Tour de Flanders Portland Style

Seems kind of early in the season for this kind of ride, but I found this video in my inbox this morning from Coach Michele.

It looks like our group ride this week will not only be incredibly cold and wet, but give my legs a nice workout as well. 7200 feet of climbing in 42 miles. Oh my.

I hope this is a prank.
I'll be back tomorrow to report in. Or not.

Mission Moment

Friday night started the weekend off with a bang when the Biggest Loser team I was leading at the club won the overall prize for the highest percentage of weight loss!! I had also just picked up a newly tuned bicycle thanks to my amazing parents who came to my rescue after reading about last weekends bum ride.

Saturday morning came early and with a few nerves as I headed out to meet up with the team and anticipating the emotions of sharing at our weekly group workout with my own mission moment. As the team gathered around me, I warmed up a bit on this chilly morning and then shared how cancer has affected our family. Tears were shed, but I was able to finish on my own...although I had Coach Michele waiting next to me with her reading glasses on in case I became too teary.

With our mission moment done, we headed out on our bikes for a rather short and sweet ride of 15 miles (my bike moved from gear to gear like butter!! AMAZING what a tune up can do for your ride!)...

...before getting into our longest run of the season. 10 miles on the schedule, but having only hit about 6 miles in length so far this year, I went into it knowing that I might have to cut it short. With some running pals keeping my brain occupied, I made it to mile 4 before determining I should cut it short at 8 miles instead of 10 since my left knee was barking. I found a new friend to turn around with me and we ended up with about 8.5 miles in the books as we arrived back to our parking lot.

The sun came out and we were able to spread out blankets and towels and get our sunny post run stretching on while snacking on those glorious peanut butter filled pretzels that make the perfect triathlon fuel and picking the silly string out of my hair...thank you, oly team, for supporting our ride today ;P  My favorite party of the ride was, surprisingly, NOT getting shot in the face with silly string, but when teammate Alyssa drove by me in the car with a megaphone yelling out that "skirts make you go faster on the bike!!!!!!!!!!!!!". HA! Made my day =D

The sun made all the difference in my attitude and I realized that more of these days are to come. As the weather changes from cold and wet to warm(ish) and dry(er), our swims and rides and runs get longer and more difficult. We know there are hard days to come but we appreciate them more for the challenges and with the knowledge that we are so fortunate to be able to be out there doing it.

Swim, Bike, Run, Love,

Julie

p.s. you can kind of see the skirt I was wearing on Saturday in the pics, but here is some detail...

The kind people at INKnBURN have graciously donated some Sleeves to my on line fundraiser and they also sent me this skirt and a tank, which I will be reviewing after a few more wears (let me just tell you now that I'm living in this skirt!!!). It is so comfortable and CHECK OUT THESE CUTE undershorts...

Biggest Loser

Maria, Me, Dave, Cheyenne, Lisa

My Red Team WON!!! Here I am with four of the teammates at our finale party on Friday. We had a very consistent loss each week of a little more than 2 pounds per person. The team lost a total of 7.29% (104.6 pounds) and we only beat the 2nd place team by .05% - the yellow team came in with a total loss of 7.24%.

I'm Not Complaining...REALLY!

I swear you all...I'm not complaining...I'm just dumping revealing my heart. My womens group just finished our bible study on the book of James. We were asked to write a little something - our testimony if you will - on how James affected us. Here was mine. When I wrote it, a bit off the cuff before class, I thought it was a little humorous in parts, yet true at the same time. When I actually read it out loud at study, I broke into a heap of sweaty wet tears that the harder I tried to choke back, the messier I got.
Oh my.
So here goes.

 

Julie and James

Sitting at my desk today messing around on facebook to relieve my brain of any active use – two weeks behind on my study and realizing that it’s all quite a blur, I discovered that James is getting under my skin…has been under my skin for awhile now.

I feel confused by my choices. I want so badly to do right by all, yet I feel I’m half assing much. My heart is in the right place but my actions show disarray and confusion. I remember watching Judge Judy once and there was a woman, a mom, who was in court for one reason or another, but all I remember is that Judge Judy had a picture of the woman’s dirty stove top and Judy kept saying the woman must have no self respect, that she was a slob. She demanded the woman admit she was a slob. Judge Judy would hate me! I looked at my stove top this morning and it is much worse than the defendant’s.  I’ve failed yet again.

My house is dirty, my kids must forage for their own food, and my dog’s face is set on pi.ti.ful.

The daily choices I have made seemed to be wise ones. I attend my womens group to foster friendships and study my bible, I fund raise with my team to find a cure for cancer, I work out for my health, I shuttle kids to and from activity to activity so they will grow up well rounded and socialized, I take that pitiful dog for at least short walks so she doesn’t go insane, I help others find their strengths and highlight their physical abilities so they can lead better lives. It all feels right at its base, but it’s too much. It’s too much and it’s half assed and I don’t think that is what James (or Judge Judy) wants it to look like. The heart is there but the details must be checked.

I have 24 hours in my day and I go back and forth struggling between wanting to do it all and to help everyone and using up every single hour -VS- the thought that there has got to be a better way….a way where I don’t turn to my ipad or iphone or “i” anything to relieve the pressure, but to a place where there is free time to be…to just be…and to be available to others.

I think it MUST start by falling to my knees. I was reading in The Message that according to tradition, James’ nickname was “Old Camel Knees” because of thick calluses built up on his knees from many years of determined prayer…and prayer is always foundational to Wisdom, it says. Therefore, down to my knees I will fall each day, each hour, each second as needed until I figure this out.

I don’t know what James will ultimately teach me, but the change in ME from even a year ago to today is quite dramatic. Even if it’s still not quite showing on the outside of Julie, there is definitely a shift from Me to Him…or rather…to His people. It’s blossoming…or it will when this Spring snow stops…and I’m excited to see where it goes. My heart about bursts when I think of all there is to come. Bring it on, God, Bring it on! 


Ok, people, enough of me always talking about how busy life seems these days. Consider me working on it.

oh...and come back tomorrow when I'll let you know how the Biggest Loser Party goes tonight and whether or not my team won :D

There is No "I" in Team

There is no "I" in Team.
Oh boy...what a lonely weekend.
We had a ride on the schedule for Saturday and a run on the schedule for Sunday. I went in to my ride knowing I would have issues with my girl, Cadence. She's been giving me troubles shifting and the chain has been slipping. It's definitely time for a tune up, but I have a hard time putting my money into stuff like that during the season when I'm fund raising - I want all extra $$ to go to the cause. Unfortunately, without a bike, there is no race - so I will have to figure something out.

We had a great Mission Moment by a former TNT teammate from the 2006/2007 season who was then unfortunately diagnosed with lymphoma several years later. His humor and honesty left us refreshed with our "WHY" and off we went.

The ride itself was pretty great. The route was gorgeous and I felt strong. I dropped my chain several times - getting it horribly jammed once- and being quite stuck by myself. I took a moment to take in some food at a llama farm and snapped this picture.

I love riding out in the country!
Dropped my chain again starting up a steep hill and found myself quite distanced from either of the groups ahead of me and behind me and ended up riding the last 17 miles by myself with multiple bike issues. On the one hand, I don't like riding by myself so that could have derailed me a bit, but on the other hand, I had lots of quiet time to myself AND >>>> I didn't even get lost. WOOT! That MUST be a first.

Sunday I went solo as well. Thinking I had plenty of time to register for the Shamrock 15k with my teammates, I ended up waiting too long and the entry fee went up from $35 to $90 and I had to pass on this particular group run. My plan was to get up early and get the miles in before church but my body apparently had other plans and I overslept. A teammate texted me a picture of us on a great group run from last season...

... and made me twice as sad that I was missing the run with everyone today, but it reminded me that I needed to get 'er done, so around 1pm - with snowflakes falling, I headed out the door and by mile two I was so warm I was shedding my snow clothes.

So the weekend was a success in that I got my training done, but I am anxious to get back with the team next week for our Brick in the a.m. and our Karaoke for Kause Fundraiser in the p.m.

Biggest Loser and Sneak Peak

Wow! That was some first couple of months on the new job. I started my boot camp in November, got hired on at the club in December and started working the first week of January. On January 16th, I was thrown head first into leading my very first Biggest Loser team during our New Year 8 Week Challenge. We had our final weigh in last night...aaaaaannnnnd..I do believe it was our BEST weigh in of all 8 weeks! The team held strong with an average weight loss of about 2 pounds per person each week. We were by far the most consistent of all the teams and I think we may just have won this thing. The big reveal will be at our Party in two weeks. I'm hoping the suspense doesn't kill me before then.

In other news...

I'm holding a fund raising raffle in April on this here blog and thought I would give y'all a sneak peak at some of our donors that are helping us to raise funds to benefit The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. More details to come, but for now I leave you with these lovelies:

Some sweet Bondi Bands

Some even sweeter (smelling) Sheebody creams

and for you interval geeks...

GymBoss has graciously donated one of their timers!! This is probably the one piece of workout equipment I just can't live without these days.

Raffle entries will be run directly through my Team in Training Page and I'll let you all know when the raffle starts and what the prize will look like in it's entirety.

It is one of the most beautiful compensations of this life that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Hippie Hippie Shakin' and a Group Ride

Thankfully, an event got canceled last night and although I'm bummed about having to postpone it, having a night to just relax with kids and movies was very welcome. Friday night my Biggest Loser team at the club met for one of their last workouts. We are the team to beat right now and after our last chance workout on Monday, we weigh in for a final time. After the Friday workout, I headed to the school to join the kids at their Hippie Hippie Shake dance.
Jack went traditional Tie Dye...

And Mai dolled up a bit more...

Saturday rolled in early as I headed out to Sunset Cycles for a group ride. 30 miles with rollers and up Pumpkin Ridge. We parked our bikes outside...

...and then headed in for our Mission Moment...

,,,where we heard from Lenore about her son Hunter's battle with AML Leukemia. He spent over 900 days in treatment before he died at age 3 1/2. It was a heartbreaking story.


 You can read Hunter's story HERE. It was so hard for Lenore to stay composed, but she did. It was hard for me to stay composed, and I didn't. There was not a dry eye in the house. It's easy at some point in the season to forget the REAL reason we are out there training. It is not about us, our workout, or our plans for how we are going to conquer our race this year. It is about the people who we are fund raising for. It's that simple. It should be that simple. We do this for the people.Yesterday was a great reminder.

Wiping away the tears, Steph and I headed out...

... for a big "GO TEAM!" and then we rolled along into our ride where I saw two goats fighting to what looked like the death if they continued to ram each other, only for them to stop and nuzzle as I continued on by. I started crying again when I saw a poor dead little dear in the road going up Pumpkin Ridge. Then I found the perfect side of the road protection for a potty stop (TMI) and that made me happy. Some guy tried to run me over and that made me lose my composure and I tried to give him a double birdie but thought I might wreck, so I only managed one finger. My butt muscles started screaming at about the 1/2 way mark and then we were done. Not a bad ride at all. The fact that we'll be doing twice that distance in April seems crazy to my butt right now, but it's happening whether she (my butt) can deal with it or not.
Onward!!

Every. Stinkin'. Day.

I'm tired. Oh so very tired.
All. the. time.
...these days. My first alarm goes off at 4:23am. The second goes off at 4:30am. The coffee starts to hit my brain at 5:00am. I don't know what happens during that first half hour I'm awake. I think I mostly just shiver under my blankie on the couch. At 5am I work out the details of boot camp and by 5:30am I'm out the door and practicing my smile in the car. If I don't practice it first, it simply ain't coming out to play when the first bootcampers start heading in the door. I wouldn't say I'm NOT a morning person...but I'm not a 4:30am in the morning person. FO. SHO.

The day goes on from there. Some days Baby Steps Boot Camp, some days working our home business, some days a shift at the club, and sometimes all three. Then there's supposed to be at least one workout of my own for 1/2 IM training during each day, and of course some family time, taking the kids here and there, the dog always needs a walk, and if everyone is lucky I'll do some laundry. Then, if I get at least one load of laundry done, I'm out handing out flyers for the bootcamp or fundraising for a cause Man...it doesn't look that bad written out like this, but trust me - it's a full day! I know this because...

Eventually at some point during every day since the beginning of 2012, you will find me like this...

Look, someone even kissed me before they snapped this pic. I'm not showing you the awful video they made of me snoring.

The other day, a friend asked me if I had changed my hair and I realized the only difference is that I had actually washed it! ...and "did it". Who has time for such things? I shave my legs once every three months whether they need it or not ;-)  I blog infrequently. I show up at bible study with only a vague recollection of our topic for the week. I forget my own phone number...

...and I wonder how long I can keep this up.
The answer is:
at least for awhile longer...
...and I'll whisper this to you: "it's all about the boot camp". I really.really.really.really. want this boot camp to take off. I love being there so much! It is paying me the least, but it gives me the most joy of all my jobs>>>and so nap if I must, there is something to be said for being able to do the thing you love.

My question to you today:
Are you doing what you love?...Tell me ALL about it :-)

Floppies

Yesterday's run was a real boost for me. It was a 6 mile hilly run (and that last hill was a magnificent piece of work that had me drooling out of the side of my mouth and almost collapsing). I felt strong the whole way through (even during the drooling episode). It's all coming back to me - this strength in my running that has eluded me for so long. My run probably had a boost directly related to it being our TNT Mission Day. Our route start and end was lined with posters of the people we run for, the people who have lost their lives to a blood cancer...as you can guess it's quite emotional. Our coaches gave us a pep talk..

...and our honored teammates spoke during our potluck. One of our honored, in particular, touched my heart because he is about the same age as my cousin, Michael, who passed away last year. I so wished it was Michael standing up there speaking to us about how our efforts in fund raising had helped him to be able to be with us on this Mission Day. But that is not how it is.

As a child growing up in a large extended family, I have lots of great memories, but one of the best is of weekend breakfasts at my Grandpa Frank and Grandma Ruth's house. I remember the smell of bacon and the crackling of the oil in Grandma's skillet and her filling plate after plate after plate of food for all of her children and grandchildren. My favorite part of this breakfast? The Floppies! I guess they are kind of like a crepe, but isn't "Floppie" much more fun to roll off your tongue?! I remember all the men, my dad and uncles, and how many floppies they could eat (amazing!) and I loved the taste of the butter and syrup together with the smooth feel of the floppie on my tongue.

After Grandma Ruth passed away, Michael stepped up to fill the role of Floppie flipper. So at family gatherings, he did what we've always done in the Glazier family and he rolled out the big skillet, a huge tub of Margarine and got to it. I so wish somewhere in someone's drawer there was a picture of one of those mornings from way back when of a Floppie breakfast, but I did manage to get a picture of Michael during one of our last family gatherings - our fun family camp out the summer before he got sick again.

Oh...now that's a drool I don't mind sharing with people. Bring on the floppies and let me salivate while I wait in line for them.

My Aunt Cathy decided the tradition could not end with Michael and she has taught his son, Parker, to make floppies and so we continue on. Sometimes it's the smallest thread of tradition that can keep the family quilt together...

When you think of your family or your childhood, what tradition do you love the most?

The Injury

Yikes! This thing with my shoulders/neck/back/chest is not getting so much better. I've been pretty good about staying away from push ups (this is REALLY hard to do while running a boot camp) and it's impossible for me to do things like a dumbbell side raise. Trying to do an Iron Cross with 5 pound dbs dropped me to my knees one day. It's pretty pitiful. BUT>>>I've still been able to demo burpees and mountain climbers and I've been doing planks, so when Laura from Undeterrable threw out her March Burpee Challenge (30 consecutive burpees per day for 30 days) I was all over it. I knew I couldn't do a push up or put my hands over my head during the jump, but I could do the bulk of the exercise. I grabbed my camera to make sure my form looked good and got to it.

Make a video - it's fun, easy and free!
www.onetruemedia.com

As you can see, my back was totally rounded as I was protecting my shoulder. Although it didn't hurt much while doing the burpees, immediately after, the burn started and I realized my time in this challenge was quite over. I had a one day streak :-(
But maybe you want to try it. Go over to Laura's blog and get in on the action. You are just a few days late and I'm sure she'll let you make them up.

So, other than swimming, I'm totally trying to stay away from much upper body stuff and it's killing me to see my shoulders and arms atrophy away to nothing (ok...I'm probably exaggerating a tad) but c'mon already. I'm over this!

CAN I JUST SAY...as much as this sucks... AT LEAST IT'S NOT MY LEGS!!! I'm running, I'm biking...I'll take it. And with that, I must skedaddle on out of here to meet up with the team for a 6 mile hilly run followed by our TNT All Team Mission Day. A post on that to follow later today.

New Toys and The Eugene Half

I've completely geeked out these last few days with some new toys for my own personal workouts and for my boot campers. It started two weeks ago when this baby was delivered:

My very own pink sandbag. I have two individual sandbags in it so I can use 30 pounds or remove one bag and take it down to 15 pounds. I tried to make my own by using a duffel bag and putting an 18 pound bag of dog food in it, but without all the strategic placing of handles, it just wasn't the same. I LOVE this piece of equipment - it is so versatile!!

Then, while visiting Sports Authority the other night, I found some SAQ pieces that I've been eyeing on line and managed to make my way home with these gems:

...and if that wasn't enough...
This...

...came from Fed Ex yesterday (minus the hot girl).

My boot camp continues to grow (too slowly for my liking) but it is by far the favorite part of my work day, so I will continue on!!

I have to say that I feel that my boot camp workouts have gotten me a lot closer to the running speed that I'm striving for. In addition, my legs feel pretty darn AWESOME. 14 months ago, I started running again after being on the sideline for well over a year dealing with achilles and anterior tibial tendinitis/shin splints. Then after recovering from all that, I injured my glute/hammy area and spent all last season being somewhat slowed down by that, but at least able to run. I dreamed of having runs where my legs didn't hurt, and AMAZINGLY to me, my first two track workouts this year have been magnificent. Although I can still feel a bit of tension in my left glute, it feels much better than last year and my speed is significantly better. I'm experiencing a bit of a runners high right now and hoping that it continues all the way through this season!! I am definitely running the Eugene Half again and so now I need to find out >>>WHO is organizing the blogger meet up this year? Who do I need to know is going to be there? I have looked at Raina's Blog and found links to Lauren, Ronda, and Tricia's blogs, but there have got to be more!! Laura?? Are you still planning on running Eugene? What are everyone's goal times? I'm going out on a limb and just blurting it out now. I want that sub 2:00.

Ok, then...

*What is the one piece of workout equipment you could not live without?

*What is the one new piece of workout equipment you really really really really "need"?