I am a Triathlon Finisher!

Sunday, September 30, 2012

I did it! I finished my first Sprint Triathlon!

Was very difficult! I didn't train as much as I needed to or would have liked. But I did it!

I came out of the water feeling strong. I even passed a few people from the wave before me. They pulled two guys out of the water that couldn't finish and that helped spur me on!

Bike was the most difficult part as I predicted! Rain and wind was definitely a factor. It rained quite a bit on the bike portion making me even more nervous of falling. There were times I wanted to quit but just couldn't do it! Kept envisioning that finish line!

The run- was half a trail run which by this time was mud. I didn't get to run much of that as I was very tired and scared of hurting myself. I ran when I could and walked when I needed to.

Great feeling! If I can do it anyone can!

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I Tri'd it and survived!

Saturday, July 07, 2012

The Kerrville Multi Sport Club put on a "Mock" Triathlon today and I had a great opportunity to go and do it and I learned so much!

Got there at 7AM and they had an information session for the first hour. They talked about technique on all three events. Discussed transition areas and what the rules are etc. Things to bring and think about for the real Triathlon.

Then it all started... I did the open water swim which turned out to be 550M in about 15 minutes. Had a little trouble relaxing and getting my breathing straight. The swim itself was not difficult I just need to relax and breathe properly.

Out of the water and on to the bike.

I had to do the spin bike inside but still got my 15 miles in. I realize it's not the same as the regular bike, however I felt it was the best option while still getting comfortable on the bike and recovering from my fall last Sunday. So I hit the spin bike and got a good 15 miles in. Felt good.

I wasn't really planning on doing the run as I hurt my knee pretty good in the fall. It's still swollen but I felt good and got caught up in the moment and wanted to push myself to do it all!

So off on the run I went. Felt good at first but ended up walking a lot of it. Was pretty hot out and that really affected me. I am just not in shape enough to be doing all that so it was no surprise that it was a struggle.

The "experts" that were there to help us were amazing! One of them was really encouraging to me during the run portion and that was invaluable!

So all in all I completed a Triathlon just need to get that bike portion outdoors.

The important thing is that I know I can do it and now I have a much better feel for how it will be. I have 12 weeks to train and make myself better! I need to bottle some determiniation!

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Mock Tri Eve

Friday, July 06, 2012

Got on my bike last night... rode for a bit and felt ok with it. Got a long ways to go before I am riding any huge distance. I would love to be able to get on it and just ride away... feel the wind in my hair and just go.. get away from it all. One day I will.

Tomorrow morning is my practice Tri. After my fall last weekend I probably won't be doing any running but it will be good to know where I am at with the training. I am nervous and excited! I know it's going to be very hard but I will get through it.

They are calling this a mock tri since we have options to do it all indoors or outdoors. There will be experts there to talk with us and give us pointers. The company I work for is sponsoring the Triathlon so I think this is pretty cool that they are doing this mock tri thing so we can feel a little more comfortable.

Will let you know how it goes!

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Fat Girls Journey to Traithlete

Thursday, July 05, 2012

I am pretty sure I have completely lost my mind signing up for a Triathlon on Sept 29th!

So I have decided to blog my journey in hopes that I might inspire myself along the way to make better choices in my life and keep me motivated. I ain't gonna lie this is purely selfish behavior but maybe a few of you out there will join me on this journey and probably have a few laughs at me along the way.. so keep on reading as I try to update as often as possible and give me any advice you care to share along the way.

I am not new to SparkPeople by any stretch of the imagination. I joined in 2006 and proceeded to lose 75 lbs and ran my first half marathon in 2009 with some amazing women. Since then my journey has been very rocky and I have gained back 50+ of those lbs I lost.

So this crazy chic I work with told me that a big group of people were doing this Triathlon and I should sign up. In a moment of unadulturated denial I signed up thinking..... HA I got this! No Problem!!! This was obviously my 50lbs ago mind thinking for me!

But signed up I am and I am not about to look like a complete idiot so I am at least going to give this the good ol' headstrong chic try!
Begin my journey....

I can swim. Not a huge problem for me. Open water swimming is no issue- give me a current to swim against and well.. it definitely gets more difficult. I am slow and I have bad form... but I will get from point A to point B eventually without drowning. I am a good floater so if all else fails I float and take a break and start again. So long story short on that I am not worried at all about the swim part.

Riding a bike is a whole nother story. I grew up in the country. We didn't ride bikes because we only had dirt roads and mesquite thorns to contend with. So my bike riding days ended in 2nd grade. The bike scares me a bit. I really would like not to fall (too late- keep reading). My balance and steering leaves a lot to be desired.

So a guy at work that plays around with bikes built me a "Frankenbike" that he put together for me that will be enough to do the trick. Has more of a hybrid frame with road bike tires (not the crazy skinny one's but skinny enough). I chose to have straight handle bars and I will sit more upright than a road bike. But this is good enough to start with. The first night I got on it my husband stood in the driveway laughing at me. This is what I have to deal with. A cop pulled up and was talking to my husband about me not having a license for that thing... I guess I was swerving a bit! LOL... so insert husband AND cop laughing at me... ok ... not funny people! I only rode it up the street and back the first couple of times. The 3rd time I decide to get brave and ride a few streets over and contend with the hill to get back to our house but I made it... (barely!).

So then I think... OK to get some miles under my belt I drive it down to the flatter area and I think I got about 7 miles in without any major issues. Confident now right! I take off last Sunday morning... got everything I need and I am gonna blaze 10 miles no problem! Or so I think! Get about 1.5 miles down the road- a dog comes out of nowhere and my front tire goes off the sidewalk (in my defense it was a pretty decent drop from the edge of the sidewalk to the ground) my bike goes one way and I go another... I hugged the sidewalk. Lots of bruises later (including my ego) and I work to fix the bike right there thinking maybe just maybe I can keep going. Well... I bent the handle bars so I had to call for a tow truck... LOL

Hubby proceeds to tell me that I need to learn my limitations and maybe I should just stick to running. Insert... hmph... more determination and stubborness now. Wrong thing to say babe!

So I have a hugely bruised knee and plenty swollen. Haven't gotten back on the bike yet but just had to share... Lots of other bruises popping up reminding me I am no Lance Armstrong or any female version of him... Get checked out by the doctor and she proceeds to show me her beautiful knee scars from falling off bikes as well. I feel better now. (not!)

Not confident I can run after a long bike ride but I am going to work on that! I just need to lose some of this weight and it should get easier right? Please tell me that!

I am doing a practice Triathlon this Saturday with lots of experts to give us pointers etc. The cool thing is I can do some of it indoors or outdoors- so I think I am going to do the swim outside on the actual course I will do in Sept. Then I will probably take my docs advice and do just the Spin portion inside- then depending on how my knee feels I can just walk off the 3 miles or call it quits for the day. We shall see!

The bottom line is I am extremely unhappy at the weight I am at, I have this great challenge ahead of me and I have you to help get me there.... once you wake up from your nap after reading my boring post... LOL

So catch up with me next time as I update you on my progress...

I can do this... I can go from where I am at now... to completing a Triathlon!

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Ugh...

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Not doing so well... lately. I have got to find a way to put all the pieces together in my mind. My eating is not controlled and exercise is sporadic. I hurt my back so I am fighting back from that. Have gained quite a bit of weight back and just feeling discouraged.

I did a 5K a couple of weeks ago and I'm planning on doing a 10K the end of this month. Even if I have to walk damn near all of it I will finish.

I would like to get back into running but struggling with the time aspect. I just need to start making it a priority!

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