I ate a bug!

Some running days are better than others. As I laced up my shoes this morning, I quite didn't feel like jogging but I motivated myself and reminded myself to get out there, even if just for a slow jog, but to get it done. I got it done, but not before I ate a bug, or a mosquito, or a gnat... I rather not know.

Jogging away between mile 2 and 3, I felt a crunch and immediately was thrown back to riding my bike when I was 7 and feeling that same crunch and then running home crying realizing I had eaten a bug. I swore to never chew gum or open my mouth while on my bike. Well, apparently I needed to relearn this lesson. I didn't cry this time, but I made two grown men cry from the laughing attack they had. They were jogging together and stopped to see if I was okay since I was repeatedly spitting on the side of the sidewalk (and cursing). My little boy staring at me in awe with a big smile on his face.  I informed the men that I was fine but had just eaten a bug and they both said "oh" and jogged chuckling away and laughing quite harshly. I hope they both ate bugs after that!

I have "listerined" my mouth repeatedly in the last few hours and am starting to feel over it. I might even have lunch now!

Moral of the story, well, I am still glad I got out there today, bug and all but, I will not be opening my mouth on a run any time soon.

Check the children...or ask your husband to do it!

I woke up today to a slap in the face. My husband has a sweet way of waking me up some mornings when he's having a dream and he swings his arm about and whacks me in the face. It was 7:15am and there was no way I could get back to sleep so I grabbed my oatmeal (again!) and ate in a rush. I put on my sneakers and out the door I went. No jogger today. I left the kids back at home so daddy could wait for them to wake up. I hit the streets alone. Pandora playing Depeche Mode in my ears and a new goal in my head. Could I make it to 4 miles today since I wasn't pushing the jogger?! I remembered my first days jogging and it was more of a walk then a jog. I would do 2 minute intervals where I would walk 2 minutes then jog 2 minutes and so on. I slowly graduated into full jogging but have never gone farther than 3 miles. So I challenged myself. I said to myself, "Try it, try the 4!". All of a sudden, there was 1 mile. Done. 2 miles. Done. 3 miles. Done. I concentrated on keeping my breathing steady and I thought to myself, I'm only 1 mile away from my goal. As much as I wanted to stop, I kept on going and low and behold, I hit that 4 mile mark and it felt soooooooooooooooooo good!! 

So mommyathlons out there, beginning or getting stronger, on a week-end or on a holiday, let hubby watch the kids for a little bit and get out there and challenge yourselves. You might be pleasantly surprised to find you could go a little farther!

Great day for a bike ride!

It's been two days since my first brick workout. I decided to leave a rest day in between. I was feeling pretty good so I woke up early this morning and checked out the window. The sun was peeking out and getting ready to give us a beautiful Miami sunny day. I had a quick breakfast - oatmeal! YUCK! I've had to get used to oatmeal which is not my favorite breakfast but it is very healthy. I got my gear on and rushed out the door to beat the hot weather that was to come in an hour or two. My goal for the day was to ride 10-15 miles. 

I headed out to the Miccosukee Golf and Country Club in Kendale Lakes. One loop around is about 4 miles long so it's a great way to get mileage without having to go around and around in small circles. It's also a great place if you don't want to drive all the way out to Key Biscayne and you live way out West like I do.

I ended up doing 20 miles! WOOHOO! And the best part was that I felt just fine. I got back home and felt great! It's now been 4 weeks of training and I can really see the difference from when I started and 10 miles seemed like a far ride. There's something to be said about being determined and pushing your body onward even when you feel like you will never get to where you want to go. For those starting out, KEEP IT UP!  It's amazing the things you can do when you focus and set goals! As the weeks go by, my duathlon seems less intimidating and more like a fun challenge.

2012 Disney's Princess Half Marathon

A 13.1 mile course through the Magic Kingdom and Epcot theme parks. How cool is that?!  Registration for 2013 opens July 10th. I think I might be joining that one. I hope some other mommyathlons join me and we can form a group.Sandra M. Ferrera with her medal after having completed the 2012 Disney Princess Half Marathon.She is a true marathon princess and a real mommyathloner. Thank you Sandra, you make we want to strive for more!   

Brick workout - OHHHHHHHHHHHHHH the agony!

Well, my dear husband (and I say that sarcastically at this point) introduced me to "brick workouts". I think he might be trying to get rid of me... A brick workout is when you do two exercises, one right after the other, quickly. You're supposed to do it several times over. Bike, then run, then bike, then run, etc. It's supposed to help with transition time (time to change between one event and another in a triathlon/duathlon). Since it was my first time, I did one set only. I completed a 15 mile bike ride followed by a 1.5 mile jog. I have to admit that after 3 weeks of training and cycling and running regularly, I didn't feel quite as bad as I thought I would. I got back from cycling, changed into my running shoes and out the door I went. I only did 1 mile and in that mile I had thoughts of how brutal this was. He said my legs might feel funny. I was too concentrated on trying to make it to that 1.5 mile goal to even think of what my legs were feeling! I made it though. I pushed through it and made it. I thought of all the great mommyathloners out there doing things like this and I felt motivated to finish.     

I was also thinking that in a few weeks, I'll have to do 1 mile before the bike ride and 3 miles after the bike ride. I'm thinking my hard work and continuous training will pay off by then and I'll be able to do it effortlessly. HAHAHA I made myself laugh hard with that one. It will take a major effort but I keep focused on how great it will feel to cross that finish line!! 4 weeks, 2 days, counting down...     

Here are two great links on brick workouts:

http://www.ehow.com/how_2060611_do-brick-workout.html
http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/Enrico%20Contolini/Introduction_to_bricks.htm

Mommyathloner in the mud - so cool!

Check out another amazing mommyathloner! Esther Collazo-Sotolongo, proud finisher of The 2012 Merrell Down & Dirty National Obstacle and Mud Run Series. A 10K run with obstacles to boot and lots and lots of mud!! Congrats Esther! I'm hoping to be able to do something like that one day!

8lbs? No freaking way! (Exercising and gaining weight.)

I started a diet/exercise plan 3 weeks ago in hopes of getting slimmer by summer and stronger for the duathlon my husband finally convinced me to do, which I'm still wondering what I was thinking when I let him sign me up for it. That being said, I have to be honest though and seeing all these strong mommyathloners has really got me motivated and feeling that I can do this.  Bring June 17th on!! 

I had promised my exercising self that I would not get on a scale until June 1st. I have been feeling stronger lately and apparently braver as I got myself on the scale yesterday morning. BIG MISTAKE!  Low and behold, all these weeks of healthy eating (keeping away from chocolate and pizza, sniff sniff) have led to a beautiful 8lb weight gain. Yes, GAIN! I felt like crying then I thought of throwing the scale out the window. I did neither. I opted to find out why. I have always been a fit woman but I have found myself having a hard time losing the weight after baby number two. Different factors affect this.  I'm getting older (shhhhhhhhhhhh), it was my second baby, metabolism slows down with age, and other things can fit into the "why" but I wanted more information.

It was off to do research and make some calls to a few trainers I know. Research and trainers agree, I'm doing something right. Uhhhhhhhhh, really??? Care to explain because it feels like I have slammed myself into a wall. A wall with no pizza or chocolate in sight and hours of exercise to boot. Research shows that it is very common to have weight gain the first weeks you begin exercising. Why? Well, because your muscles get little tears (good ones) and your body has to repair them by storing excess water. I found a great article that made me feel better. You can read it at:

http://exercise.about.com/b/2012/01/11/exercise-and-weight-loss-lesson-of-the-week-you-might-gain-weight-temporarily.htm

My friends that are trainers agreed and told me to keep doing what I was doing and wait for the positive outcomes that were just around the corner a few weeks from now. A few weeks from now, I have a duathlon and I don't need 8lbs but get this, I might still gain a few more lbs before I begin to lose the weight. Both friends asked me if I was sure that I wasn't overeating now that I am exercising but I have been diligent about eating enough. Not too little, and not too much. So I knew that it wasn't that. I was told to relax and keep it up.

So I relaxed, went for a 3.5 mile run, and am keeping it up!! Eyes on the prize - crossing that finish line June 17th! And if I do it with a few more pounds, so what?! I'm feeling better and stronger than I have in two years and looking fitter as well. The pounds will come off later!

Core Fusion and Yoga

Check out these amazing shots of Adria Alcazar, the Manager of Guest Experience at Exhale Spa in Dallas, TX. She credits Core Fusion and yoga for her current state of well-being. Adria is not a mommy as of yet, but she has words of inspiration for us mommies out there that are wanting to improve our well-being and to get stronger and healthier. She admits she was never the athlete but she started Core Fusion because it challenged her physicall and mentally. This led to yoga. She became a Core teacher and then became a certified yoga instructor. Years later of hard work and dedication have led to these shots. WOW! Her words, "My point is you never know where life will take you when you show a willingness to learn, the backbone to commit to something and to see the humor in any situation. Just start the journey and put one foot in front of the other! Everything else will fall into place as long as you're open to it."

THANK YOU Adria, for showing that strength is equal to beauty and for sharing your experience with us. You make me commit even more to my plan of completing my first duathlon in June!

For those in Miami, FL that want to try Core Fusion or yoga, there is an Exhale Spa at the Epic Hotel in downtown Miami. They offer both classes there. Namaste!

Duathlon? Me?

If you're new to all of this, and you read my last post, you saw I'm training for a duathlon and you're probably wondering what the heck it is. More commonly known are the triathlons which are races involving endurance events in a row. Usually it's a swim followed by cycling and then running. In between each event you have "transition" which means get your butt ready for the next event as quickly as possible. If you got out of the swim, dry up and get all your cycling gear on and get on that bike. Done with biking, then put on your best running shoes and get going. The goal? To complete this task in as fast a time as you can. My husband introduced me to this sport and he loves it. I somehow let him convince me into trying this for Father's Day... Looking back I wonder if it was the right decision.

Triathlon races go from shorter distances to very long distances. There is an "Ironman Triathlon" that has a 2.4 mile swim followed by a 112 mile bike to be followed by a 26.2 mile run. Wouldn't you guess it, my husband has completed one. Yes, he has and now I let him register me for a duathlon. 30 pounds heavier than I was pre-pregnancy and here I am training for this. Wish me mega luck. I'll most definitely need it. My duathlon skips the swim because quite frankly I would end up floating the whole way in since I have never been involved in competitive swimming. So I will be trying to do a 1 mile run followed by a 10 mile bike ending with a 3.1 mile run.

Anyone care to share words of advice? Fire away, I'll take any you can give!

The beginning...

I started a new blog today. You already know the name since you're reading this. Mommyathlon. Why this name? A little background? I worked in the legal field for over 10+ years and in various other government jobs many years prior to that. I decided to be a stay at home slave, um did I say that, I meant mom, when having my second child. I've been at home for 1 1/2 years now. I'm married, taking care of kids, family, blah blah blah. We all know the deal, we're all doing it. In our 30's, putting many things before ourselves and feeling tired and a bit burnt out at night when all is said and done.  

I began my own business, M Cakes Designs. You guessed it, I'm a baker! That little tidbit makes my weight loss interesting. But enough about baking, that's one of my jobs. This blog is different. It's a selfish ongoing string of my thoughts during my training for my first duathlon and during my attempt to get back to my pre-baby weight. NOT EASY! It's a place for you to post your thoughts as well. It's not about business. It's not about children or anything else that runs at the top of our lists of priorities where we place ourselves last. Don't all moms whether working hard in the real world or working hard within the same walls at home need just one little corner of their life where they can be there just for themselves? Well, Mommyathlon is just that!

Mommyathlon is our corner where kids don't come in or spouses or family or errands or chores or time frames. Our corner where making dinner and getting to work on time or racing across all distances to get children to practices and games on time stays behind. Come with me and share your experiences if you're trying to do something similar and working towards a goal of accomplishing something for yourself. This corner is for us and our health and our empowerment. Everything else, KEEP OUT!