The Build is on and surprisingly, I feel good!

The final Build process is now in full swing and I am hanging on and trying not to fall off. There are only about 60 days left in the process of transforming me into Ironman shape. Things are the same and things are different this time around. Last time for Arizona, the focus was volume. This time for Cozumel, the focus in intensity. I have not gotten down to my goal weight, instead I have put pounds on. Surprisingly, I have gotten faster. I am still the same on my swim speed, but my bike speed over long distances has gone up and my run speed is more consistent and I can run for longer periods of time without having to take a walking break. I have more tricks up my sleeve this time to make the entire time that I am out on the race course shorter than it was in Arizona.

Now if I can just stay healthy and avoid the flu for the next 65 days.

Saturday was a good brick. I drove over to the Greyhound compound and got my run gear set up for “transition” practice. We rode over to the pool and jumped in for a 30 minute swim. I was not happy about the temperature of the water, but once I got going, it was o.k. and I was not so cranky. I cracked out 1750 yards. I was happy with that. We hopped on the bikes and rode over to the neighborhood that has a 10 mile loop. After three loops, Greyhound was out of Carbo-Pro and my bladder was about to burst so we headed back to the house so I could start my run. I got about 38 miles of riding done in less than 2 hours. Sweet! The big break through for me was the run. It was now almost 10 a.m. and the sun came out from behind the clouds and the heat cranked up. I ran for the entire hour!!! No stopping to walk, no high heart rate, no caving or hitting the wall. That was a huge achievement for me. That workout was a confidence builder. I was rewarded with getting Sunday off!

Monday, it was back to the workouts. Mondays are big work days for me, so I was unable to get going until after Bud got home from school. I had a track workout and a swim to get in. Here was my track lovin’ workout:

200 m, 400, 600, 800, 1000, 800, 600, 400, 200 on a 5 seconds faster than regular 400m pace. Easy jog of 1 minute between each.

The 800’s and that 1000 meter run hurt. I felt like the goof ball gal in scary movies that is running in high heels trying to get away from the lumbering zombie wielding a machete. I felt like I was not getting anywhere and my breathing was getting all ragged. At least the clouds had rolled in and the wind had picked up to keep things comfortable. I probably felt slow because I was running into the wind. After seeing a flash of lightning and I knew I had to finish up and get out of that park.

Needless to say, it started pouring and that meant that there would be no Masters Swim since the pool is outdoors.

Tuesday brought the sun back! I started things out early on the trainer. Since the workout was all about distance I had to do some quick math in my head and realized that my intervals were going to be 9 minutes long. Big gears, fast legs, flat road, and pain. I had 5 of these special intervals. The first one was good, the second one was o.k. and the third one was hard. My arms were starting to get twitchy. I am not sure why that was happening. The last two were really hard to keep my legs from slowing down. I use a metronome to help me keep pace on the trainer and I wanted to hurl that thing across the room.

My legs felt toasted after that. My hip flexors were tight for some reason. I have never experienced that. Today my hamstrings are tight. After getting an oil change on the Element, it was time to head to the pool and swim. Here was the workout:

50 m swim, 50 kick, 50 pull. Repeat 4 times

4 x 75 m descending leaving every 2 minutes

50 m easy kick

Repeat set 5 times

100 m (10 second rest), 200 m, 300 m, 400 m, 500 m, 400 m, 300 m, 200 m, 100 m on long swim pace focusing on form.

100 easy cool down

I had to cut out the 500 m and one of the 400 m reps since I had to grab some lunch and go pick up Bud at school. Sorry Coach Anthony. Anyway, I got 4,050 meters in and a bit of sun burn on my butt where I forgot the sun block. Surprisingly, my shoulders and arms are not punked out today. Does that mean that I have gotten stronger??? I can only hope.

Today is another killer bike workout on the trainer after work and then I get to go do something FUN!!! Macy’s is doing a big promotion called Come + Together and they are raising money for local food banks. Tonight in Houston, the Macy’s next to the gym where I work at is hosting a Mexican Fiesta with master chef Rick Bayless. I am super pumped up!!!

I will be sure to take pictures! Later Gators,

Liz

Ka-Ching!!!

Yes, I would like to make a deposit. In my Ironman Cozumel account. Yes...yes, I don't need to withdraw anything today. No, I will pass on the sucker. Thanks anyways.

Deposit:

1 Interval workout on the bike trainer of 5 x 6 minutes at Zone 5a with 3 minute recoveries.

1 2-hour run in the 64 degree rainy Houston weather. Zone 2-3.

I got this message from my coach yesterday...

Hi Elizabeth
Your next twelve weeks is up.
This takes you through build, peak and taper (1wk) for IM and recovery
weeks after. The plan is not too high in endurance but it is
demanding. Please make sure you are eating enough in these weeks up to
IM to support your training program. You should be pretty fast going
into IM.
Let me know if you have any questions on the plan.
Hope all's well.

"The Push" is here. I have a feeling that I am going to be seeing more of Zone 5a on a regular basis. I am tired and sore all the time. This morning I talked to a friend of mine who is racing Arizona the week before Cozumel and he said he is tired and sore all the time as well. I better get used to this. Ok, I had breakfast one after the bike intervals and breakfast 2 after the run. It is now time for lunch. Hey, Coach said to eat.

Later Gators,

Liz

Ok, this is the weirdest picture to have over a bed...

Fill in your inappropriate joke here...

There are so many comments that could be made here. So many different meanings. Yes, the hotel was next to a golf course. Having a picture that talks about "Wood" above a bed...laugh inducing. The kid was trying to figure out why mom and dad were busting a gut when we walked in the room late at night on Thursday. After a 3 hour car ride, we just told him we were tired and loopy.

Well a quick recap of last week. I had two appointments with Dr. H and the first one was more percussive work on my skull and then percussive work on the area right below the xyphoid process in the fleshy area right below where the ribs meet in the middle. OMG that hurt!!! Dr. H said that I might have discomfort on the back of my pelvis at the Sacro-illio Joint. Well, when I went to run my track workout that night I had the most painful side stitch that I have had in years. It was hard to keep running and stand upright. I got slower and slower and my heart rate would not come up. It was painful and frustrating but I somehow finished the workout. I was back in to see Dr. H the next day and he nodded his head and said, "I wondered if that would happen." OUCH, why didn't he warn me about that? Anyway, he did more percussive work on my back and hips. Again after the Jedi Mind Tricks where he asks my body questions and my muscles respond by either being weak or strong, he sent me on my way to go and run out some kinks.

Just as the Flock of Seagulls song goes, "And I ran!" I ran for an hour on Thursday morning before going on errands and packing. I had a mild side stitch that showed up 20 minutes into the run and was gone by the end of it. It was a hot and humid morning and I had to get some running done before getting on that plane. Dr. H's voo-doo witch doctor magic seems to be working.

Since we got to South Dakota around midnight, I slept in and did not get running until 10 am on Friday. It was a refreshing 67 degrees! I have not had temps like that to run in since last March or April. While El Esposo and the kid went to pick up tuxedos, I ran for an hour and 45 minutes and found some great hike and bike trails in this little town. No side stitches and no leg heaviness, Yahoo! I ran towards the South Dakota and Nebraska state line and my intention was to take a picture at the state line, but the new bridge had no shoulder to run on and there were too many cars at lunch-time on this 4-lane bridge. Even the old bridge was blocked off.

Self photo at the South Dakota/Nebraska State Line.

DENIED!!!

We found a good Mexican restaurant to have lunch and then drove around the area to check out the fields of corn and to go to the Lewis and Clark Lake and recreational area. It did not seem too far, so I made up my mind to run to the dam the next morning. My bother-in-law said I was nutty enough to do it and he did not expect less. Here is the view of Lewis and Clark Lake from the point the Sacagawea pointed west for Lewis and Clark.

What a bunch of crazy Mexicans!

Signed Copy??? Sacagawea signed it???

Not long after that, it was time to load in the cars and drive to the tiny town where the wedding was going to be held. Basically, you cross the bridge to get to Nebraska, make the first left hand turn and follow the gravel road until it stops. The town population was recorded at 86 members in the last census. We had a nice time at the rehearsal and there was a traditional fried chicken diner in the Church hall afterwards. Since I was the only member of the family who had no part in the wedding, I got to sit and admire the Church. I have not been in a beautiful country Church like this since I was a kid and went to mid-central Missouri to my grandparent's ranch. Churches like these are not found in cities anymore.

I'm not lying about go to the end of the dirt road.

They were right, we were in the middle of Nowhere.

Holy Family Immaculate Conception Catholic Church

The next morning, I headed out for the Gavins Point Dam. I left the hotel at 8 am and the outdoor temp was 55 degrees. I had wanted to leave at 7 am, but I slept in a little bit. I am glad I did, because I would have been chilly in only a tank top. I ran out to the high school and then down to the local hospital and the small collage in town and jumped on the hike and bike path out to the dam. After a small uphill run this was my view...

The pictures lie about how big and steep this hill was.

The dam is out pas the last line of trees in this picture. It occurred to me that I would have to run back up this hill on the way back. Ugh! I got to the Gavins Point Dam and found a bathroom at the park and headed back. On the way back, I ran up the hill without having to stop to walk. That is huge for a girl from the flat Texas gulf coast.Here is the dam from the other side. Again, I was denied running to the Nebraska side due to the one lane road and no shoulder on part of the dam bridge.

The temperatures were great, but because of the low humidity, I was starting to chafe under one arm and on my upper leg where my shorts were rubbing. Dang, I don't experience that in Houston. I am always so sweaty that chaffing is rarely an issue. After 2 hours and 30 minutes setting out on my run, I made it back to the hotel. Everyone had left to go to the Church for photos at 11 am. I had to get cleaned up and find some food before meeting El Esposo's aunt and uncle to catch a ride to the wedding.

All I found was a left over Clif Kid's Z Bar and a Clif Kid's Twisted Fruit and the last two Shot Bloks from my run. Ok, I needed food. No breakfast and no lunch was not in my plans. Once we made it to the Church, I caught El Esposo walking back from the town corner "market" with a can of Lays Stackers, Peanut M&M's, and Gatorade. That was lunch. My mother-in-law found me a small turkey and cheese sandwich. That would have to hold me. My mother-in-law also came to the rescue with some hand cream that I had to use to keep the static cling from adhering my dress to the back of my legs. Again, this is rarely a problem that I am faced with in Houston.

My bother-in-law Oscar and new sister-in-law Sara.

The Nebraska Limo

The wedding was very beautiful and the bride and the groom, my new sister-in-law and my brother-in-law, looked very happy. After the wedding, the wedding party loaded into the Nebraska limo and headed around the corner to the Social Hall for the reception. I had my brush with Hollywood Fame at the wedding. Sara's cousin is Justin Bruening.

Photo and me and Justin is coming...El Esposo has it in his camera.

He was on All My Children and just recently, he was the new Knight Rider. He is married to Alexa Havins who stars on CSI: Miami. That means that there is 6 degrees of separation between me and David Caruso! I feel so lucky!!!

Well, I am back in H-town and back to the humidity and heat. I have lots of good workouts lined up this week as I start getting closer and closer to IMCZ. I put in a special order at the tri shop last week and it should be here in about a week. I can hardly wait!

Later Gators,

Liz

Jedi Mind Tricks

Thanks to all of you that sent me well wishes on my fixing my Dural Torque problem. The MRI came back with good pictures to show that I did not have any bulging disks however, there were some areas in the lower cervical spine where there was some twisting and impingement. The MRI was taken as I was supine on a table and my chin served as a midpoint of the scan. The scan showed that the vertebrae were twisted to the left causing muscular imbalances in my neck and shoulders. This could also be causing nerve impingement as well since I have been experiencing numbness in my thumbs when I run.

Dr. H will be doing his Jedi Mind Tricks and Voo Doo Witch Doctor Magic on me for two sessions a week for the next few weeks. My first session was to start to unlock some of the tension in my cranium and to see how my muscles were reacting to being in the position of the bike crash. I fell on the bike to the left and I had turned my torso and got my arms out to break the fall. Not a bright idea when I had no gloves on. I had hit both palms to the pavement pretty evenly so they both got an equal amount of abrasion and blood loss.

Dr. H put me in the position that I ended up in once I kissed the pavement and he proceeded to do some muscle testing. My muscles were cranked up and going nuts. He prodded areas in my calf muscle and they burned with pain. He proceeded to yank on my legs a few times and then he tested the muscles again and the pain was gone. WEIRD!!! He then checked out my hamstring flexibility and we noticed that I had less range of motion in my right leg. I have flexible hamstrings and can take my leg past a 90 degree angle while keeping my knee straight with the foot flexed on both legs, but I have quite a bit more flexibility on my left side. Dr. H then started checking the mobility of my jaw bone and the mobility of the cranium. I seemed to be locked up with very limited mobility. I had a percussive therapy session where a nifty massage tool with a big soft pad on it was put on my head. The tool taps in the same fashion as a jackhammer would work, but of course not as hard. The soft pad keeps the treatment from being painful. However, when the percussive tool is put to the head, it feels funny. I sounded like I was talking into a fan when I said anything and I felt like my eyes were bouncing around in their sockets but strangely, it felt pretty good. After having the percussion on the top of my head, the sides, and on two areas on the back of my head Dr. H said we needed to check on the jaw muscles.

I heard the snap of a latex glove on a hand and Dr. H said he was not going to make me cough. Ha! I hope not!!! I did have to open my mouth and in went the fingers looking for and finding sore and tender muscles along side of my upper teeth. Dr. H then started to stretch open my jaw and followed it by having me bite down for a few seconds and then back to stretching open my jaw wide enough that it felt like I was going to split at the corners of my mouth. OUCH! I had that wonderful experience a few more times and then Dr. H started jabbing those muscles up around my teeth and the pain was gone. Double Weird. He then proceeded to apply pressure to some areas in the roof of my mouth until he was somewhat satisfied with what he was feeling and then checked out my hamstring flexibility again. This time both of my legs were about even in their flexibility, but the flexibility level was astonishing. I had each leg brought back just a few inches above the front of my shoulder when we tested each side. FREAKY!!! I felt like Gumby.

Dr. H told me not to be surprised if I was really tired since we had started to do a "Control Alt Delete" and "Reset" on my body. Sure enough, when I got home and sat down on the sofa, I was struggling to keep my eyes open. I was in bed early that night and got a good 9 hours of sleep and I had to take a 90 minute nap after getting home from teaching my early morning cycling class before I could get started on my 2-hour run. The most painful part of the long run was that I did not get started until 10 a.m. and that there was 79% humidity at 79 degrees and the temperature only went up as the sun came out of the clouds on the second hour. I go back to see Dr. H tomorrow for another session.

I did notice that when I was on my bike this weekend that I had less pain than I had experienced in the past. There were still things that were hurting, but it was nothing like the last 72 mile bike ride. This time I had the power to kick it into overdrive when Greyhound told me we were on our last 10 mile loop of our 80 mile workout. Those last 10 miles I kept the speed up between 19.5 and 21 mph.

I will give more updates on my bizarre medical mystery and recovery as they come. For now, be rest assured that I am still training for IM Cozumel and getting ready for the big day.

Later Gators,

Liz

Going for an MRI

Ok, if you were able to read the last post, you heard all my complaining about the pain that I was in on the bike. Well yesterday I went in to see Dr. H and we did all the muscle testing again like the last time. Again, I had muscle weakness in my left upper body that was made worse when my neck was in extension but was alleviated when my neck was in flexion. We also found out that in spine flexion (sitting on the floor and bending forward at the waist) and my neck in flexion as well, caused major tightness in my hamstrings. My hamstrings are normally pretty flexible. When we lifted my head up so that my neck was in neck extension, the hamstring tightness went away. Weird.

Dr. H asked me to run and ride my bike over the weekend and document all my aches and pains to see if he could find any patterns. What hurts when I run is different from what hurts on the bike. I start out good but as the workout progresses my power output drops off quite substantially on both the run and the bike and at the end I feel like I am slogging through it and doing it dragging cement blocks behind me. The soreness that follows is located in the muscles that were not hurting during the workout.

So what does this all mean????

It means that Dr. H believes that I have torqued my dural sheath. HUH??!!??

Dura Matter: Outer Grey Layer

Dura mater is an anatomical term with Latin origin that literally means “tough mother.” The dura mater, or pachymeninx, is the outermost, toughest, and most fibrous of the three membranes, or meninges, covering the brain and spinal cord. The pia mater and arachnoid mater make up the remaining layers of the meninges, with the piamater being the innermost layer. The dura mater is comprised of two layers itself; a superficial layer and the deeperdura mater proper.

Ha! "tough mother" I love it. The tough mother has injured her "tough mother". Because the dura also covers the nerves that branch off of the spinal cord, any jarring of the dura will affect the entire nervous system. This can cause a mysterious muscular pains that have no pattern all over the body and have no pattern from one mode of activity to another. Dr. H also wants to rule out that I have a bulging disk at C7 in my neck. C7 is located low in the neck near the shoulders. I had a bulging disk in my lumbar spine 4 years ago and the pain I have now is nothing like I had 4 years again. It is totally different. But trust me, right now as I type this, my neck is sore and tight. Oh yeah, I am tired of the ocular migraines that cause hazy sparkly patches in my vision that move around my line of sight and come and go based on whether my hair is in a pony tail or not.

So Thursday at 10:30 a.m. I will have an MRI on my cervical spine. The results should get to Dr. H in 48 hours and since Monday is a holiday I will not find anything out until at least next Tuesday. I am going to hate waiting on that.

I hope I can get a nap in while I am inside that noisy MRI tube.

Later Gators,

Liz

Today I took a ride to....

Well, it was really a ride to Surfside Beach. However, I accomplished the task of pedaling 72 miles in about 3 hours and 45 minutes without ever having to get off my bike. I went through 120 ounces of fluids on the bike and I NEVER GOT OFF THE BIKE...are you catching my drift?

Our tri club was having a SAG supported ride this morning from Moody Gardens (The site of the famous Lone Star Tri Festival) out to Surfside Beach. The road to Surfside has only been open for a few weeks. It had been closed down for almost 9 months because Hurricane Ike had washed it away. Now there is beautiful smooth pavement for long stretches on the other side of the Sabine Pass Bridge. After donating lots of blood to the swarming mosquitoes, Greyhound and I headed out at 6:45 this morning before the sun broke over the clouds hanging on the horizon. About 7 miles down the road the roaring freight train of the other riders in a huge pace line overtook us. I had some guy make a crack about my green fork on my bike and I decided I was going to hop on the train to show the smart ass that I could hang with the big kids. I was able to hang with them for about 10 miles before I got caught behind a gal that had been hanging up near the front and was quickly falling off the back. I was caught off guard and the rest of the group rocketed off. We had been holding a 24+ mph pace and slowing down to 20 mph quickly created a huge gap. I jumped in front of the chick who flew off the back and took the lead. I had been pointing out cracks and holes in the road for her and when we came up on Point West, I sat up to readjust in the saddle and looked back to find no one behind me. Even Greyhound was gone. I was relieved because I had to relieve the extreme pressure on my bladder. I was already through 40 ounces of water and I had been drinking peppermint tea on the way down to Galveston. I was looking for a place to pull over and use a bush but after Hurricane Ike, there are no bushes, shrubs, tumbleweeds, or stands of pampas grass. I thought I was going to bust. The pain was extreme enough that my speed had dropped to just under 18 mph. That was unacceptable! I looked back again to make sure no cars or cyclists were behind me and to be sure that I would only gross out myself. As soon as I had decided to "go with the flow", I shut down the waterworks. The extreme pressure was gone, but the pressure was still intense. I hoped no one would ride up behind me because I am sure that I reeked just as bad as one of the bait shops I had passed a few miles back. My plan became clear. For every slurp or guzzle of fluids I would unload a few ounces. Hydration in, hydration out. I was not doing a good job of the hydration out because the extreme pressure was back and I felt like my eyeballs were going to turn yellow. I spied our tri club president up ahead who obviously dropped off the rolling freight train and made it a point to catch up to her. We had a nice chat and as we got closer to Surfside we wondered when we would see the train rolling back in the other direction. I saw a few guys at a small U-Totem minute mart and pulled in thinking that was the turn around and then saw the club pres. pedal on by. I saw that no one had been behind us and I quickly pulled out of the parking lot after. I could not take the pain any more. I decided to open the flood gates. It was both good and totally grody at the same time. Now I know why they make tri cycling shoes with the holes in the carbon soles for drainage. We saw the freight train rolling in the other direction so I knew that we were close to the turn around.

At the turn around, I paused momentarily to refill my aerobottle and ingest some Shot Bloks and as I was taking off I saw Greyhound coming down the road. He was a couple of hundred yards back at most. As I started pedaling into the sun I saw a few of the fast guys at the side of the road. and further up I saw a whole crowd of people stopped on the road. The freight train had derailed. The co-owner of the tri shop had gone down hard and she was pretty banged up. someone was running back with a folding chair from a beach house and the Surfside police were rolling up on the scene. After a few moments, I decided to get on down the road and Greyhound and I pulled out. I was content to sit three bike lengths back of Greyhound as we made our way back towards the Sabine Pass Bridge. I was working hard and keeping my speed above 18 mph but Greyhound would slowly start to push the pace. We had a few of the "fast guys" pass us, but it was maybe 5 out of the larger group who had been pulled over to the side of the road.

As we approached the Sabine Pass Bridge, Greyhound sat up and I pulled up along side of him. He was happy to see me and said that he had been doing intervals of intense 20 mph work for 20 minutes in length. No wonder he had been pulling away from me on some of those stretches. He said he was going to pull over at the 3 hour mark for some cold water and had about 20 minutes to go. I told him that I would be back behind him and I was going to push it back in to Moody Gardens to get my run in. As we crossed Sabine Pass Bridge I opened up the flood gates again and wished that I had a spare bottle of water rather than Gatorade to rinse off with. I kept Greyhound in my sites just like the last time, as soon as I had "eliminated" my distractions, my speed jumped back up to 19-20 mph.

Once Greyhound pulled off the road and I had the shoulder to myself, I focused on maintaining speed. The entire ride I had been dealing with more pain than just a full bladder. I am still having issues related to the fall off my bike at Buffalo Springs earlier this summer. I have been having tingling in my hands and numbness in my thumbs when I run as well as having my posterior tibialis on my lower right leg give me lots of problems. I have also had super tightness and soreness in my hip flexors and in the muscles behind the knee. I went and saw Dr. H this last week when I woke up the day after a swim workout and could not turn my head left or bend it sideways towards my left shoulder. It seems the facets are jammed and when I have my head in an upright position I experience some weakness in different muscle groups. It becomes more pronounced and I develop painfully sore areas in my muscle tissue when I bend my head back. The muscle weakness and soreness goes away when I bend my head down to my chest and open up the spinus process on the back of my neck. So kids, what position is a cyclist's head in while they are down in the aerobars??? In neck extension! By mile 60 I was in a lot of pain between my shoulder blades, in my right fore arm, my left wrist, the right side of the back of the hips, the muscles on the inside of the legs, the top of my left quad, and the right hamstring. I cannot really ride with my head down, so I had to make the best of it. Even the one time that I pulled over in Pirate's Beach for 90 seconds to grab some Gatorade helped. I was able to get the neck into a normal position and it took the tension out of those muscles just enough that when I got going again, my speed jumped back up 2 mph. My heart rate was low, my power output was sad, my legs hurt, but at least I was keeping the speed over 18 mph.

As I made it back to the Seawall, I pulled over to document the ride. As we all know, if there are no pictures, the training might not have really happened.

Where I came from...33.5 miles back to the west.

Where I was going...2.5 miles back to Moody Gardens.

Whoo Hoo!!! Almost Done!

I got back to Moody Gardens and just as I was about to head out on a run, Greyhound pedaled on in. I handed off my car keys to him and took off. I no sooner got 50 yards down the pavement when my sphincter muscle forgot it's job and I lost it all down my legs. How embarrassing. At least no one was behind me. "Are you pissing on my leg??? YES I AM!" My poor Newtons. I got a 5K in and I was glad to be done because it was now after 11 a.m. and it was HOT. I got cleaned up and changed clothes and Greyhound and I found the first air conditioned deli along the Seawall and pulled in for lunch. AHHH!!! That iced tea was so good and cold.

Well, I got a good workout in and put a deposit into the IMCZ account. I put up with some discomfort and pain, but I focused on maintaining a certain pace over the long haul and I made good on my workout. My bike got a bath before being allowed in the house and everything, including the Newton shoes went into the washing machine. The cycling shoes had to be hosed out and they are drying on the deck.

Well, that's all the fun for now. Later Gators,

Liz

I want more sleep...

I saw this shirt at an expo and it made me laugh.

It has been a busy week for sure! I have not even had a chance to read up on other blogs, let alone keep up with my email. I feel slightly out of touch and not in the groove. I am hoping that I can get more sleep. I feel slightly sleep deprived and it is not a fun feeling.

I had my dad and my step mom in town for a family wedding last week. I had a lot of errands to run on Friday as well as teaching class so I had to king of leave them on their own with the kid while I got everything done. The Wedding on Saturday was very nice. It was great to see family that I had not seen in a long time. The bride and groom were so young. I think that they were only 20 and 21. They seem unprepared for "adult" life, but them again I was only 22 when I got married. At least I had a college degree and had a direction. I got the hint from some gossip from a relative that the groom (my second cousin) had dropped out of school and was pursuing a career in real estate. I wish them the best of luck and a ton of resiliency.

I was able to get my long ride in before going to the wedding so I was rewarded with a day on on Sunday to get some last minute errands in before school started the next day for the Bud. As we were finishing dinner, I was stunned and shocked to hear my son tell me that he was ready to go home at 8 p.m. and start getting ready for bed to get a good night's sleep before his first day of school. !!!!!! Whoa!!!!!! He catches the bus before 7 a.m. and has a few blocks to walk to the bus stop so he has to get up really early compared to last year. That is part of the reason that I am lacking in sleep. I have to get up with him to get him breakfast and make a lunch and make sure he gets up to the bus stop in time.

So far, he is liking Middle School. He did not have a schedule the first day and floated around most of the day in the Counseling office while they got his schedule ready. The school counselor was praise worthy of Bud's maturity and ability to roll with the punches and stay calm on the first day. After they missed sticking him in band, and a quick call up to the school he had another new schedule on the second day. He should be settling into a routine now. Swimming starts back up next week for him and I think he is looking forward to it.

I have been getting some good run workouts in. It is so incredibly hot and humid in H-town right now. I feel like I have stood in a sprinkler and I am dripping all over the place. Some of my workouts have to be at 3:30 and 4:00 p.m. so that I can get acclimated to the extreme heat. I went to the pool yesterday to get my workout in and I was denied! They had the lane ropes out and there was someone testing the water. I was crushed. I was really looking forward to the workout. This week has been pyramid week. My swim workout, my track workout, and my trainer workout has been all about the pyramid. Keep the intensity high as the length of the interval goes up. It is F--KING HARD, but I feel like I really get a good workout in and the sense of satisfaction from finishing the workout is massive.

I am looking forward to a 100 mile ride this weekend down in Galveston so I can get that warm (hot) sea breeze to blow me around and the flat roads to test to see that I can stay in the aerobars for long periods of time. Greyhound will be out there with me and hopefully some of the other people I know that are doing IMCZ. I have been trying to keep on top of my hydration going into this ride. My goal is to get some good sleep. I have to download some music for my cycle class in the morning and get it done early so that I am not awake at midnight getting it done the night before a 5:30 am.

Tonight is another new episode of Top Chef! I have to get busy so I can get to bed on time tonight.

Later Gators,

Liz