OK, so I'm feeling either completely awesome or completely insane.
Why?
Well let's see, I'm planning on doing a triathlon Dec 4th that consists of a 300 yd swim, an 8 mile bike ride, and a 2 mile run. That doesn't sound too bad now does it? Even if I am completely out of shape (which, admittedly, I kinda am) and have never run 2 miles straight in my life. I have a whole month to train for that.
But wait, there's more!
During the month of November I will be participating in the Lazyman Ironman competition. I have one month to complete a 2.7 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride, and a 26 mile run. (and...I get a t-shirt!) But that's still not too bad is it? A Lazyman Ironman would be good for training for a triathlon.
Oh, but it get's better.
On November 13th I will also compete in an outdoor 5k turkey trot. If I manage to complete the run close enough to my predicted time I win a free turkey for my families annual all American turkey dinner!
Ok, two triathlons and a 5k may seem a little much, but that's still not too bad if I stay focused. However, I'm also competing with personal health history. My athletic experience includes: one year of soccer, one year of swim team, about eight years soft ball, and nine years of Jujitsu. That's it.
In High School I was the dorky fluffy book girl who wanted to be one of the tall funny wire muscle bound girls on the basketball team. If you had asked me to run I would have said, "cha, dream on! Coordination I have, but speed? I poop out after running the length of one block!"
Still, being fit is one of my life long goals. I just hadn't felt motivated to do anything about it until college. I've tried a couple of programs, (Weight Watchers, Jillian Micheal's website) but I find that if I have a program it just gives me an excuse to blame the program and not my eating habits or lack of exercise. "I'm paying money, the weight should just magically come off!"
Uh, no.
Every program has told me that it's all up to me. And I'm a firm believer that if you want something to happen for your body you've got to love your body enough and want it bad enough to motivate yourself to do it. Don't count on a workout buddy, don't count on a programs motivational speeches, that's all just nudge work. If you want to be fit, the only person you can count on to get you out that door is you. Don't expect someone else to drag you by the hand to where you want to be. Just get up and walk!
With that attitude I've toned up a bit, but I haven't really lost any weight. I blame my lack of self-control when loving roommates offer everything from fresh brownies to 5 buck pizza! And the fact that I love free weights and find cardio workouts to be a bit boring.
But these races have lit a fire under me. I want to compete and I want to finish something that I've never done before. I don't have to win, I just have to finish. And we'll see what a whole month of heavy cardio and a little weight training will do for my plateau problem.
I haven't been under 180 lbs since I was 12. My whole adult life I've bounced between 188 and 195. The last time I took a skin-fold test I was 33% body fat. It's time to break the cycle! I'll have another test at the end of November to see it there's been any progress.
Wish me luck!
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