I'm back!! It's taken awhile huh? A quick summary... I am now at work so this won't be long... maybe during lunch. I'm not sure about this whole "working lifestyle" thing, but I couldn't work for a cooler company. Ideal for the workout enthusiast that's for sure. I'll update later. :)

Well, I've made it to Wednesday. Not sure I'm feeling better, but I think the fever broke last night so I should be on my way to recovery. Fingers are crossed.

Last night was the final night of both swim class and volleyball. I'm actually quite sad. Swim class was fine... I swam even though I didn't feel well when I got there, and actually felt decent aside from not really having a lot of energy. I felt good when I left, as I headed to the second match of volleyball, but by that time everyone was pretty tired and I used up what energy I had left, quickly. The end of volleyball was very anticlimactic. We were the champions... and every other league (basketball, soccer etc) got t-shirts or something and you know what we got? A free soda- which we had to ask for. Weak. I think that they should offer the winning team a free entry into the next session since they charge you a zillion dollars to play and then give you nothing. Moving on...

Today I went to sunrise yoga at 5:45 am. I truly enjoy that class. I was still feeling pretty weak though and thought my health would greatly benefit from a day off. The idea was good, but I couldn't find a sub so had to teach the class anyway. I tried not to work as hard as usual, and was reasonably successful, but still, it isn't' a day off. Since I haven't been sleeping well I'm not very motivated to go back to bed and actually keep thinking that I should go do more Christmas shopping but we'll see. First things first... Turkey Chili!!! I love it! It might be the best lunch I've had in months.

With that, my mouth is watering so I'm off. Nothing more planned for the day. Ed is on TV tonight and sadly enough... O.C. on the WB. I'm pathetic :) Resting up with the hopes of trying out the new XCountry skis tomorrow! Injury report soon to come. Take care and stay healthy!

Nice job Heiser... you win. Thanks for giving me something to read!

Not much for today. Did manage to make it to body pump last night so that was good. I worked pretty hard, using the heavier weights for all the tracks (sometimes I slack :) so I was pretty cashed. I'm not sure that I went in there with full energy either so that might have something to do with it. Lots of people there... a couple I don't get to see very often so that was fun. Uneventful night- everyone is kinda under the weather these days... but it was good because I got to bed early in lue of subbing the 5:30 am cycling class this morning.

I woke up this morning and thought I might die. I felt horrible (I guess I still do...) and went into class with the notion that I was going to simply sit on the bike and move my legs around and just tell them what to do. Wish I could have done that... the stupid mic didn't work again so not only did I have to yell out the entire class, I actually had to do the workout so they could visually follow what I was doing. The good thing is that I felt better during and by the end of class. I came home and went back to bed anyway though. Maybe that was a mistake cause I feel even worse now. How does that work?

Bailed on step class today but still have 2 matches of volleyball and swim class. I have to go to swim class but I don't know how well it's going to work out. We'll see I guess. I'll keep you posted. Otherwise, not much is new... might try to work on xmas shopping some more. Maybe food and getting out and doing something will help me feel better.

Happy Tuesday... hope everyone is doing well! :)

Not a ton to update on today... woke up with my headache again so spent the morning just kinda lying around trying to build energy for teaching the noon class. Got there to find a large class which was good, but a mic that didn't work so that was very bad. Considering I didn't feel well it was a bad day to have to talk above the music so I came up with hand signals to go along with my verbal cues. The class was pretty fun and they followed me very well, laughing along with me. It was an thinking class for sure. Fun though. I worked them hard and they just kept responding so I was happy. I got called out a couple of times that I "was supposed to be sick and should take it easy..." They were just teasing though.

Made it through class and decided that it might not be the best decision to swim right now - so maybe I'll do that later, or maybe I'll just do body pump and call it a day. If I don't swim today I'll try to squeeze it in at least two more times during the week. That's the goal. I won't push myself too hard while I'm battling off illness. I promised I'd listen to those wiser than me.

Went to the front desk to find a zillion trays of cookies that people keep sending the club. Naturally, I had to try way too many different kinds. I am officially on a diet limiting my sweet intake to one a day. It has gotten ridiculous and I'm sure healthier food would help me to feel better sooner. That's one thing that will be nice when the holidays are over... less temptation. I am weak and need to work on that. I've been told I have control over it so it is now time to enforce that control. ;)

Well, I think that's about it for me. I think I win for first updated blog of the day... hope everyone is feeling well and having a great Monday!

Can't believe the weekend's over already! How sad.

Can't say much happened today. I haven't worked out yet and haven't yet decided if I'm going to. Yesterday I told everyone that today would be my day off since I did so much yesterday, but I'm not tired today... time just hasn't permitted. I've been dog/house sitting yesterday and today as well as trying to entertain and catch up with Jen while she was in town. I hit up a Xmas party that a coworker had last night, which was pretty fun... lots of fun snacks! Actually, I think that's the only thing I really ate yesterday because after getting home from the race, my stomach freaked out on me and wouldn't allow me to eat anything. I think I might have been dehydrated but I feel better today.

Jen and I hit up the outlet mall today to try to Xmas shop. I bought 5 things, 3 of which were for me. I don't think I understand this whole Christmas thing very well. I did find a hat for running in at the Nike store and decided I had to buy it since I've been looking for one for ages. Good justification right? What if I never found one again?!
I feel better now :)

Otherwise, life has been pretty slow. I might still try to get a swim in tonight. I think I have to play volleyball but I'm not sure what time. Either 8 or 9... I think we discovered last night that the director sent out the wrong time for our team so I'll probably show up there alone. I'm not super motivated since I've been battling off a migraine all day but hopefully I'll find some energy and play well.

Want to send a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY out to Heiser... hope you had a good one! Happy training everyone!

Well, the big workout session is over. I managed to survive and it actually went better than I had planned. I woke up feeling better than I did yesterday but still took some theraflu incase... headed to Harbor to teach the back to back cycling classes (7:45-8:30 and 8:45-9:30) and found two of my 5:30 am Friday cyclers in there. They were harassing me because yesterday when I taught I told them that I felt pretty poorly so I was going to make it hard and that the more sick I get, the harder the workouts... just joking of course... anyway, they showed up to see if I was any crabbier and whether the workout was going to be even harder (they said it was hard on Friday). So yeah... I gave em a tough workout with an 11 min hill climb near the end. They asked what was in my Theraflu. They're fun.

The second class got the same workout, but I switched up the second song in the 11 min climb and it actually turned out to be tons tougher. It was a struggle but felt good. Unfortunately, I used that combo on the class with the older demographic in it. They looked strong though so I don't think they minded too much. MM, Dave (who has never been to an indoor cycling class- but did well!) and Jen came so that was fun. Jen actually used to teach at Harbor until she went back to get her masters. I should have made her teach.

Finished out the class and hustled to get ready for the big Jingle Bell Run for Arthritis that was starting at 11. Jen and my friend Val (who usually doesn't run) were on my team and we met Ann down at the park. Long story short... the run went really well. Really icy and cramped at the beginning, but the course divided at one mile into the 5k or 10k loops. That first mile took a long 11:30 so by the time I got the fork, I was ready to run. I had signed up for the 5k but really wanted to do the 10k with a few girls that I had originally signed up with. I knew I was going to get yelled at but took the left towards the 10k sign. The run, like I said, was great. I think I averaged a little under 9 min miles which I'm happy with considering I had biked for about 2 hours (with big hills) and am not really a big runner yet. I'm still working on that. I finished at 58 min or something like that so I was happy. When I hit mile 5 I started to fall apart, most likely due to lack of food as I had hustled to class only grabbing a powerbar, but refused to let myself walk and finished it out strong so I was happy.

Thinking back on it now, I know the decision to run the 10k was probably very stupid. I've been sick, I taught a lot of cycling classes, as well as the two prior to the run, I had only eaten a powerbar and I haven't had very much experience with running longer distances. For that, I apologize to those who know what is better for me, yet I never seem to listen too. I can't really explain this one away other than it was something I just needed to see if I could do and I felt good so I thought I'd go for it. I do realize that I'm probably going about some of this training wrong it will catch up with me when it comes down to really crack down so I have given my word, and will do my best to start training more intelligently. Never the less, I am pleased with today.

Dave did make it in and we had a great time hanging out last night in the local bar. Kind of interesting choice of music, but fun nevertheless. Very smoky though. I am jealous of those who live in Cali. I would love to have the no smoking in the bar law here. Not that I spend a lot of time in them, but it's nice to just hang out once in awhile. I didn't drink last night because of today's events, but I'm thinking I could use a fun night sometime soon. We'll see. When they come up I never feel like it.

Hope you're having a great Saturday. Life is short, play hard!

I can't believe it's Friday already! This week flew by!

It's official, I have caught the cold... or maybe it caught me... I'm not sure but either way, I'm paying for it! I have a headache which is walking the line bordering a migraine, but I'm pretty sure it's due to sinus issues so I'm not sure if my trusty meds will take care of it. Time should tell me shortly. Anyway, there's too much going on for me to give into the sickness so I'm just going to pretend like its' not there.

Yesterday was pretty interesting. I had to teach a cycling class for a bunch of kids who attend an alternative school and go to Harbor as a gym class. I felt so bad for them because I showed up a 20 minutes early so I could get in 45 min. ride and it was FREEZING! Quite honestly, it was 45 degrees. It took me 20 minutes of riding in my warmup pants, sweatshirt and gloves for me to warm up enough to warrant stripping down to my cycling clothes. I think the kids went into shock when they entered the room, but surprisingly didn't complain too much about it. It actually worked as more of a motivation to get going so that was cool. I did work up a sweat while I was cycling, but then found my way into the gym for the step class at 9:30. Like I said, it was a weird day, there were only 2 participants (myself being one) and the instructor, but we held the class anyway. The gym was also freezing and it was weird cause I was working hard enough that my heartrate was up and I was sweating, but it was so cold that it would immediately become a cold sweat and my joints and muscles were tight and cold the entire time. I mentioned something on my way out the door to meet my sister.

My sister wasn't home like she we had planned so I ended up taking a 45 min nap in my running car, as it was way too cold to shut it off for even a second. Finally she called and I picked her up from class and drove her back to her apartment so we could pick out clothes for the pictures we were having taken today as a present for my parents. We decided on black collar shirts with jeans...

Then I went back to Harbor to attend the noon body pump class and was pleased to find the gym much warmer. I also had the great idea to bump up my chest, tricep and back/hamstring weights so I really cashed myself during class. It actually felt great. Not even too sore today... my triceps are somewhat tender.

Not sure what I did later that day, but we went to the Harbor Xmas party around 6 which turned out to be pretty fun. It's amazing how many members come out of the woodwork for events such as these. (It was an all member party) We found ourselves to be the minority to the older members. All in all, a good time though. Hit bed pretty early in lue of teaching the 5:30 cycling class this morning, which I might add came way too early.

Class went fairly well considering how I felt. After that I got ready for the big photo shoot (which we got the proofs back and I'm not overly pleased... we found one that will do the job though, not great.) and killed some time, having lunch with my sister. It was good to catch up with her, I haven't seen her a lot lately as finals are beginning this weekend. Now I'm just hanging around trying to battle off this headache and waiting to go meet the dog I am "dogsitting" this weekend. Heard he's a great dog, very sweet and a real people lover, but has been described to me as a 65 lb. lap dog. Should be fun.

Big Dave is finally keeping his word and heading into town tonight. He's been announcing his plans to come visit for weeks on end but has bailed up until now. I'm actually pretty excited to see him. He's a good guy- very funny... I think he's even being forced to attend my one of my cycling classes tomorrow. Revenge is mine :) He bailed on my birthday... there's a big hill climb with is name on it!

Well, I guess that's it for now. I'll be sure to let you know how the run goes tomorrow, given that my fingers thaw out enough to let me type. Have a good one!

Not too much to blog about today, but thought that I'd waste a little time while I watch it snow. Got up early and went to yoga this morning. As usual I truly enjoyed it and enjoyed going back to bed almost as much! Was disappointed to see that it had done nothing but rain during the night (as we were originally supposed to get 3 inches of snow) but it quickly cooled down and the rain turned to sleet and eventually into snow. It's starting to add up which is exciting because of the new skate skis that are being worked on as we speak, but also foreshadows a bad running day for the race this Saturday. I'm not great in cold weather and it's supposed to be in the 20's I think. Low 20s. Fun fun... but I do get to wear jingle bells and antlers so I'm sure that'll keep my mind off the fact that I'm freezing to death.

Wandered around the stores from 9 to 11:30, not coming up with much. I'm doing horribly this Christmas as I have no idea what to get my parents. I have found an endless list of things I'd like to get for my sister, but she's been bought for so unless I come across a zillion dollars in the next 2 weeks, I think she's done.

Taught the noon class today which was fun. I had quite a few new faces and a couple of fellow employees... I couldn't find the guts to tell them that I will not be teaching the noon classes after the 29th. I'm actually really sad about that because they're a great group and lots of fun. They are definitely a bunch of hecklers and I love it!! I'll really miss it. Yet another downfall of having a "real" job. fun or money...

Not sure what's planned for the rest of the night. I keep thinking I should swim since I had to bail early last night and as I hear, the workout really began once I left. I was disappointed to hear that, but I had to be at Keva for the tournament game. I also got called out by a team member who said that if we were going to play again he'd want to be on a team where everyone can commit 100% and I looked at him and mentioned that I had been there for every game, every week, whereas he has missed 2 weeks. He said, well, you know, not having to leave early or come late... (quick background: my Tuesday nights became double booked when I had to switch swim class times so vball games are either at 6, 7 ,8 or 9 and swim runs from 7-8. So in an effort to get everything in and make everyone happy, I try to stay for as much of the hour that I can before running to the other sport... it's been trying...) Anyway, this conversation annoyed me because rather than focusing on the fact that I do run my butt off to make it to every game, or every swim class, he focused on the 5 minutes that I'm not there. I just said, you know, I love them both and I have big goals and left it at that. Obviously it was not my choice to run around like a chicken with my head cut off. I need and want to be at both so I do the best that I can. I just can't make anyone happy!

On the other hand, I love my swim coach- he makes class fun which is so essential in my case or else I would never go. Last night he showed up 5 minutes late and was telling us to all get in the pool but I was cold and crouching by the side on deck and was joking around saying that I was cold and not going to get. So... he literally threw me into the pool. It was pretty funny. He's a big guy, I didn't have a chance. I do need to get in the pool more often though. It's sad to think of the gains I would have probably made by this point if I'd actually sucked it up and put some time in. That's a goal for the very near future. I think the next session starts up in late January. Look forward to more stories!

As for vball, we won both game and are moving on to a 6:00 game next week so again I run there, hopefully win the first two, run to swimming and then run back for an 8:30 championship match. After that my Tuesdays will be wide open and I'll have no idea what to do with myself. I imagine I will be sad.

Ok, I just realized that for having just updated yesterday, I am writing way too much. I must go now! I hope everyone is having a great day and are doing better in their Xmas shopping than I am!

I was motivated by all the blog updates and thought I should follow suit. We'll start with a quick recap since Saturday...

Sunday I went to Tom's spin class at 8:45. He's fun and always smiling which is nice. I used to go to his 5:30 am Monday classes all the time, but that was when I had a job and the classes weren't as full. Since then, there are no bikes left and I have no true reason to pull myself out of bed that early considering I teach the noon class on that day. Point being... I miss his classes, and catching up with him. Hopefully once I start my new job I'll be able to get in there more often. They also just started a body pump class in the same time slot so hopefully some of the cyclists will be drawn in that direction, leaving a bike for me. I think it might be too much work to bring in my bike and trainer for an hour class. We'll see how badly I need the motivation I guess. Sunday also led me to spending a great deal of money on X country ski boots, however they are super nice and came with free pilot bindings so that was a deal. Actually, they have been charged so I need to pay them off quickly. I owe MMM a lot!!! :) Finalized the day with body pump which was nice since I have been slacking on it lately. I definitely struggle through the later classes though, I seem to run out of energy by then. It was still good though!

Monday it was requested that I switch class times, requiring me to teach the 5:00 intro class and 5:30 regular class. It went well and everyone seemed to have fun. I had a great number of people tell me that I really worked them hard so that made me happy. I don't often attend the regular 5:30 class, but I know that my style of teaching differs greatly then the heavy rock methods of Eric. Other than that I wandered around the stores aimlessly trying to figure out what to buy people for xmas. I only purchased something for my sister so I'm really not doing well. Watched some football that night and went to bed fairly early. I'm trying to ward off a cold that might be lurking around the bend. I have too many workouts planned for the week for me to get sick now!

Today I attended the step class at 8:30 (which I am making great progress in, I might add- I am no longer the world's worst stepper!) and then ran 3.5 miles on the treadmill before stretching and heading home. Tonight is a swim class night so I'll be going there at 7 but have to leave early to get to my volleyball tourney at 8. I was excited because I had been told that we had the week off from vball so for once my night would not be double booked, but that's not the case. I do enjoy playing a lot, but the whole thing of having to always leave something early and sprint to the next is really becoming too much to deal with. If we win tonight I'm really going to struggle next week as we play at 6, I have swim at 7 and then play again at 8:30. Oh well, for the love of the game right? I just love too many games! I do think I will take the swim class again for the next session just to utilize the instruction. Hopefully I just won't have 10 other things on that night!

My final big news... I have been offered a job at TREK Bicycles Corporate so it finally looks like I will be entering the work force. I don't even remember what money is- but I sure am spending it fast in anticipation of those checks! I should probably stop that! I'd like to hang on to as many hours as I can manage at Harbor though - so I can possibly have the money to purchase a TT bike with my discount. If nothing else, the discount should help out in my training for the IM. It's not crucial that I get the bike since I just bought a sweet Bianchi last summer (which I love) but it might be worth it to utilize the discount not knowing how long I will keep the job. Anyway, that's the news of the day.

What did everyone ask for Christmas? I can always use ideas, although it may be getting late now. Have a good one!

Another fun filled day of Harbor! Taught the spin class this morning at 7:45 which turned out to be a pretty hard workout. That might be because I wasn't feeling well when I got up. got there, or left for that matter, but it was good. I was pretty annoyed in the beginning because I have these two ladies that think they run the club and are always complaining about something and freak out if the instructor isn't there an hour before class is to start. They always run out and tell the front desk (or anyone they see for that matter...) that the instructor isn't going to show up "again" even though it has only happened once in the history of Harbor, and it was covered within seconds. Anyway... I walk in, they jump all over me even though I was definitely early enough to get everything moving by go time, but then continued to walk around until after class had started and then had the nerve to talk well into the second song. Actually the whole class was chatty and considering I wasn't feeling well, I started to really regret offering to sub the class. I did work them hard enough to quiet them though so that was good. Some people should stop and appreciate what is being done for them rather than always feeling the need to complain.

Anyway, that was my venting period... I'm done now. We then made a trip downtown to check out a ski trade show, but found a huge line and decided that there was no way we would make it into the room before I had to be back to Harbor to work the desk (12:30 to 5) so we opted to return on Sunday to make the assault. We'll see how it goes. Still no snow, but I'm still excited to give Xcountry skiing a try. I'm kind of a wuss when it comes to cold so I think I'm going to suffer, but it will good for training.

Sat at Harbor for 4 1/2 hours after spending a ton of money on xmas presents at Borders (which was quite fun actually). There weren't very many people working out today, but that's ok, it kept my work load to a minimum allowing me to read the new bicycling magazine and the article on Lance's new bike- the Trek Madone 5.9. Man is that a beautiful bike! Speaking of which... I was offered a job by Trek on Friday so I'll get one hell of a discount if I take it! Maybe I'll use it the discount for a TT. The possibilities are endless!!!

Now Mark and I are off to watch the IM Hawaii special... We have it taping too, but why not right? For the love of the sport.

Talk to you later! Check out the new link to beginnertriathlete.com... it's a good site!

Yeah! Two days in a row! This should count for any missed opportunities that arise in the weeks to come right?

Quick update... Class went well yesterday- lots of fun actually. I had a newbie that seemed to have fun and a guest appearance by a man I haven't seen in a long time. Funny enough, he coerced his copartner into attending as well- on a day that I was playing his favorite songs. Must have been in the cards. Anyway, it was cool, except for the fact that my body is cashed (especially my legs) and they weren't ready to work as hard as I pushed them. I had planned on running or doing some strength work yesterday but thought that I would benefit more from taking the rest of the day off. Saw the long awaited "Pirates of the Caribbean" last night which was good, but not exactly as I had expected. Very entertaining though. Johnny Depp was pretty funny.

So much for benefiting form the light day yesterday. My workout sucked today, forcing me to go back in tonight to finish it off. The plan was to go to step (as a warmup since I don't get too much from the class) then run an easy 4 miles and then swim for a min. of a half hour. Step went fine, but I could tell I was dragging a bit. The run flat out sucked. I was already warm so I just started jogging at 10 min/mi and could immediately tell I was going to suffer for the next 40 minutes. It never felt better and I pretty much just forced myself to finish. I wasn't falling off the treadmill... but more so it just never felt good like most of my runs have lately. More discouraging than anything else. Anyway, I got off after running 4 then walking/cooling down for 1.5 miles to realize there was no way I was going to get in the pool. I have to play volleyball tonight though so I think I'll try to get in the pool prior too. Hopefully tomorrow will be better!

That's about it. Thanks for linking me to all your blogs. I really enjoy reading how everyone is doing. You keep me going... and entertain me to say the least. Oh, and Chris- that was an awesome reason to do a marathon- keep up the good work!

Did I mention it's supposed to snow tonight!! Bring on the xcountry skiis!! (Feel free to take bets on how long I'll be singing that tune!)

Ok, only two days, not too bad. Hopefully now I won't have to write as much...

Monday was pretty normal workout-wise. Taught cycling at noon which was fun. My largest noon class to date so that was somewhat motivating. It's really hard to teach a class when there's only four people out there looking back at you- that is if they're even looking at you and not staring at the ground. Maybe I'm scary to look at... Anyway, I forced myself to swim afterward, but only for about a half hour. I did some drills and swam a couple 400s and a lot of 100s, 200s but nothing big. Have I mentioned that I hate swimming? After that I headed home for the day. Finished the day off with a huge fight with the rents so the day kinda went down in flames.

Tuesday was pretty hectic. I had two interviews- both of which I feel went well, but I'm not sure that I'm very excited about either of the jobs. One is at TREK which would be amazing... but it's for a production artist which not boasting, but is below my ability. I wouldn't mind doing that for a while, but they're thinking a min. of 2 years and at that point I might really be cutting my own throat. I'm not sure. This job thing is really starting to piss me off. Moving on... I went to the 4:00 cycling class and showed up about 10 min late as I was just planning on using it as an active recovery day, a light workout to get my legs moving since I still had to swim and play volleyball. Ended up staying there for and hour and 35 min and working much harder than I'd planned. Pretty standard for me. It felt ok, not great, but I had some fun people to talk too as they wandered in prepping for the next cycling class at 5:45. Got of the bike as class started and headed to vball where we really sucked it up the first game, but picked it up to win the second two. It was pretty frustrating but at least we didn't lose more than one. Then off to swimming- which was pretty fun. I'm starting to like the class more- naturally now that we have 2 sessions left. I'll probably end up taking it again just to insure that I get in the pool and it'll be nice to have someone making sure I'm doing things correctly. I believe this swimming thing is something that I'll always be able to receive pointers on. Watched the Wisconsin v. Maryland basketball game which turned out to be really good- but we lost in the end. Called it an early night so 5:00am wouldn't come as too big of a shock for yoga.

That brings us up to speed... Yoga was great this morning. I was a hurting unit last night, to say the least. I can't believe how much better I feel after leaving yoga- nor did I ever think that I would be doing yoga. I think it is largely do to the instructor, who is really cool and has a great knowledge of yoga in relation to athletes. I owe him a lot! Otherwise, I have to teach class in a couple of hours and then I might go for a short run, or maybe I'll try to utilize today as a rest day and run tomorrow. I might try to make it to bodysculpt tonight too. That class kills me but it's great. I never knew that squats without actual weights could burn so bad. It's ridiculous!

Ok, enough writing... I wanted to make this short! Right.

Wow, surprise surprise, I've been slacking on my blogging. Due to the fact that I am so far outdated, and don't actually have a lot of time to write, I'm just going to give a quick update of the past few days and then vow to keep this up a little better than I have been.

Last week was pretty screwed up due to Thanksgiving and such and the fact that I got stuck in Texas for an extra night and then had the "trip from hell" trying to get home the next day. Everything that could have gone wrong quite possibly might have. It was great. Needless to say, I didn't make it back to teach my noon class so I switched with Sharon, taking her 4:00pm on Tuesday in exchange. I did go to a cycling class that Monday night, and bodypump so that felt good. Tuesday I went to step in the morning, taught at 4 and then had a volleyball doubleheader which was actually quite fun. There was no swim class so that was kind of a nice break, but also means I haven't swam in ages cause heaven for bid I do it on my own. I hate to swim. Hopefully today. Wednesday I taught at noon which was fun cause Mark and my sister went (her first time indoor cycling). I did some weights at home, but nothing huge. We then headed up to our cottage for Thanksgiving which is in Cleveland, WI- home of nothing and no one. Great place though- on Lake Michigan. Here's the big accomplishment of the week... I ran 8.4 miles on Thursday! I felt like I could have gone on forever, but the knees were starting to get sore at the end and I'd been gone longer than the fam had expected so thought I'd better end then. It felt great though- I think that's the longest I've ever run!

I think the workouts pretty much ended with that for the week, but don't worry, the eating did not! What a holiday. It was a good time though.

Yesterday was a little better. Had to teach the back to back cycling classes before heading to work the desk from 12-4. Usually the classes are only 45 minutes, but I had some diehards that just kept asking for more so I actually did 2 hours... good thing I'd brought an extra water bottle. The turnover between participants was really fast and they wanted to get going so off we went. Later I stayed for body pump at 4 where Timmer and Mel met me (which was good because I would have otherwise bailed.) We then hit this awesome new food joint called roly poly which is all wraps and pretty darn healthy if you do it right. Definitely my new favorite place.

Anyway, I should go. Today's plans consist of noon cycling and hopefully a short swim after that just to refresh the memory before getting harassed by swim coach for not doing it right. Scary. Tomorrow should be fairly screwed up because I have two interviews scheduled (9:00 food concepts :( and 1:00 Trek :) we'll see how they go...) Still waiting for that call from Pacific Cycle.

Time for a blog already? I got called out for not updating so here it is... Wow, Tuesday already... That means it's swim class day- Oh joy! Hopefully it will be like last week and at least a little bit fun. I still have that feeling of dread inside though - that can't be good. Such is life, better that than drowning right?

Back tracking... Sunday wasn't too eventful. I went to a cycling class and a half with Jen. Tim was teaching so that was cool... A little random, but you've got to love the guy. After that I ran 3 miles then hit the showers to get ready for work. It's nice not having to drive all the way home and then come back. For a Sunday, the club was crazy... I didn't have time to breathe in the first two and 1/2 hours I was there (which was nice cause the time went by faster) so once it slowed down I decided to take the rest of the shift off and goofed around the rest of the time. It's a great job! Afterwards I headed to the weight room with the intentions of harassing, but did my ab workout instead and then was forced to do core exercises that I am not capable of doing. Need to work on that. Ended the night with the packer game and a movie. A good time.

Monday was a weird day... Mom had hurt her hand so I had to take her to the doctor and I was really worried that it was broken- but it wasn't, so that was good. Had big intentions of making turkey cookies Mon night (which we did and they're AWESOME!) so I had to seek out a cookie cutter as well as turn in my job application at Pacific Cycle. So... got everything organized, dropped mom off at the ER and then went to Harbor to teach cycling, took a quick shower, picked up mom, and ran all over Madison searching for a cookie cutter. Finally wound up at Vanilla Bean where I found the most cookie cutters I've ever seen in my life. It was crazy. Anyway, found the turkey and ran... dropped the app off at PC and headed home. By this point I was pretty damn crabby, had a headache and was starving... To sum up the rest of the night...ate, napped, jumped back up and went to bodypump, picked up my chef and headed home to make the cookies... it was a fun night.

Guess that leads to today... had an impossible time pulling myself out of bed- but did make it to step and added a half hour on the elliptical machine before heading home. I'm exhausted so I'm taking it easy for the rest of the day. Focusing on learning QuarkXPress... I hate it! Anyway, I've got until 6 to make some progress. Play vball at 6 against the only hard team in the league (other than us of course!) and then have to fly to swim class and then who knows... Fun fun!

Wed... to be determined. Have a good one, I'm off to work on quark!

Wow, I've been slacking even more than I had thought. That's ok cause I really haven't done that much to blog about. I'll give a quick rundown of the past week and then see if I can't get some goals set for next week. Ok, last post was Monday, so on Tuesday I think I did body pump and step (which I really suck at!- it was fun though so I'll keep trying til I get it.) Later was the swim class that I usually dread, and I did right up to the point that I got in the pool, but the class turned out to be pretty fun. Everyone was in a good mood which really helped me I think. We had a fun lane. I guess I didn't realize that I am affected by how others act in the class, or maybe it was because it was affecting me positively that I noticed it. Either way, I hope there are more like that to come- maybe then I wouldn't dread going so much. Also... I had a breakthough! Derek said my stroke is right! I'm sure it's not perfect, and I tire more quickly, but I think that is because I am still working hard to make sure I do it technically correct. Afterwards I just headed home and watch the tv shows that I had taped. I'd had a feeling that I would be looking for something to do that night so it was a good time to relax. I don't watch that much tv and Wed was going to start early. About 5:00am early, when I coaxed myself out of bed and into the car to head to Harbor for a yoga class. Mark was a real trooper and went with me. I had never been to a yoga class before, but decided to try this one because the man teaching it actually focuses his style on strength and is known for complimenting athletic lifestyles and goals. I loved it!!! I later found out that where as I feel as though I have no flexibility at all, Mike (instructor) told me that I am actually on the verge of being too flexible and am double jointed so he is going to work with me to strengthen the joints so that it will not become an issue in the future. Very cool. Had breakfast afterwards and hung out for a while before heading home to get preped for my cycling class which I taught at noon. Then I ran a little over 3 miles. That seems so weak and that really bothers me, but I guess it's better to take it easy on the knees. Even so, when I get off the treadmill I have a hard time walking... Granted I run those 3 miles pretty hard, but that scares me for the upcoming year. Hopefully it will be something that gets better as training progresses. Fingers are crossed.

Thursday I had the big interview so I couldn't spend too much time at the club so I went to step and then swam for 45 min trying to work on the stuff we do in class. It tired me out. I warmed up 3x100f/50k, then did our drills 4x75, swimming free down, drill back and free again. Then I swam a 400 and thought I was going to die then did the 4x75 again (different set of drills) and then swam another 400 which was much easier. I then did a 200 cooldown and headed home. Interview went well... I don't want to jinx it by talking about it so I'll just leave it with "I'll keep you posted." Had volleyball that night... I think I slept through all 3 games and played like it too... I love the sport but lately I've been so tired come 9:00 that I can't focus. I'll have to work harder at that. Anyway, our "all star" team as Mark refers to it (which it isn't) folded big time and might have lost all 3. Oh well...

Friday I taught the 5:30am cycling class and worked really hard despite what I advised myself going into class. We have a run coming up in Dec. That I talked my roommate into doing with me, but she doesn't run, so I stuck around after class to run 3 miles with her, and then jumped in and rode a few songs out with another cycling class that was going on. The instructor saw me outside the door and harassed me until I went in. It was fun and the songs were good, but my legs were beyond cashed. Had a great leisurely day and ended it with a great phone call from a best friend from college and a movie with Val. "Love Actually" it was pretty good- not what I had expected, but I enjoyed myself. Today I went into Harbor not really knowing what I would accomplish and managed to get through body pump and a cardio dance class (which I don't really take much from, but it's fun so I mix it in just to keep things interesting). I should have done more, but was starving and the knees are kinda sore so I bailed. I'll hit it harder tomorrow. Jen is back in town and said she'd like to work out.

Wow, that turned out to be much longer than I'd hoped with a great deal more babbling than I'd planned. I apologize- I'll try to update more often so this doesn't happen again. Not sure what I'm off to do, but I'm sick of typing so I know it's not this! I'll set goals tomorrow :) Late.

Not much to write about today, but wanted to see if it was voted easier to read... Mise (sp?) well post something. Today I missed my alarm and slept an extra 2 hours. Must have been needed. I didn't let it get me too upset since I didn't have anything huge planned. Taught my cycling class at noon and actually worked pretty hard considering the fact that I really didn't want to teach. Later I made it back to the gym for a cardio funk class and pilates. Both were pretty fun; I was excited when my friend Val showed up for pilates as I don't get to see her very often even though she lives nearby. She is greatly like me in that her schedule is stretched very thin- but she works hard so that's good. I'm proud of her. Tomorrow I technically have the day off from cycling, however it is the first class for a new instructor and she asked me to be there so I might go in and just turn the legs. I'll warn her first so she doesn't think she's doing poorly, but I'd rather run so I don't want to use it up on the bike again since I still teach 2 more times this week. Otherwise, I plan on attending body pump in the morning and then have the swim class at 7pm. Unfortunately this is the week that my volleyball and swim are scheduled for the same time so something has to be missed and I think it's going to be volleyball. God knows I hate to swim, but I figure that in the long run, I will take more from this hour of lesson than I will from a match of volleyball. Not nearly as fun however.

So other than that, life has not brought anything new and exciting to the table. Went out and blew $70 on CD's today which made me realize that I have to take at least 2 of them back because Ms. Jobless here can't afford those types of luxuries until I get my butt in the working world. Big interview (or something similar I hope) is on Thursday. Fingers are crossed and breath is held... We'll see what this new "opportunity" entails.

Well I'm off. I think I'm up for a little reading tonight... Still trying to figure out how to take Vegas for millions despite my inability to play blackjack. Minor problems I think. Then onto Harry Potter. I rushed out to buy that 5th book the day it came out with dibs on reading it first, but it has now gone through every member of my family, including the dog's mouth before finally showing up on my bed. Where's the justice in that. Hope it takes me less time to read that than the Vegas book... I need to learn how to stay awake long enough to get through at least 2 pages! Maybe books on tape...

Await the big news from swim lessons tomorrow... I actually practiced this week and feel as though I might have made a bit of progress. Will she find she's right? Stay tuned...

Wow, I just spent an incredibly long time trying to change my template and I still haven't figured out half of it! Actually, I'm still not completely satisfied with it as had I been able to do a template that I actually designed from scratch, it would look much different but oh well, it's just a blog right? I hate being a perfectionist!

So I survived the weekend... it was actually pretty fun but I'm worn out and my shoulders have never been so tight in my life. Ok, maybe an exaggeration, but I'm definitely not comfortable... not sure what it's from... maybe stress (probably from trying to figure out this blog thing!) Friday wasn't too eventful. Hung around the house and then went and watched Finding Nemo. Such a cute movie, but now that I'm thinking about it... Disney's getting kinda sad on us! What is that all about? Saturday started early and ended late. Drove to Milwaukee to play in our kickball championship. Did fairly well but it was freezing so when we lost I really wasn't too upset. I couldn't help but laugh everytime I looked around realizing how many adults had gathered to play kickball, a child's game. And it's not like this was just a one time thing... we'd been doing this every week for over a couple of months... funny. After we were eliminated I jumped back in the car to head back to Madison to get ready for the big Badger basketball game against EA Sports... the season opener. Had a lot of fun- dinner, the game and darts. We were doing great in darts for awhile but were then destroyed by our lack of ability to hit 16s and bullseyes. Very fun though. I love cricket. Night ended great- one to mark in the books. Today, however was not as fun. Had to pull myself out of bed early to get to the gym and teach back to back cycling classes. Had time to take a shower and grab a bite to eat before having to be back to work the desk until 4. Not the most exciting day, but I suppose I made some money which is always good these days.

Not too much is planned for tomorrow. Teach another cycling class (I'm starting to get really sick of teaching... burn out!) and then I might take it easy a bit... my back and shoulders are really killing me and I think I could use the rest.

Well, I think I'm cashed for the night and deathly sick of Blogger. Until the next time... :)

Well, I've made it to Friday... Unfortunately don't have a lot to show for it. Not much has been going on lately... Just working out and putting in a few hours at HAC trying to sell a promotion offering corporate specials to surrounding area businesses. Pretty much telemarketing I think... Not my cup of tea, but I really need the money and said I'd do it so I guess I'm stuck. I am kind of excited about a possible job opportunity. Yesterday I got a call from Pacific Cycle claiming they have another opportunity that I might be interested in so I'm heading in next Thursday to talk to the HR girl. She didn't tell me anything about it over the phone so I'm a little skeptical, but keeping my fingers crossed because it would be great to start bringing in some money. I could really use a new car!

So I attended a class called Bodystep that our club is looking into getting and want me to teach... It destroyed my calves (which I now realize I must barely utilize because I can't walk!) but was a lot of fun. I'm not sure how well I'll feel for bodypump tomorrow am but I guess I'll just suck it up and push through, I'm sure they'll loosen up.

I'm still waiting to hear if I have a ticket to tomorrow's UW men's basketball game so I don't really know what the weekend holds for me. Just found out that my friends from college are in a kickball league in Minnesota (same organization... MUSA) and made it into the tourney as a wildcard so I might be seeing them in Milwaukee tomorrow if I decide to go. (Who ever thought I'd be on a kickball team at age 24 that made it to the championships... Not me!) anyway, it's supposed to be freezing tomorrow so I'm not sure how much I'm looking forward to it, but I'm sure it will be fun once I get there. I plan on attending bodypump before I leave, and maybe getting a short run in before that if I feel motivated to get up. I don't feel as though I have very much energy so that might be placed on the backburner since I have to teach 2 classes on Sunday... We'll see how it goes. So yeah... Exciting weekend... kickball, 2 classes, work and then probably volleyball. The highlight would probably be the basketball game if I do get the ticket. Again, keeping the fingers crossed.

Ok, I'm sick of babbling so I'm heading out to watch some football. I'm pretty bored and have already taken a nap so that's no longer an option. Sad.

Gotta love winter.

Welcome back to blogger... I'd almost forgotten I had one. That's ok though, I haven't done very much to blog about anyway. So I'm officially 24 and 2 days old now. Had a great birthday weekend. It's so much fun having the bday correlate with Halloween, and even better that I have awesome friends to spend it with. This was the first year I've been down in the Mad city for the big event and I must admit, it was pretty cool to be on state street with all the zillions of costumes out there. Because Halloween fell on Friday this year both Friday and Saturday were huge downtown, but luckily Friday was completely calm. Saturday brought some more rioting... I think it's so ridiculous and I'm afraid that it will begin to hinder the fun of everyone else in the future as they attempt to further deal with the stupidity but hopefully something will get fixed. Val, her bf, Mark, Timmer and myself brought it in on Friday which was an absolute blast. My favorite costume... the 6 giant dominoes that were running down the street. They'd yell "line it up" and then they'd all fall into eachother and roll around the street. It was hilarious!

Saturday M and I headed up to Appleton/Green Bay to a party one of M's friends was having. We were kinda worried when we showed up to find a table full of mute, antisocial people, but soon got our own table rockin over in the corner and wound up drinking way too much. I'm definitely not built to drink and take in vast amounts of candy and junk food anymore. My stomach has been screaming at me for awhile now. That too was a great night. We hung out up there for most of Sunday with Sara, Adam and their two adorable (incredibly intelligent) girls which was also a lot of fun. Good to be around people again.

Haven't been doing to much in the means of exercise lately and it's starting to show. I've got to get back into it and back to my healthy eating... it's driving me crazy! I've been spinning a lot as well as playing a lot of vball. This week is pretty much the same... I teach tonight for an hour and 1/2, teach the 5:30am class tomorrow as well as swim class and vball, teach at noon on wed. work at harbor on thursday, teach spin at 5:30a Friday have kickball all day on Sat in Milwaukee (championships) and then teach a doubleheader on Sunday from 8:30 to 10:30. We'll see how the hip flexors feel about that schedule. Gotta love being the "go to girl" oh well, it's good for me :)

Otherwise, I've taken up pilates which is fun and will hopefully help my core strength and flexiblity as i have none now (flexibility that is). Also I am forcing myself to swim at least 2 other times aside from my class and run at least 3 times a week to start adding miles on. I can't run far as I'm still trying to baby the knee a bit, so that shouldn't be a problem. just have to find the time to do it I guess.

Applied at Trek today for a production artist. It's not the ideal job, but would be a great one to start out with and build up. if nothing else, maybe I can score a sweet discount for my tris... I really hope I get it. Keep the fingers crossed.

Well, I think I'm going to take a nap and try to stock up some energy for class tonight... hopefully the time will be shorter between blogs this time... no guarantees!

:)

So not much has happened since my last logging... it's now Sunday morning and I'm writing as I wait for my project to print out. (Good thing about graphic design is that you can create your own presents easily! Gotta love that!) Unfortunately, the present is a few weeks late. Not good! Oh well, it's the thought that counts right? I think she forgot about mine as well... I don't mind.

You know, I'm really struggling with this off season thing knowing that I have such big events in my scope. I always just want to go out there and take on the world right away while I still have the motivation, but I realize, and have been told many times by my dear friend that I need to slow down or I'll never make it. I guess now is a good time to start taking it easy as my knees are not doing that well and my muscles are sore and fatigued (although I truly feel that is because I am coming down with something.) I guess this is a hard reality for me to face because my life/workouts has been scheduled this way for pretty much the past 2 years and I enjoy working out and love eating candy! Halloween kills me!

Anyway... I've been teaching quite a few cycling classes and pushing through bodypump around 3 times a week, throwing a few other, random workouts in there along the way. The running is still sketchy because of my knees and that is really frustrating but hopefully with enough prayers they'll shape up soon. As of right now, I'm a little nervous of the swim. I've got some major stroke modifications to make and right now they feel very off and I'm still not sure that I am really doing it right. Our instructor is cool though and an awesome swimmer so I will trust that he will make me a pro by the end of it (if not, I guess I'll be signing up again for the next session!) I did however try the "flipturn" this past Tuesday and almost died from massive water intake. It was actually pretty funny. Not sure if we'll give those another try in the near future!

Otherwise, not much has been going on... Jen came down from LaX this weekend which was fun. I really miss having her around. We caught a few movies with the guys (not that I saw either) and got in a few workouts which was fun and motivating to have her back in the saddle next to me. I'll tell ya, we make a mean apple crisp as well! Also had my first experience squeezing 4 people into a bed (cal. king so it was a quite large, but a little narrower than a regular king.) I must say it was fun though!

Well, I guess at this point that's about it. I really hope to get my workout schedule somewhat figured out in the near future... maybe this week. I've been looking into training with heart rate monitors and whether that would be a beneficial addition to my workout plan. Some people swear by it but truthfully, I don't know if i have enough knowledge about it to have it make a difference. I guess I'll keep digging and see what I come up with.

With that, I'm out for the night. Sorry for the randomness... the tiredness must finally be getting to me!

Well, this weekend was pretty uneventful in the workout department. Had the opportunity to spend some QT with dad while we painted the cottage garage and pretty much everything else we could find. I did manage to make it out for a run this morning which went well for the most part... I've been battling some knee issues ever since my first sprint tri in August and for some reason, it keeps coming back when I run. The biking doesn't seem to affect it but sometimes the run is unbearable. Today it was just kind of there... but I was so afraid that it would become bad that I think I thought about it too much. I pushed through it though... the weather was too perfect and it felt so good to run. I only went 5 miles, but even doing that was a great feeling since I pretty much haven't been running since my last tri near the end of August in hopes that the knee would just forget its problems. Apparently that's not the case. Stupid knee.

I'm sure more will come up about the knee in the near future, but for now I don't feel like talking about it. Let's talk about how fun volleyball was tonight. Tonight was pickup night at Harbor and there's usually a decent amount of people there because Sara set a deal up with a church group- Blackhawk- which has a tendency to draw some decent players. Tonight was really no different with the exception of one guy who really didn't know how to play. You'd think that after you continually suck it up, you would figure out that you shouldn't be there because you are hindering the game. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case so everyone tried to be patient and tell him what to avoid doing and so on and we switched up teams a zillion times because my team of 4 dominated every time about 15-2 or so. Either way, the majority of the people were good and all very nice so it was pretty cool to switch up teams. the competition eventually got to be pretty even so the games took off. At one point I saw this little kid come in (he was 13) and I was like "oh no, we're going to have to let him play..." so I asked him to join our team since we were down a player and real lightheartedly asked him if he knew the rules etc and he said yes so I said the only other rules were to dominate the other team and then announced to the opposition that he was our new power player and secret weapon. As it turns out- I wasn't kidding! This kid was amazing- better than a lot of players that play in the so called power league on Thursday nights (reference Mark for back up on this one). Barry (the 13 yr old) could set, pass perfectly, hit (both right and left- taking into consideration that he's still pretty short to hit on a high net) and over hand serve... no wait- he can jump serve as well. Look for this kid in the olympics. He was a blast to play with and nothing short of amazing! I can't wait until he comes back.

Ended the night with half a movie, some popcorn and good company. It was a pretty good day.

Tomorrow I actually get to work! Ok, I'm not very excited about that, but money is money and I certainly don't have it now so I can deal with spending a few hours behind a desk at Harbor. I then go straight to teaching the noon spin class and then I can go home and relax. I might swim tomorrow to try to work on the drills before I hit swim class on Tuesday but I'm not sure. I should also try to hit bodypump. Tomorrow could be a long day! Hopefully painless!

Ok, off to bed- my sleep time is getting cut quite short!

Well, I guess like everything currently in my life, I'm going to try something different here to see if it can't help me to get to my goal in the end. I can't say if I will stay with this, as I'm not usually very good about keeping journals, however I thought that I'd give it a try since this year will be unlike any I've ever experienced before. The true goal of this blog... to see if it will help my mental training for next year's Ironman WI, and hey, if anyone wants to join me in this journey, I love feedback and motivation from others... so feel free. Secondary, I thought that maybe writing stuff down will help me get my life on track cause it's way too far off the path right now. I know I could have written this all down in a little black journal and shoved it under my pillow, but I've tried things like that before and it's never worked, so I thought maybe by putting myself out there just a little further, I would actually get somewhere. I do hope to possibly pick up some friends along the way... but if nothing else I will have accomplished something else that I've never done before by keeping this blog. As I said, it's going to be a long year, so if anyone does read this and ever wants to add anything to the experience, please do so (here's an email address: rreinhart@triathlete.com)! Here we go!

So today is what... the 16th of October, 2003- at age 23 with less than a 1/2 a month until I'm 24 I am in a situation I never really imagined I be in. The job market is incredibly difficult for finding work in graphic design (well at least in this area of WI - which I am kind of limited too since I have no money to my name whatsoever- this is no joke by the way :) and I'm pretty lonely. I have great friends- but having been in college, I was used to seeing them everyday and now that we've dispersed from our apartment, it's been different and rather hard to adjust too. I have met some great people... people that I would call friends, but not necessarily feel comfortable calling to just hang out. I have made one great friend that I owe a lot too. He's a great person and talented beyond words. I guess I'd really have to give the credit to him for getting me this far. I guess to sum things up- life is harder than I'd like it to be right now but I really have high hopes to improve it within this next year. I'd love to find a job, even better, one that I like (aside from my one at the health club), I'd love to figure out this whole relationship thing... I seem to have issues with that- and even more with hurting people, or myself, and finally (or at least for now...) I'd love to become strong enough to make it through what will be the biggest accomplishment of my life to date... the ironman.

wow- so we know I'm good at blabbing on... maybe I should go accomplish something for the day. I'm waiting on this job to see if I at least get an interview for it. I worked there for about 4 1/2 months as a LTE and was told I did an great job while I was there, but then had to stop working and actually apply for the job opening and since then, I haven't had a great feeling about it. It's tough because I know that I could do a great job there, but fact of the matter is that I'm green- only out of college for a year and right now that puts you in a very tough position to get a job. Apparently, even if you were just working there doing the job of your boss. Oh well... we'll see I guess. Fingers are crossed. Until then, I guess Illl just keep focusing on making the best of things and working out cause that seems to truly be where my passion lies.

Full night tonight... kickboxing class, Kickball finals (our team is undefeated so far!!), volleyball game and work bowling party... should be fun. We'll see how the scores come out!

With that, I'm out...