So, I had a setback this week. My arm (bicep tendonitus or whatever it is) flared up again. The thing is, I wasn’t even skiing. I swam on Tuesday (actually saw a 1:30 100 yd interval!) and I’m thinking between that and sitting at my desk all day and lugging my bag to and from work has flared up what I initially injured.

It was so bad on Friday, I hurt to put on my jacket. It also was tough to turn the steering wheel in my car. For the latter part of the week, I was making a point to carry my bags and brush my teeth with my non-dominant arm (it’s hard!) and sleep on my other side or back and not on my injured arm. I’ve also been icing, using Icy-Hot patches and taking anti-inflammatory drugs. I also scheduled an appointment with the PT on site, but can’t get in until later February which means I may need to see someone through my doctor’s office sooner.

So, while I was not skiing but still swimming, yoga-ing and weight training, I’m officially taking it easy now. I am going to focus on cycling for the next week with a couple of runs maybe at the latter half. I’m going to continue with my anti-inflammatories and icing and carrying bags with my healthy side. I also got some tips from my girlfriend who is a PT and will stretch every 15 minutes at work, be more mindful of my scapula and, as she said, let it cool.

I suppose the good news is the timing is off season and I have plenty of time to recover for both the racing season AND our dog sledding trip that comes up at the end of February. I’m also going to have to bypass the swim coaching sessions I signed up for with my team that resume tomorrow — at least for a few weeks. I understand it is necessary, but I’m sad when I’m seeing really good gains in my swimming.

Ironically, I joined up with some girls from my team for a Friday evening spin class at The Firm in Minneapolis. I figured it was safe since it was cycling. But when we got in there, there were all these push-ups and crazy arm-things on the bike. I didn’t do them (I’m not that dumb) — but it figures I attend the most upper-body dependent spin class in the Twin Cities!

The Firm

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I did sit on the trainer for 90 minutes tonight. I put in the documentary Crazy Love

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and did some isolated leg training and low intensity base mileage. The documentary was absolutely fascinating. I was glad to have such compelling subject matter for my ride and post-ride stretch.

I also made the Hungry Girl’s recipe for Tamale Pie

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Finally, did I mention that I’m officially registered for Grandma’s Marathon in June?

I did, didn’t I.

21 weeks and counting….

I’ve just spend the past 90 minutes looking for friggin’ lodging in Duluth, MN the weekend of June 20-22.

There is, pretty much, nothing available.

The good news? I’m officially registered for Grandma’s Marathon. I also found one little vacancy at a B&B online. Knock on wood. I got a confirmation. But for some reason, I fear I’m going to receive an email later that it was a mistake. I only feel sort-of okay so far. I think I have a room. I know I have a marathon.

But, goodness. 90 minutes searching for a room is a little much. Looking at calendars, we are approx. 22 weeks out. Given the difficulty of this, I probably need to book my room in Racine for Spirit STAT.

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So, my teammate finally had me convince to actually race this weekend. We have our spot reserved in the cabin. And all plans are to head to Biwabik this weekend for The Pepsi Challenge

ski race.

Of course, as luck would have it, we are now scheduled for below zero temps. And, honestly, who wants to ski in that? I think we’re still headed up. I probably will still wax my skis tomorrow night. But racing in that?? That would be crazy, right?

I did take advange of my free on-site health care earlier this week to have my rotator cuff looked at. Turns it, it’s probably Bicep Tendonitus, instead. Guess that’s what happens when you try to self-diagnose on the Internet (I know, I know). The doctor didn’t seem too concern but she did tell me to try to get in for a Physical Therapy appointment (they offer those free at work, too, but they take a while to get into). She also thinks the season is short enough that I won’t risk any permanent damage as long as I ice, take anti-inflamatories and rest properly.

I also took advantage of our free on-site health club for the first time this week. I took both a lifting class last night and a spin class this morning. Both classes were okay. Not the best I’ve ever attended, but considering it’s on-site, I can’t really complain. It was super-nice to leave spinning class, shower and just walk right up to my desk. I guess I shouldn’t have any excuses for not being able to squeeze in weight training now…I Want Candy move

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Guess what, kids?

I’m going to ski tomorrow!

Yep, that’s right. I’m going to risk totally jinxing it right now to because I’m just too excited. After putting in 9 days of skiing out of 12 over the holiday, totally starting to really dig the sport and then getting a damn rotator cuff issue, the past week and a half has been rough. TORTURE. Especially as the warmer temperatures last week started melting away our precious snow and all I could do was sit there and watch others (ahem, my HUSBAND) and their ability to enjoy their skis and the remaining snow. Honestly, reading our team boards torture and I’ve been avoiding them for that fact. Not to mention, a coworker who’s also new to the sport has been asking me when I’d “be back.” And my favorite TC biker

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‘s invitations to ski with her team have been tough to turn down.

BUT, I think I’m better. I didn’t feel any pain sleeping last night. I successfully swam on Thursday morning. I’m ready to try it again and I’ve been sworn to bring along an ice pack for post-workout recovery.

I’m headed out with my favorite TC biker and her team and it should be a good morning. I’m almost giddy. And I need to wax my skis.

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Still obsessed with the House Foods Shiratake Noodle Tofu, we tried the Peach Kugel The Prophecy: Forsaken rip recipe on Hungry Girl for this morning’s breakfast. I only had the spaghetti noodles, so we substituted those as well as a pear for the peach. The consensus in my house was it was a bit weird. It was a texture thing and I wonder if it would have been better with the Fettuccine-style noodles which are wider and might feel more solid. The thin spaghetti noodles were just slightly odd with the sweet. That said, it did taste pretty good and for an 83 calorie breakfast dish (with a serving size of 1/3 of a regular pie plate), you can’t beat that. I had it with multi-grain toast and a couple of clementines. It was a very filling 200-calorie breakfast that was full of protein.

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I’m re-reading The Great Gatsby

Mad Max 2 movie download for book club. I haven’t read this since high school. I knew I adored the book back then, but I have to admit I’m a bit in awe of how stunning it is to read now. The language is exquisite. Each sentence almost a masterpiece in of itself. And it’s super-interesting through the lens of an adult in comparison to reading it as a teen. I also read Zelda, the biography of Fitzgerald’s wife, last year and it adds an entirely new perspective knowing that Daisy’s character was based on Zelda and most of the book is a culmination of the life experiences of the Fitzgeralds during the first 10-15 years of their marriage. Tragic, beautiful. I can’t wait to finish, yet I just want to savor, savor, savor.

I’ve spent the past hour entering foods into Training Peaks so I can track caloric content. So not fun, but I’m going to try this as opposed to WW for a bit since that’s where all my training goals & logs live

I made stirfry tonight with Morningstar Farms Chik’n Strips, Cascadian Farms Thai-Style Veggie Mix & House Foods Shirataki Noodle Tofu Three and Out move

(with a bit of added olive oil and soy sauce). It was good, filling and only 219 calories for a big bowl serving! Groovy, that.

I just saw an ad on tv for Shockwave Energy Coffee from Superamerica. WTF? That scares me.

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I sat down to catch up on email tonight and have somehow found myself playing with this Plaxo application that a whole load of my former collegues have been linking up in. It’s interesting. I guess cool in the way you can sync it up with all the other social networking applications. But, honestly, do we need any more of these sites? As addicted to Facebook as I tend to get (please pet my fluffFriend), I’m just getting a little tired.

Other news, it’s my rotator cuff. I went out skiing on New Year’s Day. It was only 7.5k, but enough to really make it hurt. I haven’t skiied in a week now and my arm is still bothering me. I think I may have to seek medical advice. Bummer, that.

With the holiday over, I like the rest of the universe have been trying to eat a little smarter and think about my training goals for 2008. I’ve been looking at the Hungry Girl site buy Charles Mingus: Triumph of the Underdog and using some of the recipes and suggestions. I can’t believe there is actually a 1-point spaghetti pie! I found the ingredients, too. And while it wasn’t the best dinner I’ve ever had, it was pretty darn decent for a 73 calories slice that’s a quarter of a pie plate.

I also made the Strawberry Cloud pie

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