Fat Girl Running

School Days!!!

2007-01-09T07:42:00.000-05:00

I have decided to go back to school. I have been working in adoptions and foster care for the past 7 years and I've decided that I need a change. I am going to pursue a degree in Nursing. The program that I am trying to get into is an Associates in Nursing at Ivy Tech. They admit you based on a point system. There are four pre-requisites and you get points based on the grades you receive. 30 points for an A, 20 points for a B and 10 points for a C. There is also a test that is required for which you get your actual percentage points. I am only taking three of the pre-requisites this semester as well as the test and see if I can get in based on that. If not I will take the other class and reapply next year. I'm still working full time and raising a 16 year daughter so I'm a little worried about my time management!

I'm also very nervous because today is my first day of school!!!!

Motivation

2006-11-16T21:02:00.000-05:00

I love when you start something new and you become semi obsessed with it. I need to figure out how to bottle some of my enthusiasm for those days that I know will come...you know the ones that I'm talking about...those days when the idea of climbing out of your warm cozy bed at 5 a.m. to go exercise has less appeal than having a root canal.

I am a dork though and I absolutely love rules. So, I love training programs. Training program says I have to run...then I have to run. And if I can't do it on Monday then I'm going to have to make that time up at some point during the week.

BUT once I miss a day then I can easily miss three months. I'm going to work on this!

I did make it back to the gym tonight to run and do my strength training. Go Me!

Winter Maintenance

2006-11-16T07:41:00.000-05:00

I switched positions this summer and I am now the Foster Parent Support Specialist for my county in Indiana. This means that I contact all of the foster parents for our county and either listen to what's going on in their lives or simply annoy them by interrupting whatever interesting things they were doing before I called them. It also means that I run a support group each month. I should start by saying that I have great flexibility with my job and I can pretty much work whatever hours that I want. It's the trade off for not being paid any thing as a social worker that you at least get some flexibility. My typical schedule is from about 7 am until 3:30 p.m. Well, because of the support group I didn't get home until 9 p.m. last night.

So, I got home and rode my bike, Sophie, on her trainer for the first time. It's much harder and more boring than outside. Luckily I was watching Criminal Minds so I atleast had something else to focus on!!!

I also was up at 5 am this morning so that I could go swimming. Today's Lesson Plan: Fist Drills. This actually went ok. When I was done with the drills I swam 100 meters to see how long it took me. 2 minutes 15 seconds. Hopefully, I will be swimming faster by the time this training program is over in March.

Time Space Continuum

2006-11-14T14:15:00.000-05:00

I believe that I may have fallen into some kind of worm hole. I can not possibly believe that it has been four months since I have posted anything! Well, I am back baby!

I was frustrated over the summer because Weight Watchers had cancelled so many meetings that I was no longer able to attend. With my diet sliding so did my workouts. I have started a new Winter Maintenance program thanks to Beginner Triathlete.com and I am hoping to do the Nation's Triathlon in September 2007.

I vow to post more regularly about my trials and tribulations but since I'm posting from work now I will keep this short!

Photos!

2006-07-09T16:45:00.000-05:00

Ok, I'm not really a big fan of pictures of myself...but here are some from our triathlon. Here is my mom and I with our body markings just before it started to rain.

Here is a photo in the water. You can't really see how choppy the water is but you can tell how confused everyone is because people are going in several different directions!

This is a photo that my daughter took of us coming out from a tunnel under the road. We're walking at this point and in a minute we will go straight up a hill. In all of the pictures she took of me where I'm jogging they all look like I'm walking!!! I looked drugged in one of the photos below!

Here is my mom and her award!

Culver 2nd Annual Triathlon - Race Report

2006-07-09T13:42:00.000-05:00

I was very nervous getting to the race today. My mom and I were racing my dad and my daughter (M) were watching. I arrived in the transition area to set up my bike. There wasn't really much room to lay my things on the ground and it had started raining so I bagged everything up and left it in a pile. Got body marked, tried to hear the race director giving course directions and headed over to the swim start. My mom stood there and said she didn't think she was going to do it. The water was extremely choppy because of the rain. I waded out to check out the temperature of the water. It was quite warm compared to the very chilly and wet air. My mom decided she would go ahead and try it. She was two waves ahead of me so I watched her go off. Introduced myself to another woman who was in the Athena group who was also doing her first triathlon. They had us wade into the water. The guy tells us that last year it took a 79 year old man 40+ minutes to complete the swim but then he zoomed through the rest of the course. We wade out further until we are about waist high. Next thing I know we are off. I dive under and realize that I forgot to put my goggles on. OOPS #1 By the time I try to stand up it's too deep and the waves are crashing over my head. I'm swallowing water as it crashes into me. Luckily they were resting on my forehead. I put them on but they are already half filled with water. I swim a few more strokes and have to dump the water out of them. Swallow more water. Consider turning around. I learned later that several people did just that. Realize that I cannot look forward because of the waves hitting me so I need to give up and just stick my head in the water and swim. I do this for awhile. Realize I'm going to have to go straight out to be able to get past the first bouy (as opposed to the angle course I was supposed to be on!) I get there and realize I'm swimming slightly ahead of one of the very fit clydesdales and feel pretty good about myself. I am rounding the bouy and HELLO there is an 8 foot boat crossing my swim area. I almost swam in front of it but then decided to wait on it so it didn't go over me. Again, water is hitting me in the face so I'm not sure if I could have made it or not. I have to sit there and tread water for quite awhile. The guy on the boat is yelling that his motor is on. So I wait until he is about four feet past me before I get back to swimming. In the mean time I'm thinking to myself that they have my mom on the boat. She was so nervous about the swim there is no way she is doing this. Did not expect waves like this. I have relaxed now though and am swimming and breathing fairly regularly. I don't use my legs in the water since my weight keeps me afloat and it just seems to be an extra energy expenditure for me. So, now that I'm feeling more comfortable I am no longer flailing them. As I approach the next buoy I notice my mom next to me. She is still alive and swimming!!! I am so proud of her for doing this.! We chatted for a little while and I said I had to go on because I was swallowing too much water. The rest of the swim was fairly uneventful. Rounded the last bouy and headed into shore. The waves were helping to push me in now and I could breathe just fine. I probably should have swam longer instead of standing when I did because my legs were tired walking through the water! I saw my dad and M and said hi! I looked at my watch outside of the water and it was 11:55. I was happy with that! And glad I didn't drown!

I walked into the transition area - slowly. I pulled on my bike shorts and my bike jersey. I got my helmet on and I managed to get my socks and shoes on with minimal problems. Took a drink of water and tried to pile things back up as I headed out. Walked to the path where I could start biking only to have two people stopped in the path in front of me. My dad and M were taking photos here too. The people moved in a few seconds. I got a little ahead of them on the path but they went around me on the hill that we had to go up immediately once hitting the road. I never saw them again. OOPS #2 Realized I forgot my sunglasses and decided that I wouldn't worry about it.

The course was several miles out and back with about a two mile look back to the main course. I was a little disappointed with my bike performance. I could not get my heart rate down. I was staying near my max the entire time. I had a gatorade with me and tried to remind myself to drink some every 10 minutes or so. The rain had stopped but the road was wet so had to brake sometimes on the downhill so I wouldn't crash. Saw one girl off to the side of the road with her bike a bloody towel in her lap still yelling at me "good job". Apparently another bike had cut in front of her coming down a pretty steep hill. She was probably 4 miles ahead of me on the route where it had circled back. I passed the ambulance coming to her when I turned the corner. The next several miles just continued to be very hilly. I dropped my chain twice on the same hill and ended up having to walk up it. I was very angry because up until then I was feeling pretty good on the bike. I turned the corner to head back into transition and saw my dad and M again. I didn't see my mom at all on the bike course. She was apparently behind me just far enough that we didn't pass each other. The 10.5 mile bike ride was 11.3 miles.

I got back to the transition added a pair of capri workout pants. Switched out of the jersey and into a tank top. Drank some more water. Walked out of transition fairly exhaused and saw my mom coming in from the bike course. OOPS #3 Started on the run course and realized that I forgot my number. I didn't know if this was important so walked back to transition to get it. Walked back out of transition and back on to the run course. I looked at my heart rate monitor thinking I will do the 5 minute jog/ 1 minute walk. Jogged two minutes and gave up and walked SLOWLY. My mom caught up with me and we talked for a few minutes while she ate part of a bagel. I was completely exhausted. The first part of the run course was directly up a STEEP hill. I didn't even try to jog it. My mom got ahead of me walking. I tried to jog again down a hill and gave up and just kept walking. I was not even attempting to powerwalk. My heart rate was still around my max HR and I couldn't seem to bring it down. I made it past the first aid station (walking) and continued walking for another 1/4 mile or so. Very slowly. I was wondering if I could get the three miles done in an hour and 15 minutes if I continued to walk. My HR finally came down into my zone so I started jogging. SLOWLY (are we seeing a pattern here??) I abandoned my run/walk idea knowing if I stopped I'd have a hard time getting started again. The course was very hilly for the first two miles and I was wondering what would happen if I twisted my ankle. Since I had only seen two human beings since the aid station and one was a kid who ran past me and the other one was some guy in the middle of the trees who I thought was a volunteer but he wasn't on the course and I never saw him again. I did finally see my mom across the golf course. Thought again that no one would know if I cut across the course to her since no one was around!!!! But I followed my white line faithfully. Finally saw a volunteer and then saw the cabins at Culver Academy. I think they are part of a summer program but it was atleast something to distract me. The course paintings sort of ended and I wasn't sure where to go. Luckily there was a volunteer and she told me where to run. Saw dad and M. again. Made it to the second aid station. One mile to go. Had to walk to get the water. Walked for another minute or so cause I couldn't get going jogging again! Finally started and then it was a fairly flat jog across campus.

Finished with a total time of 2:06:45 My mom finished with a time of 2:02:41! She also got first place in her age division! I finished 5th out of 7 in the Athena group. We were not the last people done! I was so worried...not about being the last person but being the last person and finishing a long time after the person in front of me!!! I'm so proud of both of us!!! Actually only 162 people (67 females) finished and 200+ signed up. So, I'm wondering if more quit because of the water than I'm aware of.

My only real concerns are that there were absolutely no restroom facilities any where near the triathlon. No port a potties or anything. Luckily we stopped in town before going to the race. I'm also a little frustrated with the boat that tried to kill me. There were a couple of places where the course could have been marked better and I had to ask a lot of questions that I think could have been made to be more obvious. However, the volunteers were great and supportive. The other triathletes were also fantastic. Everyone was friendly and said good job and smiled. So, it was a very good experience over all.

Tomorrow's Only a Day Away!

2006-07-08T17:29:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow is my first triathlon!!! My mom and I drove down to pick up our race packets this afternoon. They have changed the bike course AGAIN! So, the ride we did last Saturday is still not the right course. Instead of going clear around the lake in either direction it will just stay on the very hilly portion of the course and then loop back and go through the hilly portion the other direction. This just means the whole course is difficult and there won't really be any "easy" riding. There will be about 50 yards of flat riding directly out of the transition area! Got a good look at the beginning of the run course too. Couldn't see too far though because of the huge hill that we will immediately run up. The woman at registration was not helpful by telling me that it is a very difficult run course! Gee, why would that make me anxious??!!??

Well, I need to get my things together for tomorrow. I want to be as prepared as possible. My plan is to do the swim nice and slow. I wanted to push it harder on the bike but now I'm worried because I will have to save some extra energy for the return portion of the hills too!!! The run will be the run. I want to do a 5 minute jog and 1 minute walk cycle but knowing that other people who do this regularly think this is difficult...means I will do whatever I can and just focus on finishing!!!

Bomb's Away

2006-06-05T16:22:00.000-05:00

I am a contracted employee with the local child welfare office and I was there yesterday morning at 8 am for a meeting. We were in the executive conference room (the one with the comfy chairs) and getting ready to start our meeting. I had noticed a briefcase sitting in a chair and simply chose a different chair to sit in. Someone else noticed the briefcase too. The director decided perhaps we should move elsewhere while security checked out the briefcase. So, we moved to the other conference room (the one without the comfy chairs) and began our meeting. About 20 minutes later we were asked to evacuate the building. I should mention that there was a single playing card placed face down in the middle of the briefcase. The security person apparently picked up the card and learned it was a joker. Although the concern was that this could be a bomb...we all stood around the building like idiots. Of course after being outside for just a couple of minutes we learned that someone had simply left a briefcase full of crayons and play things for the kids in the conference room on Friday. The joker was out simply because you don't use the joker when playing most games so it was set aside. Apparently the other joker was missing, perhaps that is the true mystery here. Since the police had been called we had to stand in the parking lot for an hour and a half until they cleared the building for entry.

Luckily in my passive agressiveness, I was wearing tennis shoes. They have outlawed flip flops at my place of employment but tennis shoes are ok. So, I was wearing capris a white shirt and tennis shoes. Flip flops would have looked much better. There are some really nice ones out there!!! Anyway, at least my feet were comfy as I stood there for an hour and a half!!!

Bike Fits

2006-06-05T04:54:00.000-05:00

I wanted to thank everyone for their comments regarding bike fits and suggestions. Trully, the issue is that my belly is too big to be comfortable when leaning over and peddling. We also ride through town quite a lot and I didn't like having to drop down in the bars in order to be able to "brake ready". I do love my new bike and a road bike is not completely out of the question for me in the future. I just think I need to lose some more weight first!!!

Sophie

2006-06-04T18:21:00.000-05:00

This is Sophie. She is Crystal Blue and she joined our family on May 29th. In all fairness, I should mention that my foster daughter joined the family on May 30th. Sophie is a baby and doesn't talk back. My daughter (M) is 15 and has the attitude of a 15 year old! (= Her adoption was finalized Tuesday although she moved in with me in January of 2004. She was only supposed to stay for a couple of months before returning home. The rest, as they say, is history.

I do feel more comfortable placing a picture of Sophie on the internet than a picture of M. So, I will tell you about Sophie.

She is a Trek 7.5 FX WSD. I had to travel four hours away to get her in Madison, Wisconsin. Apparently, they are sold out until the 2007's come out in September and I love the color. I tried out the men's version and likely would have gotten it if I hadn't found a bike dealer who had it in stock. I wasn't able to really ride her until Thursday this week but she's been out everyday since then and she is great!

Bike Dilemnas

2006-05-22T19:44:00.000-05:00

I was able to test ride a Trek 1000 WSD for the weekend. Apparently, I'm not ready for a road bike. I'm just not comfortable riding in such a crouched position through town. The bike flew though!!! I am still looking for a new bike. I'm debating between a Trek 7.5 FX and a 2005 Fuji Royale that the bike shop will give me for about the same price. I rode the Fuji around the parking lot today and I think I like it. The bike shop is going to put a different stem on it and let me try it out at the same time as the Trek 7.5 FX so I can compare them. We'll see what happens!!!

Progress Report - May

2006-05-17T20:17:00.000-05:00

I began logging my distances this month for biking, running and swimming. On the sidebar you'll see my goals and what I have thus far completed. I am two miles from my goal for biking for the month of May. I may need to up that for June. I'm satisfied with my swimming total only because I had to miss a swim day due to a sick daughter.

Surprise!!! Behind on the running! I have 17 more miles of running to do in the next 14 days. Now, it sounds fairly easy when I put it that way. But I hate running and I really don't do it any more than I have to.

My mom and I went for a 15 mile bike ride today. It was a nice easy ride. No hills just some wind to contend with.

I am looking into testing out some road bikes. I was going to make it a reward for losing 75 pounds (sometime in the fall...I hope) but I'm too impatient. My daughter needs a bike so she can ride with us and rather than buy her a really cheap one or spend the money on one that she probably won't use much I'm hoping to get a road bike and she can use my hybrid bike when we go riding.

Rain Rain Go Away

2006-05-16T06:10:00.000-05:00

This is day number 7 of the rain. I think we MIGHT get some sunlight this weekend. Normally I would barely notice that it has rained this many days straight but it has really interfered with my work outs. I'm behind a 15 mile bike ride that I was supposed to take Sunday. I have managed to squeeze everything else in. This morning I was up at 4:30 to run for 1/2 an hour before going in the pool to swim. So, atleast I have everything covered if it rains tonight.

I suppose that the rain is somewhat symbolic because I have been in mourning this week. The final episode of the West Wing was on Sunday. I am trully saddened that this show is over. I found it to be very inspirational and motivating.

Slow and Steady Feels Great

2006-05-06T19:08:00.000-05:00

Triathlon?!?! Who needs one? The training is so awesome! I ran/walked 40 minutes today and then went on a 16 mile bike ride. I feel fantastic. Empowered and Strong. I wish someone would have told me this would happen. Not that I would have believed them or listened for that matter!

I still have two months until my first triathlon. I am truly hoping that I love it. Because I love the training. Sure, there are days on which I'd rather die than run or days when the idea of getting up at 5 in the morning for a swim is enough to make me want to throw in the proverbial towel. However, I feel great with each and every completed work out.

I did miss a run work out this week in exchange for a biking one. So, tomorrow I will be doing a run instead of a bike trip. I like biking better. I like almost all things rather than running. But I already have it planned that tomorrow the dog and I will go run and afterwards I will feel great.

Bike Dreams

2006-05-05T20:11:00.000-05:00

Today my parents and I rode the entire 22 mile look of the Pumpkin Vine Trail Ride. It was actually 23 miles! It wasn't too bad. It did take 2 hours and 16 minutes for me to finish it. But I feel excellent knowing that I can do it. We may end up trying the 42 miles on the day of the official ride.

I think I've talked myself into a road bike. I'll try to get one of this year'd models when next year's become for sale. I'm definately taking suggestions for models! I will try to start riding some bikes soon to find one that is a good fit! I'm going to use the bike as a reward for losing 75 pounds. So, I need to get going with the weight loss!

Random thoughts for the day

2006-05-03T18:36:00.000-05:00

Ok, I think I have decided not to run in the four mile race. I am just so horribly slow. I have to run for 40 minutes on Saturday anyway so I will feel the need to run until I get to three miles. (typically around 50 minutes - I told you I am SLOW)

Today I did my longest ride this year. It was 15 miles and took 1 hour and 38 minutes (according to my HRM). I read everyones race reports and know how pathetically slow that is. At times I was peddling steady at 15 mph and at times I was peddling at 5.2 mph. It had some major hills. It was a portion of the Pumpkin Vine Trail a bike ride that my parents and I plan to do in June. They have different course lengths and we are debating between the 22 mile and the 42 mile. Definately not doing the 102 miles! It was actually sort of a fun ride but lots of hills. One killer one that started as a low grade hill for about 3/4 mile and then the last 1/4 mile was quite a bit steeper and my legs were already dead but I managed to ride it.

Did I mention that I fell off my bike again on Monday? I'm dangerous. Tire caught in railroad crossing. So, my shifting is off on my bike. I need to have it looked at. It likes to skip a gear that I'm happy in most of the time. Joy Joy.

I'm dreaming of a road bike. I've told myself that I can't justify spending the money on one since I've only been riding since February. I'm also worried that what fits me at 285 pounds might not fit me at 185 pounds. Or hold up under the weight. So I think maybe I should try to take off some more weight first.

10% Goal

2006-05-03T10:53:00.000-05:00

I got my first 10% at Weight Watchers last Friday.
They give you a keychain in the shape of a 10. I highly doubt that I will ever use this thing and yet I've shown it to just about everyone I know that knows I'm doing Weight Watchers. I'm a little worried because I dropped 5 1/2 pounds last week to finally get this. My goal this week is just to keep that weight off! I hate the small gains after the big losses!

To Run or Not To Run

2006-04-29T20:37:00.000-05:00

Next weekend is the 2nd Annual MayFest Road Race in Shipshewana a small town in the heart of Northern Indiana Amish Country. They are having a one-mile run and a four-mile run. It does not seem worthwhile to me to pay to do a one mile run. However, I'm not entirely sure that I can do a four mile run. I've been doing three mile jog/walks for the last few Saturdays. Today I averaged just over 16 minutes a mile. So, I'm certainly not breaking any land speed records.

I emailed the organizers to find out if this is an event in which people walk during the run or if it is for "serious runners" only. I think I will do it if it is more of a fun event and that not everyone participating will be done in less than half an hour! I feel like I need to experience what it is like to run with people in a group.

The park I go to is an oblong 1/2 mile path. I hate it when I feel that I have to speed up or slow down based on the person in front of or in back of me. I don't want people to feel bad passing me and I don't want to pass anyone just to end up slowing down to walk a minute. It's very stressful for me. I know that I need to let it go and the other people can decide what they want to do for themselves. I'm not there yet.

WOW!

2006-04-28T05:19:00.000-05:00

THANKS! to everyone who commented on my blog. Everyone has been so nice. I do have my self convinced that I am going to love doing triathlons...you know, once I actually do one! I love training for them. I even like the running after I'm done! I think the events for my triathlon should be renamed "Swim, Bike, Walk/Shuffle". I was able to "jog" 1/2 mile last Saturday and I was completely thrilled with myself. That was the end of a 40 minute jog/walk and I probably could have walked just as fast.

In February when I started training. One of the beginning workouts was a 15 minute run. Well, a 15 minute run was 5 minutes walking 1 min. jog 1 min. walk, 1 min. jog, 1 min. walk - as a warmup and then the remaining 6 minutes I would continue to alternate 1 min. walk and 1 min. jog. I was ready to die after the first time that I did this.

I now have to jog 5 or 6 minutes with a 1 minute walk in between. I don't quite feel like dying. I am so thrilled with the Tri-Newbies program because I have truly been able to add slowly to what they have told me to do and so now I feel capable of doing more.

Couch Potato to 5K - I have seen this program and I think it looks terrific. However, I am not willing to mess with my Tri-Newbies thing until after the triathlon. I don't want to discourage myself by trying to many things. However, I do have it printed out and I think I might try to talk my dad into following that program with me after the triathlon.

I am fairly convinced that I will continue to bike and swim but the running will be more of a committment. I definately like following a program.

Again thank you to all of you who posted. It is truly inspirational to me. Misty, you are fantastic! I'm certainly happy that I found your blog and was able to read about your great accomplishments!

Hills, Hills and More Hills

2006-04-23T07:04:00.000-05:00

Yesterday my parents and I went to Culver in order to check out what kind of course the triathlon will be on. My mom and I are a bit nervous. The actual distance of the bike leg has been reported differently in the multitude of places we've read about it. Most common seems to be 12 miles. We rode what to our best knowledge is the course and it was only 10.6 miles. I'm wondering where that other mile and a half went (hoping that it wasn't straight up some hill). It was a beautiful ride around Lake Maxinkuckee. Beautiful homes along the lake as well as the view of the lake itself. Of course those views weren't present during the large hills that needed to be climbed! My weight is a huge advantage when coming downhill but pretty much a disadvantage when trying to get up hills. During one particularly horrendous climb - I thought that my mom was passing me and I commented, "I'm not going anywhere". I was in almost my easiest gear and seemed to be shifting more left and right than forward. Apparently my mom was having the same difficulty because she wasn't the one passing me. It was someone who apparently can ride a bike! He responded, " It's ok, you're getting there". Incredibly nice of him but I felt like an idiot. Well, as much of an idiot as you can feel like when you are still struggling to get to the top of a hill!

I have realized that my ability to care what other people think of me as I'm struggling to do something difficult has decreased dramatically. I mean if people see me running they probably think to themselves, "Hey, look at that fat girl running." But that's ok, because that means I'm running!

My Magic Pill

2006-04-20T05:13:00.000-05:00

I just got back from swimming. I miss sleep! I've felt fairly on track with the training lately. Did a brick workout yesterday and I feel the need to say that I hate running but I really HATE running after riding my bike! My stupid bike computer crashed yesterday and I had absolutely no idea how fast I was going and then lost all motivation to try to go faster! I apparently need the numbers in order to push myself.

I started reading Running for Dummies (I think Dummies are by defination - Fat girls who try to run) and it tells you how to maintain proper form and all of those fun things. But it doesn't tell y0u how to magically reduce your heart rate and be able to get all the oxygen that my body craves! I bet the silly authors expect me to just keep running until I can do it longer and faster. What are they thinking? Where is my magic pill?

Training - I missed you....

2006-04-14T05:29:00.000-05:00

I believe I'm finally back on track. The last two weeks I have barely done anything. I've been using the 11 week training program from Tri-Newbies Online. I stretched it out to be 22 weeks so that I could get started back in February. Well I've decided to do the last two weeks over since I did not really complete them. I'm happy to say that I'm on track this week. Yesterday I did a brick workout. 30 minutes on the bike and then 30 minutes walking/jogging. I am sleepy this morning! Technically I am supposed to swim this morning but I don't have anywhere to swim on Fridays so I did that yesterday as well. I am going to try to do Sundays 12 mile bike ride today if it doesn't storm all day. It would be hard to get away on Easter to do it.

Crash and Burn

2006-04-02T15:05:00.000-05:00

I went out to do my 10 mile bike ride this morning. My parents are out of town and that is who I usually ride with...so it seemed odd going by myself anyway. I FELL off my bike TWICE. The first time was totally my fault. I couldn't get my feet out of my clipped pedals fast enough and I was hoping the light was going to turn green. No injuries...other than my pride. Second fall was still my fault..but I was worried about this car that was coming up behind me fairly fast and not getting over. I ended up in the soft dirt going up a hill...and it rained this week and I just sunk in. I definately couldn't get out of the pedals quick enough! My back tire came completely off and I couldn't get it back on...I'm not the greatest with back tires when I'm not standing stranded beside the road. So, I propped my bike against a telephone pole and walked home to get my car and bike rack. It wasn't quite a mile walk so I was lucky. Thank goodness I was planning on racking up my last couple of miles on the side streets near home! I did burn 650 calories between the bike ride and walk though!

Twenty Five Pounds

2006-03-31T17:27:00.000-05:00

Whoo Hoo!

I went to my Weight Watchers meeting this morning and I lost 4 pounds which means that I finally got my 25 pound star. I started on December 9, 2005.

I tried to do my bike ride to my parents house and it started with the lightning and thunder before I went very far. I ended up coming home and drove over to feed their cat. Of course the cat wasn't thrilled when I had to chase it back outside into the rain!!!

Mental Health Day

2006-03-30T21:39:00.000-05:00

I have been in a horrible mood all week. I'm not sure what is wrong with me. I haven't been working out so that is not helping. My foster daughter has had softball games every night and so we're not done until 9 at night and work has been frustrating. I've been very snippy about anything anyone says to me this week. My daughter leaves for spring break with a friend tomorrow...and I've decided to take the day off of work. It's going to be a Jody - Mental Health Day.

My plan is to go to work for about two hours (ok, so it's not completely an off day) then go to my Weight Watchers meeting, ride my bike to my parents house (who are out of town) and feed their stray cat. Tomorrow is supposed to be an off day training wise..but I want to make up yesterdays bike ride. I doubt I will try to find some place to make up my swim...but who knows. I really just need to spend the day entirely on me!!

Twiddling my Thumbs

2006-03-27T14:48:00.000-05:00

Well, today is an off day for my training and I'm not sure what to do with myself. Granted I have to work late tonight and my foster daughter has a softball game...so I will certainly be able to fill the time.
I learned today that the new person they hired for my team at work is really just a transfer from another department. I'm excited because she's also a Weight Watcher leader at the center that I go to. I've never went to any of her meetings but I'd like to because my meeting spends too much time talking about meat dishes and I'm a vegetarian. I'm sure I will never be able to escape that entirely. But I really do not need to discuss ways to prepare for going out to eat and avoid the steak at the all you can eat buffet. Not a problem for me! Of course, I don't actually like peppers...such as the one in the picture...but I do think they are pretty.

On the road to a 12 mile hour!

2006-03-26T19:19:00.000-05:00

This is my bike. I named him Symon. I bought him off of Ebay on February 2nd. He is a specialized crossroads comp. A hybrid bike. I realize this is not especially triathlon savvy equipment. But it has been great for me because I hadn't ridden a bike in several years. Today I rode 10.25 miles in 59 minutes 30 seconds. My goal is to be able to get the 12 mile race ride done in less than an hour. This is the quickest I've done so far. I usually do the ride that my training guide tells me to...which starts with about ten minutes of fast spinning...but it tends to be pretty slow...throwing off my average. I was already partly warmed up today and didn't do the spinning for as long.

Running cold

2006-03-25T15:18:00.000-05:00

On today's schedule was a 40 minute run/walk. I did it and about died. I have forced my 63 year old mother to do this triathlon with me and I am so irritated with her because she can run and walk faster than I can! With walking 2 min/jogging 2 minutes I'm averaging a 17 minute mile! I can do that faster on the treadmill just walking-why can't I do it outside? I guess I should mention that I'm pushing 300 pounds and that's after losing 40 pounds. So, I shouldn't expect miracles. Did I mention that it was snowing during this run???? Gotta love spring time!

Why am I doing this???

2006-03-24T16:40:00.000-05:00

This is my training partner-Murphy. I started training for my first
triathlon on February 5, 2006. I am signed up to do the Culver Academy sprint triathlon on July 9, 2006.

Murphy isn't the biggest help during the bike or swim part of the training (although if they would let him in the pool-I'm sure he would be thrilled) but he is a great help during the running or in my case walking and barely jogging portion of the training. I'm creating this blog to keep myself accountable and motivated.