March 2008Monthly Archives

Siren Song of the Triathlon

OMG! I did it!! I have officially registered for my first triathlon. I’ve wanted to do a triathlon for a long time (since watching the Kona Ironman the first time many years ago). I’ve always put those feelings aside though because 1) I was so overweight, and 2) I didn’t know how to ride a bike.

After volunteering at the Ironman California 70.2 over the weekend, I can’t push down the desire any longer. So, today I plunked down my money and signed up for the Subaru US Women’s Triathlon Series that will take place in San Diego on October 19, 2008. I signed up for the Super Sprint distance which means I’ll be swimming 375m, then biking 13k, and ending with a 3.35k run. In English measurements, that translates to roughly a quarter mile swim, an 8 mile bike ride, and a 2 mile run. So, I have about 6.5 months to improve my swim, finish learning to ride a bike, and build up my running time/speed.

I took a few pictures with the phone on my Blackberry while I was volunteering. Rather than posting them all here, if you’re interested, you can check them out at the link below. I’ll take some time later in the week to write more about the experience and all the cool people I met this weekend.

2008 Ironman California 70.3

Before I headed down to Oceanside on Friday to volunteer, I went by and weighed in at a WW center since I wouldn’t make my normal Saturday morning meeting. I was down 1 pound last week which puts me at 9.6 pounds gone for the month of March when I recommitted to staying OP and started my 50 Day OP Challenge. It would appear that if one actually stays on program that one can lose weight. Who knew?!

I’m also thrilled to report that I did indeed manage to stay on the straight and narrow with my OP streak over the weekend. I was a little nervous about it because I wasn’t actually journaling the couple of days I was down there other than in my head. I even managed to fit in a couple of snack size candy treats! I put it all down on paper when I got home Sunday just to make sure I hadn’t calculated wrong, but it was all good. So, I’ll close this entry with my stats for Friday, Saturday, and yesterday.

Friday:

Total Points: 29
Exercise:
Weekly Points balance: 35
Water: 64 oz
Days OP: 26

Saturday:

Total Points: 32 (used 1 AP)
Exercise: 7896 steps on WW pedometer (1 AP)
Weekly Points balance: 35
Water: 48 oz
Days OP: 27

Sunday:

Total Points: 31
Exercise:
Weekly Points balance: 35
Water: 64 oz
Days OP: 28

Until next time …

31 March 2008

Challenges, Weight Loss/Fitness

6 comments

The Journey Ends …

Congratulations to Louisville for making it to the Elite Eight. I guess Courtney and I can commiserate with Michele since Washington State got knocked out tonight, too.

Thursday’s WW stats:

Total Points: 30
Exercise: Walking – 2 APs
Weekly Points balance: 33.5
Water: 56 oz
Days OP: 25

Until next time …

27 March 2008

Misc.

2 comments

Testing

This is a test mobile blogging entry from my Blackberry.

Melissa

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Sent via BlackBerry

27 March 2008

Stitching

1 comment

Sweet 16, Baby!

Yes, it’s Thursday, so that means it time for more March Madness. The Vols will be facing off tonight again the Louisville Cardinals in the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA tournament. The Vols are the #2 seed and Louisville is the #3 seed, so it should be a GREAT game! It starts at around 7pm PT, so I’m going to try and get out of work a little early to be sure I’m home in time to watch the game.

I got in some more stitching time last night on Hannah. I’m really enjoying this piece so far. I’m not sure what it is about it, but I just find myself not wanting to put it down. It’s going to be VERY difficult to stop working on it after Sunday. The SAL group is working on this piece the last full week of each month, so that means waiting until April 21 to work on it again. Here’s my progress as of last night (pardon all the wrinkles, but I just didn’t feel like pressing it every day to take new progress pics):

I’m not sure how much I’ll have a chance to post over the weekend. I’m heading down to Oceanside to volunteer at the Ironman California triathlon with Terri. Her DH is participating in the event, so this will be a great way for us to be up close and personal to cheer him on during the race. Some other friends from the Beginner Triathlete forums are also in the race, so it’ll be fun meeting them in person for the first time and cheering them on as well.

I’m SOOO excited to be part of such an amazing event, even if it is as a volunteer. I have HUGE amounts of respect for what these athletes will be undertaking this weekend. The race is a half Ironman distance, so that means they’ll be starting with a 1.2 mile swim followed by a 56 mile bike ride and capping things off with a half marathon run (13.1 miles). I do hope to finish a triathlon myself one day, but I seriously doubt it will ever be a half Ironman distance.

Anyway, I’m going to attempt to set things up so I can post messages to my blog from my BlackBerry. I’ll try a test post later today. If that works, I’ll try and post a few pics from the event to my blog over the weekend.

In closing, here are my WW stats for Wednesday:

Total Points: 30.5
Exercise: 45 mins stationary bike – 3 APs
Weekly Points balance: 33.5
Water: 80 oz
Days OP: 24

Until next time …

27 March 2008

Cross Stitch, Misc.

0 comments

First Row Finished

I finished off the top row of Hannah Beeby last night while watching TV. I’m really loving how my fiber selection is looking on the fabric. The farther I get, the more I like it.