It's official

I've agreed to do my first TRI - a sprint distance in early May. Oy!

I will actually start my 'training' tomorrow with my first run in 4.5 years. Here's to hoping I can ramp it up slow enough to avoid foot trouble. Actually, last weekend I was in Cabo with some girlfriends. We did a TON of walking and while I managed to develop shin splints (something I totally forgot was a problem for me when doing lots of walking), my foot never once started to hurt. That is HUGE and it may bode well for eventually running again.

So the plan is as follows (officially - I think I've mentioned this before):

Oct 31st: begin running (SLOWLY)
Nov 15th (or thereabouts): begin swimming
I'll be joining a local pool club OR a local gym that has a pool. I'll need to take lessons to learn how to breathe properly since sprinting while holding my breath (how I used to swim competitively) will not fly when the distance is 500 yards or longer.
Dec 1: sign up for the TRI!
Feb 10th: begin 11 week training program

In the meantime, I'm going to be ramping up my activity in general, using a lot of circuit training to get back into both cardio and strength shape, and losing weight.

I took off my GWF while I was in Cabo, but I have it back on now and I'm trying to get in more 'steps'. Yesterday I met all my goals except my calories - I was still 800 short. I'll do better going forward.

As far as what I will record here - I'm not sure. I may log my training, I may log my progress (speed, scale, etc)....I may just use this for a place for word spewing...we'll see.

Motivation waves

The last time I updated, I was on a fitness 'high'. Since then, I've done very little activity. Thanks to my GWF, I've also been staying on top of my consumption and kept it in check, but still. The point of this whole effort is to improve my fitness...not to just try and eat next to nothing so that I can sit on the couch all night! I just find it interesting that depending on the time of day, I might be on a motivation high or a motivation low. I know that for the past few days, the highs have come when there was nothing I could do about it (like at work) and the lows come when I've got the time to do the workout. Figures.

I was planning on working out on Monday night but after work we picked tomatoes like mad for a few hours and by the time we went in (we were picking in the dark with lamps!), it was late. We made dinner but there really wasn't time to digest before doing a workout. I can't workout past about 9:30 pm or then I can't sleep, so I skipped it. On Tuesday, I got hooked on watching the biggest loser again. Ugh! Wednesday I met a friend for dinner (healthy sushi), but I got home rather late and again couldn't see fitting in a workout before I had to get to bed. And as it is, mornings have been REALLY difficult this week. I just can't seem to drag my butt out of bed right away when the alarm goes off. It's pathetic, actually.

Tonight I've got nothing planned but cooking a healthy dinner and then doing a nice workout. I'd like to do a full body strength workout and then do a little running on the treadmill. Tomorrow I'd planned to bike into work but logistically, that's turning into a nightmare. I *may* still be able to figure out a way to do this...I'd have to leave the party liquor here at work. I'll have to carry a half gallon of milk in a glass jar with me on my commute. And I'd have to bike to the grocery store at lunch tomorrow to pick up the last few things I need for the party. Biking to my friend's house after work will be laughable, too. I'll be carrying a full bottle of tequila, one of grand marnier, two cans of limeade, my clothing, my laptop and my purse. Let's just hope it's not pouring rain!! (Ugh, I just checked...it's supposed to be!) I may have to rethink this...

Anyway, I'm getting more and more excited about the possiblity of doing my first sprint triathlon next spring. My plan is to slowly ramp up my running over the next month to see how it goes. If I can do it (even slowly) without pain, then I'll sign up for a pool membership and try swimming. If that goes well, then I'll sign up for the tri in early December when it opens up. Apparently, this is a GREAT one for beginners. I think it'll be fun. I get excited just thinking about it! :-)

GoWear Fit

I can't believe it's been so long since I last updated! Time flies when you are having fun, right?

I received my GWF on Thursday, 10/1. I charged it up a little, put it on, and did a my first workout in ages. It gave me a calorie burn about what I would have expected for a 40 minute strength training workout. Then I charged it up fully and slept with it on (since it monitors my sleep patterns for me). Very cool! I can generate lots of different reports and stuff, so once I get the hang of it, I'll be sure to post a few.

I've been wearing it as much as possible ever since. I don't wear it in the shower (it's water resistant, but not water-proof) and I flip it over (so it doesn't make contact with my skin) when I'm driving. The first time I drove to work with it on, it counted the drive as 30 minutes of moderate activity! Maybe our car needs new shocks? ;-)

What have I learned? 1) I burn WAY less than expected for someone of my weight. I guess this shouldn't be a surprize because not only am I over 40 and not nearly as muscular as I once was, but it takes me crazy low calories to lose weight at a fast pace. So, slow loss it is! Secondly 2) I'm pretty active. I hit my 'steps' target every day and most days, I go way over. That's cool. 3) It's not very effective for cycling. I wore it on my arm for my first ride and it came out with the right number of exercise minutes but the intensity was way too low. When I wore it on my calf for ride number two - it was closer, but still seemed low. It was super cold that day, so I may have been pushing the effective temperature limit a bit (40F is the lowest). I have lost weight since I got it though. And I also try to walk more at work and take the stairs more all the time - just to burn calories.

All in all, I really like it. It's a fun tool. I also pay for the website to upload my data and log my food. The food logging is actually pretty good and I've been very consistent with it (partly why I've lost some weight, I'm sure). I haven't yet been trying to cut back on my intake because I wanted to ge a week under my belt with 'normal' eating to see where I sit. I fear that cutting back will lower that burn, so I wanted a baseline with which to compare.

I've also been better about my workouts. I did a short strength workout the day I got it (Firm Supercharged Sculpting), and then another one the Saturday after that (Body Sculpt Blaster). Then on Sunday I was active around the farm (and burned more calories than my workout day!). I rested the following Monday, did a cardio/sculpt workout (Firm Vol. 4) on Tuesday, rested on Wednesday, rode my bike 18 miles on Thursday, did a longer cardio/sculpt (Firm Aerobic Body Shaping) on Friday, rode for 35 miles on Saturday and then on Sunday rested. Tonight I'll be doing another sculpting workout.

I'm also thinking about begining training and possibly signing up for my first ever triathlon next May. More on that later though...