Training for a Triathlon and a Duathlon.

Two of my major goals this year are these:  Doing a Sprint Triathlon this year faster than I did the one last year.  Doing an entire Duathlon all by myself.  I would also like to fit in either another Sprint Triathlon in August, or find an Olympic Triathlon somewhere and do that.  My Sprint Distance Tri is this:  Swim 600 Yards, Bike 15 miles then run a 5K.  The Duathlon is this:  Run 1.2 miles, Bike 15, then run 3 miles!

Part of my training is done with a friend named Deb.  On June 15th will be her very first Sprint Triathlon and my 2nd.  I get up at 4:30 in the morning to get dressed to ride to the North Liberty Recreation Center which is 9.11 miles away.  Then we swim for about 20-25 minutes, then I ride with her to her work, then I ride home.  Total distance for me is about 22-23 miles on the bike depending on the route I take.

I am running 2-4 times a week, teaching Zumba only once a week since my ankle doesn't like the lateral movement I cut my classes from 4 a week to only 1 and during that 1 I wear a couple ankle braces at once.

I also teach Body Sculpt 4 times a week. In that class you do everything from a massive amount of squats, to planks, pushups, burpees, crunches, lifting weights for several different muscle groups and also using the exercise ball, medicine ball and resistance bands.  I do something different in every class to get an all over muscle conditioning workout.

I'm hoping that by keeping up this crazy schedule that I'll be super fit by June 15th when I do the Triathlon and then the Duathlon is on July 13th.

Right now I weigh 149 and this is up last year by 6 pounds.  However it's down from the 162 pounds I went up to in January of 2013 during my massive ankle injury that happened back on October 26th, so I feel great that I've lost 13 pounds, but seriously need to take the other 6 off and continue to tone.

With hard work and dedication to my goals I know I can continue to get fitter and stronger.  The lowest weight I've been since having my 6 children is 137 and I felt amazing at that point, so I'm wondering if I'll ever see that weight again.  Time will tell. Either way weight is only a number, it is really all about how you feel, what your blood pressure, pulse and cholesterol numbers are.  I donate plasma twice a week so this is a time I get to have my blood pressure and pulse taken along with my protein and hematocrit levels measured in my blood.  Lately my Blood pressure has been 120 over 70 so I love that.  My pulse tends to be around 66-70.

What I have learned in 9 years of working out is this:  You are never too old to try new fitness goals and achieve them.  Keep working hard each day, eat right as often as possible, and you will feel better.