Here I am again, after another long hiatus, wishing I had kept up with this blog and the ups and downs of 2015. But its too hard to catch up, so I'm just going to start again...and try yet again to be better at it!
Another year coming to a close. I can't even believe it. Sometimes it feels like time is on fast forward. We've been in our new house a year, in a way it seems longer because we feel so at home here now, but I also can't believe its been that long already! I truly love where we live. I wake up every day grateful for this home, the view, and all we've been able to do to make it ours over the past year.
Physically this has been a rough year. Between when we moved in and October of this year, I had gained about 25 pounds. That made me incredibly sad! I worked SO hard in 2014, that it was brutal to feel like I'd taken so many steps backwards. But between the crazy driving schedule our first 6 months here, and the remodels and everything else, my good routines just sort of fell apart. Luckily I stayed active, though not on the same level, but I accomplished a lot of goals. Another 100 miles for JDRF, another Larsen Cup, lots and lots of spin classes, lots of Stacey workouts. I'm grateful for that.
Starting in October I got serious with Stacey again. I've been trying to track my food (although not as religiously as before, but I'm trying to get back in the groove), i've been doing Stacey's workouts again with more intensity, and I'm working on getting my old habits back. I haven't weighed in recently, but as of last weigh-in I was down about 6 or 7 pounds from my recent peak, which during this time of year is a success. I got really sick the week before Christmas, so no workouts happened then, but I've been trying to get back into the swing since I've been feeling better. I've been reading some books on new eating philosophies to see if I can find something that will really work for me to make new habits again, and i've been giving a lot of thought to my goals for 2016. I always struggle with how to set physical goals for myself, my mind is always scattered with all the many things I would like to accomplish, and prioritizing them is hard for me! So i'm still working on it. I definitely didn't stick to the plan for this last year. I want this year to be 1) Maintainable 2) Realistic 3) Challenging 4) A little out of my comfort zone! I want to get back to a maintainable body that I can be proud of, but still live life and enjoy life. I know its possible. I've been there! I just have to get back.
Thursday, December 31, 2015
Tuesday, July 21, 2015
Larson Cup 2015
Time for a race report! I was pretty nervous going into the Larson Cup this year. I had been training, but my whole heart wasn't in it. I was doing fine, but nothing exceptional. I also joined a July challenge called IronMan in a month where you have to complete 2.4 Mile Swim, 112 Mile Bike, and 26.2 Mile Run during the month of July. The bike and swim aren't too hard for me to do that much of in a month, but 26 miles of running is a lot for me! So that helped with the training a bit, but I was still scared. I don't know why I always work myself up so much when I know the family is mostly not training at all, but I put a lot of pressure on myself! After the pasta dinner Friday night I was a bit more scared. Several of my cousin's daughters were competing and those young things made me nervous!
Race morning came and my nerves were up, but I was ok, I felt fairly ready. The kids race was first, Beth did the whole kids race! I was so proud! It was tough for her, but it was awesome. James and Kate both ran the mile, they killed it too! Proud mama. I was only there to watch Kate cross the finish line, but it was awesome. Before the kids were all back we had to get the adult race going. The swim always makes me nervous because I've always been first out of the water, so I feel pressure to be first out of the water! My cousin's daughter is on the swim team and had told me she would probably do it in 7-8 minutes and I knew I couldn't compete with that, so I told myself to just stay calm and find a comfortable pace. About half way through I realized I was ahead of her! I didn't want to get my hopes up, but I was feeling good and at ease in my pace. When I finished the timers said "is that it??" I double checked my GPS watch and I was indeed done, so I hoped out and ran to transition. I had done the 500 meters in 8:47! That's a whole minute faster than I had been pacing it in training, I was shocked. I hoped on my bike and got going. My bike felt a little off, I don't know what it was exactly, my chain was clanky and it just felt off. But I managed. The hill was as hard as I remembered it, but I completed my first loop in under 10 minutes which was my goal. Each loop got a little easier, but it was a tough ride. Headwind and that "off" feeling, but I kept on pace. I was pretty wasted when I got to T2, but I was first girl off the bike, I got my shoes changed, walked to the top of the parking lot and started jogging, it was slow but I was running. I made it about a mile before I needed a walk break, which I was happy about. At that point my achilles and calves were tightening up, but usually a walk break will ease that, it wasn't as helpful as I wanted but it was ok. I kept walking and jogging to the hill, my plan all along had been to walk to hill, no reason to torture my legs for a couple extra minutes. But shortly into the hill my legs were freaking out! My calves had totally seized up. They hurt a lot! I had to stop walking a couple of times and stretch just to keep moving forward. Once the road flattened out a bit I was able to job some, but it was still a challenge. That's when Emma passed me, dang it! And not long after that Misty caught me. Misty encouraged me to run with her and I did for a while, I was hoping to stay with her to the finish, but my legs just wouldn't let me. I had to take one more walk break, so she got ahead of me and I ended up 3rd place woman. Not the win I was hoping for, but I was overall happy with my performance. Running has always been my weakness, I know that, and I obviously have some work to do still, but at least my other events went well. It was a fun day! I'm glad I did it. I have work to do before next year, but I know I can do it.
Race morning came and my nerves were up, but I was ok, I felt fairly ready. The kids race was first, Beth did the whole kids race! I was so proud! It was tough for her, but it was awesome. James and Kate both ran the mile, they killed it too! Proud mama. I was only there to watch Kate cross the finish line, but it was awesome. Before the kids were all back we had to get the adult race going. The swim always makes me nervous because I've always been first out of the water, so I feel pressure to be first out of the water! My cousin's daughter is on the swim team and had told me she would probably do it in 7-8 minutes and I knew I couldn't compete with that, so I told myself to just stay calm and find a comfortable pace. About half way through I realized I was ahead of her! I didn't want to get my hopes up, but I was feeling good and at ease in my pace. When I finished the timers said "is that it??" I double checked my GPS watch and I was indeed done, so I hoped out and ran to transition. I had done the 500 meters in 8:47! That's a whole minute faster than I had been pacing it in training, I was shocked. I hoped on my bike and got going. My bike felt a little off, I don't know what it was exactly, my chain was clanky and it just felt off. But I managed. The hill was as hard as I remembered it, but I completed my first loop in under 10 minutes which was my goal. Each loop got a little easier, but it was a tough ride. Headwind and that "off" feeling, but I kept on pace. I was pretty wasted when I got to T2, but I was first girl off the bike, I got my shoes changed, walked to the top of the parking lot and started jogging, it was slow but I was running. I made it about a mile before I needed a walk break, which I was happy about. At that point my achilles and calves were tightening up, but usually a walk break will ease that, it wasn't as helpful as I wanted but it was ok. I kept walking and jogging to the hill, my plan all along had been to walk to hill, no reason to torture my legs for a couple extra minutes. But shortly into the hill my legs were freaking out! My calves had totally seized up. They hurt a lot! I had to stop walking a couple of times and stretch just to keep moving forward. Once the road flattened out a bit I was able to job some, but it was still a challenge. That's when Emma passed me, dang it! And not long after that Misty caught me. Misty encouraged me to run with her and I did for a while, I was hoping to stay with her to the finish, but my legs just wouldn't let me. I had to take one more walk break, so she got ahead of me and I ended up 3rd place woman. Not the win I was hoping for, but I was overall happy with my performance. Running has always been my weakness, I know that, and I obviously have some work to do still, but at least my other events went well. It was a fun day! I'm glad I did it. I have work to do before next year, but I know I can do it.
My mind still isn't completely together with my eating and fitness goals, Ryan and I have both been struggling, but we are trying. Our century training is going well, a couple longs rides is all that's left before we ship the bikes off! Just about 3 weeks until we head to the ride, and from there to the Bahamas! I won't have the swim suit body I was hoping for back by then, but I can make some progress at least.
Thursday, May 21, 2015
Time for an update
Ok, so I like to keep it real here. Its obviously been a while since I've posted, and that's mostly because I haven't been in my best head space.
We moved into a new house in late November, that was a lot of upheaval. Then we almost immediately started renovations on the new house, that included parts of the kitchen. So of course we ate out a lot, and our routines were very disturbed. I added an hour and half of drive time to the kids schools to my day after the move so my days got very busy and I got very stressed! So...fast forward 6 months...I've gained 15 pounds. Ugh. I know its not the end of the world. I've still been exercising, just not as religiously. My fitness level is not where it used to be, but its not terrible. I've been slowly working on getting all my good habits back, and I know I will get there, but i've made some work for myself. Oh well! Life has its ups and downs. Fitness is a journey, a life long journey, I won't always be in the top shape of my life. And that's ok, its not the most important thing in life. I'm still being active, i'm still doing my best to be a good example to my kids.
So now what? We are going to the Bahamas in 3 months, so I have a timeline and some goals! I also have the Larson Cup triathlon and the JDRF century coming up this summer, so that gives me some focus for my workouts. I'm getting back on the bandwagon, but trying to keep a healthy perspective on food, and on my body. My body will always be imperfect and that's ok! But I can take baby steps back to the best shape of my life!
We moved into a new house in late November, that was a lot of upheaval. Then we almost immediately started renovations on the new house, that included parts of the kitchen. So of course we ate out a lot, and our routines were very disturbed. I added an hour and half of drive time to the kids schools to my day after the move so my days got very busy and I got very stressed! So...fast forward 6 months...I've gained 15 pounds. Ugh. I know its not the end of the world. I've still been exercising, just not as religiously. My fitness level is not where it used to be, but its not terrible. I've been slowly working on getting all my good habits back, and I know I will get there, but i've made some work for myself. Oh well! Life has its ups and downs. Fitness is a journey, a life long journey, I won't always be in the top shape of my life. And that's ok, its not the most important thing in life. I'm still being active, i'm still doing my best to be a good example to my kids.
So now what? We are going to the Bahamas in 3 months, so I have a timeline and some goals! I also have the Larson Cup triathlon and the JDRF century coming up this summer, so that gives me some focus for my workouts. I'm getting back on the bandwagon, but trying to keep a healthy perspective on food, and on my body. My body will always be imperfect and that's ok! But I can take baby steps back to the best shape of my life!
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