Sprint EVO....totally rocks

Long time no blog.....

.....enuf said.....

I got a new phone and have been playing with it more and more. Learning all of the cool functions and checking out the Android market. Found a new application and wanted to try it out....

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Thanks for visiting....

...and welcome to March. Where did February go? I know it is a short month but WTF? I am okay with it though....I am looking forward to Spring, Daylight savings time, warmer weather, outside workouts, longer days, playing outside. This Southern California girl living in Idaho needs some sun on her pasty white body!

Spring break is right around the corner, which means a road trip to Arizona and California. I can't wait to get into some shorts get a little color on the body and dip my toes into the Pacific Ocean, while watching the kids have fun as well.

Lots on my mind, but not really in the writing mood. Still gathering thoughts together before I pound them out on the keyboard. Workouts are good and cardio is coming back. Doing so strength training which I enjoy, but have been noticing some pain in the left shoulder with a little decrease in strength. Got out the old physicial therapy notes and have been working on increasing the range of motion. I saw my favorite Orthopedic Surgeon on Thursday and he confirmed my concerns of decrease mobility and strength. Probably some biceps brachii muscle issues and maybe a little tear...noting my shoulder makes a popping noise. The rotator cuff might have some issues, but would need an expensive MRI, that can wait. As I predicted he suggested some anti-inflamatories with some physical therapy. He was nice enough to also inject some steroids/local anesthetic into my intra-articular joint. Note: did not hurt upon injection, but pain later that night was amazing! I think I would rather birth a baby then go through that pain again. WOW! Thanks to modern medicine I took some meds to prevent vomiting followed by some saltines and then 2 Pain pills...much better. Mommy slept like a baby! Monday shoulder is feeling better...big smile....just need to continue doing the physical therapy exercises.

The bottom line is I need to just rehab the shoulder this month. Running, bike, eliptical okay...swimming not so much...Total Bummer! I really wanted to train more in the pool, but will have to wait and be patient, something I am not good at! I am not a patient person, I want results NOW!!! I can probably work on kicking exercises which is really not as much fun. Just need to be patient....UGH!!

That is all for now, got a ton of other things to do before the kids get off the bus and my real job starts.

Success is my only option, failure's NOT!

Robie Creek Registration....

...so the planning starts. I am really been non-commital this year as far as my plans for races. Ha Ha "race" is a funny term. I am slow as molassas...so I really don't race! But the competion motivates me to push myself harder than I would otherwise. Signing up for race of some sort, makes me get out there and get moving. Which brings me to another point, my workouts have been less than productive and few in numbers.

Today I got registered for the toughest half marathon in the northwest, The Race to Robie Creek http://www.robbiecreek.com/. It is only a half marathon and one that I have done at least 4 or 5 times. My times have gradually improved over the past 7 years. In fact, my first time doing the race I walked the 13.1 miles and thought I was gonna die! It was just 3 months after the birth of my first child and I wanted to do something to get in shape. So my husband and I walked the entire course. I really thought I was gonna die. Had he not been my wingman for the entire race I would have totally thrown the towel in.

Not this year. My last time was about 2 hours 30 minutes. I would really like to improve that and I know that I have it in me to get in around 2 hours 15 minutes. So the goals have been set and the training shall commence. Alright, I am officially announcing what I want to accomplish and I will probably tell 5 of my friends that will keep me in line to continue my training.

The Race to Robie Creek has been advertised as the toughest half marathon in the northwest because it is 8.1 miles straight up hill followed by 5 miles downhill. The course is not the best part, the best part is the party at the end of the 13.1 miles. Usually beer, music, food, did I say beer, oh yeah and more beer. So from this point forward I am also announcing no alcohol of any sort starting on Ash Wednesday which is this Wednesday up until the day of the event. It is a couple of weeks after Easter, but if I can abstain for 6 months last year while training for the Boise 70.3 then I can certainly abstain for 50+ days.

Wish me luck.....

Failure is not an option!

TGIF....

I never used to be able to say TGIF, because working at a hospital you work nights, weekends, holidays etc. Since Steve started school, I changed my work schedule to Monday through Fridays. I start my shift at 7am and get off of work somewhere between 3 and 6ish. So I now can officially say TGIF! Yeah.

January is the month for resolutions and starting fresh for the New Year. It also means birthdays! Jacob has his 7th birthday tomorrow and Nicholas has his 4th birthday on Tuesday. You do the math....my oldest and youngest are 3 years and 3 days apart. I also have one smack in the middle. Yikes...busy Mom.

Anyway life is good, eating better, sleeping more, journaling, blogging, exercising = a happy Dianna! Excellent!!!!

Wanted to post a retro picture of me when I was a kid. It is amazing how much my kids look like me.

Workouts are going well...getting up at 430 or 445 to get on the new treadmill. I love how I feel after I know my workout is done for the day. Need to stay on track and lift a little and do some core work. Probably will get in the pool this weekend and get back into the groove.

Until next time....

....FAILURE IS NOT AN OPTION!

Oh Dark Thirty....

...that is what time I started my day this morning. 0430 is early! I was up and got my running gear on and headed out to the cold garage. I think it was about 40 degrees in the garage. Nothing like a cool crisp morning to do an early run. Actually it was fantastic. My vision was a little blurred because I didn't put my contacts in, but it is not like I was running far.

Lets back up a bit. The treadmill arrived on Tuesday morning via UPS. I called the company to make an appointment for setup and they called back telling me it would be better to come to the house later that day...NO problem. I wanted the machine out of the box and functional. So it sits in the garage in the 3rd bay which is meant for extra stuff. Currently my workout equipment occupies that space and I am content with it there.

My run was good. I did a little interval work which just shows me how slow I am, not to mention how out of shape my body is. The machine was only at 7.5mph and my heart rate was 166. Ugh....I have some work to do, but that is what the treadmill is for. Anyway did a 20 minute run and then a 10 minute stretching circuit that I do after any exercise. I headed for the shower and started my day with a cup of coffee and an egg white whole wheat burrito with black beans and salsa...yummy. The Prilosec that I am taking for my acid reflux from stress really allows me to eat more salsa. Love taco salad with salsa as the dressing. In addition salsa in an egg/bean burrito totally rocks.

I will post pictures later of my setup once I get it a bit more organized.

Headed to bed so I can repeat tomorrow....

Failure is not an option!

STRESS....

...that has been me over the past couple of months. I have been a total "stress ball"!

Time to jump off of the stress boat and head for the mainland. I like this picture because I am a very technical person. I can look at this picture and can say "yes that is me" to every area that is described. So you may ask yourself 'Dianna why are you so stressed'. I simply say good question let me tell you...and do you have all day to listen? Probably many things in my life cause me stress.

There are mainly 2 things. First, my husand is in school in Salt Lake City which is 5 hours away. I miss him and so do the kids. I want him to be successful and often times exclude him from the mundane daily details of home and family. I try to give him as much time away so he can study and do well. From experience, graduate school is really difficult. I did it 10 years ago, but we didn't have 3 kids that we had to worry about. It was a very different time. Steve worked and I went to school. Not to mention I am a little bit more organized and have much better study habits. He is slowly learning what is working for him. It is stressful to know that if he makes less than a "B" or less than 82% he is kicked out of school. Imagine how stressful that is? But I guess when you are taking care of someone at the head of the table during surgery, you want a Nurse Anesthetist that is going to take good care of you and was not the student who was barely making passing grades.

Second, single parenting...do I really need to say anymore? Who will be here in the morning to get the kids fed, dressed, and off to school? Will I be off from work in time to be home when they get off the bus? What am I gonna cook for dinner? When is the laundry elf coming over? I want to work out, but when do I have time? Finally kids are in bed, now some Mommy time...zzzzz.

I am breaking free from the stress and the negative things in my life. I am going to find balance in my life. Today I went to the gym and did Cardio for an hour and it felt awesome. I miss the endorphins! I miss how exercise makes me feel. I drink more water and eat better....basically I feel so good. Can someone please remind me how I feel when I am taking care of myself? Please?!?!

In a previous post from this year, I commented that I need to take care of myself before I can take care of others. That is my plan for 2010. Are you ready for the ride?

Failure is not an option!

To TRI or not to TRI....

...that is the question?

Do I have an answer...not at this time. I really want to do another Half Iron Man and would probably do the Boise 70.3. It was hard enough getting all of the stuff together for an in town Tri, I can't imagine the packing it takes to travel and do a Triathlon in another location.

My biggest problem is time. I need to find the time to train properly. I trained a ton last year. Was it the right amount? Who knows? I finished and I never was injured. I know deep down inside that I could have done better. So did I train enough? I think these are questions that athletes ask themselves all of the time. Do we really ever have the answers? That is difficult for an OCD person like myself who is goal oriented.

In retrospect, I can improve in all 3 disciplines. My swim needs work. My bike speeds are slow and I hit the wall during the last 6 miles of the run portion. My mental game was good, but my body wasn't. So I guess I need to train more....that is a problem because there is only 24 hours a day to...work full-time (8-9 hours a day) and be single Mom 5 nights a week. Sleep is critical and I can not and will not decrease the number of hours that I need to sleep. I need to be safe when I provide anesthesia to my patients and I need to be patient when dealing with my children. "Good" sleep is an absolute necessity!

So that leads to the next question...when training...am I training hard enough? I guess I need to train harder in the shorter amounts of time that I do have. Perhaps take less time traveling to locations to train, ie: the gym. Utilize every minute of the day to accomplish my goals. No excuses!!

How am I going to do this? Well, the new NordicTrack treadmill is in route. I love to run and need to do it more. I hate running on the treadmill, but it is what I gotta do. I figure I can get up around 445 or 5 and get a run in before the kids are awake and I need to shower to goto work. In the evening after the kids go to bed I can get on the bike trainer and get more time in the saddle. Okay so that is running and biking. What about swimming? I am going to have to get a babysitter over to the house at least one night during the week to goto the gym after work and get in the pool. Saturday and Sunday will have to be used for pool time or when it gets warmer, open water swims. So it is possible, gotta have the desire.

Brick workouts....ugh....love them but very time consuming. What the hell Saturday or Sunday will just do mini tri's. Swim at the gym, get on the bike, follow it with a run. Yikes...So I am looking at an unconventional training calendar, but it is doable. I can do it. What do you think?

I am not going to register just yet. I am going to re-evaluate this plan in one month and see how it is working. The Boise 70.3 does not usually fill up too fast, so I am going to give it time.

Wish me luck!

Failure is not an Option!