2 weeks to triathlon

 We have a little less than 2 weeks before the Pumpkinman. This is our second year entering this triathlon. We conquered it 2 years ago for the first time ever and was able to cross it off my bucket list. It was something I always wanted to do. I enticed some good friends into doing it with me. I was the slowest of the bunch, mostly because of my swim. I was horrible at the swim. (Last year I was pregnant, so we didn't do the tri). Now, I am ready for it this year. I think I am in better shape this time than last.

   Two years age, I had to learn to put my face in the water and how to breathe. My deepest fear is to die from drowning. So the swimming part is very scary. If I get tired on the bike or run I can slow down. If I get tired on the swim, I can die. So the first year was trying to overcome my fear. I swam mostly the breast stroke so I didn't have to regulate my breathing. If I tried to free style, I started breathing heavy and panicked. Last time I was so exhausted, I only did the breast stroke during the race. The people on the kayaks asked if I was ok and needed help during the race. That was embarrassing. I was very slow, but I finished it.

  This year for swimming has been great. I started swimming in the pool with freestyle. I still panicked and choked on a lot of water. But I can stand up if needed. I also learned that if I go really slow I can swim farther. However, the water exercise class on the side of me was walking faster than I can swim. After a month in the pool, we decided to swim in the river. After putting on the wetsuit, we jumped in. It was a beautiful swim. It started drizzling as we swam. When we got to the other side, there was a double full rainbow in the sky. It was beautiful. When Scott tells about it, he refers to the youtube video of the man who sees the rainbow and is hysyterical. After a couple of times swimming outside I am very proud to say that I can finally swim almost half a mile doing the front crawl. I am still slow but I can do it. That is a great accomplishment.

Today's work-out was really good. Scott and I went on a 12mile bike ride followed by .3 mile swim. During the bike ride, there was a major head wind. We battled the wind the entire ride.  We made really good time. The swim was harder today. There was a strong current pulling against us. Also, the river was choppy. Usually the river is very calm, but because of the storm it wasn't. It felt good to get out in the waves because of the splashing that will happen during the triathlon. I did choke a couple of times, but I swam the front crawl the entire time.

I am as lazy as anyone

Yesterday we had hurricane Irene come through and it was a perfect time to get in a good work-out. My husband was home to watch the kids and we had electricity, so there were no excuses. For my weight routine, I started P90X last Sunday. I was starting the second week with chest and back. Most of the back work-out is pull-ups and chest excercises are push-ups, but I did need some weights. I couldn't use my pull-up bar in the basement where all my work-out equipment is. I had Scott install the bar in our bedroom. However, the weights were downstairs. Here's where it gets real. I can run, bike, swim, and weight train, but did I want to go from the 3rd floor to the basement, get the weights and carry them upstairs. NOT at all. Why? I can come up with a lot of excuses why I didn't want to get them. But mostly, I didn't feel like it. How lame is that. I am going to work-out, with weights and didn't want to carry them. My excuse is that they are 52.5lbs and I would have to take them apart and make several trips. So obviously, I didn't get them. I proceeded to my workout. I did many push-ups and pull-ups ( I use a chair to help). When the section came on for the weights, I fast forwarded it. Then continued on for round two. How many people have done this? How many have wanted to excercise but didn't put in your all because you were too tired. We shouldn't live in a country of excuses. We need to do it and do it right. Jared's guitar teacher said it perfect today, "It's ok to feel like you don't want to practice. Say oh man and do it anyway, right away." The longer you procrastinate and don't do it, the more you will talk yourself out of it. So get off that couch and work-out.

Like I said "Setback"

Self control: That is the topic today. I did great yesterday. I woke up early and was ready for a run. It was Saturday, so my husband was home to watch the kids. I was getting dressed and liking how I looked in my running clothes. They were tight, which dimished the number of roles that I have. I am happy to finally be out of those baggy clothes. The best part of having lost 20 lbs is that my thighs don't rub together anymore. If you have this problem, then you know what I mean. I had to wear running pants for the first couple of months because I kept getting a rash on my inner thighs. (I found a great cream that helps with the chafing. It works great on the kids rash from wearing a wet bathsuit. I don't go on vacation without it.)

Running is a head game for me. I can easily run 6 miles without being to exhausted. But as I was running I decided to do 5 miles instead of 3. It was only a little further on my route. But it was hot. (Hear comes the excuses). I thought, "I'll see how I feel half way, I have company waiting for me at home. Ella's ready for a nap, I should turn around." The list of excuses can keep going. I finally made it to 1.6 miles and turned the corner to keep going. I went 10 feet and thought, "forget it". The old lazy self took over and I turned around and ran home. I still completed a 3.2 mile run at a 10 minute pace, but I let my head take over my body. I could have kept going but I let myself be defeated. This is something that I need to work on.

The rest of the day went great. Friends texted us to go out to eat. We haven't seen them most of summer, so we were ready to go. We went to Saki's and had some great maki rolls and saki. (Not great for a diet) From there, we continued to Popovers. They have the best dessert. My reasoning to eat this, "I ran today". "I should have ran the 5 miles, oh well." I enjoyed my cappacino and dessert. My husband and I split a scrumptous 7 layer bar and chocolate decadent cake. I was very full. I didn't put this in myfitnesspal because I didn't want to know how bad I cheated. But tomorrow is another day.
My goal is to live one day at a time. I am tired of waiting for Monday to start. If I have a slip up and no self control on one meal, it is only that meal. I try not to make it am excuse to eat bad every meal of that day. I live meal to meal and day to day. Don't give up on your dream just because you cheated for one meal. Get it back together. Get out of your head. Everyone makes mistakes and this is a journey. It takes time to get the figure that you want. It doesn't happen overnight.

The Journey starts after baby #4

I am a homeschooling mother of 4 wonderful children. They are ages 8, 6, 4 years old and a newborn. During my pregnancy with baby number four, I was completely sluggish. I was tired all the time and had no desire to work out or eat right. I was about to break that 200 lb mark, when Ella finally decided to come into this world. I went into labor 3 times before the midwife broke my water and Ella can flying out. After 3 boys, God has blessed us with a little girl. I was very scared to raise a girl after having 3 wonderful boys. But she is the best baby and her brothers love her immensely.

So my workout journey starts 2 months later. I needed to get that baby weight off. I weighed 178lbs and needed to get back to pre-pregnancy weight. However, that was still only 162lbs. I was signed up for a triathlon in September and the Seacoast Road Series all summer. This consisted of four 5K's and two 10K's.  My friend and I decided that we wanted a "tri body" when we actually did our triathlon. We wanted to look like the athletes we were. We wanted people to look at us and say "Of course you do triathlon's", not say "Really, you do triathlons. Good for you."

The first day on the treadmill was awful. After not working out for a year and not eating healthy, I could barely run a mile. But I kept up the work and went on the treadmill whenever I could which was only 2 or 3 days a week during nap time. At this time, I was not into lifting weights. I concentrated on running. I started out with a 12 minute mile. Eventually I ran a 11 minute and then a 10 minute mile for 3 miles. My first race was tough. The baby was 3 months old and still nursing and couldn't be without me. So I ran and pushed her in the stroller. I had to walk a few times but I finished the race in 37 minutes. My next several races were consistently better.

I remember the first time I got back on the bike. It was the beginning of May, 3 months after baby. I rode 12 miles and it took and hour. I was struggling so much. My husband was riding really slow to keep down with me. (For a trained biker, over 18mph is a good speed to pedal at) I was barely staying at 14. So I was very discouraged. I didn't get on the bike again for 2 months. The biggest thing with bike is weight. The less the bike weighs, the faster it goes. Since I was 178 lb, my bike didn't go very fast and I was exhausted.

So I decided that just working out is not working for me. I needed to start dieting. I said it. The "D" word. I am a raw foodist at heart. I have a hard time eating unhealthy food if I need to make it. However, I have no problem eating what someone else makes. I also love to go out to eat. If I lose 2 pounds at the beginning of the week, I gain it back by the end of the week from going out to eat.

I found an app on my phone called myfitnesspal.com. I inputted my information and it said I needed to eat 1200 calories. I have never counted calories before, so this was new to me. I entered in 2 eggs (140 calories), coffee with agave and half and half (100 calories). After day 1, April 18, 2011 I logged 1600 calories. Not to bad but my diet needs work. The good thing about this program is that if you exercise you get extra calories. And if you are at a restaurant, you can find the calories in your favorite foods. I was shocked at the amount of calories that are in a restaurant salad. It was less calories eating fish, mashed potatoes, and vegetables. So I was definitely in for an awakening when it comes to calories.

Like I said before, I am a raw foodist at heart. This means that I tend to eat nothing cooked. I eat superfoods, fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds. No meat, diary, breads, or anything cooked. When I eat like this, I feel great. I have the most energy I have ever had. I have a positive attitude and can handle my kids much better. My patience is so much better. However, raw food is very hard to sustain. Before I was pregnant, I ate like this for a month but never lost any weight. I was shocked and saddened. I felt great but I didn't look like I felt. It was very disappointing. I realized I ate all the "good" raw foods. I consumed a lot of raw cacao, raw nuts and seeds, and avocado. I ate the most fattening and high calorie food. It wasn't the best weight loss tool. But I felt great.

But my goal at this point was to lose weight and train for the triathlon. I focused on counting calories. ( I had many setbacks). After several months of running, biking, and swimming, I have lost 20lbs. I am continuing my training. The triathlon is in two weeks. I hope I am ready.