Kathleen's Adventures

I've done all sorts of deep thinking over the past few days and need to write down my extremely profound thoughts before I forget them! Thought for the (actually last night) night: Strong legs are useless without a strong mind. So much of this "stuff" that we do is mental, especially the longer stuff. I think I'm learning I've had the physical strength for a while to do the things I'm doing now, but only recently have I gained the mental fortitude to do something about it. I'm also planning to hold my mind to a higher standard at IMAZ this year. It cannot let my body down, but only make it stronger and help me to do things I never thought possible.

That, my friends, is my new ironman goal. It is as simple as it sounds...I want to finish without regret. I don't want to look back and say I should have gone easier on the bike, or say I should not have walked so much on the run. I want to leave it all out there and race smart enough to finish without regret. I will train for the things I do have control over and try not to dwell on the things that I do not have control over. As far as training is going, I'm exhausted, which is where I should be on a Thursday night as Fridays are my sacred off days. After running my stellar half marathon on Sunday, I took a spin class Monday night at Tri On The Run from Steve Quick that nearly killed me. My heart rate averaged higher than it ever has in a spin class and I was in a full sweat about 2 minutes into the class. I took the class on my own bike and a trainer and that makes a world of difference. You can get away with a lot more on a spin bike. Not on my bike - I had to be honest, an...

I almost forgot about the best part of the 3M Half Marathon - the goodie bag! With 3M as the title sponsor, I have enough post-its to last me until the next half marathon pr (whenever that may be!). Also included: lots of tape, including the handy pop-up dispenser to use when gift wrapping, mounting squares for fabric walls (yea cubicles!), tough strip bandaids , a glue stick that looks like a pez dispenser, a little black book to hold my most personal post-its, ear plugs, and a nice t-shirt. Speaking of goodies, I've been baking tonight. Tres Leches and strawberry cupcakes with funfetti icing. I've never made Tres Leches before, so we'll have to see what the verdict is on it.

For those of you who didn't grow up listening to Ray Steven's "The Streak" in your car, you are missing out. Ethel ended up streaking as well. I had a fabulous weekend. I am so fortunate and lucky, and I hope that all those around me know I do realize and appreciate this. Friday afternoon my parents came from Beaumont and picked me up to head to San Antonio (well, I drove half way - getting on the HOV lane is a little much for them to handle at times). My niece Bennett was having her first birthday party at noon on Saturday, and I was so excited for it, and to be able to see my sister, her husband, and her 3 perfect girls. Saturday morning, I took my dad and 6 yr old niece, Kate, on a field trip to the new Academy close to my sister's house. My mom had said to get Kate and Molly a small gift since Bennett would be getting so many, and Dad always likes to go to Academy, so it was a date. As we are pulling out of the neighborhood, satellite radio is having an Ode to...

This race had been in the back of my head and penciled on my calendar for a few months now. I knew it was 2 days after my niece's first birthday (in San Antonio), and had been thinking I might be able to combine the two during one trip out of town. I waited to decide for sure until the weekend after the marathon, to see how running and biking went. If my bike was awful, I had told myself I was going to need to stay here and bike. Well, my biking was awful, but I think it was awful for everyone, so I decided I could go, provided I rode my trainer for 3 hours as punishment for playing over the weekend. I also value my family more than anything else, and first birthdays only come once. So, anyway, I knew Laurie was going to do the race as well, and we had spoken about it some throughout the week. I told her I wasn't sure what to expect, but that I thought I could probably do a 2:00-2:05. She wrote back to that email saying "I think you should do a 1:59:59." Damn her. She...

are what I have right now. There are just some plain freakin ' awesome people in the tri world, and they can do an amazing job of making you feel pretty good when you are feeling a little down and unsure of yourself. See Greyhound's ode to me and two other awesome girls ( MisheleK and Jane) here. Thanks to him for enabling me to go to sleep tonight with a big smile on my face, and also thanks to him for bragging on my little rockstar law school friend who wouldn't brag about herself if her life depended on it! As for training, it is going pretty well. I ran an easy 6 miles at the park last night and it felt pretty good. I've been on my trainer twice this week already (definitely a record) and am planning a lovely 3 hour trainer session tomorrow night in place of my long ride this weekend. I'm playing this weekend, and definitely looking forward to it. My niece Bennett is turning 1 and I'm going to celebrate in San Antonio with her, then I'm heading t...

is what I saw all around me as we started our bone-chilling bike ride yesterday! It was actually very pretty to see the fields covered in frost and some of the ditches (well, puddles...) frozen over. My fingers and toes did not necessarily join in on the enjoyment, but they aren't necessarily expected to. Yesterday was the first "official" training ride for a lot of the IMAZ group, and was an eye opening experience for some of us (as to be expected). I have been riding periodically since my half ironman in October, but not more than 40 miles or so at a time. We rode 60 miles yesterday and I was great until about 30 miles in. That is when we turned into the wind that was not supposed to be there and when the hills hit. That is also when my legs decided to remind me I ran a marathon just a week earlier. Our ~17mph average quickly dropped as we could not even hold a 10 mph pace! I also fell over in the middle of the highway when I was pulling over to stop with Shel...

Five years ago today, I ran my first mile. Five years ago today, a boy dumped me. Oddly, at mile 25.5 of my race on Sunday, thay boy and his new wife were on the sidelines cheering and I called out his name as if to say "look at me, I'm here, running, not on the sideline!" He still has no idea he caused all of "this." He doesn't need to know that either. It was funny though a few years ago when we crossed paths at a pasta dinner and he asked if it was my first marathon and I said "no, it will be my 5th." The Kathleen he knew did not run at all, not to mention five marathons...so that was pretty fun! Five years ago today I met a new Kathleen that I never knew existed. This new Kathleen stuck to her "Couch to 5k" program to a T, and was able to run three miles at a time about two months later. That new Kathleen finally had the courage to do a triathlon, and then to train for her first marathon. I am so thankful that God works in really wei...

I'm doing an Ironman in less than 3 months. This morning I finally had to admit to that and do something about it! I went to my first Rice Masters swim practice bright and early at 6am. I had tried it out twice during the summer and enjoyed it, but couldn't find the motivation to swim that much, so I did not join then. My mom gave me an IOU for the registration fee for one semester for Christmas. I had been putting it off until now, using the marathon as my excuse, but I no longer had any more excuses! The good news is that as I drove up this morning, I saw Natalie (super fun tri girl) getting out of her car. I didn't know she was doing Rice Masters - how cool, I have a friend at masters! Then, I walk into the locker room and see Casey, who graduated high school with me. I didn't know she was doing Rice Masters - how cool again! Then I also see Kelly (another super fun tri girl) in the locker room. I didn't know she was doing it either!! That is thre...

I keep having random thoughts here and there about the marathon, and finally decided I should jot them down. I'm sure I will keep adding to this post in the next few days when the mood strikes me. 1. I've been sandbagging for a long time, but I just wasn't really aware that is what I was doing. It wasn't even really in training that I was sandbagging, but in actual races. To continue running at a certain pace for 26.2 miles takes guts. Plain and simple. Or you can give up somewhere along the way and say you know you will finish in however long it takes you to get there. That was the old Kathleen. She is no longer around, and apparently left sometime over the last few months. I think she is somewhere happily walking to a finish line, being sure to make friends along the way. I am sure I will run into her again one day, as she is a good person, with good intentions, but for now I've had to say goodbye. 2. My nutrition plan worked perfectly on Sunday. I had no stom...

Brief history to explain lucky #7... #1, Austin, 2/15/04 - 5:21 #2, Houston, 1/05 - 5:23 #3, Austin, 2/05 - 5:55 #4, Houston, 1/06 - 5:16 #5, Houston, 1/07 - 5:12 #6, Chicago, 10/07 - 5:54 As I sit here to write my race report, I am having a hard time coming up with what to say. It is weird - I had a huge PR, yet do not feel (yet), like it was that memorable of an experience. Perhaps the most memorable part of it is that I was in a porta potty when the race started. Sadly, that isn't even the first time that has happened to me! Ok seriously, it is memorable. I kicked butt today. Several butts, actually, including my own. I did something that was once a far away dream. I made it happen. I went into the race with a goal of 4:30 way in the back of my mind. I knew on paper, it was a decently realistic goal, but in my head, just the thought of it was scary. My previous 6 marathons were all between 5:12 and 5:55. I knew going into this one that I was significantly faster, but I had no i...

'nuff said for now!!!

Marathon time for me is like Christmas time for most little kids. No matter how prepared or unprepared I am, the excitement is still always almost too much to handle. In a little less than 48 hours, we will be lining up at the start line of a very long, rewarding, journey. It doesn't seem to matter how many times I toe that line, the excitement is still there, along with fear, anxiety, and joy. These days I pretty much know what Santa is going to have for me under the tree at Christmas, but I do not know what the marathon gods will have in store for me come race day. The fear and anticipation of the unknown is what keeps me awake in bed the night before, as if I were a child waiting to see if I could hear Santa on the roof. Also like the little kid, I try hard to sleep because Santa won't come if he sees you awake, just as the marathon gods might not be nice to you if you don't show up at the start adequately rested. While the journey to the finish line is a little longer t...

Sissy and I made the cover of the Inside Texas Running January, 2008 Magazine. Watch out!!