Triathlete?

Well, I did it! I competed in my first triathlon a few weeks back! And check this out, I came in third in my age group. I was really nervous about the swim as I am a weak swimmer but it was fine. I wan't the first out of the water but I also was not the last. The bike and run went relatively easy! I have not signed up for any new events but I have been training religiously in all three disciplines. I may sign up for something in August if I stay injury free (fingers crossed).

I have had lots of travel for work recently. I was in Philadelphia and Wichita recently. It was my first time to Wichita and I enjoyed the city. Too bad it seems to be isolated from anything else....

My weight has been going up and down with all this travel. I am generally between 170 - 174. That is not where I want to be but I seem to have found my ideal weight in that range. I had hoped to get to 165 at one point but I don't know if I could maintain that weight for any long period of time. It seems like the low 170s is my destiny.

The kids are finished school. We just got through exams and grad parties! Everything went well. Did I mention that both my children are geniuses?

Well that's it for now.....stay safe everyone!

Has It Been A Month?

It has been a long time since I updated my blog. The blogger gods are mad at me. Things have been very busy and it got neglected, not a big deal right? Work has been very busy with a rather large project I am in charge of. On top of that I started a University course a few weeks back (Music related) and that has consumed plenty of my time as well. It has been busy!

So I did some training over the past month, eased back into it after my injury. Yesterday I completed my first Duathlon of the year. I had competed in this same event last year (it was my first at that time) so my goal was to beat my time of last year. It turned out to be a very windy day so the bike was very difficult.  To keep things short, I finished third in my age group and beat my last year’s time by 7 minutes!!! It was an awesome accomplishment for me. It validated that all of my hard work is paying off. Can you believe I had a podium finish? I still can’t believe it myself.

I am also training for a triathlon now! I joined a website called Rock Star Triathlete and I am currently following one of their programs to get me to my first Tri. So here is the thing, I suck at swimming. I have been going to the local Y to train but it has been tough. I am certainly getting better though so that is motivating. Jackie has been swimming with me as well and she is a great coach (I think she could have a second career in the making)! She is the sole reason I have gotten so much better. So I signed up for a Super Spint Tri on May 21^st. It is a shorter distance, kind of like getting your feet wet in the Tri circuit. We will see how it goes. Wish me luck!!!

I guess it is time for a weight loss update. I left this to last for a reason, there has been no loss. In fact, there has been a gain! I am up about 5 lbs from my lowest point. That puts me about 7 lbs from my original goal weight. I think at this point I may never get there. I have really tried but I have to say that my eating has gone to the crapper. I have been making lots of poor choices and it shows on the scale.  I need help people! I have lost my edge!

The other huge news is that Brittany has accepted and Queen’s University in Kingston! She is very excited and so are we. It is nice that she will be close to home making weekend visits possible. Now we just have to come up with the money!! All donations are graciously accepted.

Well that is all for now.

I hope everyone reads a book to improve their personal growth, you deserve it!

Back from Vacation.....

We had a wonderful family vacation in LA last week! Firstly, the weather was awesome! We didn’t see a cloud in the sky all week. We toured the Kodak Theatre, walked Hollywood Blvd, and looked at the stars on the sidewalk. The tour of the theatre was very interesting and it was a lot smaller than it looks when you see it on TV. Jackie and Brittany did lots of shopping as well. They walked Rodeo Drive but things were a touch pricey there! Most of the shopping was done at the Grove. The Grove was an outdoor mall that was really nice. It was a good place to look for celebrities. The TV show “Extra” shoots there most days and we were able to get ourselves on TV! That was a very exciting event for the kids. Brittany bought her grad dress for the end of this school year, it was a big deal for her. Brandon, well he picked up a new electric guitar at the Guitar Center in Hollywood. What about the food you might ask? OMG, all we did it eat. There were lots of high calorie desserts consumed as well. The only saving grace was that we did lots of hiking in the Hollywood hills. I was amazed at the quality of the trails, and we tried every one of them! It was a lot of fun.


We did a side trip to Vegas as well to see a Criss Angel show. It was entertaining but I would have to say not worth the money we paid for the tickets. We stayed at the Bellagio hotel which was wonderful. It was a step up from the hotel we had in LA and we didn’t want to leave!

From a health and fitness perspective I have gone a couple weeks without the leg pain I spoke of earlier. I have begun to run again (short distances) and ride the bike again as well. This is great news as it has been weeks since I was able to get a really good calorie burn in. I also bought some boxing gloves and have been experimenting with that at our local gym. I am toast after 10 minutes of hitting the heavy bag, it is a tough workout. Very high intensity, but short.

I gained some weight while on vacation, a couple pounds. I am still within 5lbs of hitting my goal but I am beginning to think I may never get there. It has been three months with no change in my weight. My current weight just might be the right weight for me. I will keep trying to get those final few pounds regardless as I am goal oriented and I want to say I did it.

That’s all for this week, be happy everyone.

Ramping up for Vacation!

Well spring break in my neck of the woods is fast approaching. This year we are taking the kids to Los Angeles for the week. All of us are really looking forward to the trip as we have not been there before. We will make a quick detour to tour a University as well in preparation for Brittany's decision for next month. She doesn't have much time left at home, next fall she will be gone.

From a fitness perspective last night I have my first "real" workout in a month. I did a 1 hour bike ride and burned 595 calories. It felt really good to sweat again. I am still struggling with health issues but managed to get through the workout. It felt good, very good. Today will definitely be a rest day to see how my body responds. I am down to 166.8 lbs now, only 1.8 lbs to go!!!! The last five pounds have been impossible. I have been working on them for three months now. Big party when I get there and you are all invited!!!

Jackie has also had awesome progress with weight loss as well, I am very proud of her. She is biking more than I did when I was in "training mode"!!!

Well time to get packing for the trip, I will update you all, with pictures of course, when I return!!!

A Month of Ups and Downs

It has been over a month since I blogged, crazy how time flies. It has been a very eventful month at that with some high points and some definite low points. Lets start with the good!

Jackie and I had a wonderful time in Hilton Head, NC for a little mini vacation. The initial plan was for me to run a 10k there but more on that later. We stayed at the Sea Pines Resort which was beautiful! In fact, we stayed right at the Inn at Harbor Town, the crown jewel of the property. Our room over looked the first tee at the golf course, another bonus. I did manage to play the course once during my stay and played reasonably well considering I had not played in many months. We also tried out a number of awesome restaurants, it is hard to pick the best one. Lots of walking at the resort as well as biking!!! This is definitely a location that we would like to return to at some point. Maybe same time next year.

I also spent the better part of a week in Las Vegas on business. It was my first time in Vegas and as I figured I loved it. There is so much to do there, so much more than just gambling. I didn't get a chance to see any of the shows unfortunately but I could tell that if I was to go there with time on my hands it would not be boring. The conference I was at had some motivational speakers for the keynote addresses. One guy in particular talked about motivational books and it really connected with me. I began a list of books that I want to read (already through two of them) so that was a good thing. I think I am in the wrong line of work. I would love to be a motivational speaker, affecting other people's loves. Unfortunately I am not charismatic enough.

So on to the down side of the last month. I have health issues. I have not been able to run or bike for over a month now. It is killing me. To go from being very fit to being a slug is majorly depressing. I have been going to various specialists and taking lots of tests to try and figure this thing out. No success to date. I guess the silver lining is that my weight is staying constant without the exercise. I think I am losing muscle mass though so that likely accounts for the steady weight. I am currently at 167.4 lbs. I still can't seem to make it to my goal of 165 lbs, so close yet so far away....

So I have a couple of stressful weeks of work and then I am off for a week on vacation with the family. We are going to LA!! We have never been there so it should be a neat experience for us. We plan on doing the usual Hollywood stuff, shopping, sightseeing, etc.

I also signed up for a University course that starts the first week in April, I am excited about that as well!!!

Busy busy time, if I could only get this heath thing fixed up I would be in a better state of mind.

That's all for now, stay healthy.

P.S. Jackie has been working out like crazy and doing a great job losing weight, I am very proud of her!

We Don't Carry That Size!

How many times have I heard that before? Shopping for clothes has always been a mini nightmare. Nothing really fits right, nothing looks good on me, etc. So today I went out with the family to shop for a number of items, one of which was clothes for me. I was primarily looking for summer clothing, shorts and golf shirts, as I am heading south in a few weeks for a little getaway. I went to a local golf specialty store in my area and began to try on some stuff. The shorts I grabbed off the rack were a size 32, a guy can dream right? The pair I really liked were too big! Can you believe that? So the guy helping me says, "Well you are not going to get them any smaller than that, sorry."

Well, that is something I have never heard before!! I guess I am smaller than I think. I still turn sideways to get through tight spaces, only to find that I didn't need to turn. I still have a perception of myself that is much larger than I really am. It will take some time to change that I guess. So wild!

On the exercise front I am finished week #2 of the 10k program. I also signed up for my first 10k race. It is in Hilton Head, South Carolina. Jackie and I are going there for a mini vacation and there just happened to be a race that weekend. Everything aligned well so I am now signed up!! The big date is February 12th. I will be certain to let everyone know how it goes. I have no finishing time expectations yet, but I will likely set a goal prior to the race.

Be healthy everyone.....

New Year - New goals

Happy New Year everyone! With the start of each new year it is always a good time to reflect on the previous year and set some goals for this upcoming year.

Last year was very good from a health and fitness perspective. That is what this blog has been all about! I lost 76 lbs in 2010. Wow, still hard to believe. It took lots of hard work but it has been worth it. I am proud. So what do I do now to make 2011 another fabulous year?

Weight goal - I still have 2.8 lbs to go to hit my goal. The last 10 has been rough so the final 2.8 is not a given. My first goal is to get rid of those final 2.8 lbs by the end of January.

Fitness Goals - Now this is the fun part! I will compete in two Duathons this year. I will also run my first 10k, and my first 1/2 Marathon. Obviously the 1/2 is a huge goal. Ginormous! Lots of training will be required for all of it, but I can do it. I have come this far, why stop now?

Btw, I have had four runs in a row now without knee pain!!! Yippeeee, let's hope it hangs on for all of 2011. Injuries and rehabilitation was a real downer in late 2010, I don't want to repeat that!!!

Be healthy everyone!!