Fartlek-This is White on Rice for Me...smile

http://video.about.com/running/How-to-Do-a-Run-Walk-10K-Training-Program.htm

So I've been training for my first triathlon Sunday, 1/29/12.  Along the way, I've found running to be my most difficult activity.  If find myself anaerobic most of the time.  This last Saturday I ran with the Triple Crown Running club for the second time.  I was lucky enough to have a woman hang back and coach me.  Her name was Charlotte and she is a cross country coach!!  What luck for me.  She told me about interval training and how it is called Fartlek.  A terrible sounding word, which I am sure got many jokes and least of all snickers from the school age children she coached.

Fartlek, in a nutshell is interval training.  Running and walking for a faster recovery time.  I plan to execute this training plan next week before my race.  Click on the video above if you would like to try it.

My First Below Freezing Run, I was covered in Frost!!

I ran my first run with the Triple Crown Running Club last Saturday morning.  This first run was 4 miles long in below freezing weather.  We began running at the firehouse behind the McDonald's in Crestwood, Kentucky. 

It turned out to be a fabulous day.  We started out at 7:30 and ran on a fairly flat road.  The only real danger was some black ice.  I was totally comfortable, although I was covered in frost by the end.  I didn't have frost bite on my fingers or toes.  As a matter of fact, I had to remove my gloves because I was so hot.  My body sweats a lot and I guess that's what caused all the frost on my hair and clothing.  There were several runners out that morning, besides our club, and everyone turned to look at me as they passed me.

I am not a fast runner, but, I am training more and am getting a little faster.

This is my list of items to wear in a really cold run:

1.  Hand warmers.  I got mine at Costco.  You open them and shake them and they get warm.  I place them inside my gloves and put extras in my pockets. 

2.  Heavier gloves.  I don't like mittens, my hands sweat too much in mittens.  But, gloves with hand warmers to start out are just right for me. 

3.  Scarf.  I wear it around my neck until about 2 miles then I take it off.

4.  Layer wicking clothing.  I like a wicking Specialized undershirt, then long sleeve Saucony shirt then my blue fleece Old Navy shirt.  This is for below zero running. 

5.  My reflector utility belt.  I like to listen to my music, and safety is a concern.  So I like to carry my iPhone with my head phones on the front middle of my utility belt.  I don't like it on my arm or in my pocket.  Running is all about balancing the items I have on.  Also, after about a mile or 2, I begin to take my gloves and scarf off.  I like to hang them on my utility belt. 

6.  Sham Wow headband.  I sweat a lot.  I thought, what's the most absorbent material out there, and the Sham Wow came to mind.  So, I make my own head bands.  They are pretty wide for covering my ears. 

There you have it.  My recipe for coverage that includes as few items as I need when I run. 

Thanksgiving 2011, Split the Baby

We traveled, we split the baby, we ran, we headed home.  Such was our whirlwind visit to Oklahoma.

My folks live in Clarlemore, Oklahoma near Oologah lake.  The fog was rolling in when Chelsea and I walked Fawn in the early morning.

We ran the Owasso YMCA's Thanksgiving Day Hog Jog.  It was a 5K race.  The important thing is I got to run with my daughter, Chelsea and her cousin, Kyleigh.  My dad, sister, Lisa and her daughter, Rian, as well as Kyleigh's husband, Jared and daughter, Nora were in attendance, along with Tea, Rian's daughter.  In essence, my whole family was there.

Like Sampson and the decision, who gets to keep the child, when you live a 10 hour drive away, we must split the baby and share our kids with both sets of families.  Bob's family lives in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma.

Yes, there are all kinds of Indian jokes about the names of the towns in Oklahoma.

I had grand plans to work on quilts and teach my daughter how to make one.  She has made one, but, this was to be another balloon quilt which she was really excited about at the time, but, splitting the baby means traveling back and forth from grandparents to grandparents, as well as great grandparents.

My First 5K! In Louisville, Ky

Thanks to my niece, Kyleigh Brewer, I am now interested in 5K's.  What a lovely way to spend a weekend morning.

I like to carry my wrist purse.  It contains, Kleenex, sunglasses, phone, small bottle of water.  It is large enough to put my gloves or headband in if I get too warm.  I might carry hand warmers in January in it.  That's me in the white Tshirt on the left side.  I like to jog, it's a little faster than a walk, but not much. I'm just happy to be healthy enough to participate at my age. 

This is the finish line.  My husband took this picture.  I had actually passed it about 15 minutes before he took this picture.  I have increased my jogging speed since my triathlon.  In September I jogged 2 miles in 45 minutes.  For this 5K, I jogged 3.1 miles in 47 minutes. Ha!

We went to the Biltmore House in Asheville, NC. 

 Building this outlandish display of wealth must be something like the Kardashian wedding today.  A ten million dollar wedding today; a mansion built around the turn of the century.  It was in the middle of nowhere at the time.  It is in a place I think I would like to retire.  Near the mountains, a college town, it has everything, but, family. 

 The fall colors were everywhere.  Especially in the park that Olmstead built around the mansion.  He considered it his last great project.  Thousands of trees were brought in. 

 Something was planned to be blooming at any time of the year.  look at the dragon flies in the mum display. 

 This is a bald cypress.  I must have some cajun in me somewhere, because I love these trees, especially when they have spanish moss growing from them. 

 This the bass pond.  It must be nice to have enough money to make a pond for you to fish and boat around in.  eh hem, Charles, I think I'd like to go fish in the pond today, please make it so...smile.

 We drove the Blue Ridge Parkway.  It rides across the ridge of mountains.  So beautiful. 

 My sweetie pie.  How lucky am I?

 I love juxtapositions, new growth out of snow. 

 What a fun place to work.  This is the staff at the restaurant on the highest peak, east of the Mississippi. 

We had hoped to fly fish, but, it was just too cold.  There was an early cold snap in the area.  But, it was still a very nice trip!