On the Upswing

Long time no talk! Its been a rough ride over the last 2 months. We had a quick and unfortunately no-so-smooth move from Cali to Texas at the end of March. It has been tough because it was not a move we had planned on making, but a move we had to make due to financial reasons. Things are getting straightened out, and everything is getting better and better by the day and I know deep down this was a good move for us, forced or not. We've got family here who have been an excellent support system for us, the schools and neighborhood have been awesome for the kids and the job market is very active. But the last two months have felt like an eternity. When the going gets tough, it's easy to let yourself get sucked down the drain. I had been in a major funk during that time and it was hard to see the way out. But, after some time, I just picked myself up, focused on what needed to be done and started knocking things out one by one.

With regard to a club, I looked and looked, but there just aren't any like the one I left that are anywhere nearby. This was a major disappointment. I couldn't get the combination of close, the right price and a good gym with a pool all in one package. In the end, I finally chose LA Fitness because they are close, inexpensive and have most of what I was looking for. For swimming, I'm going to do most of it at the KISD Natatorium, which is a pretty sweet facility. Yesterday, I got back to working out in a way I am used to. (Now I'm pretty sore...) For me, the hard part is the diet and eating what is right. It is so much easier for me to keep the diet roped in when I have a regular exercise routing going. They compliment each other well and I can't really do one without the other and be successful. I tried to do an at-home workout built by Sharon back at EDHSC, but I found that that is not for me. I need the structure of going to the gym. Today, I swam a 2000 yard workout in 1:06. Over this past 2 months, I have actually lost 1 pound, but my health has been on a downward slide. I've become "softer", which means that I've lost muscle and it was replaced with fat. That's OK, I'll be toning up over the next 2 months in preparation for my triathlon.

Speaking of which, I purchased my airline tickets yesterday for my trip back to Sac for the triathlon. I was lucky to get a non-stop flight both ways, because I'll be taking my bicycle with me of course and I didn't want to go there with layovers and all that. If you're in the area and want to meet up with me, I'll be in town on Saturday July 14 (which happens to be my birthday) and Sunday morning. I'd love to see any and, if possible, all of my local peeps! So, I'll be training hard for the next 2 months. My plan is to tone my body, improve my cardiovascular endurance with swimming, biking and running and if it works out this way, lose some more weight. I still have 27 more pounds to lose to reach the initial goal I set of losing 88 pounds, so we'll see what I can do with that. I've decided to scale back my swimming workouts to a total of 1650 yards or 1 mile. This is more than plenty preparation for my triathlon and I'll need to focus on other things as well. Starting tomorrow, I'll be participating in the spin classes at the gym to get that discipline some work. Lastly, I'll need to put in a lot of work with running, as it is my weakest discipline of the three. For fun, I am going to try out the cardio kickboxing classes.

The last piece of news isn't really health or triathlon related, but it's a big piece of my life, so it warrants a mention. I got a job doing what I would like as far as responsibilities, where I would like to drive to, with a great employer, and with tons of opportunity to learn and grow in my areas of interest in my career. I am super excited and I'll be starting tomorrow. This will mean I'll have more demands on my time, but I am looking forward to the challenge of being an integral part of a business' success and improving their efficiency and productivity. I'll have to learn and practice great time management in order to accomplish all the things I'm setting out to do this year, but I think with perseverance, I can do it. That's all for now.