Psssssst

Shhhh, hey, it's me.

Just wanted to say that there are less than two weeks left before the HyVee Olympic Triathlon! Whoa. Hope I don't need a wet suit cause I don't have one. :)

Time for a little tiny break

I just need a break from the blogging. I will still post occassionally but just need some time away.

Ciao

It's almost like Christmas!

Look what is going to be coming to me in the mail...

Yep, those would be a set of dragonfly arm warmers!

and...



Bicycle jammies! Woo hoo.

oh and one more thing.



A sweet new sports bra for Bikram Yoga. Yay.

I love ordering things in the mail because it is fun when you order them and then it is super fun when they come in the mail and are waiting for you when you get home from work. :)

On another note: I've had a fluctuation from loads and loads of running to biking and swimming. Been on my bike quite a bit more and riding with faster riders which means that I am getting faster. Yay. Also, the pool that I normally swim at closed for a month, plus for maintenance and so I switched to a different pool. Been great. Love the coach and it is sooooo nice to swim in the morning at 6 as opposed to the evening. My other pool has a morning practice but it doesn't start until 6:30 and there is just no way for me to get in a decent workout, get halfway presentable and get to work by 8. To be honest, it is pushing it to do that starting at 6 but I have made it to the pool 3 mornings a week. I am going to have no choice but to get faster there as well.

Half Marathon RR

I ran the half marathon on Sunday in Lincoln with 6,499 of my closest friends. It was a beautiful morning and I was looking forward to trying to PR. Goal time: 1:55:00.

I got up at the crack of dawn and drove down to Lincoln with Mr KT in tow. He was quite a trooper for getting up so early to be a Sherpa.

We pulled in and I picked up my packet quick. No line when you push it so close. ;) Got my chip on my shoe and really, really could have used a stop at the bathroom. No such luck as the lines were a mile long. So, I lined up in my estimated pace group and was ready to get the party started. The gun went off at 7:00 am and startled me.

"Wind, check. - Antennae, check. - Nectar pack, check. - Wings, check. - Stinger, check. Scared out of my shorts, check."

Apparently, nerves were a bit of an issue and not helping the bathroom situation much. Anywho, my feet crossed the line about 4 minutes after the gun went off and I started the watch. I really ran fairly well. These are the splits that I got on my watch.

Miles 1 and 2 (missed first marker): 17:09:51 (approximately 8:34:55/mile)
Mile 3: 8:33:38
Mile 4: 8:36:13
Mile 5 and 6 (missed another marker): 16:42:45 (approximately 8:21/mile)
Mile 7: 8:32:21
Mile 8: 8:31:78
Mile 9: 8:37:45
Mile 10: 8:25:42
Mile 11: 8:39:87
Mile 12: 8:35:94
Mile 13 and a little: 9:25:42


overall place: 977/4812
division place: 85/654 (top 13%!!)
gender place: 313/3023 (top 10%)
time: 1:51:46
pace: 8:32
10 k: 52:53
gun time: 1:56:31

I saw a buddy at about 42 minutes and I saw my mom and dad at about the 10K point 10 minutes later. My dad got a sweet picture of my backside as I ran by. Ahahaha.

Not sure what happened on the last mile. I basically ran out of juice. I had a little breakfast about 5 am and that didn't sit all that well. I didn't feel bad but there were about 3 times where I considered throwing up but didn't. When I got finished I couldn't hardly drink any water. Then my mom was so nice and made breakfast for Mr KT and I. It looked yummy but I just couldn't get anything down hardly. I had a headache for most of the rest of the day and I really didn't eat anything normal until Monday night at dinner. I talked to Blink briefly about it and he had a few suggestions so hopefully that will help a bit. (Thanks Blink.)

So a couple of good things...
1. All races should put straws and lids on their cups because that rocks.

2. I met and exceeded my goal time and set a PR at 1:51:46

3. I realized how much I like having Mr. KT there and how much I missed my Koni running in front of me.

So, on to the next race. :)

Lincoln Half Marathon

The Lincoln Half Marathon is Sunday! Yay, yay, double yay. I am so ready to do a little racing, well, running. I am looking forward to a nice run and then maybe if I get really motivated I will come home and do a medium distance bike ride. That was the plan last year as well. Hopefully it is nice out.

My mom and dad came and cheered last year at about the midpoint of the run. My mom thought maybe they would do that again. I promised her I would try to post the race route on the blog. Here ya go momma. (Mom, if you click on it, it will get bigger.)



After the half marathon is over I am going to start in on the P90X workouts that Mr KT has been doing. He said he has been really sore and that they are like crossfit workouts. I am looking forward to a little sore!

Oh, and the stinking pool is closed for at least a month and a half. Really, right before race season starts? Boo. Stupid pool. Oh well, more time to bike which is what I really need anyway.

My dogs entertain me regularly

This has nothing to do with triathlon except that all the dirty clothes in the background are probably workout clothes. Question mark? I was in the process of doing laundry so the bedroom is a mess as I sorted the clothes. Despite that, I thought this was funny enough to post. Might want to turn down your volume a bit. Hee hee. Also sorry about the shaking. I was laughing pretty hard when I was video taping them.



They were conversing about a bone that Kona had and Brick thought he needed.

Earth Week

A few minor things of note:

I commuted to work on my bike this week 4/5 days! Yay. I also talked a co-worker into riding this morning. I met her near our houses and then we rode together. It was really cool to be the catalyst for even a small positive change and to see her enjoy it. Hopefully she'll do it at least a few more times.

Also, it was the first Taco Ride of the year for Mr KT, Blink, and I. It was actually Mr KT's first taco ride ever! I think he had a pretty good time. He said he really kind of liked riding home in the dark. That is pretty cool. It was perfect weather. Not too hot, not too cold, just right. Blink's bike stole the show with several new adaptations for 2009. He rigged up a cooler on the back that he can get into while he is riding as well as speakers mounted securely in the bottle cages and a bottle cage on either his handle bars or stem that seems to be the perfect size and location for a can of beer. Works perfectly. He had the tunes going and it really was good. If someone asks really, really nicely maybe Oly will post a quick picture of it on his blog. I was even pulling into my garage at about 10:00 pm. I don't do well much later than that. In addition, I learned that there should definitely be a 2 Taco Rule on the this ride. I should explain that 6 tacos and a pitcher of beer is $12 or 6 tacos and a pitcher of margaritas for about $16. Usually you split a plate of tacos with someone. I need to keep in mind that when divided up it should be 4 for you, 2 for me. :) I wasn't sick or anything, just really would have been better with two. You get it.

Lastly, I was reading on the Lincoln Marathon website or in an email that they are going to have shoe recycling at the expo. I don't usually go to Lincoln the day before. I usually just drive in the morning of the race. I am not sure if I will go the night before or not but I got out all my Asics just to see if I had any I could take. I lined them up from newest to oldest. It's funny. I have a hard time getting rid of running shoes. Sort of because I think of how good they were to my feet. Sort of because they were so much money in the first place. Sort of because I think I could use them for something else, like garden shoes, or lifting shoes, or work shoes, or something. Anywo, I will be parting with several pairs next weekend. Especially that sucky pair 4th from the left. Those suckers are the new Asics Gel Kayano and they made me bleed every time I wore them. Asics apparently redesigned them so they would have a more "anatomical lacing pattern". They sucked bad. The next two pairs were the previous year's Kayano and they are about a million times better. Gotta love www.onlineshoes.com.

Lastly, a couple pictures of the babies.


Koni was a bit tired as I was headed to work but she really wanted to say goodbye to me.


Brick had his first swim of the year on Thursday after his walk.


Mr KT and the babies getting ready to ride.