TAGGED!!

MY FIRST TAG in Blogland!! How exciting. Flatman has tagged me to answer these questions and since I don't feel like working, here goes...

Q: What are you training for now?
A: Timberman Sprint Triathlon on August 20th and Applefest Half Marathon on October 1st.

Q: If you are raising money for a cause, what is it and why is that cause important to you?
A: I am not fundraising at the moment, but like Flatman, I also support the Lance Armstrong Foundation. Another cause I'm happy to support is the Dave Dennsiton Fund...Dave was an NCAA champion breaststroke swimmer and olympic hopeful for Syndey...he missed making the team by one place and was starting a career as a coach and motivational speaker when he was paralyzed from the waist down in a sledding accident in February. He is a friend and colleague of my swim coach. He's got an unbelievable attitude and spirit and will amaze and inspire you...to read his story go to DaveDenniston.com. Make a donation while you're there! Or at least buy an anklet...

Q: What is the furthest distance you've run in your training and what is the furthest distance you will run before your event?
A: I ran my first half marathon this spring so 13.1 miles. I'm doing a second race in October and have started training for it in concert with my tri training. I'll likely do 11 or 12 miles before the Oct 1st race day.

Q:What is your favorite flavor of gu? (or other sports gel)
A: Gels are yucky. I just can't seem to get them down and make them work for me. I use gatorade (but not powerade, especially not purple powerade) and power bars. I'm also a big fan of dried apricots (in moderation), almonds and granola.

Q: How many days a week do you run?
A: The half marathon plan I've been using calls for 3 days a week - two shorter days and one longer day. In training for my spring race, I found that I could just barely get three days in but was on the edge of injury for most of the time...sore achilles, tight calves, sore knees. I'm going to try and do two days/week from now until october and if I can get a third day in, it'll be short (<30 mins.) or speedwork. I'll also keep my tri training at 2-3 swims/week and 2-3 bikes/week...and I'm hoping that at least one run/week will be a bike-run brick.

Q: Are you injured in any way right now? If so,what are you doing about it?
A: Not injured right now, knock on wood. I'm RELIGIOUS about stretching and icing anything that shows any sign at all of being sore (sometimes 2-3 times/day) and I've managed to stay ahead of just about everything. I'll sometimes add ibuprofen to the ice regimen but only before bed and never before a workout. If it hurts, I'll try to work thru it for maybe 5 minutes but if it still hurts, I don't do it. Being injured stinks.

Q:What is one item of running clothing/gear (shoes don't count) you can't run without?
A: I never leave home without my 30 spf lip sunblock. After that, I'd say my reebok nylon shorts from TJ Maxx. They're really soft and hang just right to avoid chafing, etc. I'm pretty reliant on my HRM but sometimes go without just to get away from the slavery of the numbers. And my mini iPod comes with me about 60% of the time...

Q: Do you have a talisman you are planning on taking to your event? If so, tell us!
A: Nah, I'm so OCD that if I forgot it or misplaced it I'd create more of an issue for myself so I don't bother.

Q: Share one thing about yourself we don't know.
A: I can say super-cali-fragi-listic-expi-ali-docious backwards, but that's going a bit too far, don't you think? ;)

Being new to this tag thing, I don't think I'll tag anyone else at the moment. I have a few other posts rambling around in my head though - and not much going on at work today so I'll try and write more later. Cheers!