Day Two-Beginning the Run

After receiving some inspiration from listening to some great podcasts on triathlonradio.com & steverunner.com, I am really feeling the energy to begin to train to run. Up until this point, the run portion of my triathlon has consisted of walking or strolling, whatever it would take just to bring me to the finish line. At my size I was concerned about running, worried about blowing out my knees, or having trouble with my lungs etc etc...These are valid concerns, however after completing my first tri last week with no ill effects other than a little soreness the following day, I have decided to step up my training. I'll take it slow. I actually am using tips from the archives of triathlonradio to start a ten week run/walk program to gradually work up to running 30 minutes continuously. I'll let you know how it goes.

Today I had a bit of a different training regimen. I babysat for my two little cousins. They are a lot of fun and definitely helped me to crosstrain.

Workout for today:

Warm up~ Basketball & tennis.
Cardio:
Stairmaster~ Get two kids in the pool, get two kids out of the pool. Two in, two out. Two upstairs to get dressed. Two down. Two up to use the bathroom. Two down. You get the picture. You parents, really get the picture!
Sprints~ Full out races across both the pool & the grass.
Cool down~ Golf, clean up & evading the super soaker.

Who needs a personal trainer? Rent some kids. I am sure you will find friends that will give you a discount on theirs for a few hours.

In any case, I was wiped. I did take a short bike ride, but not too much else today. I did purchase my running shoes though & intend on starting the program tomorrow, in about five hours from now actually. The trip to the shoe outlet was pretty comical. Maybe I'll talk about that tomorrow.

Just to recap: two recommended podcasts:

triathlonradio.com
steverunner.com

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

April

This is me & my helmet (:-P) after a nice downhill nearing the end of the bike course of the Dash & Bash Triathlon 2006 in Devens, MA. The volunteers were awesome. I came in about an hour after the finisher before me. I figured everyone would have gone home & I didn't blame them. Instead I was greeted by some amazing, enthusiastic, heartwarming people. Three of whom actually walked the run portion of the triathlon with me. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you!

Photo Courtesy of sportography.com

Day One

Welcome all. On this blog I plan to chronicle my training & races as I set out one step at a time to eventually achieve my goal of completing an Ironman. My hope at this time is to let others know that they don't have to wait until they look like a pro athlete to get out there and do what they have always yearned to do. Get out there & tri! For me triathlon has been a wonderful sport with which to become involved. You will have your own desires and goals. For those of you who have ever been interested in triathlon though, I do have to say that you could not hope for a better, more supportive community of athletes. At 5'2" 300 pounds just getting to the starting line in a bathing suit without running and hiding felt like an accomplishment. Sometimes I felt like I would need to put the blinders on, remembering old high school comments etc, some of that fear creeping in...."What are these real athletes going to think, say? Do I really have a right to be here?" "YES I DO!" We all do. I pushed the fears aside. Instead I heard the cheers, the encouragement, the love. That's what it's all about. Stay with me here. Help keep me on track & I'll try to do the same for you.

Blessings!

April