It lives...

I'm alive...

I'm still injured.  I managed to heal just enough to complete my triathlon last month.  Here's how it went:

#384/418 - Hey, at least I wasn't dead last!
Swim (500yards) - 16:24.2 - OMG I ALMOST DIED.  Ok, that would be dramatic.  But thank goodness this was in a pool because I'm not sure I would have made it 500 yards straight without stopping.  And I was so nervous that my heart rate was at about 100 before I even started. No, I am not dying.  My normal heart rate is like 72.  I guess nerves + ADD meds + 2 cups of coffee = ridiculously high resting heart rate.  Also, I was so nervous, I jumped into the water without putting my goggles on over my actual eyeballs, so I had to tread water for a moment while trying to pull my goggles down.  Duh. 
Transition 1 - 5:10.6 - So, you had to climb out of the pool, run out the door, run on some grass which was wet from the drizzle of rain plus wet feet (I almost bit it right then and there. Who's dumb idea was it to have dripping wet people run over wet grass?) and to the bike rack.  I took my time.  It was my first race so I wasn't going to worry about transition time.
Bike (10miles) - 44:45.0 - I only averaged like 13mph. I could have gone faster, but I was afraid of crushing my legs for the run and also, it had been raining and I was afraid of slipping on the wet ground.  I hadn't trained a lot because of the broken heel and I didn't want to push my luck.  It was a nice slightly more than leisurely ride.
Transition 2 - 2:39.0 - Bike to Run transition is sooooo much easier than swim to bike.  Just saying...
Run (5k, i think...maybe 3 miles) - 32.51.8 - I'm not going to lie, this time surprised the heck out of me. I thought for sure that I would have to walk the entire thing.  But I actually was able to jog most of it.  My legs felt great because I did not get crazy on the bike and my heel felt ok and I really just felt good for as little as I had been able to train.

So there you have it, a month later, my first triathlon. 


The Injury that never ends...

I got cocky and tried running 4 miles a couple of days after the race.  The result was me back in the boot.  Stupid heel that won't heal.  I've had to spend the last few weeks not doing anything at all.  The doctor says that I have to let it heal.  Whatever.  Ugh.  So, i've been a total loungypants.  But, Tough Mudder is only 5 weeks away, so we start with the trainer tomorrow.  At minimum, I need to have the upper body strength to pull myself over a wall and across buttered monkey bars.  I'll start swimming again, too, so that I have some cardio to fall back on.  Tough Mudder is 12 miles.  I need to do something to have the stamina for that.  After that, if i need to sit around for 2 months to heal properly, i'll be able to do it.  I want that tattoo!

I'm sure the trainer will give me something to report.  That cross fit stuff makes me whiny!

Jenn - Stay tuned.

Day 47: I spend time figuring out how to waterproof my cast...

Instead of the usual update about my training (which has been temporarily derailed until I figure out a way around this stupid cast thing), I thought I would entertain you with my tale of cast waterproofing.  I need to shower, mostly so that I don't offend my co-workers. I even have pictures...of the cast waterproofing procedure, not of me in the shower (pervs)...

Step 1: Start with leg encased in the Darth Boot.

Step 2: Gather Supplies...In this case, Painter's Tape(We apparently do not have any duct tape.  Thank Goodness there are no hurricanes or high speed winds coming to Indiana in the near future! LOL), Glad Press n/ Seal, and a Zip Lock bag. 

Step 3: Remove Darth Boot and expose awesome pink soft cast.

Step 4: Wrap cast, toes and part of leg in Press n' Seal.

Step 5: Place foot into Ziplock bag.

Step 6: Use Painter's Tape to seal the top.

Step 7: Try not to slip and fall and break the other leg or obtain a head wound while in the shower.


ChaLean Extreme...Awesomeness...

Those of you who have been reading along these past few months know that I'm doing ChaLean Extreme. I often complain about the Vomit Intervals workout, Chalean's sadistic love of Bowler Lunges, and the fact that she makes you do about 70,000 squats and lunges.  The whole time I've been doing it, I've been wondering what the payoff would be.  Other than a supposed higher metabolism from having more muscles and some sort of mental toughness, and maybe a more shapely (read: not atrophied looking) physique, I had been struggling with what I really gained from all the pain and suffering and one legged squat lunges and other manner of horrible torture.  Ok, it's not so bad, but still, it's an hour of my day almost every day that I could be sleeping.  Well, I finally figured it out.  It's not something they tell you in the infomercial.  It's the ability to stand for extended periods of time on one leg in the shower without losing balance, slipping, or falling.  No joke.  I don't have a shower seat in my shower.  It's a stand-up shower, separate from the tub.  It has the tiniest of ledges that I was able to sort of put the end of my hurt foot on, so I would not have to shower in full on crane position the entire time.

Other than that, I basically had 99% of my body weight balanced on my left leg for about 10-15 minutes while I shampoo, condition, face wash, wash, rinse.  i didn't want to have both feet on the ground for fear that would allow the water to stream directly down my leg and compromise the integrity of the Painter Tape seal I had created.  I thought my leg would get tired or that it would start to wobble or that it would be uncomfortable.  NO! My leg was like a rippled steal pillar of strength.  I can only assume that I have Chalean to thank for that because it certainly could not be from watching hours of General Hospital while eating ice cream (which may be what I did last night...).

Hopefully, Amazon will deliver my waterproof cast cover for swimming and I can get back to that.  Monday, I'll find out what happens next with my stupid cracked heel.  Ugh...

Jenn - Exercise...not for the weak boned...

Day 25-44: Crud....

Workouts: Running, Biking, Swimming, Chalean Burn Phase, Chalean Push Phase, Writhing in Agony

Curse the Plantar Fasciitis....

So, I was going along just fine.  Chalean Burn phase was winding down, I had just started the Push Phase, I was lifting heavy weights, I was starting to feel good running for longer without having to walk, things were going well.  Then, my foot started to hurt. 

The Workouts...

Day 26 was a hilly 20 minute run that felt pretty good along with the last day of Burn Phase.  Things were looking good.  Day 27 we headed up to Chicago for Lollapalooza.  We biked at the hotel and ran on a treadmill...things felt funny.  Then, after walking around Lolla for the rest of the day and evening, my feet KILLED.  Especially my right foot. Day 28 was swimming.  I was still struggling with the breathing.  The nose plug sucked but I just couldn't figure out how to exhale out my nose properly. We spent the rest of the day walking around Lolla again, and my feet didn't hurt quite as much. Day 29 we ran for 40 minutes.  It started pouring rain in the middle of the run, but we kept going.  I started to feel pain in the 2nd mile but I ignored it.  That was probably stupid but I kept running.  It rained again on us twice that day while we were at Lolla.  My foot hurt at the end of the night. Day 30 was driving back from Chicago so we were lazy. Day 31 we started the Push Phase of Chalean.  Big Heavy Weights!!! Day 32 we tried running 30 minutes.  I barely made it through two miles before I had to stop.  We biked 12 miles and that was no problem.  We also did Chalean.  Biking and Chalean didn't seem to hurt my foot, but running was killing it. Day 33 was Vomit Intervals.  Any part that involved Plyometrics hurt my foot.  Day 34 was filled with pain, so no workout.  Day 35 was some biking and walking around the State Fair.  The walking was rough. Day 35-42 has been biking, swimming, Chalean.  No running.  My heel has progressively been getting worse.  Big news on the Swim, though! I finally started exhaling out my nose! I'm not so good at it yet, but I don't have to wear the nose plug anymore.  It just happened on accident one day.  I was pretty pumped about it.  Otherwise, my heel has been hurting so much, I went to the doctor.

The Food...

I've been eating half like crap and half good.  Of course, at the State Fair and Lolla, I ate like butt.  When I'm home, I eat lots of fruits and vegetables. Not that it matters either way, because I don't lose or gain weight.  I stay somewhat the same.  Actually, I think I put on like 3 lbs. But that might be muscle.


The Feelings...

My foot hurt so bad by the end of last week that I made a doctor appointment.  I thought I could just wait it out, it just kept getting worse.  The pain had started on the left side of my right heel, then as that got worse it moved into the bottom, and as I favored it more, caused the right side to start swelling.  The doctor took some x-rays (after pressing all around my heel rather painfully with his fingers).  He suspects that the evile Plantar Fasciitis is at work.  But he also thinks he saw micro-fractures in my heel.  The swelling on the right side of my ankle is most likely due to over use of those ligaments and tendons as I've been favoring my foot.  This has cause the tendinitis.  For the next week, I have a giant pad strapped to the bottom of my foot to provide arch support.  If the heel pain continues, he'll confirm micro-fractures with an MRI.  I can still swim and bike, since those activities don't cause me any pain (other than the normal kind) and I can do Chalean as long as I skip the squats. No running for now.  If the heel does have microfractures, I'm out 4-6 weeks.  Which means, potentially, no triathlon for me.  That's not an option.  I refuse to allow that.  So, I'll have to see if I can just walk the 3 miles.  At least, that way, it will be really easy to beat my time next year.  I'm not sure yet how this will affect Tough Mudder training.  For now, I'm just going to focus on swimming and biking so that I can kill those two events.  Or, at minimum, not drown. :)

Next Workout: Bike 15 miles

Jenn - I'm falling apart...

Day 24: The Day the Gym Annoyed the Crap Out of Me...

Workout: Chalean Burn 2, Bike 10 Miles, Fight off the GIANT spiders that have blocked my front door

The Workout...

Boyfriend didn't have a chance to show me how to fix the tire on my road bike before running off to NYC for work.  I suppose I could have surfed the interwebs to find the solution to this problem, but that would require a level of motivation that I'm not ready to commit to.  Plus, I wouldn't want to go ride by myself since I'm such a total spasm and could very likely end up stranded with a head injury, so I was forced to go to the gym to try and get my bike on. Turns out, the gym SUCKS for that sort of thing.  I figured I would use one of the spin class bikes, since that would be most similar to real life.  By "most similar" I mean "not sitting straight up like on a stationary bike".  I was all set with my bike shoes and such, only to realize my clips don't work with the pedals at my gym.  Also, the spin bikes don't have any way of telling how fast, far, or long you've been riding.  I was annoyed, but fortunately had also brought a pair of sneakers, so I was able to ride one of the other exercise bikes.  There were a couple of different types, so I picked one that had me in the riding position closest to my actual bike.  10 miles on that thing seemed like forever, but it was only 30 minutes, which made me suspect that it was also wildly inaccurate.  I could barely get my heart rate up over 125 bpm and I doubt greatly that I was really going like 20mph the whole time for real.  Overall, it was not the most satisfying experience.  I did that during lunch.

After work, I did Chalean Burn 2.  I can always count on Chalean to kick my butt.  Bowler's Lunge still makes me pray for the sweet release of death.  I do love/hate Chalean, though, because I always feel like I did a real workout when I'm done with her.

The Food...

I'm not going to lie.  I've been eating like crap since Boyfriend has been gone for work.  When it's only me that I need to cook for and prepare stuff for, I totally get lazy.  I did make some homemade hummus, which was basically all I had for dinner.  I had a sub and fries for lunch and I haven't been eating my snacks or enough veggies.  I haven't eaten a ton of junk, either.  I just haven't really been eating enough, most likely, so I feel sluggish and more tired.  I did learn that mixing Muscle Milk Light Chocolate Protein Powder with bad work coffee IS HORRIBLE.  Don't try that at home if you don't want to be sick.  It's vile. And as someone who will eat or drink almost anything, that's saying a lot.

The Feelings...

Between softball, running, and Chalean from Day 23, my legs were feeling destroyed even before I started any workouts for the day.  The biking on a weird stationary bike did not help matters, because I think I was using slightly different muscles, so I spend the rest of the day with stiff and sore butt muscles.  One of my co-workers did find it entertaining when I went over to say hi and was standing there unconsciously grabbing my ass.  After Chalean, I thought I might have to amputate.  I took a hot bath to try to ease the tightness in my quadriceps.  My cat, Morpheus, creepily stared at me the whole time.  It was a bit unnerving.  I will say that, despite my aching tight muscles, working out in the middle of the day fills me with energy (er, maybe too much).  I was practically bouncing off the walls for the rest of the afternoon. It could also have been the Mountain Dew I drank at lunch.  I'm not sure. Maybe the combination of the two.  I'll be glad when Boyfriend gets back because I need him to motivate me and also to sleep.  I haven't slept well the past few nights without him.  This whole "work" thing is cramping my style.  Lollapalooza is this weekend, so we'll see how that factors into our training schedule.  We will be able to do the Friday (Day 27) workout before we drive up to Chicago. Saturday (Day 28) is supposed to be a swim day, but I'm not sure if there will be a place to swim.  We may have to make that up on Monday after we return.  Sunday (Day 29) is the first day of the Push month, but we should be able to do that at the hotel. It's also a run day, which we can do in the city.  That might be fun!

Day 25: I'm sneaking this in here because I totally skipped Vomit Intervals this week and I don't want to feel totally bad about it.  But I feel I should mention it so that I can feel a little bad about it.  I was just so tired yesterday, I couldn't bring myself to push play.  I am ashamed. :( Forgive me.

Day 26 Workout: Chalean Burn 3, Swim 300 yards, Run 20 min

Jenn - See you at Lolla!!!

Days 19-23: I have been remiss in my blogging...Sorry Nerm...

Workout(s): Day 19 - Chalean Burn 3, Day 20 - Off, Day 21 - Bike 8 miles, Swim 300 yards, Day 22 - Off, Day 23 - Chalean 1, Run 30 Min, Softball

The Workouts...

So things got a little upside down last week.  We were totally on track and then Thursday (Day 19) started our downward spiral into a Skip/Catch-up pattern.  We did the Chalean Burn 3 in the morning and all was well.  I had a hard time waking up, but once I got moving, I persevered.  Burn 3 is lower body hell.  All the crazy lunge/squat/calf raise stuff I've described in previous blogs.  It totally killed my legs.  We had the minions that night and since they would be gone on vacation with their mom for the next two weeks and Boyfriend would not see them, we decided to push the bike out a day...Enter Friday (Day 20), a day in which we decided to do NOTHING.  We felt horrible about it, but we got over that and rented Sucker Punch and enjoyed a night of not abusing ourselves.  It is weird to take a whole day off of working out.  We've started getting used to one and two workouts a day, that the off days make us feel confused.  Saturday (Day 21), we had planned on painting the master bedroom this weekend, so we got up early to get in the bike and swim workouts we were supposed to do Thursday and Friday.  6.5 miles into the 8 mile bike ride, my tire blew.  It was totally dead to me.  Neither of us had thought to bring any spare tubes, so I started slowly walking back (those stupid clipped bike shoes are not so great for the walking), while Boyfriend road like the wind home to get the car to pick me up.  He was secretly excited because this was his first opportunity to see how my bike would fit inside his new Xterra.  With the front wheel take off, the bike fits very nicely upright and in the trunk.  With the back seats down and the bike bar attached, we will easily be able to fit both our bikes upright in the back of that car.  It's pretty awesome.  It did derail my bike ride though, so that was less then awesome.  After that, we headed over to the gym to bust out our 300 yard swim, so we could head over to Walmart and get our paint.  But that's a story for another blog...We spent the rest of the day walking around. Does that count as exercise? Sunday (Day 22) was spent prepping, painting, and decorating the master bedroom, so there just wasn't the time to get in the workouts, which pushed out a day again.  Monday (Day 23) was rough, but I was determined to not totally skip the workouts.  I ran at the gym during lunch.  It. Was. Awesome.  9 minute warm-up then 3min run/1 min walk intervals for the remainder of the 40 minutes.  I'm starting to get used to running on my toes and I tried listening to music with a quicker tempo so that I would take shorter strides and increase the speed of my leg turnover.  I thought that would make me more tired, but it actually made it easier to run at a faster speed without increasing the effort.  I was able to run the 3 minute intervals at 6.5mph or higher, up until the last interval when I lost all energy and the will to live, so that one I have to do at 6mph.  These are like lightening fast speeds for me. Each 1 minute walk interval I did at 2-4% incline.  I had softball after work.  It was like the freaking desert outside.  I'm still not hitting well, which is starting to aggrevate me.  I just can't seem to hit a ball that gets pitched to me at like 1mph.  And we lost.  But, I still managed to get home and get through Chalean Burn 1 (this week is the last week of the Burn Phase).


The Food...

It was the weekend, so we ate more take-out then we should.  We still tried not to be total gluttonous pigs, though.  Monday, after softball, I totally gave in and had three awesome $1 chicken tacos with some teammates, but I felt pretty ok about it because I skipped the sour cream (not on purpose, they forgot to give me the sour cream I asked for and I didn't bother to ask again because I was too busy cramming tacos in my mouth).  It's hard this week to eat the way I normally do because Boyfriend is in NYC for work and I just don't have the discipline to structure my eating if it's just for me.  The fact that I'm actually doing the workouts without him here to, er, remind me how much I love it, is good enough.  It's been like a week since I've had any M&Ms and I'm getting the shakes...

The Feelings...

Last week I was feeling pretty good.  By Monday, I was feeling pretty tired and sore again.  I don't stretch enough.  My ankles feel sore from running on my toes, but I'm hoping that's just them getting stronger.  Running was great on Monday, until I started getting a side cramp about 32 minutes into it. I struggled from there.  I also fear all this running on my toes is going to make my giant 14 inch calves even bigger.  Boyfriend loves to point out how big my calves are (in proportion to the rest of me).  This will only give him more ammunition.  Fortunately, I'm not ahead of him in the workouts and after day 24, I will be all caught up and back on the normal schedule.  Assuming we can keep it with Lollapalooza this weekend...

Jenn - Homemade Hummus for dinner is DELIGHTFUL!!!

Day 18: Vomit Intervals...My FAVORITE....

Workout: Chalean Vomit Intervals, Swim 300 yards, Run 20 minutes


The Workout...

Dear Chalean,
You are the only person who can make me want to vomit, yet still I love you.  It's like we're in an abusive relationship except that I'm actually better for it.  Though, I often hate you, I really do love you.  Please don't be offended by my cursing or yelling terrible names at you.  It's how I show love.  A billion reps are not easy, but I'm sure that I'm stronger for it.  Literally.  I can pic up the vacuum cleaner with one hand, no problem now.   So, thank you, I guess?
Love Always,
Jenn

So, per the norm, Vomit Intervals kicked my butt.  And trashed my legs.  I think that all the biking, running, swimming, squats, lunges, and existing is catching up to my legs.  They are either going to crumble under all this exercise or be totally ripped.  I vote for ripped, but right now crumbling is in the lead.  That was the morning.  We swam and ran after work.  The swim is still difficult for me, but I guess it just takes time.  I can't get the breathing right.  It's tough, because I still haven't figured out how to swim without getting water up my nose, so I still have to wear a nose plug.  I feel that is holding me back.  Boyfriend says that my stroke looks really good, though, so I've got that going for me.  The run was good.  It was a warm-up and then 4 minutes running at 6mph, 1 minute walk at 4mph, repeated.  It feels a little hard to run at 6mph for 4 minutes in a row, but i'm still doing it, which makes me happy.  The run/walk combinations do seem to work for keeping me going.  That little break makes a big difference.  We'll see how I fair in my next run.

The Food...
I try to write down a list of the food I each each day and it's disturbing.  It's not so much what I eat that is disturbing, but the quantity.  But most of the list for this day consisted of veggies and fruit, so I guess I don't feel so bad about it.  I also have to eat every couple of hours.  I even eat right before I go to sleep and wake up STARVING.  I'm not sure what that's all about.  I must do some great digesting in my sleep.


Feelings...

Though I only got like 6 hours of sleep, I woke up with energy. That was quickly faded about halfway through Vomit Intervals, though.  I still have a hard time getting out of bed, even when I wake up with energy but that could be due to a lack of self-motivation to exercise (thank goodness for my workout partner, Boyfriend) or my lack of desire to go to work.  It's crushing my soul.  I felt some pain behind my left knee (like the ligaments that connect my thigh to my calf maybe?) during the day, which alarmed me, but that has since passed, so maybe I was just tight.  By the afternoon, I was sooooo tired.  That's about the time I got a coffee and then spasmodically decided to pour it all over myself, my desk, and my notebook, as described in my last blog.  After I got home, I was sitting in bed with my computer in my lap, working, when I actually fell asleep mid-typing.  I could tell it was mid-typing by the random letters repeated across the email.  Fortunately, I did not send that email in my sleep.  I napped for 18 minutes.  The sound of my dog LOUDLY licking her butt woke me.  I felt really refreshed, though.  18 minutes may not seem like a long time, but it felt really good to me.

On a side note, later that night, Boyfriend is standing in the bedroom, grabbing his butt, saying "God, that Chalean really makes my butt hurt, she's such a hooker!"  I don't know why, but it struck me as hilarious.  He then went on to talk about how much he loves his bike and wants to have babies with it.  He went on to say how when he sits on his bike, he doesn't even feel the seat anymore, it's like he's one with the bike.  Ew.  But he also said that maybe he doesn't feel the seat because Chalean makes his butt muscles hurt so much on a daily basis with all the squats and lunges, that it's hard to tell what hurts him and what doesn't.  Hahahahahahahahaha...his poor butt.


Day 19 Workout: Chalean Burn 3, Bike 8 Miles.

Jenn - I'm the best around, no one can get me down....

Day 17: It's practically a day off...

Workout: Chalean Burn 2, Off Triathlon

Random Ranty Goodness...
So, every day I blog is about the day before.  So, though I am blogging about Day 17, today is actually day 18.  I take notes during the day so as to remember what it is I want to blog about from the day before.  I have a cute Wonder Woman notebook that I keep as my blog journal.  I HAD a Wonder Woman notebook.  Today, due to excessive tiredness or a spastic fit of glee, I decided to knock my full cup of delicious coffee all over the notebook, soaking through the pages, especially the one that contained the notes for this blog.  It was like a slow motion horror sequence of the precious liquid that brings blessed wakefulness to my life spilling it's lifeblood all over my desk at work, my notebook, my jeans.  It sort of burned my leg, but I was able to ignore that pain because I was too busy panicking about my notebook.  I tried to save the notebook, but my work must have the most tragically nonabsorbent paper towels ever.  I think you are all familiar with the type of paper towel I'm speaking of because it's used in nearly every public restroom on earth (where paper towel is still allowed and has not be replaced with automatic hand dryers).  It's the equivalent of trying to use newspaper to clean up a hot liquidy mess.  After that, I gave up on life and went home to change and work from there. More on that tomorrow.

The Workout...

Chalean Burn 2 has two of my least favorite exercises in it. They would be the Sumo Squat with Overhead Tricep Extension and the Bowler's Lunge with Single Arm Row.  For some reason, Tricep Extensions make me crazy.  I feel like I'm never doing them right.  She's all "keep your elbows tight to your head and make sure you can see them out of the corner of your eye" and I'm all "I'll just be glad not to drop this damn weight on my head".  I'm ok with the Sumo Squat part.  Bowler's Lunge is probably the most down right evil exercise ever created.  My leg starts to hurt after like 3.  It's terrible.  Chalean was the only workout of the day, which made me feel a bit lazy.  Monday and Tuesday are both one workout days and now that I'm apparently a workout fanatic, it's odd to not be doing some other workout.  Not that I'm complaining.  Boyfriend doesn't feel like all this is hard enough, but I'm starting to think that he's secretly a crack monkey because right now, I can't imagine doing more.  At least not without finding a time machine that will take me back to a much younger, fitter me first.  Just saying...

The Food...

I've pretty much eaten my way through all the junk food in the house, so that's a good thing.  There's none left.  But I'm so ravenous, that an hour after dinner (tilapia broiled  with a tablespoon of horseradish mayo and a tablespoon of shredded Parmesan cheese and lots of green beans sauteed with ginger and garlic), had to have a bowl of cereal before going to sleep.  Surprisingly good, tasty cereal for one that is so healthy.  I still woke up starving.  It's nuts.  I do not follow that not eating after a certain time rule. It's hard enough to sleep through the night without eating.  I can't imagine not eating after like 8pm (which is almost impossible since we don't eat until after our evening workout).  I'd have to go to sleep at 8:01pm and wake up at 3am.

Feelings...

I'm feeling pretty good.  I can't get to sleep at night but that might be because of my getting distracted by the interwebs and iPad games.  Or like right now, I'm writing a blog.  I'm tired in the day time.  I really have to figure out how to slip in a 30 minute nap in the afternoons.  I think that would greatly improve my energy levels.  It's too hot to take one in my car right now.  I guess I'll have to figure something out!

Day 18 Workout: Chalean Vomit Intervals, Swim 300 yards, Run 20 minutes

Jenn - Night Night...

Day 16: The long and windy uphill bike ride...

Workout: Chalean OFF, Bike 10 Miles, Softball

I must confess...

It was finally a beautiful day out!  I mean, it was still 89 degrees but at least it wasn't painfully humid.  So, I worked from home (some out on my deck until my laptop got too hot in the sun to be comfortable on my lap) and waited for UPS to come and pick up the return shipment for Amazon. (I meant to get the Bowflex SelectTech 552 adjustable dumbbells that come as a pair but had a moment of order spasm and ended up with the 1090 single weight.  Thank goodness for Amazon and their awesome returns.)  We ended up skipping Softball (sorry!) because it was so nice out and we just wanted to do our 10 mile bike ride.

The Workout...

We rode our 10 miles out to Fort Harrison and back. You can check out the course here.  It ended up being almost 11 miles.  We have to take sort of back roads through neighborhoods because the two most direct routes are uber-treacherous.  There was a spot that there was some road work that we had to carry our bikes through on foot.  That was unfortunate but it was better than trying to ride on the narrow, winding roads of death.  There was a lot of uphill (for indiana) that got our hearts going good and tired out my legs.  I'm still wildly impressed with my bike, though.  I heart it.  After we got back, we sat in the neighborhood pool for a bit and chatted with some neighbors.  That was nice.  Our neighborhood is great because it's small and wooded and it's like being on vacation.  I'll have to post some pictures soon.

The Food...

I find on the days that I don't go to the office, meaning I don't think through and pack what I'm going to eat for the day, are harder than when I do go to the office.  I suppose I could do the same thinking and packing I do for an office day, but I just don't.  I eat much more randomly.  I'll have to consider planning out my food the same, even on days that I'm home. I need a personal chef or to work less at my real job, so that I have time to make more food.  I think we eat way too many Lean Cuisines.  That can't be 100% ideal.  But there is so little time!  I need to start making more meal on Sunday that can be eaten during the week, but I'm lazy or just can't come up with that much.  Though, I supposed steaming veggies and making fish isn't that hard...I'm just being a lazy butt!

Feelings...

I'm still feeling a bit tired.  I always want to take a nap around 3pm which is not how I used to be.  I guess my body just needs more rest.  They should have nap time at work.  I suppose I could just take a nap for 15 minutes here and there and say it's the same as going out for a smoke break except that I'm still at my desk and not filling my lungs with sweet sweet nicotine.  Somehow, I don't imagine that would fly.  I'll have to find some abandoned area of cubicles that are not being uses somewhere in the building and curl up under one of the desks.    I think my boyfriend must be secretly taking energy pills because he wanted to bike and then kayak.  I may have to start dosing him with something that will sap his energy more.  He says he's tired, but then he wants to do more...and more...and more.   I can't keep up with a 39 year old man!  He will be the death of me!

Oh, here's a picture of my crazy calander...

Day 17 Workout: Chalean Burn 2, Triathlon Off Day

Jenn - My kingdom for some sleep...

Day 13-15: Minions, A Day Off, Jenn cleans like a person with OCD...

Workouts: (Day 13) Chalean Burn It Off, Swim 300 yards - (Day 14) OFF!!!! - (Day 15) Chalean Burn 1, Run 30 minutes

The Workouts...
Day 13 started out with all the best intentions.  That is 100% the truth.  But a desperate need for sleep, forgetting my goggles, and the minions (that's what I call the kids) let to me skipping Chalean Extreme Burn It Off.  Hi, My name is Jenn and I skipped a workout out.  I rationalized it by telling myself that Burn It Off is just 20 minutes of cardio and between the running, biking, and swimming I'm doing each day, I get enough cardio to skip that one. I did do the swim, though.  I was going to do it earlier in the day at the gym, but after I got there and changed into my swim suit, I realized I had left my goggles on the dresser.  So, I had to wait until I got home and do the swim in the small pool in my neighborhood.  I suppose I could have jumped into the lake and swam there, but I'm not quite ready yet to have the things that live in the water touch me.  Boyfriend swears that there are no bodies in Geist Reservoir, but can he guarantee it? NO.  They flooded a valley to make that lake.  Did they check ever square inch for buried dead before they did that?  Anything could float up at any moment and it totolly freaks me out.  I will have to get over that at some point, I'm just not there yet.  Anyway, I swam 300 yards in the neighborhood pool.  Boyfriend and Minion 3 (Matt, he's 10) joined me in the pool and Minion 3 swam a bunch of laps too because he wants to be just like his dad.  It's sort of sweet.  Minion 1 and 2 could not tear themselves away from what they were doing to come down to the pool.  *sighs* tweens.

Day 14 was a DAY OFF!!  Whoo-hoo!  I spent the entire day cleaning like a crazy person because my house is filthy and Boyfriend was busy keeping the minions busy, so I had some time to get that done. 

Day 15 we did the Chalean Burn 1 and then ran the 30 minutes right after.  I've bumped up the weights again.  I may never get ripped, but I'll be able to lift cars off of babies soon. It was roughly a trillion degrees outside and 1000% humidity.  We got through 25 minutes of running before I was ready to hurl and the thunder started, so we cut it short and got inside right before the rain came.

The Food...
I did better this weekend than last weekend.  Sort of...Friday night, I gave into the pathetic "pleeeeeeaaaasssseees" that only could come from a 39-year-old man and his three minions and we went out for sushi.  I ate a salad (ok, two), a bowl of miso soup (ok, 1.5), some soybeans, and lots of raw stuff.  I was so hungry, Boyfriend almost lost a hand when he reached for a piece of white tuna sashimi.  Saturday, I cooked, so we had shrimp with mushrooms and brussel sprouts.  Sunday, my laziness also gave in and I ate a meatball sub for dinner.  The rest of the day was better, though.  I'm not sure what's happening, because I appear to be gaining weight, though I don't feel like I look or feel any extra weight. And my body fat percentage went up but I don't really trust my scale.  I may need to use the device they have at the gym to determine my actual body fat percentage.  Trixie stupid scales.

Feelings...
I was soooooo tired Friday morning.  Just exhausted, so I slept til like 8am.  I just couldn't drag my butt out of bed to swim before work.  Some days, you just have to listen to what your body is saying and mine was saying SLEEP!!!  Saturday, I felt so much better, even though I did sleep until like 9am just because I could.  By Sunday, I was up at 7am, bright eyed and ready to go.  So, I think the moral of the story is that I need more sleep.  Between the need for sleep and the need to drink water (which then leads to the need to pee), I'm not sure when I'm supposed to fit all this working and exercising into my schedule.

I think I'm starting to feel better about exercising...I think.  I'm not in the same amount of horrible pain as I was when I started.  I suppose I'll get used to the constant ache of my muscles.

Day 16 Workout: Off Chalean, Softball, Bike 10 miles

Jenn - The rain came just in time to save my plants from extinction...

Day 12: Beware of the ravenous beast within...

Workouts: Chalean Burn 3, Bike 6 miles


The Workout...
Chalean Extreme Burn 3 is like hell for my butt and my balance.  It's a whole lot of squatting and lunging and calf raises while squatting and lunging, with arm raises and overhead shoulder presses blended into it.  Have you ever done a squat with a calf raise while you are in the sitting position and an overhead shoulder press all at the same time, all with the balancing ability of a Weeble Wobble (I may weeble and wobble but at least I don't fall down!)?  I'll just say that it's exciting.  I never know if I'm going to drop a 10 lb weight on my head or not, which I think adds elevation to my heart rate.  Though, occasionally the thought of knocking myself unconscious is not altogether unappealing when I'm working out.  But I digress. Chalean Burn 3 = tired legs.  We did that workout in the morning before work so as to give our legs some recovery time before the 6 mile bike ride that was on the tri training schedule for the day.  We have the kids on Thursdays, so we intended on dragging their video game playing butts to Fort Harrison with us so they could play outside and get fresh air, as 10, 12, and 14 year old boys should, but it turned out that Gavin (14) had soccer practice and Ethan (12) has a new desperate desire to learn Javascript and Matt (10) didn't want to play by himself, so after retrieving Gav from soccer practice, we decided to let them hang out at home while we got our ride in.  It was pretty hot and humid out, but the Fort bike paths are in the trees, so the heat was not unbearable.  After pumping up my back tire (which keeps getting low and is driving me nutty), we got our ride in and got home at like 9:15pm.  The boys found my giant 4 month dry erase board calendar where I have written out the exercise and training plan for the next 3 months to be amusing.  They think I'm strange.  Is it strange to have a color coded calendar detailing each days training, exercise and days we have the kids for the next three months hanging up in the bedroom?  Organization is the key to realization of goals. But that's just my OCD talking...

The Food...
Either I have a giant tapeworm which requires constant feeding or this exercise thing makes me hungry.  Seriously, NOTHING is safe.  The kids are going to hate me but I have to keep the healthiest possible (meaning: healthy without being absolutely unbearably awful) snacks in the house, rather than Doritos and Oreos around.  I have no self control and I eat everything in sight. The dog food looked good this morning because I wake up so freaking hungry.  Fortunately, they are getting used to the Kashi bars and low fat string cheese and the sneaky no sugar added fruit pops.  I'm trying to convince them that fruit is also their friend.  I feel fortunate that I'm not a picky eater, so having healthy stuff around to eat isn't really a difficult transition for me.  But it also means I can't have unhealthy "crap" food around because I'll eat whatever is most handy (like those darn M&Ms that always seem to be at hand.  I think I have an evil M&M buying twin that keeps bringing them into the house!).  But like Chalean says in her workout, "it's not enough to just train like an athlete, you have to eat like one too!" I'm trying!

The Feelings...
The horrible muscle pain from last week has become more of a constant but not unbearable muscle ache. I still wake up stiff, but I think that's just from a lack of movement during the night. I am starting to look more forward to the workouts, though, I still hate waking up.  I just need more sleep. 6-7 hours is just not enough, but it's hard to got to bed at 9pm when it's still freaking daylight outside.  I love riding on my bike.  That's my new favorite.  It's exhausting on my legs, but it's so much fun.  And I think I'm finally getting the hang of clipping in and out of the pedals without being a total spasm.  It's crazy how much faster my road bike is compared to my mountain bike.  It's also much scarier.  If I could go 30 mph on my mountain bike, I'd feel much safer.  I still can't get the speed on my Trek road bike that Boyfriend's Quintana Roo tri bike can get, but I'm ok with that.  I only need to be so aerodynamic at this point. We were going down this one hill and it felt like time travel fast.  It was fun at first but then I started thinking about how I could DIE if I hit a rock or something and flipped on that bike, so I had to slow down.  I imagine that me and that bike (it's barely weighs anything and I'm pretty much attached to it by my feet) could flip pretty easy.  I could deal with a broken leg or arm, but a broken neck, not so much.  Still, biking is my new favorite.  I mean, it will never fully replace eating Cheetos on the couch as my favorite, but it's becoming a qualifier.

Day 13 Workout: Chalean Burn It Off & Recharge, Swim 300 yards, Walk 30 min

Jenn - Zombie Jenn says I need to get more freaking sleep...

Day 11: Vomit Intervals thanks to Chalean...

Workout: Chalean Burn Intervals & Ab Burner, Swim 200 yards, Run 20 minutes

My Boyfriend...

So, I do all this training with my Boyfriend.  He's already getting frustrated because he's not seeing the results he would like to see.  Um, it's not been two weeks yet!  Maybe it would have been better if we had both started out like 100lbs overweight.  That way there would be obvious weight loss each week.  But we did not start out 100 lbs overweight.  In reality, neither of us would be considered any lbs overweight by most people's standards.  Flabbyish, sure.  So, it's going to be a difficult journey for us both, because I don't think we'll really lose any weight.  I actually think I'm gaining weight.  When I stepped on the scale this morning, my weight was up but my body fat % was down.  That's what we need to focus on.  It's hard, though.  We have to look for improvements in other ways that aren't as obvious.  Like being able to run at a faster pace without getting winded or being able to lift heavier weights each week.  Still, we both love the instant gratification of being able to see physical differences and I think that's still a few weeks off from happening.  I think he imagines himself waking up one morning to find himself 10 years younger, free of body hair, and sporting a six-pack (I suppose I have to admit that I imagine waking up to him like that too sometimes).  But, alas, it is not an overnight process, so we will plod along on this journey to one day be able to complete a half Ironman.  Though, I do occasionally ask myself why I couldn't have met someone who had ambitions of one day being able to watch an entire season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer in one weekend or napping the most days in a row. 

The Workout...
Chalean Extreme Burn Intervals should be renamed Chalean Extreme Vomit Intervals.  I feel that would be a much more accurate description of the workout.  For 46 minutes, Chalean alternates between vomit inducing cardio and "active recovery" light weight exercises.  During the cardio portions, I think at one point my heart rate was like 180. According to the interwebs, there are like 50 different ways one can calculate Max Heart Rate.  So, using all those different ways, it appears that my Max heart rate is somewhere between 176-188 beats per minute.  What is Max Heart Rate, really?  Is that the max number of beats per second my heart can beat no matter what I do? Or is that like the safety threshold?  I should really Google what happens when you go over your max heart rate.  I'd hate to be doing all of this just to find out that by consistently working out at or over my max heart rate, I could drop dead.  It was safer sitting on my couch, smoking cigarettes and eating Cheeto-s.  *Drools* Delicious, Delicious Cheeto-s.....

The second workout of the day consisted of 200 yards of swimming then a 20 minute run.  I'm still a terrible swimmer.  I get winded so very easily.  I really really need to focus on my breathing.  I did an extra 100 yards with my head up to start getting the neck and shoulder muscles needed for spotting.  I'm aggressive like that.  The running was interesting.  We jumped on the treadmill since we were already at the gym for the swimming and because it was like the <insert name of really effing hot and humid place on earth> outside.  I really didn't want Day 11 to be the day that I pass out while exercising. I'm saving that for like day 43.  (HAHAHAHAHAHAHA...Side note: I am sitting here typing this blog when I look down at my fingers and notice my thumb all around the nail is all red and crusty.  I was like "what the eff, did I cut myself and not notice because the rest of me is already hurting?"  It took me a second to realize it was just Pomegranate Lemonade Crystal Light powder that had gotten on my wet hands when I was shaking my water bottle to mix it. Hahahahahahahaha..) Any way, during the jog was a 9 minute warm-up of alternating walk/jog at 4mph/5mph, then 11 minutes of 3min jog/1 min walk at 6-6.5mph/4mph.  I couldn't believe that I could job at 6-6.5 mph for 3 minutes without dying.  That may not seem like a lot, but it is for me.  I guess that sort of improvement happens fast when you used to smoke 1 pack a day.


The Food...

I'm trying so hard, but the M&Ms keep calling out to me.  Curse you, delightful hard shell candy!  I made a delightful bean salad for dinner with fake crab in it.  It had lots of fresh ginger in it which is increasingly becoming one of my favorite roots.  My pickle obsession from last week seems to have subsided a bit, seeing as I haven't consumed an entire jar of them this week like I did last week.  I only eat the kind that you buy already cold at the store, btw.  They are way more crunchy, and I find that, like a child, I like noisy food.  This weekend I think I will make my own hummus.  And sleep. But not at the same time cause that could get awkward.  I'm also feeling good that my renewed Starbucks addiction is only adding 130 calories to my day and like 12g of protein and 0g fat.  I drink Skinny Vanilla Lattes.  I would prefer to be drinking Grande Coconut Mocha Frapps, but that's like 410 calories and 16g fat and it's delicious, but I just can't do it.  There's a pleasantly plump girl trapped inside of me, screaming for freedom, but I have to deny her. 

Feelings...
I feel like this is my hardest workout of the week.  Between Vomit Intervals and swimming, then running, there was a lot going on and it's all the hardest stuff.  I was thoroughly exhausted by the end of the day, yet could not get to sleep until like midnight.  Also, the "active recovery" parts of Vomit Intervals consists of doing like a billions reps (i'm quoting Chalean there), so even though I'm only using 3 lb weights, I felt like my arms were going to fall off at the end of it.  I can only hope that no one at work noticed that I didn't move my entire upper body all day.  Like instead of waving when someone walked by my cubicle, I had to rock the head nod.  So they either think I'm hip and cool or that I have some sort of tick.  FYI, bowler's lunges were probably created by the Devil in trade for Chalean's soul.  Just saying, they suck.

Day 12 Workout: Chalean Burn 3, Bike 6 miles

Jenn - I need to learn how to sleep with my eye's open so it will just look like I'm reading email...

Day 10: I spit in the face of 90+ degree weather and 96% humidity...

Workout: Chalean Burn 2, Off Triathlon Training

The Workout...
Well, I guess I'm getting stronger already because I'm using 10-12lb weights on nearly all the exercises.  Fortunately, it was a day off from triathlon training, so Chalean was my only workout for the day.  We did the workout in the morning, so the after work time was free (to go to the Yes/Styx concert, but that's a story for a different blog). I'd like to whine about how awful Chalean is but I know the next workout is Burn Intervals, so I'll save my whining for that.

The Food...
I did well for most of the day but when I got home I was too tired to cook anything, so I ended up eating Fruit Loops.  I'm not sure where they weigh in on the scale of healthy eating but they sure are tasty.  Then Boyfriend cooked (read: microwaved) us up some Lean Cuisine Tortilla Crusted Fish.  I do have to say that the Lean Cuisine has definitely improved in delightfulness and deliciousness over the years.  I really liked that one.  We may have also got little cups of slow churned ice cream from the grocery store on our way home from the concert, but it was 150 calories of WORTH IT!

Feelings...
I fear that I may have to use heavier weights next week.  I'm not sure what I'll do when I'm lifting 25 lb weights in a couple of weeks. Chalean promises that heavy weights doesn't equal giant muscles, but I don't necessarily believe her.  She does have a tendency to be a stinking liar.  Like when she says that exercising will rev me up and give me energy.  Still waiting for that to happen.  I was a little sore from yesterday's bike ride and there's always the possibility that I'm dehydrated since I suck at drinking water and I've been sucking down coffee and energy drinks to stay awake at work.  I wonder if they named Red Bull, Red Bull because it tastes like Bull Shit?

Uterme Update - I'm gaining control over the evil wench!

Day 11 Workout: Chalean Burn Intervals, Swim 200 yards, Run 20 min

Jenn - I love being exhausted...

Day 9: I'm not intimidated by a measly excessive heat warning...

Workout: Chalean Off, Softball, Bike 8 miles

Stupid Uterme...
So, as some of you may or may not know, I renamed my Uterus, Uterme.  Because it's never about US when it come to me and Uterme. She's an evil, vengeful wench.  Uterme has a long history of staging her coups during the most inconvenient times for me.  Like when I'm dying of plague or the day I'm driving 14 hours for vacation. Or, just for instance, on the first day of working out that I finally don't feel like my muscles are going to rip into pieces from soreness, but now I have a whole body ache due to Uterme's revolt against my body.  Not to be oddly specific or anything...Sure, I guess I could have planned my workout schedule around Uterme's Crimes Against Jenn's Humanity schedule, except Uterme doesn't really follow any known schedule  She just sort of does things willy nilly. It could be 22 days, it could be 28, it could be 30, who can tell when Uterme is going to feel the urge?   Oh, and all those stories of how exercise "helps" with cramps and such? LIES.  Stupid stinking LIES.  I mean, I guess exercise doesn't make it any worse and it's harder to tell if I'm in pain because of Uterme or because of the working out, but it's certainly not better. Just saying...

The Workout...
Thankfully, there was no Chalean workout scheduled for today, so there was what I call the "Sleeping In" workout.  That workout involves me not getting out of bed until 7:30am.  It's tough because there is a lot of rolling over and adjusting the covers.  It's a real eyelid workout.  Softball doesn't really count as a workout, so much as it's a workout derail-er if I don't do some stretching before the game.  I can't just sprint on cold muscles like I used to.  Alright, I know that those of you who have played softball with me in the past wouldn't consider my base running to be sprinting.  But it is for me.  So, I made sure to stretch before the game and do some warm up sprints so that I wouldn't pull a muscle and get messed up for my real exercise.  I had a scary moment where I was fielding a pop up that went behind me at second base, so as I caught it in very shallow right field, the ground dipped sharply and I came down with my right leg completely straight.  It jarred my back, but I think I'm all good.  After softball, we raced home so that we could get our 8 mile bike ride in before it got dark.  We rode along the Fall Creek Greenway, which was a lovely smooth path for, er, about 2 miles then became a rather bumpy, scary death path.  But 8 miles were completed at about 15 mph average.  


The Food...
Back on track.  Healthy food, lots of fresh fruit and veggies, still struggling with the water thing.  I'm trying but I'm going to have to have my work computer moved into the women's bathroom since I'm in there every 30 minutes to pee.  But that could get awkward.  I want to eat all the time, though. I'm like a ravenous beast that cannot be satiated.  It's insanity.

Feelings...
Well, it was roughly 4000 degrees outside during softball.  Ok, that might be an exaggeration.  It was like 92.  And the humidity was like 85%.  I never understand how there can be 85% humidity but no rain.  Anyway, I was finally feeling better after all the muscle misery from last week, though, I was feeling not good about Uterme.  Softball was rough because we lost, I only got to hit twice, and I sat on the bench more than I like to.  I was pretty pumped up to ride bikes and it was pretty awesome.  I didn't have any pain almost at all in my crotch where the seat normally hurts and I got my heart rate going.  The weird thing was how my heart rate would be way up where I want it, but I wouldn't feel out of breath.  My legs got tired, but in a good way. So, I guess I like biking.  Who knew?
 
Day 10 Workout: Chalean Burn 2, Off Tri Training

Jenn -  Styx/Yes Concert Tonight...not by my own choice...

Day 6-8: One lazy day, One Off Day, One day of kicking my own buttocks...

Workouts: (Day 6) Chalean Burn Intervals, Swim 200 Yards - (Day 7) OFF - Week 2: (Day 8) Chalean Burn 1, Run 20 minutes

The Workouts...
I'm not going to lie to you.  I feel that to make this training blog worth anything to me, I have to be honest and hold myself accountable.  I totally skipped the Day 6 workout.  I told myself I would do it on Day 7 since that was an off day and just take Day 6 as my off day, but alas, it was not so.  After Harry Potter on thursday night (See Also: And so it ends...), I was too freaking tired to wake up in the morning to do the Chalean workout.  I didn't even get to work until 11am. See Also: I'm getting old.  Then, still tired after work, I just wanted to lay down for 30 minutes before getting ready to go downtown to a beer garden and be social. Still thinking I would do the workout Saturday morning, I didn't wake up in time to get it done before my haircut appointment.  I got my hair colored (it's finally long enough that I don't feel like its a waste of money to have the stylist do it vs out of a box at home), and was told that I shouldn't really get my hair wet for 24 hours.  I'd gotten two magenta streaks that I really didn't want to fade the first day. So that killed the swimming from happening after haircut and I didn't want to get all sweaty and not be able to shower before we went over to a friend's house Saturday night for BBQ and bonfire.  So, excuses, excuses, I did not do the Day 6 workout.

Day 7 was an OFF day from both Chalean and triathlon training.  I wanted to have at least one day a week off so that I didn't commit a homicide.

Day 8 I did the Chalean Burn 1 workout at around 2pm.  I wasn't feeling well, and my head hurt, but I was feeling ok enough by this point to give it a go.  I was able to use heavier weights than in the same workout last week.  My heartrate did not get up as high as I'd like, and I don't know if that's because I really need to go heavier or if I'm just improving faster than I thought.  I was using 10-12 lb weights (vs. 8-10 lbs last week) for all of the exercises.  And I did 8/12 pushups before going to my knees.  Sweet.

After a couple of episodes of Bones, we went running at about 9pm.  It was so hot out yesterday that we thought we should wait until it cooled off.  Keep in mind, it stays light out in Indianapolis until about 9:30pm or so right now, so we weren't running in the dark.  It was still stiffling out, but we got through our run.

The Food...
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...Ok, so Day 6 (Friday) and Day 7 (Saturday) were eating hell.  I didn't pack my lunch, so I had lunch at Noodle Company and that was about it for most of the day.  Then, we had beer and unhealthy food at the beer garden downtown.  I'd been eating every 2 hours or so all week and taking vitamins, so I felt pretty crappy on Friday when I fell off that wagon.  Saturday wasn't much better.  I didn't eat anything until about 2:30pm, at which point I grabbed some cheese.  I tried to control myself at dinner by having a turkey bratwurst w/ avocado but ended up eating a bunch of chedder and summer sausage, way too much wine, a beer and a delicious mudslide. My stomach suffered the consequences of my wicked wicked ways.  By Sunday (Day 8) I got back on the wagon, and got myself under control.  I am ashamed.  Had a great time, but ashamed.  I'll have to work a bit harder on that next weekend.


Feelings...
Well, I've established that I was just downright tired on Friday.  And Saturday got away from me too.  Sunday, even though I have to admit, I may have been a little hungover, I finally sucked it up at 2pm and managed to get through the Chalean workout.  Actually, the workout helped clear my head.  I mean, I hear/read people saying "clears the head" and I wonder what that could mean.  I learned on Sunday.  Prior to the workout, I felt all cloudy in the brains, like I wouldn't be able to react quickly in a bar fight.  By the end of the workout, it was like oxygen had finally made it's trip upwards into my brain, and I could think with clarity again.  And my muscles didn't even feel all that bad about doing the workout.  So that worked out nicely.  The run at 9pm wasn't that bad either.  It was only 20 minutes, 2 minute run/1 minute walk increments.  Even though it was gross thick hot out, we ran hard during the 2 minute run cycles and felt good about it at the end.

All in all, I got lazy this weekend and I can't let that happen.  It was also a more social weekend than I normally have and in my own defense, I was also pre-menstral, which always makes me extra extra tired.  But still, not good enough excuses for skipping a workout.  Especially a swimming one, since that is my weakest area and I would prefer not to drown.

Day 9 Workout: Chalean Off, Softball, Bike 8 miles

Jenn - Can't get lazy!!!

Day 5: The misery of wakefullness...

Workout: Chalean Burn 3, Bike 6 miles

The Workout...
At first the Chalean workout sucked, but after a bit of warming up, it started to feel better.  At least well enough that I didn't think I would burst into tears.  There is a lot of shoulder work in Burn 3, so my shoulders were hurting from previous workouts plus swimming.  I had to take it a bit easier then I might have liked.  I'm a wuss, we've established that fact.  My heart rate did not get into the range I wanted to be in, so it looks like I'm going to have to suck it up and start working harder....hahahahahahahaha....

After work, we drove our bikes over to Ft. Harrison State Park to ride our 6 miles.  The park has this great 2.5 mile bike loop in the woods that is all hilly.  It actually felt really awesome.  I find that it's hard to keep my heart rate up unless I'm going up steep hills.  The new bike is way better than my old mountain bike for this sort of thing.  My arse felt a bit sore from the seat but not as bad as when I tried Boyfriend's bike on the trainer on Monday.  I actually enjoyed riding in the woods and felt pretty good afterwards.  The hard part was going to be staying up past Midnight to see Harry Potter.

The Food...
Oh, sweet nectar of life, Starbucks.  I had to get a skinny vanilla latte so that I wouldn't pass out during the first hour of training at work.  I was so tired, I wasn't sure how I was going to sit still for 8 hours.  Sitting during the training sucked, mostly because I started getting very stiff in the muscles.  I had to keep getting up to leave the room and stretch.  I wonder if they all think I have prostate issues.  Except that I don't have a prostate, being female, so that would have been odd for them to think that I have something wrong with my prostate.  Anyway...I drank a lot of water, so I was feeling good about that.  And then, when they tried to trick me into eating pizza for lunch, I resisted the urge to snarf down like 15 pieces.  Instead, I stuck with the Red Curry Chicken Kashi meal I had brought with me (well, and all the fruit, nuts, carrots, granola bar that I'd also packed in my food bag). All this working out is making me hungry.  But I stuck to all the healthy crap that I've been eating, so that was a win. 

Feelings...
Waking up felt horrible.  I could barely move my hips, butt, or thighs.  I literally felt like crying.  Chalean loves squats and lunges and I was paying for it.  In yesterday's workout, there were these side leg lifts with the exercise band.  That stupid band doesn't seem like much when I'm doing the exercise, but now I want to hunt it down and take it's elastic life from it.  Boyfriend had to guilt/drag my arse out of bed.  I may have used some vile curses in the process of getting up.  By the end of the day, I didn't feel nearly as horrible, though, so maybe my body is getting used to all this abuse.


Day 6 Workout: Chalean Burn Intervals, Swim 200 Yards

Jenn - Really, I just want to nap

Day 4: I think I'm losing feeling in my extremeties...

Workout: Chalean Burn Intervals & Ab Burner, Swim 200 yards, Run 15 minutes

This is where I'm too tired to say anything...
I'm so tired and we are about to go see the midnight showing of Harry Potter and because I don't want to be behind in my updates, I'm writing.

The Workout...
Chalean Burn Intervals is 46 minutes of pure hell.  No joke.  It's like "do this horrible impossible crazy cardio part for 2 minutes and then do a "recovery" weight lifting part.  But with light weights so it's practically like not doing anything at all!"  Except it's like torture. Torture, torture, and then some more torture.  And then Ab Burner is 10 minutes of Ab exercises, because apparently the first 46 minutes wasn't enough.  And then I had to sit in work training all day, so all my muscles stiffened up.  I'm such a baby.

After work, we went to the gym and swam 200 yards.  Now, that may seem like a lot until you realize that you can't lift your arms about chest high, so pulling through the water is misery.  Ok, I may be slightly exaggerating.  It was misery at first but then it felt like a nice stretch.  Then we timed ourselves putting our running stuff on over our swimsuits because we need to get faster at that or something.  Then we ran for 15 minutes and I contemplated chucking my Boyfriend into the river we ran over just so that I could have a reason to stop running.  I was glad I didn't, though, cause he's a good boyfriend (when he's not secretly trying to kill me with all this healthy crap).

The Food...
I made some shrimp and corn and rice for dinner.  It was tasty.  I also ate a bunch of other good stuff.  I try to eat every 2 hours during the day so that I don't overstuff myself at any given point in the day and get lethargic.

Feelings...
I was pretty sore, so I only worked out at like effort level 7 today.  I will need to push myself a bit harder next week after my dusty muscles get used to all this activity.  They tried to ply me with candy at work but I was able to thwart their efforts.  I will not be thwarted!!!

Day 5 Workout: Chalean Burn 3, Bike 6 miles

Jenn - Off to see the Harry Potter...

Day 3: If I amputate my arms at the shoulders, will that relieve the sorenss...

Workouts: Chalean Burn 2, Off Training

This is where I start to whine...
OMG.  The aching!!!!  The soreness...the crying...ok, maybe no crying.  Actually yesterday wasn't that bad.  I was in training (the work kind) all day, so I couldn't get around to updating about Day 3, until the end of Day 4, so I'm pre-whining really about day 4.  Yesterday wasn't so bad.  We couldn't work out until like 7:30pm because Boyfriend has some god awful 7am meeting and I took that opportunity to sleep. 

The Workout...
Chalean Burn 2 was a lot of rows and curls and the usual squatting/lunging while trying to lift weights and me not being able to do two things at once very well and mostly trying not to fall over.  That was a very long and poorly constructed sentence, but I'm tired, so I hope you get the point.  I used 10lb weights for most of the exercises, which were a bit to light for many of them.  I guess I'll be needing to up my weights next week.  I am a little concerned because I was doing muscle poses in the mirror last night to be funny and I'm developing some rather alarming muscles between my neck and shoulders.  I don't know what those muscles are called, but I think they are getting a little out of control.  I may try to get a picture to show you what I mean.


The Food... 
I ate pretty decently yesterday.  I'm newly obsessed with cooking fish and veggies in foil packets in the oven.  I read about it in Disney Family magazine.  Most fish and veggie packets will cook in about 15-20 minutes in a 450 degree oven.  It's friggin' awesome because it makes dinner making quick and relatively unmessy.  I put a piece of fish, chopped up veggies (yesterday was brussel sprouts which we love) and some lime juice mixed with a little olive oil and a ton of fresh herbs.  I do think I need to eat more fruits and veggies, though.  I'm aiming for 50 servings (total between the two) per week.  Only two of five servings a day of vegetables can come from juice to really count, so I'm trying to get a glass of V8 in each day to help out.  I also have a fascination with dill pickles lately.  I'm craving the salt for some reason.

Now I talk about my feelings...
By the middle of the day, I was really tired.  I had to run out to my car and take a 15 minute nap and go to Starbucks and get a giant sugar free vanilla latte.  By the time we got to the working out in the evening, I may have used a few curses at the Chalean.  I apologized to the video after a few minutes of working out had stretched my muscles and worked out some of the soreness.  I proptly fell asleep at like 9:30pm but the two melatonin that I took to help me stay asleep didn't work at all.  I really don't want to have to take real sleeping pills to get a good night sleep one day.

Day 4 Workout: Chalean Burn Intervals & Ab Burner, Swim 200 yards, Run 15 min

Jenn - So tired...

Go

Day 2: Hahahahahahahahaha...I'm obviously insane...

Workouts: Bike 5 miles

Let's start with where it hurts...

In the picture below, I have drawn arrows to all the areas of my body that are currently hurting. I am a wuss.  I'm hoping one day I will look back on the beginning of this blog and laugh at my wussdom.

83% Humidity...

I did the bike riding after playing softball.  It was soooooo freaking hot out.  I think the heat index was like 110 or something inhuman.  The humidity was almost unbearable.  I was soaked through my softball shirt by the third or fourth inning.  The sun was so hot that I could feel the black vinyl letters of my last name and number burning my skin through my shirt.   Though, I will say that this day did not include me pulling a muscle in the front of my thigh.  I did some warm up sprints between the bases before the game (by "sprint", I mean "running at slightly faster than my usual snail's pace") and stretched.  I did not want to injure myself.  That seemed to work well, because I did not get my usual stabbing pain in the front thigh muscle that i normally get.  Whoo-hoo.  The humidity did take a lot out of me, energy wise.  

The Training Part...

When I finally got home and on the bike, I was already really wiped from the heat.  Boyfriend's tri bike was already set up on the bike trainer, so I decided just to ride that.  The clips on my bike shoes wouldn't fit into his pedals so i rode wearing his shoes too, which were a bit too big.  I have a road bike, so the angle of the tri bike was also different for me.  I only made it 3.5 miles, before the pain in my butt and crotch from the weird angle and the seat on the bike were more than I could bare.  I am still hurting from that. :(

The Food...

I ate pretty good.  I did not drink enough water, I'm sure.  My belly was filled, though, with tasty healthy food items, such as raw almonds, fresh raspberries, and some hummus.  I am also now addicted to Lean Cuisine Butternut Squash Ravioli, which I had at lunch time. It's pretty delightful, for a microwave meal.  For dinner, I made a recipe that I found (again) in Runner's World magazine.  I can't find a link to the recipe, so i might post it later.  I did have it out with the M&M in the middle of the night and lost. Curses.  

Now I talk about my feelings...

I was so tired last night, I passed out at about 10pm.  Lately, I've been up til 11:30pm, so it was nice to get to sleep at a decent hour.  Unfortunately, the melatonin I take before bed did not do it's job because I woke up a few times in the night.  I'm like an infant. I would do anything to sleep through the night.  I'm a bit sore from Sunday's Chalean workout, but I think that I will work some of that out in the next Chalean workout.  The biking hurt, but i think it was mostly because it was uncomfortable.  We'll see how I feel on my own bike.

Side Note:

Why is it that every bra I own is massively annoying?  Regular ones aggrevate me because it's so hard to find ones that do not have underwire, so I only have a few and they are getting worn out. (I guess my boobs are very active, poor tired bras).  And I only have 2 out of like 7 sports bras that don't make me feel violent upon donning them.  I'm not, er, well endowed.  This shouldn't be an issue.  But they are either not supportive enough or they restrict my ability to inhale.  And apparently breathing is somewhat important during exercise. I think I would trade my soul for some comfortable undergarments. 

Tuesday: Chalean Burn 2, Training Day Off

Jenn - Until we meet again...

Day 1: It all starts here...assuming it doesn't also end here...

Workouts: Chalean Extreme Burn 1, Run 15 minutes

So, this is where it all starts. Boyfriend has a training blog, so not to be outdone, I have also started one.  We can assume that mine will be far more amusing.  But that could be the vitamins talking.  I'm all pumped up on the folate, vitamin A, Bs, C, D, E, etc.  You can't stop me when I've got my FDA recommended amount of Niacin.

First things first, our ultimate goal in all of this, besides something like good health, is to eventually complete a half Ironman.  So as not to freak myself out early, I am choosing NOT to think about that.  Instead, I am going to focus on some more near term goals.  September 18, 2011, I will attempt to complete my first sprint length triathlon.  500 Meter Swim, 10 Mile Bike, 5k Run.  We have established a training plan for the next 10 weeks that will hopefully get me where I need to be.  In addition, we are doing Chalean Extreme.  This is to help mentally and physically get us on the road to longer distance training. 

Second things second, though I am writing this blog on Monday, Day 1 was actually on Sunday.  We got up at about 8am and did the first Chalean workout, then ran the 15 minutes as prescribed by our triathlon training plan.  We are going to make every effort to stick to that training plan.  15 minutes didn't feel like a lot, but that's what the plan says and we are trying to prevent burning ourselves out.  Doing Chalean will be enough added effort.

Third things third, we ate pretty well Sunday. I had a couple of eggs with a tiny bit of cheese and some salsa for breakfast. It's Boyfriend's best dish. I had some Muscle Milk Light before the workouts and some Monster Milk after.  I made a Chicken Tortilla soup recipe that I found in Runner's World. (Click for recipe)  It was delicious. We ate that for lunch and dinner.  In addition, I ate A LOT of fresh cherries, a serving of hummus, some V8 (I like to pretend I'm a vampire drinking a glass of blood. But not in a weird creepy way.  More for the humor of it.), and a frozen fruit bar.  I think that's it. Oh, a glass of organic low fat chocolate milk.  It was freaking delicious.  I guess the milk cows that are allowed to graze freely and not get shot up with hormones produce better tasting milk.  I'm sure I didn't drink nearly enough water. I've got to really work on that.  My stretch goal for Monday (today) is to drink at least 60oz of water while I'm at work. I also took my GNC Active Woman vitamins, but I omit the "energy enhancer" ones cause they make me feel all jittery and sick.  I love taking vitamins because I like peeing in fluorescent colors.  Don't judge me. I may have gone a little bit off track when I woke up at 4:30am and gobbled down a handful of almond M&Ms.  CURSE YOU, DELICIOUS CANDY.  I was hungry, half asleep, and they were right there.  I should probably move the M&Ms further from my bed, but I love them so much.  They are an addiction.  I need help. It's true.

Fourth things fourth, I suppose I should talk about how I felt or something.  The Chalean workout was good. I didn't try to go all crazy, so I made it through the whole thing without feeling sick.  I used 8 or 10 lb weights for all of the exercises.  I did 6 of 12 push-ups before going to my knees.  I did not curse at Chalean or call her an evil whore once throughout the entire thing, so I may not have been working as hard as I could have.  I didn't want to crush my bumble bee hopes and dreams on the first day.  There are 89 more days of Chalean to go, leaving plenty of time for me to come up with vile curses.  The 15 minute run was ok.  It felt a bit easy because it was mostly walking to warm up, then alternating running/walking.  The point is to slowly work up to running long periods at a time and to train the mind to do the run/walk combinations rather than running all up front then tiring out and walking the rest.  I haven't run in a few months, so it was shocking how quickly I got winded.  I was happy not to feel awful, though.

We took some "before" pictures, but I'm not sure I'm ready to post them.  Maybe if I see a difference in a month when we take the next set of pictures...

Monday: Chalean Off day, 5 miles bike, Softball.

Jenn - 1 day down, the rest of my life to go...