5 ways that April is going to turn my life around (or else)

Ok, I know it's still March and all, but the hours left in this month are pretty much spoken for.  I leave March 24-31 for World Balloon Convention and that will be a non-stop week of work and more work.  I scoped out the fitness facilities at the hotel and they do have a nice set up, but it's undetermined whether I will have the time or energy to partake.  So, I am setting my sights on April. I have big plans for April and it better deliver.


1) It's my birthday!
I know most people consider January 1st to be the new year, but those people are wrong.  It's April 13th that starts the new year.  It's the glorious day of my birth and I'm still a little annoyed that it's not a national holiday.  I am entering my 44th year and have a lot to accomplish.  This new year is a great time to start what I knew I couldn't in January because of the schedule.  And in February because of.... well, because I'm a lazy hog.  And in March because I JUST TOLD YOU I WAS BUSY!  Jeeze.  So, April it is. 

2) I have a triathlon this month!

In one of my more delusional moments, I signed up for an Olympic Triathlon on April 26th. (Are you shaking your head at me in disbelief?  If not, I strongly suggest you start immediately.)  This event had two of my favorite reasons to sign up for a race:  It was close and it was cheap!  Pretty much the opposite of my beloved Disney races.  Side note: This is called the Beaver Dam Triathlon. I get myself a "Pandora-like" charm for all my races as a wearable reminder of my badassery.  Please take my advice here and don't Google "beaver charm" with safe search off like I did.

3) I have to make a decision about that Half Ironman by 4/17!

I actually have longer if I want to give up the measly $75 they allow for refunds if I wait longer than April 17th, but $75 will buy me a new Sparkle Skirt so it's nothing to sneeze at!!  I have no idea what decision I will make, but I'm sure it will be the right one for me.  If I try and DNF, at least I will have tried. If I decide not to attempt it, there is always next year when I will be able to plan for it better.  I'm already ok with either outcome, but I would like to give it all I've got to make it to the start line.  How I train the beginning of April will tip the scales on this decision!

 4) I get a Buddy this month!

I am short on friends and inspiration to run, so I found a group that will help me with both.  It's called I Run For and it pairs runners with kids (normally kids, but sometimes adults) that can't run due to physical challenges.  I signed up early this year and it has taken about 9 weeks so far with about 3 more weeks to go before my name comes up on the waiting list.  I am excited and I hope I am assigned a buddy in time for my April 26th tri.  It should be about that time.  I'm sure I'll do a blog post about my buddy when I get one, so stay tuned.  I love this idea and I am hoping that the inspiration my buddy provides will push me along when I am running low on motivation.  In turn, I hope to add a smile to my buddy and his/her family's lives as well.


5) I just really have to get some control over my life!

And April seems as good a time as any.  I have made improvements since January so it's not like I'm a total loss.  There's just not been much effort in the "health" arena and that has GOT to change.  So, I am leaving tomorrow for WBC, and I'll be gone for a week totally immersed in balloons.  I plan on leaving all my bad and lazy habits in Denver where the stoners can make better use of them.

(PS - despite the way the post title sounds, this is *not* about blogger extraordinaire April from Run The Great Wide Somewhere but she is awesome and you should check out her blog!)

A little hope for my June Half-Ironman?

Since I have been basically crapping out on any meaningful training program (ie I am SOOOOO inconsistent!), I went ahead and looked up the refund/deferral process for the Raleigh Half IronMan coming up June 1st.  Basically, there is no deferral and you only get $75 of the $225 back if you cancel by April 17th.  I am super annoyed with myself and feeling pretty defeated. 

HOWEVER!  Today a gal in a Facebook triathlon group I belong to posted a 12 week HIM training program.  I am just over 14 weeks out, so this could actually work - although, Lordy, will I have to COMMIT.  I have decided to follow this plan until April 17th and then evaluate whether or not I think I can finish the HIM.  I have somewhat of a base so it's not completely out of the question and I really, really don't want to punk out on this race.  My goal is to FINISH and I have 8.5 hours to finish.

Today I did W1 D2 of C25K with no problems.  Looking to lengthen my intervals and just condition myself to keep running after a walk break. 

Am I crazy?  We'll have the answer by April 17th.

Day 5 - Day 10 of 100 - Snowed in with comfort food!

I love North Carolina.  I like most of the people, despite the huge influx of Yankees and I love the weather.  I am a hot house flower and the summers of over 100 degrees and humidity into 90% are a little slice of tropical heaven to me.  I even run in it and much prefer it to running in the cold.

Imagine my horror at the SNOWMAGGEON that nature inflicted onto NC last week.  We get snow (an inch is a lot) maybe twice a year.  The world as we know it stops for days - no school, no leaving the house, sometimes no power... it's a zombie apocolypse minus the zombies.  But, last week, it came so hard and fast that Raleigh was literally gridlocked for hours. 

It went from a few flurries at noon to 1 inch sticking to the roads at 12:30pm.  My daughter was at a friends and we tried to go get her, but traffic was at a complete stand still.  She ended up stranded there until the friend's Yankee dad (with front wheel drive - I guess this is good?) and Vermont driving experience brought her home on Friday.  People were abandoning their cars all over town and this photo of Glenwood Avenue happened just about 7 miles away from my home.  Yes, that is a car on fire, and no, none of that pic is photoshopped.  No one could make it up that hill and people just left their cars and walked to hotels.  CRAZY, right?

I should not have let the kids being home from school for FOUR DAYS interfere with my training.  But, I did.  UGH.  I did do my Chemistry so I am perfect for my 100 days on that goal.  Working out, not so much.  And then it was an endless buffet of comfort foods while we were snowed in.  Mac and Cheese?  Oh yes.  Valentine's chocolates?  More, please!  How's it going on the "no microwave popcorn" front?  Very poorly indeed.

And speaking of Valentine's Day - it was depressing.  Like, "you are alone and no one will ever love you, you middle-aged fatso" depressing.  Worse still, I was halfway expecting flowers or a card from my semi-boyfriend in California, but got NADA.  No recognition of the day at all.  To be fair, we are not talking much lately, but this pretty much cements that he's not what I need or want in a partner.

So, as the snow melts and I see the beautiful Carolina blue skies again, I gotta shake it all off and get back to putting training as a priority.  No more excuses.  I may or may not be prepared for this Half Ironman in June, but I have until April 17th to figure that out.  I will lose about $200 if I pull out, but I just can't go into something that big under prepared.  I don't know... gotta figure it out.

I WILL run today.  <--- my commitment to you.  Because you read my silly crap and I really appreciate that!  So for you, I will run today.  Maybe tomorrow it will be for me, but today it's for YOU.  Thank you for leaving comments and encouraging me.  Thank you for making it through the posts that aren't all chucklefests.  Just thanks. 

2014 - Goals, Plans, and Races - Oh My! (Part One)



YES! 2014 is here and it's time to start anew.  Here are my goals for 2014!

At least for the first 6 months. 

I need to get through the Half Ironman in June before I even think about what comes after.

Or IF anything comes after....

 Goal #1 for January is to get settled into a workout plan and build some consistency.  This is going to be a particular challenge, in that I am going to be away from home 12 of the 31 days in January.  I'm going to Wichita for 5 days next week and then on the 24th, I head to Japan for a whole week.

Truthfully, I feel like I'm starting the year swimming upstream.  It's exciting and all that, but Jeeze, it's going to be pretty easy to put training off unless I fight hard to keep on track.  But keep on track, I MUST.

Also, I should mention food here.  I have really let myself pig out over the holidays.  I'm very interested in learning more about nutrition and proper fueling this year.  And weight loss - oh yes.  I am down a wee bit from last year this time, but I gained 5 lbs over the holidays (this is even with having the flu the last 5 days and eating the cumulative amount of a sleeve of saltines in that time)

Our first race of the year is the famous Krispy Kreme Challenge on February 8th.  The challenge is that you run 2.5 miles, eat a dozen hot donuts, and then run 2.5 miles back - all in under an hour.  You wouldn't believe this by looking at my beetonk, but I can't eat 12 donuts in a whole day (let alone less than 10 minutes), so I entered as a participant instead of a challenger.  I am running this one with my son, Wil, and we are pretty excited.  I think a 5 mile race is a good place to start and this is an iconic event for our area.  We plan to dress up as the Eleventh Doctor (Wil) and the Tardis (me) because dressing up for the Krispy Kreme Challenge is definitely encouraged.

Food-wise, following up my mention on eating better with the KKC might seem like I am not fully committed to... anything healthy.  I totally get where you are coming from, and I have absolutely no excuse or justification other than I get to dress up!  LIKE THE TARDIS.  If I get real ambitious, I'm going to put Bad Wolf right across my ass.  That's worth a few unhealthy donuts!

March 24th - 31st is the World Balloon Convention in Denver, CO.  I am teaching for the second time at WBC, which is a pretty stressful undertaking.

My goals for March are to lose enough weight so I can squeeze into the silver dress to the right on the finale night.  It almost zips up now, but I went ahead and bought it anyway because it was at Kohl's and I think they coat their Kohl's Cash with bad judgement gel.  In any event, I bought the dress in hopes it will fit nicely in 3 months.

I'm looking for a Sprint Tri this month but all I can find so far is during WBC when I am out of town.  In that case, I might look for a nice half marathon and there are a few choices, including the Tobacco Road Full & Half.

Most important in April is that it's my birthday!!  I'll be 44.  Next most important is a huge decision, which is... which race to choose?  I was looking at the Rock N Roll Full on my birthday, April 13th, but there is an Olympic Tri nearby on the 19th.  I seriously doubt I can do both and remain standing.

I am leaning more toward the tri because it will help me get more prepared for the HIM in June.  I am SUPER EXCITED about another Olympic Tri.  I feel like I learned so much last time and definitely need all the Tri practice I can get before June.

I am also concerned that I have 4 months to train and that did not seem to be sufficient on my last Olympic Half.  I can honestly say my training was inconsistent and I really didn't start to swim or bike until 1 - 2 months before the event, so I believe I can go in more prepared this time.  It's local, which is nice.  And I can do some Open Water Swims at the location before the actual race.  All good.  I'd like to do this as a confidence builder towards the HIM, so I have to work up some of that "can do" spirit by April.

 May is kinda up in the air!  I don't want to do anything extreme as I taper, but a cool Sprint Tri would be nice.  I did find one pretty interesting event that could double as a mini-vacation for my family. 

The Carolina Beach Double Sprint is May 11th.  It's Swim/Run/Bike/Run/Swim, which sounds like a fun twist.  Carolina Beach is about 2 hours away and close to where we normally take our beach trips.

Ironman Raleigh 70.3 - Yeah, this is happening June 1st.  THIS is my big race this year and everything I do between now and June 1st will be leading to this event.  I am excited, but terrified.  I can imagine that the following two weeks will be spent doing some well-deserved ass-sitting.

I don't know what else to say about June.  I am dreading its arrival and thinking the first 6 months of 2014 are going to blaze by.

CONTINUED WITH PART TWO AS SOON AS I FIGURE IT OUT!

I'd like to add more events, but even these listed will be a stretch financially.  You may have noticed no RunDisney Races and that is purely financial.  The average RunDisney half marathon is $180 now and that doesn't include travel and hotel, or even time in the parks.  I'd love to do Wine & Dine again, but this may have to be a Disney-free year.  The truth is that I can do THREE local races for the cost of one RunDisney entry and that is hard to ignore.

 

Wish me luck with my first 6 months of 2014!  They should be jam-packed since I usually travel about 6-10 days a month in addition to training.  I am hoping for a more quiet year, but I don't think that's going to happen.  I hope YOUR 2014 is going to be successful and exciting!

 

 

 





Commitment Issues are BAD

I was re-reading SwimBikeMom's book yesterday and she mentioned a magnet she had on her fridge that says:

 

This is an interesting question and I have been thinking about it a lot as I plan for my 2014 races.  On one hand, I am overwhelmed at the two I've already committed to - a full marathon (really, Lisa?) and a half Ironman (almost comical).  I think I've got a training plan that will prepare me, but I have already been lax on getting back to training for the upcoming half marathon in TWO WEEKS.  My problem seems to not be in creating goals or even attempting them, my problem seem to be in consistent effort to work towards the event.  Am I not consistent because I am inherently flaky?  Am I not consistent because IF I fail, that will be a good excuse?  Do I not want to commit 100% to something because I have (well-documented - just ask my ex) commitment issues?

I don't know the answer.  But it is something I need to figure out before I am successful at anything in life, let alone these races that REQUIRE that level of commitment before the event.

I watch this new show called Boundless on the Esquire Channel.  It is about two endurance athletes attempting different races all across the world.  I love it because on race day, they seem as unprepared as I have been for races.  By that I mean, they have trained for the event (sort-of) but they aren't real, real serious or safe about it.  They never trained in open ocean water for an 8hr ocean paddle board race.  They hadn't been biking in years before a grueling mountain bike race.  Junk like that.  DUMB.  I look at them attempting things they think they can not fail and all I can think is: BUT YOU HAVEN'T TRAINED FOR THIS!!  Even if they succeed, how much easier would it have been if they were better prepared?

And that is my own problem.  I don't worry about failure too much - I am pretty convinced I can do anything I set my mind to.  But at what commitment level is my mind set to to do the work to reach that goal beforehand?

 

I think my body is amazing in that it can keep chugging along no matter the pain or fatigue it's experiencing.  I think my mind is strong because I don't give up when I know I have a goal.  So what is holding me back from committing to full time, full-court-press training?  Why is it so easy to skip the training sessions I KNOW I need to do in order to be the most successful?

 

If I figure this out for training, can I use it to change my whole life?!?

 

In looking at 2014, I'd like to do at least one race event per month, with the possible exception of March when I'll be pretty busy with World Balloon Convention, where I'll be teaching.  (Maybe a sprint tri for that month.)  I'd like to do another Oly before the half Iron but a lot of smaller races aren't scheduled yet.  I'll probably have to wait until closer to the time to see what is available within my reasonable travel distance.  I definitely want to do the Outer Banks Tri in September again to see how much I can improve on my Olympic time there with an extra year of training.  The two other major races I was considering are the Rock N Roll Full Marathon in Raleigh on my birthday (April 13th), and the Beach2Battleship in Wilmington (the half-Iron distance - I want my first full Iron to be Ironman branded).

 

Big goals.  Now I need to see if I've got the commitment to follow through on them...

 



Ironman World Championship - Kona 2013 - IT'S TODAY!!

Can you feel the excitement today??  At approximately 12:30pm EST, the pros will be diving in to start the Ironman World Championship in Hawaii!!  This is a very challenging course, but these are the best of the best competing!  You can watch live at IRONMAN.COM today, or you can wait for the 2 hr. NBC recap that will be aired on Saturday, November 16th at 4:30 p.m. EST.

They do an underpants run a few days before the event.
Running in your tighty-whiteys is hardcore!

We have a consult for a client today at 1pm, so I will at least get to see some of the swim before I leave.  I was most interested in watching the transition between swim and bike (called T1) but it doesn't look like that will happen.  Too bad you can't DVR your live computer feed!  I obviously will never compete at this level, but it's fun and educational to watch these athletes run the race.

Hey, I'm just following this officially posted sign.  If it said FAST RUNNING, I totally would do it.

My training for Wine & Dine is off to a slow start, but I made a plan and am implementing it.  I actually sketched out a plan for now through the full marathon in January, then through the Ironman Raleigh 70.3.  I am still considering coaching (or perhaps purchasing an online training program via TrainingPeaks.com) but for right now, it's good to have something written down to aim for. I included swimming and biking as well because I really need the hours of practice behind my belt before starting the half iron training in earnest next February. 

This is what I imagine Japan will look like.  In reality, I will probably just see classrooms and the insides of hotels.

February?  Yep.  I do the full on January 12th, then immediately following, I travel to Wichita, Kansas for the week, then I'm home for a week before going to Japan for a whole week.  All in the name of teaching balloon decor!  I am excited about Japan, but it does push back training.  It should be a good three weeks of recovery (although my schedule will not be restful) after the full before I hit it hard again.

 

The good news is that after my trip to Boston in two days, and another week-long trip to Wichita the end of October (I'm making balloon decor videos!), I should not have to travel for the rest of the year and my training will not be interrupted.

 

Enjoy Kona today!  Best of luck to the athletes!

Do I need a triathlon coach?

Or, better question: Do I want to part with $200 a month?

Think of the Oreos I could be buying with this money.

I have two big events coming up that I've never done before.  A full marathon in January 2014 (WDW) and a half Ironman in June 2014 (Ironman Raleigh 70.3).  I am unsure how best to train for these and am wondering if a coach could help me get more prepared. 

Of course, when I think about Coach, I think about this:

Although, really, I'm more of a Dooney & Bourke girl.

Or maybe even this:

UNC.  UGH.

But I think it's probably more like this:

First rule: No falling off the bike. Why did you do that?  It was dumb.

Second rule: Look better in a bathing suit.  Honestly, yuck.  People can't unsee your cellulite.

Third rule: Run/Walk/Run doesn't mean Walk/Saunter/Lollygag.  Get faster!

My concern is that I was not as prepared for my Olympic Tri as I had wanted to be. 
I can trace that to:
1) inconsistent training (would coaching help me be more accountable?);
2) not enough training (but I can start early enough without a coach now); and
3) being fat and lazy (chances of that changing are slim.  SLIM, get it?  HARHAR I kill me!).

My scale just has a recorded laugh track.

I also want to lose some weight before these races.  I know I am not knowledgeable enough to figure that out because the last 5 weeks of training for the Oly, I lost 0.00 lbs when working out 2+ hours 6 days a week.  And I wasn't over-eating.  If anything, I think I wasn't eating enough.  At least the people on My Fitness Pal seemed to think so.  What is the answer for losing weight while training?  Simple calorie deficit does not work for my body.  Would a coach help with this nutrition/weight loss bit?


I can definitely find a marathon training schedule online - in fact, Jeff Galloway has one specifically for the WDW Full.  I can add some swimming and biking in as cross-training until after the marathon.  Then from January - June I can concentrate on the half Ironman.  Maybe at that point, I will consider a coach.  I want to be really prepared for this half Ironman.  I simply can not go into it as unprepared as I was for my recent Oly.

So, does anyone reading have any feedback on coaching vs. being on my own?  I'd love to hear!

Blah day - blah workout

I used to be Fat.  Like capital F Fat.  I was almost 300lbs.  I look back and still can't believe I was ever that big.  I had gastric bypass surgery in March of 2003.  I lost 135 lbs and got down to 140.  I was a flabby size 6.  It was at the point where people were telling me not to lose anymore weight.  I can't imagine weighing 125, but that has always been that magic number.  The weight at which I tell myself I will no longer be fat.

I never got to 125.  I maintained my weight at 140/145 for a few years but was diagnosed as bipolar in March 2006.  They put me on Lithium, which made me eat like a crazy person (LOL - I was a crazy person!).  I gained 25 lbs in a month and then refused to take meds anymore.  They tried a few different things until they found the one that has kept me fairly sane for 4 years now without piling on the pounds.  However, during the years following my diagnosis, I put on about 10 lbs a year.  I got back up to 210 lbs before deciding enough was enough and joined Weight Watchers.  I lost 30 lbs before plateauing and quitting because the only thing I was losing the last 6 months was $45/month.  I signed up with My Fitness Pal and have been tracking calories and exercise.  I have lost an additional 15 lbs. pretty slowly over the last 6 months.

Why am I telling you all of this, you ask?  Today I had a terrible workout and I feel blah and fat.  It's easy to see why people get discouraged and quit training if they don't have a goal. Thank goodness I have a goal!!  I know I can't quit and have to go back tomorrow and try, try again regardless of how much of a lump I feel like today.  I also feel a little better writing it all out because I guess I didn't realize until now that I have lost 15 lbs since quitting WW and that IS moving in the right direction.

It doesn't seem to matter how much I work out - it seems to matter what I eat if I want to lose.  In fact, I lose better (MORE) if I'm not working out.  After the Princess Half, I stopped running and lost consistently until I started my training up again.  It's so hard to find the right balance of calories in and calories out.  It should be straight forward to work at a deficit, but for me it doesn't work that easily.  Maybe because of the bypass surgery and my body being used to less calories?  I don't know...  All I do know is that losing weight is hard and I keep wondering at what point I will feel "thin".

And, blah blah, I know I should worry about being HEALTHY and not THIN, but I'm not that evolved.  I want to look good.  (and be healthy, yeah yeah, of course).

Back to my workout.  I swam for 30 minutes yesterday, then did 25 miles on the stationary bike, then ran .5 miles to shake my legs out.  I felt great!  But today, I was tired and couldn't make my legs move.  I did do 10.5 miles on the bike and walked for 3 miles, but I did both much more slowly that usual.  I don't want to burn myself out, so I am going to revise my training plan to not bike three days in a row.  I was doing that schedule because I was trying to shoe horn in biking to an existing marathon training program, but I think I will put the marathon training aside until after my Olympic Triathlon next month.  The marathon (in January) and the half Ironman (next June) will be my next two goals.

Like I said - thank goodness for goals.  They keep me focused and moving forward!

So, I signed up for a triathlon... I've lost it, right?

I don't blog very frequently so a lot happens from one post to the next.  In the time since my last post about the Princess Half Marathon, I spent about 3 months sitting on my ass before deciding I needed a new goal.  Because the first full marathon I wanted to do was the WDW Full in January 2014, I thought about what I wanted to do in the meantime.  For some crazy reason, I decided a triathlon was the answer.

September 21, 2013

This was a ridiculous decision in many ways.  First, I don't have a bike and haven't ridden one since I was 10.  Second, I can "swim" in that I don't drown, but I am no one's life guard material.  Running was ok, but I am still sloooooooooooow.  Oh, and I didn't sign up for a Sprint Tri - I signed up for an Olympic Triathlon.  What?  Yes.  That's 1500 meters open water swim in the ocean, 24.5 miles on the bike, and a 10k (6.2 miles) running.  So, now you agree I'm probably crazy, right?

The good news is that it was 16 weeks away and I had some conditioning with the running.  The first thing I did was join the Y.  In addition to the excellent gym, the kids could enjoy the outdoor pool with twisty slide all summer.  I have been plugging away with cycling and running ever since, but I haven't quite started the swimming yet and I've got about 6 weeks left before race day.  In my defense, I did swim for about a week and the kids told me I looked stupid - LOL.  So, I finally called today about getting some private swim lessons and hopefully, I can get on the right path to swim much more frequently in the next 6 weeks.

I am planning on doing some Sprint Tris as soon as I can get a bike - which I am looking to buy in the next week or so.  I'll post race reports and updates as they happen.  In the meantime, I have talked about weight loss on this blog and my struggles so here's some good news on that front.  I am happy to report that in the last year I've lost 40lbs.  The only full body pic I could find was from 2011, but here is what 40lbs looks like on me:

I'd like to lose about 25 lbs more but I've heard differing reports on how training for a half marathon or triathlon helps or hurts weight loss.  I guess time will tell!

As for running, I have 3 other half marathons on the radar for 2013 - The Run Raleigh Half in October, the City Of Oaks, and Wine & Dine at WDW, both in November.  I'll try to blog more often, in case anyone is interested in my triathlon journey.

Oh, yeah... I almost forgot.  Apparently, I am so convinced I am triathlete material that I went ahead and signed up for the Ironman 70.3 Raleigh that will be held next June.  It's like this:  I have to sign up NOW or it will be sold out by the time I convince myself I can do it.  So I'm doing it.  Last June, we did the balloons for the event.  Next June, I will be working my butt off to finish it!