This is me, following through.....

Second day in a row of blogging!! What is consuming my thoughts right now is the new ant farm. I am pretty uneasy about it to be honest, and it is completely distracting me from getting anything done. As soon as I sit down to write or work or anything I hear "Oh no, the ants are loose...." I made the rule that the ant farm HAS to stay outside. I just can't handle it, my anxiety is through the roof, and I am ant paranoid.

I took my bike in for a tune up and the guy called today; she is ready to be picked up!! Yeay!! The downside of this story is when I dropped her off his reaction was, "You're going to ride THIS in a TRI??" She is a hybrid, but still heavy for a road race. I am choosing not to spend hundreds, maybe a thousand dollars on a road bike, so yeah, I am riding her in a tri. He fixed her up for me, so hopefully she is a little faster and smoother.

I went for a little run after work today and felt pretty darn good. No aches or pains today, impressive! I will hit the pool after soccer practice tonight, I still love the pool, love love love the pool. I am focusing more on stretching before, during, and after I swim. It has made all the difference.

Happy Hump Day, Happy Cinco De Mayo, Happy everything!

Inside all of us is HOPE.

Haaaaave you missed me??

Seriously, I am sorry. My dad called the other day and reminded me that I have this blog, and maybe, just maybe I might want to update it. Then this morning Rach reminded me that I haven't posted anything..... Gotcha Gotcha. Then my friend Ethan shared a blog, so I did the ever famous blog stalking and was inspired to blog. There you have it, it's me. I'm back. Let me fill you in....

Okay, I left you over a month ago. In that month I have had some highs and lows, but mostly highs. The lows I faced began with my hip. It is always my hip isn't it? I am in recovery, and I phrase it like that because in all honesty I am months away from being fully recovered. Between the Chiropractor, The Body Sculpture, and the friendly advice from the P.A. Ryan that I swim with I do believe I am moving forward. Most importantly I have had to take it easy. By that I mean I have laid off the running, and that my 'bleaders' (blogers+readers) is a huge problem. For me, because as all know I am a bad runner. What I managed to do was EFX, Bike, and Swim. I started running again just recently and am a little behind where I should be. Okay, a lot behind where I should be. My saving grace is that my swimming is beyond where I hoped it would be. My biking? Eh, of average. I have 6 ish weeks, and need to continue to move forward but not over do it.

The other major low I was hit with has been a shoulder injury. Brent (my body sculpture) fixed me up pretty well, so I only missed one night of swimming from that. I believe it is one of my 4 rotator cuffs, and probably needs to be rested to fully heal! . But onward I press.

The highs? The biggest high is not how far I can push myself though maybe it should be??? but rather the current changes I have seen in my physique. I have not lost any weight, but rather gained close to 8 pounds. How is that a high? Well, my body fat % has dropped quite a bit. I am shaving off fat and building muscles. Ahhh, yeah, this is what I have been desiring. Best part? I can see the definition, and it feels good. I though about taking some photos to show you guys, but changed my mind. Not yet. You will see more of my body than your eyes can handle on June 27th at the Tri. I promise you that. Or just ask, I am not modest. Most of you can attest to that already.

So, things are good. Moving forward and that is better than stagnant, or backwards, so I will take it.

And of course, Thank You. What do I mean by that? I mean I couldn't do it with you. Who is that directed at? Everyone. This journey has improved so many aspects of my life. And everyone has been part of it. You all have pushed me, encouraged me, called me out on my bullshit, loved me, hated me, hugged me, and bought me presents. Thank You.

More to come, I will try to be better about blogging. I will put up some pictures. My crazy fivefinger shoes, maybe even my calves..... Nothing makes me smile or blush like someone complimenting me on them.

Inside all of us is HOPE.

Finally, a running partner.

I found a running partner, after months of searching. Yesterday we ran a mile together, and today we ran almost two. Here's today's story.....

This story takes place in the trails along Globe Mill Pond behind the community center. They are very very beautiful if you have never been there. The trail is 1 miles out, and then one mile back, the entire time along the water.

Bren: "Okay, when I clap my hands that means run, and you need to run until I clap them again. That means stop."

Me..... running.....

Bren: "Did you hear my hands? Did you hear them clap? Do you have your listening ears on?"

Me..... running.....

Bren walking with a walking stick: "Now, you run when I wave my stick"

Me......running.......

Truth of the matter is, I think my new running partner, yeah, my 4 year old running partner just out ran me. And yelled at me the entire time.

And that is how the story went. But at least I have someone to run with. And he is cute. And charming. And my boy.

Happy Spring!

I am lovin this beautiful weather, that I promise you! I have been doing a bit of biking since the warm front came through, and it has reminded me how much I enjoy riding a bike. I am also promoting for my work Nation Ride you Bike to Work Day and the combination of the two has gotten me motivated to bike more. I remember the summer we tried to drive as little as possible. Does anyone remember this? Chris was home from work all summer with a shoulder injury so we decided to track our gas usage and bike to as many places as possible. Every Saturday we biked downtown to market, we biked the bikes to and from school, we biked to the grocery store even. It was pretty amazing, and this was back in the day when Bren was in bike trailer so we were hauling him around. Granted it was nice to have the trailer because you could put your groceries right in the trunk of it, but it was heavy!

I want to try something similar this spring. It isn't feasible to bike Bren to school because it is in a different town, and there is a time frame to consider there, but perhaps we need to go back to biking instead of driving on all the little trips. I'm game. I just need to drop my bike off for a spring tune up and I am ready to roll.

*Ride your bike to work day is Friday May 21, 2010 by the way!

I swam 2600 meters Monday night and it was killer, but in a good way. I need to lift real quick tonight after soccer and I should be set on lifting for the week. I am not going to swim tonight because we have soccer for B and volleyball for P, and that is enough for me. The pool is closed all next week so I am going to try to get to the Christian Family Center to swim a few night, any takers on joining me? It might actually be fun.

I am headed out to run in a few minutes, the day is too pretty to not to, right?

The Acres 5K is coming up..... The question is, will I be ready to NOT embarrass myself??

Ouch!

Yes, ouch. I am hurting. Hurt-in-g. I think, perhaps, just maybe, I over did it last night. The story of my life, right? Wow. I struggled to even put on a shirt today my shoulders hurt so bad. Don't worry, I managed to dress myself before going to work, thank you.

I met Trina and Joan at the gym to work out. I needed someone to push me, hold me accountable, bribe me, anything really. I hadn't lifted in 12 days. I did both arms and legs. Thankfully my legs feel great. On the flip side of that, my arms, mostly just my shoulders, are killing me. It was, I am certain, a combination of lifting and the busting my butt swimming.

I tried to keep pace with Mr. Carlson again, and he is so fast. Instead of counting how many meters I was swimming I just counted how many ahead of me he was. He always swims 1500 meters and leave at 8:45. I am usually far enough behind that I can finished my 1500 by 8:55. With out him I would need an abacus set up at the each end. For the life of me I can not count how many laps I do. My mind races and darts around from topic to topic, losing track of all things other than my breathing. And trying to remember to kick. I can't believe how often I forget to kick. That is probably why my shoulders hurt so bad, they do most of the pulling.

I, of course, swam with Teresa and Ashley. What would I ever do with out them? My breaks are so boring when I swim alone.

Today I went for a quick little run through the 'hood with the little man ahead of me on his bike. Encouraging me Screaming at me to hurry up. It was a good run, I am glad I did it, but it was not fast. Not at all fast. I have so much work ahead of me....

Apologies all around...

When I started this blog I apologized, knowing full well that I was a bad blogger. I am sorry for not updating since my vacation. But seriously folks, I just got back 5 days ago, and had to spend my weekend with my friends. I did nothing that resembled exercise until yesterday.

My motivation for all this training has dwindled, but I am working on getting it back. Yesterday I biked even though it was a little chilly. I forgot how much I like to bike, and THAT I believe has motivated me.

The UNDY 500 is in less than a month and aside from being a bad runner and not having the stamina to run a 5k at this point, I DON'T HAVE ANY COOL UNDERPANTS TO RUN IN. My focus should be on the training, but you know it is not.

My plan this week is to rock the gym every day except for Tuesday. Tuesday I am going to get a little body sculpting done (I hope), and detox from the most amazing vacation ever, and in all honestly, the most amazing weekend in a long time. Detoxing.

Tonight? Lifting and pool. I can't wait to lift again. I haven't lifted in 2 weeks, and the thought of lifting has me motivated to the point where I want to sneak down to the Fitness Connection RIGHT NOW!! I could lift in my khaki's right? Tempting, but no. After the big Math Club show at the High School the rest of my night will be lifting and swimming.

Here is my vacation movie. I can't help it, I like to make movies, and had such a good time.

I'm trying to put together a workout plan for Spring Break at the Christian Family Centre, anyone interested in putting the kids in day care and working out?

A quickie

Hey folks! Greeting from the Virgin Islands! I see many of you are checking this daily, so I apologize for the lack of posting while on vacay, but ya know, I'm on vacation!

I have a bunch of pictures that I make into a movie, probably while chilling in the airport on my way home. But none the less, expect some pictures late next week. If you are dying for some pics, you can go here and see some.... http://www.flickr.com/photos/featherweatherk/sets/72157623607126626/

I have found a wonderful work out while here on Charlotte Amalie. Aside from the insane amount of hill walking we do that is. (seriouslt INSANE amount of walking daily mostly on steep inclines while toting my 4 year old!) I have been swimming in the ocean with a 60 pound 4 year old on my back. Seriously. He hold onto my bathing suit straps llike they are reigns, wears his water wings and bosses me around. I pretty much can only do the breast stroke in this condition, but that is a wonderful shoulder workout! The bouyency in the salt water makes having a kid on your back a lot easier that fresh water, a lot! We have been eating and a drinking a lot of fruit. Fresh fruit! Yum! Papayas grown rampandly here and taste wonderful blended with local bananas and local rum. You can get this mixture all over. With out the rum for a kid, of course!

I have done a little running, a little swimming, and a lot fo walking. And honestly a lot fo relaxing, but again, that's what vacations are for!

I will catch you up soon, I promise!