So yesterday we had a surprise cold front plow through North Texas, dropping the temperature about 20 degrees. It was supposed to stay well north of our area, but instead, dropped down and brought with it about an inch of rain (most of which ended up in my car since the windows were cracked). My point in all of this is that it was time for a delightful morning and I needed a good morning workout.
So I got up around 5:10 this morning with the intent of about a 45 minute hard workout. And I did just that. To warm up, I jogged down to the local middle school, about 1/2 mile away and set up for a solo boot camp at the track/football field.
I found two barrel trashcans about 50' apart and used them as my end points for my workout. I spent about 25 minutes doing sprints, crawls, lunges and all other sorts of torture I'd learned in boot camp classes at the gym. At one point, I felt like I was going to get sick, so I stopped for a few minutes.
Doing it myself made it a little more difficult as I normally enjoy secretly competing with at least one person in class, which pushes me harder. By myself, I only had to compete with my brain, which was screaming at me, "Hey dummy! It's 5:30 and you're tired and sweaty!" I kept going for a while, but am sure bushed already this morning. I walked home and did a few pushups and situps to round out the workout before hitting the shower and heading to work.
I don't know how often I'll try this, but if I can do this once or twice a week, it might be worth it. And it saves about $60 by not paying the gym for this torture. LOL!
On another note, I did a dry run of a route between REI and the house that I might ride on Sundays this summer. It came up to 20 miles even door-t0-door by using a lot of backroads. It seemed fairly safe for the most part. I'm going to look at one other route, this one going more north before going across 35E, to see if it might be safer or more populated. We'll see. A 40 mile r/t once a week might be pretty nice to look forward to every week.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Monday, May 26, 2008
Tri training 2
Texas is wicked hot this time of year and Saturday was no exception. It was already in the 80's at 8am and of course, it was sticky. Rob Free and his girlfriend, Martha, and I planned to train for our upcoming Danskin Tri in Austin in a few weeks. We'd agreed to meet at 10am at Rob's where we staged our bike and run.
To add to the training I decided to ride down to Rob's, which is about 10 miles door-to-door. Of course, he lives south of me and in the summer, the winds blow heavily from the south. It took me almost 45 minutes to get there, but I really wasn't trying to go fast. The backroads weren't bad, but I had about 2 miles on FM3040 that was terrifying. I vowed to ride home a different direction on the way home.
I got to Rob's with a few minutes to spare. We headed up to the park near his house and did our 2 loops around (about 12 miles). The first loop I pushed it a little, but not a lot and finished it in 23 minutes. The second loop, I pushed a little harder and finished up at his house in 21 minutes. Not bad! I'm thinking that, depending on the course, I should be able to do the 12 miles during the race in about 40-45 minutes without much trouble. The ride to Rob's plus my battle with the virus over the last few weeks left me a little tired for this lap.
We dropped the bikes at Rob's, then headed out for a quick 3 miles. Finished that in 31 minutes. Again, considering I jsut rode 22 in the heat, I'm content with this time for now.
The ride home was really hot! The wind was at my back. The relative made it feel as if there was nothing to cool me. I was a sweaty pig! LOL! I took a little less direct route home and felt much safer, though I still had to do about 3/4 mile on FM3040.
A cold beer felt great at the end of the training session. 32 miles riding and 3 running. Off to the neighbor's pool to cool off!
Happy training!
To add to the training I decided to ride down to Rob's, which is about 10 miles door-to-door. Of course, he lives south of me and in the summer, the winds blow heavily from the south. It took me almost 45 minutes to get there, but I really wasn't trying to go fast. The backroads weren't bad, but I had about 2 miles on FM3040 that was terrifying. I vowed to ride home a different direction on the way home.
I got to Rob's with a few minutes to spare. We headed up to the park near his house and did our 2 loops around (about 12 miles). The first loop I pushed it a little, but not a lot and finished it in 23 minutes. The second loop, I pushed a little harder and finished up at his house in 21 minutes. Not bad! I'm thinking that, depending on the course, I should be able to do the 12 miles during the race in about 40-45 minutes without much trouble. The ride to Rob's plus my battle with the virus over the last few weeks left me a little tired for this lap.
We dropped the bikes at Rob's, then headed out for a quick 3 miles. Finished that in 31 minutes. Again, considering I jsut rode 22 in the heat, I'm content with this time for now.
The ride home was really hot! The wind was at my back. The relative made it feel as if there was nothing to cool me. I was a sweaty pig! LOL! I took a little less direct route home and felt much safer, though I still had to do about 3/4 mile on FM3040.
A cold beer felt great at the end of the training session. 32 miles riding and 3 running. Off to the neighbor's pool to cool off!
Happy training!
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Taxing my airfare!
Holy crap! Airline taxes are ridiculous! And this is coming from someone who works in the industry.
I'm planning a trip to Belize with friends and family to help celebrate my big 4-0 this year. The birthday has already passed, but November is the first good time we could get a large group together. I knew flying to Belize wasn't going to be cheap, but until I got the final ticket, I had no idea how much of it was going to be taxes.
I bought my ticket yesterday on American Airlines, only because I can't get there on my own company, Southwest. LOL! When the confirmation came back, it listed out how much the actual airfare was and how much was in taxes. Check this out:
PASSENGER KARI KENNEDY
TICKET NUMBER XX1636360
FARE-USD 343.00
TAX 349.10
TICKET TOTAL 692.10
The taxes on this flight add up to more than the price of the actual ticket! I'm just stunned at the atrocity of this.
I'm planning a trip to Belize with friends and family to help celebrate my big 4-0 this year. The birthday has already passed, but November is the first good time we could get a large group together. I knew flying to Belize wasn't going to be cheap, but until I got the final ticket, I had no idea how much of it was going to be taxes.
I bought my ticket yesterday on American Airlines, only because I can't get there on my own company, Southwest. LOL! When the confirmation came back, it listed out how much the actual airfare was and how much was in taxes. Check this out:
PASSENGER KARI KENNEDY
TICKET NUMBER XX1636360
FARE-USD 343.00
TAX 349.10
TICKET TOTAL 692.10
The taxes on this flight add up to more than the price of the actual ticket! I'm just stunned at the atrocity of this.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Update
So the doc called last night (via voice mail) and said that what I have is some kind of virus. Now Mom also called last night with her latest theory of what might be going on and she thought it could be the human parvovirus. After researching a little online (thank you for inventing the internet, Al Gore), this seems to fit the bill perfectly.
I had to laugh at having parvo, sort of. We had a puppy when I was a kid, that we nursed back from near death from parvo. It's pretty nasty in cats and dogs, but in humans, it's just a pain. I was sort of hoping for the instant diet that comes with the canine type, but no luck there. The steroids the doc put me on also gave me a few pounds instead. Hopefully they'll come off soon.
In any case, the worst of it seems to be over other than the really sore joints, thankfully. I'm not ready to do any running or volleyball in the near future, but we'll see what happens in the next few days. The training for upcoming races is certainly screwed, but I'll survive, right? LOL!
I'm just thrilled to hear that it's not lyme's disease or anything worse.
I had to laugh at having parvo, sort of. We had a puppy when I was a kid, that we nursed back from near death from parvo. It's pretty nasty in cats and dogs, but in humans, it's just a pain. I was sort of hoping for the instant diet that comes with the canine type, but no luck there. The steroids the doc put me on also gave me a few pounds instead. Hopefully they'll come off soon.
In any case, the worst of it seems to be over other than the really sore joints, thankfully. I'm not ready to do any running or volleyball in the near future, but we'll see what happens in the next few days. The training for upcoming races is certainly screwed, but I'll survive, right? LOL!
I'm just thrilled to hear that it's not lyme's disease or anything worse.
Monday, May 19, 2008
A Foody 5k and Biking the Texas Motor Speedway
I got to do two fun events this week, both involving some exercise to boot!
Thursday evening was the Katy Trail 5k. This is a nice little jog just north of downtown Dallas, part of which is run on a soft track trail that meanders near Turtle Creek. About 1500 showed up to run it, including my friend Christi and me.
The 5k itself was okay, nothing spectacular. Christi and I jogged together. There were too many people and too narrow of an area to be able to run it fast. There were so many walkers blocking the middle of the road, I wanted to holler at them to move over, but refrained. There was much mumbling under my breath though, as I'm sure you can imagine.
The best part of it was at the end. Restraunts from all over the city were there handing out samples of their food from little white tents surrounding a park. The food in most places was amazing, one of which was a little sample of a dessert from one place that tasted like warm brownie mix with a delightful dollop of whipped cream on top. Oh and since the race was sponosored by Michelob Ultra, there was a beer tent. What a fun way to end the day!
And then on Saturday, my neighbor, Debbie, and I went out to Texas Motor Speedway where the Cross Timbers Classic bike ride started. TMS is one of the venues for NASCAR, I believe, and it's HUGE! We were able to bring our cars right onto the infield of the racetrack and stage our bikes from there.
The most exciting thing about the ride, is that you get to do a lap on the track before heading out for the rest of the ride. This, in itself, was worth the money to do the ride! The slope on the curves looked like they were 80 degees angle! I got up about 4 feet and thought the better of it, but there were a few crazies who went all the way to the top, then dove down to the flat part of the track. Wow! It was really cool!
20 days to the triathlon!
Thursday evening was the Katy Trail 5k. This is a nice little jog just north of downtown Dallas, part of which is run on a soft track trail that meanders near Turtle Creek. About 1500 showed up to run it, including my friend Christi and me.
The 5k itself was okay, nothing spectacular. Christi and I jogged together. There were too many people and too narrow of an area to be able to run it fast. There were so many walkers blocking the middle of the road, I wanted to holler at them to move over, but refrained. There was much mumbling under my breath though, as I'm sure you can imagine.
The best part of it was at the end. Restraunts from all over the city were there handing out samples of their food from little white tents surrounding a park. The food in most places was amazing, one of which was a little sample of a dessert from one place that tasted like warm brownie mix with a delightful dollop of whipped cream on top. Oh and since the race was sponosored by Michelob Ultra, there was a beer tent. What a fun way to end the day!
And then on Saturday, my neighbor, Debbie, and I went out to Texas Motor Speedway where the Cross Timbers Classic bike ride started. TMS is one of the venues for NASCAR, I believe, and it's HUGE! We were able to bring our cars right onto the infield of the racetrack and stage our bikes from there.
The most exciting thing about the ride, is that you get to do a lap on the track before heading out for the rest of the ride. This, in itself, was worth the money to do the ride! The slope on the curves looked like they were 80 degees angle! I got up about 4 feet and thought the better of it, but there were a few crazies who went all the way to the top, then dove down to the flat part of the track. Wow! It was really cool!
20 days to the triathlon!
That itch
Something strange started happening with my skin last week. About Tuesday or Wednesday, I realized I was scratching all the time and just plain miserable. It mainly affected my legs and arms, and it felt as if my nails were razor blades or a knife edge when I was scratching. I also noticed that my skin was red all over as if I'd gotten a mild sunburn. It was even more blotchy in the areas that don't see sun much, like the underarms etc. Really wierd.
So Friday morning I wake up, a day after doing an easy 5k run and my knees, wrists and fingers feel like I'm 80 and have arthritis. Wow, it was really strange. So I made an appointment with my doc that morning and went in.
We ran through everything I ate and did the last few weeks and nothing seemed out of the ordinary or unusual. We talked about the my sleeping lately (or lack thereof), which may play into this some. We even talked detergent and fabric softener to no avail. He ended up giving me a week's worth of steroids and ordered some blood work. Hope to hear something about that in the next day or two.
In the meantime, though, the drugs are helping the inflamation, but my feet and hands are still itchy little sausages. :)
So Friday morning I wake up, a day after doing an easy 5k run and my knees, wrists and fingers feel like I'm 80 and have arthritis. Wow, it was really strange. So I made an appointment with my doc that morning and went in.
We ran through everything I ate and did the last few weeks and nothing seemed out of the ordinary or unusual. We talked about the my sleeping lately (or lack thereof), which may play into this some. We even talked detergent and fabric softener to no avail. He ended up giving me a week's worth of steroids and ordered some blood work. Hope to hear something about that in the next day or two.
In the meantime, though, the drugs are helping the inflamation, but my feet and hands are still itchy little sausages. :)
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Survivor
So you all know how much I love the game (show) of Survivor, right? Of course you do! :)
I need to get a good tape and application in this time, but am struggling for ideas on how to present myself so that I can catch the eyes of the guy or gal who opens up my tape. Any thoughts?
Oh, and I need to find 3 words that my friends would use to describe me. Don't be kind, use the first three you think of, no matter what they are. I'm thick skinned!
By the way, I won the SWA Survivor pool for the 3rd time in 4 season! Whee! I love this game! This time was so easy as the editors gave away the winner in the first episode when Parvati said, "I didn't come out here a second time not to win and starve again!" Dianna said that I think too much. Ha!
I think Amanda blew it a second time with her jury performance.
I think Cirie was screwed by the producers returning to the final two twist.
I love James!
Parvati played a damn good game. It would have been very interesting to see the vote outcome had Cirie and Parv been in the final two. That would've been very close.
Next season is about 18 weeks away. Can't wait!
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Losing sleep and a new bike
There just isn't enough time in a week to do everything that is fun and all that is necessary. How does one fit it all in?
With the pressure of doing a 50k off my chest, I ended taking about a week off of training. Well, let's just say, my lack of sleep dictated I take a week off. For some reason, the past few weeks I've been dead tired as I hit the pillow, but wake up nearly every night between 3:30 and 5, yet can't get back to sleep. By Friday last week I was a complete zombie at work trying to absorb some complex concepts. It was ugly. It took most of last weekend to get caught up, but sure enough, Monday morning I was wide awake at 4:30 this time. What the heck?! I'm going to do some research and call mom to see if she knows something. I haven't changed habits in any way. If she says it's something pre-menopausal though, I may just break down. LOL!
Friday I went out for a few beers after work with friends. Saturday I got up to do my first real "brick" workout in getting ready for the triathlon coming up in a few weeks. I have a g/f here in town who is also doing the race, so she, her bf Rob and I did a couple of laps around a park near them (12 miles), then did about 3m running. It was tiring! And the humidity was nearly unbearable. But we did it and it was fun! As I was running though, I did swear off beer the night before heat training. Bleh! Felt like crap! LOL!
Oh and I got a new bike! Working at REI, I get a 40% off discount on their home brand bike, Novarra. They're just as nice as anything else there. So I bought myself a new road bike. Yay! http://www.rei.com/product/760864 It'll be nice for the race.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
A Revelation
Well after some consideration and some consternation, I decided that I have too much on my plate right now with 2 jobs, writing a column, and trying to train for a big race. I'm tired. I decided that I'll drop down to do the 25k up at Afton this July instead of the 50k. I'm disappointed, yet relieved by the decision.
I suppose I'll just change the training attack to work on speed and make it a faster 25k, then. I still have plenty of time to work on that and enjoy it.
Sigh..
I suppose I'll just change the training attack to work on speed and make it a faster 25k, then. I still have plenty of time to work on that and enjoy it.
Sigh..
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