Yeah I'm still moving - slowly

I've been careful, really I have, and yet today I'm just a bit more then sore.  Legs back etc are all telling me that I'm doing stuff I haven't done in a LONG time.  Luckily(?) I've been through this before so I know what to expect and I know it'll go away.  I can still stand, walk and do all the imporant things so I guess my 'go slowly' program wan't all in vain! :)  What's surprised me the most, I guess is how sore my 'core' musles are (abs, back etc).  Guess I had gotten a lot further out of shape then even I wanted to admit.  Time to put a stop to that!

Running and Weight Lifting and Training OH MY!

:)

Hit the gym after work today and it felt GRAND :)

I did run/walk - 1.72 miles in 32 minutes. More walking then running and even the running was really slow but I did it and I wasn't hurting or panting at the end! yay!

Then I hit the weights. It was a strange workout for me because I'm used to a 5 day split. Instead I did a full body circuit. It was tough, but a fun change and I know I'm going to feel it in the morning:

Squat
Lat Pulldown
Stepup
Incline bench press
Split squat
one-arm row
weighted crunch
military press
Romanian deadlift
Dip

I only did the circuit once but it was enough to leave me shaking. If felt really good to sweat and get a good workout in! I'm feeling more and more confident with each workout and can't wait for TNT to start for real!

Want something for your money?

I've created two sites for you :)

all profite from both of these will go to my fund raising efforts through the end of March 2009.

so, please, check out my art:

Or buy a t-shirt! or mousepad or something else nice :)

https://239106.spreadshirt.com/us/US/Shop/Index/index

Rest Day

Tuesday is a rest day for me - mainly because I have other things going on Tuesday nights that keep me busy.  I enjoyed it (though I did take a walk during the day).  Not too sore from yesterday and that's a good thing - a REALLY good thing.  Just a little stiff - I can live with that.

yay

well last week started out bad, got worse and ended terrible (fitness wise). but, that week is over and this is a whole new one.

Vacation is over and done with, so that helps. I altered my workout plan based on my schedule and so far it's worked out really well.

I moved my 'normal' tuesday workout to Monday since I have choir on Tuesday nights and that made squeezing in a workout hard. Plus my husband bowls on Mondays so I needed something to keep me busy. So, tonight after dropping him off at the bowling alley, I headed for the gym. I had planne on continueing my build to running by fast walking foe 30 minutes, then swimming, and then doing 20 minnutes of yoga to top it off.

The walk went great. I went 1.6 miles in the 30 minutes and burned a few calories in the process. I'm finding as is usually the case when I start back with cardio training, that it's not my cardio system that kimits me the first few times out. this time it was my shins! it'll take a few weeks of this foe them to get used to the work. tonight I kept having to slow down because it felt like they were cramping :(

Then I changed and hit the pool. it felt good to be out there. After I warmed up I did 100 meter 'sprints'. (and one 150m). the best time I got was 1min 19 second. soooo slow! but it'll get better :). I did a total of 500 meters plus a 50m warmup and cool down. I struggled just a little on finding the right pace for my breathing. i'm not worried though, the swimming is the least of my concerns.

after the swim I changed and went to find a spot to do my yoga. turns out the gym has a kickboxing class on Mondays so that dodn't workout so well. I did a little strtching in the hall, but foud the gym 'yoga matts' to be way too slick to actuallly do yoga on. next monday I'll have to plan a little differently and bring my own matt.

otherwise it was a great workout and I'm really proud of myself for getting it done!

It's Sunday

traditionally Sunday is the eve of a new week. It's no different for me. The mindset I gain tonight can and will usually effect my entire week. So I'm trying to use this night to set some solid plans for what my week's workouts will be.

As I said before (I think). The group workouts won't start until November so I have a little time to try to build up a little endurance, work through the worse of the soreness and genearlly ge a headstart on the training.

My biggest worry is the running so I'm going to focus this week on building up a little endurance there. Not to say I'm not going to work a little on all three sports but I know running is my weekness. So, this week I'm going to go for a brist walk for at least 30 minutes each day.

According to the information I got from TNT; Monday is traditionally a rest day but I'm going to make sure to get a 30 minute walk in and one 20 minute yoga session with the idea of warming up my muscles and stretching out long unused muscles, tendons and ligaments.

Tuesday is supposed to be a swim day, so on top of my thirty minute walk I plan to do a 20 minute easy swim and 20 minutes yoga with the focus on hips.

Wednesday is running and strength training. My plan is to incorporate jogging into my 30 minute walk this day. I need to go against my own nature and really roll into this process slow if I want to make it to the finish line. Add to that another yoga session with an upper body focus to stretch out some of the swimming kinks.

Thursday is another Swim day, so I’ll swim for 20 walk for 30 and do a little yoga too. It’s also the day I leave for Southern California to go to the Breeder’s cup with my daughter so I’ll have to get up and get my training out of the way early.

Friday is supposed to be biking, but I’ll be in LA so I’m just going to make sure to get a brisk walk in sometime during the day. We’ll be on the infield for the races, standing most of the day so I’m not that worried about exercise that day J

Saturday is supposed to be a swim and a run. We’ll still be in LA so my plan is to just make sure I get a 30 minute walk in and a yoga session (I’ll have to remember to bring my ipod to LA with me).

Sunday is when we come back from LA – I think a 30 minute walk is going to be the limit of what I’ll get that day. Hopefully by then I’ll have the chain fixed on my bike so I can start riding again L

And that’s the plan for the upcoming week!

Call to Donate...

Dear Family and Friends,

I have some big news to share…

Believe it or not, I'm going to swim/bike/run in the Lavaman Triathlon in Kona, HI on March 29, 2009.  Think I’m crazy?  Truth be told, you may not be so far off the mark!  I'm not in really great shape.  (ok, I’m in terrible shape) My feet aren't so good and sometimes I run out of breath walking up the stairs in my house! As of right now, I can't run very far or for a very long time.  Luckily I’m ‘okay’ on a bike and you who’ve known me since a was small know I’m a fish in the wather.  Still 31.9 miles seems like a really long way to go.  (That’s .9 mile swim, 24.8 mile bike and 6.3 mile run) I mean, really really long (try watching your car's odomoter on a trip until you hit 31.9 miles - it's far!).  So, am I crazy?  Well, a couple of very sane reasons are driving my decision to run:

 The first is that as I approach my 40^th birthday I want to focus on two things. One is that I want to get into good shape and the other is that I want to focus on things outside myself and one way to do that is to give something to a worthy cause. What I have discovered is an incredible opportunity to do both things at one time!

 I have signed up with The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Team in Training program. Through this program, I will not just be running for myself, but in support of an organization that is dedicated to curing lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma and improving the lives of patients and their families.  In exchange for fundraising, the Society will help me train for the race, provide coaching and medical guidance, and will put me together with others of similar skills. Specifically, I will be training in honor of Katy Mueller, my cousin who died of Leukemia when she was only 15 years old.

 Thinking about how fortunate I am and learning about how these diseases affect families (the stories are incredible), it has made one very important thing clear to me:  you can never take anything for granted. Your life can change on the drop of a dime; it's important to seize the opportunity to make a difference when you can.

 So here I am, seizing my opportunity.  My goals are two-fold:  one, to cross the finish line of the Lavaman Triathlon on March 29^th. (even if I have to crawl to do it!); and two, to raise $5,000 for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.  I'm hoping you will be able to help me with both of these goals.

 Your encouragement and positive reinforcement (i.e., “You swam/biked/ran HOW MANY miles today?!  FABULOUS!!!) will go an incredibly long way in helping me complete this race.  Your financial support will not only help save the lives of those afflicted with blood-related cancers, but make their lives more comfortable and manageable while they are fighting – and winning against - the disease.  Consider also that many of the strides that are made toward curing blood-related cancers translate into making a difference in fighting all types of cancers.

 If you are so inspired to take up this tremendous cause, please feel free to share this email and request with anyone who might be inclined to help. EVERY contribution will have an impact, will be acknowledged personally by me, and will be appreciated by so very many.  If you want to donate, you can do it on line at:

http://pages.teamintraining.org/sf/lavatri09/smuellerboddy

If you prefer to send a check, you may also submit one (payable to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society) to me. Then I complete the Check Donation section of the Participant Donor Form for all check contributions to ensure proper acknowledgment of gift and you will receive a receipt for tax purposes - they will send it to you directly. (Please clarify which address and phone number you want me to report on the form).

You can check on my progress, send encouragement or donate again on my blog at:

http://shawntris.blogspot.com/

As part of my goal to get in shape, I’ve also joined Weight Watchers.  At each weekly weigh in I will be donating $2 for each pound I lose, if you would like to match my pledge, or make another similar to this, please let me know.  I’ll be updating my blog in this regard as well.

Finally, if you know someone who has been afflicted with a blood-related cancer, I would love to run in their honor as well.  Please let me know their name(s) and I will be sure to wear a bracelet for them on race day.

Thank you for your support...

Shawn Mueller-Boddy

429 Chase Street

Mountain House, CA 95391

Shawn.mueller@gmail.com

"There’s no achievement without goals." – Robert J. McKain

Starting my training off easy :)

Saturday Morning

and I'm up at 7:00?? what's up with that?  But, I suppose I better get used to it.  When the group traning starts it'll be on Saturday and Sunday at 8:00AM.  That means I have to get up at 7:00 at the latest to make it.  Not being much of a morning person I usually use my weekends to chatch up on sleep (and never see the downsite of 9:00AM) but I'm just going to have to change all that I suppose.   In a way I'm excited about the challenge.  At least I am today - ask me again 1/2 way through November.

My Group workouts don't start until November, so I've got a few weeks here where I can either laze around on my butt as much as possable and enjoy my couch before I have to tell it goodbye, or I can get up, and get a little head start on my conditioning.  I think it's going to be the latter.  The training has got me a little worried.  The swimming and biking - no problem - but the running.  Eh yeah.  Running's never really been my strong suite.  I've injured myself twice before while running and well, as mentioned before, I'm 100 lbs overweight.  Not exactly an easy task on my feet, knees, and hips to push that much weight around.  Not that I can drop 100 lbs in the two weeks before training, but I can at least start to warm up the feet, knees and hips and give them a warning of what's to come!

OH!  and I'm also making some serious nutrition changes in my life :)  so expect the pounds to start to fall off soon!  In fact, I'm now weighing in weekly with a third (impartial) party and for every pound lost - I'll donate $2 to myself - anyone willing to match donations?

Alright - time to go put some excercise clothes on! :)  

and don't forget to click the purple button and make a donation - every little bit helps!

About Me

Who am I and how did I get here?

Well I'm 40 years old.  I work full time for a computer consulting company as a managing consultant.  That means I sit for a living.  Plus, I live about a 2 hour commute from work.  So, I sit another 4 hours a day just getting to work and home again.

On top of this, I'm overweight.  Ok I'll stop pussyfooting around.  I'm fat!  over 100 lbs over my 'goal weight' to be exact.  A few years ago, in my quest to lose weight I started working out, and soon discovered that it was much easier to workout when you had a specific goal, so I signed up to do a sprint triathlon in my area.   Why a triathlon?  Well because I figured it would be a bit more interesting to train for three sports then just one, and I love to swim. 

And thus began the training.  There's a lot of great websites for those beginner triathletes out there and some great training programs.  I plowed through and did alright, but as the race data approached I panicked.  I realized that while I had trained to do the 'sport' I had no idea about the logistics.  What gear would I need, how do I go from Swimming to biking to running?  What's a transition?  WTF am I doing?  I've never even WATCHED a tri before!  And so I didn't show at race day.

Since then I've only half heartedly trained (and gained a bunch of weight back).  But at the back of my mind was this feeling that this was something I wanted to do... I wanted to do it bad!

In searching for tri training programs I stumbled across a website of a place I had heard of before.  "Team in Training".  It seemed like a neat idea but I found excuse after excuse as to why I 'couldn't' do it.  And yet the thought kept coming back to me.  Here was something that would not only show me all those parts that sent me packing last time, but an accountability system that would really kick my training (and thus my weight loss) back into gear!

Behind all of this was also the idea that TNT supported a VERY worthy cause. About 20 years ago we got the news that my 6 year old cousin had Leukemia. We fretted as she was treated and celebrated when she went home in remission. Nine years later it came back, and we all sat helplessly as her body lost the battle against this terrible disease. Any age seems 'too young to die' but 15? I look at my now 15 year old daughter and all the life that's ahead of her left to live - to think I could lose her to something that there may be a cure for!...

And so, a few days ago I went to a TNT informational meeting.  The quality of the people there and comradery astounded me!  There was no doubt in my mind that this was an organization that I wanted to be a part of... and so here we are.

It doesn't hurt that TNT is taking everyone to Hawaii either!  I've never been to Hawaii!! :)   Not that I think you'll donate to the "Send Shawn to Hawaii" fund :) But you could do it for that reason too! 

Oh! and I've been thinking that maybe I would offer a print of one (or more) of my photos as a 'thank you' for people who donate. Any ideas or suggestions on what people would consider an appropriate and motivating 'thank you' are highly welcome!!

And so it begins

Let me start out by saying I know that cancer - all kinds of cancer is a very serious business.  But I also believe that if your going to get through this crazy thing we call life, you've got to have a sense of humor.  I tend to use mine - a lot.  So, please understand that although I poke fun of things and myself it in no way is intended to minimize the serious nature of the cause that I am supporting

Team in Training and the Leukemia & Lymphoma society.

Ok - not that that's out of the way - let the real blogging begin.