Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope all of the Tri Divas had a wonderful holiday. I feel a little out of the loop since I'm not training, but I suppose preparing for the birth of twins is the ultimate duathlon!

My parents are getting me a snazzy bike trailer for Christmas, so I hope to be able to log some decent miles when the Wonder Twins are ready to face the elements. I am determined to do the Danskin (or Trek) event with all of you. I won't have very much time to train, but I'm hoping having one sprint triathlon under my belt will help. I am also familiar with the swim/bike course in Austin.

Preggo details - I'll be 28 weeks on Sunday and things continue to go well. I get tired very easily these days, but no major complaints. My doctor would like to get me to 37 weeks and I think the time will continue to fly. Then the real fun begins. LOL

1000 Challenge

Yes, I'm on a roll today...LOL

A fellow blogger suggested doing a "1000 day plan" in the hopes of shaking things up a bit. I basically need to determine where I'd like to be in 1000 days with my journey. I can also pick check points along the way for progress reports and divide the time frame into smaller chunks, if necessary. I love the idea! I'm going to apply it to a few other aspects in my life (financial, education, family elements) that will remain private. However, you'll be privy to the fitness focus...lucky, lucky folks.


100 Day Goal (end date: March 9, 2009)
-Lose 25 lbs
-Help my BFF create her "Baby Weight Blaster" program and follow it like I have my own baby weight to lose. I technically do...my baby just wasn't of the human persuasion. LOL


250 Day Goal (end date: July 31, 2009)
-Lose 50 lbs
-Complete 101 running class and 2 sprint triathlons


1000 Days Goal (end date: August 20, 2011)
-I'd like to be maintaining at goal weight
-Complete a Half Ironman event (I originally wanted to accomplish this goal by my 35th birthday, so this challenge will hopefully make that happen a year early).

I'll be updating with progress and additional goals. If anyone is interested in doing something similar, please let me know. FYI, I used this handy calculator to determine my dates.

Inspiration

I occasionally give shout-outs to various folks that inspire me, but I think official recognition is in order. There are several people who have helped me tremendously...whether it be encouraging words, leading by example, amazing feats of fitness prowess or just a wicked sense of humor. I'm going to share the wealth and hope you'll do the same.

Apoplexy

Athena Diaries

Chasing Iron

Dare to Tri

Fat for Now

Humble Triathlete

I'm TRI-ing

Lynnderful's Realm

Pasta Queen

Ride Like a Girl

Scale Whore

Studies in Clydeology

Triathlon Stuff

Tri to Be Funny

Better Day

I'm feeling like my usual positive self again, so that means another plan of attack. I've lost 200 lbs over the years and I've allowed myself to get too comfortable because of it. I can't continue to tell myself that I'm fine with the place I am now simply because I eliminated the possibility of death by obesity. There are other tasks that I'd like to complete and reaching the finish line with my weight loss is a major requirement.

I'll celebrate my 8th year of this journey in March. That's a long time to be focused on the scale, measuring food and counting points. I know I need more structure, but I'm not willing to be a Weight Watchers Points Nazi again. That mindset helped me remove a great deal of weight from my frame without drastic measures, but it also ended up taking over my life. I can't allow that again. I simply want to lead a healthy life and reach my goals in a reasonable amount of time. Sounds easy, eh?

I've also decided to reach out to my fellow weight loss veterans for motivation. There are a few people that have been in this journey as long as I have (and longer) and I'm hoping to improve my accountability by interacting with them. We're an exclusive club...why not help each other get to the final destination after all this time?

And because one bad ride doesn't make or break me, I reviewed my 2009 schedule and made some changes:

Butterfly Boogie 5K - March 28, 2009
The Space Race (Houston) - April 5, 2009
Rotary Sprint Triathlon - May 17, 2009
Danskin Women's Triathlon (Austin) - June 7, 2009
Benbrook Women's Triathlon - October 4, 2009
Komen Dallas Race for the Cure - October 17, 2009
LiveStrong Challenge (Austin) - October 23-25, 2009

2008 Turkey Roll - Flash Forzen for Freshness

I left Houston on Friday afternoon for a leisurely drive to Dallas. It's about 4 hours from city-to-city and then another hour or so to Denton, TX where the Turkey Roll was to be held

I stopped by my old office and shared coffee with a couple of long-time friends who are former co-workers at the compay that laid me off a few years ago. Our meeting must have been destined though, as minutes before we met one of them he found out that the board had just voted out the CIO who was responsible for orchestrating projects, which led to significant losses, which led to layoffs for IT.

Anyway... moving on...

Feeling how cold it was I knew I needed some gloves for the ride on Saturday. I had forgotten how cold my ears got too, so I made 2 trips to Richardson Bike Mart. Met up with the Cycling Chick Extraordinaire, Coco and WonderTwin Mama Alana and had some dinner and headed to the hotel Got my gear... I was good to go

I knew there was a possibility it would be cold... but I had no idea it would be as cold as it was. I rode in the Frost 50 last year, and I don't think it was this cold. Let's just say that by noon it was a balmy 44 degrees, according to my car -- it was easily 30-something (I heard 34) at 9am, the ride start

Let me be clear. There is nothing fun about riding in cold weather. NOTHING

It could have been a nice ride, but it went sh*tty only because of the weather. We cut our distance short to 23 miles; a lot of folks were too. No sense it turning something you enjoy doing into something you hate -- there's nothing to prove. It's all in fun.

On the upside, I got to see Courtney, see Corinna do her first ride and met Larry, the grumpy the Kiwanas information man. LOL

Here are some pics... and yes, it was as cold as it looked! My face is wind-burned today:

Me & Courtney

Courtney and Corinna

You Never Lose the Cheapos! Right?

I keep buying $10 cheapos when it comes to sunglasses for bicycling, because in my haste I always misplace them. The problem is they're not the best for your eyes. There are usually "waves" in the plastic that your eyes (and mind) have to adjust to, in order to see properly out of them.

I refuse to spend $200 on a pair of Oakley's, just so I can either lose them or have my pre-schooler take them, thinking they are a dress-up accessory.

Last weekend I stopped at Sun and Ski to get tubes for my bike. I also took a look at the sunglasses. I got to talking to one of the salespeople about this Serfas brand I found. I was surprised because they were jut $50, and came with 4 sets of lenses! That's a pretty good value.

Of course the skeptic in me had to ask questions about the quality. The salesperson said she'll never spend a ton for glasses again. She uses the Serfas brand herself and found them to be the most comfortable, helmet friendly brand yet.

They're a smaller company in California... you know how passionate those tree-huggin' hippies get when they really like something. LOL In short, they make a ton of bike stuff and claim their "passion" through all of it.

Check them out at http://www.serfas.com or for just to see their sunglasses checkout http://www.serfasoptics.com

I got the KForce frames in I guess what they're calling pink, but they're no where near as pink as the picture they have on their site. Mine are more of a pearly-whiteish-pink... barely pink. I really wanted a regular color, but they were out and I needed some for the ride this weekend.

So they were $50 -- not cheap but not overboard... maybe I have a shot at keeping them! LOL

The end of the Tri as we know it...

Ok girls, so I found out something very interesting this week at the HeartZones conference...

http://www.trektriathlon.com/

The Danskin as we know it is over. Maggie and Sally have jumped ship over to Trek. Apparently, Danskin is still going to attempt to have a triathlon series of their own, but it won't be the same. I'm sure Danskin will still have a following because of name recognition, but the Trek will be the "Sally Edwards" experience.

Very weird, but very interesting. It'll be cool to see what happens.

More later.

Looking Ahead...

Well, well...a new month has arrived! Fresh start, anyone?

I've decided to take a page out of Sarah's book and start planning out my '09 race schedule. Everything is tentative at this point (except Danskin, of course), but I'm almost certain this is how things will play out:

Butterfly Boogie 5K - March 28, 2009
Tour Dallas - April 4, 2009
Rotary Sprint Triathlon - May 17, 2009
Danskin Women's Triathlon (Austin) - June 7, 2009
Benbrook Women's Triathlon - October 4, 2009
LiveStrong Challenge (Austin) - October 23-25, 2009
Denton Turkey Roll - November 21, 2009

Noticeably missing from the lineup is the MS150. I've decided to put it off for another year. With the chaos that will enter my life in the 1Q 2009, I can't commit to the training schedule required for such a major event. Also, this was an event that I planned to do with Alana and since she's birthin' twin boys sometime in February, I'm almost certain that will knock her out of the April ride. It wouldn't be the same without her. *sniff*

I've decided to go kicking and screaming embrace my inner runner (I know the chick is in there somewhere) and start a running class. I'm going to do the spring session 4/13 - 5/21.

So, that's my plan for the new year. I'm feeling positive right now (with the exception of the damn tooth issue...but the dentist is going to bring the pain on Tuesday and I'm hoping for relief shortly after). I am going to ride this little wave and do some damage in November. I will return to the gym 5X week, I will give my liver a bit of a break, I will log some outdoor miles (Denton Turkey Ride is 3 weeks away) and I'll stop indulging in those blasted Fiber One Poptarts...freaking candy with fiber!

Have a great weekend!