me when he gets home.

Ugh...temptations... :)

Posted by beth at 3:09 PM | Comments (4)

December 17, 2008

WPIAL (crazy) Run

So I got invited to do this run on Christmas Eve. It's call the WPIAL Alumni Run. And in the case that you aren't from around here, the WPIAL is the name of the district that my high school sports teams competed in. I think it stands for Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League. Or something like that.

Anyway, the WPIAL is one of the biggest districts in PA and of course one of the most competitive. And because this is my blog I can call the WPIAL the best and expect not to hear any crys from District 1 (who isn't even cool enough to have a cool name like the WPIAL). District 1 is in the Philly area.

Back to this WPIAL Alumni Run. Well apparently it's been going on for some time (9th annual according to the invitation) and anyone who ran in the WPIAL is invited. Everyone goes for a nice run together and talks about how awesome it was to run in the WPIAL. To run under the lights at Baldwin for the district track championships. To run on Hartwood Acres old cross country course. To run up Flagstaff Hill at Schenley Park. And then they go out to eat afterwards!

OH YEAH BABY! This totally sounds like something I would be into. I glanced through the invitation list and recognized many of the names - people I remember running against and younger or older people that I didn't run with but followed their successes through high school. I was VERY excited. Plus, the run starts at Mt. Lebanon HS which is where O teaches and coaches and so we could drive down there together. I immediately replied that I would come.

So then O gets home that night and I am so excited to tell him about this alumni run and who had already replied that they were coming - some very accomplished runners! And O casually mentions "Oh yeah, I think I heard Coach A (the head coach at Mt. Lebo) mention something about that run. I think they run like 14 miles or something. Oh and those guys probably run pretty fast."

Crap.

Hadn't really thought of the details. Like how far. How fast. Who exactly.

So I took a look again at those people that already replied that they were coming.

Double Crap.

Sheehan. Ban. Mazzocco. Costello. (let it be known that Costello ran in the men's marathon Olympic Trials this past year)

And then there was me. Why hadn't any of the females responded yet to the invitation. Why? WHY?

Triple Crap.

So I emailed the very nice guy that I got the invitation from in the first place and inquired about such important things as distance and PACE. Distance I can handle (unless they were going to run 20 miles) but pace...pace would definitely be the issue here.

He replies back quickly - oh, the run is about 10 miles and I think we run about 7 min pace.

Is there such thing as Quadruple Crap?

Something tells me I might not stay within my heart rate limits on the hills of Mt. Lebanon on December 24th.

But I'm still going. Mostly because O agreed to go and, although he could easily keep up with those guys and their 7 minute pace, he said he would run with me so I don't get lost and never find my way back to our car. He knows the area, I trust him to get us safely home.

I'll let you know how it goes. That is, if I survive. ;)

Posted by beth at 8:44 PM | Comments (7)

December 16, 2008

The Picture

Well first I would like to thank everyone for their encouraging comments regarding my business idea. I will reread these nice words when I am immersed in legal/tax paperwork that I do not understand! They will give me the will to keep chipping away. :) You guys are the best. Seriously. Now all you have to do is think of a name for my business that isn't already taken! Then I will love you even more! Seriously. :)

Anyway, lately I have been involved in a bit of a Facebook battle. You see I posted a photo of a race from my college days but was unable to figure out when and/or where the race was. I guessed Van Cortland Park.

My teammates corrected me. No, they insisted, this is a race at home. But it COULDN'T have been from home. We never raced Virginia at home. And Virginia is very clearly lined up next to us.

Many comments ensued. I spent far too long trying to look at the minute details of the picture looking for clues. Had to be Vanny. Had to be! But one teammate claimed she never raced at Van Cortland. I shouldn't have trusted her. She was, afterall, the same teammate that rode the conveyor belt through the garbage dump in the dining halls.

Others joined in. No, that can't be a meet at Penn State they said - the grass doesn't look right. The grass? Finally though, through team work (we were great teammates afterall), we determined the year. 1999. Hairstyles and uniforms helped us determine that. Also, who was racing that day. So today, determined to get to the bottom of this, I dug up my training log from 1999 to see where exactly I raced that year. My final conclusion? That IS Van Cortland Park in the Bronx. Great place to race, although be wary of your transportation. One year (not the year of the picture), our team van was stolen while we were jogging the course the day before our race.

ANYWAY, the point is, I dug up this old training log from close to 10 years ago and although my main goal was to figure out when and where I raced that cross country season, I couldn't help but start to look back through all the workouts and long runs and morning workouts and weight room sessions. And wow, I had forgotten how much I used to run! Like I ran a lot! WE ran a lot. It was so much fun to read back through all those workouts. And a good reminder for me that running 40 miles/week now, isn't too much at all. Of course I didn't swim and bike back then but still. It's all about perspective 'eh? :)

So that was fun. As for current training - been doing some of that too. Today I ran, biked and lifted. And yesterday was masters swim. We did a workout that I liked a lot - 100, 100, 200, 100, 200, 300, 100, 200, 300, 400 and then a hard 500 at the end. The intervals (for me) - 1:35 for the 100s, 1:30 base for the 200s, 1:25 base for the 300s and 1:20 base for the 400. I really wanted to try to do the workout that the guys in the lane above me were doing but they started on 1:30 base and got down to a 1:15 base for the last 400. A bit too fast for my blood. For now. Anyway, at the end we did this 500 and Meredith was nice enough to wait for me (she finished the other intervals before me because she had the faster send-off times) so we could do it together. Meredith, by the way, is the very nice, very fast swimmer at masters that I was soooo happy to be slowly "catching up" to last summer at practice. I kept thinking "wow, I'm almost as fast as Meredith" and that was really awesome because she is awesome. And then I found out she was oh...about 7 months pregnant! What. The. Heck?! I can't even keep up with the pregnant lady. :) Well now she is back after giving birth and swimming faster than me again already.

Anyway, back to the hard 500. Nothing crazy. No diving-off-the-blocks-this-is-a-race type of deal but a good hard effort. I swam a 6:27. I was pretty pleased with that. I think my flip turns are actually making me faster now instead of making me slower than my very efficient open turns. Who would have thought...

So with that I wish you all a very good night! Wednesday will soon be upon us. And Christmas is only about 1 week away!

Posted by beth at 9:17 PM | Comments (5)

December 14, 2008

A Little Diet Fun

Recently I purchased some diet analysis software that I've been using to evaluate a few people's diets (more on that later). You know, the kind of software where you enter in what people eat and it spits out a report on the amount of calories, protein, fiber, carboyhydrates and every vitamin and mineral known to man that was consumed.

It's been kind of fun to say the least. I'll ask someone to keep a food log for several days and when I get it back I size it up and try to guess where the person is going to come up short. Sometimes it's easy and obvious (okay, if all you eat all day is Fruity Pebbles there will be MULTIPLE deficiencies) but sometimes it's more difficult.

So anyway, the other day I was procrastinating a project and was playing around with the software and I thought "hmm...maybe I should type in a day or two of MY diet to see what happens." (By the way, the word "diet" to me or any other dietitian for that matter, does not have anything to do with weight loss. It merely is a word to describe the food we eat. Just wanted to clear that up.)

So I started happily entering in my intake when, about halfway through, I had to ask myself a very important question. Am I going to want to know the results? Because of course if I see some issues or problems I'm going to have to fix them. I can't knowingly go around not eating enough vit D right?! And do I really want to fix any problems? In short, I was concerned the report was going to have plastered all over it YOU NEED TO EAT MORE VEGETABLES. Because gosh darnit, I don't like vegetables. :)

But I continued because yes, I really did want to know. And when I was done, the results weren't too bad. So I thought I would share. A lot of people ask me what I eat (if they only knew :) so here we go!

Monday, December 8th:
5:15 am - 1 medium banana (on my way to masters practice)
5:45-7 am - masters swim (4000 yds)
7:45 am - 1 light Yoplait yogurt, 2 packets maple brown sugar w/pecans (made w/water)

10:00 am - 2 servings mini pretzels

11:30 pm - 1 cup chili (leftovers from the night before), ~1.5 cups of salad from salad bar at work (spinach, carrots, cucumbers, green peppers, broccoli, olives, nuts, sunflower seeds, honey mustard dressing)

3:30 pm - 1 envelope hot chocolate, 1 LARGE Rice Krispy Treat (the cafeteria at work calls my name in the late afternoon :)

5:30-6 pm - lifting session

6:20 pm - 1/2 cup applesauce, 1 cup mixed vegetables (snap peas, red peppers, carrots), 1 black bean veggie burger on wheat roll w/ketchup

8:00 pm - 1 cup Chex cereal w/1 cup skim milk (yes, I drown my cereal in milk)

The results from the diet analysis:
2181 calories
70.3 g protein - 13% of total calories
41.8 g fat - 17% of total calories
402 g carboyhydrate (think I like my carbs 'eh?) - 70% of total calories
39.5 g fiber (WOW!)

I'll save you the boredom of all the vit/min data but I was good with all except vit C (where was my orange juice?).

So there we have it! Of course one day doesn't give as great of a picture as if I had analyzed a whole week. Had I used a day when I had more training, that would have pushed my average calories up. Had I used a weekend day when I didn't have access to the cafeteria at work, things would have looked differently too (read - no LARGE Rice Krispy Treat). That's why I would ask for a full week of food intake.

But working with what we have here - what, as a registered dietitian, do I think of my own diet?

1) Well for one, I need more protein and fat and could stand to take it down a notch with the carbohydrates. Problem is, carbohydrates is what I like. :) Given my weight and the fact that I'm constantly breaking my body down with training, I should take in at least 80 grams of protein and up to as much as 115 grams. I'm close, but not yet there. So how would I do it? Well, I could add protein to my mid-morning snack. Peanut butter. Cottage cheese. Nuts instead of pretzels (which have almost no protein). I could add protein to the salad (there was tuna on the salad bar but I didn't get any). Instead of the hot chocolate at my afternoon snack I could have milk. You get the picture.

2) I'm doing good with fiber. I likely wouldn't average that much over a full week but this is a good day because I had beans w/the chili and at least 4.5 servings of vegetables/fruit and the wheat roll and the black bean burger and the oatmeal and the... As a female I need at least 25 g/day.

3) I entered the training I did as well as WHEN I ate because that's very important. More important than people know or think. I see so many people that eat next to nothing through the day and everything at night after they get home from work and when they are done with their training for the day (especially those trying to lose weight). What the heck? As athletes we need to fuel ourselves through the day, when we are working and training! My caloric intake is pretty much evenly distributed throughout the day with my breakfast, lunch and dinner all roughly the same amount of calories. I cringe when I see someone eat 500 of their calories throughout the morning/afternoon and 1500 of their calories at dinner and afterwards. How do you expect to perform well during training if you don't have the fuel to do so?

4) As everyone has read ONE MILLION times, you have a window of opportunity of ~30-60 minutes after a training session to take in carbs/protein to most efficiently help you recover. This is always a priority for me. Usually after a training session I'm eating a meal (breakfast or dinner) but if not, I always make sure I have a PowerBar (or something of the like) with me so that I can refuel and recover best for my next session.

5) Now, IF I were trying to lose weight (I am not) what would I do? I need to reduce my caloric load by ~250-400 calories/day (not more because we are athletes and still trying to train!). Well first of all, I would cut that Rice Krispy Treat in half. (it was really, really big) I didn't say totally get rid of it because for me, that's not realistic. I want something sweet so I'm going to eat something sweet. BUT, it was big enough that I could cut it in half and still get the same effect. And likely cut at least 150 calories. Then, I would eat only 1 serving of the pretzels as my snack and that (along with cutting the RKT in half) would get me at least 250-300 calorie reduction. Do that day in and day out and you will lose weight. Small reductions here and there. Keep all the good foods, cut the "extras" out and there you have it.

6) Now if I had a bigger training day what would I do? Say, for example, I had a run AND a lift in the evening. Well, I would need more calories, that's for sure. So my run would have been around 5:30 pm with the lift right after. I would keep everything the same BUT, probably eat a piece of fruit (pear?) and a PowerBar on my drive home from work in the car. That's another 350 calories or so about an hour before my run to fuel me up for the effort. And, I probably would have eaten more at dinner to compensate.

There are lots of other comments I could mention but this is getting long and a bit boring. But you get the idea. After I did this little exercise I was concerned about my protein intake the most so I started to be more cognizant of that when I planned out my meals each day (yes, PLAN every meal and you WILL eat better!). So I was glad I analyzed myself. I put a lot of thought into my nutrition but it doesn't hurt to get a little "check-up" every once in a while. I would hate to put ALL that training I do each day to waste because my diet wasn't up to snuff. It sounds a bit drastic, but I think a lot of people do that. They don't eat enough. They eat too much. They don't eat the RIGHT things. And they are kidding themselves if they think that doesn't affect their ability to train and race the way they want.

Which brings me to my next topic.

I am starting a business.

I think. :)

I've been very hesitant to do this - the business thing - for a while now. I'm not sure what was holding me back. Laziness? Fear it would fail? Fear of the expense? Who knows. But I've made up my mind now - I'M DOING IT!

When I first got into nutrition I had every intention of working as a sports dietitian. That's why I wanted to be an RD (registered dietitan) in the first place! But my first full time job was working in a huge hospital where there were a lot of sick people and I was taken with the opportunity to work closely with physicians in an ICU setting helping the critically ill come back to life. You think nutrition is important to you and I? Well it's really important to the those people too. And I still do that job, part time now. And I still love it.

But over the years I've also gotten many requests to help fellow athletes with their diets. Or speak to sports teams or groups of adult athletes. Sadly of which, I usually turned down. They were all great opportunities but time was always a factor. Working full time and training was enough - how could I manage these additional requests?

Now is the time to stop turning those requests down. I've always kept up with the sports nutrition literature, mostly for my own benefit as I strive to be the best athlete I can be. And now I work part time at the hospital. So why not start a business? My services include diet analysis and helping athletes maximize their diet with the goal of improving performance. One on one counseling, lecturing to a group - I'm ready for it all.

And I'm looking forward to it. I've been spending my off days from the hospital working on the business end of things - tax stuff and lawyer stuff and all the STUFF that I don't know about. Big learning curve here my friends. (by the way, if you are a small business accountant and would like help with your diet in exchange for business advice, PLEASE contact me :). I have a lot of work left to do for sure. It will be a process for sure. But I am also very excited...for sure. And I am truly lucky to have the support of my family and of people who have started their own businesses. I would be remiss if I didn't mention all the help Jen has given me. Inspiration AND help from someone who has created her own VERY successful business.

So think about it. Think about the importance of diet and ask yourself if you are doing everything you can to maximize your intake. And let me know if you need help. :)

Posted by beth at 3:11 PM | Comments (20)

December 13, 2008

MarkAllenOnline!

That time of year again! The MarkAllenOnline elite team application is ready and waiting. If you'd like to apply for the team, you can find the application process here.

I've been a member of the team for the past two years and I'm continuing on for the 2009 season. And I couldn't have asked for a better experience. The team is sponsored by some great companies and there is free stuff yes. Who doesn't like free stuff? :) BUT far and away the best part of being on the team is having Mark Allen and Luis Vargas as our coaches. As you might expect, the coaching is top notch and a huge reason for any success that I've had in this sport. The training is challenging. At times I want to cry. At times I have cried. :) But it has pushed me far beyond my expectations when I first got this crazy idea to do a triathlon.

It can be boiled down to this - when I am standing in the water or on the beach or wherever the start of a race is, I have a lot of thoughts and worries rushing through my head. Everyone does. But one thing I am NEVER concerned with is my training. No questions of "did I do enough" or "did I do too much" or "did I taper correctly" or "am I going to be able to get through this" because THAT part of racing is already taken care of by Mark and Luis. They will prepare you better than you can imagine.

So, apply for the team! Or if you don't want to apply for the team but are looking for some amazing coaching, give MarkAllenOnline a try. You won't regret it!

Anyway, speaking of MAO, the other night Mark and Luis did a web conference (or teleconference?) and it was most excellent. Mark talked a good deal about his Kona experience and the first 6 races where he didn't win and then that first year in '89 when he won his first. And how goal setting was a huge reason he was finally able to beat Dave Scott. He talked a lot about goals and how to use them to help propel yourself to another level. It was really good. And got me to thinking a lot about next season. Very nice.

And then of course today we watched Kona on tv and I was even more inspired! By far my favorite part of the Kona show is at the end when they show all the "normal" people crossing the line. They always play the best music and show the people that have the most emotion... I love it! Can't get enough! And how about Chrissie Wellington? I was anxious to see with my own eyes how she handled the flat and then the CO2 disaster. But as you would expect - she was as cool as a cucumber. Very impressive.

And finally, I leave you with a picture of Roxy trying to get ice from my ice bath. After my long ride, swim and lift, I thought it was a good idea to make myself a popsicle (ice baths are WAYYYYY worse in the winter) and Roxy helped herself to some cubes! Once I was out, she wanted in. And actually jumped in at one point, only to QUICKLY jump right back out when she felt how cold it was... :)

Posted by beth at 5:03 PM | Comments (4)

December 11, 2008

The News

Hope I didn't get your hopes up with that title. It's not like I have any big news or anything. Just the normal blah, blah, this is what I did today, blah blog. Boring. Sort of makes me wonder why you people keep coming back to read? And I have sitemeter so I do know that you keep coming back. Perhaps you have that glimmer of hope that I will come up with something interested to say? ;)

This morning I went to masters and we swam 100s. Twenty of them to be exact. Now five of those twenty were supposed to be FAST! So we do the first FAST! 100 and I swam a 1:07! WHOOHOO! It didn't feel too bad and I haven't swam that FAST! for a while (like back when I was in shape in the season). So I think to myself "4 more hard ones to go, I WILL set a PR today!" It's important to note that I can never remember what my PR is for some reason - but I think it's 1:06. So we do the next hard one and it's a 1:07. And then on #3 - 1:07. The 4th one? Yep, 1:07. On the last one I am so sure I can eek out just 1 second - come on, it's the last one! But it turns out I swam a...wait for it...1:07. Oh. Well at least I was consistent! :) And I had a good time. Masters practice was full today! I like it when there are a lot of people there. I'm thinking of going to masters on Friday night now. Not sure about that yet though. I have to cut myself off sometime. Can't go to masters all the time...

Anyway, then I went home and did my core exercises and then got on my bike for my ride...on the trainer. I so wanted to ride again outside but it was rain/icing. That means a very cold rain...or ice...or whatever it was doing. Rain I can do. Cold I can do. Rain and cold together? Not so fast. That to me, is the worst sort of weather condition that there is. So yeah, on the trainer it was. But it was okay because there were ER reruns on. I'd say ER is my all time favorite show. I'm sure I've seen every episode (x3) but that doesn't seem to bother me. :)

In other news, O is getting expensive. I think I might have to trade him in. :) What's that? I've spent >$1000 in the past month on triathlon? Oh, perhaps I should keep my trap shut.

Anyway, in the past 2 weeks O has racked up >$500 in car-associated fees! First, a speeding ticket in WV when we were driving home from NC. Yes, a speeding ticket! Now if you truly know O you know how surprising this is. Very clearly my bad habits have rubbed off on him. It also doesn't help his cause that he drives about 99.9% of the time (when we are together) so he is obviously much more likely to get a ticket. That doesn't stop me from getting tickets though too. :)

So there was the speeding ticket and then last night, he tried to kill our Saturn by running over a huge rock and getting not one but TWO flat tires and bending the rims of the wheels in the process. What. The. Heck. Poor guy was just trying to go to choir practice and instead ends up getting dropped off (carless) on our doorstep by the towing guy. He's had a rough couple weeks to say the least. :)

Well ~$400 later, we have 2 new wheels and tires. And the Saturn is home. Geez...didn't that rock know we are poor enough? :) Oh well. What can you do? Life just happens like that. And now we can laugh about it. Last night, not so much. :)

BUT, this whole rock incident meant that today, instead of driving the Saturn like I usually do, I drove our other car (O got a ride to work from his very nice friend Ben). The interesting thing about this is that both of our cars are sticks, but the reverse in both cars is in a different place. As in the Saturn's reverse is down below 5th gear and the Jetta's reverse is up above 2nd gear. Very different positions. And I may or may not have gotten it wrong EVERY single time I put the Jetta in reverse today. GEEZ! Thought I was in reverse...wait no...that's 4th? I'm moving forward? AHHHH!!! I should only be allowed to drive one car and one only. Actually, I probably shouldn't be allowed to drive at all...

But apparently, either should O.

Have a great night everyone! Smile! :)

Posted by beth at 7:36 PM | Comments (6)

December 9, 2008

A Special Treat

Today in Pittsburgh - a special treat! In the form of 50 degree weather! Yeah!

I live for these days in the winter. They are so nice. Don't seem to happen often (especially in February) but they just make my day when they do! I don't know what we did to deserve this weather but I'm not complaining; I just took full advantage of the warm temperatures!

First up, a run. In shorts. A run in shorts! It was around 40 degrees which is most definitely shorts weather when you ran your long run in a 13 degree windchill just 2 days ago. It felt like a spring day - really! Like one of those late March track practices where there was still snow on the ground but the air felt so warm and you could hear birds singing and it felt like spring! Unfortunately spring is a good 4 months away, but still. You get my drift.

And then, a little later on when it was close to FIFTY degrees, I headed out on my bike. I didn't even wear tights! (although I did put on the leg warmers) IT FELT SO GOOD. Yes, I've been riding outside, but mostly in really cold weather so 50 felt like a dream. Love it. LOVE IT!

So of course there has been a smile on my face all day. Tomorrow it's back to snow (I think) but I certainly enjoyed today while it lasted.

And, as a follow up to my note yesterday on Kerryn McCann and her passing from breast cancer, a video of her winning the Commonwealth Games marathon less than 3 years ago. Brought tears to my eyes thinking how quickly life can change. The video is stunning and definitely worth the watch.

Posted by beth at 4:38 PM | Comments (3)

December 8, 2008

Masters Math and Evil Suits

So this morning I was very excited to go to masters swim! By far my favorite swims of the week. I especially like Mondays because they are the longer distance intervals vs the short, fast stuff on Thursdays that make me feel like my head might explode if my lungs don't first.

But this morning I was struggling. Not physically mind you. In fact I felt quite good and was hitting my flip turns like I never have before! But I was suffering from mathematical despair. I would have really disappointed my math teacher husband.

I don't know what my deal was but I just COULD NOT get the workout straight in my head. It was simple enough - 8x300 on a descending interval. Coach gave the orders for the fastest lane, starting on 4:30 and working down to 3:30. Going to have to adjust that I thought - cause there's no doing 300s on 3:30 for me! (just yet that is...hehehe) But as I went through the options in my head and talked with Mark in the lane next to me (figuring we could do the workout together), I was hitting a mental block.

So wait, are we doing 200s or 300s? Um...how long does it take me to do a 300? If we start on 5 what do we get down to? What's the fastest I think I can handle? So many questions, so little time! And then, I think what threw me over the edge was that Mark was talking in "base pace speak" and I kept trying to talk in total interval time. When he said we could start on 1:40 (clearly meaning 1:40 pace or 5 minutes) I was thinking he said 4:40. Start on 4:40? Okay, that's a little weird but whatever...

After we finished the first one I'm all confused and don't know when to leave and I think I confused him too so we left way to early and then while he tried to explain the workout to me YET again in between 2 and 3, we took too long and gave ourselves too much rest. Finally, after number 3 I had it figured out in my head but then I lost track of which repeat we were on! I kept trying to do the math and figure it out and with only 2 to go I said "ONLY TWO" to which Mark replied (he really was very patient with me too), "no, THREE to go". AHHHHH!!! Thank God for Mark today or I'm not sure what workout I would have done! :)

In the end though it was all good and we did our 8x300 and I was tired when it was over. Tired but happy. Happy but also a little sad BECAUSE MY SWIMSUIT IS EVIL!

Because you see I have this swimsuit that I think is part evil. Actually mostly evil. Yep, I just looked on the tag and it's 5% polyester and 95% EVIL!

I don't know what the deal with this suit is but this will tell you a lot about it ----> for some reason this suit has lasted me 3 years. Yes - you read that right, THREE YEARS! Now you all know that this suit is strange. I mean what suit lasts 3 years? None of my usual ones, that's for sure. I'm lucky if a suit lasts me 3 months let alone 3 years! But yes, I got this suit my very first year in triathlon. Now granted, the suit is part evil so I don't wear it very often but still, you think it would have worn out by now so I could justify FINALLY throwing it away and ending our miserable relationship.

But no. It just won't die.

In fact, it fits like it did the very first time I put it on.

I should start calling it the Bionic Suit.

But the problem is, it rubs. It rubs my sensitive, dry, chlorine-riden skin right through. And it hurts like heck. OH. MY! I mean I'm trying to be tough here but if anything even gets remotely close now to the skin that covers my 6th rib...OUCHHHHHHHHHHH! And of course, I brought some dumb, itchy sweater with me to wear to work today too. No good. That suit must die.

But it won't!

I don't know what to do with it. I just can't throw a good suit away, especially when all the other suits that I really like don't last past the 3 month mark. I should "accidentally" offer it up to Roxy and see if she'll chew it like she chews all my favorite socks. But who am I kidding. Even our not-so-smart Roxy knows not to mess with an evil bionic swimsuit!

Anyway, in other news I have to tell you about this gas station that really perplexes me. In case you are reading this and are from the area it's the one on the edge of Bloomfield driving into Lawrenceville on Liberty. If you are sitting on the Bloomfield Bridge heading away from Oakland you are staring right at it.

So gas right now in Pittsburgh is a delightful $1.85/gallon at it's lowest. I cry tears of joy (or perhaps they are really tears of pain from the evil bionic suit?) every time I see how cheap gas is. And it keeps falling! But this gas station, the one that perplexes me, is STILL charging $2.17/gallon. Now, how can that be? I mean is it some kind of special gas? It says $2.17 for regular unleaded. So why is it over 30 cents MORE expensive?

Now that's one problem. But problem number 2 is, why do people still buy their gas there? It's just really bugging me! I sit on the Bloomfield Bridge coming home from work every day (the light on the bridge is realllllllly long so I have a long time to think this over as you can tell) and just rack my brain WHY I would see car after car after car pull in there and buy the $2.17 gas when there is a perfectly respectable gas station not 800 meters away that is charging $1.85. I feel like something interesting (and likely very shady) is going on at the $2.17 gas station and I really wish I knew what it was! I almost want to stop there to see. But then again, not really. Some things, I suppose, are best left unknown. ;)

And finally, may you rest in peace Kerryn McCann. Thank you for sharing your brave battle with cancer with us. Your fight has inspired us all to be a bit more courageous in the face of very real fears.

Posted by beth at 7:22 PM | Comments (6)

December 7, 2008

Christmas Shopping!

O and I aren't really shoppers. I personally dislike shopping quite a bit unless it involves triathlon gear. I don't like shopping for myself and especially not for others. Mostly because I have a really hard time deciding whether someone would like what I picked out for them. I know a lot of people think it's rude and thoughtless to give gift cards for Christmas or birthdays but O and I do that a lot. Trust me, it would be more rude for us to pick something out that you really don't like. :)

Anyway, Christmas shopping is generally not my favorite. Big crowds. The pressure of finding good gifts. And knowing you don't have much time to get it all done!

But somehow O and I did ALL our Christmas shopping today, in a span of about 2 hours and it was relatively painless! No fights! No tears! I even have the gifts wrapped! This has to be some sort of PR! (I keep PRs for everything... :)

Here is why I think we did so much better this year than previous years...

1) Prior to the actual shopping today we had a list of everyone we were shopping for AND what we were going to get them. Just going to the mall and wondering around looking for gifts and hoping something will pop out at you doesn't work for us. That leads to fights. And tears. It takes some pre-work but it helped tremendously!

2) We had a plan. Mall first and then Target and then once in the mall and plan of which stores to hit first. No back tracking. No wondering around. No wasted motion. :)

3) We had a reward at the end. When I really don't want to do something (like clean the house) it helps if I "reward" myself with something ONLY to be given after I have the hard task completed. Today we promised ourselves a trip to Qdoba after our shopping was complete. It helped me keep my focus. Helped me keep my eye on the prize! I had burritos on the brain!

And now that's a big weight off my shoulders. We didn't get Roxy anything but O assured me that if we feed her on Christmas morning and take her for her walk, she won't even know the difference. :)

Happy shopping everyone!

Posted by beth at 8:09 PM | Comments (3)

December 6, 2008

ITCH!

First of all, we put up our Christmas tree tonight. FUN! Growing up, my family always bought a real tree and I thought that was the best. And when my mom threatened to buy a fake tree instead I can remember protesting GREATLY. Fake trees are no fun! But now O and I have a fake tree. I can see why my mom wanted one. Much easier. :)

Anyway, we had fun decorating and Roxy had fun being a pest.

You might not be able to see but this is the Best of the US ornament we all got at this year's race. Cool! Other ornaments include a runner, Mario Lemieux, a cross, a few snowflakes and lots of red and purple balls. ;)

In other news I am majorly itchy. Like WOW am I itchy. Serious itch. Bad itch. And yes, I do clean myself, but the itch (of course) is from winter. And cold, dry air when I'm running and riding. And of course, chlorine. I can take care of the body parts that I can reach (face, legs, arms) with lotion but my back...AHHHHHH! I find myself rubbing up against things trying to scratch an itch that will just not be scratched. And the other night laying in bed my back was so itchy I actually couldn't fall asleep! Welcome to winter right?! :) I really need to invest in one of those back scratcher thingie majigs...

Speaking of winter, today I really wanted to ride outside. I do my long rides on Saturdays so if I can avoid the trainer at all costs, I try. But today, I just couldn't do it. It was 23 degrees, which I think I would have been okay with, but the windchill was 15 and that made it feel soooooo much colder. When we were driving home from the pool this morning (before I had riden) I was watching the flags whip in the wind and I knew it would be brutal. Still, I gave it serious consideration before I decided against it. Bummer. So the trainer it was. But I survived. ;) Perhaps next weekend it will be a bit warmer.

And my flip turns - still going strong! I think that for me, I just can't give myself an option. No open turns, they aren't even a choice anymore. So hopefully it won't take too long to get a little better at the flip turns. I already feel better with the oxygen deficit when I'm swimming easy (as in I don't feel like my head is going to explode when I push off the wall :) but swimming hard is still tough for me. My solution thus far is to just surface a lot sooner than I would have if I did an open turn, but I hope to improve upon that!

Have a great Sunday everyone!

Posted by beth at 8:11 PM | Comments (2)

December 4, 2008

Vanilla Ice, Frozen Vegetables and More...

So this morning I got up and it was pouring down rain and cold outside. And I didn't want to go to masters. Mostly because masters is a 30 minute drive away and usually that's not a problem because it's where I work (University of Pittsburgh) so since I'm going to work anyway... But the problem this morning was, I wasn't going to be working at Pitt, but instead just coming straight home. Soooo...I reasoned that sleeping in just a bit longer and then just swimming at my YMCA later on was just as good of a plan. Especially because that would save gas. Oh, and it was raining and cold and my bed was warm. You follow?

But then I reminded myself that I LOVE masters and got my suit on and drove down to Pittsburgh. And it was well worth it. I do love masters. I mean where else do you have teammates and a coach there, with you, working hard and pushing each other? LOVE IT.

So practice was good. Thursdays are the fast, shorter interval days so we usually do 100s of some variety. Oh, and I'm totally into flip turns now. I've started and stopped this flip turn madness on more than one occasion, but this time I think it's going to stick. I know I just have to commit to doing them 100% of the time and then I will be fine. And truthfully my flip turns aren't that bad (at least I don't think they are - I could be VERY wrong). I don't get water up my nose or miss the wall or shoot myself too far down in the pool, etc... But the reason why I don't like them is because of the whole "lack of extra breath at the end of the pool thing". Boy do I like that extra breath you get with an open turn! With an open turn I can push off the wall and get quite some distance before I come up for air, even when I'm swimming hard. With flip turns I'm trying to surface ASAP and breathing my very first stroke. OXYGEN! Plus, I've gotten very good with open turns and as it stands now, am probably a little faster with them vs the flip. I know this will get better with time though. Right? Someone? :) Still, it requires committment to doing them all the time so that I can get just as good with them as I am with my open turns. So that's my goal. Flip turns 100% of the time. I'm planning on doing the 1650 swim race I did last year so in an attempt to appear a real swimmer I'm going flip turns all the way! And perhaps dive off the blocks!

I'll save learning butterfly for next year though. :)

Seriously, one of those things that I make excuses for all the time when really I should just get it done and get over myself. Like riding outside in the cold. Gotta refuse to let it hold me back anymore!

So anyway, after masters I was driving back home and what should come on the radio but Vanilla Ice's Ice Ice Baby?! Now that's a song I haven't heard in a while. Like 15 years. Or more. But of course I still remembered all the words like I had just been singing it yesterday! I have a freakish ability to remember song lyrics though. And this, despite the fact that I can't remember my own cell phone number. ;)

Once home I did my core work and then got ready for my ride. Ride was uneventful but good.

When I was done riding I was at home icing my feet as usual with my frozen vegetables. Standard procedure of course. And I did know that the water meter guy was coming. So when I heard someone knocking at the door, I got up from my icing and concealed my frozen veggies under the coffee table. Didn't want the water meter guy to see random frozen vegetables laying around and think I was weird or anything. Don't ask me why in the world I would care what the water meter guy thought of me!

So all is well and I show Mr. Water Meter to the basement where he makes a comment about Scotty (wow, that looks like a fast bike!) like most people do. Sure is a fast bike Mr. Water Meter! He tells me he's going to be about 15 minutes which is perfect - I'll have plenty of time to finish icing my feet and put my frozen veggies away before Mr. Water Meter is done.

But there was a little snag in the plan.

You see I had the tv volume turned up REALLY high so I could hear the tv over Roxy's incessant barking (she doesn't like people in HER house!). So high, that I didn't hear Mr. Water Meter walking back up the basement steps so that he could tell me about a problem he found with our water valve. And so he walked up the steps into the living room and there I was with frozen vegetables all over me. Ugh. I didn't even try to explain.

Now he'll always remember me as the weird one with frozen vegetables on her feet!

Oh well, chances are I won't see him again and if I do, there are worse things in this world. Plus, as I often remind myself, most people could really care less about the stupid stuff I do. :)

So that was my morning. Exciting 'eh? ;)

I hope everyone has a wonderful day!

Posted by beth at 1:58 PM | Comments (7)

December 2, 2008

Shutt Road

This morning I went on a 7 mile run. It was dark and cold and windy. Winter in Pennsylvania. But I've probably run hundreds of runs just like I did this morning. In the dark. In the cold. In the wind. I grew up as a runner, ran through college and still run. As I get older I like the cold less and less, but the dark morning is probably my favorite time to run. I know I've talked about it before. There is something so peaceful about only hearing your footsteps and getting in a great run before most people are even up.

Regardless, this morning while I was getting my 7 miles in, I was thinking about running in the dark and how it doesn't really matter how light it is because I could do most of my runs with my eyes closed. I'm a creature of habit and tend to run the same routes over and over again. Right now I seriously only have about 2 different runs from our house. There are different variations of the runs depending on the distance I need, but otherwise it's the same roads, past the same houses and the same dogs that bark. I know which sidewalks to run on when it's dark and which ones to avoid. I know that the houselight on the corner of State Street always turns on when I run past and that the huge hill on Ninth always makes my HR spike halfway up.

In college we had more runs. They all had names. My favorite from the very first run I did as a freshman was the 5 mile loop around the golf course. And of course there was "The Loop" which was the morning run that we all did every day. I've run "The Loop" so many times I can probably still list the names on the mailboxes! There was the run where we would always see JoePa out walking. And there was that crazy run that Shelley always made me do with her on Sundays for our long runs. It was crazy hilly and at the end you had to climb over a gigantic fence that always had me cursing her for. I have so many wonderful memories from all those runs.

Then high school - we had even MORE routes. They also all had names. Main Street. Lynch Field. Hempfield Park. Buncher. Donut Shop. Willow Crossing. There are way too many to list. But this morning, while I was running through the darkness, I was thinking of one of my all time favorites in high school - Shutt Road.

Now let it be known, the very first time I did this run I HATED it. I was in 8th grade and my sister drug me out to run it one cold, winter day. It must have been Christmas break because otherwise she would have been running with the team. Anyway, from the high school the run is 8 miles and that was LIKE REALLY LONG when I just a young chickadee! And it was so cold. And snowing. And Shutt Road is one of the hilliest runs we did in high school. And I hated my sister for about 2 weeks after she made me do that with her. Are you reading this Becky? That was rough.

But then I grew to absolutely adore that run once I was in high school. I just loved it. I would get so excited when I knew that was going to be our run for the day and I ALWAYS choose Shutt Road when our coach let us decide which run we'd like to do. Shutt Road is definitely one I could do with my eyes closed.

Of course you may or may not recognize the fact that Shutt is now my last name. I was destined to marry a Shutt right? All those times I ran on that road and little did I know I would eventually marry into the family! O's family still lives on the road (not his parents anymore, but other relatives) and yes, one of the first questions I asked O when I met him was "hey, did you ever hear of Shutt Road in Greensburg?" :)

Funny how life works. Don't you think?

I haven't run Shutt Road for years now. I'm thinking over Christmas when we are back home visiting O's family, I might have to take a little jog down memory lane...

Posted by beth at 7:13 PM | Comments (10)

December 1, 2008

Back in Business

New month, new beginnings, new training! Yippeeee!!

I've fully enjoyed the past 5 weeks of the "off-season" and not training much. Two full weeks off (more like 2.5 since I got sick) and 2.5-3 weeks of very light training and now I'm ready to get back on the horse! I feel great (well, actually I feel really out of shape after my swim this morning) - mentally and physically fresh and ready to go! Again I say, yippppeeeee!

Let the "on-season" begin! :)

I was very happy to get up and log onto my workout schedule and see it full of swims and bikes and runs OH MY! So to the YMCA O and I headed this morning for my first swim and lift of the 2009 season! I was feeling excited to be in the water with a real, serious workout in front of me and even though my fitness was lacking and the last few 300s suffered for it, I still enjoyed myself. I also have a ride today! Great stuff! It always feels good to have structure and purpose again. I am a structure-lover so right now, I am loving life. I have a lot of work ahead of me but I am as excited as ever to tackle it. Keeping that excitement alive and well through the long winter months isn't easy but motivation isn't something I usually lack. 2009 here we come!

And in other news, I would like to let you all know that it is possible to lose a game of Scrabble EVEN if you score 89 points with just one word. I don't think I've ever beat my sister in Scrabble but this past weekend when we were visiting for the weekend, I thought I had finally gotten her. I wasn't too far behind when my 89 pointer (the word "equity" built off of a word with the "Z" in it AND with the "Q" on a triple letter AND with the whole word being doubled) came along and boy was I excited. FINALLY! I just may do it! But some how, some way that turkey still beat me. It's not like I even sucked the rest of the game or anything. I still had almost all of my words in the respectable 20-30 point range. And as if losing that game wasn't bad enough, in the next game we played, she lead off with a 7 letter word. I deem it impossible to best her in that game. Just impossible. I also lost at Monopoly AND Settlers of Catan that night. Not a good game night for me. Poor showing. I'm going to have to train a little better next time!

Off to my bike...

Posted by beth at 2:43 PM | Comments (5)