Stealing from a friend...

...who has decided not to post how much she weighs, but how much she has lost.  I think this is a great idea and in an effort to get to my goal weight and restart my tri training I'm going to do the same thing.  Each week I'll post my weight loss.  So far I have been losing the baby weight without really putting any effort into it.  I'm down 34 lbs since I had Hudson seven weeks and five days ago. :-)  Too bad I'm still a good 25 lbs from my goal weight. :-(  Oh well, it will happen.  Since having Hudson, I've had my six week check up and I'm clear to do all the normal stuff that I should be doing to keep my body healthy.  The easiest thing I'm going to do is stop drinking so much soda.  I'm not going to cut it out completely, because I would just be setting myself up for failure.  However, I need to cut a big chunk of it out because I've been drinking way too much of it lately.  Also, my super awesome brother and sister in law got us a fantastic double jogging stroller for Christmas.  I'm very excited to use it and get my bum in shape.  So those are my first two goals and Mondays will be my weigh in days...so wish me luck! :-)

I'm BAAAAAAACK! :-)

Okay, so here's the quick rundown, that most of you already know...So the whole running thing got a little difficult for me. Because I was pregnant! We have now added adorable little Hudson Peter to our family and he is just precious! He is almost 6 weeks old now so I can hopefully get started back into working out and training for a tri! Just in time for the upcoming season! Life is crazy busy right now, so I'm just going to have to do what I can when I can. It would really help if they would actually plow the snow off our road, but whatever. :-) Our family will also be joining the fitness center just down the street...it has a pool so that should help! It will probably be slow going and I'll be lucky if I'm ready for a sprint by the time the season comes around, but oh well! It'll happen! :-) I'm going to make it happen! I think I only have three years to my deadline to be in the Ironman in Kona...so I'd better get crackin'! :-)

Just when you thought I was gone...

So I know you may be thinking “Wow, we having heard from Paula in a while…that slacker!” In all honesty, I HAVEN’T been slacking! We’ve gotten ourselves a little running group going. Jenn, Lisa, Gena and I all faithfully follow Josh on what is now a 5k run/walk. We run for 3 mins, walk for two. Josh and I are also going to be doing a 5K run on 04.17.10. So that should be fun! A few weeks ago we had a SUPER nice couple of days so we pulled out all the bikes, got tires fixed/pumped up and took a couple short rides. We really haven’t done much with the bikes since then but it’s supposed to be getting nicer so hopefully we’ll be getting on our bikes more. We still don’t have a place to swim, but we’ll be working on that here pretty soon.  We’ve also been doing an ab workout after we run that Josh put together for us and if you get a chance to do the Biggest Loser Weightloss Yoga…oh my gosh it will kick your butt…but it’s awesome!  So really I have been making some headway. I don’t feel like I’m going to die every time I run…although running is still not my favorite thing to do. Coming up in May I believe is an short tri and the swimming part is in a community pool…not nearly as difficult as open water so I think that will be a good one to start with! Cross your fingers for me that things keep going well!! 

Look at me...I'm meeting a deadline! :-)

So I gave myself until today to set up some kind of schedule for my training. I was trying to think of what would be the best way to do this and I realized that until Josh gets here, I'm a little limited on time and options. Also my schedule will currently EXCLUDE swimming...seeing as we don't have a place to do the swimming just yet. So here it is...it's simple and there aren't exact times, but it's a start and I'm hoping it will help me stick to it.

Mon, Wed, Fri : Running - in the evening. I went for a jog a couple of weeks ago and Ryan came with me. It was short, but it was fun and we were able to talk all about his day. The only downfall was that he likes to jog holding hands with me (completely sweet, I know) so it's a little more difficult. :-) Also after we get our tax returns, we are going to see if we can find a deal on a jogging stroller so Cole can go with us also. So then we are getting some family time in AND exercise! :-)

Tues and Thurs : Biking - in the evening. Yes, I'm doing all my exercising in the evening. And that's okay...as long as I'm doing it, right?! This is also going to take some tax returns. :-) First of all...as you all may remember from my trip back in the summer to Idaho...where I killed both tires on my bike...so yeah, I never really got those fixed. I know, I know...SLACKER! Also, I would like to get a comfy (but inexpensive :-)) bike seat for Cole so he can also enjoy our rides. Ryan has learned to ride his bike and I think could keep up with us for a little while. For Josh and I, the bike riding is the easy part. Yes, we need to be ready for the hills and the distance, but in all reality...it's riding a bike. We aren't doing this to win, we are doing this to finish and try our best. And if I can get my babies out there, exercising and spending time with us then that is most awesome! :-)

So there it is...my "schedule". Simple, but what I need and also includes my family with me. When we figure out where we are going swimming, I'll add that. I'm thinking it will probably be Wed and Sat mornings and on Sat we can take the boys with us because they both LOVE swimming. :-) Am I happy that I got this done...yes. Do I feel accomplished at all...no. I haven't actually DONE anything yet...when I do, I'm sure the feelings of accomplishment will overwhelm me! :-)

Someday...

Someday I'm going to look back on this blog and think...man...it really took me a long time to get into the swing of things with something that I "apparently" want to do so badly! So let me start from the beginning...

When I started this blog it was a way of motivation for me to do something that I had always thought would be amazing. Something that I really wanted to do and was now finally going to get on the ball and do it. Well not long after that decision, Josh and I really hit it hard and we did pretty well. Then our own personal tragedy happened when I had a miscarriage in May '09. It wasn't something we talked about with many people outside of our family. Although it was hard for me physically to get back into the swing of things, it was the mental toll that I was not prepared for. That took much more time to recover from than I ever thought.

It finally happened though, were I was back at a place mentally that I thought I could do it. Josh and I did well, even did a "mock tri" that neither one of us did TOO horribly on. We both participated in a "fun run" and also did pretty well on that. After that, the rain of Washington set in and I lost the bulk of my motivation once again. I don't mind be cold, but wet...no thanks. Unless I'm showering or swimming, I see no reason for me to be soaked.

Josh has been amazing, keeping up with his training. He's doing great and I have NO doubt he could finish a tri if he entered one tomorrow. Me on the other hand...not so much. Believe me, I have all the desire in the world...what I don't have is motivation. Two things generally stand between me and the training I must do to be the triathlete I've always dreamed of being. I will explain these to you...

1.) Sleep. I LOVE sleep. I love getting good sleep(which for me is rare). The thought of getting up before the sun and sacrificing those precious hours of being snuggled up in my warm, soft bed is almost enough to make me panic. Also, I'm a grouch when I don't get decent sleep. I know, I know. You are thinking "Duh Paula, most people aren't super happy when they don't get decent sleep." Well you OBVIOUSLY haven't met my sister, the woman runs off maybe four hours a night! And you OBVIOUSLY haven't met me. I'm not just a grouch...I'm the kind of grouch that strangers cross the street to get away from and makes children run passed my house. I'm more than just irratible, I'm mean. So as you can see, sleep is pretty important and it's hard for me to let go of. Not the best reason in the world, trust me I know...but it's still a hurdle for me.

2.) And this is probably the BIGGEST one, my children. You see, since it's so hard for me to justify losing sleep and getting up early to train...it's even harder for me to leave my kids after I've already been gone all day at work. I want to be with them and spend time with them. I don't want to get home only to leave again, or get home even later than I normally would and miss out on that special time with my boys. My time with them on weekdays is limited, so to me it's precious. Time with them is non negotiable.

So now you see my dilema. I want to be a triathlete, but I love my sleep and I love my kids. I have to find a balance. I have to be diligent. You don't just wake up one morning being able to compete in a triathlon, you have work for it, earn it. I'm going to have to sacrifice to make this happen. Since I won't sacrifice time with my children, I'm going to have to sacrifice down time, a little sleep and find a way to incorporate my children with my training. I'm giving myself a deadline of this Friday to create a plan of action. I'm going to catch up with Josh and I'm going to be a great triathlete!! (at least that's what I'm going to keep telling myself! :-))

There, I've laid it all out there. So wish me luck!

Third times the charm...right?

So over Labor Day weekend, we headed to Idaho to spend the last real weekend of summer with family. It was a beautiful weekend and Josh didn't let me forget that we still had training to do. So we headed out on Saturday morning for a bike ride, the first one we have gotten to do together! About a mile from home I got goatheads stuck in my tires...yes...BOTH tires...so within two blocks from my grandparents house, I couldn't put my poor bike through anymore torture. Without any of my weight on it, my rims were basically on the ground! BOO! So I walked it the rest of the way and then Josh made me sweat a little more with a run. The heat just about killed me and I probably would have committed murder for a glass of water. But I lived through it.
However, my poor brother and sister in law whom we depend on far to much for help with the kids will not be in Seattle the weekend of the 20th. Total bummer. I was however lucky enough to find the last tri of the season in this area! It will be Columbus Day weekend! I'm sure the water will be ridiculously cold in Mid October...but we will survive. So I'm hoping that the third time is the charm and we will get to participate in our first Triathlon!
I'm also excited for Ryan too because they have a kids tri and now that he has learned to ride his bike without training wheels he gets to participate!! YAY RYAN! So please keep wishing us luck that we will get to keep going with this!

First go...

So on Saturday, Josh and I took the boys to Mayfield lake so that we could do a "mock tri". I did a little better than I thought I would, but I know that I really need to pump things up in the next thirty days.
Josh did amazing! He's seriously such an inspiration! We each did a 360 meter swim (only 40 meters short of the 400 we need!), a 7.2 mile bike (only 5 miles short of what we need) and a 1.5 mile run (1.5 miles short of what we need). Josh had a good time of 1 hr 6 mins. My time was FAR from stellar at 1 hr 23 mins. Both Josh and I were talking about how crazy different it is to swim in open water than it is to swim in the pool...the nice, temperature controlled pool! You also feel COMPLETELY disoriented after the swim! Now I know why it takes people longer in their first transition...when you get out of the water, your legs feel like jelly and your head is spinning. It's definitely a weird feeling.
So we have decided that each weekend we are going to go back to the lake and keep doing our mock tri and upping our distance each time in hopes that we can get up to the full distance. The sad thing is that this is only a TRY a Tri...so it's just a baby tri! I told Josh that in a couple of years we are going to look back and laugh at how hard it was for us to do this first one...but it will all be worth it in the end!
As I have said before, my goal is to finish...and it would be nice if I didn't finish dead last. :-) I'm proud of us for sticking to this and keeping each other motivated, although Josh's motivation far outweighs mine! :-) So there is the latest update on my journey to become a triathlete!

PS...Happy Birthday to me...I'm 30 today!