The Beginning of Chapter Two

I have decided my next milestone will be an Olympic distance triathlon. For those of you that are not familiar with triathlons, the race includes: a 1.5k (0.93 miles) swim, a 40k (25 miles) bike and finish with a 10k (6.2 miles) run. This will require a new schedule of training to include both swimming and biking. Luckily, I already own a great bike and a decent bathing suit so I'm all set :-) Just need to find a pool to work out in. I am a little intimidated about the swim but I plan to take a few swimming classes to help boost my swimming confidence.

My training for my first triathlon will begin on March 18th. I plan to race my first triathlon on June 2nd in Show Low, AZ at the Deuces Wild Triathlon event. www.trisportsracing.com

 

As you can see, I don't have a set training schedule until March 18th; this is the first time in my entire journey that I have not been on a set training schedule. In fact, I have been forced to make my own. Eek! I have molded my routine from the workouts that have gotten me this far, together with pieces from my upcoming triathlon training. My workouts will be as follows:

Monday - Spinning class in the evening

Tuesday - Speed work Run on Treadmill
Wednesday - Strength Training and Cross Training

Thursday - 4 Mile run (or more) outside

Friday - Spinning class in the morning

Saturday - Strength Training and Cross Training

Sunday - Long Run outside

This is also the first time since Insanity that I am working out all week. The running training schedules I have done have all required rest days or cross training days to allow your body to heal from the running. While I am still incorporating the cross training days (Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday), I have added strength training. I have also submitted my paperwork to start swimming lessons. Hopefully I will hear back this week on those. I am nervous but excited to get back in the pool again!

I have also adjusted my weight loss goal. When I started this back in May of 2011, I set a goal to be in 'onederland' (a term that means you are finally out of the 200s). As I am currently about a half from my goal, I have adjusted my goal to 185lbs. I have set the goal of reaching that weight, losing about 15lbs, by March 18th. It is going to be hard! I have realized that in the last month or two of my half marathon training, my diet has slipped a little. I will be refocusing my diet and going back to the basics that helped me in the beginning.

If you would like any further details about my workouts or diet, send me an email or message me on Facebook.

Only Half Crazy

Running the half marathon was rewarding, painful and emotional for me! First of all, this is the longest race I have ever undertaken (The longest race I had ever tried before was 8.9 miles shorter than a half marathon). Though I did not finish the race within my anticipated time (I went over by 10 minutes), it is still the most rewarding race I've ran thus far.

The painful part of the race were my shoes. The cushioning is gone and I think I've finally put enough miles on those babies to retire them. The rest of my gear and my body preformed as expected; it is astonishing how successful a race is when you have prepared for it. No blisters, no missing toenails (I am told this is common and it scares the crap out of me), and no chafing to speak of! Just the usual soreness and stiffness that I have after my normal long runs on Sundays. Woo Hoo!

As for the emotional part, did I say how much of step up this race was? I was standing in corral #3 and was finally not intimidated by the other runners in my corral because I was one of them! After the gun went off, I kept getting choked up along the race route. I was quite emotional every time I thought to myself 'you are really doing this!' Then seeing the look of joy on my mom's face as I came into the finish line culminated everything I had felt! As I made it out of the finish area and met up with my hubby (who ran the mini marathon) and parents, my mom asked me, "So do you think you'll do this again?" My response was Hell Ya!

After the race, while discussing everything with my mom, she had made mention that the completion of my half marathon was the end of my journey. I joked with her saying, "It was only the end of a chapter."

And so begins Chapter Two...

From the Beginning

The Beginning

 

I guess this has been a long time coming. I promise my next posts will not be this long but I need to catch you up on where I started and where I currently am.

My weight loss journey began May of 2012 with a little something called Insanity by Beachbody. I am not quite sure what got me started on Insanity; a little was the infomercials, partly my husband, but mostly, I was convinced that I could do this. Little did I know, that would be the beginning of the most challenging, yet rewarding journey of my life.

If you don't know anything about Insanity, the name speaks for itself! It is a 60 day program that comes on DVD. The workouts vary from day to day but require you to work out for 6 days a week. The program requires no free weights, just using your body weight as resistance. And when you start the program weighing in at 261 lbs, that's a lot of weight to work with! By the end of 60 days, I was down 30 lbs! Not too bad! That's an average of 1/2 lb a day! I heard a quote on their infomercial that stated "the only way this program doesn't work is if you don't push play". It's SO true! I would recommend it to anyone that needs to lose weight, whether it's 20+ lbs like me or the last 5 or 10 lbs! This program will do it!

After the completion of Insanity, I shifted my focus to running. For quite a long time, I have yearned to be a runner but have had a hard time starting or keeping with it. I used to run in high school as a way to keep up my athleticism but haven't really taken up the sport. It was much easier to transition into running after Insanity. At that point, I was doing the Insanity workouts for about 60 minutes each day...so how hard can running 20 minute be? HARD!

It's amazing the muscle groups you use to run. You'd think you just need to propel forward with your legs right? Wrong. You use your legs, your core and even some of your upper body. Since I have a history with painful shin splints, I decided to start slow. The first program I started was Ease into 5K. This program is 8 weeks that start with interval workouts (walk then run then walk etc.). I finished this program in September 2012; I don't think I considered myself at runner yet at this point. I had only ran 30 minutes straight and running at a slug pace. I did run the Tour de Pee Vee in Prescott Valley, AZ in September with a finish time of 36:07. I didn't have a PR (personal record) at this point though I had done prior 5k's. This was however the first one that I was able to complete that I wasn't dead at the end of it. I was truly ready for it.

Tour de Pee Vee September 2012

 

The next step was to continue my running with the Bridge to 10k program by the same company as the Ease into 5k (Both of these programs are available on the app store). I liked them because they have a built in GPS, allows you to use music from your current library and it talks to you when to run or walk or half way done. The Bridge to 10k program was a total of 6 weeks; takes you from running 30 to 60 minutes straight. This was the point in my training that I started to consider myself a runner; maybe a recreational runner but a runner none the less. My workouts started getting longer and I started shifting away from listening to your typically 'gym' music of rock and hip hop and transitioned more towards alternative rock. something with a slightly slower BMP (beats per minute) but this allowed me to enjoy the journey. This is why I started all of this in the first place, to enjoy the journey.

After completing the 10k training program, the step towards a half marathon was only natural. I convinced myself to sign up for the Rock'n'Roll Arizona half marathon. If I've learned anything about myself over the course of this is that I am goal driven. I have to set a goal for myself and the best way to keep myself focused on that goal is to sign up for something. In this case it was the half marathon. I had found the Hal Higdon Novice 1 Half Marathon training program online. It was a twelve week program that would prepare you for your first 1/2 marathon. This program was the first mileage based program compared to my prior workouts that were time driven. Now I would have to complete the mileage regardless of how long it took me. The first week was quite easy with running about 3 miles twice during the week and 4 miles on the weekend. This program also included cross training (mostly I did walking and elliptical work) and stretching. This program was 6 days a week. The 5k and 10k programs were only 3. This was a big step up. No excuses I told myself. You are already registered for this race! You have to do it no matter what!

I started my half marathon training in October. If you know anything about Northern Arizona it is most common for us to receive our first snow around Halloween every year. This was the time of the year you have to transition from your fall light jacket to bringing out the down and wool jackets. All I could think of is that it's going to be a LONG winter! I have to run in this stuff! By now I had been doing at least 95% of my running outside. The treadmill is just boring after about 30 minutes! My running gear had changed from a workout tank and capris to ColdGear tights and long sleeves. I also found that a good pair of gloves and a beanie are life savers! In December, my husband and I ran another 5k race as part of my 1/2 marathon training. We shattered our PRs! I ran the 5k in 31:58! This was the fastest I had ever ran a 5k and the first time ever I was able to complete it without walking even a step!

Hot Chocolate 5k December 2012

About half way through these twelve weeks I finally started to consider myself a runner. I think that came to me when I went for a run on vacation, Thanksgiving and mostly when the weather is just plain crappy but you head out for a run anyway. Last weekend was the longest run of the program, 10 miles. On that run I had on two tops, two bottoms, gloves and a hat. I think the high that day was in the 20s with a wind chill in the single digits. Brr!

As I write to you, I am one day away from my very first half marathon race! I have completed all twelve weeks of the half marathon training as well as the eight and six weeks of the 5k and 10k programs! That's a total of 26 weeks! I have been training for this race for 1/2 of a year! If you include Insanity into that its nine weeks longer than that! This journey has been hard! It was gallons of sweat (I found they make special laundry detergent for all that sweat), lots of time on the sofa with an ice pack and more ibuprofen than I'd like to admit. It has all been worth it!

At this point I am down a total of 57.3 lbs! I am the thinnest I have been since at least my first year in college, if not high school (I pathologically lied about my weight in high school to the point that I don't even remember the real number), and in the best shape of my life (including high school). I want to thank those who have inspired and encouraged me along the way! Firstly my husband (who has lost over 35 lbs together with me) for being the motivation I required and the support I needed! I love you! To my Mom, your concern for my health and your pride in my hard work is why I keep going! Also to Billy Burnett, you sir have shown me what all your hard work can do! Keep it up! I look forward to racing alongside you some day!

I look forward to the next step in this journey! Come visit this blog frequently as this will be my diary of my journey. Please feel free to leave comments along the way! I would love to hear from all of you!