064. A Change of Pace

This morning I decided to change things up a bit and add almond butter to my usual oat.

You can totally see the difference can't you?

Okay, so honestly, I just ran out of peanut butter, but even still, changing things up every now and then is good.

We all need to evaluate ourselves, our plans, our routines, on occasion and change the things that aren't working for us. Recently for me, the area of my life most in need of a change is my fitness. I've mentioned in a few time in the past couple weeks, but I've been seriously slacking on my workouts since the cold weather and total lack of day light has set it. I love to run outside. Truly, it’s what makes me happiest. Unfortunately, we’ve been averaging single digit temps (or single digits after the wind chill). Assuming I embrace the frigid temps (which I have considered), the sun rises about 7:15 (about the time I’m getting on the train to work) and sets around 4:45 (about the time I’m getting on the train home). This pretty much leaves me the weekends. You all know how I feel about the dreadmill. Despite finding some pretty great treadmill work outs thanks to Tina, I still can’t handle being on the treadmill more than once or twice a week. I don’t mind running on the indoor track. Unfortunately, now that it’s resolution season, the indoor track has been incredibly packed during the evening hours.

Cleary, this isn’t working for me. So what’s my solution?

Triathlon training!

One of the items on my 10 in 2010 is to complete a sprint (or possibly olympic) distance triathlon. What better time to start training than the dead of winter when running isn’t working out so well.

I have two goals to get me started

#1 Find (and register for) a triathlon. I found a Sprint distance triathlon near me that is in a pool, but it’s not until August 8th. There’s two problems with that 1) I don’t think I’m going to need 8 months to train and 2) I’m planning to do the Chicago Half Marathon in September which will require me to be training from June (or so) on. There are several other triathlons in the area earlier in the year, but I’m really nervous about doing the swimming in a lake. Should I just bite the bullet and go for it?

#2 Find a training plan. Since it is the dead of winter here in Chicago, I’m pretty limited in terms of what I can do outside. I’m thinking I’m going to do a bit of “pre-training” until it warms up and thaws a bit outside. Here’s my preliminary game plan for the next few weeks:

Monday: Treadmill workout (short distance run, intervals/ speed work)
Tuesday: Rest
Wednesday: Swim (drill work)
Thursday: Rest
Friday: Swim (endurance)
Saturday: Long Run (indoor track or outdoors weather permitting)
Sunday: Spin class (I’m thinking this is my best bet for winter bike training)

Have you ever participated in a triathlon? What distance? How long did you train? Did you use a particular training plan/ is there a training plan you would recommend for a first timer? Any advice for a novice?

057. 7 Day Vegetarian Challenge

One of the items on my 10 in 2010 is a 30 Day Vegetarian Challenge. However, before I take on a full month of going veggie, I want to do a week long test run.

So, next week I’m going to be doing my 7 Day Vegetarian Challenge. This week I’m going to be planning my meals for next week to make sure I’m 100% meat-free. (Also, I’ve been really terrible about meal planning lately, and I think this would be a great time/ way to get back into the habit.) I’ll be going shopping over the weekend so I can buy ingredients for the weeks meals (and because I want to get back into the habit of shopping weekly as well.)

Does anyone have suggestions of really great vegetarian meals I should try?

This is a precursor to the 30 day challenge I’ll be doing later in the year so the more Vegetarian-friendly recipes I can collect the better.

Hopefully my camera will be working (or replaced) by next week so I can fully document my challenge.

I’ve got a ton of posts in the works right now. So keep your eyes open for these upcoming posts…

• Preliminary thoughts/ reflections on my 7 Day Vegetarian Challenge
• Awesome Ideas for Applesauce (I’ve been working on this one for a while)
• Meal plans/ recipes for my 7 Day Vegetarian Challenge
• Book review of Skinny Bitch (which I randomly picked up and started reading this weekend)

041. 10 in 2010

I just love Angela's 10 in 2010 so I decided it was high time I did my own. I've always been really terrible about setting goals and making lists and not following through, but this is a new year and a new me. This is a healthier, more driven me.

So here we go...10 things I want to accomplish in 2010.

1. Run a half marathon
   I'm thinking this will happen in September. My best friend's little sister has run a half in September the last two years. When I started running she suggested I run with her. I laughed at the idea, but I'm actually really interested now. It's definitely something I'd like to do.
2. Complete a sprint distance triathlon
   I used to swim competitively, and I've always loved biking recreationally. I don't foresee ever putting myself through the training for a half or full ironman, but I could definitely handle training for a sprint, or maybe even olympic, distance triathlon.
3. Get back in school
   I've wanted to go back to school pretty much since I graduated. The problem has been I didn't know what I wanted to go back for. Since I began my personal journey to a healthy lifestyle, I've become very passionate about sharing my knowledge. I want to go back to school for health science. I've still got some things to consider (like how I'm going to pay for it and what I want the end result to be), but I'd really like to be back in school by the end of the year.
4. Reach my goal weight of 135lbs.
5. Set a new PR for my 5K time (sub 29:30)
6. Really get my blog going
   I want to be posting regularly with meals, work-outs, and daily life stuff as well as posting "feature articles"
7. Find a volunteer organization that's a good fit and volunteer.
   I did steal this directly from Julie's 10 in 2010; however, it's something I've been wanting to do for a while now. I used to volunteer all the time in high school. I'd really like to get back to volunteering at least a couple times a month.
8. Do a 30 Day Vegetarian Challenge
   I think I've mentioned here before that I want to really reduce my meat consumption and do a 7 day vegetarian challenge. I'll probably do this sometime in January as a jumping off point. I'd like to do a full month challenge too though. This will really give me an idea of what living a vegetarian lifestyle is like, and it will force me to get creative.
9. Be the best maid of honor I can be
   Nicki asked me to be her main of honor in her and my brother's wedding. I don't really know what a maid of honor is supposed to do exactly, but I'm really honored she asked me.
10. Save Money!
    I think this is pretty high on everyone's list of things to do. I really want to start saving so that I can renovate my kitchen and bathrooms. I also want to get rid of my carpet because it's super ugly and I hate carpet. I'd like to replace it with wood laminate.