Karma

My last post was titled "Take That!" Well, the universe just said, "Take That!" back to me!

On Monday, I was going on a ride with hubby up the Jordan River Trail, just minding my own business, when a mosquito flew in my mouth. I turned my head to spit it out and lost my concentration on the road for a split second. And that's all it took.

I landed at high speeds in the brush and bramble and rocks and dirt at the side of the trail. I was wearing a helmet, but I didn't hit my head, because Murphy's law is too smart for that. Instead, since it was the first time I rode my bike this season without a jacket on, I landed firmly on my arm.

Then my sweet little 6 year old followed her big brother's example and jumped off the swing two days later. She landed on her arm and ended up with a slight bend in her bone near the wrist and blood in her elbow joint. We're quite a pair, me in my huge-monguos bandage, and her in her sling.

So, almost a week later, I'm still in major pain, I have a bandage big enough to need an Ace bandage to hold it on, and I've been to the doctor 4 times. And I haven't been able to work out since! Argh!

It's especially frustrating because this is the last week of my second BFL challenge. And I've been depressed because of my arm and my inability to work out and my daughter's arm, that I've been comfort eating. Lame.

I need to get back in the game, and I need to do it pronto. I just don't know what I can do with this arm. The last thing I want to do is strain it and interrupt the healing process. But there's no reason I can't be eating healthy. *sigh*. I'll get right on that. :o)

Take That!

Today, I set a goal to run just one mile. As fast as I could. I've been keeping track of how fast I can run a mile, within a larger race - 20 minutes, 5K, or whatever. But knowing I still have a ways to go keeps me from pushing myself as far as I could go, obviously.

So, I set a goal to break a 9-minute mile, because my best time so far is 9:17. I figured I'd have to run an average of 6.7 mph or higher to hit my goal. And instead of running intervals like my usual runs, I just ran, increasing my speed each minute, and at the end, every 1/10 of a mile. By the end, I was running 8 mph, which I've never before hit on that treadmill.

My official time: 8:41. Wooohooo!

It was pretty sweet. And one thing that helped me to really push myself was knowing that I was stopping at 1 mile. Not 10 minutes, but 1 mile. So the faster I ran, the sooner I could quit! :o)

On another note, my friend Ali caught me yesterday not eating clean. And I have to admit, I haven't been eating clean lately. Some days are worse than others, but I don't think I've had a /true/ clean day in a while. Time to kick it back up a notch or three.

I joined the gym

I really had no intention of joining a gym. I'm pretty happy working out at home, and I like the freedom of just doing it on my own time. And I have most of the equipment I need to get pretty good workouts.

However, now that I've added swimming to my regimen, it costs $5 every time I want to swim at the Legacy Center. In other words, the $$$ are adding up fast. 'Cuz I don't have a pool in my basement. (DANG!)

So, when my dear, dear hubby went to renew his Gold's Gym pass, he got together a handful of guys at work to all go with him. By bringing them a bunch of business, he was able to negotiate a really good deal. It works out to $10 per month. And his company reimburses their employees for some of the money they spend on health/wellness, even if it's for family members. So, what the hay, right?? And this is for the VIP pass, which gives us up to 90 minutes per day of free day care for all of our kids.

Plus, the gym in A.F. is under new management, and they've upgraded everything. For instance, half the treadmills have a TV screen attached to them so you can watch your own show while you're running. Sweet! :)

And I get a one-hour session with the best personal trainer they have at the gym for free, along with some body testing and an individualized diet plan.

Um, hello. No brainer. :) So I'm looking over the info, and they have all these classes, and I'm getting so excited. I'd been planning to just use the gym for swimming a couple times a week to get my money's worth, and then do all my other workouts at home. But they have so much stuff, and I could hit the gym for an hour every day after I drop the kids off at school.

. . . Then again, I don't have to go work out. I could come home every day after I drop them off and lay around in my PJs that I didn't change out of before leaving the house and read my friends' blogs.... Hmm....

Anybody else have a Gold's Gym pass? Wanna meet me at the gym every one in a while for a Power Pump class or what-have-you?

:)

Oh, and a side note: I ran a 5K this morning. Yes, it was freezing. Pushing the buttons on my MP3 player hurt because my fingers were frozen solid. But I came in at 30:20. And I actually passed a few people. Wow, what a feeling!

Lindsay, am I gonna see you at the 5K in May? Anyone else???

I'm a Triathlete!

I was sick from Sunday through Wednesday, so I was really glad yesterday when I felt 100% myself again. I don't think I did quite as well as I may have if I'd been training hard all this last week instead of laid out on the couch.

But, nonetheless, I completed the Tri and finished in good form by running farther in 20 minutes than I ever have before. Don't ask me how that's possible!

I think it's partly because I usually exercise in a fasted state and do intervals, whereas today, I ate a small bowl of oatmeal with a few raisins, some buckwheat, and about 1/2 Tb of blackstrap molasses sprinkled on top an hour before the race, and I mixed a protein recovery drink from the health-food store into my water for sipping throughout, while running at a very steady pace instead of going up and down.

Yes, that was an impressively long run-on-sentence. But I think it works. :)

Anyway, the swimming portion is definitely my weakness. I need to train a lot more in the water if I want to attempt to race in a real sprint-distance tri. I was able to swim freestyle at a pretty constant pace the whole 10 minutes. I probably could have done a little better, but I'm really pleased with how well I did do. I never had to stop and catch my breath or switch to backstroke or anything.

The bike was a little painful. It was done on bikes in their spin studio. They had the resistance on the bikes set too easy, which I would have thought would be a good thing, but when you're trying to go as fast as you can and your legs are getting jerked down by the pedals, it's annoying. Plus, I have a serious case of "biker's butt" now. :-P

As far as the run, it was sweet! I've only recently been able to break 2 miles in 20 minutes. My best distance ever so far has been 2.113. But today, after swimming and biking, I ran 2.2 miles in 20 minutes. I absolutely couldn't believe it. It probably has a lot to do with the energy I got from the food, but still.

All in all, I'm pretty proud of myself. :D

My New Ride

Dig my new wheels, sista'.

I am so excited about my new bike! Could you tell? :) It's a Specialized Dolce Elite '09 model. A real road bike. Yup. I'm serious.

I'm so excited to go for a ride. If I could just shake the last dregs of Strep that are still hanging on from the weekend, (Yuck!) I'd go for a ride. I just can't stand living this close to the trail and not using it. DH rides his bike nearly every day in good weather, and now that our oldest is old enough to be in charge for short periods of time, I want to get out there, too!

Plus, if I want to be a triathlete, I have to have a good bike. :) (Not that I /really/ want to be a serious triathlete or anything. But I did want the bike.) :D

Challenge 1 - Done!

I just finished my first BFL Challenge! I took bikini pics, but I don't think the world's ready for that yet. :D Good thing I also took some fully dressed pics. I thought I'd put them up because I'm so excited about how well I did! Honestly, I still have a long way I want to go, but I am really proud of how well I did.

I hope these pics can help inspire anyone out there who is struggling with finishing a challenge or feeling like you're not getting results. I wasn't feeling like I was seeing any results either! Even just 3 weeks ago, I was telling DH that it was discouraging to see myself the same in the mirror after trying so hard and feeling so much better and stronger. And he insisted that I did actually look different. I'm so glad I took these pictures so I could look back and see just how far I really have come!



So, now it's on to Challenge 2. I'm training for a triathlon on March 21, and I'm planning to also do the Rex Lee 5K at BYU on the 14th. It's for Cancer research, so I'll probably go whether I feel ready or not. :) But I did run 4 miles the other day and didn't die, so I think I can handle it. I just haven't been doing any training outside and I'm afraid of the hills!

Anyone want to come with me to BYU on the 14th? Let me know and we can carpool.

I'm gonna do it! Anyone else in?

I've decided to do the Triathlon. Just to prove to myself that I can do it. I don't know how fast I'll go. I don't know whether I'll come in last, or just third from last. LOL! But I want to finish. That's my goal.

Part of the reason I want to do it is to get some variation in my workouts, and to have some extra push and motivation to work out more and take my training to a new level. I'll be adding some extra cardio beyond the BFL HIIT, and let me tell you, swimming is absolutely a kick-butt workout! I can't believe how much harder it is than running. At least it is now. Maybe once I get into it, it'll get better.

I also have plans to do a 5K in March, and a 10K in June or July. The 5K is mostly just to get back in competition mode, and to see how much faster I can go than I have in the last couple of years. It's also a charity race for cancer research. There are some hills, as it's at BYU campus. I hope I can hold up. The 10K is because I've never run more than 3.1 miles at a stretch, and I want to prove to myself that I can do that, too.

The 10K I really want to do is called The Crack of Dawn 10K. It starts up the mouth of Emigration Canyon and it starts at 6 a.m. And there is no parking at the starting line. You have to have someone drive you up there /really/ early to drop you off. We'd have to leave at least by 5 o'clock. Anyone want to carpool? Anyone have someone who could drop us off? :D

Even though it's so early and that will be a challenge, I bet the scenery is gorgeous as the sun is coming up, and the race is pretty much all downhill from what I gathered from the webpage. If I don't do that one, there are 3 different 10K's on Pioneer Day - one in Salt Lake, one in Provo, and one in Spanish Fork. The benefit to doing one of those is that I'll have an extra month-plus to train. But I'm going to do one of the 4 for sure.

Our neighborhood will surely do a fun, free 5K or two this year, and I'll participate in all of them that I can as well.

Wish me luck with my races this year!

P.S. I'm losing weight and I'm down from a 16/tight 14 to a comfortable 12, and a 10 in one brand. WooHoo!!! I'm going to finish a BFL 12-week challenge in one more week!! :D It's a good feeling.