Goals & Life

It has been weeks since I blogged here. Why? Because life gets complicated, time passes and before you know it you’re lying awake at night trying to figure out why things still aren’t where you want them. Here is a recap of the past few weeks:

Late May/Early June - Signed up with an awesome personal trainer to help get me back on track. Sessions are going well and I have gained some strength and lost some inches. The workouts have also done wonders for my ankle – I am actually able to run again and to jump!!

Early June – Started working full time (yuck!) My job is pretty stressful and it takes a lot of me during the day and makes it really hard to be motivated to workout at night. I can’t wait to go back to part time in Sept.

Early June - Signed up with Team in Training for Solvang’s Finest Century on November 14, 2009. Borrowed a bike – but never made it out for any rides. I know, total slacker. How am I supposed to ride 100 miles when I can’t even get out for a short 15 miler during the week.

Mid July – Signed up with a nutritionist. Cut the coffee habit by 2/3rd (down to two cups a day) and increased the water intake (120 ounces). Also cut the carbs way back and working on increasing the protein. It is really hard to get 80 – 90 grams of protein in when you don’t eat meat. Right now I am experimenting with some protein shakes and bars. Good news here is that I have lost 8.2 lbs since starting with the nutritionist. Stepping back and taking a hard look at what I am eating and the portion sizes has been really enlightening. Now if I can just get dialed in on ride day nutrition.

July 18 – Fun Ride with Team in Training. We did a short ride (13.5 miles) out from Clovis around Appaloosa Loop and back. Felt great to be back on the bike. I tried clipping in and out for the first time. It was going well until we restarted after a short break and the laces on my shoes got caught in the pedals. I ended up hitting the ground, skinning my elbow, twisting my injured ankle and getting a ton of bruises. Needless to say, I went out and got new pedals and cycling shoes the next day.

Week of July 18-25 – Spent a lot of time organizing some fund-raisers and got my fund-raising letters and first round of e-mails out. My goal is $3,000. I hope to see some fund rolling in soon!! We also had the Kick-Off for the season this week. It was great to be there again and see friends! I am really excited about this season and where we are all headed.

July 25 – First official coached training. Coach put my new pedals on and a couple of other coaches worked with me on clipping in and out and stopping. By the end of the training I felt pretty confident about clipping. We started off the day with a nutrition clinic. Great information and quickly pointed out that I had totally started my day off wrong. A piece of coffee cake and a coffee does not make for a good training day. We moved on to some other clinics (emergency breaking, looking over the shoulder, and tire changing) and then went for a ride. This time we went down the Eaton Trail to where Old Friant and New Friant meet. I was not in a good place. Right after we started my calves started cramping. I couldn’t even turn the pedals over. I toughed it out and finished the ride. It was hell and it was my fault. I botched the diet and the workouts! What a Wakeup Call!! On the upside, I did finish the first training ride which is further than I got last season.

July 26 – GOT MY OWN BIKE!! I got a Giant OCR 1 and it is awesome. I fit this bike a lot better than the one I was borrowing and that should make for a much more comfortable ride. I will be taking the bike in to Momentum Cycling on the 29th for a fitting. SUPER EXCITED!!!

July 27 – Back to my personal trainer who happens to be my cycling coach. Recapped everything I did wrong – poor diet and major lack of cardio. I felt awful, I feel like I let coach down and myself. Guilt is a major motivator!! Had a great workout in the end and left with a lot of changes to implement. Intervals are going to be my new best friend.

Well that is what I have been up to for the past few weeks. I have been really busy but it has not all been good. I really have to prioritize my goals so that I can be successful, if I don’t, I will only be setting myself up for failure.

Keep checking in as I will be trying to keep this updated a couple times a week with training details and fund-raising status and events and other great stuff.