Little Drummer Boy

All he wanted for Christmas was drums...so drums Santa brought!

Ahhh yummy dinner

The lil Christmas trees

Today was a nice relaxing day.

1. slept in til 9 = amazing!

2. rode bike for 2 hours while watching dvr catch up episodes of The Closer

3. took a hot bath....also =amazing!

4. took the kiddos to see the new Muppets movie. It was pretty cute but I about went into REM sleep so it wasn't great but I guess I couldn't expect too much. I did eat a delicious pretzel with spicy cheese and ran into a friend and her hubby who were going to see Breaking Dawn....I was jealous.

5. Picked up carry out dinner from this lil Mexican place- shrimp n rice dinner...it was soooo good.

6. Started Christmas decorating...specifically the kids decorated their mini Christmas trees for their rooms....let the holidays begin!!

Damn funny stuff here!!

I'm new to twitter and I've been following someecards which I must say post some of the funniest crap ever...whenever i need a pick me up...i visit their site or read their tweets.

so here's the latest funny stuff....Click here to read the "most awkward entertaining or horrifying notes ever written by a roommate"..

Just a few samples before you go read them in their entirety off of our lovely blog....

I'm still laughing..

On a side note, Sarah and I missed out on our cycling class yesterday because it filled up sooooo early...so we had to try out a boot camp conditioning class....I need to save a review of it for another day but lets just say Sarah and I were cracking up laughing....was it a workout? sure, a little...did I sweat some? sure, a little....will I go again? sure..I mean No!  I know I looked ridiculous bouning around that little room...I think on the running portion of the 'boot camp', Sarah and I lapped everyone in the class like 10 times all while laughing our asses off....OMG it was funny. 

So I'm always looking for a new workout to try and this one came via twitter from Triathlete Magazine none too soon.  The full workout is included below, but due to time contstraints, I did the workout you see below up to the point of the run coming in 5 minute intervals.  I am going to do the full version this weekend....but it was definitely great for the legs.   From an intensity perspective, I tried to just push for a running pace on the treadmill equivalent to what I do for my sprint triathlons and the bike, I try to keep it at 21mph + on the trainer...not full proof but you do sweat alot.

The workout:

30-minute warm-up on the bike  (I did about 10 minutes warm up, the remaining 20 at high intensity)

10 minutes of running

10 minutes of cycling

10 minutes of running

10 minutes of cycling

5 minutes of running
10 minutes of cycling
5 minutes of running
10 minutes of cycling
5 minutes of running
10 minutes of cycling
5 minutes of running
20-minute cool down on the bike.

I'm excited to join Sarah at a cycling class at LA Fitness tonight....I've never been a huge fan of "classes" but once again....looking for a change of pace...so we shall see..I'm sure if Sarah loves it, I will too. 

and since I always have to include a photo, related, random or otherwise...here's my baby spiderman...love this new app (instagram) on my iphone...lets you do cool crap with your pictures...

Later!

Morning swim comes too quick...

Why can't I ever go to bed early????

A little bike = a little burn

Nothing like a 3 hr bike ride to burn off my 2nd thanksgiving dinner ... Here goes fun!

Leftovers..not today

We didn't do leftovers today instead
we ate sushi. It was sooo good. I crammed a 30 mi bike which made me hungry but I still wanted something kinda healthy. We're having thanksgiving take 2 tomorrow...gonna hv to ride 100 miles to burn off what my mom and dad cook up.

Happy Thanksgiving !

Good food with my brother and sister!

Random bits of nothingness

I'm a little bit sleepy today.  I went home last night after work and rode the good ol bike for 20 miles...instead of watching some catch-up shows on my dvr, i rocked to some new downloads off of itunes
Is it bad that my new fav song is my Selena Gomez (I love you like a love song) oh my I really do love that song....isn't she like 12 or something....I do love that song. 

Anywho, I avg'd just under 21 mph...so it was a good intense ride and I was drippin buckets o sweat.  pretty picture in your mind i'm sure.  This morning I didnt want to get out of bed, but alas I did and busted out a four mile tempo run on the treadmonster! not a huge run, but considering it was the 3rd in a 24 hour period...I can't complain.  Tomorrow my legs will surely be appreciating my pilates class.

Check out my new purchase of the day....or soon to be purchase

Swim Swim Swim

Today was a Masters Swim day….and today was distance day! Can you hear the excitement in my voice??!!

I am looking more and more forward to swim sessions….it is just so tough to get up at 4:40 in the morning for the 5:15 session especially when you don’t even lay down to try and go to sleep til after midnight.  And then….I can’t sleep…so I read and then I finally get tired and then I worry about not waking up in time so I wake up every hour and then can’t go back to sleep because well…you know…because I’m afraid I won’t wake up…ohhh the pain!  But I got up! And this was the work out…

1 x 400 on 8:00 Warm up
8 x 100 on 1:30 Swim even PACE
4 x 200 on 3:45 Swim IM or Stroke
2 x 400 on 7:30 Swim IM or Stroke
1 x 800 on 12:00 PULL - steady pace
4 x 100 on 2:00 100 Kick/100Swim...etc.
Total 4,000 Yards

If you are anything like me…you can’t do 8 100s at 1:30 pace and have any rest between so I have to do 75s but other than that…this was my workout and it worked me out.  Tonight the goal is to get some bike miles in…maybe 20 hard miles.  We’ll see..

Not much else exciting has been transpiring lately..went to the colts game Sunday…which they lost….uggg again! I do love our mascot though…Air Blue is very cute!

And I am looking forward to seeing this movie this weekend…I am in fact very excited to see this flick!

Training Suit can be cute!

I'm excited to have found my new training swim suit...being that I am pretty girly I wanted to find something different.  I ended up going with this one...but there were 2 runner ups......

The Chosen One...

The Runner Ups.............

The really liked the last 2..but my swim club might not take me too seriously if I'm dressed like Wonder Woman or like I am straight out the 70's... 

Blogger break has to end....

So I'm officially back and trying to be regular with this blog thing.  I haven't posted in hmmmm we'll go with forever...and that sucks really.  I've been really busy training all year and I need to be better about posting about it.  I like writing what I do because it keeps me accountable...and I must admit I like seeing it on paper...well screen.  So anyway since the last I posted I've done quite a few races....a couple half marathons, a couple 5Ks,  several triathlons etc.  My next big goal is the Half Ironman in Muncie in July.   It's a ways away but I train year around and increase my distance closer to the actual event. 

The biggest adjustment to my training routine has been 2 a day workouts and Masters Swim.  I don't do 2 a day's every day, but I've been trying to about 2-3 days during the work week and then doing 2-3 hour bike rides on Saturday and 10-20 mile runs on Sunday.  Masters swim has been a great addition to my workout.  You don't know how bad you suck at swimming til you join Masters and literally look like  you are going backwards because everyone else is swimming past you so damn fast.  I've definitely seen some improvement which I'm loving.  My 100 meter time has definitely improved by a few seconds over long distance and over shorter distances, I've improved about 10 seconds.  Today's swim workout was 300 warmup freestyle plus six - 10 minute swims with increasing spped/distance each interval (so basically you had to go faster)...then cool down.  I love the way a good hard swim workout makes you feel...its the best all over workout.   

I've added some new blogs to our sidebar that I have become obsessed with.  Triathlon is my new love...I did my first sprint in April of 2011 and I did a total of 7 I think through September.  I also set a new pr for my half-marathon but I definitely need to improve that still..so I can do well in my longer tris. 

Well, I will leave you with some pics from some of my summer races because no blog is complete without pics.  talk soon - Danielle

Sarah and I in September running a half marathon...love how this pic turned out !

I think most of these were from the Go Girl Triathlon at Eagle Creek Park...I'd love to buy pics from

every race...but I'd go broke....

Pure sweetness!

You can read about these precious lil pups here...born without front legs, these two cute little chihuahua pups just keep on rolling!

Happy Mommys Day!

This weekend was so very nice.  Nice weather, nice family time, nice presents yeah! and yummy food!
I did an 11 mile run on Saturday, a 35 mile bike on Sunday and a 5.5 mi outdoor run this morning (it was so nice because the sun was out at 6:30am and I could run in the perfect temps and start my day out without being cooped up in the gym....great way to start a week.

Here are a few pics from our Mother's Day brunch on Sunday.  It was nice to see more of my extended family which unfortunately happens very seldom. 

Me, the hubs, our 3 kiddos and my grandma.

same as above plus my mom and dad, my bro and sis and lots of aunts and uncles

After brunch, my sis and I went shopping with my mothers day moula $$ and then saw this flick....

the movie has not received great reviews...but I still enjoyed it.  Had some funny parts for sure...and

some heartbreaking ones..I wasn't sure who to feel bad for in the movie...anyway, its always nice to get out and see a movie that isn't a cartoon or rated G. 

Behind the times...

I am literally so swamped at work and at home that I am now getting ready to post Easter pics...wth!!!
yes, I am going to do it...so you have been forewarned...and the crazy thing is..its only like 3 pictures!  I am so bad.  I've had the flu for 2 days along with my daughter...I tell ya there is nothing like projectile vomiting and stress to brighten your week. 

I know I am sick when I can't drag myself out of bed to work out...it absolutely sickens me...and that is what I did yesterday.  I had a great workout weekend...did 30 miles on bike trainer followed by one mile transistions sprint on Saturday, did 6 mile run on Sunday and did 7 hard miles on treadmill on Monday (and when I say hard...I mean people were looking at me like I had 2 heads!)...

By Monday afternoon, I was under my desk sick..could barely walk, could barely talk..and when I got home I crashed hard.  Tuesday morning...I laid there and thought about how I needed to run and bike and then I thought more about how it wasn't going to happen...then I was sad.  On the bright side, I watched a Law and Order Marathon all day long!  that was quite enjoyable.  Today I was still sick, but managed 10 miles on bike trainer....I needed something.  Hopefully tomorrow I can run and bike and swim.  We'll see.

So without further delay.....Easter pics!

My baby girl in her flower ears delivered by the Easter Bunny!

This decor was courtesy of my baby girl.  She was with me at the office and was bored
and asked if she could decorate the conference room.  I had a box full of fun Easter Toys from a
conference I had done.   This is the result...it simply put a huge smile on my face.  Love the duckies on the chairs
and the ones lining the window .

My wonderful gift from MR EASTER BUNNY!

Better late than never..Race pics



Getting dressed and grabbing my bike after the swim



FINISHED!!



Greeting my kiddos at finish....check out their signs!  GO MOM!!



Posing with friend and fellow triathlete Leah!



I had to record a pic of my first race numbered arm!



                         

Running my bike in to transistion area to get ready for the 5K



           Probably should have posted this part first.....pic of the pool
where we completed the first part of the tri- 400 m swim.



The Race - Never Never Never Give Up!

Happy Birthday - Belated!

I had a big milestone birthday a few days ago..ugggg!  I turned 36...I know its not a huge milestone but its crossing over that line from low 30's to mid 30's and closer to 40 than 30....OUCH!  The upside of this is that I feel better than ever.  I like myself better...I'm stronger, fitter and I actually think I look better...not too bad I guess.  Last year my hubs suprised me by getting all of my closest friends together for a huge dinner and a night on the town...plus he gave me an awesome Michael Kors watch!  Yeah!  This year he suprised me with this fun homecoming suprise......

You can see my oldest saying SUPRISE in the background!
Love all the green balloons, plates, napkins and gotta
love that big bottle of wine!

and just another shot of my mini suprise party from my
hubs and my kids!  It was super sweet!

and my baby boy tootin his blow horn at me! 
Just makes ya smile!

:)

and my awesome cake on my
awesome Wizard of Oz cake stand!
It was soooo yummy! all 10,000 calories of it!
BIG SMILE!

Back at it!

Well I still haven't downloaded my pics from the race....soon though...I must find time.  I've been trying to figure out how best to transition into training for my next 2 events....the Geist Half Marathon on May 21st and another Triathlon at Eagle Creek on June 18th.  This will be an open water swim in Eagle Creek Reservoir...hmmmm all those little fishies around me (not super excited bout them....but you do what ya got to do).

I wasn't sure if I should take a rest day after the tri on Sunday, but I felt good Monday morning....so I didn't.  I ran 6 miles....1 mi warmup, 2 mi at 8:00 pace, 2 mi at 7:34 pace and 1 mile cool down. 

Today I did 17.5 miles on road bike.  Tomorrow...5K run and 1200 m swim...or atleast thats the plan.

Starting out in tris has introduced me to a vast world of new workout gadgets...tri-shorts, wet suits, lock-laces you name it....one of my newest faves are the lock laces.  Basically, I never have to tie my shoes again.  You put them on like normal laces and bring them to the right fit and lock em in...they are made of elastic so you can slide your shoes off and on and they fit perfect....the perfect transition time saver in triathlons.