There's a shoe for that.

One of the million questions I have about my first sprint triathlon is... What kind of shoes do I wear?  Is there a specific type of shoe for the bike/run portion of the race?  Yes, there is.  It should to be a shoe where I won't have to deal with socks, nor laces, and can wear while biking and running.  After some research, I found the company Zoot, a Hawaii based company who specializes in gear for swimming, biking and running.

I ordered these yesterday, and they came today (thank you Zappos for your lightning fast delivery!).  I put them on and gave them a test run on the treadmill.  Quite comfortable after a mile run, even without socks.  It will take some getting used to, but overall I like them.  We'll see how the shin splints like em.  :)

Excuses, excuses...

Boy, did I try to think of every reason in the book to NOT workout today.  I have orders to fill, I have to go to the post office, I have dishes piled high (ya, like that's EVER been a priority), the list went on.  But the little voice in my head kept saying "all you need is 20 minutes"!

So that's all it took.  I ran a mile, a slow 12 minute mile, and walked a little before and after.  Poof, I'm done with my workout for the day.  Not a lot, but just enough to stay on schedule. 

Speaking of schedule, I'm still trying to figure out which training schedule I'm going to stick with.  I'll post once I do.

I'm doing it again...

No, I'm NOT having another baby!!  But just to fill you in since my last post on this blog, I did give birth to a healthy baby boy on August 31, 2010.  Brendan is a bundle of joy ready to play with his big brothers, Nathan and Ryan.

But, what I am going to do is a triathlon.  I know, after the half marathon I did in Las Vegas in December of '09 I swore I had challenged myself enough and I'd never do another one again.  But, like the title of the blog says, I'm HEALTHY, BECAUSE I CAN.  I'm 34, I have my health, I'm physically able, so I'm going to do it.

Yesterday, on the first day of the new decade, I registered for the Omaha Women's Triathlon.  This is a sprint triathlon which means it is shorter than a typical trithlon... the sprint triathlon will consist of a 750 m swim (in a lake, yikes!), about a 12 mile bike, and a 5K run.  Although I am a swimmer, I am a little freaked about swimming in open water (piranhas, ah!!).  I think I'll get over my fear by doing this triathlon.  I ran the 13.1 mile half marathon, so a 5K is a welcome change... although it is the last leg of the race so it very well might FEEL like 13.1 miles.  The part I'm most worried about is a) learning how to use the gears on a bike, and b) the transition from the swim to the bike portion of the race.  The pros already have their shoes attached to the bike!  I don't know if I'm coordinated enough for that.  We'll see.  Oh, and I don't even have a bike yet.  Well, I have my girly beach cruiser but I don't think that will suffice.

I have about 22 weeks to pull it all together.  When I trained for the half marathon I started from scratch.  So that's what I'll be doing this time around, too.  I hope to keep updating the blog, I'd love to have a record of my training.  Maybe someone else who is considering a triathlon for the first time could find some inspiration here.  Maybe.

Here we go...

31 Weeks

Alright, so I've been majorly slacking in the photo journaling I was so gung ho about. I'm now 31 weeks and I have three photos to show for it. Oh well, guess that what happens with the third pregnancy. Poor kid doesn't even have a name yet.

The second trimester was a breeze, went very smoothly. The third, however, is taking it's toll on my energy for sure. Actually, what energy?? Not to mention the tossing and turning (and pee'ing) all night long. I can't complain too much though because the baby is growing right along just as he should (have I mentioned that it's another boy?).

We are anxiously awaiting your arrival, little guy. And I promise I'll have a name for you soon. :)

18 Weeks

Today marks the 18th week of pregnancy #3. I decided to do another photo journal as the weeks go by. I did it with my second pregnancy, it's cool to look back and see how much I grow from week to week. I wish I would have thought to do it with my first.

So far, only five pounds gained. Which doesn't seem right at all, but that's what the doctor's scale says so I'll take it. I haven't been exercising as often as I should. I did go to the gym a few times last week and even did a some laps in the pool on Saturday. But gosh, I hardly have the energy to do anything these days. Chasing after my two boys seems to tire me out enough.

Despite the lack of energy, I am very happy to say the first trimester queezy-ness is gone. I now have quite a manly appetite. I am hungry ALL of the time, even in between meals. Like, to the point where if I don't eat, I get a little pissed. The hard part is making sure I don't over do it on cookies (those Girl Scouts!) and other not so good for me foods.

I have an appointment next week. I'm hoping we'll find out the sex. Will it be another boy? Or will our mom's get their wish and finally add a girl to our little family? We shall see.

Here we go again!

OK, I'm gonna switch gears a little on this blog for now. For the last few months I've been writing a little about my half marathon training. I could not have run that race a better time in my life. I trained hard. But now, it seems I won't be running anywhere for the next 7 months or so. Only two weeks after running the race, guess what I found out??

I'm P R E G N A N T !

Let me tell you, I am very excited. Now that the shock of it all has worn off. Mike and I had decided after the birth of our second son, Ryan, that we are done having kids. Our family is complete. Deep down, I always wanted to have more, but was also more than content with my two beautiful boys.

So, needless to say, this pregnancy was very unplanned! In fact, I was even on the pill. How's that for meant to be? At the moment, and presumably for the next 7 months or so, I've got pregnancy on the brain. Which is to say that Nathan and Ryan are going to be big brothers and I'm about 12 weeks pregnant and I can't stand not talking about it anymore!

Morning sickness (all day sickness, really) is in full effect. I'm hoping it's at its peak and will start to subside soon. It's still relatively early in the pregnancy, I know. But I feel so blessed, I can't NOT share. And if anything, God forbid, did go wrong with this pregnancy, I'd want to talk about that too.

So here we go again!