So I am at work (Concourse Athletic Club) and I am watching some guys play Squash (my new fav sport...SO hard!) There is a guy sitting by the wall and I look at him and notice that he looks really familiar. Here is our exact conversation:
Me: "I know you from somewhere"
Him: "Is it because I look like Ashton Kutcher?"
Me: "Actually no....you just look familiar...like one of my brothers friends"
Him: "All the ladies say that"
Me: "Right. Do you know Scott Grabol?"
Him: "OMG!!! Are you Danielle Grabol? I used to be your neighboor! You drove me to school for like two years! You totally corrupted me! You gave me my first alcohol! Are you REALLY Danielle Grabol?"
Me: "SHHHH! Be quiet, I WORK here! Yes, I am Danielle!"
Him: (Standing up and staring at me kind of funny) "I just can't believe it's you....I remember you being a lot bigger and uglier."
Me: "Excuse me?!?"
Him: " I mean I just don't remember you being so pretty in high school."
Then I SWEAR I am not making this next part up. He took my water bottle, opened it and drank out of it! When I looked at him like I was going to smack him clear across the room he said "What? I am thirsty!" SERIOUSLY??
In other, better news, I PR'd last Saturday at Silver Comet 10k. 48:33, 7:49 avg pace. Didn't feel as bad as I thought it would. 9/89 in my age group and 39th female overall out of 400 something. I was surprised, I usually place much lower in running races. Guess the speedsters all ran the CRR 10k the week before.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Friday, March 13, 2009
Water logged.....
Now that I am a seasoned masters swimmer (I have been swimming it for a month!) I will admit that I absolutly cannot swim on my own. It's like the worse feeling in the world to go into a pool and have no peer pressure.
This week was SUPPOSED to be a recovery week. Week #12 out of 20 in my half-Ironman training plan. What's that mean? 8 weeks left until Gulf Coast! Coach Pete doesn't believe in "recovery" when it comes to swimming. So that means that my swimming yardage for the week is currently 7500 yards with one more swim left! Yesterday's main set was 15x100 at hard effort. I didn't swim that hard though because after that we still had to do 4x300's at our best pace. I was so afraid of burning my arms out that I took it relatively easy. The wonderful (and surprising) thing was that my "easier" pace now is what I would have considered my all-out pace last season! Can I just tell you how much I heart master's? Even the times where we have to swim backstroke and breaststroke? Anyways......
Tomorrow I am PR hunting at the Silver Comet 10k. This will be the 4th 10k that I have ever run outside of triathlon. It's probably my favorite distance in running. A little bit easier than a 5k but no where near as time consuming as a half-marathon. It's right in the middle, you know you worked really hard, but not too hard to need to climb down that stairs backwards. Since it's flat I am thinking my odds of setting a personal record should be pretty good. I got a massage this week and my quads are WAY more tender than I would like them to be the day before a race. Hope to see you guys out there!
Funny (and random) story. I am at the Concourse getting ready to swim and a woman asks me "Excuse me, but what type of cellulite creme do you use on your legs? They look great!" Me: "Oh this isn't from a creme. It's from working hard." Ha...ha...some people want the easy way out of everything!
This week was SUPPOSED to be a recovery week. Week #12 out of 20 in my half-Ironman training plan. What's that mean? 8 weeks left until Gulf Coast! Coach Pete doesn't believe in "recovery" when it comes to swimming. So that means that my swimming yardage for the week is currently 7500 yards with one more swim left! Yesterday's main set was 15x100 at hard effort. I didn't swim that hard though because after that we still had to do 4x300's at our best pace. I was so afraid of burning my arms out that I took it relatively easy. The wonderful (and surprising) thing was that my "easier" pace now is what I would have considered my all-out pace last season! Can I just tell you how much I heart master's? Even the times where we have to swim backstroke and breaststroke? Anyways......
Tomorrow I am PR hunting at the Silver Comet 10k. This will be the 4th 10k that I have ever run outside of triathlon. It's probably my favorite distance in running. A little bit easier than a 5k but no where near as time consuming as a half-marathon. It's right in the middle, you know you worked really hard, but not too hard to need to climb down that stairs backwards. Since it's flat I am thinking my odds of setting a personal record should be pretty good. I got a massage this week and my quads are WAY more tender than I would like them to be the day before a race. Hope to see you guys out there!
Funny (and random) story. I am at the Concourse getting ready to swim and a woman asks me "Excuse me, but what type of cellulite creme do you use on your legs? They look great!" Me: "Oh this isn't from a creme. It's from working hard." Ha...ha...some people want the easy way out of everything!
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Amazing, incredible baby Ashley....
I have to admit that it's a funny feeling seeing Ashley. From the moment Karen knew she was pregnant Ashley is ALL that we have talked about. 9 months of baby talk makes you very anxious to meet the little bugger! Friday night Karen checked into the hosptial and I watched a movie with her and her husband. Saturday she was being induced and we weren't really sure what was going to happen, but she made me PROMISE that I would be there with her....so I was there! Like really there, as in there for 19 hours. Holy moly. That was a long night. Karen had some excellent pain control by the wonderful labor and delivery nurses at Northside hospital so she slept through a lot of her labor. The rest of us? We sat up watching to size of her contractions and placing bets on how much the baby was going to weigh.
The action finally got going around 1:30 a.m. Honestly, it was no where near as bad as I thought it was going to be. Karen kicked everyone out of the room except me, her husband, and our other BFF Christy. I should have read a book or taken a class or something, because I didn't know the breathing patterns, or how fast to count, or anything other than the nurse handing me a leg. I realize this may sound weird to some of you, why would you want your two best friends watching something like this? You have to understand Karen. She doesn't do pain alone. Ever. When we were in high school I would go to the dentist with her because she couldn't stand the thought of having her cavities filled. So we are friends like that!
Overall the experience was pretty amazing. Karen's husband was a rock. Totally incredible. They are so much closer after the experience. I am still in a bit of shock and awe and have to say that being a woman is really awesome. No offense to men, but y'all just couldn't hang with the whole birthing of a baby.
The baby? Ashley Madeline, 7 lb 14 oz (Karen's sister in law won the pot of $60 for guessing the weight) she is angelic. Red hair, blue eyes, rosey cheeks and a little red nose, it really makes her look perfect. I have been to see her everyday and it's hard to not take her home. Even her cries are perfect~ sounds like a little bird chirp. I am sure that all this will change in time, but I am enjoying my new goddaughter in all her perfection right now!
Thursday, February 26, 2009
To run or not to run??
Saturday is the Thrills in the Hills half marathon. It's a trail run, and I have never had the pleasure of racing a trail run before. I am trained for it, well, as trained as I can get, and I have run 11 miles on the trails, so I am pretty sure that I can manage 13.1 miles on Saturday. The problem? It's gonna rain. Plus my best friend in the whole world is going into the hospital Friday night and will be induced on Saturday. What to do???
I really don't want to run in the rain. I am a wussy enough about trails without the added danger of running when it's wet. I have never run on these trails before, which already makes them kind of scary.
Karen seems to think this labor thing might take a minute or two. I am pretty sure that I won't miss anything by running the race. But if I do miss it? That would really suck. Karen would be REALLY unhappy as I have committed myself to being there (as in there in the room, yeah I know!)
Does it sound like I am talking myself out of the race? I just might be. Can't figure it out right now! Too much going on!
I really don't want to run in the rain. I am a wussy enough about trails without the added danger of running when it's wet. I have never run on these trails before, which already makes them kind of scary.
Karen seems to think this labor thing might take a minute or two. I am pretty sure that I won't miss anything by running the race. But if I do miss it? That would really suck. Karen would be REALLY unhappy as I have committed myself to being there (as in there in the room, yeah I know!)
Does it sound like I am talking myself out of the race? I just might be. Can't figure it out right now! Too much going on!
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Tundra Time Trial
Suckitysucksucksucksucksuckkk!
That just about sums up my first time trial experience. It just wasn't a great day for me. First, I underestimated how much time it would take to get there, then I got lost. I arrived and there was no parking. I rushed to get my number only to be told I needed to fill out some more paperwork. Bob told me to warm up for 40 minutes, but at this point I only had 20 minutes until I started! I rushed back to my car. Everyone else was on there trainers with their skinsuits on. I was wearing all black, including my fleece-lined pants. I couldn't figure out how peeps were riding with shorts on!
I only had 15 minutes to spare, so no trainer for me. I rode around on the trail, which actually cooled me off rather than warming me up because it was starting to drizzle. I lined up and prepared to start. Marc was there (in PLENTY of time I might add!) and he got to see what must have been the worst start of the day: I begged them to not drop me (you clip in and they "hold" you up) when the guy let go of me and they told me to start, I unclipped instead and said "I'm sorry!" I just totally thought that I was going to fall over! So it took me a few seconds to clip back in and get going.
About a mile into the race my left leg flew off the side of the bike. Guess I wasn't as clipped in as I thought I was! My bike started swerving and they guy behind me started screaming and freaking out a little. Totally unnerving! I regained control, clipped in, and continued. I got passed by a guy around mile 3 and tried to keep up but I just didn't feel like I was able to push like I normally can.
When the turnaround came up I was such a wussy. I unclipped and walked it. It was wet and I was already freaked from almost crashing, so I said "screw it!" and got off the bike. I quickly got back on my bike and took off again. I got passed by the guy behind me, but I repassed him about 30 seconds later. I tried to push and push, but I felt like I was moving in slow motion. I passed three other riders, two males, one female and finally made it to the finish line.
25:11. Suckitysucksucksucksuck. Bike computer shows 24:45, so that may have been my actual riding time. Either way I was expecting to average a lot faster than 22.62 mph.
My mistakes were costly as I was 5th female overall with less than 33 seconds separating 2nd and 5th place. But each race is an opportunity to learn, and I learned a lot!
The winners got the most incredible hand blown glass awards. So beautiful. Next year the top three females will also get the same awards. So next year? I'm gonna practice more!
Congrats to Amy for her 3rd place finish, she's super strong! Marc and his Aaron's teammates did great too!
That just about sums up my first time trial experience. It just wasn't a great day for me. First, I underestimated how much time it would take to get there, then I got lost. I arrived and there was no parking. I rushed to get my number only to be told I needed to fill out some more paperwork. Bob told me to warm up for 40 minutes, but at this point I only had 20 minutes until I started! I rushed back to my car. Everyone else was on there trainers with their skinsuits on. I was wearing all black, including my fleece-lined pants. I couldn't figure out how peeps were riding with shorts on!
I only had 15 minutes to spare, so no trainer for me. I rode around on the trail, which actually cooled me off rather than warming me up because it was starting to drizzle. I lined up and prepared to start. Marc was there (in PLENTY of time I might add!) and he got to see what must have been the worst start of the day: I begged them to not drop me (you clip in and they "hold" you up) when the guy let go of me and they told me to start, I unclipped instead and said "I'm sorry!" I just totally thought that I was going to fall over! So it took me a few seconds to clip back in and get going.
About a mile into the race my left leg flew off the side of the bike. Guess I wasn't as clipped in as I thought I was! My bike started swerving and they guy behind me started screaming and freaking out a little. Totally unnerving! I regained control, clipped in, and continued. I got passed by a guy around mile 3 and tried to keep up but I just didn't feel like I was able to push like I normally can.
When the turnaround came up I was such a wussy. I unclipped and walked it. It was wet and I was already freaked from almost crashing, so I said "screw it!" and got off the bike. I quickly got back on my bike and took off again. I got passed by the guy behind me, but I repassed him about 30 seconds later. I tried to push and push, but I felt like I was moving in slow motion. I passed three other riders, two males, one female and finally made it to the finish line.
25:11. Suckitysucksucksucksuck. Bike computer shows 24:45, so that may have been my actual riding time. Either way I was expecting to average a lot faster than 22.62 mph.
My mistakes were costly as I was 5th female overall with less than 33 seconds separating 2nd and 5th place. But each race is an opportunity to learn, and I learned a lot!
The winners got the most incredible hand blown glass awards. So beautiful. Next year the top three females will also get the same awards. So next year? I'm gonna practice more!
Congrats to Amy for her 3rd place finish, she's super strong! Marc and his Aaron's teammates did great too!
Friday, February 6, 2009
FINALLY made it to Master's!
After working at the Concourse for almost a month, I finally made it to Master's swim practice. My main excuse has been that it's been too cold to swim in the outdoor pool and when it hasn't been cold, I have had clients and can't swim. But today everything lined up perfectly and my work day was over in time for me to make the 11 a.m. swim practice. Lord have mercy. Those people tried to KILL me! Here's what we did:
500 WU
4x150 as 50 kick, 100 swim
3x300 at 90% Max
7x100 at 100+% max on 4 minutes. After you did your 100 you had to warm-down with back, breast, or free until the next 100.
2x25 underwater
My first 100 came in at 1:24. This was the slowest out of everyone (my lane was in the 1:08-1:15 range). Coach reassured me that there ARE slower swimmers, but today he had warned everyone about the workout, so I guess they stayed home. By the 5th 100 I was hating life and swimming and contemplating duathlons. By the 6th 100 I was literally seeing stars and color flashes and thought I was drowning. By the 7th 100 I realized that I had swum 3000 yards WAY faster than I would on my own and maybe Master's wasn't that bad after all. My slowest 100 was 1:33 and it was because I hit the guy coming back and had to stop and stand up.
Swimming underwater while holding my breath was the only thing I excelled at (and of course the kickboard!) I made it from wall to wall both times. It was really, really hard.
Positive about Master's? It's quick and dirty. No breaks, one hour of intense swimming. Plus the pool is saline which my skin loves.
Negative about Master's? I did my Dara Tores weight workout yesterday and went into the swim already feeling like my arms were noodles. But that was totally my fault and I learned my lesson.
Afterwards my fellow master's attendees told me I did good and promised that next week the Tuesday and Thursday midday practice wouldn't be this tough. I think I decided that I like it tough!
500 WU
4x150 as 50 kick, 100 swim
3x300 at 90% Max
7x100 at 100+% max on 4 minutes. After you did your 100 you had to warm-down with back, breast, or free until the next 100.
2x25 underwater
My first 100 came in at 1:24. This was the slowest out of everyone (my lane was in the 1:08-1:15 range). Coach reassured me that there ARE slower swimmers, but today he had warned everyone about the workout, so I guess they stayed home. By the 5th 100 I was hating life and swimming and contemplating duathlons. By the 6th 100 I was literally seeing stars and color flashes and thought I was drowning. By the 7th 100 I realized that I had swum 3000 yards WAY faster than I would on my own and maybe Master's wasn't that bad after all. My slowest 100 was 1:33 and it was because I hit the guy coming back and had to stop and stand up.
Swimming underwater while holding my breath was the only thing I excelled at (and of course the kickboard!) I made it from wall to wall both times. It was really, really hard.
Positive about Master's? It's quick and dirty. No breaks, one hour of intense swimming. Plus the pool is saline which my skin loves.
Negative about Master's? I did my Dara Tores weight workout yesterday and went into the swim already feeling like my arms were noodles. But that was totally my fault and I learned my lesson.
Afterwards my fellow master's attendees told me I did good and promised that next week the Tuesday and Thursday midday practice wouldn't be this tough. I think I decided that I like it tough!
Thursday, February 5, 2009
2009 race calendar is complete!!
Well, I have finally figured out what my race calendar will look like for 2009! It's all about quality and not quantity for me this season!
2009 races:
2.14.09: Tundra Time Trial 9.5 miles of pure hell on wheels, all out puke or go home bike race. Sounds like fun huh?
2.28.09: Xterra Thrills in the Hills 1/2 marathon: 13.1 miles of running on trails. I LOVE trail running (minus downhills and rocky sections which I am a wussy about)
5.9.09: Gulf Coast Triathlon 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run: Gotta go back because last year's race was UGLY. Hoping for a PR.
6.28.09: Irongirl Triathlon 1/3 mile swim, 18 mile bike, 3 mile run: I want to race with my Luna Chix, plus the 18 mile bike course is one of my favorites!!
7.12.09: Chattanooga Waterfront Triathlon: 1500 meter swim, 26 mile bike, 6.2 mile run: I have a love/hate relationship with this race. Loved it the first time I did it, hated it last year (rain and my saddle fell) Gonna race it again so I can leave with happy memories!
10.3.09: Atlantic Coast Triathlon 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run: Haven't done this race yet but heard it's beautiful in Amelia Island. Plus it's pancake flat which I LOVE!
**11.7.09: Ironman Florida 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, 26.2 mile run: The Ironman monkey isn't quite off my back just yet. I need to do another one but I wish that I didn't want to so badly. I said that I wouldn't do one this year but it's addictive!
**I am not actually signed up for IM Florida yet! I will be going to Orlando for the 70.3 race to try and secure a spot! So I might just be a spectator again this year! If I can't get into Florida there is a slight chance I might consider doing Arizona instead.
2009 races:
2.14.09: Tundra Time Trial 9.5 miles of pure hell on wheels, all out puke or go home bike race. Sounds like fun huh?
2.28.09: Xterra Thrills in the Hills 1/2 marathon: 13.1 miles of running on trails. I LOVE trail running (minus downhills and rocky sections which I am a wussy about)
5.9.09: Gulf Coast Triathlon 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run: Gotta go back because last year's race was UGLY. Hoping for a PR.
6.28.09: Irongirl Triathlon 1/3 mile swim, 18 mile bike, 3 mile run: I want to race with my Luna Chix, plus the 18 mile bike course is one of my favorites!!
7.12.09: Chattanooga Waterfront Triathlon: 1500 meter swim, 26 mile bike, 6.2 mile run: I have a love/hate relationship with this race. Loved it the first time I did it, hated it last year (rain and my saddle fell) Gonna race it again so I can leave with happy memories!
10.3.09: Atlantic Coast Triathlon 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run: Haven't done this race yet but heard it's beautiful in Amelia Island. Plus it's pancake flat which I LOVE!
**11.7.09: Ironman Florida 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, 26.2 mile run: The Ironman monkey isn't quite off my back just yet. I need to do another one but I wish that I didn't want to so badly. I said that I wouldn't do one this year but it's addictive!
**I am not actually signed up for IM Florida yet! I will be going to Orlando for the 70.3 race to try and secure a spot! So I might just be a spectator again this year! If I can't get into Florida there is a slight chance I might consider doing Arizona instead.
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