Week in Vancouver

This past week I had to travel on business to Vancouver, Canada. Traveling and trying to get my workouts in is always a struggle, not to mention all the food temptations. I was there for a course. I was thinking it might be a little downtime from the usual work stuff, but I was wrong. It ended up being really stressful. There were quizzes everyday and an exam at the end of the course. I spent the majority of the evenings studying. And the time zone issues!!! Being from the East Coast I had a really hard time with the time zone changes. I found myself wide awake at 3:30am each day I was there. After working out and eating breakfast I still had hours before my course started.


The good news is that Vancouver was a beautiful city. I was in a hotel right on the waterfront so I had easy access to the seawalk, a walking/running path along the waterfront. I had a few good runs there, very scenic. A few pictures from the waterfront are below.

I also got a little time on Saturday morning to visit Gastown. This is an area of the city that is mostly quaint little shops.  It also has a steam driven clock in the middle of the district.

On the weight loss front I had another great week. I lost 2.2 lbs this week, a great result considering the week of travel that I had. I was able to buy some new jeans, super cool. Here are a couple of new pictures of the new me.

Have a great week everyone!!!

Long week capped off by Long Duathon

Well it was a long week for me. Lots going on at work, keeping me super busy. Also continuing to work on the Lose it! convention, which has been a lot of fun. But the big news, I completed my third Duathon of the year. I went to Ottawa (about an hour from my house) and did a 3k run - 26k bike - 5k run. As an added bonus my daughter competed at the same event and did her first triathlon!!! Here is our before picture.....

I was very nervous about this particular race as it was the longest I had participated in to date. But, I DID IT. It felt amazing! I didn't walk at all during this race which was a first for me. As well, I actually passed people during the final 5k run, yippeeee! Here are a couple more pictures, one run and one bike.



And the final picture of me and my daughter after the race with our medals. I was so proud of her as she came in third place in her first triathlon!!! Isn't that awesome!!!!

Oh I almost forgot, my time was 1:39:01, not bad at all. I want to thank all my Lose It! buddies, your support is awesome!

Well, time to start another long work week. I am travelling to Vancouver this week so here I come jet lag.

That's all for now, be safe!

Football Season

Today is the beginning of the NFL season once again. I have always been a big football fan but the team I follow usually disappoints. Actually, they always disappoint. You see, I am a Cleveland Browns fan. They likely have support groups for Browns fans, I haven't bothered to look. I am watching them play right now and they are winning in the fourth quarter. This is usually the time when at all comes falling down. Hopefully I am wrong today.

I made a conscious decision to not work out at all today. I think I might be over training a touch. I can't believe I only have one week remaining until my next Duathon on Sunday the 19th. My plan is to pick up my training on Monday but then stop on Wednesday or Thursday and rest up for the race. I don't have any lofty expectations for this upcoming race, just finishing will be an accomplishment. If you would have told me I would compete in THREE Duathons in 2010 I would have thought you were off your rocker. It is surprising how far I have come in a reasonably short period of time.

I began to do some thinking about what my next goal will be, likely a 2011 goal as the cold weather is arriving. How do I surpass the year I have had? Any suggestions are welcome!!!!

Oh, I can't forget to mention to mention that I had a new personal best on my 5k this week. I ran a 27:40.

The End of Summer

When Labor Day rolls around it always feels like the end of summer. The kids go back to school and the hectic schedule begins. Cheerleading, football, piano, guitar lessons, are just a few of the activities that kick into high gear. As well, the fall is a very busy time at work with the annual planning process in full bloom. Yet another long year awaits.

I kept up with my exercise this past week. In fact, I ran a personal best 5k of 28:41 in the heat earlier in the week. That was a good day! I stetched my bike rides out to 25k each this week as well. The upcoming Duathon on September 19th requires a 24k bike segment so I wanted to get a little better prepared for that.

Yesterday was my wedding anniversary as well! We went out for a dinner which was nice as we often don't find the time to do things together. It has been 18 years! In fact, right now, 18 years ago we were on our honeymoon on a cruise ship in the Caribbean!

Oh, one other thing of note this week, we are trying to setup a Conference for all of the LoseIt participants. I spoke of that tool earlier as a weight loss assistant. It will be really neat if we can pull it off as it would be fun to meet all of these inspiring people that post frequently. I will keep you posted on the progress of the conference.