Kathleen's Adventures

Tuesday I caved on my "no exercise for 2 weeks" and went to masters swim practice at the Y.  I was going crazy and feeling beyond fat and lazy so had to do something and figured swimming is by far the most harmless of my choices. About halfway through practice, I realized it was possible I was swimming fast for me.  Really fast.  I was swimming my "easy" 200s on 3:00 and my hard ones on 2:50.  Really?  My fastest 100 I'd ever recorded before that was 1:25.  I guess a little time off might have done this body some good.  I hadn't swam in probably 3 weeks.  I figured some of it was "beginner's luck" for my comeback.  I also ended up swimming 3500yds for the workout and it wasn't that bad at all (definitely the farthest I have swam at once since IMFL in November...I think I had a few workouts just over 3000 before Lonestar, but certainly not 3500+).  I was going for 4000, but my left calf had other plans after my push off the wall aroun...

I have had a pretty busy last week, or week and a few days! I went to see Kelly in San Diego for a long weekend and had a great time.  The sun didn't so much come out while I was there which was not cool, but we still played and spent a lot of time outside.  We drove from the airport to Kelly's house in Pacific Beach Friday evening and didn't use the car again until Monday morning when it was time for Kelly to go to work.  Our transportation for the weekend was either by foot or beach cruiser - it was awesome! Our adventures included a concert on the beach at Mission Bay and a visit to Children's beach in La Jolla where we saw very cute seals.  By the way, our little jaunt by beach cruiser from PB to La Jolla was more of a workout than anyone planned for.  Beach cruisers, for those who don't know, don't have gears.  So for this flatlander especially, riding big hills on a single-speed bike is special.  Also, the childhood practice of pedaling back...

So...........I waited way too long to write a race report about Lonestar 70.3 in Galveston April 25.  I've forgotten most of the "important stuff" by now and I all I really remember is it was hot and windy!  So this one is going to be short and sweet, but that's okay. The weekend itself was a lot of fun.  I have always stayed at Inn at the Waterpark in the past - the "slummin' it hotel" at the entrance of Moody Gardens.  This year I decided to upgrade and stayed at Moody Gardens.  I'm glad I did - the convenience was definitely worth the extra money.  I ended up having 2 other people in my room so it really did even out in the end. I went down early Saturday morning to catch the end of the Olympic and Sprint races.  On my way down I found out their swim was canceled because it was too windy.  Awesome...not!  It took a while to get everything taken care of that I needed to, but I finally reached my happy spot by the pool with Kim at s...

I know you all were very worried because I hadn't posted in so long.  Lots has happened, but I just haven't felt much like writing.  Race reports for Lonestar 70.3 and The Gusher Half Marathon will be coming soon...hopefully. And now for some random thoughts: I'm out of town 4 of the next 5 weekends - part of me wouldn't mind if that were going to be 5 of the next 5 weekends. I'm going to San Diego today for a long weekend.  Whohoo!  I cannot wait.  I might not come back. I'm taking two weeks off of anything athletic after this weekend - my body (and mind) are screaming for a break.  I have taken it very easy in the three weeks since Lonestar, but not easy enough.  I'm tired and half sick (I think some of it is allergies), so now's the time to take a break.  I'm actually looking forward to it and have some fun things planned during the time I would have usually been working out. DQ Blizzards, unfortunately, don't fix everything. I'm no...

Saturday, May 1 - Beaumont's Inagural Gusher Marathon. The Race Against Drunk Driving round 2 is on.  My mom, Mrs. Clark, Kelly, and I are all doing the half marathon.  Mike and Kathy Schexnaider (the Beaumont MADD representative) are doing the 5k.  Below is an email Kathy sent out earlier today - I'm beyond flattered that I have been able to motivate even just one person to get out there and be active, especially for this cause.  Please consider donating, or evevn volunteering your time if you are in Beaumont. As all of you probably know, I do not exercise. Over the years you can tell I have blossomed into a very well rounded young lady. This past fall, a young lady from Houston who’s best friend’s sister was killed by a drunk driver raise over $15,000.00 in a triathlon in Florida for MADD East Texas-Beaumont. She called recently and told me of the GUSHER RUN here in Beaumont on May 1, 2010. Well, she is running the ½ marathon and I decided it was time for me...

I've been blog-boring lately.  There has been lots going on, but I just haven't necessarily taken the time to blog about it (which probably isn't a bad thing)! Overall, things are going very well, in fact better than I could have asked for right now.  I do not think I'm going to have an incredibly stellar performance at Lonestar 70.3 this weekend, but I'm learning to take a bit of a step back from caring so much.  I'm starting to realize I don't necessarily want my entire life revolving around triathlon, or any other one thing (or person) for that matter.  I'm starting to find some balance and it has been awesome.  I'm enjoying church, meeting new people, going new places, making plans for trips I would have never considered in the past, and generally saying "yes" to a lot of new (and old) things and opening up my mind to a lot of new ideas - the #1 idea right now being that triathlon is not the be all and end all of the world (of course ...

I had an amazing weekend - and am so excited to see God working in His ways - some of them making sense, and some of them there to remind us we really have no control over what happens - but He does. More details coming in later posts, but here's a taste of the weekend's highlights: -  I was not looking forward to the Gateway to the Bay sprint triathlon Saturday morning at all.  However, the morning definitely exceeded my expectations.  I had fun, and even ended up placing 3rd in my age group.  Nicki came with me and got 3rd in her age group too, in only her second season of racing!  I had a blast spending the morning with her and seeing many other tri friends. -  Mom and Mrs. Clark walked 9.75 miles Saturday morning.  That's basically TEN MILES!  WOW.  I am so proud.  Mom said after that she is confident she can finish the race now.  Three weeks and counting! -  I got an email from my sister on my i...