Thoughts on Dieting

Round is still a shape. That is my story and I am sticking to it.

Catching Up

I have not been very good about blogging lately, mostly due to the lack of interesting things to write about. I have been running although somewhat grudgingly as after the first few euphoric runs parts of my body started to HURT. I was very indignant over the whole thing but apparently when you first start running it happens. Who knew. So I have cut back the lengths a little and then will build back up. There is a "Lunar Lope" next Wednesday that is a 5K that I am considering doing but I know there is no way I can run the whole way. Do they frown upon walkers? I really think doing this 5K will help motivate me to continue training and get me kind of excited about it, but you hate to be the last one plodding in at a walk. There is actually a 1 mile course that I know I could run the whole thing. Any thoughts? Advice?

Yesterday I found a scrap of paper with all of the bike races I had planned on doing this year. I was sad to see I had already missed two of them. Biking has always been my favorite sport but now it has been thrown to the wayside as I tried to strengthen my weaker events. Now I am realizing I really need to start training seriously because the one bike ride that started it all is in two months, the Hotter N' Hell 100. ( http://hh100.org ) I love this ride. If you have ever talked to anyone about it, they will say it is a religious experience and they would be right. There is something about lining up with 12,000 other cyclists of all ages and abilites and having one massive start with jets flying overhead before the cannon goes off that just gets into your blood.. If you don't get chill bumps, you must be dead. Anyways, the point is, it is time to get serious!! That ride is not for the weak as the temperatures usually do soar into the 100's which is a great motivator to get done quickly. So now begins the hot weather training. Egads.

HOT!!!

It is 102 degrees outside right now. I think my tennis shoes are melting. OUCH!

Weekend Update

Ok, this was a nice long weekend for training experience. I was at my parents all weekend and they are in a great area to run and bike in because there is a great mix of hills which I just don't have in Lubbock. I think this was a great weekend because I really learned a lot due to the time I had to train and the great location really motivated me.

• First of all.....and the big news....apparently I don't hate running after all. I think I had built it up in my mind that it was going to be this horrible thing and that I was going to in pain and miserable the whole time....but not so at all! I went on two 3 mile jogs and while I am not breaking any speed records, I did not die either which was a nice surprise.
• While my love is road biking, mountain biking in the back of land where there are no trails totally rocks! I can totally see now why people try to throw themselves off of steep terrain on bikes! I did have some fights with cactus and mesquite trees (that is west Texas for ya!) and lost very badly which will now prevent me from wearing skirts all week, but was still awesome!
• I have been putting swimming on the back burner because the sprint tri's I want to do all have pretty short swims. However, I have a feeling anything in open water is going to be more of an issue than I had previously thought. While swimming in the tank (not a metal one.....texas speak for something larger than a pond but smaller than a lake) I realized that I get pretty nervous in open water and really don't like putting my face under. So, unless I plan on doing the backstroke, this will have to be something I work on.

All in all it was a great holiday weekend. I got lots of practice in and got to spend time with my family. You just can't ask for more! (besides a winning lottery ticket!! Seriously, gas.....wow! If I go to any bike races out of town, I am going to just have to ride my bike there and hope I am not too tired to do the race!)

2am Thoughts

Would the cat who is trying to qualify for the Feline Olympics on the balance beam kindly refrain from marching up and down my leg and find another place to practice. Thank you for your cooperation.

Higher Tolerance

I have never made it a secret that I hate running. Or jogging. Or the occasional crawl I am forced to do. But, yes another new toy has made its way into my collection that makes it all a little more tolerable.

I am a dork and should not need electronic motivation, but I love it. It helps so much when I can see how much further I need to go and just basically have something to play with! I was not sure about the Nike shoes because I am a die hard Asics fan but I also though it was time for a change. I got the Nike Pegasus and although they felt strange at first I think I like them. They are considerably lighter than my Asics which is probably the reason for them feeling so strange. Anyways, the whole goal is to make this experience a little more enjoyable until I hit that "runners high" which I am sure is out there!

It's raining, it's pouring

My first day as a commuter!!! Except for the small fact that today it started to rain. Rain is a normal occurrence in many parts of the world. Not in Lubbock Texas. It rains bi-monthly and since it rained two weeks ago, I really though I was set for the next six weeks. It was even pretty when I left. Within minutes of jetting off on my cute new bike, the heavens opened and it poured down on us. Luckily, it is a short commute of about 2-3 miles. Is it sad when I can get to work faster on my bike than in my car? Anyways, through my sarcasm, it was a lot of fun and I am excited that I am able to have the opportunity to do this!
In other exciting news, I keep being a weenie about this whole triathlon thing and procrastinating, but there have been so many great blogs lately about the exciting races everyone is doing and I don't want to feel left out anymore. So I am committed to one in September. It is close to home, the swim is a pool swim so a little less scary, and it should not be too hard. Honestly, I am more concerned about transitions than I am anything else. But, I think this is something easily doable and September gives me enough to time to get ready for that run.....oh running, how I loathe thee.