Busy bee.

Ah, Sunday night. I am exhausted and that's how I know I had a great weekend. We were busy with things around the house, working out, walking the dogs, hanging out with friends, tracking our friends at Ironman Arizona ALL day today, shopping and running errands. I am so grateful that this will be another short work week. I love the holidays and all the days off I get from work (although it is arguable that I do not get enough!) I am also looking forward to putting up the Christmas tree and making the house festive before Mike's parents get here in just a few short weeks. This year has been really good to me and it's hard to believe there is a little more than a month left of it. W0w. How does that happen? and why do I seem to ask myself this question every year? My life IS busy but my life is so good.

2 1/2 day weekend

With 2009 slowly counting down, I had a few days of vacation left that I needed to schedule. I took a half day today, getting out at 11:30am and already I feel like I have a huge jump start on this weekend. Got home and cleaned the basement (family room) and then the yard. Played with the girls for awhile before going out for my long run. It was a gorgeous afternoon, upper 50s and sunny. Got 15 miles in. I was shooting for 18 but my feet hurt so bad I bagged the last 3. Folded and put away 2 loads of laundry. Cleaned the rest of my house which inlcudes vacuuming, dusting, and general tidying. Answered some emails. Unloaded and re-loaded the dishwasher. I am pooped. But now I have the rest of the weekend to do whatever I want. Love the 2 1/2 day weekend!

Money.

This week seems to be whizzing by. Can't actually complain about that. I don't like to wish my weeks away but let's be honest, I am not exactly in love with working. Yesterday, we had a retirement planning seminar and I am really excited to plan that part of my future. I increased my 401k contribution rate to 8% and am hoping to bump it up to 10% by the end of the year. We also found out that we (the employees of my company) have the opportunity to convert our Employer matches to a Roth 401k. This is exciting because it means that I will pay the taxes (on the free money given to me by my employer) NOW but in 30 years, I won't pay tax on any of it therefore more money in MY pocket. Woohoo!

I guess I have really been spending time thinking about our future. I have been diligent about paying down the credit card. I am trying to watch my spending now. [KEY WORD: TRYING] It's tough to do when you participate in marathons and triathlon, especially Ironman. Thankfully, I have spent the past 2 seasons building up my triathlon gear collection so there's not much I really need going forward.

As far as marathons, I was talking to a work colleague yesterday about what makes a marathon, well, a marathon. Is it the $100 race fee and the $275 airline ticket and the $110/night hotel room to get to the race and the thousands of spectators and the volunteers handing you gatorade? Or is it simply you running 26.2 miles? Right out your front door. for. FREE. I vote the latter. Don't get me wrong, I love running organized marathons - clearly - because I have done it 41 times. However, after reading Born to Run, I realize now that there (can be) so much more to the sport. Heart. Happiness. Camaraderie. So, I am going to run a few "marathons" in the next few months that aren't going to cost me a dime and I am going to do it for fun. be happy. and enjoy the company of my friends. If you're looking to "register" for a marathon, shoot me an email. I promise you will have a medal waiting for you when you finish. (Mike and I are going to Michaels this weekend to make our own medals!) Don't live near me? So, go do it anyways. Stop breaking the bank. Take the money you would normally spend and put it into savings. You'll thank yourself for it 26.2 miles later.

Another lazy (and snowy) Sunday

I did try to sleep in today, really I did. But like clockwork, my little furry alarm got me up before 7am so she could pee. I felt pretty rested and so I made my way downstairs to make some coffee and sit in front of the fireplace. We got lots of snow last night - maybe a foot? and it was still falling this morning. I wanted to help Mike out so I let him sleep in while I shoveled the back. Wow. That is a chore that I do NOT like. Thanks babe for always handling the outdoor winter chores!

Hopped on the trainer for a few hours while I caught up on the Biggest Loser and Private Practice. Mindless tv. Gotta love it. Rode 35 miles.

I spent the rest of the day doing odds and ends type chores and the big adventure for the afternoon was meeting up with the G's at Costco. Stocked up the pantry and am now ready to relax in front of the fireplace and read before dinner. Sundays are absolutely my favorite day!

A 13 mile run and much to be thankful for

Saturday mornings... Typically, I would wake up early, get my caffeine on, carbo load and then head out for a grueling workout. Now that I am in the off-season, I do everything mentioned except the grueling workout part. I love it. and hate it at the same time. Such is the life of an over-achiever I guess. I already knew I wanted to go out for a long run when I left this morning. I actually toyed around with the idea of running 26.2 miles for the hell of it. However, I enjoyed a little too much wine with Mike last night and was definitely under-hydrated. So, instead I opted for half the distance.

13.1 miles. It's a fun distance to run. It's challenging and rewarding... yet, not too hard. Hard to believe that 3 weeks ago I was in Florida doing an Ironman sweating my ass off. Today, I was dressed warm (as it was only in the mid-30s) and praying for the sun to come out. However, it was the perfect weather for a long run.

Body felt good. Stiff in some places but that's due to my lack of stretching (bad athlete, bad, bad athlete.) I am also loooong overdue for a massage and won't get in with Magic Hands until 11/24 but she's well worth the wait. Got lost in my music and simply had a wonderful run. I am falling in love with running all over again. It's very second nature to me to be able to pick up, go out and run 2-3 hours without even thinking about it. But now, I like thinking about it. A lot. I am thinking about running a marathon on Thanksgiving. Map out a nice run in my town and just spend the miles quietly counting down all that I have to be thankful for. However, 26.2 miles simply doesn't seem like enough time to do that.

Friday night

While driving home in a light snowtorm tonight, I was trying to decide what I should do at the gym. Elliptical? Weights? Swim? How about all 3? Sure. That's what I would do. I haven't had a fun-change-it-up kind of workout in awhile.

The elliptical can be amazingly challenging if you do it correctly. 30 minutes of long, leg stretches at a high resistance. My hamstrings were feeling it and I worked up a decent sweat (yuck).

Afterwards, I headed over to the weight room to focus on back and arms. I really want to strengthen my upper body with hopes of a stronger swim stroke. I also have a goal to do 10 pull ups by the end of the year. Right now I can do exactly zero. It's amazing how weak I really am. After about 40 minutes in the meathead lounge (all the big guys were pumping up before their Friday night dates), I went down to the pool.

Feeling a little sore already, I knew the swim would be short. More of a cool-down to loosen up those muscles I just tore. The water was FREEZING and I was the lone swimmer in the pool. After my first 50, I knew that my form was out of whack and that some much needed Eney time is due. After 750 meters, I quickly made my way to the hot tub where I sat quietly for 10 minutes while the troubles, aches and pains of the day faded away. I love Friday night workouts. They are a great way to wind down from the hectic work week and give me some much needed "me time."

9 mile run

After work, I committed to myself that I was going to run, no matter how tired I was. I awoke last night at 3am and never really got back to sleep so I was dragging all day. However, with a gorgeous 67 degree evening, I headed out at 5:30pm with the intention of running no less than 8 miles. I needed to shake off the icky feelings from the past few days. I listened to my mellow playlist on my iPod and took my time as I knocked off each mile. One by one, I fell into a quieter state of mind. I felt relaxed and focused on my breathing and the soft sound in my ears. This run is exactly what I needed. I think I am going to sleep like a baby tonight!