Where am I?

I'm back from Ireland with an aggravated hamstring injury for starters. I tried to run this morning, but was slowed considerably by it, and it's been bugging me all day just sitting at my desk. Not sure what to do about it, but I'll hang in there and maybe just up the swimming to work on keeping the aerobic fitness up.

In Ireland, I learned that I am able to cover the cycling distance for the triathlon. I also learned that hills are hard! The nice thing is that I covered the 55 miles last Monday with big heavy panniers on my bike, and not really in an aero position. The bad thing is that it was spread out over the whole day. The next step is to work on efficiency and pace, so that I can fly through the 56 mile bike leg!

Swimming had to be on the back burner since there really was no way to swim over there. I'm going to step it back up this week and try to get in the pool at least twice. I'm trying to exercise in the mornings in general, so will be hitting the pool on the mornings I'm not running. Cycling will stay in the afternoons for now, just because that works better for me for the time being. Maybe once I move, I'll shift things around, particularly if I have better (i.e., less trafficy) places to ride.

As far as fundraising goes, I've hit my goal of $2300! My Body Shop party and one more donation put me over the top. I decided to bump my goal up to $2800 to see if I can beat it by $500. I know a few coworkers that still intended to give a bit. Plus, I could always hold another party and get a couple hundred more bucks! The ladies love their bath-y stuffs!

There have been rumblings that my social life has been taking me away from my training a bit. While that is only partly true (my laziness has definitely played a role, too), it needs to be addressed. I've adjusted my training schedule to be more compatible with my social calendar, which is definitely a start. Working out in the mornings should also be helpful. I just need to get into the habit of getting up by 5 to get my workout in. I cheated and didn't get up until 5:30 this morning, but it was a start!

Week 10 ~ ??? ~ $2030

Okay, time to take stock. I've been seriously slacking on my training. Can't lie about it or kid myself about it anymore. I hit some sort of training wall. I wasn't afraid of getting burnt out, but I think I did a little. I haven't slacked so much that I won't be okay for the race, but I need to get my butt in gear. Now. I could blame it on a number of things, but the fact of the matter is that I need to do a better job of committing to my workouts. I've allowed myself to go straight home after work too many times. I've been taking it easy on the weekends and eating a lot more junk. I need to be a lot better about how I'm eating and make sure to bring my exercise clothes with me if I'm away from home here and there. Regardless of what else is going on, I need to make time and make efforts to get out and do my workouts. Hopefully it is easier now that the weather is finally breaking (fingers crossed).

The bottom line is that sometime in the middle of last year, I decided that I wanted my life to be a certain way, and that included living a healthier lifestyle, with better eating habits and regular exercise. I've fallen off that a bit, and need to refocus on ensuring that I'm living a lifestyle I can feel good about. It is apparent to me that my lack of commitment to this part of my life is negatively impacting other aspects of my life, and there is no reason for that to continue.

Fundraising bumped up again. I'm now at 88% of my goal with several months to go. I have a fundraising event next week that will likely put me over my goal. I also have several people that have told me they still want to contribute. Perhaps I'll make my $500 over goal incentive!

Week 9 ~ ??? ~ $1910

This week the ??? = not quite enough. I don't recall exactly how much training I did, but I know it was beneath the training program minimums. Part of that was the fact that I was out of town for the past two weekends, but mostly it was my own laziness and lack of willpower. I'm going to step it up and try to stick to it this week for sure. I'll be on the bike tonight and running tomorrow. Nutrition also needs to improve significantly!

Fundraising is still going well. I'm getting close now, it's hard to believe that I have less than $400 to raise. When I signed up, I was so afraid that I would struggle to reach my goal! I'm confident that I'll get to it now, especially considering that I have until July something to get there and have two more fundraising events scheduled that should each bring in a pretty good chunk of change.

Week 8 ~ ??? ~ $1795

Again, I was lazy on keeping track of my training. I stayed fairly close to the training plan set up by TNT, so I think I'm still doing okay. Plus I added the ab/core class on Thursday at lunchtime. I was still sore from it on Sunday! Being out of town over the weekend bumped a few workouts around, but they were cycling, so I'm not terribly worried. Ireland will signifiantly improve my cycling fitness for sure. If it stops raining this afternoon, hopefully I can get out for a run before the temps take a huge dive this week.

A few more donations put me at 78% to goal! I know there is at least one more check in the mail, and a number of coworkers and friends that haven't given yet but plan to. I'm also going to be doing a few other fundraising event. I should have no problem getting there by July!

Week 7 ~ ??? ~ $1695

Yeah, I was lazy on tracking my training this week. I know it was down a bit, and I'm not sure why. I think I kept getting sidetracked and was losing focus. I could definitely tell, too, that it wasn't good for me in that my confidence and overall mood weren't where they usually are. Good motivation to really stick with the program. I'm going for a bike ride tonight - outside! It's a beautiful day and it will be great for clearing my head. I tend to want to make up for workouts I missed in previous weeks, but then I get overwhelmed. It's silly anyway. I'm fit enough to do the workouts in the program and adding extra ones because I feel guilty for missing them previously is only going to burn me out and increase the risk of injury. Just going to stick to the plan this week (plus abs classes)! Time to refocus and not be so hard on myself.

Yes, that fundraising number is correct. I'm just shy of $1700. That puts me at over 73% of my fundraising goal. Some of that was from the raffles held in Michigan, and the rest was unexpected generosity from some friends and coworkers. Thank you, thank you, thank you for your support. I know a couple more checks are in the mail as well, so that number should bump up again next week!

Week 6 ~ 4:30 ~ $1060

I was able to focus a lot on my swimming this past week and ended up slacking a bit on the biking. I'm having a harder time balancing progress in the three sports than I thought I would. I'm also feeling a bit guilty since I haven't been doing the circuit my trainer set up for me, nor the stretching she wanted me to be doing. I'm definitely going to be focusing on running this week, since the Shamrock Shuffle is Sunday, but I want to be sure to not slack on the other areas while I'm at it.

The gains in my fundraising were larger than they appear this week. I wasn't able to make it up to Michigan to collect the money from the raffles that my family held at their workplaces. I'll have that money some time this week and my total will jump up quite a bit! :)

Week 5 ~ 5:00 ~ $990

Made it through week five. I skimped again on swimming, so my goal this week is to get in the pool at least four times. Otherwise training is going well. I want to make sure my running is solid since I've got the Shamrock Shuffle coming up in 2 weeks. It should be fun, though I'm still up in the air about how I want to get downtown for it. The weather was great this past weekend, and I was enjoying being able to train a bit outdoors. :)

Almost to a grand!! I'm really happy with how my fundraising is going. I got a donation from an Triathlete/Triathlon coach that works with my mom, and he offered to answer questions and provide advice as needed, which is so great. There are still other fundraising activities going on up in Michigan on my behalf. I'm confident that I'll make my $1200 incentive goal by March 28th.

Week 4 ~ 5:05 ~ $870

Week 4 is now behind me and went quite well. I managed to keep up on the training as needed, except for not getting in enough swimming. I'll try to improve that next week. I'm motivating myself in general right now by watching my "What it Takes" DVD, which is so great. I just love it.

I've gotten another $200 toward my goal. Donations came in from some friends and family and there are some additional fundraising efforts taking place this week and this month. Hopefully those plus additional donations in response to my letter campaign put me over my end of March incentive ($1200).

Week 3 ~ 2:00 ~ $670

Week 3 has come and gone. It was a tough one, since I was sick for a good part of it. I wasn't able to work out on Friday or Saturday and didn't have much energy the rest of the week. I feel better now, and should be able to get back up to speed for Week 4.

No change in my fundraising amount from last week, but I did send out letters to family and friends asking for support. I'm also waiting on the last bit of cash from the Yeti when he gets back into town. I'm sure that the plateus are normal, so I'm not too worried. Yet.

Week 2 ~ 4:55 ~ $670

Week 2 is done. I had a cycling race on Sunday, and I pushed really hard at Spinning class on Thursday, so I cut out a bit of their cycling sessions to give my lower body a bit of a break. It was definitely one of those circumstances where I had to listen to my body and adjust my training accordingly. Things went well overall, still working on increasing volume.

Fundraising is still going strong. I'm up to just under 30% of goal. My friend, the Yeti, ran a 50/50 raffle last week and some of the proceeds from that have been added in. Still another $70 coming when he makes his delivery to me in a week or two ($220 from the raffle total - quite a success!). Thanks to Ed from work who contributed! My dad is running a raffle at work, too, so we'll see a bump up in my amount from that in a few weeks, too. I'd love to hit my $1200 by March 28th incentive. Plus that would put me over halfway to my goal!

Week 1 ~ 4:10 ~ $310

Every week I'm going to post my progress, including the total training time and how much money I've raised so far. I completed the week 1 training schedule for TnT. Not anything crazy, fairly light running and biking on their schedule, supplemented with my circuit (45 min), a yoga session (60 min) and a spinning class (60 min), for a grand total of 4 hours and 10 minutes. I feel pretty good overall, but was really fatigued on Sunday. I think my calories aren't keeping up with my training, so I should make sure I watch that a bit more closely in the coming week. Riding the trainer at home stinks, so I'm already looking forward to better weather so I can ride outside. For Week 2, the volume isn't going up too much, so I'm sure it will be very managable.

I was at 13% of my fundraising goal at week's end. Not too bad so far. A big thanks to my (anonymous) very generous friend! This week, there are a few 50/50 Raffles underway, which should bump me up even more. I'm also going to get printing/stuffing/mailing out my initial letter campaign. Time to hit up the extended family!

It's Alive! My fundraising webpage is finally up and running. Please donate and pass the info along to your friends, family, coworkers, neighbors, dentist, hair dresser.... so they can donate, too. I've got a long way to go before I meet my goal, so I need all the help I can get!