Wow, now that I am attempting to blog again, Blogger (blogspot) is driving me crazy. I have changed my email address to a gmail account, but for some reason, Blogger (owned by google) wont let me change the primary email on this account to a gmail account.
Also, they have completely overhauled the interface in a way that confuses my feeble mind.
Therefore you can now find this little blog here.www.mukismom.wordpress.com
Now, I need to figure out how to move my old Tri blogs over....
Monday, July 30, 2012
Cleanse in a pyramid formation
Back in March, my running buddy Susan and I came across an Isagenix stand that was set up at the expo for the Mercer Island Half Marathon. We both mentioned that we were curious, but that people seemed somewhat cultish about it, so we stayed away. I mentioned that I had a FB friend* that I thought used it, but she seems subtle and not cultish at all.
* FB friend = friend you are good friends with at some point in time but havent seen in person in oodles of years.
At some point in my researching low carb/high protien eating, I became aware of the concept of cellular cleansing. While I obsessed with other cleanses in a manner similar to a car fire on the side of the road, this type of cleansing seemed more interesting, and less...um....messy. The concept here is that over the last many years, our environment has become so clogged with crap, that our bodies' normal methods of expelling toxins can no longer keep up.
There are two major trains of thought: 1) our liver and kidneys have evolved to do this, and are the best way to do this, and do this just fine thankyouverymuch and 2) that the amount of toxicity in our environments and food has far surpassed the amount that our liver and kidneys have evolved to filter out.
In another part of my mid-life crisis that I have every 5 years or so, I have also learned how easily chemicals and things can enter our bodies via our skin. All those products that you rub on for anti-aging capitalize on the fact that the skin lets LOTS of stuff through.
After pondering a bit, I have decided I agree with theory 2. While I have lost a bit of weight, and been eating better, and taking my vitamins, my joints still feel painfully inflammed. Most of them. I also don't feel quite right - less energy, sleeping too much, etc.
This has brought me back to Isagenix, which is touted as a full body cleanse. So I tell Susan I am thinking of looking into it. Later that day, my FB friend posted an interesting article on the fact that carbs are not an essential nutrient, and that humans aren't actually proven to need them. Susan and I both commented...FF to later in the evening, and both of us were on the horn with my FB friend getting us some product.
When I started the buyflow, it became clear that if I wanted this stuff as cheaply as possible, I was going to get sucked into being an Associate. Of course, this is when I felt the suck of the cult, pulllllllling me in. FB friend assures me that Isagenix will not hassle me, I will just get credits and $$ if I happen to sell to more peeps. So, that is how I got sucked into a pyramid scheme. Susan also got sucked in, under me, so I am an associate with a sub-associate!
Can I now say I have my own business?
Make money at home folks! Make money at home! Wanna learn how? Call Kim.
This stuff is currently in transit, and should be waiting for me when I get home. I will either start with Dinner tonight or Breakfast tomorrow. I will go ahead and blog each day about what this is like since it is a structured program for 30 days, that I have gotten myself into.
Should be interesting!
* FB friend = friend you are good friends with at some point in time but havent seen in person in oodles of years.
At some point in my researching low carb/high protien eating, I became aware of the concept of cellular cleansing. While I obsessed with other cleanses in a manner similar to a car fire on the side of the road, this type of cleansing seemed more interesting, and less...um....messy. The concept here is that over the last many years, our environment has become so clogged with crap, that our bodies' normal methods of expelling toxins can no longer keep up.
There are two major trains of thought: 1) our liver and kidneys have evolved to do this, and are the best way to do this, and do this just fine thankyouverymuch and 2) that the amount of toxicity in our environments and food has far surpassed the amount that our liver and kidneys have evolved to filter out.
In another part of my mid-life crisis that I have every 5 years or so, I have also learned how easily chemicals and things can enter our bodies via our skin. All those products that you rub on for anti-aging capitalize on the fact that the skin lets LOTS of stuff through.
After pondering a bit, I have decided I agree with theory 2. While I have lost a bit of weight, and been eating better, and taking my vitamins, my joints still feel painfully inflammed. Most of them. I also don't feel quite right - less energy, sleeping too much, etc.
This has brought me back to Isagenix, which is touted as a full body cleanse. So I tell Susan I am thinking of looking into it. Later that day, my FB friend posted an interesting article on the fact that carbs are not an essential nutrient, and that humans aren't actually proven to need them. Susan and I both commented...FF to later in the evening, and both of us were on the horn with my FB friend getting us some product.
When I started the buyflow, it became clear that if I wanted this stuff as cheaply as possible, I was going to get sucked into being an Associate. Of course, this is when I felt the suck of the cult, pulllllllling me in. FB friend assures me that Isagenix will not hassle me, I will just get credits and $$ if I happen to sell to more peeps. So, that is how I got sucked into a pyramid scheme. Susan also got sucked in, under me, so I am an associate with a sub-associate!
Can I now say I have my own business?
Make money at home folks! Make money at home! Wanna learn how? Call Kim.
This stuff is currently in transit, and should be waiting for me when I get home. I will either start with Dinner tonight or Breakfast tomorrow. I will go ahead and blog each day about what this is like since it is a structured program for 30 days, that I have gotten myself into.
Should be interesting!
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Let's talk about less me, but not talk less about me.
Wow, it has been a really long time since I made a blog post! Issaquah 2011 triathlon? Yikes. Well, a lot of time has passed, and there are no tri's to blog about this year. Althought I suppose I could blog about the lack of tris, but why? A number of folks have been asking about my efforts to lose weight, so I suppose that is worthy of writing about.
My focus this year has been general health and losing some of the pounds. Since working at AT&T, I have really put on a lot of weight. I had also put on a bit of weight at Deloitte, but early this year I got on a scale for a Dr. appt, and realized I was only 2 lbs away from a weight that I have always said I would NEVER let myself get to. So, I adjusted my priorities.
1) Triathlon is not a way to lose weight. The amount of fuel that is consumed makes up for the amount of calories burned. Later, I would learn the carbs are especially perilous to me.
2) Being a fat athlete isn't some great thing. I am happy for the people who have been able to make careers out of being fat and 'athletic', but us fatties have additional things to worry about, not just jokes about being slow - joint pain, hyperextended joints, overuse injuries....I always welcome any 135 lb athlete to strap on an additional 65 lbs and go for a jog - prove me wrong. My fitness levels in recent recent years is way beyond what it used to be, but I have also maxed out my $1500 medical deductible for the last 3 years, after years of not even using my insurance. MRIs, PT, X-rays...
3) Contrary to all the press out there that we should 'accept our curves', I refuse to accept my weight as healthy just because it has become the new normal in the US. Should I let it kill my self esteem? Absolutely not. Should I be fixated? No. Should I beat myself up because I slip and eat a Snickers? Uh uh. But I also shouldn't embrace and enable myself to maintain an unhealthy cycle of junk in and lazy, lack of energy, fat out. Lets not let it get us down, ladies, but don't euphemize it - its called 'fat', not 'curves'. Curves is Beyonce. Not you, Average American Woman, not me.
So all this added up to - 2012 has been, and will continue to be dedicated to getting healthy, losing weight and running for exercise.
In January, I went into a new bariatric specialist (not the surgery kind) and she ran all kinds of blood tests on me. Based on these results, we found that while I am nowhere near diabetic, my body is not processing carbs effectively, but rather storing as fat. Additionally, I had high blood pressure, high cholesterol, low vitamin B and extremely low vitamin D levels. Based on this, I promptly started a low carb diet.
This has been working pretty well for me, when I am able to stick with it - which really is most of the time. I quickly lost 25 lbs over the next 3 months. Yahoo! There goes all the AT&T weight!
I took a trip to OKC and went off the wagon. Mentally, I couldnt get it together and kept eating like crap for a few months - luckily I only gained back about 7 of the lbs I had lost. I recently got my head back, and have lost the 7 lbs again. Back down 25.
I am pretty happy with this rate - I have folks all around me at the office who are on various programs that are making them lose faster, but I look at this more like a retirement fund then day trading. Over the long haul - the number is going in the right direction. Plus, I think that having loose skin would give me a complex.
On the running front, I immediately noticed that my running speed got faster by almost 3 min per mile. This is a drop from 15 min to just under 12 min miles, 5k pace. Faster even then when I was 25 and weighed about 40 lbs less. I managed to crank out 3 half marathons and a couple of 5Ks between February and April! On a roll! However, sometime on Mother's day, I noticed something wasn't right with my foot. So, alas, I had a DNF on my May half, skipped June altogether, and downgraded my July half to a 5k walk. I had a walking boot on for 3-4 weeks, have wrapped, iced, heated and taped. Nothing seems to make this footpain disappear completely. (see point 2 above) Next steps on this front will be to get a bone scan to localize the injury, followed by an MRI to give a better idea of what is going on. Good by money, hello deductible met!
Given all of the joint pain I have been having...
- Wrist pain I got PT for last year still lingers
- New pain in other risk
- My knees are notorious at this point....
- Did I mention I have tennis elbow from laying tile in my kitchen?
... I have started looking for additional ways to cleanse. Not the colon poop-a-lot kind, but at a cellular level. In researching and learning about nutrition and high protien and veggie diets, I have come to think that maybe our kidneys and liver cannot actually keep up with all the crap. We didnt evolve to eat garbage (my dog wont eat some of my snacks, even, and she will eat cat poop), breathe dirty air, have engineered foods, and don't even get me started on pesticides... Many studies show that acidity and toxin levels in the body lead to joint inflammation. The result of this thinking will be in my next post.
My focus this year has been general health and losing some of the pounds. Since working at AT&T, I have really put on a lot of weight. I had also put on a bit of weight at Deloitte, but early this year I got on a scale for a Dr. appt, and realized I was only 2 lbs away from a weight that I have always said I would NEVER let myself get to. So, I adjusted my priorities.
1) Triathlon is not a way to lose weight. The amount of fuel that is consumed makes up for the amount of calories burned. Later, I would learn the carbs are especially perilous to me.
2) Being a fat athlete isn't some great thing. I am happy for the people who have been able to make careers out of being fat and 'athletic', but us fatties have additional things to worry about, not just jokes about being slow - joint pain, hyperextended joints, overuse injuries....I always welcome any 135 lb athlete to strap on an additional 65 lbs and go for a jog - prove me wrong. My fitness levels in recent recent years is way beyond what it used to be, but I have also maxed out my $1500 medical deductible for the last 3 years, after years of not even using my insurance. MRIs, PT, X-rays...
3) Contrary to all the press out there that we should 'accept our curves', I refuse to accept my weight as healthy just because it has become the new normal in the US. Should I let it kill my self esteem? Absolutely not. Should I be fixated? No. Should I beat myself up because I slip and eat a Snickers? Uh uh. But I also shouldn't embrace and enable myself to maintain an unhealthy cycle of junk in and lazy, lack of energy, fat out. Lets not let it get us down, ladies, but don't euphemize it - its called 'fat', not 'curves'. Curves is Beyonce. Not you, Average American Woman, not me.
So all this added up to - 2012 has been, and will continue to be dedicated to getting healthy, losing weight and running for exercise.
In January, I went into a new bariatric specialist (not the surgery kind) and she ran all kinds of blood tests on me. Based on these results, we found that while I am nowhere near diabetic, my body is not processing carbs effectively, but rather storing as fat. Additionally, I had high blood pressure, high cholesterol, low vitamin B and extremely low vitamin D levels. Based on this, I promptly started a low carb diet.
This has been working pretty well for me, when I am able to stick with it - which really is most of the time. I quickly lost 25 lbs over the next 3 months. Yahoo! There goes all the AT&T weight!
I took a trip to OKC and went off the wagon. Mentally, I couldnt get it together and kept eating like crap for a few months - luckily I only gained back about 7 of the lbs I had lost. I recently got my head back, and have lost the 7 lbs again. Back down 25.
I am pretty happy with this rate - I have folks all around me at the office who are on various programs that are making them lose faster, but I look at this more like a retirement fund then day trading. Over the long haul - the number is going in the right direction. Plus, I think that having loose skin would give me a complex.
On the running front, I immediately noticed that my running speed got faster by almost 3 min per mile. This is a drop from 15 min to just under 12 min miles, 5k pace. Faster even then when I was 25 and weighed about 40 lbs less. I managed to crank out 3 half marathons and a couple of 5Ks between February and April! On a roll! However, sometime on Mother's day, I noticed something wasn't right with my foot. So, alas, I had a DNF on my May half, skipped June altogether, and downgraded my July half to a 5k walk. I had a walking boot on for 3-4 weeks, have wrapped, iced, heated and taped. Nothing seems to make this footpain disappear completely. (see point 2 above) Next steps on this front will be to get a bone scan to localize the injury, followed by an MRI to give a better idea of what is going on. Good by money, hello deductible met!
Given all of the joint pain I have been having...
- Wrist pain I got PT for last year still lingers
- New pain in other risk
- My knees are notorious at this point....
- Did I mention I have tennis elbow from laying tile in my kitchen?
... I have started looking for additional ways to cleanse. Not the colon poop-a-lot kind, but at a cellular level. In researching and learning about nutrition and high protien and veggie diets, I have come to think that maybe our kidneys and liver cannot actually keep up with all the crap. We didnt evolve to eat garbage (my dog wont eat some of my snacks, even, and she will eat cat poop), breathe dirty air, have engineered foods, and don't even get me started on pesticides... Many studies show that acidity and toxin levels in the body lead to joint inflammation. The result of this thinking will be in my next post.
Sunday, June 5, 2011
First tri of the season - Issaquah
Wow, it has been a very long time since I wrote one of these here blogs. Well I guess I haven't much to say.
However, I do want to capture every exciting and mind blowing moment of my attempts to recapture the athletic prowess that I haven't had since...oh wait, I never had it. Well then, my attempts to capture some athletic prowess, so, here is another blog - Issaquah Triathlon part 2.
As you may remember from last year, or not, the Issaquah Triathlon was the first race I realized I can't swim. Years of youth swimming in lakes and water skiing be damned, I was shocked (literally - brrrr), and have been hoping ever since to improve my swim. Alas, it was not to be this year either. Perhaps I need to do more working and less hoping....another blog for another day.
On to the race! So this year, I didn't want to spend hours manically packing and unpacking my bag, making sure I got everything on my checklist, so instead I distracted myself by making Tramps a baby shower cake. Wow, how time flies when you make 20 crepes and stack them to make a crepe cake - it was 11:10 by the time I finished! So I quickly packed and tried to go to sleep. But of course I couldn't sleep....but I did manage to pop out of bed when the alarm went off at 4:45.
First off, I must say that the race was much more organized than last year, as they have a new management crew. I could tell this everywhere I looked. Except for the sectioning of transition for age groups. I found the W 35-39, 40+, 29 and U, all the men's racks, but I couldn't find the W 30-34. But don't worry, the helpful volunteer let me know that the 29 and U really meant 30-34. And he treated me like a moron for not knowing that. So I found one of the two racks marked this way and found it full of 20-something newbies. Full is not the right word, as they had put 4 per rack, and spread out nicely to give themselves a full towel of setup on each side of their bike. They also argued somewhat when I let them know that they needed to let me fit in, until one finally left and went to the 29 and Under rack. I racked up and set up my gear and then wandered down to the beach to check out the swim.
I saw a few teammates and we checked out the transitions in and out, and one gal had let me know that the Bike out was over gravel. Feeling that was strange, I went and checked it out...yep, gravel.
So, I wet back and suited up, and went to fill my water bottles (note to self, do that at home next time), and then went into the water for a dip, and to get used to the cold. Colder than I expected, but not too bad.
I got in with my group, and we were off! I went out with about 15 good strokes, and was feeling like I could probably do this fine. Then, I got kicked, and I popped my head up -- this was a mistake, as I was pushed into my usual inability to swim with my head up and breathe at the same time issue. So, I pulled on the string of my wetsuit, opened it up a bit more, and kept slugging along. My goals for the swim were twofold, yet I still fee like I failed... 1) swim faster than last year and 2) DO NOT meet up with any Kayak people (friendly as they are). I did manage to make both of these, however, I was having a seriously asthmatic moment by the time I got out of the water. It was seriously scary - and I don't have asthma.
So, I got out of the swim, I am pretty sure DEAD LAST, and got to getting to my bike. The swim to bike run was reallllllly long, and I walked much of it to get my breath. The good news is that I caught my breath by the time I got there, not like last time. I didn't sit down this time, but rather pulled on my socks and shoes standing up like I was taught to at the TN transition clinic. I gulped down a gu of some sort and then I was off.
I felt pretty OK on the bike, but I wasn't passing anyone. My dream of moving out of dead last was not going to happen. I am not sure where all the out of shape girls I picked off last year were, but they were not in Issaquah. I felt a little stronger going up the hills, and much less timid going down the hills. My gears were wonky though, and I think my bike needs a trip to Gerk's.
I scooted into transition and as I ran up, I realized one of the blessed broads I was sharing a rack with had not bothered to rack her bike. It was just laying there. Given the lack of respect she showed the bike, I didn't feel bad at all picking it up and throwing it out of the way a few times until it stayed out of my way on the rack. However, this was extremely annoying and used energy and time that I didn't want to waste. GRRRR - I hate people without race manners!! (perhaps yet another blog to write). In any case, I got into my shoes and was off. I used another trick learned at TN transition skool - and had little clippies instead of tying my shoes. Saved me the time I wasted throwing that damn bike around.
So I was off to the run. I was looking at my schedule and last few 5ks and have realized that I haven't run comfortably since January without some sort of ache or pain or other medical issue. I am happy to say that the PT I have been doing has already been paying off. I took off at a nice little sustainable shuffle and was happy to feel no pain in my legs!! About a mile in, I got a little tight in my calves, but that loosened itself up and the trend of no pain continued. About 2 miles in, I realized I had forgotten my race number at transition. I managed to run most of the way, I would just take a walk break each time I took a drink of water out of my handy water bottle, or when I ate another Gu-like substance. Also, unlike last year, this race had a full 5k run. The run last year was quite a bit shorter.
So, there are a few things I did well....
1) I fueled properly. I started before the bike, and consistently kept shoving a Gu-thing down the gullet every half hour until I was finished.
2) I hydrated properly on the run. Carrying a little bottle really helped with this.
3) I got to the race early enough to have time to do what I needed to do.
4) I employed some new tricks from Transition Skool.
Things I need to work on:
1) Swimming anyone?
2) Hydrating on the bike
3) Shifting between the large and small ring.
4) Having more confidence.
Update: my times were:
Total 02:05:15 Swim 00:15:45 T1 00:04:47 Bike 00:56:44 T2 00:02:06 Run 00:45:55
So, I took about 2.5 min off my swim, 3 min off my bike, 40 seconds off T1 (in spite of the long run to transition after the swim), 2.5 min off T2, and who knows on the run, as the course was quite a bit longer. Not too bad, I suppose. Not great, either. :)
However, I do want to capture every exciting and mind blowing moment of my attempts to recapture the athletic prowess that I haven't had since...oh wait, I never had it. Well then, my attempts to capture some athletic prowess, so, here is another blog - Issaquah Triathlon part 2.
As you may remember from last year, or not, the Issaquah Triathlon was the first race I realized I can't swim. Years of youth swimming in lakes and water skiing be damned, I was shocked (literally - brrrr), and have been hoping ever since to improve my swim. Alas, it was not to be this year either. Perhaps I need to do more working and less hoping....another blog for another day.
On to the race! So this year, I didn't want to spend hours manically packing and unpacking my bag, making sure I got everything on my checklist, so instead I distracted myself by making Tramps a baby shower cake. Wow, how time flies when you make 20 crepes and stack them to make a crepe cake - it was 11:10 by the time I finished! So I quickly packed and tried to go to sleep. But of course I couldn't sleep....but I did manage to pop out of bed when the alarm went off at 4:45.
First off, I must say that the race was much more organized than last year, as they have a new management crew. I could tell this everywhere I looked. Except for the sectioning of transition for age groups. I found the W 35-39, 40+, 29 and U, all the men's racks, but I couldn't find the W 30-34. But don't worry, the helpful volunteer let me know that the 29 and U really meant 30-34. And he treated me like a moron for not knowing that. So I found one of the two racks marked this way and found it full of 20-something newbies. Full is not the right word, as they had put 4 per rack, and spread out nicely to give themselves a full towel of setup on each side of their bike. They also argued somewhat when I let them know that they needed to let me fit in, until one finally left and went to the 29 and Under rack. I racked up and set up my gear and then wandered down to the beach to check out the swim.
I saw a few teammates and we checked out the transitions in and out, and one gal had let me know that the Bike out was over gravel. Feeling that was strange, I went and checked it out...yep, gravel.
So, I wet back and suited up, and went to fill my water bottles (note to self, do that at home next time), and then went into the water for a dip, and to get used to the cold. Colder than I expected, but not too bad.
I got in with my group, and we were off! I went out with about 15 good strokes, and was feeling like I could probably do this fine. Then, I got kicked, and I popped my head up -- this was a mistake, as I was pushed into my usual inability to swim with my head up and breathe at the same time issue. So, I pulled on the string of my wetsuit, opened it up a bit more, and kept slugging along. My goals for the swim were twofold, yet I still fee like I failed... 1) swim faster than last year and 2) DO NOT meet up with any Kayak people (friendly as they are). I did manage to make both of these, however, I was having a seriously asthmatic moment by the time I got out of the water. It was seriously scary - and I don't have asthma.
So, I got out of the swim, I am pretty sure DEAD LAST, and got to getting to my bike. The swim to bike run was reallllllly long, and I walked much of it to get my breath. The good news is that I caught my breath by the time I got there, not like last time. I didn't sit down this time, but rather pulled on my socks and shoes standing up like I was taught to at the TN transition clinic. I gulped down a gu of some sort and then I was off.
I felt pretty OK on the bike, but I wasn't passing anyone. My dream of moving out of dead last was not going to happen. I am not sure where all the out of shape girls I picked off last year were, but they were not in Issaquah. I felt a little stronger going up the hills, and much less timid going down the hills. My gears were wonky though, and I think my bike needs a trip to Gerk's.
I scooted into transition and as I ran up, I realized one of the blessed broads I was sharing a rack with had not bothered to rack her bike. It was just laying there. Given the lack of respect she showed the bike, I didn't feel bad at all picking it up and throwing it out of the way a few times until it stayed out of my way on the rack. However, this was extremely annoying and used energy and time that I didn't want to waste. GRRRR - I hate people without race manners!! (perhaps yet another blog to write). In any case, I got into my shoes and was off. I used another trick learned at TN transition skool - and had little clippies instead of tying my shoes. Saved me the time I wasted throwing that damn bike around.
So I was off to the run. I was looking at my schedule and last few 5ks and have realized that I haven't run comfortably since January without some sort of ache or pain or other medical issue. I am happy to say that the PT I have been doing has already been paying off. I took off at a nice little sustainable shuffle and was happy to feel no pain in my legs!! About a mile in, I got a little tight in my calves, but that loosened itself up and the trend of no pain continued. About 2 miles in, I realized I had forgotten my race number at transition. I managed to run most of the way, I would just take a walk break each time I took a drink of water out of my handy water bottle, or when I ate another Gu-like substance. Also, unlike last year, this race had a full 5k run. The run last year was quite a bit shorter.
So, there are a few things I did well....
1) I fueled properly. I started before the bike, and consistently kept shoving a Gu-thing down the gullet every half hour until I was finished.
2) I hydrated properly on the run. Carrying a little bottle really helped with this.
3) I got to the race early enough to have time to do what I needed to do.
4) I employed some new tricks from Transition Skool.
Things I need to work on:
1) Swimming anyone?
2) Hydrating on the bike
3) Shifting between the large and small ring.
4) Having more confidence.
Update: my times were:
Total 02:05:15 Swim 00:15:45 T1 00:04:47 Bike 00:56:44 T2 00:02:06 Run 00:45:55
So, I took about 2.5 min off my swim, 3 min off my bike, 40 seconds off T1 (in spite of the long run to transition after the swim), 2.5 min off T2, and who knows on the run, as the course was quite a bit longer. Not too bad, I suppose. Not great, either. :)
Sunday, January 2, 2011
2010 Goal Wrap Up
Well, it is that time of year again. Time to see how I did on my goals for the year. In reading them, I see that I didnt achieve all of what I wanted, however, I must say that I am ok with that. Lets take them from the top, shall we?
1) Disney Princess Half Marathon < 3 hours in March I did complete the Disney Princess, however, I did it in 3 hours, 3 minutes. Had I stood in line for a shorter period at the port-o-potty, I would have beat 3 hours! To think, my aversion to peeing on the side of the road is what made me miss this goal.
2) Complete each of the 4 or so Triathlons on my agenda, with an improving time for each. I would like, in the first one, to beat my time in the Danskin '02. I did not beat the times of my Danskin 2002 endeavor. That said, I found swimming to be much, much more difficult than any other time in my life. By the end of the season, I was happy to just finish, as you saw from my race recaps. That said, I did complete the Issaquah Tri, Chelanman Tri and the Finish Strong Tri. My confidence was not so beaten down that I will not continue to attempt improvement and longer distances. For each race, there were various aspects of the races that did improve, and that gives me confidence that I can get to where I want....next year.
3) I will be doing the Tour de Cure century ride this year. My stretch goal is to complete 70 miles of it, although I am officially signed up for the 45 mile. For the full century...hmmmm, maybe next year. Yeah, I didnt do this. I didnt raise the money, so I didnt do the ride. The Terms clearly stated that if you do not raise the money, you cannot ride. So, I opted not to ride. That said, they still continued to come after me for the money, although nowhere in the terms did it actually say that I had to pay it. This made me dislike this particular charity, so I will not do this ride in the future, either.
4) Complete another half marathon by the end of the year, improving upon my time at Disney. I did complete another race, the Los Angeles Rock and Roll and I did this one under 3 hours! I ran this with my friend Reeta, who was a Team in Training member, running for her mom. I was very happy with my performance here, although I was not happy with my training. This also marked my first visit to the med tent. Salt deficient, perhaps?
5) and this one is a big one to pretty publicly put a number on..... I would like to lose a minimum of 40 lbs in the next year. Ugh, that sucks to even type. Wow, so I didnt make this one either. I did lose about 15-20 lbs, but still, I am pretty disappointed that I didnt get closer to where I wanted on this one.
Overall, I am not unhappy about yearly goals. I am not thrilled, but not too unhappy. I think that while I didnt make the milestones I had been shooting for, I did learn a lot about myself and my motivation. I did learn that I need a coach (I have one lined up for next year). I did learn that swimming is much harder for me than it used to be. And, I did learn that the TYR Hurricane was the best wetsuit ever.
I also started this year out explaining to my friend Goose that I didnt need any new friends, and therefore she could not invite her friends with us on a girls trip. However, I did find that there was still some room in there for additional folks. I have met some awesome people through my Triathlon team that I joined. These guys are so supportive in all ways, it is really amazing.
Oh and Colleen - this is proof that I am alive. :)
1) Disney Princess Half Marathon < 3 hours in March I did complete the Disney Princess, however, I did it in 3 hours, 3 minutes. Had I stood in line for a shorter period at the port-o-potty, I would have beat 3 hours! To think, my aversion to peeing on the side of the road is what made me miss this goal.
2) Complete each of the 4 or so Triathlons on my agenda, with an improving time for each. I would like, in the first one, to beat my time in the Danskin '02. I did not beat the times of my Danskin 2002 endeavor. That said, I found swimming to be much, much more difficult than any other time in my life. By the end of the season, I was happy to just finish, as you saw from my race recaps. That said, I did complete the Issaquah Tri, Chelanman Tri and the Finish Strong Tri. My confidence was not so beaten down that I will not continue to attempt improvement and longer distances. For each race, there were various aspects of the races that did improve, and that gives me confidence that I can get to where I want....next year.
3) I will be doing the Tour de Cure century ride this year. My stretch goal is to complete 70 miles of it, although I am officially signed up for the 45 mile. For the full century...hmmmm, maybe next year. Yeah, I didnt do this. I didnt raise the money, so I didnt do the ride. The Terms clearly stated that if you do not raise the money, you cannot ride. So, I opted not to ride. That said, they still continued to come after me for the money, although nowhere in the terms did it actually say that I had to pay it. This made me dislike this particular charity, so I will not do this ride in the future, either.
4) Complete another half marathon by the end of the year, improving upon my time at Disney. I did complete another race, the Los Angeles Rock and Roll and I did this one under 3 hours! I ran this with my friend Reeta, who was a Team in Training member, running for her mom. I was very happy with my performance here, although I was not happy with my training. This also marked my first visit to the med tent. Salt deficient, perhaps?
5) and this one is a big one to pretty publicly put a number on..... I would like to lose a minimum of 40 lbs in the next year. Ugh, that sucks to even type. Wow, so I didnt make this one either. I did lose about 15-20 lbs, but still, I am pretty disappointed that I didnt get closer to where I wanted on this one.
Overall, I am not unhappy about yearly goals. I am not thrilled, but not too unhappy. I think that while I didnt make the milestones I had been shooting for, I did learn a lot about myself and my motivation. I did learn that I need a coach (I have one lined up for next year). I did learn that swimming is much harder for me than it used to be. And, I did learn that the TYR Hurricane was the best wetsuit ever.
I also started this year out explaining to my friend Goose that I didnt need any new friends, and therefore she could not invite her friends with us on a girls trip. However, I did find that there was still some room in there for additional folks. I have met some awesome people through my Triathlon team that I joined. These guys are so supportive in all ways, it is really amazing.
Oh and Colleen - this is proof that I am alive. :)
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Hi Again, it's me.
Today is also when I am going to start researching how to do my training over the off season for next year's triathon season. But, Kim! It is the off season! Aren't you supposed to take some time....off?? No. That is the joy of this sport, even when it is not in season, it is still some sort of season.
So, the Triathlon season ended for me the minute that I finished the trainwreck that was the Finish Strong Triathlon. I did go and spectate a few races after, but I moved into 'training for half marathon' right after that race. My goals next year are extremely agressive (I think), so there is no time to be wasted. My hope is to be able to do 2 Half Iron distances next year. Now, one of those will be locally here in Lake Stevens, but the other would need to be in the general vicinity of, well, June. And I think all you 2 readers know what the odds of me leaving town on a mini vaca to do a race on a weekend any time in June are. Right.
So, given that I have given my boss a year's notice (I broke the news that I wanted the weekend of June 11 off a few months ago, to get her used to it) she has now recently come back and let me know that her boss seems to also support letting me have a weekend in June off, enough that when I told her I was going to start training now then, she didn't discourage, but rather she (and my soon to be new boss) both just chuckled at my silliness of having such specific timing to start training for such a thing. And 8 months before the event, to boot. I tried to explain about building base and then peaking too early, late, etc, but they just were very amused.
So, I will not be able to purchase entry until March for said race, but I will begin my planning today. My tentative plan is to a) get my running faster b) get my biking faster c) keep up my biking endurance level d) switch completely to clipless pedals and e) get my swimming back in gear. In Feb/March (Tax return and Bonus time, well hopefully on both) I plan to hire a coach, and then be coached through the end of the season, through the 2 major races. For a to e, I will be self coaching, so I need to figure out where I need to be in the Feb/March timeframe, and also how to get myself there.
Thus, my researching starts....today.
Peace out yo!
So, the Triathlon season ended for me the minute that I finished the trainwreck that was the Finish Strong Triathlon. I did go and spectate a few races after, but I moved into 'training for half marathon' right after that race. My goals next year are extremely agressive (I think), so there is no time to be wasted. My hope is to be able to do 2 Half Iron distances next year. Now, one of those will be locally here in Lake Stevens, but the other would need to be in the general vicinity of, well, June. And I think all you 2 readers know what the odds of me leaving town on a mini vaca to do a race on a weekend any time in June are. Right.
So, given that I have given my boss a year's notice (I broke the news that I wanted the weekend of June 11 off a few months ago, to get her used to it) she has now recently come back and let me know that her boss seems to also support letting me have a weekend in June off, enough that when I told her I was going to start training now then, she didn't discourage, but rather she (and my soon to be new boss) both just chuckled at my silliness of having such specific timing to start training for such a thing. And 8 months before the event, to boot. I tried to explain about building base and then peaking too early, late, etc, but they just were very amused.
So, I will not be able to purchase entry until March for said race, but I will begin my planning today. My tentative plan is to a) get my running faster b) get my biking faster c) keep up my biking endurance level d) switch completely to clipless pedals and e) get my swimming back in gear. In Feb/March (Tax return and Bonus time, well hopefully on both) I plan to hire a coach, and then be coached through the end of the season, through the 2 major races. For a to e, I will be self coaching, so I need to figure out where I need to be in the Feb/March timeframe, and also how to get myself there.
Thus, my researching starts....today.
Peace out yo!
Today is...
I am drawing a line in the sand on a few things today. Not Monday, today.
Today marks the start of a new attempt that I am going to make at being financially savvy. The 6th is payday, and although I got paid technically yesterday, today I am going to go take this week's budget out of the bank and start spending only cash. Quite some time ago, I had decided that 20 bucks a day should be plenty for me to eat and have spending money, and so based on that set up a direct deposit to my 'spending account'. (Gas money comes out of my 'bills account') All the rest of my paycheck stays in my bills account, where all my bills are set up to autopay, and it should be set it and forget it. Simple, right? Except that I have consistently been overspending my account, and this has therefore done me no good. Dipping into the bills account is like speeding or losing your virginity, once I have done it.....eh, it is so easy to just keep doing it.
So - now I will try the cash only option, and leave the cards at home. I read a great book called 'How We Decide', which discusses how different areas of your brain switch on when making decisions. Specific to spending money, when you spend cash, the emotional area of the brain switches on and gives an adverse impact to seeing the money go. Thus, you more likely will make the decision not to spend that money. Studies have shown that when you pay with cards, that emotional response never kicks in, literally because you are not seeing the money go anywhere. Instead, you just get the instant gratification of getting something you want. Thus the exponential rise of personal financial problems in this country, and overspending. So, I think I can apply this to my own brain. I have already found other aspects of my understanding (after this book) make me able to override my impulsiveness, so perhaps this will work. It is not enough for me to understand what I should do, I need to understand why, or it doesnt happen.
Next up - I am going back on my friend Reeta's suggestion to eat fruit for breakfast each day, and mid morning snack, and not food. Also, not skipping eating altogether. This isnt a diet, so much, as just changing my habits away from skipping breakfast, then maybe skipping lunch (or sometimes eating too much) then eating a huge dinner because I am famished. Well technically this will start tomorrow, but I am going shopping for some fruit today (I slept in to noon, what can I say? hehe).
Other thing for today, is back to running. I finished the LA Rock and Roll Half Marathon about 2 weeks ago, and did so in 7 minutes time less than my first one! 2:56:34! However, I also ended up in the med tent for numb hands and wrists that I think was due to salt deficiency, and had over use injury to my right foot so severe that I could barely walk for 2 days, and was not able to walk (yes, just walk) without pain for a week. My left foot had some pain too, but not nearly so severe. So, now that I have had no pain for a full week, I think it is safe to start running again. While I am at it, I need to get back in the pool. My ass isn't going to do anything spectacular next year if I keep running from my swim issues.
So, that is all for now, wish me luck!
Today marks the start of a new attempt that I am going to make at being financially savvy. The 6th is payday, and although I got paid technically yesterday, today I am going to go take this week's budget out of the bank and start spending only cash. Quite some time ago, I had decided that 20 bucks a day should be plenty for me to eat and have spending money, and so based on that set up a direct deposit to my 'spending account'. (Gas money comes out of my 'bills account') All the rest of my paycheck stays in my bills account, where all my bills are set up to autopay, and it should be set it and forget it. Simple, right? Except that I have consistently been overspending my account, and this has therefore done me no good. Dipping into the bills account is like speeding or losing your virginity, once I have done it.....eh, it is so easy to just keep doing it.
So - now I will try the cash only option, and leave the cards at home. I read a great book called 'How We Decide', which discusses how different areas of your brain switch on when making decisions. Specific to spending money, when you spend cash, the emotional area of the brain switches on and gives an adverse impact to seeing the money go. Thus, you more likely will make the decision not to spend that money. Studies have shown that when you pay with cards, that emotional response never kicks in, literally because you are not seeing the money go anywhere. Instead, you just get the instant gratification of getting something you want. Thus the exponential rise of personal financial problems in this country, and overspending. So, I think I can apply this to my own brain. I have already found other aspects of my understanding (after this book) make me able to override my impulsiveness, so perhaps this will work. It is not enough for me to understand what I should do, I need to understand why, or it doesnt happen.
Next up - I am going back on my friend Reeta's suggestion to eat fruit for breakfast each day, and mid morning snack, and not food. Also, not skipping eating altogether. This isnt a diet, so much, as just changing my habits away from skipping breakfast, then maybe skipping lunch (or sometimes eating too much) then eating a huge dinner because I am famished. Well technically this will start tomorrow, but I am going shopping for some fruit today (I slept in to noon, what can I say? hehe).
Other thing for today, is back to running. I finished the LA Rock and Roll Half Marathon about 2 weeks ago, and did so in 7 minutes time less than my first one! 2:56:34! However, I also ended up in the med tent for numb hands and wrists that I think was due to salt deficiency, and had over use injury to my right foot so severe that I could barely walk for 2 days, and was not able to walk (yes, just walk) without pain for a week. My left foot had some pain too, but not nearly so severe. So, now that I have had no pain for a full week, I think it is safe to start running again. While I am at it, I need to get back in the pool. My ass isn't going to do anything spectacular next year if I keep running from my swim issues.
So, that is all for now, wish me luck!
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