Prof40's Group -- Technically full but ... (Page 70)

Liz,

Enjoy your time in Kona. I just hope that one day I get there to experience the buzz. Let us know how it all feels.

Pene,

Mmm. Lawyer huh. Glad to see you have finally got some taste! My personal experience of lawyers is that they fall into two camps. They either believe that they, their lives and everything they do is fantastically interesting and should be the centre of the conversation at all times in which case they end up knowing nothing about you OR that everything everyone else does is fantastically interesting and should be the centre of the conversation at all times in which case you end up knowing nothing about them! I would steer clear of trying legal small talk although, I will let you into a little secret; law is just common sense with big words. There, I've let the cat out of the bag. This is the case unless of course you are talking about any litigation in the USA in which case the general rule of thumb is to think of the logical answer, then reverse it and add a gazillion noughts; now you too could be a judge (OJ, tobacco litigation et al).

Did you know that motorcyclists who do tri's generally go downhill on the bikes very fast (something to do with not being afraid of the speed)? Stick to talking about that, dressing up in skin tight leather and getting your knee down on corners and you'll be fine. He is right in saying that biking is big in the UK. As a nation we ride bikes until we are 22 and then give up until the old mid life crises beckons at which point we go out and buy massive sports bikes. I lost my licence last year for speeding (163 mph in a 60 zone!) on my brother's Aprilla so I am now reduced to the attached!

BTW I am in for the 10lb challenge. I am stuck at 185lbs and would love to drop another ten by the end of the year. I have seen my fat %age drop though so I guess the next ten lbs is goingt obe a bit tricky!

Things to do before I die:

1. Climb Chomolungma (Everest)
2. Circumnavigate the globe in a gyrocopter
3. Do a sub 10 hour IronMan
4. Retire

That's it for today!

Mark





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Mark--163 in a 60???? Man!!! Maybe that's what I need to do to quit being a fraidy cat on the downhills? Or maybe I just need a new trisuit--one with 100% leather coverage, knee pads, and a whole head helmet?? Hmmm....I could start a new trend! Might have to stick to tri's in the Antarctic, though with all that gear....

Nice to hear from you. It's those common sense thoughts with lots of words that makes you so adorable and interesting And I love the gyrocoptor idea! I'll hop on mine and meet you in Spain for lunch some time! (hey, a girl can dream......) Imagine how much easier it would be to transport your tribike for the overseas IM's!

So has anyone else actually GAINED weight since announcing that they wish to lose it? I have to lose 13 pounds now.

Ah, Prof, it's probably just water weight. Is it your period too?

Someone take the pizza out of my hands! Can't resist the stuff!

I'm with you. Watched England beat the French at Rugby at the weekend (an activity that can only be safely undertaken supported by large amounts of real ale and hot roast beef sandwiches) and now have an extra few pounds to shift.

It would have been more but mid way through my run on Sunday, I lost the contents of my stomach!

Next Saturday it is the Rugby World Cup Final and I have tickets (!!!!!!!!!!!!) so I, along with my brother and a few of his rather eccentric friends, are goingto run the half in Paris, no doubt significantly hung over and regreting our commiseratory beer drinking session the night before. Still, onwards and upwards!

Incidentally, for any of you who don't know, Rugby is a game that is a little like your American Football if you took off the pads, developed some passing and running skills and stopped stopping it every twelve seconds for commercials! Actually, it is more like a bar fight with an oval shaped ball in the middle. Naturally whilst we are very good at it, most of the former colonies are better now so, as we are playing South Africa, we're going to get spanked!

Mark, rugby sounds like something to experience--putting it on the list! I can't stand American football as it is too blasted slow!!!

I think I'm in laa-laa land. Can't seem to get motivated to do much. I still manage to move a bit now and then, but the DRIVE is gone......

How's it going Liz? Tell us all about your adventures in Kona!

sorry i havent been back to fill you in- the last few days were busy and slightly annoying because I SPRAINED MY ANKLE on friday!! I was so mad at myself. I could barely walk and all I could think about was my half marathon this weekend. Anyway,we'll see. I might be able to run still but its looking bad. Anyway, I posted a link in the Ironman thread of my pictures and wrote this paragraph. Ill tell you guys more tomorrow but I have to run to work!

Hey everyone- I went to Kona for a sports medicine conference the week before the race and then worked in the medical tent for the big race. Unfortunately I sprained my ankle the day before the race so I wasnt as mobile as I wanted to be but I got some good shots of parts of the race and I thought Id share them with BT'ers.
I was going to write a blog about the day but thats too daunting so I just captioned the pictures as best I could. The weather was crystal clear in Kona, quite hot in the afternoon, and a little windy towards the end of the day. As you know, a lot of the top pro's dropped out and the women's winner (chrissie wellington) was a surprise out of nowwhere. I love that! She looked great throughout the whole race. I got to the race just before start and left around 8pm; I talked to lots of age group finishers in the medical tent and everyone said how hot it was! And everyone said they wished their times were better. But most everyone finished! The will to finish in Kona is greater than anywhere I think. People had blisters the size of lemons on their feet, vomiting throughout the race, sunburns and chafing galore- but they did it anyway. Very inspiring! I couldnt take pictures in the tent but I wish I could have shown you some of the looks on their faces. Pure relief.
here is the link: http://picasaweb.google.com/elchoipac/KonaIronman2007

Liz

That was a fabulous set of photos. It quite brightened up my morning, many thanks.

Mark

Wow! those pics are a great weight loss motivator! Mercy, don't those poor starving folks EAT?? I still have some junk in my trunk, so to speak! But I met the lawyer, in person, and he seems to like it just fine We meet again Saturday. I'm a wee bit distracted these days, and may not get the half mary in sympathy for Liz done until sunday........I'm sooooo not into this stuff these days. Those photos tell me I'm way out of my league with the IM for a bit yet......Liz, how is your ankle???

Well, who's in for the 1/2 marathon -- or for that matter, any running -- tomorrow?

I've been looking forward to it, actually. It's given me something to strive for, and up until a few days ago, something to train for. But alas, I have an injury to my left knee that has left me questionable for tomorrow. Not sure what it is, or where it came from, or how I hurt it -- all I know is it aches, and if it's not feeling better when I wake up tomorrow, I'm not lacing up my shoes.

Fingers crossed here that I'm feeling good, and that you are all feeling well, too.

Good luck to my favorite west coast gal tomorrow -- have a great run!

Prof--ice that knee! Can't hurt and if there is a bit of inflammation, then nothing works better. I'd hop over and adjust it for ya, but ya know, PA is a BIT out of my usual housecall range!

I'm going riding on the ninja today....or the BMW...he wasn't super clear on which! My kids are spending time with their dad, who is here visiting (how nice that Darth, as in Vader, a highly appropriate name for him, gets to babysit so I can have a hot date, huh?). So I have been promised a ride and lunch. Maybe when I get back I'll feel like running, but the kids will then be with me and it might be a couple miles at a time with breaking up fights and getting snacks and changing videos breaks.

I renewed my membership on BT and guess what? I get a cool goody bag for doing so! You get a nifty non-cotton tee that says something about training with my friends on BT, a mojo bar, some drink thingy and I forget what the other thing is......pretty nifty, eh? Might be worth coughing up a few bucks if ya'll haven't already??

I invested in orthotics. I've had the technology in my office for a long time and never actually ordered myself some. They are shoe thotics so I get Brooks adrenaline 7's with custom orthotics built in. I love them. Only put on 6 miles in them, but I feel more balanced and the right leg feels much more stable in them. I think that is why I tore the ham--some kind of structural imbalance with my right foot. Anyway, so far, so good. I would recommmend them to anyone--just find a chiro in your area who has footlevelers and a scanner and do your body a favor! {commercial over}

getting ready to leave for the airport. Apparently none of us are supposed to do the half tomorrow...did you see my post about my ankle sprain. It wasnt just a roll my ankle, walk it off kind of sprain, I actually needed crutches the first 2 days and couldnt walk without a limp all week. Today its better but still not sure if i can run 13 miles on it. I am determined to finish this race but I thinks it going to be walking mainly, with maybe a little running. Let me just say right now- Life isnt fair! Something you have never heard before right?? I just need to get over this; training for 4 months for something (and having friends fly in from all over the country to race with me) and then spraining my ankle 1 week before the race, and getting a cold, just sucks!!! Ok, IM done with my pity party.

Dont worry, i had it xrayed and had a sports med doc look at it- he says im crazy to try the race but he doesnt think it will do any permanent damage. I figured I worked an 8 hr shift walking most of the time so i can walk a few hours to do the race.
ok time to get ready to leave- Ill post on Tuesday and let y'all know how it goes. ive decided this means i have to do another half this year so I can really see how my times improved- I mean, ive lost over 10lbs and have doing hills like crazy! Im planning to just enjoy the trip and take lots of pictures on the race course. how often do you get to do that??

Liz, I'm soooo sorry to hear about your ankle and cold. All I can say, is just take it easy. I will tell you that I know of one irondude that ran a full mary on a bad sprain. I never met him, but he is 46 and did so just last year. He said it just got numb after a certain point and then was very swollen after, but he did it! Mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter Good luck and have fun!!

Woke up, felt good, and went out for a run. I did my long one -- anyone else do theirs?

It was a perfect morning. Hope you all had good weather, too.

well I did it....lame ankle and all. yes, the pain of running starts to take over the pain of the ankle around mile 6 and then you are half way and you figure its just easier to finish. I ended up walking most of the last 2 miles but i crossed that finish line and got my finisher's t-shirt and tiffany's necklace and I was happy I did. My time was ridiculous but oh well. next time.
Did you do the whole 13 miles Prof?? if you did, good for you! I felt you in spirit ( :
Ill write more about the race tomorrow, need to regroup and get to bed~

I did. And it felt great -- my last 3 miles were faster than my first 3.

For those of you following along, I'm now back to my starting weight, when I announced I wanted to lose 10 pounds. I've got to get serious now and make up for lost time!

Hoorah Liz!!! Atta girl--not easy to say you did a half mary on a bum ankle! You'll have to havekids now so you can brag to your grandkids. Because your kids are never impressed with your stories, but the next generation is! It's a law of life. Waiting to hear more in your RR.

Prof--whatta nice guy you are! I wonder what it would be like to easily pull off a half mary and actually run the last miles happily! You the man!!! Way to go on the weight loss, too.

I'm in the prime of laziness these days. I just don't give a rat's aZZ about training for some reason. I had a marvelous ride on lawyer dude's red Honda. And I'm enjoying the mania of new relationship tingles. Unfortunately, Darth Vader (my ex) has officially moved back to Wisconsin from Ohio. And I am stuck with all his dysfunction, control issues and general craziness once again for minutes at a time when dealing with kid issues. I cried all day on Sunday and tried to get it out of my system. Maybe there is a reason for this unexpected change of events, but I can't think of any good ones. Perhaps he will actually watch the children so I can go on dates and marathons, but then I am left with Noah's attitude, Micah's constant whining and Mose's yelling at me after they are exposed to their father. So it isn't much of a good thing from my perspective. I will try to gather my angst and put it all into the run on Sunday. Except I then lapse into dreaminess about lawyer dude and could literally daydream into space for hours on end. He's sort of a gruff azzhole with a potty mouth and attitude! I love it Rebels rule! He's just as weirdly liberal/non-conformist as me!! Okay, I'll quit rambling about him.....but he's getting in the way of my training! I am, however, not hungry at all anymore. And the weight is dripping off. I've lost 10 pounds since Sept. 9 and that's not too shabby! 10 more. Women are always saying that, but I do think that will be enough. I still won't look like the Kona chicks, but close enough

The good news is that my ankle isnt ruined for life (i dont think!) it seems to be better. So I must have not done that much damage. The race was great fun, here are some pictures from the day:
http://picasaweb.google.com/elchoipac/SfMarathon/photo#512456726191...
http://picasaweb.google.com/elchoipac/SfMarathon/photo#512456742083...
http://picasaweb.google.com/elchoipac/SfMarathon/photo#512456754968... (my reward at the end)
http://picasaweb.google.com/elchoipac/SfMarathon/photo#512456762269...

What now??!! I dont have any race on the schedule, the weather here is awful, and skiing hasnt started yet. I know Im in for the 10lb challenge but im at a loss for my workout "maintenance" period. Professor- any recommendations? I guess I shouldnt run again for a week or two until Im sure the ankle is healed. But then what? I went to the pool today and swam but I felt so lackluster, there just isnt any motivation without a goal in sight.
hmm, i guess that means I need to set some goals

Welcome to my world.

The end of October -- it doesn't seem like we've been at this for 10 months. And that it's time to pack up some gear until spring. Anyone else have a wetsuit under their bed?

Nope not under my bed--still in the back of my Blazer! Spose maybe I should wash the darn thing out and put it in the closet at least.

Well, kids, I did it! I'm in the airport currently killing time til my flight which is in 6 hours! (WHAT was I thinking? Like I coulda been done with a full mary even if I walked all of it and still made this flight!) I had fun. Weather was purrfect. There was sun and although there was frost on the windows this morning, it wasn't too cold for me. Lungs did great. Hamstring hung in there! My unofficial time was about 2:44. That beats the snot out of my previous practice time of 3:02 or so. None of my practice times would have beat that, so I am okay with it. Most of the miles were under 12 minutes and I only bonked at 11 and a half miles. At that point, my competitive edge disappeared and I didn't really care about time anymore. I have to admit I walked alot of that last mile but I ran across the finish line There was an older gentleman who took me under his wing and kept my mind off the run with jokes, advice, stuff about his wife the nurse and raising his kids. It was great! I could talk back and laugh back so I wasn't struggling too much apparently. Then he had to go the different route to do the full and I have to admit I missed his endless droning about this and that those last miles by myself. There were folks running but they looked as pooped out as me and so I just tried not to think too much and kept going with a lot of walking. I even had my photo taken along the course--no one before has ever managed to shoot me and I never have friends cheering me so eventually I'll post a real live race photo......unless I look too horrid, that is! My son Noah says we are part vampire in our family because he thinks his imaginary friend told him that once and that is why he likes salty stuff, including the taste of blood! I think he may be right because you can't photograph a vampire The medal is a huge honking thing so now that makes two. One more and I can die without my kids fighting over them---one for each.

Enough of my droning.....like I said, I'm bored and waiting in an airport!!

Hi guys

I have just got back from a week in Wales following a weekend where England was robbed of the World Rugby Cup by the South Africans and Lewis Hamilton was robbed of the World F1 drivers championship by the money making machinations of Bernie Eccleston.

Well done to you all for doing your runs. Liz, yours definitely carried the best finishing medal I have ever seen. Top performance all round.

However, the match on Saturday was fabulous and SA deserved to win. A night of (very) heavy drinking restored some national pride and the following days hangover and only three hours of sleep only slightly hampered the promised run on Sunday.

We were staying at Fouquets on the Champs-Elysees so met up with the others just off the Avenue de l'Opera and ran from the Jardin des Tuileries, up the Champs-Elysees around the Bois de Boulogne, back to the Etoille Charles de Gaulle, to the Palais de Chailot and to the top of the Jardin des Tuileries. There were six of us in total but by the time we got to the mid point of the Champs-Elysees (a distance of just over a mile!) we were down to just two, the rest having dropped out for various combinations of breakfast, lunch or dinner depending on how long they had been up the night before. I marked my entrance into the Bois de Boulogne by depositing my breakfast in a bin and on we ran.

As my co runner was my older brother there was no way that I was going to throw in the towel so we went and did the whole thing in 1 hr 49 mins.

As we came into the top entrance of the Jardin des Tuileries the chaps who had dropped off en route were all there with a group of England and SA fans, so we came in to a big cheer, much to the bemusement of the hundreds of tourists milling around waiting for the fun fair to open!

It is not often that I get to Paris and certainly don't usually push myself like that when I go (and indeed never seem to see anything of the place other than the Notre Dame, the Pompidou Centre and the Louvre so this time it was fabulous to spend some time pounding the pavements with my bro and watching some great rugby.

I jumped on a plane and got to Wales in time to be picked up by the family who were en route to Anglesey where we spent 6 days in glorious sunshine, playing no the beach, watching the RAF do low flying practice and generally eating and drinking to excess. I have come back a total of 7lbs heavier than I was when I went so a bit of work to do to catch up with y'all on the weight challenge and I went out for a run today and could only manage 3 1/2 miles at a moderate pace! Some work to do all round I guess!

I hope that you are all hanging in there as winter fast approaches.

Let's have another challenge to put off the lack of motivation. Any suggestions?

wow Pene! Way to go!! Im sorry I forgot to send good wishes to you before you left. 13 miles isnt that bad right?? Im so glad you did it and felt good after.

Mark, all i have to say to you is WOW. You really did 13 miles while hungover? Amazing feat that only a european would try. Of course we are all jealous of your run thru Paris but I have to say, I ran thru the Jardin Tuilleries when I was there last year too! I imagined it in my head as I read your post.

Ok, so my ankle is not cooperating. I was hoping to run again this next weekend so I played it safe, went to the pool today, and about 900 yards in, I felt this excruciating pain in my lateral ankle. It was so weird. I had interspersed some kicking but not much, and it didnt hurt until then. I think I tore some muscle fibers or something, I was so mad that I hurt it more in SWIMMING.

Take care of that ankle Liz!! You must just take a complete rest for a few weeks! Take up cookie baking or something Or exotic flower arranging....quilting? Painting? Sudoku?

Mark--I want to do a full marathon now. Have you done one yet? We know Prof did...haven't heard from Helen lately....anyone up for full mary training? I"m looking at marathonguide.com but I can't decide! There was an indoor marathon in Minnesota, but it closed entry to 40 participants....interesting idea--150 laps indoors in January in Minnesota! Ha! Must look at registering for the next one.....My new list includes becoming a 50 stater! If I do 2 marathons a year, I'll be able to complete that goal before kicking the bucket, right? Just a thought.....

Jeanette--you all signed up for AZ? That one is soooo cool sounding! Let us know you are still breathing!

Taking a break from my long run today.....there have been many breaks today unfortunately. My head is not in the game. Body is still recovering from Sunday's half. My legs were just a little sore this morning, but my adreno-cortico-hypothalamic-pituitary axis has CRASHED! All the happy post race chemicals were just GONE today! I've done 11 miles...just 3 more to go....come on Pene....get your butt back out there! I signed up for the Rock-n-roll mary in Arizona in January. The FULL. Yes, the full! Jeanette---if you are out there and still gonna be there, let me know!! Having a friend to run with, even for part of it, really helps!