2009 Recap

The year 2009 was an interesting year for me.  I turned 40, and while not the introspective, page turning birthday that some experience, it did make me realize that I was getting much to old to keep putting my dreams and goals on hold.  If I was going to make a dent in my bucketlist, I better get a move on.

One thing I had be thinking about doing for years was a triathlon.  As I started to look forward to 2009 and my pending birthday, I knew that this was the year I was going to finally do it, so, I signed up with Team in Training and started training for Lavaman in Oct 2008.

At 240lbs, training was difficult.  I struggled with running and biking and was always the absolute back of the pack.  But, I persevered and through a myriad of struggles and injuries, on March 29th I started and finished my first ever triathlon.

It became clear to me that day that I was hooked.  But, it also became clear to me that I couldn't continue in this sport with success and with any longevity at 240lbs.  So, the day after we got home from Hawaii I stared, once again, to work on something that's been a goal of mine for 25 years;  to lose weight.

With race after race looming on my calender and the burning drive to "not be last" I stuck to my plan and  continued to lose weight week after week.  By August I was at my lowest weight in years and was feeling good.  I was also starting to feel a little 'competitive' at races, looking for more then just 'don't be last'.  I started trying to compete against others at the race instead of just myself.  I started having a lot less fun.

I was in the middle of Run Girl Run when I realized what I was doing.  Mid race I had an attitude adjusted why race if it made me frustrated and discouraged.  What was important was that I was out there, having fun, and on the road to self improvement.

Overall, health wise, I think I've had an excellent year.  In running I went from averaging about a 15:00/mile pace, with an average distance of 2.5 miles  to 11:00/mile pace, with an average distance of 5 miles.  On the bike I went from averaging 11 MPR on most rides, to being able to hold a pace of 16 MPR.  On top of all this, in body comp I lost just over 50 lbs, and dropped 5" off my waist and 6.5" off my hips.

Not too shabby

My Races for the Year:

2.25 Miles

Dog run Dog - 25:26

5K

Tough a Granite Trail Run - 37:47
Mountain House Run - 32:54
Skirt Chaser Run - 33:32

10K

Old Mill Run - 1:39:25
Skyline Mountain Run - 1:14:50

12K

Bay to Breakers - 2:08:10
Bridge to Bridge - 1:26:43

1.2 Mile Swim

Catfish Crawl - 46:23

1.5 Mile Swim

Sharkfest - 1:02:30

Super Sprint Tri

Deer Valley  - 59:44
Central Valley - 45:42

Sprint Tri

Napa Valley - 2:21:17
Anchorman - DNF (Got lost on the run)
SV Mountain Bike - 2:02:32
Tri for Fun (Pleas) - 1:30
Tri for Fun (Sacto) - 1:57:50
Tri Girl Tri - 1:49:22 (same race as Napa Valley)

Olympic Tri

Lavaman - 4:59:11
Central Valley - 3:16:46

Other

Escape from the Rock - 2:21:11 (No Bike)
Salmon Duathlon - 2:20:35

And that about sums up 2009 - I'll post again with some of my 2010 goals - it's going to be a GREAT year

Ramping Up

Although my Run/Bike workouts haven't been 100% I have been tearing it up at the gym.

Yep, I've been lifting - hard and heavy, and I'm feeling great!  Finally did a run last week and could feel the difference in the way I ran and how I felt after words.  I certainly have missed the RT! (Resistance Training).  I have a 'plan' for my Half Iron Distance race for this year, but, until I have registration confirmation in hand, I'm not going to post about it.  But, the training plan is in place, and hubby's going to train with me!  I'm soooo excited about this new year!

I haven't lost any weight the past few weeks, but I wan't really expecting too.  I enjoyed the holidays and to do that without gaining is a good thing.  Interestingly enough I'm kind of sick of 'crap' food and have already cleaned up my diet starting this week.  Who needs Jan 1st to start resolutions? :D

Waited too long

I've had a lot of stuff going on and haven't had the money to sign up for Vineman. But, today, since my company gave us a little tiny Christmas Bonus (enough to cover the cost of Vineman) I decided to finally sign up. Only...

It's sold out!!!! They opened this thing Nov 1st and it's sold out!? please excuse my language but WTF!? Not only are they sold out, but there is a waiting list almost 600!!! athletes long!?

Needless to say, that put me in a tailspin this morning. Whatever was I going to do.

I had decided that I wanted my first 1/2 Iron distance race to be a 70.3 branded event. I figured for the first, I would go to the 'big ball'. So, I got online and checked the IM website. We're luck enough here in California to host two 70.3 events. Both are sold out... So I started looking at other states. The next closest event was in Washington - in August. Well, I have an aunt in Washington who would gladly give me a place to stay. And I could use a little vacation, been meaning to visit the family up there anyway... So I went to active.com to sign up...

Now, I don't know about you guys, but it's rare, and I do mean RARE that I see a review for a race on active.com. When I do it's usually some little blurb about 'race was fun' or something else useless. People don't usually take the time to come back to the registration site to rate the race. But this race in Washington, it had reviews. 45 of them!? Do you know what could drive 45 people to come back to the registration site to let people know how their race had gone? Deep and bitter dislike and frustration. After reading trough the first 10-12 I figured I was better off not doing this as my first 1/2 Iron distance race *sigh*

So, I'm back to square one. I really really really really want to do a 1/2 iron race next year. I want to do it in July/August and I don't want to have to spend a lot of money to travel. what to do? What to do!?

Postive Steps

weight today : 196.1 - since the goal for monday is 196.0 that's excellent

the postives for today:

I've logged everything I've eaten.

The negatives:

I missed my weight workout - I was just too tired to get up at 4:00AM
I ate 1800 calories today - bleh

I've figured out that I need to plan my meals the day before, when I stand in front of the fridge and try to plan what I'm going to eat by just looking at what's there, I make poor choices - period.

Sooooo tomorrow, Saturday, here's the menu.

Breakfast - egg whites and toast
Snack - MF scrambled eggs (mixed with the whites)
Lunch - Spinach salad w/chicken
Snack - MF Cream of Tomato Soup
Dinner - Mac and Cheese
Snack - MF Pudding

Today, I wrote this letter to myself:

You see,

Here's the thing Shawn

Enough is enough. You do want to get this weight off don't you? Don't you want to finally have the body, be as fit as that dream that's in your head. You're capable. You have the knowledge, you have the training, you have the skills and the basic body type to do it. You just have it execute - every day! And it's not even that hard, it's a matter of saying "No" to those things that move you away from your goal and "Yes" to those things that move you toward it. So do it!

Here's the first 'mini-goal' get back below 190 - BEFORE your birthday. Let's make your 40th year mean something - mean losing 50 lbs of ugly fat. isn't that a nice round number?

of course, you have to fight the urge to go out and plan all your goals for the next six months. It's time to focus on one goal - that goal is below 190 - before 1/4

So, how are we going to achieve this? hmmm

well - let's start one week at a time.

My goal for next monday is to be at or below 196. I'm a little 'behind' since it's already late Thursday, but I've still got three days.

Food will look like 1200 each day. 3 meals of 300 cals and 3 meals of 100 Balanced Carbs/Protein for the 300 Cal meals - Medifast for the 100 cal meals

Exercise - I'll hit the weights tomorrow then do a bike at night. Saturday I have a race/run and Sunday I'll do a brick.

Since I'm here and thinking about it, I'll plan next week too.

The goal by the end of the week will be 193.4 - that means a goal of 2.6 lbs and to lose 2.6 lbs while eating 1200 cals - I'll have a goal of 660 minutes of exercise. I'll achieve that by doing:

5 days of weight training @ 45 minutes each
5 days of yoga @ 20 minutes each
Tue - Run
Wed - Bike/Run
Thu - Run
Fri - Bike
Sat - Run
Sun - Bike/Run

Here's to drive, determination and focus! and being less then 196 by Monday!

A whole lot of nuttin'

Oh my, where to start...

I did the skirt chaser 5K in San Francisco on Nov 15th, and basically have done NOTHING since.

I woke up that morning not feeling 100%.  I didn't think much of it.  I figured it was allergies or something.  I continued to feel 'off' up until the race, but ran anyway.  It was actually a lot of fun.  A good race, well run, with great support, great food etc.

But, as soon as the race was over I wanted to go home.  I was tired a chilled and just wasn't feeling right.

By the end of the night I was running a fever and KNEW I was in a bad way... it was over a week before I would leave the house again.  The flue hit and it hit HARD.

Since then it's been really hard to get off the couch again.  The temps here have been running in the low 40's and sometimes into the 20's.  Yeah, here in Central Valley California, go figure.  Still, it's less the weather and more motivation that's got me glued to the couch.  I justify it by saying "it's the off season" - but feel guilty about it all the same.

On the positive side I have done SOMETHING the past two weeks.  I've gone to the gym!  That's right, hubby and I have gotten up, drove to the gym and worked out; three times last week and three times this week.  going back and hitting the weights feels AWESOME even if the weights I'm lifting feel piddly.

As for diet -- well it hasn't been so hot.  I'm kind of in damage control mode right now.  Enjoy the holidays, but try not to gain 10lbs.  Of course damage control would be easier if I added a little cardio into my routine... :D

I'm signed up for a race this weekend - not sure if I'll go or not.  The entry was free and since I haven't trained in a month and it's a 12k...  Just not feeling it, but we'll see.

Hopefully, everyone else is having a good holiday/winter season.  I'm going to focus on getting back into the training 'groove' next week.  Breathing is pretty much back to normal - it's time.

Vineman 70.3

I'm going to do Vineman next year - I'm gunna I'm gunna! haven't bought my entry yet -- but it's on the list, in the budget.

I've set myself some big big goals to go with it - as in - I WILL be at my weight loss goal. And the incentive. I've I'm not at or below my goal - I'll bow out of the race.

As for training? well it's going ok. I'm still finding the heart rate training to be incredibly SLOW, but, it's not boring! :)

I'm going to try to post here more often. I get caught up in things and don't always get my thoughts put down. But I know how good it is for me to be able to refer back - so this journal is important.

upcoming races in my world?

Skirt Chaser 5K - doing this with hubby, should be really fun!

Double Lake Merced - a 9 mile run I'm doing with Hubby and my Step Son - this will be my new 'offical logest race'

Modest Turkey Trot - a 5K with hubby on thanksgiving day

are what's in store for this month.  A lot of easy fun runs - just as it should be in the winder months!

alright then - back to work! :)