Still on track!

July 23, 2012.

That's the last entry in this blog. I actually had to go back and read all the previous posts to remember where along the journey I was 8 months ago. A whole Summer, Fall and Winter have passed, but the good news is, I'm still on my journey!

A lot has happened in my 30th year of life, but one thing has stayed consistent: I am focused and determined to find my way back to fitness!

My journey is far from over. I'm only 7.5 lbs lighter than when I started, but I've lost inches all across my body and more importantly I am fitter than I've been in over 3 years and that after all is my end goal: to be fit and healthy.

When I started this blog I could barely run 20 minutes, but that is a thing of the past.  Just yesterday I completed the Nike Women's Half Marathon in DC in 2hr and 24min at a 11:03 min/mile pace. While I am nowhere near the fastest runner, I am happy to say that THAT is a personal record!

Since my last post I've actually completed 3 half marathons (getting faster every time) and 1 sprint triathlon and I've got another sprint triathlon and possibly 2 olympic triathlons coming up in the next few months.

Races, it turns out, might not be for everyone, but they are definitely for me.

I'll never mingle with the pros and I don't ever plan on winning, but the motivation to beat your own time, challenge your own abilities and continuously push to new distances, is enough to get me in my running shoes, on a bike or in a pool at least 5 times a week. I am a triathlete and I love it...and cross training, it turns out, is for me the absolute best way to get in shape and remain injury-free.

It also doesn't hurt that my athletic husband has also recently embraced races and together we are now working towards our (half)-ironman goal. Nothing like your significant other to help you wake up for a run when it's 40 degrees out or hold you accountable when the training schedule says swim.

Today, post-half marathon I'm allowed a day of rest, because we all deserve (and need) at least one day of rest per week, but tomorrow, it's back to the training schedule, which these days looks something like this:

Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun
rest	swim/core	swim/run	bike/core	yoga	bike/run	swim/bike
	45min	60min	45min	60-90min	60min	60-90min

*Schedule is adapted from various triathlon books and guides, which I'll be sharing with you as I fine-tune my own training schedule.

It's a lot more intensive than when I started working out last June, but it's also a lot more focused on the goals I have in mind, starting with the Ladies' Choice Tri (400 yard swim, 8 mile bike and 2 mile run) which I'm trying to complete in as close to an hour as possible.  I know that a sprint tri is far from the ironman distance and 7.5lbs is far from the 20-25 lbs I want to lose, but small attainable steps will eventually lead to big changes and for now I am enjoying every step of the journey!

Starting Over

Pensamentunan (the original url of this blog) means thoughts and I guess when I first chose this blog name that was my intention; share my thoughts with the world. Like anyone wants to listen to my thoughts?! Well, just in case you're interested, my thoughts these days are focused on my weight. Actually less on my weight and more on my lack of fitness and general health.

It wasn't always this way. I was a dancer for 18 years of my life, then moved on to running, biking and some swimming. I've completed a sprint triathlon, 3 half marathons, a full marathon and a 5-day 200-mile bike ride. Needless to say I was pretty fit. Never super skinny, but always fit. Now, not so much. My weight has steadily increased these past 2-3 years and now, for the first time, I have this tummy that I am constantly, often unsuccessfully, trying to hide.

I recently read a blog about a woman who talks about her weight loss journey and how it started. She says that one day it just hit her and she knew it was time to change for good. I know exactly how she feels, because just last week the same feeling hit me.

Maybe it's the fact that I turn 30 in 3 days or maybe it's the fact that I no longer look good in any of my clothes or the fact that I hate getting my picture taken or maybe it's the fact that I see what being overweight and sedentary can do to you...I don't want that, not anymore. I also really just miss being active. Running, biking, dancing, I love it all. I also love to eat & drink and the truth is, in order to eat and drink all the yummy things the world has to offer you have to workout. You have to create a calorie balance of what goes in and what gets burned off. Calorie excess causes you to gain wait, calorie deficit (in healthy amounts) causes weight loss. So that's what I'm doing.

I'm not obese, but I'm definitely at least 25 pounds overweight and I want at least 20 of those pounds to come off! (I've taken pictures, but honestly I am not quite ready to share them with you). I realize, because this is not a diet, but a lifestyle change, it may take me a while to lose all the weight.

So here's my plan:

Cardio: 3X per week, starting with 20-30 minutes and building up to 30-45min. I plan to start with running and building it up slowly (last week I ran 3X, although only for 15 minutes since it had been over a year since my last run). Once the running is up to a solid 30-45 minutes, I'd like to up my routine to 4X per week and add biking and maybe some swimming to my routine.

Strength: I'm not too worried about this for now, although strength training has been known to be the secret to losing weight. I definitely want to work on that tummy of mine ASAP, so three days ago I started the 300 in 30 ab challenge which I want to try to complete at least 5 days per week. Intermix that with some lunge/squat/leg raise routines and I should be set to get my biggest problem areas back in too shape.

Food: Thanks to the MyFitnessPal app, I know that my calorie intake on non-workout days should be 1200-1400 calories, so that'll be my base. On workout days I'll increase to 1600-2000 depending on how much I do. Like I said I love to eat, so I'm not going to place too many limits, although I'll definitely be watching my fat and sugar intake.

That's it! That's the plan. I'm intrigued by CrossFit (doesn't everyone doing it just look so fit?), so I may try that out after I complete the 300/30 challenge. I also want to run another half and do another sprint triathlon, so I may have to add official training schedules once I've signed up for those, but I think in general this will be a good base for improving my fitness.

Any suggestions are definitely welcome! And if you're ready to get fit, join me! We can become MyFitnessPal friends and motivate each other!

*Note: The images were found on Pinterest. If you know the original source, let me know, so I can cite them.