Me and hubby!

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Sis and hubby!

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Birthday boy shares birthday dinner with best friend!

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Be gone 80's boombox, hello new office stereo just in time for tax season!

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Birthday Boy!

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Folks

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A new day!

Well time to catch up I suppose...so much has happened!

The weekend was awesome. Friday was a great time getting to meet a bunch of new people with the Cleveland Tri Club including my old roomie Sara and new running pal, Elizabeth.

Saturday night was my dad's birthday celebration. Of course I had to give my dad a birthday spanking on the ping poing table that night after we ate dinner! So after a bunch of pondering the gift idea I did the smart thing and called my mom. Luckily mom thought the old man could use a new stereo for his office which I thought was just a brilliant idea. So I went and found him a decent stereo which mom & sis kicked in on and now old dad has something decent to listen to this tax season!

I suppose I should also mention Sunday's news...sitting on the couch Sunday evening and hear loud noise which at first we thought was the dryer which was off balance but it seemed to loud to be that. Joey stands up and checks the chimney and tells me we have a chimney fire. "Oh shit", I think ..."What do we do now?" So we called the fire department and Matches and I headed outside. Well then we end up the excitement of the neighborhood. Parkman fire came with 3 or four trucks. Troy fire department came, cops, Joey's dad, our Amish neighbors...Center street was a happening place and lit up with like a Christmas tree. Thankfully it was all somewhat of a non-event. There were some sparks coming out of the chimney but after Joey shut all the flues, I think the fire was out before anyone showed up. Luckily the house did not get smoky, it just had somewhat of a hot smell which went away quickly. So the fire department checked everything out and ran a snake up the chimney but whatever had blocked it and caught fire, must have burned off because it was relatively clear....so to make a long story short, Joey and his dad cleaned both our chimneys yesterday and we are good to go.

Sunday did 13 trail miles with 2 killer hills at North Chagrin with Bob & Laura (darn, they know how to wear me right out). (Recovery) Monday AM 5 miles Sationary Bike, UBWO. Tuesday so far...6AM 1 hr interval class. After 2 days of some icing of left hip flexor, groin, knee...not feeling too bad. (WTD-13 Miles Running, 5 Miles Bike, 1 UBWO, 1 hr aerobics class -combined time WTD 4hrs.
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Workout talleys for last week 2/19-2/25-26 Miles Ran, 33 Miles on Stationary Bike, one UBWO, 20 min swim (pathetic huh?) and 3.25 hrs interval classes. Total time WTD, 11 hrs. -----------------------------------

Ponderous man, really ponderous!

I think everyone should have hobbies or something they collect because it is way too hard to figure out gifts for people who don't. So it is Chuckles' birthday Monday and I have no idea what to get the man! For those who don't know, that would be my dad who will be turning 58 this year. Cutest picture of the two of us back when I was cute!! I have bought him all the socks, random ties, and shirts that he is probably still saving to wear and I just wish I could think of that wonderful gift this year that he would truly appreciate. So I am going shoppping for said gift tonight-destination unknown (to me too!).

I did OK at Christmas I suppose, my sis and mom and I bought him a really sweet ping-pong table. You see ping pong is an Evans family tradition and Chuckles spent hours playing with my sis and I (or tweedle D and tweedle dumb as he so affectionately called us...and I claimed D because I was older!). Somewhere through the years the girls got good and these days instead of the win, he just gets a soar elbow...well at least half the time :-) I thought about a ping pong jersey for the old man for his birthday gift but as usual I am sure I have waited too long to get one made now. Anyways after carrying out the old ping pong table and carrying the new one into my folks basement, the only thing I do know for a fact this gift-go around is I will not be buying him anything big and heavy! So I will have to let ya all in on what I come up with when I do!

Workout talleys week to date starting Sunday--22.5 Miles Ran, 28 Miles on Stationary Bike, one UBWO and 2 hrs interval classes. Total time WTD, 8.25 hrs. Feeling extremely sore...way to much leg work coupled with too many squats and lunges! Clearly there is a glaring whole in my training which is swimming...I will make myself swim (even though it is not pretty) tomorrow morning.

One more day until the weekend..
P.S. Planning to go to Clev Tri Club meeting tomorrow night. Conned the hubby into coming with me and waiting it out at the bar next door!!

Hello Sunshine!

So how about that sunshine today??? That alone is enough to make it a decent day.

So I get a gold star for yesterday's efforts. I managed to squeeze in 2.5 hours of working out in (one hour interval step 6AM, just under 4 miles at noon, and an hour recumbent bike last night. On top of that, I managed to eat healthy and in the process made my husband a good dinner at home....maybe I deserve two gold stars as that cooking-good-meals-at-home thing is somewhat uncommon I must admit. What can I say though, I am trying!

Today I have managed to get in 7.5 miles running and 5 miles on the stationary bike, but my body is just feeling wore out now. I think I am going to call it a day on the workout front and perhaps do the happy hour thing with some co-workers. Something about sunshine always seems to make a cold beer sound really good!

So I keep trying to put a table of 2006 races up, but I must be slow or something because I just can't figure this darn thing out.....However, I did manage to get a picture and some links up there. Baby steps...someday I will get there!

I think every weekend should be 3 days!

Back again...How I do love three day weekends! They still go by way too fast but at least when you come back on Tuesday, you can at least appreciate that it will be a short week.

Chili Bowl Update...well Friday when I thought about what I hoped for the Chili Bowl, in my head I thought I would really like to break 23.00 minutes and surpisingly I am happy to report, mission accomplished! I finished the very cold Chili Bowl with an official time of 22:56. For all those who may not know, my next closest time I think was 23:34...so in my mind we are starting off 2006 on the right foot! So, 3 races down for 2006, many more to go(Frostbite Prediction Run 5K, Dirty Dog 10K, and now the Chili Bowl 5K)!

Sunday morning woke up early and thought I might as well go run with the Southeast Running Club. It was awesome to meet some wonderful people with that group and I am looking forward to many more of their group runs. Thank goodness for the ladies who ran with me that morning...the conversation and new scenery helped take my mind off the 8 miles that I ran in that seriously cold weather!

Beyond the workouts...the rest of the weekend was also great...had girl time with Dawn and got even blonder hair; ate too much out(as usual); spent time with the family and friends, and did very little in the way of work!

Started off today with a 6AM interval class at the gym...and I am already happy that today is already up to 29 degrees so my lunch time run should feel warm after this weekend!

Warming up out there!! Woohoo!

If only I could be outside to enjoy it!

Valentines Day was a fun evening! Joey helped me in the kitchen and our surf and turf kicked butt and the cheesecake factory cheesecake was oh-so-delicious. Perhaps I will try again to buckle back down on what I am eating! Why is that so much easier said than done???

Today hit the gym at 6 AM and did a 4 mile, 32 minute run and then did a short leg workout. Currently planning lunch out with some friends so again I will be skipping my lunch time run. Perhaps I will be able to fit something in later to try to work off more of that Adam's peanut butter cup fudge ripple cheesecake(best ever!!)!

Well back to work, trying stay on top of things for a change....

Valentines Day!

Well here it is Valentines Day....skipped my lunch time run to go get some Valetines Day items to surprise my hubby. But the way I figure, it is for a good cause as I better be a good wife this first valentines day with that designation!! I feel so thankful to have such a wonderful person in my life...so in honor of my man, here is a picture of us at our April 30, 2005 wedding! It is strange to think about all the wedding planning items that were going through my head just a year ago!

Monday :-(

The weekends go by way too fast! Friday night was fun with all the family. Saturday morning, Carol and I ran in the Dirty Dog 10K trail run down at Mosquito Lake. It was such a nice course and although it was a cold morning, there was not any wind so it did not feel bad. I ran the first half of the race with Carol and then tried to pick up the pace the last half. Then we went out for some breakfast at Mary Yoders and most likely ate more calories than we had ran off. Oh well, it was a fun morning.

Saturday night we had some pals come over for food, beers, cards, and ping pong which was a kick arse-good time, but I sure felt pretty lazy Sunday and took a whole day off from exercising (it has been a long time!).

Back to the grind today. Made it to the gym this morning and even trotted through the snowy sidewalks on my lunch break. 24 tonight, go Jack!

Bring on the weekend!

Less than 2 hours until the weekend and as usual I am ready!!

So far, can't complain about much today. I popped out of bed at a reasonable time (after learning from yesterday's mistake of unconciously hitting snooze too many times) and hit the gym. I had planned to take today off from running since my left leg hates me (hip flexor, knee, and I am beginning to think my groin too). I did the stationary bike, swam, and hit the hot tub which felt so good! Then I also skipped my daily lunch time run and went to visit an old co-worker that I have really missed. Every now and then, it just feels great to mix it up a bit!

So I figure I gotta nice little weekend planned. Dinner out with the family tonight, Saturday early morning 10K trail run down by Mosquito Lake most likely through some snow(http://www.teampr.info/06_Dirty_Dog_Trail_Run.xls), beers & pingpong with pals at our house Saturday night (which unfortunately will need cleaned), and then some relaxing on Sunday.

Is it 5 yet?

Let the season begin!

OK, so I am going to try to keep up on this blogging thing to track some of my efforts here.

Well I had planned to take the weekend off from running to give my hip flexor some time to heal...but that was easier said than done! I knew there was a 9AM 4 mile run out at Blossum on Saturday and I was going to skip it since I did not feel like driving out there. I figured that may be too much as I was already planning to drive to Berea at 10 AM for the gear clinic with the Clev Tri Club. However on Friday I found out that my dad's best friend who I just adore was up from Florida and they were meeting in Kent at Mike's Place (which rules!) for breakfast at 7:30. So I had to do it since it was now on the way (kind of!).

The race was wet but warm (which is low 40s in Ohio in the winter) and I had planned to do a leisurely jog and predicted a 34 minute finish (since it was a prediction run). However I felt pretty good and went a little quicker than planned to finish with a time of 31:35 (so clearly not the best guess!). The morning was a bit of a rush but worked out fairly well...hopefully did not give anyone too much of an eyeful due to the fact I was not about to sit through the gear meeting in those wet clothes! The clinic was helpful, however I also had the realization of how much more stuff I really should purchase.... trainer, bike shoes & pedals, wet suit,.. If only I was rich!

Still have a hurting hip flexor which I need to somehow get past.

On another note, it is a sad day as a Cleveland fan to see Pittsburgh win, yet it is not all bad as it was a good day for a fellow Miami alum-Go Ben!

The girls! 

Can't help but love this lil guy!