Keep moving...

Day 13
ibuprofen: none so far...

Another swimming workout today, and I am having a devil of a time with the "crawl" stroke. So here is what was going through my head as I went along...

breathe, stroke, stroke, oh yeah, I have to kick too but not too deep oh geez I gotta breathe...
stroke stroke....nose full of water, splutter, oh yeah I have to kick too holy crap....too many things to think of at one time...gasp...don't hold your breath....mouth full of water...oh yeah I have to kick too...geez I'm gonna drown....people are gonna laugh at me because I can't even breathe right when I'm trying to swim...maybe they will be too busy doing their own thing to notice. Maybe only the lifeguards will be watching, and I don't care if they laugh at me. Try to breathe, stroke, stroke....another nose full of water....why oh why can't I do this right....try to breathe....just keep moving, even if it doesn't look good....keep moving, keep moving....

About this time, I flip over onto my back and do a backstroke for a while. Sometimes I bump my head into the side of the pool (ouch). I can do all kinds of funky side and back strokes. One of our Fearless Leaders tells me there are no rules about how you get to the end, you just have to do it under your own power. Maybe I will get the Funky Stroke Award. And as long as I make it to the finish, maybe that is all right. I'll try to keep moving.

Riding and the heat

Day 11
ibuprofen: 1200mg and counting

Today was slated as a 1-hour bike ride, so I got out there and started riding with some of the fabulous folks I have been training with. So I'm out there, and the one gal who is most at my pace and I get to the 30-minute mark. We are supposed to turn around and come back. She says to me, "Let's go just a little farther! Just a little bit farther." I grudgingly agree to a very small bit farther. We don't have to go fast, she tells me, we just need to go a little farther...

By the time we got back, we had ridden 15 1/2 miles, and shockingly, we still felt pretty good. Just a little farther, huh? But see, this is the benefit of training with friends. They push you to do more than you thought was possible, and encourage you all along the way. It was so great to meet the rest of the group at Starbuck's afterwards and have a little victory to share!

The Praying Guy was out there this week, and it was nice to see him. Good to know he's still out there on the trail, praying for all the folks he sees.

I'm a little concerned about the heat. This event is supposed to be taking place in early June, and it was already so warm today that it had me thinking about how much hotter it's going to be. I was wearing about as little as I could in decency, and everything was the proper "techy" athletic materials, so it wasn't so bad, but what if it's 104 or something on race day? I guess I just will have to get used to really hydrating in a serious fashion. But I tell you what, if I make it through all this training to the Big Day, I will finish it one way or another unless I get hurt or something. After all this work, I'm going to really want one of those pictures of me crossing the finish line!

Thanks again to everyone who's been reading this and posting comments and telling me what you think. It means a lot to me!

Can I really do this?

Day 9
ibuprofen: none so far, though I'm spending a lot of time thinking about it...

Wow...today, I got up at 0500 to ride my bike for 45 minutes and walk for 15. I am so tired I can barely sort of function, and I got positively crabby with some of my students today. I am starting to wonder if I really have whatever it takes to do an event like this. I have some doubts. I am going to really try to hang in there. Tomorrow is a rest day, so maybe I'll feel better once I've had a chance to get a full night's sleep and relax a little.

I don't want to give up. I've given up on so many things in this life. I want to hang in there.

Help with swimming!

Day 8
ibuprofen: 600mg with breakfast

Today, I had a great opportunity to work out in the pool (the nice one) with one of my training group who has also been a competitive swimmer and swimming coach. It's amazing how much a few pointers can really help! So thanks for the assistance!! I may actually be able to finish this because of you!

I woke up this morning tired pretty much everywhere, and it was pretty much all I could do to get myself out of here and on my way to the pool. But thank God (really, truly), I got there and got some help with my swimming so now I feel a little more confident, and I'm getting a little of that sense of accomplishment.

Thanks also to everyone who is posting such thoughtful and encouraging remarks. You're making a big difference for me, and I appreciate it!

Swimming and the Neighborhood

Day 6
ibuprofen: shockingly, none so far

Today was a swimming workout, which I did. I don't think anything adequately prepared me for all the juggling I was going to have to do with child care in order to get this training in. When I was training for the half marathon I completed in March, I could at least take the wee one in the stroller and get a couple of miles in that way. It's not so easy to do that with the pool!

So for today's workout, I took baby to my mom and swam at the high school pool in the area where she lives. Now, this is not a bad area - it's pretty regular by most peoples' standards. And the pool is adequate (though a bit chilly!), but nothing fancy. There are no locker rooms or facilities for changing in or out of a swimsuit, much less rinsing out the chlorine from your hair. But the lifeguard was super nice, and, you know, it was OK.

Contrast this with the stupendous pool I swam in last Wednesday. In Suburbia, they take their aquatic facilities seriously! The locker room is super clean, super nice, and there are lockers to put your stuff in. The pools are heated. There is music. Everywhere I looked, I said to myself, "Dang, this place is niiiiiice!" Now, mind you, it costs almost twice as much to use this pool as the other one, but ... I think it's probably worth it.

I am going to try very hard not to get on any of my soapboxes about education funding, equal access to facilities, schools and education, cultural experiences and chances to try things you never thought of before....but wow. The differences in these two areas, both of which are within half an hour of my home, are mind-boggling. If anyone is interested in these sorts of issues, there was a really good book published last year by Jonathan Kozol called The Shame of the Nation. I highly recommend it to anyone who is concerned about issues related to equity and education.

But enough of that. I got in the pool today, I did my workout, and I actually feel pretty good. Hair smells like chlorine, but that's all right for now.

Walking!

Day 5
ibuprofen: 400 mg so far

Hello!

Today, my husband and daughter and I all participated in a 5K event to benefit our local zoo. I say "participated" because my husband ran, I walked and our little one rode in a stroller. It was forecast to rain this morning, but the weather was glorious - beautiful sunshine, cool, and a little breeze. We also got to visit the zoo after, so we went and took a look at the reptiles and penguins until the little one lost patience.

It took me longer to finish the 5K than I would have liked, but I was pushing the stroller most of the way. We don't yet have one of those dandy jogging strollers, so things were not as speedy as they might have been. I just keep telling myself that the point is to get out there and do something, and finish - not necessarily to do a certain time. There will come a point in this training (soon, I think!) when I have to worry more about time, but today it was mostly just to get out there.

And it was fun! I hope that our baby grows up thinking that athletic things are fun, not work!

Riding today!

Day 4
Ibuprofen: 1200mg

Hi all,
Today we rode out on the bike trail for an hour. My worthy training partners all left me in their dust :-) but I was able to complete 10 miles today. We all agreed that this was not the best we've ever felt riding, but I'm sure we will all hit our stride soon.

I love being out on the bike trail on Saturday mornings. There are athletes of all shapes and sizes, and everyone is very free with a smile, a "good morning" or a "great job!" I find that when I am feeling low on energy and a little down, it always makes me feel better to encourage someone else. So if you hear me shouting out "Great job! Keep it up!" all along the trail, it's because I need a little lift myself, and it always makes me feel better when I see other folks smiling.

The Praying Guy was not out on the trail today, which is too bad. There is this dude who is out there most weekend mornings, praying for all the people he sees out there. He kinda freaks some of the folks out, but I'm always glad to have someone wishing God's blessings on me, even if he is a little nutty. Heck, I'm a little nutty just being out there!

One more day of training down! Another day of victory! Yay!

Hello and welcome!

Day 3 of training
Ibuprofen intake: 400mg

Hi all!

I just started training for a triathlon, which is something I never, ever in my wildest dreams thought I would do. I'll post my successes and failures, needs for band-aids, ice packs and ibuprofen, and hopefully give a lift and some encouragement to anyone else out there who wants to try something they once thought was impossible.

I have struggled with my weight for YEARS, and finally reached the point where I thought it was possible to Do Something Big to try and change my life. Now, when I say "struggled with my weight," I want you to understand that I could lose basically an entire person to be at the "proper" weight for my height of six feet. I started out this year by joining the Runnin' For Rhett group in training to walk the Shamrock'n Half Marathon this March 11. Most of the rest of the group actually RAN the half marathon, but I walked it with a couple of good, dedicated, and equally nuts friends of mine. When one of the group sent out a congratulatory email to the lot of us and said, "triathlon anyone?" I laughed out loud, because even after doing the half marathon, I just could not imagine that I could do this.

But here I am. I have completed my first few days of training. I have some sore muscles. But I think, down deep, that I have the hope and the strength to do this thing.