Had to work this weekend;(

Had a meeting this weekend in Howey in the Hills, FL at the Mission in Golf resort. It definitely is in the middle o nowheresville, if the name of the town gives you any clue;) It was a meeting for the Florida Society of Thoracic Surgeons. Last time I was in the area I was cycling through during the Great Floridian iron distance triathlon. It was brutal!! You wouldn't think that there are any hills in FL;) but peddle 112 miles on this ROLLING course and you'll change your mind real fast!! ;) I was especially blown out due to the fact I was fresh off racing Ironman Canada just about a month prior. I had zero business being out there! I just sent my application in for the tampa bay 24 mile marathon swim. Although now I'm a bit scared..I just spoke to on if the surgeons at the meeting who crewed for his buddy who swam it a few years ago and he was telling me how his friend blew up like a balloon. I guess being in the water for 11 plus hour's will do that to you;)

Gasarilla Race Weekend

Well I was supposed to head down to Miami this past weekend for a crawfish fest that a friend was throwing and decided last minute that a weekend of debauchery was not what I needed so on Friday eve I called Brandon and told him I was bailing. On Friday I signed up for the weekend races. Gasarilla 5k on Saturday and marathon on Sunday. I will never do the 5k again...there were some 5000 people plus. Literally there were people holding hands and walking in front of me and not just one or two couples...I swear I was at Woodstock. I was waiting for Janice Jop to be jamming out around the next bend. You will not find I bigger supporter of people getting out and exercising..but locking palms in a race??? So After jogging for the first 3/4 of a mile (literally) I was able to actually run. Time was like 22 something horrible...if it tells you something I was 5th in my age division...thats how conjested it was. The marathon was not quite as conjested. I found the 3:30 pace group around (or should I say they found me!! ;) around the 19 mile mark and stuck with them. Time was around 3:36. It was a great training run for the upcoming races. My goal is 2:55 by August...so we will see....I need to loose the extra poundage!

training..

Ran 7 miles tonight at @ 7 min mile....Felt really strong tonight....I wanted to go further but had to get back to the office for a report due tom:( Was planning to head down to Miami this weekend to spend some time with the Brandon and Cleo Crawford....our friend Ryan is having a crawfish boil/ fest expecting 300 plus at his house. He and Elaine really know how to throw a party!! But alas I decided...today! to stick around in tampa and be healthy. Sorry B.C..I did promise I'd come..but I can't afford a weekend of drunkin debauchery;) .. So I'm going to run the Gasparilla race's...still undecided if I'm going to run the 5k/ 15K and the half marathon or if I'm going to do the 5k and the marathon. It's called the bud light challenge?? It was called the jeep liberty challenge last year.. Anyway I also met this cute girl on a blind date... on Valentines day no less!! so I think were getting together this weekend.... P.S. my spell checker is not working...so I'm posting anyway;)

training..

Ran 12 miles tonight....easy pace for the first 7 and then kicked up the pace ....The weather was actually quite nice. About 65 degress. There was a fog that hovered over parts of Bayshore and Davis Island...Finished off the run with a chicken curry dish and a Boddingtons beer at Mad Dogs and Englishman Pub ;)

Made me think

I drove down to Sanibel FL today to visit with my mom and dad who are vacationing here for the next month. It is extremely relaxing down here. Their condo is right on the beach. It brings back so many great childhood memories of growing up at the Jersey Shore. to sit on the deck and listen to the gulf's gentle waves, feel the breeze and smell the salt water. For a brief second I forgot that I have to work tomorrow...thankfully I have a meeting at a Hospital only 20 miles from here:) We had dinner tonight with my Aunt and Uncle who are also vacationing up the road from here. I have not seen them in 6 years. It was great to catch up! It's always neat to get your parents perspective on their parents. I never met my grandfather on my dad's side but he was a touch Irishman, grew up in the coal minds of western PA was an semi pro boxer and eventually became a Doctor. I don't think he would ever be classified as the "touchy feely" type...yet he had a certain way of showing his love. My dad made a comment to his brother tonight over dinner about how "dad always gave the best cut's (of meat) and the biggest portion's to his family saving the scraps for himself." I believe if you look at a person as a whole it's the small things that truly define a person... the everyday sacrifices and gestures that are the makeup of who we are.

Diet begins after this bowl of ice cream

Sooo the training begins....time to put down the cheeseburger's, peanut M&M's and my all time favorite bacon egg and cheese sandwich and everything that has led to the ridiculous size of my belly. 20lbs....that's my goal.....time frame 2 months. Well... had a fairly productive training weekend. Ran 8 miles friday eve at a relaxed pace and then Ran 11 miles at 5:30 a.m. on Sat morning with the SHARKS. Biked about 25 miles Sat afternoon and even hit the gym. The gym was partly because my BRAND NEW hot water heater crapped the bed= no hot water:( So once again gym today did a quick two miles on tready at a 6 min pace, then stairmaster, jump rope (my new favorite activity...reminds me of Rocky in the meat locker) combo-d in with push up's. I seriously need to get back in the pool!!! I had my first real lesson by a buddy of mine a former olympian. DUDE....I was wasting so much energy with my old stroke. No wonder why I was getting past by jellie fish!!

Soo has anyone ever aspirated water while swimming? How about in a race? It just happened to me in a sprint relay race I did with some friends. I did the swim, and bike and my friend Deana did the run. We were racing against 3 other teams of friends. I really didn't take the race all that seriously...I had a date the night prior and ended up drinking a bottle of really good wine and getting about 3 hours of sleep. So I took off like a bat out of hell and rounded the first marker where some clown tanked me while doing the zig zag. It was quite possibly the scariest / most emabarrasing moment of my life. I couldn't breath. Started looking around for one of the kayak dudes to grab on. But no luck....so I treaded water for about three min taking short quick breaths and was able to take a half a breath. For the first time I thought about quitting the race. And then my ego kicked in and i thought there is no way we are losing this freakin thing. So started swimming again and pounded the bike and team GLUE won:). But still when I think about it...darn scarey. I could have bit the dust! Just that feeling of helplessness and shear panic!!! If I ever lifeguard a race....I will be dam vigilant about keeping an eye out for cat's in trouble!

Just ran into this cat at Gasparilla......he is one of the Mullet Marathoners. You have to check out this site! freakin funny stuff:)

http://www.mulletmarathon.com/flash/index.htm