So, it’s been a month … and I haven’t exercised … once.  Lots of excuses, none of them matter.  I’ll be swimming tomorrow morning.  No more excuses.  Just do it.

In good news, my workplace is sponsoring Weight Watchers meetings at the office, and after our first week, I’ve lost 9 pounds!  That’s awesome!  Imagine if I added in my exercising!  Wahoo!

Here I go again – don’t let me stop for this long again!

Well, today was my first workout since last Tuesday – a week and two days.  I don’t feel like I was slacking – there were storms, then we moved a bunch of stuff all weekend and on Monday and Tuesday.  The moving stuff counted as exercise, I think.  It definitely worked me.  Yesterday I didn’t do anything because … well, because I needed a rest.  And it was good.  But today was the first structured workout in over a week.  I’m happy with it.  It was a little short, but I worked hard, and the sprint triathlons’ swim distances are usually between a quarter and a half mile.  So now I’m back to it.  Tomorrow: Bike.

So i haven’t worked out since Tuesday.  Feel pretty crappy about it, too.

Yesterday should have been a bike or run, but I went to bed too late Tuesday night.  Not enough sleep.  This morning I was going to bike, but it thunderstormed all night and morning.  Also, my wife woke me up and asked me to hold our daughter at right about the time that I would have gotten up to exercise.  Apparently she’d been up all night. 

I think I’m going to swim tomorrow morning.  I’ve got to renew my membership, and I might as well get in another swim.  Next bike?  Monday, probably.

I was slated to run this morning, but I rolled my ankle (again) last week, and it’s been hurting more recently.  So I decided to swim this morning.  Last night, though, we were remodeling the basement (tearing out wood), and I punctured m y arm with a nail.  It didn’t hurt that much, but this morning it had not healed all the way.  Still oozing, so I couldn’t swim.  So I biked.

Apparently there are a few items I still need to get.  I’m trying to start saving for a bike, but these things will help now.

1. Slicks for the bike.  The knobbies have got to go!
2. Water bottle holder for the bike.  With the rides getting longer, I’m going to need to bring water with me.
3. A heart rate monitor.  It seems I read or hear everywhere how beneficial these can be for exercising effectively.  Last week alone I heard from 2 different people how great they are (bike shop guy & Mom!).

So, more money to be spent. :(  Ah well.  Then it’s on to Bike saving!

Thoughts after my first bike ride.  I’m not able to go anywhere near as far as I thought I would be able to, and … it hurts!  The seat hurts, my legs burn, and the posture just isn’t any fun.  I think I’ll take more care to stretch before my next bike.  I didn’t do any today.  I’ve read that I’ll get used to the seat – that I’ll create callouses.  Boy, I can’t wait for that!  I’m also pretty slow.  3 miles in just over 15 minutes?  People RUN faster than that! Ha. 

I did get passed by another biker.  I was encouraged – his bike had aero bars on it, so assumed that he is a triathlete.  It was a mountain bike, so I could be wrong.  But it was nice thinking someone else was out for the same reason as me.

I was able to adapt to the toe clips pretty easily.  I thought that it would be more awkward, but they were okay.  Trying to remember to pull up with my legs was interesting.  I think I was doing it.

Well.  Now I’ve begun training in all three sports.  My weight is … approximately the same, up a little.  I’m not too worried about that.  I had a bad week.  Having a hurt ankle prevented me from exercising, and moving has prevented us from eating home cooked meals until last night – which meant we were eating out every night.  Not healthy.

This next week is looking pretty good.  I’m going to start rotating my exercises – Swim, Bike, Run, repeat.  Yay!

Well, the injury seems to be getting better, at least.  I thought about working out this morning, but I figured I’d give it one more day’s rest.  I have acquired a few new items, though.  The most exciting is that I have been loaned a bike by my good friend Jason.  He showed me how to work it (I thought I knew how bikes worked, but apparently things have changed since my … erm … BMX days ), and I got it home last night.  I was excited to go this morning, but my wife convinced me to give my ankle one more day.  I’m not limping any more, but it does start to hurt if I stand on it for too long.  The other acquisition is a pair of triathlon shorts.  I bought them online, so I’m not sure of the fit, but the price was right, the product seems to be good quality, and according to the sizing charts, they SAY they’ll fit!

Well, either way, I am planning on going for a ride tomorrow morning.  It will be my first, and I’m excited.

I haven’t worked out since Friday, July 28th.  Why?  We’ve been moving.  We moved this weekend, and that was enough exercise for me!  Yesterday we were finishing cleaning the old house and as I was walking down my driveway I rolled my ankle … nothing more than that, just a roll.  It seemed to be fine for most of the rest of the day, but after we picked up some stuff out of storage and brought it back o the new place, I could barely walk on it.  I iced it for the rest of the night, and am wearing an ankle brace today.  It seems like it’s a slight sprain.  It shouldn’t do much more than keep me from running for the next couple of days.  The pool is closed, so there’s no swimming, either.  Well, I’ll get back to it as soon as possible.

I weighed in today, and I’ve gone up 1.5 pounds, and according to my fat analyzer, have gained a half pound of fat. So, with exercising every day this week, I’ve gained weight. It hasn’t been strength training, either. I should be losing. I did eat like crap this week. Well, that’s the next to change! Eat healthier, keep exercising. I look forward to running next week. Perhaps I’ll get in my first bike ride, too.

For the last two days it’s been pretty hard to get up in the morning.  Yesterday I didn’t want to get up because it was my first run.  I was afraid of it.  The last few times I’ve tried to run have been pretty disastrous.  I couldn’t go far, but I would push myself well beyond my limits.  That just contributed to exhaustion, and disgust with myself.  So I wasn’t looking forward to it.  But I got up anyway, although a little late.  This morning I was just too tired.  I seemed to have stayed up too late.  11 is too late for me if I’m getting up before 6.  Lesson learned; I’ll go to bed earlier.  I don’t need that to hinder me.
A friend and coworker of mine, Adam, suggested that my limits are mostly mental as opposed to physical.  That’s why I tried to swim longer this morning.  Perhaps they are.  I think that I am limited by my physique – maybe not as much as I previously thought, though.  That’s good.  I should pay close attention to what my body is “telling” me.  I don’t want to overdo it.  I know I can overwork myself; I’ve done it before.  It’s not fun.
Tomorrow I weigh in.  I’m excited to see what I’ve done this week.  You’ll see the result on my SkinnyR graph.

This is my first entry. I am going to complete a Sprint Triathlon in June of ’07.

That may not seem so special to many people, but at the moment I am 6’1″ and 320 pounds (no, that’s not my picture up there).  My exercise routine before I made this decision was something close to nil.  I decided to pursue completing a triathlon after reading about the “Sprint” length triathlons in an article 2 weeks ago.  A Sprint Triathlon apparently consists of a 200 – 400 yard swim, ~15 mile bike, and ~3.1 mile run.  Not bad, eh?  Since then I have ordered 3 books, joined a local pool, and lost 4 pounds!   

Why did I decide to go with a triathlon?  I have always been interested in them, but thought that the Ironman was the only length available.  Learning that they come in all different lengths and difficulties is what convinced me. 

I grew up playing soccer, riding my bike, and swimming on a recreational swim team.  I can do all three sports.  It’s going to take a while, but my goal is for next June.  That’s long enough. 

If you don’t think someone my size can do this, take a look at Michael Pate at www.whenbigboystri.com.  He has an amazing story.  I just finished reading his book.  It’s a fun read, and very inspiring.  I will probably read it many times over before I complete my first triathlon.  It seems that many of the fears he relays in his book are very similar to my own. 

That’s it for now.  I’ll continue to post my thoughts along the way, as well as workout-specific posts.  I’ll also let you know more about me.

Jeff