Running on empty is still running

I didn't quite make my five-days-a-week this week; Thursday I ran outside for an hour (in 25 degree weather again, yum) and lifted. Fortunately the lifting is getting easier.

Friday was super-fun: it was a cold day, but sunny, and I ran at noon. The sun makes me happy. I forgot though that running in 30 degree weather in sun is dramatically different from 30 degrees in darkness! So I had to shed some layers, but that only contributed to happiness anyway. Warmth is good this time of year.

I wanted to work out yesterday, but family took priority. We took the kids to "Baby Loves Disco," and I wanted to dance but it was too crowded - too many little kids to trip over. But Camille liked it; Gabriel was too cool, of course.

Then last night, I sort of worked out - we went out dancing, and danced for nearly four hours! So much fun. I really want to wear my heart rate monitor some time and see how many calories I burn from dancing. But that's so dorky I don't think even I could do it for real.

The thing is, Danielle and I were planning to run today. Since the club closed at 2, I figured I'd be home by 2:20 at the latest. But we went with friends, and we drove, and they didn't want to stay out quite as late, so we gave them our car and got a ride with another friend. But that got us home at more like 3:20...and then I stayed up until 4.

I was meeting Danielle at 9, and unfortunately when I know I have to get up on too little sleep, I sleep even worse. So I dozed on and off until about 7:30, when I just gave up and got out of bed.

Maybe this was lucky: today it's really icy out. Danielle and I had to run slower than we usually do; I actually slipped and did some sort of baseball slide on the sidewalk before I realized how slippery it was. I bruised my knee, hip, elbow, and wrist...but fortunately, it's just bruises and after I walked for a minute, I could run again.

We ran for a little more than an hour, and it felt just fine. But when I got home....whoa. I felt horrible!

So now it's past noon, I'm back in my pajamas and bathrobe, and I'm considering not getting dressed today at all. My legs are sore and tired!

It's a great day to play board games and Rock Band with the kids, anyway. :-)

Why did I want to start this up again?

Ow I lifted weights today!

I did last Wednesday, too, and I thought today would be easier. Nope. It's hard!

I was doing that Crossfit class until mid-December, but since then - so a month - I haven't done any sort of weight lifting. And it's amazing how quickly you lose it! I needed to go down in all weights, and I'm sure to be sore tomorrow.

However, I do know why I wanted to start this up again. I feel better when I feel stronger. I just have to remember that when I feel...less strong.

Although, how about this for resolve! It was 24 degrees this morning, and I got my behind out of bed and went to the gym and ran OUTSIDE with Nancy. Woo-hoo!

It was cold, but not so bad - I wore my SkirtSports ToughGirl running skirt/pants, a tank top, a warm running shirt, a light jacket, two pairs of gloves, a headband, and a hat. Overall, my face was a little cold, but the rest of me was pretty much just fine. So 24 degrees = many layers.

In other news, I ran for 75 minutes on Sunday and felt fabulous. It was a fairly slow pace - I hurt my big toe wearing cute heels, and I can feel the bruise when I run - but I loved that I could just go out and do it and feel totally normal. That reminds me that even slow, I'm a runner.

I'm back

So it's been so long since I blogged that I couldn't remember my password.

I guess this is how most bloggers probably end: you mean to blog the next day, and the next, but you get busy, and you can't think of anything to say, so you sort of drift away.

Well, I've worked out for four days in a row now! That's more than anytime since I was training for the Ironman!

And I have to say, it feels good. I've been sleepy and tired too much lately, and as much as my weight is normal, I haven't felt strong and athletic. Then yesterday I spent a little time with a co-worker who wants to do his first half-Ironman, and I remembered that training is fun! Plus, on Wednesday I had dinner with the running girls, and two of them said they might do one of the Pacific Crest races....so it's time. I'm back, and I'm blogging.

I'm not 100% sure yet what goals I'm going to set; one of them is likely going to be "never exercise or train more than 10 hours a week in 2008." I want to keep the volume and commitment low; I just started a new job and I'm excited about that, and I want to continue to focus on the kids and hubby. We've been having a blast together as a family (four family members form a perfect Rock Band - game for the Xbox 360, in case you're unfamiliar) - and I think John and I are finding a balance between going out and partying and staying home and partying with the kids. It's working.

And I'm happy. Not every minute of every day, but definitely more happy than unhappy. I don't think I could really ask for more than that!

Does Crossfit help with my triathlon training?

Someone asked me that in a comment the last time I posted.

I'm thinking, yes and no.

Yes, because it's motivating. It replaces strength training for me, and the competitive aspect of it makes me want to show up and work hard.

But no, because it's definitely not sport-specific, and I do believe in sport-specific training for triathlon.

So speaking of triathlon, it's about that time for me to make plans for next year.

But I'm pretty happy without plans. Plus, I can't stand the site of my bicycles. Isn't that terrible? I have no desire whatsoever to bike! Even on a gorgeous day, I just don't want to!

And of course I don't want to swim, so I'm not doing that either. Plus I worry about the effects of chlorine on my pink hair, and it's way too cold to swim outside now.

So, I run. I'm happy running. I don't really feel like racing, though. This weekend I think I'll take the kids to do a 1K run with Santa and his elves - that should be good fun, but I don't want to actually race the 5K adults' run myself.

I guess this is normal; I've had three years of being totally focused on racing and training. It feels so nice to not have to do anything. It's not that I don't love the exercise anymore; I definitely do. I just don't want to put triathlon training high up on my priority list right now, because when it gets moved up there, so many other things drop way down.

So, I'm blogging less, though I'm thinking about being a more general blogger and not writing about exercise all the time. I do have my Disney blog, but that's more about the family. Often I have stuff to write about that isn't about either.

And perhaps in January I'll pick out a race to target. But I know this: I do not plan on working on speed or moving up in the age group rankings for any given race. When I race next summer - and I am sure I will race some - it will be purely for fun. Maybe I'll be last in every race I target. Who knows. I just know right now, I need a break.

Loser blogger and loser runner

I'm a loser for not updating my blog. I'm still all about running with the girls and Crossfit.

But I'm a loser runner because I'm not doing the Seattle Marathon! I want to do it, and it was supposed to be my husband's first half-marathon. I was going to run it with him to support him.

Well, I have this thing about registering for races: I don't like to register until I know for sure I will be able to complete my training and get the race done. So that means I usually don't get the "early bird" price.

The Seattle Half Marathon is fairly spendy: $95 if you register late. And I didn't sign John up because, well, frankly he started out well with his training, then pretty much stopped training. He did that one 10-mile run two weeks ago, and I think hasn't run at all since then.

But since he's a guy, he's sure he could go out and run 13.1. To be honest, I'm sure he could (but it would HURT!).

Except when I told him what it would cost to sign him up yesterday or today, he said, "No way! I'm not paying nearly $200 for us to run 13.1 miles when we won't even win!"

Uh, okay. So, we're out. No Seattle Marathon this year.

I'm a little sad about that, because it is a really fun race. But there's always next year!

More butt-kicking courtesy of Crossfit

Wow, tomorrow might suck. I hope I can walk.

Because Crossfit today was NUTTY!

First I ran about six miles with the girls...well, only one girl today, but still. We ran. And chatted.

(Okay, non-sequitor: I'm listening to an AMAZING remix of the Paul Van Dyk song "Let Go." It might be the most incredible song in the world. It's hard to focus on anything else.)

Then in Crossfit we did more of those deadlift-clean things with heavy balls, then a bunch of pull-ups. And then, jump-rope. We were supposed to do double-unders - two times around of the jump rope for one jump - but I couldn't figure it out. So I just goofed around and rev'ed up my heart rate.

So then for our competitive activity, we did this:

40 double-unders (if you couldn't do a double-under, do times 4 of regular jumps - so 160!)
800 meters row
30 double unders (or 120 jumps)
600 meters row
20 double unders (or 80 jumps)
400 meters row
10 double unders (or 40 jumps)
then 30 deadlift clean things.

WOW. And OW. And I was behind, but the instructor told me to push through my deadlift clean things to beat two of the guys who were resting in between.

When I was done, I laid down on the floor - not even a mat - and watched the world spin. Okay, that's an exaggeration...but it was hard!

And I loved every minute of it!!!

10-mile shape: I've still got it

So I haven't run more than six miles at once since....well, the Ironman. And one of my life goals is to remain in 10-mile shape forever: I must be able to wake up and run 10 miles.

I put that to the test yesterday. And I made it even more complicated by going out the night before! I tried to convince John we should be in bed by midnight (we were meeting our friends to run at 9 a.m.).

Well, midnight turned into 1 a.m. which turned into 2 a.m. which turned into "I must be ASLEEP by 3 a.m.!" That one actually happened. But I woke up at 7:30 a.m. to make sure I ate properly and hydrated. So, I was going on four and a half hours of sleep.

But you know, it dawned a nice, warm, semi-sunny day, and I felt excited to run. We were running the Lake Young's Reservoir trail - a 10-mile loop that can't be cut short (it's literally around a fenced-in reservoir, so once you've gotten close to 5 miles, you pretty much have to go 10 to get back to your car).

I ran with Danielle, and John ran with his friend Justin. Danielle and I just chatted the entire time - typical girl run - and including one quick stop for a bio break in the woods, we did the 10 miles in 1:41. So pretty much 10-minute miles.

PERFECT.

And I felt amazing afterwards! I spent the afternoon dancing with my kids - this club I like was doing this thing called "Shorty's Dance Party" where kids get to go into the club and they play non-offensive top 40 music and the kids dance and goof around. And then, even though I said I wasn't going to go out more than one night a weekend...well, this was the last weekend we're going out both nights. So we did go out dancing half the night. Again.

And today? Nothing! No pain in my knees, feet, or any other joints; no muscle soreness other than a tiny bit that I think is still left over from my Thursday Crossfit class, where we did about a zillion squats and again I destroyed my quads. So pretty sweet!

Oh, and John? HE DID IT!!! The most he's ever run was seven miles until yesterday - and though he did take a few walk breaks, he busted out the 10 miles in under two hours. I'm so proud of him!

(Note: I don't recommend barely running then going from seven miles straight to 10...but he's a man, he doesn't listen to me or any other advice. He's limping slightly today, but now we know: he can definitely do it, and a half marathon is his for the taking.)

More nutty Crossfit adventures

So I've now been active/athletic for about three and a half years.

And in that time, I've managed to overcome a lot of pigeon-holing: I thought I was clumsy, slow, unfit. And maybe I was - but those things aren't a permanent part of me.

I like to think of the Spanish language: it has two verbs that mean "to be" - "ser" and "estar." The simple way to explain when to use which is to think of "ser" as things you ALWAYS are. I will always be female. "Estar" is used for temporary things - like feelings. I AM happy right now.

So I thought I was (using the verb "ser") not an athlete. Now I know that I am (using the verb "estar," because it could change) one.

Anyway, so this Crossfit thing has really shown me that I've practiced and become a runner and a swimmer. But overall athletics - being coordinated, throwing, catching, sports-type skills - uh, not so much.

And I guess that's why I like it. Because it pretty much puts me back at the starting line, and it's HARD, and I'm embarrassed when I mess up. (Like today, doing some deadlift and then some other move with a heavy ball.) I laugh at myself, and I get frustrated.

And then I practice some more and some more and some more. After some time, it happens: I can do whatever it was I was attempting.

Getting it feels amazing - even if I'm the slowest in the class.

It's awesome to believe that I CAN eventually, even if I can't quite yet. With everything.

Okay I am a bad mother!

We just got home and discovered something tragic: one of our fish has died.

So, I have to confess: these six fish are my first pets. Ever. I can't even keep plants alive.

So someone call Child Protective Services. After this fish death, I don't trust myself with kids!

Okay, seriously, here's why I am a bad mommy. My kids were discussing my nicknames for them, and Camille said, 'You used to call me a burrito!' And I said, 'No, Gabriel was the Baby Burrito Boy!' And Gabriel said, 'Yeah, that's because when I was a baby, mommy was very poor, and she wanted money, so she always made me go out on the street and sell burritos!'

Uh, yeah. Whatever. No word what daddy was doing while the baby was selling burritos.

I wrote all of this on a mobile phone. Now that my fingers are cramping, I'll say one word about exercise: Crossfit. Okay more words. The more I go, the crazy stronger I feel...and the closer I come to puking!

I can't believe this happened

http://petermckay.blogspot.com/2007/11/not-typical-commute-home.html

Oh. My. Goodness.

What in the world is wrong with people???

Musings on parenting skills, and we got a Wii

So, on the comment drama, upon reflection it's pretty interesting to note how a negative comment can practically destroy me and a positive one gets a "oh, isn't that nice!" and I'm happy for like a minute until I'm on to the next thing. I feel like I have a fairly thick skin, but that comment about my parenting skills just got to me.

But actually - and I'm not justifying - I'm a good parent. I definitely have my shortcomings, but in general, I think my good parenting shows in the amazing kids I have. I am approached all the time by people who just love my kids - they're both bright and comfortable talking to adults and engaging and fun! They can be reasoned with and hold real conversations. They pretty much rock.

The thing is, I just won't dedicate every waking moment of my life to the kids. I see a lot of people become parents and suddenly transfer all their hopes and desires for their own lives onto their kids. Well, I'm 32 years old and have a ton of life left. Sure, the next 14 years or so are earmarked for raising children. But that will not mean for me that I do nothing else but raise children. The going out and stuff is really about building and maintaining an awesome relationship with my husband - a cornerstone of a good family life, right. And frankly, other than the few hours a week I work out with the girls, I do nothing but work, raise kids, and play with my hubby. And those few hours of exercise and girl time are necessary for sanity, friendship bonding, and relaxation.

Anyway, one of my shortcomings as a parent is my inability to play. I don't like imagination games where we play dolls or cars or whatever. I can play games, though, but I'm not into video games. Um, until now...

Last night we had friends over, and we decided it would be really fun for both the adults and kids to play the Nintendo Wii. I've been thinking about getting one, so we ran out to the store and picked it up. And Oh. My. Goodness. How much fun! We got the sports games and the playground games, and all of us - adults and kids - played together and had a blast. My shoulder actually hurts from playing Wii Tennis! And I got my highest scores ever on Wii Bowling!

Obviously the Wii won't take the place of real activity - we went real bowling on Thursday, to the zoo on Friday, and ice skating today (ow my calves and ankles, by the way). But for indoor fun where we don't need to plan anything and can get to be a bit physical, it's great. And we have a projector in our family room, so there's no TV to throw a game controller at (only a 108-inch screen). We moved all the furniture, and voila! A perfect place for all of us to play!

Okay yeah I'm a bad blogger

I just don't have a ton to say in the off-season!



So here's what's up. In-season, my training was definitely interfering with my partying schedule.



Now, my partying is definitely interfering with my training schedule! On the weekends, I just don't feel like doing anything. And on the weekdays, it's all about me. I love running with my girlfriends, so I'm still all about that. And I'm all about competing with the boys from work in CrossFit. But my cycling...basically, if I didn't have to lead rides, I wouldn't be riding at all.


So actually, on a serious note, I have been having a bit too much fun. When you start to get the perspective that getting home at 3 or 4 a.m. is early, not late, something is a little warped. So I've decided in my never-ending quest for balance, that I am only going to go out one night per week, and I will only stay out as long as the music is good.


Lately, after we go out dancing, we end up at a friend's house hanging out until the sun comes up. That's just not necessary. So if we're not dancing, I think we should be heading home. I strongly, strongly believe that if I'm up all night, as a parent it's not cool to sleep the next day and not be with the kids. So I've been forcing myself (through the wonders of coffee and Red Bull) to stay up all day and be an extra-good mommy: I've taken the kids to the aquarium and to parks and all kinds of fun stuff the day after I stay up all night. And I can sort of do it, but it's really tough on John - he really needs more sleep.



So, no more. One night a week, stay out till the dancing is over, then go to bed, then wake up and be a good mommy. And I think that will help with being a good athlete, too - although my weight is down, my strength also feels down, and I'm sure that's all about not sleeping properly.



Oh, and I'll leave you with this: a very funny picture from my Halloween party last Friday night. John and I went as Kandi Ravers (what 16-year-olds strung out on Ecstasy wear to raves):








TOO FUNNY, HUH?

It's been a while!

Well, I'm definitely not a daily blogger anymore. But that's okay - I'm also not a daily exerciser. :-)

It's been so nice to not TRAIN and to just play. I run when I want, I dance all night, and I'm still doing that Crossfit thing.

Speaking of which: this week's Crossfit class totally played to my strengths. For our competition part, we had to do the following:

400 meter run
21 swings of the kettleball
12 pull-ups

...three times.

Right out of the gate, I was slightly ahead. Most of the other folks aren't runners, so I kind of figured even if they beat me on the first 400, they'd slow down on the subsequent ones and I might be able to take them.

Well, I kept my lead on the second-place person and gained time on the others when I was able to sprint the ends of my 400s. My heart rate maxed out at around 190, which is fairly insane - even on the 400s, the lowest it dropped was 175! So that was pretty nutty. And I won, with a time of exactly 10 minutes. The next-closest was three seconds behind me, and everyone else was a ways behind that.

I know: I am so competitive. I just am always proving to myself that I can do this! (Whatever "this" is at the moment.)

So in other news, I went to Arizona on Friday for the Pro Club to play show-and-tell with me. They were presenting the 20/20 Lifestyles program to benefits people from various companies, and the conference at which they were presenting was client focused, so they wanted to show off someone who had been through the program and had good success. Of course I was happy to do it; I love that stuff. So that was fun. And the Pro Club gave me a very generous gift card to the club, so now I get to shop in the Pro Shop or go to the spa or take classes or all of it. So yay!

Oh wow. Serious pain!

Ow ow ow ow ow. I could barely get out of bed. I can't go up and down stairs (seriously - I took the elevator at work, which I NEVER do, not even when I'm wearing high heels). My legs hurt to the touch. Sitting down - especially on low things, like toilets - is excruciating.

But I ran four miles anyway, because frankly, running hurts about as much as walking, so why not?

And weirdly enough, our pace was somewhere between 9:15 and 9:30. I felt like I was running 12-minute miles - barely shuffling - but actually I was still running fairly well. It makes me wonder what my pace is when I just run by myself (like, no chatting with girls) and run whatever I want to do.

(Not, of course, that I'd give up a chatty run to test this. But I could add a solo run one day of the week to find out.)

So yeah, Crossfit. WOW. Like I needed bigger quads - but still. I sort of love it.

Even though John better not touch my legs in bed tonight. Yeah, the muscles hurt to the touch!

Crazy stuff, the things that happen when I've got to prove to the guys how strong I am. Of course, none of them were limping at work today.

Then again, none of them scored as high as I did, either!

Weekend update, and OW MY QUADS

So, a weekend cruise is definitely NOT good for my diet or exercise. However, it is good for my soul!

John and I did a little weekend cruise with some friends - we left out of Seattle Friday, went to Vancouver B.C. and Nanaimo, then returned to Seattle Monday morning. Barely any time away from work, but it felt like a real vacation! (No kids, either - they stayed with the grandparents.)

So I didn't have time to work out on Friday. But I definitely had time to eat!

Saturday I was going to work out, but instead John and I climbed Grouse Mountain in Vancouver, then walked for a few hours downtown. Very fun. I am in great shape to hike! Cardio-wise and muscularly, it was a good workout. We only went up, though - took the gondola down. I do worry about my knees hiking downhill, and this hike was very, very steep the entire way. It was like climbing for me, honestly.

So then Saturday I found more time to eat.

Sunday, I probably should have worked out. But instead, guess what I did? If you guessed eat, you're right!

On my return yesterday, though, I got back into the right routine of exercising and meal-tracking. Okay, I didn't start meal-tracking again until today, but still. At least I started!

So yesterday Kathy and I went to the Pro Club and I ran on the treadmill for the first time in forever. We did the Gambler's Run - it felt really, really good. I walked into the club feeling fat and sluggish and walked out feeling light and limber. Yay!

Today I did my regular girls run on Tuesday morning, so that was good. Then I went to that Crossfit class again. Oh. My. Goodness.

So not only did we do about a zillion overhead presses, we ran, we did lunges, we did pushups, we did pullups, and then, we did this craziness:

Get out a heavy ball thing - it's about a foot in diameter, so it's a foot higher than the floor.

For 20 seconds, do as many full squats as you can - be sure you come all the way back up! Touch the ball with your bottom when you're all the way down.

Rest for 10 seconds.

Repeat....EIGHT times.

Your score equals the lowest number of squats you do in one of the sets. So if you do 15 the first time, then 14, then 15, your score is still 14. So basically, the rule is, don't drop repetitions!

I did 15 a couple of times, but ultimately settled on 14 as the number to maintain. And I did it - and there was only one guy in the class who beat me! I had to set a high bar, because I knew this was one thing I could excel at. When we were lifting, I had a bar to myself, because I'm the only girl in the class and just can't do as much weight as the guys.

When I was done, I could barely walk. Seriously, my legs were giving out from under me. I thought my quads were literally going to fall off my legs - that is how it felt! Isn't that nutty?

And I'm also like, hmm. Why did I do all that work? I've already got crazy defined quads. It's my abs and triceps that can use the help!

But, whatever. My competitive nature got the best of me. Let's hope I can walk tomorrow!

Run it all away

Yesterday was a BAD day. I don't know why - I woke up late, I didn't want to get out of bed, all my computers were misbehaving, I had to work late...and I found myself at 5:30 p.m. bursting into tears on the couch in my office.

I locked the door, closed the blinds, and tried to pull myself together. It wasn't working.

A co-worker stopped by and made some suggestions as to what I could do to fix my computer troubles. I work in freaking software development! Why oh why did my computer choose yesterday to decide it no longer cared to have an operating system on it? Seriously!

So once he had pointed me in the right direction, he asked, "So, do you have your running things here?"

Yup. I keep a set of running clothes and shoes as well as biking clothes and shoes here in my office, just in case.

Great idea (thanks, Steve!). I got dressed and headed out for a quick 30 minutes to clear my head.

When I returned, my OS was installed, the software build worked (well, worked as much as can be expected for this part of our development cycle), and all my happiness was regained.

Daily exercise. The cure for everything!!!

No goals

I'm so happy without goals.

Seriously! I know people say stuff like they have the blues after their big race, and need to set a new goal or look forward to a new race.

Well, not me. I was sure, actually, that I would feel like I wanted a new big goal. But honestly, it feels good just to run at whatever pace keeps me chatting with my girlfriends, bike for the joy of being on wheels in the fall air, and not swim at all.

I feel set free: one less stress in my life. I didn't realize how stressful training was until now. I really like being able to stay up as late as I want, whenever I want, and moving workouts around to accommodate my fun and family schedules instead of the other way around.

I like missing a workout and not worrying about how much it will set me back and when will I make it up.

And I love the way the weight is just coming off me! I feel great!

I know I'll want a new goal eventually - it's part of my personality - but for now, this is the life.

Lowest weight in a long time...

And I've done less exercise than usual, too!

It's been a rainy week, so I skipped both my noon bike rides on Monday and Wednesday. Pretty much all I've done this week is run a total of 12 miles - two days of exercise - plus that CrossFit class.

And yet this morning, I stepped on the scale and got a huge shock. When I looked down, I thought it read 139.6. But something seemed off - I didn't have my contacts in, and the "9" looked weird. I stepped off the scale and lifted it up to my eyes so I could really read the numbers.

134.6.

No way. So I cleared the scale and stepped on again.

134.6.

WOW. The last time I was even as low as 136 was for like a day last November. I absolutely can't remember when I was below 135!

Obviously I have blown my 138-by-October-19 goal out of the water. Of course, I need to stay here for the next two weeks, and I'm not setting a new weight loss goal until then still.

I think the reason this is happening, though, is that I'm explicitly NOT training right now. I'm chill if I miss a workout. I'm not eating as if my stomach was a bottomless pit. And, frankly, all this dancing-all-night and missing sleep has an effect on my eating: I get stomachaches when I don't sleep enough and they make me unable to eat. (I know that's not a good thing...but it's the truth.)

This morning I put on my tightest pants. They're a little loose in the waist!

I have a sweater that I like to wear when I'm feeling my most thin. Unfortunately, when we were cleaning house to get ready to sell, I put it in storage. I might need to go get it out and see where I stand in relation to it.

I know I've said so many times here and to friends that endurance athletics and weight loss do not go well together. And here I am, living proof.

(Whatever will I do next year when I set a new endurance goal???)

CrossFit might make me cross...

This morning, instead of my usual six-mile run with the girls followed by weight lifting by myself, I ran with the girls and then went to a CrossFit class one of my co-workers had put together for a group from work.

I really didn't know what I was getting into, other than that it seemed kind of like my strength training routine: functional moves that work multiple muscle groups at a time. Plus, doing it with fun co-workers seemed like a reasonable idea at the time.

We started out doing overhead throws and chest passes with a heavy ball. Then we did pull-ups on a bar - and man, I am so weak! I tried hard to do it well, but I looked silly. And being so short, I had to stand on a HUGE box to even reach the bar.

We also did overhead presses with a small squat and of course I wouldn't let them give me the light bar - but when I tried it with the big one, it was just too heavy for me. We compromised on the full-size women's bar.

The beginning of the class was technique, but even the technique training got my heart rate up there. Then we did the circuit in two teams of three. We had to row for eight calories, do 12 reps of the overhead press thing, do 12 jumps onto a box (which was REALLY hard for me, again because of the lack-of-height thing) and then 12 reps of an abdominal exercise - for 15 minutes.

Oh my goodness, it was HARD. And because I'm so darned competitive, of course I had to keep up with the person from the other team who started when I did. This was close to impossible because he could row harder (given his much longer legs and arms), so I was always working to catch up. I think he took longer breaks between exercises than I did, though, and we finished very close to the same position.

I'm just so darn competitive - and at the same time, I don't want to be bad at something! I can laugh at myself, sure, but I prefer to just "get it" on the first try. So it was a bit humbling - just like my mountain bike experience with co-workers.

So, it won't really make me cross. In fact, I think I will probably go back and do it again. New workouts are good, and it's nice to have a competitive element so I don't get lazy.

The craziest weekend ever

I followed Paul van Dyk down the west coast: Thursday night in Portland, Friday night in San Francisco, Saturday night in Los Angeles.

I slept maybe a total of six hours a night - most of it in either my car or a rental car.

I danced for, I'm going to say, 18 hours over the three nights.

(My knees feel worse than they did after the Ironman. Must be a sign of aging.)

It was absolutely incredible. Oh my goodness.

I didn't work out, but the dancing is probably enough. Plus, when I stay up all night, I get a stomachache and I can't eat much. My weight was 137.6 this morning - yay!

So if you don't know who Paul van Dyk is, it's TIME. Plus, a lot of his music is great to run to - around 120 to 130 beats per minute, which makes me run slightly faster than I usually do but not an all-out sprint.

See, I haven't lost my way. :-) My endurance training is just being used for something else now - partying with friends and connecting even closer with my hubby.