and so it begins....

I knew that it would be tough to change my diet over night and that I would face temptations to face BUT SERIOUSLY?!?!?!?! This was truly too much!!

Chicken Pesto Foccaicia & Turkey Bacon Wraps

Italian meat sandwiches

Best pasta and potato salad you every tasted

Bellini Bar

In my defense I removed cheese, bacon and mayo from that wrap.

This was actually the second baby shower I attended that day! I felt like I did so good at the first shower. As I was driving to the second shower I just had a feeling I was gonna blow it at the next one.

Although the old Katie would have enjoyed a bellini (or two), I would have had to sample one of each sandwich and heaping piles of everything else.

I took one bite of the mini cannolis, and 2 bites of cupcake. In the past I would have ate one of every kind of desert and taken some home for later.

I did take a plate home (well to work) for my dinner later. I definitely over ate Saturday...AND I didnt work out at all....BUMMER!!!

What a terrible start to my weight loss journey....we will see how this effects my weigh in on Tuesday!!

Groundhog Day

Ever seen the movie groundhog day? The dude keeps reliving the same day over & over. Much like my blog that I repreat the same stuff over & over haha. After the weigh in Thurs I woke up ready to conquer the world of weightloss! I went to 530am BC-still fighting a head cold (but read in my treiathlete mag if you sick from the neck up its ok to keep training, if the illness goes to your chest/lungs to rest).
Jason announces to the class right away that Krystle & I have joined team challenge & to watch us if we slack off to kick us in the but!!!
Anyway warm up was as usual and after 10 min or so I felt good, just a small tinge of illness trying to slow me down.
We started with push up drills (hate 'em). I'm not at this stage yet, I imagine with less weight to "push up" I will be. So we did 9 sets total, 3 times each of 45 second each. First you push up the slap your partners hand alternating sides. Second we alternated legs we brought up to our side when going down, THEN slapped partners hand. Third we alternated leg lifts opposite or slapping hand. Then he had us attempt wheel barrow push ups WHICH is killer on the back if you get the wrong angle. & of course as Krystle and I struggle through this Jason comes over & in his perfect drill sargent style says " he is gonna be in our face th next 6 weeks, no excuses, he is gonna work us"
Next we grabbed our bands & did drills working our triceps, chest press and did rows...all which are killing me from the push ups!
Then we got body bars on our shoulders & did 3 sets eat of 45 second, lunges, squat jumps, then lunge jumps!!! I seriously wanted to DIE!!! I hated this! Maybe without the 12 lb. body bar weighing me down I would have done better?! It was KILLER & all I was thinking was if I never have to do this again it will be too soon!!!
So I went about the daily routine tried to watch what I ate! I did school, took a 1 hour nap, went on a whale watching trip with my kids, then headed back for BC2 530p class. I felt pretty good like I had just enough energy to get through it and was thinking no way it will be like this morning...
I was wrong...
After warm up Jason says if you were here this morning guess what we are doing the same thing!!! I said "ok I wanna go home then". Jason says to the whole class "this is Katie everyone she has signed up for the team challenge, if you see her slacking off let her have it" Gee thanks! Should be fun!
So the workout I hated most of all I repeated and hated equally as much the second time around!

whatever...I'm gonna go for it............

I'm gonna post my before picture...
The Brown Team

Krystle and I!!

We weighed in tonight for the YMCA Team Weight Loss Challenge. While I think my friends blog covers the weight loss journey very well I will have to cover a bit of dieting while I do thing challenge. My ulitmate goal is becoming a triathlete AND my hope is the lighter I get the better an athlete I will become!!

We work out with our trainer Tues and Thur for an hour BUT because Jason is also the boot camp instructor I will be working out with him more than 2 times a week.

I will also be keeping up with my triathlon training AND the running club I joined starts next week. Obviously working out is NOT an issue. WHAT is the true challenge will be my diet.

So far a few hours into this and I DID NOT eat when I got off work! Lately I seem to have been eating when I get home at midnight (or later).

I'm going to try the 1200 calorie diet and see if I can get by with it!

Go BROWN TEAM

MLK

"If you can't fly then run, if you can't run then walk, if you can't walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward." — Martin Luther King Jr

It has been a month since my brother passed away. He comes to my mind everyday. I didn't see him often or think about as much as I do now or when he was sick.
I think about the missed opportunities, I think about the memories I did get to make. I think about all the things that could of been. It also makes me wonder & worry about my parents. It's hard to be in the position I am. I HAVE to take care of my kids, which means I HAVE to work & as the sole provider I have to work a lot...
Now I realize I don't HAVE to go to the gym, or train as hard as I do BUT I NEED to!! It has become the means for me to release all the stress, worry, emotions I carry with me & I leave feeling better each time. I only wish there was some way to harness this and give it to my parents...

I can't imagine what they are dealing with emotionally let alone still having to sort through hospital bills, life insuranse & whatever else. I wish I had the time to help (although I doubt they would let me cause they don't wanna put more on my plate)
This past week I lost some of my edge. I think I know the hard core time is coming. F week weight loss challenge, tri-training, running club...
I been going a little easier on myself. Today however I hit up 5:30 am boot camp, then 8a spin class....OH YEAH!!!
I felt like maybe I have a little cold soming on & almost stayed in bed but once I got through it all I was very happy & proud!!!

Recovery Mode

I've been sort of in a rut or funk this week. I thought it was my mind failing me. All week moments and waves of self doubt were coming over me. Monday was awesome! I did boot camp AND spin class! Then Tues I didn't get outta bed when the alarm went off. It was my day off and I just could not get outta my warm bed. Later on in the day between all my normally scheduled mom duties (homeschool, bowling league, laundry, karate) I made it to the gym!
I had 1.5 hours to get 'er done. I planned to run 20-30 minutes, then hit the pool for laps AND hopefully jacuzzi.
I got on the tredmill and it was just like one of the days I had when I was training for the last triathlon I just couldn't GO! I made it like 16 minutes and just didn't have the get up and go....sooooo I headed to the pool. I found the exact same problem in the pool! The more I tried I just couldn't go. I was also messing in my head. The more I tried the more I was telling myself I can't do this, I can't do this triathlon. There is no way I am capable to do it!!! (Ummm HELLO?!?!?! You have already DONE a triathlon). I just seemed to exhaust real easily that day. So I went to the jacuzzi...
In the jacuzzi I jokes to the girl next to me that my jacuzzi time was longer then my workout hehehe
She said sometimes that is what your body needs. She said if your body is in recovery mode it just won't go and if you push it then you can get injured.
So then I went to pick up the kids and in talking to the childcare worker (who I see working out all the time) and she confirmed it. She said if you go through your warm up and after like 10 minutes you can't seem to get going then she said your body is talking to you and telling you that it needs time to rest.
So after talking with my co-runner & her vast knowledge (she is the research department) she confirmed her marathon books say this too...

So here is what I learned: listen to my body & rest when it says, and read a marathon book

spin class

I spend a lot of time at work looking at my calendar. Re-working the schedule. It always needs a little adjusting.
It looks GOOD now!
I have Boot Camp M, W, F 530a Swim Tu. Th. I'm gonna start Tu, Th 530a weight loss challenge too! And my Saturday run club.
The only thing missing from this plan is the bike part of the tri-training!!!
So today I went to spin class. After a facebook poll, experts (my FB friends) said spin class can be a good training for cycling race.
The stationary bike never seemed to compare to actual biking. I can't get out on my bike for a ride right now because I need the gym childcare AND my bike needs tires.
Spin class is TOUGH! I'm so glad I got the guts to try it! It definitely mimicks cycling up and down hills, doing sprints & I went 20miles in an hour!!
The next order of business if deciding what to do for a bike for the race. I'm trying to get my hands on a loaner road bike or buy a used one. I will need something a few weeks out from the race so I can practice & get use to it. Mountain bikes are completely different and slower so I need at least a few rides before the race!

12 weeks to race day...(sort of)

So this weeks marks the official start of my twelve week training plan for my next triathlon. I got in the pool yesterday and it felt GREAT! I was sore from New Years Eve workout and I got in two boot camps one on Sun and Mon. I also popped in the jacuzzi ahhhhhh. For the next 2 weeks time gonna try to keep up with boot camp M,W,F and swim T,Th and on my days off head to the gym a second time to run/bike. I will keep up with long runs on Saturday until the end of Jan. Then I will start the Y running club! I can't wait for the first meeting and to be able to learn from the coaches. I got my first have marathon 2 weeks before the triathlon EEK!!! Things are gonna be a little crazy I think the next 12 weeks BUT I feel like (and I hope) after this race I will finally believe I am a triathlete (and runner I guess too)

Last Chance Workout

As a fan of the Biggest Loser I always am amazed at how hard they push themselves at the "last chance workout" (their last workout before weighing in).
Well yesterday was the last workout of the year! BUT I called it my last chance workout!
I did something a little crazy...I went to 5:30am Boot Camp at the YMCA AND Jason did a New Year's Eve Boot Camp for his personal training company B cubed Fitness. Like the last few it was 2 hours BUT this time BOTH were kicked up a few notches!!!!
One other girl from class did both!! She said I challenged her by saying I was going to!
In the morning class Jason had said it was gonna be tough! Boy it was! I once again did something I had told myself I could never do!!!! Cartwheels hahahahaha. It is not that I have never done them in my life...just not when Jason incorporates them into class. I probably have not done a cartwheel since my pre-teens.
I just decided to go for it! & of course once I overcame my fear I did cartwheels back & forth the gym.
Then he had us do these Capoera twists, turns, kicks, cartwheels WHOA!! The whole workout was a killer & aparently I used some inner thigh muscles that I don't usually that were sore!
The afternoon workout was promised to be difficult!
We did a 6mile run!!! Now I did a 10k before so I knew I could run 6 miles but that was a flat easy course with a downhill end. This run we went through Balboa Park (literally through thr Prado) then we went down a trail to the bottom of Pershing Dr which while it is not a steep hill it is a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG hill!!!! I kept going & pushing myself as hard as I could yet I still end up so far behind! Jason always peels the crew back & says "your doing great" & high fives me! @ one point I decided just to high five everyone that came back for me LOL!!! I had my inhaler with me and I needed a puff half way through (which totally helped). Then we went down a little hill through a neighborhood to the bottom of UPAS it was "a bitch" Jason said! It was so steep!! He stayed with me as I could barely walk up it!!! I wanted to quit, sit & cry LOL. He ran up ahead for a minute & came back with Mike & 2 other of the insanely fit guys in class. (Mike was the one who subbed that day when Jason was sick & is always pushing me! Even during todays run he a few times would run a few steps ahead of me with his hands behind him for me to catch up & slap...except he would run just out of my reach so I really had to run hard)
Anyway they came back as I was barely putting one foot in front of the other & Mike says "I did not run back here for you to walk" gives me a little shove and I trotted to the top of the hill. Then we went along the same run we did Thanksgiving so I knew there was another hill in my future!! I was not able to run up it and again there was Jason pushing me (this time literally) and he wouldn't let me stop! Once we got to the top he says you know where we are at...yes I did. He said home stretch! Which was true it was just a flat straight run to where we started! It was so hard to finish!
Every part of my body hurt!!! A few times I swore I got some pep in my step but at the end I was so done. He had us sprint at the end and I literally couldn't run any faster! & we weren't done! We had drills after that! In true last chance workout style they were the hardest ever! NO JOKE!! He was yelling at all of us!! Especially me I was trying so hard but I was wasted! 2 boys actually stopped after the run. I certainly wanted to!!
I do have pictures but sadly I didn't get out group photo. I'm so bummed!!!
After the workout everyone was so ready to go! Mike said to me that I was so inspirational! (WHAT?!?!?! Me?!?! The slow fat girl) he said if nothing else your flawless attendance. I said I'm so slow he said that has nothing to do with it, you don't give up & you always show up. WOW to have someone I aspire to be like (an athlete) say that blew my mind!!

As for today 1/1/11 I took the day off!!! I am so sore & tired but amazed with myself. A year ago no way I would of ever believed if you told me I would hae completed 2 triathlons, a 10k, a boot camp regular, preparing for a triathlon, half & full marathon. Feeling stronger then I ever had in my life physically mentally & most of all spiritually.
The trials and struggles in life while overwhelming & sometimes sad get us to a place where we can look back & see we can conquer all...so long as we believe, never give up & most of all cling to Jesus.