Staycation

There is no way to sugar-coat it. The cruise to Cozumel was canceled. I could have posted a message about this fact last Thursday or Friday, but I was just too bummed out to do it. So for the past few days I have been taking a Staycation since I canceled my PT clients and subbed out my classes at the gym.

When we left the house on Thursday, the sun was shining and the weather was warm. As we got south of Houston and about 14 miles from the island the fog started settling in. As we got to the causeway bridge to go from the mainland to the island, you could not see the top of it. I have seen fog in Galveston before, but never this thick. It choked out the sunlight and left everything grey and gloomy and visibility was only about one or two blocks.

At the cruise terminal we were told that the ship was not it yet (it should have docked at 7 am) and that we might want to catch lunch and shop along the historic Strand. I was happy with this because for all the times I have been down to the island since Hurricane Ike, I have always been down on the West End riding my bike and I have not been to the East End and to The Strand in a few years. I am happy to report that the city of Galveston has done a lot of work to revitalize and clean up after the storm. I know that there is still a lot to do but I was very impressed with how good things looked. The only ominous sign that I kept seeing were the Ike water level markers on the walls of the buildings that were over my head. This island was 8 feet under water in many areas.

We did some shopping and had a late lunch at a wonderful Greek restaurant called Olympia where the kid and I shared a flaming plate of Sakanaki. Checking back in at the cruise terminal we were told to go to the Galveston Convention Center for more updates. Once there we found out that the ship was still anchored 15 miles off-shore and they hoped that the fog would lift the next day to be able to dock. If so, the ship would need 5 hours to do a "turn around" and prepare the ship to leave again by 4 pm. From there the ship would only go 12-13 miles off shore to get into International Waters for gambling and duty-free shopping. The cruise would not be going to Cozumel so everyone would get a $20 refund of port fees. One day would be refunded and each person would get 20% their next cruise booking.

Um, NO...HELL NO!!! This was a Christmas gift and I was not spending $1600.00 to sit a few miles off shore and drink my self silly and gamble all of my money away for two days. It would still be too chilly to enjoy the pool. NO!

There are no refunds but we do have full credit to rebook the same cruise in the next 24 months. We drove home and my poor kid had to go to school the next day to take two tests that I did not want him to make up after spring break. El Esposo went in to work and I did yard work. At least the weather has been nice but I have been pretty bummed out. I have not even gotten my run mojo back. I have to find it.

I have to find it because I made these and I have been eating them...

Looking for my mojo. Happy St. Patrick's Day.

Liz

I liked it so much...

...that I am headed back to Cozumel, Mexico!!! This time the family is coming along. We are leaving today and I will be back next Wednesday with lots of fun photos. Fear not, I will be running and swimming while I am there and if I find a spin bike I will hop on that as well.

Adios Amigos!

Liz

70

Today would have been my mom's 70th birthday. I am not sure she would have been thrilled that she was 70. She was always telling people she was 29. I told her that she had an option. She could either stop telling people she was 29 on the 29th year of being 29 or when I hit age 29. Anyway, if she were alive today I am sure she would be pretty happy to be 70. We would have had an AWESOME party!

In her honor I gave my son 10 Grandma Facts that he did not know about her and we are going to go get an ice cream cone.

Please tell your mother, or a special mother in your life, how much you love them and how much their hard work of raising children is appreciated.

Have a GREAT day!

Liz

Jump For Joy!

I feel like this guy in the photo. Seriously! It may be pouring outside and the temps are chilly but I am super stoked. You read in the last post that I had to go to the ortho doc to see about my knee, well here is the update.

Last Friday I met Dr. Lheaman and we talked about my knee. He seemed to be very excited that I was a runner and also a personal trainer. He did an ultra-sound of my knee and said that it looked very healthy and that he did not see any calcification of the patellar tendon. He did see a tiny spot that he thought might be a micro-tear in the lower portion of the patellar tendon. He gave it a few jabs with his finger and it was a little sore. The decision was to try prolotherapy where glucose is injected directly into the tendon at the injury site to prompt the body to start the healing process, but at a rapid pace. Since a tendon does not have the amount of blood flow to it like a muscle, the prolotherapy would heal the spot injury in as little as two to 4 weeks rather than double that on it's own. An appointment was made and I was told to start taking Omega 3 and Glucosamine. I could continue to exercise and if the discomfort was too bad, I could take a Tylenol.

I started taking the Omega 3 and Glucosamine last weekend. Greyhound talked me into doing a long run with him on Sunday morning before church. I could feel the knee, but it was not painful enough to affect my pace. On one or two occasions, Greyhound had to reel me in for going too fast. We got our 9 miles done and I was happy with the outcome. I did a little 5K run on Monday and could feel the knee, but again it was more annoying than painful. Tuesday I skipped out on running because Houston was getting sleet and snow flurries and I did not want to run on the roads with drivers who are distracted. I would have done a treadmill but I did not think the weather conditions would deteriorate so quickly in the afternoon when I left the gym at 10 am. After dealing with a barfy husband Tuesday night and Wednesday morning I had to get out of the house and away from the germs. My run on Wednesday was INCREDIBLE!!! NO PAIN AT ALL!!! It was as if nothing had ever been wrong with my knee. I ran again on Thursday and again, NO PAIN! I was wondering if this was a fluke. No pain on my Friday run! No pain on my Saturday run! I had to skip out yesterday because Bud had a huge swim meet all weekend long and I was volunteering all day Sunday.

I don't know if it is the Omega 3 and Glucosamine doing their job or just that my knee got scared of injections and shaped up. Anyway, I am super happy. Today I get to contact Dr. Lheaman and tell him about my knee. My prolotherapy was supposed to start next week, but that may not happen now.

More jump for joy news, Bud had his Spring Champs Short Course Swim Meet this past weekend. On Friday night he swam the 200 IM in 3:04.27 and dropped 8 seconds off of his time. He missed a "B" time by one second. On Saturday he swam the 50 Breaststroke in 43.48 and earned a "B" time and 7th place in the 11-12 year old age group. Next was the 50 Free in 32.15 again earning a "B" time and a 5th place finish. He finished off Saturday with the 100 Backstroke in 1:26.75 and 5th place in his age group. Sunday was busy again starting with the 100 Free in 1:12.79 and a "B" time and an 8th place finish. The 50 Backstroke was next with a finish time of 38.93 "B" time and a 7th place finish. His last individual event was the 100 Breaststroke with a finish time of 1:38.52 and an 8th place finish. He also swam a relay. Seventh and Eighth place may not sound like it is really high, but there are about 28 to 45 kids swimming in each event and as many as 63 in events like the 50 Free. Mom is very proud of her swimmer!

Last bit of Jump for Joy news. This past Friday was the 12th birthday for our Team in Training Honored Teammate Maddy. She was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia two years ago just a few weeks before her 10th birthday. Today, Maddy is healthy and has one more chemo treatment in March!!! Our TNT tri team had a birthday party for her after our practice and I made her a cake of the most awesome deliciousness, an Oreo Cake!

It was a big hit and there was only one piece left for me to take home to Bud. Maddy was granted a wish from the Make a Wish Foundation and this June she and her mother get to go to South Africa and attend the World Cup! Super Exciting!

Well, that is the news from this neck of the woods. There is some more exciting stuff on the horizon that I will be passing along to you. Until then.....

Later Gators,

Liz

Knee News

Well, my blog has been rather dull because I have not been doing much. Ok, so I have been watching the Olympics, I have knit two hats (one with a skull on the front), and I have been coaching my TNT participants. Other than that I have been laying low because of my knee.

At mile 20 of the marathon portion of the Goofy challenge back on January 10th I started to feel my left knee. It was not bad. It felt like someone was whacking my kneecap with a small stick. It was more annoying than painful. By mile 25 it was irritating and it did smart, but it did not keep me from continuing to run or to slow my pace down. The next day I was having a hard time getting around. My knee felt so stiff and sure it was swollen. By Wednesday of that week, the pain was going away and by Friday the pain was gone. I did a strength training workout and had no problems. No problems until the next morning. On Saturday my training schedule said I had a 2 hour run where I was to either alternate 15 minutes of running and then walking or to run out for one hour and then walk back on the second hour. I chose that option and I was so glad to be done. By mile 2 I was starting to feel my knee again and by the end of the hour I was hurting. I walked home and was stiff and sore for another couple of days.

I laid off the knee but I was finding that even trainer rides were causing stiffness after the workouts. I went to go see Dr. H and he told me that I probably had some tendinitis. I rested the knee. The last weekend of January I ran a 5K and placed first in my age group. The pain with the knee did not kick in until mile 2 but by mile 3 I was glad I was almost done. I ran a 5K the next day with my kid. When we started out it felt like a sharp knife was being jabbed into the right edge of my left knee cap. I was sore and stiff until Wednesday of the next week.

I have been playing it safe and not doing much but it is like taking my fitness level and flushing it down the toilet. I went back to see Dr. H last Friday and he thinks that my condromalacia has flared up. I have been icing and elevating but I have to keep moving. I have been running and keeping the distance to 5K and below. I am sure I will have people telling me to stop. Ok, I can stop, but running helps me stay sane and normal. I have to have 24 minutes to be able to think and not think that is my time. Please don't ask me to give that up.

Tomorrow I go to see the docs at The Center for Spine, Sports, and Physical Medicine. They have some cutting edge technology that they have been using on professional athletes to keep them moving with out pain. I am tired of feeling like someone is whacking my kneecap with a stick every time I land on my left foot.

I will report back if there is anything the docs can do. I got my run in today so I am happy. Time for lunch.

Later Gators,

Liz

Make Over Time!

I was getting a bit bored with my blog's appearance so I added a little punch to it. Again, I am a computer nimrod so I did the easiest thing I could. I tried adding different fonts but I messed up the HTML code somehow. Oh, well at least I am better at riding a bike than making my blog look great.

Ok, so I am still trying to get caught up on things. About a week to 10 days ago Kathleen (past president of my tri club) tagged me on her blog to give my Top 10 List. So now as the Paul Sheaffer band does a drum roll, here is Coach Liz's Top 10 Things That Make Me Happy!

Starting with 10: Chocolate! The darker, the better. I do believe that it causes a sense of well-being and at times euphoria in me.

9. Texas! I love living in the Lone Star State. Where else can you live that there are mountains, beaches, deserts, pine trees, palm trees, alligators, wild boar, pumas, snow, heat, blue bonnets, pecans, dance halls, cactus, cowboys, Cajuns, Czechs, and some of the best ruby red grapefruit and Tex Mex food on earth? Please don't ask me to live anywhere else. I will go and visit, but my home will always be in Texas.

8. Team In Training! This organization has provided me and my family with so much. I owe them so much.

7. My dolphin ring from my mom. It is probably not worth more than $100 but to me it is priceless. I have always loved dolphins. I did a lot of sailing when I was a kid growing up and the dolphin is a sailor's good luck charm.

6. My Coach, Anthony Humpage. Woofie has been putting up with me for almost 5 years and me not being real good about filling in my Training Peaks log. He has gotten me prepared for a few really BIG races and has helped me come back from knee surgery. I cannot thank him enough for keeping me on as one of his athletes over the years.

5. My friends who make me a better bike rider. Greyhound, Carrie (Tri to be Funny) and her Hubster Shawn are all people who I really respect and they make me push myself to work a little harder when I want to slack off on the bike.

4. My TNT Friends. This is a group of people who have become as close as family. I have traveled around the globe with some of them and have done some amazing races with them. I am very proud to say that I have coached everyone in this picture to finish their first triathlon. From left to right we have Lauren who has done Ironman 70.3 Cancun and Switzerland with me, Ryan who has done Ironman 70.3 Switzerland with me and has qualified for the Short Course National Championships, Norma who is celebrating her first Half Ironman finish at the Lone Star Half Ironman last spring, Luke who has raced Ironman Cozumel and Longhorn Ironman 70.3 with me, and on my right is Jay who has completed a Half Ironman at the Lone Star Tri Festival and is now a certified USA Triathlon coach.

3. My BFF Johnny Tri. If I could have a twin brother, it would be John. We are goofy together and we have had our share of knock down drag outs but in the end our friendship has only gotten stronger. He has trusted me to coach him through two Ironman races and he is now the new Team In Training Las Vegas Chapter tri coach. I'm very proud of you JT!

2. My Dad and Val. I love you both very much and THANK YOU for coming out to see me finish my first Ironman race.

And the number one thing that makes me happy: Steven and Steven, a.k.a. Dr. Evil and Mini Me. I love my boys! They are so good to put up with me and my antics. They know that as long as I get to ride my bike a little and run around the neighborhood a bit I will bend over backwards for them.

So now I get to tag some people!

If I tag you, you will need to give us your Top Ten and put my name on the top of the list of people that you tag.

So here we go!

1. I need to tag Kathleen because she is the one who tagged me.
2. Carrie Tri to be Funny in Austin, TX
3. Steve in a Speedo up in the snow and cold in Minnesota.
4. Rainmaker who is also snowed in over in Virginia.
5. Ryan who is training for the St. George Ironman if he is not snowed in as well.
6. Ken who is a fellow TNT coach up in Michigan
7. Regina who is a TNT participant and training for her first 70.3.

8. Christi who is raising money for The Chron's and Colitis Foundation.

9. IronTrish who also did Ironman Cozumel this past November.

10. Jay who is a fellow TNT tri coach here in Houston

All of their links can be found in my favorite blogs that I visit.

Have a great weekend!

Liz

Getting caught up...

It has been a busy week! We had our Summer season Kick-Off for Team in Training on Wednesday and getting those last minute details done before then had the earlier part of my week packed and the last two days have been hectic with getting ready for a Team clinic tonight at a local tri shop and for tomorrow's first practice.

So back to last weekend...

On Friday night we had some great tickets to the Houston Rockets vs. the Portland Trailblazers game courtesy of my dad. Bud had received game tickets for Christmas. Our seats were in the end-zone next to the Rockets Red Rowdies Crew. They were nuts and got crazier as the game went along because it was a close game. The Rockets won in the last few seconds. Very exciting.

On Saturday morning, Bud and I got up super early and got dressed up warm and headed out for the Bill Crews Remission Run. I found out once we got there that the run was at 9 am and not 8 am like I thought and the kids 1 mile run was at 9:45 am. Doh! I needed to be a Team in Training recruiting meeting 35 miles away at 10:00 am. My kid asked me if everyone was starting together because other kids his age at the start and I said yes. I lied! But hey, he ran his first 5K! Here is a link to a few pics! After I finished my race and found my jackets that I tossed on the ground before the race I ran back to wait for Bud to come running in. I was so proud of him. As soon as he finished we high tailed it to the meeting and even though I was a little late, I walked in right as the TNT staff member was talking about the triathlon that I will be coaching this season.

My knee was really sore after the run so I was a lazy bum with an ice pack the rest of the day. We had a nice dinner to celebrate our 17th wedding anniversary. After that it was off to bed. We all had to get up early again the next morning.

As soon as the alarm rang, we were dressed and off to downtown. Bud and I were running and El Esposo was doing the 2 mile walk at the Rockets Run. Bud was not quite sure about running another 5K and wanted to do the kids K but all I had to say was that if he ran the 5K he would get to finish on center court of the Toyota Center and that the Rockets Power Dancers would be there. I ran his pace and helped him pick it up again after his walking breaks. My knee was killing me at first but was not as bad at the end. Here is a link to a photo of us running. So now Bud has logged two 5K runs and he is looking forward to his next one. Mom is very proud of him. For doing the run, we all got tickets to the Rockets Game on Sunday night against the Phoenix Suns. We lost by three points but we did get to see Steve Nash play. Very exciting.

Well, that's the news from Houston. More on my TNT TEAM and their first workout later this weekend.

Have a great day,

Liz