chichitao's group - FULL! (Page 85)

My due date is October 24th and yes, it cannot come soon enough! Do you know what you are having?!

I went to a local 10k race this past weekend to watch a friend finish her first 10k and was crying like a baby. I can't even imagine how inspiring a IM can be!!!

Just blame it on the hormones

I have barely been online in the past week.  Without going into many details because this is the Internet, I am out of work for the next 2ish months.  It just happened last Wednesday but I am already enjoying being home with my boys more.  I am trying to hit the gym more since I have a bit more time.  Joe is in school 5 mornings and Logan 2.  I can bring Logan and put him in Kids Club so I am hoping to get moving more.

And other news....Joe, our 4 year old, learned how to ride his bike with no training wheels over the past few days!!  I worked with him for about 30 minutes Friday night, the same on Sunday, and he took off riding yesterday!  I am so proud of him.

Going back to read Pete's race report now!

Meggan, I hope you can enjoy the time away from work.  Sounds like you already have a good plan in mind to stay active.  And way to go Joe...first the training wheels come off, next he is a triathlete!  

I've been a little AWOL lately as well.  I have still been in vacation mode as far as workouts go.  Had a hectic work week last week trying to catch up, but then found out that my partner and I might be re-assigned.  We have an idiot supervisor who feels the need to try and shake things up in order to try and make it look like he is working.  So we spent a lot of time last week justifying our jobs and creating pretty numbers and charts to show what all we do.  Good use of our work time.  I'd hate for us to actual do any real work.  Supposedly we will find out today what the decision is going to be.

Between vacation and the work drama, I have been doing some running lately as I have my marathon relay coming up this Sun.  My time is not going to be great with my lack of running this year but I'll get it done.  My leg is a 10k and I just did a slow 6.5mi run Sun, so now I know I can complete it. 

Then on the 30th the wife and I are heading up to Denver and Colorado Springs for a weekend.  Already looking forward to that.

Pete, you are still amazing.  Great job again on that race.  How have you been feeling afterwards?  Back to training?

So what is everyone up to these days!?

We are having a boy.

Meggan - have you done any more marathons or having anything lined up for the fall?

Tim - Sorry to hear about crap at work although sometimes I am that supervisor at work just goes down stairs and starts yelling just to make it seem like I super busy.  Did you ever see the Seinfeld where George just says you have to look annoyed and you look busy at work? Classic.

I am kind of laying low doing my winter maintenance program already (where did the summer go?) just getting ready for the new baby.  Anxious to see how it affect my ability to get up and workout in the morning-haha.

Tim, I have felt GREAT ever since the race. I was never sore. My body was tired (and still am, as getting 8 hours of sleep a night isn't seeming to be enough...), but that is all. My tailbone is still sore from my little mounting mishap. I have been swimming a couple of times. First time out I was really tired, but got it done, and did the same last night. I'm gonna try to do a quick run tonight. Hopefully it goes well! 

I was planning on taking the fall off from SBR training, but doing the HIM really remotivated me to get back at it. I am going to be doing that same race again next year, and I actually believe that cutting 30 minutes off my time is very reasonable. Over the winter, I will be doing a lot of running (I'm doing a running challenge for the month of October in the Challenge Me forum), and working on getting better at that. I am going to be doing the 30k run again this year, so that will be my focus over the winter, while still doing a bit of SB training. We'll see how next race season plays out!

Doesn't he also sleep under his desk?  Haha, maybe I should try that one!  Maybe I'll just go outside and yell at the nearest homeless guy to "get a job."  Then I'll know what my supervisor must feel like.  (Totally kidding if he ever reads this!) 

Well I get to keep my job after all.  All a big to do about nothing.  Got a call from my immediate boss yesterday who just said "nothing's changed."  Back to work, nothing to see here.  I hope that if/when I get to those upper management levels I won't be a total arse (it totally deleted my original spelling of the word...didn't know it would do that).

So how is the singing business going Tim?  And I don't want to hear a word about where the summer went!  We are finally rejoicing at having days that don't reach 100 degrees!  Although I am excited as my Rangers are close to making the playoffs again and hockey season is starting up.

Pete - I can't believe your arse is still that sore.  You really must've done a number on it.

Well, Tim, let me paint you a word-picture. 

Coming out of T1, it's a slight uphill. I have my left foot clipped in, have half of a stroke to get as much speed as possible... so I'm going, flip my leg over and line up my cleat as fast as possible, while slowing down. Get to an almost critical point where I need another stroke, and I think that my cleat is good, just need some pressure. Start with my second stroke, out goes my foot, my entire 185lb frame coming tailbone-first onto my Adamo... super ouchies!

But I'll be running tonight, hopefully it holds out!

T2, I meant to ask about the band, too. Any big recording contracts you haven't told us about?

Well I wrote a nice long post the other day, that didn't post for some reason, and gave me an error message and I just didn't have the time or inclination to repost.

Meggan, I'd kill for a couple of months off work, so I hope the cirmcumstances around your time off are not bad and that you can enjoy a little time for yourself during this time and up your training some.  How is your achilles doing?

T1 how is your arm?  are you all recovered from your bike spill?  Glad things at work have settled down for you.  I am currently looking for something new, the atmoshpere in my company isn't great right now and there is a good chance that we are going to be gobbled up by the US in the next year and doubtfull that they will keep the IT department if it does. 

T2 - kiss sleep goodbye for a while, I mean congrats on your upcoming boy, how exciting for you! And I'm with everyone else, what is going on with your Rock Star life?

Pete, great to hear you actually gained incentive to keep training through the winter from your race, taking time off is nice, but it makes it so hard to get back into the groove if you are away too long.  Great also that you can see yourself taking another 30 minutes off your race time! Hope the arse feels better soon too

I think  I'm pretty much back on track now with my training after the surgery, recovery took a lot longer than expected.  Last week, was my first full week of my normal exercise regiment with no modifications, it was tough.  Thankfully I was able to keep the running up the best, although my speed is down some, but that will come back.  I am doing the Hell Run in Seattle next weekend with a large group of friends as a fun run, followed by a half mary the following week, I'll see what that day brings but I am not expecting a PB.

Winter training is about to get under way, I will run as usual, but I'm going to add in Jorge's winter winter bike program and I've signed up for a triathlon specific swim class to help work on my stroke and start getting my swim back, I'll also be continuing with TRX till November and decide whether I continue at that time or use the time for something else.

Some reasons are personal related and some were work related.  We are pretty slow at work until we pick up again in December so I was pretty much laid off.  This is the first time in 9 years that it was necessary to do this and it worked out that my mom scheduled her knee replacement at the same time knowing I would not be working.  So I am full time mom right now and having fun.  Today is one week since her replacement and I have been able to step up the workouts.  I am still trying to get up a few mornings a week super early to bike so I am still in the routine of that.  If I have nothing I need to do when Joe is at school, i hit the gym.  Two mornings a week Logan is in school and the other mornings I can put him in the Kids Club at the gym.  At the same time, I am still working with a personal trainer two evenings a week so those days I have and hope to be at the gym twice a day. 

Pete...I have no plans for the rest of the year because of my achilles.  I have stopped running altogether and my Achilles still flares up with stupid stuff.  I need to find an ortho near me and get an appointment.  I have no racing plans in mind for next year either.  I would like to think I would be able to do a few tris next year but I am not overly optimistic.  I am planning on doing the MS150 next September with my LBS.  I also want to check out some ocean swims.

T1 - I have the ability to relate any daily situation into a Seinfeld episode-haha.  Glad everything is good with work.

Sandra - thanks for reminding me about the lack of sleep!!  My wife is pretty good and now that she is home full time after our 2nd one she is extremely nice and let me sleep most nights.  I would just have to treturnt he favor on the weekends to give her some relief.  What worries me is if I am doing a 5 hour bike ride/1 hour run on the weekend and how willing I will be to get up!!

As far as the band it has been going great.  One of my goals as a local Chicago musician was to play at Joe's Bar on Weed Street in the city.  It is the best music venue around here.  Huge country acts play during week and on Friday's and then they have the best cover bands play on Saturday nights.  Almost impossible to get a show there.  Well after our Navy Pier show last February they actually called us to book an August date.  When it finally came around I was freaking out nervous about our draw, ticket sales and being entertaining.  The show went AWESOME!! The stage manager and sound technician who deal with acts like Brad Paisley, Miranda Lambert, Sugar Land, etc... came up after and shook my hand and said that we were unbelievable and impressed the hell out of everyone there.  What a huge relief-hahah.  They are going to put us into the regular rotation starting the first of the year.  Pretty unbelievable.  Here is some video from the show - total rock star show-haha.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWAX88blseA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_rGHOwXZiE&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPwp62IIrwo&feature=related

Meggan, sorry to hear the achilles is still an issue.  I was hoping it would clear up for you on its own. Sounds like you are making the best of your time off and enjoying the extra time for yourself, enjoy it while you have the time!

T2, great news about the show and getting on their regular schedule.  I watched you rock it out on the video's, looked like a packed room and they(and you) were having a great time!  Congrats:-)

That is awesome news T2.  Making it big.

We had our yearly marathon relay yesterday and my team did great.  Came in at 4:00:30.  I did much better than I thought and put up a 9:20 pace for my 10k leg.  Very happy considering my total lack of running.  Knee was a little bit of an issue but not too bad.  I think I am going to try Airrosti.  Two of my running teammates have used it and swear by it.  I really have to do something about it if I plan to run more and build up to a HIM at some point.

I am going to go for a swim today.  I haven't swam in months and couldn't lately due to my arm injury, but my legs are sore today from the run so want something to do that will give my legs a break.  We hit 104 yesterday and should be in the 100s today so it's still plenty warm to swim around here.  Hopefully the water won't feel too much like bath water. 

Oh, and we are super excited as we are heading to Denver and Colorado Springs this weekend.  Gonna head up to Pikes Peak and tour the Air Force Academy.  Looking forward to it!  And the temps are in the 50-70 range, nice!

So what workouts will you be doing today/this week? 

Well, I just got really busy at work... they transferred me out to one of our construction sites... so they added 45 minutes each way of commute, plus an extra hour per day... plus now I'm doing essentially between 2 and 3 full time employees' jobs.

That all said, I'm going to really focus on my running this winter, and I am hoping to get at least 4 runs in this week, culminating with a long run next weekend. Distances, who knows. I'm also gonna go for a few swims.

So a local bike shop is putting on computrainer spin classes this winter that I think I may join... We'll see what happens with that!

Well done on the run Tim!  That is awesome considering your lack of run training this year.  Also happy to hear your arm is getting better and you are swimming.  Outdoor swimming is done for the year here

Last night I headed to the pool for the first time in a very looooong time.  Joined an adult swim fitness/triathon specific class, to work on my form, on the front crawl, but also my breaststroke.  I was happy to find out that my form(front crawl) is still pretty good.   

Went on a 20K run on Saturday morning, which turned into a 15KM run because one of the people I was running with injured her knee and I walked her in, so the rest of the group could keep running.  Sunday morning I tried a new yoga class, called Yin and it was amazing, all poses were on the floor, mostly forward folds and were held for 3-5 minutes each, it was great and I think I will try to work it into my schedule on a regular basis.

Sandra, that Yoga sounds pretty cool and I would think would really help with flexibility and probably a good stress reliever as well.  How often and for how long is that swim class?

I got my swim in last night.  It felt good to be back in the water and everything felt great.  Water was much cooler than I expected and so it felt very refreshing.  I am heading back out with my bike club tonight. I am telling you guys so I will go!

I've been very hit and miss with my workouts all summer and I finally reached a point this past week where I am tired of being lazy (never thought that was possible).  Wife and I are back to eating right again and I've missed being active.  I am off to a good start so far this week and hope to keep it up.  I plan on taking my running gear to Colorado and get some altitude runs in while we are there.

Anyone have any races planned for the fall?  Only thing I have so far is a charity bike ride in Nov. 

Happy Tuesday!

Nice job on the relay run Tim - glad to see that you are back running and the knee is doing better.

I leave for a while and come back and now you guys are into all this experimental training-haha.  What is Airrosti and Yin? Intersting - I will have to check those out.

No races this fall.  Plan is to just maintain fitness and start hitting it Jan 1 with my IM training plan starting February 13.  Depending on how much I can talk the wife into it -I might try to sneak a 5K or 10K in there but will be last minute.

I still can't believe how good my hips feel after that Yin yoga, I'm going again tomorrow night! 

The Sunday night swim class is 45 minutes, but you can stay longer to swim laps and it is only once a week, but I  got the call last night that a space opened up for me in the Master's swim club, so I will be starting that tonight, and from what I hear the coach works you hard for the full hour.  Really happy the pool is a 3 minute drive from my home, since it goes from 9-10pm, which is a little late for me. 

As for upcoming races, I have the Hell Run this weekend http://www.hellrun.com/seattle/#/Hell_Run_Home which I am really looking forward too,  October 9th I have a Half Marathon, I'm simply running for fun and then doing a 4 hour limo-truck wine tour with 13 people and in November I have a 10KM Energizer night run on the seawall in Vancouver.  Other than that, nothing on the horizon until New years 5k resolution run:-)

Ha, I was confused at the experimental training part...then saw the Airrosti and Yin.  Airrosti is actually a type of physical therapy called myofascial release described on wikipedia as:

The myofascial release approach is a form of soft tissue therapy used to treat somatic dysfunction and resulting pain and restriction of motion. It is a treatment described by Andrew Taylor Still, founder of osteopathy/osteopathic medicine, and his early students, which uses continual palpatory feedback to achieve release of myofascial tissues.^[1] This is accomplished by relaxing contracted muscles, increasing circulation and lymphatic drainage, and stimulating the stretch reflex of muscles and overlying fascia.^[2]

Yeah, I don't really know what it is either!   But my friends swear by it, it's a $35 copay and they claim they can fix almost any issue in 3 sessions or less.  My friends both only had to do 2 sessions and we good as new.

I'll be leaving for Colorado here in a few hours and won't be back until Mon afternoon.  I am about to go get one last bike ride and hopefully a swim in as well then a few runs over the weekend. 

Everyone have a wonderful weekend! 

Have a great trip Tim!

We are back.  Had a great time but it went by much too fast.  It was a very busy trip as we stayed in 3 different hotels in 3 nights.  Got to see an old friend.  Made it up to Pikes Peak where it was a balmy 37 degrees!  Felt amazing and the scenery was beautiful.  I would love to take a road trip up there and do some bike riding one day.  Got back Mon then got hit with a stomach bug/food poisoning and missed work yesterday.  So the workouts will begin again today.   Took my running gear to Colorado but with us moving around and checking in and out of hotels I never had the time to do it (I really tried, just ask my wife!). 

We actually head out for another trip next week as we are heading up to Cleveland to visit some good friends.  Busy busy. 

So I am going for a run today!  How was everyone's weekend and whats in store this week?

PS - Sandra completed the entire month of Sept with peaches on every day! *golf clap*

Sounds like you had a great time, I've never been, but can imagine how beautiful it is.  Food poisoning again Tim? Stay out of seedy diners:p  

I did the Hell Run last weekend and it was a complete blast, it was better than any of the obstacle runs I have done previously.  The mud was deep, the walls were high(20 ft) , the river ran fast and cold(had to forge a river for approx. 1/4 mile) and the flames were high! I went with 14 other women and the entire day was just non stop laughs.  If you like that kind of thing, I highly recommend the Hell Run if it comes to your area.  We will be doing it again next year as well as the Run for you Life run, which is another run with obstacles,  but in this one zombies chase you!  Seattle has the best races:-)

This weekend it is Canadian Thanksgiving, which means I am going out of town to run a half marathon and then a large group of us have rented a limo truck to go on a 4 hour wine tour.  I'm looking forward to it!

I have been MIA for a while, and I suppose there's really not a good reason for it.  But, once Ryan got here on the 14th, I didn't want to get online at all, and then since he's left, I've been so busy.  I haven't even caught up on all the posts yet!  So, yeah, no worries, I'm still here!

In brief, I LOVE Portland, and I REALLY LOVE my job.  It is pretty much the coolest thing ever.  Got to watch the women's national soccer team play on campus a couple weeks ago, which was huge for me!  I want to work here forever, no kidding.

My knee has been a bit sore lately, mostly starting from the 10 mile hike Ryan and I went on when he was here.  Also, I played a soccer game last week, and it was crazy because my knee didn't hurt at all during the game, and then once I was done, it was throbbing.  It still isn't 100%.  But it was totally worth it!  Surgery is December 22!  Woo! 

Ummm...I think that's it for now.  I promise to try to stay around more.  I have a couple papers due next week, and once those are over with, the rest of the semester shouldn't be AS rough.  We'll see.

It is crazy how much time I must spend online when I am at work because I am hardly on it now that I am home.  Hmmm.....

Things are the same around here.  Nothing new at all.  I am still enjoying being home with the boys for the most part.  I am still hitting the gym and either riding on the trainer or outside.  I can't get outside much during the week but I can on the weekends.  Once my mom is able to drive again, I plan on getting some rides in on Tuesday/Thursday mornings when both boys are at school.  I have no one close by I could call if something goes wrong and I don't feel comfortable being on the road.

I am thrilled to say I am down 22 pounds as of this morning.  I have another 20 to get to my first goal and then I will evaluate all things.  I may stick there or go another 10.