Today Is Gonna Be a Challenge...

Today is going to be a challenge. Normally I wake up at 4:30 a.m. and go swimming & that just sets my self control for the day. If I don't swim on Monday morning, I always seem to have the mindset of "I haven't had my workout yet for the day, it's still the weekend, I can eat what I want" and I tend to snack on crap all day.

Well, this morning, I got up at 4:25 a.m., but I forgot to write down my swim workout the night before, so I had to pull up my computer and write it down and then get ready.

I got outside and my car was frozen over. By the time I would've got my car scraped off and up to the gym, there would've been no swimming lane. :( I'll have to swim and run tonight when I get off work.

I hope I can have enough self control today at work to not snack on all kinds of crap. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Improved Swim Time

I'm pretty stoked! I improved my swim time again. My workout on Friday was to do 200 swim, kick, pull, 1000 yds steady and then do my drills.

In my previous workouts like this, it has taken me 25 minutes to swim 1000 yds. On Friday, it took me 21:10 to swim 1000 yds. I really wanted it to be 20 minutes, but hey, I'll take 21:10. No problem. Improvement is improvement, right?

I'm excited for my first triathlon (April 2nd) to see my final time on my triathlon with all of the extra training I've been putting in.

Winners Podium Here I Come

I met with B.J. (my personal trainer) on Thursday this last week and we did our training on my running. As we were training he asked if I wanted to make it up to the podium this year. I told him yes I did, but I wasn't sure if I'd be capable of doing it this year. However, B.J. told me that he thinks I've got what it takes to make it up to the winners podium this year!

I'm SO excited!!! I think it would be absolutely AWESOME if I made it up to the winners podium! I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

I'm Closer Than I Thought!

I'm SO excited. I'm closer to competing in an Ironman triathlon than I thought I was.

Last week I got an email from active.com and it was their newsletter. Normally I don't read the articles, but there was an article entitled (How to Train for Your First Ironman) (you can find the link here) As I was reading the article, I'm quickly realizing that I'm closer and closer to doing an Ironman.

In the article, it says you need to be capable of swimming 3 times a week for an hour each time and you need to be able to swim 100 yds in 2 minutes. I can do that!

It says you need to be able to bike comfortably for 1 1/2 hrs or so and keep a pace of 15-16 mph. I can do that too!

It says you need to be able to run a 10-11 minute mile. I run a 9:40 mile!!!

This would allow me to complete an Ironman in 13-14 hrs and they give you 17 hrs to complete an Ironman.

So, what did I do? I entered a contest to get free entry in to the St. George Ironman this year. I'm like 99% sure that I won't win, just because SO many people enter that contest, but I figured, hey, why not?

Also, currently, I'm debating on entering the lottery for the St. George Ironman in 2012. It costs an insane amount of $$$ and you're not guaranteed to get in, so I'm not sure about that yet. Plus, I'd kind of like to do a full marathon, a century ride and a full marathon before I do an Ironman.

I don't know. We'll see where this takes me. I just know that I have now set a goal that before I'm 40 yrs old (8 yrs away), I will compete in my first Ironman.

My Passion

I know this might sound silly, but after 3 years of working out and doing triathlons, it really hit me tonight that it is my passion.

I got done swimming and running at the gym tonight and headed back to the locker room to get my bags and a lady apologized to me for having all of her stuff spread out and blocking one of my lockers.

I told her "Oh don't worry, I'm the same way. I've got to have 2 lockers. I bring so much stuff to the gym, it's ridiculous."

She laughed it off and said she brings so much stuff to the gym she feels like she should be training for a triathlon or something. I told her that's what I am doing, and that just struck up a conversation.

She is debating signing up for a triathlon. I told her to DO IT! They are SO awesome! We just got talking and stood there talking about triathlons and how I'd lost over 100+ pounds and how I'm doing 15 races this year, blah blah blah.

As I was talking to this stranger, I noticed that I was getting a lump in my throat and I was getting kind of emotional about it all. I was also getting chills, and it's not because I was cold either. Lol. It was the good kind of chills. I don't think I've really experienced that before when talking about "my story" to people. Maybe it's because the people that I've told my story to have watched it unfold, you know?

But, this just really reinforced to me that what I am doing is what I need to be doing right now in my life. It's what I absolutely LOVE and that I need to share my story with anybody willing to listen.

Seriously, if I can do it, so can you! This is my passion! I wish I had another way to spread the word to people.

6.2 Miles After a Swim & From 10:00 to 9:40

I'm SO excited!!! I went running tonight and ran 6.2 miles in 1 hour. That has taken me from running a 10 minute mile down to running a 9:40 mile. Granted, it's only a 20 second improvement, but hey, improvement is improvement, right?

I'm just soooo stoked about this! I feel like I've been stuck at a 10 minute mile for quite a while now.

Also, tonight I did my swim workout, which consisted of swimming a total of 2000 yards (80 laps) (72 laps = 1 mile in the pool I swim in). Here is exactly what I swam:

200 swim and 200 kick
400 drill
4 x 100 with 30 second rest
200 pull
4 x 100 with 30 second rest
200 pull

Now, with all the crap I ate on Monday and having a 1/2 marathon in 3 weeks, I decided I needed to run after my swim, so I was planning on running 6 miles.

I was kind of nervous going in to the run. Not because I didn't think I could do it. I've ran 6 miles before (yesterday) and I've done my share of 10k's, etc. I was nervous because I was REALLY hungry and didn't know if I'd have the energy after swimming to run 6.2 miles.

Well, a couple of laps in the run, I really wanted to quit. I wanted to just pack up and head home, but it then occurred to me that in August, I'm doing my first Olympic distance triathlon. I'm going to have to swim 0.9 miles, bike 24 miles and run 6.2 miles. I figured now is as good a time as any to start practicing that and getting geared up for it. So, basically I forced myself to run the 6.2 miles tonight and you know what? I LOVED every minute of it. I'm SO glad I did it. I can't wait until August.

Another Good Running Song

I heard this song the other day while I was running and couldn't believe how good it helped me keep my pace, so I thought I'd share!