FRIENDS!

As pathetic as this may sound, I finally have friends in Vermont! Granted, it took roughly 8 months to do so, but--darn it--I'll take what I can get in this tiny, tiny town.

I signed up for the local rec center (if you can call it that). I took a 'tour' of the place and literally kept one foot in place, pivoted, and saw it all: two treadmills, one elliptical, some free weights, a stationary bike, two locker rooms, and a decent pool. Pool, you say? I'm in. So I registered. A whopping $47.50 for my one year membership later, I am a registered 'athlete' in the eyes of the Bennington-ites.

Last weekend, I was lucky enough to sneak away and see Matt in Cleveland. I brought Kelly with me, too. Matt is so patient: he went shoe shopping with me (the only shoe shopping I do: running shoes), then went for a short run with me to break the shoes in. Kelly came, too. The shoes feel good, they're slowing being broken in as I go on short runs with Kelly back home now.

Today, went out for a beer after work to vent with a co-worker, then came home, ran 3 miles with Kelly, then am about to head out to Masters Swim. These are my new friends: the triathletes that come from all over to swim on Tuesdays and Saturdays. They are SO NICE and it's just the greatest feeling to know that there are other people in the area who share common interests! Yay!

Race day is 8 weeks away--training kicks in for sure now!

Slow Starts

I've been so tired lately that I truly have no energy for much activity besides work and sleep. Don't worry, it's warming up so I can start biking. It will be a while before Oscar or Tobias hit the road because Vermont uses sand/dirt/rocks instead of salting the roads, so I don't want to get repeat flats on my ride. Mountain biking will be a good to start out. Kelly and I have been going on decent walks each day. My diet has really improved, too. Don't worry though, I'm getting extra physical activity to my daily routine. Nothing quite like working in a manufacturing plant where you have to jump from plant 1 (first floor) to plant 2 (fifth floor) on a regular basis. Yeah stairs!!! No joke, a few weeks ago, there was one day that I made at LEAST 20 some trips back and forth. Good thing I can wear comfy shoes with my cute outfits!

Today's mission is to get new running shoes. My old pair of Asics were LOVED throughout last summer during training for IM Moo and I even stretched their lifespan out to complete the Memphis Marathon in December. Oops. DEFINITELY time for new shoes! Thank goodness for tax refunds!! :-)

Off to shopping, running, tuning up bikes, getting my membership to the local (nasty) pool.

**Click heels three times... there's nothing like open water swimming...there's nothing like open water swimming...there's nothing like open water swimming...** Come on really warm weather, heat up the reservoir so I can do REAL swimming!!

Spring Fever

It's finally starting to warm up. Thank goodness. Vermont is FREEZING and this winter seemed to last longer than it should have.

I'm starting a new SIP (self-improvement plan) tomorrow (3/9) because I have a 3-day Ironman in just two months and I really ought to do some training for this. I will be fine with the swim (membership to the pool starts tomorrow), and running has never been a problem for me, but I'm terrified for the bike. No really, I get that uneasy feeling in my stomach when I think of 112 miles through mountains. And the majority of my bike training will be on my trainer since Vermont has the ingenious idea of using rocks and dirt instead of salt during winter storms. That probably won't get cleaned up for quite a while.

I need to cut weight, too. I'm at a weight that I'm not proud of and I know training will be easier if I knock off a few pounds.

Well, better rest up for the start of real training!

I like to move it-move it

Well, two days in a row I got in some nice quality one-foot-forward movement. Went on a 45 min run on Monday (approx 5 miles?) and a nice run/walk on Tuesday (some nasty looking blister on my right heel kept me from wanting to run and push it too hard, but it's nearly healed now).

Back 'home' now (seriously, do I even have a home?!?!?!) and will hopefully get some quality pool time in.

CaveWoman

I caved. I caved and bought an online training program for Ironman. Brad and I went half-sies on it so it is cheap, and maybe if I motivate myself enough I will actually follow it.

I'm down in Bloomington for a while, so training should be easier. It's weird, this feels like home. It's the strangest feeling ever. Wonderful at the same time, too. Wow.

Night Runner

All runs will be conducted at night. This has been decided because even after sleeping for 11-14 hours a night for 5 consecutive nights, I still can't get up before 10am to save my life.

Night runs, here we come!

Home, Home on the Range

I moved back into my parents' basement on Saturday and have spent the last few days unpacking and procrastinating further unpacking. Seriously, is there anything more frustrating than knowing you just graduated from college and have no where to go but your parents' basement? Oh well, c'est la vie. Time to man-up and make enough money so I can get outta here the second I get a big-girl-job.

In the meantime, it's time to train. Chooo choooo! It's nice being back home where it is exactly one mile around our block. Running at night is much more peaceful. This town has no crime (or so little that you'd never know), so running when it's dark out is soothing, not scary like it was at school. I can go out around my block and crank out 5-6-7 laps without wondering "Gee, I wonder how far I've gone?" Just count how many times I pass my house and whammy, I'm set for mileage.

Heather mentioned that when it comes to biking, I need to learn how to spin faster. I have the muscles for big gears and heavy turning, but with the wind the way it's been in Central Illinois, I'm getting nowhere. Time to work on spinning faster. Too bad I left my bike back at school (in a safe location), so I can only work on spinning faster when I go down there.

I'm volunteering at a Girls on the Run event on Kalamazoo, MI next Thursday, so that should be fun. My sponsorship with Goody (Team StayPut) asks that we volunteer at at least one GOTR event, and I chose this one because it's the closest to Chicago that doesn't fall on a date that I already have a race. Plus I can drive farther into Michigan and visit a good friend, too. Maybe she and I will go for a run like the good ol' days...

There's a 100mile bike ride on May 24th leaving Hudson, IL early in the morning. Hopefully I can make it back there for that ride. I'd like to start logging some longer miles right about now.

Well, for now I guess it's just running and waiting for the pool to open for swimming. WOWS (Wednesday Open Water Swims) would work, as long as I can make it to Bloomington for those, and the TNTT (Tuesday night time trials) will be fun as long as I can get down there for that, too. I'm starting to wish that I had rented an apartment for the summer down there. It'd probably be cheaper than the gas money I'm about to spend...