Single Saturday

With my sister still in Missouri and Jason still fishing at the end of the earth (see below) I have a single Saturday. A day all to myself to do as I wish. We have a 10-20 mile group run and then nothing planned. I want to try to make it to World Market over in Panama City. Yes, Panama City and not Panama City Beach. I have no clue why they opened a World Market all the way over in the PC mall. Worst idea ever. I'm sure 75% of the people who live over there have no clue what it is. Anyway - I need to make it over there before it closes. (I know, I'm so positiive it makes you sick).

I'm also VERY exited about my 'new' computer. I've been using my sisters Macbook for a while since my dell has been unreliable. Nothing against Mac's, but I still have issues figuring some things out on it - plus it's my sister's so I don't want to load all of my pictures on it. Anyway, my good old Dell laptop would freeze up for no reason the past few months which was VERY frustrating when I was online. So, some local collage kid stopped by my office to advertise his computer fixing skills. Sweet. Needless to say, my 5 year old laptop is going to be as good as new on Monday. Celebrate!!!

Not to be petty...but...

Gina, a fellow Warrensburg High School Swim team member from back in the day, came across this article First ever relay... Well, when we where sophomores in high school, we where member's of the first ever Warrensburg High school Girls Swim team. And our team was awesome. And, we did make it to state. Someone at the newspaper needs to get their facts in line :)

Fine - I'll do the 25 thing post

Via facebook - Gina tagged me in the '25 random things about you post' so I decided to share it on the blog since it has spell check :)

1. I sleep in my pink zensah compression socks every night (they keep my feet feeling good!!)
2. Living on the beach is awesome, but I do miss the city. Getting tired of the $15 glasses of wine.
3. I eat black beans, spicy saffron rice, with cheese on top at least three meals a week.
4. My bike is set up on the trainer in my room. No excuse not to get a ride in.
5. I have the best training group ever! Swim, bike, run alone? Never! And we all push each other. Love it.
6. Very picky about fish - I will only eat it if it's fresh and either myself or Jason caught it. Unless I'm somewhere where I don't have the choice
7. I watch the Biggest Loser every week obsessively - while eating a bowl of ice cream.
8. I CAN NOT STAND SNOW BIRDS! They drive slow, shop slow, and most of them are pretty darn mean. Sorry grandma's and grandpa's out there, but people do live here year round.
9. I'm becoming more like my parents every day - which is not a bad thing at all.
10. Between #3 and fish tacos - I could eat nothing else for the rest of my life.
11. There is no functioning in Chloe's life without coffee in the morning.
12. I also watch the Rock of Love Bus. It's like a car crash - it's so bad, but I just can't look away!
13. Biking is my weakest point in the triathlon - please refer to #4 - but I am determined to make it my best!
14. I ran the Disney marathon and made it my bitch
15. If one more friend tells me they are expecting or getting married with in the next 8 months I'm going to be broke.
16. Last August a picture of Jason and I holding a fish that I caught made it into the Florida Sportsman Magazine. It's kind of odd when people actually recognize me.
17. I hate checking voicemails on my cell phone.
18. I worry about retirement - and I'm only 28!
19. If I won the lottery, I would not tell anyone by my family. And Gina, because she would be my financial advisor :)
20. I'm doing Ironman 70.3 New Orleans, and the main reason I signed up was because it ends in Jackson Square. :)
21. I have not colored my hair in 4 years.
22. Bedding is very important to me. I like my bed to look nice, smell nice, and to be made every day. Hello. OCD knocking.
23. If I had the choice of going out to an awesome bar - or hang out at the house with friends, play Wii, drink wine, and eat awesome food. I would much rather stay home!
24. My sister is awesome and I wish I could be as laid back as she is.
25. It took me 3 days to get this thing completed.

There you go.

I just think this picture is fun! Yeah! Friday!

Missing my fisherman but I'm Fabulous!

Jason and I have been together for a year and a half or so. Love him to death. He's the pro surfer/Florida boy that I dreamt about while growing up in good old Southern Missouri. Anyway - right now he's down in Venice, LA running tuna charters. If you've never heard of Venice, LA - you're not missing much unless you are a hard core fisherman or duck hunter. There is NOTHING down there except very large fishing boats and one diner full of fried goodness and beer. Wikipedia states Venice is also known as "The End of the World". Seriously. Click on the link above if you don't believe me. There are still trucks and boats in trees left over from Katrina. It's on the VERY southern tip of LA. Not a lot of sunshine and the water is a wonderful color of poo brown because of the river. So - its not that cool of a place. Trust me, I've been there.

Anyway - this time of year, he's down there for about three months running tuna charters. He was going to come home tomorrow for a few days, but just called and picked up a few more trips. Granted I love having time to myself and be in my 'workout Nazi mode' as my friends call it. But I do miss him. Next winter he's going ot be running charters down in the Caribbean. Hopefully my boss will under stand my 'leave of absence' request. :)

On a better note! Super runner Denice from RUN DMT made my day by tagging me with a Fabulous button or sticker - not quite sure what to call it :)


But thank you Denise for liking the randomness of my blog!

Receiving this award - I have to list five of my fabulous addictions:
1) Training. Seriously - I become really moody if I go more then 2 days without a round with my trainer, dip in the pool, or a good run.
2) Wine. No detail needed
3) Spending time with the boyfriend.
4) Family. I'm 28 and talk to my mother every day and I live with my sister. I have a pretty cool family.
5) The Sunday Morning Show on CBS. Every Sunday morning that I don't have a brick workout - I do exactly what I'm doing right now. Drink coffee , dip a croissant in it and watch this show. (Example of my wonderful breakfast today!)






Now - five other blogs that I think excel in the fablouisness:
1. Missy Ironman Florida 2008
2. Gina - The Jollys in JC
3. Sam - Sam I Am From Fat to Fast
4. Absolut(ly)Fit
5. Colormekatie (love this blog - ALWAYS puts me in a good mood!)




Random thoughs:
Get excited - Rock of Love Bus is on tonight!!

My mom is in the Key's with her girlfriends. Lucky. One of these days I'll be able to go on this 'girl trip'

I've drank a TON of coffee this morning - have a feeling it's going to be a very productive day!

Happy Sunday!!

TGIF

It's crazy how the air quality can effect your runs. Two summers ago, we had to deal with Red Tide. It was so bad, that I could not even roll the windows in my car with out coughing up a lung. This morning as I was driving to Watercolor to meet everyone I noticed how 'foggy' it was. Once I got out of the car, realized that it was not fog, but smoke from the prescribed burns! I guess the wind was blowing the perfect direction to push it all down here. Needless to say not only was the run tough due to the air quality, but we all smelled like a bonfire!

After reading Steve in a speedo?! GROSS! 's blog I had to share this motivation poster:

Growing up we used to have lobster races/fights all the time before they hit the boiling pot of water. Yum. I could so go for some lobster right now. After Gina's 'Maine Event' in July where I ate lobster all day, every day - my body is finally craving it again! Check out Steve's blog - it's awesome. Plus, he's running a 1/2 marathon tomorrow somewhere where it's really freaking cold - like -5. So wish him luck!

Also - to add to the randomness of this friday, I would like to share an oldie, but goodie youtube video that was e-mailed to me this morning. It is just too funny.

Thanks Gina!

Gina is a ton of help - assisting me with my blogging needs :)

Check out this web site - it's for Super Denise, runner extraordinaire. (If you don't believe me, check out her Disney report!!)


Also - for all of you new runners, thinking about becoming a runner, or old pros, here is a another great website Runner Girl It's full of awesome info.


So excited about Gina helping me with this link issue I've been having!!

Grabage Trucks and Trainers

This evening I had a hot and heavy date with my trainer. Need to get in gear again for New Orelans 70.3 - and with biking as my WORST leg I've been spending some quality time with her. With new Netflix in hand I was ready to go. Almost two hours later I jump off feeling as good as I can for rocking the trainer. Then I get a text from my friend who lives in the condo below me. Asking me if I was finished. CRAP. I had no idea he was home. Usually I send a warning text - oh well.

My sister is up in St. Louis visiting our parents for a few weeks - and decided to take Amtrack up to Chicago to spend some time with a friend of hers. Granted my sister is not the best driver, specially in the snow, so we where thankful she opted to rock it old school with the train. On a side note - if we had an awesome train system here like they do over in Europe I would NEVER be home on the weekends! Back in the Holland days - we would just hop on a train and wake up in some awesome destination! ANYWAY - the train hit a TRASH TRUCK that was stuck in the middle of the train tracks due to the snow. Are you kidding me! Thankfully my sister is fine, as was everyone else, and they just put everyone on a Grayhound to get to their destination. Crazy day.

Random thoughts:

*Grandpa from the biggest loser looked AWESOME when they did the follow up!
*Rock of Love Bus. Don't know why. But I'm addicted to that show.
*I can't have cereal in the house becuase I will eat a box a day. Literally.
*My lease is up at the end of April and I'm already stressing about moving. Ugh.

Thankgoodness tomorrow is Friday!!

Disney Pictures

We totally cheesed it up for every camera guy we saw. Can't help it! I would rather look totally corney then in pain!!

Disney Marathon Race Report

What a great race for my first marathon. Had such a great time and the support was amazing.

Started off the day at 2:45am eastern time (so for me it was 1:45!). Woke up, got dressed and headed out to door to pick up my friend Lisa who was staying right outside of the park. We took off and headed towards the park. Initially, we where going to hop on I-4 to get to Epcot, but ended up following people that looked like they where heading that way hoping that they would get us there quicker. And we where so glad that we did! I-4 was a mess - but we just cruised on through and ended up parking maybe 1/4 of a mile from the finish area. We SOOO lucked out. The fear of losing my car was gone!

We hung out in the car for awhile since we had plenty of time to join the heard of runners heading to the start. Making the trek was fun to the start. Saw so many people - many excited and many a bit freaked out. But Lisa saw a girl walking with this huge blanket wrapped around her - so Lisa made a comment to her about being the smartest girl EVER to do that. We started talking to the two ladies and found out that one was Denise!! I've been reading her blog for a few weeks so we where totally pumped up to run into each other! Check out her blog - http://denisermt.wordpress.com/ it's awesome (still trying to figure out how to make the links work on this page) But talk about a needle in a haystack! 16K + runners and I run into her! She did something that most people would not even think to attempt - run a 1/2 marathon and then the next day run a full. But to add to the craziness, it was her first 1/2 and first marathon. Ever! What an amazing accomplishment. Just proves the point that runners are a different breed. Not only are they the nicest people ever - but a bit on the crazy side as well! Awesome job Denise! It was so great ot meet you!!

So, all four of us chatted for a bit and waiting for the start. Which was awesome. Fireworks everywhere! Good old Disney pulling through. It took us about 10 min to finally get to the start chip mat but then Lisa and I took off. Unfortunately unable to say by to our newly found awesome running friends - but with all of the people it was hard to stay together! The race course was very well planned. With the amount of people, the first three miles the runners where broken up into two different routes to prevent massive congestion.

Anyway - with out boring the readers, a quick rundown of the race. We ran through all of the major parks and saw all of the characters. So much support with not only a beverage station pretty much ever mile (!!!!) but med tents and crowd support! So many local high school bands, spectators, Disney workers cheering us on. It was awesome. The parks where amazing, specially when we went through the Magic Kingdom around sunrise. Could not have timed it any better. And I also ran into Laura, another running blogger (http://absolutlyfit.blogspot.com/) at the Animal Kingdom! She has a 'Marathon Maniac' jersey. I kept on spotting them, but they where all worn by old men. When I finally saw someone around my age, I knew it had to be her! Went and gave her a hug, but kept on trucking. I can't WAIT to get the pictures back - if you read this blog, you know I cheese it up for EVERY photographer no matter how bad I feel!

But the best thing about the race was that - that I did not feel bad at all! The normal upper leg pains from running over 19 miles where there, but no GI issues, no cramps, no major blister problems. Lisa kept on my ASS about taking a GU ever five miles which is what made the race so pain free. Nutrition is SO important for long events. And I also ran with compression socks. I am going ot have to say that I swear by them now. Zensah are my fav since you can wear your own socks with them since they only go down to your ankle. But even today my calves feel, I hate to say it, normal!

Every says that the real marathon starts at mile 20. So right when I hit the mile marker I was in a zone. I knew I could do it. And I knew I was in a pace to break my goal time of 4:30. One foot in front of another. As Bree Wee says, the body achieves what the mind believes. I was feeling great and knew that in less then an hour I would be finished. And what a great feeling it was to see that finish line. Crossing that line, cheesing it up for the picture (of course!) I did it. I ran a freaking marathon.

So Disney, I made you my bitch. Until the Princess 1/2 my friend.

Distance MAR
Clock Time 4:36:07
Chip Time 4:28:13
Overall Place 4067 / 14940
Gender Place 1286 / 7139
Division Place 266 / 1295
Age Grade 50.5%
5 Mile 47:01
10 Mile 1:34:17
Half Split 2:04:26
20 Mile 3:19:18

First Marathon..

done. Check. Slash that off of my list. AND I got it under my goal of 4:30 - 4:28!! What a great race. My friend Lisa who is an amazing runner ran the whole thing with me which was so awesome of her. And I ran into a few people - who I read their bogs. Talk about a needle in a haystack!! More details tomorrow!

Mousercise - 1985

Getting pumped up for Disney Marathon this weekend - I would like to share with you Mousercise! You know you watched it back in the day! I remember my friend Tricia and I used to wake up at 3am just to get out Mousercise workout in. We would put on our speedos with our pink dance tights and sweat bands and just jump around wishing that we where on the show. We rocked that look like we owned it. (Please note we where 6 at the time!)


Today is going to be a good day. I was at the Tom Thumb this morning getting coffee before work. The man next to me asked me how my day was going and so on. Just a nice, quick conversation. But it was in SPANISH! My Spanish skills are about as good as my numchuck skills. Needless to say I was pretty proud of myself!

Good luck to everyone who will be racing Disney this weekend!!

My Idea of Tapering

I'm not too good at tapering. It's hard to get thrown out of a schedule that you've been used to for so long. So instead of running or biking this morning - I drank my coffee on the beach and watched the sun rise. Kind of makes all of the stress and pressure of life just go away.

Free Stuff!

Check out this blog - http://denisermt.wordpress.com/ - Lot's of great running information from another Floridian! AND she has give-a-ways! AND she's running Disney - marathon and 1/2! Can't get any better then that!

Getting Ready...

...for Orlando. Running the Disney Marathon! Whoop whoop!! I'm heading that way on Friday for the race on Sunday. The race is going to be awesome - but I'm very excited to see (and stay) with my friend Dawn. Dawn and I go way back to the Kansas City days. We worked together - and then when I moved companies and was transfered to Tampa, she stayed with the same company but moved to Orlando. She's one of those friends where if we don't see each other for years, we just jump back into where we left off. And boy do we cause trouble. Nothing but lovlies (tasty martinis) and lots of wine. Well, this trip won't be too out of control due to the marathon on Sunday - but I love spending time with good friends. Friends that go that far back are awesome.

Dawn and I at Octoberfest in Chicago a few years ago. Many beers consumed.


Back to the race. Ugh. Parking. Driving. Traffic. Living on the beach where I live, the only real traffic we have is check in on Saturday around Publix. I do not miss living in the city at all. I was a very angry drivier when I lived in Kansas City and Tampa! It never fails but I stress out about not being able to find my car after the race, much less missing a race because I can't figure out where to go (even though I never have). But this isn't Disneys first round at doing this, so hopefully I won't be stranded in Magic Kingdom. But just in case - for those of you who know my mother, call her if you don't see or hear from me by Tuesday!

Hopefully if Lisa P is feeling better - she will be making the trip across the state with me to run the race as well. So at least if we do lose the car - I won't be alone!