2010....what will this year have in store? 2009 was a great year. I have a lot to be thankful for. I love the start of a new year... so many things to look forward to. Resolutions? Yeah, I admit- I make them. So... here they are in no particular order.
1- I'm going to lose those 15 pounds. I really am. I've been eating salads for breakfast for 5 days now. I can feel a difference in my energy level. My stomach isn't so happy about it, but I think that will get better. I don't have a time frame but by December 31st I will be 140 pounds. An interesting note- I keep a food journal (loosely) and on 12/31/08 my weight was 1 pound higher than it is now. That's something to be positive about.
2- I'm going to spend more time reading my Bible and praying. I've been inconsistent in this area of my life and I'm going to make time daily for it.
3- I'm going to find a ministry area that's outside my family. I'd really like this to include the whole family. I think #2 will help lead me in this area.
4- I'm going to break the 2 hour mark for my half marathon. I'm just going to.
I started my New Year with an 8 mile run this morning. It was great. I used my Garmin I got for Christmas and love it!
Friday, January 1, 2010
Monday, December 28, 2009
time to get back on the wagon
One run in two weeks does not make for a happy me. I've been snowed in, the gym was closed for the holidays and we traveled to PA. (I was planning on running but it poured the whole time.) Add to that holiday cookies and general bad eating and I am not a happy camper! Oh yeah, the other bad thing is that I got my drivers license renewal (we do it every 10 years) and my weight listed on the last one was 135. Okay, I may have fudged a little bit, but lets just say I'm no where near that now.
It's time for a change. Big time.
What does it take to get serious about losing weight? I certainly don't know the answer to that. I think it has to come from inside a person. I know that no one can make someone else lose weight. Maybe at first, but not for the long run. I've been talking about losing that last 10 pounds for the longest time and haven't done it. I don't know if I'm there, but I do know I'm sick of it. That last 10 pounds has turned into 15 and it's not pretty. Now when I talk about losing weight, my goal isn't to be stick thin. I know I'm pushing 40 and 4 babies has done a doosy on my abs. I just want to feel better- to now have that roll when I sit down and to maybe lose one of my chins. I don't think I'm asking too much.
So what's the plan? I'm actually not sure. I'm trying something a little crazy for me, but why not. Here it is: first of all I'm going to write down everything I eat. Everything. I'm so bad at this. I cheat all the time. Not this time. I'm writing down everything. Secondly, I'm eating salads for breakfast. Never done that before. That comes from the book "Born to Run" which I highly recommend. I ate one today and so far am feeling great. After those two things, I'm just going to try to eat more natural and cut out sugar and to increase my water intake. I think those things along with running and adding some serious core work to my running will make the difference.
It's time for a change. Big time.
What does it take to get serious about losing weight? I certainly don't know the answer to that. I think it has to come from inside a person. I know that no one can make someone else lose weight. Maybe at first, but not for the long run. I've been talking about losing that last 10 pounds for the longest time and haven't done it. I don't know if I'm there, but I do know I'm sick of it. That last 10 pounds has turned into 15 and it's not pretty. Now when I talk about losing weight, my goal isn't to be stick thin. I know I'm pushing 40 and 4 babies has done a doosy on my abs. I just want to feel better- to now have that roll when I sit down and to maybe lose one of my chins. I don't think I'm asking too much.
So what's the plan? I'm actually not sure. I'm trying something a little crazy for me, but why not. Here it is: first of all I'm going to write down everything I eat. Everything. I'm so bad at this. I cheat all the time. Not this time. I'm writing down everything. Secondly, I'm eating salads for breakfast. Never done that before. That comes from the book "Born to Run" which I highly recommend. I ate one today and so far am feeling great. After those two things, I'm just going to try to eat more natural and cut out sugar and to increase my water intake. I think those things along with running and adding some serious core work to my running will make the difference.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Princess 1/2 take 2
I registered for the Princess Half today. I hope it was just what I needed after struggling these past few weeks. I had a bad 5 mile run last week and couldn't run this weekend because of the huge snowstorm we had. 2 feet of snow fell on us. We lost power and water for 24 hours. Not pretty. Which leads me to a funny story; kind of.
So, my husband gets home early yesterday because the roads are bad (remember that little fact, it's important to the story). He made it into work but no one showed up because they were smart enough to stay home; so he thought he'd go back home too. However he had an errand to run so he suggested he take the girls with him and why don't I go for a run while he was gone. Now this is the same man who suggested we sprint out of the blocks in a 5K we ran together some years back and I listened to him and almost puked. Overall, he's a very smart man. There are just some things that he says that I've learned I should ignore. Obviously, I haven't quite learned enough. But I'm getting ahead of myself...
After my initial thoughts of "No way! Are you crazy?", I thought it might be fun. The last time I ran in the snow was in high school. It was actually during a snowstorm and it was awesome! I had so much fun. Well, I got on my running stuff and headed out the door. It started out great. The roads were packed with snow, but so much so that I wasn't slipping. It was gorgeous outside, the sun was shining and it looked like a winter wonderland. I hit patches of ice and slush but was careful and took much smaller steps than usual. I got to the end of my subdivision (suicide hill, as I affectionately call it) when it happened. I bit it. It was the kind of fall when the first thing you do is look around to see if anyone saw it because you know you looked like a complete idiot (Jackie- if you're reading this I know you know what I mean.) My legs just flew out from under me and I twisted to the right side. As I was about to land with all my weight on my right hand, I decided it would be better to roll. So roll I did. Not pretty. I landed on my right shoulder and my right middle finger and then rolled and slid on the ice. It retrospect, it was pretty funny and I'm sure if someone did see it, they laughed their head off.
I was a little shaken but continued to run back down the hill. But my confidence was shot and every time I got to a little ice, I walked. It's amazing how I was able to run the whole way out and I must have slipped 3o times on my way home. So I ran, walked and slid the rest of the way home. At one point I had to stop and wait in someones driveway as two snow plows went by. I chuckled to myself as I waved to them. They must have thought I was crazy.
The best part of this story is when I got home, my family wasn't home. I thought they should have been so I called my husband on his cell. Turns out he got the van stuck on a hill and had to have a guy help him push the car out. I couldn't believe it!
I think the lesson of the story is that we both should have stayed home. Now the dilema facing me tomorrow is that I'm supposed to run 5 miles and my gym is closed in the morning. Do I dare face the roads again?
So, my husband gets home early yesterday because the roads are bad (remember that little fact, it's important to the story). He made it into work but no one showed up because they were smart enough to stay home; so he thought he'd go back home too. However he had an errand to run so he suggested he take the girls with him and why don't I go for a run while he was gone. Now this is the same man who suggested we sprint out of the blocks in a 5K we ran together some years back and I listened to him and almost puked. Overall, he's a very smart man. There are just some things that he says that I've learned I should ignore. Obviously, I haven't quite learned enough. But I'm getting ahead of myself...
After my initial thoughts of "No way! Are you crazy?", I thought it might be fun. The last time I ran in the snow was in high school. It was actually during a snowstorm and it was awesome! I had so much fun. Well, I got on my running stuff and headed out the door. It started out great. The roads were packed with snow, but so much so that I wasn't slipping. It was gorgeous outside, the sun was shining and it looked like a winter wonderland. I hit patches of ice and slush but was careful and took much smaller steps than usual. I got to the end of my subdivision (suicide hill, as I affectionately call it) when it happened. I bit it. It was the kind of fall when the first thing you do is look around to see if anyone saw it because you know you looked like a complete idiot (Jackie- if you're reading this I know you know what I mean.) My legs just flew out from under me and I twisted to the right side. As I was about to land with all my weight on my right hand, I decided it would be better to roll. So roll I did. Not pretty. I landed on my right shoulder and my right middle finger and then rolled and slid on the ice. It retrospect, it was pretty funny and I'm sure if someone did see it, they laughed their head off.
I was a little shaken but continued to run back down the hill. But my confidence was shot and every time I got to a little ice, I walked. It's amazing how I was able to run the whole way out and I must have slipped 3o times on my way home. So I ran, walked and slid the rest of the way home. At one point I had to stop and wait in someones driveway as two snow plows went by. I chuckled to myself as I waved to them. They must have thought I was crazy.
The best part of this story is when I got home, my family wasn't home. I thought they should have been so I called my husband on his cell. Turns out he got the van stuck on a hill and had to have a guy help him push the car out. I couldn't believe it!
I think the lesson of the story is that we both should have stayed home. Now the dilema facing me tomorrow is that I'm supposed to run 5 miles and my gym is closed in the morning. Do I dare face the roads again?
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Where do I go from here?
I did it again. I abandoned my blog. I just wasn't feeling very bloggerish (yes, that is an original word) after my tri. I'm mad at myself. Mostly because I've just come off of running 2 marathons and I have nothing to show for it. I spent all summer training and learning all kinds of fascinating things about myself and I have no record of it. There's no going back re-reading what it was like to train; where I struggled and what my days were like. What's the fun in that?
So the obvious question is "What's next?" Where do I go now? Do I abandon my blog? I don't want to because in all seriousness, it is so good for me to re-read my blogs. I just don't know if I have time....
While I'm contemplating that question, I've decided my next race is going to be the Princess Half- again. I'm going to break 2 hours this time. Period. I've learned some things through my marathon training that I hope will help me. I can't believe it's 12 weeks away! I was also planning on doing a round of Jillian and finally getting that personal trainer. (That was my last birthday present. The goal is to use it before this birthday!) One thing I know is this: If I don't drop some weight and seriously work on my core; I will not be getting any faster.
Okay, so those are the things that are on my mind (along with 100,000 other things but who has time to go into all those now?). What a rambling blog...
So the obvious question is "What's next?" Where do I go now? Do I abandon my blog? I don't want to because in all seriousness, it is so good for me to re-read my blogs. I just don't know if I have time....
While I'm contemplating that question, I've decided my next race is going to be the Princess Half- again. I'm going to break 2 hours this time. Period. I've learned some things through my marathon training that I hope will help me. I can't believe it's 12 weeks away! I was also planning on doing a round of Jillian and finally getting that personal trainer. (That was my last birthday present. The goal is to use it before this birthday!) One thing I know is this: If I don't drop some weight and seriously work on my core; I will not be getting any faster.
Okay, so those are the things that are on my mind (along with 100,000 other things but who has time to go into all those now?). What a rambling blog...
Monday, August 24, 2009
Unofficial Columbia Race Report
The good news is that there was no rain. I woke up at 4AM and checked the weather forecast which indicated no rain in sight. What a relief! I was able to eat something, unlike last year when I couldn't stomach any food because I was so nervous. We got to the race around 5:30. (Note to self: this is way too late. We had to wait forever to park and were parked much further away.) The start of the race was delayed 30 minutes due to traffic issues. I watched the first few waves go off and then headed to my start.
The race director announced that my age group was the largest (they split us in half), and my wave had the most women in it. Boy, could I tell! It was way more packed than last year. I had a really hard time getting into any rhythm. I did a LOT of breast stroke and finally got into a pattern of alternating between breast and freestyle.... that is until I got kicked in the face and my goggles almost came off. That's when I decided breast stroke is the way to go. I have no idea what my time was, but I felt much better getting out of the water (didn't feel like I was going to puke) and I actually ran (slowly) through transition. It still felt slow, but I didn't struggle as much as last year.
The bike started off well as I passed several women right off the bat. I was determined to do better on the bike this year, but honestly, I still struggled. I felt like I really pushed the downhills, but the uphills were still a challenge. This is really a weak area for me. I got passed- not as much as last year, but still more than I wanted to. I think I went faster than last year, but not as much as I wanted.
T2 (transition from bike to run) was good. I won't beat my time from last year because my bike rack position was terrible. Hopefully next year it will be better, but it also could be worse. Nothing I can do about this. I did the best I could.
The run... oh the run was terrible! My legs were very weak at the start but I felt like I was somewhat pushing it. I checked my time at a mile and it was 9:50. Yuck! I probably would have been better off not checking it as I think it discouraged me. My legs were shot from the bike. There are two very large hills on the run and I walked them both. This is the girl who ran 16 miles last weekend. I tried to will my legs to feel better, but they wouldn't. I think the heat actually played a factor because I didn't start my race until right before 8 so it was 10 as I was running and very hot and humid. I pulled myself together on the last mile (I knew it was flat from last year) and was really able to pick up the pace. I still passed a lot of women on the run, but I thought I'd be able to shave a few minutes off my time.
I was disappointed at the end of the race. I didn't immediately know my time but knew I didn't make my goal. I would even be surprised if I beat my time from last year. They are supposed to have a printout for you of all your splits within 20 minutes of finishing, but they were having technical problems, so I never got it. I was able to get my official time which was 2:13:55- almost exactly 2 minutes faster than last year. I was somewhat disappointed, but it didn't last long. I'm thankful that I could compete again this year. I learned a lot and I'll take any improvement in time that I can get.
I am an iron girl!
The race director announced that my age group was the largest (they split us in half), and my wave had the most women in it. Boy, could I tell! It was way more packed than last year. I had a really hard time getting into any rhythm. I did a LOT of breast stroke and finally got into a pattern of alternating between breast and freestyle.... that is until I got kicked in the face and my goggles almost came off. That's when I decided breast stroke is the way to go. I have no idea what my time was, but I felt much better getting out of the water (didn't feel like I was going to puke) and I actually ran (slowly) through transition. It still felt slow, but I didn't struggle as much as last year.
The bike started off well as I passed several women right off the bat. I was determined to do better on the bike this year, but honestly, I still struggled. I felt like I really pushed the downhills, but the uphills were still a challenge. This is really a weak area for me. I got passed- not as much as last year, but still more than I wanted to. I think I went faster than last year, but not as much as I wanted.
T2 (transition from bike to run) was good. I won't beat my time from last year because my bike rack position was terrible. Hopefully next year it will be better, but it also could be worse. Nothing I can do about this. I did the best I could.
The run... oh the run was terrible! My legs were very weak at the start but I felt like I was somewhat pushing it. I checked my time at a mile and it was 9:50. Yuck! I probably would have been better off not checking it as I think it discouraged me. My legs were shot from the bike. There are two very large hills on the run and I walked them both. This is the girl who ran 16 miles last weekend. I tried to will my legs to feel better, but they wouldn't. I think the heat actually played a factor because I didn't start my race until right before 8 so it was 10 as I was running and very hot and humid. I pulled myself together on the last mile (I knew it was flat from last year) and was really able to pick up the pace. I still passed a lot of women on the run, but I thought I'd be able to shave a few minutes off my time.
I was disappointed at the end of the race. I didn't immediately know my time but knew I didn't make my goal. I would even be surprised if I beat my time from last year. They are supposed to have a printout for you of all your splits within 20 minutes of finishing, but they were having technical problems, so I never got it. I was able to get my official time which was 2:13:55- almost exactly 2 minutes faster than last year. I was somewhat disappointed, but it didn't last long. I'm thankful that I could compete again this year. I learned a lot and I'll take any improvement in time that I can get.
I am an iron girl!
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Rain, rain go away....
I'm here.
It's raining.
I think it's going to rain in the morning, but clear up around 10AM....when I'm finished. Oh well, I'm 2 for 2 on doing triathlons in the rain this summer.
At the moment I'm not super nervous. I was earlier, but I've calmed down a lot. I'm looking forward to the race tomorrow. I think the anticipation and the hype of this race in particular makes it even harder.
My bike placement isn't as good as last year. It's near the beginning of the bike start. That will be good when I'm leaving the swim, but bad when I'm returning my bike before the run. Oh well...
I'm ready, I'm excited and I'm going to do my best no matter what the weather conditions are.
It's raining.
I think it's going to rain in the morning, but clear up around 10AM....when I'm finished. Oh well, I'm 2 for 2 on doing triathlons in the rain this summer.
At the moment I'm not super nervous. I was earlier, but I've calmed down a lot. I'm looking forward to the race tomorrow. I think the anticipation and the hype of this race in particular makes it even harder.
My bike placement isn't as good as last year. It's near the beginning of the bike start. That will be good when I'm leaving the swim, but bad when I'm returning my bike before the run. Oh well...
I'm ready, I'm excited and I'm going to do my best no matter what the weather conditions are.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
3 days....
I'm done with my workouts. Totally. Yesterday I swam in the morning and ran with my 2 oldest in the evening (3+ miles). This morning I slept in. YEAH! There will be no more workouts until the real thing. Tomorrow we head up to PA and then back down to MD on Saturday.
So... I'm making myself post my goals. As my good friend Barbara knows, I never reveal my "real" goal. It's actually a very complicated three tiered system where I calculate different sets of goals based on three possible outcomes: if I have a bad day, my probably goal, and my "this is what I really want to happen" goal. (This is the one I keep to myself.) I'm sure I'll pay some counselor big bucks someday to try to figure out the root of my goal issues (I'll just save myself some money and somehow blame it on my mom :))
Got all that? Here it goes:
My time from last year was 2:15:48. I placed 176th out of 334. Not even in the top half. So, my #1 goal is to at least finish in the top half, reagardless of time. The breakdown of my time was: swim 23:53 (153rd) T1 4:09 (185th) bike 1:13:57 (223rd ouch!) T2 1:17 (46th) run 32:34 (104th).
Based on last year, the places where I can improve the most are the bike and transition #1. I felt awful getting out of the water last year (like I was going to puke) and I walked to my bike. I can't predict if that will go better this year. Obviously the bike is weak. I hope my last few weeks of training will help that. I do know I'm way more comfortable on it. I'm hoping to take at least 5 minutes off the bike.
My T2 time was amazing, but it had more to do with where my bike was racked than me. It was very close to the end of the bike and the run start was close too. That was all luck. It could be really different this year and my time won't be as good.
I'm also hoping to take some time off the run. With my marathon training, I'm hoping that 3.4 miles won't be so hard. Last year I had way too much energy left at the end, so I'm hoping to push a little harder.
I think I can take around 6 minutes total off my time. A lot depends on bike rack position. I think my swim went way faster than I thought it would last year and I won't be surprised if that number goes up this year. Basically it will be a successful day for me if my bike is faster and my run is faster and I feel like I gave it everything I have.
So... I'm making myself post my goals. As my good friend Barbara knows, I never reveal my "real" goal. It's actually a very complicated three tiered system where I calculate different sets of goals based on three possible outcomes: if I have a bad day, my probably goal, and my "this is what I really want to happen" goal. (This is the one I keep to myself.) I'm sure I'll pay some counselor big bucks someday to try to figure out the root of my goal issues (I'll just save myself some money and somehow blame it on my mom :))
Got all that? Here it goes:
My time from last year was 2:15:48. I placed 176th out of 334. Not even in the top half. So, my #1 goal is to at least finish in the top half, reagardless of time. The breakdown of my time was: swim 23:53 (153rd) T1 4:09 (185th) bike 1:13:57 (223rd ouch!) T2 1:17 (46th) run 32:34 (104th).
Based on last year, the places where I can improve the most are the bike and transition #1. I felt awful getting out of the water last year (like I was going to puke) and I walked to my bike. I can't predict if that will go better this year. Obviously the bike is weak. I hope my last few weeks of training will help that. I do know I'm way more comfortable on it. I'm hoping to take at least 5 minutes off the bike.
My T2 time was amazing, but it had more to do with where my bike was racked than me. It was very close to the end of the bike and the run start was close too. That was all luck. It could be really different this year and my time won't be as good.
I'm also hoping to take some time off the run. With my marathon training, I'm hoping that 3.4 miles won't be so hard. Last year I had way too much energy left at the end, so I'm hoping to push a little harder.
I think I can take around 6 minutes total off my time. A lot depends on bike rack position. I think my swim went way faster than I thought it would last year and I won't be surprised if that number goes up this year. Basically it will be a successful day for me if my bike is faster and my run is faster and I feel like I gave it everything I have.
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