Life has been a whirlwind of ups and downs, changes and challenges. I have only recently started to think about my old blog and decided to check it out today, wouldn’t you know the last post was on May 22, 2011…. I can’t even describe how fast the time has flown.

As far as fitness goes I am still trying to find my way. I have recently found a treatment that brings some relief from the IT band group of pain I have been working through. Bowen therapy, it works, it’s easy, it doesn’t hurt like the f’in foam roller devil. Now I just need to find another therapist as my guy has decided to go west for the winter, yes I said winter in May…. I have been living in Australia for the past 18 months.

I have been able to maintain a 30-35 lb weight loss since my big loss of 80 lbs. I am happy about that but I would like to crack the crust on how to get back down again and be able to maintain that loss in a healthy manner. Not that the weight loss wasn’t healthy the last time it is that the weight gain was caused by a slip back in to unhealthy habits.  I am vulnerable to stress eating and using food as a distraction. Trying to use old episodes of Gossip Girl as a distraction right now, just have to make sure I am on my bike on the windtrainer not on the couch.

We have moved to one of the most beautiful places on the planet, Australia. I will say that life is different when you move somewhere to live not just come to visit.  The realities of leaving friends and family sink in. I take quite a long time to connect to people so it was hard to leave the friendships I had cultivated. Australians I must say are quick to welcome you once you break the ice, especially triathlete types.

I have only done one triathlon since being here and that was a sub sprint. It was weird that everyone thought it was my first ever and I was such a newbie. I had this completely different life in Canada with some little successes in running races, mini triathlons but now I was back to being overweight and slow with no cred… Could it be a good thing? One thing I am not is a quitter. I was often the slowest person on the group rides with Impact Multisport, but they never made me feel bad. Why can’t I give it a go here? Early mornings perhaps, yuck 5 am wake ups.

There have been a few messages from the cosmos that I need to get my proverbial shit together. My beloved Dad passed away very suddenly of a massive stroke, no warning at all. Still working on that one. A friend recently passed away at a very young age and it has given me more pause to think about what is important. A perfect body is not something I have ever really been obsessed with but I would like to have a very functional one that moves well in space and wears clothes comfortably. Not too much to ask? I would also like to be able to run comfortably again but if that is not in the cards right now there is surely more activities that I can do with ease.

This is my 40th year and it seems a bit trite but I would like to have a few things sorted out by the end of it. Healthy body, career direction (that’s another long story), harmonious family life.

 

XOXO Betty Girl

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WCOC Oliver Olympic Race Report

May 15, 2011

I have been planning to revisit this race since the shock from racing it last year wore off. I spent the fall and winter swimming, spinning and unfortunately gaining a bit of weight while not running due to an IT band problem… I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to pull it off while packing extra Becky up the hills and false flats. I was finally shamed in to signing up for the race by my training buddy Tina.

Despite my apprehension I signed up, so I gave my attitude an adjustment and decided to go for it and seriously improve upon my race experience from last year.

A practice swim in Tuc El Nuit Lake and a ride around the course actually helped my confidence and I decided not to run and just wing it.

Race day came and Mark, the Girls and I headed down to the race start. Bike racked, transition mat laid out, couple of nervous bathroom breaks and a great warm up swim (that’s the key YO!)

Swim starts and we’re off like a heard of turtles, do we really want to be swimming in 17 degrees murky water? Oh well here we go. Breath out fully, breath out fully, no crazy dog, no crazy dog (ask Olly), focus on stroke technique, find some faster feet. Hmmm I am almost done the first lap and oh my goodness my watch says 17 min exactly my time goal for the first 750 meters. Back in the water again for another lap, feeling warmed up, found some nice feet to follow.

Swim is done in 35 min according to my watch. So freaking happy!! Gotta strip off the wetsuit and run up two flights of stairs and prepare to ride 40 km. I don’t think there’ll be any crying today.

Stand by for the bike report…

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Well this week I have been a bit sick and had to miss two days of work due to runny nose, headache, watery eyes, and then a weird rash on my face and hands…. I am feeling better today and even went for a run/walk with the dogs on the way back from dropping the car off for servicing.

I have been using myfitnesspal dutifully for 5 days in a row. I have lost 2.2 lbs midway through the week. I have been eating healthy foods, mostly vegetarian, lots of beans, some veg juices. I found that adding a 1/2 of an apple and a 1/4 of a lemon to the mix made it much more palatable.

I am going to have  testing done today using the MegGem system. I don’t know much about it but I hear they use it on the Biggest Loser and it gives you a # for your resting metabolic rate. I will write an update about it after. My friend Lisa has a new program called Real Solutions weight loss management and she in doing the testing. I have also joined a group of work buddies in a facebook support group to encourage each other towards our goals. So the support is in place, now lets get on with the show.

Here is to new beginnings again.

xoxo Betty

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There are some really important things that I would like to be fit for this year. I would like to race the WCOC Oliver Olympic triathlon again and show it whose boss!!, get some family photos done by the awesome Heidi and I have my 20 year grad reunion this summer. What the heck where did 20 years go?

I trying to figure out what kind of “program” or method to use to get myself on track…. Should I become vegan, vegetarian, do U weightloss again, Weight Watchers, exercise like a fiend? Or should I modify all of the ideas and try to just be healthy, oh so easily said. I have been spinning and swimming all fall and winter but my running has been seriously lacking. If only I would to my phyiso routine and deal with my sore IT band.  I just have to suck it up and do it right!

myfitnesspal is a great website that a friend of mine (shout out Andrea) recommended a while ago and another friend (shout out Shelly) is using currently. It is a great website that helps you set a daily caloric goal for your basal metabolic rate BMR that will allow you to lose weight, the really wicked part is: if you exercise you log the time, intensity, type of exercise and it ADDS CALORIES to the daily total. In effect you are earning calories by exercising. A good way of looking at it, because often when you are trying to lose weight you add exercise and restrict food, counter productive ;(

I have set a goal to be down a certain amount of weight by May 16 which is 2 months away and the weekend of my race, which I need to sign up for still. Time to commit, in more ways than one

Love and Peace to all.

Betty

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2010  YEAR IN REVIEW  2010

2010 was an excellent year that kind of fizzled at the end so I am doing a year in review to inspire me for the upcoming “season”

WCOC aka Oliver Olympic Triathlon

Swim: 1500 m  Bike: 40 km  Run:  10 km

TIME: 3:50:05

I had high hopes for this Olympic distance triathlon, but I was not prepared for the open water swim in early May. There is no way I could be prepared for it we only started being able to swim in the lake the week before….The only thing that kept me going was the support of family and friends. Mom and Dad and Mer out on the bike route, Anna on the run course, Gary running me in to the finish, Mike and Heather  and Coach Kev at the finish, tri buddies along the way, and of course Mark everywhere (not laughing as I was bawling after a horrible swim).  I think I will need to revisit this one with some lake swimming under my belt.

Man of Steel: Rec. Division

Bike: 10 km  Swim: 400 m  Run: 5 km

TIME: 00:58:23      1st Place

This was a great race right from the beginning. All of my indoor training in the fall and spring really paid off. I got on my bike and took off like a shot. Hills that would have bogged me down in the past were like ant hills, not Hillbourne  of course it is still hilly The swim was kinda meh, I am not a great swimmer without a good warm up and it was a pool swim with next to no warm up, did okay though. Now the run was awesome. This is where my competitive streak came out, I googled my closest competitor to check what her 5 km run time was on a similar course. I am not proud of it but it kept me going and I had a goal to beat. I was lucky to have my friend Heather to run with and she pushed me hard. Later she told me she was pushing hard too. I ran a great time on a hilly hot course and I was so happy with the race. Best of all a bunch of my buddies were in the race too. Such a fun sport. Gotta do it again this year and see if I can knock some more time off. I know Bryn is gunning for me.

Peachland Beach Run

5 km

TIME: 00:24:13   4th in my age group

Heather and I decided to run together in the beginning and then see what happened as the race developed. I guess I ran a bit faster than she expected because we got a fast start to the race and since it was only 5 km we kept bookin’ it. She pulled away from me but I was able to keep her in my sights. I had another couple of ladies that I tried to keep up with and that spurred me on. When I crossed the finish line I couldn’t believe that I had knocked over 3 min off my last years time, in which I came 4th as well. All depends who shows up for the race…

Across the Lake Swim Kelowna

2.1 km open water

TIME: 00:44:45  (my goal was 45 min)

I was really quite nervous about this event. I felt a lot better about the concept of swimming across a large open water distance after having some lake swimming practice, but it was still daunting. As I was swimming I really worked on my spotting and trying to swim in the straightest most efficient manner. During the middle portion of the swim I got worried that I was really off course or last because I could see anyone around me, it turns out that I was right on course and a whole heck of a lot of people were way off course, like floating towards the bridge off course. While I wasn’t thinking about spotting I was focusing of swim techniques in order to not think about what was lurking beneath. Great experience I’ll probably do it again.

Summerland Sprint Triathlon

Swim: 750 m (slightly short)  Bike: 20 km  Run: 5 km (slightly long)

TIME:  1:24:12    21 min faster than last year!

This was a great race. While I was racing it there were times when I questioned WTF am I doing? As I watch the time and I knew that I was going to beat my last years time handily I became very happy. I knew something was amiss when I came out of the water in 12:27 almost 9 min faster than last year. As we would find out there were some technical difficulties with the swim markers. That being said I was still faster on the swim. The bike was close to my goal of riding it in 38 min at 40:30 11 min faster than last year. It was hard transitioning from bike to run and some of the girls I was keeping up to on the bike zipped past me on the run. On the other hand some of the men that had been ahead of me on the bike were now walking and I was passing them. The run times were very close which is not much of a surprise as running was my “specialty” last year. I did improve my time by 1:15, plus we think the run was a tad longer than last year with some course adjustments.

A great race. I will do it again for sure. I don’t know how much more time I can knock off though…

UBC Fall Classic 1/2 Marathon

21.1 km

TIME: 2:18:13   right in the middle of my goal range

I had no idea of what to expect on the day of the race, I had been suffering with IT band, knee and hip pain for a couple of weeks and I wasn’t able to get my long run past 17 km without a ton of pain. I went to physio and massage and just rested and hoped.  On the day of the race it was -3 plus the windchill and there was ice on the ground! I started off conservatively and by 3 km I was feeling okay despite almost wiping out on the icy slight downhill. Who did I see on the side of the road? Mark, he had pulled up with sore calf and could not continue at the pace he had been running. Lucky me, he decided to pace me until he couldn’t run any further, and double lucky me he was able to run the whole thing. The distance really wasn’t that bad. Near the end I was getting a bit antsy and I just wanted to be done. Mark stopped to pick up a wrapper I had dropped and I popped on my headphones and found the running demon within. I just started booking it. I started to reel in target runners. The guy in the green shirt gotcha! 2:20 goal lady gotcha, lady with twins we chatted with at 12 km in who dropped us at the aid station gotcha.

Doesn’t matter that I could barely walk or lower myself to a seated position for 2 days after I am so happy with my result. I would like to do it again better trained, uninjured and in warmer weather. In other words perfect conditions, oh and a tailwind both ways if you don’t mind.

Here is to a great 2011. Fitness, happiness and camaraderie.

Love,

Betty

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I am a bit behind in posting here….Life gets away on ya sometimes.

Way back in July,  Canada day to be exact, we ran the Peachland Beach Run 5 km. This is a race that our friends make a point to do every year and we are starting to make it a tradition too. There was a change over in management of the race so a few things went a bit squirrley but I am sure they will have them ironed out for next year.

The great part was that I managed to run my best 5 km time ever. This is a wonderfully flat course  and I had my friend Heather as a rabbit to keep in view. My time last year was 27:19 and this years time was 24:13 a whopping 3:06 faster, big improvement on a 5 km race, 4th in my age group. I would have to really learn to boogie to drop that much time again.

Mark did really awesome too 19:04 first in his age group.

I know it is not all about the times and medals,but if it were just running for fun it wouldn’t be called a race. A little bit of healthy competition is good for you.

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Life lessons come at you when you least expect it and probably most need them. I didn’t want to go running at the track tonight but when I got there I notice a lady walking, slowly but surely around the track with an unsteady gait. Watching her gave the motivation to keep going with the workout.
At the end of my run I gave her a thumbs up and told her she looked strong, she returned the compliment. When she stopped walking she really started to wobble. We walked around the track for my cool down, she shared that she has a neuro/muscular disease and she walks 12 laps and rides her bike for 12 more to help keep her muscles working well. I have no limitations other than those that are formed in my mind.
Thank you for the inspiration when I needed it Colleen aka lady at the track

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After the toil and turmoil that was my last race I was leery to sign up for anything else for a while. Then along came this multistage, spaced out through the day, less than a sprint tri race (10 km bike, 400 meter swim, 5 km run). Hmmm maybe I should do it. Okay I’ll sign up.

The order of this race is a bit kooky since they have a town festival going the same day. The bike is first so the roads can be cleared of riders before the normal, sane people are out of bed. It was a bit chilly so I kept my team jacket on. They started the riders off in two waves, the first wave was the group that was doing the longer version of the race called the Man of Steel (30km bike, 800 m swim and a 10 km run) the kind of irritating thing is that they did not adjust the time of the second wave by the 2 minutes or so that we waited to begin. As you see I am getting a bit competitive, no timing chips in this local fun race. Mark reminded me that all of my direct competition was at the same time disadvantage. The bike went really, really  well. I was able to surge ahead and keep up with some teenager types. I felt good and I knew it was only a 10 km ride, hilly though, and I had promised Mark that I would leave it all out on the course. According to my watch I did the 10 km in 19:34. Really happy since there is a pretty skookum hill in the middle of it.

Next came the swim. But first is the waiting around, as the events are separated by many hours. I knew that several of the ladies in my category were much stronger swimmers than me (wink Taryn, Bryn) so I just had to try my best. The challenge with most short distance events for me is that I need a fair amount of time to warm up and then I do well. 400 meter swim I can do that without drowning, sure. I got in and warmed up for a couple of lengths  and then started swimming. I felt like what my coach has described as the “crazy dog” too fast of stroke turn over, gasping breaths, and getting nowhere fast. My “turns” were terrible, did I mention this part was in the pool? I probably wasted 30-60 seconds with my turns. Oh well I got it finished and I wasn’t the slowest, not that I am competitive or anything.

After the swim I had a pretty good chance of getting a top 3 place, there were 8 participants in this category. I am ashamed to say that I googled the other lady who was close to my time to see what her 5 km run time was like. Again, competitive much? She had a fairly similar time to mine so it would just depend on how the run went.

My lovely friend Heather ran along with me in the run, I know pacing is wrong but you can’t have your medal back. Besides she said that was close to a PB for her on that course too. About half way through the race we had the dark horse behind us at a safe distance. From then we just booked it and tried to get the fastest time we could get. I was very pleased with the time and I definitely think that I left it all out there on the course. Time 29:08 I believe. Sub 30 min on  this hot and hilly course at the end of the day made me very happy.

My finish time was 58:23 sub 1 hour. With this time I was able to secure first place, something I have never seen before. Over the moon!!!! My hilarious friend Bryn came a close second with 44 seconds separating up. She totally killed the run knocking almost 10 min of her previous time. I gotta watch out for her.

I have to remind myself on those hard training days with the gang that are all more experience, lighter, stronger… that all my hard work with them pays off in spades when I bring my fitness level back to my peer group and as my coach said “crush the field”. he he he . That might be a bit braggy sounding for me but my new competitive self really likes the sound of it.

I have some great news about my latest 5 km race to share with you next time.

Cheers

Betty

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Here is the third and final portion of my harrowing first attempt at an Olympic distance triathlon, the run edition.

After getting off the bike I knew how I would feel, my legs would be wobbly and feel like lead and my spirit would still be a bit down. Knowing these things I just got off my bike and started pulling off my cycling gear. I popped on my new runners with my “go faster” elastic laces, which are the total bomb by the way.

Off I go and the first part is an up hill, one of the few hills on this course. Hmmm not feeling too bad when are the lead legs going to come? … BOOM there they are. Just keep running, running, running. Got about a km in to the run and I needed to walk. Now I don’t like to walk in a running race, in fact it irritates me to walk and it irritates me when others walk and then end up beating me, but that is my own head trash. Part of the reason I don’t like to walk is that it is so hard to get myself motivated to get running again. For the first lap of the 5 km route I did a lot of run/walking. Near the end of the first loop Mark met up with me because he thought something had happened to me, like I had quit or something. He walked along side me for a while which just made me get choked up and I thanked him for the moral support but let him go on his way because I couldn’t stop crying. Weird!

The second loop was much better. I was able to run a more than walk  and I even started to pass a couple of people. I kept a couple in my sights but I wasn’t able to catch up to them. All in all not a great example of my running ability, but then again it is not just a running race it is a triathlon and all of the disciplines influence each other. I wonder if I had not had such a brutal time in the swim if I would have had more psychological “energy” for the bike and run?

As I was coming up to the last corner I saw a mirage… One of my teammates (Gary S) was walking around the bend. He was coming to look for me. He stuck by me and encouraged me to keep running, bring it home. For some reason his presence didn’t make me cry.  He even called ahead to let someone know that I was almost at the home stretch. Coming down the finish chute was such a great feeling! I actually finished a race that I thought was over from the start. As I crossed the finish line I saw all of my friends and family there cheering me on and I teared up once again, such an emotional day, my goodness. I think I always have the best cheering group on any race. Mark, Mom, Dad, Meredith, Mike and Heather.

If I ever wonder if paying for coaching is a good idea when I am such a newbie. I should just remember that my coach was at the finish line waiting for the very last one from the team to finish and gave me a big congratulatory hug. We are so lucky to live here in Penticton where we can train with great coaches and swim, bike and run on the Ironman Canada course.

I have a great post brewing about a confidence building race I just participated in. Stay tuned.

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After getting out the the water at the WCOC Oliver Olympic triathlon and stumbling to the transition area I stood by my bike and sobbed. What do I do next… I am freezing, confused, demoralized. I looked up and there was Mark looking over the fence at me, encouraging me to get going, come on, finish this thing. I slowly flung my wetsuit over the rack, donned my bike gear, all the while blubbering. When I thought I was ready I looked up at Mark with a pathetic tear stained face and cried DO I HAVE EVERYTHING ON??? “Yes now get going!”

Of I went in a bit of a crowd with the Sprint distance athletes that had started the swim a considerable time after the Olympic athletes. At least I wasn’t completely alone starting the ride. All was well for a while until we reach the turn around point for the Sprint and all the sudden I was alone…, and I remained alone for the most part of the ride. It is difficult to ride alone, with nobody to catch or stay ahead of, you are truly racing yourself.

I did find that during the first bit of the ride I was still pretty demoralized from the swim experience, and I found myself having odd morbid thoughts. Like if I fell off my bike nobody would look down on me for having to pull out of the race. Having survived the harrowing swim I wasn’t going to let a silly 40km bike ride take me down. Besides I knew my family would be waiting for me along Blacksage road to cheer me on a take my picture. Better practice my smile.

As the ride went on I felt a bit more fluid and I even used the aerobars quite a bit. I even managed to catch up to a couple of people and pass them. I was super happy to round the corner to the transition area once again, but a bit concerned about setting off on the run course. Hello Lead Legs.

Stay tuned for the Run portion.

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