solar squirrel

Last Sunday I did the Planet X sprint triathlon - I went into it knowing I was not in the best shape and would be happy with just finishing but I ended up feeling really good the whole time (except during the swim - thank goodness I brought my wet suit!!) I felt good on the bike and I was talking to people - I scared one person when I said hi to her!  Then on the run I was able to run w/ Daisy, until the end where she pulled ahead and beat me.  It was fun and the weather was perfect!  I ended up w/ 3rd female overall - with Mel and Daisy taking 1st and 2nd.  (And wouldn’t you know it - the 3 of us are part of the Akron Marathon relay - LOOK OUT!!)

This was just what I needed to motivate me to get my butt in gear and start a more regular workout routine.  After Sunday’s good turnout, I managed to get in a track workout on Tue, a trip to Westbranch for some mountain biking on Wed, spin class on Thurs, and a solid 12 miles running w/ SERC today in Solon.  Now, for many people I know 4 days of workouts is a joke - but compared to what I’ve been doing this is PHENOMINAL!  I plan to slowly get myself back to 7 days/week.  (Using my swim day as a rest day).  At least for the summer I should be able to handle this, but once school is back in session I’ll likely fall apart again.

Planet X results:

Swim (1/4 mile):  7:12
Bike (11 miles):  36:12 - 18.2 mph
Run (5k):  23:04 - 7:26/mile

At the finish - still feeling good!

Thanks Joey for the pictures from Planet X!  Someone told me they saw pics of me from it and I was thinking it had to be from Joey playing photographer!

My blog needs updates…but I’ll get to it on a day that I don’t have a million other things to do.  For now all you need to know is that my newest goal is to run a 3:30 at Towpath.  (and not die doing XTERRA this year…)

I cannot believe that June is almost over and I’ve basically been a sedentary blob since I started my new job.  Gone are the days of feeling like a slacker if I didn’t work out at least once per day.  I’ve managed to evolve into someone who only exercises about once or twice per week - and doing that is beginning to look like an accomplishment.  My desire to do well at my new job has caused me to eliminate focus on almost every other piece of my life…which goes against my NUMBER ONE RULE, which is that having the proper balance of family, work, social, and fitness/health are key to being HAPPY.  (Note that I didn’t say these were key to being wealthy or key to having a perfect body, etc…since I am not convinced that tipping the scale any one way is equivalent to providing life-long happiness).  In any event I have broken my rule and on my red eye flight back from San Diego Tue/Wed I decided ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.  This is getting ridiculous and I need to get back into a routine that puts me in charge of my balance.  It is not asking too much to take an average of one hour a day to exercise.  Whether it’s running or biking or swimming or whatever,  I’m going to do it because that’s what provides me with balance and happiness.  If it happens that I use 1.5 hours one day and .5 the next, whatever, but it’s going to happen because I’m beginning to feel like a spectator rather than a participant in my own life.

Which leads to tomorrow’s sprint triathlon at Monroe Falls park.  It’s the first of the season for me - I haven’t done a brick workout in probably 8 months and can’t remember the last time I swam, but it should be a fun time regardless.  It’s local and there are a few friends who will be there which will make it fun even if I’m in last place.  It will be good just to get out and do a race!  The weather is supposed to be nice too, so it will be enjoyable.  Looking ahead the XTERRA triathlon is a month away and I haven’t been on my mtn. bike once!  I’m planning on heading to West Branch this Thursday so if you are reading this and you want to go please let me know so I will have someone to ride with in case I die!  I will plan on hitting West Branch once per week until XTERRA which will be about the same training as I did last year.  Hopefully there won’t be too many runners so I don’t come in last place.  (Last year I ended up passing quite a few people on the run, but basically was the slowest mtn. biker on the course…)  I have a feeling that Daisy may just win it for the girls!

Ok - off to do Saturday stuff - going to a friend’s ‘Summer Solstice’ party and enjoying a day of REST!

Quick update to brag about my incredible 2-days in a row of working out!  That’s how sad things have gotten - I’m proud of 2 days in a row…

I did ~ 6 miles with Bridget and the Fleet Feet group on Wednesday evening (I think I’ll start doing this on a regular basis) and then managed to drag myself away from work for a spin workout at lunch yesterday.  Then I was planning on a track workout after work but soon realized that the list of things that I needed to get done was getting larger instead of smaller so I decided against it.

My weekend will be spent in San Diego for work, but I’m hoping to be able to slip away in the evenings for some training.  I told Todd this am that I HAVE to get out to Westbranch ASAP so I can get in some mountain biking before the XTERRA.  I figure I’ll likely be in last place for the bike portion, but it would be nice not to die.

I was reminded yesterday that 2009 is half way over.  That’s kind of depressing considering I wanted 2009 to be my most fit year, but it’s not looking too good.  There is still time, though!!!

HUGE CONGRATS to E-Speed, Barb B. and Laura for their incredible times at the Flag Day 5k.  Those are some fast girls!!!  I knew they would all do well.

Off to get ready for work!

I’ve had this stupid sore throat for over a week but I think I’m finally getting better.  I managed to get in a few workouts, but nothing substantial.  Again I have gotten buried by work, mostly because everything is new and it takes me twice the time to figure something out because I have to ask questions and do independent research on things.  Luckily as time goes on things will get easier because I will be more comfortable with the industry.  It’s still incredibly exciting and I’m LOVING it!

I am leaving Sat. for San Diego for a water conference.  Basically I’m going to man our product booth and explain our technologies (yikes!).  It should be a fun learning experience.

Workout-wise I’ve been a huge slacker, but I am going to start training for the towpath marathon like - today.  E-Speed told me that I could do an 18 week program, but I’m already behind so I’ll have to pick it up in week 16…or whatever week I’m on.  Can you tell I’m not awake yet?  (Still drinking coffee - I realized that I could start keeping my blog up to date if I did it in the morning while drinking my morning coffee and waking up)

In other news Todd’s parents are here visiting from Oregon and he has put them to work remodeling his bathroom…which has caused there to be several new holes in places where we didn’t used to have holes (to get to the pipes).  It’s been disappointing because we wanted to get a bigger shower but because of the location of things we’re going to have to stick with the same size; and hot and cold water pipes are in locations which require punching holes in walls, etc.  I can’t wait to see it complete, though - it’s going to be very fancy!

Thanks for keeping me on my toes, Ben R. - this blog post is dedicated to you!!