Triathlon #2

I haven't been posting over here as much because I've been more involved in posting in the forums at Motivation To Move. I've joined the 100 Day Challenge (of exercise) and I've been posting all my activity over there.

Well, I'll be packing it up to leave shortly and make my way to triathlon #2: The Austin Dilloman Sprint. It's an 800 swim, 12.4mi bike and 3.1mi run tomorrow morning at 8:00am. Due to convenience and budget, I'll be camping onsite in Pace Bend Park at Lake Travis. I'm pretty excited and more laid back at the same time. Now that I've done a triathlon already, the pressure is off somewhat and I'm just happy to be running it. I've been exercising so hard on the weekends lately that last weekend I thought, "I should just do another triathlon!" and so I registered on Labor Day and now I'll be driving down in under an hour. Pretty cool!

My goals for this race are:
1.) to have fun, pay attention to details and smile!
2.) run a more even paced race that "feels" better. I think with my changed workout (see below) that I have more cardio endurance and strength so I should be fine.
3.) finish at or under 2 hours. With more training (again, see below) and a shorter bike, this should be doable.

Since my first triathlon, things kindof languished for a few weeks before I got back into a dedicated routine. Once restarted, I put more of my training outside to get my body used to the humidity and conditions here in Texas being that the conditions are much more of a factor here than in northern California.

I've started a running program I found in a book by Runner's World that is a 6 month walking to running program starting out slowly and gradually increasing the amount of running each week. I reintroduced weight training back into my cardio-centric workouts and that was a breath of fresh air. I took to swimming outside in the HOA pool since it's open in the summer (till September 30 and then I'll have to switch back to the Natatorium) and I get biking in where I can, usually down to the pool and back or out for leisure rides with the fam.

The bike situation has become somewhat of an issue for me. I have an old, heavy "Costco-Special" as I like to call it and it is anything but race equipment. I really would love to have a more appropriate bike for the sport, but I just do not have the money. As much as I lamented over this, I realized, in conversation with someone about this upcoming triathlon, that it is better to take the opportunity and race, even on the clunker bike, than to not race at all because of it. Maybe the bike situation will improve for next season, but for now, I'm just going to do my thing and not let it bother me too much.

My weight loss had plateaued for a LONG time, but I think these new changes and challenges for my body have FINALLY spurred more weight loss and I'm happy to report I've said goodbye to the 200s for the rest of my life! I was down to 198 last week and I'm down to 197 today. My goal is to get down to 170 by my birthday next year; just take it slow, let my skin shrink back as much as it can and get as fit as I can. That's the plan...