Missed my Zipps!

On Tuesday I just missed getting a pair of Zipp 808s (wheels) on eBay - slightly used but cheaper than buying brand new. I put in a bid with ~10 seconds left on the auction, got confirmation that I was the "high bidder" and then... SWOOP! Some bugger came in and outbid me at the last second!!! Oh well... wasn't too excited about shelling out the $$$ for these suckers just yet. I can wait a bit - don't need them until next spring. I'll just have to keep my eyes peeled for some good deals.

Last night I went to an AWD Happy Hour with all the old Rescap'ers, which was fun to see them all again. Couldn't stay too long, as I had already missed run club - but had to put in a few miles regardless. Tonight is spinning and then the week is almost over again!!! Where exactly does the time go? I think I fell into some strange time warp zone this month...I have a strange feeling that it's not going to slow down any time soon.

Feeling Good...

One day after longest run so far... How am I feeling, you ask? Strangely, I feel just fine... not sore or stiff at all. I was expecting worse when I woke up this morning. (Granted, I bet if we had attempted the outdoor, crappy weather run - that would be different. Plus add in a cold, sniffles, etc.) I'm taking this as a good sign.

I just got my letter from the marathon today and see that I am in Corral #18. I sure hope Noelle & Corrine are in the same corral...otherwise we'll have to do some juggling. Am getting excited - this trip is gonna be fun!

Had to run home quickly today from work to let the dog out before heading to class... 14 hours is a long time for Ruffles to hold it! Off to go get smart! Then maybe my husband will be home from his hunting trip too - we shall see.

Wind, Sleet, 20 Mile Run? Change of Venue...

Noelle and I had planned to go run the Lakes again today to get our 20 miler out of the way... But, the weather did not cooperate. Cold (OK, in the middle of February we'll be praying for 38 degree weather...), windy and sleety was not something we wanted to hang out in for 3-4 hours to get our run in.

So, we ended up at the Moore Lake gym where we did a combo of treadmill and track running for our estimation of 20 miles. So, we ran a half hour on the "dreadmill", then half hour on the track, back and forth. By our third round of treadmill running, I was about to gouge my eyes out. I forgot (briefly) how much I hate running on that thing! However, it was nice to break up the running back and forth a bit - kept us going.

Now, I think we're all set for San Antonio...next two weeks should be a snap! Thank goodness Noelle has been able to help me through all these long runs. Now we'll just have to see how it goes down there...

Another week flys by...

Yet again, I blink and the week has flown by. I finally got my internet connection humming at home - has been down for a couple days but after cycling my router and modem I'm back online. Tuesday I got to meet up with some of my friends for a flash-back concert of NKOTB. Yes, I went to NKOTB...was pretty fun to watch the concert, but mostly my friends. We got to hang in Andrea's work suite at Xcel - so was great seats. Worst part, I got 4 hrs of sleep after getting home and had to get up to meet my trainer in the morning. Needless to say, have been a little sleepy all week since then.

This weekend will consist of class tomorrow, 20 mile run Sunday (Brrr! Sven says it's gonna be cold!!!), and miscellaneous homework, housework, and work-work thrown in for good measure. Nothing terribly fun. I'll update ya'll on how the 20 miler goes...it's all downhill from there!

What's this supposed to mean?!?!

Today I had a training class in Eagan for "Agile Requirements". Over lunch I ran to grab a bite and ended up at LeAnn Chins... All fine and dandy, until I open my fortune cookie. What was my fortune cookie's wisdom, bestowed upon me today you may ask?

Keep your nose to the grindstone.

What?!?! Is this implying that my nose isn't to the grindstone? Or that it is slipping off of the grindstone?

Let's just take a look at what I have to do/think about on a daily basis. I want to know if I'm slacking here or not? Seriously...if I'm not doing enough - someone needs to speak up!

1. Morning workouts (I'm TRYING!!!)

2. Work (that is stressing me a tad with a major time-crunch project)

3. Commuting everyday to & from Bloomington

4. After work workouts - It's getting close to the end of my marathon training (most milage)

5. Making sure the dog is fed

6. Making sure the husband is fed

7. Classes & Schoolwork this semester (2 classes)

8. Spending time with hubby when he's not working (opposite schedules)

9. Working on Jake's website

10. Keeping the house clean (this slips the most)

11. Paying bills

12. Blogging

13. Attempting to take nutritional supplement cocktails during the right time of the day

14. Sleep

15. Keeping sane (OK....this is questionable at best!)

I think I read too much into small Chinese cookies. Deal with it and move on - too much to do.

A Little Creaky...

Yesterday consisted of me getting up at 5:30 AM (yes, included in my AM workout count in previous post). I headed out to get some water & Powerade for Noelle & I to drop off on the trail for our long run. We proceeded to drive around a bit, not terribly sure where we were going, but finally found the drop point. When we got back to the Coon Rapids dam, the rest of run club had already congregated and we were set to run. 

Was fun to run with the run club crew - we sort of leap frogged back and forth with everyone for the first 12 miles. Then Noelle and I finished up with another two loops around the visitor center area for a total of 17.25 miles. A personal record distance (PRD) for myself! Next week, we will be closing in on 20 miles. Fun, fun... 

I had to jet home quickly after the run and get ready to meet mom & dad to go to a visitation for our old neighbor when I lived at home in Cambridge. Dad got to get up and speak about Carl and did a really good job. 

For the rest of the afternoon and evening, I got a bit achy and creaky from the run. Not too bad, but definitely was ginger when doing stairs or sitting down and getting up. I'm curious how I'm going to feel the night after the marathon - all the other people (marathon veterans) will probably be out dancing (granted maybe not to The Cult - what kind of headliner band is THAT?!?!) and I'll be the one in the corner passed out and not moving. Ha ha! 

I ran up to St. Francis in the evening to meet Jake, and two of his fellow officers for dinner while they were working their shift - since I've barely seen my husband for the week. After that, got some groceries and back home to finish up some stuff around the house before bed. I've decided that my weekends are totally lame (grocery shopping on a Saturday night!?!?). A sure indicator I'm getting old, I'm afraid.

Jen 3: Alarm Clock 1

So the score this week is going to be settled at Jen prevailing in 3 early morning workouts (I am counting tomorrow's morning long run with Noelle) to the Alarm Clock's victory on Wednesday morning. Not entirely a Knock Out week, but a decent start.

Pink Lightning is back and all fixed up - she spun wonderfully on Thursday. I did core strength this morning which was interesting - I'm not too sore, as my workouts from Nicole have kept me in shape from that aspect. I'm just glad we didn't feel the need to do more stairs!

Tomorrow is my long run with Noelle, somewhere around 18 miles. Tonight I'm laying low (maybe logging in and doing more work?) so that I'm set for that.

Pink Lightning Under the Weather

Had to take Pink Lightning into the shop today to get her brake pads replaced and derailers adjusted (as they were acting up last week). So, she has to spend the night at Erik's. Sniff Sniff! That's OK, they treat her pretty good - like a rock-star when she comes in. They don't get too many custom painted, sweet tri-bikes in there to talk about. One time I had her in before the Buffalo Tri and the guys running the tent at Buffalo spotted me and Pink Lightning at the race. They stopped me and asked if I had her into the Coon Rapids shop, as they were admiring her. Too funny!

I was so proud of myself on Monday that I actually got up at 4:45 AM and got myself to the gym in the AM. Now, if only I can get that accomplished tomorrow and Friday... we shall see. They say it takes 3 weeks to make a habit. Well, the snooze button is WAY too tempting (as I have been hitting it the past few weeks). But I'm going to try. Tomorrow AM is coming quickly...better get to bed!

Ah...much better today

I must say that almost 12 hrs of sleep last night and no alcoholic beverages made today's run much better. I was spent last night and I think my body knew it - since I didn't want to wake up today. On another note: here's my favorite YouTube video about triathlon that makes me laugh. I think that us girls need to practice this way for next season to get set for the thousands of arms and legs that are flailing at Madison.

Rascal Flatts & Laike & Lakes

Jake and I had a great time at the Taylor Swift/Rascal Flatts concert last night. We got our comp tickets from Kendal (wasn't front row - but seats were decent!). We watched the Taylor Swift set up in the suite where Andrea & Heidi were...which was fun to hang out with them too! Afterwards, we all went for a few beverages...which was not a terribly good thing for Jenny today.

Note to self: Jenny (with low tolerance) + Beer = Next day not feel so well, nor run so well

Today I met Stacy and Laike at a Fall Festival in Zimmerman. Laike was testing out his Owl Halloween costume and getting many compliments! We got some cute pictures and had a good time. 

Then I went down to the Lakes with Noelle to do our long run. We were aiming for around 17 miles today, but between the two of us (Jenny with previous nights activities and Noelle and her IT band acting up post-TC marathon) we decided that 12 miles was just fine. I think I'll go whip off 5-6 miles tomorrow morning to check that off the training schedule.

After the run I showered up and headed over to Jonny's to do a little bit of Ironman training planning just to make sure that I'm geared up on starting my plan soon after the marathon in November. Tonight's plan is to watch some of the Kona coverage online, maybe catch up on Grey's Anatomy from this week and off to bed early. It's been a long day and I'm tired!

So what's with all this pink?

OK, so some may be wondering what is with all this pink crap on this blog and my obvious corny obsession with pink...

I was thinking about it the other day and I believe it was ingrained in me at an early age. As a kid, I was pretty much doused in pink (see what my bedroom decor looked like). As the only daughter (with two brothers) I had to do the 'girly' thing to stand out from those two - which included a LOT of pink (and purple) - EVERYWHERE. I took a hiatus (as I don't recall pink being a huge influence on me in the high school / college era) and then it kind of found me again a few years ago.

About 3-4 years ago, a co-worker (who will remain nameless) decided to jokingly harass me because I had a pink cardigan sweater on. After that day, I picked up pink tops that I saw in the stores just to spite him and made a big deal out of pink for that sole purpose. (Oh you think I like pink? I'll show you someone who likes pink!) So since then it stuck.

My bike, after getting into triathlons, had to be pink...so I got it custom painted. What can I say? I gravitate towards that color. Dunno why...who cares? It's now my signature. Needless to say, Pink Lightning gets plenty of compliments and stares when she rolls into race sites. It's just purely fun. Go Pink Lightning!

Ten Mile Complete

Yesterday I met up with friends from run club for the "Coffee & Caravan" to go down and watch the 5K, 1 mile, and 1/2 mile races down by the capital. I had some early morning issues with my coffee maker - and I'm pretty sure the coffee maker won. Note to self: make sure you are fully awake when preparing coffee in this house...and put in the inner coffee filter holder (don't just drop in a coffee filter solo).

During the races we watched, we cheered for all the participants and I just happened to harass a juggler during all 3 of these races. As he went by on the 5K I shouted out "Watch out for the bump!" and so he stopped juggling to see that there was indeed no bump. The second time around he was a bit smarter and seemed to have my number. Oh oh! Afterwards we went to the expo and bummed around. I got my IM Wisc DVD training video from the Gear West guys and had a good conversation with them on seats & wheels. We heard Kristin Armstrong talk (Lance's ex-wife) which was really good.

This morning I got up early to meet up with Noelle and we got down to drop off our cars at the finish and bus over to the dome. The race was fun... ran into Naomi at the start, who was great to see. I ran with Andy and we kept a pretty comfortable pace - finished in a 1:34:58 (9:30 pace). 

At the end of the 10 mile, we were literally running down the hill to the finish line when I felt the first rain drop. We crossed the finish mat and the skies opened up. We quickly got our foil blanket to cover up and grabbed food, medals and our T-shirt. It was cold, wet and miserable out - so I opted to run up to the car and take cover (of which I couldn't find my car in the lot at first...causing me to get even more soaked). If the rain was going to pass quickly I wanted to go back down and watch all the marathoners that I knew coming in. Unfortunately, it did not...so I headed home for a nice hot shower and a quick nap!

Front Row Baby!

Yesterday, Jake got a phone call from my cousin's friend Kendal, whom we pinged regarding the upcoming Rascal Flatts / Taylor Swift concert coming to Excel next Friday. He just happens to be Rascal Flatts road manager and last year we got tickets and back stage passes when they came into town.

Well, yet again it is good to know people! I guess next Friday we'll have a pair of front row tickets and back stage passes to the show waiting for us at will call! Yeah!!! I am SO excited to go see this show...I've only been bugging Jake for the past 2 months to get the hook up with Kendal finalized. Last year we didn't get to meet the band, so hopefully this time we might get to meet them. I'm surprised we didn't get 4th row tickets...knowing me! ha ha!

Tonight on the way home from work I stopped by REI to check out the Garmin 405 (GPS Watch) as I have been contemplating the upgrade from my 301 model for my running. I'm glad I checked it out before ordering off the internet - as I think this baby may not be as hot as I thought it was. Is way larger than I expected and the controls on this guy are WAY confusing. I think I may just stick with the one I have for now...as the cool features really aren't worth the $$$ they are asking for this guy.

In addition, how hard is it to find some capri running pants this time of year? Man! Sports Authority had a pair that were OK, but not fitted. REI none. I finally found a pair at Dick's Sporting Goods that were kind of what I was looking for... and will have to do for now. I think I will wear them on Sunday pending any major weather forecast changes.

Tomorrow I'm getting up early to go do "Coffee & Caravan" with run club. We're meeting for some early morning treats, going down to watch the 5K, and then hit the expo for the marathon weekend. Then Sunday is my 10 mile. I'm thinking tomorrow I may put in 6-10 miles and possibly some weights...so hopefully the legs will be decent for Sunday. If not, oh well... is just a training weekend, right?