Photo Post!

Hi all

I have been taking pictures of our four-legged babies, Brick and Kona. Here are a few of the most recent ones.


Brick looking out the window.


Brick stretching out.


Bricko looking out the east window.


Bricko intent on a rabbit in the front yard. He would not be distracted.


Brick and Kona, cuddling on the bed.


More cuddling! Siblings can be friendly, maybe a little too friendly.


The two cutest faces ever! I am totally biased.


Oh, I guess this is a 4 "wheeled" baby. Mr KT brought this home for me last night. A 2004 Saturn Vue, Redline. We got rid of the car he was driving. He took the Neon from me and I am driving the new Saturn! It is WAY, way, too nice for me. We are talking heated leather seats, six disk CD changer, sun/moon roof, V6, all-wheel drive... freaking awesome.





Mr KT definitly wins husband of the year award. Yay.

Nike Women's Half Marathon

Alrighty,

I would like to announce that I have officially completed a half marathon. It was basically self supported, which is no big deal, but official.

Last weekend, I ran the Nike Women's Half Marathon in my own neighborhood. This was a virtual race where you could register online and then use your iPod Nano and footpod and the Nike+ website to upload all the data. Saturday was the most beautiful day EVER, Sunday was 50º and cloudy with 25-30 mph wind. I felt great for the entire run. I ate a piece of toast with PB and J and took off out the door. I did a 5 mile loop and then swung back by my house to pick up Kona-baby and grabbed a small muffin and some water. I did a 5 mile loop with Kona and then dropped her off and picked up Bricko. I grabbed a Nutri-Grain bar and a swig of Gatorade and headed out to do the last 3 miles. I was not having the Achilles tightness or foot pain from the last long run because I was periodically stretching those out, but I was having ITB tightness, especially in my left knee. I could not get that stretched out. By the last 1/2 mile I was hurting! I could not even jog, my knee was hurting so bad. I got to the end, heard my iPod tell me that my run was complete and went inside to find some ice. I filled up the bathtub with cold water and all the ice in the house. Can I just say.... BRRRRRRR! Yeow! It is making me shiver a week later.



I sat in the ice bath for 7 minutes and then quick showered off and got dressed for church. I headed out the door realized that my knee was killing me and I was starving. So, I went back inside, changed into comfortable clothes, made scrambled eggs with onions, and red, yellow, and green peppers and sat down on the couch. After eating, I went over to the corner gas station and bought another bag of ice. I took another ice bath and just hung out. I know, bad church-goer. Anywho, I finished in about 2 hrs 18 minutes. I counted the time it took me to switch out dogs and all that, so my pace was actually probably a little faster. Other than the knee, I felt really super good. This was a nice way to prove to myself that it is alright to eat during a run.

I don't have any pics but I will take a photo of my t-shirt when it gets here.

Later

Fly Lessons

I was recently informed that I don't spend enough time talking about the first of the the three triathlon disciplines... swimming.

I was so kindly reminded that it is one of three equal parts (although time wise during the race, it is NOT equal... swimming should be much, much longer). Anywho, y'all can expect more swimming photos (maybe) and more discussion about the water. Just don't expect any photos of yours truly in a bathing suit because that is just not happening! So let's start by showing off where I swim.



At this particular pool for the last two evenings, after the sets for the Master's workouts have been completed, I have had my own personal butterfly lessons. My favorite pool friend decided that I really needed to be faster at fly. What did I learn from the last two Master's practices? I have issues with rhythm and as my pool friend says... trouble undulating. That almost sounds embarrassing! =0) And you may be asking, "why, why fly when you swim free in races?" "What about training specificity?" "What could you possibly be thinking, doing 50 after 50 of butterfly?"

And my answer is...

because it is fun.

Way too much touchy feely

It seems like usually I post about triathlon events; races, workouts, gear, etc.

This is going to be different. This is more of a triathlon dilemma/musing.

I love triathlon. My husband thinks that I spend more than my fair share of time reading and thinking about triathlon let alone training and racing. It is expensive and time consuming but he understands all of that. I am lucky to be married to someone who is so patient (it helps that he sort of likes it too!). Anyway, what is frustrating is the emphasis placed on Ironman distance races. It feels like if you don't do an Ironman then you aren't really a triathlete or at least a very good one.

I think that most of us in the sport would say, "phooey, that isn't true, of course you are a triathlete. You swim, you bike, you run, all in the same race, therefore... triathlete." But then why is it then, that the pressure to complete a race of that distance only comes from other triathletes. When I say pressure, I don't mean a negative, mean, cruel pressure. I am talking about a prodding, consistent, push you to your physical limits because I know you can do it kind of pressure. Definitely not always a bad thing. I wonder if anyone out there that hasn't done an IM can relate.

So here is the dilemma

#1 I would like to try an Ironman.
#2 I also want to be fast and try to qualify for the Age-Group Nationals and maybe Worlds again (Olympic distance) because I feel like it was a fluke the first time.

I know that I shouldn't attempt both in the same time frame. The other little tiny factor that plays a part in this may seem silly to some of you but it totally freaks me out.

Babies. My husband and I have been married for 2 1/2 years. We are not planning on having kids in the next couple of years but the clock is ticking and who knows what will happen. Before you say something about how young I am and how I have all the time in the world, all of the kids I work with have a disability and I am very aware of the statistics that go along with maternal age. I am not all that worried about it but I also don't want to wait until I am 105 to have kids, if that is what we decide to do. (Could I be any more vague about that?)

So, fast or long?
LOL, I am sure there is a joke in there somewhere.
I lean towards speed. I love to go fast and I am built more for that.

Maybe I am missing something. Maybe I don't have to choose.

I'll have some time to ponder it on my half marathon on Sunday morning. Looking forward to a nice easy, healthy run.

Later

Zoo Run

I know, two posts in one day. Scary, huh?

This morning Mr KT and I were the bike leaders for the Zoo Run at the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha. We did this last year and had a great time.

He leads the 5 mile run and I lead the 1 mile run/walk. The guy who ran the 5 mile run finished in 26:20. Yeah, that is crazy fast. 5:16/mile fast. Nice work. The winner of the 1 mile race last year was under 6 minutes. This year 1st place was 7:28. I think that I can run a sub 7 min one mile. Now I am going to have to go test this out in the next week or two.

We have never run in this race, just ridden. It is fun because you run by all the animals. I just love to watch the monkeys. They are so funny. Also, the peacocks are always roaming around. They usually get out of the way but you have to kind of dodge them at times. It is a fun time.

Later

Ride for the Cure

Last weekend was the 5K, this weekend was the bike ride for breast cancer awareness. Mr KT and I were pre-registered. It was a gray, 58º, drizzly day and we had had a ton of rain the night before. We headed over to the Trek Store about 4 miles from our house. I managed to flat on the way there. A teeny-tiny piece of glass was embedded in my tire. Mr KT whipped that rear wheel right off and changed the tube like a pro. He was my own personal SAG support. (I did have all the necessary extras in my bike bag!)He reminded me to try and avoid the gravel as best I could because that is hard on tires. We got to the store a bit late. We signed the, I-will-not-sue-you-if-I-wreck-and-I-understand-that-cycling-
is-inherently-dangerous waiver, had them top off my tire pressure and headed out to catch up with the group. I think I have been riding with my husband too much. I have caved to his philosophy that if it doesn't hurt, you aren't riding fast enough. This was supposed to be a friendly, mostly women, 25 mile ride. Unfortunately, they put a number on my bike. That was like flipping a switch. Apparently, I have a bit of a competitive drive. =0) We were stuck in the back, trying to pass large groups of women chatting three wide on the trail. We finally got by everyone and took off at our own pace. The trail was wet and muddy in places but it definitely has been worse. We took it fairly easy, about 17 mph with a 8-10 mph headwind and chatted a bit. Nice to do that occasionally. We hit the turn around, tried to true up his wheel and headed back. It was a nice ride.
I did have a tag along for 80% of the ride. I didn't realize how gross it was until we got home.

That would be a worm tangled in my rear derailleur.



This is me after we rode back to our house. Mr KT told me to flex like a football player. I know, guns. =0)

One cool thing was that the Trek store in Omaha had the most riders in the United States two years in a row! Yay. Fun to be a part of that.

More soon.

Racing for a Cure

It was a fairly warm, very humid morning for a race. Today, however, was not about speed. It was about mothers and daughters, friends and neighbors, sisters and cousins, aunts and grandmothers, wives and teachers. It was about strength and support, love and respect, a sense of humor and the ability to continue to smile. It was about hats and scarves, hugs and cheerleaders. Yep, you read right, I have never seen so many high school cheerleaders in one place, except maybe the Rose Parade.



My aunt, Julia and my mom, Jane in their T-shirts, ready to walk.


My mom and aunt and I walked the 5K distance. When I suggested this idea to my momma a few months ago, she wasn't sure that she could walk that far. I knew she could. She would never call herself an athlete. However, later in life, she has started to do yoga weekly, walks with my dad in the mornings, and lifts weights at the local fitness club. I even gave her my old iPod and taught her how to use iTunes so she is listening to podcasts about knitting, Garrison Keillor and the Prairie Home Companion, and book reviews. Whatever keeps her going, right? Anyway, I helped her come up with a walking "training" plan. She was doing regular distance walks during the week before she had to go teach and then a long walk on the weekends, that we slowly built up to 3 miles. My dad walked with her many days because it was so dark in the mornings. (Psst, don't tell her I run in the mornings in the dark, ok?)

When we got to the race, she said, "your dad should have come to do this too!" I thought that was awesome. Next year, we will invite the boys. =0)

Anyway, it took us 1:12:58 to walk the 5K at a slower than usual pace. There were over 13,500 people registered to run or walk so that was good to see. It did make it extremely congested though.


All those white shirts for blocks and blocks were walkers and runners!

I decided as we neared the 3 mile mark, that it really is much easier to run. The crowd thins out and you are done WAY sooner. =0)

Anyway, it was a really nice morning for fun with my mom and her sister. I am sure we will do it again next year.

I'm Baaa-ack

Yesterday, my foot didn't hurt at all at work and so I decided to go for a run last night when it was tired and test it out. Woot, woot! No pain. 3.5 miles with no pain! No pain last night, no pain this morning, nice.

So, just in case you are wondering, I am thinking that the half might still be an option. Cross your fingers. Also still doing lots and lots of icing and stretching just to be safe. You know, sometimes being a therapist is helpful. Knowing exactly what to do and then making sure that you do it so that you know how it is for your patients. The other side of that is that you know all awful things that could be wrong and you are hyper vigilant about them. Anywho, back to running, cautiously. Yay! Definitely doing a super easy train run next week!!

Thanks for all your thought and good wishes.

Still Gimpy

Sorry it has been so long since the last post. Thanks to Rob... for calling me on it. =0)

I am still not back in full swing after the tendinitis (?) that I had after my last long run.

Two weeks ago, I did 0 runs. Boo!

Last week, I did 2, 2 mile run/walks.

This week, so far, I ran 2.5 miles yesterday morning and felt pretty darn good while I was running. Super sore foot later in the day but hopefully I am on my way back. I am still hoping to run the half marathon I was planning on, on the 21st of October, but I am not going to push it. Being healthy is more important.

On another note, my momma and I are going to walk the Nebraska Susan G. Komen 5K on Sunday. When we first started talking about doing this she was nervous about walking that far. I helped her create a training program and she and my dad walked most days and then did a long walk on the weekends. Sort of like mini, slow, marathon training. =0) I am super proud of her and my dad for the amount of training they did and looking forward to the walk on Sunday. It was new for me to register and pay for a walk but it should be a fun time! Maybe we should wear shirts like this...


More coming soon.

Later