Couch to ATHLETE!

I just returned to Columbus from a very busy weekend in Chicago. I was able to hang out with a lot of great people, go to a wedding, attend the cross town classic (although my Cubbies lost) AND participate in the MetLife Duathlon on a relay team with my mom. The race included a 2 mile run, 11 mile bike, and another 2 mile run. My mom did the bike and I have to say she did AWESOME!!! It was her first event ever and I was very proud to be on her team when she crossed the finish of the bike portion. I gave her a hug, grabbed the chip and ran. I have this mental problem with running. Whenever I do an event it is very "easy" to convince myself to complete the entire event, however when I'm running on the treadmill at the Y I can barely finish two miles. About four months ago I could jog 4 miles and then I fell off the band wagon. What I learned from this weekend is that I can in fact run 4 miles, I have not excuses anymore. I just have to do it. I'll take after my mom on ...

Let me start by saying I swear this has a point somewhere in the text... Last weekend I watched the movie Garden State again. I watched it because I couldn't figure out why I enjoyed it so much the first time around. I now remember… So, On this quest to become an athlete I recall times when I've felt so insecure taking a jog down the street because I was too busy wondering what people are thinking rather than patting myself on the back because I’m doing something. Let's face it; there have been times I have been passed up by that lone walker while I am sweating my butt off jogging about four miles an hour. Because I have done a triathlon every year for the past seven years I can tell you there have been years where I trained so hard I have shocked my sister at how well I have done; I've also trained to little that I've shocked myself and how much time I've lost from the previous year. Recently while riding with my cousin David (who is one of my favorite riding b...

If you recall from my last post I was totally pumped up and ready to work towards my triathlon and Century Ride! Well I rode to work like most days on Monday and Tuesday this past week. The first time I hung my head in defeat during this quest to improve myself was Tuesday. I was riding, hit a red light, and stopped. I should mention I was the first person to pull up to the light. I always stay to the right a bit so as to not slow traffic when it begins to flow again. This guy behind me started laying on his horn, rolled down his window and started screaming at me. I couldn't figure out what the problem was. He finally pulled up on the right side of me and started screaming that I was blocking him from turning right. So picture this, he pulled up to my right side before he told me I was blocking traffic. If you think about it, I obviously wasn't blocking him if he was able to pull up on my right. Anyway, he was screaming about bikes, and calling me many names. I flicked him off...

First of all I have to say congratulations to myself for finishing the 62 mile ride yesterday!!! It was one of those experiences where if someone asked me to sum up my experience with just one word, all I would be able to say is IMPOSSIBLE; not the ride but summing it up in one word. I had every emotion and feeling you could possibly have in a 5 1/2 hour period of time. Those emotions included frustrated, angry, happy, sad, ticked off, exhilarated, and on and on and on. The following are a variety of stories based on the feeling I was having at the moment... Nervous When David and I arrived at the high school I looked around and noticed there were not as many people participating in the ride as I would have imagined. Not only were there less people then I thought but the guy who was announcing the race gave this speech and said if you are not feeling very comfortable with a 62 mile ride I want you to let you know this is going to be pretty hard. There are some significant hills. I look...

Tomorrow is the day!!! Saturday June 6, 2009 I will do what my sister calls a metric century. All for a good cause of course. Think of me while you are lounging by the pool, watching TV, doing a triathlon, eating ice cream, or swimming at the water park!!! Stories about the ride coming to a blog near you!!!