Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Lobsterfest Pics



More pics if you're interested...
http://web.mac.com/katetparker/iWeb/Site/Library%205.html

Home!

We're back home from my brother's lake house in Michigan. Ahh...happy to be home again. Over 11 hours in the car yesterday, went to bed at 3:45 last night. Mike and I are walking zombies. Great trip though. Had a ton of fun with my family and at Lobsterfest. Will post some pictures later. Too tired to make the move to download them right now. :)

Thursday, July 26, 2007


Pretty basic week this week. Getting packed and ready to head up to my brother, David's, lake house in Indiana tomorrow. Excited to see everyone up there. David's been friends with the same guys since high school, so its nice to see them with families and kids now. And rid of the flat tops, too. They were all fans of that sweet haircut. NJ has rockin' style! Can't wait to see our friends, The Riepes, too.

Good luck to Nate and Amy this weekend. (My bro and sister in law -- pic above). They're both doing a LONG trail race this weekend. Nate's doing the 30 mile one and Amy is doing the 18 mile one. I think it might be in VT or New Hampshire...I know it is supposed to be really tough though. Through the woods and 10 hours long tough. Run like tigers, Strongs!

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Momma, poo poo?

So, I was sitting down facing away from E earlier. She grabs the back of my pants, looks down and asks me, "Momma -- poo poo?" LOL. I was cracking up. I guess I do that to her all the time, she wanted to check on me today. Funny kid. BTW -- the answer was no, if you're wondering.

Training is going well...been fun so far. Olympic distance training is no joke. 2 a days every day! WTF? I thought I would be taking it easy after IM training. My choice, I guess. :) I snoozed this am and missed my early AM swim, but successfully kept Mike up for a half an hour. (sorry!) Swam at LA Fitness earlier and plan on running later.

Other than that, we're good. Heading up to Indiana/Michigan (literally, one half of the lake is MIchigan and the other is Indiana that my brother's lake house is on.) on Friday. We're driving. Ugh. Thank god for the car DVD. Lobesterfest here we come. Its just a big party with music, tons of kids, food and Lobsters. E's going to have a blast. My bro's got 4 kids....she's going to go nuts.

Swim -- 1hour -- 2750 yards
Run --- planning on fartlek after dinner

Sunday, July 22, 2007

Congrats!


Congratulations, Kindzia. Paul K. (my coach and our friend) finished his 9th (or 10th? not sure, but some crazy number) IM at Lake Placid today. Kindzia aka "The Polish Hammer"-- hope you're feeling well and enjoying your family and all their awesome support. Can't wait to see some pictures and hear all about it.

We had a good weekend here. Went up to Asheville for the day yesterday...awesome up there. We love it. Such a funky, cool city and the mountains are so gorgeous. Mike and I did some early AM juggling to get our workouts in before we left and we both did. Yay us. Its nuts, but we'd both be cranky otherwise. Lazy Sunday today....no workouts. Feeling unbelievably sore from my first squats in YEARS on Friday. Seriously, I am lowering myself with my hands into and out of chairs. Had no idea how weak I actually am.

Friday, July 20, 2007

the cycling paradox

interesting article in the ny times. all about how good cyclists don't have to have a super fit body to ride well and fast. something that really surprised my when i started cycling more and more. looks are definitely deceiving on the bike...and the swim, too, come to think of it.

check it out.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/17/health/nutrition/17essa.html?em&ex=1185076800&en=904c0722b596ad7f&ei=5087%0A

I am sitting on the couch right now, on the computer (duh), and trying to motivate to get my butt on the trainer. E's napping. I snoozed this AM and didn't ride. I've GOT to get down there. In a half hour...definitely :) Had a great swim today. Hard sets...my first no BS swim since IM. I forgot how good finishing a hard workout, that you didn't really want to do feels. Every time I do one of those and finish strong, I feel like superwoman. Maybe that's why I do this?

Mike's been rocking the 2 a days all week. I am so impressed. Swimming. Biking. Running. LIfting. He's keeping me motivated. He's just got to get his bike fitted.....he looks so crunched up on it.

Happy Friday everyone! Good luck to Kindzia on Sunday. He's in Lake Placid doing an IM on Sunday. Have a great race!

Thursday, July 19, 2007




Fed the geese at the park today with Emma and Justin. E was talking about "Enna" since yesterday. Kids had fun. Justin and I were pretty much sweating like pigs the whole time. Ella and Emma didn't feel like walking too much. So, we carried them. And sweated. Can it get more hot and humid here?

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Smile!




Got my pics from IM CDA. These are actually pictures of pictures. Yeah, I was too cheap to buy them digitally.

I think/hope you can view my finish here.

http://63.217.30.2/download.asp?event=110&id=809888&oid=28911&vid=4

If not, let me know and I will take it down.

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Boom, boom, haining


Translation -- It is thundering and raining right now, so instead of napping, Ella is on the couch next to me and we're watching Sesame Street until it passes.

Meet Michelle and Eddie for an early am swim. So glad I have someone to meet or I would never go that early anymore. BTW -- Eddie (aka Drago) is full of crap. According to him, he's "learning to swim". Sure, sure...LIAR. I am no Lauren Sanders, but I could NOT catch him. He was doing 500's and I was doing 200's. And I was trying...hard. BS. Total BS. I came home and told Mike he was in trouble for the smackdown. :) I really didn't do too much swimming, instead talked a lot. Ahh....the comforts of being done with IM.

E's good...other than the fear of thunder/fireworks and any kind of bug that sends her into a panic. :) She's starting to get pretty smart about how her actions affect Mom and Dad. She's been telling us when she is crying. You tell her, "Ella -- NO" Ella gets upset. Starts to cry. Says, "Momma, I am crying" then proceeds to take the tears from her face on her finger and show you. WOW. Can you say "guilt trip"??

Workouts --
AM Swim -- 40 mins.
35 min fartlek -- 4.10 miles

Monday, July 16, 2007

Back in the saddle


Wow. Rude awakening. I think my body forgot what it is like go hard and fast. Started up my training for Tugaloo today and woweee....I am feeling it. :) Not even that tough of a workout, but it sure felt like it.
Mike's letting me coach him for the Lake Lanier sprint on 10/7. He already threw away one training plan I gave him....onto the second draft this afternoon. Tough customer.

Workout --
45 min run -- 25 mins at 10k pace/rest WU and CD
50 min swim -- 2400 yards

Sunday, July 15, 2007

A new leaf


Or a new training plan. Whatever. :) Finally at the point of IM recovery where I can actually get into a new training plan for Tugaloo. Going through the book and writing down my workouts for the week lifted my mood. That's sick, isn't it? I am excited about this short and speedy stuff. No long, slow workouts. Hard, fast stuff. Nice for a change. Can't wait to break a sweat....and dry heave.

Good weekend all around. Had to bag the bike with Justin this AM. Rainy all day.

Hope Chattanooga went well for Michelle!

E was chasing Mike around the house in this pic. She's pretty psyched to find him.

Friday, July 13, 2007

New Blog! Woo Hoo.


I was getting sick of the .mac blog....felt like I couldn't do very much and was getting blog-envy from seeing everyone else's blogs and what they could do and I couldn't. The old one is still there, but I plan on updating this one now. Still trying to figure how this one works though....