Let's get physical

I've been trying to figure out a training/workout schedule that will work for me and it's been difficult since my work schedule is so crazy and I haven't really been aware of my weaknesses.  Working with the personal trainer, I'm finding out I have a lot of weak areas.

Now I have come up with something that I think will work.  It requires 2-a-days simply because of what I need to do.  I will give it a try for a couple of weeks and see if it works!

Monday:
     AM: run
     PM: weight training
Tuesday:
     AM: swim
     PM: pilates
Wednesday:
     AM: run
     PM: weight training
Thursday:
     AM: swim
     PM: pilates/yoga (depends on if I'm working)
Friday:
     AM: Meet Up strength training and drills
Saturday:
     long run/bike or rest
Sunday:
     long run/bike or rest

Now to just figure out the specific workouts for these days.  Of course things may get switched around for different meet ups so I can get ideas of training drills, etc.  But I plan to stick to this as much as possible.

Let's get started!!

pesco-ovo-lacto-vegetarianism

This completes my first week as a vegetarian.  It's actually not been as hard as I thought.  It's definitely been more time consuming as I have to plan out the menus, prepare the meals, etc.  Before I could throw a chicken on the grill and be done.  I know as time goes on I will become more proficient.

By the title, it's obvious that I'm not hard core.  I'm eating mostly veggies, but I'm not going overboard to try to avoid dairy and eggs.  I drink a glass of milk with my protein shake (which is whey protein) and I still eat things cooked with eggs.  I'm not overtly eating them as my cholesterol is one thing I'm trying to control.  But I'm not going crazy.  I'm also doing mostly natural and organic.  It's really hard to do everything that way these days, but I'm doing my best to avoid chemicals.  The "pesco" portion means I'm still eating fish as well.  Fish has so many health benefits as well as a good protein source.  I'm only eating it a couple times a week, though. 

I've been having fun coming up with new things to eat.  Most of the things I have cooked so far have turned out really well.  The tofu is a texture thing I'm not sure I can get used to.  It's mushy and flavorless.  I'm thinking it's not going to be a staple.  The "textured vegetable protein" is a soy product that resembles ground beef.  I'm sure it's not the greatest to make a "hamburger" with, but it works well as sloppy joes or "meat" for spaghetti sauce.  And the veggie sausage at work is yummy! 

My goal is to lose weight and improve my overall health status.  I'm giving it 6 weeks to see if I feel better and I lose the weight.  After that, I will re-evaluate my efforts.

Race Report: results, thoughts, and plans for the future

On Sept 6th, 2009 I completed my first triathlon!  6 months and 18 days after having part of my lung taken out, I completed the Trek Womens Triathlon and accomplished my goal.  My goal was to complete the course in 2hrs and 30min.  I exceded my expectations of myself!!

Official times:
      Swim 880 yds (1/2 mi) 32:38 placed 831/936
      Bike 20km (12 mi) 51:41 (13.9 mph avg) placed 732/936
      Run 5K (3.1 mi) 47:49 (15:25 min/mi avg) placed 862/936
Overall: 2:20:27 placed 141/188 in age group, 845/936 overall

Not competitive times by any means, but it was better than I had expected for myself.  It gave me the confidence I needed to get me excited about this.  I noticed after it was over how my competitive nature kicked in!  I was planning my next tri before I was even out of Disney property!  As I was going through it in my head, I was finding the things I can do differently or where I need to focus my training.  My training has been kind of haphazard over the last few months.  No real schedule just waking up and deciding what I wanted to do that day.  Next time I will be even better!

The other thing I realized as I was looking at the pictures was that the extra 10 pounds I've gained since surgery was very obvious!!!  One would think that all the exercise I've been doing it would have just fell off.  But I think my haphazard way of training not only affected my overall performance, but it has hindered my overall fitness.

As a result, my complete fitness change started today.  This was the boost I needed to get jump started into the world of fitness.  Started the vegetarian diet today.  I'm really excited about that one.  New recipes, weight loss (hopefully), and overall well being.  I'm taking a few days off from training as I work on a new training schedule.  Doing a little more research and hoping to rely a little more on my new Tri friends for training support.  But then right back into things.  I'm incorporating weight training as well because I think that will help A LOT! 

Future races??  Of course!!!  I already have a few on the list and it seems to be growing!

October 24th or 25th   Orlando Tri Festival (not sure if I'm doing olympic or sprint)
February 28th              Gasperilla Half Marathon
March 7th                    Disney Princess Half Marathon
May 16th                     Half-Ironman Competition

I want to add a couple more tri's in there but haven't decided what yet.  Any suggestions are welcome!!

1 day left

In 41.5 hours I will be participating in my first triathlon.  I decided to do this on a whim and now I'm really looking forward to competing.  Not that I will even be competative!  I know I can finish, it will just be a matter of how long it will take. 

The swimming has me the most worried.  I'm not a strong swimmer and I've only done the whole race distance once in a lake successfully.  The good part about it is there are LOTS of life guards and floaty things I can grab onto if I get too tired.  I have no fear of drowning!  Just being able to complete the swim. 

A full race report will be posted once I've completed.  If you are interested in coming to watch, here are the specator details!

Race Day Athlete and Spectator Parking

                    Sunday, September 6th 

               Transition Area Opens 5:00am
  
All Athletes/Spectators not staying at above Resort: Park in the designated parking lot at the Magic Kingdom (Grumpy & Dopey).  
There will be NO RACE DAY PARKING available at the Fort Wilderness Campgrounds and no early WDW Transportation services available to the guests (including Monorail, Buses and/or Ferries), ONLY the Event Shuttles/Buses.   If you try to park at the Campgrounds, you will be redirected to park at the Magic Kingdom.
Once parked at the Magic Kingdom Parking lot , you will catch a shuttle that will transport you to the Transition Area located inside the Fort Wilderness Campgrounds.  
PARKING: Athletes/spectators parking at Magic Kingdom Dopey and Grumpy Parking lot will NOT be charged a parking fee.   Inform the Cast Member at the Auto Plaza that you are attending the Trek Women Triathlon Series. Spectators arriving after 7:00am will be charge the $12 parking fee.
 *****************************************************************************************************************
               Race Day Shuttle/Bus Service
                    Sunday, September 6th
             Shuttles Run: 3:30am - 12:00pm
                                     

Stigma

What do you picture when you hear that someone has "lung cancer"? I know I always pictured a wrinkly person who looked way beyond her years. Dirty looking with a chronic, nasty cough. Someone with the appearance of smoking for years. No one would think of a healthy young woman in her 30s. But today, that is an emerging face of lung cancer.

I was 35 when diagnosed with mucoepidermoid carcinoma of the lung. Never smoked a single cigarette. My parents never smoked, I never dated anyone who smoked, never had friends that would smoke around me. But I still had lung cancer.  When people hear that, they automatically assume I did this to myself. That I contributed to my own illness. But not this time.

Most people hear about supporting women with breast cancer. Or you hear about getting regular colonoscopy for early detection of colon cancer. But is there ever any fundraising efforts to support lung cancer research? Here are a few statistics....

• 60% of new cases have never smoked; 1 in 5 women diagnosed have never smoked
• Lung cancer kills more people than breast, prostate, colon, liver, kidney, and melanoma cancers... combined 
• Nearly twice as women with lung cancer die than women with breast cancer
• in 2009, the average amount of money funded for research PER DEATH is $27,480 for breast cancer and only $1,249 for lung cancer.

It's not that I think breast cancer doesn't deserve the research.  But so do those of us that are getting lung cancer without ever smoking.  Because it has always been considered a preventable cancer, no one ever bothered.  Now I think we need to bother.  I was lucky in that I had a diagnosis that, although very rare, is 99% cured with surgery.  Others are not so lucky.  The survival rate for a young women with adenocarcinoma (the most common type) is only 60%.  That's not super odds.

So next time someone says something about lung cancer, think twice about your opinion.  It may be a young mother or wife who took great care of herself and still got a death sentence.