An Update & Prelim Bucket Listing...

Good news to share with the update which is surprising considering it’s been a couple of weeks since my last update. I was on vacation last week and was basically away from the blogsphere of the world. I got on the scale this morning and was really amazed. I’m down (drum roll, please!) a total of 22 lbs. as of this morning. Yeah!!



BUT I will admit that yesterday I DID work out what would be considered by some as being excessive. I woke up very early and decided to go for a 3 mile speed walk/run at my local favorite park. Then, I biked into work with a backpack of gear that weigh at least 15 lbs. After work, I biked over to the start of my normal Thursday evening Bike & Brew ride. I thankfully was able to stow my backpack in another bike club member’s car while I rode the 23 mile ride. I ended up having to change a flat tire with 2 miles left on the ride. Not fun at all! Then, I claimed my backpack and biked for home. I totaled 34 miles on the bike for the day.

Last night, I watched the 2007 movie The Bucket List with Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman. Sometimes, I admit I find it amusing that a movie with two older male actors has created somewhat of a phenomenon. Bucket Lists have sprouted everywhere and have become a common theme in quite a few of people’s lives. Then, here is me Ms. List and I don’t have a bucket list.

Part of the reason I always thought was that I don’t want to have a life that’s planned out with goals and things to do. I like having an open-ness to life and feel that life is an adventure. Some of my best remembered moments have been totally unplanned; me just going along for the ride. Sometimes it has been rather hairy but overall it’s been very fulfilling. I’ve done quite a few things that have been on other people’s bucket list. I done half marathons, tri's, indoor skydiving, all kinds of cycling, and various other things.  To sound a bit like a Nike commercial but quite often I just do it and quite often its not planned through as well as it could have been.  For example, the Slow Salty Dog Tri that I did two years ago with only about 2 months worth of training.  OUCH!


But I’m thinking as of late that I could maybe open myself up to doing part of a list. Part of it has been my recent trip to Helena, MT. It has opened my eyes up a bit. There are places I would love to explore a little more if I had the time and there are experiences that I wouldn’t mind having.

Off the top of my head, I have always wanted to see a Cirque Du Soleil show in Vegas but I look at the ticket price and question myself. I also have always thought it would be a wonderful experience to bike the road that goes around Crater Lake. They are not big things and if I really sat down I’m sure I could come up with some more. Maybe I’ll think about this for a little while and come up with my own bucket list. I might even share it.

A Year of Goals in Review...

It’s that time of year when you look back at it and figure out what you really did with it. Often times this can be a bit disappointing in that you don’t always reach those goals that you would have liked to. So here I am almost to year end and reviewing over those goals that I had set for myself at earlier this year.


It looks as though I hit my goals at about 40% of the time but I’ll let you decide. Here’s my goals and here what I did…


1.) Save more money. This I did accomplish but I only managed to save about 65% of the amount that was my saving goal for the year. 15 to 20% of this was due to no new increase in my work wages, in fact my yearly bonuses were down 18%. It was a tough year economically and I must admit that I’m grateful that I have a job. The other part that didn’t help with my saving over the year was my car repairs. But overall, I have enough in savings now for almost 6 months. Not a bad place to be considering how the economy is at current.

2.) Do a half marathon and maybe work towards a full marathon. I did the Salt Lake City Half Marathon in the Spring and then I did the Park City Half Marathon in August. After doing the half marathons I just really do not feel that I have a FULL marathon in me. It’s just too much, and I’m thinking I stick to the half’s or shorter distances. In fact, I’m really finding that I’m enjoying the 5K fun runs. I may try to do more of those in the coming year.

3.) Survive the Slow Salty Dog Tri. Well, we did not do the Slow Salty Dog this year. So this goal did not happen.

4.) Do at least one century bike ride. I didn’t do this. I got as far as a 75 mile bike ride with the intention of riding farther but had bike mechanical issues.

5.) Ride my bike up & over Little Mountain then Big Mountain to East Canyon and then all the way back. The day I attempted this I had a REALLY off day, and later I discovered that I had a rear brake pad that was rubbing BIG time. I made it to the top of Big Mountain and turned around.


And here are some interesting stats from the year….

384.75 miles running

1472 miles cycling

4.5 miles swimming

57 books read --- Oh how I am enjoying my Nook!

By the way..... HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Quarterly Year Reflections...

Back in January, I set some goals for myself in 2010 and here it is all ready the last day in April. I can’t help but pause for a bit and reflect on my progress so far on those goals. (It’s also a S-L-O-W-W Friday afternoon here at work.) So here are the goals and some reflection on my progress so far.




1- Save More Money- This goal has been progressing quite well, and I really feel a sense of accomplishment from that. From each paycheck, I have been putting about 15-20% into my savings account. With what I was able to save towards the end of last year and combined with this year so far, I have started having a bit of a nest egg. It’s not a really big nest egg but enough that if I lost my job tomorrow I could survive almost 4 months. (This also probably shows how small my income is that I can all ready save enough for 4 month wroth of living.) But all in all I find that rather eases my mind especially when you just don’t know what is going to happen with the economy the way it is right now. I have heard of people that have been years at a position that would be considered “secure” and they’ve been handed the pink slip. So I feel like I’ve got a bit of a buffer zone now. That’s good.

2- Do a half marathon in the Spring and maybe work towards a full in late Summer- I finish my first half marathon on the 17th of this month. I accomplished part of this goal so far. BUT I really have to question myself whether I REALLY want to do a full marathon. After finishing the half marathon, I couldn’t see myself really wanting to do a full one. The half marathon took enough out of me. A full marathon? I think it might be the death of me!?! I am signed up to do another half marathon this August up in Park City. I would like to try to be better prepared for my second half marathon. So I guess in a way this goal is being tweaked just a little bit. Two half marathons in a year, and see if I can improve my performance on the second half marathon. I feel that’s very doable.


3- Survive and maybe do better on the Slow Salty Dog Tri-  I don’t think there’s going to be another Slow Salty Dog Tri this year. Diane has been experiencing injuries and I just couldn’t imagine trying to do this event without her or on my own. And, the thought of signing up for an official event just does not appeal to me. Too competitive for me and too expensive.

4- Do at least one century bike ride-   The bike season is finally starting here “somewhat”. I say "somewhat" because it’s been snowing and raining off and on for the last two days here. I did however manage to get in a 38 mile bike ride in this last Sunday. It was a good ride with a fair amount of climbing.  I really feel like I’m on track for this goal.

5- On my bike go up and over Little Mountain then Big Mountain to East Canyon and all the way back- This kind of reminds me of a song that that goes on to sing..."To grandma's house we go!"  I'm hoping that if the weather gets it’s act together this Sunday I'll get to the top of Little Mountain.  I figure I need to work through this goal section by section; bit by bit and I’m pretty confident that I will accomplish this goal. But only time will tell.


Wow! As I look over these, I’m kind of bit surprised. It looks like overall I’m doing all right so far. It’s a respectable quarterly reflection. What do you think? Any suggestions?  Maybe I need to come up with something else for the #3 goal ?

Perfect 10 Update- Week 9

One more week to go and I hope that I do better next week than I did this week. In many ways I feel like this has been a "nothing" type of week. I backed off and let my body rest. This rather proved to be a challenge for me. But anyway here's my progress report...

--Lose 10 lbs. over 10 weeks: No change from last week which surprised me considering that I took the week off from running/working out to recover from my injury. So I'm still only down 1 lb. over all for the 9 weeks. Not so good, BUT I will admit it's not as bad as would normally happen during this time of year. Since my low weight this summer just prior to the Slow Salty Dog Triathlon, I'm presently only up 3 lbs. overall. Normally by this time of year I would be at least 10 to 12 lbs. heavier, and figuring that I would lose it all during the summer. This year when summer comes, it'll be like I have a head start in a way.

--Build up to 10 miles running in less than 2.5 hours: I know I've all ready accomplished this goal and I was not running this week because of the injury that happened to my right thigh. I'm still hoping to work on my speed and distance but considering I've lost a week I'm not sure what to expect. I guess I'll find out tomorrow morning with my usual short Friday morning run.

--Balance exercises 2 times a week: Nope! I took the week off from this too.

--Gym 3 times a week: Nope! Didn't get my money's worth this week. The closest I came this week was 1/4 mile swim at another pool on Saturday.

Unknown fact:
Last night I almost finished a WHOLE box of Girl Scout Cookies. That Cookie Monster got loose! While I snarfed them down, I thought about how I was a Girl Scout when I was younger. It seems like a lifetime ago. I once won a Mississippi Valley Girl Scout Cookie Top Seller T-Shirt. The quota to win the t-shirt was 250 boxes of Girl Scout Cookies sold. Of these I actually only sold about 70 boxes. My Dad, a welder and member of the Union at the time, coerced the rest of them out of his fellow employees. I really wonder if they hated that time of year, and looking back now I kind of feel guilty because I didn't really win the right to wear that t-shirt.

Resolutions/Goals for 2010 & The Perfect 10...

I know. I know… everyone is inundating the Internet with resolutions and goals for 2010. It like an endless barrage and you are SO tired of it all ready. Well, sorry to say here’s one more of those. If you don’t want to read any further, I will understand perfectly. Enough is enough is enough and believe me I know because I’m there myself. But for those of you that continue on, there are reasons that this occurs. The success of these goals and resolutions are greatly improved if you follow a few fundamental steps…

1) Make it public! The accountability factor does amazing stuff, and well, that’s why there are so many stating it out on the Internet like I will be below some where here.
2) Write it down. Just by forming it into actual words on paper, it clears up the ideas and narrows it down that resolution or goal.
3) KISS! Keep It Simple Stupid! Don’t get complicated and make it hard on yourself.
4) Celebrate your achievements. You’ve worked hard towards them, and you deserve to reap the rewards!
5) Make reasonable resolutions/goals. They should be close enough to be attainable but still enough out of reach to challenge you.

Follow those above and you have managed to beat the odds of success. Don’t and you might as well be flipping a coin.

Normally, I’m not a resolution type of person. I tend to be goal orientated, and once I have set that goal I tend to be stubborn and tenacious like a Pit Bull with its jaw locked on something. So with that in mind, here’s my list…

1) Save more money, honey! Last year in August, I accomplished a financial goal that I’ve been working on for two years. I became debt free. Now, I want to start putting that money into savings that I’ve been using for paying off these debts with. I have a number in mind, but for fear of being hit up for a loan, I will not state that number here.

2) Run a half marathon. I want to run in half marathon in the Salt Lake City Marathon this Spring, and maybe even give the Park City Marathon a whirl too. Who knows maybe even push myself towards a full marathon in that one but lets get the first one under my belt first. Then we’ll see…

3) Do at least one century on my bicycle. Last year, I only did an 80 mile ride at the Little Red Riding Hood Ride, and that was as close as I got. Two years ago, I did 8 centuries on my bike. Maybe I can manage a happy medium in there somewhere?

4) Participate in the Slow Salty Dog Tri (70.3) and see if I can do better than 10 hours and 25 minutes.

5) Conquer Little Mountain and then Big Mountain, and back on my bicycle. I want to make it up and over and then back up the other side and down. I’ve managed ¾ of this but the backside is a climb that can prove relentless even for someone that likes to climb like me. (I usually climb a canyon once a week during the cycling season.)

6) Participate in the Perfect 10-- For the first 10 weeks in 2010, I want to give this a real go for the money. AND here’s my list for the goals of my Perfect 10…

(1) Lose 10 lbs over the 10 weeks. I think this is doable.
(2) Build up to 10 miles running in under 2.5 hours. I think this will help me train towards doing the half marathon.
(3) Do exercises at least twice a week that work on my balance. For all of you that have read my Boot Camp blogs, you know that I have some MAJOR balance issues.
(4) Make it to the gym at least 3 times a week. I bought that gym membership, and I need to make sure I get my money’s worth.

If you would like to learn more about or participate in the Perfect 10. Here's the link...

http://logmyloss.com/?p=2544

So there! That’s my list and for those that are still reading this posting. I ask for your help in encouraging me and holding me accountable to these. Thanks and Happy New Year!

An Update, A Recap, & Gee, What Am I Whining About?

I thought I would continue with the monthly totals update like I did last month. Some of you will find this a little "dry" reading but I'm going to be a little selfish here and use this as a record of what I did. Who knows it might prove to be interesting to you too?

Totals for Sept.2009 ...

Cycling miles-- 337

Running miles-- 23.5

Swimming miles-- 3.5

I looked up my cycling miles that I did last year. I did 475 miles of cycling the month of Sept. 2008. Now keep in mind that last year I was only cycling, I wasn't doing any of these other "disciplines".

FINAL RECAP--the SLOW SALTY DOG Tri (1.2M Swim/56M Bike/13 M Run)

Swim--1 hr. 7 min.

T1: 46 min (I was totally dry for the bike.)

Bike-- 4hrs. 22 min.

T2: 19 min.

Run--3 hrs. 50 min.

Okay, that's the last of the SLOW SALTY DOG. I'm sure all of you are sick of it by now. Now onto the...Gee,What Am I Whining About? I've been dealing with some tiredness of late but last night I watched a video that put all of this into perspective for me. It really made me think-- what the heck am I even whining about.

I watched Running On The Sun. It's a 2000 documentary film about the Badwater 135. The Badwater 135 is an Ultra-Marathon race that's 135 miles through the Mohave Desert. The race is limited to 40 people, and the film focused on 13 of the entrants through their experience. It was just amazing to watch all of these runners test their limits. The emotions ran from despair to joy. I found myself crying as one of the entrants, a man who had lost part of his arm and a leg from volunteering to remove landmines, as he crossed the finish line. It was just amazing and I would recommend the video to anyone that is into any kind of endurance sport. It always amazes me what a person can do when they set their mind on something, and it gives me hope.

Sleep-Walking & Eating My Veggies...

I have really felt good that I managed to finish the SLOW SALTY DOG. That was an accomplishment. How many people can say that they've swam 1.2 miles, biked 56 miles, and run/walk 13 miles in one day? Well, maybe there's quite a few people that could claim that but not everyone...



That's a full day! Whew! And here I am, still feeling that full day three days later. I feel as though I'm sleep walking. I have this overwhelming tiredness that just won't be shook. I have had to cancel doing things with friends, and I haven't even began to see about a swim, a run, or a bike ride. I'm dozing and about drooling at my desk at work. Why consider anything else?

I went to bed by 8:30PM last night. That's something that I haven't done in a LONG time. I tend to stay up until 11-12 midnight then turn around and get up at 4-5AM. I don't really sleep. I'm always going and going and once in awhile darn it I HAVE to rest in that furniture that's called a bed. Okay, I'll say it... I'm an insomniac!


But none of this has prepared me to be almost the complete opposite which has now happened since the Tri. How many days does it take to get back ... 3, 4, 5? I hope soon! This rather feels like that first day of Lent when I give up the coffee, chocolate, and caffeine. But I've been enjoying all of that good stuff since the Tri. Or it kind of reminds me of that last bit of lingering mono that I had years ago. It's like my giddy-up and go has gone kaput! What's up with that?

I've been eating more balanced meals with vegetables and salads since the Tri. I also have tried to consume more water too. But any of you that know me know that I'm rather picky when it comes to veggies and I consider a salad okay but given the choice; no thanks. I've never had what most people would consider a well-balanced diet. Gee, I'll consume a bag of microwaved popcorn as lunch, and would consider that a meal. I always just figured that was why vitamins were created. I know that's really bad of me.

That could maybe explain why I might not have done better on the SLOW SALTY DOG Tri. Though, I did consume plenty of simple carbs the night before, AND water. In my defense, I will say that in the last couple of years, I have added more veggies, fruit juices, and even some fresh fruit to my diet. Yep, I was the kid that sat at that dinner table all night because I didn't want to finish those soggy peas and I couldn't control my gag reflex to consume any of that liver...Ugh! Thus, the next morning, I was still seated at the dinner table. Some might say I was a bit stubborn. Hmmm? Maybe so, or I guess I could be called a stubborn picky eater. I'm not sure how my mom ever put up with me! Sorry Ma! I was a real pain; wasn't I?

Well, either way I hope to shortly get back up to my normal pace of life of Go! Go! Go! Until then I guess I'll be the reitred Go-Go-Girl....?

Still Among the Living...

I’m happy to announce that I am still among the living upright. I survived the SLOW SALTY DOG Triathlon yesterday. It was quite the ordeal, and this morning I’m really feeling the effects. In fact, I think that a 93 year old woman could outpace me on a walk right now. Most of my muscles are Stiff with a capital “S”.

Yesterday, the SLOW SALTY DOG Tri started at 6AM at the swimming pool. Diane and I found ourselves waiting for the doors to be opened along with several other early morning swimmers. By 5 min. after the two of us had claimed a lane and were off. The swim really went well. It only took me 1 hour and 7 minutes to do the 1.2 miles. I really surprised myself, and felt good afterwards. I finished almost 3 laps in front of Diane, and Sofia who had arrived late was still swimming as I headed off to Diane’s house. Maybe I was going too fast? I know that I’ll probably over analyze everything over the next few days.

The bike which we started at 8AM from Diane’s house. Nice; I had about 45 minutes to dry my hair and put on my bike gear. It gave me a chance to partake a second granola bar and a second GU packet. I periodically forced myself to eat and drink during the whole event. My fellow bike club member Ron was waiting for me to begin. He had emailed that he wanted to ride along with me on the bike portion of the Tri; the sweetie.

Diane had arrived after a bit and told us to go ahead; Sofia would still be a bit before she showed. Off Ron and I headed north the route which would later be the run portion of the SLOW SALTY DOG. We took it at a mild easy pace of 13-15 mph. I wanted to ensure that I had something left over for the run. At about mile 18 into the ride, Ron had a flat. We pulled over to repair. As Ron was repairing his flat and I eat another granola bar; the gals (Diane, Sofia, and Kim) passed us. I told them to continue on, and that we would catch up.

Oh, those famous last words. The tire changed; Ron and I stepped up on the speed to try to catch up with the gals. We picked up the average to 18-20mph. But we never did see the girls. We got down to Draper Park, the southernmost part of the route, and stopped for a few minutes. I finished a water bottle and refilled it. Then off back we headed to the north. We had figured by this time that we must have somehow passed the gals and kept an eye for them heading south as we were headed north. But we never did see them. As we got closer to Diane’s house we were a bit short on mileage so we looped around through some neighbor hoods to get the needed 56 miles.

Finally, at Diane’s house, I thanked Ron as I put my bike in the back of my car. It was really nice to have someone to talk with during the bike ride. Now came the running part and I found myself alone. As I changed at Diane’s house, I had some peanut butter, a GU packet, and a granola bar. Oh what a combo! I put on my head phones; a water bottle along with a couple more GU packets in my fanny pack, and off I went.

I walked the first blocks, and then I tried to run. I say try because I was starting to feel everything by this time. My arms and legs were feeling heavy. What I was doing was a “wog” as Diane and I had called it. It’s kind of a fast walk- slow jog type of thing. I managed to do almost 5 miles of this total during the whole run portion. Otherwise, I just did a brisk walk.

Almost 4 miles into the run I saw Sofia and Diane. They were a part of the route that I had all ready done. We waved and I yelled that I think I would be doing more walking than actual running. They laughed and said that they would probably just walk most of the thing also. I continued on but thinking back now I should have gone over and joined them for the rest of the event. A couple of miles later, I stopped at a Shop-n-Go. I purchased some Gatorade and water. Up towards the University of Utah I went, with busy traffic of a football game in process. This slowed me down quite a bit, and at one point I was going opposite of all the foot traffic. It was an upstream battle, and I was losing. I had a few guys carrying cases of beer stopped me and told me to turn around to join them for some pre-game fun. I smilingly thanked them and continue on.

With about 3 miles left to go, the heat of the day and the ordeal really started to wear me down. My pace slowed. My feet were really starting to hurt. I concentrated on one foot in front of the other. At a mile left, I sent a text to Diane. I turned the last corner and there was Sofia and Diane all ready done with their medals on. They had arrived about 15 min. before I did. How did they manage this when they were almost 2 miles behind me? They had been able to change up the run course because they had their GPS wrist watches on. They kept to shadier flatter streets, and had even taken two laps around in an air-conditioned Albertson’s grocery store. I’m sorry but I just thought that was totally wrong! Lapping around a grocery store as part of a Tri? I could even imagine them enjoying ice cream bars while they did it! Gee maybe I was doing it wrong? I should have driven over to the air conditioned mall and joined the mall walkers? I will admit that I was a bit frustrated when I heard all this because I couldn’t have done this. I had no GPS or device to tell me how far I had gone. Thus, I stuck to the original route.

I could barely manage to move when I arrived at Diane’s house, and meanwhile Sofia was almost bouncing around like a cheerleader. I found this very irritating to say the least. From talking with Diane she said that Sofia was getting peppier as the event went on. Strange, and very annoying! Gee, I guess I didn’t get this gene. Darn it anyway.

I was SO glad that I had gotten a hotel room for the night. There was no way that I could have made it up the three flights of stairs to my apartment. I managed to eat a couple of brats and drink a diet coke. I was off to the hotel. Shortly after checking in I took a long hot shower; then, down to the hot tub to soak for a soothing two hours. Just when I thought I would be a cured prune for life, I got out and went to the hotel restaurant for a late dinner. Then it was off to bed by 9PM--- a VERY early night for me.

But as I think on it this morning, I find myself asking questions like—what I should have done in the training? Am I just not cut out for this type of endurance stuff? Then I think--- well, I only did have three months in which to train for this and considering that it was amazing that I finished. So take it easy on yourself! Now to make arrangements for a full body massage…. Ahhhhhhh!