April 19, 2011 By lisa
I want to participate in True Confessions this week because I have lots of good things to confess.
First, I ran my third half marathon this weekend and I shaved 5 minutes off my last half marathon time- woot woot! Even better than that though, I got to run it with my BFF Christy (yeah, this Christy of Shrinking Jeans) and we had the BEST time talking, laughing, bitching about the hills, motivating, and pushing one another. I am fairly certain she could have run faster on her own, but she says *nahhhh*. Regardless, the race was exhilarating and awesome at all the same time. Official race report here.
In addition, our very own Ann joined us for the 5K portion of the race. It was my first time to meet her face to face. I had the extreme pleasure of getting to hang out with her this weekend. It was so awesome putting an actual face/voice/physical being to the words behind the computer screen.
So what’s next race-wise for me? I can’t say exactly what will be my next race. I would love to say that it will be a triathlon BUT there is still some uncertainty going on in my family life. Decisions are being made and once those decisions are made, we can move forward to living life and settling down. Decisions like- are we moving to South Austin or are we moving to San Antonio (related to husband’s job/career). We are living with my MIL right now and I feel like our life has been put on hold, all pending this BIG move/job decision.
For now, I continue to wait patiently….. and run.
December 29, 2010 By lisa
I weigh 166 lbs today, which is UP from where I should be. The holidays have not been kind to me. Let me rephrase that, I have not been kind to my body during the holidays. I have maintained my fitness level, exercising and running; however, my eating has been out of control, especially where chips and salsa are concerned.
I know I know, chips and salsa are probably not part of your holiday dinner but it was for me. AND, I bought the mega bag of tortilla chips from Costco and have proceeded to inhale the bag by myself. I have a love/hate relationship with tortilla chips. I love to eat them, I hate the lack of self-control I have around them.
For a while there, I was refraining from buying big bags of chips for this exact reason. I am WEAK around chips. Period, the end. I know this, Christy knows this, everyone knows this. Not having it in the house made it all that much easier NOT to eat them. Seems so simple, huh?
I do believe I need to return to the “no big bags of chips from Costco in my house” notion again.
“Just Say No” to Tortilla Chips.
My Healthy Living Goals:
- To drink a minimum of 80 oz of water on non-workout days and a minimum of 100 oz of water on workout days.
- To eat 5 servings of fruits and veggies per day. My body just feels better when I fill it with more of the good stuff and less of the bad stuff.
- To register and compete in my third half marathon- the Austin Half Marathon on Feb 20th, 2011.
- To register, train, and compete in my first sprint triathlon (to be identified), possibly even do an Olympic triathlon as well.
- To make my workouts count, each and every one of them. No faking it through a workout- I want to sweat and sweat a lot. I want to push the boundaries with my physical limits and go beyond them.
- Read a book about the “mental game” of training and competing in longer races. You guys do know that the mental game plays a HUGE role in training and competing, right? Any book suggestions?
- To drop 10 more lbs : ).
BTW, I am already loving this challenge. Yeah, I know it just started today but the idea behind the concept is just awesome. When it comes down to it, we have to rely on OURSELF to make the magic happen.
September 29, 2010 By lisa
My life is moving at super-sonic speed right now. I have so many other things I should be doing right now. Instead, I sit here re-reading old posts that I have written and marveling at how far I have come. I have searched up and down and around again for my very first weigh-in post but apparently, I never officially shared my *starting* weight for this journey. Interesting, huh?
My very first post for Shrinking Jeans was December 1, 2008. My third child was only 9 weeks old then and I was in the throes of caring for an infant, a toddler and a pre-schooler. I refused to weigh myself at that time.
I did weigh myself sometime in January 2009. I weighed 188 lbs and hated the way I looked and felt. I was not exercising, not watching what I ate and still breastfeeding. I came on board full-time with Shrinking Jeans at that time.
I weighed myself this morning and this is what I saw.
It has taken me almost 2 years, but finally, FINALLY, I get to grab this button.
I kept re-reading that very first post and I thought about how far I have come and then, I burst into tears.
- I have lost 25 lbs.
- I began this journey in a Size 16. I am safely wearing Size 12 and even some Size 10′s.
- My wedding ring fits once again.
- I have adjusted to “life with 3 kids”.
- I am a runner. I completed my first half marathon with Team Shrinking Jeans in June 2010. I am training for my 2nd half marathon in November 2010.
- I will one day soon be a triathlete. I am very anxious to get started down the triathlete path and cannot wait to do it. I have a feeling that I might even enjoy triathlete-ism even more than just plain ole running!
- I no longer wonder about “failing” as failure is no longer part of my vocabulary. There may be detours and bumpy roads, but no failure.
I am SO grateful to the Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans… SO VERY GRATEFUL. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Now, here’s to losing another 10-15 lbs- woot woot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
August 2, 2010 By lisa
I learned to swim in 3rd grade. I had the most awesome American Red Cross instructor. My mom made me take lessons until the instructor felt I was proficient. I protested at first, especially when I had trouble picking up the breast stroke. Lap after lap after lap. I finally got it, and the freestyle and the back crawl and the dead man’s float and everything in between.
That swim instructor went on to become my swim coach, for synchronized swimming. We practiced twice a week and went to various competitions around town. I loved swimming, I loved synchro, and I loved my coach. I credit HER for giving me the confidence I needed to swim and swim and swim….and do it well!
During college, I got certified to teach swim lessons. I taught at Girl Scout camp to kids ages 5-16. I taught all levels. I LOVED IT. I loved sharing what I loved to do and teaching it to others. I especially loved it when a girl who was struggling with the freestyle or diving or even just feeling comfortable with being in the pool finally GOT. IT. I loved seeing the joy on their faces and knowing that I played a role in that.
So, I am comfortable in the water. Very comfortable.
However, the majority of my swimming has occurred in the pool. Sure, I have been tubing down the river and waterskiing on the lake and body-surfing in the ocean, but I didn’t really SWIM laps in any of those bodies of water.
Today, I did my first open water swim. As in, I swam laps in a body of water other than a pool.
It was much more difficult than I thought it would be.
I stood in knee-deep water in the Frio River, eyeing the water that I knew would deepen to over my head. I couldn’t tell exactly where it got deep, but I knew it would eventually. I stood on the edge FOREVER, weighing my options. Do it, don’t do it, do it, don’t do it.
Finally, I said “Screw it” and just dove in and started swimming. The Frio River is pretty clear but there was still a little murk in the water. Once I started swimming, I could see where the water deepened and I knew where I couldn’t touch the bottom any more.
The interesting thing was this: I knew I couldn’t touch the bottom and that didn’t bother me. I knew that I had enough technical know-how of swimming and endurance to go for a while. Not being able to see lane markers and know where I was exactly at any given moment was a little unnerving. And most unnerving was the stupid thoughts of a big giant fish or a murky swamp monster coming from the bottom of the murky bottom and swallowing me whole. Stupid, bizarre, irrational.
It took me a good 8-10 minutes to calm my breathing and get into a good, slower-than-normal pattern. It wasn’t until my last lap that I got up to my normal, strong pace.
It was so much harder than I thought it would be. I can only imagine how difficult it would be if I wasn’t comfortable with swimming, or if I was in the ocean with a strong current and sharks waves to deal with.
Interestingly enough, I just want to do it again. I want to challenge myself to get comfortable with open water swims because one day, oh yes one day, I will be doing a triathlon and I suspect, once I get over the nervous-ness of non-pool water, it will be my best leg of the event.
June 30, 2010 By lisa
Let’s skip the formalities and jump to what you’re really here for, MY WEIGHT!
Last week’s weight: 175.4 lbs (ugh)
This week’s weight: 174 lbs (yippee)
A loss of 1.6 lbs
Happy dance, happy dance, happy dance!
Although I’ll be a whole lot happier when I say good-bye to the 170′s (again)! Last week was my first time to weigh-in in quite some time and I vowed to weigh-in every week this Summer. I am also leading the mini-challenges which is keeping me accountable to actually DOING the mini-challenges-HA! This week, I have been focusing hard on what I am eating, journaling it, getting in my fruits and veggies and drinking tons of water.
I’ve returned to going to the gym, A LOT. I went four times last week, just getting back in to the groove of exercising. I took a Body Kombat class for the first time (a mix of kickboxing and martial arts) and I took a Spin class. I lifted weights, I rode the stationary cycle and I walked on the treadmill.
I have my eyes on training for the San Antonio Rock n Roll Half Marathon on November 14th and possibly even doing this event (a beach run) on August 14th, both with Christy.
Another thing I cannot stop thinking about is doing a triathlon. The one I did back in February during the Sisterhood Olympics opened my eyes to the fun of mixing it up- swimming, biking and running. I spend my evenings scouring the want ads for a used bike (OMG- who knew bikes could be so expensive? Plus the gear- ack! If money grew on trees, then I would get this bike.). I spend a lot of time reading triathlon books and checking out various races and different websites. I am “this close” to attending an “Austin triathlon training group seminar” to see if I can hook up with a local group for training.
Thinking about tri’ing gives me excited butterflies in my stomach. Not nervous-ness, not anxiety, not “can I do this”……nope, I have excitement and butterflies because I already know I CAN DO THIS.
Even though my time for the 1/2 marathon in San Diego with Team Shrinking Jeans was not what I wanted it to be and even though I did it with a bum hip, completing it gave me something I could not get anywhere else- BELIEF IN MYSELF. I KNOW I will finish whatever races I sign up for, of that, I am 100% certain. I added to “the bank” once I crossed that finish line and my mental game is even stronger now.
I’m all over the board today, huh?
So yeah, Summer 2010 is going to kick ass for me, I just know it.