4 Weeks to Go

I met with my trainer on Friday to have my body fat read and plan for the next 4 weeks. I couldn't believe that my body fat is down to 12.9%. I am very thrilled. I was hoping to be 14%. Two weeks ago I was 14.23%. However, I am the same weight that I was two weeks ago. How crazy is that! I must have built more muscle in those few weeks.

While I was posing, I could actually see abdominals. I don't think I have ever seen my abs. I still need to lose 1-1 1/2 % body fat in the next four weeks. That seems to be doable, however, I carb loaded this weekend to run my first half marathon, which I completed in 2:21:23. (which was faster than I planned!) Also, I am leaving on vacation for 9 days on Friday and when I come back, the show will be two weeks out. It is coming so fast that I am excited and nervous at the same time.

Today, I was youtubing videos of posing and T-walks to see what I need to do. When I get back, I will be practicing every night in front of mirrors to get my posing down so that it flows.

I will have to do 2 HIIT training a week and 3 slow steady state cardio a week. Also, 5-6 weight training sessions per week. I don't know where I am going to find the time to do this and homeschool and work and boot camp classes and etc. It will be a tough couple of weeks but I will perservere.

4th Annual Pumpkinman Triathlon

Yesterday, my team and I competed in our 4th Pumpkinman Triathlon. We had a blast. We have participated in this for the last several years without shattering our time. This was the year to do it. Since we have lost a lot of weight and have been hitting the gym, I expected my time to improve. However, going into the race, I was not so sure. I thought I was pretty comfortable with the swim and knew I would be fine on the running due to training for the half. The bike on the other hand was another story. I think I only rode my bike 4-5 times for 12 miles. I conquered the 18 miles with Great Hill only once which was several weeks ago. So I was not as prepared as I hoped.  Instead of going in to break my record, I had to change my thought process to just complete it. I knew that I could do it but it wouldn't be pretty.

The Adairs picked me up in the morning to make our way over to Spring Hill. It was cloudy and humid out. The exhilaration of all the racers and volunteers was amazing. We drove into the lot and there was a swarm of people in orange shirts as well as the racers. The line to check in and become body marked was frighteningly long. Luckily, we picked up our packet the night before. Gano had to bring his bike to the Papa Wheelies tent due to a flat tire before he even started to ride.

After receiving our timing chip, then getting body marked, we proceeded into the transition area to line up our bikes. There were 500 athletes there all waiting for the race to start. It was exhilarating. We saw many people that we knew which was encouraging.

I was in the 5th leg of the race. I was able to cheer on Marcia and Gano as they entered the water. Now it was time for my heat. The call when out "Go, Go, GO". I was in the back of the pack while I made my way into the water. Slowly, I was able to start swimming. I tried to stay to the far right so that I wouldn't get kicked or splashed to much. I was actually more wearisome of the wave of swimmers behind me. I knew I would be passed by one or two waves. I was right. I was overrun before I made it to the first buoy. The water was extremely choppy from all the swimmers. It was hard to get into my groove. Every time I tried to swim, I choked on water. Unfortunately, I was only able to do the breast stroke, which slowed me right down. On the back stretch, I did swim freestyle before I was overtaken again by the next wave. When I was able to round the last buoy and finally stand up, I was elated. The swimming part was over. I looked down at watch and 19:33 minutes had past. Not good. This was my worst swim yet. Fortunately it was over. Now onto the bike.

During the bike ride I wanted to make up time from the swim, however, I didn't want to burn out my legs. I tried to keep a steady cadence. There were many hills that made it impossible to go fast. Sometimes I was riding at 22mph, next comes a hill and I'm down to 14mph. Great Hill was averaging about 6 mph. On the first set of hills, I kept lowering my gears to conserve energy. I looked at my time. I needed to finish in 30 minutes to break my record.  So I started to stand up and pump up the hills. No more down gearing for me. I was determined to come in in less than 54 minutes. I was pedaling strong. Now to conquer Great Hill and then I am in the clear. Up, up, and up, I down gear to the lowest possible gears and pedal. My legs are on fire. I hit the crest and had to stand up to power over the hill. I made it!!  I am so close to finishing. I hear the announcer calling the elites names that have already finished. Around the corner, up another hill, and I made it to transition. I look at my time: 51 minutes and 31 seconds. Holy Cow!!! I shattered my record. I jumped off the bike, racked it, and changed shoes. Off to the final leg, the run. I am strong in the run but my legs are sore.  I am watching the clock. I know I can run a 10 minute mile but my legs are toast. I feel like I am going extremely slow. I round the last bend. Just over a mile to go. I can hear the cheering. Upon running into the parking lot, I hear them call my name. Soon I will be finished. I run harder and faster. Almost done! Down the hill and across the finish line I go. I look at my watch and finish in 1:43:55. My time on my run was 27 minutes and 26 seconds. I ran a 9:08 minute mile. I have never run that fast before, even in my road races. Excitement coursed through my veins. I finished the triathlon and broke two records. Yeah!!!

 It was my original goal to beat my time (minus the swim :( ). I can't believe that I did it, especially since I didn't train as much as I would have liked. I went in the race just to complete it, but then decided I wanted to conquer it. You can conquer it too. Whether it be your first 5k or triathlon or an exercise group, it doesn't matter. Make up your mind that you can do it. Don't talk yourself out of it. It is too easy to give up. It takes a stronger person to persevere though the tough times to reach your goal. Never give up.

Boot Camp Challenge

Last night, Marcia and I taught our first Boot Camp class as Natural Fitness Solutions. Our goal is to start with classes and work into one on one personal training sessions out of Natural Care Wellness Center. We decided to start with a 8 week trial Fitness Challenge. This consisted of friends who were willing to be our guinea pigs. Class started with weigh ins, body measurements, BMI, BMR, and body fat calculations. We decided to weigh in once a week at our Boot Camp Class. We designed a Fit Test for the first work out, which will be repeated at the conclusion of the 8 weeks. This, along with final measurements, will give everyone a progress report on how much they achieved in the 8 weeks. Everyone was also handed a packet of diet and exercises that would need to be follow to have the most beneficial transformation.

Class went really well last night. We had a group of 10 courageous women who participated in the first challenge.They did amazing. Congratulations to everyone for doing their best. We enjoyed working with you and are looking forward to getting to know you better. I was worried that the test would not be challenging enough. I was wrong. Even the fitter ladies were huffing and puffing. We did our job. Everyone was able to go at their own pace to slow down or add jumps to make it more challenging.  Everyone seemed to enjoy the work out and had many questions about exercise and diet.

We are planning on starting a Natural Biggest Loser Contest in January and possibly add a Tuesday night class to the Fall challenge. If you are interested in being on the waiting list for January or this session , email me at NFsolutions@comcast.net

8 Weeks to Go

Its just about 8 weeks to the GSO. I am getting excited. I have been taking a posing class for the last three weeks that has helped me perfect my posing. I still need to practice but Royce has been helping to make my posing even better. Thanks Royce.

My diet has been great for the last several weeks as well. I am down a few pounds with several more to go.

 Last week we went to the Country Fest at Gillette Stadium. We were able to tail gate before the show which allowed for healthy eating (and drinking. lol.) I did consume 2 skinny margaritas while tail gating. They were delicious. During the show, I ate a couple of chicken wings and that's it. I was very proud that I didn't eat anymore than that. The next day I went out for a run while everyone was sleeping. For lunch, we went to Red Robin. Looking at myfitnesspal.com, the average burger was 1000 calories. I was appalled. What could I eat? I didn't want a salad even though I knew that would be the best option. So, I decided to go with a turkey burger with jalapenos and no cheese with salsa. It was amazing. Real food tastes so GOOD. I just wish it wasn't so fattening. It took me three days to lose the weight from this meal.

Weight training has been excellent. I switched my routine to pyramid training. I needed to hit every rep range to completely exhaust the muscle group. I started a 4 day split training. With 5 sets for each exercise, my muscles were on fire at the end of the work out. It took me three days to recover. Its always fun changing up my routine. After a month on a routine, I am no longer sore, even if I increase weights. A new routine always hits different angles of the muscle which causes a different stress on them. This in turn causes the muscles to have to respond differently to further growth.

This week I also ran 10 miles which took me just under 2 hours. I have never run this long before. My furthest was 8 miles. I felt good that I could accomplish this goal. Of course I could barely walk after this. I was completely exhausted all day even though I was trying to eat carbohydrates to replenish my fuel. Fortunately, the Pumpkinman is next week and I have one more long run before the half marathon. It is hard not to train too much on cardio in order to retain my muscles for the show. I try to keep it to 30 minutes of cardio a day with a long training on the weekends. So far it has been working, however, I won't be my best at the triathlon but I will look better for it at the show.

Weekends are more challenging when it comes to diet. I wanted to go for dinner last night, but ended up having a snack and eating ground turkey at home. The Greek Festival is this weekend with great food, but I can't eat it. I am counting down the days till I can eat real food again. Of course, I will probably feel guilty about it. I am planning on not gaining much weight back after the show. I hope I can stay true to that. Only time will tell.