Congratulations to AMY for completing her 2nd triathlon! She was very sick, recovering from a shoulder/back injury, and it was raining!! I’m so proud of her!! She regrets having done the tri given her sickness, but, I think it’s awesome

You rock Amy!!

I met a girlfriend for dinner yesterday and learned all kinds of new terms burpee, ugi… My dear friend is a cancer survivor, and she’s amazing. She is cancer free after undergoing a very difficult year of chemo to kill off her lymphoma. She was diagnosed when her 2nd child was only 4 months old. My friend gets up at 5:30 every morning and meets a girlfriend at the track to do an hour-long, self-choreographed workout. She did mention something about working out to the point of exhaustion (she said the word vomit, but I don’t think she has pushed herself that hard). I’ve been invited to workout with them next Sat morning, which I will gladly do. Look forward to THAT post!

So you simply must check out www.bodyrock.tv. Check this girl out. Zuzana. She’s rock solid. Gorgeous. Cute little accent. Her workouts are short and intense, and they’re definitely interesting. It’s hard not to gawk at her ripped body, which she keeps scantily clad. I would aspire to look that hot in a bikini, but I don’t think I can give up my tortilla chips and chocolate indulgences.

Did my first body rock workout (the hands free) and loved it.

Enjoy!!

I absolutely love working out, but there are days that I can’t get myself to do it. I hit a slump mid-week last week, which continued through the weekend. I felt lethargic, lazy and pretty apathetic about it. I hate the fact that I am only disciplined about 50% of the time. I push myself really hard, and then I crash a few days later. I am searching for some middle-ground here.

I have always told myself that discipline is the key. Well, discipline with focus. I am the absolute queen of good intentions, and planning. I waste more time thinking about what I am supposed to be doing than actually doing anything at all. It’s such a wasted life! My answer to failed plans is always to plan some more. Internal pep talks, with a whole lot of obsession.

I read an article yesterday in Real Simple by Helen Schulman titled “Count me Out” and it registered with me. I’ve spent my entire life counting… workouts, length of workouts, number of workouts I missed this week, number of times I lost it with my kids, number of days left until the end of summer, number of days left of the school year, calories, numbers on a scale, … I’m sure you get the jist here. Helen stopped counting, with a great deal of effort,  and found freedom in that. When I think about NOT counting workouts or calories I feel incredibly anxious.

So, I’ve been focusing less on the “I HAVE TO DO THIS” and more on the fact that everything is a choice, and the decisions I make have pretty clear cut consequences. If I choose to eat well, work out, spend 15 minutes a day getting myself organized, catching up on laundry, doing a project I’ve put off forever (like framing my wedding picture), or spending much needed time escaping into a book (or houzz.com) I find freedom and reap some significant rewards.

Do I sound like  self-help book? I don’t mean to. I’m just all wrapped up in my thoughts these days. Too much time on my hands, too many kids and messes to watch and clean up after, and too many days until my work resumes. I promise to be more interesting the next time I post.

BTW, I found a triathlon training group and even though I haven’t joined in a single group ride, run or swim, I still feel like I’ve found my niche. I’m excited! I still need to find a tri to sign up for this fall. I’m procrastinating far too long on this chore.

AND, Bill and I are mid-way through month 2 on P90X. Corn Cob Pullups SUCK! OUCH! I’m feeling pretty strong these days though! and my husband’s guns are getting BIGGER!

I started having some heel pain from my running. I researched online and found that stretching your calves can help fix it so I tried it, and poof. It seems to have worked! Plus I’m wearing more supportive shoes.

AS far as the awesome triathlon, mine wasn’t so awesome, but I finished and I’m proud. Now I’m seriously working on speed. I currently bike 12 miles an hour and need to boost that. My next tri is 10 miles and I would love to do that in 30-40 minutes. IDK if that is possible but it never hurts to push yourself and try as hard as you can. I’m not concerned about the swim, I’ll just keep working it out as I have been.

My kids were enrolled in swim classes so I think I can squeeze in a workout while they learn to swim. We’ll see though! Keep tri-ing!

Mission Accomplished. Amy and I finished our first triathlon (notice I said “FIRST?”!) We were definitely NOT prepared for the run, but the swim and bike went great. LOTS of hills, but it was beautiful terrain. I am already excited to start training for my next challenge. I’m thinking about the Savage Man (half) in september. That would include swimming across deep creek lake. YIKES!

I’m a little sore today, but feeling good. My orthopedic inserts work awesome! My achilles survived a 40-minute walk/jog (yes, slow, I know… but I have NOT trained for running at ALL!). I have no pain in my achilles today. It’s an absolute miracle. The last time I tried to “run” — yes, it was a year ago– I had to call bill to come pick me up. So, I’m feeling very optimistic.

NO shoulder pain in the swim!!! I swam my a** off. I went faster and stronger than I have at any point in my training, and I didn’t have to stop even once to catch my breath.

Maybe I am becoming a good athlete… at this late age… *almost 40*!!!

Yes, 26 miles. Tomorrow I am going on my very first group ride. Its a no drop ride so if I suck wind, someone will hang with me. I have all my gear, my cute shirt, my cute matching socks, my cute pink camel back – its actually all pink. If I survive I’ll post an update.

Aside from that I’m back on weight watchers. Did you know that a margarita is like 15 points? Hello, that’s half my day – not worth it. THOUGH sangria is only 3. Definitely worth it. I traded chips and salsa for that. Its all about choices. We went to on the border, my favorito so I could get my chicken fajitas. I also learned corn tortillas are great as well as turkey sandwiches. I however have said goodbye to my beloved panera bagels. I’ll save it for once a week or something but its not an every day thing. Oatmeal or healthy cereal is a much better choice.

Summer is almost here and I need to fit in my shorts since I refuse to buy new ones!

This is my new wake up time. Hubby decided a few weeks back he’d start doing p90x– he did a week of it and I don’t know WHAT got into me, but I decided that not only would I do it with him, I told him I’d do all the meal prep and planning if he’d do the official p90x “diet” (okay, “nutrition plan”). Whatever. It’s a diet.

4:30 is a really hard time to wake up, especially when you’re used to getting up at 6. I am a solid 9 hours of sleep kind of girl, so I honestly thought I’d DIE if I tried it. I managed to wake up and get my body out of bed. Again… I have NO IDEA how. I have blown off about 50% of my early morning workouts without even giving it a second thought, just because I “couldn’t” get up. I seriously thought I didn’t possess the strength to uncover my body and put my legs on the floor.  Anyway, I survived 5 whole days of both the hour and a half workouts from 4:30-6am, AND the ‘diet.’

I am exhausted to say the least. I fell back asleep this morning on the family room couch at 6 and woke up after 7 when my sons woke me up. But, I have this sense of pride and accomplishment.

Half the battle is the food. We’re doing 5 servings of protein a day, with only 1 carb… and some other stuff like fruit, veggies, 1 dairy, etc. We aren’t really cutting calories– just eating lean and healthy. We are in the “fat burning” phase of the plan, and if we feel like we’ve either gotten to our goal body fat level or start ‘bonking’ during our workouts, we’ll go to phase 2– which basically increases the carbs.

So, we’ve got 5 work outs during the week, I’ll swim and bike this weekend, and once I get my little ortho inserts for my running shoes I’ll start training for the run. I’m fairly sure it’ll be mostly walking, but that’s ok with me (and Amy).

The outdoor pool opens tomorrow!!!  I can’t wait to take the kids!!

I can’t believe how close we are to the tri! I am SO not ready. Part of my problem is my cranky old body. I am still working on NOT injuring my back– so, I’m not doing much in the way of my beachbody videos. I’m doing yoga to keep myself flexible, which I am hoping will prevent injury. (check out www.myyogaonline.com I LOVE it. I pay just under $10 a month and I have unlimited yoga video access) I have left shoulder pain that is aggravated by a lot of different things… swimming being one of them. I worked with a coach for about 6 weeks and worked on my form. It turns out teaching yourself to swim isn’t really the way to go. I am going to sign all my kids up for swim lessons this year. I was a self-taught swimmer and was pretty against lessons. NOT anymore! Anyway, I’ve got my chiropractor working on my back, left shoulder, and now I’ve got him fitting me for ortho inserts for my running shoes.

Ummmm, running? Don’t know if my body will even DO that anymore. I was struggling with the running because of achilles pain. I’m hopeful once I get my little shoe inserts running will actually happen for me. If not, I’ll keep “water running.” Yes, I’m strapping a floaty on and “running” in the water. It looks as stupid as it sounds. And MAN is it boring! But, I hear it works.

OH, and I just bought my bike. It’s perty, and makes for a smooth ride. I went on my very first bike outing tonight… just cruising around side streets. I did almost 30 minutes and got winded and sweaty. It was so fun! No lie, the swimming and bike riding make me feel like I did when I was a kid. I love it. Anyway, my legs were all shaky and jello-like after my little bike ride. How am I going to get in shape in time!?  I have GOT to push the next few weeks!

I actually started looking at a 30 mile tri in september. It’s a 1 mile swim, 22 mile bike and 6 mile run.  We’ll just have to see how this one goes…. and you know, the shoulder and achilles….

I’m so psyched!  Two weeks down, and I’m already feeling stronger.  I’m following a training program on TrainingPeaks.com .  It’s excellent for a newbie.  I am seriously only running 10 minute runs… two minutes run, one minute walk.  After a week of SLOW SLOW going, I’m increasing my speed without throwing out my back or achilles tendons.  I’m so thrilled.

I signed up for a training class at the gym to teach me how to swim efficiently.  I am pretty sloppy as a swimmer, but I can already do 400m in about 15 minutes.  I’m pretty proud of that.

I am definitely feeling good– esp my back.  I think sometimes we baby our injuries too long… using my back and stretching it really helped a LOT!!

It’s not too late to join us!!!!  June 19…

First of all, you must know that I am going crazy without sweat in my life.  I MISS it!  I miss Insanity!  I miss not being able to catch my breath, working out so hard I feel like I’m going to fall over and never get up… muscles aching… sweat pouring… I’m dying!  I’m tring to be so careful, and I’m still hurting   I caved– here’s how stupid I am:  I was having a pretty rough afternoon yesterday, and even though my brain knew I was headed for trouble, I did a Turbo Fire HIIT workout (the 20 minute one).  I’m telling you, I was so desperate!  I had so much emotion and anxious energy to burn and just had to do something.  Needless to say, my right buttock (or is it buttocks?  is the right side just one buttock?  I’ll have to research this) anyway, my right glute hurts, and now I’ve got radiating pain down the side of my leg.  My stupid sacrum.  Stupid getting old body.  I hate you!  I  hate you!  Why can’t you just cooperate!?

On a sad note:  my dear friend threw out her back doing Chalene Extreme.  Yes, the one I encouraged her to borrow (after it threw my back out, and my sisters).  Sounds like negligence?  Well, I just had no idea. I feel so terrible for her!

What’s up, Chalene?!  Why is your video ruining people’s backs!

I’m betting she doesn’t want to talk about it.

If you or someone you know has thrown out your back doing Chalene Extreme, call me.