Saturday, May 29, 2010

I am IRONMAN....

I have just been waiting to get a picture of my little Pizel chest lamp.

2+ hour run in the books. It was 77 degrees this morning when I headed out my front door with Greyhound at 5:15 am. No breeze.....no sprinklers on.....no relief from the humidity that hung on us like a tranquilized gorilla.

I may not be a photographer but growing up with a dad who was a professional news photographer I have picked up a few tricks. I must say, I love the back lighting and the flash's reflexion off the sweat on my arms. I kinda look like a runner in this photo. I could possibly pass for a triathlete.

Alright, it is shower time, food, time, throw my bike in the car and I'm off to Austin in 30 minutes!

WooHoo!!!

Later Gators,

Liz

Friday, May 28, 2010

Cap Tex this weekend!

I am heading to Austin in the morning to take my TNT group to the Capitol of Texas Triathlon. They have worked hard and raised a lot of money and they are ready for this. Even though I will not be racing, this weekend will wear me out. I will be up early with them, up late doing stuff behind the scenes, out on the course in the sun the majority of the day. and keeping track of other Team in Training participants out on the course.

Ok, pics and details later. Have a great Memorial Day weekend!

Liz

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Yup, it's hot out...

I am sure you can figure out what part of my sweaty self left that mark on the driveway. It is now officially summer here in the Gulf Coast region of Texas. Temps have been in the high 80's and low 90's for the past few weeks and the humidity has been high as the breeze flows in from off shore.

I had my first summer chill today. We ran up to the local taco hut for some chow because we were pretty hot and messy looking and I did not feel like cooking. When we walked inside, the air conditioning was on full blast. When you are hot and sweaty the initial feeling is awesome but by the time you order your tacos, you are chilled and shivering. We had to go sit on the patio outside to eat because it was too cold inside.

I took Bud shopping for new running shoes today. I am not sure how the kid has been jamming his feet into his current shoes. I had him in a pair of women's stability New Balance shoes size 8 because he has flat feet and they don't make kid's shoes with that kind of stability. Well today we had to get him women's size 9 1/2 Saucony shoes. I could have gotten him men's Asics size 8, but I did not want to spend $125 for them. So, cheap-o mom took the other ones that were on sale for $62. If he grows out of them in the next few weeks, I can have his cast off shoes. What a bargain!

Later gators,

Liz

Friday, May 21, 2010

Oh Please...

WE ARE STILL NOT BUYING YOUR STORY!!!

Have a good weekend,

Liz

Friday, May 14, 2010

Come on!!! Seriously!!!



Have you ever encountered someone who literally sucked the life out of you? They look so innocent and speak timidly while asking a question. They reveal their weakness and short comings to you. Then they manipulate you without you even realizing it. And then when you want to leave and run away, they follow you. You don't want to be an ass to them so you try to politely make your escape. But you realize that you are cornered. You have to deal with them. And when it is all over you have lost time, money, health, and mental well being.

I dealt with one of these information vampires today and it left me dead on the treadmill.

This girl,...lady,...whatever you want to call her, came to my Power Flex class today. It is just like Body Pump if you are familiar with that. I had never seen her before. After class a few people approach me to ask questions, like they usually do, and she is in the crowd. When it gets to her turn she timidly and with what I thought was broken English (this person was of Asian decent) asks me how to "make better" her triceps as she pointed to the flab of skin hanging off of her upper arm. She goes on to compliment my arms saying she wants to be toned but not as skinny as me with veins on my arms (thanks for the compliment). I give her some suggestions and she proceeds to ask me if she can strength train every day. This tips me off that she does not know much about fitness. While other people are patiently waiting to ask me a question I politely tell her that she needs to put a day in between strength training sessions.

I get to the questions of others while one of the class members politely puts up my equipment for me. Then I get hit again with a question from Ms. Time Monopolizer. This time she asks if the treadmill or the elliptical trainer is better to loose weight. Vague question. So I try to explain intensity and the effect of impact on an exercise. She proceeds to tell me about how she has lost 10 lbs. in the last two weeks by cutting back her portions (showing me a frighteningly small portion size on the end of her hand), overcoming hunger pangs and cravings, doing some running/walking, and sitting in the sauna. She told me that she was from California visiting and she was driving around town in the car without the air on and the windows rolled up and she REALLY felt like her metabolism was melting the weight off of her. I had to break her bubble and tell her she was sweating the water out of her body and as soon as she had a drink of water, she was back to where she started.

She was sad and heart broken by this news. Again I chalked it up to her not knowing much about fitness. She said thank you and wandered out the door. As I was gathering my gear and answering someone else's question and walking to the door, she reappears with another question. I looked at my watch. It was now 30 minutes after my class had ended! I needed to to a workout on the treadmill and get it done to get home before the kid got off the school bus.

This time her question was about personal training and wanting to be a personal trainer. She thought she was so good at loosing 10 pounds in two weeks that she wanted to help others. She was a school teacher but she wanted to teach people how to loose weight. I told her that she was going to have to get certified by ACE, ACSM, NA...... "STOP! I should write this all down! Do you have a pen?" I told her I did not have a pen. "I will go find one. Are you staying here?" "No, I am going to go run," was my reply. She dashed out of the room and I headed to the bathroom to make a pit stop before getting on the treadmill.

I exit the bathroom door and there she is waiting for me! (Cue psycho music...)


My head was starting to pound as she tried to write down information and kept asking me to repeat things. I grabbed the pen out of her hand and started writing stuff down for her. I wanted to speed this along. "How long is it going to take me to get certified?", she asks. I tell her that she is going to have to pay around $650 for text books, study materials, and to register for the exam. There is a testing date or testing window that is usually 90 days after you get the materials. "OMG! That is so expensive!" Yeah honey, welcome to my world. I then tell her that she needs 20 hours of continuing education every two years to stay certified and that can cost anywhere from $600 to over $1000 to complete the courses. "Well I really want to teach Pilates."

WILL THE QUESTIONS NEVER END???!!!???

I try to quickly explain that to get a Pilates certification is not easy and is a multi year process. She asks me for details and where she can get trained. I angrily jot information down on her paper and tell her that any of the training programs will require that she has taken a college level Anatomy and Physiology course and they recommend a personal training certification. "What is better I take Anatomy at a college or course from Balanced Body University?" I told her that it was up to her how much money she wanted to spend while waving my running shoes in her face. I told her she had to start with the mat work before she would be able to learn the material on the different apparatus. "Oh I want to teach reformer. I don't like mat stuff." I sternly told her that the mat work was the foundation to all Pilates work and that in my honest opinion that the mat work was harder than the reformer work. I was answered with a blank look that required me to explain why.

I wanted to chew my leg off where it was caught in the trap. I wanted to escape without being a total asshole to her. Customer service is priority right??? Well why was I feeling like I was getting worked over? I had discovered that this seemingly ignorant gal knew more than she led on at first and that she knew just enough from fashion magazines and the Internet to be dangerous. Do I feel she could be a competent personal trainer or Pilates instructor? NO!!!

"OH I so glad that I meet you and came to your class. You have given me so many good ideas!" WHAT!!! Ideas??? Don't be going there sister! I look at my watch. It is now 51 minutes after my class has ended!!! I should have been getting paid for this with all the information and the f--king ideas you sponged off of me! It is FRIDAY! My work week is DONE!! I want to run on the treadmill and now I will not be able to get my whole workout in before I have to leave and get my kid off the school bus!!!

Because I was polite and nice to a fault, this was a win--loose situation. She won, I lost. She got what she wanted and I lost time, money, health benefits, and sanity. By the time I got to get on the treadmill I could not relax into my intervals and had to jump off to hit the bathroom again and then my legs would not cooperate and I had to keep from tripping and having the belt spit me off the back end.

TO HELL WITH IT!!!

I packed it in and went home and got to the corner just in time to get my son.

Here's hoping that you do not encounter an information vampire and that my Saturday is better than my Friday.

Later Gators,

Liz

Monday, May 10, 2010

Catching up...at last...

I have been a little busy, and frankly, a little lazy about posting so this may be a marathon post. I hope it won't. Let's see if I can stay on task and get this done.

Lonestar/ Memorial Hermann 70.3

I had a great weekend with my TNT participants and my friends. The swim was canceled for the sprint and Olympic distance race due to a front that blew in and whipped up the swim venue into a mess of white caps and a wicked current. The races went off as a time trial format. My good friend Ryan came in 2nd in his age group. I spent the night down in Galveston with Ryan and my other TNT friends Geoff and Sarah at a condo on the seawall. I was the only one in the group that was not racing so I was in charge of diner. The next day I had a blast watching the professionals race the 70.3 race. They are crazy fast! I will let the pictures tell the rest of the story...

Ryan with his 2nd Place AG M 30-34 trophy.

Chris Lieto leading on the run.

Desirre Ficker heading out on the run.

My TNT buddy Geoff on his second loop of the run.

Laura finishing her first 70.3 Ironman distance race! Yahoo!!! GO TEAM!!!

Sam Maglone coming in for her First Place Finish!

Me and TJ Tolakson! He can hold his sweaty body against me ANYTIME.

Here I am with the AWESOME Michele Jones.

Coach and Kiwi Terenzo Bozone, winner of the Memorial Hermann 70.3. He is quite chatty and nice.

TRX Training

My coach has me doing workouts on the TRX Suspension Training System. I love it! It is very challenging because you need to use your own body weight and it provides an unstable surface. I am sore and tight all the time. Greyhound also adds that I am also cranky to go along with it, but I beg to differ. I have three workouts a week and as tough as they are and and sore as I am, I had better be one bad-ass triathlete later this fall.


Ironman 2

IT WAS AWESOME!!! I have a little bit of a crush on Tony Stark, er...Robert Downey Jr. I am now looking forward to the other movies that will lead up to The Avengers.


Weddings

My friends, Geoff and Sarah got married on Saturday. I met Geoff through Team in Training and raced in Cancun and Clearwater at the 70.3 World Championships with him. At that time he was in an off an on relationship with Sarah but little did we know that she flew out to Clearwater and saw the whole race with her sister and had her sister deliver a "love note" to Geoff in the massage tent after the race. Sarah did not understand the whole triathlon thing until going to see Geoff at this race even though she had seen a few sprint races. Well, now she has finished the Rhode Island 70.3 and she loves triathlon. Sarah is a great gal. We ran the Goofy Challenge together at Disney World this past January. It was a beautiful wedding and the bride and groom are truly in love with each other.

My groom of nearly 18 years. Yes, you are seeing clearly...I'm wearing pink.

Mother's Day


What a great day! I started thing off with a tough 10 mile run with Greyhound. We did 7 or 8 race pace surges throughout the run. It was perfect weather with low humidity. If it had been humid it would have been tough and rough. I wore my new running duds that I bought for El Esposo to give me for Mother's Day.

I think I have found my new favorite pair of running shorts! I got a pair of Lululemmon Speed shorts. They are great because they ride low on the hips and the waist band is a flat, seamless wide strip of fabric that does not chafe. The liner has flat stitched seams with the finished edge against the skin rather than the raw edge. Also, the liner is not too tight in the legs. The best part is that the shorts are short in the leg in the front and longer in the back so there is no "cheek" hanging out. Oh, and my shorts are not pink. They are aqua blue plaid.

After some apres run coffee with Greyhound, it was time to get home and get cleaned up for church. We had brunch reservations to eat at Stella Sola. Brian Caswell, a James Beard Award Nominee chef, co-owns Stella Sola and the fare is Italian with a Texas bent to it. I had a yummy fritatta, a light baby lettuce salad with pepperoni pizza squares, and pistachio pound cake with sour cherries for my meal. To. Die. For.

After laying on the floor and watching Sherlock Holmes with Bud and running a few errands, I was ready to really relax. I had a great Mother's Day.

Well, now it is back to the work week and strength training. I will check in later this week.

Later Gators

Liz