Cleaning is Exercise, Right?

I have yet to get to the gym this week. Sunday was just a crazy kind of run-around day.. followed by a kick off week of snow. Well, the anticipation of snow- and I'm totally kicking myself for being so dumb. Monday all during the day they kept calling for it snow snow snow its coming! its coming! Like Revere warning of the redcoats. So, panicked I decide its probably best I head straight home because I don't want to get caught in this oncoming blizzard. Of course, it didnt even start until the overnight hours. Goodbye Monday workout. Today the "snow event" finally arrived, and we actually were sent home early so that we would't have to sit in hours of rush hour/ snow induced traffic ... and, had I thought about it I could have stopped on my way home since it was in the middle of the day- but it was snowing and we were sent HOME early not sent to go work out.
Strike two. I could have worked on the treadmill, but there was shoveling to do and we have a mattress getting delivered on Friday and between schoolwork and such our bedroom has sort of become the "Oh crap! Company!" dumping ground.

And so there is no way that furniture people are going to be able to maneuver a new king sized mattress around all the crap that is in my room. We have so much "stuff" its insane. I have all of these gift cards from Birthdays, Christmas, etc. that I haven't spent yet- and mainly its because we already have so much STUFF i figure why on earth do I need more stuff? What I really need is to take a week off, hire a professional organizer (if they exist) and have her go through my house with me room by room and make it more organized, functional, and clutter free. Oh Oprah- too bad we're not besties- I'm sure you have someone in your file-o-fax of contacts that could do all this for me.

Anyhow, between lifting laundry baskets back and forth from Laundry room to bedroom over and over again, cleaning, hanging, bending folding etc... surely there has to be some form of legitmate muscle building involved right? :)

Im praying for a snow day tomorrow (not likely) but it would be the answer to all of my woes. I would have time to work out on my treadmill, do my laundry, and finish up on this weeks homework.

One can hope right?

Also I found out that the knee problem I have actually has a name... its called Patellar Dislocation and Patellar Instability- both of which I found knee braces for thanks to some suggestions on BT. I'm planning on buying them tonight which will make me much more confident in my runs (errrr-walks)

That's it for now....

snow day. pretty please, with sugar on top.

~Millie

Friday Night Musings

I dont really have all that much to say today. Now that I am officially out and the reality of the situation is sinking in, I have a laundry list of apprehensions and the reality of the mountain before me is really sinking in. The elated I can do anything feeling of a few weeks ago has become a holy crap what have I gotten myself into. For the first time since I decided to do this crazy thing last September, I am actually certifiably afraid that I will not be able to. I argue with myself constantly. I mean, an 800 swim- please, I tell myself, I swim double that during my previous swim workouts. 14 mile bike- well the last time I worked out on the bike I did 10.89 miles ... but the little voice in my head keeps reminding that riding a stationary bike for 10 miles is nothing like riding an ACTUAL bike for ten miles. And then there is this little old thing called the run. I'm at a mile and half now in thirty minutes.... A mile and a half, and that's WALKING... in thirty sad minutes. People I know run a 7 minute mile... and I can't even walk it in thirty minutes. I have to do double that in thirty minutes in four months. Will I even be able to?

I keep picturing myself after the swim- getting out of the water and telling my husband that I can't go on, I'm too tired. Or doing okay in the swim, getting on the bike and then running out of gas on the bike leg- and seeing all of these people who have pledged their support and having to explain to them that I'm a failure once again. The mental pictures I have of me on the run leg, are laughable. I'm really beginning to second guess the whole tell everyone I signed up thing. Perhaps I should have kept my big mouth shut.

And of course, I'm really worried that I may never make it into this spin class- they seem to be ridiculously popular. The very helpful :sarcasm: woman at the gym informed me that the 11:00 class is usually only half full- gee I wonder why- because people are flipping working at that time, including me. What am I going to do if I dont get in the spin class. And of course, all this damn snow that keeps falling isnt helping me very much. At least if it warms up and the roads clear I can start working outside. Boy I hope it's an early spring, I think the faster I can get outside and start training the more at ease I will feel.

Until then I guess I can only keep on doing what Im doing, and pray that it is enough....

~Millie

Officially Out

So, I'm not a big "hey look at me, look at what I'm doing" kind of person. I rarely ask for help, in fact as Ive said before it KILLS me to have to ask for assistance of any kind- even emotional support.

But, I decided that the more people I have to keep me on track, the more likely I am to stick to my training and achieve success come race day. So- I did it. I made it official, I posted it on Facebook :) You know that Nothing is official until you have read it on Facebook.

Spin class once again, FULL! This is bogus, might I add. I guess Im just going to have to keep riding the stationary bike until the weather gets nicer and then hookup with a bike riding club or something. Or just hope that some of the New Years Resolvers start dropping off so the gym isnt so packed. Class started at six oclock. I get to the gyn roughly around 5:15 and am changed and upstairs by I'd say 5:25 so a full half hour early and they were already telling people that they had already run out of bikes. Thirty minutes prior. How stinky!

Instead, since today was a run day anyway, I did some treadmill time. I had posted a question on the triathlon site about what times/distances I should be shooting for as goals to be training for. I actually had just wanted to know if 10.89 miles in thirty minutes was too slow. I guess it wasn't because the responses I got were "there is no way if you are doing 10.89 on the bike and 1200 on the swim that you would only be doing a 3.0 on the treadmill"

Well, unfortunately I am a huffy puffy tubby so yes, 3.0 is my comfort speed- 3.5 is heavy breathing, 4.0 is downright huffy puffy territory. And, it must be the way I walk, because even on the super hi tech treadmills they have at the gym, the belt (?) for lack of a better word (the spinny thing you walk on) catches every five or so steps like its folding up under my foot, trips me and causes me to have to check my balance, and today it caught so bad I though my knee was going to give out. Hopefully it will be different when I can actually run (ha, lets be serious- walk ... maybe a brisk walk) on solid ground. I'm hoping for an early spring. I think this is the first time in who knows how long that Im hoping for an early thaw not because I'm sick of scraping snow and ice off my car, but because Im anxious to log some outside time.

~Millie

It's Official!!!

US Women's Triathlon Series - Naperville | Naperville, Illinois 60540 | Sunday, June 13, 2010 @ 7:00 AM

I am officially signed up! There is no turning back now unless I want to eat the cost of joining ($100)
So :) here comes Millie, the Tubby Triathlete

Dear Lord I hope I can do this!

Haters Hate On

So my MB suggested after my previous post that I should get "Haters Hate On" from GLEE through ITunes. I decided to take it one step further than that. I typed "Hater" into the ITUNES search and you would be shocked at how many songs (I use the word loosely) about haters there are. Many of them are rap songs... but a few hours and about twenty dollars later I have a whole new mix to keep me motivated. I call my mix "Haters Hate On". My mix is as follows:

Hate On Haters- GLEE
Haters Everywhere We Go- b.o.b.
Blind To You Haters- collie buddz
Hi Haters- maino
Haters- lil wayne
Haters- young buck
Haters- hillary duff
Haters- young jeezy feat lil jon
I Got me Some Haters- soulja boy
Haters Wish- rich boy
Haters- Jay Z
Haters Hate Me- Kanye West

So needless to say, there is apparenty a whole lot of hating going on in the world :)

And let me say, as much as I can't get "into" the mix- ie the songs really aren't all my cup of tea - it still kept me pretty motvated today.

Spin class was full (twenty five minutes before class!) so I have to try for Thursday's class. So instead I did my usual 30 minute swim 30 minute bike. I am actually really super excited for myself.

My 30 minute swim was 800 Meters my 30 Minute bike was 10.89 miles. I googled how far 22K is and its roughly 13 miles. So I'm just a few miles short of the total bike ride. 800 Meters is just slightly over what will be expected on TRI day (750 meters)

So, in an hour- I managed to almost be right on target for the triathlon. Yes- huffy puffy me! And, I feel great! Tonight's exercise has me feeling fairly confident that come tri day Ill be pretty good in at least 2 of the events. Now we just need to get that running up to snuff.

I bought some new running shoes over the weekend, on my rest day. I actually went to a running store and asked them for suggestions on what I should use as a begining runner with a problem ankle, problem knees and over pronation. THe lady gave me a look like "and you're doing this to yourself because...." anyhow- I had it narrowed down to 2 contenders. A Nike Shoe and a New Balance shoe. I really wanted it to be the New Balance shoe- but as supportive as the "cage" (?) was around my foot, it just ddn't have any cush to it. The nike shoes felt supportive around the ankle and like I am walking on clouds. And- it has this neato feature that syncs with my IPOD ( I broke down and spent the extra 30 bucks on the software)

I'm sure in a few months I'm going to need another pair of shoes again before the TRI, who knows maybe by then the New Balance will work then. So Ive attached a picture of my pretty new shoes (the stock photo is pink, but mine are purple :) )





They are the Nike Pegasus and they are super comfy! Once I finish posting here, I am going to head over to the Triathlon site and sign up. It will be no turning back then! :)

Tomorrow is run day- I get to try out the new shoes.

~Millie :)