Uncertainty

Well, I believe because time is drawing near, my head is working overtime. I have been preparing myself for 10 months now for my upcoming triathlon and the butterflies are starting to fly around my stomach. I can't seem to stop worrying about what might get in the way; a flat tire, an injury, a lost luggage situation when I fly back to Sac, you name it. I have been jittery, and so I decided I needed something good to think about. So, yesterday, I decided to try doing the whole distance, to see if I could and to give my body a taste of what it'll be like.

And... I did it! Since I am a numbers gear-head, here's how it shaped up according to my heart rate monitor: Total Time of 2 hours, 11 minutes and 54 seconds, my average heart rate was 145bpm and I spent 1 hour, 42 minutes and 14 seconds in my target zone of 140-160 and I burned 1346 calories. I felt like a superhero, even if my hip flexors were tired and sore the rest of the day. It was nice to have to worry about getting enough calories back in my body than worry about keeping extras out. :o) I had also checked on my weight before I went out and I'm down to 202! A few more pounds and I'll be below 200 pounds for the first time in at least a decade, surely longer!

In celebration of all this, I went to the athletics store to buy some really expensive clothing that showed off every contour of my new bod. This is something I am completely unfamiliar with. I've been hiding my body in swimmy clothes for years now so to buy something skin tight was a new experience. But, that's what I'll need for the race. I got a red race shirt, but I'm still working on the shorts as they did not have an XL in stock for me to buy. I also picked up a bike helmet, water bottle and multi tool (in case of flats) and ordered a frame mount bike pump. I need to check and make sure I have 2 extra tubes to take with and I'm going to pick up a running hat and water bottle and then I think I'm set. I thought I'd be making a quick, easy jaunt to Sac for this, but my suitcase requirements are getting bigger and bigger as the list grows. Well, 3 sports, one race, all the stuff and after-race clothing; it starts adding up. This was another great way to quell the nerves.

I'm So Close

This morning I did a checkin with my weight and I'm at 203; even with a celebratory dinner last night because Nana and Grandpa were in town. We had some adult beverages. Lucretia was nice enough to pick up a piece of sugar-free, fat-free pie for me to enjoy while everyone else had cheesecake. We had chicken and shrimp vegetable skewers and salad. A good dinner but it was a little late at 8:30 when we ate. The lateness, adult beverages and the pie made me think I might be getting off course, but this mornings check proved wrong. I am working so hard that the muscles are firmed back up and the pounds are starting to come off. I might dip below 200 before my triathlon after all.

I have been listening to Motivation to Move's premium programming and hearing alot about the Long Slow Burn type of cardio-cross training. I think after my triathlon I would like to try it out. Right now, I need to train to condition my body for the tri and that is my focus. After that, I would really like to lose body fat and bring that percentage down and work on my problem areas like butt, thighs and tricep area. More to follow on this, but it is a structured way to get your body to more efficiently burn fat longer. I'm excited about trying it, but all in due time...

Welcome to the Real World

Well, I'm down to 204 officially yesterday , but I have a feeling it will be more because today I was even lighter. For now I'll just say 204. Today I did my first outside brick and boy was that an eye opener. You get real comfortable in the gym, where everything is predictable and climate controlled, and you have a nice little cup holder on your stable bike for your water. Not today baby.

I thought I'd do my workout outdoors today but sadly it was raining, pretty steady this morning. So I waited it out until about 11:30 or so when the rain broke and got other things done in the meantime. As soon as I was out with a mile under my belt on the bike, it started to rain again and continued for 8 miles. I slipped, got soaked and dropped my water bottle and had to go back and get it at one point. After the rain stopped, the wind started kicking in which made it much harder to keep a steady pace into the wind. That taxed my glutes, so when I started to run, I was beyond rubbery and walked a lot. In the end, I took about 10 more minutes than if I was in the gym. But that's OK. That is the purpose of the outdoor brick. To practice in the Real World and deal with real world scenarios like dropping your water and forgetting sunscreen and getting rained on. It was fun. But I am zapped. Out in the heat and the humidity, it was a whole different ball game. I was frustrated with it at one point, but I just kept on. I thought to myself that it's better that I have this experience now than on the race itself. I was glad to have decided to do it outside, and I think I'll do more outside in the coming weekends.

The workout is going great during the week. The only problem is that I can't seem to get in the swim workout in the evening. I'll try to work on it this week. I recognize there are only so many hours in the day, but dang it, I want to do it all... :o)

Making Progress, Feeling Great!

Last weekend, I set out to make a schedule for my remaining time before my tri. My goals for the tri are simple: enjoy it, finish and be ahead of the last 10 finishers. I made a pretty aggressive schedule of 6 days a week workouts. I tried to make sure I was putting in a push to prepare my endurance, my cardio strength and my form in each discipline, while also doing a little resistance training and working the booty as that is my biggest area of improvement. My schedule includes 2 bricks on the weekend; Saturday is swim/bike and Sunday is bike/run. My schedule is pretty tight, but it's only for a few more weeks, so I just have to hang in there and remember that. Last week, with studying and the new job, I missed out on two days because I just needed sleep. But, I kept the diet dialed in and continued to make progress. Physically, I am feeling excellent. I think I am definitely addicted to exercise at this point. When I don't have the time to workout, my body feels kind of crappy and my mental state is a little down. This must be the endorphin addiction I've heard about? Not sure, I just know I can't take more than one day off, or I'm really off.

I reconnected with the Motivation to Move website/podcast/forum again and decided to become a premium member and pay for some stuff. I am on such a huge personal growth pattern, the message and motivation that Scott from MTM delivers is really invaluable to me. So I thought I would put a little plug for him on my blog... :o)

On the professional side of me, I had a last minute push for studying for my Network+ test and successfully passed it yesterday. YAY for me! This was an important certification to validate my skills and open some future doors for me professionally. Now it's time to move on to the Security+ and then Cisco. I am really enjoying my new job and it has so much opportunity for me to grow, not only technically, but also with my professional skills such as time management, self management and project management. I'm pretty psyched about it.

So with weight loss- I finally started to lose! This week I lost 2 pounds and I am now down to 205. Under 200 is so close I can taste it. I haven't been under 200 pounds in at least 10 years. I don't even remember what that's like. But I am excited to get there. I think I might be able to do it before the triathlon; who knows? I'll just keep plugging away with the workouts. My focus now is more to be ready for the triathlon rather than weight loss. So I've been experimenting with changes in diet and also with changes in workout. I figure the rest of the weight can come off after the tri if it has to. Well, I hope you who is kind enough to be interested in my progress is having a great day and come back and visit me soon! Feel free to leave comments. Thanks.

My First Brick

I feel like Superwoman again. And it's great! I've been wallowing in self-doubt and poor eating and exercise habits for the past couple months. I was very stuck in having to be able to do things just the way I was used to them, and with moving to Texas and learning and finding everything anew, starting a new job and so on, that's just not possible. I eventually gave up and realized that I had it real good in EDH as far as workout setup goes, but that was then and this is now. So I recently had just given myself the virtual kick in the butt and started up again with diet monitoring and regular exercise. I've been so focused on losing weight for some time now, but ultimately my goal was to be more fit and be able to do the things I want when I want, like run for example. And although I haven't lost much weight save a few pounds over the last couple months, I can't let that distract me. After all, I've got a triathlon to prepare for.

So after cruising through a few key sections of Slow Fat Triathlete this morning in bed while the thunder and lightning roared, I thought, "Self, this morning is the perfect morning to do your first brick." And so it was. For those who do not know, a brick is a practice workout for an upcoming triathlon wherein you perform 2 of the 3 disciplines (swim+bike or bike+run) at the distances you'll be completing in the actual race. So, I biked 16 miles and then ran 3 miles. I tried to pretend I was actually in the race, not just tucked away in a corner of the gym sweating it out. I pedaled and ran with a sense of urgency, I simulated hills and straightaways, kept my heart rate under control by slowing it down and then speeding back up and at the end, I put in a strong finish and pretended I was either transitioning or crossing the finish line. I can't lie; I got a little emotional when I was done. I had biked 16 miles and then ran 3 miles immediately after. It's something I've never done and frankly a year ago wouldn't have thought I could do. I am just so proud of myself and I'm looking forward to the actual race when I can put it all together.

I'd like to keep track of my brick times for tracking purposes. Also, my run today was better than the last time I tracked a 3mile run for myself... Just goes to prove that I haven't totally lost it. :o) So the bike was 16 miles completed in 59:42 and the run was 3 miles completed in 39:43.

As for weight, I know I got down to 205, but I haven't kept to a regular weighing schedule. I'll try to get back on that and do it next Saturday morning, before I go do a brick.