Ahhh the last day of April. I am ready for a new month. My foot is feeling slightly better. I might try and go for 2 2 mile runs while I am in KY this weekend. A far cry from the marathon I should be doing this weekend! But I am over it. I just want to get back to running as quickly as possible w/o furthering my injury. I have been wearing good shoes all week and taking it easy. Hopefully if I can go 2 miles w/o it hurting, I can continue to do 2-3 miles for a week or two and then ramp back up. I think with running since I will be forced to cut my mileage down due to injury and also due to the HIM schedule I am going to work on speed and hills. Two things I suck at. I would love to be able to consistently run 7 mph. I have done that before, but everytime I head out for an hour run, it’s more like 6. something. I think my Tuesday run will become a track workout. Brock and I were talking about checking out the second sole running group track workouts on Tuesday. I have always been chickent to go to track workouts, but I have done a lot to step outside my comfort zones the past few years, why not this? Also, Beth sent me info on a cycling group in Shaker Heights. I reached out on their message board inquiring about the speed of the group and my fear of getting dropped and got so many nice replies back, so I am going to try and conquer my fear of group rides next weekend. Should be interesting. I better get used to my new cleats first!

I'm in a bit of a funk. This whole thing with my foot, family stuff, work et al. It's just a lot of stress right now. I find myself really missing my dad lately and that's just been really hard. Some days I'm fine and some days I just want to crawl under the covers. When I went to see Dr. Shah, I was a new patient so I had to fill out forms about my family history and I had to put a check mark next to deceased for my dad. It was just so surreal. It's all so unfair, but such is life. Everyone loses their parents, but I really thought I had a long time left with him and regret many, many things. But so did he I'm sure. I am going home this weekend since I won't be doing the Pig. Every time I go home it's like pulling a scab off of a wound. I am able to forget about it up here, I am able to pretend like he's just a phone call away and my mother is not wandering around her house at all hours of night, crying herself to sleep. Well, I am probably writing way too much for a triathlon journal and getting a bit too personal. So, I'll stop. But the whole point is that I am in a funk. And when I am in a funk, I don't want to work out and unfortunately that just makes me feel worse. I have given myself permission to take it easy this week. I skipped my workout today, which I probably shouldn't, but I did. Tomorrow I will hit spinning, Thurs I will swim and Fri I will spin again and then head home where I'll probably not do much. When I get back on Monday, it's back to the grindstone and hopefully I'll be able to give running a shot. Although my foot really hurts and the pain is traveling up my calve. Fun times. So I am going to shake off this funk and be back to fun blogging next week.

It’s over Johnny. No marathon for me, I have made up my mind. My right foot just hurts too bad. It hurts to stand on it, it hurts to walk on it, it will hurt badly after 4.5 hours of running. So, I am bailing, think what you will. I have a long summer ahead of me and want to be in tip top shape, more than I want to run a bad marathon. So, I am happy with my decision and have come to peace with it. I went out for a 3 mile run this weekend and it was brutal, that solidified it. I am going to take another full week off of running and ice and ibuprofen like mad. I need to call and make an appt with the physical therapist. Get the exercises and try to do those a few times.

G and I had such a nice weekend. Friday night we went to dinner at the new Pub on Lee. It wasn’t very good, but I had a yummy Sam Adams white ale. Then we watched “Reign Over Me”, which I liked, but G didn’t. Sat we got up early and had to take the dogs to the vet for some vaccinations. They were good boys and got lots of cuddles and oh my your dogs are so cutes. They have such big heads over all the flattery they get when they go out. Then G and I headed to the West Side market, which I always enjoy. Except for the people who insist on having strollers in there; there’s just not enough room. We got all kinds of fruits and veggies, some apple smoked turkey breast, monkfish, salmon and bone in chicken breast. It was fun. When we got home we took the dogs for a walk and then I went and met Sara for a movie. We saw “Baby Mamma” and we both loved it. I wish they hadn’t given it such a stupid name, it was a great movie. I heart Tina Fey and Amy Poehler big time. From there I went home and enjoyed the nice day on the porch with the dogs and read a little, then went for the bad 3 mile run. G made us a yummy dinner of monkfish, salmon, asparagus, squash and garlic bread, all done on the grill. We cracked open a bottle of Conundrum wine that we got for Xmas and had a really nice dinner. It was my cheat meal for the week and we got some ice cream afterwards. I was good though, I got sorbet, no dairy for me. We finished off the bottle, so I was a little tipsy. We decided to watch yet another movie. We have had the same 3 movies from Netflix forever, so it’s time to send them back. We watched “The Invisible” which may be the worst movie I’ve ever seen. Truly horrible.

Sunday we slept later than we meant too since we were both a little hungover. Aren’t we light weights! 1 bottle of wine and we’re down for the count. But we did manage to roll out of bed during the 9:00 hour and get setup for a bike trip. We headed to Rocky River and rode from the Marina down to Mill Creek Reservation in Strongsville and back. All in all the trip was 45 miles. Mostly flat, but there were a few good hills involved. We ran out of water at about mile 22 and couldn’t find a water fountain that was working. They were all turned off. We finally found one, but the water was disgusting, plain nasty. So, I barely drank on the way back. Not a good move. On the ride I had 2 accelgels, a bite of cliff bar, and half a pack of shot blocks. I need to take some liquid calories next time. Learning to eat like 600 calories on the bike for my HIM is going to be tough. I think I will install one of those behind the seat water bottle holders so I have more room. I have 2 holders now, but one has a water bottle that I use to hold my stuff. I guess if I get a bento box I won’t need that. After the ride I was thoroughly pissed off at my pedals. I just can’t get them facing the correct way to clip back in when I get started and they are super slippery so I end up ramming my foot down and slipping off and hurting myself. So, after the ride we headed for the bike authority and I got some speedplay pedals. I am going to try them out tonight on the trainer. Maybe an easy 10 miler to loosen up my legs.

I am heading to a b-day party after work at McCormick’s and Schmidt’s, I love that place. The diet is going well. I didn’t log very accurately this weekend and I need to work on that in the coming weekends, but I am down 2 lbs so far. Probably some water weight, but a pound is a pound. 8 more to go.

And what's my goal for this year? First and foremost to have my first season of triathlons and finish GCT HIM w.o dying. So, am I going to put that at risk by doing the Pig? I do not know. I met with the doctor. I have posterior tibialis tendon disfunction, which is a wordy way of saying there some weak muscle on the side of my foot causing me distress. Nothing is broken, ruptured or torn. He said that sure I could run the race, but at some point I will have to rest it in order to let the inflammation heal and in order to run without pain. Sure I can run the race, but it's going to hurt, where is the fun in that? I'll also need some physical thearpy to get some excercises to do and that I should probably get some more stability in my shoe. So, to race or not to race? That is the question. I am going to go run this weekend and see how it feels. If I run tomorrow I'll have had 8 days off and 14 days since a long run of 15 miles. I don't feel confident for the race, but I keep flipflopping on what I think is best. 5 mins ago when I emailed my friend Brendan, I said I was probably going to do the race anyway, I do have 2 pretty strong 20 milers under my belt and months of 25-30 mile weeks of running. But now as I type this I am convinced I will probably sit this one out. Take 1-2 more weeks off and ramp back up on my HIM plan. I want to be able to run with Kim over memorial day weekend when we go to our lake placid training camp. What to do, what to do.

I am in just in a bad place. Why do I need to run the marathon? Is it really that big of a deal if I don’t do it? I have trained hard all winter long, but in all honesty I have no confidence for this race right now. I didn’t do the hill training I should have done, I didn’t lose the weight I should have lost, I didn’t do the speedwork I should have done. Now I cannot run without pain. Maybe I should just call it a day and train for a fall marathon? I hate to call defeat, but why push it? I remember how painful the last few miles of that Just a Short Run 30K were. We did 21 miles that day and I was hobbling at the end, I was happy with my time, but did not enjoy the last 5 miles at all. Why put myself through that….what am I trying to prove and to who? Is anyone really going to give 2 shits that I didn’t do this race and what do I care. It’s likely I won’t get the time I want and then I’ll just be disappointed and my feet will hurt even worse. Maybe I should just call is quits and not run for let’s say 3 weeks…then start ramping it back up? I do have an appt with a doctor on Friday and he is a runner, a good one, a 2:30 Boston marathoner and he happens to be head of the sports med dept at a local hospital. I guess I’ll just leave it up to him. Put it all out on the table and get his expert opinion. But I will not be toeing the line at the Pig with any confidence at all at this point. I hate this. The pain has traveled from my right foot up into my calve. The whole leg aches from the knee down. Bite me running injuries.

I'm playing hooky from work today, it's too nice out and the weekend went by too quickly and at too hurried of a pace. Friday night when I got home from work Gary was washing my car! What a nice hubby. I had driven his car that day b/c he took mine to get the power steering checked, which is out. Across the street my fun and fabulous neighbor Renata and her hilaryious clinton friend Amy were already drinking some great lakes. So, I went over to talk to them and the 4 of us ended up having pizza and beer! Yeah for a fun friday.

Gary had an awesome Sat all planned out for us. Which is noteworthy, b/c I am the planner in this relationship. Making plans drives G crazy he would rather start everyday and end it without ever have had a plan of attack of any sort. Um, maybe we balance each other out? He decided that when we dropped my car off at the Toyota place in Mentor we would then ride our bikes to his dad's house and back while they worked on our car. He had mapped out a great route from Mentor, into Kirtland hills and on to Chardon. It was great b/c 75% off it was on a bike lane or trail. It was very hilly and we saw some amazing houses on the deep country backroads in Kirtland hills. We ended up riding further past his dad's house on the bike trail in Chardon down to the reservoir lake and by the time we got to his dad's it was right about 35 miles and G's knee was feeling it so we called it a day. His dad had a great sandwich buffet waiting for us, so we had sandwiches and chips and strawberries and then some monkey bread and ice cream for dessert! Ahhhh. There went that 35 miles of calories burned. It was almost 1 by this time and the dealer said it would only take a few hours, so his step mom ran us back to the dealer. We sat there for 45 mins and they gave me my car, luckily on the way out I pushed a button on the dash and it didn't pop right, so we realized they did something wrong. 30 more mins later we were finally out of there. Nothing like sitting around in sweaty biking gear in a room full of regular joes. Stewing in my own stink, fun stuff. By the time we got home it was 4, so we walked the dogs and ran to the grocery stores and target for a gift for the party we were set to attend. We went to the b-day party at 8 and it was a lot of fun and I had 2 mojitoes, when I shouldn't have had anything! We did leave there around 11, so it wasn't too late.

Sunday morning I had to get up at 4:30 to meet Beth at 4:50. I had agreed to volunteer for an NCN race in Elyria. She picked me up and we made our way there by 6am. Volunteering was fine, I helped set up everything, then handed out the tshirts at registration, then they put me at a spot on the course to direct runners. It was raining and a little cold, so standing out in the rain for 3 hours wasn't much fun. I did duck into the cab of Beth's truck when there was a break in the runners. We were done there by 11ish. But here's the thing. I was on my feet for about 5 hours straight, I was wearing my cushy nike vomeros. By the end of those 5 hours I felt like someone was torturing me. I cannot even explain how painful it was too stand. My feet were shot and my knees ached. It's the worst in my right foot. But they just felt like someone was stabbing me in my feet. I am ashamed to admit that I only ran 7 miles last week, total!!!! I did bike 60 miles though and swam 4000 yards. I was supposed to do 12 on Sunday, but there was no way it was happening. I am doing research today on a sports doc or podiatrist that is a runner and will take my insurance. I know I need to see someone. I am intent on doing the race anyway as long as I'm in no danger of tearing something. Also I have pretty much self diagnosed myself with PF b/c I have all the symptoms, my general doc agreed with me, but it could be tendinitis or something more diabolical. All I know is as much as I have trained for the Pig I don't want to do permanent damage. Please give me your opinion on the questions below. My real problem is that I have not had a good long run since the 30K which means it'll have been over a month since I had a quality long run, which leaves me with a lot of fear for the race.

First question - should I scrap the race? Is it better to DNF or not even try?

• Don't do the race, it's not worth hurting yourself, take a month off running to let your feet heal
• Do the race. You have been training for months and you will get through it even if the time is not what you wanted.
• Do the race and if it hurts by mile 8, where the HM breakoff is, just do the Half.

And if I do the race how should I proceed with my training:

• Don't run at all, just bike, swim and use the elliptical
• Run, but keep the runs shorter
• Keep following your plan, the mid long runs will give you a better idea of if you are going to be able to get through 26.2 or not

Let me tell you. Swimming wears me out! When I got home from work yesterday I took the dogs for a 2 mile walk and then ran 3.5. The run felt awful and I fought with myself the whole time. I hate runs like that. How the hell can I run 20 miles one day and struggle with a short tempo run another? I am not looking to forward to my marathon right about now. Obviously I am psyching myself out, and I am trying to stop. Maybe a nice easy 12 miler this weekend will get my confidence back up. Maybe. After the running/walking I hit Master’s swim. But from the start I was really dragging and my form wasn’t so great so I wore my fins for a lot of the swim, but managed to get in a little over 2000 yards. There were like 6 people, which I guess is a big crowd for HB. I can’t believe more people don’t come to HB, everyone goes to Shaker. The pool at Shaker isn’t that nice, the one at HB is really nice. But anyway I got through the swim as best I could. I had every plan of going to spinning this morning, but when the alarm went off I woke up and had the awful really tired I just ran a marathon feeling and rolled back over and went to sleep. So, obviously master’s swimming is really pushing my limits. Which is good, but messes up my morning workouts. I’ll still workout tonight, but I much prefer getting it done in the morning. There are only 6 more weeks of master’s swims, once school close they don’t have them around me anywhere that I know of besides CSU which isn’t very convenient. So, I will stick with HB. I wish I had been doing these swims since last Nov when I first looked into it, I was too chicken. I would be one badass swimmer by now.

My mom was supposed to come visit this weekend but that fell through, which is fine. But now I find myself with no plans for the weekend. I cannot tell you the last time I didn’t have my weekend booked up solid. It’s kind of exciting. Well, truthfully we have a b-day party on Sat night and Sunday morning I am volunteering for Beth at some HM in Elyria for NCN. But aside from that no plans, no planned workouts with people. I need to do 12 miles at some point and if the weather is nice G and I will ride bikes. I might even do the 12 miler after work tonight and get it out of the way! I think I might just sleep in on Sat. Crazy.

I don't really like newer U2, but that song keeps running through my mind. I even had 2 work meetings outside today. Nice. After work yesterday Gary and I took the dogs for a walk and then jumped on our bikes. We rode straight up Fairmount to Gates Mills Blvd, then up into a subdivision and back down GM to Lander and over to Shaker and home from there. We rode a bit over 18 miles. It was perfect weather and it was just so nice to be out. I still feel shaky due to the peddles and my quads were trashed from the start of the ride so I struggled a bit. I think the 500 kick I did at master's swimming with fins on must have really worked my quads b/c hill #1 they were screaming and I usually power up hills, it's my strong hand! Gary and I managed to keep around a 16 mph average. I am a little bummed. I used to think that was pretty good, but in reading up on group rides it seems that we would get smoked. We even converged with the Cleveland touring club at one point and managed to hang with them for about a mile, but they lost us on a downhill. I think we have a lot to learn about proper gearing. When coming down a hill should I be peddling like a madwoman? I'm used to just coasting. I want to join some Touring club rides, but am scared to death.

I meant to get up this morning and run, but alas I overslept. So, tonight I must run a few miles and then go to master's swim. It's going to be a long night, but I'm sure the run will be great since it's so nice out.

Yep, it’ official I am a master swimmer. I kid, I kid. But I did hit up the class again last night, this time it was me and 3 guys. Still not much of a crowd. I got in 2850 yards and it was fun. For whatever reason the 2 times I have swam at HB I feel like I can go forever. Maybe it’s the scrutiny of being watched, maybe it’s the inevitabelnes of knowing I have to swim for an hour + so I might as well get into it, maybe it’s the better pool and water temps? Anyway I have found that I barely rest. I mean I hit the wall at the end of each 25 and turn around, but I only really rest between sets; which means I am swimming hundreds of yards straight. It’s awesome. I am bummed to know I only have like 4 more weeks that I can use this pool. We did a cooldown of 500 kick and I was so worn out, I was really hammering to get through it and felt so accomplished when I was done. We did 6 75’s pull where we alternated breathing every 3rd breath on 25, with every 5th breath. Holding your breath for 5 strokes is hard, but I seemed to go really fast b/c my head was down for so long. Does anyone breathe on the 5th stroke all the time? I have been breathing every other breath and it’s working well for me, every 3rd breath feels weird, but hey every 5th feels great. Interesting.

This morning I was going to get up but was exhausted b/c Mushi’s allergies are kicking in and he was up itching all night, time to put him back on his $2 a day allergy pills. Joy. Poor guy, I felt so bad for him, but was very angry at 3 am when he took to rubbing his head all over me. I got up and took him out and gave him an allergy pill. He should feel better in a few days. But regardless, I wasn’t ready to go to spinning at 5:30. Gary and I are biking after work so it doesn’t really matter. I probably should have lifted weights this morning. My goal is to get back to 2 lifting sessions a week. I haven’t lifted weights in ages and I know it can only help me. It was hard enough to get it in when I just ran, but now that I am trying to get better at 3 sports, ugh. It’s hard! But I will find a way. The HIM plan that I am following has weighs in it, so I will just follow the plan. 18 days until the pig. AHHH.

Oh joy! I just found out the Kids in the Hall are going to be in Cleveland on May 31st! I must, must, must get tickets tonight. I freaking loved that show with all my heart when it was on and still remember some of the sketches so vividly. I bet they are fun to see up close on stage.

Yesterday I went to the doctor and got some blood drawn just to make sure everything is on the up and up since I have been sick so much this winter. I’m sure it’s nothing, but you never know, I might have mono again, I might be anemic, etc.

I am really freaking out about the Pig. My right foot just hurts all the time now, every step. Not much I can do about it but take it easy until May 4. I am so scared I will get out there and bomb, but it’s not the end of the world. If it takes me 5 hours I will finish. I am really ready for this race to be over. I don’t think I ever want to do a spring marathon again. Training in the winter here is just too tough and I just didn’t execute my training as I should have and I’m bummed about it. But it is what it is. I have 3 20 milers under my belt, I know I’ll get through the race. I ran 2 this morning. I was having stomach issues so I cut it short. Movie popcorn for dinner will do that to you. Sara and I went and saw Smart People last night, it was just okay. Tonight I have master’s swim. Woohoo.

Thank goodness the snow didn’t last too long. The sun is out today, its a little cold, but by Wed we should be warmed back up into the 60s. My sister in law moved to OR in Jan, so this weekend she was back for a wedding. Of course the weather had to be nasty. She said it’s already 70 and gorgeous in OR and has been since late Feb. I am ridiculously jealous of West Coast living. Why did my family have to settle around here? As much as I want to move, part of me feels like I never could b/c of our families and that’s a bummer. What’s more important? Living somewhere beautiful, with 300 sunny days a year and better job opportunities, or spending your life in a place you really don’t like, except for 100 days out of the year so that you are in driving distance of your family? After settling down with G and getting over the goo goo eyes newlywed stage, I woke up and realized I lived in Cleveland now. At first I seriously hated it here but I have warmed up to it. I have some really great friends here and from May – Sept it is enjoyable. But the rest of the year is so gray and dismal and the job opportunities are not exciting in the least. There are so few progressive companies here that offer things like flex time, bring your dog to work, on site daycare, etc. Ahhh, I’m just having a bitchy morning. Work is tough right now and I kind of just want to curl up in a ball as a professional dog sitter and just forget about corporate American. But alas I am attached to the paycheck. That’s all I’ll say b/c I know you should absolutely not BLOG about work!

Yesterday was a relaxing day; we met G’s mom and her boyfriend and Laura (SIL) at the Original Pancake House on Chagrin Blvd, which is just delicious. I had the most perfect banana pancakes. Then we ran some errands and killed time before we dropped Laura off at the airport at 3. Then we went grocery shopping and made some soup for dinner. From there G and I did a whole lot of nothing. I got sucked into the MTV real world awards (yes I realize the lameness of that sentence) and vegged for hours. Then the next thing I knew it was time for The Rock of Love II finale! And what a finale it was. So you could say my inner slug won out on Sunday and I watched a lot of bad tv. But it does the soul good! I woke up refreshed and headed to spin class. It has been awhile since I’ve made it to 6am spin. I always feel so great afterwards. I wish I could bottle that feeling and take a whiff of it at 5:30 when it’s time to get out of bed. But today’s soundtrack in class was especially bad. I really like the M/F teacher (aside from the fact that she yelps on mic and it can hurt your ears) but her music taste for a spin class is just pitiful. Today we spun to such amazing tunes as – Ticket to Paradise, Message in a Bottle, Jeremiah was a Bullfrog and other amazing adult contemporary tunes from the 80s and 90s. Sigh. I don’t necessarily mind these songs (well I do thing Ticket to Paradise might be one of the worst songs ever), but they are not fitting for getting your blood pumping while you work your way through a seated climb. I need a little beat, it doesn’t have to be hip hop music, but something from this decade would be nice. But the class was awesome and I feel awake and energized and ready to zone out in front of my computer for the next 8 hours of my life that I will never get back.

Seriously April 13th and it's snowing. whatever. I still got to run yesterday on the towpath in sunshine for most of the run. It was in the 50s and the weather was perfect until the end of the run. I met up with a few co-workers and Iron G at 8 am. The co-workers only ran like 2 miles out and back, so we weren't with them for very long. Gina and I had a very nice 10 miler, keeping a slowish pace of 9:40-10 min per mile. The sun kept fighting to come out from behind the clouds. We saw a beaver! A heron! And a giant white goose. There were a ton of people out on the path, it was just one of those nice enjoyable long runs. Gina had to leave after 10 miles so she could go sign papers on her first house! Congrats to Gina and Neil! After she left I continued out to do another 10 miler. But I quickly lost my motivation. It was starting to sprinkle and get really cloudy. My feet were starting to hurt, I kept telling myself, you're going to get 5 miles out and it's going to start pouring. I started bargaining with myself. I was running the opposite way on the towpath so I was going into the wind. Eventually my aching feet and lack of motivation won and I called it quits after 16 miles. I am very very worried about my marathon. My PF hurts so bad after about 2 hours. I am going to try and take it easy for the next 2 week during my taper. After my run I took a nap and headed to a fundraiser for shar pei savers and then to a birthday party for a friend. It was a long day. Toady I am exhausted.

I've been checking out the Ironman live site. Carrie (tritobefunny) is having an awesome race today and I hear that several folks from CTC are doing really well as well. I can't wait to read the race reports.

Soooooooo I went to my first master’s swim at Hathaway Browne last night! And….there were only 3 people counting me, so it’s not much of a master’s swim. But my oh my the pool is to die for. It’s huge and so blue and clean and the ceiling is so high and the building is glass, it’s just a gorgeous natatorium. I am so jealous that people get to go to a high school like this. The water was actually cold! And you know what, I didn’t get nearly as fatigued. The water at the JCC is like a bathtub and the pool is so dingy compared to this place. Although there are so few people, I think it’ll be worth $10 a week to swim twice at HB until the end of May when the school closes. By then maybe I will feel comfortable doing actual workouts written on a board and comfortable with swimming by the clock, etc and ready to move to a “real” master’s swim. Supposedly there is some outdoor pool in my area that everyone goes to in the morning for a master’s swim, I need to do some research into that. But the gal in charge of the HB master’s was nice and gave me some good tips. I ended up swimming 2700 yards (out of the 3500 that were on the board, but I started a few mins late and talked to the coach a few times, so I think I could have at least gotten 3200 if I swam the whole 1:15). I only used my fins for 300 yards! So, I am happy. I will go again on Thurs. If anyone on the East side is looking for a place to swim, come join me! 7:30-8:45 on Tu/Th.

I was going to go to spinning this morning, but my knee really hurts. I have to do 20 miles this Sat and that is what is most important this week, so I skipped spinning and did some light weights. Tonight I’ll do an easy spin on the trainer for 30-45 mins. Tomorrow I need to run 5 miles, Friday will probably be a rest day and then Sat I will be running 10 of the 20 miles with my sister in law. Then we are hitting the maple festival in Chardon and I have a fundraiser for Shar Pei Savers and a birthday party Sat night. I am going to be exhausted.

Last night after work we headed out on our bikes again. 2 days in a row! I am so glad spring is here. We rode about 14 miles. For those familiar with Cleveland Heights, we rode up Shaker Blvd to SOM Center and back. Anyone who knows the area knows that it is hill after hill. Riding indoors all winter surely kept me fit, but I was struggling on those hills! But we made it. I have to admit that I am just a nervous wreck on my bike now. I HATE being clipped in. I am fine when I am moving, but every time I stop I almost bite it. It’s not a matter of getting unclipped. I can do that no problem. I unclip a few hundred feet before I even have to and either pedal slowly with one leg or keep my foot on the pedal. But when I come to a stop I just can’t seem to keep it all together. I’ve only fallen once so far, but almost did 3 times yesterday, I’ve lost all confidence. I can’t quite figure out where to have my left leg while I bring my right leg down. Gary had his left leg bent and then supports himself on his right. I seem to want to have both of my legs straight and I really need to come forward and out of the seat to stop. But then as I stand there I HATE having my right foot clipped in, it feels funky and makes me lose my balance. I can’t imagine if I was out riding 60 miles that I would feel very secure on my fatigued right leg. I’d almost rather pull both feet out and reclip, but that seems excessive. Also, when I get started again I can’t seem to get my right foot clipped back in very quickly. I wish now that I had gone with the speedplay instead of the look pedals. I chose the look pedals b/c they have more of a platform so I thought I could pedal with my foot unclipped, which I can. But the speedplay you can clip in on either side, so you are not searching for the right direction to get your foot in. Anyway, it’s all very unnerving and like I said – I HATE it. But I’m sure over time it’ll become second nature, but I just feel scared the whole time I ride now. But I recall when I first started riding a road bike last June being really scared and by the end of the year I was comfortable on it, so hopefully by the HIM I will be more of a daredevil. I think about riding with group though and I don’t know if I feel like I could do that right now. My left knee that I fell on Sunday is sore today. I have a circle of road rash and a big blue bruise, but now the actual knee aches. Boo.

This morning I met Brock and we ran about 5 miles. My garmin had a low battery so for the first time in forever I didn’t know my pace. It felt naked. I know I rely on the watch way too much. My HIM plan is all time training and that is going to be a BIG change for me. I have always trained by miles, so I am looking forward to stepping outside of my comfort zones. I am really starting to be ready for the marathon to be over. I want to get more involved in my cross training. Secretly in the back of my mind I feel like the HIM training will help me finally lose these last 10 lbs; which is probably why I am so excited. But I really bet it does. Less mileage, faster running, a LOT more biking, more consistent swimming has got to equal a few lbs lost. Plus nicer weather means longer dog walks too. They have been like bad little kids since it got warm out, not wanting to come in from outside, pulls horribly on their walks. My babies have spring fever! Me too! Me too!

Oooh I just got an email from the Flying Pig - 26 days until game day! Scary. This Sat is 1 more 20 miler and then it's time to taper. My time out of town was fun, but it really messed up my diet/excercise. I have yet to perfect sticking to a plan when I am not home, which is b-a-d. But oh well, it was a recovery week and boy did I recover! I haven't ran since Thursday! Yikes! When I got home yesterday afternoon though we took the dogs for a 3 mile walk and then rode our bikes 10 miles. I had my first fall and busted my knee up pretty good. It hurts pretty badly actually, but it's just the bruise/torn skin that hurts, not my actual knee or anything. But everytime I move my knee it runs against my jeans, ouch. Tonight is a longish bike ride. I am going to try and do 90 mins. It's been awhile since I've ridden for more than an hour. I wish I had stuck to those excel in cycling classes now! But I think I'll be up to 50 mile rides in no time. I am for sure hitting up master's swim this week, I emailed the lady and found out only like 5 people come so we get our own lane! Fantastic.

I was having a hard time juggling the HIM training with the marathon training, so I ditched my plan and found am going to do the plan in the book "12 week triathlete". It works better for me. I can jump into it the week after my marathon and it should time out just right. I will keep swimming and biking up until the marathon of course, but I'm just not following a set plan. After the marathon I am going to shoot for 3 swims, 3 runs and 4 bikes a week up until the HIM. After the HIM it will be time to run more and get ready for the Akron marathon. It's going to be a great year!

Heading to KY this afternoon and to IN this weekend for a baby shower, so no blogging for me. Ran 6 miles last night and 3 this morning. Still feel like crud, so they were slow miles, but at least I did something. Have a great weekend. The sun is starting to come out and i am ecstatic about that!

Had a good workout last night. I hit the pool planning on a 2500 yard workout, but after about 1000 my stroke went to shit, so I did 1600 and called it a day. The pool was super warm and the air temp was 83! Crazy. It feels like FL at the JCC. They keep the pool way too hot. If you get near one of the jets, it feels like you are in a hot tub the water coming out is so hot. From there I went home and rode my bike for 10 miles while watching the Biggest Loser, that took 32 mins. Then I did some abs and push ups. My goal for April is to do at least 50 push ups and 100 crunches a day. I can do push ups and crunches anywhere, so there’s no excuse. My abs used to be in great shape and I have really neglected them, so I am looking forward to getting that undercover 6 pack back. It’s undercover b/c there is still fat over it! But it’s been there I just know it! Unfortunately I slept like shit for some reason last night and when my alarm went off for spin class at 5:15 I just couldn’t shake the sleep. I remember this is a rest week and decided to get more rest! Besides I have an 8 miler planned for after work today. Please weather gods cooperate! Tomorrow morning I am meeting Brock to run 3-5 miles, then if I can time it right I am going to hit the pool for another mile swim and go to work from there. Then I drive home tomorrow. I am looking forward to this weekend. Thurs evening and all day Friday I will be in KY with my family. Sat I have my dear friends baby shower in Indy and I will stay there with her Sat night and then drive home Sunday. It’ll be hard to get all my workouts in, but as long as I get my runs in I will be okay. Marathon is only 30 days away! Yikesssss!

Still feeling pretty icky today, but not nearly as bad as yesterday. I made a doctor's appointment for next week to get some blood drawn. I cannot even tell you how afraid I am of needles and giving blood, but I feel like I need to have everything checked out. Maybe I'm anemic? Maybe I have mono? You just never know. My mom has fibromyalgia and prenicious anemia, neither of which have proven to be hereditary, but since I have been such a sickly person my whole life it always sticks in the back of my head that I may end up with some randomn auto immune disorder. It's the hypochondriac in me. My teeth hurt from the zinc cough drops I have been chowing on for 2 days. I know i'll be better tomorrow, I think this cold should be on it's way out. Tomorrow Gina and I are meeting up to run 8 miles, I am looking forward to that. I hope the weather behaves. Tonight I need to swim and either bike or run. I was going to run this morning, but it was raining, so I went back to bed. Hey it is a rest week!

Last night G and I went and saw Stop Loss. It was pretty good. A little too mtv music videoish, and I hated the female leads acting, but Ryan Phillpe did really well. Overall I'd give it 2.5/4 stars.