Sometimes You've Got To Bring It

What a week! I have to say it again, What a freakin week!

It was crazy, it was exhausting, it was exhilarating, and it was wonderful. Really, it was. It was one of those weeks where you know you accomplished a lot while actually attempting (and mostly succeeding) to get all your workouts in and still have energy to even call your friends or wash the dishes.

The crazy started with driving to Pittsburgh on Wednesday morning like a mad women (who always leaves late!) and arriving just 50 minutes prior to my talk to the 5th & 6th graders. I had one of my sponsors, John, from Washington Reprographics, helping me and I don't know what I would have done without him. We set up the bike and trainer, got 400 nutritious donuts out of boxes that had six donuts per box, set up the powerpoint and speakers, checked to make sure the video worked and I even had time to eat half of a sub and go to the bathroom prior to the talk!

The kids were really great. I forgot how excited I get to see them excited. The fifth graders listened intently hanging on every word and cheering and clapping at the appropriate times but promptly settled down. The sixth graders were a bit of a different story. It has to be the hormones starting to hit!! I would get them excited but then they would have a hard time not talking to each other for five minutes after so I would have to reel them back in ever time!

They loved the Hawaii video, and right now it has exclusive NBC footage spliced in so we have to remove that before posting anywhere. Soon, though, soon. I also spoke about not listening to negative comments that are bound to come any time you tell people that you want to dream big or shoot for a goal that seems high. I showed a picture of Scott Rigsby with his bottom half covered and said "he looks like a normal guy right, well, people told him he couldn't do the Ironman two years ago, and he did - as the first double amputee" - and somewhere in the middle I would remove the square covering his lower half. The kids were intrigued.

Secondly, I showed Ricky James, who was covered this year by NBC after a motor cross accident resulted in him no longer being able to use his legs. He competed in a specially made aero wheelchair and there was a child in a wheelchair in my first presentation. One little girl came up to me after everyone had left and told me she was very happy I showed that picture of the boy who competed in the wheelchair. I told her I was happy to show people overcoming adversity no matter the challenge, and she started to tear up as she said her brother was in a wheelchair. I almost lost it, but held it together (barely) until we hugged it out.

It was a great experience and I am so thankful they asked me to come back this year. I'll post pictures when the people who took them send them to me!

In other news, sometimes you have to BRING it. I felt I brought it that day at the talk, and I was excited about that, I brought it to my workouts this week and really did everything I could to nail them, and then yesterday I decided I was bringing spring with my outfit. My new favorite running outfit is bold, and bright and is going to bring on the nice weather..no doubt.

I have been waiting to wear the tights since CHRISTMAS (thanks Mom - I love them!).

I made this little gift for my sponsors this year and I have given one out so far, three to go. I hope they like it!

It's Friday, I have travel for work tomorrow but I am not going to let it get me down. To DC I go! Have a great weekend everyone and don't forget to BRING IT!

25 Things

I have to admit, I'm a bit of a facebook slacker. I haven't been taking loads of crazy trips or been riding by the ocean, so no riding pictures. I haven't been accepting everyones' "hey your my relative" or "please draw a sketch of me with pencil (or whatever it is" requests. I'm more of a "yes, I'll be your friend" and I will look at your pictures, but that's about the extent of it kind of person lately. I'm not sure if it's winter, or if I just only have enough TIME or ENERGY (ELF wrote a great blog on this, check it out) to do so many things, but either way..that's my deal.

I've probably gotten ten requests to do this 25 Things You Don't Know About Me List so I've made a deal with myself. I will do this, and I will post it both places...duel postings..efficiency.. now that, I am willing to do.

So here goes, 25 Things

1. I was a cheerleader, there, I said it. I'm sure for some of you this explains a lot.

2. Swimming was my most hated event, by far. It's now become bearable..barely!

3. I always say that saying "Few and Far between" backward. Dyslexia? maybe...who knows.

4. I love campfires, roasting marshmallows and the smell of fall...hummm..yummy.

5. I swam only breaststroke for my first swim portion of a triathlon. Luckily it was only 400m.

6. I have a coat fetish. I counted the other day, I have twelve. I know that is totally unacceptable considering people are without, four of them are being donated and 3 are going on ebay..soon, very soon.

7. My name is so long on my drivers licence (it includes my middle name) that it goes down to the next line and everyone at the airport always gives me a hard time thinking my middle is my last name..so annoying!

8. I plan on coaching something, somewhere, someday..so watch out.

9. I have my own business called "Trihard-racing" and I am in the process of developing a website to go with it. I will be doing taxes for it this year for the first time, and I have NO idea what I am doing.

10. I was Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz my Junior year of High School. My Dad flew in from CA just to see it.

11. This past weekend was the anniversary of when I sang a song in church and my Grandfather was there hearing me sing for the last time before he passed the following weekend. Man I miss him.

12. Triathlon allows me to do fitness modeling since we are all freakishly in shape most of the time. Which brings me to the point that you should never buy anything from TV since I don't use it, and yet am shown using it like it was the reason I built muscle/lost fat.

13. I love the smell of new books, like school books.

14. I took dance for 6 years from the ages of 6-12.

15. I flew on a plane for the first time by myself when I was 5, going out to see my Dad.

16. I was born in Mississippi.

17. I got into nutrition because I wanted to be a chiropractor.

18. I was a lifeguard for 4 years, every summer through college.

19. Kyle and I dated for 6 years before we got married.

20. Both my parents are PhDs and college professors (well, Mom's retired now)

21. I can't play any sports that involve co-ordination of any kind. Which is why I ran!

22. I still believe in Santa Claus (kidding, that one was for fun, I hope no kids under the age of 10 are reading this!)

23. I am a Christan

24. My favorite powergel flavor is Carmel

25. I can touch my nose with my tongue

Ok...does that help any?? I hope so. NO MORE REQUESTS for that. I seriously think I just saw something about a request for 25 things - how well you know your husband.. geezz..these just aren't going to stop are they! O well. That was fun..and not as hard as I thought.

In other news, my Nutrition/Fitness/Triathlon Talk is tomorrow (I messed up the date) so we have been busy working on that like crazy! I promise to post the video once it's done.

I just got some new sunglasses from Okley and I am really stoked about them! They are called Enduring and they come with a case that looks like a spaceship! Check em out!

Lastly, the workouts are going better. I was able to swim at Clarion last night and then again tonight so that helps. I did my first 3500m workout in the pool and that went well. Thanks for the comments about last weeks poop out. I guess we all have those and everyone made me feel much better that I did the right thing (even though I did feel that way when I left). It's nice to know others have been there too!

Wish me luck tomorrow! The good news is, no matter what, I probably know more than they do about nutrition (they are in 5th & 6th grade) so hopefully if I forget something, it won't be too bad!

A Big Fat DNF

Well, it rarely ever happens, but it happened last night. I DNF'ed my swimming workout. I know it was a combination of factors that brought me to that particular destination (and it usually is). However, as a legend in country music once said, "you've got to know when to hold em, know when to fold em." Well, I folded em, packed up my stuff, and went home.

Thursdays are my big day. Thursdays require swimming, biking and running but not necessarily in that order. Due to re-arrangements in the schedule this week because of house-closing etc. I had to throw a lift in there as well.. wow, I guess that was a big day.

In the morning I had no problem jumping on the trainer and completing my 1hr 15 min ride and then going for a 30 min easy run. I worked all day, and then got leaving a little later than planned for the gym. I found out Clarion University had shut down their pool due to PIAA (that's PA high school) basketball playoffs, so I was not going to be swimming over there in the evening. Fine, to Oil City YMCA it was. After a 30 minute drive, I arrived at the weight room and lifted, probably a bit harder than I should have, and by 7pm I was putting on my suit. Little did I know it was open swim by that point so the kids with noodles and pennies were out in full force. There was no lane set up at all, and I was at the whim of every giant ball thrown over in the far corner of the pool that required kids coming over and retrieving it. Hey - I love kids, and I completely understand that I was the one out of place there, not them. I just really wanted to complete this last workout of the week before my day off (only 2500, not too much to ask) and go home feeling good. Then two other gentlemen, doing something which I cannot say was called swimming, not sure what to call it, something else for sure, arrived to try and do whatever beside me. The one was wearing those cloth short shorts from the 70's that were completely nude colored so it looked like he was naked. A couple of times I would look over and go "WHAT THE..that guy has no clothes on!" Then I would realize once again, it's the shorts, no need to panic.

So, about 1700 into 200 warm up, (300 pull, 3 x 150) x 3, I started to fade. My arms were killing me, I had been hit or bumped one too many times, and the hot water was really starting to make me feel like I was going to throw up. I could feel my form breaking down and I wasn't getting much at all out of the workout except being very discouraged. So, I finished two of the three repeats of the main set, and got out of the water. I didn't even cool down because frankly, it was impossible at 86 degrees. I was trying not to cry as I stood in the shower, and I didn't because I decided it wouldn't do any good, that was for sure.

I don't care who you are, or where you live, every once in awhile, this happens. It's been happening a bit more than it used to in my cast (not the DNF, just getting discouraged) but I'm going to overcome adversity just like everyone did before me, and will after me. Sometimes packing it in is the right thing to do if nothing else can be gained from a particular workout and it's doing more harm than it is good. That was me last night, it was very clear, and I was done.

So, I'm going to chalk it up to just one of those things, and move on. It's Friday, I am happy about that and there will be much more training and good workouts to come, of that, I am sure.

Did anyone notice that Mark Allen himself commented on my blog. Wow.. how does that happen. Im not quite sure how he found me.. how cool though!!! I am famous. Ha.. totally kidding..

Have a great weekend everyone!

Come to Camp & No More House

Well, that's it. We moved everything out of that house on Sunday, I can't see our floor in most of the apartment, and we have a big fat check. I guess that means we closed. Whew..that feels good.

It was quite strange to be sitting right across ed the table from the new owners. The last time we closed it was all done remotely, we never saw anyone (which would explain why we didn't know anything, including where the septic tank was located when everything went Arye!). This time, we looked right at the couple, about our age, and signing their life away. After all we had been through with them in terms of negotiation, I wasn't sure I was crazy about them, but then again, they really did have the market in their favor so who can blame them either! The point is, it's done, and we only have ONE payment each month from now on! Yippee!

Well, just like Jr. High (except this time I doubt there will be late night toilet papering parties and singing at the campfire), I'm going to camp. That's right, camp. I know you know what I'm talking about as quite a few of us go to camp this time of year. This will be my first Mark Allen camp and I'm pretty excited about it. I have only heard good things about them and although I really did want to attend the Boulder camp, my pocket book only allowed me to do Washington, DC this year because it is within driving distance, and I have a very nice cousin who is letting me bunk for the weekend. Thanks Laurie! The dates are May 1-3 and the website to read more about it is http://www.markallenonline.com/luismaoDCcamp.htm. So, if you are interested in learning more and just training with some great athletes, check it out and sign up. It's not cheap, but I bet it will be worth it!!

In other news, the workouts have been going well and I'm into my third week of training so that feels good. I can start to see I am going to have to find a masseuse, as things are getting tight already!

This week will be very busy trying to put together the Hawaii video and planning my talk next Monday. We haven't even STARTED the video and it is now Wed. so needless to say, I'm going to start to stress if it doesn't happen soon.

Hope everyone is doing great!!

Closing, Closing, Closing...WOOO HHOOO!!

This is it. The final countdown has arrived. We sell that house on Monday. That's right.. I said MONDAY. At 9am we will be signing the paperwork and that will be it, people will have a new house, and we will not be paying for TWO places for the time being. The house was nice to us (well, sometimes, for those of you who remember the septic tank issue, oh, and the heater issue), and now it will be out of our hair!!

In other news, it's Valentines day, so all you sweethearts enjoy! We are going away (not sure where...so that is pretty cool) for the weekend and I am looking forward to some R & R. This morning I got on my trainer for a two hour jaunt and my legs were TIRED from a full week of training plus quite a bit of time since my last day off. I had a terriable time even pushing hard enough to get my heart rate up in the zones where it needed to be for most of the ride. Finally, in the final 45 minutes I started to get up where I normally am. It must have been the good tunes.

I was thinking again today about why I do triathlons and why I like them so much. I had lunch with a family member and friend and it always gets me thinking about things when I'm with people who have such a strong sense of self. My Aunt is like that and it really emanates from her. It's like a beacon of light streaming out from her core, and I love being around people like that, people who know who they are, what they enjoy, why they do what they do. It's so refreshing. I like people who break from the norm, and aren't afraid to buck the system if they feel like it is the right thing for them.

I heard a series of quotes last night from a hunting show (I know, go figure) that really made sense to me. He said "Although I love the destination, it's really about the journey, I love using the skills that God has given me and when the elements come together, if I'm adequately prepared both physically and mentally, I actually have the opportunity to achieve greatness, just for a few moments. When I learn about these things, and understand how they work, I can share them with others as they begin their journey, and both of us are the better because of it."

Obviously, that was a bit of paraphrasing, but it got to the jist of things. It was quite profound for the typical hunting show (yes, I watch A LOT of these things). I have to say I agreed with the man.

I also love triathlon because of the people that are brought together because of it, people that I would have never met otherwise. For example, all the bloggers (what a cool group), my friends in the Pittsburgh area, my Mark Allen team and even a good friend of mine from Michigan who I met in St. Croix last year.

We instantly hit it off. I have to say Jim is one of the nicest, and spunkiest people that I've met thus far and will probably ever meet again. His attitude is one of gratefulness to just be out there and he takes everything in such stride that it reminds me not to take myself or even the sport too serious. He always signs his emails, "your loving geriatric friend" which cracks me up every time.

He's actually very competitive in his age group (I won't say it on here, but if you want to find it, be my guest), going to championship races such as Hawaii and Clearwater last year.

Jim is just a wonderful human being and we've stayed in touch every since May of last year. I saw him again at Steelhead 70.3 this past year and I hope to bump into him again this year. What a guy! I'm so thankful we met!! Once again, another reason why I just love the sport and the people who are in it alongside me!!

Jim and I at Steelhead August 2008

I hope he doesn't mind me putting the pics up. He calls blogging "allowed stalking." So true my friend, so true. Have a great weekend everyone!

Fully Loaded

I am a bar-a-holic. Powerbars, protein bars, and every other type of bar you can imagine, I love them. There, I said it. It's out, and I think that is the first step to recovery isn't it?

Kidding! I do love bars though. So freakin convenient! At the beginning of every week some people pack their lunch, I pack my TYR bag and car with ample bars in different baggies so I can eat in the shower. WHAT! Did that just come out on my blog. Ok, I guess for those of you who didn't already think I was a crazy women, I'm sure you do now.

Here's the thing. Let's say I swim from 6:30pm-7:45pm or so. My last meal was between noon and one and maybe a snack around 4pm. So, I am in desperate need of a real meal by the time that swim is over! On my way to the shower I grab a bar, take a few bites and then leave it outside the shower in it's wrapper on the bench until I'm ready for the next few bites. Shampoo, grab the bar, take a few more bites, rinse...you get my drift. Anyway, so I don't technically eat it right in the shower, but I do chew in the shower because I am SO dang hungry and I can't wait. A protein powerbar hits the spot and gets me through until dinner.

How do I keep all these Powerbars organized, well, let me show you. I have a system! I bought the most perfect organizer at Wal-mart a few years ago and I love it!

The first two drawers are all about gels. My favorites are chocolate and Carmel so I stock up on those pre-season so I am ready to eat pounds of it during the year. Yummy..ha!

Myoplex is kept in drawer three! With 60 grams of protein it helps a girl who doesn't eat much meat recover after a long morning of workouts!

Powerbar Smoothie bars are fairly new and they completely grew on me! They have four different flavors and they really are delicious! I like to have them about an hour pre-workout or immediately after if it wasn't a long workout or a lift so I don't need serious protein ASAP.

Powerbar Protein Plus are wonderful products to have within 30-40 minutes after a series of hard endurance workouts or after a lift. I might do Myoplex in the morning and then something like this after swimming at night so I can make it to dinner without killing anyone.

Finally, Powerbar Recovery bars are a nice product for after a workout as well. They have less protein than the Protein Bars, but still a nice mix of protein and carbohydrates to get you fueled up for the next day and replenish your glycogen stores (carbohydrate stores). They taste like candy bars, so I always feel like I'm cheating when I have one!!

I'm thankful to be on the Powerbar Elite Team and have access to these products, but luckily, they are available to help any athlete who, like me, is always on the go and needs to eat immediately after workouts so he/she can function in society (just ask my mother, any time I get a bit snippy she'll say "Kim, when was the last time you've eaten, you need to eat!")

From one bar-a-holic to all my comrades out there, I hope my explanation of how I use the bars has helped! Thank you for sponsoring me Powerbar - YOU ROCK! I love bars and I can't help it!

Welcome to the Jungle

Definition of the Jungle - mysterious, adventurous, and you'd better have your game face on because it will eat you alive if you're not prepared.

It's time to get back to tri training (aka "the jungle") in full force and I couldn't be more ready. The pool situation is all but worked out (oh - by the way, "the age groupers" are all under 4 ft tall, and between 7-12 years old! I am proud to say I am finally too fast to swim with them, so I had my own lane!). It was a weekend of fun and games, and getting back into training which always makes me feel good.

Kyle was working out of town at the Eastern Outdoors Show in Harrisburg, PA from Friday until Sunday night. This year he will be co-hosting a show called Wired Outdoors that will air thirteen episodes in conjunction with the PA Sportsman's Portal website. If you're into hunting, or fishing, or are just plain curious, he is one of their main writers so go check it out!

With him gone all weekend, what better thing to do than to head out of town and keep busy seeing friends, eating great food and swim, bike, run! I headed to Pittsburgh on Friday night to stay at our almost sold house that contains little more than a bed, a table and a few curtains (and absolutely NO FOOD-which is so not cool for someone who is virtually always hungry and in need of drinks and food on hand 24/7). After a restless nights sleep, I headed to a new fellow Mark Allen Teammate, Chad and his wife Jen's house for an 8am trainer ride. Yes, we wanted to go outside (it was supposed to get into the 40's on Saturday but later, say afternoon), but we also wanted to ride early and it was still a little under thirty degrees when I arrived. We bit the bullet, set up and hopped on while watching spinervals. Heidi, another cool fellow trichick in Pittsburgh, was also there with her very cutely accented pink bike! I decided I needed a signature color after I saw that - I just don't trick my bike out enough so TBC on that one!

It is amazing how fast the time goes when you are chatting away with other people. All the usual topics were covered "Where are you racing this year, how's training, what do you eat on the bike, favorite races, funny stories about family pre-race." It was so refreshing to chat with people who don't get totally bored and roll their eyes at my choice of tri topics! Before I knew it, two hours was up and I was covered in sweat but a very happy girl!!!

Here's where it gets crazy. I drove the 45 minutes back to the gym in Cranberry, swam from 12:00-1:00pm, got ready and headed to Panera (can you say - I LOVE YOU PICK TWO) and then went next door for a massage (which was much needed!). My girl was good, but it wasn't Keith (who is my 6'5" 250 lb masochist masseuse of choice, but who was booked all day).

September 2008 - Keith and I post massage, (which is why I look so out of it!)

I proceeded to head home, nap and then get ready and have Sushi at my favorite restaurant Taipei. Megan, a great friend from my YMCA masters swim team at Pitt, accompanied me and we had a wonderful time eating spicy tuna that allowed me to breath fire later in the evening. Luckily, there was wine to cool it down!

Then it was another 40 minute drive to Bridgeville, which is South of the city, to visit my workmate Tamie for girls night. I slept on a couch and realized I am not in college anymore, these things hurt the closer you get to the big 3-0.

On Sunday I went to the park and ran 10 miles. It was my best run to date due to the nice weather, good tunes and my heart rate was great allowing me to run a pace that I was pretty pleased with for this time of the year. I bumped into some more friends from the YMCA and ran with them for half a mile or so. It's so fun running into people that are also active and doing thing I like to do as well. It's nice to share those things, and I wished all the bloggers lived closer so we could do train more often!

I packed up more of the house before I left and we have yet to know if we are really going to close on the 16th of February which could make for an insane this week getting everything out. The rest of Sunday was busy and productive and I was thankful for some great time with friends and some great training.

I am 19 weeks and 6 days from my first A race, Buffalo Spring Lake 70.3. I started my peak performance training plan with Mark Allen today so as Monday now goes, a 30 min run, lifting this AM and then 3000 yards tonight. Did I mention that I love the jungle?

My @$$ is on fire and my eyelashes are frozen

I think I just might have come up with the most interesting title of my blog to date. Now, how to explain it.

I'll start with the first part. Here's the deal, lately, I've been dreaming bigger. I'm not sure what the fuel is (well I have some ideas), but it's been happening. Little things just keep happening that are pushing me in a certain direction and I want to get out there, personally, and professionally.

For example, yesterday I decided that as a dietitian I want to start honing my media skills and forming relationships with those in media to provide a streamlined and accurate message to the public. I'm not sure exactly what this means yet, but I know that this is something I can do if I put some focus to it. I started off by contacting our local paper and letting them know that I was a registered dietitian in the area, and that I would be available to pitch stories, provide quotes and resources, and be interviewed on certain topics. They already replied..wow..holy cow, I guess I have to really do this now.

In addition, I've decided I would like to become more skilled in sports nutrition and would like to attend some conferences this year to support this area of my professional repertoire. I don't have a ton of time, but I think it's important, and I'm going to do it. Eventually, I would like to start doing more nutrition counseling and my clients will be well versed in the area of nutrition as athletes. If this is the case, I've got to up my game from the local talks I've been giving to different teams. I need to create new materials and get a solid presentation together.

Lastly in professional area, wellness has now become a huge area among corporations. I will be attending another speakers talk on this issue later in the month and I am excited to see how she incorporate wellness with the ultimate goal of decreasing health care costs for the company. Better eating habits, more exercises, less stress = lower health care bills for the company, and that's just the facts.

On the personal side, Kyle and I are going to begin working on the Hawaii video (so excited, we have over 10 hours of footage so there is muchos work to be done). We will be putting it to music and voice over and I can't wait to see how it turns out. I'm working with someone on a website which I suspect will be up by April or May at the latest. Finally, I've got to start working on my motivational speaking/nutrition talks to both kids and adults. I want to get some presentations developed that can be used all over the country. Finding some causes and things to help out with while I'm doing that will be important as well. I can't let all my secrets/ideas out yet, but I have some and it's really fun to be thinking about how I can help others while doing something I love (aka triathlon) at this stage of the game.

So, I guess you could say the fire is burning, it's the beginning of the year and I had better start writing down some goals and then breaking it down into action steps or this is going to get out of hand. Sometimes I bite of more than I can chew (can you tell!!) so I only have to do all this while working 40 hours a week and training. If it's important though, it can be done.

In the area of eyelashes, it was DANG COLD this morning. I biked for an hour on the trainer, and jammed out to my new favorite song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UX0p7uAW2s

and then I ran for 40 minutes outside. Forty minutes is usually a walk in the park, but when it's below zero, it becomes a different animal. I wore a face mask, but it was so cold it started to freeze in the shape of my face. The hot air from my breath combined with the sweat dripping from my forehead condensed on my eyelashes making little balls of ice. I've never had that happen before and I kept blinking thinking they would come off but they didn't! I wanted to take a picture but I couldn't find my camera in time, they melted within minutes of being inside! It was crazy!

Tonight - swimming with the "age group" crew at Clarion University. I'm a bit scared, ok..not really, they can't be that fast right??! I am more excited to swim with other people who like to actually swim and not have kids hit me with noodles in a 86 degree pool. That HAS to help my swimming cause which has been stinking it up since I stopped training for Ironman! Wish me luck!

A Night With Scott Rigsby

Last night I was fortunate enough to be able to attend a presentation given by Scott Rigsby. Some of you may remember his successful trip to Kona in 2006 when he became the first double amputee to ever complete the Ironman.

These days, he travels all over the country speaking to children, adults, veterans, athletes and corporations. His message is simple, do the unthinkable. His story is remarkable, not because of the tragedy to triumph, but more because of the way he views his life and the new meaning that has been injected by fulfilling his purpose and plan. He has a way of giving hope to others, without certain body parts or completely whole that gives you confidence that even out of what some may consider the worst of situations, good certainly can come.

I particularly liked his quote about operating on faith means to take the first step on a staircase that you cannot see. I did that last year, and I'm about to do it again. In fact, some days I think I do it on a day by day or even hour by hour basis.

Scott was just a down right nice guy and a genuine and sincere human being who cared above all else that people put away their fear and attempted something, anything, that was a challenge. I really appreciate what people like this can do in our world. It is truly a gift and I am so glad they choose to use it.

He was willing to take a picture with me before heading out so that was wonderful. Hats off to you my friend and thank you for sharing your story.