Hottie Alert!

Max Longree, winner of IM Louisville '08 is in town and staying down the street from me!! Holla!! We've swam together twice now... and by that I mean he happened to be at the pool when I was. He's here to escape the German winter and to get in some training for IM Brazil. Oh my gosh... ME TOO!! It MUST be fate!

Injury Report:

I have a funny feeling this is going to be a recurring caption in my posts. The training has been going phenomenal and I'm finally feeling a bit stronger on the bike and swim. I got in a great 100 mile ride this weekend and felt surprisingly strong throughout, and I'm regularly putting in 5 hour training days.

I've taken some time off running because of a nagging overuse injury. Yesterday was the one week off mark, so I decided to give it a go. I warmed up nice and slow, stretched, and ran! It felt great! 50 minutes into the run, however, my foot exploded. Yes that's right, I'm now hobbling around on a half-useful foot. Fortunately some good friends hooked me up with a physical therapist specializing in sports injuries; I go in tomorrow!

After the run we went for a swim. It was a really good swim and I even had a breakthrough moment (not because Max was there... even though he was there and I couldn't help but to always breathe to his side ;-)) when I started using the dreaded band. I'm working on a more powerful pull and faster turnover, and tying my feet together really seemed to drive the point home. My times were faster afterwards! Gold star for me!

Post swim we lifted some weights. After all, our day had consisted of riding 45 miles of intervals, running for an hour (almost), and swimming... why not put the cherry on top?! Well this was the straw that broke Monica's back, literally. We were doing some convoluted Heather exercise when my back just gave out. I'm now sitting here typing in the weirdest position because even the slightest movement sends sharp shooting pains down my back to the top of my bum. Last night I was lying down watching TV and it took me about 45 minutes to figure out how to stand up and walk to the bathroom. Today it's all spasmy and pissed off! Seriously? Can't a girl get a break? Why didn't IronHeather's back snap in half? Oy!

Well onto brighter topics... yesterday was Fat Tuesday! I'm giving up cereal for Lent so yesterday I ate a whole box of Oh's. So today... I ate a bowl of cereal for breakfast. Dammit!! OK, so Monica's Lent starts tomorrow. Starting tomorrow, no cereal! Man, I'm bad at this!

Tonight the Gollnick's and I are going to The Pancake House to celebrate Fat Wednesday. The trainer that I'm working with told me that in order to get down to my race weight I need to take in 4000 calories! Yes, you read that right! In order to get DOWN to my race weight, meaning in order for me to LOSE weight, I need to eat 4000 calories per day... so bring on the pancakes!

This weekend is the Gasparilla Distance Classic! It's a huge road race weekend in Tampa and Joanie and Mount and a few other friends will be in town to race the 15K with me!! Heather hopes to reclaim her title as top local female (which consists of a sweet prize purse). After the race we're planning an open water swim and a trip to some shop in some mall that has the best chocolate in Florida (FYI - you may not want to seek my consultation on nutrition advice, it might be a little off).

Anyways, despite my wimpy body I'm having the most amazing time down here! The people are great, the weather is beautiful, the ocean is clear and has a sand bar so when I freak myself out by seeing sharks and killer jelly fish that aren't really there I can just put my feet down and stand! I miss my family SOOOO much and can't wait see them. My dad got his braces off and looks like a stud and I hear that Katie is walking around with a pumpkin in her shirt. Oh man!! It's been too long, but I'm soaking it all in and making the most of it!

Stay strong up north, I'm sending sunshine your way!! Peace out homies :-)