Little things to remember!

Just little things to think about today!

May you find serenity and tranquility in a world
You may not always understand.

May the pain you have known and conflict you have experienced give you the strength to walk through life.

Facing each new situation with courage and optimism.

Always know that there are those whose love and understanding
Will always be there, even when you feel most alone.

May you discover enough goodness in others
To believe in a world of peace.

May a kind word, a reassuring touch, a warm smile be yours
Every day of your life, and may you give these gifts as well as receive them.

Remember the sunshine when the storm seems unending. : )

Teach love to those who know hate, and let that love embrace you as you go into the world.

May the teaching of those you admire become part of you, so that you may call upon them.

Remember, those whose lives you have touched, and who have touched yours are always a part of you, even if the encounters were less than you would have wished.
It is the content of the encounter that is more important than it's form.

May you not become too concerned with material matters,
But instead place immeasurable value on the goodness in your heart.

Find time in each day to see the beauty and love in the world around you.

Realize that each person has limitless abilities, but each of us is different in our own way.

What you may feel you lack in one regard
May be more than compensated for in another.

What you feel you lack in the present
May become one of your strengths in the future.

May you see your future as one filled with promise and possibility.

Learn to view everything as a worthwhile experience.

May you find enough inner strength to determine your own worth by yourself,
and not be dependent on another’s judgments of your accomplishments.

May you always feel loved.

HAVE A MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

The Night Before a Tri Christmas

December 24, 2006

THE NIGHT BEFORE A TRI CHRISTMAS
Twas the night before a tri Christmas, when all through the house, Not a triathlete was stirring, not even their spouse;

The wet suits were hung by the chimney with care, In hopes that TriSanta soon would be there;

The running shoes were nestled all snug in their boxes by the beds, While visions of personal best danced in the triathletes heads;

And the tribike in the garage, and I in my swim cap, Had just settled down for a long winter's nap,

When out of transition there arose such a clatter, I sprang from the pool to see what was the matter.

Away to the run I flew like a flash, Tore off my clothes and threw on my lucky cycling sash.

The sun sparkled clear and bright and I was ready to go, All I had to do was clip in down below,

When, what to my wondering eyes should appear, But a super fast man in red with the speed of eight reindeer,

With an all carbon bike, so lively and quick, I knew in a moment it must be TriSanta; the race favorite pick.

More rapid than eagles on this coursers he came, And he whistled, and shouted, and called all of us by name;

"Now, Bolder! now, Tri Boomer! now, Will and Jay! On, Stu! on Zen! on, Iron Pol and A.J.!

Through the second transition now! And right through the wall! Now away! run away! run for the finish all!"

As empty gels that before the wild hurricane fly, We will meet at the finish, of this Holiday Tri,

He crossed the finish line first, and went straight to his work, And filled all of the transition bags with presents; then turned with a jerk,

And laying his finger on the side of his gear shift, And giving a nod, with a might big push his tribike did lift;

He stood up on his bike, to his team raceAthlete gave a whistle, And away he flew like a red triathlete missile.

But I heard him exclaim, ere he rode out of sight,

"Happy Christmas to all triathletes, and to all a good-night.

Poor Little Buddy!

When I got this photo it reminded me of my child hood .. In my family we had 4 girls and 1 boy can you imagine how much fun we had with my brother? When all the girls would get together we would dress my brother up as a girl, this is so he would feel like one of us.
My Brother Ray would have to do this because we would lock him in our room with us and he had to put on our pink cloths. Nice sisters! We would get into so much trouble with my dad when he seen this.
We always made sure to this when my dad was at work or mom and dad were out and we had a baby sitter hehehe. Gosh that was fun! My brother will not wear pink even to this day.

Back to the photo: My boyfriend Mike has two girls and one boy and it looks like the girls got a hold of Isaac poor little buddy! That is way toooo funny!

I finally meet him :)

(Photo is Julie, Jerry and I)


A little over a year ago Julie a very, very good friend of mine told me about this man named Jerry who was also going through Thyroid Cancer, she felt it would be best if I could talk to someone who was going through some of the things I was, so I called him it was like a blessing talking to someone who was going through the same crap I was and understand how I felt. Jerry is a very forward person he doesn't sugar anything and that's what I like just tell me how it is. We talked about his surgery and mine everything we were going through like gaining weight, being cold, not eating good food, and radiation. Jerry is such a help to me, I am so thankful for everything he had helped me with. "Thank you Jerry"

Jerry's Thyroid Cancer wasn't all taken care the first time they went in. Jerry had found more tumors in his neck and has been going through different doctors, different hospitals and a ton of radiation along with a ton of crap this past year.
He did get some good news at his last visit and he doesn't have to be back in for 3 months whooohooo! This is going to be a new year for both of us and our family!

Jerry I just want you to know you are in my prayers every night. Keep strong, you and your family are going to get through this. I am always here for you even if it's for lunch or a phone call.

Thank you so very much Julie and Jerry!

Cards

When I get home today I looked at my mail box it was full, I have 13 Christmas Cards WOWZA, the first thing that came to my mind was (did I send them all cards too?) When I looked at them I did whoooohooo. So I'm going to try and take off 2 days from working out! I don't know if I can do Tracie gave me a Spinnervals DVD (Tough Love) for Christmas and you know when you get something new you want to try it? So that might be my 5:00 am ride tomorrow.

Today I did weights which I’m going into my third week of weighs and I am feeling Fantastic! I would suggest to everyone get on some type of weight program. Then I took Spinning that played some Christmas music, swam 1800 and Personal Trained I love helping people achieve their goals and helping them feel great about themselves and I talked to so many of my friends they all wanted to get there last work out in before tomorrow.

My whole family is coming over Christmas day with everyone there will be approximately 26 people in my house that will be so fun, I always says the more the merrier. Everyone brings something to pass and I cook the main meal however I don’t cook so thank gosh my mom will be here she is a great cook.

More to come!

This is great!
We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.

Sir Winston Churchill

10 Steps to improving your triathlon swim

As technical as the sport of swimming can be, it is tough to narrow down the answer to the often-asked question, "what should I concentrate on?" So, I came up with a "top ten" list of steps to improving your swim for a triathlon. These aren't necessarily in any order, but should go a long way in helping you achieve your goals, whether you are a beginner or trying to go pro.

Hand entry. Slice your hand into the water right about at your goggle line, and drive it forward.
Many swimmers attempt to get as much "air time" as possible by reaching the hand out before entering into the water, but it is actually more efficient to go through the water with your hand as you rotate from one side to the other.

Head position.
Keep looking straight down when swimming freestyle. It's important to keep your head down with only a small part of the back of your head out of the water. Also, as you rotate through the water, try not to move your head with the rest of your body rotation.

Pull. In freestyle, your hands should pull all the way back past your hips. The last part of the stroke before recovery (arms coming out of the water) should be an acceleration behind you -- and not up out of the water.

Kick.
Try minimizing your kick as you train for swimming. Most people will kick extra hard to make up for lack of balance in the water. Minimizing your kick will allow you to improve your balance, as well as conserve energy.

Training intensity.
The best way to measure your training intensity is to count your heart rate immediately after each swim. You can estimate your heart rate by counting your pulse rate for six seconds immediately after each swim. Add a zero to this count, and you will have your approximate exercise heart rate per minute.

Master's swimming.
Move to a slower lane to work on stroke improvement. If you belong to a masters team, don't feel that you always need to keep up with your lanemates at every workout. Masters teams typically have many people with many different swimming goals. It's important to do your own thing! Remember that technique comes before all else and if this means swallowing a little pride to make improvements, just think of how much faster you will be for this in the long run.

Keep your arm from crossing over.
One of the most common bad habits I see in swimmers is the arm crossing over to the opposite side on the pull. Breathing on your left side results in your right arm crossing over, breathing on your left side results in your right arm crossing. Often this happens when one goes to breathe, but sometimes it's caused just from over-rotating. To avoid this, make sure your head isn't moving with the rest of your body, and try to pull more in a straight line (still bending the elbow) and ending the pull on the same side you started. (For example, right hand slices into the water, pulls back and hand ends up near right hip.)

Keep the feel. If swimming is your toughest sport, it is important to "keep the feel" for the water, and get in the water at least every other day (no -- showers and baths don't count!) This way, your body maintains its kinesthetic awareness of being balanced in water.

Work those lungs.
Mix in some hypoxic training sets into your workouts. For example, do a set of 4x100's breathing every 3-5-7-9 strokes by 25, with 15 seconds rest in between each 100. Your lungs will thank you for it towards the end of the swim part of your race!

Work your weakness.
In the sport of triathlon, most coaches agree that you should spend the most time working on your weakest of the three sports. For many of you, this will be swimming! Within swimming, the same concept applies. Spend the most time working on the weakest part of your stroke. If balancing on your side is an issue, do some kicking drills on your side. If moving your head is a problem, focus on head position most of the time. Whatever it is, you will gain the most by spending your pool time improving on that weakness.

Now get into the water and have some fun!

I love Coffee! What do you think?

Tea is the most popular beverage worldwide (after water), but coffee is close behind it in industrialized countries. While caffeine is a natural component of both tea and coffee, coffee contains more of it: anywhere from 60 to 120 milligrams in six ounces, depending on brewing methods and other factors.
Caffeine is a mild psychoactive substance -- it stimulates the central nervous system and improves alertness. It also boosts the analgesic effect of aspirin and other pain relievers, which is why it's added to some of these drugs. In large enough amounts, it can cause heart palpitations, stomach upset and insomnia.
Coffee, derived from a bean, contains many other phyto-chemicals besides caffeine, and some of them may have beneficial effects in the body, as do those in tea, though this aspect of coffee is only beginning to be studied. Coffee itself has been extensively studied for years, generally to see if it causes disease. While many people believe decaf is more healthful than regular, there's no proof that it is.
Coffee has been blamed for causing many ailments, but in nearly every instance, it has been declared not guilty.
It was linked to heart disease, as well as pancreatic cancer -- but then exonerated. Research suggesting such links hasn't been supported by subsequent studies. Some researchers still worry that coffee drinking may promote hypertension -- but many studies have failed to show that it does. When risk factors like cigarette smoking and heavy alcohol consumption are taken into account, any apparent link between coffee and heart attacks disappears.
Coffee was blamed for fibrocystic breast disease (lumpy, painful breasts), but there proved to be no connection.
Coffee was a suspected risk factor for osteoporosis, but it does not appear to increase the risk, even in heavy coffee drinkers -- though there is still some controversy about this. (It's true that heavy coffee consumers are more likely to eat poorly and smoke, which boosts the risk of osteoporosis.)
Coffee was suspected of raising the risk of miscarriage and birth defects, but -- again -- studies haven't supported this, except perhaps for high intakes. Some researchers are still not willing to let coffee off the hook. Pregnant women should probably drink no more than a cup or two a day.
Research on coffee continues. Here are the latest news tidbits:
According to one well-designed study in Honolulu, coffee may reduce the risk of Parkinson's disease. Men who drank no coffee were two to three times more likely to develop the disease than those who drank one to four cups a day, and five times more likely than those who drank more than four cups a day. The caffeine was identified as the protective substance. No one can adequately explain this, and it's only a single study, with many limitations. But it's worth investigating further.
In another study, those who drank two or three cups of coffee daily cut their risk of gallstones by 40 percent. Again, there's no explanation for this -- and it's only one study. It's far too early to recommend coffee for this purpose.
The studies continue, occasionally raising a few worries. As we've reported, studies have shown that drinking five to eight cups a day of unfiltered coffee -- European-style coffee, made in a French press (a pot with a plunger) -- raises blood cholesterol. The great majority of coffee consumed in the U.S. and Canada is filtered. And anyway, that's a lot of coffee.
Another study found that drinking lots of coffee may increase the risk of urinary incontinence. The solution: cut down.
The bottom line is still this: If you're healthy, it's fine to drink coffee in moderation (no more than three or four cups a day). If you like the lift it gives, and the sociability it affords, there's no health reason to deprive yourself of coffee. If you overindulge and get coffee nerves, the remedy is simple -- cut back. If it keeps you awake, stick to decaf in the evening.

Today!

Charlotte's Web remember this book when we were little and how much we cried when the spider died? Ok maybe all of you didn't cry however I did, today Landen would like to see this movie "ohhhh great" guess who's going to need the tissue?

Today I'm going to take off from working out and spend as much time with my boys as I can. However Tyler wants to go to a friend girls house a friend girl??. Landen and I are going to the movie and Wal-Mart for some cookie dough so we can make cookies for the neighbors we do this every year. Then were going swimming at the YMCA Landen's choice he would like to do some laps and play on the slide so that will be fun.

Everyone have a FANTASTIC FUN Sunday!

Something to think about and do:

Obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.

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Just kidding heheheh

Christmas Cards

Ok how many Christmas cards to you have to sign and send out? I have already sent out 49 yesterday. Thank gosh I watched my friends sick little boy so I could get caught up on them and other things. I have about 20 more to do and I'm calling it quits "In a nice positive way". However do you ever get those ones in the mail that you didn't send one to?
I know that will happen and then I'll feel like an idiot for not sending them one first. : ) Not that it's a race or anything "Maybe"

Ok I have to touch on one more subject Christmas shopping are you done? I finished my boys yesterday thank gosh!

I love being santa my Landen doesn't know yet thank gosh. This year I will be bringing in durt in the house like it was on his Santa's boots and putting it around the Christmas tree and then back out the door, I figure this will be my last year to have that kind of fun so I'm going to go all out.

Ok I have to go to MC sports for one more gift.

Something to think about!

Sometimes our light goes out but is blown into flame by another human being. Each of us owes deepest thanks to those who have rekindled this light.

Check out this movie

WHAT IT TAKES

This movie is a documentary of 4 amazing elite endurance athletes whom push themselves to the limits to win Ironman. It talks about the good things in Ironman, training hours, bad things when training like no time with their family, and a ton I mean a ton of things they miss out on. However it really opens your eyes to the pro status after watching this movie. You alos see the pressure they go through and challenges. I know they couldn't have gummy bears in their diet so I wouldn't make it to pro status "Just Kidding" I could have them on the off season or I would sneek them all the time plus I couldn't handle being away from my boys that long.

Check out this movie out you'll be glad you did.

Have a great weekend!

Wow what a week!

Again working on my base training for Ironman with weights, running, swimming, biking and some Bootcamp stuff! Oh yea Boot camp class this past Thursday was crazy "In a nice positive way" class was full again, I had one person get sick and the other twisted his ankle on a step wowza. We did these jumping lungs and jumping squats I could hardly sit yesterday, so if I was sore that would mean my class was sore to I feel for them "Yea right hehehehe in a nice way". That's what they come for is to see how far they can push them selfs and some over do it. I do tell them to take it at their own pase.
I was teaching Pilates and I couldn't so the roll like a ball with out saying OUCH!

I've been doing, a lot of swimming and trying not to over do it, I would recommend to everyone to bring a program for yourself each time you go and stick to it don't over do.

What else have I been doing?

I have 8 Personal Training clients, teaching classes, working in the wellness center at the Y, and spending time with my buddy's! Life is so good and going so fast!

Training Today

A little to much!

I did two spinning classes 70% heart rate

Weights- 2 to 3 sets of
Lungs, Squats, back, chest and shoulders

Abs 15 min.

Swam 2300 m. Which included Drills with fins, Speed work without fins, Endurance laps. I felt great! However, I did swim to much for this time of year

Looking forward to a new day tomorrow..... : )

Improving Reactive Strength

When you hear someone say an athlete is "strong" most people envision a big, muscular guy that can lift a ton of weight. While maximal strength, or how much weight you can lift one time, is important it pales in comparison to "speed strength" when it comes to becoming a better athlete.

Speed strength, or reactive strength, is one aspect of strength that is often under-developed in athletes. When you improve your speed strength you will become faster, more explosive, more powerful and less injury-prone!

Three Keys to Instantly Improving Reactive Strength:

Weight Speed
Instead of using 75, 85 or even 90% of your one- rep max when performing weight room exercises, drop the weight to between 40-65% of your one- rep max and focus on bar speed.
This does not mean the exercise will be easy. It is extremely difficult to move a light weight very fast and maintain control. Start by moving a bit faster than you are used to and try to move that bar (or medicine ball, dumbbell, etc) faster each and every workout.
Very rarely in sports are you moving a very heavy load. Most sports require you to use your body and a ball or implement that is relatively light in comparison to your body weight (i.e. baseball or baseball bat). And you have to be able to control that object, while generating a large amount of force.
If you are lifting heavy weight slowly you are not developing this aspect of strength. Now, I am not saying you should never lift loads in the 75-90% range. Chances are you need to focus more on speed strength training, which will develop those always desirable fast-twitch muscle fibers.

Train Movements, Not Muscles
Does your workout resemble a bodybuilding workout? If you break your parts up by training chest one day, back the next and then legs, you are not developing athletic ability.
You should train large movements (squats, deadlifts, cleans, snatches, presses, rows, pull-ups) as you work the body as one cohesive unit. This was the way it was meant to function. You don't break the body down when you play, so why would you do it when you train?

Always Focus on Posture
As soon as you lose your posture you lose a large amount of your power. So always focus on proper posture when weight training and in your skill training. As soon as it starts to go, it's time to end your set. If you aren't developing proper movement patterns (or habits) you are developing bad ones.

Something to think about when your lifting. :)

Landen is in the lead!

My little man is on fire! When the horn went off so did Landen, off like lightning that is. Landen held first place for most of the race, then lost it just yards away from the finish line he finished in third place. “wowza” I couldn’t believe it he did so FANTASTIC that's my little buddy!

I had to show you a photo of him running in the race and just look at the determination he has on his face “I just love it”!

The work competition

The competition: At the YMCA we are doing this competition for the whole month of December, there are 5 groups male/female and were trying to see what team will lift the most weight for the month. The team that wins gets a prize which we don't know what it is yet.

Here is a list of the exercises that we have to do:
Barbell Squats
Barbell Bench Press
Lat Pulldown
Push-ups (each push-up worth 50 lbs) – they need to be full push-ups –and can be done anywhere.
Assisted Pull-ups – just make sure you take your weight minus the lbs. you use.

How we track the weight- It is how many you perform times the weight lifted.

This is going to be fun we have some people whom are very, very competitive! To bad they are going to lose......

Off to the gym to get some of this in.

Have a great Morning!

Some fun!

Monday - Coached swimming
Then swam myself worked on the drills right side, left side, finger tip, high elbow and then used the kick board and does that Stink "in a nice positive way"


Tuesdays Spinning class went great, we did Fast legs from Spinervals and “wowza” legs of fire when you got off the bike. Then we went and did abs that was fun I bet everyone who did abs are going to be sooooooooooooooooo sore in 48 hours hehehehe.



I got my son to go to the gym with me tonight but the deal was I would do 50 bench presses with the bar now the bar only weighs 45 pounds but I do not bench press, however I took him on. I get down ready to push this bar like its nothing my first 40 went great however; my last 10 were a killer! My last press was shaking but I did it whooohoo I showed him he’s got a strong mom. However I will be sore with that and everything else I did.

Strength trained tonight: Squats, Lungs, Triceps, Bicep, Back, chest, and shoulders!

Question??
Have you ever just did one chin pull up? Now let me explain this - That’s standing on the floor and jumping up to the bar and pulling yourself up. Yea I couldn't do one I was kicking all the way up. Then Tyler my 15 year old son does 5 like its nothing “what a stinker”.
I'm one lucky mom and I sure love my kids!

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Holy Crud!

No working out today, yea I’m going a little crazy in a nice positive way however,
I have the biggest pinch in my neck; woke up this morning and couldn’t move my neck this stinks.
Today we put up the Christmas tree, made cookies and set out all Christmas stuff it was so fun.

I have a BIG day tomorrow; Swim at 5:00, run at 6:00 come home get Landen ready for school, Personal Train at 8:00 and I have an interview with a Logistics Health for the Wellness Fitness Director position; a position I would love! Just think doing something you love to do. I have such a passion for helping people get in shape feel great about them self’s and eat healthy.

I have to go, I have to try on different cloths for tomorrow and when you have a kink in your neck this is going to be fun! Tomorrow is going to go so GREAT!

Think about these!

Nothing will ever be attempted if all possible objections must first be overcome.
Samuel Johnson

Accept challenges, so that you may feel the exhilaration of victory. -George S. Patton

Adventure is worthwhile. -Amelia Earhart

Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful. -Joshua J. Marine

Difficulties are meant to rouse, not discourage. The human spirit is to grow strong by conflict. -William Ellery Channing

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. -Mark Twain

Unless a man undertakes more than he possibly can do, he will never do all that he can. –Henry Drummond

What a man really wants is creative challenge with sufficient skills to bring him within the reach of success so that he may have the expanding joy of achievement. –Nash

To succeed... you need to find something to hold on to, something to motivate you, something to inspire you. –Tony Dorsett

I LOVE THIS ONE!
Life's challenges are not supposed to paralyze you, they're supposed to help you discover who you are. -Bernice Johnson Reagon

Challenges make you discover things about yourself that you never really knew. They're what make the instrument stretch-what make you go beyond the norm. -Anonymous

What a morning!

I’m taking over some clients from a Personal Trainer whom is leaving the YMCA, so today I went to meet them, asked what their goal are and to get started with them right away. My first client is a beginner runner and she likes to run outside “ok I hate to run in the cold” however this is my job so we ran outside and it was 17 degrees out “HOLY YADA” it was cold but the run went great! All other clients do not like to run in the cold so that was great! I finished at 9:30 it is so great working with people who want to get fit, stay healthy and set goals and I will help them achieve them.

I feel like I took off from working out compared to what I do normally, I do have to teach Pilates tonight and swim so that won’t be too bad.

Have a great day eveyone!