Two Ears One Mouth

CONGRATULATIONS to Elena who won the Group Giveaway sponsored by Kaliwood ! Elena is in for some fun goodies so next time make sure you enter so you can get in on the action! Now for your regularly scheduled programming.... Hi there, another absence I apologize for but my life has been crazy in good and bad ways. First with the bad: I'm officially about 3 weeks out from the marathon and still can't really run because my leg is not getting any better. Who runs a marathon after 6 weeks of slow, sporadic and moderately painful run/jogs? This girl. Should be a spectacle. I'm experiencing some PTSD after the Tri for Sight and am afraid to swim because I'm afraid of sharing a pool lane with someone. It's starting to really interfere with my swimming which I'm going to need to start doing more of since I'm planning that 70.3. I have not actually picked a 70.3. I was originally on board for Rev3 Cedar Point . Which then became the NashVegas Triathlon . W...

I am totally experiencing the Murphy's Law of marathon training. The race is a month away and I haven't run longer than 16 miles. I haven't run consistently in 2 weeks. I ran the 5K Sunday as part of the tri but when I tried 5 miles on Tuesday I made it 2.5 before the mysterious leg pain reared its ugly head. I decided to take it easy and hold out for the 18 miles scheduled on Saturday (aka today). I'd really like to say I'm coming to you from a sore and satisfied place but I'm not. There was another wrench thrown in. Remember that head on collision I had in the pool during the Tri for Sight? No big deal right? I drove back home Sunday and things were fine. Had a little headache, neck and left shoulder were a little stiff but nothing new for after a race. I took Monday off from workouts which depressed me of course and then had the failed run Tuesday. Tuesday morning my neck was incredibly sore and I figured I'd slept on it wrong plus I'm always a litt...

Quick note to let you know about a fun giveaway I'm a part of this week! For my portion, I'm giving away 6 tubes of ZipFizz (3 fruit punch flavored, 3 orange soda). I used ZipFizz during a long run a couple of times and found it a little sweet for my tastes but The Colonel liked it and it did do its job of providing energy. Designed as a 5 Hour Energy alternative, ZipFizz is vegan (yay!) and comes in a powder form that just needs to be mixed with 16 oz of water. It's also not syrupy or chalky like some drink mixes can be. I got a great deal on some at the Ironman Louisville expo and even though I don't love it for long runs (it's also a teensy bit carbonated) I'd say it's a nice little energy booster. *Disclaimer: It IS an energy drink! So please treat it with the respect any caffeinated beverage deserves and drink responsibly. Also, I am in no way being compensated for my opinions and my opinions are just that. See below on how to enter and thank the lady ...

Good Morning! Remember how I said I wasn't racing in any tris this year? Because I was so busy/stressed/etc. etc.? Well apparently I'm not that busy (and in better shape than I thought) because I last minute signed up to do the Tri for Sight Sunday in Lexington and peer pressured Autumn into doing the duathlon. I was far too busy watching U of L beat UK in football Saturday to make it there to pick up my packet so we had an early morning Sunday. I had to be at packet pick up at 5:30 and be out of transition by 7 so I was up at 3:30 and left by 4:15 for the hour and some change drive. The Colonel was nice enough to do the driving so all I had to do was sit, eat and sing. Oh, and FREEZE. It happened to be the first weekend in a long time with 40 degree morning temperatures so that made things interesting. As you know, I love the cold so there was lots of shivering but no complaining on my part! A few of the Landsharks were also racing so it was cool to feel like part of a tea...

There are a lot of mixed emotions out there surrounding the meaning of today but even if it's just for today let's think about those innocent lives lost and remind ourselves how lucky we are to still be here. Even if you're having a bad day, some would argue that's better than not having today at all. Not that it is particularly profound, but that is my Facebook status today and I'm considering making a variation of it my status everyday. It is my belief that recognizing or remembering 9/11 is not about you being a democrat, republican, conservative, liberal, black, white, gay, straight or any other limiting or defining term you or others use to categorize people. It is about being a human being. The entire 9/11 story is controversial. Many people simply don't believe the supposed facts the Bush or Obama administrations have presented to us whereas plenty of people do.  But that's not what remembering 9/11 is about, at least not to me. Ta...

Good Monday Morning! I secretly like Mondays because they always feel like a do-over for whatever you screwed up on last week or over the weekend. For example, Monday morning means I get back to my normal meals and snacks and schedule which gives me a chance to detox after a weekend of 3 meals out over the course of 2 days. That's more than I ate out in like all of August. But it was well worth it, a lot of fun was had. But let's get to the point. Although I have a little degree in Communication, I still generally suck at communicating. This means that I often find myself googling things like "How to talk to *insert type of person here*" or "What to say to *insert another type of person*". I really wish I were joking but I'm not. Whether you are an avid coin collector, stay at home mom, engineer, or bird watcher, I always want to make a good impression so if there's a way for me to know ahead of time that we'll be meeting you'd better belie...

Do you ever just wake up, take a big breath of fresh air and feel totally grateful to be alive? Ok, so I don't. But I also don't wake up wishing I hadn't anymore and that is certainly something to be grateful for. You see, I went through a very long, very dark phase in my life where every day was not a blessing, I couldn't enjoy a pretty day and I begged the earth to swallow me whole. I had things on the horizon and did a pretty damn good job of faking every normal human emotion so no one knew what was going on. The only one I didn't have fooled was myself and unfortunately at that time, mine was the only voice I heard and the only opinion that mattered. Without going into detail I'll just say that there was a point when I hit rock bottom. And as I sat there and finally felt solid ground under me I realized that I was no longer falling. What was more important was I realized the true benefit of rock bottom, the ability to put your feet on the ground. When I ...

See what I did there?  As everyone else is discussing the long weekend I went with discussing my long run. Oh Marathin Monster. You have consumed my entire being. After a very successful Track Tuesday I sat on the couch never to run again. That's a lie. But I didn't run again the rest of the week. Saturday the plan was to hit the always scary 16 mile mark for the long run. Why I had such a hard time getting out of bed I will never know. But I peeled myself from bed, stumbled along in the dark cursing as I stepped on random bits of things (wood floors hold a tremendous amount of debris) and made it to the kitchen for breakfast. Close to 7am Autumn sent me the text I always secretly wish she will send saying she couldn't run. I was disappointed initially but upon letting my dog outside and closing the door sweating I didn't feel too bad about the decision to skip. I tried to lay back down on the couch but no real luck falling asleep so I got on Facebook to see a post...