Do You Lift To Failure?

Do you lift to failure? Mai does! This was her second set, too. First set was perfection ;-)

PDL Day 3 is upon us :o)
Question To Consider: What would my family and friends say is the driving force of my life? What do I want it to be?

I will either come back to this tonight or tomorrow after some more reflection. So far these last 3 days have really been an incredible experience for me. I hope that all of you who are reading along are able to take some time each day to really get in into this all - to delve deep into what the heck we are doing in our lives right now. I have to thank God for my life that really does allow for me to step aside by myself and really get into the nitty gritty of this study. I think this time through the book is really going to be a different experience than ever before. Maybe I wasn't ready before, but I feel like I am more open to hearing what Pastor Warren is saying, more willing to be honest with myself and others.

PDL Day 2

Did you guys all have this picture in your house growing up? It totally takes me back to my childhood!

Ok, I'm busy, I'm frustrated, I need to work out and I know if I put this off, it just won't get on the blog today, so I'm answering the Day 1 Question and posting the Day 2 question (what did you guys all think of the Day 2 reading)?

Ok.
QTC Day 1: In spite of all the advertising around me, how can I remind myself that life is really about living for God, not myself?
I thought about this a bit yesterday and then this morning it came to me. I need to memorize scripture. It is something I know some of you have heard me promise to do in the past, but my brain is swiss cheese the older I get and I tell myself there is no way I can memorize scripture, but during Lent, I am going to write down on paper the situations during my day that cause me to say screw it all, I'm going to be all about in my flesh and I'm going to find scripture that matches that particular situation and I'm going to memorize. Feel free to check on me periodically to find out what scriptures I've come up with.

On to ~
QTC Day 2: I know that God uniquely created me. What areas of my personality, background, and physical appearance am I struggling to accept?

And on a side note, Helen, I had a very wierd PDL dream about you last night...
you are obviously in my thoughts ;o)

I should have some type of workout updates tomorrow. This week ends base training and I have a feeling things will be ramping up on the March calendar.

PDL Day 1

I never came back and finished my Feeling Nostalgic Today post and as usual, I've lost all the other stuff I was going to say. I think what was really in my heart on Saturday was that the summer spent in Belize should have been a turning point in my life. In fact, I guess it was a turning point in my life, but I chose the wrong turn.

I've been listening a lot to Susan's pastor and one of his sermons really spoke to me. Unfortunately, I cannot tell you which one it was, but please listen to them all (Community Bible link is on my right sidebar). He is FANTASTIC!! If I remember correctly it was one of his Ecclesiastes sermons, which taught about how we should encourage the young, the unattached to try new things, to go places they won't be able to go when they are married and working. That if you are currently in a place in your life where you can go and do things for God - missions or other, that you should take the opportunity of your place now and do those things. I'll listen to his sermons again today and try to give you a direct link. But seriously, listen to him! He's a lot of fun! Thanks for turning me on to him, Susan!

I started reading The Purpose Driven Life this morning and will be reading one chapter a day until Easter Weekend. I think this allows enough time to take Sundays off to reflect on the previous week.

Chapter one is "It All Starts With God". There were three sentences in particular today that jumped out at me (maybe because they were italicized? :o)

the first was "Obsession with self in these matters is a dead end; attention to God leads us out into the open, into a spacious, free life."
Isn't that what we all crave? A free life, dead of obsession and worry. It must start with realizing it is not about us! There is a good book written by Max Lucado called It's Not About Me that I really liked. I recommend getting the workbook, too.

The second sentence was about self-help...and this is an area that I totally get caught up in, but the Bible says "Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self." HUGE CONCEPT for me to grasp today. I understand it and believe it, I just need to practice it.


The third theory I liked was on P19 where he says "it is not about how to cram more activities into an overloaded schedule. Actually, it will teach you how to do less in life - by focusing on what matters most."
This is a concept I think many people today do not get, I know I for one struggle with it. ~ Living in the moment and experiencing (without rushing through) it all so that you give meaning to all you do. I have really been trying to slow down, not rushing, thinking about whether or not we need to run a particular errand at this particular time or if by eliminating something we can gain more benefit out of the other things we are doing. I think there is a lot I can eliminate that would help us do less of the unimportant and focus on God.


I don't know if I will blog about each chapter every day, but I will post the Question to Consider each day and try to come back and give my own answer.

Question To Consider: In spite of all the advertising around me, how can I remind myself that life is really about living for God, not myself?

Feeling Nostalgic Today

I'm feeling a bit nostalgic today. It's the big 41 :o)
I had a good morning - headed down to the waterfront for an 8am run with the group - and we've got a decent sized group this year - 97 people, I think. After some dynamic warm-ups, the coaches did some talking and then my mentor Jeb got up to make an announcement and the next thing I knew, everyone was singing Happy Birthday and presenting me with a most yummilicious cupcake, flaming candle and all. What a great way to start the run! We ran for 65 minutes and when we were done, Kat (from last year's team) arrived to let me try out her bike she is trying to sell. First she and Michelle and I went to Besaw's for breakfast. Did I use the word yummilicious already? Hm... I have to use it again. I had a double egg over easy sandwich with prosciutto and avacado and red peppers on a spectacular bun...what a way to replenish after a run!!

Kat and I headed over to the Athlete's Lounge to see if someone could take a look at the me on the bike and let me know if it was a decent fit and IT WAS!...so I might just have a new bike! I'm going to ride a couple more bikes this week and then probably take a ride out to Sauvie Island on her bike to see if I like her. She's a 2006 Fugi Team Pro Carbon Fiber road bike named Cadence. Can you rename a bike? I'm not sure. I wouldn't rename a two year old dog if I adopted one. Hmmm.

So, 41. For some reason it has hit me harder than 40. I'm feeling rather teary today. I thought I was just being foolish but I think I'm just being a bit nostalgic. I pulled out a very old (as in 26 years old) photo album of the summer I spent in Belize on a missions trip. We helped build a clinic in a very poor section of Belize. A much needed medical facility - as I remember the only hospital even remotely close by was a British Army hospital that I don't believe the general masses had access to.

We spent several weeks in Florida in "boot camp" first...getting used to the heat, the work, learning the skills we would need.
In this last picture I am on my way to bathe - in the lake - I look like I'm telling one of my many far fetched stories that I became known for that Summer - this one was probably me telling the photographer about how far down I had to dive to touch the alligator's nose before wrestling it during my last bath.
Seriously...there definitely were gators in there...but I didn't really touch one ;o)
My hair is the exact same cut right now...color, too. I think I feel exactly like I did that summer. I'm still 15 inside.

Let's go back up to the top: The first pic brings back such feelings of belonging and love and fun we would have after a very long day of tough tough labor. We were so happy - dirty and tired and happy.

I was definitely a rebel in the group. In picture 4, I had gathered the girls in a moment of solidarity against The Man (meaning our mid-20 "adults" that were in charge of us kids). In a desperate act of defiance against the rule of only 4 squares of TP per person per latrine outing, we took a day's worth of toilet paper and gave ourselves playboy bunny neckties.

In picture 6 you can see me on KP duty. I was either cooking dinner or boiling the crotchrot out of someone's underwear. Notice the convenience of the latrine to the kitchen facililities -ick!
One of the hardest things for me about that Summer was not being able to share our leftover food with the hungry locals. Heartbreaking.

In picture 12 you see my favorite pasttime - eating in the river. I mean...really...never has a pineapple or a mango tasted so incredible as when you are eating it straight from the source, in the river, with the juices running down your body and into the water. The best part of this picture, though, is Lise shaving her legs right next to us as we ate!!!

I've got much more to say about this trip down memory lane, but will have to save it for tomorrow, because we are off for more celebration of my oldness ;o)

Exhausted...Will I Make it to 9pm for Lost?

I put too much on my workout plate today and just realized it's Wednesday and there is NO way I'm going to make it to 9pm for Lost.

I was up at 4:20am to get some coffee in me and wake up a bit before heading downtown for group swim. Made it home by 7:30am to find both kids just waking up, so we got ready for school and I grabbed a quick breakfast before heading out the door to drop them off. After I got Mai settled at school, I raced home to put on my riding gear and headed out for a 75min ride. Added in two decent hills and made it home in time for a quick shower and a blended up a chocolate protein shake to take in the car with me to pick up Mai. We got home and I worked for a bit and then we took Ki for a quick walk before picking up Jack from school. After playing at the school playground with friends, the kids wanted to go to the gym so we headed in for an upper body workout followed by 20 minutes of relaxing swim in the pool and a much too long sauna - I was so hungry I almost passed out in the too hot shower at the gym...NOW THAT would have been embarrassing!

Home for a big dinner and now my eyes are barely open. I love days like this, though. Not much work, lots of working out, and busy, happy kids. Being able to fall asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow is pretty awesome, too! Oh...and it was a crazy warm sunny winter day!! Felt like Spring :o)

Tomorrow is a long work day with a break at noon for a lunch meeting with a client. I need to get in a 65 min run so I will probably get up early again to work and then hit the road around 9am for my run.

Workouts are right on schedule this week:
Bike 1/2
Swim 2/2
Run 0/2
RT 2/3
Extra credit 20 min swim + 30 min swim

Off to bed....yawn.

Last Week's Catch-up

Time to catch up...and time to sleep in. The kids spent the night at the grandparents last night. Aside from when we are on vacation, they have never slept apart from us before. It felt kind of weird, but good - I actually slept in until 8:30!! Now I've got my coffee and I need to wake up so I can get to work.

Last week went well considering my cold still lingers. It's actually all in my nose right now. I simply can't breath right. I went to a bike clinic on Tuesday at REI and I realized that I was sitting there with my mouth hanging open trying to get a breath and I must have looked incredibly intelligent.

I got in most of my workouts, but if you go to my TNT Blog, you will see I have made a donation of $40. I won't go into all my excuses as they are not sufficient. People fighting cancer don't get to skip their treatment just because they don't feel well. I do not get to skip workouts while I am fighting to raise money for cancer research. Simple as that.
To read about my Saturday group bike ride click HERE AND SCROLL DOWN TO 15FEB09

Here's how my week turned out:
Bike 2/2
Swim 2/2
Run 0/2
Group Workouts 2/2

RT: 0/2
Extra credit ~ 1 swim

Yesterday was bright and beautiful and cold and I decided the kids needed a hike out in the fresh air and Steve actually decided to join us, which made the kids so happy! We just went to Powell Butte because it is close. It doesn't look so great in the winter, as you can see from the picture above (although Hood looked great!), but once you get into the trees on the Elderberry Trail it gets a little better. I think Steve actually enjoyed it enough to head out with us again once the weather turns nicer. Maybe we'll get him camping and fishing with us this Summer, too! It would mean so much to the kids and I to have him along on our excursions into nature.

Easter Book Club, Anyone?

Over the last several years I have had a tradition of reading The Purpose Driven Life over Lent and also reading Peter Marshall's, The First Easter, over the several weeks leading up to Easter. I watch The Passion of the Christ on Good Friday. I thought some of you might like to read with me during Lent and we can leave it at that or we can discuss as well. If you don't already have the books and don't want to purchase them, I am sure your library carries them...However, they are both great books to have in your personal collection of books.

I will start reading PDL on February 25th and The First Easter probably in mid march as it is a very quick read. I will probably try to read 5 or 6 pages a day - it goes very fast.

Everyone have a great day!

Two Dates and a Swim

Mai with her mall curls.












I had a feeling both kids needed some time alone with me yesterday so I made dates with both of them. Mai is an easy date ~ she's happy going anywhere - she just wants to be with me :o)
She requested a trip to the mall for window shopping. She requested she be allowed to wear a princess costume and wand and princess shoes (shoes which by the way are not good for mall walking). We headed to the bridal/prom shop first so she could admire all the beautiful princess dresses, then we headed to Claire's to browse among the jewelry. People would smile and tell her she looked so beautiful, which of course, made her day. Then a flat iron kiosk person grabbed us and asked if she wanted princess curls and of course, she did, and then as we were walking along even more people commented - they would tell their kids to look at the beautiful princess. Older people were giving her huge smiles. It TOTALLY made her day! We ended the date at Cinnabon and then it was on home for my date with Jack.

Jack and I arrived at the bowling alley to find it closed :-(
Next best thing on a Sunday evening, a big brownie and comic book browsing at Barnes and Noble. He was happy to not have li'l sis interrupting everything he said and to not have to share me with anyone else, and I think that was really all that mattered to him. He got a new star wars book and we made it out of there just as they locked up.

Got home, gave myself some nice heartburn with a very heavily onioned turkey burger sandwich and headed to the gym for a swim. I did the drills from Wednesday's workout:

Warm-up 5 mins
2x25s "swim" with board, followed by 1x50 easy freestyle, 3 times through.
1x200 pull with buoy.
9x50s, practice breathing every 3 or 4 strokes. Focus on rolling head with body to get the breath. Holding proper body position throughout. 1-3 easy, 4-6 add a little sauce, &7-9 fast. Max effort: 80%: 15 sec rest between each.
10x25s long glide freestyle. Easy; approx 6 strokes per breath.
Warm-down.
Total meters: 1200+

You know how people always tell people who are uncomfortable at the gym to not worry because no one is really looking at them and thinking things. Well, that's a lie...someone IS always watching. An older gentleman stopped me at one point in my swim and asked me why I was bothering to do a particular drill if I wasn't going to do it right. I started to get pissed, but he was right. I told him it was simply because I have a cold and I'm a big wuss and then started swimming again.

When I got out of the pool and headed to the sauna, he was in the spa and asked if I was coming in. No, I'm going into the sauna, says I. Why? Do you want to critique me or something ( kind of snide from me). No, he says, just comment.

Ok, I'll bite.

I sit down and dip my feet in and he proceeds to tell me that he's a swim coach and that I have great form and technique and that right now I'm better than 99% of the people I'll see in the gym pool on any given day. We got to talking further and I realize he's the guy who coached someone from spin class and also worked with my w/o partner, Tracy, one day last year. So, was he just talking the friendly talk to have someone to talk to in the spa, or was he for real?...I do not know, but it made me feel really good to have some positive feedback on my technique!

Pirates and Fairies

Coach Dano giving a bike clinic after our ride.








Mai and her BFF.















Mai and one of the dozens of mounted animals in this house. It was crazy. I've never seen a bear's claws that up close and personal before - they would rip you to shreds!



















Mai and Jack



















Jack walking the plank.



















Yesterday started bright and early out at Sauvie Island. We had a 60 minute ride on the schedule, so once around the island and some change. I'm still looking for a road bike so it will be interesting to see what I can do this loop in next time on a new bike, but I managed to keep up with part of the group pretty well...with a little more effort than them, so my L2 ride was definitely an L2+. I ended up with 17:04 miles in 1:11:15 with an average spped of 14.3mph. For those of you who don't know...that is sssssssssllllllllooooooowwwwwww.

I got to try out some gels that Michele and Johan made themselves. It was sooo good - very salty lime flavored. They're going to have a gel making class one evening. It's a lot cheaper to make it yourself and I would love to save the $$$.

After the ride, Coach Dano put on a tire changing and shifting clinic which was hilarious, as usual. Bunch of funny pants our coaches are!

Made it home and Steve left to go riding and I realized the only chance I was going to get to do my run was right then and there so I ran on the treadmill with the kids watching and harassing me that it was their turn, that I was going too slow, etc. Once we all got our runs in, we hit the showers and off to the best 5 y/o birthday party I've ever been to. It was a pirates and fairies theme and every kid had their own costume. The boys in full get-up with hook hands, eye patches and swords and the girls with wings and sparkly tiaras and magic wands. Even the little babies that were there got to dress up just like the big girls. It was a magical party. The house was decorated in total pirate theme, too. Skeletons and jewels falling out of treasure chests on the tables and gold coins all over the place. Out on the deck was the pirate ship with a plank that each kid had to walk.

This house is amazing, too. It sits up on a hill with a fantastic view of Mt. Hood and it's my very favorite Christmas light house every December. He's a big time hunter and the house is full of mounted animals. Not necessarily my thing, but it was very cool to see all the animals up close. It kind of had a wide open spaced log cabin feel to the house. Spacious with incredibly high vaulted ceilings. Made my house feel like a cave.

Got home in time to eat a quick meal and off to church. I was right...I was beat. Yawning in church. tsk. tsk....but managed to get my second wind when I got home and saw that The Notebook was starting. Ryan Gosling...yum. I. LOVE. THAT. MOVIE!

ok, workouts for the week ALL got done:
Swim: 2/2
Bike: 2/2
Run: 2/2
Group Workouts: 2/2
No extra credit or RT this week, though. I think we are all close to being 100% healthy so I should be able to get it all worked in this week.

I'm a Dirty Girl

Wow, finally got back at it today with a ride this morning (61 minutes) and a run tonight (43 miniutes). I lucked out this week in that it was a pretty easy base week. My cold is still lingering but Jack and Mai are both feeling well finally!!!

I bought a bright bike jacket at a sweet REI new year clearance last month and got to try it out in the rain today. I can't believe I rode all last year in mostly black- SO DUMB to blend in with the roads like that. Jack snapped a pic or two of me, but I swear I was much dirtier than I look in these pics. My entire face was a big mud spatter. I think it's so fun to get that sweaty and dirty while working out.
Holy cow, speaking of dirt, I can't believe how dirty that fridge vent is.

Tomorrow we ride out at Sauvie Island and need to be prepared for a practice flat tire. I'm not even sure I have spare cartridges so I hope I don't get put on the spot.
Need to run tomorrow, too, in order to keep my deal of not skipping any training. Yet another kid birthday party, and I promised poor Kiwi a long hike tomorrow. Hope church is an exciting topic or I might just fall asleep in my chair by that time of night.

My Fave Bible Story

Thanks to everyone who participated in sharing their favorite bible story or verse. Keep 'em coming! PLEASE!
Sorry it took so long for me to get mine posted. It's been a bit of a week.

Ok, First off ~ my favorite bible story right now is one that goes back a couple months to my last bible study. This story has stuck with me and I think of it often. It strikes awe into me.

It's from the Old Testament, 2 Kings 6:16-17. I get goosebumps just thinking about it.

Elisha and his servant were being hunted by the King of Aram's army because Elisha, a prophet, was sending word to the king of Israel about the Arameans plans of harm. One morning Elisha and his servant awoke to find that the enemy army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. His servant was definitely distressed by the situation, "Oh my lord, what shall we do?" the servant asked.
"Don't be afraid", the prophet answered. "Those who are with us are more than those who are with them."16
And Elisha prayed, "O Lord, open his eyes so he may see." then the Lord opened the servant's eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha."17


Isn't this amazing? God opened the servant's eyes so he could see their heavenly protection!! According to Psalm 68:17 "The chariots of God are tens of thousands and thousands of thousands!!
Can you just imagine Elisha's servant having his eyes truly opened and seeing that their enemy was surrounded by thousands of thousands of thousands of God's chariots of fire all around them.

Can you imagine that you yourself have these same armies of God surrounding you, protecting you, and fighting for YOU. That we do not often see even a glimpse of the supernatural that surrounds us. Feel safe today and for all your time here, for I believe YOU and I DO have God's armies surrounding us .

As Beth Moore puts it, "...we have nothing to fear. The pitiful powers of this world are nothing compared to the armies in heaven fighting on our behalf. Fear cripples faith, but never forget - just as quickly, faith cripples fear. Whether fear or faith prevails depends on the commander we're saluting."
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On to the week, workouts have been nada after Sunday. Jack had some tummy troubles on Saturday. My parents surprised us with a visit Sunday morn. Jack was pretty much out of it the whole time they were here (started puking and that was that) so Mai had Grammy and Grampy all to herself. She made them both play almost every board game she owns. Grampy finally protested and would only play monopoly with her if she would learn her times tables (see above picture). My 4 y/o is now smarter than a 5th grader. Oh, and I just noticed we still have some Christmas stockings hanging around in that picture. I wonder if I'll get them put away before next Christmas.

Jack continued his illness to the extent of missing school M/T/W. This morning I asked him if he could handle sitting around watching cartoons while I took Mai to school (Dad was feeling tummy troubles himself and was napping). Jack said fine. When I got home 20 minutes later, he had thrown up and had fallen asleep on the floor next to his puke bucket. My heart breaks! I took him to the doctor who said that if we couldn't stop his vomiting with meds, then she would have us go to the ER for an IV due to dehydration. We picked up the meds, which must be VERY good, as the pharmacist asked me if Jack was getting Chemo! See, things could be worse. It's all about your perspective.

Anyways, Jack is now able to tolerate liquids and has a little color back in him and we've avoided the ER! He's even starting to plan out his foods for when he gets back to solids so I would say he's on the up swing.

So, although I DID make it to early group swim this a.m., I still have 2 bikes, 2 runs, and 1 swim to get in before end of day Saturday. RT might just not happen this week :-(
I myself had a bad cold Monday and Tuesday and that was the main reason for no workouts. Still felt so stuffed up this morning at swim and called out for being a puss with my breathing (in a nice way). But, Grrrr. I feel like I will never feel totally comfortable with any length of distance at any good rate of speed breathing every 4th breath and today it just took it out of me and I kept lapsing back into every other stroke.
I really must make the effort in this area this year!

Get Happier

Cynthia was wondering what we learned in church that had my accelerator foot so excited Saturday night. I was going to start a post something along these lines today anyways, but first I will share what we learned this week.
We had a guest pastor this week and his topic was Get Happier ~ with happiness described as: The ability to feel satisfied with one's life, to enjoy oneself and others, and to have fun.

Based on different studies and research he came up with his top 10 list on how to get happier and then followed them up with scriptures out of the book of Colossians 2-3 (NIV).

The people who are happiest:

1. See life through an optimistic lens (col 2:5)

2. Have a strong spiritual faith (this does not have to be Christianity) (Col 2:6-7)

3. Be grateful and say thank you. (Col 2:7, 3:15, 3:17)

4. Have meaningful goals. (Col 3:1-2) * see below

5. Put money low on the list. (Col 3:5)

6. Avoid comparisons. (Col 3:11)

7. Enjoy close relationships with friends. (Col 3:12-15)

8. Are happily married (meaning that if you are single, that is fine, but IF you ARE married, the happiest people are obviously in a happy marriage) (Col 3:11)

9. Treasure Family. (Col 2:20-21)

10. Take initiative at work. (Col 3:23)


*Pastor Roth read Col 3:1-2 out of The Message and I have always like this version best and I'm going to share 3:1-17:

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So if you're serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don't shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ - that's where the action is. See things from his perspective.

Your old life is dead. Your new life, which is your real life - even though invisible to spectators - is with Christ in God. He is your life. When Christ (your real life, remember) shows up again on this earth, you'll show up, too - the real you, the glorious you. Meanwhile, be content with obscurity, like Christ.

And that means killing off everything connected with that way of death: sexual promiscuity, impurity, lust, doing whatever you feel like whenever you feel like it, and grabbing whatever attracts your fancy. That's a life shaped by things and feelings instead of by God. It's because of this kind of thing that God is about to explode in anger. It wasn't long ago that you were doing all that stuff and not knowing any better. But you know better now, so make sure it's all gone for good: bad temper, irritability, meanness, profanity, dirty talk.

Don't lie to one another. You're done with that old life. It's like a filthy set of ill-fitting clothes you've stripped off and put in the fire. Now you're dressed in a new wardrobe. Every item of your new way of life is custom-made by the Creator, with his label on it. All the old fashions are now obsolete. Words like Jewish and non-Jewish, religious and irreligious, insider and outsider, uncivilized and uncouth, slave and free, mean nothing. From now on everyone is defined by Christ, everyone is included in Christ.

So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It's your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.

Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness. Let the Word of Christ - the Message - have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives- words, actions, whatever - be done in the the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way.
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I was going to ask you guys this week what your favorite bible story or verse is - and why.
Feel free to share in my comments or on your own blog. I'll share mine later today.

End of Week One

Training Week One ended at midnight last night with me only missing out on one RT session, making all my goals of completing everything on my TNT calendar plus a few extra credits, so I feel great about my week. I had planned to hit the gym after church for my final RT and a swim but I really hurt my knee yesterday on the run somehow and decided I could use the rest instead.
The group run was great. We met up at The Portland Running Co. I've attended three of these in the past but never bothered to battle the crowds to get fitted but I decided to wait around yesterday and I'm so glad I did.

First we started with 10 mins of dynamic warm-ups down on the waterfront and then we ran up and over the Hawthorne Bridge, down the waterfront to the Steele Bridge and back, up and over the Hawthorne again and ended up with a 40 minute run. I mostly ran with Ricardo, a newbie to the group. He was really easy to talk to. He's from Mexico City and was transferred up here recently with work. Got to know an alum better: Leslie. The group seems more off balance this year ~ out of 100 participants, only about 25 are doing the half and the other 75 are doing the Olympic distance.

Anyways, it was a good run and then we headed back indoors for fittings. After watching me run, my awesome fitter told me I am a fairly severe over-pronator AND in addition, I've been buying my shoes about a 1/2 size too big. He kept me Asics, but in a cheaper style!! I like that!

While I was waiting in line I was talking to a woman who signed up for the Oly. She's a physician, a year or so younger than me, with 2 kids ages 5 and 3 and by the time we made it up to the cash register, I think I had her talked into training for the half! It seems like the majority of the team last year was in their 20s or early 30s and single/no kids, so I'm taking every chance I get to add some more flavor onto the 1/2 team ;o)

By the time I got home my knee was killing me. I think I wore my old shoes for one run too many. Nothing bothered me during the run aside from my shin splints, but I could barely walk for the rest of the day. I almost crumpled to the ground in pain at a birthday party for a classmate of Jack's when I stood up after sitting down with my legs crossed for an extended period.

So we went to church and it was an awesome time, as usual, and on the drive home we were talking about what we learned at church and eating our M&M cookies and having a grand old time and as I passed the cop hidden in the shadows I knew my fate immediately. He was so awesome and let me off with a warning and gave the kids their own badges and told them that they were honorary officers and their main job was to watch their mom's lead foot!

I awoke to an e-mail from someone at church this morning who saw me get pulled over (great!) and she said they prayed for us as they went by! I think it helped:o) I was really so lucky to not get a ticket ~ between the new shoes and my tithe at church, I'm down to $4 left for the month of February. Lean times for Julie, which means I do NOT even have the option to miss any TNT workouts this month, since I don't have the money to pay into my fundraiser page. Pressure is ON! I WILL SUCCEED! Thankfully my birthday is approaching...so maybe someone will get me a new non-stinky running shirt as a present(hint hint, Steve).

So for Week One:
Bike Workouts: 2/2
Run Workouts: 3/3
Swim Workouts: 2/2
Group Workouts: 2/2

RT Workouts: 2/3
11 mile run/hike Extra Credit
20 minutes elliptical Extra Credit
50 minutes in pool Extra Credit


Giving frees us from the familiar territory of our own needs by opening our mind to the unexplained worlds occupied by the needs of others. Barbara Bush.