My Secret Weapons

Love.Hate.Sex.Pain.
This is a song by Godsmack. I love it. It's angry. It's raw. It gets me moving.
It's one of those songs I strategically put on my play list for speed work, racing or the end of a long run so I can kick it up a bit. I find that there are just certain songs that tap into my primal side and bring out the fire in my soul. This is one of those songs.
Love. I love running and I love a good run that just leaves me feeling sooooo good when I am done.
Hate. I hate running on the TM but it is a necessary evil.
Sex. A good run is right up there on the list-some runs, well see Love.
Pain. I am learning to deal with the pain. Some days, I welcome it with open arms.

Last weeks speed work run was on the treadmill-the plan was a tempo run, 1 mile warm-up, 3 miles in the 7's and then a 1 mile cool down. I like doing speed work on the TM because it really allows me to control the pace. I can forget about staring at my Garmin and just focus on my breathing, my form and my thoughts (training the mind!). I am sure as I become a better athlete and runner, I will be able to do this more effectively on a track but for now, the TM is my tool of choice.

Even though I was really tough on my legs last week, I felt really really good for that run-I felt strong physically and mentally. I know now that it was because of the awesomely awesome PUNK ROCK RACING tech tee I was wearing-

Happy Me post tempo run with Lola



Swining Lola-her tee says "if you think IM cute, you should see my Daddy"

 Yup. The tee shirt gave me superpowers. I felt so badass in that tee shirt I felt that my run should reflect that! I mean, I am no EMZ by any stretch of the imagination (on the TM or otherwise) but I'm working on it *wink*wink*
So my tempo run went better than planned and I ended the last mile in the 6's-which for ME, is a good day. It was one of those Love.Hate.Sex.Pain. runs and it was awesome.
So combine a little good music with a hot Punk Rock Racing tee and you got a great run folks! That is the secret combo to get my legs moving on the TM. Shhhhh. Let's keep it our little secret.

What is motivating me this week?
Sonja Weick's performance at IMAZ. Seriously, this gal is just a rockstar!! You can read all about it here-The Prequel, The Swim, The Bike, The Run.  Congrats Sonja-you are such an inspiration!

Michelle Ford's amazing legs! I don't wanna "lift" a pic of her without her permission but oh-my-oh-my, she has got some awesome legs (you can check 'em out yourself here). Oh, did I mention that she just qualified for KONA at her first 140.6? Yeah, another rockstar!

Random side note: So yeah-now I have two new people to stalk goals to achieve! With Emz abs of steel, Michelle's chiseled legs, Sonja's guts...I am building myself a little FrankenJen triathlete/runner monster! he he he

I had really great quality workouts last week since hubby was on home on vacation. I was able to sweat out all that pie and gravy. I am hoping to keep the quality up there this week now that he is back to work.

The Holiday Bootie Buster Challenge! I got in 30 miles of running, 32 miles of biking and 3.5 hours of iron time. This makes me happy--I want to be even happier this week. I am happy to get my nutrition on track and eating good quality clean foods always makes me feel amazing.

I'm putting together a fun giveaway to celebrate 100+ followers! Will have many more details to come...

What is motivating YOU this week??