Week 4

January 31, 2016

Day 22

Exercise: Run

Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Distance: 8.2 (don't hate on that .2 there on the end. I earned that)

I'm serious about that extra .2 miles. I know it may not seem like a lot to you guys, but if you knew what my legs felt like right now you would be proud of me for pushing it for that extra .2. I'm distinctly proud of it, and I'm leaving it there.

Day 23

Exercise: Swim

Time: 1 hour

Distance: more than 1 lap, less than 100 laps

Tip of the day: spitting in your goggles prevents them from fogging up.

I have no idea why that's true, but it is. Big shout out to David Wills for passing that little piece of advice along. Changed my whole perspective today. Literally. I could see more than five feet in front of me in the water, and it was glorious.

Day 24

Nope. Not today.

I'm sick, so I'm staying in bed today. BUT, I decided that since I won't be exercising today, it would be the perfect time to register for the actual race, so I did (suck it commitment issues).

I will be participating in the Ironman 70.3 in Cambridge, MD on June 12 and the Ironman in Louisville, KY on October 9. LET'S GOOOOOOOOOOO

Day 25

Not today either.

I remember why I hate commitment. Today, I spent a lot of time thinking about the possibility of getting a DNF (did not finish) for the Ironman. You only have 17 hours to finish the entire race, and I find it incredibly strange that I refer to the time as only 17 hours. I mean, that is a long time, but at the rate at which I've been exercising it doesn't seem like nearly enough.

I knew there was a time limit for the race, but the letters DNF really stressed me out yesterday. Lesson of the day: the potential for failure makes the possibility of success that much greater. My fear of failure does not outweigh my desire for success. So yeah, I'm ready for the race. I'm also ready to get out of bed and get back out there. I never thought I would say this, but I miss exercising. Yikes, what is happening to me?

Day 26

Exercise: Bike

Time: 5 minutes

Distance: Several hundred yards

I had the best intentions today when I took a right turn out of my driveway to go for a pleasant bike ride on what was a beautiful day. However, my body was not on board with these intentions, and I almost threw up after riding for maybe two minutes. Everything was going swimmingly for the first minute and a half, but then it hit me, and I was forced to immediately turn around.

Plot twist, I'm still sick, and no matter how much I "miss exercising" (still can't believe I wrote that), I need to be feeling well before I get back out there. I'm going back to bed, but we'll see how it goes tomorrow.

Day 27

Exercise: Run

Time: 40 minutes

Distance: Not very far

Hey, it's me. Remember that time I almost threw up yesterday? Man, that was great. Today, I did not almost throw up. Instead, I decided to go ahead and fully throw up...three times.

Yup, full vomit, barf, up-chuck, etc. right on the side of the road. It was miserable, but there is a silver lining. I only stopped to do the full, hands on my knees, bent over throw up once. The other two times I threw up it barely slowed me down. That's right. I threw up while still maintaining my pace.

I know what you're thinking, "Wow, what an incredible athlete!" and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't thinking the same thing as it happened. I don't often impress myself, but I have to say my ability to coordinate throwing up and running at the same time caught even me by surprise. Turns out, I have previously underestimated my athletic ability. 

Now, I know what you're asking, "How in the world did you do it?" Let me tell you. It's simple. I just turned my body to the left while I was running and hurled over my left shoulder, and yes, it was amazing as it sounds. Did I get a little on my shirt? Yeah. Did it slow me down? Hardly. Am I proud of myself today? Absolutely.

Day 28

OFF (see previous day as for the reason why)

Alright, I'm taking today off and researching different diets, one of which I will start tomorrow. While my ability to throw up while running is impressive, I don't ever want to do it again. Part of the reason I threw up yesterday was because I was sick, but another part of it was that I had leftover pizza and chips and guacamole for lunch. Not my most well-balanced meal.

I've never been on a diet before, so this will be new. Also, I don't know of many diets, but paleo seems to be the one that people brag about the most, so I'll probably do that one. I need to make sure that pop-tarts are a part of the paleo diet first though. If I can't eat pop-tarts, I'm probably out.