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Exercise, Healthy eating, Training, Triathlon, Weight loss

Self-Improvement Begins Here

It’s been just about 3 months since I signed up to repeat my favorite (only) race from last year and now we’re sitting on 5 months until Iron Girl race day! I get really excited when thinking about doing this race again especially now that I have an understanding of what I’m doing and how training for a triathlon feels like.

Sometimes I feel wimpy when I say “training for” because it is a sprint distance and for someone who is doing an Ironman, this race is basically like any training day for them. But I remind myself to stop feeling pitiful because if I didn’t bother to put in the time or the effort to train for my little race, then I could still be sitting on the couch like I was last year dreaming that I’d one day lose weight.

Losing weight is hard. —If anyone has ever had an easy time with it, tell me your secrets please!— Last year, I knew I had to have a tangible goal that I was excited to work towards and that’s why I went in search of an event that would remind me daily of what I was training for. While there were definitely difficult days, I was never sad or upset to do my daily workout and I actually was usually excited for it because I knew that with each workout, I was building myself up to succeed once race day arrived. Just imagining crossing the finish line with the knowledge of what I had accomplished is what pushed me through the tough days.

My goal in doing this race was to build fitness, build confidence, and lose weight and I feel like I really succeeded last year. This year’s goal is build on that foundation and keep going, because there’s so much more that I want to accomplish.

Along with my fitness goals, I am trying to work on my diet and improving the quality of the foods I eat. I’m trying to drink more and eat more of a veggie based diet. I’m vegetarian but a lot of dairy, grains, and processed foods tend to dominate what I eat so I’m trying to scale back and make it more about the healthy stuff.

Over the next several months, I’m going to be sharing what I’m doing to improve my diet as well as how I’m preparing for this year’s race. I need support to make it on this continuing journey and I also want to be a support for those who need some encouragement to meet their own goals.

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If you’re interested in signing up for the Iron Girl Columbia Triathlon on August 7, 2016, –> Click HERE. (The price rises $20 on April 1st). I’m not advertising for any personal gain but I’m passionate about it because I really believe that this race is an empowering event for women.

Exercise, Training, Triathlon, Weight loss

Pilates workout for your legs and core

3 workouts for this week. Next week will be a better week because of the work I’ve put in now. At least I have to keep telling myself this. Winter makes me lethargic and it’s hard to want to do anything and apparently I’m not alone. This article gives some tips on how to deal with the winter blues.

Anyways, here’s this week’s workouts!

fitness tracker

Monday: Feb. 1, Zumba for 35 minutes. Pilates strength workout for 15 minutes.

Tuesday: Feb. 2, Swim 1000m, 27:42, water walk for 20 minutes

Wednesday: Feb. 3 n/a

Thursday: Feb 4. n/a

Friday: Feb. 5, Swim 1000m, 28:35, water walk and treading for 15 minutes. Pilates strength workout for 15 minutes.

Swim bag
My pretty pink bag from the triathlon

If you’ve heard of the blogger SarahFit, you know that she makes amazing fitness videos that are FREE for use. I’ve followed her blog for a while now but I happened to stumble upon one of her videos when looking for a pilates workout this week. It burns and really pushed me but I can totally feel it working. I’d recommend looking her up!

Exercise, Healthy eating, Training, Triathlon, Weight loss

Things these days + 6 month goals

Hello internet family! Long time, no update!

My husband and I are back in Michigan for him to attend a couple months of classes before we head back to Maryland for his last 2 PT clinical internships and then we’re back here for graduation! It’s amazing that his 3 years of hard work are almost over! I’m so proud of him. 🙂

St. Joseph sunset
One of the few reason I can be happy to be back in Michigan: St. Joseph and amazing sunset viewing.

Since we’re only here for a limited time, I’ve been hanging out in our apartment and catching up on some TV shows and movies (Grey’s Anatomy, The Bachelor… and Inside Out). Winter is a really difficult season for me and I tend to feel like I’m in some sort of hibernation mode. I want to sleep all day and just eat blah food. It takes a lot of mental energy to work out when I feel like this but I’ve managed to get out and do some swimming and a few other workouts at least 2-3 times per week.

With my last update, I announced that I was doing a health challenge and my main goal was to maintain/lose weight through the holiday season. I tried to be conscious of what my portions were but I didn’t restrict myself from any specific foods because, well, you know we only get them once a year! I kept to my goal and I managed to drop just a little under the weight I had been sitting at.

This year, my health goals will once again be working up to the Iron Girl Triathlon in August. I’ve already registered and started planning my goals for the race and for the next 6 months leading up to the race and they are as follows:

  1. Continue to lose weight. I made a lot of progress last summer and I want to keep building on that so I can be a healthier -healthy weight- me. Running will also become significantly easier with less weight to pull around.
  2. Focus on strength training. It was a component of my training last summer, but I was training to finish the race so I focused most of my time on cardio. I want stronger muscles because I noticed, during the race, how much of a difference it would make to be stronger.
  3. Pre-train so that when I start my more serious training in May, I’m starting at just as high, if not higher level of fitness that I was when I did the event last summer.
  4. Train with sister Hanni who I have conned into doing the race with me! (Love ya sis)
  5. Drop race time. If I can achieve the above goals, then I am extremely confident in my ability to significantly reduce my time. I don’t want to share a number yet in case I’m being realistic, but I am really working towards this goals (with help of the above goals.) My time last year was 2:45:49.

I’m really excited about a lot of new things that are happening this year because it’s going to be a big transition for us (hubby and me) to both be completely out of college as well as continuing my pursuit of a healthier lifestyle and self. Happy 2016!

haircut
Makes a girl feel pretty to have a fresh haircut 🙂
Exercise, Healthy eating, Training, Weight loss

Confession time and a New Challenge

It’s the good food time of year! Leading up to Thanksgiving, we’re grateful for mashed potatoes, stuffing, pies, and all other fattening and delicious things. There isn’t much time to recover from Thanksgiving, because we go directly into holiday parties and family dinners that are loaded with Christmas treats. It’s hard to only eat one portion of these yummy foods and often this leads to a calorie overload=weight gain.

At this time last year, I was under a whole new level of stress. I’d been having significant issues with anxiety for a few years, and I was in a class that sent my anxious feelings into overdrive as well as dealing with some news that about to change my life all over again. I was feeling pretty miserable and I don’t know if it was from the stress of everything or if being stressed was causing me to overeat… but I managed to gain 20 pounds in 2 months. 2 MONTHS.

I’m embarrassed to admit it. I really don’t know how it happened. At a friend’s wedding in mid-October I was the same weight I’d been for a few years (i.e. overweight) and then by new years I was a miserable 20 pounds heavier. This past April I’d had enough and knew that I needed a goal to help me move on from my unhealthy life and become a new person. I found the Iron Girl Triathlon and jumped into training headfirst and spent the next few months losing those 20 pounds.

I’ve maintained my weight generally since the triathlon in August and I’m currently working on ways to get in some good exercise despite still dealing with significant back pain. I’m determined not to be seduced by sugary treats and fatty dinners this season and do the impossible: lose weight before Christmas.

I’ve got a few health goals that I’m working towards for next year and I can’t afford to be set back by weight gain and a sedentary lifestyle. SO I’ve joined the Holiday Sweat challenge! One of the blogs that I follow is Run to the Finish by Amanda Brooks and each year she has hosted a community fitness challenge to help us fight the forces against us at this time of year. You can get an explanation of the challenge here if you would like more info/to participate.

Holiday Sweat Challenge

The challenge technically started on Sunday but you should still be able to sign up and join all the groups. After you sign up on the website, you can join the Facebook group and then follow and be followed by your community members on Twitter/Instagram. It’s a great way to meet other people from all over the world who are trying to better their lives as well as be inspired to meet your daily/weekly goals. Join the party!

Exercise, Healthy eating, Running, Training, Weight loss

Too Young for Back Troubles

14 months ago, I herniated a disk in my lower back. One week before my wedding.

2 months of PT, 2 MRI’s, numerous doctors visits and loads of medical bills later, I still had a herniated disk. Every single medical professional that I have seen has told me that I’m too young to have this problem. Yay me!

Surgery was suggested but not a reality at this point so I went on an expedition to lose weight and do the best that I could to alleviate the pain in my back and legs.

I spent 3 months preparing for the IronGirl triathlon and I did lose weight (about 1/3 of my goal) as well as finding a new passion for exercising and living healthfully.

Things were going well until one morning, two weeks ago, I happened to lean forward in just the wrong way and aggravate an already temperamental herniated disk. I spent the next few agonizing days in bed feeling discouraged as well as frustrated that I couldn’t just go for a run and have that, “My body accomplished something great today!” sensation.

I’ve had a lot of time to think about my situation and I’ve come to realize that good health is a blessing that not everyone has and is too often taken for granted.

Yesterday I was reading a blog post by Run to the Finish about training secrets and one of her points really emphasized this thought. 

Realize that you don’t “have to” run. You are a lucky person that “gets to” run. You have people in your life that make it possible for you to have the time to run, you have a body that allows you to run, and crazy people like me who encourage it. This is your choice.

So although I’m out of action for at least a few more weeks,  I’m learning the valuable lesson of patience as well as not jumping back in too soon. I’m also reminded to be thankful for all that I do have and to never take being healthy for granted.

Race, Triathlon, Weight loss

My First Sprint Triathlon – An Incredible IRON GIRL Experience

3 and a half months ago, I went in search of an event to help me lose weight and get in shape. I found the Iron Girl Columbia Triathlon and I can’t believe my first triathlon is already over! Getting ready for my first triathlon has been my focus for the last three and a half months and now it’s finished.

Athlete's Wristband for my first triathlon

Friday

Friday afternoon I went by Columbia Presbyterian Church for packet pick-up. I got my packet, timing chip, T-shirt, and TYR bag with the Iron Girl logo. I browsed some of the booths at the expo and the goggles at the TYR booth caught my eye. Everyone advises not to try anything new on race day but the goggles I had been using weren’t working well and these ones seemed amazing. So I bought them. P.S. They were amazing.

athlete's meeting for my first triathlon

Saturday

It was mandatory to rack your bike during specific hours on Saturday. It was a quick and seamless process. I was in the 2nd row off to the right of transition and only a few bikes in so that was convenient. Before leaving, I took a few minutes to analyze surroundings and test walking up the fairly steep little hill coming out of the transition area.

Sunday – Iron Girl Columbia Triathlon Race Day!

Sunday’s 4:15 wake-up call came too quick. I had set out everything the night before. Clothes were ready to go, food was on the counter ready to be made, and all of my things were packed in their bag. My sister didn’t want to “wake up” to do my french braid so I sat by her bed while she did it with the lights off and her eyes closed. It was 65 degrees and still dark outside when we left the house just before 5. We arrived 10 minutes later but figured the park was full so we drove into the neighborhood for parking. I got my tires pumped up first, spent a few minutes getting transition ready, got body marked, used the bathroom and then I went back to transition to double-check all my stuff one last time.

At this point, the sun had started to come out and it was a really beautiful morning. Hubs and I started over towards the start line so I wouldn’t keep staring at my transition area. All morning they had been playing pumped up music, doing interviews and making announcements over top of the music; it was sort of like an “Iron Girl Radio Show”. I was really trying to take in the experience and calm my nerves before everything began.

transition area for my first triathlon
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start line of my first triathlon

After the national anthem, I went and joined my wave at the start line. We were the second wave to take off and the first group was relatively small so I was in the water within a few minutes of the start time. Brady snap chatted my start.

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I had just gone around the corner after entering the water when my nerves took over and I had to stop and try to calm down. A volunteer, who was in a kayak close by, came over to let me hold on and chatted with me while I got a hold of myself. I think it all hit me kind of fast and I guess I just needed a moment.

I don’t think I stopped for more than about 30 seconds before I kept going but it could have been longer. The sun wasn’t too far above the horizon and on the first straightaway, we were blindly headed directly into the sun. I was swimming at an even, but fairly slow pace so I got passed by almost all the red people (my wave), probably most of the yellows (the next wave) and a handful of silvers (the wave after that). Going around the first turn I bopped some girl in the head so we started a quick conversation about how it was our first time each and then wished each other well before continuing on our individual treks.

After exiting the water, I began the run-up towards transition and gave a wave to Brady on the way. While I was putting my shoes on, some girls came in behind me and one of them said to the other, “This is horrible! I am never doing this again!” I just sat there thinking, “Are you kidding me? This is amazing! I can’t wait to do it again!”

Of all the disciplines, I probably enjoyed the swim the most. I love being in the water and it was actually kind of relaxing once I was able to settle into my rhythm. The lake was nowhere near as gross as people expected it to be. The water is murky but I didn’t notice any goose grease or lake weeds trying to eat me.

Swim time: 37:28

T1: 4:54

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I never got a chance to ride the course before the event but I had driven it 3 times. The hills on the 16-mile course that I thought would be the worst… weren’t. I was great at going downhill but horrible at going uphill. It was a pain to watch the people who I had just passed going down one hill, passing me as I went up the next. I had a conversation with this lady from Team Fight as we passed each other on a few of the hills. We decided, in our brief conversation, that if we combined the two of us, we’d be the perfect racer. The worst uphill was around mile 9 or so right after a long downhill.  As someone passed me she said, “ALL THE SWEAR WORDS!” I would have laughed if I didn’t also feel the same way.

Because of the time trial start, everyone was spaced out over the course and there were never too many people crowded into one area. My back was really killing me the last 2 miles, but I was able to push through and finish the ride in a decent time.

Bike time: 1:15:18

T2: 1:42

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My legs felt a little jelly coming back into transition but they were mostly okay by the time I started running. I had to walk/run intermittently for the first 2 miles because my left calf was feeling really tight. Gatorade hill is no small hill so it was encouraging to have volunteers and spectators lining the trail cheering all the women on. It was great to hear them say, “I see you number 82, you can do it!”

I ran most of the last 1.4 miles except for the backside of Gatorade Hill because I could walk up that hill faster than I could run it. The last half mile I think I was whimpering a little to keep from crying because I couldn’t believe that I was about to finish. The last few months of working up to this and being worried that maybe I wouldn’t be ready. The people cheering us on as we came into the finish were truly amazing and I was almost overwhelmed by how fulfilling it felt to cross the finish line. I was immediately awarded my finishers medal and stripped of my timing chip before I could grab a drink and go celebrate with my husband and family.

I completed my first triathlon!

Run time: 46:26

Overall time: 2:45:49

I’m not excited about my time only because I know I can do so much better. However, I am so proud of myself for completing my first triathlon considering 4 months ago I was in terrible shape and my neurosurgeon was telling me I needed surgery on my back. I still have back pain and I still have numbness in my right leg… but I did it!

One of the greatest things about doing my first triathlon was the response from friends and family members who told me how inspired they felt by what I did and how much they would like to be a part of the experience next year.

I’ve told my husband that I can’t imagine any other event being as perfect as my first triathlon. The volunteers and other participants were so encouraging and the location is in my hometown so it’s comfortable and familiar. I wasn’t prepared for how lonely I would feel the next day with no big event to look forward to when I’ve been preparing all summer. But for now, I’m planning to keep getting healthier, keep getting stronger, and come back even better next year. Until 2016 Iron Girl.

my first triathlon iron girl columbia triathlon

To recap my triathlon journey, visit my Triathlon page.