Apparently I have feet people dream of?

Sorry this wasn't up last night, I was so tired I actually forgot to blog. Hm. Anyway, this week has been pretty miserable. Between the torrential rain, missing D ridiculously, and starting off the week going to bed waay too late, I am just tired, sad and grumpy. However, even though I have been feeling crappy I have still kept up with my workouts. I made up for missing my Sunday bike ride on Monday, and yesterday I ran and weight lifted. It is getting easier to get through the workouts, but I have to say, I'm not sure how I am gonna get from the point where I am now to the point where I can do all three of these events in a row. But, oh well, I'm gonna trust the plan and my body to do what it needs to do. So here is the funny story of the day yesterday...I was on my way to the gym, and I had been thinking about buying a new pair of running shoes. I thought I would try to go sometime this week, but hadn't had time yet. So anyway, I walk up the million flights of stairs to the gym (I guess that's what happens when they have to fit gyms into the city.) so I'm walking up the stairs, and at the top is this guy and girl and a bunch of shoes and a table. They are sizing people and checking them for the right fit to pick out the right pair of shoes for them. I took this as a sign that maybe I should be buying a new pair of shoes. So I figured what the heck, let's have them figure out the shoe that is right for me! So the guy looked at my feet, asked me to walk/jog, and took down my size. Then he said "Most people either pronate (walk on the inside of their arch), or under pronate (walk on the outside of their foot), but you have the feet that everyone dreams of! You walk perfectly in the middle of your foot. It was funny that he said I have the feel people dream of. I don't know about any of you, but I don't usually dream about feet...haha. Anyway, that was the excitement of the day, then I came home, had dinner, relaxed and went to bed. My body is slightly sore today from strength training, but not too bad. I'm wondering if tomorrow will be worse.

Today: 5 miles on the bike (please stop raining!)

One week done!

Well, it's official, I made it through week one of the training plan! I missed one day of training, but made it up today, and I worked hard at every workout. This week I am repeating week one because I have more weeks available before the race than the plan calls for, so I have been instructed to repeat the first couple weeks twice each. Today was a bike ride, but since it was pouring rain I had to do it at the gym. I think I did the right amount, but I was a little confused because the monitor on the bike said "m/km", but only had one reading, so how am I supposed to know if it was 5 miles or 5 km? anyway, I hope I did the right amount...this is something I will have to look into next time. The ride felt easy today, and I was going to squeeze in an extra run, but the treadmills all had long waiting lists, and since I still had to go to the grocery store I decided not to wait. I have been feeling pretty miserable the past couple days, just really missing D, and feeling really lost and confused with alot of stuff. I am just kinda gliding through each day...maybe gliding isn't the right word...I think trudging is closer to reality. SO anyway, I am just kinda trudging through each day, hoping it will be better, but it really isn't. Aside from the D thing there isn'[t really anything that is going terribly, but the D situation makes everything else feel awful. Anyway, I am pretty tired, so I am gonna go relax. I wish I had more energy/time/motivation to get job applications done, it just feels so hopeless that I don't even feel like doing it. Ugh. More tomorrow.

Tomorrow: 15 mins of running and weight training

blogging with a glass of wine...hmm

Well...as you could probably figure out from the title, I am drinking a glass (or 2) of wine while I blog tonight. I am in New Jersey spending the weekend with my family. I drove home yesterday, and I was expecting a miserable, long ride thinking about D the whole time. I was surprised that I spent alot of the drive thinking about A) how much I had to pee (luckily I stopped at a rest area and took care of that...phew), and 2) how excited I am for the triathlon. I literally cannot remember the last time I felt this excited about sports! It's awesome to be motivated...and the motivation is coming from me....which is also kinda new for me. I have done things like run 5k's and stuff like that, but usually I try to get excited about it when someone else asks if I am interested. This time the idea came from me and the motivation is coming from me! Its awesome!
I had my first really hard test of motivation today. I'm sure I will have worse times, but here is what happened today. I woke up and went at 10 to help my sister and her friends set up for her best friend's baby shower. The shower started at 11:30, the mom to be came at 12, and we left around 4. That totals 6 hours of baby shower busy-ness! Even though alot of the time was spent just sitting there watching her open presents, I still felt exhausted...partly from chasing my niece (who I will call Bean on here b/c I'm not sure if my sister wants her name on my blog) around the shower, partly from all the rich food and desserts I ate (hmm...so much for eating less sugar!) and partly from just being out and about for 6 hours socializing with people. So anyway, I came home, layed down on the couch and fell asleep. I rested and dozed for a while, and finally at 6 I realized I was trying to talk myself out of running today. I kept saying in my head that I could just do 2 workouts tomorrow, and who cares if I skip one day....these are NOT good thoughts!! Finally, I dragged my ass off the couch, put on my sneaks and went out running. I felt great and it was really good that I got it done. I haven't missed a training session yet, and I have worked hard during each workout, I haven't slacked at all. I am really proud of myself!
I am going to go relax on the couch with my parents and my glass of wine. I think I've earned it!

Tomorrow: 5 miles on the bike.

Almost made it through week 1!

Well, it is Thursday, and I am more than halfway through week 1 of training. I am feeling great! I already am noticing a difference...not in the way I look, but in the way I feel. I woke up this morning and didn't feel tired. I can't remember the last time this happened! Granted, I was super tired around 2PM, but that happens every day...maybe that will change too eventually!
Anywho, today was a good look at just how motivated I am to stick with my training. I had a super busy day...went to work at 8, worked until 2:15, then immediately went to tutor from 2:30-3:30, went back to school to meet some friends, carpooled to a retirement party...was there intil about 6:30, then went to the sports store to get some goggles (I somehow lost mine..hmm), ended buying a bathing suit as well, and then headed to the pool for my workout. I was so proud of myself for still going to the pool even though I didn't get there until 7:40 at night. That is a huge change...in the past I would have given up and come home for the night. I found myself looking forward to my workout all day again. It feels like this could just become part of my life....I can't say that yet, seeing as today is only the 4th day of the program, but I am hoping it sticks.
So....how did my first swim workout go? It was super easy! In fact, I ended up swimming about twice as much as I was "supposed" to, because the workout they suggested was really really easy and only took me about 10 minutes. The workout called for swimming 200 yards...which is 8 lengths of the pool. This is really easy for me, so I did 16 lengths of the pool. I didn't do them all freestyle though, I did the workout they called for, then I did 8 laps with a kickboard, alternating breast stroke kick and flutter kick. I thought this would be a good strength training and muscle loosening activity for my legs. It was great! Anyway, I am pooped...and I think I have rambled enough...so here is the wrap up.

How did I feel after working out? Sleepy, but strong!

Things I realized today:
1) I think this could become a part of my everyday life.
2) I have more strength than I thought.

What's up for tomorrow?
A day off! I am taking off of work to drive to New Jersey for the weekend. I am also taking off from working out...tomorrow is one of my 2 off days. I might take a walk though...depends how I feel when I get to NJ.

Oh! One more thing....at the retirement party, we were at a chinese restaurant, and we had fortune cookies. My fortune said "Warning: Do not eat your fortune." WTF is that!?? I ended up breaking open another cookie...and was much happier with the fortune. It said "We must overcome difficulties rather than being overcome by difficulties." I think this one speaks to where my life is right now...I am trying to overcome difficulties...but it is hard.

Biking into the wind!

It figures that I would have chosen the WINDIEST day of the week to take my first training bike ride. But, I was determined not to miss a workout and to get in the habit of working out even when it isn't "comfortable" (aka, the wind nearly knocked me off my bike!). The ride I took wasn't very long, only 5 miles...which on a bike is completely manageable. However, I realized I few things. Aside from the crazy wind that was, of course, blowing towards me when I was on the uphill stretch of my ride; I also realized I am not completely happy with my bike. I don't have the money to buy a road bike, so that is pretty much out of the question, but I am not really happy with my bike, and am going to have to see what I can do about that. I feel like my riding position is more "leisurely" than "athletic". What I mean by this is that on the type of bike that I have (a hybrid/cruiser/commuter bike) you are sitting more straight up and back, and your legs are coming up to a 90 degree angle in front of you. This is different from a road bike because on a road bike you are leaning forward and your legs are more directly under your body. Although I haven't spent much time on a road bike, I feel like being forward would make you more aerodynamic (I could have REALLY used that today!) and also would make it easier on your legs since you are not pulling them straight up, but more forward and back. I guess I will just have to get used to it, but if anyone has a women's road bike they wouldn't mind giving up (or trading for a hybrid) for the next four months or so, I would be eternally happy!
Despite all the complaining, my workout today was really fantastic! I did my windy bike ride, and then I went to the gym for an hour of hard core strength training. I actually found myself looking forward all day to my workout, and I was really mad when I realized I had a meeting after work and that my workout might get cut short because of it. Luckily, my meeting only went about 45 mintues, and I was still able to get in my entire workout! I came home after work, had a snack, and then packed my gym back and stuck it in my car. I headed out on my bike ride, and when I came back I just hopped right in the car to go to the gym. I knew that if I went inside I wouldn't want to go back out and I would be tempted to fall into bed and nap. I was proud of myself for being excited and for following through with my plan even though I got stuck at work longer than expected. My workout at the gym was great, I felt strong, even though I am sore from my first strength training workout on Monday. The only part that sucked was that I accidentally threw two shirts into my gym bag instead of shorts. This meant that I had to train in my under armour cold gear...which, in case you don't know, is made for running outside in cold weather, and it is designed to keep you warmer. Needless to say I had a good sweat today!
After my workout and dinner I headed to class, so I am tired tonight, I really haven't stopped moving today at all...which I guess is good, less time to think about the bad stuff, but of course as soon as I got home my mind kicked into hyperdrive and all I can think about is D. I am hoping the exhaustion will kick in as soon as I get in bed and I will fall asleep before I can think too much.

Things I realized today:
1) road bikes are much more conducive to racing than hybrids are!
2) Don't forget your shorts for the gym!
3) Sore muscles feel awesome...I knew this, but had forgotten how great it feels to know I have worked myself hard!

How I felt after I worked out: Tired...sore...hungry! (Is this exactly the same as yesterday? Hmm...)
My eating was great today...although I have to admit I had a spoonful of pb tonight...haha...but I think that is better than pb cups after lunch! Baby steps. I did have a really healthy dinner though...grilled chicken and my spinach, cannelini beans and diced tomatoes creation with mixed greens and tomatoes on the side with a bit of ranch dressing tossed on. I felt great afterwards, full, satisfied, yet light and healthy. It was nice.
So...what's up for tomorrow? Well, I'm not actually sure. I know this is counter productive to sticking to the training, but don't worry! I have two plans. My friend and I signed up for this aerobic dance class for several weeks. The first one is tomorrow night. However, she isn't feeling well and doesn't know if she will be feeling better tomorrow. If she isn't then we are going to skip it and go next week. If we don't go to that, I am going to go do my swim workout. If we do go, I am going to do my swim workout before I leave on Friday to go home to NJ. I know Friday is supposed to be my other day off, but this week's training is pretty mild, especially the swimming, and it should probably be about a 15 minute workout, so I think it will be fine to do that early in the morning, and then I will have time to recover before I workout on Saturday.
It feels great to be so motivated...I feel the way I felt when I was a kid/teenager and was on a sports team...really motivated and working towards a goal...except it is even better this time because I don't have to be excited for anyone else...I know that sounds selfish, but this race is for ME and I don't have to be thinking about anyone else while I train, or when I race. I just need to think about ME. And right now, I think I am the one who needs this.
I'll be back tomorrow! One day closer to the goal, and one more day of enjoying the process :)

first day off...

Ok, so I know I said today was going to bed a bike ride, but when looking at my schedule I decided the best days for my "off" days are Tuesday and Friday, because that way I am doing my strength training on a day right before an off day,and on Thursday night I have dance aerobics, and since that will mean I have two workouts on Thursdays, Friday will be a much needed off day! And my training packet says its a good idea to take a slow walk sometimes on an off day if it is right after a strength training day to "actively recover". So anyway, I didn't work out today, but I did sit in the hot tub at the gym, which was heavenly and felt great on my sore muscles....that's right, my muscles are sore after one day of a hard workout...don't judge. haha. So here is my list of things I realized today during this triathlon journey...

1) It is hard for me to take a day off and not feel guilty...seeing as yesterday was my first day of the training regimen, I felt like I should be working out today, but the training packet says specifically to stick with the plan exactly for the first two weeks so that you get in the habit of working hard on your "on" days and really enjoying and resting on your "off" days. "Your body will thank you for it" is what it says. I guess we will see!
2) I am trying to focus less on my body image and more on the way I feel. In the past, I was never a girl to completely freak out about her body, I never had those times in high school where I starved myself for a week before homecoming or anything. I have always loved cooking and loved food and appreciated good nutrition. I have my mom and her awesome cooking to thank for this...she always cooked a meal and we were all expected to be at the table to eat it unless we were sick or had another really good excuse. I always loved this as a kid and I am soooo glad this was a rule in my house because it has taught me that a healthy dinner is important and that spending that time with your family is also important. Having said this, in the past few years, I have tried things like weight watchers. It worked great for me the first time, and I tried to go back to it several times and it just never really worked. I'm not sure if this is jsut because I don't have good willpower, and I just can't resist chocolate in large amounts sometimes, or what, but it just didn't work for me for the long term. I haven't given up, I still subscribe to weight watchers online and I enjoy the recipes and sometimes track points. I know this isn't how it is supposed to work, but like I said, it's not quite my thing. So, anyway, after that super long tanget, my point is this, doing a triathlon requires me to eat foods that will power my body through the training. I have been trying (for the whopping 48 hours since I made this decision) to eat foods that will give me strength and fuel. Now, I am not the type of person who can eat stuff like wheatgrass and carrot sticks and be happy...sorry but that's just not me....shove a cupcake in front of my face and I am pretty much powerless to resist. So I am trying to focus on eating a balanced diet of foods that give me energy, and make me feel good. I have been trying to monitor how I feel after each time I eat, and using that to decide whether or not the food was a good choice. It seems to be helping with what I call the "guilt factor"...you know, that feeling you get when you eat a piece of chocolate cake...you know it tasted amazing, but you can almost feel the fat beginning to jiggle on your thighs? For example, today, after I ate my lunch (more about my lunch later...) I was just not feeling satisfied. I felt full, and I certainly would have been fine in 10 minutes if I just went back to work and didn't think about food anymore...but, like I said...powerless to resist! So anyway, I know there is a secret stash of miniature reese pb cups in a freezer at work...so I snuck in after lunch and grabbed 2. I savored and enjoyed them....but they really didn't taste all that great, and afterwards I still didn't feel satisfied and I felt kinda sluggish and overfull. Instead of letting the "guilt factor" sink in, I told myself I was learning a lesson from this. I don't "need" chocolate after lunch like I think I do...in fact, chocolate after lunch makes me feel worse than just drinking some water to wash down my healthy lunch and heading back to work. Does this mean I am never going to eat chocolate or sweets again?? HELL NO! Haha...I love sweets, I am a chocoholic, and I fully intend to eat my fair share, but the lesson I learned is that I can save those treats for times when I really really want them...not for at work when I am rushed and just eating it to try to feel more satisfied.

So those are two things I learned today. Now, back to my lunch. Remember last night when I described my dinner? If you like fish and beans, it probably sounded delish. If you don't, let's pretend you do. I packed up my leftovers in a tupperware with the thought that I would take it for lunch today.I was super excited and I went to bed and woke up this morning, went downstairs to pack my lunch, and saw a tupperware sitting on the counter. My first thought was that one of my roommates had taken something out so they wouldn't forget to take it to work with them...but then I realized it was my tupperware! I had left my fish out all night! I was soo mad! I don't know about you, but fish that has sat on the counter for nearly 12 hours isn't my idea of good eats. I was pissed...so I put aside the tupperware, grabbed a smart ones meal out of the freezer, packed some veggies and went to work. That was not a great start to the day.

So...how am I feeling tonight? tired....sore...and emotionally not great. I am trying to "keep my chin up" but it is hard...whenever I have a free moment I feel sad.
What am I having for dinner? (This is gonna be a super weird meal...just a warning..I kinda went with what I was craving tonight, while still trying to keep a balanced diet as much as possible): egg white scramble with peppers and tomatoes, matzo with whipped peanut butter, applesauce. Like I said, weird...but it is good protein...and whipped pb has much fewer calories than regular pb...and I love applesauce....I'm like an applesauce monster...haha.

Tomorrow....5 mile bike ride (for real this time!) and strength training. And no pb cups after lunch!!

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I have no clue why the title of that post has "add away message text here"...sorry about that! hahaha.

3 athletic events in 1 day...crazy!Enter away message text here.

Wow...I just realized I haven't posted since January. I mean, I knew it had been a while, but I didn't know it had been that long. I guess it is because I haven't had much exciting to write about, and the things going on in my life that are interesting aren't things I was really comfortable sharing with people. So anyway, here I am, back again with new resolve, ready to share some things.
D and I broke up. This is the start of everything else that is to come in this post. So, needless to say, but I will say it anyway, I have been miserable since this happened. We have been going through this weird talking, no talking, talking limbo since then, and it just doesn't seem to get us anywhere. So anyway, yesterday we took a walk and talked, and again, didn't get anywhere. We decided not to talk anymore. Not neccesarily forever, but for now, until we are both feeling better and are "over" it, if it is possible to be over the person you have loved for so long.
So anyway, after our talk I cried quite a bit, and I called my mom and cried to her. I love that I can always count on my family to be there for me and to never make my feelings seem stupid. She was great, and finally I was able to hang up and stop crying and get out of bed to go on the computer and brush my teeth. This is the point where it gets exciting....maybe.
So at some point last night when I was aimlessly searching the internet, looking for nothing and hoping the past few weeks had never happened, I had a completely random, completely crazy though. I want to do a triathlon. Where this thought came from, I have no clue, and why I would even think of this (I hate running) is beyond me, but I did think it. I started randomly looking up some training plans and looking up what a triathlon actually entailed. I learned alot, such as there are many different types of triathlons. There are the crazy, ironman ones where you run a marathon, bike over 100 miles and swim almost 3 miles. There are the half ironmans, which is pretty self explanatory. Then there are olympic length, which I think is somewhere around 1 mile of swimming, 72 miles of biking and a half marathon. The one that I am going to do is called a sprint. It is 1/2 mile of swimming, 16.5 miles of biking and 3.1 miles of running. This may seem incredibly tame compared to the rest of them, but it is quite an athletic feat to do all three of these things in one day without stopping...or at least it is for me.
I went to bed last night with my mind spinning with triathlon goodness, thinking about all the possibilities, and wondering whether I could really do this. I had alot of trouble falling asleep, my heart was beating really fast for a long time. I know that sounds dumb, but I was really excited at the thought of doing this all for me.
So today I revisited the idea, I did some more research, and then I decided to do it. I looked up some triathlons both in New Jersey and in Massachusetts. Since I think I will be in New Jersey for the summer, I thought that was my best bet, plus then my family can come watch me. I found one that is about 30 minutes from home in New Jersey, so it is perfect, especially since they want me there at 6:30 AM! The race is the Randolph Lake Triathlon and it is on July 11,2010. I signed up for it at work today, before I could come home, crawl in bed and give up. It cost 100 dollars, so that in itself is motivation to train.
I was nervous at first that I would need all sorts of fancy equipment, but I did alot of research today, and most websites say that if you are doing it for the experience and not neccesarily to win, then it doesn't matter what kind of bike you have or if you have a fancy wetsuit, you can do it in a bathing suit and on a hybrid bike (which is what I have). This eased my mind a bit, because 100 dollars for the registration fee is alot for me, and the thought of having to shell out a bunch of money for equipment is just overwhelming. So I am going to invest in a bathing suit or 2 and a good pair of running shoes. I'm sure I will also have to get a water bottle and cage for my bike for the long rides, but other than that I should be able to make do with what I have.
So anyway, I have decided, that in order to give my blog some direction, and to keep me motivated, I am going to start using my blog as a training log that you can all read. I am going to check in each day (or mostly each day) and talk about how I feel, what I did that day, and sometimes what I ate and how it made me feel while I was training. I will share my ups and downs during training, and on the days when I feel like I can't do it, I will blog and I expect you guys to motivate me! I'm really looking forward to this experience, and I think it will be really really hard, but I also think it will be good for me to have a focus that is positive, because lately I have been feeling pretty negative about things in general. By the way, I found a training plan online, and since I have never done more than a 5k, I am going to follow it and see what happens.
So...here goes nothing.

Day 1:
Run: 9 minute warm up (5 minutes walking, 1min jog, 1 min walk x2)
6 minutes running/walking (2 min. running @5.8 on treadmill, 1 min. walking @3.5 x2)
1 minute cool down walking
15 minutes total

~60 minutes strength training (I'm not gonna put down all the exercises on here because I have them written in my other log, but essentially I hit every muscle group with light weights...the goal is endurance and strength, not bulk.)

After my workout I felt: strong...tired...hungry! I had baked halibut with cannellini beans, spinach, diced tomatoes and a few little new potatoes on the side for dinner. It was delish!

Now I'm ready for bed! Tomorrow....bike 5 miles.