What I need to get through in the next 3 days:
-
-
-
- 1 core workout (oops, skipped this!)
-
-
-
That doesn't sound too tough, does it?
9.26.2006
3 days to go!!!
Only 3 days until we leave for Australia, woo-hoo!
What I need to get through in the next 3 days:
-21 more days of work
-1 swim session
-1 massage
- 1 core workout (oops, skipped this!)
-1 yoga class
-1 haircut & colour
-pre-flight beer and music at Austin airport
That doesn't sound too tough, does it?
What I need to get through in the next 3 days:
-
-
-
- 1 core workout (oops, skipped this!)
-
-
-
That doesn't sound too tough, does it?
9.22.2006
Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oi Oi Oi!
I am SO excited. We leave for Australia in 1 week!!! I can't wait to go home and see my family and friends, see my little sister get married, and just chill out for a week and a half. It's going to be soooo good. I don't know if I'm going to be able to contain my excitement for the next week!
9.20.2006
September goal... check
I did it! I did 10 regular push-ups today, followed by 9 more. Woo-hoo, I did it!
I'm surprised how quickly it took to build up the strength. So now I think I might revise my goal to be two sets of 15 regular push-ups by Friday 29th September... then I'm going to prove it to my Dad when we're in Australia the following week. I'm sure he'll tell me that it's not good enough and that I need to do two sets of 20 :)
Tickets to the gun show now on sale! :)
I'm surprised how quickly it took to build up the strength. So now I think I might revise my goal to be two sets of 15 regular push-ups by Friday 29th September... then I'm going to prove it to my Dad when we're in Australia the following week. I'm sure he'll tell me that it's not good enough and that I need to do two sets of 20 :)
Tickets to the gun show now on sale! :)
9.19.2006
ACL
This past weekend was insanely good. Even better was that it was an insanely good 4-day weekend. I feel totally refreshed and energized.
It all started on Thursday when I picked my friend Shelley up from the airport. I went to university with Shelley (back in Australia) so we've known each other for 13.5 years! She lives in Atlanta with her husband and it was the first time we've seen each other since Christmas... which is way too long ago. So we had plenty to catch up on. Thursday night we met up with the Gordon and Damien (Shelley's husband) for a drink at Doc's Motorworks. It was one of those beautiful late summer evenings. We drank and chatted and just had a really good time.
Friday it was just us girls and we had fun having lunch and shopping in the new 2nd Street District. We both tried on our first pair of cowboy boots and were almost tempted... but we decided not to buy them and now I'm hoping that Santa might put some under the tree this year! Then we headed over to ACL and listened to our first act for the festival - Joy Davis, a female country music singer. She sounded good. Then we listened to a bit of Stars on our way over to hear Gnarles Barkley (so-so), which we didn't stay at for very long, then met up with Gordon and Damien. After that we hit Gomez (really good) and then Thievery Corporation (awesome) and grabbed a good old Aussie pie from the Boomerang food stall (yum). After that it was a tiny bit of John Mayer (bleugh) followed by Van Morrison (way too quiet!) and then we decided to head back to our place and conserve our energy for the next day.
Saturday we had a very lazy start, except for Gordon who actually got up and ran 7 miles! We arrived at ACL early afternoon to listen to Ben Kweller, who suffered from a bad nosebleed and was only able to play 4-5 songs, but what a trooper for even playing at all! Then we met up with Sheri and Jeff and we all had Chuy's (very yum) and hung out at Barton Springs pool for a while. Damien and I even did some diving off the diving board, much to the amusement of Gordon and Shelley. After that it was back to ACL and Aimee Mann (good), The Ranconteurs (very good), and Massive Attack (really awesome). We were hoping to catch a bit of Willie Nelson, but we couldn't get very close to the stage and he was REALLY quiet. So we went to Massive Attack instead and they were brilliant.
Sunday Gordon and I actually got up and went swimming with the T3 crowd. That was tough. I felt like I had lead blocks attached to my shoulders! Then it was another lazy breakfast with Shelley and Damien, and more ACL. Our first show for the day was KT Tunstall, a female singer from Scotland. She was really great - fantastic voice, really catchy songs. Then Gordon took Damien to the airport while Shelley and I had lunch and went back to Barton Springs to cool off and do some more diving. We made our way back in time to get really close up for Ben Harper. We weren't disappointed, he was the highlight of the show for me. Great music and great energy. It was fantastic.
We decided to call it a day after that, and we met back up with Gordon and went to PF Changs for some delicious chinese food. While we were having dinner it started bucketing down and there was a lot of thunder and lightning... lucky we decided to leave when we did!
It was such a great weekend. Partly because of ACL but also because we had such great company for the whole weekend. I definitely want to go again next year and hopefully we'll have more out of town visitors!
It all started on Thursday when I picked my friend Shelley up from the airport. I went to university with Shelley (back in Australia) so we've known each other for 13.5 years! She lives in Atlanta with her husband and it was the first time we've seen each other since Christmas... which is way too long ago. So we had plenty to catch up on. Thursday night we met up with the Gordon and Damien (Shelley's husband) for a drink at Doc's Motorworks. It was one of those beautiful late summer evenings. We drank and chatted and just had a really good time.
Friday it was just us girls and we had fun having lunch and shopping in the new 2nd Street District. We both tried on our first pair of cowboy boots and were almost tempted... but we decided not to buy them and now I'm hoping that Santa might put some under the tree this year! Then we headed over to ACL and listened to our first act for the festival - Joy Davis, a female country music singer. She sounded good. Then we listened to a bit of Stars on our way over to hear Gnarles Barkley (so-so), which we didn't stay at for very long, then met up with Gordon and Damien. After that we hit Gomez (really good) and then Thievery Corporation (awesome) and grabbed a good old Aussie pie from the Boomerang food stall (yum). After that it was a tiny bit of John Mayer (bleugh) followed by Van Morrison (way too quiet!) and then we decided to head back to our place and conserve our energy for the next day.
Saturday we had a very lazy start, except for Gordon who actually got up and ran 7 miles! We arrived at ACL early afternoon to listen to Ben Kweller, who suffered from a bad nosebleed and was only able to play 4-5 songs, but what a trooper for even playing at all! Then we met up with Sheri and Jeff and we all had Chuy's (very yum) and hung out at Barton Springs pool for a while. Damien and I even did some diving off the diving board, much to the amusement of Gordon and Shelley. After that it was back to ACL and Aimee Mann (good), The Ranconteurs (very good), and Massive Attack (really awesome). We were hoping to catch a bit of Willie Nelson, but we couldn't get very close to the stage and he was REALLY quiet. So we went to Massive Attack instead and they were brilliant.
Sunday Gordon and I actually got up and went swimming with the T3 crowd. That was tough. I felt like I had lead blocks attached to my shoulders! Then it was another lazy breakfast with Shelley and Damien, and more ACL. Our first show for the day was KT Tunstall, a female singer from Scotland. She was really great - fantastic voice, really catchy songs. Then Gordon took Damien to the airport while Shelley and I had lunch and went back to Barton Springs to cool off and do some more diving. We made our way back in time to get really close up for Ben Harper. We weren't disappointed, he was the highlight of the show for me. Great music and great energy. It was fantastic.
We decided to call it a day after that, and we met back up with Gordon and went to PF Changs for some delicious chinese food. While we were having dinner it started bucketing down and there was a lot of thunder and lightning... lucky we decided to leave when we did!
It was such a great weekend. Partly because of ACL but also because we had such great company for the whole weekend. I definitely want to go again next year and hopefully we'll have more out of town visitors!
9.13.2006
9.12.2006
Monday Night Trail Run
Due to the change in everyone's training schedule we decided to move our weekly trail run to Monday nights. Yesterday the weather was pretty bad around parts of Austin so we weren't quite sure if it was going to happen or not. We even had an early bail by Nedra who didn't want to potentially get stuck in traffic (I can understand that!). But the weather ended up okay and so Gordon and I met Mike (and his cute dog Kharma) at the 360 trail entrance. We ran for 55 minutes and it was fantastic. It was pretty humid last night, but at least it wasn't too hot! The trail was also a little damp and covered with leaves - it was like a little slice of Autumn in there. Wonderful!
9.11.2006
September goal update
Last night I did:
- 10 girly push-ups
- 5 regular push-ups
- 5 regular push-ups
That's pretty great progress! Plus, it was after a hard morning swim workout with lots of pull sets, and a full plate of pasta for dinner (and a glass of wine!).
- 10 girly push-ups
- 5 regular push-ups
- 5 regular push-ups
That's pretty great progress! Plus, it was after a hard morning swim workout with lots of pull sets, and a full plate of pasta for dinner (and a glass of wine!).
9.08.2006
Both feet off the ground!
The photos from Jack's Generic triathlon are up at Kreutz Photography (www.kreutzphotography.com). In one of the photos I actually have both feet off the ground!
I also love this photo of Gordon beating his competition!
I also love this photo of Gordon beating his competition!
September goal update
We were up early this morning to run. We did an easy 6.5 miles up to St. Ed's and back down South 1st. We ran with Nedra. Mike was supposed to join us but he has already started tailgating for the big Texas vs. Ohio State football game tomorrow!
After the run I went home and did my daily set of push-ups. Today I did 10 girly push-ups (for warm-up), followed by one set of 3 regular push-ups, then one set of 2 regular push-ups. Progress!
After the run I went home and did my daily set of push-ups. Today I did 10 girly push-ups (for warm-up), followed by one set of 3 regular push-ups, then one set of 2 regular push-ups. Progress!
9.06.2006
My goal for September
... is to do 10 full push-ups!
Don't laugh, but it's true.
I can do a half ironman, I can win my age group in a sprint triathlon, I can do an 8mi bike time trial @ 22.7mph (aiming for 23mph in the next TT!), I can run 2.5 miles @ 7:25 per mile, I can swim a length of a 25m pool without taking a breath and doing it hardcore style (no arms, only kicking). But I CAN"T DO MORE THAN 1 REGULAR, NON-GIRLY PUSH-UP!
Embarrassing, I know.
Solution: Gordon is going to make me get up every morning during the month of September and do push-ups. First, a warm-up set of 10 on my knees, then one set of regular push-ups to failure (currently I'm at 1!), then another set of regular push-ups to failure. The final check-in date is September 29th, the day we leave for Australia. I WILL do 10 regular push-ups on this day!
Don't laugh, but it's true.
I can do a half ironman, I can win my age group in a sprint triathlon, I can do an 8mi bike time trial @ 22.7mph (aiming for 23mph in the next TT!), I can run 2.5 miles @ 7:25 per mile, I can swim a length of a 25m pool without taking a breath and doing it hardcore style (no arms, only kicking). But I CAN"T DO MORE THAN 1 REGULAR, NON-GIRLY PUSH-UP!
Embarrassing, I know.
Solution: Gordon is going to make me get up every morning during the month of September and do push-ups. First, a warm-up set of 10 on my knees, then one set of regular push-ups to failure (currently I'm at 1!), then another set of regular push-ups to failure. The final check-in date is September 29th, the day we leave for Australia. I WILL do 10 regular push-ups on this day!
9.04.2006
Gordon "Got Chicked"
Gordon and I did the "Jack's Generic" triathlon today. It was our last opportunity to do a triathlon this year and we decided to race each other. The last time we really raced each other was at the Splash triathlon in 2002 and Gordon beat me by 38s (I was fastest during the swim and run portions, Gordon was fastest during the bike). That was the most fun race we've done because we got to start at the same time. Today Gordon started 6 minutes ahead of me so it was a little harder for both of us to gauge where the other person was on the course. The only time we saw each other was on the run course and by then it was still pretty close! But I did it. I chicked Gordon today! By 1 minute and 38s!
Amanda - 1:17:24
Gordon - 1:19:02
*these times are adjusted for the 6 minute head start
Again, I was fastest on the swim and run but only ever so slightly slower on the bike (21.1mph compared to Gordon's 21.3mph). It was a great race. We both had fantastic races and felt really strong and fast. A great end to the tri season! I also managed to win my age group again (W30-34). I must be doing something right I guess... although I still need to work on my running!
We've both had a really good tri season this year and we ended on a really positive note (well, I did at least! :)). Next up for both of us will be Ironman Arizona in April 2007. We start training for that in mid-October and I'm really looking forward to it! But I also can't wait for some downtime in September, and Austin City Limits, and our trip to Australia for Kate and Tim's wedding. Oh, and I also can't wait for the cooler weather. Bring it on!
Amanda - 1:17:24
Gordon - 1:19:02
*these times are adjusted for the 6 minute head start
Again, I was fastest on the swim and run but only ever so slightly slower on the bike (21.1mph compared to Gordon's 21.3mph). It was a great race. We both had fantastic races and felt really strong and fast. A great end to the tri season! I also managed to win my age group again (W30-34). I must be doing something right I guess... although I still need to work on my running!
We've both had a really good tri season this year and we ended on a really positive note (well, I did at least! :)). Next up for both of us will be Ironman Arizona in April 2007. We start training for that in mid-October and I'm really looking forward to it! But I also can't wait for some downtime in September, and Austin City Limits, and our trip to Australia for Kate and Tim's wedding. Oh, and I also can't wait for the cooler weather. Bring it on!
9.02.2006
FILA Relays
Last night was an absolute blast. It was definitely hot, hot, hot! The mercury hit 100F while we were waiting around at the start and by the time we got going at 6:30pm it had cooled down to a balmy 97F! It also happened to be an ozone action day yesterday, meaning that "individuals should take action to avoid breathing in too much ozone (stay indoors...) ..." meaning that the conditions were just perfect to run a hard 2.5 miles!
I chose to lead off the Crazy 88's. As I was waiting at the start line I kept thinking "don't I have to swim and bike first?" it was a very strange feeling to be lining up for a running race, I haven't done that in a very long time! I started out pretty fast and by the time I hit the 800m mark my throat was completely dry... I could barely swallow (that would be the lovely ozone for you!)! I grabbed some water at the water stop and managed to throw some into my mouth and the rest over me. I saw that I hit the first mile in about 6:45 pace, fast for me (and I had an inkling I would pay later). The second mile had a couple of short hills which weren't too bad (we've done a lot of hill training) and it was fun to pass people going up the hills! I didn't catch my split at the 2 mile mark but I knew that I had slowed down slightly. I was definitely hurting and I was feeling a little spaced out, which means I was working really, really hard! From mile 2 to the end it was all downhill so I cranked it up as much as I could. I heard Mike (our team mate) cheering for me at the final corner and I tried to pick it up and sprint in to the finish, but I just didn't have anything left! I crossed the finish line and passed the "baton" to Gordon. Then I spent the next 10 minutes getting water, walking around, trying to cool off and recover! My time was 18:12 (7:26 pace) which I was really pleased with. It's the fastest I've ever run for that distance!
After recovering I went to cheer on the rest of our team mates, first Gordon who finished in a really impressive 18:27 (fantastic time!!!), then Nedra, then Mike. Our team came 4th overall in the "Open Mixed" category (there were 27 teams in that category.
Big thanks to my fantastic team mates who ran so well and who made the event so much fun!
I chose to lead off the Crazy 88's. As I was waiting at the start line I kept thinking "don't I have to swim and bike first?" it was a very strange feeling to be lining up for a running race, I haven't done that in a very long time! I started out pretty fast and by the time I hit the 800m mark my throat was completely dry... I could barely swallow (that would be the lovely ozone for you!)! I grabbed some water at the water stop and managed to throw some into my mouth and the rest over me. I saw that I hit the first mile in about 6:45 pace, fast for me (and I had an inkling I would pay later). The second mile had a couple of short hills which weren't too bad (we've done a lot of hill training) and it was fun to pass people going up the hills! I didn't catch my split at the 2 mile mark but I knew that I had slowed down slightly. I was definitely hurting and I was feeling a little spaced out, which means I was working really, really hard! From mile 2 to the end it was all downhill so I cranked it up as much as I could. I heard Mike (our team mate) cheering for me at the final corner and I tried to pick it up and sprint in to the finish, but I just didn't have anything left! I crossed the finish line and passed the "baton" to Gordon. Then I spent the next 10 minutes getting water, walking around, trying to cool off and recover! My time was 18:12 (7:26 pace) which I was really pleased with. It's the fastest I've ever run for that distance!
After recovering I went to cheer on the rest of our team mates, first Gordon who finished in a really impressive 18:27 (fantastic time!!!), then Nedra, then Mike. Our team came 4th overall in the "Open Mixed" category (there were 27 teams in that category.
4 Crazy 88's 12 F/30 4 1:08:22.90It was a great race. Afterwards we had beer and tacos and cupcakes and hung out with our friends, it was a beautiful evening (once the sun started setting). Hopefully we will be back next year to try and win 3rd place!
Amanda McGregor, Gordon McGregor, Mike Wilen, Nedra Bray
Lap 1 18:11.70
Lap 2 18:27.75
Lap 3 16:11.40
Lap 4 15:32.05
Big thanks to my fantastic team mates who ran so well and who made the event so much fun!
9.01.2006
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