New to Triathlons, New to Shropshire. An Orthotist tracks her training with a love of spreadsheets, graphs, photos and prose.

Thursday, December 31, 2009

goals for 2010

1. make exercise a regular thing in my life.
2. compete in a race, either running or cycling.
3. lose some belly fat. i'm not committing to losing a certain amount of weight, just what comes off naturally with the exercise i plan to do.
4. cook more healthy meals. i love to use butter and lots of cheese. find a way to make tasty food with less fat.
5. bake more. learn to make tasty gluten free breads and cake. and eat them in moderation.
6. always, always take the steps.
7. remember every little counts.

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

small steps

partial success report. i did go to the pool while staying at the hotel. i went on boxing day morning. i trotted down in pjs and popped in to the loo to don my bikini. on to the pool, only to find it was closed for another 10 minutes. given the christmas season, i thought i could get a little christmas cheer from the receptionist and asked if she could open it up ten minutes early. "oh it will open automatically at 9am". so thats a no then...? i dont get it, the gym opens at 5am, why do i have to wait for the pool till 9? also, can't you just open it for me...is it really that disobedient?

i didn't want to go back to the room for i would wake the better half, so i sat in the breakfast area watching the news. filled with shot dead security guards, fallen bridges in india, and oh yeah, accused airplane terrorists from nigeria. so im not that happy about having to watch it, even if good to be aware of. 9 am rolls on and the pool door still doesn't open. *shrug* so i walked bare foot on the treadmill for 2 minutes. tried the pool again, this time its now 9.04 i'e been down here for 16 minutes and damn it i want to swim! again i asked the receptionist "oh its not open?" no! "oh, okay, i will over ride it." omg why could you not have done that like 15 minutes ago?!! so i took a 15 minute swim. totally admitting t o the fact that i really didn't push myself, i swam pretty much none stop for 15 doing breast stroke. but the pool was only maybe 15 feet long so i swam diagonally to get about 8 strokes each length. yes, a pathetic pool. but i got in it. on boxing day. and swam for 15 minutes. pat on the back. small steps.

but my plan to join the gym was burned by the enrollment fee and i didn't manage to get a deal for the $20 key card for the door. its a 24 hr club and is unmanned for a lot of time. so that, and the 19.50 for the enrollment; i got half price. and 40 bucks a month. so i pay for 3 months use for the price of 4. i can't be sure i would get 40 bucks worth of use in a month never mind 50. now it seems unreasonable. i'd rather buy a purse. i did. but i'm working on a plan now i've talked myself out of the snap membership. get back on track. small steps.

Thursday, December 24, 2009

swimming

i'm excited, our hotel has a pool and i'm taking my swim things, maybe i can get this body working out earlier than proposed.

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

training plan

honestly i would be happy just to exercise regulary, but somethings always get in the way so i thinhk if i have a plan for the next 3 months, a goal to complete, i may have a better chance. so...

day one (i hope this is on monday or tuesday after christmas).
walk/run for 30 minutes. This will be tough, i know it, i still remember starting the last time, it hurts, its exhausting, but i know i can do it. walk for 5 mins, run for 5 walk for 5 run for 10 walk for 5.
then do some upper limb weights and some ab work.

day two. the same walk run as i want to do this the next day. same upper limb and ab work.

day three which will be after a day off. see if i can increase the running and only walk at the beginning and end. weights.

this is my first goal. complete 3 workouts with one day off. i'm keeping it small, keeping it realistic and maybe i won't scare myself off. bite size pieces.

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

getting started

currently sitting at a typical 153.5lbs

last exercised november 14. cardio 45 minutes on my bike (outside, it was a lovely day).
before that, october 22,23,24,25 totaling two hours. again on my bike as it was probably lovey days and light evenings. before that, sometime in september.

do you see the pattern? yeah, there ain't one, and that's the problem.

like most other people, when i exercise i feel great. during, after and for the rest of the day, so why is it that i can't maintain a regime? i don't go all out and schedule something that i cant keep up. i have tried a schedule in the past then if i miss it i feel bad but then don't catch up as its 'not on my schedule'. i have tried just planning on going out everyday then if i don't feel up to it, its no big deal as i will just go tomorrow. this actually worked the best and for about 3 months i had been clocking 60-70 miles/week on my bike plus some strength training. i'd recently had a gym membership, for 4 years but after not using it for months and months, i reluctantly plugged that particular hole in my wallet - even though by that point it was only $25 a month, and i hated the idea of giving up such a sweet deal, but its not cheap if you don't use it.

so i decided to get my bike out and cycle instead. this worked all summer as i found i love cycling outside, i love that you can rest but you are still working a little and that you can rest but still be moving. i like doing hills, both up and down. then it got cold and dark (and i mean cold and dark - currently i live in wisconsin, and currently its snowing but gets way too cold to snow quite frequently) and so i bought a bike trainer. i then realised how much i hate cycling inside. there is none of the joy of outside cycling, no moving when not working, no wind in your face, no petty scenery whooshing by, just failure when you stop when your muscles are burning.
                              
 i have a Wii fit but there is very little room in our house to use it properly and is such a task to prepare the room it puts me off. i have a blue ab ball, resistance bands, hand weights (if you can call 3lbs a weight!!). I like to hike, but wisconsin is as flat as a pancake. so, with all that, i've almost  tried and tested everything, i have opted for the only other thing i can think of.

                        to blog about it , blogging my way to fitness.
                                                                      
i read a few running related blogs, all very inspiring, though chicrunner is my fave. one i recently started reading, the girl decided that she would sign up for a triathlon even though she really wasn't a swimmer and really isn't that hot on a bike. her race report was engrossing, motivating and inspiring. much like danica's; miss chic runner.  in fact it surprises me how enjoyable it is to read a play by play of someone who's running. this is what draws me to want to compete. i've thought about it in the past, i have no sporting accomplishment and damn it i want one! in fact, it was then that i decided that the only way i could ever  enter a race was to do as she did, and just go and sign up for it, ignoring the fact that ones body is in no shape to do such a drastic thing. these type of things only really happen in the spring, summer and autumn months here in wisconsin, so i will have to wait. wait that is, until i get to england where we will be moving to in the spring. but in the mean time, i decided that i would join the gym once again, for 3 months before we leave. its 2 blocks from my house open 24/7. how lazy would i have to be not to go?