January and February were a wash

....but that's okay because I'm back to it.

So January and February were pretty much hell for me. I was actually quite disappointed in how overwhelmed I felt with work because it forced me to put my training on the back-burner. I was staying late, and by the time I left work, the last thing I wanted to do was get in the pool, on a bike, or worst of all, run. All I wanted to do every evening was go home and be brain dead. Literally stare at the tv and have no idea if I was comprehending what was going on. But is there really that much to comprehend when everything on tv is a  "reality" show?

But now we're at the end of March and quite a bit has changed. Not sure what I mentioned in my last post that was oh-so-long-ago....so I'll just do a quick recap.

In November I convinced my mom to do a triathlon with me (a first for both of us)
A woman in her gym does triathlons and was willing to coach us
My mom's friend joined in and decided to take on the tri as well
After a couple months with our coach we decided we needed a little more structure. We dropped our coach and now the three of us are going it alone with a training plan we found online.


So that's where we are now. We moved on from our coach about two weeks ago and decided to take on this plan. It's a gradual build up to our race and really gives me some structure and guidelines to stick to, which I didn't feel like I was getting from our coach. The schedule is a 5 month (or 20 week) plan, and matched up to our race day that means I should be starting this schedule on Monday!!! Since the plan is actually preparing someone for a shorter distance than we are doing, we did have to do some math (well, my mom did the math because I was too lazy to think about it and I hate math and still count on my fingers) and extend the workouts by a fraction. This week I'm doing week 1 without our adjustments to prepare myself for the real deal, and it's actually going pretty well.

Monday I had to swim and bike. The two events I'm least worried about. Tuesday was a break, Wednesday was a long swim, and today I'll be doing a short run. I'm getting a little worried about the running because I am consistently getting shin splints in my left leg everytime I run (the same side I had knee surgery on in high school). I haven't run since sometime last week and have been doing some stretching and massage, so I'm hoping it will pay off and I won't want to cry after only 10 minutes like I did last time. I also went to get fitted for a new pair of running shoes and have been breaking those in. Really hope it works because I feel like running is my only hurdle at this point, but if my leg keeps failing me there won't be much I can do about it. Luckily I have a roommate who works at a physical therapy clinic and can help me out a little!

Well that's all for now, just wanted to get a quick update out there. I'll try to post more regularly since apparently some of you actually read this and keep asking me for new posts (makes me blush *shy smile*).

Peace y'all.

it has begun!

Oh, hi! I didn't see you there. Patiently waiting for me to get it together and take on some new ridiculous challenge. Well, I'm glad you were patient, because I have some pretty exciting news. I'll get to it, I promise, but I like telling stories first (you'll probably figure out where I'm going with this in about 2.5 seconds).

I only have 3 items on my bucket list. I decided on all of them probably around end of middle school/beginning of high school, and to be honest I thought I would have them all done by now.
1. Become a professional tree climber
2. Invent a potion that would keep animals looking young (ie. puppies stay puppies, kittens stay kittens)3. Learn Sign-Language
4. Go Sky-Diving
5. Complete a Triathlon

Yes - 1 and 2 were entirely serious.... only I think those were on my list when I was somewhere between 6 an 9 years old. Still things I would like to accomplish but may be on the back-burner for a bit.

I don't know why I've always wanted to learn sign language. I just like to use my hands and to be able to communicate with someone in any language by only using my hands was incredible (don't worry - I now know that sign language isn't the same in every country - it was a bit of a let down and I still feel like it should/could be universal). I've also always been told that I have a way of doing things with my hands. Not really sure how to explain that better - right now it sounds like I may have a side-job at the local "massage" parlor. But really. I like my hands and like to use them, whether it's molding something out of clay, putting together Ikea furniture, smacking ass as it ascends a flight of stairs.. umm...anyways.

Next, skydiving! I feel like if you have any sort of thrill-seeking bone in your body and are not afraid of heights (maybe even if you are) this ends up on your bucket list. I don't know how many times I've mentioned to someone that I've wanted to do it, they are willing to do it too, but it just never happens. When I was younger I had my doubts I would ever be able to do it. Why? because I was a big fan of Alanis Morissette and this verse scared the poop out of me;

Mr. Play-It-Safe was afraid to fly
He packed his suitcase and kissed his kids good-bye
He waited his whole damn life to take that flight
And as the plane crashed down he thought
"Well, isn't this nice."


I had a huge fear of flying (even though I flew plenty), and just knew that if I got in a plane to do something I always wanted to do, it pretty much guaranteed that plane to crash. Nope, wasn't worried about the parachute at all. Maybe I'll give up the irrational thoughts and attempt it in 2013.

And finally, a triathlon. I think I must have been watching the 2000 or 2004 olympics when I sat around one Saturday afternoon and watched an entire triathlon. Not really sure why I found it interesting to sit there and watch that for 3 hours (I don't really want to watch any sport for 3 hours) but it sucked me in, and I thought "I want to do that." I love swimming. I love biking. Running? Not so much.

But then comes the beauty of a Sprint Triathlon. No, you're not actually sprinting it, but the distances are shorter and a 3.5 mile run? I think I can do that.

So there it is friends. I'm finally going to cross something off my bucket list. I am doing a triathlon. The Iron Girl Columbia Triathlon. It is the day before my 28th birthday and about a month before my best friend's wedding. I'm very excited and actually have a lot more to share about it, but we know I get long-winded, so I'll save it for other posts.

Wish me luck... I'm going to need it.

Almost forgot the reason for this post (the problem with starting the post on one day and finishing it the next) - Training started yesterday. I only did a 30 minute run and wanted to DIE, but I did feel good afterwards. I'll just have to keep reminding myself how I'll feel when the workout is done and how I'll feel if I do what I'm supposed to do for that day.

Training: Day 1: 30 minute run