My friends gave me the “sympathy clap” today. And if you have ever been last in a race or in a workout in which people are yelling “good job”, while clapping, you know what I mean.
Here is todays’ story:

Every day since Tuesday (which was “best day ever”), I have been becoming more and more tired with the training workload. The week started off with a lot of excitement and eagerness. While the excitement and desire is still there today, my fatigue and irritability has started to try to push through.

I had the “bomb run” on my schedule today. The “bomb run” is a 7-10 mile loop that a collection of “Gazelles” do every Friday at 6am (YES, 6AM!!! and, yes, it is STILL DARK). It starts off mellow and gets faster and faster as the miles tick away. Usually I love this run because the people are really fast and SO NICE. And while I like to complain about the 6am start time (LOL), it is really nice to have my run over by 7:30am . Gilbert was our fearless leader today.

Like I said, we started off fairly mellow, however, I could tell within the first mile, that I possibly could be left….for dead. As soon as I thought the word “mellow”, the pace quickened to 6:30- 6:45 pace (a bit downhill). All of the sudden, as Chatty Patty was explaining the route to…

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I’ve been a little distant from my blog lately. ML and I have been really busy getting our life together in Austin…organizing, settling, etc. Sorry. But to be honest, there hasn’t been a whole lot going on…well besides “TEVA” man swimming next to me at Stacy Pool…another post for another time…LOL!

Cliff has also been kicking my ass daily. And I haven’t had as much energy lately. Every single day is a new adventure with Cliff…and I love it.

About a month ago, I was HATING training. It was all I could do to get out of the door. The weather was consistently COLD in Boulder and I was miserable! There were days that I ran at 1pm hoping for the warmest part of the day, which was 16 degrees!

However, being in Austin has helped changed that bad attitude around. I love training… in 70 degrees. I find myself smiling all day long. It’s funny how the weather has an impact on workouts for me. And lucky for me, I didn’t miss too many workouts in December. I have come to Austin in much better shape than last year.

I think Cliff was really smart with my training in December. First of all, he really listens to me. I didn’t do big hours and I didn’t get crazy with missed workouts. Basically, he just got me going again. Cliff knows that I’m a trainer snob and I won’t ride…

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I’ve been a slack blogger.
However, after many tags on FB, I finally relented and wrote 25 random things about myself.
I thought that I would share them on my blog…
25 Random Things About Me

1. When I am training hard, I tend to be less social and “hide”.
2. I have strong feelings against people who abuse animals. They disgust me.
3. I grew up in St. Mary’s County, Maryland. I love Maryland and think of it as “little America”. I miss it.
4. I grew up on a farm with lots of animals. My sister and I competed in horse shows, pony races, etc…we did it all!
5. I have lived in California, Texas, Tennessee, Virginia, Maryland, and Colorado.
6. I did an internship at the Lawrence Welk Resort in San Diego…LOL!
7. I am honest to a fault
8…and I don’t have patience for people who lie to me.
9. I live in Austin half of the year and I live in Boulder the other half of the year. I love both cities and feel like I have the best of both worlds.
10. My favorite city is San Diego.
11. I think of Brother John Devoe who was my middle school teacher and HS teacher every single day. He bought me my first pair of running shoes and he encouraged me to…

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My brother is finally home from Iraq! And I feel the need to shout loud from the highest mountain how happy and excited I am that he is safe and sound!
This is the BEST news that I have had in a very long time! And I wanted to share!
Welcome home JARROD!
I love you!

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This morning, ML and I were awakened by our wild animal living in our apartment walls again. However, this time it was screeching! I thought for sure that the possums had been caught. Our animal trap guy came over today, eager to take the critters away…only to find out that the possums were NOT caught. Dear go, I hope that screeching doesn’t mean that they are breeding! DAMN IT! The good news is that Luna and I are sort of getting used to the critter noises…although I’m not sure that is a good thing…hmmm. I guess it’s good for our sleep;).

I really haven’t had much to report. ML and I have been fairly busy. We do miss living with Fred this winter. He always seemed to inspire me to write about good stuff. He gave me a great TEXAS perspective.

I ran the 3M half-marathon this weekend. I ran 1:21 and change…about 6 seconds slower than last year….grrr. Admittedly, I was a bit disappointed. Last year, I wasn’t in very good race shape and I ran 1:21. This year, I am running much better than I have in a while, and I have a lot more confidence in my current level of fitness. I’ve been working very hard to get back down to my 1:16pr. While I realize I’m no where near those sorts of times right now, I am definitely in shape to run 1:19 or 1:20. I…

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ML and I are really enjoying this January weather in A-town. 78 degrees yesterday! WOW! I can really get used to this sort of weather in the winter;).

All is well in Austin. We are finally settled in our little apartment filled with lots of character. The possum traps were set yesterday and we finally had a great nights sleep. (In case I forgot to mention, we have had critters in our walls making lots of noises at night). They have been driving me and Luna crazy. However, ML and Blue dog have been seemingly fine sleeping through all of their chatter at night.

I am happy to report that our friend Todd found a TV in his garage the other day. We were hoping to get it hooked up before the inauguration, however, no such luck. It looks as though we will be going out tonight to watch it.

I had a nice little bout of food poisoning or a stomach flu which lasted a good 24 hours on Sunday. I am thinking it was food poisoning only because we had some refrigeration issues the first few days here. Plus, after being deathly ill last year with the flu, I got the flu shot this year. In any case, what ever the bug was, it help jump start my weight loss program…haha! It seems to take forever to lose those Holiday lbs!

I’ve had a nice little group of…

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Go to:

http://www.xtri.com/features_display.aspx?riIDReport=5272&CAT=21&xref=xx

…to see the latest on the LOVATOS.

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Well as much as I like to make fun of others for making stupid mistakes, I am pretty good at making fun of myself when I do dumb shit.

Today is a great example of not paying attention and making silly mistakes…

Apparently I read my run session wrong and decided to do my ten miles of intervals on the track. This might have been OK and fine if I hadn’t decided to wear brand new racing flats today. I usually don’t have a shoe problem. In fact, I’ve been wearing NIKE’s since I was 14 years old and they have never failed me…except today. Apparently the LUNARtrainer runs a half size too small. While the shoes felt amazing and absolutely PERFECT on the first set, I started to realize the size problem on my 3rd interval. Despite the irratation, I decided to finish the interval in the new shoes (once again, bad decision). My thought was that I would assess the damage before the 4th one and then switch the shoes out to my heavier trainers. The bottoms of my feet were pinched so badly that my feet were bleeding and getting raw…no bueno. (Notice my Spanish. I am, after all, in TX:)). The damage was done and every step just burned. I kept telling myself: “toughen-up buttercup”!. I finished it, but with a sore left glute and raw feet. ML was there, supervising. He suggested that I…

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We are busy getting settled in Austin. All of us (including Blue and Luna) are so excited to be here!!!

We finally have internet and electricity…another story for another time:)…and I look forward to sharing some of our stories very soon.

In the meantime, I will leave my very tough Boulder (and Baltimore) friends with this thought: Austinites think that 50 degrees and 10 mph winds is considered cold and blustery. Boulderites would call that a typical May day:)…
I am so loving this TX winter!

More to come later…
Thanks for reading!

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2 days ago it was a bit breezy and 60 degrees. It was pretty nice riding weather. ML and I had a lot going on that day as we are preparing for our trip to A-town. However, we put everything aside and ventured out for a ride. I love it when ML rides and runs with me. It seems like time just slows down and we really just enjoy each being with each other. We sometimes have our best talks during our rides together. Our runs together are a bit different as almost always he is doing intervals with me…there isn’t any talking during those times;).

Anyway, on Friday, we talked about our future together and what we think is in store for us in 2009. ML and I aren’t really big about making New Years resolutions. But, every day, I try to make a resolution on how to better myself. What I mean by bettering myself: It can be anything from being more patient with people, to not missing a workout that day. Every day is different from the next day. Today my goal is to conquer the snow:). We are having quite the snow fall right now and my inner voice is telling me…No, don’t do it!! Yes, I would rather skip my run…haha! But todays resolution is to conquer the snow..so as soon as I am finished drinking my tea, I’ll go for my run.

Only 2…

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