I'm Baaaaaaaack!

Ladies and Gents... I'm back!

After taking what I like to think of as a sick week.. I'm back! And oh so happy to be back!

I spent all of last week basically crawling from bed to couch, laying in a snowbank throwing a frisbee to a not-so-sick pooch, and eating cereal because I couldn't stand long enough to cook anything. It.Was.Rough.

But its in the past and I'm back feeling fabulous! The kind of fabulous you feel after a 2-week long vacation to Mexico. Well, sans tan.

Anywho - I've been feeling fairly productive with my new-found health. Its finally time to begin training for the triathlon - and I'm so ready to do so! :) Yesterday I went out and bought myself a little thang called EA Active for our PS3. Hubs ALMOST burst my bubble when he told me we needed some additional thingy four our PS3 to make it work, but he was mistaken and had to suffer the wrath of some death stares for his mistake. Don't fret, all is well again! My plan is to use the game when I'm stuck at home because of crappy weather, or to use it on the days I'm not at the gym.

Since we got our new pooch, I've been really struggling to find time to go to the gym. I feel so guilty leaving her home all day when N. and I are at work, then leaving her again when I go to the gym in the evening. Buuuut I think I've figured out my solution - I am going to head to the gym as soon as I am outta work, 3 days per week, without stopping home. I can get in a solid 30-60 minute training session and still make it home by 5:30 - 6:00 pm. That will leave me lots of at-home time too.

So, whats the training plan you ask?
3 days of running
1 day of swimming
Spinning whenever for now
EA Active on days when I don't run, and some days that I do run.

After I can run a 5k again, then I will split the biking and running a little more - but I need to focus on running for now. Once it is warm out again, I'll be running and biking outside. I can't wait for that to happen... the winter blues are starting to kick in a bit over here.

Do any of you have any thoughts? ... Better training ideas.. any input is always appreciated! :)

Triathlon... Friday?

Okay, so like I said yesterday, I've been SWAMPED. Triathlon Tuesday has fallen by the wayside, but soon to be brought to life, promise!

I have decided that it is pointless to start training right before the holidays, so I'm postponing the start until right after the New Year. First I'm going to go home, relax, and spend some time with N. and my family before I get all tri-crazy.


A little pic of me after my first tri - my brother knows how to capture all my best moments.


I'm thinking that I'll do two tris this year - the one I've done for the past few years, as well as the challenge tri! And what a challenge it will be, especially because outdoor training can't begin for quite awhile. Yuck. Silly MN and its rediculous amounts of snow and even more rediculous cold weather!!

I'm going to begin the training off right (for me) and cut out all carbs for a few weeks once I'm back from the holiday break. I don't know if it works well for other people, but for me, cutting carbs out for a few weeks really jump starts my energy and makes me WANT  to work out. I have only cut them out for about 2 weeks in the past, then slowly start adding them back in. I love the way it makes my body feel, although my mind craves the carbs the entire time (I'm a pasta loverrrr). After I cut them out completely for a few weeks, I'll sloooowly start to add them back in, and I will only eat healthy carbs. Its a bit like the South Beach Diet, only I don't really follow a PLAN, I just make up my own as I go, whatever feels right.

In addition to the whole eating right thang, I'll start training.

Swimming = no issue. I'll swim 1x/week until it gets warmer. Its completely a mental thing, but I HATE swimming in the winter. Even if I'm inside, I still am CRAAAZY COLD. Ew. Once the weather starts warming up, I will up the swimming to 2x/week. I swam in high school so I don't really need to practice too much.

Biking = Spinning classes for the winter months. I love them. I used to be addicted and went like 3x/week. I'm going to start out going 2x/week for now, and then just work my way up to 3x/week. I love love love spinning classes because I can go at my own pace and work up to being crazy strong. Plus ALL of the instructors are ALWAYS so so so encouraging. Its just a nice place to go!

Running = Sigh. Running is my weakness. I HATE IT. I only run when I'm training for something like a tri... which means I haven't ran since last summer. Whoops. So that means I'm starting from scratch. Last time I used the Couch Potato to 5K in 6 weeks workout plan, and it seemed to work well. I think I'll try that again. Running will have to happen 2-3x/week in order to get good before the first triathlon. Because lets be honest, I suck at running. No matter how great of shape I'm in - I always feel like I'm about to pass out and die when I run. Starting at ohhh about 2 minutes in. On running days, I'll probably weight train too :)

ANY TIPS FOR RUNNING WOULD BE AMAZE-BALLS. I'm begging you. Any of you!

As for the pre-Christmas vacation preparation - I'm updating my Ipod and mentally preparing! Should be a fun way to bring in the New Year! Cheers to getting back into shape!

PS. Any tips any of ya'll have for music, workouts, ect.. bring it on! :)

Call Me Crazy

I'm a bit of a committment-phobe.

I can commit to certain things - my husband, my job, my family - you know the HUGE ones.

But committing to a workout plan, a planner, a BLOG... maybe not so much.

So I ask all you Bloggies out there - MAKE ME ACCOUNTABLE!!

This is serious! I'm a sucker for competition - and I'm very pumped to be competing for the title of winner in a triathlon challenge. Bring it son! You can read about the challenge here (or just go to my post from yesterday..)

So I've decided...

Drumroll Please...

To make Tuesday on le blog "Tri Tuesdays"

I'm committing to writing my workouts (past & perhaps present), trial and errors, hate of running, successes, failures, ect. And since I have no filter, be prepared to hear about it all!

Please feel free to post tips, excellent music choices for those unmotivated days, and any experiences regarding tris, workouts, ect. ANYTHING is appreciated.

Oh and that Scott kid who challenged me.. be prepared my friend! <3

I think I might order us some t-shirts for the day... winner.. loser... perhaps a trophy! Hehe, kidding.. kind of! :)

Triathlon Challenge

One of my good friends, Scott, has been working hard to get into shape lately.

I, on the other hand, have been working hard at avoiding the gym.

Yesterday Scott decided to challenge me to a triathlon. Oh yeah. I've done tris the past two summers and decided this past summer that I wouldn't do another one this upcoming summer. Eh, got bored.

Until I got challenged of course! Muahahaha... I love a good challenge!

Source

I've obviously agreed to the challenge (with the pending agreement of a handicap, since boys are ALWAYS faster than girls). So now I will turn to you, bloggers, as inspiration.

I will post my workouts every week, day pending, to track my progress (and make sure I'm actually doing something). Training will suck for awhile, since its WINTER IN MINNESOTA, but thats all right. I've got a gym membership and I know how to use it.

Time to break out the dusty workout guides and start training again. I'd better update my Ipod music selection - time to get inspired to run (god running sucks).

Another good form of inspiration : my hubs might think that Scott can beat me. Must.prove.him.wrong.

Any helpful hints out there?! I'd love to hear ANY HINTS regarding working out, motivation, and triathlons. I'm by no means an expert.