Cold Water Challenge

While I was Indy for the Mini-Marathon, my friend, Nate, tagged me in the cold water challenge. The challenge was to dive into a cold body of water within 24 hours or donate $100 to St. Jude Children's Hospital. Nate knows I can't pass up a challenge....or a change to do something for St. Jude. 

CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!!!

I got home from Indy, dropped my back pack in the bedroom, changed into my suit and  drove out to Lake Windermere. After giving a brief speech where I challenged 4 of my friends, I took my dive. You can see the dive here: 

http://youtu.be/Po1DwF2wvIw

And they all accepted the challenge as well.  I am surrounded by loving passionate people. People who are passionate about living life to the fullest...which is why Jill showed up in an Ursula costume. Jill does a lot of costuming for local theatre productions and spent most of Saturday afternoon planning her costume. I mean who doesn't have an Ursula costume in their closet, right? 

They all took a dive in the nice, cold water.....and then we all retreated to Jill's house for wine.

It really was a great way to wrap up an incredible weekend where lessons have been learned and friendships enjoyed.

Indy Mini-Marathon

Last Saturday was my 4th Mini-Marathon, and my first mini-disaster.

As always, I drive to Indy filled with expectations and hopes. I love the city. I thoroughly enjoy the expo and I don't even mind waking up early on a Saturday to "race", which I never do. I always just execute my race plan. 

Last year I set a PR. I knew going into the Mini-Marathon that this was not going to be my strongest race, but I was willing to test the legs and see if I could come close to my PR. 

From the very first step, I knew it was not going to be a strong race. My legs felt tired from the very beginning. I was running with my friend, Christy, who strained a butt muscle earlier in the week. For the first half mile, we ran together weaving in and out of people and obstacles. 

That's where we got separated. She kept holding a nice steady pace and I was excited to see her stride looked normal. For myself? Ugh. I couldn't get my legs to move. I had absolutely no gas in the tank. Today was obviously not going to be a PR day. 

Instead I switched to Plan B. Execute my Ironman plan. Run from aid station to aid station. Walk at aid stations and take in hydration and nutrition. 

Mile by mile they clicked off. It's amazing how different you feel when you can say you only have 4 miles left. ONLY 4 miles left. 

I finished the race around 2:25 according to my Garmin. I felt slightly deflated and frustrated. During the entire run, I tried to figure out why my legs felt tired. Could it be over training? I slowly smiled and thought it could be under training. 

On the walk back to the hotel with Christy, who finished the entire race, I read a message from a friend asking how it went. I said it basically sucked, it was a bad run, but I'll learn lessons from it and move on. Her response was "Sorry. I'm still proud of you. I prolly wouldn't be doing what I'm doing if it wasn't for your motivation and encouragement. just remember that" The message brought tears to my eyes.

My response made me sob. Because it wasn't me that made the difference in her fitness journey. It was all about her and her hard work. I am forever thankful that I get to play some small part in her fitness journey, that I get to help her along the way, but it's her hard work that has made all of the difference in the changes she is seeing in her body. 

One deep discussion led to another.

Christy and I had a nice long talk about the life lessons we get from running. Some race days are great and make you feel like you are on top of the world. Some race days...well, you wonder why you even try. That is how I felt on Saturday. Frustrated and down, but in the end it's all about the journey. It's about enjoying the highs and and pushing through the lows. Just like life. 

Finding Gaston

I found him.

But there were too many ladies waiting to meet him. 

So this is as close as I got. I'm just not a patient person.

10 Rules for Walt Disney World

When you go to Disney World, there are some simple rules everyone should follow. 

1. Go into training mode at least 1 month in advance. Do not sit down for 16 hours a day and power walk on your treadmill for at least one hour every morning, noon and night. 

2. Look in the mirror before you leave the house. Front and back. Know your body and what makes you look good. This is not it.

3. Have a plan. Research the parks and where you want to go but be willing to change said plan because things do not always work out the way you want.

4. Don't walk 6 people across on the walkways. Blocking traffic will not make WDW the Happiest Place on Earth for many people. 

5. Learn about the Fast Pass system and how to use it to your advantage. 

6. Don't eat chicken nuggets and fries. Disney offers some of the best food I've ever tasted. If you need a recommendation, let me know. 

7. If your child is screaming bloody murder, take a break. Find a corner to sit down and let them explore whatever fascinates them. Believe me, you'll both be happier. 

8. Talk to people. Disney is a melting pot. Listen to the languages. Learn about people. Everyone has a story. 

9. When our kids were younger, we busted out of our hotel at the butt crack of dawn. Now that they are all almost teenagers we don't leave the hotel until noon and enjoy and quieter parks in the evening. 

10. Have fun. Disney is a great place to create memories. Stop and savor the moment. It may be your last opportunity to create a truly magical moment. 

Enough Slacking!

February is here!!! Whowzers. I can't believe it! So...it's time to set my monthly schedule as I normally do and I am not looking forward to the craziness that is becoming my life.

I am back to working full time, coaching volleyball, teaching 7-10 classes a week AND training for an Ironman. It exhausts me to think about it.

No more trainer nights with the T3 crew....unless I can get Monday nights to work. I'll be getting up at the butt crack of dawn and working on my trainer all by myself. 

Here is my workout schedule for the month of February. I will probably be squeezing every available minute I have into training of some sort. Like I said, it kind of makes me exhausted.

2014 Starting off Strong

With January comes along many changes for most people...changes which they forget about by the Super Bowl. Not the case for me. January marks the beginning of IRONMAN WISCONSIN training.  

Once again, I have a great group of people from T3 working toward their goals. Not all of them are doing Wisconsin. Some of them are doing Louisville, Lake Placid, or even just  for some long bike rides. The best part is just getting together to bear down through a workout. 

Our group trainer rides are grueling. Most of the workouts are based on an indoor training program from Beginning Triathlete. Last week someone brought a SUFFERFEST video for us to review. All I can say is I hated it.....and yet loved it. It was quite the tough ride.

The biggest changes for me come from a nutrition point of view. My absolute favorite candy in the world is Hot Tamales. While I am diabetic, I did use them during my long runs or rides last year as a special treat to bring some carbs into my body. My biggest weakness though is movie theatre popcorn. I know. I know. It's horrible for me, but that smell is intoxicating and my husband butters and salts it ohhhh so well.

As of January 2nd,  I gave it all up. I've entered into a nutrition challenge with some friends where we have all agreed to eliminiate soda, alcohol and unnecessary carbs. Bye bye Diet Pepsi. Bye bye popcorn. I thought it would be a challenge but we went to a movie last Friday and it realy wasn't as bad as I had made it out to be. 

Starting 2014 off strong....slowly ramping up working toward endurance distances. Who needs to be fast when you have 17 hours to complete your goal? 

Hello 2014

Goodbye 2013!! Or shall I say good riddance? Don't get me wrong. 2013 wasn't a horrible year. It just didn't leave a very positive impression. 

Highlights of the year? 

- PR at the Indy Half Marathon

- Completing my first marathon 

- Disney Wine & Dine Weekend

- Getting certified in BODYCOMBAT and as a GRIT Coach

Lowlights of the year? 

- Getting 4th place in the Tremont Tri by .23 seconds

- Going on Metformin

As I usher in 2014, I can honestly say I got this. My exercise plan is ready to be executed. I'll still teach 8-10 classes per week as well as starting to train for Ironman Wisconsin. My new tri bike is locked and loaded, ready to hit the trainer. I can only hope that my Runner's Knee will not be as aggravating once I start running again in the next few days. 

So what are my goals for 2014?

It all comes down to food. NUTRITION. Properly fueling my body. For January, my goals are:

- No soda or alcohol 

- 64 oz of water each day

- No carbs after 6 pm

- Log my food daily in MyFitnessPal

- Planning and preparing 4 dinners / week for myself as well as my entire family 

In order to motivate myself to stick to this fabulous plan, I have entered into a friendly little competition with some friends. We will log points in a Google doc spreadsheet, smack talk and cajole each other to hitting our goals.

My end goal? Ironman Wisconsin on September 7, 2014. My intermediate goal? Get back to IMLOU weight.

Day 1 of 2014 is complete. Here's to a much improved year and great things which are yet to come.