Workout Wednesday: Barf, Shrinkvivor, Triathlon, and the Road to Disney

Well you already know I barfed after my long workout on Sunday. That was a first.

Promptly after that I got goiters the size of softballs in my throat.

We call them goiters but really they're swollen glands and by "we" I mean me and my sister who say, "I got goiters," and we know what we mean.

So now I got goiters. (Boy isn't this a lovely blog post. Who leads off with barf? I do. Twice.)

Apparently after long runs or workouts, your immune system gets really low and you should avoid everyone and everything for up to 72 hours or use hand sanitizer like it's going out of style. Somewhere in that 72 hour window, I got goiters.

So with the goiters, I have an ear infection and it all wants to be bronchitis but I have my antibiotics and I'm taking it easy to nip it before this weekend when I have a sprint triathlon and an 18 mile run. Followed by a kiddie Halloween party at my house and I'm going to be Princess Leia with the cinnamon bun hairdo. Busy weekend. No time for goiters. Definitely no time for bronchitis.

Real quick here, I'll do a quick update on Shrinkvivor (the weight-loss challenge going on over at The Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans).
Dom dom dommmmmmm. (Price Is Right "loser" music played here.)

My team was banished last week to Exhile Island for being the lowest percentage of shrinkers.

Wah wahhhhh.

And if it wasn't last week, it would've been this week for me anyway because I am up an unGodly amount this week from 131 last week to 133 which is just crazy because yesterday I was down to 130 and was actually looking at a loss for this week! So how would it be that 3 pounds showed up for me this morning?

I'll give you a guess who showed up bringing those 3 pounds in her backpack. You're welcome. I still don't know why it was 3 POUNDS. She apparently doesn't travel light. I'm not worried. The three pounds will be gone by tomorrow. Ish.

Beyond that, I'd like to give my husband a huge shout out for kicking some serious butt at his first Olympic distance triathlon in a murky lake on Sunday!

Although it does look sort of pretty.

Until the swimmers kick and the splashes are all green and brownish then it's not pretty no more. And just know that there's alligators in there too. Yuck. Better all of them than me!

But he did great! Congratulations honey!

And then my camera failed as he crossed the finish line because I'm that awesome.

Next week, I'll be starting my newest feature called "Road to Disney (with a Pit Stop in Miami)" where I will be writing specifically about my Disney Marathon training each week (and my half-iron training which is really all just more preparation for Disney), from nutrition to hydration and the experimentation heretowith. So if you're ever interested in running a half or a whole marathon, stick around so you can learn from my mistakes!

Have a great day!

ps. I reviewed my favorite people ever, Girlz N Gear, over at the Sisterhood this week, so go to there and enter into the giveaway, mkay?

Workout Wednesday: A Last Minute Shrinkvivor Post

I'm taking a much needed break at 9:48 at night to post about my current state of workouts and my current state of weight because I am in the middle of a bathroom remodel, I've been painting and sanding and texturing all day (yes I'm Handy Manny and yes the color I chose is somewhat of a highlighter color but I swear it looks good with the shower curtain and I swear you won't need sunglasses to see it once it's all done.)

(Ps. Does all of this count as calorie burning? I sure hope so.)

I wrote about my crazy 16 mile run on Sunday (in which there was crying) and of which just so happened to coincide with the challenge of racking up the miles at the Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans, so coupled with my 6 mile run on Thursday, I ran 22.5 miles last week (.5 of warmup). Hurrah!

Also I weighed in this morning at exactly the same as last week, 131.5.

I know. I'm not making much progress on this challenge.

But I'm literally just focused on getting through the workouts, the next long one is a 50 mile bike/10 mile run on Sunday and it has me scared.

Scared because I haven't a clue how I will fit it in with all the stuff going on this weekend and scared because UM, IT'S A 50 MILE RIDE AND A 10 MILE RUN. (Remind me again, who does this?!)

But I've gotten through these crazy things before. It ain't pretty usually. But it gets done. I am sure it will be my Mantra Monday focus next week and I'm sure I won't be able to refrain from posting about it.

I hope everyone has an awesome week! Off to finish painting! By this time tomorrow, I'll even have a working toilet in there!

Workout Wednesday: Race Recap + Shrinkvivor

It feels pretty good to have finally had a great half-marathon I am still riding that high. My official time was 2:22, beating out San Diego's half marathon which was 2:36.

SQUEE!

I went with two girls from my tri group and we just had so much fun. There were so many people at the Disney Wine & Dine Half-Marathon, it was like Woodstock. Only without the mud and the drugs. So I guess not at all like Woodstock, but still.

We had our tutus, our stripey socks and our blinking tiaras.

It was a little weird doing a race at 10 at night because what on earth do you eat all day?!

I tried my best to pair protein with carbs and then around 5, we stumbled upon a Sweet Tomatoes which was magically delicious! A little salad, a little pasta... perfection!

We had to take a bus from the hotel to the start of the race where we got warmed up (and tutu met porta-potty) and then it was race time.

I don't have much to say about the race because I feel like I danced through the whole thing. I had my music on and I sang and at the mile markers I threw my hands in the air (and got tangled in my tiara once) and around mile 9 when it started to hurt, I ate a gel and put on some hardcore music and then at mile 11 when it got hard again, we were going through Hollywood Studios and we were passing all the stops and attractions I had made earlier in the year with my family and best friend's family and so my family and friends kept me going through mile 11 in my head.

The last mile I sprinted as hard as I could and got choked up because I knew I had beaten my other times by far (no porta potty stops during the race will do that) and I cried at the finish.

Hurrah!

And that picture, by the way is not at all how I felt inside.

After I crossed the finish, they lost my bag that I checked and my stomach was really angry with me and I couldn't take part in the wine or the dine part of the race. My insides were wrecked (you're welcome). But those things don't matter! I was still on some sort of a high no matter what.

They eventually found my bag (Dear Disney, better organization system for next year for 12,000 bags, m'kay? Bags laying all over the floor does not work.) And we hit the sack by 4:30 a.m.

The next day (or the same day, rather) there was a late checkout and a Shoney's breakfast buffet involved.

The end.

Which ironically brings me to the Shrinkvivor challenge. I'm up a pound. I won't blame the race, I'll blame the bacon.

My bad.

Looks like I'm staring at a trip to Exile Island.

But I'm ok with that. I have just over 4 weeks to go to Miami-Man and soon after that I'll be finished training for the Disney Marathon so things are just getting started for me, really. Onward down the road to Disney!

Shrinkvivor: Don't Look at My Grout

Hi, yes, can I have a 64 ounce bottle of water, actually, make that two 64 ounce bottles of water, and some Gas-X please?

Thankssomuch.

I worked out like a fiend since last Wednesday, ran, biked, swam, biked, ran, swam, biked, ran, ran and ran again, I have managed to do minimal birthday party celebration damage and have only managed to lose 1/2 a pound although if you handed me a Sam's Club box of GasX and a couple a jugs of water, I might all of a sudden become less bloated and it would miraculously be more.

You're welcome.

I know what's coming. And I don't have to tell you what it is. But it's why I've only managed to lose 1/2 a pound this week and my midsection is screaming.

(Don't look at my grout, I said!)

So, in sum, minus 1/2 pound for the Shrinkvivor Challenge at the Sisterhood and it didn't matter how many times I stepped on the scale, stepped off and tried again later, this is what it was. There was no changing that scale's mind. I'm ok with this.

So I'm just hanging out over here staying the course and hoping not to get voted off to Exile Island! How did you do?

Workout Wednesday: Shrinkvivor!

I'm really excited about this! I'm participating in the new weight-loss challenge at the Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans and it's going to be like a virtual "Survivor!"

But not.

Because it's called, "SHRINKvivor." OOOh. Clever. The brains behind the Sisterhood really came up with some good stuff this time!

All the participants are divided up into tribes and I'm on Tribe Turquoise. Each week we weigh-in and someone gets voted off for whatever reason and sent to "Exile Island" (well not really since we all have jobs and families and things to attend to, this is just a fake Exile Island) to finish out the remainder of the competition. Someone can also win from Exile Island too! But mainly, we're going to have fun with this. There are cool prizes up for grabs, we'll be vlogging in our Shrinkvivor-wear and we'll be doing fitness challenges for immunity and everything. (You can read more about it here.)

I'll be posting my updates on Wednesdays and if you care, you can track my progress and whether or not I make it through each torch ceremony or whatever it will be called to continue the competition. Or if I get sent away. (Please don't vote me off, please????) I am thinking it's time to revive my pathetic attempt at the 100 Pushup Challenge, too.

I will be taking pictures of my weight each week. Yes. Fine. Fine. I'll publish it here *she says while looking through her fingers*.

So now you know.

Starting weight: 131.5.

In all of it's desperate-need-of-a-pedicure glory.

And if you must know, I've been scaling back on "services" which include mani-pedi's because I can't justify the $50 lately when I can do it myself and besides I tear up my feet with all the running and biking and well, as you can see, doing it myself is really working out for me.

I'm going to own it, people.

My goals for the challenge:

-At least 6.5 pounds in 8 weeks (or less than 125).

-Check off each workout on calendar (after doing it! I can't just check it off whenever I want to!)

-Add strength and core training (including 100 Pushup Challenge)

-Minimize restaurant eating and alcohol intake

-Drink lots and lots of water.

So that's it. Wish me luck!