A Few Developments
First, for those of you who are on my buddy list that aren't on Michelle's, we got kittens last night!
http://noodle-nose.livejournal.com/212671.html <--- Pictures, and the story.
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Vacationing takes a lot out of you. Sure, you get to sleep in and stay up late, you can relax and not have to worry about going to work, but there's a sense of urgency that comes with having a stop date. "Only four days left, gotta make the most of them." For me, this manifested itself in the desire to eat at fantastic restaurants. And boy, did we eat some great food while on vacation! The result of eating good food (appetizer, entree, dessert, plus wine usually) for 10 days in a row resulted in me FEELING like I had gained 100 lbs. I haven't had the courage to step on the scale yet, but with all the walking that we did, it's possible that I didn't gain too much weight.
It refueled the fire in me to get back into a workout routine. I felt like I wanted more, though, than to simply return to the normal "get up at 6:30, work out for 30 minutes" regimen. I mentioned that we had gone bike riding on Martha's Vineyard, and I had taken to it pretty easily. After that day, an idea which I had been working on for over a year popped back into my head.
I decided to compete in a Triathlon.
Now, 'compete' may be a strong word. I have no intention of trying to win, or even to place or 'show' at the event. My goal will be more along the lines of 'finish', and may even stoop down to 'not die' during the event. My event of choice is the Santa Cruz "Sprint", so named because it is a moderately shorter triathlon (500m swim, 12mi bike, 3mi run), and of course takes place in Santa Cruz. That 500m swim was the key here, because I think the total amount of distance that I've swum in the past year has maybe totaled 500m. Doing that all in a stretch is going to be the real challenge for me.
Being a nerd, I checked out several Men's exercise websites/magazines to see if they had any training regimens that would prepare me for what is sure to be the biggest physical test of endurance I've ever put myself through. On Men's Health, I found a nice 8-week schedule (the event is 11 weeks away) that slowly whips me into shape. It's different, to be sure. My runs normally wind up being "run until you complete the loop", but this routine has me running at a lower pace for X minutes, then at a higher pace for X minutes. That tiered approach is really doing a number on me, and I'm definitely glad for that. My workouts had become dull, and this is exactly the kind of thing that I was looking for.
It felt like that scene from Fight Club where Edward Norton is talking about how Fight Club becomes the reason to keep your hair short and your nails trimmed. For me, the triathlon has become the reason to eat right and not slack off. It's one thing to run (metaphorically speaking) with no real direction, but when you have a goal, a fixed point in space and time that you can focus on, you're able to motivate yourself better. It's a great feeling, and I've been telling everyone I can about my decision, hoping that it'd motivate them to try something similar or even to join me. Alas, no such luck.
That's okay, I'm doing it for me. Not for anyone else.
http://noodle-nose.livejournal.com/212671.html <--- Pictures, and the story.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Vacationing takes a lot out of you. Sure, you get to sleep in and stay up late, you can relax and not have to worry about going to work, but there's a sense of urgency that comes with having a stop date. "Only four days left, gotta make the most of them." For me, this manifested itself in the desire to eat at fantastic restaurants. And boy, did we eat some great food while on vacation! The result of eating good food (appetizer, entree, dessert, plus wine usually) for 10 days in a row resulted in me FEELING like I had gained 100 lbs. I haven't had the courage to step on the scale yet, but with all the walking that we did, it's possible that I didn't gain too much weight.
It refueled the fire in me to get back into a workout routine. I felt like I wanted more, though, than to simply return to the normal "get up at 6:30, work out for 30 minutes" regimen. I mentioned that we had gone bike riding on Martha's Vineyard, and I had taken to it pretty easily. After that day, an idea which I had been working on for over a year popped back into my head.
I decided to compete in a Triathlon.
Now, 'compete' may be a strong word. I have no intention of trying to win, or even to place or 'show' at the event. My goal will be more along the lines of 'finish', and may even stoop down to 'not die' during the event. My event of choice is the Santa Cruz "Sprint", so named because it is a moderately shorter triathlon (500m swim, 12mi bike, 3mi run), and of course takes place in Santa Cruz. That 500m swim was the key here, because I think the total amount of distance that I've swum in the past year has maybe totaled 500m. Doing that all in a stretch is going to be the real challenge for me.
Being a nerd, I checked out several Men's exercise websites/magazines to see if they had any training regimens that would prepare me for what is sure to be the biggest physical test of endurance I've ever put myself through. On Men's Health, I found a nice 8-week schedule (the event is 11 weeks away) that slowly whips me into shape. It's different, to be sure. My runs normally wind up being "run until you complete the loop", but this routine has me running at a lower pace for X minutes, then at a higher pace for X minutes. That tiered approach is really doing a number on me, and I'm definitely glad for that. My workouts had become dull, and this is exactly the kind of thing that I was looking for.
It felt like that scene from Fight Club where Edward Norton is talking about how Fight Club becomes the reason to keep your hair short and your nails trimmed. For me, the triathlon has become the reason to eat right and not slack off. It's one thing to run (metaphorically speaking) with no real direction, but when you have a goal, a fixed point in space and time that you can focus on, you're able to motivate yourself better. It's a great feeling, and I've been telling everyone I can about my decision, hoping that it'd motivate them to try something similar or even to join me. Alas, no such luck.
That's okay, I'm doing it for me. Not for anyone else.