AS PROMISED...

Here is a picture of my lil' sis's kid...welcome to the world (and this awesome blog) Maeven. 

Congrats Lou and E!

She comes from good stock...of course she is cute.

BACK IN THE SADDLE

Yesterday was my first day back at training...and I could tell.

My legs were sluggish and the ride took more out of me than it should have.  It was also my first official ride (although I'm not sure if you could call 10 miles an "official" ride) with the new shoes and clipless pedals.  Unfortunately , my left foot got really sore around the 2 mile mark and by mile 8 it was throbbing.  I decided to cut the ride short and head to the bike shop for some adjustments.

Hopefully the adjustments to the cleat and the bike will take care of the problem.  

GETTING BETTER

I finally went to the doctor yesterday and was informed that I am the proud new owner of a sinus infection.  But don't you worry, they gave me some magic pills and I'm on the road to recovery. 

Training will resume this evening.

HELLO WORLD

Welcome Maven Marie.

Mom (my sister) and baby are healthy and doing good. Pics to come.

STILL SICKISH

Training is still on hold.  During the past week I have taken a slew of over-the-counter cold medicine and tried some old-school remedies, some have helped and others not so much.  Since I can't afford to take another week off of training I'm giving myself until Sunday to feel substantially better.  If I don't, I'll head to the doctor.

Keep your fingers crossed that I'll be in tip-top health by Monday morning...and that my legs remember how to run.

TORNADO PARTY AT WORK

SICK

You read it right...yours truly is sick. 

Training is postponed until I can breathe normally.  

MY DOG'S LIFE

Wake up at the crack of dawn on a fluffy dog bed, whine until I am let outside, bark at absolutely nothing, come back inside to lay around, bark at a closed door, eat, lay around, half-assed chase a cat, gnaw on a toy, lay around, go outside and lay around in the sun, bark at something invisible, lay back down, eat some food, play fetch with the rattiest dog toy in the yard (to my owner's dismay...because new toys are bought nearly every week), lay around, get completely worked up because a 10-pound dog walked down the street, lay around, eat, and then finally go to sleep.

Repeat.

There you have it folks, this is the way my dog had decided to spend his days.

Livin' the hard life.

WHAT I'VE BEEN UP TO

The last week or so has been really busy, so here is a quick update of what I've been doing to pass the time...

1. Went to Amarillo for a work trip
2. Attended a birthday party at a gymnastics studio...jumped on a trampoline.
3. Watched J's softball team clinch the championship
4. Tore out one flower bed and put a new one in its place
5. Went to Home Depot...twice
6. Started to get sick...still not feeling 100%
7. Went to an impromptu happy hour
8. Supervised (ie-didn't do too much to help) the planting of an herb/tomato garden
9. Mowed the lawn
10. Started to learn how to ride with my new clip-less pedals...fell twice.

Lucky you, now you're caught up on what I've been doing for the past 7 days. 

SNOW IN MAY

By the time it's all said and done, we're supposed to have between 6-9 inches of snow accumulation.  Sure, it's nearly mid-May and it's snowing.  Sure, it's the heavy mushy snow that leaves you soaked after being outside for only a few minutes.  Sure, my feet got wet walking into work. 

I'll gladly chalk this up as a small sacrifice for living in such an amazing place. Snow today, 50s tomorrow, 60s on Wednesday, and 80s by the weekend.  

Let it snow let it snow.

MEAL PLAN UPDATE

I've been at the new meal plan since Monday and it's going great!  I'm happy to report that I have not cheated once and have stayed the course.  This weekend will be a challenge...I'll report back on Monday-ish about how it went.

I can definitely tell my body is reacting to the new fuel...my workouts have been better than ever and I've had enough energy to go a little bit farther/longer than what the workout called for. 

Next week's goal:  Up the speed and intensity.

Stay tuned.

NEW MEAL PLAN

This past weekend I took some time to research the ideal number grams of carbs, proteins, and types of foods I should be eating during training (weird, Coors Light wasn't mentioned) and created a meal plan for the week. 

After looking at the daily menus I thought for sure I would be eating well over 3,000 calories a day. To my surprise, the highest calorie day was just under 2,000 (with more than enough carbs to allow for high intensity training).  I am happy to report that day one was a success.  I didn't deviate from the plan, felt full all day, and had quite a bit of energy.  I'm hoping today has the same results.

WORDS TO LIVE BY???

This was stolen from a buddy's blog...

UPDATE: NOTEBOOK

After spending way too much time and energy looking for the perfect notebook...I ended up going with a standard composition book.  Boring.  But, they've been around for a million years, so maybe they work like magic.

Either way, I hope your Friday holds more adventure than mine.