Tornado's, Gymnastics and a Wedding, Oh my!

It has been quite the trip so far. The adventure started at Chicago's International airport on Tuesday night. We were sitting in the plane on the runway waiting for our turn to take off and the captain comes on the intercom and says that we need to wait and see what the lightning storm is doing up ahead of us. After a few minutes he comes back on saying that we we are expecting 65mph winds and so we are stuck and need to wait it out.
The rain started beating the outside of the plane and the lightning was all around us ... I closed my little window thing because I am not a fan of lightning. Then the airplane started shaking back and forth. The wind was insane!!! It went on for almost an hour! I was wishing that we could just go back to the terminal and get off the plane. I just wrapped myself inside my blanket and waited for it to be over. I also text Josh for a little bit of a distraction and comfort.
Once it calmed down the captain came back over the intercom and said that we had actually experienced 85mph winds. He said that the guys in the tower had to abandon the tower and that the terminal we had just left had been damaged by airborne luggage carts!!! So we were in the safest place possible. Once it was over we had to go back to the terminal to check for damage before taking off. The 7 hour flight from Chicago to Dublin turned into a 12 hour ordeal! Needless to say we were very happy to reach Dublin!

The first few days were kind of surreal. It was hard to believe that we were in Arklow. But it wasn't long before it felt like we had never left.
The wedding was amazing! Sarah (my cousin the bride) was beautiful and the whole ceremony was just gorgeous. I did a reading in the church and was excited to do a good job for Sarah and Philip. It did rain at the church, but the torrential downpour waited until we were all safe in the hotel where the reception was held. The whole set up in the hotel was lovely and the food was amazing! I thought they were going to have to surgically remove me from my dress after all that delicious food but luckily the band was awesome!
We danced the whole night away. The band played songs we all knew for a few hours before the DJ came in to finish the night. At one point the sweat was running down my face and my legs and feet were exhausted. It was the most fun workout I've ever had. Everyone got up at some point. I love my family!!! It was 3:30am before I crashed into bed and after 5am before my parents and some other relatives made it to bed!

The next morning I met Annemarie and we went to Cobra Gymnastics for old time's sake. We tumbled, did some bars and the trampoline. I am quite sore now but it was totally worth it and it was awesome to see Trisha, Simone, Nikki and all the new little kids  :)  I wish there were more sessions that I could join in on before I go back to the USA.

After gymnastics Annemarie and I went to her house in Gorey and had a good old fashioned slumer party. We bought a tone of junk food and set up the living room floor with the couch cushions and sleeping bags and just talked and watched movies until we fell asleep. It was awesome. You are never too old for a slumber party  :)

Anyway, it is after 1am here in Ireland now, so I should go to sleep and get ready for some more adventures! Loving my trip so far, though missing Josh!
Onwards and Upwards whereever you are and whatever you are doing!

Post Race Laziness?

Good thing the post-race laziness only applies to my blog! I have been working-out quite a bit, though I did take a few much needed days off of running after the race. Usually by the time I've completed my race, I am a little sick of running, so I've been changing it up. I have been biking, using the StairMaster, the rowing machine, gymnastics and strength training. I have also been stretching more than before. In fact, I almost have my splits again  :)

I have also changed my eating habits a little bit. I had been eating a lot of protein in order to recover from all the long runs, so I cut down on the protein a little bit and upped my vegetable intake. I also dropped my carb intake a little bit, because I am a carb-oholic and was eating too much of that!
I have been bringing food to work such as 'add hot water' oatmeal and fruit ... and every once in a while some beef jerky, but ssshhhh, you cant tell them that! But every once in a while I do crave tempeh, seitan or just get sick of oatmeal, so I substitute out the carbs and put the dressing on the side. For example, one of my favorite things on the menu is the Scorpion Burger. But I say 'no bun' and 'onsd dressing' and 'add steamed kale'. So I get this:

And it is absolutely delicious! It also has carrots, lettuce, avocado and raw onions ... but I take the onion off.

So I am becoming a little less muscular and a little more womanly  :) 

I do still go on long runs. Pam and I run together once a week and go just about 6 miles. We dont run it all like we used to, we actually walk more now. Its funny how a little change in your diet can change your endurance level. But having a lot of protein on a regular basis cannot be good for my body!

So for now I am just enjoying the change in my routine, the new work-outs, the different flavours in my diet and a somewhat slower lifestyle. Once I am back from Ireland I will decide what race is next on my agenda and change everything up accordingly. After all, variety is the spice of life  :)

Onwards and Upwards fellow runners, rowers, gymnasts, hikers and the like!

I keep getting sucked back into gymnastics!

I dont know how this keeps happening, but I keep landing myself back in some kind of gymnastics class. This time it had been about 1.5 years since I did any kind of gymnastics ... and I mean including little handstands and cartwheel ... seriously! Even forward rolls would make me dizzy. I honestly thought I was done doing any kind of gymnastics. I even got to the point of not touching the bars even when I was coaching due to my hands now being callus free and wonderfully soft :)

But a few weeks ago I was coaching my level 2's and was trying to explain a new move. I can usually get away with talking them through it, but one girl said, "show us." --- I thought about it for a few minutes, contemplating whether or not I might break a hip. --- I went for it. I did a lovely roundolf with a high flying rebound at the end ... and it felt good.

I then started to think about my upcoming trip to Ireland. Whenever I visit Ireland I always visit Cobra Gymnastics where I used to train as a tween. I was thinking, "Wow, wouldnt it be awesome if I could still do gymnastics when I visit." I guess I decided that the answer was yes, because for the past two weeks I have been participating in 'open gym' at the gym where I currently coach. Last week I just stretched and conditioned and did basic skill to get my body back into it ... and then couldnt move for three days. Last night I pushed through the psychological "there is no way I can do this" and got 80% of my tumbling back. I even surprised myself with a kip on bars (the first move every gymnast does to get from the floor onto the bars). It felt great! Though I am a little sore today.

Of course I have also still been running. I do have that 10 mile trail race in a month to train for! I figure that the gymnastics is helping with my upper body strength and core strength which is important. Though I need to make sure I dont get hurt! In the mean time, I am just having fun :)

Onwards and upwards my fellow runners and gymnasts!

Where does the time go???

Oh my, I cannot believe my last post was back in March ... Where does the time go?! Well luckily my time has been spent working and running as well as spending some time with my family, so I havnt been lazy or anything.
My running is going well ... though I may be just an inch behind where I would like to be as far as milage goes. I am up to running 6 miles approximately 3 days a week and running at least 4 miles on my other running days. I was hoping to add a mile last week, but that is okay. My race in May is a 10miler. It is also a trail race which is why I have been focusing on trail running on Monday's and am hoping to be running 12-13 miles per run before race day, just to ensure that I will complete the race. Though I have never dropped out of a race before, if it is anything like last years 13 miles trail race (SB Mountains = 90F at least!) then I need to make sure that I am completely prepared.
Pam has been both an awesome running buddy and motivator. There are days that I probably wouldnt make it outside the house without her!

I did gymnastics for the first time in 1.5 years on Friday night. I thought it would be good for some core training as well as upper body because I spend most of my time running. I took it easy, did some conditioning as well as some handstands, cartwheels and trampoline. I also took advantage of the vault runway and did multiple 60ft sprints just to work some different running muscles.
Needless to say I have been very sore both yesterday and today. It is mostly my shoulders, which I was expecting due to my decreased muscle mass in that area. So the past two days have been all about walking and stretching. Tomorrow I will be back out running :)

I know I always say this, but I will try to post more often, especially coming up to the race. But no promises.
Onwards and Upwards!