Meh

Meh - that is how I have felt since returning from vacation.  I just can't get myself motivated this month & frankly, I don't care.  Actually, it has been pretty nice to sleep in every weekend & nap on a Sunday afternoon.  In fact, last Sunday I spent the entire day in my PJs.  I read my book club pick, I caught up on my DVR'd shows, took a nap & made a big pot of chili.  I did not swim, bike, run, yoga or any other fitness activity.

It's funny, I see all the Saturday group runs going on & I really want to run with them but so far I haven't been able to motivate myself to get up early on Saturday.  I still run on Saturdays but it is later in the morning.  Maybe when it warms up it will be easier to get out this so early.

Honestly, running is the only thing I have been doing regularly   I am happy with how it is going especially when I think back to this time last year when I wasn't able to run at all.  I have been averaging about 10 miles a week since Thanksgiving.  Even though it has been cold the past week I am still getting my runs in outside.  I was in Minneapolis for work a couple of weeks ago & I ran 2 of the 3 morning outside when I was there.  It was actually pretty awesome & a great way to see the city even though it was cold!  I hope to continue to slowly build my weekly running average to 15 miles a week.  The key word is slowly.

Now swimming & biking have been in the dumper this month.  I haven't been on my bike or to a spin class since our December rides in Florida.    I have managed a little better in the pool but not much.  I have made it to the pool a whopping 4 times so far this year.

Part of the lack of motivation is due to the fact that I have no grand race plans this year.   My main goal is to maintain a Sprint triathlon level base fitness all year.  Basically, I want to be able to complete a sprint triathlon at a moments notice.  It may not be a PR performance but I can comfortably complete it.  I do want to do some new races in my area.  Here are a few of the races I am contemplating - I have not signed up for any of them yet.

Heart & Sole Tri - Versailles, KY - April 20th - First in Philly's Race Report
Tri for Joe - Cincinnati, OH - May 25th  - Big Daddy Diesel's Race Report
Trybee Island Sprint - Tybee Island, GA - June 9th
Asheville Triathlon - Asheville, NC - July 21st
Armco Park Triathlon - Lebanon, OH - August 4th
Atomic Sprint - Oak Ridge, TN - September 28th - Tri Fatty's Race Report

I am on track for the 13 in 2013 challenge.  I have signed up for #2 - Tackle the Miles virtual 5K the week of 2/1 - 2/8.   You can sign up HERE - it's a freebie.

Oh I signed up for this January challenge but it was dismal failure.  Pushups were hurting my right wrist so bad that I could barely do a downdog in yoga.  So after the first week I quit the pushup challenge.  I am thinking about giving the Fab Abs challenge a try in February though - still some pushups but not nearly as many.

Since the HBBC went so well I plan to do the SBBC.  It runs March 4 - April 21st.  Which is perfect timing since I will be returning home from China on the 1st & will be ready to get into the spring training groove.

I got this in the mail on Friday - a thank you to the Bia Kickstarter supporters.

I cannot wait to get my Bia Watch on my wrist this Spring!  If you missed pre-ordering one on Kickstarter they are having another pre-order special.  You can order your own Bia watch at intro pricing & get a 30% discount for life HERE!

My final rambling today - I may not be doing a lot of Swim, Bike & Running lately but I have been reading a lot about it.  I am currently reading Swim Bike Mom's book Triathlon for the Every Women.  Let me tell you it is a great book!  One of my next posts will be a review of the book AND a giveaway!  I pre-ordered 2 of these books last fall because I knew it would be that good & I would want one to keep & one to share.  Stay tuned!

Well, I guess I did have a few things to say today.  Congrats if you made it this far!

Jammie Inspiration Plus HBBC Week 7

I missed posting this on my ridiculously long vacation post.  Our last stop in Tybee Island we stayed at the Ocean Plaza Beach Resort.  It was a decent hotel right on the beach & surprisingly cheap - definitely off season.  When we returned from dinner Steve closed the curtains & I couldn't believe what I saw.  They perfectly matched my Old Navy PJ's!  Now every time I wear them I will think of our last night of vacation.  

Last Saturday was the end of the HBBC.  It is hard to believe this challenge is over!! Seriously, it went crazy fast!  This challenge along with the #RWRunStreak helped me maintain my fitness & my weight over the holidays.   Again, big thanks to Amanda at Run to the Finish for organizing it!

Week 7 HBBC Recap:

Monday:  Run 1.17 mile (Day 40 #RWRunStreak), Walk 1 mile - 2.17 points
Tuesday: Run 3.1 miles (Day 41 #RWRunStreak), Walk 1 mile, Freggies - 5.1 points
Wednesday: Walk 1 mile, Freggies - 2 points
Thursday: Rest Day, Freggies - 1 points
Friday: Run 3.4 miles, Freggies - 4.4 points
Saturday - LAST DAY!: Run 2.4 miles - 2.4 points

Bonus Points: 5 - Daily FB check-in

Week 7 Total: 22.07
HBBC Total: 257.03

Holiday Wanderings

*** Long Post Advisory!  Lots of pictures though!! ***

This year Steve & I took a 2 week Christmas vacation to visit family & friends in a warmer climate.  It was beyond awesome to get away from work for this long.  

We left a chilly Lexington on the 22nd after a birthday run through the Arboretum.  Most of the vacation I was doing the Runners World #RWRunStreak so every morning we went for a run.  Our first stop was the Acworth, GA to spend birthday evening with Kara & her family.  Although the visit was short it is always fun to catch up with friends.  After a cold morning run with Steve & a few more hours of catching up we headed down to St. Pete.  

Too many candles - I needed help!

We arrived in St. Pete around 10PM on Sunday.  The drive down wasn't too bad - nothing like the horrible traffic we had to deal with last year.   We planned to stay in St. Pete until the following Saturday with Steve's parents.  They live right next to the Pinella's bike trail & about a 10 minute drive from the beach.  A very convenient location.  We brought our bikes & kayaks again this year.  Last year the weather was perfect for lots of water activities.  This year - not so much.   For most of the first week the temps were chilly by Florida standards.

Christmas Eve was pretty chilly.  After a short run we heading off to explore for the afternoon before we regrouped for Christmas Eve dinner & dominos with the family.  We exchanged gifts & the theme this year was apparently silly Christmas hats.

Steve got some fake hair - classy

Donna & Scott

These hats came in handy a few times during the trip

So cold in Florida 

Steve's parents with the classy hat

Yay for Christmas hats!!

Christmas Day was nice so Steve & I headed out on our bikes.  We took the Pinella's trail to the Pier in downtown St. Pete.  It was about 25 miles round trip but super easy since with the exception of bridges Florida has no hills.

St. Pete Pier

Christmas night we all went to Donna & Scott's house to celebrate.  Two of Scott's son's were in town as well.  After dinner we went for a walk to the park where the Christmas hat came in handy to ward off the Florida winter chill.

Wednesday we headed out to walk on the beach.  It said it was 60 out but the wind was so fierce that it required wearing a coat while walking on the beach.   It reminded me a little bit of our trip to Pike's Peak - only not as cold!

Remington Beach

We stayed to watch the sunset but the clouds spoiled our plans.  We then met Donna for light dinner & a couple of beers at a local hangout.  They had the best fish spread - although when Donna says it - it sounds like 'Fish Bread' which didn't sound very appetizing!  

Thursday we tackled a 40 miler bike ride.  We headed North on the Pinella's trail to Honeymoon Island.  It was again chilly.  I only had bike shorts but I did just get arm warmers from my Team Tough Chic secret Santa exchange so I thought I would be set!  Nope!  I was freezing!  When we got to Dunedin I had to find some more clothing.   I picked up a sweatshirt a little whistle stop cafe.  The town of Dunedin was so cute.  The Pinella's trail runs right through it & there were a bunch of shops & restaurants.

The ride was easy thanks to the flat terrain.  You really can't fly on the trail since almost every mile or so you have to stop to cross a street.  So as soon as you pick up some speed it is time to stop again.  We waited until almost noon to leave in hopes that it would get warmer out so we didn't arrive at Honeymoon Island until 2PM.  We opted not to ride around the island since we wanted to stop to eat plus get back before dark.  Next time we will have to leave earlier to give us plenty of time to explore.

On the way bike we stopped at a restaurant along the trail.  Such a neat idea!  They had the best hot ham & cheese sandwich.   The lunch gave me the energy to pick up the pace for the last 16 miles.   Our butts were sore & we both were ready to get off the bikes!

Honeymoon Island 

Restaurant along the trail

Friday I was determined to find a place to try Stand Up Paddleboarding for my last N2U Challenge of the year.  I had been wanting to try it out since last years trip.  We ended up going back to a place we passed on our way to Honeymoon Island.   Steve kayaked while I SUP'd.  It was a blast & can't wait to go again.

SUP!

Saturday we said our good-byes to Steve's family & headed south to North Ft. Myers to visit my Aunt Maggi.

Sunday we spent the afternoon at the Edison & Ford Winter Estate in Ft. Myers.  It was the last day of the Holiday display.

Edison's House

Ford's House

Sunset over the river

New Year's Eve was the first truly warm day of vacation.  We headed to Sanibel Island to explore Ding Darling Wildlife Refuge.  We also hit the beach to do my 2nd Annual New Years beach photo.  Afterwards we headed back for a nice dinner out with my Aunt.

Ding Darling

Captiva Island

New Years day I ran the Hair of the Dog Virtual 5K.  This was the first race of my 13 in 2013 challenge.  It was also the last day of my Runners World run streak.  I can hardly believe that I ran 41 days in a row!   We spent the afternoon relaxing at the pool.

Wednesday we packed up again & headed to Cocoa Beach.  It was a nice drive through the center of the state.  We saw a lot of orange trucks along the way & there were oranges all over the side of the road that fell off the trucks.  We stopped at a roadside stand & picked up 2 bags of oranges & grapefruit.  So delicious!

When we arrived at Cocoa Beach we picked a hotel right on the beach.  The day we arrived was a nice day but it went downhill from there!

Cocoa Beach

Thursday we got up early to watch the sunrise on the beach.  About 5 minutes after the sun rose the fog rolled in.  While we were on the beach we watched the fog encompass our hotel.  It was pretty erie.

Cocoa Beach Sunrise

Cocoa Beach Sunrise

We then went to Kennedy Space Center.  There was so much to see & I wanted to get there as soon as it opened so we could spend the entire day there.  We were pretty successful.  We saw almost every exhibit & loved it.  It was my favorite part of the vacation.  No surprise there - I grew up watching the shuttle program & dreaming of being the first female astronaut.  Obviously that dream didn't come true but I did become an engineer.

The coolest exhibit was the last one we went to - Exploration Space.  It is directed towards kids & teens.  It explained the types of careers that are available in this field.  One common theme across many of the exhibits is that NASA is going back to its roots - Space Exploration.  With the retirement of the shuttle program there has been lots of questions on what's next for NASA.  The entire day was so informative for a couple of nerdy engineers!  We will definitely go back especially since Atlantis isn't on display until Summer 2013.

Barbara Morgan - STS - 118

In memory of the astronauts lost

Friday morning started with a run on the beach in the drizzly rain.  We then packed up & headed for our last stop - Tybee Island!  This was a mid-vacation addition.  I realized that since we were going to be heading home on I-95 that we would be driving right by Savannah so we had to make a stop to visit our friend Nina who moved there last summer.

We arrived about 5PM at our hotel - got checked in & unpacked then headed off to dinner with Nina.  We went to the Crab Shack & ordered the Cap'n Crabs Sampler.  Why I didn't think to take any pictures of the mound of shellfish is beyond me!  I think I was just so overwhelmed with what looked like a tremendous about of food.  The food was amazing!

Menu

Saturday we met Nina again for one last vacation sunrise & run on the beach.  It was chilly but the sunrise was beautiful!  Steve captured some really cool pics by the pier.

Tybee Island Pier 

Steve photo bomb

Nina & me

After breakfast we packed up once again to make the 10 hour drive home.  All in all it was a fabulous vacation!  

Here is a list I made last year of things I wanted to do this year:

Kayak around Sanibel - hopefully there will be no red tide.  Nope - will have to try again next year!
Bring our bikes to Sanibel too.   There are bike paths all over the island.   We did bring our bikes but realized the island is more for cruisers & not road bikes so the bikes stayed on the racks.
Bike more of the Pinellas Trail.  YEP!  We rode ~65 miles of the trail!
Check out Edison & Ford Winter Estates YEP!


Things to do next time:

• Get up earlier to ride to Honeymoon Island & around the island
• Kayak around Sanibel - Just kayak more in general.  Of course this one relies on good weather & this year we didn't have optimal weather conditions.
• See the Atlantis exhibit