Its been a week

How is training going? Sigh.

I haven't been able to run due to my hip flexor. If I do run its OK for a while but after about 5 miles its sore and then hurts for the rest of the day and the next day too. I'm scared of permanent injury if I keep it up.

I'll keep trying to run but I am sure what I really need is to strengthen my core before I attempt my first half marathon. but I am going to participate in the Tacoma City run because its already paid for. I'll be damned if I give them money for nothing and they are FOR PROFIT so don't offer any refunds.

Lan won the Clydesdale division at the mtn bike race this last Sunday. here he is at the start of the race.


Cooking in the Kettles @ Whidbey Island's Fort Ebey State Park



This guy was racing down the spot where I froze my ass off waiting for Lan.

  The guy who was ahead of him stopped to help a guy who crashed and broke his collar bone. Last week the guys bike broke and he had to walk out.

Lan with a mere 100 yards remaining in the race.

 This means Lan is going to win the cash award for the race series, all he has to do is show up at one of the 2 remaining races.

 He will go, he will race and he will try his hardest to win again.

Here is my bike, waiting for me as I wait for Lan to race past me so I could take his photo. Unfortunately I missed him and got a blur of back spokes.

  This is a gnarly tree I saw, just HAD to take a photo of it.

Running flat

How is training going? Good.

I went out to our local beach Drive and ran along the waterfront this morning, training plan called for 1hr 15min of running. I am avoiding hills totally just so I can build stamina and be able to at least run half of the Half Marathon.

All I need to remember when I am in the actual event is that it will be over soon and it will be OVER. One & done.

My hip was hurting a very little amount while running and a couple times during the day since then I've felt it again so I'll ice it tonight before I go to bed.

Running through the pain

How is training going? Painful.

I ran twice this last week for a total of 7 miles. I should be able to easily do that far in 1 day by now but with the pain in my hip I don't know if I can go any farther than that. Its scary, I don't want to hurt myself too much and be stupid about it but on the other hand I want to get this half marathon off my bucket list.

One & done.

Tomorrow my training plan calls for me to run an easy 1hr 15 min so I'll go down to Beach Drive and run there. Its totally flat, no hills, period. That, however, is still a very short run time. Last week or the week before I should have been able to run for over 2 hours. Sigh. I'll get this done, I just don't want to have a permanent injury from it.

Lan is in the yellow jersey

My wonderful husband was in the 3rd of 6 mtn bike races in a mtn bike race series and today took 1st place in the Clydesdale division. He is the only man to race in all 3 of the races so far and he is in the lead, point wise. He gets 95 for each of his 2nd places and 100 for today's 1st place. If he races in all 6 of the races they will get an additional 15 points. They will also take away his worst score so he could theoretically not go to one race and still win.  My bosses husband made it only to the 1st race, not the last 2 and I know hes not going to the next one on Whitbey Island so he is completely out of it.

The experts went first and did 4 laps then they started the sport division. Then at 11:30 they started age groupe, women and the Clydesdales. It was funny, these 3 fat guys passed me a couple minutes before Lan did and I was sure they were ahead of him but he won, Lan almost lapped them! how cool is that?



 Lan racing in the mud.

About the horses:

Wifi is doing well in her training. Meghan has been out 3 times this week, lunging each time. Yesterday we put the saddle on her and lunged with it for the 1st time and she did not care at all. She's had a saddle on before but not cinched up and lunged in it. She was tied for an hour with the old english saddle on her back but nothing like this. Wifi is getting a good workout each time too so shes settling down more in her stall.

Cassie decided/was coerced into having Patti barefoot even though Cassie knows it wont help the mare. Sad thing about it is that Evan things its perfectly OK to browbeat his girlfriend. Asshat.

All the horses are shedding heavily so are getting daily grooming. If it were warmer than 45 degrees I'd bathe them to help get the hair off but now its supposed to rain again for the next 2 days, then I work, then more rain. Aaahhhhh!

Wifi is a horse of many colors. Her birth color was blood bay. At 4 months I body clipped her and she was a beautiful gray underneath. Her winter coat was bay, spring was white with black points and summer was gray. It seems in the winters she is bay/roan with black points, spring she sheds the bay but holds the shite for a couple weeks, then sheds to her summer gray. This spring I'm seeing gray on her face that wasn't there before.  I wonder if she'll be gray before shes 10?

Running after 2 weeks off

How it training going? Good today.

After work today I got out there and ran 3.1 miles around our neighborhood. This was my first time out in 2 weeks because I took the time off to give my hip flexor time to heal. It didn't but I'm going to keep at it. I'm not going to work on speed at all, also no hills up or down, just endurance for now. After I compLETE the half marathon I'll take time off to let it heal completely and I'll continue to strengthen my core.

It's so good to see the number going up again in my miles ran widget!  I'm up to 70 for the year, yay. Not a lot compared to a lot of other people but for me that is so good. It feels good and its a positive feeling for me.

I won't be able to go to the class at the YMCA tomorrow because I have to be in Seattle at 9am so I'll have to see about catching one later in the day.

Swim Workshop

How is training going? I'm gonna be sore.

This morning TriBabe Lisa Ballou had an Advanced Swim Workshop at the YMCA pool in Bremerton. I've done her beginners and Intermediate classes so it was time to complete this one. There were about 10 of us in the water.

We started out with an easy 100 yd warm up. Then the work began. We did more sprints than an entire swim team in a week! Or at least it seemed like it. We didn't pay any attention to form at all, it was speed and timing. I already knew I needed to work on this so it was no surprise that it was hard for me. I did enjoy learning how to do different types of timing.

The Amazing Race is about to start, see ya later.

Seattle Bike Expo

How is training going? not.

Lan & I went with Steve & Linda to Seattle today for the Seattle Bike Expo on Pier 91. We rode the ferry over from Bremerton and just went up the road a ways. Lan & I were there last year so we knew what to expect but this was a first for Steve & Linda. We all enjoyed the upstairs a lot but the down stairs had the Socks.

Socks. I am a sock whore, I'll do anything for a cute new pair of socks. I found one vendor with wool socks, 3 pair for $10 so Lan got 1 & I got 2. Then we found the vendor with the irregular socks, most of them made by The Sock Guy. At 6 for $20 you can't beat the price either. They are all colors and designs and there are several pair for everyone. I found 6 more for Lan & I, that took about 20 minutes. I swear, Linda & Steve were there for another half hour.

When Lan was able to drag us away from the socks we went over to the museum they have set up and saw some cool bikes.

Then we all went to Ivars for fish & chips. Yum. So NOT on our diets!

Lan took us to Recycled Bikes and a used sporting goods store next door and Linda and I duked it out.

Linda got me in my 6 pack abs

Lindas lucky I didn't knock her tooth out!

we kept at it

I wish I could run

How is training going? I miss running.

How come when you can't do something is when you most want to?  I promised my body I would take time off for it to heal, I've been doing my cross training to strengthen my hip flexors before I ask them to do more running and I have been doing careful stretches. But I look outside  and I just want to be out there, running.

Don't get me wrong. Mostly I want to be running so on May 1st I won't be miserable and unable to compLETE the half marathon. That would suck.  I read my daily training plan and tomorrow is 1 hour of medium speed running. Its going to be about 3 weeks before I can get to the place I should be NOW. It makes me sad.

My friend, Kris, that I've never met but will meet on Sunday, has run 81 miles this week. I've run 67 THIS YEAR.

Lets talk about something I have had fun doing.

My horses had visitors today. I am going to give free riding lessons to a few people, on my horses, so that the horses can be ridden more. Also, I want to learn how to teach and this seems like a good time to do it. Today a mom, Melissa, brought over her 2 kids, Jaime, an 8 yr old daughter, and Tyler, a 14 yr old boy. I let them groom The Pie and Sunshower  but no riding as it was super windy out.

The little girl is the perfect size to ride The Pie and the boy is just a bit taller than me so he is a good size for riding Sunshower. Their mom took them to Del's and bought Tyler a new riding helmet so I was stoked about that. I wanted to get to know them a little and for them to get to know the horses so besides grooming I told them a little about each horse. I also pointed to some body parts and asked the names or asked them to point to parts I called out. I'll send them an email with a horse anatomy picture and tell them there is a test next time they are here.

Sunshower did spook while in the cross ties due to a huge gust of wind and it scared Jaime, she almost cried. But I told her to get right back in there and after I explained that Sunshower was chewing and it meant she was fine then Jaime was Ok with grooming again.

There is a lot I can teach these 2 kids and its nice that there is a boy who is interested in horses. Thats different.

When friends blog

How is training going? Good.

I cross trained today but not at the gym. I sold 2 truck loads of composted horse manure (yes, my horses DO make me money!!) and I had to deliver and shovel it out of the trucks. The first load was in my little Ford Ranger

but the second load was in my Dodge 1 ton  and it was a lot bigger, probably 50% more than the Ranger had in it. My arms were beat when I was finished unloading. But I did get a workout and for that I am glad.

I had another person who wanted manure today but Lan told me to wait on it, its not done composting so I had to postpone their delivery. I hope they don't just go someplace else for a load. Lan turned all of ours and has it all covered up again and we'll check it out in another month. There are a lot of farms around here that give away free manure but with most of them you have to shovel it into your truck yourself. I have a tractor to load it into my truck and I charge for the delivery.

As for the title of this post, my friend, Kris, is now blogging about her Iron(WO)man training. Shes got just over 150 days to go. I've never met Kris before, I just know her on FaceBook and through our mutual friend, Linda. I will be meeting Kris this weekend right after my swimming workshop and I am looking forward to it. Kris makes me laugh every day on FB and I've enjoyed her new blog. Shes working her ass off to complete the Coeur d'Alene and here I whine about a measly half Marathon. If she can do an entire Ironman then I need to shut the fuck up and get my ass out there and run for my little 13.1 miles.

This cross training is nice

How is training going? Well.

I cleaned the barn again today, had to dump 3 carts of manure and hay. These horses need to eat more of the food they are given.
I was able to get onto Sunshower and ride yesterday for the first time in a long while. She was good and that made me happy.

Some really good news; Wifi is officially signed up for training, yay. Meghan will put a week into her with a horsey BOOT CAMP and later Vicki Lindgren at LWM stable will start her. The reason I chose Vicki is because I do not want Meghan to get hurt and I'm so scared that Wifi will buck off the first person who gets onto her back. Meghan does not need to be hurt and I seriously don't care too much if Vicki gets hurt. I mean, I do care but she knows what shes doing.

When Joey was started I sent him to LuAnn and he bucked her off, almost broke her arm, he did break the fence in the arena throwing her through it.

I will be hauling Wifi over to LWM so Vicki has a chance to meet her ans see what shes all about. Its going to be a big day for my baby girl. I won't be leaving her there then, it will just be for the day. Vicki wants to start training her in June so that gives me time to do more ground work. I'll saddle her more, I'll tie her. I'll sit on the arena fence and hold her so she can hear my voice above her head. I might decide to pony her off Sunshower but probably not because Wifi might just decide to rear up onto Sunshower back. But she might not, I haven't seen her do anything like that since she was a foal. Sunshower doesn't put up with that kind of stuff.

When bringing The Pie out of one stall into his own I had to stop, open his door & step back and noticed how well trained he is, he stepped back with me. He never pushes or pulls on the lead, never freaks out.

This afternoon I met Linda at the school track and we walked for an hour while her son was in swimming lessons. We did more than a mile but less than 2 at a good pace. I'm glad I went, it was great to see her and get some exercise in at the same time.

Shes been teasing me all week about something she got for me that's purple & 'kinda clothing' and I made a million guesses but didn't get it. Then yesterday she said I could wear it as a headband if I wanted to and this afternoon I figured it out. I'm so excited, its this seasons SURVIVOR buffs!!!!

No running today but I'm tired.

How is training going? I call this cross training.

I cleaned the barn today. Deep down cleaning. I pulled up the rubber mat's and got the dirt, hay, poop & sand out from under them and it was GROSE. Ick.  Here is a photo with some of the stuff from part of Patti's stall...

This stuff was heavy but mostly sand so I threw it back out into the run. I also moved this matt over to the left so its evened out.

Wifi got a good grooming and she shed a ton of hair. Before:

Her tail is so long and thick, I love it.

Here is Wifi's back with it half way groomed, the right side is done.

Here it is 3/4 groomed.

This is blurry but that's hair on her, with about 5 strokes of the shedding blade I got off that much hair.

This is how much hair I got off her today, about the size of Bunny Foo Foo.

A kissable nose.

another kissable nose.

Sunshower got a good grooming too but she didn't shed nearly as much.

We went for a ride today and all was going well till Page showed us her new dressage whip. Sunshower is absolutely terrified of whips and she almost dumped me trying to get away from it but I stayed on and got her to settle down. Poor girl, someone must have whipped her pretty badly before she came here.

Wifi likes her Lik-Its a LOT. She has if all figured out, how to get it to balance on her teeth so she can lick & chew it. Shes eaten entire Lik-its in less than 2 hours before. This one will take 3 hours, I hope anyway.

How do I fix this?

How is training going? Crap

I tried to run today but after a mile my hip flexor started hurting, a lot. I mean, A LOT. I've been reading stuff on the internet and they all say to not run through the pain so now I'm going to need to go to a doctor. Or maybe Michelle can tell me what to do.

I did get a good pilates/core class in this morning and it felt good. Torrey is no longer doing the Friday morning classes at the YMCA so I enjoyed doing it with LuAnn and 4 other people.  This is one of the stretches we did and it is a good one for stretching the flexor muscles:

Unfortunately I wasn't able to run more than 1 mile before it started hurting & that makes me upset. All I want to do is complete this one half marathon and I will stop training for farther distances. I do have an extra month of training time so if I could take 2 weeks off to heal & start back up after that I could do it. I'll have to discuss this with Lan.

In the barn I have noticed that Wifi is changing into her spring colors but this year shes got graying eyebrows. I'll have to get a photo of her before its too late, gotta document my various colors filly.

Adding a job to the mix

How is training going? OK.

Except I didn't do my 1 hour run today. I DID clean the whole barn if that makes a difference.

I had a group job interview with Washington State Ferries today, went into Bremerton at 6am, caught a ferry over to Seattle & met the important people.

There were 16 people invited to come in for this interview out of 800 people who applied for this job; 11 people showed up. A bunch of the 11 will get ON CALL jobs and I hope I'm one of them.  I wouldn't be riding/working on the ferries themselves, I would be selling tickets or working on the docks/terminals like the guy in the photo below. Which is good because I get motion sickness on boats.

I could get called to work any shift on any of the routes on the map below. My house is where the red X is located so I'm hoping IF I get a job that I'll be able to work mostly in the south sound area. Port Townsend is 1.5 hours away from home,  Kingston aka Keystone is 45 minutes, away,   Southworth is only about 15 minutes,   Bremerton is 25, Bainbridge is almost an hour from home. If I get assigned to one on the other side of the water its a whole other story, they expect you to be there the night before and sleep in your car so you're not late.         You can't be late for your 4am shift.  Mukilteo is 2 hours away and thats driving around, 95 miles away from home. Wouldn't be so bad if I got a 10 hour shift but a lot of the shifts are only 4 hours. 

Wish me luck, it would be great to get such a good job in this job market.                                                                                                                 

Its kicking my butt

How is training going? Training has amped up.

Today training called for 20 minutes of easy cross training so I did the torture class which is hard. Tuesdays is Torreys hard day; heavier weights, slower more controlled movements. I used the 8 lb weights for all but 1 set of arms work, yay. Lan had 10 lb weights and I think he was hurting.

We also rode the spin bikes, as usual, for the first 30 minutes of the class and I honestly had the bike above the 80% she was asking for for more than half the class.

After the misery of yesterdays run I know I need to be working harder all week to make the weekends easier. I was so tired yesterday after my 6.2 mile run that I had a 2 hour nap last night then made myself stay up till 9pm before going to bed and sleeping all the way through till 6:30 this morning. I woke up right before the alarm went off so I knew I had to get out of bed and go to the class.  Lucky me, tomorrow is a rest day.