Ryan Lochte made me do it!

So this post will not be about Ryan Lochte at all. I just thought it would be funny to title it as such so that when someone does a Google search for said athlete, they'll be directed to my blog.  I actually think they will be better off reading about what I'm doing vs what he's doing but that's just me.  

Since I last wrote, I ran my 26th half marathon!  So there has been much back & forth on my part regarding which number race this was exactly.  The reason for this confusion is quite simple now that I've reviewed my handy dandy tracking sheet.  I track my past and upcoming races in one spot so I can easily calculate my average times (not anal at all).  I had planned on doing several races this year that I ultimately did not race due to my work schedule. I forgot to remove those from my tracker and so was off on my run count.  I've since corrected this issue and 26 is indeed the magic number.  So what does that mean?  Well, that means I have 3,001 days to run 24 more half marathons.  I have to admit, I had a minor panic attack a few weeks ago when someone (who shall remain nameless because I'm SURE they were only kidding) asked if I was sure I could make my deadline.  I had to sit down and check my trusty spreadsheet to make sure I really could do it.  Yes, the answer is yes!  I need to hit 50 by the time I turn 50 but really, I'm trying to time it so my 50th race will be on my 15th Houston Half anniversary as that was my very first half marathon.  And as luck would have it, that anniversary will come shortly after I turn 47 so that means I'm probably going to need to average 4.8 races a year to do that.  Yeahhhhhhh.  

Back to my 26th race though.  For those of you that love destination races, Seawheeze Half Marathon was nothing short of amazing!  Vancouver has quickly jumped to the top of my list of places I want to move too - and Keith agrees!!  I seriously can't wait to go back!  The race course was absolutely beautiful with great cheer zones.  Spectator support isn't as big as Houston but the beauty of the city more than makes up for it.  My only real gripe was that they ran out of water at the finish line on a day that was about 85 with 80% humidity.  Oh, and that you had to walk up a big ass hill to get to the food.  Nope!  

So what else is new?  Oilman training!  I've tried to ease back into things and running a half with very little training was one way to go about that.  While I tend to laugh at things like this, I have to admit that the past week or so, I've been kicking myself.  I've been having this nagging knee pain that I've blamed on running 13.1 on half ass training.  The funny thing is, I have absolutely ZERO pain when I run.  Weird things like laying down and then lifting my leg hurts my knee.  And it typically gets aggravated after I've been to Orangetheory and have done lots of lunges and squats.  I had knee surgery on my right knee back in 2004 and was told then the issue I had with my lateral ligaments was also present in my left knee and that I'd eventually need surgery on that one as well.  Keith has encouraged me to go to the doctor but I'm not going to. Here is my thought process.  If I go to the doctor, there is a chance they could tell me my nagging fear is true and I need knee surgery and I'll miss IMTX.  But given my knee does not hurt when I swim, bike or run, I figure there is not need to worry about it.  :)  You may think this logic is flawed and I admit, it's not the most sound.  That's why I've instead agreed to give it a little time to heal and avoid doing lunges and squats for a bit to see if it feels better.  If it does, then it was just a pesky over-use injury and if it doesn't, I'll go in and just pray to all that's holy that it's something not requiring surgery.  

With that, I'm going to shut this awesome, non-Ryan Lochte post down for the night but will leave you with some recent pictures.  Happy training!

Coal Harbour, Vancouver

Race morning!

Who doesn't love mermaids (or mermen) on the race course?

Post race I'm all smiles despite being super thirsty!

A dazed smile after a weekend workout sesh!

Too Wong Foo...Thanks for everything Hardy Toll Road!

It's official!  I've forked over more money than anyone in my family believes should be spent on a race and have signed up for IMTX 2017 - my 3rd Ironman.  The big day will be Saturday, April 22nd and I've already given my family the heads up to mark the date down. And we even have a bike course - the Hardy Toll Road.  Time to get a toll tag for my QR! 

Lunch for the week is all made.

Well, as I mentioned in May, I'm all signed up for Oilman Half Ironman and my training for that officially started this week.  I'm easing back into the training saddle and so far, can't complain.  I also started back on my meal plan this week.  For months I've been saying I needed to get back on the wagon as I've definitely packed on some unwanted pounds.  While I'm not as heavy as I was when I first went on this plan back in 2012, I'm heavier than I want to be and certainly carrying more weight than I want to drag around a long race course.  I'm finding there are certain things I missed about meal plan life.  In no particular order, they are:  (1) no brainer when it comes to what I'm going to eat in a day, (2) absolutely no work other than maybe popping something in the microwave, (3) Bragg's Liquid Amino - enough said and (4) feeling good after only a few days - no bloating and no tummy aches!  On the flip side, there are a few things I DEFINITELY don't miss.  In no particular order, they are:  (1) having to run the dishwasher every other day due to the obscene amount of tupperware I'm going through, (2) getting a stomach ache any time I get my allowable cheat meal, (3) no wine during the week - insert sad face here, (4) having to eat every 3 hours so therefore, having to be mindful of where I'll be when it's grazing time, (5) no Starbucks except for the weekend and that's only if I get my long workout in, (6) did I mention no wine during the week, (7) tilapia.  every.  day. -- week 1 only though, (8) debating whether or not anyone would notice if I moved my computer to the ladies bathroom given the amount of times per day I have to pee and (9) "pudding".  Keith & I are traveling part of next week so I won't be able to cook all my week 2 meals so I'll just have to be really good about watching what I order when we're out.  No biggie.  

Keith will be doing a lot of my training with me which I'm super excited about.  We'll be getting on our bikes this weekend and easing back into riding on the road.  It's going to be awesome awesome awesome!  He's even going to hit the pool with me on Friday.  What, what?!??!  That's right, he's finally going to make good on his threat to show me up in the pool.  At first I thought maybe, just maybe he was fast.  But then he told me he needs to learn to breathe so I'm thinking I'm ok.  More on that.  :)

Of course, training for an Ironman with the complication of having an incredibly demanding job is something many balance.  We decided my long work weeks and terrible commute weren't challenging enough so we got a puppy.  This was totally by chance or if you were to ask Keith, #giftfromgod.  Any of you reading this are probably FB friends with me so know the story but for those of you who were unlucky enough to stumble upon this blog when you did a Google search for "Ironman Texas" or "completely awesome blogs", I'll give you the Cliff's Notes version.  A week ago today, I found a dog on our front porch.  Filthy, tired, scared and flea infested no less.  My youngest step-daughter rushed over (mainly b/c she wanted naming rights) and helped me clean the beast and then went to Wal Mart with me to get her some essentials.  The vet visit confirmed what we suspected, no chip.  From saying, "if she's a Great Pyrenees, we are not keeping her" to seeing her sweet face and then saying, "we have to keep her", it was meant to be.  So yes, the vet believes she is a full Great Pyrenees who is about 4 months old.  They have also told us she will very likely weigh more than 100lbs.  (Side note:  we purchased an at home DNA kit and are hoping to learn she's a Pyr/Yorkie mix and will only get to be 40lbs -- she's 29.9lbs today so that's probably a pipe dream).  

So that's what I know. It feels good to slowly get back into the swim, bike, run of things.  Happy training, y'all!

Breakfast & snacks for the week.  So yummy.  Not!

And....dinner for the week.  At least there's color!

Sugar-free, almond milk latte for the win!

Our new dog, Ellie Stormy Chalfant.