TGIF

It's Friday!! My week has been a fast but great one, this weather is the best!

For training this week I have been focused primarily on swimming which is probably good for me to work on my form etc but my skin is as dry as a dessert and my hair is getting nastier by the day. Usually swimming 3 x a week is plenty so doing 6 has been interesting, the water at the pool is so cold that I just dread getting out of bed, but I do and it's been a great week.

I took my bike out for another ride and I had to mentally prepare all day for it. I giggle sometimes thinking about if anyone could hear my thoughts they would die laughing. When I come up to an intersections I say Katie slow down, take a deep breath, don't be in a rush, clip out with your right foot, lead right, relax. Over and over I do this on the bike, I can't wait until I can just zone out like I do with running. I've always gotten in trouble growing up for day dreaming in class, I love it now even though I now know who I married and what job I have etc. There is still so much to dream about!

Wednesday night volleyball was a hoot this week, those guys are like a fresh breath of air. Tanya and I always leave and giggle the entire way home rehashing the night. Mark Bigelow is so nice and encourages the other team even while we are killing them, I've been on the other side of him before and it is quite annoying. In the middle of the game Tanya came over and whispered "I think we are beating them only because Mark is annoying them so much they can't focus". Russ was back playing which was great, he was in the hospital last week and asked the nurses if he could leave for an hour and a half to play volleyball, he's crazy! Dick's serve receiving wasn't the best last night and he was throwing out "I should have paid admission" which always gets Tanya and I doubling over!

WIth the nice weather Tyson has been really pouring his hear and soul into our pour little lawn, I asked him why he's been getting up so early and his response was that he needed to feed the yard, it's great!

This weekend is going to be a fun and busy one! Party tonight to celebrate Scottie opening his chiropractic business, tomorrow dinner with Pete and Jessie, and Sunday Twins game with my dad. I can't wait for it to begin!!

I didn’t find the golden egg or take my bike Easter weekend but overall it was a GREAT weekend!

Lindsay my younger sister picked me up Thursday night and it was fun to catch up on the way to Alex. It seems the second I get on the highway and head towards Alex I feel myself relax, it’s simply the best!

We didn’t get home till late and my parents were already in bed so Linds and I sat in their room for a while and talked before going to bed ourselves. The next morning I got up early to babysit my nephews Brett and Will and had a blast, it was a busy morning with those two. That night since it was just Lindsay and I home and with no kids around we thought we should take advantage and get out of the house. We went to the Last Song and loved it and then went to Doolittle’s for some late night apps and drinks. It was so fun just sitting and talking, it makes me miss the days when it was just us kids at home, it seems so long ago and hard to believe at one time there were five of us girls all under one roof.

The next morning Erica and Paul arrived with the kids and we had the day with them alone until Stef and Dustin and the boys arrived later that night. It is a crazy house with 4 kids under the age of 4!

Sunday morning we all got up and got ready for church early in order to get an entire row at church. It was a good idea because the church was packed and the message was a great one. We headed home for a great brunch and alas the Easter Egg hunt!! We all sat downstairs with no windows while my parents hid the eggs, when they said go we shot out the door like amazing race. My brother in law said he’s never seen girls box each other out like us when we see an egg at the same time!

The golden egg was found by Stef so at least I lost to a fierce competitor☺ I still came up pretty well with 3 caribou cards and $6. It was a good showing…

Last week was a recovery week for training, still had lots of sessions but shorter ones. It was sort of weird because I should have felt full of energy with the short workouts but I felt tired. Wednesday night playing volleyball I just felt exhausted but the guys put me in a better mood. (Above are pictures of Dick and Mark, Ross is the 3rd guy I play with who was sick that night so I will have to follow up with a picture) Thursday night I had a real treat, an hour long run with my running partner and good friend Carissa. It was like food for the soul being able to catch up while getting a really good run in. I had been having a terrible and stressful week and it seemed like it turned around when I got home from that run.

This morning I got an email for my last chance to order pictures from the Boston Marathon which was almost exactly a year ago. Although it was a tough race it was so fun to look at the pictures. When I look at them I always wonder what I was feeling or thinking during that moment. That was the race that Carissa thought she was going to die so it was fun to look at our finishing photo with the biggest smilesever. We were so upset with our time but looking back through the pictures it made me upset for even caring. It was a fun race and maybe a one in a lifetime opportunity to run the Boston Marathon. I can’t believe a year ago I was gearing up for the run, can’t say I wish I was going this year but happy I did it when I could. Sleeping in on the weekends is a pretty wonderful thing that I am enjoying for a short period of time. I’m back into the thick of training so sleeping in won’t be happening for a little while longer!

This last weekend I took my bike off the trainer and took it out for a ride. When I take my bike to Alex we just hit the trail and go and very rarely do we need to stop for lights, traffic etc. I’m not used to navigating around cars, potholes, runners etc I wish I could say I enjoyed my 30 minutes of being back on my bike and on the road but I can’t. I literally was screaming at one point because I could feel all the cars flying by me with what felt going 90 MPH!! There were potholes every two seconds that I was trying not to hit in fear of flying over my handlebars. I’m still so new on a road bike and don’t know what my tires can handle! My nerves were shot by the time I got home so it was good I had a 30 minute run afterwards to calm down.

This week in training I’m focusing on the swim, meaning I will have a swim workout 6 mornings with a few short runs and bike rides. Thanks goodness!

I have my first triathlon in 3 weeks, yikes!

Tired

Where has the week gone!?

This past week had been extremely busy and tough. Work has been crazy, training has taken a ton of time and energy, and I just can't quite get everything done...

Last Saturday I had to get a swim in and I get anxious going to the gym on the weekend because it's so busy. However I got to the pool and there was a lane open!! For some reason I just felt really good, my stroke felt right and I thought I was cruising. On Monday morning I was back in the pool feeling pretty cocky after my great swim on the weekend and this time I felt like I was swimming through mud. What gives? That night I had a much needed 10 miler and a coworker told me about a perfect loop to try however he forgot to mention the hills, yikes! I felt like I went up hill the entire time, but I was wearing shorts and feeling heat finally so I didn't care.

Wednesday morning I got up at 4:40 am for a two hour bike ride, and 30 minute run. As crazy as it sounds I wasn't tired and I felt great. I got to the spin room a half hour before class and then stayed a half hour after class so time seemed to fly by. Later in the day I started to get cranky but didn't know it it was the day or being tired.

We played volleyball last night and Tyson subbed so we got to play indoor volleyball for the first time together. It was great. I love my Wednesday night league, they are like a dose of goodness. Dick had on an ankle brace, knee brace, and black knee pads. Why he has knee pads on I don't know considering I saw him use them once and it was a five step process getting him down and then five more getting him back up. Too funny!

Ty and I went to noodles for dinner and then came home and cleaned up and got ready for our April Fools stint. We replaced a toilet in our house so the old one has just been chilling in the garage. So Tyson flipped the lid up and wrote "here I sit broken hearted, paid a dime and only farted. Have a great stinking day!" We then realized there was still water in the bowl so I siphoned it out with that thing you use for a turkey, baster?? I knew it would come in handy:) We put our black clothes on, loaded the toilet in the trunk and when it got dark we headed over to our good friends the Halverson's house. They live up on a hill and we could see Jessie and a couple girlfriends in the living room and didn't quite know what to do. The door was open also so we had to be very quiet. I carried the top of the toilet and Tyson carried the bowl part and we trekked up the hill. Just as we were getting close their motion lights went on and we about died. We had a quick argument on where to put the toilet and agreed to put it right by the door instead of in the driveway and then ran off. We were pretty proud of ourselves on not getting caught. However Pete texted Tyson this morning saying "nice pooper" so I guess we aren't that smooth.

I'm pumped to get to Alex this weekend and take my bike on the road for a few rides and also to take home the grand prize of the easter egg hunt which always gets quite competitive. I am the holder of the golden egg and must claim in once again. Better get the legs rested!