2 days from now.....

I am finally past utter panic and have moved into resignation. The triathlon is 2 days from now. I hope to finish it. Period. :) I am taking today and tomorrow as rest days. Then Sunday it is T-Day! Wish me luck!

Funny but I can do a 35+ mile bike ride NO problem... I can do the swim in a pool - didn't get a chance to try it in a lake... but I can do that no problem. The 5K run... Hmmmmm how about a 5K walk? My friend Ralph, who has done Ironmans (is that the proper pluralization of Ironman?)told me that he walked all but .2 miles of the run in his first Ironman. It is more about the fact that you are out there doing it!

I am excited! I am just bummed that I didn't get more time to train. But if I were to look at it on the other side, I was training. All this time I have made myself work out 4-6 days per week for months. I am down about 20 pounds since Jan 1, I have a lot better muscle tone, I am stronger, I have better endurance, I started running!! I have never in my life been a runner. I can NOT say that I love running, but dammit I am actually doing it!

So, while I don't feel 'ready' for this tri - to steal a cigarette slogan, I've come a long way baby!

With excitement and anticipation I look forward to my very first triathlon. I never thought I would get to this point. If it isn't pure hell, I suspect there will be more of them. But after this I have that bike ride at the end of July.... And I set a new goal. I want to be able to run 1 mile without a walking break by the end of the summer.... :)

YAY ME!!!

my garden :)

Well, not fitness related.... But here are a couple pictures of the garden I just planted stuff today in. :) arent the little plants cute?? awwww... hope they survive!!! I even planted a strawberry plant for something new.. :)

re: not prepared

Hello blog reader!

So here I am 6 days out from my 1st tri ever.. I am not prepapred. I am not ready. I am having dreams about how not ready I am. But I will go and do my best. Hopefully I can finish it!

So I had this dream last night. It was Jeanne and I at the tri, with lots and lots of other people. She is all prepared in her wetsuit with a yellow swim cap on, all ready to start her tri. Her transition area is immaculately set up... Then in this dream there is me - I am not even sure I have a swimsuit, let alone bike/run stuff - including my bike. It was a weird dream. Everyone else is starting the swim and I am still milling about looking for my stuff.

Much like in the dream, I do not feel at all prepared. I guess my goal at this time is just to finish! I do not care if I am in last place at this point. I just want to finish.

I haven't had as much time to focus on training as I would like to have. I could complete any 1 leg of this thing... but all 3?? time will tell.. wish me luck and say a prayer for me... cause I am gonna NEED IT! :)

Jeanne assures me that I will have adrenaline on my side... I sure hope so because not much else is gonna be on my side!

new picture / crazy hair

Okay.. So this is me a little over an hour ago fresh from walking/jogging/running whatever you would call what I do! It is hard to take a picture of yourself with small kids in the house! I can't get a good snap! Anyway I think that even though the scale isn't moving really right now I am still losing fat! I will admit that what I have on today makes me look slimmer than I really am.... But I think that every once in a while, even before you reach your goal, it is important to reflect on the progress you have made so far!

So, while I don't want to break my arm patting myself on the back, darn it I have come a long way and am starting to get a shape again! (Woo freaking HOO!) YAY ME!

Now for that tri in 2 weeks - I am very concerned that I am going to die of hypothermia in the water - BRRRRRR!! My friend Ralph offered that I could use his wet suit that he has used for Iron Man triathlons... I decided not to opt for that since it might be returned to him with some new bumps in it or something!

So anyway, I am starting to feel like all this exercise - painful and grueling at times, is paying off. Thank you for your support and encouragement! I wouldn't be this successful if it weren't for you. I still have a long way to go, but darn I am getting there! :)

Update

I am fresh off the bike from a 30 mile non-stop ride at Hines Park. I did it in 2 hours, 4 minutes. Max speed reached was 30.1 MPH. Funny thing about that max speed. So about 1/2 mile into the ride there is this long windy hill and when I go downhill I am a nut.... I put the front chain ring on the BIG one, and the back one on the small one (highest gear) and pedal as hard as I can down the hill. So on the way back at like 26 miles, it hit me that in a couple more miles was gonna be a kinda wicked hill. It isn't steep, but it is almost like a switch back and it goes on for awhile (hence the 30 MPH going DOWN said hill). I did it, I honestly thought at one point I was not going to make it.....But I did.

A couple thoughts for people at Hines Park:
- If you are on roller blades, or on foot, or under 5 MPH on your bike, please go to the trail off the road, not on the shoulder of the road! (people on bikes up to 20-something miles per hour will be in this lane)
- if you are slow on your bike, or hell anyone on bike, please don't ride all over the shoulder, keep a straight line - and stay to the right so I, and others even faster than I, can pass you without having to go into the car lane.
- The scenery is always good there, not talking about the trees or the lake. ;)
- Yo! PERSON IN THE SUV... do NOT park on the shoulder of the damn road!! There are signs all over telling you not to park there. THAT IS THE BIKE LANE.... and FFS - Do NOT have the hutzpah to give ME - the person on a bike, in the FRIGGIN BIKE LANE - a dirty look for riding my bike where I am supposed to be. Thank you. :)

So anyway, going to ATTEMPT my first brick tomorrow.. wish me luck!

re: NOT a big shocker here

New study shows, get this.... women... are you ready to be totally NOT surprised?????

Apparently - Men lose weight and get in shape faster than women... who knew??