Tri-riffic

For the last 12 weeks of the summer, my Tuesday & Thursday nights were dedicated to my triathlon training.  And I can't believe it went so fast.  In 12 weeks, I see a difference in all three disciplines, but namely my swimming.  This past week was my first week not having training and although school started as did our new routine as a family, but I still felt that 1) I wasn't working out enough & 2) I was totally bored at night.  I gained back 3+ hours each Tuesday and Thursday.  But I wouldn't have traded this time for anything.  New friendships were made and I gained more confidence and strength not to mention overcoming obstacles, mainly my own inner voice.

Swim
I can't even tell you how proud of myself I am for seeing the growth in my freestyle in the few months I had to train.  Honestly, swimming used to scare me.  I am not afraid of the pool or any body of water, but having to swim freestyle in front of people made me anxious like no other.  But I had to overcome that. And I was determined to learn. And that I did.
In the last week, my coach told me I looked like a "professional".  Hah! Far from a pro swimmer, but definitely a compliment and kept me going.  I enjoy being in the pool and swimming.  Now if I could only figure out my pool headphones I would be set.

Bike 
Honestly I don't have much to say about biking.  I don't do it enough outdoors, but my group cycling classes have kept me in a great place for enduring the bike seat and prepping me for those hills.  I just need to get riding outdoors more, but if I am outdoors and get a workout in, I'd much rather be running!

Run
Running outdoors in the summer can be dangerous with the heat and humidity which sucks because I hate running on the treadmill.  To me it is the most boring workout I can do.  Watching the same thing over and over and over and OVER again is mind-numbily boring.  However, I learned an important lesson this summer and sometimes it just isn't worth the possibility of getting sick when it's so hot and humid out.  So the nights where it was still 90 degrees at 6:30pm, my coach had me working on interval workouts on the treadmill.  And I actually, wait for it, enjoyed it.  And I felt pretty accomplished afterwards too.

So now with all this extra free time I have on T/Th nights, I decided that I want to run a 10k and then a half marathon.  :) And continue to swim two to three times a week. Seems like all my free time just got filled up.

30 Day Ab Challenge

I am addicted to Pinterest.  There is no doubt about it and I will happily admit to it.  I have found so many crafts for my daughters, home decor ideas, healthy & delicious recipes, and a bazillion fitness routines to try.

This week I found a 30 day ab challenge that is similar to P90X's Ab Ripper.  Over the summer I was working on my abs 5-6x per week.  After having two daughters, my core was jiggly and on the complete opposite side of the spectrum as one would define "strong".

I have used ab exercises from the Brooke Burke's Transform Your Body, Blogilates, any fitness magazine that had "Flat Abs" in big, bold print on the cover, you name it, I've tried it.  So while the summer bikini season is just about over, getting my core to the perfect place is always a work in progress.

I will be documenting my results via photos.  Stay tuned!

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