training update and waterfall pictures

We drove to Multnomah Falls in the Gorge today. It's only about 20 miles away, and even though we've passed by it lots of times we haven't actually visited since we moved here. It was cold but didn't start raining until we were nearly done with the hike. We hiked the mile to the top of the falls for a great view of the gorge. The waterfall is amazing! It's totally touristy but worth it. There are a bunch of pictures at the end of this post. :)

But first, training stats! I had such an awesome week. I rode outside on Thursday, ran in Forest Park on Friday, and then did a long run Saturday with some goal pace miles. Plus the scheduled million pushups.

Thursday: bike
10.3 miles/38:55/15.8 MPH
Waterfront/Springwater Trail
I wore Zach's heart rate monitor and was surprised to see I was working harder than I was on Tuesday's trainer ride (which was interval-ly!). I averaged 154 with a peak of 174. I think I don't notice the effort as much because the sweat dries and plus it's just fun.

Friday: run
6.0 miles/51:24/8:34 average pace
Easy run in Forest Park

Saturday: run
14.5 miles/2:00:45/8:19 average pace
Heritage Trail, Camas WA
Emily not only suggested this place, but had an amazing run the time she was there so I figured it was a great place to run fast. :) It's a 3.5 mile dirt (crushed gravel actually) trail that follows the west side of Lacamas Lake. It's got these little bitty hills that are kind of fun but kind of annoying. It was super windy too, but luckily we ran out and back twice so we only had the wind half the time.

We started with some easy miles to warm up- 3.87 miles at 8:15 average pace

Then 7 miles at Goal Pace (which for me to PR is 7:55). Those 7 miles were done at exactly 7:55 average! I didn't look at my Garmin the whole time so I was letting Zach guide us along and our splits actually ranged from 7:39 to 8:15. It was definitely hard but as we got near the end I got a second wind and finished strong.

The "cool down" miles were pretty rough! The final 3.63 miles were done at 9:08 average pace. I was toast and the wind was harsh and the little hills were sucking any energy I had left. I made a point to stop and read the interpretive signs about the local wildlife. Ha! I pretended to be very interested but really I just needed to rest. I'm ok with that though because I did the Goal Pace miles with only a 30 second or so break to suck down my Gu at the half way mark.

I'm very happy in general with this run! It was hard but I still have 5 weeks until my goal race. Plenty of time to rack up the miles and do speed work. :)

totals for the week:

run: 34.5 miles

bike: 1 hour trainer ride and one 10.3 mile ride outside

swim: 0 (Let my ears de-plug before I get back in the water. They are definitely better so I think this was a good decision.)

Multnomah Falls Pictures:

Me on the stone bridge:

From the stone bridge:

On the hike up:

Looking down the falls (see the bridge and parking lot on the right of the photo)

Columbia River from the top of the falls:

Mist:

Mist:

Zach, back down near the bottom:

Looking up at the top of the falls, zoomed in on the viewing deck:

Bettah

I'm feeling soooo much better! It took about a week but I'm definitely on the mend. I'm still blowing my nose a few times a day and my ears feel all plugged up but I feel ok. I decided I will not swim this week because of the ear thing, which is fine. My focus should be on running right now anyway. Speaking of running, it's going great so far this week!

Monday: run

6.0 miles/49:12/8:12 average pace

Marine Drive. I took a few breaks to blow my nose (So. Gross. Um, I didn't have Kleenex. Let's just say "Snot Rocket" doesn't quite describe what was happening. Snot Waterfall maybe. Sorry!!) The running felt great though.

Tuesday: bike

60 minutes trainer

CTS Power Intervals DVD. It was fun and pretty challenging. Nothing like Spinning but it kept me pushing harder than I usually do on the trainer. I was definitely sweating a lot. I wore Zach's HRM and I averaged 137, with a max of 174 in the intervals.

Wednesday: run

8.0 miles/1:10:28/8:49 average pace

Waterfront/Springwater. I took it easy and ran longer rather than doing speedwork. I figured my lungs would appreciate it.

Plus I did my pushups Monday and Wednesday, and I did other strength training including core work on Tuesday. The pushups are getting hard- I'm on week 3 now (repeating each week twice) and today (Wednesday) I did the following sets: 14, 19, 14, 14, and Max which I was able to do 20. Damn! It wasn't even that bad. I'm awesome.

Last night all the Portland Bloggers (and honorary Portland Blogger Julianne, who is primarily aligned with the RoHos) got together at Carlyle for fancy cocktails and fun conversation. I think the floating orb in front of Zach's face is Emily's spirit. Those present in the physical realm, from Left: Erika, Amy, Julianne, Zach, me, Alisa, Cindy, Sarah.

I'm working up the courage to get my bike workout going. I have to decide between riding on the trainer and braving the cold outside. I love riding outside but don't know how long I'll be able to take it today. Though cold, the sun is shining so I feel like I should take advantage. Tomorrow is an easy run and then Saturday is a long run with Goal Pace miles. I'm feeling really good about this upcoming Half Marathon (April 5th) and I know a PR is in the stars for me. This weekend's run is a key workout so I'm going to give it my all. Sunday we are going snowshoeing. :) If I don't post again, have a great weekend everyone!

Good luck to Julianne at Napa!! And to everyone else racing this weekend. Have fun! Stay (or get!) healthy everyone.

finally!

I just got back from a wonderful 8 mile run. I think I am finally on the mend! The last few days were a total loss training-wise but I think that was the smart decision. I haven't really run since Monday (besides Wednesday's 2 mile suffer-fest) and haven't done any swimming or biking since Tuesday. What I have done is lay on the couch and blow my nose. A box of kleenex, half a bottle of Nyquil, and a quart of OJ later I think I'm better. I took today's run very easy, and kept the distance shorter, despite reeeeeally wanting to run long. I stopped several times to blow my nose (carried my fuel belt with the big pocket for this reason) and drank lots of water. Zach went ahead and did his long run so I ran alone and just listened to podcasts and stuff. Lots of people out and the sun was shining too. Great day to be out. I love that just a couple of days of forced rest makes me appreciate running all over again. :D

Saturday
8.0 miles/1:14:46/9:21 average pace

That's it for the week for me, I'm going to take tomorrow off and just be ready to hit it full force on Monday. So here's the totals for my week of sick:

run: 18.5 miles (plan was about 32)
bike: 1 spin class
swim: 3500 yards

wednesday and thursday

I should have seen this coming. I thought the sore throat was on its way out but turns out it was just getting comfortable! And my awesome monday and tuesday workouts probably made it worse. Tuesday evening I started feeling pretty awful and I hardly slept that night because I was sneezing and coughing so much. Wednesday I spent on the couch drinking tea and orange juice and blowing my nose.

I walked over to the gym to take a steam and thought I'd try running just a little on the treadmill. (stupid) I made it two miles when my upper chest started hurting and I knew I had to stop. Dammit!

Wednesday: run (ha)
2.0 miles/20:00/10:00 average pace

I did my core training and pushups yesterday too, which really was harmless since I took long breaks between sets.

I bought some Nyquil yesterday and took it about 11:00 last night and while I didn't really sleep well I did feel a LOT better. No sniffling, coughing, or sore throat. I feel good today!

BUT, as hard as it is for me to be sedentary, I promised myself I would not even try to work out at all today. I am going to go steam again and will fight the urge to jump in the pool for a quick kick set or do just a little strength training. I really need to get completely over this cold so that I can resume my training. The plan is to spin and/or run tomorrow and then I have 14 miles scheduled for Saturday. I can adjust that if I need to, but I really hope I don't! I hate hate hate being sick.

Product Review: RecoverySox and TravelSox

This is incredible delayed, but better late than never. I will return to your regularly scheduled blabbing tomorrow, so just bear with me here.

As I know I've mentioned a LOT, my main point of injury is always my shins and lower legs. Every time I train for a marathon or do too much speedwork I get shin splints and super sore calves. I stretch and ice and use the foam roller and try to run on soft surfaces... in other words, I've tried everything. At the peak of my training for CIM I realized there was one other thing I had yet to try: compression socks. If you don't use them yet yourself, I'm sure you've at least seen them on the Olympic runners or on the Ironman coverage. I am in no place to go into the science of it, but it's all about stimulating blood flow in your lower legs. Several companies make some meant to be worn during running, but I never got around to purchasing them.

Well, right before the marathon, I was contacted by the company that makes RecoverySox and TravelSox, and they offered to send me some pairs to try out. Of course I want free stuff, so I said sure. I was already well into my taper, so I didn't end up wearing them at all while running. Instead, I used them for their other purposes: recovery and travel.

I wore them after some of my runs during the taper and I liked them! It felt good to have them kind of gently squeezing my lower legs. Other than that, I can't say they performed any miracles... my legs still hurt like hell. But, to be fair, I'd run myself ragged for months and I doubt a pair of socks was going to make a dent in that. It didn't hurt though, and also... look how sexy!

So, kind of 'meh' on the RecoverySox, but I actually was really excited about the TravelSox. See, my mother-in-law in San Diego is an avid triathlete and also a nurse. She always gives me great advice about training and general health stuff. I love having someone with medical training in the family! Anyway, she has always really emphasized to me the risk of developing Deep Vein Thrombosis, or blood clots in the legs. This is scarily common in young athletes who travel or are otherwise sedentary immediately following intense or prolonged activity. If the clot breaks loose and travels to your heart or brain, you can die. Yikes. My mother-in-law has seen many cases of this and has known people who have had this happen (the blood clots, not death). I know you are supposed to move your legs around to keep the blood flowing, but compression socks are another way to keep yourself safe. Since I knew I was going to be flying home only hours after the marathon I wore the TravelSox. And as you may have guessed, I neither developed DVT nor died! Yay!

So that's my review! I hope you enjoyed it. If you are interested in buying some, check out the links above. Thanks for reading! :)

monday and tuesday

I feel like I've done so much yesterday and today that I want to post about it before there is more! First, let me say that I actually have been fighting a sore throat since like Sunday. It is already getting better thankfully. I have been drinking lots of water and getting my usual tons o' sleep and taking my vitamins. Most of my training has been at an aerobic pace so hopefully I haven't pushed too hard. I think it's fine.

So here we go:

Monday: run
8.5 miles/1:15:55/8:56 average pace
I wanted to check out the entire Fanno Creek Trail in Beaverton, but I think there is still more! At 4 miles, which I decided was enough since I still had to run back, there was a sign indicating the trail continues after a stretch through a neighborhood. I guess I'll have to go out there for a longer run sometime. Oh, and on the way back I got kind of lost, hence the extra 0.5 miles.

Monday: swim
2000 yards/44:09
Right after the run I drove to the Aquatic Center to swim. At first I was really tired and thought of cutting it short but after a couple laps I got into a groove. I think it's like running where the first couple miles feel hard and you feel like you're not getting anywhere, but once you see the distance climb you get encouraged and want to keep going. Here's the workout I did (still just swimming solo, not masters class):

500 swim warm up
500 kick (alternate 50 kick/50 swim)
350 speed: 50 y in :44, 100 y in 1:40, 50 y in :45, plus recovery laps thrown in.
500 pull
150 cool down

When I got home I did my pushups, I'm on my second time through Week 2. It seemed easy since I've done it before. The sets were: 9, 11, 8, 8, max (I did 17).

(before I move on to Tuesday I feel like mentioning that I did some other stuff that isn't actual training: rode my bike 6 miles with Zach on his run; walked the mile or so down to Emily's and back last night for an awesome The Bachelor watching party with her and Sarah. Oh and I also went and sat in the steam room at the local 24 hour fitness- I got a week pass just so I could do that.. it really has helped my throat.)

Tuesday: swim
1500 yards/31:49
Back out to the Aquatic Center today. I was kind of short on time. I did:

200 swim warm up
300 kick
500 pull
500 swim

Tuesday: bike
1 hour Spin class at 24 hour Fitness
Whoooooo hooooo! So since I have this week pass at the gym I decided to go to my first EVER spin class. And holy shite, it was awesome!! Emily has been going to this so I made her go with me. That was nice cause she gave me tips and answered all my questions (such as "Are you f-ing kidding me??"). It was seriously intense! I really loved it though. I felt very strong and was proud of myself for not keeling over.

After my heart rate dropped and I cooled down I hit up the steam room again and drank about a gallon of water.

Well that's it! I am loving the variety of tri training and the fact that it takes a big chunk of my normally boring, lonely day. I am looking forward to actually doing some racing!

sweetie gonzales

Happy Valentine's Day!

I am sitting here drinking wine, nibbling some brie cheese, and playing around online while Zach creates some kind of delicious chocolate dessert... I am forbidden from entering the kitchen so I don't know what he's working on exactly. All I know is I'm going to devour it immediately after dinner. Or, you know, before. Whichever.

Zach and I had an amazing run in Forest Park today. We were just talking about it and he called me Speedy Gonzales, and I thought he said Sweetie Gonzales, hence the title. Sorry if that is offensive? No I'm not, lighten up. Dude is fast.


And so am I.

Saturday: run
11.0 miles/1:26:28/7:51 average pace
Here's the splits. Keep in mind the main trail in FP climbs for about a mile or two, then more or less evens out. But it's a little rolly the whole way. We stopped a few times between miles 4-6 or so to rest, enjoy the view, and make out (kidding). I didn't use my GPS since I can't keep a signal up there and the trail is marked accurately.

1- 8:34
2- 8:10
3- 7:52
4- 8:08 (average, missed the 4th mile marker)
5- 8:08 (average)
6- 8:00 (turned around at 5 1/2)
7- 7:34
8- 8:07
9- 7:37
10- 7:35
11- 6:28

That last mile is a screaming downhill, but still. I'm sure that is the fastest I've ever run a single mile, and it was after running 10 hilly miles.

Happy Valentine's Day, my loves!!

5k

Not running, swimming! I swam 5000 meters between yesterday and today and it was fun. I am still just doing lap swim by myself rather than masters and I love it. I didn't push very hard either swim but I felt like I could swim forever at the easy pace. I also got in a good run and a little partying with Emily. Here is the breakdown:

Thursday: swim

3200 yards/1:07:41

I went early in the day and they have lap swim for several hours so there were no time constraints. Also, I had nothing else going on so I just took my time and kept swimming. I never got tired or bored at all, it was actually really fun and the time and laps were flying by. I could have kept going but was starting to get really pruney and figured it had to end eventually. I am not 100% sure that is the farthest I've ever swum in one session, but it's right up there. Here's the workout I made up as I went along:

2000: 10 x 200 (150 free, 50 breast)

500: kick

500: pull

200: cool down

Thursday: run

6.4 miles/54:53/8:35 average pace

Easy run with Emily along the river and Springwater Corridor.

Last night Emily and I had a really interesting night out that involved a free movie premiere, which we left about half way through, some drunk shopping, and a little clubbing. I didn't even know Portland had clubs! It started to get a little crazy so we decided to quit while we were ahead. It was a fun and bizarre night. I can't resist sharing a couple pictures which you will find at the bottom of this post.

Friday: swim

1800 meters/40:54

They had the pool set up long-course for a meet this weekend, and they have this moveable bulkhead thing that they put in the middle. So today really was in meters. I was moderately hungover and just tired and hungry, so I didn't swim as far. The cool thing was that I swam in the deep end- they have the full set of platforms for diving so it's a 13 1/2 foot depth, it's nuts. It seems a lot deeper than that. Kind of creepy actually! Here's the workout I did:

500: warm up, alternating 50 free/50 breast

600: alternating 50 kick/50 swim

500: pull

200: 4 x 25 hard/25 easy I did the 25s in :21 or :22 seconds. I think that is fast for me but I don't really ever time myself on 25s... I know I usually do 50s in like :48 seconds.

picture time! These are crappy cell phone pics of us in rare form so take it for what it's worth:

me in a trendy prom dress meant for someone half my age:

Emily solo dance party

I call this look "Wet Seal gangsta"

and then there were these:

Yikes. :D That is embarassing but too funny not to share.

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Well Zach and I have a fun Valentine's Day planned for tomorrow. We're going for a long run in Forest Park and then making dinner at home. I am going to make Italian sausage ravioli with Gorgonzola cream sauce. And then Zach has strict orders to make me something chocolate. :)

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I hope everyone has a great weekend with their loved ones!

princess of power

Just a quick mid-week update here. I had such a good day today I couldn't wait to post.

First, yesterday

Tuesday: bike

45 minutes trainer

Snore

Wednesday: run

6.0 miles/48:20/8:03 average pace

My schedule called for 5 miles with 3 @ Tempo pace. Since I'd cut Monday's run a mile short I added it onto today's run. I also decided to do an extra Tempo mile cause I was totally feeling it. After a very slow 1.5 mile warm up, my 4 LT splits were:

7:34

7:37

7:15

7:31

Yay! That third mile was a little fast and I had to stop because I had a side cramp, but otherwise I felt really strong.

Then I came home and did my pushups- I'm on Day 2 of Week 2 (I'm doing each week twice). The workout called for sets of 12, 10, 9, 9, then a final set where you max out. I did 20!! That's a PR by 3 over Friday's late night showdown. Aww yea!

The rest of the week is going to be all about swimming since I missed Tuesday's swim. I will go both tomorrow (Thursday) and Friday and try to do around 2000 yards each time if I have time. I'm also cycling tomorrow (outside if it's not raining) and running Friday. Then Saturday Zach and I are going to do a long run with hopefully some fast miles thrown in. We'll see.

In Biggest Loser news, it was a great episode and I wasn't too sorry to see Blaine go home. I was, however, pretty annoyed by his little "where are they now" segment at the end where he claimed to be training for an Ironman but got the distances completely wrong. He said "The Ironman is over a 1.5 mile swim, 80 miles bike, and a half marathon." What?? I mean, good for him, but he doesn't know what the hell he's talking about. Pretty funny.

weekend challenges

It was an action packed weekend that included one scheduled workout and two impromptu fitness showdowns.

So, Friday night we had some friends over and had some wine and hung out. They are hilarious and we always have a great time. As the night progressed and everything got a little fuzzy, I decided to do the "footprint test" on my friend Deana because she's going to get some real running shoes and do a 5k this spring! In the process of doing that, we somehow got on the topic of our pushup challenge and our other friend, Dana, basically wanted to go head-to-head with me. After telling her I'd done like 50 pushups earlier in the day as part of my training (in 5 sets) I think I said "I'll kick your ass" and we were off. I did 17!!! And of course, won. It was awesome.

Saturday: run

12.0 miles/1:45:43/8:49 average pace

Zach and I drove out to Southeast and ran on that stretch of the Springwater. It was really sunny and warm, about 55 degrees. I wanted to run slow (I'm alternating long, slow runs with shorter, goal-pace runs) so I wanted Zach to run ahead and I would keep my pace easy. I loaded up my iPod and just enjoyed the scenery. It was a beautiful day and a great run.

Sunday we headed out in the afternoon just to walk around and maybe get some food. We headed toward Northwest and ended up hiking up the steep streets of the West Hills. We found these amazing long staircases that short-cut the winding streets and decided to have a spur-of the moment time-trial. Zach ran up 150 stairs in 30 seconds and I took 55 seconds. I almost blacked out it was so freaking hard. Zach thinks we should RUN up there and repeat the time trail. I think he is insane. At the bottom of the post there are some pictures of the stairs and of some of the amazing homes up there. Not a bad view either.

totals for the week:

run: 30 miles
bike: 35 miles

swim: 3200 yards

(and 126 pushups total, plus other strength training)

yay!

So here we are already into a new week. I have a feeling this one is going to be a little challenging because I have a few things going on that will affect my schedule. Yesterday I volunteered at the Children's Book Bank from 9-noon. Today I have a Dr. appt, tomorrow I have my library volunteer job, and Thursday they are testing the fire alarms in my building so I need to get the hell out of here for a few hours. Oh, and it snowed this morning which screwed up my plans of driving out to the pool (the highway is gridlocked). I'll work something out. I ended up waiting till 5:00 pm yesterday and just running with Zach:

Monday: run

5.0 miles/45:36/9:07 average pace

Slow easy run along the river. It was a clear night and the city was beautiful.

We did our pushups after the run and I'm feeling really strong already. I'm repeating each week so right now I'm starting week 2. I did 15 for my "max" in my last set.

Have a great week everyone! Pics below:

150-ish stairs:

There are actually benches to rest in between flights:

And here's a few of the beautiful old homes in the West Hills:

Me and my valentine:

workin it

I'm so proud of myself this week. I haven't bailed out on a single workout! I swam, biked, ran, and even am rocking the pushup challenge. Also, I'm feeling very positive and upbeat about the job/life situation (more on that below). And to top it off I've officially lost 5 lbs since Jan 1.

Here's the training recap since we left off on Tuesday evening:

Wednesday: run
5.0 miles/40:19/8:04 average pace
I'm sort of following the half-marathon training plan from Bob Glover's Competitive Runner's Handbook, which is a great running resource that I've used since I started back in 2004. I'm tweaking it a lot but I am following his speed workouts, which always fall on Wednesdays. This week was 5 miles with 3 x 1 @ LT pace. My splits were: 7:28, 7:55, 7:42. Kind of all over the place but in the range. I took a little break in between each one since he listed it as intervals and not a nonstop tempo run.

Thursday: bike
20.0 miles/1:24:35/14.1 MPH
This was the first time I've gone more than 15 miles since last fall so I kind of took it slow. I faced a headwind and a gradual incline on the way out, which slowed me even further. Also the trail (I rode on the Springwater Trail) is pretty rough and bumpy which sucked some of my speed up. It was nice turning around though, with the slight decline and tailwind I was flying. It was definitely a split-personality type ride: on the way out I was very frustrated and questioning how I"ll ever be able to do the 112 miles in the Ironman but on the way back I felt like a rock star. Especially when I passed a couple women on mountain bikes at about 20 MPH who I swear to god said "Whoa!" *guitar wail*

Thursday: swim
1700 yards/36:17
Non-masters swim with Zach. He got off early (we went to the dentist) so we just went swimming about 5:30 instead of waiting for masters to start at 7. I actually swam farther than he did during this session because he took a few breaks and I pretty much swam nonstop. I actually kind of like swimming non-masters for now, I am able to set up some fun workouts and do my kicking drills and stuff.. I might put off joining masters for another month and just build a base like this for now.

Friday: run
6.0 miles/50:33/8:26 average pace
Easy run in Forest Park. Got real muddy and had a great time.


As I mentioned above, I am really feeling good about my employment situation this week. Which is to say that I enjoy being unemployed. I've been keeping busy with my training, volunteering, and job researching. I feel like something will come up when it's meant to be (I'm a big believer in fate) and so I'm just going to enjoy the ride. I've actually had a couple of good networking opportunities come up and am going to continue to focus on finding a good job in my field. It'll happen.

In the meantime, I have a fun new thing I'm doing. Get this, so you know how in social situations people like to ask "what do you do?" (no offense taken, I've asked this too)? Well I sometimes hate telling people that I actually am unemployed and getting into the whole depressing story and talking about all that stuff for the duration of the conversation. So now, I'm going to start answering "Oh, I volunteer down at the library and I'm a triathlete." Then, the conversation gets to be about something I love and want to discuss! I tried this out at the dentist yesterday and I must say it was awesome. We talked all about Ironman training and it was fun. I'm not claiming to be a professional athlete, but it really is who I am. I'm not just a sorry unemployed sap, I'm a triathlete.

Of course, if I think there's a chance of making a professional connection, screw the triathlon stuff, I will absolutely talk at length about my job search!

Have a great weekend, gang. Rock on.

Swimbikerun and Interview!

No, not a job interview... a blogger interview! :) We'll get to that. But first, some training updates. I'm hitting all my workouts so far and feeling very good about it. Plus it's all sunny and warm and spring-like. Can't beat that.

Monday: run
7.0 miles/1:02:40/8:57 average pace
Easy run along the waterfront

Tuesday am: bike
15.5 miles/1:00:30/15.4 MPH
Sunny Springwater Corridor

Tuesday pm: swim
1500 yards/34:00
Solo swim in the afternoon. I had plans that would have kept me from Masters class this evening, so I went earlier. Plans fell through though so here I am blogging and drinking wine. :)

Ok so here's the interview portion of the program. Kelly had this on her blog and so now she's interviewing me. Here's my answers! If you want to play, follow the directions at the bottom.

1. What's your biggest accomplishment so far?

I'm proud of a lot of things, so I'll just pick one. I would say my 10+ year relationship with Zach is a big accomplishment. It hasn't always been easy and I've really learned a lot through our bad times and good times. I've learned to be respectful, patient, and to communicate without being a bitch. As we grow up and go through big changes in our lives we've only become closer and are happier than ever. Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.

2. What would you take to a deserted island (besides the hubby, he'd be there too).

To be annoying literal, I would take a fully-stocked survival kit including means of communication. And then I'd get rescued. And then I'd go to an island with proper resort accommodations.

3. Do you have any tattoos? If so, of what? If not, what would you get?

No, I don't have any. I think about it a lot though and would definitely get some kind of a bird. I had a really vivid dream once about a peacock tattoo and have always remembered it. Big colorful tail feathers and all that. I doubt I'll ever do it though. There's the whole Ironman tattoo thing... I wouldn't get the traditional Mdot but maybe something to commemorate it.

4. If you had to do it all over again would you do it the same? What would you change? (year, few years, after college life, you name it) (*I hope this one makes sense, it does in my mind :D)

I've made a lot of bad decisions in my life, but I try not to dwell on it. My first thought when I read this question though is that I would have been more respectful to my parents growing up. They loved and supported me and tried to protect me and I treated them like shit. I know a lot of teens are like that but that doesn't make it ok. We have a great relationship now and they are still wonderful parents, and I hope I'm finally a decent daughter. I am truly sorry I put them through that. Unfortunately, I know I'm going to pay when I have kids! Just like my mom always said I would... haha.

5. When are you guys going to have kids? Are you planning on it, I guess would be a better question. (I'm so nosy!)

Ya, we're planning on it. I always figured it would be when I'm around 30, but that's coming up awfully fast. We'll see. I do love me some babies. :)


Well that was surprisingly revealing! Anyone want to be interviewed next? Here's the rules:

To play along:

1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me."
2. I will respond by emailing you five questions. (I get to pick the questions).
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview others in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.


Have a great week everyone!