Friday, July 29, 2011

Follow Friday...

I guess that's what you can call it. I mean, I know that's a twitter thing but I think we all know what it means. Or actually, I did not know what it meant for a really long time because I'm getting old and I'm not hip anymore, but you know what I'm saying.

I LOVE reading blogs and I sometimes wonder if I follow too many blogs because it's hard to keep up with them but I guess there aren't any rules so I can do what I want. The types if blogs I read are mainly fitness/running because that's what I do, but I like the occasional fashion blog and/or random blog and my favs are funny blogs. I wish that I was as clever/unique as these bloggers because they are so awesome and hilarious. Obviously, other people agree because their blogs are professional and I think they have other gigs going on including blogging. This #FF is focused on funny blogs:

Running Off the Reese's

*she is hilarious. She uses lots of celebs pics and has a way of telling an otherwise mundane story in a funny way. She also has some crazy stuff happen to her. Lastly, she runs slow like me and it makes me feel better about myself. Some of my fav posts of hers:

Ruff Ryders Fo Life
WTF Wednesday - What's My Problem
Wanting and Needing



Cake Wrecks

*I can't BELIEVE some of the pics the she comes up with. People are funny and it's even better when someone blogs about them

We Learned Good
A Little Late to the Meme
The First Censored Cake Wreck


And my new addition, thank you Peanut Butter Fingers,

The Bloggess

She is hilarious. That is all I can say. I want to be like her when I grow up. I know there are probably plenty but as of right now, these are the first three I've read...

I Swear, I don't usually post about my cat this much
Would You Like to Buy a Monkey
And That's Why You Should Learn to Pick Your Battles



I also like:
Hyperbole and a Half and The Oatmeal but they haven't been posting as much since they're both writing books right now.

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Meh meh... I haven't done crap

So, as I have mentioned before, I have been out of town this week for work. I enjoy travel and I enjoy getting away for a while but I also dislike leaving because I get out of my routine. It takes me forever to get in a routine but once I do, I can stick to it pretty easily.

 I had JUST gotten to the point where i could wake up easily at 5 am and get to Monday/Wednesday workouts. Then because I had my two runs in by wednesday, I had freedom to get in a couple of swims, a bike and some strength. But this week, it's call gone to crap....

I am back to sleeping until 7 or 7:10 am...
I haven't worked out since sunday so I can't seem to motivate myself to get back into it...
I have too many workouts to fit into the time alotted....
and I've had to get back into a routine in other areas like work, food, blah blah blah

I don't know how I'm going to alter what I need to do but I think it's going to go like this:

Friday morning: swim
Friday evenin: yoga then run
Saturday: bike Paris Mountain - maybe strength later def abs
Sunday: run - maybe swim

Then i can get back on track monday

my food for today:
morning: chick fil a biscuit
lunch: cube steak, mash potatoes, black eyed peas and peach cobbler
snack: yogurt with chocolate granola


um................

not good....


So I am hoping I can get my motivation back. Stupid trip...

I'm bbbbbbbaaaaaaaccccckkkkkkkkkk.....

I have finally returned from my business trip to Atlanta. I am a recruiter for medical sales and marketing and I went to a trade show. I always get nervous in these situations because even though I'm outgoing and can talk to anyone, I never know what the person's interests are so I'm not sure how to connect with them initially. I stressed over it but in the end, it ended up being a good show, I made some good contacts and I got to be away from my desk for a little bit.

p.s. this was the view from out hotel room - so nice

how fun is Atlanta - I love it



I think the best part of the trip was the Braves game. I haven't talked about it much in my blog, simply because it hasn't been football season, but I LOVE sports, all kinds of sports. My husband and I will watch pretty much anything. We watched soccer the other day (although it wasn't anywhere near as exciting as the USA women's soccer match vs Brazil or Japan), we'll watch skateboarding, snowboarding, etc etc. Football is our favorite and this year, I REALLY got into NBA basketball. I tend to prefer college sports over professional, but that is slowing changing.

One of my fav sports is college baseball. I love the look of the field, the crowd, the food, the summer days, everything. It's one of those sports that's hard to watch on tv, but awesome to see in person. I probably would love the majors more if we had a professional team, but living in Greenville, SC, we have to mooch off of Atlanta and Charlotte. So how excited was I when I got to go to the Braves game? So fun. The one thing about trade shows is that all of my colleagues drink and the night time can be focused on drinking. It makes me really uncomfortable sometimes (you can read why here). The baseball game was cool because everyone could drink and I could still have fun watching the game. The view from our first seats was okay...

we were sitting in a restaurant - we got general admission tickets - bleh


So the first 4 innings, we ate, they drank, blah blah - I couldn't see the game and I wanted to move to the seats. My colleague, Vince, got us into the 755 Club so we had air conditioning and access to food!!!

sorry about the pic - not sure it does the place justice

I got a Braves hat (I love a baseball cap - I have several)


After eating, we went outside and enjoyed a much better view:

if only the foul poll (yes, that is the official name - actually I don't know) wasn't in my way



The game ended up going into 19 innings but we left in the bottom of the 11th. We were there for work so we had to get up early. I am hoping to go back because I had a blast!






GO BRAVES!!


p.s. I didn't work out one day. Not a day at all. So I have 3 running workouts, a bike workout, a swim workout and 700 abs to do in the next 4 days. Awesome

Do you enjoy sports?
Ever been to a professional sports game? I still haven't been to an NBA game but with the Hawks and the Bobcats all in driving distance, I am sure to go to one this year





Monday, July 25, 2011

Long bike ride (well... semi-long) and a hiatus

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Monday. I wanted to let you know that I won't be posting over the next couple of days as I have a business trip in Atlanta. I'm a medical recruiter (head hunter) and I have to go to a trade show. These things make me so nervous because I basically have to go into a booth and strike up a conversation with people. While I like to think I'm a social person, it's a little nerve racking to try to talk to people that I don't really have anything in common with. If I knew that they were a triathlete or a runner, I think I'd be okay, but I think the norm in the world is not someone who runs 13.1 miles every 3-6 months. So.... hopefully, I don't get eaten alive. It's also the one time a year I have to dress like a business person and pretend like I'm mature. Those things don't do well with me. I'd rather tell burp/fart jokes.

Just to give an example of how things have gone wrong in the past.... one time I went into a booth and found out that the guy was located in Florence. I was like, oh that's awesome, I have an aunt and an uncle that live in Florence. He was like, oh really, what are their names... Mind. Went. Blank. I could not think of the names of my aunt/uncle... seriously. So instead of smoothly playing it off (smooth I am not) I just said, I can't remember them right now because I'm nervous. He was like, um, okay, let me go talk to this customer. Seriously, did that just happen. I've been to many a trade show and that's the worst thing that's ever happened, but I mean... dang... that was terrible.


On to the next... Sunday, I went on a 21 mile bike ride. There is a loop near the Donaldson Center which is nice. They have the roads marked with a green arrow that says 20 mile, so you don't have to map out the route before. It's got some hills mixed in which are nice for you to practice. It's nothing like other areas of Greenville, but I would say it's somewhat challening. I started off quickly and I guess I was thinking I was in a race, because I wanted to ride fast. Mind you, I have not done but maybe 2 20 mile rides in 2011, so this was a little ambitious. My average pace was probably around 17 mph which was pretty exciting.

First danger sign: (i'm being a little dramatic) I was hungry 20 minutes into the ride. Uh oh.. I ate the Honey Stinger thing that I brought:



I know I'm going to be in the minority on this, but this was gross. It was very sweet (obviously, it's honey) and a little too sweet for my liking. It was also somewhat liquidity and the thing I like about Gu is that it's thicker. I think this is what normally turns people off but if I'm in the middle of an endurance event and I feel hungry, I want something to be a bit heavier on my stomach to make me feel full. I have to drink lots of water with Gu because I hate that thick feeling in my mouth, but I love that feeling in my tummy. I checked out swedish fish, because so many people like them, ahem, but I think you have to eat like, 12, in order to get 100 calories. That seems like a lot. So, I just stick with Gu. It's my fav... anyways, the honey stinger was okay but it didn't do the job. I am not a fan of being hungry. I had a hair appointment saturday after my run and it was an hour earlier than I thought. I found out I had to race to the appointment and couldn't eat lunch. I was so pissed I couldn't eat, I called my husband on the verge of tears. He was like, um, calm down crazy, you will get some food soon. So...


Anyway, we made it through the hunger debacle, got lost, found our way back - all in all, we had been on our bikes for about an hour and 10 minutes. I start freaking out because I told my husband I'd be home at 10 so we could go to the lake, I was hungry, it was 91 degrees and I was tired of being on the bike. I thought the ride would never end. This is the first time I've ever felt the desire to just get off the bike. It was like a small version of a bonk. I remember reading something about going out to fast on a bike (just like running) and just crashing and feeling like you can't finish. I just never thought it would happen to me. It wasn't THAT bad mainly because we only had a mile left once I started feeling this way, but I think I learned an invaluable lesson in that, I can feel that way on a bike and if I'm going to start doing longer rides, I need to learn how to pace myself.

So... I get to practice this again next week on the bakery ride.

35.16
mile

Bakery Ride - Start Tigerville


This Bike Ride starts in Greenville, SC.
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2 km
2 mi

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10 km
5 mi

986 ft Start Elev
2405.0 ft Max Elev
1969.0 ft Gain
I only have to run 65 minutes for my long run this week, so I'll just do that friday morning and do this ride saturday. It's tough but hopefully, I'll be okay!!

We'll see how that goes!

Do you like to ride?
What is your normal distance?
Ever hit a wall on your bike?