The first 4 weeks are doable!!!

Some minor tweaking and accomodating being stranded on an island for a week...sweet!

...still waiting.

Me got me self a coach! Waiting for a draft workout plan with baited breath...

As mentioned yesterday...8.5 km run completed. Rounding out the activities yesterday was mowing the lawn after work. Wohoo. Excitment, eh?

Our scheduled once a week bike ride to work is scheduled for Thursday this week, based on work commitments and weather this week.

I've received my first swim work ... and the dictionary definitions of terms. Who knew that swimming is a whole other language? Then when it drops down to short form?! Should be a good time in the pool. On tap for today:
Please note the "Have fun!" waaaay down at the bottom
Workout 1:

Warm Up
200 choice easy
4 x 50yards Free @ 1:15
100 Free Kick

Main Set: Repeat this set twice for a total of 10 x 100
4 x 100 free hard @ 2:20
1 x 100 back cruise @ 2:30

Warm Down
6 x 75yards - 50 free, 25 choice @ 20 sec rest
100 choice easy
Total = 2050 yards

Have fun!

Rightey-oh.

No training this weekend. Zero. Zilch. Nada.

8.5 km run this afternoon.

Have a meeting with a potential coach on Wednesday. I'm nervous!

As promised, yesterday consisted of zero training. A lot of sweat but no training. Whoops!

I plan on being in the pool for 10.45 and complete 1000 yards and then pop downstairs and run 3k.

Other than a 'girl's nite' tonight to say goodbye to a friend's house (she's moving) and see a friend we haven't seen in ages...not much else is on tap for this weekend. Unless of course, I finally make a decision about Orillia's Tri on Sunday...I do hope to get some organization done around the house along with a long bike and run. Sweet!

The ride home yesterday was uneventful. Although we were both complaining we were starving! It is quite a predicament, on one hand I would like to lose a little bit more weight but on the other I am constantly hungry. And I mean hungry. Like ravenously hungry! I probably should start analyzing what is going into my body and get a better feel of the percentage of carbs, protein and fat that I'm consuming. Yep? Now, doesn't that sound like a riveting project? '

Not much on tap training wise today. My work day will be spent shopping. I know, I know; Tough job. This is the last shopping trip that will fill a very generous donation by a Swedish furniture store. It is a lot of hauling, lifting, shipping and sweating BUT none of it is coming to my house. Pffft.

What a difference a day can make. Yoga last night was fantastic. It was an intense class and I was present and focused the entire time. The only place that didn't hurt this morning was my nose!

I was dragged out of bed and handed a coffee and a slice of toast. I was told the weather had cooled significantly so we should ride to work. My nose started hurting at this point...

Some photos to break up the blog:

Mardi Pre-Ride.......................Mardi taking photo .......... Mardi waiting for ride home

Fastest time yet; 40.44 minutes

I am now showered, sitting at my desk ready to rock my work day and eat my breakfast of champions!

A side note not releated to working out or food: Just fininshed reading 'The Art of Racing in the Rain' by Garth Stein and LOVED IT. It has been a while since a book has grabbed my attention and made me not want to put it down.

Update: 5 k in 29 mins and 3 degree increase in office temperature in the office.

Still tired...
_______________________________________________________

Really? I've got nothing...

Swimming yesterday; 1000 yards.
Secured an online swimming coach
Hot'n'Humid in my office - sucking the motivation outta me

I'm in a de-cluttering mood.

I'm tired.

It's Monday...blah!

The 30 km bike was was completed on Friday. We picked up an extra participant after a few after work brews. Amazingly the ride wasn't that wobbly! We celebrated by popping some champagne and another round (or two) of beers on the deck. Pizza was delivered and the night was complete!
Saturday morning was designated as getting work around the house accomplished. Thankfully, we popped outta bed fairly early and had the grass cut and whipper snipped before the heat really set in for the day. We were still stinky, sweating messes at the end of it all but nothing a cool shower couldn't fix. At this point, I didn't feel the need to ride my bike and become another puddle of sweat as I was visiting a friend for the afternoon...so I got a ride. I then spent the afternoon with beer, wings, a pool and good conversation. Good times indeed!
Sunday saw another fairly early start and another hot'n'humid day. Didn't beat the heat on this one but I managed to accomplish a 10km run and then a 5 km hike with my friend Pam and her pooch. Sweat was the name of the game yesterday. Cool showers weren't even cutting it. So sitting in the creek was the activity of the afternoon. Reading, drinks and puppy dog swims were the highlights.
And now it's Monday again. Can't say I'm thrilled about that especially since I've been up since 4am, unable to sleep. I think I'll hit the pool at 10.45 and see if I can 900m in. Need something to jump start my day.

It's Frrrri-Day. Woot, woot.

A late start to the day and a bike ride down MAY have made me a little late for work today but no one seemed to notice or care. Everyone is looking out the window at the beautiful day and counting down the hours until we are released!

Last night I skipped triathlon training once again. Instead I did a 7km bike ride a 2k run around the neighbourhood. Nothing fabulous but I also wasn't feeling it. Legs were still lead like and was just happy that something was being accomplished.

Hopped on the bike this morning and have completed 15 of the scheduled 30 km's for the day. Thinking I might even pop down to the pool for a quick dip.

I'm off to completed my report back from Wednesday's meeting and to download some itunes to my ipod.

So. Ummm. Obviously my big girl pants were in the wash on Tuesday.

I went down to the pool a half hour before Masters and swam 800M. During this 800M, my ear was chatted off by the resident pool 'chatter'er'. So it took much longer than necessary! Nice guy who has a lot of time on his hands....

I bailed before the Masters started BUT after showering I did go back down to the pool deck to talk to the instructor and get a feel on how the class operates. Baby steps, baby steps.

Yoga was Tuesday night. Good class.

I rode Mardi to work yesterday. I had an all day off site budget meeting that started at 9am. It was a total of 34 and a bit kms round trip. I have to admit on the way home, km 25, I broke off the route and called home to arrange a meet up spot. I was tired, hot, legs felt like lead and hopped up on chocolate. Not a great combo. I deviated from the morning route and ended up riding through a residental neighbourhood and arrived at the meet up spot a lot quicker than anticipated. A quick call home revealed that the rescue squadron (comprised of husband and puppies) had not yet left. I said that I would keep riding towards him and when our paths crossed, I would hop in the car. I guess I don't give myself credit on how fast Mardi and I move because I was getting closer and closer to home and our paths still hadn't met. By the time we finally met, I was so close to home and wanted to finish the ride. I didn't want to be 'rescued' any longer...I waved and zoomed right pass the rescue patrol. On one hand, I was proud of myself for finishing the ride that I started but on the other, I know that I won't be able to call home during Ironman. I will need to find some alternative strategies** to motivate when the going gets tough.

**Although 2 dogs with their heads hanging out the window, recognizing you and tracking you as they pass will be hard to beat!

Going to put my Big Girl pants on today and go to Master's today...I think.

Monday: Day of rest, naps and ice cream!

Busy weekend. Fun Weekend. And amazingly enough it did not fly by in a blink of an eye!
**I have realized that I must start bringing a camera along for my rides to break up the post**

Friday we biked to work. It was a beautiful day and lovely temperatures! It really is an easy & great way to bank some cycling miles in the week. We stopped off of the way home and picked up a bottle of champers and had a fairly relaxing night at home catching up on newspapers and loving the animals. The order from the Running Store in Milton was also delivered during the day. So there was the unpacking of the wetsuit to be done as well. Note the unpacking only? There was no fitting. Totally not in the mood to meld myself into the Neoprene Outfit From Hell!

Saturday was rife with activity. I popped out of bed at a decent time and decided to tackle the Neoprene Outfit From Hell (NOFH). I ended up going with the entry level version of the suit I had tried and liked. They were unable to find the size that I required and had suggested this suit as an alternative as it was equivalent in sizing. I now regret believing this statement of equivalency . The NOFH is quiet tight across the back and pinches at the shoulders. I foresee chaffing in my future.......
Had I not managed to slice a 1cm line in my left shoulder during the fitting session, I would be returning the suit. So as it stands now. I have a suit to carry me through my August open swims and my week at the cottage. If I still hate the NOFH, I will sell online. If I manage to recoup the cost minus the rental fees I would have incurred, then I am not out of pocket. Live and learn. Live and learn.

After my intense wiggle, shimmey and sweat session. I woke the remainder of the house up, took the puppies for a stroll and started hustling us along for a bike ride.
Destination: Cranston Farm.
The first 'Sweet Corn' of the season is ready and is harvested each morning and sold at their stand during the day. Again, another lovely day for a ride. Overcast but a nice temperature. Just under 24 kms for 4 lovely cobs of corn, couple cans of beer, fresh bread and Advil! The remainder of the day was spent tootling around the house, working at my P/T job, napping and generally taking it easy!

Sunday was a wild day weather wise. We have been hit with some intense weather systems in the past month with massive flooding happening around the city. Today was no different. A serious thunderstorm rolled through and unfortunately it did not break the humidity that had rolled in overnight. I was to get in a long run of 16km....but that didn't happen. I managed to get the lawn cut and the mower away seconds before the skies opened up. Getting wet is one thing but the lighting and thunder were overlapping each other. It was insane. But no worries, I had a dog following me around the house making sure I was safe. Of course, it had absolutely nothing to do with him being a little frightened, it was alllll for my safe keeping: ) Then it was off to spend the afternoon on an airfield tarmac in the bright sunshine and brutal humidity. Unfortunately, it was overcast and rainy when I left and did NOT think to put on sunscreen. Yowee! I have some nice red stripes going on! Thankfully, there was a breeze and I had on a skirt and sleevless top. Unlike the poor souls who were in full military uniform standing at attention for 1.5 +

300 yard swim and a wine induced headache.

That's all I got for yesterday.

Well. Girl's Night on a week night? Not the best idea. Lots of food, laughter, tears and WINE! 1.15 AM when the 'round up' ride happened. G'eesh, morning sure came quickly that's for sure. The dentist must have loved the wine infused aroma that was following me around at my 8am appointment!

Have started telling people about my impulsive "now or never" Ironman decision.......everyone to date has been super supportive. In fact, we have a scored an old road bike for St.J to ride (thanks Tree). It is definitely in need of some adjustments but I think it will do the trick for some of the shorter weekend rides!

Yesterday's Activities:
400 yard swim and 5 km run and a lot of wine consumption.

Need to start focusing on a healthy lifestyle. Enough of the beer/wine during the week. For some reason, my office mate is lacking motivation right now and wanting to enjoy a pint or two after work. I really MUST start saying 'no' and limiting after work drinks to once a month. I mean really? It is ridiculous to put in the effort and then basically wipe out any gains with alcohol.......

I wonder? Shall I even go as far as saying, no alcohol until 'The Cottage' in September? Pop the champers the start of vacation, September 4th ? Or should I purchase my very own Red with a twist top and bring it out (a glass) when a dinner warrants?

Tonight, I am hosting a girl's night. Appetizers and, ahem, wine. I will enjoy tonight's food, drinks and company without guilt BUT plan on sticking to a cleaner eating pattern after tonight. Can't wait for the chit chat that will happen tonight. I admit I am a little embarrased about the state of the property but I keep thinking of the saying ‘My friends are coming to visit me and not my house’. An abridged listing of my concersn:

• It is very green. Green from the weeds that are growing rampant and wild.
• Boxes of kindling (soaked and disintegrating) on the driveway.
• Broken set of stairs from the deck to the garden (cordoned off).
• A garden pathway that has a 10 inch gulley that has been washed away with all the rain.
• Grass that really, really needs to be cut.
• Did I mention the weeds? Right. The weeds.
  

It actually looks like a bunch of Red Necks live in the house. So I thought I would go with ‘the theme’ and bought a BOX of white wine for tonight. Nothing says Class like a BOX OF WINE!

Yesterday's Exercise:
750 yards in the pool

Busy, busy weekend. Shopping, cleaning and biking!

I found a wetsuit that I think I will be happy with. Especially if they are able to find it. We ended up ordering it online as the store (which was a million miles away) did not have that size I needed. The experience was quite a miserable one with the store being a kazillion degrees and the clerk not conveying the confidence I was looking for......

Exercise wise this weekend: 6k run on Saturday, 26km ride on Sunday followed by a 2k run, 26k bike on Monday and I'm off to jump in the pool now.

Good times!

The long weekend is off to a good start. Rode the bikes to work yesterday for a total of 30kms and was up and attem this morning and checked off the 6km run. Here's hoping tomorrow's 13 long and slow run goes as well.

Off to Milton today to look at wetsuits. Looks like it is shaping up to be an expensive and productive day!