Transitioning...

... Into WINTER????
I'm really not ready for this season. It is my least favorite of all and I feel as though we never really got a proper fall to begin with! It was so blasted windy that we hardly got to see the trees with the beautiful fall foliage! I did get to enjoy one beautiful fall day up in Door County in October - it was totally worth the drive up there to recharge the batteries that day. But really... They're talking snow, measurable snow, in western Wisconsin tomorrow and tonight... I'm not ready for that. Although, I think snow is much preferred to the craptastic cold and rain that we are facing here right now... I'm actually in Algoma for the day between bus routes (I substitute drive a route up here on my days off from Festival... No point in driving all the way back to Green Bay between morning and afternoon routes. I could ride my horse today, however the mud seems a bit overwhelming today...) and found this to be a very suitable time to get my blog updated properly!

Update - I no longer live in Door County. I've had some major life changes and I now call the city of Green Bay home. That's right, I am a city dweller again. I'm not so sure that it is the best place for me, but at this time in my life it is the right place and where I need to be! Thank goodness for amazing friends and family that made the transition to city life again a little more pleasant.

Along with being back in the city comes the ability to run later in the day/evening or earlier in the morning without as much potential of becoming a car accident. It is wonderful in my opinion and I have been able to find neighborhoods that are really quiet - except for numerous runners/walkers on the sides of the streets. I don't think I could have planned it better if I had actually tried. I've given up my Y membership due to lack of finances and have moved to Golds Gym for the time being. It has been a bit of a difference - I miss the Zumba instructor at the West side Y and I desperately miss having a track to run on. I'm still not a fan of running on a dreadmill, however this has made me a bit more determined to run outside whenever it is possible in order to avoid the dreadmill. Maybe it was the universe speaking to me in some messed up way. I'm also without internet at my apartment except for on my phone, hence my  blogs can actually only be done when I venture out to a coffee shop or library. I am hoping to make them at least a weekly event on my schedule. Yes! I have scheduled time for these!

As far as events... This year my Christmas list is comprised of a few event registrations. Again, finances suck and I figure that a gift of an event registration would give me more than just a gift... It would give me even more inspiration to make the event better than I ever imagine it could have been. The events on my list are the Door County Half Marathon, Door County Triathlon (jury is still out on whether the sprint or the half iron, though I desire to do the half iron for 2012) and Iron Girl. For the events that I don't 'get' for Christmas I have been giving plasma and banking the money in order to pay registrations, get my USATriathlon membership back and to 'award' myself other little gifts... Like the new Amazon Kindle Touch coming out on the 21st. (It is a known fact that I burn through 60+ books a year, time to reduce the amount of space they take up and keep them a little more 'organized'!)

I'm hoping to make a couple of changes to this blog as well. I know it was strictly triathlon focused prior to this, however since triathlon isn't always straightforward I am going to go forward with that thought. Look for this blog to become more personal, for me to vent once in a while, and keep you updated on my workout plights whatever they may be. Part of the 'new' me has been focusing on keeping life lighter and I have been working at getting that to carry over into all aspects of my life. Life is certainly too short to be serious or stressed out all the time... I used to be exactly that... Here's me trying to fix that.

Lately I have been working on running a solid 4-5 times a week from my home. And I have been successful in getting this done. I keep track of everything now on AllSportGPS (which I highly recommend for anyone with a GPS capable technology device) and once I figure it out I think I can sync it so that it will post maps here on the blog for me... I need to get together with my techy friends for this though I fear. I have been steadily increasing the intensity of my runs while leaving the distance fairly consistent as of late. With the thought of a half marathon nagging at me, as well as a half ironman, I know that I need to get my mileage up there starting soon. However, my thought is that if I can work on the intensity and FORM right now, endurance and distance will come with ease when I decide to increase them. I'm sure I'll run into issues but thus far my back has been behaving and my shin splints have been slight to non-existent! This is exciting news - especially since I know my shoes are nearing the end of their life - or, rather, past the recommended end of their life. Hopefully soon I'll be able to get them replaced.

Product recommendation of the week: Bondi Bands. I must say that I am still faithful to my dear HappyGirl Headwear for every day wear - they're simply cute and stylish while also serving a purpose (and they will get their recommendation later!), however the Bondi Bands have gotten several good hearty laughs lately. I have one that says 'Sweat is my fat crying' and every time I wear it someone busts out laughing. It truly is worthy of it. I also have one that says 'Suck it up, buttercup' because sometimes I need reminding that I just need to do that... Suck it up. Bondi Bands can now be found at Fleet Feet Fox Valley and online via www.bondiband.com. I have a couple of discount codes for the online store if you contact me for them directly! My greatest complaint is that the fashion ones, ones without the wicking material, do slip back on my head and I must use bobby pins or clips to keep them in place. 90% of my collection is the wicking material though and it has a good habit of staying put most of the time.

Song recommendation of the week: Oddly enough, Journey's Remember Me was my go to song last night. I don't quite get the reasoning, it isn't a particularly up tempo song... But it did it for me. So I repeated it several times and went back to it again. I was impressed. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Journey - I just never expected THAT song to encourage me like it did last night.

This is good for now! Have a great (rainy) Tuesday everyone!