...wherein our heroine encounters a roadblock.
It goes to show you just never know what's about to happen. You'll be cruising along with your training, everything going pretty well, progress being made and then BAM! some unknown force will throw something your way just to see how well you handle it. And make no mistake, you won't see it coming. I've been waiting for that out-of-nowhere flat tire to come at me. I've been expecting the sore knee to show up. Old rotator cuff injury even popped it's head up once or twice to see if anyone was watching for it. You know; usual stuff for someone who's been putting their body through pretty rigorous physical demands. But sometimes the universe gets bored and needs entertainment.
This mornings episode involved me getting out of bed and stumbling to the bathroom to begin my morning regimen. Shower, hair, makeup, dressed and out the door. My brain was just awake enough as I stepped over the threshold to the bathroom to think..."My face feels funny." Not funny ha-ha; funny odd. I turned to the mirror and was horrified to see my left eye swollen mostly shut and my cheek also pretty puffy. Aaackk! I scared me. Then I noticed some tingling in my face. I thought to myself, "Self. This is not good" But maybe I just slept on my face or something. I'll give it some time. I don't get sick.
Halfway through the shower, my tongue is tingling, too. Hmmm. The situation does not seem to be reversing itself. But what could it be? I don't get sick.
Thank goodness, a rational part of me realized that I was trying to deny a very large, puffy problem and pushed through to the forefront and suggested that maybe I should call the doctor. Good idea! I rang up the doctor's office and the nice automated female voice told me that they opened at 8:30. I finished getting ready for work, sans eye makeup (yikes!) and headed to the see Dr. Hammond.
The receptionist didn't even flinch when she saw me. She calmly took my name and asked me what I needed to be seen for. "Uhm. My face is schwollen. Shee my eye". The cheek was getting puffier. She "Hmmmed" at me and took my co-pay. I thought that maybe I was over-reacting due to the fact that receptionist didn't seem to see my issue. Did the swelling go away on the ride over and I'm just being neurotic? A dash to the lobby restroom revealed that I still slightly resembled Sloth from The Goonies.
It wasn't crowded so I was called back very quickly. The doctor's assistant didn't appear to see my problem either. "So what are we seeing you for today?" she asks as she takes my weight and blood pressure. Uhm, hello? My face is either having a reaction to something, I've been bitten by the biggest spider on the planet or my body is, after 34 years and 9 months, finally trying to expel my previously unknown twin. "Ok! The doctor will be in in a minute!"
Sure enough, a minute goes by and the door opens. Dr. Hammond walks in, says hi, looks me in the face and says. "So what...oh wow."
Thank you! I felt a huge amount of relief. Now we're getting somewhere. I hopped up on the table and she poked around a bit. No ear infection, no eye infection, no fever, nothing to indicate there is a problem other than the extra bit of face I was sporting. No drooping which indicates no Bell's Palsy or stroke, thank goodness, and after calling a colleague of hers to get a 2nd opinion on treatment options, I'm told I am probably having an allergic reaction to something I ate and sent on my way with an antibiotic and steroid prescription and directions to get my butt back there immediately if the swelling gets worse.
Then something makes me say, "Thanks! Glad I'm getting this cleared up. I have a big run and swim tonight."
She replies, "Oh no you don't. Not until this is gone" and heads off to heal another patient.
Uh-oh. The tri-borg in my head calmly asserts "Can't miss workout. Workout is vital." But I know that you just can't risk your health. Much. So ok. Fine. I can take a day off. But that's it. One day. I'm 5 weeks away from my race. One day is all I can spare and that's pushing it.
Then I get my prescription filled. It's not one dose of steroids, it's 6 days! There are a billion little pills stair-stepped on this card! I called the office back and find out that Dr. doesn't want me doing any strenuous activity for 3 or 4 days. "But, but, but I'm training for this race. I really need to.."
"Sorry. You just don't need to risk it." She says.
And over the course of the day I admit that she's right. Fine, I'll do what I'm told. I'll be graceful about it. I've heard enough horror stories of people disregarding advice and pushing on anyway and then being out of commission for weeks or even months.
Deep inside though, I'm freaking out about what these 3 days off will do to my training and momentum and goal of finishing in under 2 hours.
sigh...is it Friday yet?
What the Frick?
Week 6 Training
It just hit me that I haven't posted this week's training plan.
Monday - Run/Swim
Tuesday - Bike
Wed - Off
Thurs - Run
Fri - Swim
Sat - Run/Swim
Sun - Bike/Swim
There is a 5K run that I'm thinking about entering on Saturday. I haven't decided yet. I know I could do it, it's just do I want to put $35 toward a 5K that wasn't on my radar or do I spend that same $35 crossing some stuff off of my want/need for the triathlon. Hmmmmm. It would be nice to have a race number on my wall.
It's a conundrum...
Week 4 Training
It's only week 4???? AAAHHHH! How much longer?
Wait. I only have 8 weeks left to train? AAAAAHHHHH. Am I going to be strong enough for this???
As you can see, my lovely readers, I am of two minds right now regarding this race. The past couple of sessions have been rough for me. Not impossible, but definitely challenging. I'm tired. All the time. I believe it's how I'm eating. My appetite has vanished. That's not good because I'm pretty sure that I'm not fueling properly. This week. I'm going to eat something every 3 hours whether I want to or not. I'm going to start with snacks of almonds and protein shakes until I get back into the groove. If I go for a week or so and am still dragging butt, I'm going to hop over to my doc's office and make sure I'm not anemic or something.
I did miss a couple of workouts this past week due to life. End of school, graduation and all of that. I can only go into this upcoming week with a militant attitude of not missing a single session! Here's what's on the plate:
Monday: Bike (w/LBC)
Tuesday: Run/Swim/Kickball
Wednesday: Run/Swim
Thursday: Strength/Drum Lessons
Friday: Run/Strength
Saturday: Bike/Swim
Sunday: Swim/Softball
The orange events are early am. Before work. Before civilization awakens. Ugh.
Pre-Week 1/Week 1 Training Plan
Sometimes things just work out perfectly! It is 13 weeks and 2 days until my first triathlon. This is just the right amount of time to fit in the 12-week training plan from "Your First Triathlon" and then have a week to do light workouts, continue fueling properly and get all my gear in order! Sweet.
For the remainder of this week my workout schedule will be as follows:
Wed. - Strength Training; Spin Class
Thurs - Run
Fri - Swim
Saturday - Strength; Run or Bike (depending if I've found a bike yet. Did I mention that I don't have a bike yet? Yep, my lovelies, this is truly a ground up situation!)
Sunday - Yoga and Rest
Next Week - Official Week 1
Mon - Run/Swim (This is switching to Bike because of the Bike class I'm taking)
Tues - Strength
Wed - Bike (Switching to Swim. See Monday's notes)
Thur - Strength/Run
Fri - Rest
Sat - Bike
Sun - Swim
I'm going to try to get two workouts each of a Run, Bike, Swim and Strength. We'll see how it goes.
I will come back in and post Actual results each day in blue.
You'll notice that I do not have a "Rest" day scheduled for week one. This is because, in the book, Joe suggests that if you still have a few extra pounds hanging around, that the rest day is Optional. Right now, I'm feeling feisty, so we'll schedule some movement every day and see what happens.
He's pretty matter-of-fact about that extra poundage slowing a person down. I like that. He goes in to all the stuff about how extra weight damages your heart and all the physically bad stuff that I know and am working on, but something about "it makes you slow and you're trying to race here" statements were something I never had heard from anyone and it is sticking with me.
Hello World!
Welcome to my blog! I hope you enjoy yourself and stick around a while. I promise to be mildly amusing while telling you all about me and my life. This blog will try to focus on my ongoing weight loss and careful venturing into the world of athletics. I’m going to try to tackle triathlons, but let’s see where it goes, shall we? Oddities will arise. Cat pictures will appear. I read a blurb about adventure races this morning, so things could get a lil’ bit crazy!
I’ve recently lost 63 lbs. That’s several of the big bags of dog food. Go pick a couple of those bad daddies up. I wonder how I was walking. I do have a “That’s @#$@#$ IT” story which got me started losing weight, but I’m not ready to tell it yet. It involved a Kayak. That’s all you’re getting!
I lost 31 lbs on my own under the old “Eat Less, Move More” plan and that took about 8 months. Then, in February, we started a Biggest Loser contest at work. It was winner take all with a nice fat payout at the end. I’ve always been a sucker for a good prize. I lost another 32 pounds in 10 weeks. Yes. I know. I’m a sell out. I should have done it for all the good, healthy reasons and don’t get me wrong, those are nice, too, but I really needed that money. And I can do ANYTHING for 10 weeks, so off I went. I was very careful with what I ate. I logged every bite and every step. I’ll explain more in detail in upcoming posts. And it paid off. I won and this summer I will be taking my kiddo on vacation. Whee!!!
And now…dun duh dunnnnnn. Before and Current pics. Ugh. Seriously. I had no idea I had let myself get so out of control. 
