First Ride since Ironman!

Headed out on the flat, flat roads of Wichita with my sister in law, Natasha. She is training for the Country's Most Beautiful Bike Ride at Lake Tahoe, raising money through Team in Training.

Tash is still a pretty new cyclist, so it was fun to get out and share some of the tips I've learned through my past couple years of riding.

It was a gorgeous spring day, but it was very KANSAS. And by that I mean, we totally could have been taken in a gust of wind to Munchkinland. We headed south from my parents house, straight into the wind. It sucked.

It felt great to be back on my bike, but i don't think I've ever battled winds like that before on two wheels. We went out 5 miles and decided the wind equated to about 8 or 10 miles. Heading back home felt like flying. It took no effort at all.

The best part of the ride? The polite and welcoming Sedgwick County cows. What delightful ladies. As I moo'ed hello to the herd, every one of them rose to greet us, chewing their cud and nodding a respectful "Good Effort" to the two crazies on two wheels.

If only horses were as welcoming.

Mid-terms

I've been investigating career options, taking personality and career tests online. Some are great, others are not as helpful, but hopefully I'm making some progress toward a new career!

Trish took the free ColorQuiz.com personality test! ""Has a strong desire to contribute and influence o..." Click here to read the rest of the results.

The path has gotten foggy

This blog is supposed to be about finding my path. Where I'm supposed to go in life. Enjoying the unknown. Plus all the adventures along the way.

Well, the unknown became a little more unclear on Thursday afternoon. There was a bad breakup, and no, not with TGO (who is wonderful and wonderfully supportive) but with my still fairly new employer. Due to "compatibility issues" the relationship ended.

I just went thru this not so long ago. The day I returned to work from Ironman, I lost my job. In that situation, it wasn't so surprising, and it was something that I had wanted. Of course, I wanted it on my terms instead, but I had planned to find a new job post-race anyways.

This time, it totally blindsided me. Came out of the blue. Out of left field. All those cliches.

Things had been going well. We'd been producing lots of great marketing material. I thought things were great.

Apparently my boss disagreed. After a full day, he pulled me into the conference room at about 3:00 and said things weren't working out. There were compatibility issues and our relationship was ending.

He said it wasn't my work or my performance, just that it wasn't working out. I needed to work on my interpersonal skills... I've never had anyone tell me that in my entire life.

So basically that translates to: He didn't like me.

And as pissed off as that makes me, I'm also a little OK with it. Because I like me. I know that I do good work, am a good employee, and am a good person.

Yes, I have opinions. I'm not afraid to speak up about what they are. I don't change them when someone disagrees with me. To those that don't know, that is called INTEGRITY. I know that thru the entirety of my employment, I was 100% myself. With all my skills, talents and opinions. And I'm not ashamed or afraid of that.

And they didn't like that. Their loss. My future's gain.

But now, the hard part...

What to do next???!???!

Follow the yellow brick road

Dear Toto,

We're not in Ironman training anymore. Click your heels three times and the workout is already done!

No more 3 hour training sessions. A good 45 minutes is plenty. And its so much more than most "normal" people do. Granted, we all know that athletes, specifically triathletes, aren't "normal people", but still.

When we go for a 3 mile run, that is still a good workout.

When we mix up the stairmaster, elliptical and recumbant bike, that is still a good workout.

When we decide watching the game tonight is more important and we do 12 oz curls instead, that is still a good workout, er, evening.

So dear Toto, keep this in mind when you feel like a big slacker. You don't have to push yourself as hard as you did this time last year. There is no $550 entry fee weighing on your shoulders, pushing you out the door on your bike in 45 wet degrees.

Working out and training can simply be fun. Enjoyable. A hobby. True, it became part of our lifestyle over the past couple years, but it doesn't have to take over our life. It can simply be a part of it.

So Toto, enjoy the cold beer and cookie dough tonight, and know that the run we'll go on tomorrow will make it all even out.

Love, Dorothy.

Sunny days... sweeping the... clouds away...

Low 60s in KC on Saturday afternoon. After a delightful nap, I couldn't resist going out for a run. So Pete and I headed out, with the new gentle leader we had just gotten at PetSmart around his muzzle.

About a mile in, I had to strip.

Luckily, I could wear my pants tied around my waist. So the final 3 miles were wonderful. I love the first days of spring, when you can bust out your shorts and tank tops will soon follow.

It seriously makes me think life is all sunbeams and cherries, Sesame Street songs and rainbows.

Sunday was the same, even a little sunnier. TGO and I had a great day together. We started TenniSchool and had a ton of fun. We are headed back to practice tonight. It was a Groupon offered about a week ago, and it came with a full month's membership to the gym - meaning: I get to swim again! Who woulda thought I'd be excited about that!?

Today is definitely not a "Case of the Monday's" and I couldn't be happier.

Go State!

I did what I just might consider my first tempo run yesterday. I know they've been on the training plan before, but yesterday I really tried to do it right. Pete and I started out easy. Well, I started easy and he drug me along. Then about 3/4 mile in, we picked it up, easing back down once I passed the 2.5 mile mark. It was a tough workout for this early in training, but it sure made the pizza and beer during "the big game" go down easy.

If only my Cats coulda pulled it out. March will definitely be interesting with a tournament appearance, let alone a top-seeded tournament appearance! Go State!! I'm "Pullen" for ya!

Now, back to the doctor to investigate this crazy lip thing that is going on again. It was all cleared up, and this morning the red spots on my lips said, "Please go spend another $30 at the doctors office today, you know you didn't want to spend that on anything else!" So I guess I'll listen....

Check.

2.75 miles easy. Check.
100 pushup challenge, day one. (Again.) Check.

Hospital Hill, here I come!!!

Hospital Hill training starts today!

It was a beautiful (read sunny and not frigid) weekend in KC and it felt wonderful to get out for a short run on Saturday. TGO, Pete and I took off for an easy 4 mile run to enjoy the sunshine and stretch our legs. I could definitely tell that being sick took my fitness level with it. I struggled close to the 3 mile mark.

This week starts training for the Hospital Hill Half Marathon. They offer a free training plan and it starts today. I'm hoping it will still be sunny when I get out of afternoon meetings. It's going to be different to be training for a running race instead of a tri, and I'm hoping my ITB and knees are up to the challenge. One of the best parts of this race? It benefits my favorite local charity, Girls on the Run! This race is also the weekend of my sorority reunion, so I'm hoping to get a bunch of those girls out running with me!

The only other race I've already committed to is the WIN for KC Women's Triathlon. In a meeting with WIN's director last week (she's a huge GOTR supporter), I learned that there are only 100 spots left! Registration for the 7/31/10 race opened on Feb. 5 and out of the 800 spots, 700 are already filled! So if you are interested in trying a tri and are a woman, this is the best KC area race to do that! It is such a great atmosphere, very supportive and encouraging, for first timers or old pros. I HIGHLY recommend this race.

I also visited a couple bike shops this weekend. In hopes of finding a fun Indian Creek/Katy Trail / pedal to the grocery store bike, I test rode a couple at Trek. And I would LOVE to find this one used and thus deeply discounted. If anyone has suggestions on finding used hybrids, I would love your ideas!

The dreaded drain

After a class last night, I got home and was starving.

So was Pete. Starving for attention.

So I popped a pizza into the oven to bake while I took him for a quick walk around the block. (He's trained me well.) It was cold out and even though I was bundled (two pants, 2 tshirts, sweatshirt, jacket, hat, gloves) we walked briskly.

All was going well until we came upon the dreaded curb drain. Cue menacing duh-duh-duuuuh music here.

Poor little guy is desperately afraid of these. In my neighborhood, they don't have grates like this, so I guess its a little scary that he might get sucked down with the rainwater. But it seriously cracks me up.

When he realized the gaping hole was the only thing between him and I, he flipped. I tugged at the leash to get him on the sidewalk with me so I could avoid a step in deep slice (that's snow, slush, ice combo). But he wasn't having it.

All four paws braced, nails gripping the cement, belly low for better leverage. I couldn't get him to move.

So I did what any good pet owner would do.

Laughed at him and tugged even harder on the leash. When I still didn't have any luck, I either had to drop the leash or step in the pile of slice. Of course, I dropped the leash. Hey, it was frigid and I know he won't run off. At least I hope not.

Around the corner and with no more drains in sight, Pete was as happy as can be. And that was magnified when we got home and took the pizza out of the oven.

Little punk is such a good beggar.

What can I say?! He's trained me well.

It's Alive!!!

Yep, I'm back to the land of the living. Made it to work yesterday, but I felt soooo tired all day. It was like if I got hit with a feather, I wouldn't be able to hold myself up. Today, huge improvement. I would say I'm back to 95% which is huge.

I'll get lab results tomorrow to know if anything else was wrong, but I know for sure that it was impetigo (bacterial infection in my lips). A little strange since usually that's a diagnosis that kiddo's get. But I guess I'm weird. When I was 4, I had shingles (normally an old-person disease) and I never had chicken pox because of it. So my health is a little backwards and mixed up. I must say that I am a huge. HUGE. fan of mupirocin ointment. It's basically Neosporin on steroids, and I could've just used the remainder from the tube the vet had prescribed for Pete's paw injury a few months back. If only the $50 itty bitty tube of Denavir would've not made things worse for me. I tell ya, being sick is expensive. It doesn't work into my debt reduction plan at all!

It feels great to be back to my normal self.

On my to-do list, set my half marathon training plan, get back to the 100 pushup challenge and investigate the "new" gym that comes with my tennis lesson Groupon.