I'm Around, Just Lazy and Piggy

I didn't track points today. There, it's out. I ate a Thai dish today that was rice noodles, chicken, sprouts, and lettuce.....it was sauteed in a wok, so I know it wasn't good for me.



Enough about food.



I have a PT appointment finally! Just in time, as the knee is back to it's bad old ways and I have had to stop running. Yesterday, hubby and I took the bike for a spin, since the horrible bike shop wouldn't take it back and I needed to keep getting used to it. Unfortunately, the knee hates hills on bikes, too. So today I hit the pool and did my 3 500-meter time trials. To give the knee a break, I did one TT with my pull buoy, which ended up being a full minute FASTER than the ones I did kicking! Go figure. Anyway, still had some pain this evening, but at least it's not going to do more damage.


So with the fresh injury but my new appointment with the physical therapist, what did I do? Why, I signed up for another race!!! Triathlon #1 is now the Santa Barbara Super Sprint on the 25th (edited-- NOT racing on a Tuesday!) of August......500 meter swim, 6 mile bike, 2 mile run--- a cake walk! In fact, even with the knee injury, I could do it now and do it easily. So I'm psyched. If I have to walk the run, I walk the run, right? At least I'll be getting some of these jitters out of the way before the Pacific Coast in September. THAT is my big kahuna.



Tomorrow is another open ocean swim. I'm not so scared anymore, although stupid me found a Great White Shark website that lists shark sightings on the Pacific Coasts, and already this year a few fins have popped up around the beach where I swim. Ugh. At least there are no real attacks in the past 50 years in Orange County. (Must keep telling myself this) Hopefully surfers are tastier.



OH! I forgot. Wanted to add a picture of the plane on Saturday. I'm still proud of myself for that one. Have to include my proof:

And I'm *STILL* Alive!

Wow, I'm just a lucky girl today.

2 lifelong fears conquered in less than 24 hours. No wonder I ate french fries at Chili's tonight. (Shhh!!! Don't tell anyone......I ate half of hubby's because my firecracker tilapia tasted like vomit) Oh! OKay, back to the fears....

So, #1 was the ocean swim. More afraid of riptides and currents and the "unknown" more than anything else. Had a blast.

#2 was flying in a prop airplane. A small prop airplane with no flight attendant. Hubby goes off the payroll at his flight school in the next few days, and with that goes his ability to take a plane for a spin with family. Nobody in our family has ever flown with him except my sister (another pilot), so I knew that this was important and I had to do it. Cried the whole way up there...yeah, I'm a wuss....but didn't let him see. When we got to the plane, he did a very thorough pre-flight and explained everything that he was doing to me. Boy, does he know his stuff! I was so impressed. By the time he got me strapped in, I was feeling totally calm and trusted that he would take good care of me. By talking to me about what he was doing the entire time and keeping the plane at steady altitudes (even doing a slow descent so as not to freak me out), he got me through it. Now, I can't say that it was FUN, but I did it! Got to see my man in action, and boy, is he good! I'm so proud and now I can see why he got hired for that pilot job. They will be very lucky to have him, as he will take great care of his passengers and crew.

So, that's the day in a nutshell.

Tune in tomorrow, when I face fear #3: returning very expensive road bicycle because it's defective. (3 tuneups in less than 10 miles over 2 weeks---- I hate the thing and refuse to take it out for a ride again because I may get stranded!)

Open Water Rockstar

Woohoo!!! I'm back! I'm alive! Yes!!!

Can you tell I'm relieved? We had a blast this morning.....met up at 8am at the beach and started talking about how to approach the swim. We learned about the stingray shuffle, dolphin dives, and sighting the buoys, then played around in the surf getting used to the waves. We also practised repeating our self-affirming mantras. I know mine should have been "I am Triathlon Barbie. I am strong and lean!" But mine was "I'm a rockstar. I'm a seal!" (Yeah, who would have thought?) So, I stayed on course, forgot about the fact that the shore was a good 1/8th mile out, and just did my thing. And I loved it!!!

Anyway, there's the two minute update. Now I need to freshen up and get ready for my first flight with DH in a Cessna 172. It's his last day on the payroll at his flight school, and he desperately wants to take me up flying for the first time to show me what he can do. I feel like I really need to do this, even though I'm scared to death.

Wish me luck again!

(Oh, and thanks for the good knee thoughts....the treadmill helped a TON last night and loosened up my quad muscles-- seemed to give my knee a break and let it get into a better position. So, going slow this week, but still proceeding as planned!)

So, I'm Triathlon Barbie....

...but what happens if I cripple myself and can't actually get to the triathlon? I won't be Barbie then.

I've been plagued by this all day long and had a nice mental breakdown on the phone with my Dad today. Knee hurts now. Flat out hurts. Not just the weird swelling and "keeping it at bay" kind of pain, but real pain. It's totally runner's knee, but it's there, and it's a hindrance to my training. I don't know what to do?! What can a Dr. do for me at this point? Rest? Physical therapy? I refuse to rest-- I'm not giving up on this. I've dropped a ton of money on this training and equipment, I love the sport, and I really, really enjoy my time out there in training with the group. The thought of not doing it is absolutely devastating to me.

But on the plus side, I did just get back from the Running store and bought me a new pair of shoes! That was one of the top recommendations for "preventing runner's knee" that I read online. So, I got a great pair of Mizuno's which, so conveniently, happen to match our Tridiva triathlon uniform. SCORE! The real victory here, though, is that I had to run on the treadmill for 2 minutes for each pair of shoes I tried on.....so I made it for roughly 15 minutes (if you count the footstroke assessment) with no major pain! Yes, when I stop and sit for a while, I get it again.....but there is hope.

Tomorrow morning, we are at the beach at 8am for our motivational speaker and open water swim clinic. Although scared, I'm kind of excited to get it over with. We have a great sports psychologist coming who is going to give us some pointers on overcoming fears. Think he could help me out with this fear of not competing/injury thing?!

At any rate, thanks for the reunion dress opinion. I am going to head over to White House Black Market this weekend and try it on and see how it goes. Their dresses this season are a bit too revealing for my tastes, so we'll see if I flash anybody. ;) Have a good weekend!

High School reunion....closing in

And I am in desperate need for a dress. It should have a v-neck. I'd prefer to avoid the empire waists with the fabric that hangs off you like a triangle and makes you look like a block of cheese. Anyone seen anything lately? Is this little thing too conservative? Just something else to worry about.

Everything else in life is okay. Am resting from the triathlon stuff for today. My knee is feeling weird (as in, "new" pain, this time to the inside of the joint) and my legs are tired, like I worked out really hard even though I didn't. I almost went home sick today because I was so exhausted, but I got my second wind at lunchtime when our development partner on a deal I'm working with started getting all squirrely with me. (I love a good challenge) So, that's about it. I think I'm finally getting caught up on everyones' blogs. Wish I knew how to update my weightwatchen "last updated" list in my sidebar!

T is for Truffle Shuffle

OMG, I totally feel like this today. I hate Aunt Flo and all associated with her.

Today = Bleh

I HATE that TOM. Hate it, hate it, hate it. It's even worse without the pill to calm it's effects, but what would I prefer--- cramps or fevers? I'll take the damn cramps.

Anyway, I took the bike for a spin tonight with my new cyclocomputer. I ended up stopping constantly to try to figure out how to get the damn thing out of km/hr. I mean, what am I going to do with that?! Also tried out my brand new triathlon shorts. Girls, these things are AWESOME!! By Pearl Izumi....they magically lift your rear and separate your thighs. It's the best illusion ever and if I could wear them everywhere I would. Somehow they make me feel better about my poochy belly. Anyhoo, the bike ride. Bleh. I had no idea how far I went, and ended up turning around and coming home because the daylight hours were fast disappearing and I still had to get in a run in mountain lion territory. (I know, silly me, but someone was eaten less than a mile from my running path a few years back and they do come out at dusk)

On my way up to my place to put my bike away, I saw my first tarantula! I have to say, it was kind of cute and I really wanted to help him across the road. DH wanted me to go back and get it so we could have a pet, but I don't think so. Don't they eat mice and stuff? I can't keep an insect. I'm mammalcentric.

Anyway, slooooowww transition at my place, as I had to tell DH how pissed I was about the bike's breaks. (Last mile or so, the front brake was touching the rim-- what gives??) Swapped out my gear, then headed out on a run. Instantly felt like crap, but was determined to get at least 15 minutes in.....

Well, I did them, but I was whooped. Went from 5 min run/1 min walk to 4 min run/1 min walk to 2 min run/1 min walk. Totally, totally drained and not anywhere near as strong as I normally am. I did the calculations from mapmyrun and it looks like I did 1.8 miles in 17 minutes, but boy was it a struggle.

So, that was my night. Cramps. Back pain. Pissed off at the world. Hating myself. (Pooch hangs over EVERYTHING!!!! And I'm starting to not like how I look in photos again...got the double chin back) HATE LIFE. I guess it's contagious around here these days. We're all in a funk, it seems. I'd respond, but we keep losing power here and I've already tried to write Colette twice!! Anyway, I'm reading....just not responding because I'm lazy and tired.

I'm not even going to tell you what I ate today. (It's not like it was bad. There was just a lot)

Hopefully tomorrow is happier. PLEASE. I need a happy pill.

You CAN Do It

This just in-- our first group Diva photo from training last week. I'm the last on the right. As you can see, triathletes can come in all shapes and sizes and STILL rock it.

I'm Injured!

Well, it's not so bad as it sounds. But I've done a job on my rotator cuff with my mangled swim stroke. Coach let me meet her at the pool after a lesson today to take a peak at the stroke and see if there was anything she could do to set me on the straight and narrow. Low and behold, after 50 meters of watching, she identified the shoulder (left!) and then proceeded to tell me exactly what I was doing wrong and what drills I could work on to fix it. We did a few in the pool, and they felt fantastic. Woohoo! But she said that was enough for now and to go home and ice. So here I sit, typing away in some pain (but it's totally tolerable), with a bag of frozen vegetables on my shoulder.

The good news is that I got my bike back! Shop boy says it works great, but I can't expect much from the front derailleur because it is the bottom of the line. (Honestly, you'd think for $700 you'd get something better than the bottom of the barrel, but that's a topic for another day) Anyways, looking forward to putting some miles on that puppy!

Some of you have asked about the knee. It's OK. I've done lots of reading, and my knee is pretty common. It's sometimes called "Runner's Knee," and everyone seems to get it. Pain and swelling under the knee cap....feel it more going down stairs or downhill as opposed to going up. Harder to straighten and bear weight than to stand and bear weight. Fortunately, mine has stayed pretty manageable. It might feel a bit wonky after a hard run, but with ice, it doesn't ever get the shooting pains or the horrid swelling from a year and a half ago. I've been reading Runner's World online and they have some awesome pictoral IT band stretches that I've been trying to incorporate while drying my hair in the mornings and getting ready for bed at night. Trying to be efficient, ya know? (Except I almost fell down doing squats and curling my hair yesterday morning and DH woke up from a sound sleep!)

T minus 5 days and counting til' the dreaded first open water swim in the ocean. Ah!! Fresh on the heels of a sewage spill. I can feel the excitement already.

You girls and your jungle sex are way too much to handle. I love it!!! Is it harsh for me to admit that I much prefer getting on Blogspot and getting a good laugh these days? It's tough work maintaining 2 blogs, but you guys rock. And I like that I can write about exercise and I'm not a freak. And look at how many doing C25Ks!!! That is so awesome. I shall now proceed to convince each and every one of you to do a triathlon by this time next year.

Well, time for bed. Hopefully the cat behaves tonight so I can get some good shut eye! Little bugger....love him to death, but he's an only cat and if we don't run his orange booty off before bed, he is sometimes an early riser. ;)

The Aftermath of a very bad dinner

This morning started out early, and not so promising. Our celebratory Ruth's Chris meal didn't sit too well last night, and I felt like it might even be difficult to MAKE IT to my run practise down the road. Quick side note here: if you want to lose weight, do not, under any circumstance, go to Ruth's Chris. Holy cow-- can you say butter?! Butter is one of my lovely IBS triggers, and although I specifically requested none on my plate, I swear the essence of it was enough to upset me. ;) DH's steak was swimming in a pool of butter, and the butter was pooling in the mashed potatos he ordered. Really, truly quite foul.

Moving along...... I made it to practice, and we had a great session on heart rate training. Then she sent the Olympians (they are the crazy ones doing 1 mile swim, 26 mile bike, and 6 mile run) to do their 5 mile workout while the rest of us opted to do a more manageable 3 miles. Although hurting for certain in the tummy department and having to hit the porta-potty while everyone started, I managed to pass most of the women before the mile and a half marker, and I finished 3rd or 4th in the end with the 3 miles in 29 minutes and 32 seconds--- a personal best! I should eat Ruth's Chris more often, you're thinking. ;) At any rate, I was super excited because I broke the 10 minute mile barrier for the first time ever, and I didn't feel like death warmed over in the end. Just think, a little over a month and a half ago I felt like I was going to collapse after a mile and a half! I heart me some walk-run.

So, the non-runner didn't do so bad. I'm happy. New gorgeous bike is in the shop, getting a souped up tune-up so that I can shift out of 1st gear without trouble. In the meantime, I think I'll suffer through my mountain bike a few more rides. It appears that the biking is getting the shaft in my training so far, so it's time for me to step it up and get out there some more. I can't keep swimming so much, as I'm not really that bad at it.

All the girls are doing the Solana Beach Triathlon next Sunday, and a part of me really wishes I'd had the nerve to sign up. Unfortunately, I'm still slightly petrified of this open water swim and one day of practice (next Saturday-- the horror!) isn't going to do it for me. So on the sidelines I shall stay until September. I'm getting nervous already!

Now I have to shower up and go enjoy the rest of my weekend. Performance Bike shopping spree, anyone? ;)

It's too darn hot!

Yikes....not even 11 and I'm sweating bullets at my place. We slept in this morning to recover from the craziness that was our week. Between the job interview, trip to San Fran, early morning meetings, and our 11pm charity dinner/auction last night, dh and I are absolutely whooped! But happy. Thank you all so much for your good wishes and congratulations--- we are beyond excited to finally get his career up and moving along after all this time. He leaves for training either August 6th or August 13th. It's the first time I've ever been excited about him leaving me!

This week, my tri training sort of got the shaft. While I have managed to accomplish all of the regularly scheduled workouts, I feel like my 3 days off were way too much. I'm bursting with energy and desperate to do more, even though I had no time at all on those days I had to be inactive. (If you can call walking the streets of San Francisco inactive!) This morning, I'm heading off to the gym to do a swim workout. Looks like it's a lot of intervals, so I'll probably be hating life. I love long and slow! I think she's trying to show us that if we are good swimmers, we won't notice much of a time difference between "all out" and "hangin' out," so there is no point in burning yourself out in the swim. I've been reading about all these open water swims with undertows and currents, and I am seriously FREAKIN' out!! When I was a kid, I tooled around out there with no problem. Why is it that now, when I can understand it all, I am petrified? We hit the beach next Saturday, and to say I am nervous is a total understatement. I love me some lake...but the ocean?! Help me?

Tomorrow is heart rate training session #2 and then a 3-5 mile run. Although it would probably be good for me to hit the 5-mile run, I don't want to push my knee more than I have to so I'll probably opt for the shorter run. The knee is a troublesome beast, as you all know. Thankfully, I am scheduling my week around the runs so that I can recover in between. Can't wait to get my bike fixed and try it out again.....except most of our rides now end in a run, so I'll probably be swimming more!

I don't want to tell you what I ate last night. Charity dinner, no option to leave it off the plate--- so I ate it all! Filet mignon, colossal shrimp in a cheese rum sauce, basmati rice, steamed veggies, almond pound cake with fruit. Oops. I'm going to try to get back on track today, because all this eating out has left me susceptible to temptation. And poochie. After all this time I *still* have this freaking pooch on my tummy. I could scream! Am going to have hubby take more pics this afternoon and see if 2 1/2 weeks has helped at all. What good are rock hard legs when you have an ugly stomach? Ack!

OK, enough about me. I'm going to go grab some breakfast and hit the pool.

He got the job!!!!

All that worrying, and DH went in there and did his thing....walked out with a stack full of training manuals and a big grin on his face. Guess who's married to an airline pilot?! (Daughter of one, sister of one....you'd think I'd want to run away kicking and screaming)

So, that's my big news. Back from my trip. I am absolutely exhausted-- we were go-go-go the entire time, even scheduling meetings at 6:15am. I am not a morning person, so this didn't work out so well with me. Ate at some horrible restaurants (don't you hate it when they don't listen to you when you ask for dressing on the side, or when you order an egg whites and they come slathered in cheese?!), some good restaurants (but horrible in the calorie department), and walked so much that my feet are in a world of hurt right about now. My swim practice tonight was just perfect, as we hit the lake and went for a nice, long, relaxing swim. It was peaceful and calm and solitary....just perfect. Want to exercise tomorrow, but have an early start (and refuse to get up early-- too sleepy!) and then have a charity event to attend at 6pm. Talk about a pain in the rear. Oh well! Will just have to do more over the weekend and in to next week.

Sorry for the run-on, but I had a lot on my mind! Will catch up and read everyones' entries over the weekend. For now, I'm going to go love up on my kitty and then go to sleep. Starts all over again tomorrow....

Weight Watchen "recently updated"

OK, you guys have asked, so here's what I now. Somebody who I unfortunately forgot created this thing list and I have no idea how it works or how to change it. But here is the code that you cut and paste into the "add page element" on your dashboard....

Well, crud. I can't figure out how to post the html. Ugh!! Let me work on that in a few days...am packing for my 2-day trip right now and must get to bed. Sorry!

My new toy...the pride and joy!

So here's what I've been freaking out about for the past month or so.....my new road bike! After trailing 4 women on road bikes today (there are 30 of us, and these 4 were the only ones faster than me) and seeing how little they were working on our hill intervals, I had enough. So had DH. He says that since I make the coin dog, I should be able to get a toy. A fast, super cool toy that will hopefully get me past those 4 women who were ahead of me! Ended up with the tangerine orange Trek 1000 SL. Total entry level bike, but it will do me well in my sprint triathlons. You know what this means, right? It means more races in the future!

I over-analyzed this bike thing, like I do with everything else in my life. I figure my swim is my strongest leg, followed by the cycle....and then I get my butt handed to me in the run because all these triathletes are ex-marathoners. So if I can edge ahead of them enough in the swim, transitions, and the bike, maybe I can hold off their charge in the end? (Gosh, who would've thought I'd get competitive over this? In 2004, I just didn't want to be last!)

According to Sparkpeople, I've only eaten 1350 calories today. They want me to eat 1880, minimum. Um, not gonna happen! I've already eaten 4 of my 6 activity points, and aside from maybe a Popsicle or an apple tonight, I don't think I'll be eating too much more. Gosh, I really need a nutritionist.

Have two days of travel coming up here, so I'm trying to think what I can do in downtown San Francisco to stay on my training program. Hotel pool, maybe? I know those are gross, but I didn't get swim itch from the lake so I'm feeling adventurous here. The food I'm not so concerned with. We're being wined and dined by general contractors on one day, and the next day I'll be with my Zagat-obsessed boss. If there's anything I've learned, it's that fine dining establishments will prepare whatever you like, even if it's against their core philosophies. So I can order a nice grilled chicken breast and veggies with no added oil and butter, and you know what I'll get? Exactly that, only it'll taste amazing anyway. Not that I'll be very hungry. Tuesday is DH's interview day. I'm a nervous wreck already. How am I supposed to be cool and confident in my meetings on Tuesday (and get on the airplane, which is an ordeal for me in itself) when I'm so stressed out and nervous for him?

Can somebody fast forward me to Wednesday, please?

So, that's my update. As usual, menu is up on Weighwatchen. I'm going to go stare at my bike now and dream about beating people. ;) (You know, in the race sense, not actually fighting....)

I Ate SO MUCH TODAY

I'm going to yack, right now.

Ugh.

Why?? Why do I do this? My day went downhill at 1pm when I was feverishly working on a project for corporate and only had an hour for my deadline....I was multitasking and dealing with other issues at the same time, and had a meeting at 2pm to get ready for. So when asked to go to lunch, I declined. And got hungrier, and hungrier, and hungrier, until I hit the break room and devoured not one, but two whole bagels!!! To top it all off, I decided to screw it tonight and had mexican for dinner. Chicken taco salad. I knew it had cheese and chips in it, yet I didn't realize it'd be swimming in them. Instead of not eating it, I ate every last bite. EVERY last bite. I feel HORRIBLE!!!

Anyway, am fessing up here, but not on Weightwatchen. Everyone seemed to have such fabulous days over there, so I'll just rain on the Blogspot parade. :)

Tomorrow morning I'm swimming. A long time, for endurance. It won't burn off everything I ate tonight, but what can you do?

So, good night! Don't feel bad for me. I deserve my fat tummy. I'm an idiot. And I can admit that.

Activity Points

So, everyone asked if I eat activity points. The answer is yes!! But how I calculate them is a little different from the WW method.

First, I think the slider thing is a little weird. I mean, I sweat when I exercise-- does that mean I work out "hard" every time? I just don't buy it. So I go to Sparkpeople.com and plug in my cardio to their database, and it tells me how many calories I probably burned. I can put stuff in like "10 minutes of running at 10-minute mile pace," or "spin class" and it'll spit out the right amount of calories, since I've got my weight in there. So if I burn 800 calories during an hour-long workout, I give myself 1 point for every 100 calories. I'd like to say I don't EAT all of them, but most of the time I'm starving and I do.

So there. I eat activity points. I gain weight. I don't eat activity points. I gain weight. What the ????

OK, I already said I was over this, so I'll stop. Am taking another progress photo in exactly one week, and will stop and see if there's a difference after 2 weeks. DH thinks the belly fat is harder to pinch (so kind he is to pinch the chub), so at least that's encouraging.

Time for bed!

Sometimes there aren't enough points in the day

Ever have those days when you blow through points and then want to just go right to sleep because there's no way in hell you'll ever overcome the urge to eat when you get home?

Oh yeah, that would be me. I have 6 points left tonight, and I know my ravenous self is going to down far more than that in the next few hours. I can't help it! It really stinks to be a woman. Why can't I be my husband, with his lightening fast metabolism and constant cravings for things like cereal, bagels, burritos, and egg McMuffins? I'd be fat, but I'd be constant!

I'm just sitting here icing my loser of a knee, dreading the morning and hoping against hope that it's just angry and not blown. Am contemplating calling the doctor and getting back into physical therapy, as those people are miracle workers and perhaps they can keep me going through the triathlon? I ordered that icey gel stuff you guys recommend, so just waiting for it to arrive.

Tomorrow is our first open water swim, but we'll be at a Lake. I'm kind of excited, but this just means we are getting closer and closer to getting in the ocean. There was a swim clinic tonight down at the beach that I almost had to be a paddler for (someone who goes out with the swimmers and follows on a paddle to make them feel safer), but thankfully they didn't need me.... Anyway, I'm so scared of the ocean swim! To top it all off, there's this thing happening right now called the "grunion run?" I guess it's just a gazillion little fish that swim to shore every night. Ew! I'm a mammalcentric person and have no love for fish. I can swim in jellyfish, but anything called a "grunion" is something I can live without. Wish it'd just get over with.

To top out all this angst (knee, open water swim, hunger), I'm a wreck about my hubby's upcoming airline interview. We've waited for 3 years and been through tons of training for this very moment. I hope they like him!!! Man, I'm just a wreck. Can't sleep at night, nervous stomach.... Gee, no wonder I eat all my points.

Food log is over on Weightwatchen. Am trying to be responsible and diet-wise over there, but I'm sure I'll get kicked out when they realize I just can't seem to lose weight anymore. ;) Just kidding! I think Roni has created a really great site over there and people seem to be doing well......but I will try to keep updating this with other content as well.

I Miss You Girls!

It's so lonely over on Weight Watchen right now.....there was a time when I had more comments than posts. Those days are definitely gone--- I feel a little uninspired to post right about now. ;)

I think this group over here has been on WW a little longer have gotten over the fact that this is a lifestyle that we must maintain for as long as we want to stay on the healthy side of life. I do remember the days of starting out, but for me, the stories of all you ladies who are getting closer and closer to goal or are struggling to maintain are really what keep me going.

Has anybody's eating habits changed over the course of their time on WW? For me, I've started seeing my 22 points as not a whole lot of food. Instead of grabbing a few 100 calorie packs and still being hungry, I now think about how to best use my allotted points to hold off hunger and give me the fuel that I need to keep on throughout the day. 3 points on nuts used to freak me out, but if it stops me from eating 6 on junk halfway through the day, I consider it a bargain! I've also gotten totally programmed when eating out to select the best items on the menu.....I just don't order pizzas or sandwiches or big salads anymore. I don't miss them, either! (I have caught on to the salad curse--- these restaurants put 12 points worth of toppings on them and then douse them in 8 points of dressing--- voila! the whole day is ruined!)

Anyway, just wanted to let you guys know I appreciate your comments and enjoy reading your blogs. Will search you out over on the "other side," even though I can't quite seem to make my page look aesthetically pleasing. ;)

With that, it's time for my pool workout!

Tri Talk and Other Fun Stuff

Not so sure what to think of all the strange blogs on Weightwatchen these days!!! I have to admit, I miss the way things were....and I do miss our little group here on Blogspot. It was too good to be true having all my favorite blogs show up on the same server. ;)

Can't say that I have much to add over here, though. Tri training is a blast and I'm finding that my body is feeling better and better as the weeks go on. I was afraid that my knee would act up over all of this -- and it still might -- but it is responding very well to all the exercise. I took some "before" pictures on Wednesday, and I think I will take them every 2 weeks or so in the same embarassing outfit so that I can use them for comparison purposes. My hubby took them and laughed the whole time, saying it looked like a mug shot with sports bra and spandex!! He's so supportive! Anyway, I'm a little afraid to post them at this point. I think I might black out my head. You know, in case they get circulated around the internet and I plan to run for office one day. ;) We shall see.....if I am phenomenally successful in changing my body over the next 10 weeks, then perhaps I'll feel better about posting my photos on the internet. I know this, though. My size 6 shorts are tight, and this is not a good thing!

Got some great news yesterday about my husband. He has an interview for an airline, finally! If he gets the job, he'll be in training during my high school reunion AND triathlon. Go figure.....he misses both triathlons I've done. Buy hey, I'll take it! I contacted my good friend from high school and we are going together-- I'm his designated driver. He is gay and not wanting to tell the world about his new boyfriend, and my hubby will be in training (hopefully-- fingers crossed and good thoughts, please!) --- perfect combo. Hubby is now totally comfortable with us driving down there together. Ha! And my parents have decided to fly out for the triathlon, so I am jazzed. Last time, my mom arrived just after I crossed the finish line, so aside from internet results and writing all over my legs, there was no actual "proof" that I really did the race. I want to be seen this time around! Plus, it's such a cool venue. Have I ever posted the link? Well, here it is:

http://www.pacificcoasttriathlon.com/

So, there it is in all its glory. The scenery is just to-die for. So hopefully I won't die. ;)

Well, that's all there is, until I report the eating on Weightwatchen.

Made the switch

So, I'm officially back over on Wordpress now and back to the world of the Weightwatchen blogs. I have to say, all the new blogs are a little much to handle right now. It was pretty convenient that all my favorite blogs found eachother over here on Blogspot (well, Jynell was linked in as well!), and I'm definitely going to miss it. I think I'll still continue to post over here and maintain my archive here. If there's anything too non-weight loss that I feel the need to write about, I won't feel guilty about writing here on Blogspot. (On Weightwatchen, I feel obligated to keep it to food)

Anyway, will stick around, but just wanted to give the heads up that my daily menus are back over on wordpress....still Taking the Reins, just not all the way up on the "Most Active" list. :)

Here we go again.....

After a wonderful month of May culminating on the 140's, I'm now right back up there at 152.5. WTF?!!! I was 150 lbs when I started the triathlon training a little less than 2 weeks ago, and I haven't had many huge splurges that would undo all the exercise. In fact, I've tracked my cardio on Sparkpeople and I've burned over 8000 calories in the past 2 weeks. I CERTAINLY have not consumed that many in addition to my 1100-1300 I eat on a daily basis, that's for sure. It is so frustrating when you work so hard and the scale goes up. I know everyone says muscle weighs more than fat, but now I'm back up over my goal weight (151.5), and there is no reason for that, even if I do have a ton of muscle.

Aside from continuing to hydrate and attempt to eat well, I am at a loss for what to do to see the scale inch down to where I want it. I should probably follow my own advice and wait and see how things go with the training, continue eating responsibly, and let things work out on their own. Grrr....my body is a brat!

Today, we were assigned to run a set distance by trying intervals....3 minutes of running followed by 1 minute of walking. I set my total distance to 3 miles -- triathlon distance --- and went for it after the sun started to go down. It was amazing. I wasn't tired at all for most of it!! And the good part is my knee isn't killing me too much, either. At any rate, I ended up finishing the 3 miles in 33 minutes. Hey, I can live with an 11 minute mile, especially considering the fact that it took me 38 minutes in my last tri to do the same distance. We have a full track workout on Thursday, so we shall see what Coach has to say about all of this. I'm psyched, though. There's hope for me yet!

Here's the damage for the day:

Food	Points	Points Remaining (out of 22)
Coffeemate with coffee	2	20
1/4 cup almonds	3	17
Fiberful Bar	1	16
Grilled Tilapia with rice and grilled zuchhini	7	9
2 bananas	4	5
String cheese	1	4
100 calorie pack cupcakes	1	3
English muffin pizza	3	0
Activity points-- 3 miles at 11-minute mile pace	+3	3

The Darn Sun

I hate it! I mean, I owe it my life and all, but could it seriously try to NOT burn me?

We had swim practice bright and early this morning in Newport Beach. I say bright and early, but we didn't hit the pool until 10am so I guess that's not quite early. At any rate, Coach kicked our rears and we did lots of stroke drills and then intervals that left me sucking wind and thinking I'd drown. The good news is I reached my maximum heart rate 3 times in a row, so now I know how that feels. I was also in the fast lane, so it helps to know I'm one of the better swimmers. Bad news, of course, was the sun. Put on Coppertone 50 Sport, which is supposedly waterproof, but apparently I was wrong. I'm a little burned on my back and neck, and I'm totally PO'ed about it because I made a conscious effort to not get burned. Aside from wearing full body armor, I don't know what else to do?!!

Met another WW member at our swim practice this morning. We started out with a naturopathic Dr. lecturing us on nutrition. Here are the take home messages from this session:
1. Eat within 1 hour of waking up, no matter what.
2. Don't do coffee on an empty stomach.
3. If you eat carbs, accompany the carbs with 8 grams of protein. This will prevent the highs and lows associated with eating them.
4. If I want to work out twice in one day, I must down carbs immediately following the first session to replenish glycogen.

So, that was slightly helpful. I believe I'm on the right track with WW and eating activity points. She did say that I'll need to get over the weight gain thing, as I'm breaking down the fat and replacing that area with muscle, which is more dense and hence weighs more.... I have to say, I do notice my arms getting pretty nice and toned from all the swimming. If only the abs would follow suit. The plank, anyone?

Will try the table again for today. What a disaster it is. Still at the bottom of my post, but I'm over it right now. ;)

Food	Points	Points Remaining (out of 22)
Coffeemate with coffee	2	20
All Bran Bar	2	18
Pria Bar	2	16
Handful almonds	1	15
2 cups brown rice with 1 ounce chicken	7	8
Costco Frozen Yogurt	4	4
100 calorie pack cupcakes	1	3
Activity points-- 1.5 hours of swim practise	+5	8