Lazy in the snowy midwest

While I'm visiting my family in my small hometown in the midwest, I have realized how easy it is to get out of a workout routine. I can't say that I've been overly committed to the one I have in California, but it does come a little easier to workout when it's not so cold. I think I put on 10 pounds as soon as I stepped off of the plane!

So I walked/jogged 8 miles with my hometown running buddy on Monday and haven't done anything since. Tomorrow my goal is to do a 3 - 5 mile run before the big storm rolls in and prevents me from walking outside again for the rest of the week. Not all gloom and doom here though, I've been trying to maintain my dieting as much as possible. I've recruited one of my good friends to start doing weight watchers online and we have some goals to accomplish together now! I'm looking forward to the extra motivation to say the least!

One of my roommates also mentioned she went to a herbalist and they talked a lot about blood types. I did a little research of my own and found out some interesting findings which could possibly explain my desire for endurance sports. Because I am blood type O (old blood), it is said that we require more vigorous exercise. That really made me more interested in learning about eating for my blood type and maybe it will explain some other things regarding myself. Once I get back to CA, I think I will try to visit the herbalist to see!

My hip flexor started aching randomly again tonight. I think it's from sitting down so much the last few days. I've been keeping up with the physical therapy exercises I've been given to strengthen the area, but I need to give it time and be more patient.

My brother had his wisdom teeth pulled yesterday, but he still felt well enough (or so he said) to shoot some new photos of me for my website/business. Check them out!

"Insanity" + Long Run = Ouch!

The day after Christmas, my aunt talked me into trying out one of her workout DVDs similar to p90x called Insanity. During the workout, I was frustrated mostly with my upper body strength because I can hardly do pushups and it had a significant amount of them throughout the session. It was a good workout and I could definitely tell this morning! I rarely do strength or circuit training and my body told me so... I was very sore!

Today I had a run scheduled with a friend from home, Ashley. It was really nice because I know I wouldn't have gotten a long run in if she hadn't been here to do it with me. We met at the 5-mile-corner in Presho and ran towards town. The original plan was to run 10 miles, but my hamstring and out-of-shape-ness really got the best of me and we did 8 instead. I feel good about getting that much done to say the least!

The rest of the week, I want to try to get in some yoga and possibly another shorter run! Once the new year rolls around I'll start trying to drop a little more weight, especially since I picked up some I had already lost from the holidays :(. I also plan to start getting into a triathlon training routine too. It's going to be hard, but fun! I'm ready!

Bikram Yoga (Hot Yoga)

Today I did a nice long yoga session called Bikram Yoga. The room is about 90 degrees, I believe and it's also 90 minutes of balancing and stretching movements. I had today off because it's the day after Thanksgiving, so I treated myself to a $20 class with a friend. I had hoped it would help out my hamstring, but it was still incredibly sore through the process. I do think it is something I will try to do occasionally. The problem is more the prices and the locations of the studios. I do think that the courses are incredibly beneficial and really to aid in clearing out toxins from the body.

Hill Workout

Yesterday happened to be Thanksgiving! What a morning for a great run. about 7 people from my running group showed up at 7am to do a short hill workout at Firehouse #8. The run was about 4 miles and I think the extra pressure of having some new people really encouraged me to go a little longer and harder up the hill. It was a perfect start to a really long day of indulging in food, wine and drink. The major downfall was that I had thought my hamstring was starting to heal, but apparently it hasn't. It was aching the whole time I ran. I am not 100% sure what I should do, but I think I need to take some extra days off, which is exactly what I do not want to do.

In the beginning...

I decided to start this blog in addition to the several other failed blogging attempts I've started. This one seems a little different though. It's about about the stuff I really enjoy and it's for my journaling purposes, not for anyone else's necessarily.

So, this is my journey to the half Ironman in July in Sonoma, CA.

Right now I have completed 3 full marathons, a few halfs and only one spring triathlon. I'm nervous because of the obvious-- I haven't completed even an olympic distance tri. I have a long time to train and that's what I need to do. Even with the marathons, I can easily get off track or distracted. This will have to be different and I'm taking the first step in that different direction by trying to lose 15 pounds.

I wouldn't say that I've struggled my whole life with weight because that'd be overly dramatic. I've been heavier than I'd like to be since I put on the freshman 15 in 2003. Gradually weight has come and gone, but I don't recall the last time I was under 140 pounds. 7 weeks ago, I decided, after I registered for the Vineman 70.3 that i needed to lose some weight. I want to be 125 pounds, which will make me a stronger athlete and more confident in general. I joined weight watchers in the hopes that their system would help me through the challenges and because I have read a book by a triathlete that used weight watchers as her tool.

It's been a struggle so far especially because I decided to start the weight loss journey during the holiday season. I had lost 8 pounds pretty easily, but have gained nearly 4 pounds of it back in the same amount of time it took me to lose it. I am realizing the dramatic shift in my eating that will need to take place in order to really reach my goal before February 20th (official training start-date).

I also can't stop training... I need to remain as fit as possible going into the official training as i can.

I am extremely excited for this new journey! I think I will struggle, but also gain so much from the experiences. I know I've already gained so much from just my running... so many of my good friends are people I met while running.

Here's to a successful training journey!