From Fat to Triathlete

Tag: motivation

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Today’s Workout

April 19, 2010
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Morning Necessity

My workout for today consisted of hopping on my bike to run to the grocery store and get creamer for our morning coffee.  The total mileage to the store and back is about 1.7 miles.  I justified it to myself in that I rode as hard as I could and really got my heart rate up.  I was please to find that I could hold a 15mph pace the entire stretch.  I know that’s not incredibly fast, but it’s faster than I thought I could sustain without killing myself.  It gave me hope.

I’m going to add the countdown to the Beach2Battleship Half Ironman, which is my goal for this season, to my website.  Hopefully this will be a good motivator.

On a fun note, Wrigley and I participated in our first Rally Competition yesterday.  Rally is a combination of obedience and agility with the dog and handler moving from station to station to complete certain tasks that are written on cards at each station.  Wrigley and I got 87 points out of a possible 100.  We were both extremely excited as it was our first time competing.  Because of a prior commitment, we had to leave before the competition was over so we don’t know yet how we placed, but it really doesn’t matter.  I am super proud of our little boy and how hard he works.  You can check out his blog here, it has a more detailed description of the competition and his agility pursuits.

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: Cycling, Races
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Time Keeps on Slippin

April 10, 2010

gear_clockThings have been really busy lately.  And my focus got off track.  I’m working now on bringing it back to where it should be.  I heard something in a podcast this morning that I thought was very interesting. It was that time management doesn’t work.  Time is not something you can control or manage or affect in any way.  As the Steve Miller Band says – “Time keeps on slippin…..into the future”.  But what you can manage is you and what you are doing with the time you are given.  He also said, and I’ve heard this before, that if something is important, you should do it everyday.  Along that line, Gayle is always saying that it’s not that you don’t have time to do something, it’s that you choose to do other things with your time.  All that to say that I have been making some very bad time choices lately and I need to start choosing to do what’s important.  That means exercising, fixing healthy meals, spending quality time working and having fun.

We were talking with a friend at the Wrightsville Beach Marathon a few weeks ago about her experiences with Crossfit Endurance training.  She is very excited about the possibilities and has been certified as a trainer.  So, I came home and started doing some research on Crossfit Endurance training.  What I have learned so far is that it is an anaerobic based training program where you perform interval training at high intensity for shorter periods of time which allows your body to train anaerobically.  The benefits of this anaerobic training include increased strength, decreased fat, increased endurance and increased cardiovascular output.  Another benefit is that the training sessions are not incredibly long.  So, I have been following the workout program for about a week now and will continue to for a few more weeks and then evaluate my progress.  Already I feel faster and like I have more endurance, so that is a good thing.

Soap on the Run

Soap on the Run

I wasn’t able to participate in the marathon this year as I had hoped.  Instead, Glynne’s Soaps, the all natural body product company that Gayle and I own, was a sponsor for the event.  We did this because it seemed like the perfect opportunity to unveil our new product called “Soap on the Run“.  Soap on the Run is an all natural soap in an easy to transport container.  So, you can toss it in your gym bag or travel bag, use it in the shower, replace the cap and toss it back in your bag.  No muss, no fuss, no slimy soap in a Ziploc bag.  It has the added bonus of being all natural, so there are no worries about what is in the chemical detergent available in the gym showers.  It contains therapeutic grade eucalyptus and tea tree essential oils which are beneficial for muscle recovery.   We are very excited about it and it seemed to get a great reception.

My workout for tomorrow is

Sprint/Recover:  3 rounds of (20sec/60sec off, 20sec/50sec off, 20sec/40sec off, 20sec/30sec off, 20sec/20sec off, 20sec/10sec off) Start next round after 10 sec rest

Hopefully I will be able to keep it all straight!

Still tri’n

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: Encouragement, Random, Training
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This is Fun, Right?

January 8, 2010

F Minus for January 6, 2010

There are some days it just doesn’t feel like I’m having a good time.  Today was one of those days.  I couldn’t catch my breath, my knees ached, my ankles were sore, and mostly, I just didn’t feel like it!

On the schedule was a 4 mile run, in the log is a 2 mile walk/run.  I tried, I really did, but I just had a difficult time making my body (and my mind, for that matter) do what I knew I should be doing.  So I packed it in and came home early.

Now I’m sitting here trying to get motivated to do some work, and telling myself that something is better than nothing.  At least I got out there, got my heart rate up, burned some calories….did something! 

I am still tri-in (Although not very hard today!)

Gayle just read my post, and her comment was that I probably tried harder today because it’s easy when things are going good and you are feeling good.  When things are difficult and you don’t want to, but you do it anyway, you are working harder.  SO, my little quip about not working hard this morning is false.  Which makes me feel a lot better about my efforts today!  Gayle is a smart person, and I am blessed to have her advice and encouragement!

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: Encouragement, Training
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Just 5 More Minutes, Mom!

December 7, 2009

I’ll admit it, instead of getting up when I should have this morning, I pulled the covers up and slept for another hour!  And boy did it feel good.  It was cold out, and warm in bed and I was tired.  I think the extra hour of sleep helped with my running this morning though.  Lately, I have not been feeling motivated to run.  I go out every day, but it’s only because Wrigley sits and stares at me with his sad eyes and makes me get up and take him on his run.  He’s extrememly difficult to resist.

So, this morning, I have been doing some research on the sleep needs of a person training for a marathon.  (Or triathlon, or 5K, or whatever a person happens to be training for.)  Here are some key things that I read which I already knew, it’s just nice to have them refreshed in your memory. 

  • Getting enough sleep boosts your immune system.  These days, when the Swine Flu, other flu strains and scores of colds are running rampant, a strong immune system is critical.
  • Getting enough sleep improves athletic performance.  Since I’m training for a marathon and future triathlons, good athletic performance seems important.
  • Getting enough sleep improves mental clarity.  Having a fit mind is important while training because you are more in tune with your feelings, both physical and mental. 
  • Getting enough sleep improves your attitude.  Some days, the only thing keeping you going is a smile and a good attitude.  Being rested ensures that you will be able to go the extra mile.

  For all of these, the term “enough sleep” was used.  So, how much is enough?  It varies from person to person, but the average is from 7 - 8 hours a night.  Reserach has shown that adults that get much more or less than  7 good hours of sleep a night have a higher mortality rate.  Adults who sleep closer to 7 hours have lower mortality rates.

And remember – quality counts too!

Still tri-in’

Jenn

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