I lost my mojo...

I know it has been a very long time since my last post ... I have to admit I lost my mojo.  I lost my motivation to train.  I felt like I was going through the motions of my workouts but not giving it everything that I had.  I lost my enthusiasm for my training.  I also started to give up on my nutritional needs and I even had some binge days.  I think I was getting discouraged.  I was training and working on my weight issues but wasn't seeing results so I started to give up.

A binge for me can be a day long event or even just one meal but the results are always the same.  You never feel better than you did when you started eating, in fact you usually feel worse.  And during these periods the gluten that I become for the day or a meal doesn't care that I am trying to lose weight.  And after the binge is over trying to workout was very difficult.  I have no energy or I feel very sick.  It is a ride that goes around in circles and sometimes doesn't stop.  You eat to feel better but you feel worse so you eat some more.  I had to stop this before it got worse!

Instead of throwing in the towel I reached out to my coach and my nutritionist and told them what was happening.  I didn't want to get caught up in the downward spiral and I wanted to stop myself before it got to late.  I know that my coach and my nutritionist can not do the work for me and I am the only one to blame for what was happening but I needed them to tell me all was not lost!  I could do this and I would see results.

On January 6th I ran the Chilly Chili, which is an annual 5K race in the area.  I love this event, even if the course is a bit tough.  Well when I finished I looked at my time and realized I was slower than last year ... in fact 3 minutes slower!  When I talked with my coach I told him about this and he decided I needed to do a Tempo Run.  So the following Saturday my coach and I met at an outdoor track.  I had to do a mile warm-up (just to let you know I never warm-up ... I believe I waste good energy that way) and then I had to run 2 1/2 miles in a certain time.  Every lap I had to stay at 3:08 or below.  Well I did it I stayed at the 3:08 or better for the 2.5 miles.  I thought I was going to die at times but I did it.  When my coach looked at my splits he said to me "Do you know what these times tell me?  They tell me that you dogged the Chilly Chili".  I said to him, "but I wasn't struggling during the race, I felt OK".  He said, "exactly you didn't give it your all".  I think that Saturday I found my Mojo!!

Just going through the motions isn't going to give me the results that I want!!  I want a better time at the 70.3 and I have to work for it!!

I am sure we all have days or weeks like this where we can't get out of our own way but you can't let it get the best of you!  You have to keep fighting.  I will admit during the few days of my binges I fell off the Resolutions Wagon but I am back on it and have not given up!!

By the way I already accomplished one of my resolutions ... I got a new job in 2013!!

Are we there yet?

173 more days

Today is January 1, 2013 ... there are 173 more days until the Syracuse 70.3 Half Ironman!  How is everyone doing so far on their New Year's Resolutions?  In the last two days I have skied (and my quads and calves feel it), ran and taken a yoga class, in order to kiss 2012 good bye and ring in the New Year!!  Oh what will 2013 have in store for me?  Well I know for sure the next 173 days will be filled with training, training and more training.  Even though I have already begun my training things are going to get "kicked up a notch", if I could quote Emeril Lagasse.

I had a meeting today with my coach to discuss my training, ask any questions I had and discuss what else we could do.   I had to admit to him that I have not been faithful to one section of my training ... the strength training and core work.  I don't know why I hate it so much ... and I always have disliked it too.  I know how important it is and that it will help me a lot to lose more inches and pounds but when it comes down to doing it ... I would rather walk away from it.  But I had to be honest with him about it because if you can't be honest with your coach why bother having a coach.  I made a promise to him today to get it done and to commit to it!

So if I could add to my resolutions/goals ... I need to add in a commitment to completing my strength training and core workouts!

Here is the updated list...

1. I would like to have a new job in 2013!
2. I want a better finish time (I will keep my actual goal to myself) at the Syracuse 70.3 Half Ironman ... and I will work hard to make that happen.
3. To continue to lose the weight and inches that I started to lose in 2012
4. This next one will be tough but by making it public I hope it gets easier...To give up those food items that I don't know how to eat just a serving size ...this would include CHIPS, SNACK FOOD ETC.
5. Be committed to completing my strength training/core workouts

I hope you all had a fabulous New Year and that you have stuck to your resolutions/goals so far!

Tri Mo Tri

Resolutions

Do you realize that when you look RESOLUTIONS up in the dictionary not one definition mentions anything about the New Year?  I looked up the word in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary and also on Dictionary.com and not one mention of the New Year.  According to Dictionary.com the word Resolution means,

"a resolve or determination"
--To make a firm resolution to do something

Making resolutions have been going on for centuries.  They actual have religious origins, when individuals would make promises to their gods.  In 2007 a study was actually done on resolutions and the individuals who make them.  The researchers followed 3000 men and women after they made their New Year's promises and discovered that 88% of the people failed to keep their resolutions.  They did however discover that if you made your resolutions public you were more likely to be successful.

Well over the years I have made my resolutions public and have not always succeeded.  I could think of resolutions or goals that I made over the years that still to this day are not done.  For example for several years in a row I made a resolution to organize my pictures.  I have a bin filled with photos that I have never did anything with.  So I set out and bought photo albums and frames but guess what ... the pictures are still in the bins.  So after several years I finally made a resolution not to put the photos on my list again.  And this is only one example.

So what should I do in order to stick to my resolutions or goals?  Do I make my resolutions/goals public?  Do I just keep doing what I started last year?  Should I only set a few so not to be disappointed?  Maybe I shouldn't set any, that way I don't fail?  However I don't think I could do that because the New Year is a chance at a new beginning!  So what are my New Year Resolutions (Goals)...

1. I would like to have a new job in 2013!
2. I want a better finish time (I will keep my actual goal to myself) at the Syracuse 70.3 Half Ironman ... and I will work hard to make that happen.
3. To continue to lose the weight and inches that I started to lose in 2012
4. This next one will be tough but by making it public I hope it gets easier...To give up those food items that I don't know how to eat just a serving size ...this would include CHIPS, SNACK FOOD ETC.

That's it for now ... not too many but I think they are doable!  They are challenging but if successful will make such a difference in my life!!

I would like to wish you all a Happy and Healthy New Year!  I hope 2013 is the best for all of you!!

Tri Mo Tri

Merry Christmas!

There was a crispness in the air, the snow was falling gently from the sky, it was quiet except for the sound of  my shoes hitting the pavement but you could feel the excitement in the homes that were passing me by ... this was my Christmas Morning Run.  I had gone to midnight mass the night before so I could purposely go on my favorite run of the year.  For the last 10+ years I have headed out on the streets of Springfield, Massachusetts before breakfast was served and gifts were open for an early morning run.  There is something about that particular run that says Merry Christmas to me!  It is quiet but at the same time joyous as we celebrate the birth of Christ ... it feels like Peace on Earth!!

I had told my coach about my traditional Christmas morning run so he made sure to add it to my schedule.  Due to the fact that I am out of town for the holidays my training schedule this week consists of running and strength training.  It is also a recovery week before all hell breaks loose!  In less than 6 months I face the Syracuse 70.3 Half Ironman Course again and this year I have goals ... big goals ... or I should say one goal TO BEAT LAST YEAR'S TIME!!  So starting next week I am sure I will be on the bike trainer, swimming and running a lot!!  However, before I do that I would like to say...

Joy to the World ... Merry Christmas to all!!

Taunting Me...

On a rainy cold night, as the Christmas tree glows from the white lights on its branches and Sunday night football is on TV, there is this object across the room that stares me down.  It taunts me, almost laughing at me.  It whispers you can't do this ... I will beat you!!  Oh bike trainer you are not my friend!  And all I have to say to you is ... "Watch Me"!!

Kicking the scale to the curb ...

Recently I have read a number of articles about people who decided one day to lose weight, changed their eating habits and then started walking and lost 100+ pounds in six months!  I read through these articles and at the end of the article my usual reaction is "Really??".  This comment is often said in a sarcastic and frustrating tone!  I have done all those things and I have done a lot more than just walk!  Yet the number on the scale doesn't move and I have certainly not lost 100 pounds in six months!!  Yet I wake up each morning and I keep moving, I keep trying and I keep hoping it will all click.

Several weeks ago the nutritionist I am working with suggested I take my measurements and use that as an indication of my progress.  So seven weeks ago I pulled out the old measuring tape and took the measurements of five different areas of my bodies.  I stored the numbers away and until yesterday I hadn't looked at them.  My coach often asks me if my clothes are getting any looser and I tell him "well they aren't getting any tighter"!  On Thursday evening after a spin class, he suggested I take my measurements again.  So on Friday afternoon the tape measure came out again and I took the measurements of the five areas I had done before and according to my calculations ... I am down a total of 3 inches!!  I was happy to see a change and know that the time and effort I am putting into this is paying off!

No matter who you are, if you are working hard at something you want to see positive results   You want to know that the work you are doing is making a difference.  Yeah I think I am going to kick that scale to the curb for a little while and keep making positive changes in order to see positive results!!

The other positive things that happened this week are the time I spent in the pool; the hours I spent in the saddle of the bike and the miles I ran!  On Tuesday I went to Yoga and although I am still not flexible I was proud of myself  how I pushed my body to try things it has never done before!!  I had workouts this week that although I got through them when I was done, "I was done" ... I pushed myself to be better! Why do all this?  Why push myself?  Why worry about the changes in my body? ... because I want to be better!!

Are we there yet??

Another Day

So I am sure you are waiting on pins and needles wondering if I completed my "To Do" list yesterday and actually got a workout into my day. Well .... yes I completed my "To Do" list and I got my work out in too.  At the end of the day I felt like I accomplished something and didn't leave anything hanging.  Again today is a new day and I have my "to do" list made up and I have already started.  I can't let things go because it turns into stress and I become overwhelmed.  Which isn't a good thing because I then get nothing done.  So I have decided to keep my "To Do" lists smaller so they are doable.  If I have a big project that needs to get done then I don't add more to my schedule.

I am easily distracted so I have to keep focus.  When I get too stressed or overwhelmed I turn to food (emotional eating) and then it becomes a viscous circle!!

You are probably wondering what does all of this have to do with my training?  It has everything to do with my training.  If I get stressed and overwhelmed and I start to let things go ... it is my training that gets forgotten first.  If I start emotionally eating then the weight doesn't come off it goes back on and it affects my training.  It's kind of like this ... I get down or depressed so I eat ... I eat because I am down or depressed ... I don't workout ... I feel awful about myself and it all starts again.  I have been there before and I don't want to go back.

This is why I need to feel organized and cross things off of lists and keep myself focused.

Here's to getting it done!!

Are we there yet?