Update ;)

Ok, I haven't posted in this blog lately, but that doesn't mean we've given up on our training!! :) We last swam on the 24th (Christmas Eve, check out that dedication!) and went to the gym for a long cardio session (me) and weight session (Jer) last night. I am also on my way to the gym as we speak! I love vacation time and being able to go to the gym during the daytime! :)

Happy New Year (almost!), everyone! I promise to have some kinds of workout-related, or fitness-related resolutions to share in a few days!! :)

Whew...

Well, I haven't done much better....but this week was a little better in the way of working out...Sunday and Monday we went to the gym together and swam. Tuesday we wussed out. Can't remember why exactly, probably some lame excuse ;). I got off work around 6:30 and we went to try a new Mexican restaurant in town (Jeremy had eaten there twice and loved it)...great so we didn't work out AND we ate out ;). Lovely! Wednesday we went to the gym after having dinner at his parents' house. Jer did weights and I did 65 minutes of cardio on one of those machines that is kind of like an elliptical, but provides more of a total-body workout. I am not sure what they are called...but you can do wonders with the resistance, etc., and I think it really does provide a decent workout. Last night I fell asleep around 7:30 and was in and out of consciousness for the rest of the evening. Pathetic? Yes! I am fully aware. Not sure what hit me, I have been shaking a cold/virus/sinus infection/whathaveyou for the past month (since October 22nd, actually!!), so I am sure that has something to do with the fatigue. Also, per my doctor at my appointment this morning, I have a B12 deficiency...and he said that contributes to fatigue. So, I am starting some supplements. Hope it helps! After the dr. appointment this morning I did go to the gym...and did 65 minutes on the elliptical at various inclines and resistances. It felt good :).
Ok, enough out of me. In summary, I have been lazy ;), but at least I have been to the gym the past 4/6 days. Next week will be more productive. Right?!

Back from a break

Well...we took a small hiatus from working out :). Thursday (Thanksgiving) morning we left for "home"...my parents' house in the Quad Cities. We stayed there until Saturday afternoon. We had hoped to get back to Bloomington in enough time to have time to swim Saturday afternoon, but we didn't :(...we had to be at our good friends' home for a birthday party....Sarah turned 30 and we celebrated in style ;). SO, we went 3 days without working out...and of course, eating more than usual. BLAH! What a recipe for disaster! Or, at least, a recipe for feeling yucky ;). We did, though, make it to the pool today...and it was great :). We did follow up that swim with a big dinner at Jeremy's parents house. It was great to see them...and of course the dinner was very delicious. I am still far too stuffed! :)
We WILL be better this week! We really, really will.

Friends!...and laziness

My friend from work, Jillian, informed me that she wants to train for and particiate in the triathlon Jeremy and I decide to do next spring/summer as well! It would be great to have a female companion during the race...since I know Jeremy and I won't stay together (most likely!). Jillian is a lot of fun, too :). We ran the Easter Seals Run the Woods 5k together in October. It was a lot of fun to have her to talk to during the race!

We really need to get serious about our training, though. We kind of slacked off this week. In my opinion, I am in crappy shape. I was in much better shape during graduate school when I actually had more time to work out. Gosh, that's a weird thought! In grad school I thought I was just SO busy...and Jeremy always teased me and told me I had NO idea and that I should just wait until I got into the "real world" and started working...then I would KNOW what stress and busy-ness were REALLY like! ;) Well, as is typical, he was right!!

I need to make working out a bigger priority. I am definitely not in terrible shape...I can hold my own. However, I am not where I would like to be...and definitely not where I want to be pre-pregnancy! I want to be in the healthiest shape of my life before adding a baby to my belly ;)...and, in my opinion, I have a long way to go...

Oh, and tomorrow's Thanksgiving. Harumph. Maybe the healthy eating part will start Friday. Or how about waiting until after the weekend...we are going to a birthday party Saturday night! ;) HA!

Excuses, excuses...

Stop it, Rachel!!!

{Sigh}

We just got back from another pool workout. This swimming stuff is hard work! Tonight I just did 24 laps...again, I think our pool is 25 yards so this would be 1200 meters. It took me 45 minutes and of course I had a few breaks in there. My friends Jami and Abbey were in the cardio room at the gym and came into the pool area to say hi. And, of course, Jeremy and I chatted a bit as well. I am exhausted, though! I feel like it's a great workout. However, I also feel pretty clueless about what the best things to do during a swimming workout are! I did some reading on random triathlon websites and saw that it's good to obviously practice the obvious strokes, but also to do laps of just arms/just legs. So, I throw some of that in there. Honestly, most of what I do is a crapshoot. I do informally check my heartrate every now and then just to be sure I am actually working ;), and it does in fact appear that I am...so I guess that's a good thing!
It's fun to be embarking on this new adventure together. I am glad we both have interest in this...and value staying in shape, both for ourselves and each other :).
Honestly, a good motivator too is the fact that the only times in the past 2 days that I have been able to breath without blockages in my sinuses was during my swims! We swam last night around 7 and tonight around 9. It was glorious to be able to breathe! Of course, though, my sinuses are getting full again. Gross! Oh, winter!

An initial goal!

Well, after some perusing...I think I found our first triathlon...so now we have a goal date to shoot for!

Tri the Illini

This tri is on May 2nd...and the best part is, the swimming portion is IN A POOL! :)

Another bonus...it is in Champaign, which is about an hour from our home. That's not too bad at all! :)

Can we do it?

Surviving Swimming Day Two!

Well...I just got back from the gym! I completed day two in the pool. This is new, so it's a lot of fun right now. A lot of fun...but still hard! Today I swam 25 laps (50 lengths). I think our pool is 25 meters...so that means I swam 1250 meters. Not to shabby, but of course I have a long way to go! I am fully aware that I am in NO way ready to swim in a triathlon! The whole idea of swimming in a pond/lake really freaks me out...but I know I'll work up to it. I WILL do it! :) Jeremy didn't join me today...he watched the Bears/Packers game. Tomorrow, though, we'll go to the gym together.

I feel tired, but great!

HOLY COW!

We just got back from swimming (I haven't been in a pool for SO LONG!!)...we just did about 30 minutes worth of laps...and I AM DEAD! Seriously. That is hard work! They don't call it a total body workout for nothing! Sheesh! I am not exactly in the greatest shape of everyone...but I'm not in terrible shape, either! I work out fairly consistently (other than this week...which blew). Seriously though, I do cardio 3-5x/week and weights 2-3 times per week. Wow...this killed me though! In a good way...I feel great!! :)

Silly me

Ok, I realize the excessive blogs is kinda silly. But I don't care! Really, I can type a gazillion words a minute...so I don't waste too much time blogging! ;) I really do like writing. So, whatever ;).

A while ago Jeremy and I decided we are going to start training for a triathlon together. Really! We've run a number of road races together, starting in the summer of 2005 (most notably the Bix which we do in late July each summer). This summer we made a big purchase together...we each got a brand new Trek roadbike! We started training on our bikes until it got too cold.

Jeremy started the swimming leg of our "training" this week...and in what is NOT true Rachel fashion (really!), I haven't been able to join him yet this week! In fact, I only worked out once...back on Monday (it is SATURDAY!). Egads! It has been a crazy week...really. Ok, ok...I shouldn't make excuses...BUT on Tuesday we had dinner at Jeremy's parents' house and then had to go grocery shopping to get items to make cookies for Jeremy to bring to work on Wed and items to make dinner for friends Wed; Wednesday I had 3 girl friends over for dinner (a joint "birthday party"; Thursday we had dinner with Jeremy's friends Adam and Ken and their girlfriends (well, Ken's girlfriend is a fiancee ;) ), and last night we had Adam and Jami over for our mock "Thanksgiving" dinner. Whew! I am gonna turn into a regular little fatty!

Well, tonight I am joining Jeremy in the pool. Here I come! I just shaved my legs (HATE doing this in the winter!) and am gonna head over there...he's gonna join me when he gets home from work!

Ok, I should go finish getting ready! I plan to update this with our training trials and tribulations...wish us luck on our road to our first tri!