Workout Weekend

Most people might think of thanksgiving as a time to to kick back with the family, stuff themselves full of goodies, and start off the holiday weight gaining season with a bang. I don't. Well ok I do love spending time with my family, and come to think of it I also like stuffing myself full of unhealthy foods. BUT I also see the thanksgiving weekend as a glorious time to spend at my grandparents ranch down in the hill country of Texas.

This year was fantastic. It started off with the Austin turkey trot which was extremely cold, windy and awesome. I was still very tight from playing soccer on sunday but I went in with the mindset of just having fun and running a solid race. For this reason I started off a little slower then I normaly would and it resulted in a much more pleasurable experience with a still very good time for me. My first mile was like 6:20 and I ran steady until 2 miles to go where I closed with 2 5:55 miles. I didn't notice I was picking up the pace a bunch but I was trying to hang with this guy just in front of me and that probably helped. The Austin turkey trot is ridiculously hilly and there is one hill especially inside the last half mile that is absolutely killer. Well I knew it was coming and so I relaxed up it and stayed right behind this dude who I'd been following the last 2 or 3 miles. Then when we made the right hand turn towards the finish I kicked it in and beat him by a few seconds. I was definitely exhausted by the end but part of this was due to the cold air I wasn't used to and after a minute or two I was fine.

Friday saw me doing a 35 mile bike ride with my friend Ian. This ride included the steepest hill I have EVER gone up in my life. Afterwards we mapped it online and it's like a 17% grade! Crazy! It's less then a quarter mile long but I couldn't make it up the first time. Yes, it's true, I did the walk of shame. then I went back down and tried it again this time making it to the top. After the bike I got off and bricked to a 40 minute run that included lactic repeats of 5x40 seconds FAST on the 1 min with 3 minutes rest between sets. (I think I hate that workout more then any other)

Saturday was the ill-fated day that saw us attempting to ride in the 40 degree, pouring rain, gusting wind weather. But after wrapping ourselves in plastic and going out 10 miles we were done and turned around to come home. The trek home was miserable. Uphill, into the wind, soaking wet and freezing it was pretty much everything a cyclist wouldn't ask for. But we did something.

Sunday was a 70 minute run in which I did almost 9 miles up and down big rolling hills along ranch rd 12. I like the cooler weather but I wouldn't mind it a little warmer.

Now it's back in the pool 5 times a week. I'm looking forward to school being over so I can start biking more and hopefully will get to do a training camp with the team after christmas. Happy holidays to you!!

Thanksgiving Break

Thanksgiving is almost upon us. This has to be one of my favourite holidays. (Actually I enjoy pretty much any holiday that gets me time off school.) Nonetheless Thanksgiving holds a special place in my heart as it is the one time of the year I feel absolutely no guilt about stuffing myself as full as I can possibly be.

I have my routine all laid out. The whole family always goes down to Austin because that is where my moms side of the family lives. On Thanksgiving morning I wake up early to drag whatever family members I have managed guilt into doing the Austin turkey trot downtown. There we line up with some 20,000 other runners to take part in the annual 5-mile run. After that we head back out to my grandparents ranch, tired, sweaty and satisfied. I then do my best to abstain from food the rest of the morning until it is time for the actual meal. Then unabated I go at the glorious feast laid out before me with a fervour normally reserved only for opening Christmas presents or perhaps chasing down a breakaway on my bike.

After this first round I go back for seconds, and sometimes thirds. (There's always room for ONE more roll right?) Dessert is somewhat an afterthought but eventually after everything has settled there may be some room at the time for a slice of pumpkin pie and whipped cream. The afternoon is reserved for sitting, napping, and watching the cowboys. Oh the glory. I can't wait.


On another note I did compete in a swim meet this last weekend. It was tough but fun. I swam the 1500m, 400m, 200m and 100m freestyle as well as the 100 IM. I can definitely still improve but it was good to get some time standards. I'm looking forward to doing some good training down in the Austin hills this week. AFTER I've recovered from my gluttonous Thanksgiving feast.

R.I.P. Dorothy

Dorothy died Wednesday morning, Please continue to pray for her husband and three orphaned children.

Pray for Dorothy

This was copied directly from a slowtwitch forum. Just this last weekend at IM Florida.


"Dorothy Barnett Griffin, who many of you know from LifeTime Masters Swimming (the Plano, TX group), is in the hospital in Panama City. Dorothy and Mike Griffin were doing their first full Ironman triathlon Saturday in Panama City Florida. Apparently Dorothy had some issues late in the swim (unsure what precipitated the difficulties) and was pulled from the water. She was not breathing so they immediately began CPR, and there was water in her lungs. When they got her to shore they used the defibrillator and got her to the hospital. They pulled Mike from the route at about mile 56 as he had a fast swim and was unaware of any problems. Yesterday they drilled a hole in her head to release the pressure on her brain, which was swelling, and put some type of stint in it. She was placed on a ventilator and is in intensive care. Dorothy and Mike's parents and their kids and some of Dorothy's siblings are in Florida with her."


Since this first post on November, 5th Dorothy has had another hole drilled in her head and been almost taken off life support because they couldn't find sign of any brain activity. They checked again and were able to see that there was still some activity there and some blood was getting to her brain. I haven't heard much lately but her condition was not improving as of Wednesday.

What makes this even more tragic is that she was widowed about 3 years ago. She has either 3 or 4 kids (I haven't been able to gather anything conclusive from the previous posts.) all from her previous marriage. The kids are older, ranging fromm 11-16 or so and were on the beach waiting for the mom to come out of the water. She was the second to last swimmer and had been taking breaks, holding onto kayaks, laughing and apparently in a good mood. It was the latter part of the swim when she all of a sudden disappeared. They quickly got her out and brought her to shore while doing CPR on the jet ski. Can you imagine those kids standing on the beach looking for their mom to cheer her on in her first attempt at an ironman, no sign of her when all of a sudden here appears a jet ski with their mom laying motionless on it while a medical team gives her CPR? Awful. Every report I've heard said the first aid staff did a superb job trying to revive her, and they had her in an ambulance within a very short time.

So now these kids, who have already lost their dad can do nothing but hope and pray that their mom will survive. It breaks my heart. It really does. Here she was competing in and endurance event, an Ironman, something I hope to accomplish one day. It's a sport I love, it gets people to live a more active and fulfilling lifestyle. She's from my very same metroplex. I could drive up to plano in about 45 minutes or so. I've talked with some athlete in the area who know and have even trained with her. It hits pretty darn close to home.

I don't know her latest condition but please pray that she is able to make a full recovery.