I completed my first-ever triathlon today. I feel amazing. Tired, but powerful and capable and just ... awesome. My time was an embarrassment, but that's not really what this was about.
I actually started to cry as I crossed the finish line and hugged the Other Human.
It was a hard race despite the short distances (500 yd swim / 10 mile bike / 4.1 mile run). The swim was my strongest event and I felt great for most of the bike, but the last mile of the bike was tough -- I mistook an aid station (where volunteers hand racers water) for the bike-to-run transition, so was mentally off the bike about 3/4 mile too soon. Add in a ferocious hill and I was about ready to give up by the end of mile 10.
I didn't, though. I didn't give up on the hill and I didn't give up on the run portion (which I walked 90% of).
And my name was called when I crossed the finish just like everyone else.
2) I have spectacularly dark eyes. Random strangers have exclaimed, on meeting me, that I have the darkest eyes they've ever seen. I like having so obvious a "best feature."
In other news ...
I have neither fallen off a cliff nor given up. Instead, I've been working a ton of overtime to compensate for a nepotistic hire, trying to keep semi-current with my homework, and working my program.
And I've done really well sticking to my eating plan (although we had pizza last night) and been pretty marginal with the exercise, despite the ever-closer date of my first triathlon.
I *am* training, just not like I'd like to be. The rest of my life keeps getting in the way and I am exceptionally good at distracting myself. I need to get back on the fitness wagon, both because I want to be fit enough to finish my race and also because, after 20 pounds, my body starts to adjust to this whole losing thing. So I have to shake things up. Sneak up on the next 10 lbs. :)
I also have short hair, again. I'd forgotten how much I love it, both because it's easier and it suits me.
I'm sure I've got a tremendous amount to catch up on with all of you!
I've been inspired by several posts, both here and on a message board I frequent - I'm going to start every entry for the next 100 with something I like about myself.
1) I am incredibly tenacious. A lot of people would have, after reaching 30 and not being any further than sophomore status, given up on getting a degree. Not me. I took that milestone birthday as an invitation to dial the intensity up and overload myself, but not as an excuse to give up.
In other news, I still haven't made it to the gym this week. I have a date to go with a friend tomorrow, so that should help me get my rear back into gear. Yay!
slowandsteady asked, "When is the race that you are training for?! What kind of race is it! Will your bf be joining you?" (She also said some other nice things, because she is awesome.)
I'm planning to complete my first-ever triathlon this May. Actually, it's my first-ever non-PE-class race, come to think of it.
My goal is to finish. :)
The race is a sprint-distance, women's-only triathlon. I chose it because the distances seem challenging enough to inspire me to stick with my training regimen, but short enough to be doable: 500 yd swim, 10 mile bike, 4 mile run. I'm most intimidated by the running, but I can walk the course, if I have to.
The Other Human will not be joining me on the race. He plans to cheer for me, though. :) Because he loves me, and stuff.
Why a triathlon? A couple reasons.
Last summer, I read the very inspiring Slow Fat Triathlete by Jayne Williams. In it, she talks about how important it is to be active at any size and how easy it is to use weight as an excuse to put off realizing our dreams.
As I read, I had a realization: I love being active. For a long time, one of my "when I'm skinny" goals has been to become a bicycle commuter. (I'm still hacking my way through that thicket of excuses, and the -25 windchills of late aren't helping matters.)
Unfortunately, I also love vegging out with books, web, or TV. I love doing my homework and acing my classes. I love being busy. And I tend to let those things squeeze our my love of being active.
I'm not the sort of person, at least not yet, who can go to the gym or pool simply because it's what I do. (I can and do ride the bike just for fun, but I'm not willing to do that on snow at this point.) So I need something to work for and towards.
Eventually, I realized that the "something" I need could be a very specific and doable triathlon. And, if I love it, there are more races over the course of the summer. If I hate it, I'll figure out a cross-training routine to make me a better biker.
But, if I love it, eventually, I'm going to want to do a race that entitles me to the M-dot tattoo. (Dream big, much?!)
Because, apparently, I am both crazy and a complete glutton for punishment. But first, let's see about finishing the race in May, yes?
(written the evening of March 6 - stupid not-in-my-timezone-calendar. hmph.)
Anyway ... I began my First Day of Training yesterday. I've been practicing for my race since early February, but wasn't working a formal training plan. I now have a Training Plan that I can use to boss myself around with.
Or, in today's case, feel mildly guilty for not doing when I was lying in bed with a migraine. (Yay, hormonal triggers!)
That's actually NOT what this entry is about.
What this entry is about is all the neat stuff I'm doing to reward myself. First, for every pound I lose, I deposit $1 in my ING Weight Loss account. I also get $5 for every fitness goal I meet. When I hit my goal weight, I'll use the money for something fun - quality fabrics for a new wardrobe, most likely.
So far, I've earned 3 rewards:
- 10 pounds lost: chair massage (booked for next week) - 20 pounds lost: manicure (need to book!) - exercise 45 min/day for 5 days (Yankz! laces for my tennies)
More goodies at my 1st 10% loss, 30 pounds lost, and 2 weeks straight of exercise (45 min x 5 days). The fitness goals are actually going to be harder to meet than the weight loss, what with not going to the gym from the sick.
I also get to post a progress photo at the 10% mark. Whee!
One of my coworkers came to work when she shouldn't have and sat right next to me at lunch. That was Tuesday. Yesterday, I woke up with a dry, hacking cough, but figured I was OK.
Nope. Full-blown upper-respiratory flu-like infection. Sweet! I've got the fever, headache, aches, and chills, too, just in case I was tempted to think coughing constantly and being exhausted by the arduous 3-foot trek from bedroom to bath are normal.
Drinking my weight in water, taking lots of little naps with the cats. I'm looking forward to being back to "normal" again, and soon.
So, I took the RealAge test. I took it a few years ago when I was at my heaviest AND in the throes of an untreated clinical depression, and I tested a full 5 years older than my actual age.
This was also around the same time that my boss told me (I was 26) that a woman I'd recently met was "about my age - you know, 35 or so."
I'm down to 1.1 years older than my actual calendar age (30.3 for those keeping score). I'd LIKE to get to my actual age (or even younger!). Fortunately, I now have more *small* changes to make and fewer big ones to test well on the RealAge thing.
Suggested "fixes" from the RealAge folks that I am doing:
- continue to lose weight - get more Vitamin E - get more potassium - get blood cholesterol levels tested - eat breakfast on the weekends, too - eat more UNsaturated fat - add 2 more servings of veggies a day - start weight training - floss EVERY day, not just a few times a week - see friends more often
Suggested "fixes" I will ignore:
- get a dog (I like dogs, but I LOVE my cats) - buy a larger car - use airbags (current car doesn't have 'em) - eat more grains (before I get to my goal weight)
A fun assessment, and it's always nice to see progress. :-) Also, my indoor cycling ride this afternoon was great - sweaty, breathless, and a perfect attitude adjustment.
I cheated and checked the scale Wednesday, and I was actually another 3 pounds lighter then than I am today, but a loss is a loss. Also, I wasn't eating much early in the week thanks to the migraines, so returning to my normal eating pattern may have had some impact.
Either way, net loss! Sweet!
Off to stretch, then hit the treadmill. Good day, eh?
Been at less than 100% in the Activity department, recently, thanks to a now 4-day unabated migraine. Prescriptions are doing jack to this bad boy, and Monday I slept until 3 and was back in bed by 9. Nothing to do but wait it out and get in what little activity I can (2 miles on the recumbent bike Tuesday, 1.5 miles on the treadmill Wednesday evening).
My paycheck is going to SUCK this coming payday, as well - no sick time for this kid, so I'm kind of hosed on that end.
I managed to run for about 30 seconds at 4.3 mph yesterday. I was way beyond my capabilities there, so I backed the speed down to 3.4 for a minute then 3.0 for 5 (until the shin splints kicked in), then 2.4 for the last 5 minutes. Not quite what I had planned, but I DID run, even if it was only for 30 seconds. :)
Time to get back to the dark, cool room - the headache is making its presence known, big time. (Throb, throb, throb.)
