Hi, David

I had to give my husband a shout-out, because I am pretty sure he's the only person who is still subscribed to this blog, since I haven't updated since two summers ago. Oops.

Since I last posted, we've moved to Texas, and I gained a bunch of weight. I also cut all my hair off. Sigh. I think on the day of the triathlon, I weighed round about 200, maybe a little less. Now I probably weigh about 220. SWEET TEA IS GOOD, OK?? And Sonic will serve you 44 ounces of it for like a dollar if you go at the right time of day.

My most recent accomplishment was polishing off a jar of Nutella in one week. Yeah. It was like a compulsion. It was in the house, so I had to eat it. I was actually relieved when I took the last bite and threw the container in the trash. Mental Jennifer is mental.

In true JenontheRun fashion, I have a plan! Yesterday, while utilizing my time at work to the best of my abilities, I registered for the Zooma Austin Women's (even though men are allowed, which I think is lame, since it's billed as a women's race) Half Marathon http://www.zoomarun.com/austin.
There are 133 days until race day. I'm not tooootally out of shape, but I do weigh 220 pounds, so there's that. I did a fitness boot camp a couple months ago and was able to run a mile in 12:47, but I haven't run since then. I take that back. I've run twice.

Suffice it to say, I have not been doing a stellar job. Stay tuned to this blog to see how it turns out. Will Jennifer successfully run the half marathon in March 2010? Will Jennifer become the next contestant on the Biggest Loser? Will Jennifer drown in a vat of sweet tea?

I am a triathlete... so now what?

Because I am sometimes a little slow on the uptake, I didn't realize until today how much of a toll not working out has taken on my mental state. My husband was out of town for most of the week, leaving me to tend to the boys, so I didn't get to work out at all until yesterday.

I swear it was the best run ever.

I've just had this cloud hanging over me since maybe last Tuesday or so. Worried, stressed, FAT, just all-around not great. Though I did manage to lose a couple of pounds while David was gone, so that was good, especially since I was up two pounds the day after the triathlon. I almost had a heart attack when I stepped on the scale that day. Wha? WHY? I am blaming water-retention. Ya? I mean, I didn't go out and eat my weight in ice cream right after the tri. So anyway.

I've been entertaining some pretty lofty ideas with regard to my future as a triathlizer. We're considering a move to Austin, TX within the next several months. I am not going to name it, but there is a certain triathlon that takes place in Austin during October of each year.

I'm thinking 2010 would be my year to do the race that shall not be named.

I'm going to begin following a much more, um, ambitious training program starting tomorrow. I've got a lot of weight to lose, and I don't want to waste energy carrying all this extra weight. So if you see me out at Coldstone or something, slap whatever I am eating out of my hand. Ignore the tears I will shed as I watch my sweet cream with peanut butter cups melt on the floor. I'll be ok.
I went to a birthday party for the son and daughter of my former college roomate (did you follow that?) yesterday, and I rocked my "Tri Mom" visor. Most people probably were wondering, "Um, she wants us to try her?" But I still thought it was cool. haha Don't mind the bra straps.

Tomorrow is a swim workout, possibly a run in the morning if I can drag ass out of bed early enough. The husband has a PFT in two weeks, so I need to make sure I don't hog all of the available workout time like I have over the past three months.

I have officially selected my next triathlon: The Subaru Women's Triathlon. It's a sprint distance. I am going to try to find an Olympic distance one to do after that. And I am definitely going to do the End of the Summer 4-Miler in August. I did it last year while training for the Carlsbad Half Marathon; it was a good run. Hopefully this year I will be faster. I'll be hopefully 30-35 pounds lighter by then than I was last August.

Two Steps Forward, Three Steps Back

Man, did I ever fall off the wagon over the Independence Day weekend. :/ I had been doing so well, and I suppose what I ate wasn't horrible, but it certainly wasn't exemplary eating.

When I mess up with eating like that, I tend to be way harder on myself than is probably necessary. I'm very gloom and doom, you know? I had pizza at Costco on Saturday. Not even an entire piece, but I am still kicking myself. I also made ice cream two times over the weekend, and of course I ate some of that. Oh, and brownies. Phew. I feel like I just confessed. It could have been worse.

I worked out on Thursday, took Friday off, worked out Saturday, and took Sunday off. I am afraid to weigh myself. I need to stop it! It is hard to make myself understand that one weekend of questionable eating is not going to undo all of the hard work I have put in, however crappy I feel afterward. It does remind me that junk food is not the stuff of which successful athletic performance is made. So anyway.

On the heels of that weekend and all of my self-doubting, my triathlon outfit came today. Oh, man. The shorts give new meaning to the term "muffin top." Wedding cake top? The only way I look ok from the front is when I pull the shorts up to "mom jean" height, but then terms like "camel toe" come to mind. I bought my tight tri outfit, and now I must run uncomfortably in it. Ug. It's so cute, though! Until I put it on.

All in good time, right? All in good time. Five months ago, the outfit probably wouldn't have fit me at all. Just because I don't look good in a tight outfit made entirely of shiny spandex, doesn't mean I haven't made any progress at all. It sure feels that way, but I know it's not true.

Race day is Sunday. I'll be there and I'll be ready. I just need to get past this little mind game I've got going on.

Can't Sleep... Vampires Will Bite Me

I really couldn't come up with a good subject line, and we're watching 'Underworld,' so...

Yesterday I set out to do a 15 mile ride, but after ten miles, I decided to do a brick. I stopped at my car and threw on all my running gear and set off on the trail. Within the first couple hundred yards, my right calf started cramping up with each step. Ow. I ended up running only maybe a little more than a mile, so I guess I wouldn't exactly call it a brick workout, but at least it was a bit of a transition practice.

My husband bought some bananas for me to help with the cramping. This morning when I left for work, there were four bananas left. Tonight when I got home from swimming, they were all gone. ::sad face:: I haven't bought bananas in a long time because I try to buy fruit and veggies that were grown in California (where I live). Sadly, there are no local banana growers. You know, climate and all. So anyway. I forgot how much the kids like bananas. (a lot) They also killed all but one of the pears David bought. Little fruit monkeys!

Back to training!

So today I took my wetsuit to the pool and swam in it. I think I've decided that I don't like swimming with the wetsuit. I do feel faster in it, however after about 200 yards, my arms were already tired. I think if I swim in a wetsuit, it needs to be a long john style one. It's possible that the wetsuit is a tad bit too small for me in the chest area. I swam about 300 yards and then took it off and finished my workout. I also spent about twenty minutes helping one of my lane mates with his butterfly stroke. It was fun!

Tomorrow is the Braveheart Brick Session at Mission Bay. I did it last week and it kicked my ass. I am looking forward to it this week. 1) because I now have my LOOK pedals and bike shoes, so I will be able to get some transition experience, and 2) because I want to see how my fitness has improved over the last week. I've been working pretty hard.

I am hovering around the 200 mark. I was 203.1 yesterday morning. I am hoping to hit the starting line at 199. How cool would that be?

T-Minus 13 Days

Wow, so tomorrow is July first! Thirteen days until The Big Day. No hyperventilating (at the time of writing. I make no promises against future panic attacks). I'll be ready.

I am finding myself more and more exhausted. All day at work, I was dragging. I was dreading my swim workout, but managed to make it through and actually get a really good cardio workout in. I'm slightly amazed that I didn't fall asleep while backstroking, to be quite honest.

As I mentioned in my last post, I just found out that I am anemic. I don't think it's that big of a deal-a lot of people are anemic-but it is a big hint that I need to get on track with some sort of training diet. Two granola bars and a Slim Fast do not an athlete's diet make, though that is all I had today prior to swim. It's not that I am intentionally not eating, I guess I just forget. And forgetting is a lot more of a big deal when you're working out six days per week, than it is when your main activity is cultivating your secretary spread (see: me, twelve weeks ago).

So anyway. Research will be done on some proper nutrition guidance. Share it if you've got it! :)

I did have somewhat of a victory today, despite the shakiness I felt walking onto the pool deck. I'm overweight, right? I don't know that I have ever really liked the way I looked sans clothing, but it has definitely been a few years since I caught myself walking by a mirror on the way to the shower and thought, how you doin'? Last night I caught a glimpse of myself and noticed that maybe there isn't so much jiggle going on back there as there used to be. Cool. My husband also cat-called me as I walked by. Normally I would roll my eyes, but I tried to take his construction worker flattery to heart-I really am working hard, why shouldn't he think I am looking better/good?

Back to today. Today after I finished my workout, I gathered my belongings and walked across the deck to the locker rooms... with no towel covering my legs. And I felt ok about it. Good, even. It was a pretty awesome feeling. This isn't to say that I am going to chill on the working out and rest on my laurels, I still have a way to go, but it's nice to see results.

I decided on what I want to wear for the triathlon (and the world breathes a sigh of relief). I am a big fan of Skirt Sports workout clothing. I own the Tri Swimsuit, the Gym Girl Gripper skirt and the Compression Fit BikeGirl Skirt, all of which I adore. (And both the skirts are on clearance, so go check them out. They FAR surpass the running skirts Target sells.) Since I am such a fan, I decided to try out their triathlon line. I give you, my tri outfit: Well, ok, just the top. As it turns out, black shorts aren't all that exciting, but the top is cool! I plan to wear a sports bra underneath, and lots of BodyGlide, because I am afraid that my sports bra isn't going to turn out to be all that water-friendly.

I am the only one awake in the house, not even Hammie is up running around. I am going to pack my bag for tomorrow (I can't decide if I just want to do a bike ride, or if I want to do a brick) and follow suit.

Stay classy, Internets!

Midnight Oil

Why does it seem that I do all of my updating at night, when I should have already been asleep for hours? Ya, I've got kids.

So yesterday, I got in a great run. I originally wanted to go for 45 minutes, because that is approximately how long it takes me to run three miles. Thanks to the procrastination monster, my running time was cut down to thirty minutes (I had to go pick up the boys from preschool immediately after the run). I ended up doing 2.2 miles in thirty minutes, which comes out to about 13:40-ish minutes per mile. Ok, that is pretty awesome for me. I was pretty stoked when I got back. I felt great and knew that I had worked hard.

This morning I met up with my training buddy, Margaret, and we rode 15 miles around Miramar Lake. Like the run, the ride was pretty awesome. I feel like our training is really paying off, and we are gaining more and more confidence with every workout we do. I think we just might not die during the triathlon!

Now that most of the training is taken care of, I have shoes and pedals and a bike and all that fun stuff, one thing is looming over my head: OMG WHAT AM I GOING TO WEAR? My husband is absolutely loathe to let me spend any more money on this endeavor, at least not until I've shown him that I am going to stick with it. I need to find a trisuit, an inexpensive one at that. All signs point to such a thing being non-existent. I'm talking $50 bucks here. I know it must be out there! Have you seen her?

Last week I had some blood work done because my doc noticed that it had never been performed when I transfered into his care. It turns out that I am anemic. Wha? I don't even know what to do with that. I do know that some dietary improvements are in order, one look at me makes that need quite obvious. I guess I am just surprised. But now I have an excuse to be tired and need more sleep! Right? Right. Iron pills and spinach, here I come!

It all started with a televised triathlon

At least, I think that is how I decided that I wanted to do a triathlon. I don't really remember for sure. Maybe I just woke up one day and my mind was already made up somehow. Either way, I am training for my first triathlon. Well, have been training. It's in 17 days. ::stops to breathe into a paper bag::

See, the thing is that I used to be one of those super-competitive people who ran six miles every day and said words like "fartlek" and "I'm going to run twelve miles today." Then I did what a lot of women do (and apparently that one guy up in Oregon or wherever): I had two kids. I went from a size eight to a size 18. My weight topped out at 226 before the "holy crap, what are you doing to yourself" survival instinct kicked in. Or maybe it was just that I got sick of working with a bunch of giggly size two girls. Not sure. So I've lost 20-ish pounds since that realization, but I've still got a long way to go before I reach the magic number.

I get bored with working out pretty quickly, especially since I am most always alone while doing it. Training for a triathlon has been perfect for my ADD-having self. I never get bored because I never have to do the same thing two days in a row. It's wonderful, really. I've also hooked up with the fine folks of the San Diego Triathlon Club, and they have been awesome and helpful and fun and friendly. It's nice not to have to do every workout alone anymore.

That isn't to say that I don't do my share of solo workouts at odd times of the day/night. Having two kids affords me the opportunity (that is how I am putting it. an opportunity) to head to the gym at times like 10:17 PM, where I get to witness what is probably the gym's most interesting clientele pumping iron while I run on the treadmill or pump away on a spinning bike.

I did my first open water swim last week, it was nowhere near as horrible as I thought it would be, and I was the only one who cared whether or not I was the fattest or the slowest one there, which I wasn't (wasn't the slowest, anyway).

That's me, there in the white cap.

So anyway. Me = formerly sedentary, even more formerly fit, now training for a triathlon. I am going to use this blog to keep track of the ups and downs and ins and outs of my training, for this triathlon and beyond. It's going to be fun and I can't wait to share it with you.