going well

All is going well. I have been sticking to my 1/2 marathon very well. I have one longer run and 2 shorter runs. I try to take one of the shorter runs easy and the other one fast. I am surprising myself with my speed on the shorter runs!!! wish I could keep that 8:50-9:00 pace for 26.2 miles!!!

Yay for me!

Things are going well around here. We are really enjoying our new eating habits, and have been feeling great. I have more energy and patience.

Exercise wise, I somehow hurt my right tricep last Tuesday and and even as recently as last night I was sure that I had torn it, or at the very least I had develpoed tendonitis. I need to reschedule PT for my Hip, and I will mention my tricep to her then. It amazingly felt all better this morning, but it hurt so bad that I am going to make sure it doesn't happen again!

I am sticking to my running plan very well so far and ran 2 miles in under 17 minutes this morning. I felt so good and fast and accomplished when I was done. It was the best I have felt running in a long time (if not ever).

In attempt to improve my running...

I am signing up for the thunder road 1/2 marathon.

Adding to the list

I have thought of something else I need to work on.....asking for help. It may seem simple enough, but it is something that I very rarely (never) do for myself. I somehow got it in my head that I have to be able to do everything I set out to do on my own. I have been this way for as long as I can remember and it had never served me well, yet I am still doing it! I tend to feel that if I can't accomplish what I set out to accomplish on my own then people will see me (and I will see myself) as weak. I know that is so silly. I NEVER think of that when I see others getting help.

My friend Jenny is training for the Marine Corps Marathon and had her 20 mile run today. I rode while she ran. I checked in on her from time to time and refilled her water bottles. I am so proud of her. Not because she ran 20 miles (I knew she could do that), but because she reached out to me to ask for help. It makes me so nervous to ask for anything. I don't want to inconvenience any body else, or ask too much of them, or don't want them to think I can't do it. But, when she asked me I was more than happy to help her. I enjoyed helping her. It may seem obvious to everybody else, but today I realized that wow I bet whoever I ask for help is probably going to feel the same way! Duh!

I hope that this realization is sticks with me! Or I guess I should say that I am going to challenge myself to ask for help and begin to feel more comfortable asking for support.

On another note, our change in diet has really been going great. The biggest thing I have noticed is that I no longer drink Dr. Pepper/ caffeine. This was tough for a couple of days, but I am over the rough part. I am only drinking water, sooo much water. I feel better! I am less salty after a workout, and my skin seems younger looking to me.

Diet

The first change I have made is to my diet. Nathaniel and I have decided to make a commitment to be really changing our diets. I consider us to be pretty healthy people in the sense that we exercise and eat plenty of fruits and veggies. But when once we took a closer look we noticed that that was not true. This weekend we cleaned out our kitchen! No HFC! No partially hydrogenated oils! No trans fats! No dyes or chemical food colors! Only olive oil and sesame oil! We re also starting to use vitamins and supplements. The kids are really excited about the change too, I hope they stay that way!

I feel really good about this and am looking forward to this positive change. Now I just need to find some new/different recipes so that I won't fall back on the easy, convenient, preservative laden meals.

First Step

While my goal was t complete a half ironman, I don't think I was every really prepared to do it. I made sure every one knew what I wanted to do, but I didn't really let anybody know HOW I was doing.

I think that not finishing the race was the best thing that could happen to me because I gave me a great opportunity to reflect. I really need to work on so many areas before I believe that I will be ready to try again. This blog is a chance for me to write down my thoughts however disorganized they may seem so that I can see my growth. I am going to work on the following areas and add more as I think of them:

diet

sticking to workout plan/goal

focus on me not worry what others are thinking

not comparing myself to others

follow through

being content

I know that this doesn't seem very organized, but this is just how it is coming out.

Starting over again

My goal all summer was to COMPLETE a half ironman. I did not accomplish my goal, but I am going to "tri" again...