Disappointed

I'm so disappointed in myself. I am honestly not looking forward to weighing in this Saturday.

I am such an emotional eater. It started Sunday night. I got my feelings hurt really really bad and so I became depressed. Because I'm an emotional eater, I turned to food. I started eating everything in sight.

Then on Monday morning, I didn't get up to go swimming because I was staying at a friend's house 30 minutes away. I had plans to go swimming Monday night after work; however, I was still holding a grudge against my parents who hurt my feelings really bad, plus I got home late from work.

When I don't workout in the morning, my self control goes out the window. So, Monday I once again ate everything in sight. Needless to say I didn't work out Monday.

Tuesday, I didn't workout until after work...and I didn't even do a full workout. I only biked & did the elliptical trainer.

Wednesday I FINALLY got a decent workout in. I got up at 4:30 a.m. and went and swam a mile and then rode my bike home from work and then went running.

This morning I didn't get up to go swimming. I don't know why. I was feeling lazy. Since I didn't workout this morning, I ate EVERYTHING in sight (brownies, cookies, potato chips, etc.) I had grand plans to go workout when I got home from work but after lunch I was feeling REALLY sleepy. So much that I could barely keep my eyes open at work. So...off I went to the vending machine to buy a Diet Mountain Dew.

Now, carbonation and working out do not mix. :( Carbonation really cuts down on your oxygen intake making it much harder to breathe when you are working out...so, no workout again tonight.

I HAVE to get up tomorrow morning and swim that mile. I HAVE to. I've got to figure out a way to force myself to get up.

Now, if my Saturday morning wasn't jam packed, I would go to the gym and swim a mile, bike 90 minutes & run 6 miles to try & burn off some of this fat I've gained, but I'm volunteering at a race Saturday morning and then I'm going with my friend Heather to try on wedding gowns.

My pants are insanely tight, I feel like crap and I'm dreading weighing in on Saturday morning.

Off the Wagon...Kinda

I feel like I've falled off the wagon of working out. Granted I only didn't work out on Monday this week and I didn't get a full workout in on Tuesday, but I ate like crap on Sunday and Monday. Serious. Absolute crap!

When I get upset (if you read my personal blog, you know why I got upset), depressed, anxiety, etc., I eat. I eat EVERYTHING in sight. And, when I don't workout in the morning, I lose all self control. :(

Today is the first day that I've done a full workout since last week. I got up and went swimming this morning. I swam 72 laps (1 mile), I rode my bike home from work *(16.3 miles) and then went up to the gym and ran 4.29 miles on the treadmill. It felt great!

I'm probably not gonna lose any weight this week, but starting today, I've seriously gotta jump back on the bandwagon and get working out...hard!

One problem though...how am I gonna get my workout in on Saturday? I honestly have no clue and it is kind of causing me some stress. I'm volunteering at a race on Saturday, so I'll be at the race from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. and then from there, I'm going with my friend Heather to try on wedding gowns (she's getting married in Sept.).

Cycling Home

Today was such beautiful weather that I rode my bike home from work. It was AWESOME!!! I loved it!

It's only 11 miles from work to home, but I decided to a little farther. I ended up going 16.3 miles and burned 919 calories.

I just wish I had a lighter back pack I could use to help with my commuting. The back pack I have, keeps sliding to the left of my back and I feel like I'm lopsided. :( It makes it uncomfortable.

Tomorrow was SUPPOSED to be a good day for weather so I was going to ride my bike home tomorrow too, however I was informed today by the weather person that we're supposed to have high winds. High winds + cycling = no good. :(

I can't wait for summer to get here so I can do this more often.

4th Street Clinic Tri

This last Saturday was the Fourth Street Clinic Triathlon. It was held up at the U of U.

This triathlon is probably the triathlon I was MOST nervous about. It was a mountain biking triathlon. I've never mountain biked before in my life! What was I thinking.

All I had was a $70 mountain bike from Wal-Mart. I just had a gut feeling that bike wasn't gonna cut it for this race. I put a plea out on Facebook and my dear friend Monica had a mountain bike I could borrow. It was a NICE mountain bike. I was right...my $70 bike from Wal-Mart wouldn't have cut it.

It was a swim/bike/run triathlon. The swim went ok. I could've done better, but I didn't have a good suction on my goggles for the first few laps so after every lap I had to stop & adjust my goggles. Finally after the third time stopping to adjust my goggles I got a good enough suction and I was able to finish the swim without having to stop.

Then it was off to the bike. Dear God, what had I gotten myself in to? Lol. I ended up walking probably 1/2 of the bike distance, but that's ok. I'm still proud of myself. During part of the bike, I thought to myself, I wish I would've brought my camera on the bike portion so I could take pictures so that you guys could see the trail. It took me almost 1 hour to do the bike portion.

I finally got back to transition and went off on the run. The run just took you 3.1 miles around the U of U campus. Holy crap, I knew the campus was big, but I didn't realize how big it was. I saw parts of the campus I never knew existed. Lol. The run wasn't too hard. I thought I was running a little faster than I was, but eh, it wasn't too big a deal.

My final time on the race was 1:35:46.6. It obviously wasn't my best time, but I'm ok with that. This was a race I'd never done before and it was a mountain biking race.

I would love to do this race again next year. Within the next year hopefully I'll be able to purchase a mountain bike and get better at mountain biking before this race next year.

Here are a couple of pictures for your enjoyment (P.S. The bathrooms really weren't barred off, but from this angle, it looked like it, so we decided to have fun with it! Lol.):

Telos Timp Tri

This last Saturday was my latest triathlon. It was the Telos Timp Triathlon down in Orem. This was the fourth time I've competed in this race. They do this race twice a year. They do it in April and then they do it in November.

Unfortunately I don't have any pictures from this race. My dad is usually the photographer for me at my races, but he had to work, so my mom went with me. My mom can't multi-task and take pictures and cheer me on at the same time, so I would rather have her cheer me on.

But...this was a very momentous race! I thought I had set the bar high by improving my time by 1:20 in my race down in St. George, but man...I've now set the bar REALLY high. My final time on my race down in Orem was 1:18:38.4! I set a new PR (Personal Record) and improved my time by 5:03! I came in 6th in my age division and 21st in all females.

I was honestly shocked that I did so well in this race. It started out with the run and ended with the swim. During the run, I don't know why, but I had a hard time with my breathing. I felt like I was short of breath alot. I ran a 9:29 mile, but I felt like I was running alot slower. As I was running I thought there was NO way I was going to beat my time from St. George.

On the bike portion, you have to ride 2 loops and climb 2 very large and steep hills on each loop. On my second loop of the bike I finally started to think that I might not beat my time from St. George, but I might have somewhere around the same time. There was a point on the bike that I was out there by myself. There wasn't anybody in front of me, and at one point, I kind of glanced behind me and there were people behind me, but they didn't pass me.

I finally got to the swim and once again, I didn't feel like I was swimming as fast I could, but I was pretty tired (not sure why), but that's another time I thought I might beat my St. George time by maybe a minute 'cause there was nobody in the pool. I only had to pass a couple of people.

I finally jumped out of the pool and crossed the finish line. After I crossed the finish line, about a minute later, I saw the time clock and it said 1:19:00!!! I was ecstatic!!! I knew my time was better than 1:19:00.

I decided that I was going to stick around and wait for my time to be posted 'cause I thought I MIGHT have a chance at placing and maybe getting up on the podium. When they finally posted my final time, I was over the moon! I couldn't believe it! I didn't get up on the podium this time, but you know what, that's ok? I've still got a ton of races to do this year...I think I just might make it up on the podium this year! I'm stoked!

My Dream Job

I've FINALLY figured out what my dream job is...kind of. How sad is this? I'm 31 yrs old and I'm finally figuring out what I want to do as far as my career goes.

I've decided that my dream job is doing something that has to do with triathlons and/or marathons.

Now, the problem is, I'm not fully sure how to get a job in this field. I can't really be a personal trainer 'cause I don't have any schooling and my current job doesn't really allow me time to go back to school.

I don't know if my dream job is working at a place like Salt Lake Running Company or working in a call center for a place like TriSports.

I just know that my passion is triathlons and marathons and losing weight. I want people to know that if I can do it, so can they!

If you have any ideas of how I can get a job in this field, please leave me a comment. I would greatly appreciate it.

I Got My Hopes Up...

Tonight when I went swimming, I walked in to the pool area and there stands my personal trainer (BJ) in his speedo getting ready to swim as well. Intimidation immediately set in.

In a way, the intimidation is a good thing. BJ is insanely good. I've talked about him before on this blog. But, BJ pushes me to be better. He pushes me farther than I think I can go.

Tonight my swim workout consisted of:

200 swim, kick, pull
400 drills
4 x 100 with 30 sec. rest
200 pull
4 x 100 with 30 sec. rest

With the 4 x 100, my goal is to swimm 100 yds in 2 minutes or less. My first set of 100, I swam it in 2 minutes exactly! I was SO excited because lately my time has been 2:07+ My second set of 100, my time was 2:05. I wasn't too happy about that, but I figured it was because I was getting tired.

My swim time just went downhill from there. :( I was pretty bummed. I'd gotten my hopes up that I was finally back to swimming a 2 minute 100, but I feel like I'm back to square one.

Wednesday Night Swim

Tonight I went swimming and I swear to you, I will NEVER go swimming again on a Wednesday night. If I don't go swimming Wednesday morning, I'm gonna forfit swimming for the day. It's just not worth it.

I was going to go swimming this morning, but the suction on my goggles was shot. I had my dad go buy me new goggles this afternoon.

At the rec center I go to, they normally have 4-6 lanes available for lap swimming in the evening. Tonight they has 2. Yes, 2. The other lanes were filled up with these blow up toys that people could play with. These toys were HUGE!!! There was approximately 3-4 people per lane. Oh, then you have to add in that it seemed like all the Scouts in the South Davis area were there and they wanted to swim to get their merit badges. Gah!

I don't mind swimming with multiple people per lane if they know how to swim that way (circle swim, or 2 people per lane), but most people aren't aware of pool eticate.

The blow up toys were constantly coming over in to the 2 lanes we had for lap swimming and kids were playing in the lap swimming lanes as well.

I was SO glad when I got my 80 laps in and I was able to get out of the pool.

Olympic Distance Tri

This last Saturday I decided that for my workout I decided I was going to do my own personal Olympic distance tri to see if I could do it. I have my first official Olympic distance tri (also my first open water tri) in August.

An Olympic distance tri consists of swimming .94 miles, biking 24 miles and running 6.2 miles.

I wondered how my body was going to handle it because swimming burns alot of calories and I didn't know if I was going to need an energy booster in there to finish off the bike and the run or not.

But...I did it!!! Granted, I did the 6.2 miles of running on an eliptical trainer instead of a treadmill, but I still did it. It took me almost 3 hours, but I did it. :) Now I know that come August I'll be able to do the triathlon and hopefully even be better than what I did on Saturday! Yay!

Down 5 Lbs!!!

Yay!!! I lost 5.2 lbs this week. The past couple of weeks I have been gaining weight. Since I had shin splints and couldn't exercise for 2 weeks (it hurt too bad), I gained alot of weight. Then, I started exercising again and I had a race. I was disappointed because I felt like I was losing weight that week, but the night before the race, I had a big pasta dinner to carb up, and then I weighed myself the next day after the race & I gained a little over a pound.

Now, normally a pound wouldn't bother me too much, but when I knew I had already gained alot of weight, to gain 1 more pound, it was quite frustrating.

This last week, I worked my ass off at the gym. I swam a little over a mile 5 days this week and I biked and ran every night and I lost 5.2 lbs!!! Yay!!! Now, just to lose the rest of my weight and get back to where I was. :)

A Favorite Running Quote

On Facebook, I am a "fan" of a group called I <3 to Run. They posted an inspiring quote today from one of their other fans and I fell in love with the quote. It seriously made me cry. I want to remember this quote forever.

I run for alone time. I run to get over the stress from work. I argue with God while I run. I imagine I’m leaving everything behind. I’m challenging myself. I’m making my mind the boss of my body. I’m enjoying the breeze when I’m overheated. I’m marveling at the snowfall and saddened that everyone else is missing it. I run to relax. I run when it hurts down deep. I listen to God while I run. I run to make me strong. I run because it makes me a better husband and father. I run to clear my mind and emotions. Running builds muscle, resolve, and focus. That’s why I run.

- Ken Clouser ('I <3 to run' fan)

Questions, Comments, Emotional Outbursts?

I know people are reading this blog, but I need feedback. :) Do you guys like what you are reading? Is there anything you specifically want me to talk about in regards to my weight loss and working out?

4th Street Clinic Tri

Not my next triathlon, but the triathlon after that is the 4th Street Clinic Triathlon. This triathlon goes to benefit the 4th Street Clinic in Salt Lake City. The clinic is for the homeless people and the peopl at The Road Home Shelter.

I signed up for this triathlon because it was one I hadn't done before and it was right in town.

Today I decided to look up the triathlon to look at the route and everything and come to find out, this is a mountain biking triathlon!!! HOLY CRAP!!! I don't know how to mountain bike! The mountain bike I have is a $70 mountain bike from Wal-Mart! I swear when I signed up for this triathlon, it said NOTHING about it being a mountain biking one.

Thankfully, my boss at work is in to serious mountain biking. She's biked the trail that we have to bike on and she said it's not too bad. Hopefully my bike will be able to handle it.

This isn't even a Sprint triathlon. We are swimming 350 meters, bike 5.28 miles and run 3.1 miles. I'm kind of bummed. If I knew this was a mountain biking triathlon and it wasn't a full sprint triathlon, I probably wouldn't have signed up for the race.

I've always wanted to get in to mountain biking though. I guess here's my chance. :)

First Tri of the Season - 2011

My first triathlon of the 2011 season was this last Saturday down in St. George, UT (about 4 1/2 hrs from where I live).

I booked a hotel for the night before and me, my mom and my dad drove down on Friday and came back Saturday after the race.

I was quite nervous for this race because I am still healing a little bit from shin splints. The Monday before the race it still hurt to run, so I was VERY concerned. I talked with my personal trainer and he told me just to take some ibueprofen before the race and I should be good.

We got down to St. George and were able to go and pick up my packet. I was concerned though because normally they have a map of the route in the packet (at least in all my other races they did), but in this one they didn't. I didn't know where the hell I was going! Holy crap! Everybody was just saying that there will be plenty of people around, just follow the crowd. Ummm...yeah, that's not how I work. Before every race that I do that I've never done before, I always like to drive the routes so I know where I'm going. Needless to say I was SUPER nervous.

We went to dinner and carbed up and went home for a good nights sleep. I slept better than I thought I would. Normally I don't sleep well the night before a race.

Got up the next morning and had a bagel and yogurt and headed over to put my bike in the transition area. The start of this race was REALLY weird. We were supposed to swim in "heats". I was schedule to start swimming in the 7:50 a.m. heat and the first heat started at 7:00 a.m.

Normally, with every other triathlon I've done, we've done a serpentine swim where you snake through the lanes to reach the 350/400 yds/meter swim. This triathlon, they had like 14 lanes set up in the pool, 2 people in each lane and they had volunteers at the head of each lane counting your laps for you. You stayed in the same lane the whole time. As soon as a lane came free, the volunteer raised their hand and you ran to that lane and jumped in and started your swimming.





As always when the swim comes first, I felt like I started out too fast and started to get a little tired about 1/2 way through the swim. I finished my swim (16 laps) in about 10 minutes though.

Then it was off to the bike. This was the part I was most nervous about 'cause I didn't really know where I was going (thank you to the lady who was standing in front of me in the swim who told me where to go). The bike wasn't too bad. We had to do two 5 mile loops. The first 2 1/2 miles, I felt like it was never going to end because I didn't know where I was going. After the first 2 1/2 miles out, the bike went by really fast. I felt like I did pretty good on the bike. I felt like I was going pretty fast.






The one picture that is not of me, he is a U.S. Army Veteran and he lost his right leg in combat and still competed in this triathlon.

The last leg of the race was the run. We had to do two 1.5 mile loops. I was dreading this part of the race because I didn't know how well my shins would deal with the running, but my shins were AWESOME! They didn't hurt one bit while I was running. I felt like I was running pretty slow, but I would have rather run slow than push it and injure myself and make the shin splints come back, you know? The first part of the run seemed to take FOREVER as well because I didn't know how far I had to run until I got to the turn around point. Once I made it to the turn around point, the run seemed to go by pretty quick.





I headed to the finish line and had NO idea what my final time was. I wanted to hang around and get my final time, but I was kind of tired. I wanted to shower and we were able to get a late check out at the hotel, but we needed to get back so I could shower and we could get on the road to go home.

Late Saturday night I was able to get my final time and it was 1:23:41.8!!! Hallelujah!!! Right out of the shoot I got my best time EVER!!! I beat my best time by 1:15!!! I can't wait for the rest of my races this year and hopefully I'll improve with each one.

P.S. I have to give a shout out to my personal trainer B.J., because without him being such an awesome personal trainer, I probably wouldn't have been able to beat my best time on this race. :)