Swim clinic & Tinkerbell

Last night was our "official" swim clinic that we paid for and by 4pm I was so nervous. Even after telling Briana that morning "I'm good, not nervous at all" - Yeah, right! Let's just say my nerves affect my bodily fluids/solids and many trips were made to the restroom before the clinic.

Anyways, now lets chat swim clinic.

1. Sleeveless wet suit = BETTER!  So much better. My arms were cold but I warmed up. You don't have as much buoyancy but I'd rather have range of motion & no pain in my shoulder than buoyancy.
2. Rusty - the Tri coach was great. Great at explaining techniques, answering questions and making you feel confident.
3. I swam further & longer last night in open water than I have yet in my training.
4. We learned how to swim around buoys - who knew that would be so hard and that you can waste so much energy swimming around them.
5. Learned the "dolphin dive" into the water for starting - see this great link to an Awesome video. Once you enter the water after the dive, you dig your hands into the sand. You're going to pull yourself forward using the sand as an anchor point. I need to work on this & get it perfected but this will be helpful. This is a great article to read if you want to know more on dolphin diving - ya know in case you decide you want to train for a Tri too. Ya never know who is reading this ;o)

After last night I am feeling more confident in my swimming abilities and the fact that I can do this part of the Tri. Plus, meeting other newbie Tri competitors was great too. We had fun bonding, sharing ideas & techniques. A fun clinic for sure & very helpful.

And for the Tinkerbell news - I registered for the Tinkerbell Half Marathon in Disneyland on Jan 20, 2013!!!
Yep, as if I'm not crazy enough I have already added my next BIG race to my goal sheet. I mean what's another 13.1 miles to run, right?

A week of First's

This week was truly a great week. Bill was worked late on Tues and was off Wed/Thurs so it was like having him home for 3 days. It was great. And we have gotten in workouts every day this week.

However, the most exciting part of this week has been so many first's:

1. Running around the lake this week = 1.6miles without stopping
2. Completing an hour long spin class = first time in over a year for a total of 12.3 miles
3. First time wearing a full body wet suit
4. First time swimming in open water in said wet suit across the lake and back

The swim was eventful for sure. When Briana called me and said "Martin (local bicycle shop owner, training for Ironman, member of Snohomish Tri team & she watches his daughter) and a few people are going to Lake Tye to swim tonight, he invited us to go with them" - My initial answer was "ummm, I don't know about that".  But with Bill's convincing and Briana's encouragement we decided to do it & that way next week when we go to our actual Tri swim clinic we will not look like goofballs. And boy are we glad we went.

First, putting on a wet suit is harder than you think!!! Then add to that trying it on in small bathroom together with your 2year old son under foot = fun times! Sweat was a pouring for sure along with laughs & lots of grunting noises. We managed to get them on and off was so much easier. Like someone said on my Facebook page - "Good thing they don't start timing us before we get them on" - For sure!

Next, we had to do it again 2hrs later when we met them at the lake. We put ours on in the bathroom while the rest of the "professionals" put them on at the waters edge. And my hubby snapped this picture of us as we walked to the water.

"Sexy and we know it"

Swimming in open water is more difficult than the pool for sure. The water is choppy, cold & dark. I mean you can't see much when you put your head under and then throw in the occasional patch of seaweed. Yikes! I seriously kept saying to myself  "just keep swimming" - that is my official motto for this Tri - Just Keep Swimming.

We managed to make it across and back without any major issues. Well, except for the hundreds of other swimmers who will be swimming at the same time. But I am choosing to not think about that right now.
The Swim Tri coach said we most likely managed to swim our 1/4 of a mile. Awesome news!  The real clinic is on Wed, will post about that later next week.

Took my measurements this week:
Arms = 15 3/4 " -3/4 of an inch loss from last month
Hips = 53 "  - no change from last month
Waist = 40 1/2 " - +1 inch from last month And I am not sure how that is possible 
Bust = 43 1/2 " - no change from last month


Weigh in tomorrow - hoping for good things - last week I gained .4ounces. Darn it with the gaining!

Feeling Strong

In just under 12 weeks I will be completing my Super Sprint Triathlon at Cottage Lake. This past weekend they held the first in the series of two races. It's called the Tri Tri Again race because you can do the one in June and then again in Sept to try to beat your time. That was NOT option for me. I decided to  drive by the park on Friday night and check things out. After seeing the swimming area with the big buoy out in the water I called Briana my Tri buddy and said "We can do this". Seeing it with my own eyes mentally gave me new perspective. 

Then today I ran all the way around Lake Tye in Monroe. Bill chose to work out on the elliptical and I decided to workout outside. Given the choice I would rather workout outside than inside. And to be honest I needed to complete a 20min run outside to be even with my running buddies who ran for 20mins straight on Sunday evening. I ran 1x around in just over 20mins for a total of 1.6miles and 2x around is a 5K.  Our first 5K this year is 7/7 so in just a few weeks. We got this!

You wouldn't believe the pep talks I was giving myself today while running. A friend spotted me running and shouted out her car window "Way to go Gina" - which helped pep me up. And I did have my fabulous 90's rap mix playing on my ipod. But all in all it wasn't as bad as I thought. Compared to a month ago when I tried to do this and couldn't run more than 2 light poles at a time. Such an adrenaline high to be able to finish & finish strong.

 I am definitely changing both physically & mentally. My body is reshaping itself and finally looking like 30lbs has been shed. Enough that in the last week I have had several comments from people saying things like "Wow, you are looking good" - which I will admit feels good.

 As each week passes I really do feel stronger and stronger. Physically I am stronger today than I was last Sept when I ran the Iron Girl 5k with a group of friends. Which just encourages me to keep going. Not for the compliments, although they are nice, but because of how it makes me feel. I feel so good and that is why I keep pushing on. "Just keep swimming"

And finally I leave you with this - my new haircut. I decided to go short, shorter than my husband has ever seen on me. And can I just say I LOVE it!! So easy to do & keep up with. Why didn't I do this sooner?

I am a Runner

A few days ago I asked "What makes me a runner?" And then my husbands cousin sent me this quote via FaceBook.     I  loved it instantly. And after running in the dark & the rain last night I have decided I am a Runner.
I run because it's good exercise, I am training for something bigger than me, it makes me stronger, it actually feels good to run and I like it. Yes, I like running. There is just something about it that calls to me. Now, I don't know if I will ever be a marathon runner but I do know this now................. I am a Runner!

Sweat like you love it

As I sit here at the computer I stink. I stink like BO and it feels good. Am I weird? I must be because I am also now writing about it too. Yesterday and today I sweat so much that my shirts were wet front & back. The below picture is the back of my shirt yesterday. But in my crazy rational brain sweat means I worked out hard, sweat means that I am getting healthy and so in my view Sweat is good and I am going to Rock it like there's no tomorrow.

Yesterday, I took my 2nd Power Pump class and oh my gosh was it hard. I thought the first class was hard but this class was equally hard. We started this class with those huge workout balls. Have you ever tried to exercise holding those things in the air, twisting around & moving side to side still holding one? First, they don't weigh much at all, maybe 2-3lbs max. Second, they get heavy VERY fast!  I barely made it through the 2 song warm up. And we aren't talking about U2 songs here, were talking about some techno 2.5min song. My arms were dying 5mins into the class. The class continued with cardio/lifting intervals and I worked hard during all of it the entire time. I love that feeling of pushing myself to the max when my arms or legs are shaking as I lift & lunge. And just when I think I cannot go on I push through to finish the set. Gosh that's an amazing feeling. Workout high, YES - that's me.

Today, I got on the treadmill to do my 2nd run this week. I have been neglecting running & biking the last few weeks as I have tried to focus on swimming. So this week I determined that I am going to run at least 3x. As I got on the treadmill I told myself we'll just do the week 4 of Couch to 5K program. (5min walk warm up followed by 2.5min, 5 min, 3min runs & then repeat runs).  However, after my 2min warm up I started to jog at a leisure pace of 3.7. And after 7minutes I was still feeling strong but my bladder wasn't. I kept going until 10mins of solid jogging and my bladder I am sure said "get off now or I am going to let it rip" After my quick trip I was back on and started right back into jogging but at speed 4. I continued to jog - feeling good. Somewhere around the 20minute mark, still jogging I could feel myself getting strong. I know those reading are thinking - CRAZY - she likes sweat, she is jogging - she is crazy.

Now my ability to jog for 28mins straight could be contributed too:
A. Bill was at the gym today with me and sent me a cute text that said "You're doing Awesome"
B. My super old school Eminem, LL Cool J and Fifty Cent play list I was rocking out too
C. Watching Kathy Lee & Hoda on the treadmill TV talk about a man's private - but pg for TV - interesting


One question that has been crossing my mind this week is - when does jogging cross into running? Is there a guideline? Was I jogging or running today, hmm?

 Tomorrow - Weigh in day followed by swimming and Sunday an outside run - lets see how I do with that.

And I leave you with a picture of Bill and I after our hard workout yesterday. Love this man and so proud of him for joining me on this journey!

TRX and Muscle definition

Big news! Today in my boot camp class while doing the dreaded wall sits as I ran my hand down my thigh I felt a muscle. No a real muscle - muscle definition. I rubbed it again, yep still there, "seriously is that my muscle?"  "Am I imagining this?" - nope still there. By golly I am forming leg muscles - or at least they are getting definition, woohooo!  And I lost 1.2lbs this week at weigh in = 28lbs down. Another bit of news is that Bill has joined me on this journey!  I cannot tell you how excited I am to have him along with me and not just cheering me on. He went to the gym 4x and lost 9lbs this past week. Way to go honey!!

This is a picture of my newest exercise regiment. This is TRX - Suspension Training. They just got the system at the YMCA I work at. So I tried a free half hour session last Friday to see what it was all about. (Big shout out to my friend Tara for giving me one of her appointments because they went fast & I didn't get one.) 

I got there and I saw the bar attached to the wall holding three sets of resistance bands and I immediately start thinking 1. Is that going to hold me? and 2. The other two people better be smaller than me or we are in big trouble.  I didn't know what to expect from this little half hour session. But boy was my world Rocked in that little half hour!  First, the bar held me, which is a good thing. I did find myself asking the trainer, "Are you sure this is going to hold me?" and my partner was a tiny little thing so it all worked out. Second, I have never felt my muscles work during a push up or plank like I did using the TRX. By the time I had completed 4 push up reps my arms were shaking, I mean shaking like a leaf. And that's when I knew, this was for me.

After discussing with Bill over the weekend and even though I could barely walk or get out of bed I decided to take the plunge. Today I signed up for four 1hr sessions with up to 2 other people in my group. I am super excited to see what will happen in the next month to my body & my strength. I am really trying to push my body & not get stuck in an exercise rut. I figure with all the cardio I am doing (biking, swimming & boot camp classes) I needed some muscle lifting & toning. Boy do my arm wings need this!!

Another bit of news is that I have my first open water swim clinic next Wednesday - yikes! I am already feeling scared and excited at the same time. I don't know if I am more afraid of getting tired, water going in my mouth with bugs/debris or the cold. Heck, lets be honest I am afraid of it all. What I am fairly certain is that next Wed is going to  give me a good idea of what I have to look forward to on Sept 8th. And this is going to either be a good thing or a bad thing.