Hey There 2013

Well Hello There.

It's sure been a while since I've blogged. It's be a long Spring semester and now that it's over and I have the summer to myself I decided I would try to blog about the road to my second triathlon.

YES! I am doing another! Honestly, I've talked about being able to call myself a triathlete before and even though I have completed one, I don't feel like a "triathlete". So perhaps if I make this a yearly thing I'll feel comfortable telling folks I'm a triathlete. Until then, it's training time!

As you may remember, I have a nemesis and it's name is THE RUN. I've been making strides (haha) in that department though I'm still terrified. This year the run is a complete 5k, 3.1 miles. That's 1.1 miles more than last year. (AHHHH!) I should also remind you that I walked most of the 2 miles last year. In March I started the Couch to 5k program up again and got 4 weeks in. At that point I was jogging almost 5 minutes at a time. I even got close to getting a 13 minute mile. Unfortunately, I got real lazy for a week or two around my birthday and lost all the ground I had gained. I also made all the progress on the treadmill which is convenient but not practical for road race purposes. Evergreen HS has a nice track that's open to the public and I have been jogging there. I like that it is gentle on my knees and I can keep track of my mileage. I also have spent some time at Yukich Field. They have a .5 mile loop that is good for distance tracking purposes. I also enjoy lapping the old ladies who faithfully truck along, it gives me a sense of accomplishment when I pass them a few times in my travels. Woo Hoo! I'm faster than old ladies!

I started training officially when I signed up for the Tri back in April. I've been focusing on the run and the bike and I haven't actually been in the pool yet. The swim was my strongest sport in August but, of course, I need to practice. So starting next week I'm hopping back in the pool and creating a good multisport rotation for training. That extra 1/2 mile isn't gonna swim itself.

As I said, I started training in April but I didn't get serious until this month. In May, I decided that it would be NO SODA, NO CANDY, NO FRENCH FRIES month. It has been insanely hard. I also decided it was WORK OUT EVERYDAY month. At the halfway mark, I think I've been mostly successful. I only took one day off of working out. I did have sprite accidentally in a small limeade (which I wasn't aware of until I noticed the carbonation- isn't limeade supposed to not have soda in it?) and had a two mint melt aways on Mothers Day. BUT! I haven't had a single french fry and more importantly I only been to McDonald's twice and that was on the day of my finals and Mothers Day for the new Egg White McMuffin which is pretty good and not so terrible for you WW points wise.

Ahh yes, Weight Watchers. Well after a few month long absence I returned towards the end of March and discovered that I had gained back some of the pounds I had tried so hard to lose. Then I was stupid and didn't go back for a while because I was upset about gaining. The school stress certainly played into my gain but I can't make excuses, I just need to move on and fix my behaviors and eating habits. So with my Tri training I decided that I definitely need to go to meetings to make sure I don't gain back all the weight I've lost. I went back to my regular Saturday meeting last week and I have every intention to go back this Saturday. I'll start posting weigh in results next week... maybe.

There you have it. For the most part I've tried to keep my fitness level up and my weight down. I've had some set backs but I'm not gonna let it get me down. I am trying really hard to build up my run endurance and feel confident by the time August rolls around. So stay tuned because this year I am going to kick ass and take names on August 11th when I complete the Iron Girl Sprint Triathlon.