Commitment

According to Webster's dictionary the word commitment is defined as an agreement or pledge to do something in the future.  When I signed up for the Syracuse 70.3 Half Ironaman I made a commitment to do the training all over again and complete the event.  The difference this year compared to last year is I have made a commitment to finish stronger and faster than last year.

Have you ever thought about a commitment you have made in the past?  What would you do to stick to the commitment?  What are you willing to do to get something done?  Well I knew when I signed up again I was going to need some additional help.  So this past week I met with a coach and decided to hire him.  I know I need help with my cycling and I wasn't going to get faster on my own.  I also signed up for a gym membership so I could have access to a pool, an indoor track and also free weights.  All of these things are important to my training.

My final commitment is again to lose the weight.  It is a frustrating process and can be a very slow one.  However, I also know it is a very important one.  I made a deal or a pact with a friend of mine to lose the weight.  This individual is getting married around the same time that I am going to be competing in the 70.3.  My friend would like to lose some weight for the wedding too.  So we promised each other that we would ride each other, push each other and support each other until we hit our goal!  Doing it alone can be frustrating but having someone to bitch with and who understands what you are going through makes it a bit easier.

So what commitment am I willing to make ... what am I willing to give up to make my goal a reality?  I am willing to tell the world I can't do this on my own and I need some help.  I am willing to put in the hours ... the blood ... sweat and tears to make my goals happen!!

Happy Monday

This past weekend was very busy but I was also very blessed to spend some quality time with great friends celebrating my birthday.  And I am looking forward to this year being the best yet!!  So after a very busy weekend it was nice to spend my first Monday as a 42 year old relaxing a bit and doing something for myself.  Last week I put my workouts on the back burner due to a busy schedule, stress and limited time but today I didn't let anything stop me.  I did both a run and a swim and I feel good right now.  My run was 3 miles of running bliss.  I ran a few rolling hills in the beautiful sunshine and it was a gorgeous fall day.  There was a light breeze and as I was running the colored leaves were falling around me.  I felt fabulous!

Later in the day I got into the pool for a swim workout.  It was the first time in the pool after weeks of a hiatus.  I completed the workout but I felt slow and at times my arms felt like cement.  It was good to be back in the pool but I was hoping for a better time.  However, I always say you have good workouts and sometimes you have bad workouts.  And you can learn from both of them.  One thing I learned today in the pool was that I can't stay out of the water for that long!

I am happy I got both workouts in so I am not going to complain too much!

In regards to my food challenges.  Last week I gave up Chips/Cheetos/pretzels etc and soda.  I also challenged myself to drink more water.  I completed both, it was tough at times but I did it.  For this week I will continue with the same choices but I will add to the list.  This week I will give up bagels and alcohol and add more fruits and vegetables.  I am not a very good veggie eater!  I am hoping by making these small changes I will see big changes in the future.

OK I am off to watch the Presidential debate now ... which candidate do you think would make a great triathlete?

Are we there yet?

Need to find the time...

Did you ever have one of those weeks where you have absolutely no time for yourself?  I am having one of those weeks ... and what is the first thing to go ... the one thing that I shouldn't give up ... my workouts!  I am trying to tell myself, "don't beat yourself up its only a few days and you will be back at it"; but this is the one thing I can't afford to miss!  Of course at this moment instead of going out for a run I am writing my blog.  I have to admit I am afraid to walk away from my phone and email at this time.  I am working on an event that is taking place Saturday and there are so many last minute changes I have to be ready to get things done!  Tomorrow is another day ... I will run tomorrow ... just beware if I don't I may hurt someone!  I need the stress release!

On a positive note ... 5 days and no soda and no chips/snacks!!  I did have a craving this afternoon for a soda but I didn't give in ... so far so good!

Are we there yet??

Something funny happened today ...

Something funny happened to me today and I had to share.  Have you ever been driving in your car and found yourself behind a person who has bumper stickers on the back of their car that say 26.2, 13.1 etc.?  Well I am one of those people.  I have three such stickers on the back of my car.  I have a 26.2, 13.1 and a 70.3 stuck to the back of my bumper.  I love to see the stickers when I am approaching my car but often times I forget about them until today.

I pulled up to a light and this car pulled up next to me.  The gentleman in the car motioned for me to roll down my window.  As I began to roll the window down (electronically not manually) I thought to myself this guy needs direction.  He smiled and said,  "let me ask you something, the 26.2 sticker is for a run correct"?  I said "yes".  He then went on to ask me what the 13.1 sticker was for and I told him it was for a half marathon.  Then he said, "so what is the 70.3"?  I told him that would be a Half Ironman!  He smiled and then asked me, "so did you do all of those"  I laughed and said yes I did!  He responded with, "Wow that is amazing ... good for you!"

This total stranger's comments totally made my day.  So often I don't give myself enough credit for what I have accomplished or for the finish lines that I have crossed.  And this gentleman reminded me that I have done a lot in my life to be very proud of!  Thank you sir!

Updates ...

This week I tried something new, I gave back and I turned for help ... there was a lot going on in the past few days.  On Thursday evening I attended my first computrainer class at the YMCA.  A computrainer class is a spin class using your own road bike attached to a computer.  The computer can set the tension of trainer and records your watts, cadence, speed and heart rate.  While following a computerized workout the tension will be changed to give you the feeling of climbing some hills or heading down hill.  It was a great class but tough and I will say you can NOT cheat on a computrainer!  I look forward to more classes.

Saturday morning was cold and when I first woke up there was frost on the lawn and on the cars.  However, I had to ignore that because I had registered for a bike ride to raise money for breast cancer research.  It was the Trek Women Breast Cancer Awareness Ride.  October is breast cancer awareness month and knowing survivors and women who have lost their battle with breast cancer, as a woman, it only made sense to do the ride.   Even though it was cold, the sun was shining, and it ended up being a beautiful day and a wonderful event!  So happy I was able to participate in this event.

So I told you the new and I told you about how I gave back now I have to tell you about how I turned for help.  As I have explained in other posts I know part of the training of the 70.3 this year will be working on my weight.  I know losing the excess weight will make a huge difference in my training and my performance.  I struggle every day with my weight and I knew I needed some help.  I met with a dietitian on Friday.  It was good to be honest with someone, not be judged and know that they understood and at times could relate.  I am a closet eater/binger ...if I start I can't stop.  We discussed a lot and instead of trying to change everything at once we are going to try doing a few small changes first.  One step at a time will get me to the finish line.

Are we there yet?

Great day for a run...

I have to be honest with you today ... I didn't end up running on Sunday but I made up for it today.  I put the run off yesterday until the afternoon because I wanted to go to church and run some errands.  Then at the exact time I wanted to go out for the run it started to poor rain and I decided I wasn't going out.  So this morning I up and it was beautiful out.  I put on my running shoes and off I went ...it felt great.  During this past week, after the Wineglass Half, I walked and did yoga to loosen up my muscles so to finally hit the pavement running today felt great!

When I wake up in the morning my back bothers me a lot.  I have several protruding discs in my back and in the morning I am sore and stiff.  I can barely bend over to put my sneakers on never mind go out for a run.  So often times I put my runs off until later in the day then I have loosened up but then I start other projects and I don't feel like running.  The morning of races I am up 2-3 hours prior to the start of the event just so I can stretch the back and go through my other morning routines (you know what I mean).  The reason I am telling you this is because I would love to be one of those people who runs first thing in the morning.  The alarm goes off, the shoes are on and out the door they go!  I am jealous!!  I am hoping and praying with some more yoga the back will be better in the AM.    The rest of the day I am fine.  

Tomorrow I am hoping to get out on the bike.  I haven't been there for a while and I need to spend as much time as possible.  Stay tuned!

By the way I am down 2 pounds after having such a break down last week!!

Are we there yet??

Another Half Marathon in the Horizon

Just a week ago I was getting ready for the Wineglass Half Marathon but five weeks from tomorrow I have another one scheduled for November 11th.  The race I am participating in is called the Monson Classic Half Marathon in Massachusetts.  I definitely need to continue my training for this event I have a feeling it is going to be a tough one.  I check out the elevation of the course and it is over 890 feet at its highest point which is higher than any point on the Mountain Goat course in Syracuse, NY.   Looking at the course map it looks like the course starts climbing at mile 1 and continues up until mile 8.5 until it finally goes down!  Oh the fun I will have that day!

Five weeks should give me enough time to get ready or this race since I already have a base,  What I want that day is to have a strong race and a strong finish.  I don't foresee myself PRing the course but I would love to finish under 3 hours!  Tomorrow I have a long run and I am telling myself it is going to be a good one!  Must keep moving every step is making me stronger!  Stay tuned I will let you know how it goes.

Are we there yet?

Syracuse, NY is listed 6th!!

I am very proud of the fact that Syracuse, NY is listed 6th on a list of the "10 Best Triathlon Cities in the US"!! Active.com published an article listing Syracuse 6th along with locations such as San Diego, Boulder, Tucson and San Francisco.  If you compare Syracuse to some of the cities listed we are much smaller by size and population and geographically we are an area that often has winter 9 months of the year!  However, we overcame those facts and we are now standing TALL!!  Syracuse, NY offers great areas to train, a fabulous triathlon club and a large number of triathlons to complete!  I may be biased but I am going to shout this from the mountain tops!  I am proud to be a triathlete in Syracuse!!

Check out the article at Active.com

http://www.active.com/triathlon/Articles/10-Best-Triathlon-Cities-in-the-US.htm?cmp=306&memberid=113873782&lyrisid=27048849&email=dani.cross88%40gmail.com

Ugh ...

So who signs up for Weight Watchers and ends up gaining weight?  I do!!  Who claims that what I really want is to lose weight?  I do!! Part of this journey to the 70.3 in 2013 is to lose the weight.  I think I need to change my attitude and instead of saying I am trying to lose weight I have to say I am losing weight!! I have to come up with a new plan and stick to it.

I am an emotional eater ... often times I eat and I don't even know why.  I don't always make the best choices and I always regret it!!  I need to make a change.  I know this will be the hardest part of the 70.3 journey!  I have a lot to lose and I don't want to be sitting the night before the 70.3 wishing I had lost the weight.  I have to do it now!!

What will be my plan ... how will I get there ...

Are we there yet??

Completed the Wineglass Half Marathon

Half Marathon #6 is in the bag.  Yesterday, September 30th I completed my 6th Half Marathon at the Wineglass Marathon in Corning, New York with six of my friends Sue, Diane, Patty, Michelle, Denise and Chris.  I was also lucky enough to run into so many other friends who were also running the event.  The event was wonderful.  It is a great course and a perfect running day.  It was cool in the morning but never got too warm.  I felt great as the miles went by, my recurring foot injury did bother me a bit but I continued to put one foot in front of the other.  I hit the wall at about mile 10 and the next two miles were tough but I pushed myself through it.  By mile 12 I was ready to be done ... thank God I only had a mile to go!  I finished the half marathon in 3 hours 2 minutes and 53 seconds.  It isn't my fastest half marathon but it wasn't my slowest either.  I do know I probably would have had a faster time if I had been more dedicated to my long runs.  At times I did more cycling and swimming than I did actually running ... live and learn but either way I had a great day!

While I was in Corning I also had a wonderful opportunity to meet a fabulous woman and one of my favorite runners Joan Benoit Samuelson!!  Joan won the very first Olympic gold medal for the women's marathon in 1984!  She is still running and even qualified for the last Olympic Trials!  What do you think of this great picture?

My final thoughts for this blog are two shout outs to my friends Diane and Patty who both completed their first half marathon yesterday!  They both did it with flying colors finishing under 3 hours!!  I am so proud of you both and can't wait to run more with you!!  You are both ROCK STARS!!