Adventures in Management - Finding out the Truth

I had a great laugh last week that I have to share with you.

My manager, J, isn't the sharpest tool in the shed. In fact, some days he just downright drives me nuts. I really want him to go so I can take his place. He's been looking at some other opportunities, and because of that, there has been some churn in the Team's gossip mill going on the past few weeks about what would happen if he did move on to something else.

So last week I was sitting in my cube working when I overheard J. on the next row over talking to one of our project managers (another person who I don't especially trust). "XXX, you have to see this power point I made. You are the queen, I thought you'd appreciate it!" he bubbled over at her. She ooh-ed and ahh-ed over it and finally pronounced, "It's so manly!"

I choked a bit on the diet Coke I was drinking, stifling a laugh.

After he bounced back to his office, floating on the complement, I sent her an IM.

"Manly?? LOL!"

"Yeah, but I'd rather have him for a manager than KK." she wrote back.

I paused. Reread it. Yup, she said that, obviously thinking the IM came from someone else.

"Nice. LOL!" I wrote back, laughing to myself. Honestly, I know she doesn't care for me and what she thinks doesn't change anything.

You could hear the air suck out from that side of the room. The IM box disappeared. Then I heard frantic typing coming from over there.

"OMG, my face is so red! I'm really sorry!" She wrote in a new IM box. There was more, but I don't remember what it said.

"No biggie, XXX. It happens." I laughed over the cube wall. Seriously, it was funny. The downside is that she was holding up my departure to head to happy hour with some girlfriends.

To her credit she came over a few minutes later and sat down to talk about it. She fears for her job if I was her manager, which surprised me. She thought I didn't like her, but I figured she didn't like me. Life is a mirror. What you give is what you get, right? Who knows where that started.

In the end, I still don't trust this person much, but I wouldn't fire her by any means. She's bright, but she does what she can to get what she wants. I see through that and I think she knows it.

Gotta love the IM, huh?

Adventures in Flight - Love in the Air

I love flying Southwest Airlines, not just because I work there, but because you can just interact with some real characters.

I was coming home from a conference in Connecticut on Friday evening. It was a week-long course and I was exhausted from all the learning and of course, the evening adventures as well. When I'm tired, I like to choose a seat near the engines for the sole reason that people are less likely to talk in that area because it tends to be noisier. It was a full flight so there were folks all around us.

As we prepared for landing, the flight attendants made their usual announcement for everyone to put their chairs and trays in the "full and upright position". They breezed through the cabin looking for offenders several times. On one such pass, one of them stopped to ask someone behind me to comply.

From behind me I hear a loud, upper-Midwest accent, "Jack put your chair up. Jack, your chair! She wants you to put your chair up." Obviously the man couldn't hear well because each time, she got louder.

"Jack, push the button!"

I started smiling to myself and the lady next to me was doing the same thing. "It must be longtime love," she said, and that made the situation adorable. I nodded in agreement with a big grin.

We landed and this older couple got even more adorable. I asked her what part of Minnesota she was from (I have dear friends up there and just love the accent.) She smiled and told me that she was actually from Wisconsin. Then with a twinkle in her eye she added with that nasaly twang known in that area of the world, "Kenosha, Wisconsin. Home of Hanes Underwear and Snap-On Tools."

This couple is a widow and widower, I found out later from the passenger who sat next to them on the flight. I assumed they'd been married for years. It turns out, they've been living together "in sin", as she called it, for over 20 years and are still very much in love.

I hope to be that wry and that much in love when I'm in my older years.

Spiraling

The past two weeks have been draining, mostly emotionally, but physically as well. I've felt so out of control and lost.

About 3 weeks ago, I stopped swimming until I could get my shoulder and neck worked on by the chiropractor. Little did I know that it would be the last time for several weeks. It was feeling much better until the fall off my bike where I really injured it again. Since then, the only exercise I did was getting on a spin bike later that week.

To top it off, my house is under major repair where it's literally torn up. It's created such an uncontrollable chaos and mess, it's disconcerting.

The spiral continued. I haven't slept well at all, partly because of the chaos; partly because that shoulder is the on the side I sleep most nights. I wake up for an hour or two every night and can't get back to sleep without stewing. I try to read for a while and sometimes that helps. Because of this pattern, I've been shutting off the 4:45 alarm and skipping workouts. It's a nasty cycle. I miss workouts, which makes me more grumpy, which makes me not sleep enough...you get the picture.

Last night I finally gave up and took a Tylenol PM before heading to bed. In the past, that's helped keep me asleep. It helped a ton. I didn't budge all night and woke up around 6:30 feeling the best I've felt in a while. I actually feel like riding tonight, if I didn't have plans at the ballpark.

Construction will be done (hopefully) on Friday and I can get my both my physical and mental houses back in order by the end of the weekend. The triathlon is less than 60 days away now and I'm getting nervous about this large break in training. I'll finish, but it's not going to be as good as it should have been. I'll just be glad when this is all over.

Texas "hill" training

Living in north Texas has brought me a new appreciation for wind. It's really blows here, especially in the spring as mother nature tries her best to let winter go with a bang. Just north of here, in Denton, there isn't much to break the wind between Oklahoma and Dallas. The wind is definitely stronger.

So yesterday I hopped on the bike with some friends and set out for a 30-ish mile ride. Because we don't have much in the way of hills here, I kind of look at these windy days as a simulated hill. You crawl up these mountains when the wind is right in your face.

I was really dreading the west wind even though I knew it'd be great training. The guy who planned the route said that most of the wind would be at our faces for the first 10 miles or so. Man, he wasn't kidding. There was a bridge running west-east that brought me down to the granny gear in a hurry and I still barely made it to 10mph. We had to stop several times along the way to re-group our tribe of 10.

Another downside to strong, gusty winds is that they get you off balance in a hurry if you don't anticipate it correctly. We were on a great sideroad with no traffic and were turning onto another road. I was yapping, not paying attention like I should have. Sure enough, between a turn, a gust of wind, and gravel, I ended up on my side in an instant. It scared me for sure as I'd only fallen off the bike one other time as an adult, and that was right when I got clips (yeah, you all have experienced that, right?).

This time, it hurt. Though I got right back up and took a breath, we continued on. We were only six miles in, but I thought I could stick it out. Thankfully, I was able to, but the first chance I got when we stopped at a roadside gas station, I downed a couple of Aleve to help it out.

But the great thing about going into a headwind is that a tailwind is sure to follow. At about 11 miles in, we turned east into a tailwind so strong that I was averaging about 20mph and coasting; barely turning the pedals at all! It rocked! We got another one of those bits later in the ride and it felt as if we were flying down the road! It's such an incredible feeling.

The last six miles were on beautiful, smooth pavement and on a road with a wide shoulder. It was right back into the wind again. We continued to just limp through it; at times it almost felt as if we could get off the bikes and walk faster. Granny gears on flats are tough on the ego. :)

But we finished. And we headed to a great pub in the square of old Denton that served us huge burgers. We wolfed them down in earnest.

On the way home, I swung by one of those urgent care places. The shoulder was throbbing from the fall and I worried that something might be cracked, or at least torn. I squeaked in about 5 minutes before it closed. Sure enough, the doc said that I'd dislocated the shoulder, though it'd popped back in place. The tendons near the clavicle (I think) were torn slightly. He gave me a sling and a prescription and sent me on my way. No swimming for about 2 weeks at least and minimal work on the arms. He said that being in good shape helped that it could've been worse. Whew! (By the way, thanks for making me drink so much milk as a kid, mom!)

So it looks like it'll be a week on the spin bike for my exercise since it's the least amount of motion. I'm just thankful it wasn't any worse.

Sometimes an old love calls to you and wakes you up again inside.

The roads have been my partner for about six months now. They're straightforward. Predictible. Safe.

Getting back on the Northshore trail was like finding an old boyfriend from 15 years ago. He's familiar, but changed. You know him, you know his faults, you know his great areas. But still, he's grown, a bit new, yet still comfortable.

There were surprise twists and turns I didn't remember. There were a few ups that made me stop to rethink what I was doing and some downs that were pure joy and fast. The trail wandered around and many times, I really wasn't sure where I was. Then occasionally, I'd come across a spot I'd been before and sighed with relief, only to wind up in another new area. There were turns I wasn't expecting. But the warm friendliess wrapped itself around me.

A calm came over me at times when all I could hear was the wind, creaking limbs, and the occasional critter scampering under the brush to avoid the heavy foot pounding. I could hear my heart and my breath. I could feel the sweat from the warm air on my face and body. It was as soothing as curling up close.

An hour later, I was spent. I was in my happy place. Maybe it's a relationship worth re-kindling.

Progress!

Well you've heard me whining about the weight. It momentarily dipped below 160, but it's back again. But the good thing is, the fat must finally be turning to muscle. Clothes are fitting better. I'm content with that.

Yesterday, I ran about 75 minutes after work. It was gorgeous. On the way home I stopped to pick up some dinner. As I left the grocery store, I caught a glance of my legs in the reflection in the glass door exit. For a moment, I didn't recognize them. They looked more athletic and toned, like runner's legs should look. They're looking less like those hearty turkey drumsticks you see at the fair and more like solid machines. There's still work to do, but it was a nice surprise to notice the difference.

And today, a lady at work mentioned that she thought I was skinny! Really?! That might not be the word I was thinking, but it added to yesterday's shift in perception.

I'm content. I'm feeling better.

To top it off, there is definite progress in the way the training is going. The mileage last night was tough as it's ramping up over the week, but it was do-able. We had a great, hearty spin class on Wednesday night, so it felt good (and hard) to come to the week's long run with tired legs. While I didn't finish the time or mileage prescribed last night, I felt as if it was an accomplishment. I'll take it.

I'm content. I'm feeling better.

Thank goodness next week is a step-back week. It's tiring right now with the increasing intensity!

Train hard y'all!

Inspiration from a total stranger

For a long time, I was a purist. I didn't run with an iPod, even on my long trail runs. I like to stay in my mind and especially in trail running, enjoy the scenery. There were a few times, I'd plug in, but not often.

These days, I've grown to rely on it more with the longer runs. I enjoy the music and it keeps my mind from getting too bored. Today though, the damn thing was goofed up. I've noticed that it's a little buggy sometimes when I recharge it. The next time I play it, all the treble is gone so all I hear is the background. Grrr...this morning I really wanted to work with the music since the training plan called for 75 minutes, 35 of which were tempo drills. But maybe it happened for a reason that it didn't work.

I was about 15 minutes into the warmup when a guy walked up with an Austin 70.3 race shirt on. He parked it on the treadmill next to me, so I asked him how he liked the race, how long he's been racing, etc. I normally am not much of a talker running, even less so at the gym, but he responded, then kept chattering back.

Turns out he lost over 100lbs in a year and now he's at the point where it's been off for quite a while. He's stablized at his current weight, which appears to be that of a normal guy. Amazing! I just am in awe of people, like my friends Janna and Deeann, who have managed to take off incredible amounts of weight like that and keep it off. And most times, they find themselves in a new life and a whole new outlook.

Sure enough, this guy was the same way. He tried his first 5k, then got into a couple of sprints, then found himself improving so much, he did a 70.3 last year and in a decent time. Wow! That's incredible. Now he has himself a coach and is working to do two 70.3's this season and possibly a full IM next year.

The guy has guts, that's for sure. I left him after my workout and he still had about an hour to go to finish his. Can you imagine doing 14 miles on the treadmill? That was his plan and he was already nearly halfway through it. It's really inspiring.

So for once, I was happy that the iPod was down. I got in a good workout, good chat, and managed to meet a potential new training comrade.

My workout for the day? I shifted my schedule a tad this week for other conflicts.
75min run.
20 min warmup
35 mins tempo -- 3 mins fast/2 mins recover 7x
20 mins recover/cooldown
Ended up with 7.6 miles. I'm content with that considering the warmup and cooldown were done at 5.7-5.8mph.

Swim tonight. Cycle tomorrow 2 hours.

Train hard y'all!

Saturday run

Saturday morning was busy. My folks were flying in from San Diego in the afternoon, so all the errands, cleaning, shopping and oh yeah, homework, had to be crunched in before they arrived. Amazingly enough, I was looking forward to getting in a run that morning as well and made it a priority. After all, many of my peeps were out running the Cross Timbers trail race up on Lake Texoma.

I get up at the crack of dawn nearly every day whether I want to or not. Even if it's a weekend. Sure enough, 6am, the eyes popped open for a new day. It was still a little too cool for this blood, so I got some cleaning done and made the list for the rest of the day.

By about 8:30 the mercury rose just enough and I was ready to roll. I decided that I'd do about 6 miles and wanted to get in a few small hills. There's a route through Highland Village that is perfect. I plotted the out-back up on mapmyrun.com, laced up the shoes, grabbed the iPod and left.

I almost always hate the first 1/2 to 3/4 mile as the legs warm up and stretch out. Usually, I'm ready to quit, but have to power through it. Same thing happened. But by the time I reached my turn at Brazos about a mile into it, they felt great. The music was playing hard (did you know Simon and Garfunkel have some great running pace tunes?). The pavement just flowed under the feet. It felt fantastic and I knew the pace felt great - less strained than usual.

The slow rolling hills start in at about mile 2. The last time I'd done this route was before the half marathon in December. I was struggling that time. This time, they didn't feel hard at all. I motored up them and by the time I realized it, I was at the turnaround point. I stood there for a moment, then looked ahead of me to the next hill which peaked about 1/2 mile away.

Aw, what the hell? I was still feeling strong, so I extended the run another 1/2 mile and conquored this next hill before turning around. I noticed several other runners heading out for their runs. Most everyone waves in this part of town, even if they're on the other side of the street. Nice.

At about mile 4-5ish, the boredom started kicking in. This is where I tend to walk a few minutes before running again. I'm normally not tired, just bored of the pace. This time, I managed to plow through it (some friends were in my head telling me not to stop) and continue.

Again, before I knew it, I looked up and noticed the water tower that's close to the 1-mile mark. Holy crap, I'm almost done? Sure enough I'd hit the turn back onto the main road and back to the house. The legs kicked in and I pushed the pace the last mile or so, only stopping briefly for the traffic light crossing. Amazing!

So I re-mapped with the turnaround point, and sure enough, I'd added an extra mile more than I'd planned. Yippee! I'm hoping more runs continue like this. It's encouraging.

Train hard, y'all.

Soooo close!

The goal starting after Christmas was to get down to 150-ish pounds by the end of March using Weight Watchers and tri training. I was probably sitting just a touch over 165. I don't know for sure because I was afraid to get on the scale, but the serious muffin-tops gave it away. I was probably at my all-time heaviest and felt like crap.

There have been some frustrating times and some setbacks as I bounce to happy hours and get too confident in my eating skills - reverting back to old ways. I've been hovering within about 2lbs of 160, going up and down for 3 weeks now, flirting ever so close to that milestone weight. At this point, just getting below 160 would be such a mind boost.

This week has been fantastic for training. The bit of warmth, especially after all the cold we've had, definitely did something to boost my spirits. To top it off, I got a much-needed kick in the ass from my friend and fellow blogger, Dave. He's seriously hard-core and is currently training for the Memorial Bataan Death March race in N.M. next month. He's planning to do it with a 40lb pack on his back. Amazing! I hear about his training and it inspires me to get off my butt and stop whining.

That said, the week was a great one for training! Got in a bit of distance and some speed work on the treadmill for running. There were two amazing swim days, one of which today was 3400yds in 55 minutes (ladder workout from 50-400 and back in 50 increment increases/decreases). I even got a bike ride in with a couple of chilly loops around WRL one afternoon (before heading to happy hour!) I'm hooked again!

Gotta keep focused and keep on track. The workouts are scheduled to get longer and more intense the next few weeks, though thankfully they'll be in increasingly warmer weather for some outdoor training finally.

And to top it off...the scale said 159 this morning. Whee!!!

Old habits

They say that it takes 30 days to make a new habit stick. I'm not so sure when it involves good food, good wine/beer, or cheese.

I've been using the Weight Watchers website since the last week of December and was really sticking to it. But with the past few weeks' training increasing so much, I've slacked off a bit on logging every morsel passing through my mouth. I've gotten to the point where I do well tracking the first few days of the week, then slack. I need to get back in gear, because old habits are starting to creep back into the picture, not helping the weight loss at all.

This week was tough on workouts as well. I'd planned to hit it hard Wednesday and Thursday, knowing I'd be out of town for the weekend. Well the snow and ice didn't help matters at all. They gym never opens on time on these kinds of days, which screws up the time I have to work out before going to my job. This made me lose a couple of days.

But my trip was cancelled at the last minute. There was no reasonable way to get up to Minnesota on Friday flying standby, so I stayed home. Now you'd think that I'd have made up the workouts over the weekend, but then again, you'd be wrong. Laziness, or rather, procrastination kicked in heaviliy so I ended up not doing anything at all.

And I had cheese fries. The wonderfully, nasty cheese fries from Snuffer's. With ranch dressing.

So today is starting a new week, not only for getting back on track with food, but training. The intensity of the training plan I'm on is ramping up for the next wave. And there will be two days of at least 50 degree weather which is the tipping point for me for outside work. Hopefully, those two days I can get out on the bike after work.

Train hard everyone!

Mass swimming

I guess you can tell by previous posts that I love to swim. I've always been a water baby, but who wouldn't be when you grow up in Southern California? I remember days after my parents divorced, we'd spend weekends with my dad on his sailboat where he lived. The marina had a small pool that was always over-chlorinated. My brother, Rob, and I would swim until Pop would pull us out, our eyes swelled shut from all the chemicals. Even in high school I swam my senior year and felt completely at ease. It was a place where the sweat wouldn't show.

But now I'm sort of re-finding my love of swimming through triathlon. It's a sport where I feel more competitive than most I do.

Today, my triathlon training buddy, April, and I did our first workout with Texas Triple Threat, a local triathlon club. They hold a swim every Sunday morning. This time of year they practice in a pool, but come late March, we'll be in Lake Lewisville doing open water swims.

April and I felt a bit of trepidation showing up at 7:30 this morning with about 25 other people. We thought we'd be outmatched by far. She set herself with the slow group and I set up about in the middlle as I eyeballed many a tattooed person with the Ironman symbol. It's terrifying.

Lo and behold, I warmed up and was held up by some of these guys. The coach suggested that I move up not one, but two lanes to the nearly fastest folks. After a warmup, we did 30 minutes of a continuous swim. The water was boiling like it does when you throw fish food into a pond full of koi. There were no lane lines to break the surge. It felt like it would in open water. It was incredible!

I got in with the guys in my group and was starting to pass... or try to pass. The guy with the purple cap and giant feet ahead of me apparently didn't get the memo that when someone touches your feet (several times, I might add) that he should've stopped on the wall and let me pass. I'd even hang out on the wall until he was halfway across the pool and catch up to him without much effort. I could see his inefficient stroke ahead of me and he drove me nuts. Finally at one point about halfway across the pool, I noticed that there was plenty of room, so I turned back around and got ahead of him. It worked until later when he was able to somehow get back ahead of me by sitting on the wall for a break. Bastard.

Thankfully the coach saw my frustration and suggested I move up to the fast lane. Finally I was in my element and excited to be pushed to keep up more. Where I enjoyed the more even pacing of the slightly slower lane, this lane really made me fight more to keep the pace higher. I think I'll go there next time. It felt so good to be in the top tier of swimmers. My biking and running aren't nearly as good so it feels great to be adept at one of the elements of triathlon

After the 30 minutes continuous, we did a few drafting/mass start drills which were a blast. We paired up and tried to keep up or physically pass some of the other swimmers. One guy pushed hard on me and game was on! I drafted him for the rest of that lap, but on the return, I pulled on his ankle and slowed him down, allowing myself to get just ahead of him. Yay!!!

On a side note, oh my Gawd triathlon guys are great looking! Holy cow, I think I finally may have found a bit of heaven. Now if I could only snag one of them...

Seeing progress

133 days until the race.

Finally! There is progress in both my weight (down almost 5lbs since Christmas) and fitness! It's almost like finding old friends again. I am finally feeling like an athlete again and clothes are fitting how they should be...without hurting to wear them. Hee hee!

The warm weather certainly has helped get me motivated again. I'm beginning to think I'm a lizard, needing the warmth to really gain energy. Three times this week I was able to get outside and have great workouts because of the warmth and it made me happy.

Sunday afternoon, I conned my tri-training compadre, April, into getting in a ride outside. It was about 55 when we started and nearly 63, 2 hours later. Awesome! We rode from her house out a hilly route I've done before and came back. It was a bit of an awakening for both of us that there is a lot of work ahead, but we managed. I think we'll hit that route again with all the hills.

Monday after work I was able to get a good run in around the 'hood. It was windy and only 4 miles, but it felt fantastic having the sweat running down my forehead while outside again. I think I even was able to wear shorts! Love it.

Yesterday was the peak, though. I knew it'd be in the low 70's so I went into work early with my bike on the rack. My friend, Rick, and I zipped out of work at 3:30 to catch the last 2 hours of light. We were able to get in 2 fairly fast loops in around White Rock Lake, despite 25+kt winds when we headed south. He took me up one killer hill where I was breathing so hard I couldn't even cuss. Yep, definitely need to work on the hills more, especially for Kansas. We made it back to the cars right at sunset, thankfully.

I left him and headed to the gym to get in a quick pool workout as well. I wanted to work on speed rather than distance.

200m easy warmup

4x50m alternating single arm strokes (left side needs work)

4x50m alternating breathing sides (left side needs work here too)

10x50 on the 1:00 - stay at a consistent time (managed to do consistent :37-:38 every time)

200 cooldown

Love it!

Hopefully tomorrow will bring another warm-ish day to get out for another long afternoon ride. I've put my aerobars on so I need to get used to using them and get the bike set up correctly so that parts don't hurt and I ride more efficiently this way.

Stay strong and train hard, y'all!

Swim practice with the kids

Normally I don't really care to hit the YMCA for swimming in the afternoons, but with the icy weather, roads were crazy in the morning and I wasn't even sure the gym opened on time. So I packed my gym back with swimming and running gear for after work in hopes that the one lap lane available during the kids' swim team practice would be open.

Perfect! I showed up and got in the pool just before 5pm as the next wave of kids poured into the pool and got it churning like a bunch of hungry koi. I'm always surprised to see how in synch they can be once they actually start doing their assigned laps, but beforehand, they're pure wiggles.

The churn in the pool makes it a harder practice, but one that is more realistic to a tri environment. As much as I don't care for all the extra commotion (as compared to the quiet 5am practices), they make for e great workout. I did 2000m and was definitely tired during and afterwards. I don't think I was fueled enough and felt as if I was working too hard for the effort. Remember that for next time.

Out of swimplan.com, this was the workout:

2x100 easy warmup

1x50m right breathing, 1x50 left breathing (repeat 4x)

12x100 on the 1:45. I ended up extending this to a 2:00 interval because of the kids and the effort

2x100 easy cool down

Have a great week.

Broken trainer and more treadmill

I was set to set up the bike trainer in the living room to get in a great spin. I got this thing used from a friend about a year ago (free, thankfully) and it's been collecting dust since it arrived in my garage. I pulled it out, set it up, and with the cold, a plastic part snapped off of it. Crap! It blew the workout I'd planned last night. Oh well, I'll make it up later in the week and figure out a new plan for spinning this weekend.

So this morning I'd planned to swim. But then I remembered a sign at the Y that the pool was closed for a swim meet. Dangit! Thankfully I had my running clothes packed in my bag as well and did a quick change. Another good treadmill workout...

5 min warmup
Starting at 6mph, I bumped up the speed .1 each minute for 5 minutes, then reduced by .1 each minute for 3 minutes. Then starting at 6.2, I went up .1 for each of 5 mins, then down 3 again. Up 5 more, then .1 down for 10 minutes to slowly bleed off speed and time. Ended up with about 4 miles with cooldown. Nice workout and it helped to work up the speed.

Dave sent me a killer treadmill hill workout. Thanks, man! When I give that one a shot, I'll holler (or cuss) at you with the results.

Rock on, y'all!

3.5 treadmill

I'm a wimp in the cold. I'd rather have a 90 or 95 degree day than one at 45. It wasn't that long ago that I enjoyed cold, but for some reason, I'm now at the point where I'd like to only visit the cold (like seeing my favorite friends in MN).

So when it's frigid like this (under 40...see I told you I'm a wimp), I end up hitting the treadmill to get in the miles. Today was no different. I loved taking a treadmill class at my old gym, which is sort of like a spin class - a mix of hills and speedwork. It breaks up the drone of the belt and pushes limits at times. If done right, it's a two-towel workout!

Today's workout is simple, but it can be hard depending on how you push it. The last 2 one-minute intervals were really difficult. And why is it that 1 minute goes by a lot faster when you're doing the recovery?

1 mile warm-up

10 x 1-minute intervals of 1mph faster than my "regular" speed.

1-minute recovery between intervals

1/2 mile cool-down (run, then walk at the end)

This week's plan

There are 23 weeks left until the race (well, that's counting from Saturday) and my training plan doesn't really start until the 20 week point. That won't stop me though! I signed up for Texas Triple Threat triathlon training group and will start swim practices with them this week. If I remember the calendar right, those are W/F first thing in the morning.

As a minimum, I'll be getting 2 sessions of each skill in each week and hopefully at least one weight training session per week. With the gyms filled to capacity this month (damn NY resolution people), and the icy conditions (for us southerners) it'll be tough fighting the crowds.

The schedule is posted to the right and I'll have to stick to it.

Weight this week starting out is 164.4. Honestly, I didn't weigh myself after coming home from Mom's for the holidays. I know I was heavier, but I'm in denial. LOL!

Posting training later.

Start me up!

155 days from today I'll be doing the 70.3! This blog will be more or less dedicated as a training log for not only the physical, but the mental part of the journey.

In my mind, I know I can do the distance and finish without much problem, but honestly, I'm scared shitless for all the training in the meantime. LOL! But this week, the training began.

Random thoughts for today...

It's only been less than a month since the half marathon out in Vegas, but I because I haven't taken the time to run since then much of that fitness is gone. Not completely, but a lot of it. I ran about 3 on the treadmill yesterday and I was surprised at how sore I am today.

Alma worked my triceps hard on Tuesday and when I swam on Thursday, they were still really sore. I worked through the workout, concentrating on form more than speed this time. I also worked on breathing on my left side a bit more, making sure I wasn't lifting my head which I tend to do.

Tri bars are now installed on the bike. If the weather turns out as nice tomorrow as it was this afternoon, I feel a 60-90 minute ride in store, you know, to test drive those bars. :)

I also recently signed up for Texas Triple Threat, which is a triathlon training group. It looks as if most of it is based out of the north Dallas area so that should help out quite a bit. There are also group swims at one of the pools that looks like it's on the way into work. Sweet!

Finally, I've made it a goal to drop at least 15lbs. I signed up for Weight Watchers online last Tuesday. Two of my dear friends, Deeann and Janna, have both inspired me by their gains (or rather, losses) over the past year or so using the system. They're both amazing women and they not only make me laugh with them, the make me smile as I see them become more confident. Not to be left out, Greg has made huge progress as well and he inspires me in so many other ways. Yay to y'all! Thank you!!!

I'm starting out at 165 and will confess to y'all the progress. Please help prod and poke me if you see something change for the worse. So far it hasn't been easy to stay within the point system, but it's been fun seeing how many extra exercise points I can rack up. Fingers crossed, this system will help.

'Nuf said for now. Please help keep me honest with at least logging workouts and updating the weight! Hugs!