THAT guy

Tom's out of town for the weekend so I decided that my 2:15 minute bike and 30 minute run would be better suited (and probably more productive) at the gym. On Saturdays, they have a spin class from 9:15 - 10 and then another at 10:30 - 11:15. You have to sign up for a bike before each class, but the girls were nice enough to let me sign up for both classes at once. I'm sure I'm the only one that's even done a double spin class there **GASP**

I did my run before because I had extra time. I went to the spin room around 9 and got situated. It was pretty crowded already and I plopped myself right in the front and started spinning. I'm not shy. There's a guy two bikes down from me getting his stuff together. He's THAT guy.

Form this picture in your head for me...

Big guy (like chubby big, not juiced big). He's in Notre Dame stuff head to toe. Even his bag in front of the spin bike is ND. He has military dog tags on, which are outside of his cotton shirt with the sleeves cut off. He has on big tube socks. Two 32 ounce bottles of Gatorade are on his bike. And I see a trash bag peaking out of the arm holes of the shirt.

Is he really wearing a trash bag with a hole for his head and arms under his shirt??

Ummmmm... yeeeeaaaahhhh....

He keeps lifting up his shirt (which is NOT a pretty sight) to adjust his new heart rate monitor which he's told the whole class, um I mean instructor, all about (and yeah, it was really the whole class). I try to keep from smiling.

The lights dim and we begin our workout. It's a good one. Intervals. I'm happy.

All of a sudden, about 5 minutes into it, THAT guy yells "HOORAH". I think to myself, that's a bit odd, but keep pedaling. About 5 minutes later he does it again. Turrets maybe? About 15 minutes into our class, he gets off his bike (mid interval) and announces that his heart rate monitor isn't working. The instructor tells him that it's probably interfering with the lady next to him.

Another HOORAH!

Really? At this point, I'm starting to giggle, although I'm able to contain it. He gets back on and about 5 minutes later, gets off, moves to the next bike which happens to be empty. Adjusts everything, announces that he's switching bikes and hops back on.

One last HOORAH for good times sake.

I'm so happy that the class is almost done because I probably would have laughed one of those "you aren't supposed to be laughing" laughs if he HOORAH-ed again.

I think he was on the bike about 25 minutes of our 45 minute class. He hugged the instructor as he walked out when it was over and thanked her for the good workout. I held back thanking him for making me smile on this dreary Saturday morning and giving him a HOORAH for old times sake.

Like I suspected, I was the only one who did a double. The next class was much quieter. The instructor was a wee-bit chipper for me, but whatever. I got a good workout in.

I hope HOORAH guy comes back. He was funny. :)

Blah

Anyone else feeling this way? Maybe it's the January blues. Or maybe it's the fact that it's barely above freezing, the snow is melting so it's a brown slushy mess, the sun hasn't been out in days and they are calling for rain the whole week. Oh, and I can't feel my toes. Don't I sounds like a bundle of joy? :) I don't really feel like doing much other than curling up in bed and watching a movie! Too bad that's not happening!

My birthday is quickly approaching... 30 isn't scaring me nearly as bad as I thought! I haven't really thought much about it to be honest! That's a good thing right? But with my birthday brings a trip to Gatlinburg with one of my favorite couples and my wonderful hubby and I can't wait! The countdown is on (for the trip that is!)

Finally, I don't ask for many favors, but if you can all keep my dear friend Danica in your thoughts tomorrow and the next few weeks I'd surely appreciate it. She's having a fairly big surgery and although we all know that it'll go fine, she's still got a long recovery ahead of her! Love ya girl!

A new way of thinking

I don't know what it is about Ironman Louisville, but I'm so excited for it. Maybe it's the challenge. God knows it's not the distance or the heat or swimming in the Ohio River. Actually I should be questioning my sanity for signing up for a hilly 140.6 in August in Kentucky, but whatever. In any event, I'm really excited and can't stop thinking about it. Training officially started on Monday and kicking my own arse never felt so good. Maybe this was just what I needed to light that spark again. Ask me again in about 4 months how I feel and my answer will inevitably be different.

I biked last night on my mother-in-law's spin bike. I've never been a huge fan of her spin bike, but I'm learning to love it. I get a really good workout in on it. I sweat a lot. :) I rode for 1:10 yesterday and then proceeded to run a 25:34 5k. I really want to break the 8 minute per mile mark in a tri this year. I know I have some work to do, but it's only January.

And Tom bought me a new tri uni for Christmas. It's pink and gray. Orca. I'm in love. Now if only I could find some place to paint my bike the way I want it. I know my bike's pretty, but it would be PERFECT if it were pink and black. Just sayin'...

I'm such a girlie girl some times!

Oh, and big news - my husband is off his rocker too (which makes for a good marriage) and decided to ride with Team Type 1 again this year in the Race Across America. Another 3000+ miles on the bike for the team, with a huge record to break. Although he'll miss the first outdoor tri of the season and one that's near and dear to our hearts, I'm excited for him and will be there in Annapolis again this year to watch them come in. Let's hope it's earlier than 3am! :)

Burrrrr

It's freaking cold outside. And it's cold inside. I have the heat up, the portable heaters on, but to no avail, it's still only 61 degrees in my lovely home. While I love that it's old (105 years) and has character (the walls aren't even and the floors slope down), I could definitely live in a new house with good heating and be just as happy.

And for me... cold weather means I'm a total wuss when it comes to working out outside. I look at it this way...

If I can work out inside until April, then I'm be super amped to get out there in late spring and early summer and the long Ironman workouts won't seem like a drag.

How could biking in a tank top and swimming without a wetsuit comfortably be a drag though??? :)

Maybe a warm house isn't all that would make me happy... for some reason Arizona, Florida, California, etc. all have a nice ring to them...

Off to PA to visit the grandparents and my favorite PA families! Hoping the snow holds off...

"You need to get your head checked"

Always a good thing when this is the first thing your mom says to you after you answer the phone and say "Hello". I know it's purely out of love though, right mom?

So what's wrong with my head?

I signed up for another Ironman - Ironman Louisville 2010. It wasn't sold out yet so why not right?

Yeah, maybe there is something wrong with my head!

No, in all actuality, I've been thinking about it for a while. Last year just wasn't the year I had hoped. I trained for a marathon in May which totally kicked my butt and then zapped my motivation. My husband did the Race Across America in June and didn't want anything to do with training. The summer kind of came and went... training lacked a little because of our burn out. And then training for Ironman Florida was supposed to pick up. But we weren't ready. We had a cool fall which is great, but not for swim training and long bikes. Tom traveled a ton and to train alone in the cold dreary days just wasn't my thing. Come IMFL in November, I so just wanted to be done. Then I had a ho-hum race at best. Sure I finished, but I felt horrible the whole day, I wasn't thrilled with the performance and I swore off anything longer than about 5 minutes of exercise the minute I crossed the finish line. In true Irondiva fashion though, that didn't last long. I started setting goals for 2010 and it just didn't feel right to not pay back the distance that challenged me so much in 2009.

So Louisville it is - because it's close and in August, but also it's the only one still open in the US! BUT, there are a lot of upsides and I'll be honest~

I'm super excited! Like more excited than I was last year. I don't know if it's because I'm ready to make it my own, if I'm ready for the challenge or if the cold has killed some brain cells, but I think it's going to be a good year!

Goodybye 2009

I know that this will be my last post of 2009. Hard to believe that the year is over. I never imagined that 2010 would come. I remember thinking that we'd all be on hover boards and flying to space by this point. Maybe someday...

Things have been great here. Christmas was awesome - quiet and just the way we like it. Christmas Eve we spent alone, Christmas morning Tom and I did our own Christmas and then Christmas night we went to my mom and dad's for dinner. We did my side of the family's Christmas on Sunday after Christmas and Tom's side of the family's Christmas the Sunday before. I was spoiled like always! :)

Tomorrow night we're heading to our friend's house for a get together with our friends - just dinner and games. It's the perfect New Year's Eve if you ask me! :) I'm not a big rock star kind of partier... two or three glasses of wine and I'm at my finest! :)

Work outs have been going really well. I've been running mostly and have enjoyed many miles on the treadmill (wait, did I just use the words "enjoyed" and "treadmill" in the same sentence???) It feels good to run a little faster again and I'm seeing gains in my running. I hope they equate to outside running, although I'm a super big baby when it's cold so I'll have to wait to test it out! I have been following the pushup/situp/squat challenge and am loving it. It's hard... I'm not going to lie. But I'm amazed where I've come in only three weeks. When I started, I couldn't do a real pushup and now I'm at around 10 per set (not on my knees - woo hoo!). The first time I did situps, I mustered out 17 and just last week I did 35 in one set. Squats have been the easiest - I do set of 40-50 at a time and my legs feel like jello when I'm done. I'm definitely going to stick with it and can't wait to put the badge of honor on here when I finish each challenge.

We had the coolest thing happen the other day. Tom and I own a company. We have our own line of orthopedic braces (think knee sleeves, elbow sleeves, etc) that we sell wholesale. I've been babying the company for the last year (technically it's been my company since 2005, but I didn't really take control until this year). Anyway, the other day I went to the post office and there was a package in our PO. I opened it up to find the January/ February 2010 issue of "Experience Life" Magazine. Attached was a letter that said something to like "we just wanted to let you know that one of your products has been featured in our magazine. Please turn to page 66". I did and in right smack in front of my eyes was one of our products! It was super cool because we hadn't submitted anything to them... their equipment editors had picked out product as one of 5 top products that they were featuring this month. I was literally jumping off the walls with excitement. It was like we had hit it big finally. It's hard to build your company from the ground up and to get recognition like this was super cool. They said that they think that the magazine hits 2.4 million readers! My little claim to fame I guess!

As 2009 comes to a close, I wish all of you a happy and healthy new year. I look forward to sharing my next year with you...

It's all about giving

My favorite thing about the holidays is definitely the giving part of it. I laugh every night that we listen to a Ray Charles Christmas CD and one of the songs says:

Cause Christmas time
is really more than givin'.
It's spreading all the news of peace and love.
Christmas time
is all about receiving.
The gift that god has sent from up above.

The last line of that verse though is always lost when we listen to it (I don't know how we don't hear it and when I looked up the lyrics, it all made sense), but then Tom and I have the same conversation over and over about how we disagree with Ray. Ha... There is no greater joy than giving to people that I love, hence the fact that I bought Tom 19 gifts for Christmas. I know... those are material things, but the definition of "gifts" this time of year is more than the presents under the tree. I would much rather give than receive. I'm funny like that.

Tuesday, Tom and I are volunteering at the homeless shelter in downtown Columbus. Talk about giving... They have a big Christmas party there every year for the homeless families of Columbus. We'll spend the morning getting things ready (gifts wrapped for the kids, essentials for the parents , etc.) and then we'll work the evening party. Last year I think there were over 400 people in attendance. I've heard from others that it's an amazing experience and Tom and I are both really excited to be a part of it. I'm hoping to make it an annual tradition. :)

I keep reminding myself that the best way to live my life is selflessly. If I can give to others, be it my time, my love, my friendship or **gasp** "things", I'll come out a better person in the end. And at times when I'm feeling a little selfish ('cause I'll admit... I have the last day or so for a stupid reason), I just need to remember that it's all about giving!