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!

Slacker...

I'm such a slacker! I have lost all motivation! Really, I don't know if it's the heat or what, but I'm fading. I only have until mid Sept and I feel like I'm starting from scratch. I know I can do this, yet my desire is fading. Josh is doing great and he's going to be completely ready. Hopefully my mojo will come back and I won't be a failure. Come on determination...find me again!

Ah the training...

So over the past couple of weeks, I've lost a little poundage which is nice, but there is definitely still more to go. Due to the lack of training that happened, Josh and I won't be doing the tri in July. Instead we have found one in mid-Sept. So I would like to complete at least one Sprint Tri, which is .5 mile swim, 13 mile bike and 3.2 mile run. If there is more than one available, I'd like to do them also, so I can continue to improve. But then I would like to move up to the Olympic distance by Sept of '10, 1/2 Ironman by Sept '11 and finally a full Ironman distance by Sept '12. I figure I'd better have some specific short term goals, but also some general long term goals too!
I think my biggest hurdle will continue to be the running. I don't like to run. For me, running with out a soccerball is basically torture. :-) But that's okay...I'll push through! So wish me luck and hopefully it will all work out!

Starting over...

It's been a while since I have posted here. Some things have happened in the past couple of months that have made my training for the tri take a back seat. Now that I am back in the saddle, it's almost like I'm starting all over again. I put on some weight...sad but true and am working on getting that under control. So square one, here I am. Maybe someday I will go more in depth as to what set me back, but right now I feel as though I should keep it to myself. Maybe I'm not quite over it yet or ready to talk...who knows.

So last night I worked out with my friend and it was nice to have someone to chat with (through the huffing and puffing), it makes the time go by faster. I'm going to start the running training in July. Now that it's summer and we have better weather and more daylight...I'm hoping it will be SLIGHTLY easier to motivate myself.

I will update again, when I have a few more days of training under my belt.

The beat goes on...

For school I enrolled in a personalized fitness class, which is basically a self study. You work out, turn in logs and get credit for it. I also enrolled in an early morning weight training class. I really don't mind getting up and going to work out...but I can totally put it off normally. Well since I am being graded, I really don't have the option of putting it off. :-)
This morning was nice. I got up, went to work out. I was on the elliptical for 30 mins and on the treadmill doing my couch to 5k for 25 mins. For my personlized fitness, I had to turn in what my weekly work out will look like. I think if I can stick with it, by July I will be more than ready for the tri...I'm putting a lot of faith in myself!! :-)

Running, Day One

So tonight I started my running training. I'm a pretty sucky runner. Seriously. I played soccer most of my life and never had a problem with running. If I was dribbling a ball I could run a six minute mile. But the thought of running just to run, not to score a goal, not to steal the ball...it's just not appealing to me. I know, I know finishing the race is the drive, the goal...but that doesn't work for me. I restarted Josh's couch to 5k. I think it's a good way to reintroduce me to running again. I have to remind myself that I WANT to do this. If it was just swimming and biking, I really don't think I would have a problem at all...but for some reason, I just canNOT get into the running. Maybe I need someone to hold a Snickers bar in front of me to chase. Or maybe I just need to buy a soccer ball and dribble it everytime I run. Or maybe I just need to suck it up and realize that part of the Tri is a run and just DO IT! We'll see how it all goes!