Dietary Supplements

I can't remember a time when I didn't take at least a multivitamin every day. Over the years, a variety of different supplements have come in and out depending on my needs at the time. Some I began taking for a specific reason and then continued to take for maintenance such as Glucosamine and Chondroitin to protect my joints from the beating they get from running.

When Phantom was diagnosed with cancer this summer, supplements took on an entirely different meaning. My husband and I started taking CoQ10 again, a higher dose of vitamin d3 and are looking into krill oil supplements as well.

A friend of mine asked me to write down what a take because now she's on the supplement bandwagon after she started taking krill oil for her cholesterol levels and heart and she suddenly feels so much better. So much better that she recently signed up for an Ironman triathlon!

The former model, Carol Alt is really into supplements. I saw her on her health show recently and she says she keeps all her supplements in boxes and has a morning box and an evening box full of supplements. She must take 100's a day! She also eats a raw diet most of the time..

All of this made me wonder exactly how many supplements I take a day. I decided to write it down and here is my list of daily supplements.

1. 2 a day multi-vitamins for hair, skin and nails (from Life Extensions)

2. Calcium with Vitamin D3 and other minerals

3. 2 or 3 per day amino acid supplements (as well as protein powder in my green smoothie.)

    More than that when I'm training hard and long such as for an Ironman triathlon.

3. Chlorella (it helps with heavy metal detox among other things)

4. N Acetyl Cysteine (also helps with detox and lung function)

5. Turmeric (anti cancer properties) I take a pill form at night and add the powder form to my smoothie.

6. Cinnamon (control blood sugar) I take a pill form at night and add the powder form to my smoothie.

7. Garlic (heart health and anti cancer) I take the pill form but we also add it to some of our food.

8. Glucosamine with Chondroitin and MSM (joint health)

9. CLA (helps body burn fat)

10. L-carnitine (also helps body use fat stores for energy) Want to loose weight? Try this!

11.Green tea fat burner pill (fat burning and antioxidant!) Same as above!

12. Fish Oil (heart health, anti cancer, just good stuff to take!)

13. Flaxseed (same as above) I use to take this as a pill but now I ground the real stuff up and add it to my green smoothie.

14. CoQ10 (heart health and energy) I use to take this for endurance, now I take it for it's anti cancer 

     and heart health benefits)

15. B12

16. Folic acid

17. Singulair - I have to take this for asthma

18. Reservatrol - I use to take this in pill form but now I get it in liquid form aka red wine!

On my list of supplements to purchase is:

1. Krill oil with astaxanthin ( it's a huge part of my cats anti cancer protocol and that's enough reason to 

    purchase for me!)

2. Spirulina (super healthy, anti cancer food)

When I race I also take an electrolyte/salt supplement and another supplement that helps the body get rid of lactic acid called Vo2 Max both from carbopro.com.

We get almost all of our other supplements either at the local drug store or at Lifeextension.com. 

  

So it looks like I take about 18 dietary supplements per day, unless I forgot one. I don't think I have. In the past, I've taken an extra C or E or zinc or evening primrose or selenium, etc. Vit. C and E is in my regular multi- vitamin though. I would take extra if I felt I needed an immune system boost. 

Have I left a really important supplement out that I really, really need to be taking? Please let me know! I'll add it to my "supplements to purchase" list.

Thanks in advance.

Jelly Face

image from Wikopedia.com

When the Murph and I first started living together we discovered the need to compromise when it comes to the food that was allowed in the house. What this means is I have to compromise or be accused of not being a team player. I have a little bit of a sweet tooth and tend to snack. The Murph doesn't like having any temptations around because he says he has a slow metabolism and doesn't need to eat certain things.  His list of things to never have in the house include ice cream, jelly, donuts, potato chips, cream cheese, pies, cakes, most kinds of cookies and candy.

I have compromised for the most part and have actually started eating better myself. I now satisfy my sweet tooth mostly with yogurt, fruit, and certain not so sweet and buttery cookies such as a bag of dried up. cardboard tasting animal crackers. No more almond pillow cookies.

Needless to say, last month when the Murph went to take care of his dad in New Jersey, I went all out crazy at the grocery store. One of the first things (other than donuts) I got was jelly. I had suffered with peanut butter and no jelly sandwiches for far too long.

Unfortunately, I couldn't eat the entire jar before the Murph got back home so the jar has sat in the refrigerator and I've been able to have peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and jelly on toast and jelly on bagels. Heavenly!

There were a couple of episodes where the Murph threatened to throw it in the garbage, but I managed to salvage the precious jar. I was "making it last" because I knew I wouldn't be able to manage to get another jar into our shopping cart at the grocery store. I've tried sneaking things in by putting them under the napa cabbage and the bag of kale, but the Murph always manages to sneak them back out by the time we get to check out and my search for it in the shopping bags after we return home is futile. My goodies are gone!

I knew how valuable this jar of jelly was so I tucked it away behind my bottle of wine and Mike's Margarita's in the fridge door. It was safe... for a while.

Then it happened! The other day after spinning in the gym, doing weights followed by a very steamy 4 mile run, I was hungry. A green smoothie was not going to hit the spot that day. I was craving a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and I was so happy because I knew I still had half a jar of jelly left. I was "making it last."

The only problem was that when I opened the fridge, the jelly was missing! It wasn't hidden behind the adult beverages anymore! I asked the Murph if he threw my jar of jelly away and he said "nooo". I asked him where my jar of jelly was and he said "I don't know".  After a thorough search of the fridge, I KNEW he had done something to the jelly so I asked him if he ate my entire jar of jelly. That's when he finally admitted to doing something to my jar of jelly and said "there wasn't that much left in the jar. I had a sandwich and used what little was left". 

I don't really know if this is true and he really ate the jelly or if he just threw the jar away because he was tempted to eat it. All I knew was my jelly was gone and he was the culprit!

Over half the jar was left!! He ate or disposed of it and didn't tell me and now I can't get another jar of it because he doesn't like it in the house because when it's in the house he's out of control. He can't "make it last" so I have to suffer. It's not so much the jelly he doesn't like in the house, it's that he likes peanut butter and jelly too much. It's not the cream cheese he doesn't like, it's the bagels and cream cheese he likes too much. The only reason why bagels are "allowed" is because there is no cream cheese and who likes dry, plain bagels, but me.

This was my look when I realized my jelly was gone and there wasn't going to be a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for me that day. 

I also look that way when I'm hungry and I was very, very hungry that day. Don't mess with me when I'm hungry!

Of course the Murph laughed and said "Whaaattt?" and now whenever I have "that look" on my face he says "Don't give me that jelly face!" or he sometimes just calls me "jelly face". Somehow I have to learn how to outsmart him in the grocery store and learn how to hide things better.

In the meantime the Murph suggested that I just put honey on my peanut butter sandwiches which is totally not the same as jelly. Not the same at all!

I Confess - I Turned The Alarm Off And Went Back To Bed (And Other Important Things)

What a week! I don't even know where to begin. The Murph's job offer in St. Pete? The Boy's eviction notice from his college apartment? Phantom, the cat's, bad, good, trying to get him to eat, drink and take his pills and supplement days? My half ironman training (that's not) days?

The 15 hours of continuing education real estate license classes I have to take so I can activate my Alabama license, so I can then get a reciprocal Florida real estate license without having to take the 60 hour pre-license class again. Searching online for a place to live in the Tampa/St. Pete area before we head back down there in a couple of weeks so we can see them in person.

That doesn't include all that's coming up next week. We are going back to Birmingham to clean out and pack up the house and then turn it over to a Birmingham realtor to sell for us. Hopefully, she will sell it quicker than we were able too. Being there to show it is key. That's hard to do when you're 4 hours away like we are. We weren't all that concerned about it until we discovered we were moving several more hours away. Any way, that's all next week.

This past week the Boy, who has Asperger's, called me from college while we were still in St. Pete saying he got an eviction notice from his apartment. This is after the fact that the Boy had gone down to the office several times to get this vendor form filled out for Alabama Rehab. AL Rehab has to have the form before they can pay the apartment complex. The Boy is eligible for a part of his rent to be paid by Alabama Rehab. Without their help, the Boy can't afford to live there. There have been a series of phone calls, emails from the Boy, me and Alabama Rehab to the apartment complex, but nothing has been done. I even called the corporate office and the Boy has been to the apartment office several times. Despite all of this, since rent is past due because the form hasn't been filled out, the Boy got an eviction notice.

This has FINALLY been straightened out (I think) so the Boy's okay for now. His classes were dropped also, when his financial aid wasn't applied to his account because of me. That was back a few weeks ago when I didn't know the difference between an income tax return and a transcript. This was taken care of as well so he's okay there too. Finally!

The Murph accepted the job offer and we are still waiting for everything to be finalized. We should know something this week. We already have a realtor trying to help us find a place to rent in Tampa/St.  Pete and I've been looking online. What a headache!

Me and Miss Mary

Phantom is doing pretty well. We had dinner with Miss Mary, an energy healer, who has been helping Phantom, last night. She's been sending Phantom healing energy and giving me other suggestions for him. She thinks he might be dehydrated. He was drinking tons of water when we were in St. Pete and not so much now that we are back in Pensacola. If you want to keep up with how he's doing he has his own facebook page here and blog here.

The Murph and Miss Mary

I had to upgrade my computer system so I could take the online CE Real Estate classes. That was a pain since I thought I could do it myself and wasted several hours attempting it. Who knows what all I've downloaded on this thing now. I have a dinosaur of a computer! I've only gotten halfway through the first risk management class and have 5 classes (15 hours) total that I have to take. Boring!

Half Ironman training? Well, uh, yes, I'm sucking at it! I haven't swam in a couple of weeks or been on my tri bike. I've been indoor cycling, weights and lots of running, but shorter runs of between 3 - 9 miles. Okay, mostly just 3 miles.

Sunday was the Trigulfcoast's club members only practice triathlon for the Santa Rosa Island Sprint that is coming up in a couple of weeks. I was signed up to do the practice race which was going to be officially timed with a chip and everything. It would have been a great practice race and good overall brick workout. The night before I pumped up my bike tires, set my tri clothing out and packed all my gear into my transition bag. I set the alarm on my IPhone for 5:30 a.m and was all set to go!

My alarm went off at 5:30 a.m. just as scheduled. It was still dark outside at 5:30 a.m. That totally sucks because I terribly dislike getting up when it's still dark outside knowing that I have to swim. In the ocean!!

I got up, turned my alarm off, fed a snack to two of our curious, demanding cats, who were probably wondering what the crap I was doing, then I crawled back into my nice warm bed between my sexy husband (he has incredible body heat at 5:30 a.m) and our other four legged furry kitty, Ed, who likes sleeping on my side of the bed.

A few hours later, the Murph woke up, looked over at my sorry sleeping ass, laughed and asked me how I did on the race.

I told him it was an incredibly tough race! I had to stumble 10 feet to turn my alarm off, followed by a couple of hours of some marathon sleeping. It was grueling, just grueling! I even shortened my Sunday long run because of how exhausted It was from getting up at 5:30 a.m.

And did I feel guilty about being a no show?

Heck no!

St. Pete Beach Sunsets, Toasted Monkeys, And Weird Moon Pictures

I thought this maxi dress was going to be perfect to wear as we transition from Summer to Fall (yeah, Fall at the beach. Really!), but I've been wearing it so much all summer that I'm probably going to be sick of it by the time Fall arrives. For sure it will be in threads by next summer. I love it that much!

Our trip to St. Pete Beach was FUN! The sunsets were AMAZING! And living in Pensacola Beach, I am very spoiled when it comes to amazing sunsets. St. Pete Beach faces west so the sunsets are right over the Gulf of Mexico, which is amazing on an entirely different scale than Pensacola Beach where the beach faces South and we get the sunset going down over the bay and the Santa Rosa Sound. Totally different and amazing as well.

There were many cool beach bars within walking distance of our hotel and we frequented as many as we could fit in in the short time we were at St. Pete Beach. I loved the name of this one - Toasted Monkey.

Very fitting since we saw several people who were indeed toasted and acting like monkeys. In a nice way though.

Of course, we took Phantom with us since he has to have his cancer and heart medications and special foods. The first day while I was doing a 3 mile run, I bought this new snappy red harness for him so he can go outside with us without running off. He didn't like it much at first (still doesn't) and did this dead possum pose where he would lay there dead weight and refuse to budge even if I poked at him and tried to bribed him to get up.

When I finally gave up and said, "Okay, lay there! But I'm going outside!" and then I would go outside and stand by the door, he caught on quick and popped right up. Even Phantom can overlook a little indignity if it means getting outside for a while.

The people who worked at the hotel were very impressed at the way we had "trained" Phantom to walk on a leash. Trained! Ha!

In this creepy looking picture we were trying to capture the moon behind us so the camera flash was turned off. Right after sunset, before all the stars came out, there was only the crescent moon with a very bright star next to it that we are pretty sure was a planet. There was several debates on which planet it was. I say Venus because isn't that one called the "evening star'"? Or is Venus the "morning star"? My second guess is Jupiter.

The Murph thinks it was Venus too. Below is a little better. It doesn't look like fairies are about to land on the Murph's head like the above picture does.

We got several pictures like the last one. Our camera's not high tech and neither are we. A couple from Germany had a high powered super camera that was taking some amazing pictures of this. The Murph offered for them to swap cameras with us, but they weren't interested. They got a good laugh at our poor camera's expense though.

Anyway all they got are silly moon and planet pictures and who even knows for sure if it even was a planet for real. We got an entire light show!

Traveling South In Florida

 Here's the reason why I haven't posted anything for a couple of days. I'm at the beach. Not the beach I live on, but another beach further south in Florida. Thursday we packed up Phantom and drove down to the Tampa/St Pete area because the Murph had a job interview. The drive took up about 7 hours from Pensacola Beach, but Phantom and I handled it very well. I did better because I drove 2 1/2 hours of the drive. That was the part where the Murph didn't do very well.

He was glad to take over the wheel again.

Phantom slept most of it. I let him out of his crate twice to use his litter box and stretch his legs by jumping into the way back area of the SUV where I couldn't get to him. He was very cooperative though and came to me when I called him because he thought he was getting out of the car. He is a very good traveler and a sweet kitty.

While I was running yesterday in St. Pete,  I went into two different pet boutiques and purchased this cool backpack, rolling carrier for Phantom. I also purchased a bigger halter that actually fits him so we can take him outside with us without him running off. He loves being outside, but can hide inside the backpack if he gets scared.

I put him on my back and went to the hotel's out door grill for lunch while we were waiting for the Murph to get back from his job interview. Phantom would go from "wanting to explore and attack the birds" to "I'm scared! I better hide!" The backpack was his "safe" spot.

He did really well with the new halter. Much better than the other halter I have for him. I didn't get any good pictures of it though. Just a bunch of strange looks from the other tourists. I guess they've never seen a cat on a leash before.

Good news is...

1. The Murph got a job offer so it looks like we might be moving down here. Good news because he got a job, but bad news we have to leave Pensacola Beach. We LOVE it there, but we can love Tampa/St. Pete too. The beaches are HUGE!! Like on steroids huge!

2. I found not one, but two vets who specialize in holistic medicine down here and have called and emailed them to see if they can help Phantom fight his cancer holistically. I am very, very exited about this because I found zero vets in Alabama or the pan handle of Florida that does holistic stuff.

I stopped the Palladia after he threw up the last pills. I think they helped stop the cancer spread, but now I'm looking for holistic stuff that will take over where the Palladia left off.

In October we go to Miami for the half ironman triathlon. I feel like I've suddenly become a total beach bum, taking a tour of many different beaches! Florida beaches this time. It reminds me of when I went to visit a dear friend in Tortolla and her husband took us on a tour of all the beaches on the island. We circled the entire island and hit all the best spots. I was amazed at the difference in all the beaches on that small island. Some rocky, some smooth and crystal clear, some with huge surfing waves. It was so fun!

What are some of your favorite beaches?

That's all for now because I have to get a work out in and then hit the beach!

Meet Ms. September

Ms. September's yoga pose for the month is the side plank. This is a one I need to do. The regular plank is something I do all the time. It's a great core exercise for runners. It would be really easy for me to add the side plank to my core workout.

Regular plank
Image from womensfitnessmag.com

As I was flipping through the calendar the other day I realized that the first name on the left side of the calendar was  the cat's name and not another name for the yoga pose. So I guess Maude is the cat name and not the pose. Since Maude is probably a girl name, she is indeed a "Ms." so I can correctly call her "Ms." September.

My apologies to Stallone and all the other male cats over the past year who I referred to as "Ms" when they were actually a "Mr."

Opps! Blonde moment. Oh well, at least I figured it out before January.

This is one reason why yoga may be dangerous for me. The instructor would say "side plank" and I would get all confused because I would be thinking, "Maude, you mean Maude?"

Reason two is I have no sense of balance. I'm always a little off balance. My best yoga poses are the ones where both feet are on the ground.

Seriously.

Sorry To Neglect You Konabarbie Blog!

Today when I got on this blog I realized I haven't done a blog post since Tuesday. Apparently my half ironman training isn't the only thing getting neglected around here!

What can I say except it's been a really busy summer. I don't know exactly why it's been so busy, but it has been and it's flown by so fast. Tomorrow will be September already! Maybe I'll even do a new September yoga kitty pose blog post because it seems that I missed Ms. August's pose entirely.

I think.

Friday was yesterday so there's no fashion Friday this week. I totally missed it again! This is as much fashion as I can handle these days. As I was washing clothes the other day it seemed like everything was either work out wear or lounge wear, not really pj's, but close. Nothing I would wear in a public setting.

Thursday we went out to meet some friends who drove over from Daphne for dinner. I wore this Free People maxi dress that I love. I don't know how long it will last before either I wear it to threads or my cat, Cadence does a number to it with his paws. He is very talented at pulling threads with those sharp talons of his.

Dress:  Free People;  Purse: Coach; Necklace: purchased at an art show several years ago; Bracelet: old

It was a very pleasant evening. I tried a new drink similar to an Orange Julius. It was a delicious frozen concoction that tasted just like those orange and white dreamsicles. So delicious that I didn't even have time to get a picture before it disappeared. It was so rich and delectable that I decided I better not get sa second one so I chose the Chipotle Pineapple Mojoto.

Pineapple with a little bite and almost gone before I remembered to get a photo.

I also got a Strawberry Mango Mojito, but no photos because our friends had arrived and I don't know if they would understand the weirdness of taking food and drink photos that we bloggers tend to do. It was bad enough they had to suffer through cat stories. Luckily, they are cat people too and have four of their own so they understand. They even had their own cat stories. We shared photos of our four legged babies. Well at least I did. She had left her phone in the car so no photos.

I also didn't get a photo of the food, but I got the shrimp and grits and they got grouper sandwiches. The Murph chose very ice cold beer and lots of it! He got take out later at his favorite sports bar down the road.

Our view from the restaurant...

Phantom is doing good with all the chemo and holistic things he's on. He even has his own blog now. He just begged me for one so how could I resist? Click Here for his latest post about the Boy's visit.

We had to come to Birmingham this weekend and of course Phantom has to come too. He LOVES it because he is the "only"cat while we are here for the weekend and he gets ALL the attention. He's at my feet right this very minute as I'm typing this post listening to the jazz CD that the Murph has playing. Somebody named Paul Desmond who played with Dave Brubeck in "Take Five". Something I'm suppose to remember because I've heard it before, but I don't. The Murph rolls his eyes and says my cat has better taste in music than I do. I'm sure I would remember it if I heard it again. I hear jazz every single night so it's no wonder I'm confused about which CD is "Take Five".

The one we are listening to now is a very nice CD. Phantom loves the saxophone. Now if we could just get him to eat! He only eats when the other cats are around so they can't get any.

Falling A Little Behind Again On Training, But Not Too Bad

My weekly comparison of my half ironman training is below. The column to the left is what the plan says to do and the column to the right is what I actually did last week. Not as good as the week before but not too terrible either.

  The 70.3 Plan                                                              What I actually did that day

Monday           1250 yd swim                                          1250 yd swim

                         25 mile bike                                             22 mile bike

Tuesday           2000 yd swim                                          6 miles spin bike

                          60 min run                                               30 min run = 3 miles

Wednesday      30 mile bike                                             2 miles run aprox 20 minutes

                                                                                       

Thursday         1500 yd swim                                          8.5 miles on spin bike aprox 30 min                             

                          50 min run                                               5 mile = 50 min run

Friday               20 miles                                                  8 miles spin bike = 30 min

Saturday           80 min run                                              16 mile spin bike = 1 hour
                                                                                           30 min run = 3 miles

Sunday             50 mile bike                                             1 hour 40 min run = 9 miles

I did core, about 20 minutes last week and weights, about 1 hour which is not included on the 70.3 plan.

Total workout hours on plan = Swim           5750 yds aprox 3 hrs 

                                                   Bike             125 miles aprox 6 - 7 hours

                                                   Run              3 hrs (no mileage included in plan on minutes run)

                                                     Total aprox 12.5 hours

Total I actually did last week = Swim             1250 yds aprox 30 min

                                                   Bike               60.5 miles aprox. 4 hours

                                                   Run                20 miles aprox 3 hrs 30 min

With weights and core added. 

                                                     Total aprox  10 hrs

As usual I am way behind on swimming, a little ahead on running and somewhat behind on the bike, but not too terribly behind. I really need to get a 50 plus bike ride in and a 2500 yd swim in soon and continue with my regular training. I think I'll be okay if I can do that. Especially if I continue to increase my long runs in preparation for the November marathon I plan to do.

Fashion Friday - One Day Late Cause I Was Dealing With the IRS

I know it is Saturday and I've already missed my chance at doing a "Fashion Friday" post, but I'm going to do one anyway and just pretend it's still Friday. That way we get an extra weekend day. Wouldn't that be great?

Since it's a day late and I've had the dress and the shoes for a while, I'm not going to include links. I've found that to be a useless way to monetize my blog anyway and it is extremely time consuming. Also there's not a lot of new fashion for me these days with a son in college and a cat on chemo. The dress is BeBe, the bracelets are Free People (on the right) and unknown (on the left) and the shoes are Zigi Soho.

I also don't have that much time to blog lately because I'm down to the last two months before my big race - the half ironman.

Last week was a good training week with lots of biking and a couple of really good swims along with the usual running. This week my training dropped off because I spent some marathon training times on hold with the IRS trying to get them to send me a copy of my 2012 Income tax return transcript so I could give it to the Boy's college financial aid office. Those IRS people are the most paranoid people ever! Trying to convince them that I am who I say I am and that I'm am indeed standing next to a fax machine for hours because that's the only way they will send it to me, was a challenge.

After signing up for faxburner.com and getting a fax number that I could pull up by email, I stayed on the phone 40 minutes only to be told they couldn't send it this way because of hackers. I had a back up fax number to the fax machine at our condo's real estate office not far away. I told them no problem, send it to that fax and my husband would run down and get it. They said, "NO", I have to be standing by the fax machine since I'm the one who called so I would have to call back. There was no way I could run over to the real estate office without losing cell phone signal in the elevator and would therefore have to call back and start over anyway.

I ended up going over to the real estate office, waiting on hold for an hour, getting a very paranoid IRS worker on the line who wanted to make sure I was next to a fax machine and where exactly was this fax machine and then proceeded to ask me questions about the last three years of my life to prove that I was who I said I was. I am really surprised she didn't ask for a picture of me standing next to the fax machine for proof as well as blood samples and finger prints. It took 30 minutes on the phone with her before she finally sent the transcript!

In a few days I will be getting another transcript in the mail from when I was on hold for 45 minutes on Wednesday. I wasn't near a fax machine that day. Unfortunately, it won't get here in time to help the Boy. That's why I spent over an hour and a half yesterday getting friendly with a fax machine.

It would have been so much better if the retrieval tool had worked and then I could do it all online with a few clicks and about 5 minutes. Not my luck!

It was down to the last minute this week because the final balance in the Boy's account has to be paid or all his classes will be dropped. The financial aid office will not process his financial aid until I gave them this "transcript". This is the Boy's third year at that college - same financial aid, same process (I assumed) only this year they are asking for this transcript thing that I have never had to send in before. Last year I didn't file income tax because I had no income. This year, since the Murph and I got married in Oct. 2012, we filed jointly.

I guess this is why they want the transcript now. Who knows!  I sent them a copy of our return and thought that was it because I never heard from them. Only the Boy was getting emails from them. When I found out about these emails, I thought they must not have received the return I originally sent so I resent it.

Wrong!

That was when they FINALLY told me that what I sent wasn't what they needed. They just assumed I knew what they were talking about. Big mistake! After 21 years raising a child on the spectrum and having to deal with an ex who's an ass, I'm practically brain dead. As a matter of fact, after three days and approximately 4 hours of being on hold with the IRS and a dozen emails and phone calls going back and forth to the college, I'm numb.

I spent most of yesterday afternoon staring blankly into space. The Murph asked me what I was thinking about. Thinking? Nothing. Blank! I was zoned out! It's a coping mechanism I adopted to keep me from going completely insane.

Pomegranate martinis help the zoning out process!

Imported Beer is the Murph's zone out drink of choice. He was hanging in right there beside me as we made our way to the IRS office only to be told we had to wait 2 hours just to get a number Wednesday. That's when I decided being on hold on the phone may be the best poison of choice. The fax machine became the issue at that point. We don't have one.

Barbecue shrimp with grits helps too because as the Murpy says - I'm an eater.

We should get stickers or t shirts that say "I Survived the IRS".

Only now we have to deal with the school. I have a feeling the financial aid is not going to be processed fast enough and somebody is going to get classes dropped again. I've already called the accounting office to get them to flag his account and not drop classes but they said he would have to come down there yesterday by 5 pm. Of course he was at work until 5 pm and he called and they, of course couldn't do anything unless he came to the office in person. Of course. Why make things easy? Nobody has to work or go to school or have a life. Everybody can just drop everything to come by an office at anytime or stay on hold for hours. (sarcasm here)

Now I remember why I never had a real job while I was raising the Boy. Only the part time, part pay flexible ones, that weren't always flexible enough.

It seems this is just what is going to happen every single Fall semester while the Boy's in college.

Sigh.

Nailed It Last Week In Training!

I had a really great training week last week and actually got several bike rides in on my tri bike and a few swims in as well. I almost nailed the training plan exactly!

Here's the comparison of what the training plan said to do and what I actually did:

                   The Training Plan                                                   What I Actually Did

              Yds/Miles                Time                                     Yds/Miles                 Time

 Swim     3500 yds                 1 hr 45 min                             2200 yds                   1 hr

 Bike       80 miles                  5 hrs                                         80 miles                  4 hrs 47 min

 Run       16 miles                  2 hrs 25 min                            16 miles                   2 hrs 40 min

Total Overall Times:          9 hrs 10 min                                                            9 hrs 27 min

Just about nailed it anyway! I am still a little behind on the swim yardage, but still plenty of time to make up for it. I was really happy with the bike time and mileage last week. Last week was the bomb but so far this week, I am behind again. I have been in the gym on the spin bike and it's a bit more intense workout on the spin bike. Even though I'm not getting the miles and time on bike in, I am still getting a good workout.

Also added to last week was another 52 minutes of weights/strength training, core and stretching which makes my total over 10 hours total workout.

Overall, not bad.

My quads were really sore today from doing weights yesterday and I didn't even get the hour run in or the bike ride in today. Today was running errands day. I've been trying to get our tax return transcript into the Boy's college financial aid office so they could finish processing it. I thought I had taken care of this months ago, but apparently I don't know the difference between a transcript and a 1040 and the university sends emails to the Boy and not me. Even when I found out they needed this transcript I called and thought I had already sent it in. Nobody returned my call and eventually weeks later I found out there is a difference in what I sent in and what they needed. This is the first time they have ever asked for a transcript and he's almost a junior now.

Go figure!

I couldn't get the transcript pulled up online through data retrieval. Oh no, that would have been just too easy! We drove over to our local IRS office and got there at 11 am. Apparently this is too near lunch time and so I would have to wait and take a number, but numbers weren't given out until 1 pm! The battery on our car died so we were stuck at the office anyway. I called the IRS one more time and stayed on hold for over 30 minutes before I talked to an actual person who could mail me a transcript. Thirty minutes was shorter than the 2 hour wait I had just to get a number for probably an even longer wait.

Since roadside assistance got to us by 12, I decided not to wait the extra hour for a number and just wait for the stupid transcript to get mailed to me so I could than get it to the Boy's school so they could than process his financial aid.

This is one of the reasons why this weeks training is not going as good as last weeks did.

It would just be too perfect if all I had to do was swim, bike, run, eat, sleep repeat. No dealing with the IRS or dead batteries or any of those troublesome distracting life things.

Right?

Products I Love - Anti- Aging Moisturizers

I haven't done a post on the skin/anti-aging products I love in awhile so I decided to do one today.  I love products and have way too many at any given time, but these four products are the ones I always like to have on hand. All of them can be put on throughout the day, after working out, after showering, under your regular make up products and just for general touch ups and they are great for combination or oily skin types like mine.

I love this Dr. Brandt pores no more product because it has tea tree oil in it which feels very refreshing when I put it on. Also, it has a mattifier in it which keeps my oily skin in control. I like to put this on in the afternoon or evening after my work outs. While I don't think this is considered an actual moisturizer, it does make my skin feel very smooth and soft. In the morning I like to put on another mattifier by Murad. I always keep one of these in my gym bag as well.

Dr. Brandt Pores no more (here)

This Per-fekt is a great product. I use it over my base or alone when I work out. It is moisturizing without being oily, makes my skin feel silky smooth and comes in different tints. It has antioxidants in it for added anti aging benefits.

Per-fekt skin perfecting gel (here)

This DDF Wrinkle Resist Pore minimizer product is also a moisturizer/anti wrinkle product that is good for combination skin. I like to put it on in the morning under my sunscreen and base.

DDF Wrinkle Resist Pore Minimizer (here)

Another product I really like is the Cindy Crawford natural beauty day cream. My running friend gave me a bottle to try and I really love it. It's the most moisturizing out of the these four products without causing me to have breakouts and has a sun screen in it. Since this is a product you have to purchase exclusively online and get the entire program auto shipped to you every month, I don't know if I am going to continue or not even though I like both the day cream and the night cream.

I usually use Oil of Olay Regenerist at night over my Retin A product and it seems to work really well and I can easily purchase it at any drug store or grocery store any time I need it without auto ship so I may switch back to it after I finish the Cindy Crawford meaningful beauty products. If you are looking for something more moisturizing than the above products, I recommend the Cindy Crawford meaningful beauty products.

All of the products below are good for combo/oily skin. None of them cause my face to break, this is still a problem for me despite being in my forties. I have to find products that are moisturizing and anti wrinkle without being too oily or I will get nasty break outs. I run and bike so I'm sweaty a lot! These products are good for sweaty people.

I also like products that are easy to use as a touch up after I work out and make my skin look and feel great. These are perfect for people like me who have an active lifestyle. Some products come and go, but these have been a staple for me for several years now.

Highly recommended!

What are some of your staple products that you love?

Happy Monday!

Finally On Track?

I did a real bike/run (brick) workout today, not an indoor exercise bike/treadmill one. There were some threatening clouds all around, but no rain or thunder. I did 17 miles on the bike, followed by a 3 mile run. The humidity was around 90% so the run was tough. My legs were a little tight from yesterday's 37 mile ride because I haven't stretched or done any yoga in several days. I made sure to stretch today after my run.

I am trying to catch back up on my half-ironman training plan. Remember the plan that I never really even started? Now I have to start training for the fall marathon I'm doing as well.

Two training plans combined! This may seem tough, but it's really not when you're not totally doing what either plan says to do anyway.

Which is also totally dumb!

When I get off track I'm going to remind myself how painful it is to run a marathon without training properly for it. Once is more than enough!

I'm not even doing a comparison of what I did last week compared to what the training plan said to do. It's basically the same as the week before except I swam a couple of times and did a short sprint race. This week I'm actually getting some longer rides and swims in, which is what I've needed to do for a while.

Also, Phantom started his own blog Here. Hop on over and show him some love. Most of the updates on how he's doing with the chemo and the cancer will be over there instead of on this blog.