Our New Baby

Since all of my friends are preggo these days, I figured we needed a Baby Willingham. :) Just kidding. Kind of. We looked at English Bulldog puppies in Ardmore on Friday and we found one that we really liked, and we bought him today. We'll get him in 2 weeks (he's only 4 weeks old, so he's still learning how to eat dog food and all that fun stuff) on December 14. Right now his name is Waylon, but we're working on a new name.

http://secure.adpay.com/clicknbuy.aspx?pid=617934796E4277506F447270482B79527866344965513D3D&adid=DMN2641569

20-Mile Run

After another night of coughing, I decided to give the 20-miler a whirl and at least do the 9-mile course. I don't get how I can cough all night long and then not cough AT ALL during my run. But I guess I shouldn't complain!

The Plan: 20 miles @ 10:36 pace
Actual: 20 miles @ 10:01 pace (3:20:32 total time, 157 avg HR)
Mile 1 - 9:44 (151 HR)
Mile 2 - 9:36 (153 HR)
Mile 3 - 9:44 (150 HR)
Mile 4 - 9:48 (155 HR)
Mile 5 - 9:40 (157 HR)
Mile 6 - 9:36 (153 HR)
Mile 7 - 9:39 (155 HR)
Mile 8 - 9:43 (158 HR)
Mile 9 - 9:34 (159 HR)
Mile 10 - 9:55 (153 HR)
Mile 11 - 10:21 (155 HR)
Mile 12 - 10:19 (155 HR)
Mile 13 - 10:10 (160 HR)
Mile 14 - 10:32 (160 HR)
Mile 15 - 10:21 (156 HR)
Mile 16 - 10:21 (159 HR)
Mile 17 - 10:41 (161 HR)
Mile 18 - 10:13 (161 HR)
Mile 19 - 10:20 (161 HR)
Mile 20 - 9:58 (162 HR)

My legs started hurting quite a bit at about mile 14, but I tried to stay relaxed. This was my longest training run to date (I did an 18-mile run last year and an 18-mile run last week). Considering my Las Vegas Marathon pace was about 9:48 and my average pace on this run was 10:01, I think I'm on track to hopefully break 4 hours in February since I have quite a bit of training left to go.

I missed a 6-mile tempo run this week (my first miss so far - d'oh!!), but I figure I can make it up next week since it's a recovery week.

I'm going to lunch with Jamie today and then we're heading over to David's Bridal and I'm going to try on some wedding dresses and hopefully make a decision about the color of the bridesmaid dresses.

Kitchen Blunders

I was planning on making potato casserole (the one with the cornflakes on top) and spinach dip to take with us to Ardmore for Thanksgiving. I followed my mom's recipe titled "Spinach Treat," and once it was finished, I realized it was cream of spinach, not spinach dip. Oh well... at least cream of spinach is one of my faves.

Then I decided to cook a chicken breast so I could use the leftover fish taco filler last night to make a couple chicken soft tacos for lunch. I burnt my chicken in the microwave (I'm used to cooking for 2, not for 1), so I ended up eating a weird ham sandwich with fish taco filler.

One more random yummy food find... Newtons (the fig newton people, not the running shoes) makes a new 100-calorie "Fruit Crisp." I bought the apple cinnamon (I think they might have other flavors), and they come with 2 in a pack (100 calories for BOTH - you don't have to limit yourself to one), and they taste like the fast food apple pie things. And I washed that down with Powerade Zero, which is like 32 ounces of Dimatap and I love it!

I saw this on Aaron Patel's blog and I thought it was really funny...

I <3 Banana Bread Oatmeal

I'm on a new breakfast kick, and it is scrumptious. Plus it's "Weight Control," so it has more fiber and protein than the usual instant oatmeal packets. A friend at work was eating some the other day, and it just smelled like banana goodness. Another good food find... diet apple cider! Yummm and it only has 15 calories per pack.

I had an awesome massage last night, and I got up and swam this morning even though this post-nasal drip/allergy thing has been throwing me off a bit. I haven't been sleeping well the past few nights (cough, sore throat, etc.), but I know I'm not sick, so it's just annoying. Swim practice went pretty well. Our main set:

8 x 25's freestyle swim, breathing 7 @ :30
4 x 200's freestyle pull, descend 1-4 to 80% @ 3:00 (1st 25 breathing 7)
8 x 25's freestyle swim, breathing 9 on the even 25's @ :30
4 x 100's freestyle pull, descend 1-4 to 90% @ 1:30 (1st 25 breathing 7)
8 x 25's freestyle swim, 1 breath on the even 25's @ :30
4 x 50's freestyle pull, descend 1-4 to 100% @ :45 (1st 25 breathing 7)

My 4th 200 was cruddy - 2:27. I think that got me warmed up though, and I was 1:08 on the 4th 100 and :32 on the 4th 50. I liked the set because normally we either do hypoxic work (pretty easy speed) OR a descending set, and we don't combine the two elements. The combo made it more challenging. I raced Janice again, so that made me go faster since we were pretty much head-to-head. It's weird swimming next to a girl who is taller than me and can get further off the walls on the turns... I'm used to having that advantage.

Hopefully today is a short work day, but I'm still waiting for the email that says we have an early dismissal. Once Cliff gets home, we're heading to Ardmore for Thanksgiving.

Oh, the fish tacos I made last night turned out great. I baked the tilapia in foil packets with some seasoning, a dash of OJ, tobasco, and worchester. Then I combined the cole slaw, rotel, and a dash of cider vinegar with some chopped avocado and pineapple. Yummmm... and healthy too!

Pretending not to be a Swimmer

I skipped swim practice this morning, woke up at 5, and did a 3.5-mile run around my neighborhood. It was a great morning to run... nice and crisp and clear, and I could see the stars. It was supposed to be an easy run at about 10:36 pace, but it ended up turning into more of a tempo run. I averaged 9:09 pace (which is exactly 4-hour marathon pace) and it felt great. So I should have done my 6-mile tempo run with the middle 4 miles @ 9:06, but oh well.

This afternoon I hit the gym at work, and I did a little bit of arm & ab work (purely for OWD, Operation Wedding Dress, and vanity sake) and then the spin class. Kim, our instructor at the gym, does an awesome job with the spin class and I really need to take advantage of it more often. I love that there's no chance of a flat tire :) It's a 45-minute class, and there is a TV screen with scenic stuff (today was the California wine country, which was making me wish I had Chardonnay in my water bottle) so it felt a little more outdoorsy. She mixes up the speed work, hills, etc. Today we did some "drafting" where we'd take turns "leading" for 30 seconds or so, and then we'd back off the speed. That was kind of cool.

I think Cliff and I are going to attempt to make fish tacos for dinner tonight (corn tortillas, Walmart frozen tilapia, coleslaw, avocado, a bit of cider vinegar, and maybe a splash of Rotel?) and I have a massage with Cynthia Luna at 7:00. Totally looking forward to the massage!

Tomorrow is a telework (work from home day), and I'm using annual leave on Friday. So I just have to get through today and it is smooth sailing tomorrow (hopefully an early dismissal too). I'm making potato casserole (the one with the crushed Cornflakes on top) and spinach dip for Thanksgiving dinner, so I need to get that done tomorrow too.

Plate of Grease

I ordered the mahi mahi special at Daddy Jacks today for lunch. You would think blackened fish, mashed potatoes, and green beans would be somewhat healthy, right? Well my food was swimming in a puddle of grease. Yuck. We've gone to Daddy Jacks a few times for dinner, and it has been awesome. Maybe I need a bottle of wine with my meal so I can ignore the grease?

Pretty easy workout day today. I went to masters swim practice this morning, and I skipped the mid-day workout to go to lunch with some friends I used to work with at GSA. I'm trying to figure out my schedule for the rest of the week. I have a 3-mile easy run, a 6-mile tempo run, and a 20-mile long run. I'm thinking about doing Shawna's boot camp on Wednesday morning since it's bring-a-friend day, and I heard the instructor is pretty hot.

Sweet, Sweet Recovery Day

I'm sitting here at the computer tracking all of the Ironman Arizona people I know... I am glued to the internet. It looks like everyone is doing great so far... kind of makes me want to do an Ironman until I realize that I have the whole wedding thing coming up next summer!

I thought I'd be pretty sore today, but I'm actually feeling relatively normal... which is great after my long run yesterday. I took a nap yesterday afternoon because I had high hopes that I could stay awake long enough for Cliff and I to go out. That was squashed though... I fell asleep on the couch during the 4th Quarter of the Tech/OU game. Cliff and I made a bet that if OU won the game, Cliff had to buy me lunch today, and if Tech won, I had to buy lunch. Yeah, so I shouldn't really make bets on football! We went to our favorite sushi place (same place we went to on Friday night) for lunch today. LOVE IT. It was my turn to buy groceries this week, so I had to venture over to the Saginaw Walmart, which always ends up making me hate people by the time I leave.

3-day work week coming up... woohoo!

Go Jeanne, David, Tim, Richard, Trip, Aaron, and Tatiana!!!

18-Mile Run

I met the boot camp girls at 7 am for a long run. I had 18 on my schedule, so we did the 8.5-mile course (Colonial-Overton Park-Foster Park), went back out on the same course and cut back early for 5.5 more miles, and then I ran 4 miles by myself on the Trinity. The last 4 miles were a little tough by myself, but everything went smoothly this morning and I had a great training run!

Run Stats
The Plan - 18 miles @ 10:36/mile average
Final Stats - 18 miles, 2:58:18 total time, 9:54/mile average, 155 avg HR
Mile 1 - 10:02 (144 HR)
Mile 2 - 9:54 (145 HR)
Mile 3 - 10:00 (145 HR)
Mile 4 - 9:52 (152 HR)
Mile 5 - 9:55 (151 HR)
Mile 6 - 9:48 (151 HR)
Mile 7 - 9:43 (152 HR)
Mile 8 - 9:30 (157 HR)
Mile 9 - 9:38 (154 HR)
Mile 10 - 9:43 (157 HR)
Mile 11 - 9:50 (158 HR)
Mile 12 - 9:59 (159 HR)
Mile 13 - 9:58 (161 HR)
Mile 14 - 9:35 (162 HR)
Mile 15 - 10:10 (157 HR)
Mile 16 - 10:23 (163 HR)
Mile 17 - 10:03 (164 HR)
Mile 18 - 9:58 (165 HR)

Cliff and I went to dinner last night (the sushi restaurant on Jacksboro Highway that we LOVE) and had some awesome sushi. I also had some wine and sake since I can't resist the $4 bottle of sake. Apparently it's a good pre-long run ritual for me too. We went to the movie theater to see "Role Models." When we were waiting in line to buy tickets, the guy in front of us bought 8 tickets for him and the seven 12 year-old boys he was with (guessing it was a birthday party). Sure enough they sat right in front of us. It was an R-Rated movie, so I don't really understand how they can let one adult take in THAT many children. Of course the kids talked, so Cliff and I left and got our money back. I have learned the art of complaining about poor customer service from Cliff, so I spoke to the manager who defended their policy (about letting one adult take that many kids into an R-movie). Lesson learned... don't go to the ghetto Starplex theater on Boat Club.

Thursday Workout & Upcoming Weekend

Yesterday was a good workout day. I got to the Y about 25 minutes before the start of swim practice, so I was able to squeeze in 5,000 yards, which I haven’t done in a long time. The main set was 2 x 400’s, 2 x 300’s, 2 x 200’s, 2 x 100’s free @ 1:30, and I pulled everything. I ended up racing Janice which made us both go faster. During my lunch break I did my run workout. I had speed work on my schedule. The workout was 7 miles (1.5 miles warm-up, 3 x miles @ 8:31 pace with an easy ½ mile between each, 1.5 miles warm-down). I did 6.1 (9:50 pace) on the easy stuff and 7.1 (8:27 pace) on the 3 miles. This was my first speed workout on the treadmill. It was nice to be able to regulate my exact speed, but the workout went by pretty slowly indoors. Plus Bonnie Hunt and Martha Stewart were on TV, and both shows featured cooking segments. When I run hard like that, I come pretty close to throwing up as it is, and I did not want to see fruity turkey recipes. I am feeling very good about my marathon training since this is the first time I’ve had a tempo and speed workout. Tomorrow I’m meeting some of the girls I met at boot camp, and we’re going to run the 9-mile course over by Colonial/Overton Park. I have an 18-mile run on my schedule, so I’ll either do that course twice or run along the Trinity for the second half of the 18 miles. Fortunately a Tricowtown friend of mine, Dan, is training for White Rock and he has an 18-mile run too. So hopefully I will have a buddy the whole time.

I’m trying to use today as a recovery day. I’m going to workout at the gym at lunch, but this is the first morning all week that I didn’t get up early for swim practice. My internal alarm clock woke me up at 4:59 though… go figure.

This is the first weekend in a LONG time where Cliff and I don’t have big plans or have anyone staying at our house. I think we’re going to do dinner and a movie tonight (so I’m not sweating sake or any other alcohol tomorrow morning). Depending on how I feel after the run tomorrow, we might go to the TCU football game at 2:30. We’re planning on going out on Saturday night, and I’m already looking forward to sleeping in on Sunday.

Swimming

Since 2004, we've kept track of our mileage (1650 yards or 1500 meters = 1 mile) and we get prizes for 100 miles (t-shirt), 200 miles (sweatshirt or nice shirt), 300 miles (towel), and 400 miles (dinner for 2 + notepads which are the perfect size for work). I remember the first or second year I racked up 544 miles. Last year I hit 400 miles on the button, and I swam at LA Fitness when I went home for the holidays. That was kind of ironic because I paid about $50 to swim and get my miles and the dinner for 2 was probably about $40 (although it was worth it to workout while I was home). This year I am in serious danger of not hitting the 400 mark. I'm at 335 miles today, so I have 65 miles left to swim this year. It's been tricky with our schedule being different (practices are only 60 minutes instead of 90 minutes, and we don't have a practice on Friday mornings in FW) and with my priority being the marathon. For some reason, I really want to continue the 400+ mile tradition and get my free dinner!

I've actually swum 3 mornings in a row, which is a rarity these days. On Monday we did 15 x 100's (5 @ 1:30, 4 @ 1:25, 3 @ 1:20, 2 @ 1:15, 1 @ 1:10), and I went 1:07 on the last one. I was really happy with that because I felt like junk after all of the unhealthy food I ate over the weekend and it seems like I just keep getting slower. Shanna Armstrong (http://www.shannaarmstrong.com) has been swimming with us on some Mondays. She's improved a ton after just a few practices, and she went 1:10 on the last 100. So it was great to have someone to race. Fortunately the flip turns gave me a little bit of an advantage :)

I was looking forward to Masters Nationals at Clovis in May since my parents could drive up and see me. I doubt I'll be able to go though since it's so close to the wedding. It looks like it will be a great meet... a lot of big names (I am a huge swimming dork and I stalk people on Facebook) are talking about going.

Nature Nizzy

I had a 6-mile easy run on Saturday morning. I was in Ardmore, so I ran at the regional park since that is the only good location I know of. I had just started my run, and there was a deer on the sidewalk (it is a pretty woodsy area). I am a scaredy cat, so I ran the other direction. Then later on, I saw three deer out on the field. By then I was used to it, but it was a little nature surprise at first. I was the ONLY walker/runner out and it was about 9 am. I guess it was a little cold and windy, although I was fine in my dry-fit t-shirt (short sleeves).

To top off the nature weekend, we went camping at Lake Murray. Lucky for us, it was the first freeze of the season. We woke up in the morning and there was frost on our tents. I think it was my first time to officially camp (in a tent rather than a cabin), and it was "different"... maybe if I had bought more wine, better bedding, and long johns, it would have been a more enjoyable experience. We ate a ton though, and that is always one of my favorite activities (mmm S'mores).

Off to watch the Cowboys game... crossing my fingers even though I'm feeling a little pessimistic.

Congrats to Brian for qualifying for Boston at the San Antonio Marathon!!! WOOHOO!!!

Jobs

So currently I have a full-time job with the gov and a part-time job as a swim coach. Next week I'll start giving private swim lessons in the afternoons before I coach. In the summer I'll be able to promote the lessons quite a bit since we have our own pool. And my future endeavor... I'd like to teach an evening accounting class at TCC or a local college.

Marathon Training

Dancbjammin (http://www.trimywill.com) and I had a great long run yesterday. We met Downtown at 5 am and ran down Taylor to catch the Trinity. We took the Trinity just past University out to the Colonial neighborhoods. From there, we ran through Overton Park and then over near Foster Park. The total course ended up being 16.10 miles, so I was pretty accurate considering it was a 16-mile run! We started off at a nice, easy pace and I was feeling really good. About halfway through the run, we went from the street to the sidewalk, and I did not see the rope/chain that was up. I had a pretty big fall, but fortunately I was okay. Since it was still dark outside, I didn't see any damage. I could just feel the gravel on my face. We continued our run and once the sun came up, the blood on my knee became apparent. It wasn't too bad, just a little gross. I think it was pretty noticeable too. We finished the run, and I headed to the gym at work to shower. The security guard asked me if I was okay... I probably looked pretty gross at that point. Fortunately we have a nurse's station (it's like elementary school!) at work, so I got my knee cleaned up and bandaged. I did the run on Thursday (rather than Saturday) since we're leaving for Oklahoma today and going camping this weekend.

Run Stats
The Plan - 16 miles @ 10:36/mile average
16.10 miles, 2:44:39 total time, 10:13/mile average, 150 avg HR
Mile 1 - 10:19 (133 HR)
Mile 2 - 10:47 (140 HR)
Mile 3 - 10:21 (143 HR)
Mile 4 - 10:16 (145 HR)
Mile 5 - 10:24 (147 HR)
Mile 6 - 10:15 (147 HR)
Mile 7 - 10:30 (147 HR)
Mile 8 - 10:56 (150 HR), this includes my fall
Mile 9 - 10:24 (151 HR)
Mile 10 - 10:01 (152 HR)
Mile 11 - 10:17 (151 HR)
Mile 12 - 10:20 (153 HR)
Mile 13 - 10:19 (152 HR)
Mile 14 - 9:16 (162 HR), this is where Dan took off and I chased
Mile 15 - 9:17 (167 HR)
Mile 16 - 9:54 (169 HR)