Triathlon Chronicles: Some background on the crazy lady

February 3, 2012

It occurred to me that I should probably start at the beginning with the triathlon journal. I don't want anyone to think I'm some super-athlete or that I have a personal trainer who works out with me daily. Because don't you just hate those people who look fabulous after 15 kids and they act like it's no big deal to spend 4 hours a day in their fully-equipped in-home gym with the personal trainer while the nanny watches the kids and the nutritionist plans all the meals? You know you hate those people. Admit it.

Darth Vader (Trainer From The Dark Side, see previous post) just comes with my gym membership. I've never employed a nanny. I do all my own meal planning, including the restaurant reservations.

I am over 50.

I am short.

I could lose a few pounds. Except I don't weigh myself often, so who knows. I use the time-honored "do my jeans fit" and "too much muffin top?" criteria for weight loss.

I am not a jock in my current or past life, although I was definitely a "tomboy" as a youngster. If you don't know what a "tomboy" is, then you are not old enough to be reading this blog. Seriously.

My training plan - 20 minutes of intervals on the treadmill, followed by various instruments of torture. Cable squat and pull (30 lb) - for knees, hamstrings, quads and biceps. Step work. Overhead body bar (24 lb). Stability ball stuff for hamstrings and core. Band pulls and rotations for arms and shoulders. And the dreaded "v-ups." You know that cheerleader move where they jump up with legs in a V, and the pom-poms pushed down in the V? Yeah that. But on your back with an 8 lb ball instead of the pom-poms. Only Darth could come up with such a chipper visual for that little bit of abdominal "enhanced athletic training technique."

But I don't mean to discourage anyone from trying this! No sir!

Once a week I try to combine 20 minutes on a bike and then 20 minutes on the treadmill, and currently I am still very much in the "Has it been 20 minutes yet?" stage with running especially. And it takes me a day to recover from a bike/run combo. But I have until June, right?