2012 Races

Earlier this year, I was talking with Tim about how I was missing doing races.  Last year, I think I only did a few events and I realized that I really miss racing and training.  So, because he's such an awesome hubby, he's been encouraging me to sign up for races and making sure that we have the $$$ in the budget so I can race like I like to.

I haven't really come up with my race schedule for the year, but I am registered for 3 big events.  Here they are!

May 19 - Ogden 1/2 Marathon

June 2 - Little Red Riding Hood Century Ride

September 8 - Bear Lake Brawl 1/2 Ironman

Like I said, I haven't decided what else I would like to do, but I'm kind of toying with doing the Top of Utah 1/2 Marathon, but I think it's just a week or two before the 1/2 IM, so that probably won't happen.  However, there are lots of other options.  I'm just excited to get back into racing.

Happy New Year: Goals for 2012

For about a week now, I've been thinking about what goals I want to set for myself this year.  I looked back over my goals from 2011 and even evaluated them to see how well I did and I didn't do so hot.  I've been thinking that maybe I should work on some 3 month goals and then move forward so that I don't lose steam and so that I feel a sense of accomplishment sooner.  I've debated on what exactly I want to work on this year.  Tim and I have discussed some things we want to work on.  In spite of all of this thinking, I still don't have a final list, but I'm hoping that maybe if I list a few things here now, that I'll have some more concrete ideas come into my head.  So, here goes...

1.  Lose 40+ lbs.

My family is doing a Biggest Loser contest and we started today.  I'll post more about that tomorrow.  I'm hoping that will kick the weight loss off to a good start and get me motivated.  Tim and I are starting P90X next week to go along with that, so I think we have a good plan in place to see some results.  So, I think I'll see how the next 3 months go with P90X and the Biggest Loser and then I'll go from there and re-evaluate how this goal is going.

2.  Temple Attendance

Last night, Tim and I were talking about goals and he mentioned that maybe we ought to set a goal to attend as many temples in Utah as we can this year.  We have several temples pretty close to us so I think this is doable.  We just need to make the effort to plan instead of just saying, "hey, we should try to go to the temple this week."

3.  PR at the 1/2 IM distance.

Yes, this has been a goal of mine for the past few years and I haven't done much about it.  I've already looked at races this year and I'm planning on registering for the Bear Lake Brawl 1/2 Ironman in September.  I feel like that race will give me time to get a headstart on the weight loss and start my training when I can actually train outside.  Tim is on board for this goal and I'm hoping that my summer will allow me to really train the way I would like to in order to achieve this goal.

4. Learn to mountain bike.

Tim loves to mountain bike and he's pretty good at it.  I on the other hand can climb like a champ and will climb all day long on my mountain bike.  The problem for me is going downhill.  It scares me and I don't like it at all.  So, I told Tim the other night that I would like to learn to mountain bike.  I won't be able to start on this goal until the spring and summer, so I'm going to keep it off the radar until then, but I did want to write it down so that I can remember.

Those are the goals I have for myself so far.  I really do think that if I focus on shorter goals, like 3 month goals that I might actually feel better about my accomplishments and feel like I'm making progress instead of having them sit out there, sort of forgotten.

Happy New Year!

May 2012 be even better than 2011!

The Ogden Half Marathon! We're In!

I woke up at 5:55am this morning to register Tim, Kyra, and I for the Ogden 1/2 Marathon in May.  This is one of my very favorite races and I'm totally excited because this will be Tim and Kyra's first 1/2 marathon.  Oh, and our friends Tom and Andrea and KeniaAnn and even my mom are signing up.  What a fun day we will have! 

Choose to Become

In September, I had the opportunity to attend Time Out for Women here in Logan. For those of you who aren't familiar with this amazing awesome weekend, check out this website. It's basically an evening and a day of inspirational music and speakers for women only. I've gone 4 times and plan on continuing to go whenever I have the opportunity.

This year, the theme was "CHOOSE TO BECOME" which I LOVE! This is something I've spent alot of time thinking about and I think I'm finally ready to write about my goals. During the opening remarks, we were encouraged to DISCOVER ALL OF OUR POSSIBILITIES. We were encouraged to make a list of things that come to mind and we were reminded of the scripture in Mark, that ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE. Here is the list of things that I wrote down.

Writing a book
Becoming a strong cyclist
Setting a PR at the 70.3 triathlon distance
Taking voice lessons
Completing an iron-distance triathlon

As I sat down and pondered (yes, I've actually been giving this quite a bit of thought), I noticed that, of course, 3 of my goals involve triathlon and training. Since I got engaged, I've let my training and racing goals slide quite a bit. No excuses for that...except getting married, getting a puppy, having 2 part time teenagers, moving to a new state, etc etc etc. I also feel like I've had to sort of figure out who this "new" AJ is and what she looks like. That probably sounds funny, but it's sort of hard to explain.

So, in an effort to establish my goals and start moving forward, I'm posting my CHOOSE TO BECOME goal.

I'm CHOOSING TO BECOME A TRIATHLETE...AGAIN...specifically an long distance triathlete.

In order for this to happen, there are several things that need to take place. Things like losing weight, getting back into the "training" habit, finding a place to swim that's not 20 minutes away and only open from 5-6:30am, etc.

I've sort of put together a rough draft of a timeline for this happening...hopefully, it will play out this way, but I also know that life is tricky sometimes, so... we'll see what happens.

October 2011-January 2012 - Work on losing weight and regaining strength and fitness. Work on cleaner eating.

February 2012 - Start training for Boise Ironman 70.3

May 2012 - Run the Ogden 1/2 Marathon (one of my favorites) with my hubby, Kyra (my step-daughter) and my friend, Andrea.

June 2012 - Boise Ironman 70.3

September 2012 - Bear Lake Brawl 1/2 Ironman and hopefully (it's a lottery) LOTOJA with my Dad.

At some point, I would like to sign up for an Iron-distance triathlon. I'm sort of thinking Ironman St George, Ironman Arizona, or maybe Ironman Coeur D'Alene, but we'll see. I know that in order to train for an IM I absolutely need my whole team (ie. hubby, kids, dog, etc) on board.

So, that's it...that's my CHOOSE TO BECOME goal. I've already cut out the candy from my diet, started focusing on eating lots more fruits and veggies, journaling my food, and most importantly, working out 6 days a week. Now, I just need the scale to start dropping, and my fitness level going back up. I'm hoping that the blog will be a good way to keep myself honest and up front about how this whole journey is going.

Oh, and I need to remember that

ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE TO HIM (or her) WHO BELIEVETH!