Marathon Couch Surfing

Today is a 7-mile run. It looks to me, like it might be a treadmill run. With snow and rain on it's way, I'll go rock it out and enjoy the indoor elements and fantasize about running down a long winding trail with trees and blue skys and not a soul in sight. :)

The Lincoln Marathon is May 3, 3009. If you are running or are interested in running and need a place to stay, I have 3 couches and lots of floor space. How cool would that be? Here is a link to the Lincoln Marathon site, however it is not updated for the 2009 race other than stating the date. My husband, who is my sherpa, would take very good care of us!

Tomorrow I officially start my cycling training program so I'm meeting with my coach today to set up a plan of action. I don't have any racing goals, yet, cause I've never raced a road bike before only toured, so why am I doing this? I did some mountain bike racing a couple years ago and loved it! So, why not try road racing. My goal is to train the right way through all the training periods: base, periodization, peak, race, transition and to build strength and speed on the bike. Challenge is on!

Hope everyone had a great Holiday!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I like running because it's a challenge. If you run hard, there's the pain ~ and you've got to work your way through the pain. You know, lately it seems all you hear is 'Don't overdo it' and 'Don't push yourself.' Well, I think that's a lot of bull. If you push the human body, it will respond.

~ Bob Clarke, Philadelphia Flyers general manager, NHL Hall of Famer

Bigger, Faster, Stronger!

"You Can Never Be Too Strong!"
~ General George Patton

First semester of 7th grade is soon coming to an end and, my son John, 12 yrs old, claims he has armpit hair, one or two curly ones on his bizzles and needs to shizzle hizzle fizzle [shave his face]. So, where do the muscles fit in? If you got hair, you gotta have muscle. Right?!? [I still don't see any hair, lol]

John is dedicated to his sports and becoming a top notch athlete, and is now eager to hit the weight room. So, I ordered the BFS Readiness Program for junior high athletes, $79. BFS has developed six training principles called “Absolutes” that teach effective and perfect technique, not only in the weightroom but also in any sport which will give him a BIG head start into high school. My brothers were exceptional high school and college athletes and my dad claims it was because of the BFS program.

I now have the Bigger, Faster Stronger (BFS) racks, lifts, bench, setup in my basement [that my brothers used in the late 80's] to aid us in the process of John's journey to getting bigger, faster and stronger [regardless of where the hair grows]. Here is a cap of the program he will do:

1. Lift ~ 3x week
2. Speedwork ~ 2x week
3. Flexibility ~ 6x week
4. Plyometrics ~ 2x week

WOW! I may use this program to get stronger and faster. I think I'll skip the bigger part. I'm not fast, never have been, never will be, I'll always be a long distance runner. Beyond my track coach in high school {when I despised running!}, I have never had a running coach. Hence, I have never really been taught how to run?!? BFS Speedwork focuses on getting faster so here is the BFS Sprint Technique System direct from their website. I'm going to pay close attention to his with my marathon training speedwork:

One of the keys to the BFS Speed Training program is the BFS Sprint Technique System. The system consists of the following eight techniques that should be emphasized during sprinting:

1. Your head should be upright
2. Your eyes should be fixed, looking straight ahead
3. Your toes should point straight ahead
4. Your back should be upright and slightly arched
5. Your shoulders should rotate vigorously, with the elbows fixed at 90 degree angles
6. Your wrists should stimulate a whip action as the shoulders rotate back
7. Your feet should make the initial plant directly under the hips, not out in front of the body
8. Your forward leg should initially lift forward, not up. The lower leg should hang before planting with the foot and toes up. Your back knee should extend fully on the follow-through, or end-of-the-leg drive

I guess it's never to late to learn how to run and if I'm lucky and persistent, this will benefit my running goals.

Tonight I have sprints to do - how ironic - 8x200 and I'm teaching two 45-min spin classes. Weights is on the agenda, but not sure I will get it done. Hope everybody has a great day preparing for a FANTASTIC Thanksgiving! Run on!

It's HAMMER Time!

WOW! Check all this gear out. I paid a total of $50 {that includes $8 s/h). WOOT! WOOT! I ordered the cycling jersey {$22} and cycling shorts {$20} and they threw in the rest for FREE. I'm thinking you all need to go check out what they have on special over at Hammer Nutrition.

I was very pleased with the customer service and the cycling gear is awesome. Fit's perfect and very comfortable to wear. I'll definitely be shopping at Hammer Nutrition more often.

If you decide to place an order you can save 15%. Comment and I'll get you the details.

Don't forget to check out the Virtual Run Across America and A Shirt That Races blog for any updates. Run on!

Tonight is weights and a 3 mile run. Lookin' to rock it out on the treadmill. :D

Have a great day!

Blackberry Advice

My 2 yr contract is up [actually it's been 3] with one of those monopolizing wireless phone carriers [Alltel] and I'm looking at upgrading my phone. I've narrowed it down to the Blackberry Pearl 8130 ~ $49 {red - on the right} or the Blackberry Curve ~ $99 {red - on the left}.

Anybody have any advice on either phone? I need to decide by midnight tomorrow [November 24] because they are running a "no activation fee" so that's $25 I can spend on running stuff. :D Run on!

Thanks peeps, your awesome! Have a great Monday.

$1.64 A Gallon

We hopped on over to Omaha last night for dinner at Nicola's, a quaint, romantic italian restaurant. After a wonderful dinner and sipping wine with Mr. McRib, my biking peep Don and his wife Donna, I noticed the local gas prices across the street. I can now fill my tank for $30 and get a french vanilla cappuccino to warm my body in this frigid weather vs. $75 and no cappuccino. Life is getting better! ahaha

If you run 100 miles a week, you can eat anything you want -- Why? Because
(a) you'll burn all the calories you consume,
(b) you deserve it, and
(c) you'll be injured soon and back on a restricted diet anyway.
~ Don Kardong

Don't forget to check out the Virtual Run Across America and A Shirt That Races blog for any updates. Run on!

T.G.I.F. Photo Friday

John (my son) shot a nontypical 8x6 buck with 2 drop tines last Sunday (left one). He was stoked!


Have a photo to sure? Because today is: thank goodness it's friday pic day. Every friday until the end {whenever that may be} is designated T.G.I.F. Photo Day. If you'd like to participate/share, send me an email: nikemomof2[at]gmail[dot]com OR comment and I will link to your tgif pic. oh happy friday.]

T.G.I.F. Links

Pat
Marci
Michelle
Marlene
Danica
Stacey

Run like hell and get the agony over with.
~Clarence DeMar

p.s. Don't forget to check out Virtual Run Across the U.S. and A Shirt That Races for any updates. If you would like to an author to the blog, send me an email at nikemomof2[at]gmail[dot]com.

Have a great day peeps!

I'm in Love with COOL WHIP!

Yes its true. I'm guilty, and I love it~ :) Cool whip is one of my weakness. The first thing I do when I wake up is brew some Kenya AA coffee. I add a little sugar free carmel flavoring and top it off with a big ol' pile of cool whip. I'm set for the day. Well, not yet. :D That first cup is poured around 5:30am. Keyword "first". My second cup, with another mound of cool whip is poured around 7:15am, right before I walk out the door. At this point, I know I'm going to have a good day! [smiling]

Yesterday was a no workout day. :( I had an eye appointment and then I was headed to the YMCA to run, do weights, and bike [triple threat]. The doc dialated my eyes. There was no way I could run on the treadmill without looking like a drunk [the drink of dialation] or see the # of pounds on the weights so I went home. I could barely drive. It was kinda scary. I spent the rest of the evening tits up on the couch. Tonight is now tagged triple threat night.

Have a great day! I'll catch up with you peeps later. Run on!

My feeling is that any day I am too busy to run is a day that I am too busy.

~John Bryant

Totally Useful Running Products

As a runner, I have all sorts of gadgets and running gear to make my life easier and of course look like I'm creative when I run. If it's going to make me look and feel good creating an easier transition at 4:30 in the morning then I gotta have it. Some things are just a necessity in life and anything to do with running is "in" as far as I'm concerned.

Last night I was writing my Dear Santa letter because the largest shopping day is around the corner and I want to make sure my family and Santa know exactly what to get me. After lots of pondering and exploration, I came up with the following products which I know have the potential of enhancing my day to day routine and making life easier like my running gadgets and gear do. So here's my list:

Shree Yantra

The yantra pick up particular cosmic ray waves emitted by the planets and other universal objects and transform them into constructive vibrations. These are then transmitted to the surroundings where the Shri Yantra is placed, thus destroying all destructive forces within the vicinity. Hey, nothing getting in the way of my running now!

Automated Ice Cream Cone
I LOVE ice cream. I could eat it by the buckets. When I'm tired from a run or bike ride and need to do some post workout carb reloading, I could just pull out this handy dandy automated ice cream cone and I can rest while I eat. What a concept.

Earthbound Dog Tag
This dog tag will allow me to always be able to locate earth and communicate the location of earth from anywhere in space. Never know when aliens may attack on a run! Nanu Nanu

Duster Cat Slippers
The dusters fit on the cats paws and they dust the floor while walking around the house. Frees up time for more running! p.s. ask for a cat for birthday

Reserve a spot in heaven
Heaven is running out of space and it's a money back guarantee. [wonder how that works] p.s. you can also reserve a spot in hell as well. Never know when I may get attacked by a cow. Beam me up Scotty!

Japanese Face Slimmer

This gadget will slim down your face through constant compression and sauna. SCHEW! No more face muscle exercises. Wonder if I could wear this while I was running.

There you have it peeps, my Christmas Wish List. Have a great day! Don't forget to give me some info if you are going to participate in the Virtual Run Across America OR if you want to participate in the Shirt That Races (gentlemen, I'm still working out the man's version of a shirt). Comment or drop me an email: nikemomof2[at]gmail[dot]com.

RUN ON!

The greatest pleasure in life,

is doing the things people say we cannot do.
-- Walter Bagehot

Quote of the Day

Some people create with words, or with music, or with a brush and paints. I like to make something beautiful when I run. I like to make people stop and say, "I've never seen anyone run like that before." It's more then just a race, it's a style. It's doing something better then anyone else. It's being creative.
~ Author Unknown

I found this quote quite intriguing. :D

Last night I had a rockin' treadmill run. Pushed some intervals at an 8 mile pace. My goal is to get to an 8:30/mile pace for the Lincoln 1/2 marathon so I'm digging out the intervals now so when my official training plan starts in Feb, I'm that much further ahead. I'm also down 2% on my body fat and down one pound body weight. WOOT WOOT! 145lbs, 29% body fat.

Have a great day!

NEW BLOG! Virtual Run Across America

Go check it out! It's fresh, it's lean, but lots of great things will be added as we go along.

Virtual Run Across America

Anyone and everyone can participate. You can run one state, ten states or all the states. No matter what distance you choose, I would like to post your picture in a roster on the sidebar with your picture and a link to your blog. What does this mean? Yes, I need a picture of you (recent) with your blog link and a short ditty of why you are participating.

The kickoff date is still out there, but I'm thinking January 1, 2009. This will give everyone time to take a holiday break [from running? are you kidding?!? haha] and time for the route to be plotted across the states.

Let's get ready to RUN!!!!

“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way
to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work.
And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.
If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking, and don’t settle.
As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.“
~ Steve Jobs

A Shirt That Races + Lot's More!

I want to give thanks and kudos to all the women that have worn The Shirt That Races! Runners Rock!

I believe we're off to a great start. Keep spreading the word by putting a plug in your blog. The available races over the winter may be few and far between, but this is the time to prepare and plan for the 2009 season. Once you know when your race is, comment or send me an email to nikemomof2[at]gmail[dot]com and I'll get you hooked up. I can also link you with a state even if your not sure of your race yet.

I'm getting some interest in a Virtual Run Across the U.S. WOOT!! WOOT!! Because I lack the programming capabilities, I'm going to set up a blog to document our travels. If anyone is interested in helping me do this let me know. Those of you have requested plotting the path across your state, start plotting. We'll have to coordinate so we can hook one state to the next. Stay tuned as the details and blog progress.

Other Notes:
I taught spin class this morning and had designed an intense workout. For all of you who teach spin or spin at home and are bored with your workouts, try this, I guarantee you'll be a sweaty, exhausted human being when you are done. The class loved the workout as it challenged them into a higher level of intensity. If you have any questions about the workout, comment or email me at nikemomof2[at]gmail[dot]com.

60min
Mountain Road Loop

Warm-Up
5 min ~ Seated Flat (natural cadence)
3 min ~ Standing Climb 60rpm
4:30 min ~ 1 min Seated Flat 110rpm; 30 sec Standing Quick Jog (repeat 3x)
1:30 min ~ Seated Flat on natural cadence

Rolling Hills ~ Repeat 4x
1 min ~ Seated Flat 110rpm
:30 sec ~ Seated Flat, increase resistance still running 110 rpm
1 min ~ Standing Climb 60rpm
:30 sec ~ Standing Quick Jog

Rolling Hills
3 min ~ Seated Flat 100-110rpm
1 min ~ Standing Quick Jog
1 min ~ Jumps
3 min ~ Seated Flat 110rpm
1 min ~ Seated Climb 80rpm
1 min ~ Seated Climb Sprint from 80rpm
3 min ~ Seated Flat 100rpm

Rolling Hills ~ Repeat 3x
2 min ~ Seated Flat 110rpm
1 min ~ Jumps (min 8 jumps)
2 min ~ Standing Quick Jog

Recover
1 min ~ Seated Flat no resistence

Cool Down
2 min ~ Natural Cadence

Stretch

Playlist
Out of Control ~ Darude Before the Storm
Highwayman ~ Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson
Bittersweet Symphony ~ The Verve
Children of the Revolution ~ Moulin Rouge
So What Does It All Mean? ~ West, Gould & Fitgerald
Here It Goes Again ~ OK Go
Deal With It ~ Corbin Bleu
Shake It ~ Metro Station
Chasing Cars (Workout Remix) ~ Power Music Workout
Mr. Jones and Me ~ Rocket Roadsters
Desperato (Workout Remix) ~ Power Music Workout
He's a Pirate (Tiesto Remix) ~Hans Zimmer
Bleeding Love ~ Leona Lewis
Fall for You ~ Secondhand Serenade
Touch My Body ~ Mariah Carey
Hallejuah ~ Jeff Buckley

Our task must be to free ourselves…
by widening our circle of compassion to
embrace all living creatures and
the whole of nature and its beauty.
~ Albert Einstein

Have a great weekend!

T.G.I.F. Photo Friday

Each case presents it's own challenge.
I felt like a goat yesterday.

Mountain goats in Banff National Park, Canada, image via)

Have a photo to sure? Because today is: thank goodness it's friday pic day. Every friday until the end {whenever that may be} is designated T.G.I.F. Photo Day. If you'd like to participate/share, send me an email: nikemomof2[at]gmail[dot]com OR comment and I will link to your tgif pic. oh happy friday.]

T.G.I.F. Links

Marci
Pat
Brad
Marcy
Carly
Danica
Michelle
Marlene

Follow your dreams and transform your life.
~ Paulo Coelho

p.s. Don't forget to check out the post below regarding a Virtual Run Across the U.S. I'm thinking it's soooo doable. Anybody a web design coding queen or king??? We can make this thing interactive.

Have a great day peeps!

Virtual Run Across the U.S.

I was driving home today from the local Y [YMCA] reflecting on a great treadmill run [like treadmill runs rock! haha] wondering . . . like I always do.....

What If?

I have a list of lifetime goals and one of those goals is to ride my bike across the United States. It will be a few years before I can pull that off, so what can I do in the meantime? Of course the

What If? screamed at me as I'm always trying to create and do something only a small portion of population would participate in. So here is what I came up with:

A Virtual Run
Across the United States.

A course would be plotted around places you "gotta see" through the states as we make our way from state to state one mile at a time leading from one coast to the next. The mileage would not be the actual miles from city to city but calculated as [or whatever the case may be from town to town]:

30 miles = 3 miles
100 miles = 10 miles
200 miles = 20 miles

We could create a schedule of anticipated arrival in each town and you do the run wherever you are, on the road, treadmill or path, to get to each point. It may take one run it may take 3 runs to travel from town to town. Very much doable for runners like us, but we will all travel together from city to city, town to town. And when we all arrive, we take off for the next town. We could even create teams to see who gets across the U.S. first [just a thought]. What do you think?

“If you do what you love to do,
then you won’t do it in an average way.”
~ Angela Bassett

My Quote of the Day

People will stare.
Make it worth their while.

[Harry Winston]

Scale For Sale!

Health-O-Meter Scale. You buy, you haul. Must go. Need to pay for new running shoes. Call 1-800-IMA-RUNR for more details. haha

I bought a Tanita BF679W Body Fat Monitor Scale tonight. I'm stoked! Like a kid in a candy shop, I couldn't get my clothes off fast enough to give it a test drive. Sounds kinda kinky. [wink wink] It was just me, the scale and the bathroom floor. I set up my general programming and hopped on. YESSSSSSS! It worked! I'm no longer an Er3. The crowd roars. Jackpot!!!!!! I'm in love!

My body fat %age was in the healthy zone for my age and height: 31%. I also weighed in at 149 lbs [ 3 lbs heavier than the Health-O-Meter :( ] and my total water %age read 48% [even tho' this number falls into the normal zone for a woman, this was too soon after weights and an intense spin class - the booklet says to wait three hours after exercise, waking up or a large meal]. Looks like I will get naked and retest tomorrow. As far as the accuracy of the scale? I honestly couldn't give you a professional opinion, however, through my research, Tanita ranked 'top dog' in body fat monitor scales. Go check 'em out.

So, where do I go from here? Tanita gives a general range for age and 23% body fat is the bottom of the healthy range for my age. [Want to guess how old I am????] My goal, until I do some further research is now 23% body fat and I'm not going to worry about my weight. This is where the challenge begins. :D

p.s. Don't forget to check out The Shirt That Races Blog. Shoe Running has a great post and pictures about her run in San Francisco. Kim is wearing it in Texas this weekend. Go Kim!

The Female Touch

Taken from the Lincoln Journal Star, Sunday's edition 11.09.08, experts claim "it's worth it to understand how women shop". Check out these statistics from Winning the Toughest Customer: The Essential Guide to Selling to Women:

Women purchase 83% of all products and services, including...

• 80% of all health care [do tummy tucks count? :)]
• 55% of bank choice [crisp bills only please - lol]
• 50% of all business travel [5 Star Hotels]
• 65% of herbal remedies, vitamins and minerals [runners daily "gotta have it"]
  
• 66% of all autos and influence 85% of purchases [sun roof and iPod hook up is vital]
• 50% of all computers [love my MAC]
• 90% of all jewelry, perfume and related items [bling! bling!]

I know, I know, men you are not shoppers, but may find the stats interesting especially regarding the auto purchases.

My goals today: stay warm, teach spin class, prepare for snow [it's supposed to snow 2-6" today] BRRRR!

I'm down 5 lbs for Mr. Q's Weight Loss Challenge. The easy part for me is now over. The other 11 lbs I want to lose are going to be a huge challenge. I'm ramping up the cycling, easing back on the running and now on a regular weight lifting routine. I need need to focus on lowering my body fat % instead of weight as the activities I'm doing have the power to increase my weight [muscle weighs more than fat - that's a good thing] So, I was at Sam's the other day and came across this scale that not only measures your current weight, but your body fat %. It was $30, so worth a shot. Well, you get what you pay for. My body fat% registered as Er3. hmmmm. Obviously an error. An error we are having trouble remedying. So the scale is going back today. Wondering if I'll have any influence on purchasing the $150 top dog BMI/body fat/lb scale? :)

Hope you all had a great weekend! Stay warm.

T.G.I.F Photo Friday

One of my favorite places in the whole world is the Grand Tetons near Jackson, Wyoming. This is a picture I took a couple years ago on vacation with Mr. McRib. I'm thinking about blowing it up and getting it framed, however, I don't have all three of the Tetons in the pic. [one to the left of the barn]. So, I think it's going to require another trip out to Jackson [even tho' I've made 2 since] haha.

This is a wild flower in the Grand Tetons which may be the state flower, tho' I'm not too sure.

This is a fabulous rainbow we witnessed over Yellowstone lake as we arrived at our lodge -freezing cold and wet as it had just poured buckets of rain as we rode the Harley through the park. Once we checked in, it stopped raining [of course] so we strolled around the lake and experienced absolutely the most gorgeous rainbow I've ever seen. This picture is really weak in comparison.

Have a photo to sure? Because today is: thank goodness it's friday pic day. Every friday until the end {whenever that may be} is designated T.G.I.F. Photo Day. If you'd like to participate/share, send me an email: nikemomof2[at]gmail[dot]com OR comment and I will link to your tgif pic. oh happy friday.]

T.G.I.F. Links

Brad

Pat

Drink UP! It’s good for you.

Did you know:

• 28-40 ounces of water are lost in breath and perspiration [heavy breather???]
• 20-55 ounces are lost during urination [I pee all the time so I’m going to double that]
• 2-7 ounces are lost via the gastrointestinal tract (feces) [no comment]

Water makes up more than 2/3 of our body weight. Wait, don’t stop drinking it, thinking you will lost weight. You won’t. Without water, you would die. So, Can it help your diet? According to Mara Z. Violins, “It is hard to distinguish between being thirsty and being hungry, so try drinking water and waiting 20-30 minutes to see if you’re still hungry”. She also claims that water consumption may also help you when counting calories. Caloric value of water = ZIPPO! Cool. So, how much water should you drink? Vitolin recommends the following method:

Take your weight [don’t cheat] and divide by two. The result is the number of ounces of water you should drink a day.

Example:
146 [I’ve lost 5 lbs – cheers!] / 2 = 73 ounces OR 6 – 12 ounce glasses of water a day.

I be seeing yellow already! ☺

It’s a lot of water, more than I drink now [I thought I drank a lot already YIKES! I may need to buy one of those porta potty thingies Marcy blogged about and tow it with me everywhere I go]. So I’m adding it to my goals to see if it makes a difference in curbing some of my hunger during the beginning stages of Mr. Q's weight loss challenge to create some better eating habits.

Today is a 1 hour bike ride and a 30 min run. Peace and Love peeps.

Nikemom Talks & Sets New Goals

Today is the day I decided to incorporate some changes into my life. The last four weeks have been ho-hum on the running/cycling front. I have been up and down, worse than a so-called roller coaster about working out. I have been off. I have been on. The workout roller coaster hasn't made me sick like the Mamba at Worlds of Fun, but the skinny is....I'm not going to be skinny if I keep eating and having fun as if I'm still doing two-a-days. YIKES!

So here is my plan:

• Hired a Cycling Coach [his son, coaches Kristin Armstrong - I'm really excited for this!]
• Running Calendar [got it made, and I'm sticking to it]
• Joined Mr. Q's Swap it and Bring it Weight Loss Challenge
• Following Weight Watcher's Point System
• Logging my diet and exericse on FitDay
• Positive Daily Talks With Self (see below)

My current weight as of 5:50 a.m. is 151 lbs. My goal weight is 135 lbs.

Everyday I'm going to wake up and have a Positive Daily Talk With Self. Something like this....

Say NO to Muffin tops.

Say NO to tight jeans.

Say NO to Skipping Workouts!
Say NO to Super Breakfasts!
and...

Say YES to...

101 Days.

Now that's a workout Mr. McRib will do with me! ;P

Have a good one. Today is a 20 min easy run and spin class.

I have been Tagged!

I have been off most of the week with extreme joy so I saved this for today. I have been tagged by Diet and Fit Chick! So here goes...

The rules of this post: The rules are to list 6 things I value and 6 things I don't and then pass this award on to 6 people!

What I Value:

Freedom/Time

Leadership

Creativity

Opportunities [you name it - travel, career, athletic and the list goes on]

Customer Service

Authentic Good Food [No wannabes!]~Italian, Mexican, Chinese, BBQ, Ice Cream - YUM YUM!

What I don't Value:

Backstabbers/Hyprocrits/Liars/Fakies

Bullies/Bullies/Bullies [did I mention Bullies? the ex is a bullie - URGH!]

Powertrippers

Hy-Vee Ice Cream [Makes me poop - ;)]

High Gas Prices [I paid $2.15/gal the other day - WOOT WOOT! :)]

Whining [poor poor pitiful me - hate that!]

And I give this tag to:
Running Towards Myself

KimPossible

Vickie

Running Towards Myself

Pat

JKRunning

Dont' forget to set your clocks back and enjoy that extra hour! Peace and love.