Therapy

My relationship with food needs some therapy!

yea short post, I know!

It's Mental

With the Olympics here, its a huge reminder of how much dedication a sport takes. I can't believe that I am here and I'm taking this step! I remember having several conversations about running. I said "OMG I would NEVER Run a marathon - the only time I would run is if someone's chasing me" - So what do I decide to set my sights on? run a marathon after I've completed a 2.4 mile swim and a 112 mile bike ride! I suppose technically "someone" will be chasing me most of the race.

For those that know me (who else would be reading my blog anyway?) - I'm seriously stubborn, bullheaded, headstrong, and you can tack on the nicer adjectives: perseverant & goal oriented. The more I talk about this, the more excited I get about it.

Thing is, I don't know if I can get my body to cooperate with my stubborn brain. Man I hope so!

I am very happy for my support group. John is a great sherpa, He told me I'm crazy; that he won't ever race with me; but he supports me and will drag my crap around to these early races :).

I'm also very happy to have a great support group of friends.

I feel like Samuel from NBC's Hero's. I really do need everyone to keep me motivated. Alexis, Anne, Jen, Nicole, Pauline for keeping me going to the gym(s) and racing with me. Kevin and maybe Alexis for embarking on this Ironman Journey, Rick & Jim for totally inspiring me last year with swimming and now watching you train for Ironman #2 - Lake Placid. Sean for being a crazy Ironman (15 and counting).. and Maureen for jumping on to do a marathon next year. It's really cool to mention events and have people join me :). Thank you everyone!!

Sorry today's post is a total ramble, but it really is very mental for me. Everyone's motivation really keeps me motivated.. keep it up everyone!!

Now, lets hope it warms up so we can GO OUT FOR A RIDE!

I rode the Daytona 500

I road the Daytona 500! - Well I tried anyway. John asked me to watch it with him, I'm a football and hockey girl NOT a race fan so I decided to make it "fun" for myself. I got on the trainer and 'rode' my bike through the race. Thank GOD for the DVR because there were so many pauses and 2 red flags while they re-paved the track!

I ended up with 3.5 hrs of time in the saddle on Sunday! Even though I didn't make it to the end of the race, I'm pretty happy with that number. I'm going to blame the fact that I didn't go the whole race sheer boredom! (sorry race fans).

I also discovered a new massage therapist who works at my Chiropractor's office. I spent 90 min with her yesterday, and let me tell you it was NOT a relaxing massage! I had a real deep tissue with lots of myofascial releases including pectorals and IT bands. I just wanted to jump out of my skin, but the knots are virtually gone today.

Its snowing today so I don't know if I will get to my spin class followed by the yogalattes class tonight, but I hope so!

Gadgets and Shoes!

I received my Garmin 305 heart rate monitor last night. Being the gadget and numbers geek that I am, I also purchased the foot pod and the cadence monitor for the bike. I can't wait to get started with it! BUT -- big BUT -- its sooo complicated! I consider myself a techie but when it comes to gadgets I become a stupid girl! I have to rely on John (my husband) to read the manual and tell me how to do it!

In other 'gadget' news - I'm on my way to the chiropractor today to get my Orthotic for my right shoe. I am torqued and have to see a chiro once a week because I continue to throw my body out of balance, hopefully the new Orthotic will help correct this! Once I'm fitted for this I can actually get a new pair of running shoes, and hopefully reduce the number of adjustments.

I had a hilarious incident with some chicken and my shoes, where I've NEEDED a new pair of shoes for about a month now but need the stupid orthotic to make sure it fits properly!


I had a great workout and stopped at to get a chicken salad bagel before my acupuncture treatment. Girl's gotta have her protein! I was still in the parking lot when my phone rang so I attempted to answer it. Half the sandwich was sitting on the seat and in the act of answering the phone I knocked it directly into my shoe (which was sitting on the floor) Chicken- Mayo-Onions and all!

As if that wasn't bad enough, I put down the half in my hand to remove the chicken from my shoe and proceeded to knock THAT half directly into the SAME shoe!

I laughed, but really, not so funny! It is making me get a new pair of shoes though ;)

Tri Coach?

I'm struggling with the need for a coach this early. I'm still working on my fundamentals. I have a great personal trainer (Nicole) that I work out with three times a week. We concentrate on weight training and overall muscle conditioning.

I also have an awesome support group for my swim, bike, and run workouts. I know I will eventually need a coach especially as we get closer to race season, but do I really need a Tri coach now?

I have so many questions going through my brain! UGH!

What is Fat??

So, I'm conflicted in calling this the "fat girls' journey. I am reading some incredible blogs of women who are much larger than I am!

I do want to say that I don't have an eating disorder, I just like food! I am technically obese! If you look at me, you would never say "fat." - Chubby maybe! but hey 36% body fat is WAY up there and in the danger zone!

I'm one that thinks that if you FEEL fat you should do something about it (unless you're one of those people who is 110 lbs/ 5'6" tall and continue to bitch that you are 'fat' because you have a wrinkle in your knee).

I have cellulite, the dreaded muffin top, and then some! I guess what I'm saying is that I'm going to continue to have this battle with weight and even though its not as dramatic as some of the blogs or stories that I've read......

I still feel that I'm an ironman athlete trying to escape from a fat-girls body!

The Setback

My first triathlon should have been the Danskin New England - All Women's Tri in 2007. I was in ok shape with the exception of running. I hate running and felt that I could walk 3 miles if need be.

About 3 weeks before the race, I was 12 miles into a nice 18 mile ride in the country. It was a beautiful ride, I was taking in the sights including passing the farms, the cows, the rolling hills, the blue skies, and even the dogs chasing me.

Then it happened! I heard a large truck and decided, stupidly, to move onto the side of the road even though there was plenty of room for both of us. The second I moved over I felt the front tire catch and I just fell over. Instinctively I stuck my arm out to break the fall. At first I was more embarrassed than anything that I just fell over, then I realized that my wrist really hurt.

I had my cell phone with me but I'm incredibly stubborn so I just got back on the bike and rode home, swearing the whole way. I rode into the driveway and my husband just looked at me and asked "are you OK?" I said "I think I need to go to the hospital."

Turns out I fractured my radial head (in my elbow). Luckily it wasn't put in a cast.

The doctor told me I wasn't permitted to race! Man that was frustrating!

I met Anne (my training partner) at the finish line. It was her first Tri as well. She was one I convinced to join me on this journey but she overcame a hatred for the water to complete a triathlon. She and I spent hours and hours together in the water getting her comfortable. I was so proud of her at the finish line, but it was very emotional for me. I was mad I wasn't doing it, but so proud of Anne.

My day would come the next year.

How I got started with Multisports!

In 2007 a friend of mine sent me an instant message and said "hey I'm doing this triathlon, you should do it with me."

My first thought, and also the exact words out of my mouth "go to hell Andrea! I can't do that, are you crazy?"

Then I thought about it for about it for a day then decided why CAN'T I?

It was a sprint triathlon: 1/2 mile swim, 12 mile bike, and a 3.2 mile run and I had 3 months to train. I signed up less than 48 hours after she asked me.


Since then I've had that exact same conversation with several people, and I'm happy to report that most of them had the same reaction as I did.

Information Gathering

Damn there is a ton of information out there! Everyone has an opinion! Just trying to buy a hear rate monitor was a 3 week endeavor. I ended up with the Garmin 305 with the bike and foot cadence monitors. I am quite the geek and I'm very driven by numbers so I think these will really drive me!

Yesterday I met with a friend, Sean, who has done 15 Ironman races including a few trips to Kona. He's serious about the racing. As we were talking he gave me this really goofy grin. I asked "what the heck are you looking at me like that for?" he said "I forgot what it was like in the beginning, how exciting it was about the goals and the newness of it." He also said "you do know this isn't the end, right? there are other extreme events that you will want to do after this."

Ok.. seriously??

I looked at some more pictures of the finish line, and of the swim today. WOW - I can't even imagine this road ahead, let alone what it will feel like to be there that day!

The Journey Starts Here

I have been working out regularly for 4 months. I'm relatively in shape now but still 20 lbs overweight! 5'1," 36 years old and 150 lbs!

My regular workouts include weight training with a personal trainer 3x a week, plus swimming and biking. When I'm in the pool I swim anywhere from 1/4 mile to 1.5 miles. Biking is mostly indoors now but its 1 hr spin class to sometimes a 2 hour class.

I have done a few sprint triathlons a year with two goals:

1). Finish
2). Not last

Some friends and I decided that we would try an Olympic distance this year so we scheduled it for late August. I have NEVER been able to run: my weight, my chest size, and hyper-mobility have prevented me from running more than a 5K without miserable pain. The thought of an Olympic Distance Triathlon was terrifying to me! 10K! I thought "well I guess I could walk."

It was Fri Jan 22 2010, My trainer Nicole had me on the treadmill doing sprints 1 min on 2 min off. I had the treadmill up to a 10-11 min mile pace, which is LIGHTENING speed for me! I kept this up for 30 min.

Sat Jan 23, I went to the gym and got on the treadmill myself. This alone was a bizare event. I cranked up the sprint interval to a 10 min pace and did 2 min on 2 min off. I was able to complete this for 30 minutes. This sounds stupid, but this 30 minutes of activity gave me the confidence that I CAN run.

Sun Jan 24: I arrived at the regular spin class with my friends Alexis and Anne. I was so jazzed up about the abiltity to run that I looked at Alexis and said "Ironman in 2012?" and she said "hm.. sounds like a good goal." From there.. we had a great spin class, then went into the pool and did some sprints and worked on the stroke.

Later that day I thought about it some more and every time I thought about the possibility of crossing that finish line, I would get choked up! I knew this was something I had to do.

I also started poking my friends to see who was with me. While talking to a friend Lori she said her husband Kevin has "always wanted to do that." I, of course, asked "so what's stopping you- this is 2.5 years away??" Needless to say he's joining me on this journey!