This is my resting brick face. If you haven’t a clue what I’m talking about, let me explain. In triathlon a “brick” session is when you perform two disciplines back to back in a workout like a run/swim or bike/run or swim/bike. You get the idea. I have been told on more than one occasion that I have a resting bitch face and I take that as a compliment.
So, when some clever company decided to merge the two and put it on a sleeveless shirt, my friend Paria took notice and sent it my way. I was only to happy to buy it and wear it proudly even if most people have no idea what it means, it makes me smile.
Since this was a cut back week, I had a major health scare with my dog and I accidentally pulled my nose ring out, I figured it was the perfect week to use the face my mother gave me – – that of a bitch.
WEEK OF OCTOBER 16, 2017
RUNNING
First things first. I had a great week of running with my long run being only 8 miles, followed by a two hour hike! I was so happy to not get lost in the woods or attacked by a bear, that the time flew by! I found my speed last week too with two runs that boosted my confidence.
Sunday – easy 5 miler with Star | 8:15 average pace
Monday – speed ladder by RPE done as 20 min warm up then 3 x (5 min @7 RPE, 3 min @8 RPE, 1 min @9 RPE,1 min easy) | 7.50 miles | 7:53 average pace
Thursday – 6 miles with 2 @HMP (7:15) and 1 @10K pace (6:40) | 7:40 average pace
Friday – 8 mile long run before hike (yes, I went hiking as per my coach’s instructions. See “reading” below) | 4 miles easy, 3 @HMP (7:15) 1 cool down | 7:40 average pace
Total = 26.5 miles
After Monday’s run on my super scary porch the boys created. How did this even happen?
CYCLING
It seems fall has finally arrived and I have no clue how to dress for it on the bike! I was meeting a friend for a ride on a 45 degree morning and we were both totally overdressed! I had three layers on top, winter long pants and gloves. It was a little much but the ride was gorgeous!
Wednesday – hilly ride | 24 miles
SWIMMING
Since this was a cut back week I had two pool session but neither was very long or very taxing. Obviously I enjoyed both immensely!
I’ve bee reading Chrissie Wellington’s new book To The Finish (full review coming!) and have tried some of her tricks in the pool. One is to hold tennis balls in your hands so you have a high elbow when entering the water. Yes, it’s absurd but it works! Plus, at this point, everyone at the YMCA pool is used to me doing stupid things like this. I’m basically a circus act in water.
I should charge money.
THINGS I LOVE
Celebrating my husband’s birthday and having the boys (or really just Miles) finally show in interest in baking with me.
My husband requested death by chocolate as his birthday “cake” and I was overjoyed to make it for him. I wasn’t thinking of picking up a Carvel cake from the grocery store or anything. I truly wanted to bake something that required buying an appropriate dish, baking brownies, making pudding, smashing Heath bars and adding Cool Whip topping.
It was super easy.
Until I mixed up the amounts of water vs oil for the brownies. They were a little hard but since I was crushing them anyway, I forged ahead! I don’t let a little thing like accurate measurement stop me when I’m baking. Pffff.
Then I had a stroke of genius and had Miles do the crushing of the Heath bars.
#BeastMode
My SIL later told me they sell them already crushed. Seriously. WTF? Why am I allowed in the kitchen and why didn’t the Pinterest recipe tell me about the pre-smashed bars? Just another reason to hate Pinterest.
Luckily it all turned out perfectly and my husband was happy on his birthday, which is all that really matters, right?
THINGS I DON’T LOVE AS MUCH
StarFire, my 9 month old Weimaraner, eating a poisonous mushroom and staying in a veterinarian hospital for three days!
It was horrible and it happened on my watch.
This dog eats everything when we go walking. Most of the time she scoops something into her mouth and then spits it out 5 seconds later. This time, I saw her eat what looked like a wad of dirt and I commanded “No Star! No!” thinking she would drop it as per usual, instead she swallowed it whole.
Twenty minutes later she was vomiting and drooling like there was a hose in her mouth.
I took her to the vet and there she remained, having the toxins flushed out of her, until her liver enzymes returned to normal.
It was a very long three days without her and we all missed her like crazy. From now on, I’m going to watch her like a hawk and go Chuck Norris on her ass if she even attempts to eat anything that is not in a dog bowl!
Taking a long, gorgeous, fall walk, two days before the “incident.”
READING
So much reading this week but I have to lead with this amazing recap of the Kona Ironman World Championships by Jesse Thomas, husband of Lauren Fleshman:
That Was Hard | Triathlete.com
Understatment of the year there Jesse but I got you. Read it to watch his impassioned, raw video, taken hours after a disappointing finish which included watching a friend of his get hit by a van during the ride portion. Truly just unbelievable.
I think my coach read this next article because suddenly she was asking if I had time for a hike this past week. My response? I don’t have time for anything but I will make it! And I did, also because I could bring my Star baby girl.
Most Underrated Endurance Workout? Hiking. | Outsideonline.com | Brad Stulberg
Research showed that “going hard while hiking in nature feels easier than going hard indoors.” I would have to agree since I’m not afraid of being eaten by a bear when I’m on the treadmill.
Star was in her element as we hiked a local mountain. She absolutely loved being off leash and blended in quite nicely. #CamoDog
My bitch also has a resting bitch face. HA!
Can you see her?
RANDOM EXCHANGE OF THE WEEK
In the car with my kids…
Me: So what are you guys going to give daddy for his birthday?
Miles: Advice.
Vaughn: The new iPhone X and then I’m going to smash his old one.
And that, in a nutshell, sums up their personalities.
[Tweet “The Rundown has resting #brick face, a dog health scare and bad baking but good reading!”]
How was your week?
Do you have resting anything face?
What was your last pet health scare?
I love that your coach told you to go for a hike! And I tears streaming down my cheeks from the Death by Chocolate creation…flashbacks from cooking with you last year. Lol! 🙂
I mean honestly!! Why do I even try? I should not be allowed in the kitchen. So glad I could give you a good laugh…:-)
Your boys crack me up. I think if you combined them, you would get me… lol! I want to do a birthday at your house. That video is EVERYTHING
Come on over!! I have a feeling we would be super dangerous together…in the best way possible 🙂
Oh, and Star and Ridley just need to start a disposal business, where they just eat everything.Glad she is ok!
Oh my word you are hilarious!!! I mean Fudgy the Carvel Whale wasn’t enough?! That porch would scare the shit out of my girls…and then they’d be sleeping in my bed for days!!
I mean really? Why is he so high maintenance?
And every girl in the neighborhood is terrified…including THIS girl!
I definitely have an RBF baseline… I heard about that triathlete that went through the window during Kona – crazy!!! I want to know specifically what advice Miles had to give….
Oh Lord!! That is insanity.
I can’t remember his advice but that kid is my sage so I’m pretty sure it was excellent 🙂
The “Resting Brick Face” shirt is AMAZING! I might need to get that for the Trimommas that I train with.
Can you seriously do a post on how to dress for cycling in CT fall. I rode last week and was totally overdressed and then I rode on Saturday and my feet and hands were freezing! Do you have a good pair of bike pants, I am in the market for more “seasonal” cycling options.
Loved the article about hiking. I did a 5 mile trail race yesterday and it was glorious.
Glad to here StarFire is feeling better, that sounds so scary! Who knew CT had such poisonous flora.
As always your Rundowns are a JOY to read.
Thank you so much Nikki!! And I need to READ someone else’s advice on dressing for cycling in this weather – clearly. They need to come up with the tool like RW has for “dress the runner!” I use that one all the time and it has never steered me wrong.
Definitely get the shirts! They are so appropriate 🙂
Your random exchanges of the week are my favorite part of the Rundown. Amazing. And your Death by Chocolate incident sort of reminded me of when Rachel makes the trifle on Friends!
I’m so glad my body can entertain you as much as they do me 🙂 And I haven’t seen that episode but I can only imagine. I’m a disaster in the kitchen!
That video of Miles made me laugh so hard! As is their exchange. Your Rundowns always make me laugh on a Monday.
I am so glad Star is okay! I wish I could let Ollie and Charlie hike off-leash – those two are chaos if off-leash when hiking. Ollie once almost caught a snake off-leash and that was the end of his off-leash adventures. And now there’s snow in our mountains so hiking with them will be extra interesting.
I’m so glad! Everyone needs a laugh on Mondays, especially heading into winter…
And now that you said that about the snake, maybe I shouldn’t let Star off leash!!! Yikes!
I saw that hiking article too- I’d love to work more hiking in!
The boys gift responses… amazing. I hope you keep a quote book somewhere to remember all of this!
Um, this kind of is my quote book but yes, I should put them in a more permanent place!! Thanks Laura.
Love that shirt! It almost makes me want to do triathlons. I don’t love hiking, but I really REALLY want to like it. I’ve got a hippie earthy side and I just feel like hiking in the woods would tap into that part of me, plus, I live in the PNW for crying out loud… there’s hiking everywhere up here! But, I dunno… I get antsy. I have issues. Happy birthday to your hubby! And your kids make me laugh so hard! I LOVE boys.
I seriously cannot believe you don’t hike???? What the what? Isn’t it like a law where you live? OMG woman!! You need a crazy ass dog like Star to go hiking with. She keeps me on my toes and I was sweating to death by the end!!
Oh no, so sorry about Star!! Glad they were able to fix her right up. Sucks when your furbabies are sick, though. 🙁 One of my kitties is sick – she’s going back in tomorrow. She’s had an upper respiratory thing going on and this morning, I could literally hear phlegm in her throat. Funniest sounding meow EVER. Hopefully, they’ll give her good meds and we’ll move on with our life. 🙂 *fingers crossed*
LOVE hiking! Can’t wait until my husband and I are living on the same side of the country again so we can do more of it. The Shenandoahs need exploring!
It definitely sucks and I hope your cat is all better! And hiking the Shenandoahs sounds like a dream…
1. My week was fine…not much exciting, although I am doing Barre3 and loving it.
2. I have resting “deep thought” face. I always look like I’m concentrating and I have the forehead lines to prove it.
3. We haven’t had a pet health scare with Hazel yet, which is good because our last scare wasn’t just a scare and I’m still missing my Nellie. 🙁
On a totally different note…I just stared listening to a new podcast called “Dirty John.” Really good!
Resting “deep thought face” is pretty funny. It’s probably from all the reading 🙂
I’m off to look up “Dirty John” since I have a 14 miler on Friday and I need something really good to listen to!
oh no poor Starfire!!! so glad she’s ok that sounds just frightening! our little rascals have given me several scares over the years and even when they test my patience in every way, my heart pangs whenever i think there is a possible wound or ailment. they are after all my first unnaturally born step babies. i get all gooey just thinking about their little personalities! even their naughty ways.. it’s very good training for mothering, i will stand by this forever.
i really can’t wait to read your review of Chrissie Wellington’s book because that will be the closest i get to reading it for quite a while. LOL. seriously though, that woman just blows my mind. i love her. can we just talk more about awesome women rather than watch the news??? and awesome dudes, yes them too. i’d like to just live in the bubble of awesome people and cool athletes. yes, i’ll take that life please.
your kids crack me up. give him advice?!!! that is the BEST thing i’ve heard. i can’t wait to use that one. i’m going to give everyone advice for christmas this year.
Yes to the bubble of awesome news and strong women!…and no sick pets!! 🙂
I have a permanent resting bitch face. To the point where friends have told me I’m intimidating. I don’t mean it. (Mostly.)
What happened to your nose ring?!
Same!!!
OMG the stupid nose ring. I pulled it out with a q-tip (I was cleaning it like a maniac after a pool swim) and I had to go back to the piercing place so they could put it back in, in a sterile environment. It was ridiculous but now all is good and it’s back in place! I’m also not allowed to clean the inside with anything unless there’s an issue… HA!
HAAAAA! That sounds like something I’d do. I did pierce my own ears 11 times, so I’m a little nuts. Glad it’s all sorted!