Frankenthon Monster Marathon in Cedar Park

Ah man, I'd totally do this, but I'm out of town... in Hawaii this weekend.

Check it out!

http://www.frankenthon.com/index.asp

69 Reasons You Might Be A Triathlete

Adrian found a funny article with a mini-list, I went ahead and googled it and found this one. Pretty funny stuff :)

1. When asked, how old you are you answer 35-39.
   
2. Your idea of a great b-day is to run your age in miles with a couple of friends.
   
3. Your idea of a great date is to go for a 10 mile run with your date.
   
4. You try to impress girls with your marathon time after swimming 2.4 miles and biking 112 miles.
   
5. When asked how long your training was today you answer: three to four hours.
   
6. Your training is more limited by available time then how far you can run.
   
7. Your first thought when you wake up is how high your rest HR is.
   
8. You go for a run event and there's a thunderstorm and you enjoy being wet and dirty.
   
9. You think an Ironman is easier then a Marathon because you don't have to start by running fast.
   
10. You think it's natural to do your 'business' behind a tree in the woods.
    
11. Nobody believes you when you say 'Never again'.
    
12. You take part in the corporate challenge to improve your base speed.
    
13. You go for a 5 km cooldown run after a 5 km race just so that you can call it a training session.
    
14. You consider work, regeneration time between training sessions.
    
15. Your co-workers don't ask you if you're going to train this weekend, but how long and how far.
    
16. You have a water bottle when you drive your car.
    
17. You spend your 2 weeks annual vacation at a training camp.
    
18. During the vacations, when everybody else is partying, you go to sleep at 10:00 pm because you're going for a long ride the next day.
    
19. You know inside out how much Protein each energy bar has.
    
20. You seriously consider applying for citizenship in Tonga, Jemen or Tschad so that you can participate in the Olympic games.
    
21. When people praising you for being able to run 15 miles you're feeling insulted.
    
22. In the summer your legs are smoother then your girlfriend's.
    
23. Your kids grab water bottles and energy bars when you suggest a family stroll.
    
24. Your wife is not worried if you left for your run 2 hours ago.
    
25. You need a picture for a job application and you only have race pictures.
    
26. You use running T-shirts to clean your bike.
    
27. You are up everyday by 5:00 am, but never in work before 9:30 am!
    
28. That charming "cologne" you wear to work is chlorine
    
29. You take more showers in a locker room than at home
    
30. 6:30 am is sleeping in
    
31. The dog runs and hides when you get the leash!
    
32. You think there are only two seasons during the year, racing and off.
    
33. You can't change the oil in your car but you can completely rebuild your bike in 45 mins
    
34. you spend more $ on training and racing clothes then work clothes
    
35. you spend 7 days going to 8 stores in 4 malls before buying a pair of running shoes but you take 1 afternoon to go to 1 car dealership and walk out with a new car 4 hours later.
    
36. When you see some lady watering her flowers and ask her if you can borrow the hose for a minute so you can fill up your water bottles.
    
37. You clean your bike more often than your car
    
38. Your car smells like a locker room.
    
39. You tell your co-workers that you are going to "do a long brick" on Saturday and just expect that they know what you are talking about.
    
40. When a co-worker asks if you are racing this weekend, you say "yeah, but I'm just running a 10K, so that is not REALLY a race".
    
41. You have more water bottles than glasses in your cupboard
    
42. You consider you bike saddle your "couch"
    
43. You consider Clif Bars as one of the four food groups
    
44. you are sick to your stomach at 2:00 in the morning and check the back of the Pepto Bismol bottle for caloric content and grams of carbohydrates, fat and protein.
    
45. you have plenty of water bottles, safety pins, and t-shirts.
    
46. you have trouble keeping lunch under 2000 calories.
    
47. you usually wake up at 4:00 in the morning but do not get to work until way after 9:00.
    
48. your bed-time reading on your night stand consists of a pile of: DeSoto catalogs; InsideTri; Triathlete, VeloNews, USMA Swim, etc.
    
49. you haven't bought work clothes in two years, yet you own bike shorts made by every manufacturer under the sun and can recite the merits of CoolMax, Supplex, etc. in your sleep!
    
50. your car has at least one Power Bar wrapper and two sets of work out clothes!
    
51. your laundry continually smells like someone locked the cat in overnight...
    
52. you wave at other cyclists, because all triathletes are friendly and if they are not, they are probably purist cyclists trying to get into triathlons and they do not know that triathletes are friendly.
    
53. you can't decide what tee shirt to wear to your next race.
    
54. you no longer take vacations but weekend triathlon junkets.
    
55. you have far more pairs of shoes in your closet than your non-tri wife does in hers
    
56. the one "suit" you own has a QR on the chest.
    
57. you're tempted to do your long rides in a speedo so that you don't have a stupid tan for your next race.
    
58. your bath towel is never dry.
    
59. you bring bottled water to a party so that you're properly hydrated for the next morning's long run, everyone else at the party also brought their own bottled water because you don't have a social life outside of triathlon. Oh yeah, and they all showed up by 7 pm and left by 10 pm.
    
60. your company announces mandatory unpaid shutdown days - every other Friday throughout the summer - in order to cut costs and stay in business, and your response is "Great - now I can do two long workouts on the weekends and still have an easy day."
    
61. somebody hands you a cup of water and you have to restrain yourself from pouring it on your head.
    
62. you forget that talking about daily LSD [Long Slow Distance] and speed weirds some people out.
    
63. you have no FRIGGIN idea what to do with yourself on your off day. Damnit, I mowed the lawn, cleaned the house, washed the car, and there's STILL 4 hours of daylight left! Aarrgghh!
    
64. you return from your *Mini-vacation* more exhausted than before you left!
    
65. you feel like you took the day off because all you did was swim 3000 yards.
    
66. You get done with a hard workout and drink a recovery drink while on the toilet and in the shower.
    
67. At any given moment you know exactly where your heart rate monitor and your swim goggles are, but cannot remember where you left you car keys. (turns 90% of the time they are in your bike bag
    
68. When non-racer friends tell you they ran/rode you automatically calculate their pace to see if you're still in better shape.
    
69. Cars pass you on the road when you're driving and you either drop back to get out of draft zone or speed up to attack!

Ramblings Update

I've been meaning to blog on a more regular basis, but it's just hard to find the time. My favorite blog posts are bullet style, so here we go!!

• I'm genuinely enjoying my "I'm not training for anything" mode that I'm in. It's been more than wonderful being able to sleep in on weekends, exercise when I want, where I want, and what time I want. I do miss exercising though.
• In order to create some motivation, I read a book. "I Remember Running: The Year I Got Everything I Ever Wanted -- and ALS" It did remind me that I'm grateful to have a healthy body and it could all be taken away from me if I didn't enjoy it while I had it. Life is precious.
  
• I joined Rogue's swim class with Amy Marsh. Last night was my first swim class and was extremely surprised. During T3 swim classes, I'd always aim for under 2:00 minutes for 100 meter swims. Last night we had to do 3 x 100 descending. I cranked out a 1:40, 1:37, and a 1:35. HOLY CRAP. That's the fastest I've EVER swam, and that's with no wetsuit. I'm excited to see how much progress I'll make under a different coach.

• Super duper siked about Adrian and I's trip to Hawaii. Here's my favorite pic of where we'll be staying. Gotta love the hammock.

• I spent the night at Adrian's last night and was in a lovey dovey mode. I had a big feeling of, "Wow, I'm a lucky gal." He means the world to me and I am truly appreciative and grateful that we're back in each other's lives again. He's the love of my life that I've been waiting for my entire life. Only took me 30 damn years to find him, but I'm forever grateful for having the opportunity to share my life with him.
• I love my job.
• I bit off all my nails shortly after CdA, not sure why. It's ALWAYS been a bad habit of mine growing up, and the fact that I kept them for a few years was a miracle. I'm trying to grow them again, but it's hard.
• I'm on the back to eating good band wagon and it's going well :) At work we're doing a Healthy Weight Challenge, winner takes $255 worth of lottery scratch off's :) Oh yeah, that's enticing. We're super excited to see if anyone wins some mega bucks!!! Contest ends in September, perfect motivation to look hot for Hawaii in October!!
• I miss running with my girls. We meet every now and then, but I miss when we were all training for the marathon together. We had some FUN times in there. We're all at different levels and are doing our own things, but I genuinely look forward to our meetings :)
• I miss my T3 friends too :( I wish I could afford to be a part of all the training groups I want...
• I lost my first toe nail!!! I remember after CdA, that it was REALLY sore, and the other night I went to clip them, and I clipped the whole darn thing off!!! It was just hanging out. Glad to be part of the "I lost a toe nail" club of runners. If only it came from a super fast marathon or something...
• Lots going on this year.. Adrian's race calendar is full and I wish I got more than 2 weeks of vacation. I'm going to have to miss him going to Xterra Nationals so I can take the time to go to Hawaii.
• I wish I were independently wealthy...
  

My first cell phone

I was digging through my closet and found my first cell phone!! Check it out. It was a Sony through PrimeCo!!









Check out how big it was, and that awesome antennae!! How times have changed...

Hawaii, Hawaii, Hawaii!!!

Holy crap. Holy crap. Holy crap.





Both Adrian and I have never been on a REAL vacation before. By real, I mean somewhere far far away where it's all about having fun and relaxing. Thankfully, our relationship, in my eyes, is perfection. We're both into exercising and fitness. I'm grateful that out of the two of us, he's the speedy one that actually places and wins races. I benefit because he qualified for Xterra Worlds in Maui, Hawaii in October. Bingo for the girlfriend!!





He loves, loves, loves the Xterra races. He's truly my off road guy. Loves mountain biking and he does incredibly well at the races. Here's my bragging portion :) He's won 12 hour events, he's placed 1st in his age group numerous times from 12 hour race to marathon distance (60 miles off road.. not sure why they call it marathon, when a marathon is 26.2 running) to 24 hour races. Yes, my idiot boyfriend rides his mountain bike on the same loop over and over and over. The race is to see which guy can do the most loop in a 24 hour period. If the laps are tied, it goes to the fastest rider. Crazy huh?? What's crazier is that supporting this crazy kind of race, is quite exhausting too :) Xterra is his first love. Two years ago, he started out doing really well in them, and then his father got cancer. Last year, he literally had to put his entire life on hold to move in with him and take care of him. His father passed last September. At the beginning of this year, it was all out Xterra. This was my honey's year to shine. He's got the best coach in town, Brandon Marsh, and together, they've gone leaps and bounds.





Xterra Regionals ended on the same weekend as my Ironman, which is why he couldn't come out to support me in CdA. There were 8 states showing at this race, and even international competition there. He placed 1st in his age group, 14th overall, including all the pro's. In order to qualify for Nationals, it's point based, and with the Xterra events he participates in, we knew Nationals was going to be a cinch. What we weren't expecting was the World's Qualification. Because he won his age group at National's, it guaranteed him a spot to World's. This is like qualifying for Kona on the Ironman scale. This is the cream of the crop.





Race is on Oct. 25th. Kona Ironman is on Oct 10. ARGH!! If it were only the week before or after, we could have swung to take an extra long vacation and spectate, but the two week gap is too much :( I booked tickets today :) Yes, with his credit card, hehehe. I just recently found something for me to do the day before!!

Oh yeah!! There's a 5k and 10k trail race the day before!! I'm signing up! What better way to enjoy beautiful Hawaii than a trail race :) Woo hoo!!

More to come on the trip of our lifetime.. just needed to vent some of my excitement!!!

Any suggestions on places to eat, things to do, things to see will be grately appreciated!! Only request from the boyfriend is he wants to swim with the dolphins :)

Lose It!

It's a pretty cool iPhone app that helps you manage and track what you eat throughout the day and gives you all the stats on the food you're eating :) It's showing that I can get to my goal weight by November 6th. Mind you, this is my "I doubt I'll ever get there, but if I do, I'll crap my pants" goal :)

Various Comments and Random Items Bullet Style

1. I have found this to be my most favorite way to post blogs now... bullet style.
2. I was trying to be clever with my news that I signed up for CdA 2010, and in the meantime I found out that there's quite a few friends that read my ramblings. I also learned about Google Reader and now am a subscriber and LOVE LOVE LOVE it!
3. I did sign up for CdA 2010, and thankfully I'm NOT wondering what the heck I did, I'm actually excited to get back into training :)
4. Two weeks later, I feel like a big fat slob. I haven't exercised in two weeks, minus a small 7 mile run and a 5 mile run/walk with friends.
5. I'm officially back onto training. No training group this time around, but going to see how long I can make it "training on my own" before I become so huge that I have NO clothes that fit :)
6. Shout out to Rachel: Yes, I remember you and Joey. Your comment was super flattering :) Thanks!
7. I've become green! I now ride the bus to work and LOVE it! I actually look forward to the bus rides and have started reading a book. I'm a slow reader, but I'm reading and hope it will make me more intelligent. If anything I can brag that I'm reading.
8. 3 day weekend was awesome. Saturday consisted of Adrian and I staying in bed ALL DAY LONG! We got hooked on The Deadliest Catch marathon and didn't get out of bed unless we had to use the restroom or get food, and even then, I was the declared the food gopher for the day. I did get up at 6pm to go to a friends birthday party, but resumed my slothness as soon as I got home :) I also did this on Sunday until 4pm as Adrian did workouts and worked all day :)
9. I'm happy that I'm saving the most money I've ever saved before. Ok, not yet, but when the next paychecks roll in, I will be. I've saved $150 in parking per month on taking the bus, I've decreased my 401k contributions just until the end of the year, and I'm NOT eating out during the week for lunch or dinner ANYMORE!
10. I'm going to attempt to get serious about my nutrition.. yes again. Anyone that knows me knows I struggle with this. I've paid poor Meredith, I've used friends to try and motivate me, I've done Weight Watchers, and I've even had coaches flat out tell me, if I could just lose 10-15 more pounds, I'd be as fast as I want... and I still manage to pick a Ex-long Cheese Coney, with tater tots, and a Route 44 Cherry Limeade over something healthy. Let's try it again...
11. Core & upper body... gonna try this too.
12. I feel like I'm two weeks late in my Ironman celebration. The first two weeks were a little saddening for me, and now I'm finally over it and want to bask in my IM glory. I've put the 140.6 sticker on my car and I'm genuinely excited about the improvement I'm going to make next year :)
13. OMG, I'm totally looking forward to Hawaii in October. Adrian and I have NEVER been on a real vacation like this before. We're both super excited!!!