A HAPPY HOLIDAY

Our black and white guarding the tree and his present.

Bino ready to open gifts--

Hubby watching the gift exchanging.

Hooch and her boyfriend by the tree.

Bino helping Grandma in the kitchen.


Enjoying a family dinner.

Waddling after a wonderful Christmas.................

Waddling and wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas!

IT'S UP!

On the advice of Coach Steve, I bought a large 2009 dry erase calendar. It is hung in a place that I will look at everyday. Over the next few weeks, I will begin filling it in with training and race dates. I am feeling that my training is beginning to change to a more serious mode. For the past 6 weeks, it has been pretty willy-nilly. On January 1, it needs to gain alot more structure.

Coach also gave me a homework project that needs to be completed by January 1st- a 3,000m baseline swim. That distance to me currently is mind boggling. I have no idea how long that will take. I am not sure that I can keep track of that many laps.

The reality of what is to come is beginning to grab me. The emotions that go with that are very mixed. I am excited to do the distance. I am concerned about the hours of training. But mostly ready to begin and give it a shot.

Waddling with my markers.......

The plan was for a normal day of Christmas shopping. It became a series of strange events. I went shopping with a close friend in the sub-zero weather. The stores were suprisingly empty for the weekend before Christmas. Was it the weather or the economy?

At our stop at Office Max, they had a stress detector. How fun! My friend went first and had an extremely high and agitated stress level. I tried next. There was no reading. I handed it back- it worked for my friend. We tried another one. Same thing again and again. It was like I was not there.

Our next stop was Home Run Inn for pizza. After a delicious meal, I made a trip to the ladies room. The soap dispenser was motion activated. It would not work. It worked for the next 2 ladies but not for me. The waitress was next and waved her hand and I stuck mine under quickly.

We continued shopping and after a few more stores, I made another trip to the ladies room. The motion detector on the toilet did not work no matter what I tried. (Skip the visual). I now doubted my existance.

When I got home and the kids found me to make dinner, I knew that I was not a ghost.

Waddling like a ghost........

With everything being so crazy this week, I have not had much time to write. I also had not had much time to train. I am not getting that worked up about that currently as there will come a time and place for that panic.

My hubby although having a tough time with the RSD pain has been a huge support. He is so supportive of my goal.

Today, I did make it to the gym. I vowed to try to spend my time in zone 2 . I also made a conscious decision not to expect too much out of myself. Relax and enjoy the workout. My heart rate immediately jumped to to 130 and I was still walking. I increased the incline and it jumped some. I began to run after about 10 minutes and my heart rate quickly went to 165. Although I have not had a MAP test recently to check my zones I knew that I was close to my AT (top of zone 3). I went back to walking quickly and dropped it. The extra weight has really taken a toll on my fitness. I finished 45 minutes on the treamill alternating between walking and running to keep my HR down. I felt like it was a successful workout and I felt good about it. I knew the challenges ahead.

Weather is dropping sub-zero tonight so another day inside the gym tomorrow. After that, Xmas shopping is on the agenda. Nothing like waiting until the last minute?

Waddling on a winter evening.............

UPDATE

Very, very, busy at work...
Not much training getting done....
Too,too tired at night.....
More snow on the way....
Happy ,Happy Holidays....

Still waddling.....

This weekend was the TV showing of the Ironman World Championships in Kona. I recorded it yesterday because I wanted to sit down and watch it uninterrupted as possible. This is always my favorite show of the year. I rewind this and count how many times that I rewatch it.

I asked Hubby to watch it with me and Bino also sat in. As usual, I was blown away by the race and the athletes in it. I shed my ususal tears. This year especially it touched me as I am signed up for my first Iron distance in 2009. It met alot to me for my family to watch it with me and share what is ahead for me. I know they knew what was ahead for me but it seemed to touch them also.

My weekend training was good. Saturday, I did not make it to spin but got a 45 min ride in on my trainer. I stayed in zone2 the entire time except when I toppled over into the wall.(Long Story). Today with the near 50 degree weather, I ran 4 miles outside. It felt great to be off the dreadmill even with the high winds.

Not qite sure how training will go this week since work is extremely busy. After watching IM Kona, my motivation is up.

Waddling into another week.............