Monday, October 24, 2011

Update #9 from Mamacat

It's been a month since Mamacat's Iron Girl Duathlon finish. I thought I'd check in with her to find out how the fit lifestyle was going, how she planned to keep up the momentum and specifically, What Is Next! As you'll read, Mamacat is motivated to keep moving and confident she can keep crossing finish lines. In fact, the events she's planning make me want to get out and join her. She has set a significantweight-loss goal for herself and she needs your support! Please share your wisdom with her, especially when it comes to shedding those pounds and quitting her diet coke addiction!

Here's what Mamacat had to say:

You'll be happy to know I couldn't stop working out even if I tried. Despite the goal race being over, I have not lost my will or my drive. I can not skip a day of working out without going insane. It's  a solid habit. We love that, don't we? 

I've done the "stairs" in Stillwater (a fat burning 1000 step trail of hills, steps, more steps and steps). I've done as many 25-mile bike rides as I can with the nice weather. We've declared family fitness night for TWO nights a week. I've even started to wean myself back into club time instead of outdoor time. I'm still doing Moms on the Run and still LOVE IT. I love the women and that no one judges me even if I am the slowest runner alive. We only have about 2 weeks left and I think I'm going to cry. This season we've been doing more interval training and working on bootcamp drills. My legs have gotten really strong. 

Fitness is such a habit that it naturally has a place on my to do list, daily. This is significant because I was very afraid once the Iron Girl was over I would find it easy to pop an excuse (not a reason) in here or there. No way, Jose! 

One thing is certain, this journey is not over. I bought  a wet suit in an end-of-season sale. This commits me to open water swimming and triathlons in the spring (lest I prefer divorce court for spending money frivolously) and keeps me 'mentally' in the game. 

My most immediate goal is the Scare In White Bear 5K with my husband and son. My girls will do the 1/2 mile race. I've got my eye on the Fast before the Feast race on Thanksgiving Day, a February cross-country ski event, a paintball gun race, and a May Duathlon. I'm also eagerly awaiting details of an indoor triathlon at Lifetime Fitness and planning some kind of neighborhood family fun race day that will involve skiing, skating, sledding or all of the above. 

I will revisit the early days of our journey where you challenged me to quit it with the Diet Coke. I went way down in my consumption and then back up to large amounts (no where near the 8-a-day mark but a heck of a lot more than one a day). Reality is I think I just have to cut out Diet Coke COMPLETELY.  I'm still saying "yup, I've gotta do that" but have not yet been able to actually do it.

I have been writing down everything that goes into my mouth and it's not as great as I let myself think it is. I need to get back to the nutrition focus I started with that slowly got away (funny how I did eat my veggies when i was getting free massages).  So I am going back to a serious focus on nutrition and not just eating my vegetables and fruits, but enjoying them in new ways. I can tell you in no uncertain terms that eating smart the few days prior to the Iron Girl made a big difference for me compared to the previous triathlon, in which I was worn down, dehydrated and lethargic.

My next goal: My OLDER sister turns 50 in a year and I want to cross a finish line with her before then. Fifty pounds lighter. I want to be 50 pound lighter before she gets to 50. And I want the finish line to be the Iron Girl