Stumbling upon something really cool

Have you ever stumbled upon something non-intentionally and then later thought: "thank goodness that happened"? Well, that is what has happened to me. It all started last weekend when I ran the Bryce Riley Memorial 5K. I noticed a couple of runners that had on singlets that read "Todds Road Stumblers". Thats funny, I thought to myself. You see - Todds Road is a road in Lexington and after reading their singlets, I just assumed that some people on this road had started running together and decided to make their own shirts (which amused me a little bit). I mean, heck - maybe Courtney and I should make shirts that say Ridgeview Rockstars or something like that.

Long story longer, my mentor Treacy explained to me that the Todds Road Stumblers were WAY more than just some folks who run together. The Todds Road Stumblers is a group of people who have stemmed from a tradition of Saturday runners that began this group a long time ago. To fully grasp this group, check out their website at http://www.toddsroadstumblers.com/


Basically they are a running group formed by people who want to run on Saturday mornings and who will run one of the following distances: 6, 9, 12, 15 miles or more. The place where they meet is in the middle of nowhere and tradition is that there are no dues but you must sign up for donut duty once a year. On your first visit to run with the stumblers you are rewarded with a t-shirt and your photo placed on their website. Having said that - the head honcho was not there today and therefore I am todds road stumbler t-shirt-less and my photo will not appear on their website. Not this week anyways. I am definitely going back! There are maps inside the shack (if you will) and there are detailed breakdowns of how much each "member" has run from their first ever Saturday joining the stumblers until now. Several people have joined the "500 mile club". I have to admit - my mouth was watering a bit upon the prospect of me one day possibly joining the esteemed 500 mile club members. Do I smell a challenge/goal?

I arrived this morning about 6:30. I was a little too early, but having not been before - I did not want to be late. When I arrived there was a heavy fog and no lights anywhere around. Slowly but surely people starting coming in droves. They were getting out of their cars, strapping on their fuel belts, stretching, greeting friends and new fellow runners, etc. Ahhhh, what a beautiful thing - to be up before the sun and most everyone else and hit the pavement in rythym with others who share your passion. I love to run and this morning just further confirmed that feeling. Treacy and I ran 6 miles and saw some beautiful farms as well as an amazing sunrise. After we finished our run, I signed myself up on the little mile tracking grid and hash marked my 6 marks for the 6 miles I ran today. I will fill in that block with the remaining four hash marks it needs and hopefully will fill many more blocks in the future.

In closing - I am so glad I stumbled upon the stumblers. What an amazing group of people and what a cool tradition. I am glad to be a part of it.

The place the stumblers call their home
The 6 mile loop map
One of the first 500 mile club logs
Look how many more have had to be added
A close-up of a filled out log page. Look at all those people and all their miles!
And there I am at the bottom of the list.....cool, huh?

Treacy and I looking mighty fine after our run: ha!

Next up: swimming tomorrow and the work-out looks so incredibly intense. I am sure to have a good blog posting afterwards.

Go Girls!

Let me start by saying it was a heck of a weekend. After our run on Saturday we went to a sale in Lexington at a little chic boutique and got some neat little finds and then Josh, Janine, Tim, and I went to a PARTY to celebrate Elizabeth Banks (a veterinarian who works with me) 30th birthday. We had so much fun - shaking our groove things and proving that girls just wanna have fun. Here is a pic for your viewing pleasure. Yesterday our training practice was cancelled so we decided we would go out on our own. Ambitious, right? It went splendidly. We had some sore muscles but felt great about going it on our own. We biked about 13 miles and ran 3. It was a good time with a good friend with good conversation. Every little step we take we feel more and more ready.

A good day for a run

Today was the Bryce Riley Memorial Run out at RJ Corman and it went well. Billie, Janine and I all had good runs. Janine ran her personal best time! Go Janine. They had an excellent turn out and the weather was good. All in all - it was just a good day for a run with good friends and on top of that - a GREAT cause. I got to see Norm - an old running buddy of mine and that was nice because I haven't seen him in forever.

Thursday at swim we had our 800 meter swim timed. I was a little nervous because frankly - I wasn't sure if I could swim 800 straight or not but I did it. I was so happy when that swim was over I could have kissed my whole tnt team and then thrown the swim coach in the pool after hugging all the air out of her. Good think I didn't do any of that - but I could have. So - I can swim 800 which means I am ready for that portion of the event. It is an amazing feeling. Can you believe when I started this whole thing I couldn't even swim 50 meters?!? I have come a LONG way folks.

I am not sure what tomorrow holds for us TNT'ers but hopefully some training of some sort. I am getting really excited about my event.

I finalized the Zaxby's invites for Janine and my fundraiser so I will probably print those out this week and that is right around the corner.

Nothing much else to blog about. Until next time....

What's it all about?

So...this whole training in a group thing can be pretty intimidating. As much as I prefer partner/buddy working out to solo working out, I have begun to realize that the intensity of that can become non-productive (if you let it). I spent today trying to get back to the basics of why I began this journey:
1. because I have had a personal goal to complete a tri since college
2. to re-claim my pre-baby fitness/health level
3. I have ALWAYS wanted to join forces with TNT in some capacity whether running, cycling or doing a tri
4. I LOVE to work out - hard work outs, easy work outs, it doesn't matter the type or style - I LOVE EXERCISE.

So...having re-grouped and reminded myself of these things I am feeling more positive and a little rejuvenated. In addition to my own thoughts, I read some interesting things that came directly from Beth Atnip (the race director for my event in October) too and I have found them to be very profound. They are as follows:

• Focus on yourself, not others around you: You are competing in this event for yourself! If you start to worry about winning, or beating others in your age group, you will start to lose focus on what you are trying to accomplish. There is always going to be someone who is faster, stronger or more experienced. It is not worth your time worrying about others around you. You should have fun and enjoy the experience of triathlons.
• Know your personal limits: You have to be careful to stick to your training plan, and not get caught up with what your buddy is doing. For example, if you are only used to running three days a week, you would not want to jump right into running five days a week. You are the best judge of how your body feels and how hard you can push yourself. Especially during the really hot days, you should use extreme caution and make sure you stay hydrated and workout more in the mornings and evenings to avoid the heat of the day.
• Relax and have a good time: We are in this sport to have fun, so make sure you enjoy your race! You have done the training, and have put in the time, so now is the fun part of competing! Your family and friends will be there to support you, and there will be plenty of volunteers to answer any of your questions. Try to stay as relaxed as possible before the race by giving yourself extra time race morning to get everything set up in transition.

Back to reality - this is going to be fun. I am going to be ready when October 5th gets here. Whether fast or slow - I will finish and I will be able to say "I reached my goal and completed a triathlon". I have had an incredible coach and training will all be building blocks on a base now. I can see the finish line and I am headed towards it! It is time for me to be my own cheerleader. Go Lindsy!

Don't be fooled by the rocks that I got...

I'm just, I'm just Jenny from the block. Ha! This blog posting was inspired by my sister Melissa. Turns out J Lo is doing a triathlon and my sister was kind enough to send me the link about it as inspirational material. I can't exactly say that I want to be compared to a woman who has Gunner Peterson as her right hand man in her training process but I can say that we are in the whole post-baby phase/training thing together (although mine is almost a year and hers are like a week old - little sarcasm there). Here is the link if you want to check it out.
http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20219913,00.html

Our team did a brick last night out at Coldstream. We did the longest intervals we have done yet and it felt great during but afterwards my legs were a little unhappy with me. Nothing sleep, ibuprofen and biofreeze couldn't fix because I was back up and running this AM. Yay! We ran about 3 miles and biked somewhere around 12 miles (not exact, I'm sure). The weather was nice and it felt good to be back on the bike after a little break for me. Janine is back from her two week break and you would have never known she missed a beat - she kept right up with the rest of us and she even started 2 laps down - rockstar!

We swam on Sunday and did a 400 meter straight so we are half way there. This week we will be timed on our 400 meter swim so that we have estimated swim times for our event in October. Swimmers will be released in timed heats so our 400 time will determine what heat we will be released in. Luckily I don't have high expectations - I know I will be in the SLOW heat - at least I will finsih, right? Janine and I are both a little nervous about being timed but at least we know we can swim it without stopping - we have come a long way.

Until next time....

Inspiration

So...this has been a ho hum week. Do you ever have those? It's just kind of been one of those weeks where you go through the motions and before you know it, it's Friday. Well, that has been my week. I swam on Tuesday night with the team but other than that I have had no group training and I am SOOOOO beyond ready for Janine to be back. I am not sure what is in store for our team this weekend because I haven't heard from the mentors yet (I know...its 4 on Friday, right?) but even if I don't I will be swimming, biking and running at some point.

I got a really cool video from Scott (LLS team coordinator) that was inspirational for me. Although it is about an event called Light the Night and not about TNT so much, it is still cool to hear about another event raising money for LLS just like my event. If you have 10 minutes - check it out!

http://

Lastly, if you are in Lexington or a surrounding area- I want to encourage you to check out an event in Nicholasville on August 23rd. This is an opportunity to help those in our backyards who are struggling with cancer. This little boy's story (Bryce - the one who this event is in memory of) is one that is sure to bring tears to your eyes but what an amazing chance for us to help others like him. I hope you will join me in walking/running in memory of him and for all those who need our help now!

http://http://www.johnsrunwalkshop.com/Flyers/bryceriley_5kINFO.htm

Happy Birthday Treacy!

Today is Treacy's Birthday and I got all domestic and made cupcakes for the team to celebrate her birthday. When I got ready to pack them up I thought I would call Susan to see what the pool regulations were on food prior to departing for our lesson tonight. She wasn't sure of the regulations in regards to food but she was certain of something else - Treacy wasn't coming tonight! What?!? So..homemade butter cream and all - oh well, my co-workers will be happy tomorrow. Happy Birthday Treacy. It's the thought that counts, right?

Swim was good tonight. We learned how to do open turns at the end of the lane to prepare us for ducking under lane-lines come time for our event. I was telling Ruth that its funny that the things you hope you will quit hearing as you get better - you keep hearing no matter what. If I hear "keep your head down....turn when you breath......keep your mouth open while your head is under water....." one more time I swear I will scream. Ugh! Tonight I heard I new one I fear I will be hearing a lot "slow down your kick - you are running under water, you are just supposed to soft-kick and keep yourself afloat - it's not for speed". Blah! Always so much work to do, but I am getting better every practice - really. If the event was tomorrow - I could do it. It may be not fast but I could do it and that is a BIG DEAL! So....now I just have to keep a clear mind while swimming and try to remember the 15 things Susan keeps on saying to me - keep your fingers crossed for me! Ha!

I have a HUGE positive thing to tell you all about: I have hit my fundraising goal! Can you believe it? I am so thoroughly pumped. Thanks for all your support. I am just pumped to be giving all this money to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Visit my website to see my running tally: http://pages.teamintraining.org/ky/CoxTri08/ltaylormus

Boo hoo....sniff...sniff

As most of you know, Janine is gone for two weeks. She left on Wednesday and will not return until a week from next Saturday. Agh! That is a long time, right? I keep thinking I miss her at training sessions and then I think "oh well, I'll just call her" but then I remember - I can't. I say I can't because she is not only gone - she is in Jamaica. I miss you Neenie! Come home soon. This is only a preview of what our lives are going to be like once she moves to West Ky for good - OMG I don't even want to think about it. Thankfully once that move happens I can still call her - unlike now.

Anyhow - I ran yesterday in downtown Lexington just to change up the scenery a little bit. Billie was gracious enough to meet me to run and we did about 6 miles give or take. It was flippin' HOT AS HECK! To say we were soaked after our run is an understatement. We had to walk a couple of times but no big deal - it was hot and it was later in the day so walking is totally expectable. Thanks for being my buddy Billie - you are the best.

Today I swam and I did not want to go at all. Who wants to leave the cutest baby ever to go swim? I am a little partial I know but she is pretty precious. I might just throw in a video for your viewing pleasure. Ruth met me there and Susan sent us a workout to do via email. I am totally worn out after that swim. It felt good though - we had to circle in a lane with three others but I got it done. Each swim feels better.

Tomorrow is an off morning for me - YAY. We will most likely workout tomorrow evening at Coldstream for another brick.




This is my baby - she is learning how to shake her groove thing.
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