Two years ago I was training with Team in Training (TNT) for my very first half marathon.  Part of our training included a weekly Saturday long-run with the team.  Team in Training did an amazing job of setting up water stops along the route and mapping out runs for us that would be doable but still challenging in preparation for race day.  Now despite the fact that when I started running I weighed over 185 pounds, I had somehow managed not to sustain any major injuries until our 9-mile long run.  The nine mile route they picked for us to run was very hilly (Temecula tends to be that way), but most of the run was away from the street on a semi-maintained walking path around one of the larger housing tracks.  Usually our Saturday runs had us mostly on pavement and/or concrete, so I was happy to have the softer terrain as a cushion for my joints.  At about mile two, I took my eyes off the ground in front of me to wave at my TNT coach as he drove by in his van.  Just as I turned back, the ball of my foot came right down on a rather large rock and the entire right side of my foot actually touched the dirt below.  It was just this tiny little loss of focus that forced me to lose almost two weeks of training time.

      Since that day two years ago, I have been extremely cautious when I run off-road.  In fact, when I run with my running buddies in Temecula I will often choose running on the street to avoid the risk of stepping on a rock again.  Unfortunately, recently I have once again been reminded about how you can never be too careful when you are out running and biking on the roads.
      When we were in Monterey a few weeks back, we took full advantage of their amazing maintained biking/running paths.  Many of these paths keep runners, bikers, and walkers well away from traffic, but there are points where we have to cross roads to continue on the path.  Luckily, where exercisers and traffic intersect, they have placed clearly marked pedestrian crosswalks.  Unluckily, we could not believe the number of vehicles that did not stop for us and some even came to a dead stop right in the middle of the crosswalk blocking us from passing.  Incredibly, Sean and I even witnessed one couple actually doing a three-point turn through the crosswalk (yes, a three-point turn).  My point is that even on man-made exercise paths, you still need to be careful and watch for others that are not as cautious.
          The day after we arrived home from our Monterey trip, I decided to do a 7 mile-run through the back roads of Murrieta. Usually I have at least one running buddy with me, but since this was an unplanned trip I was running solo.  On these rare occasions Sean will ride his bike back and forth along the same route to keep me safe.  He has played my protector on quite a few trips before this one without incidence.  On this day, as he made a turn to backtrack and check on me, he hit a wet spot on the road, his bike slid out from under him, and he slammed against the street breaking his shoulder.  He wasn't being careless...it is just that you can never be too careful when it comes to riding your bike on the road.  Now poor Sean is spending his summer, one of the hottest in years, with his right arm pressed against abdomen in a huge sling.
          Now I must admit that while I was sympathetic with his new injured state, there was some teasing on my part about his clumsiness and that fact that I might need to trade him in for a new model.  I should have remembered that karma is a bitch.  Barely over a week later I was doing some hill training in Lake Elsinore with my running friends.  We were running up the massive Tuscany Hills incline, turning at the top, and then running to one of the highest points above Canyon Lake.  We then ran back down only to begin the whole process again.  Ironically, I had made it up and down two times and got about 5 feet from the bottom when I turned my attention away from the ground to switch off my running app that was calculating my mileage.  It was then that karma and deja vu collided and my right foot once again stepped directly on a rock, and I felt the side of my foot touch the ground-- just like my 9-mile run injury.  I was lucky to have Emily there, and she instructed me on the stretching, icing, elevation routine that I feel kept the impact of this injury to a minimum.  While I will lose a few days of training, it was not nearly as severe an injury as last time.  Despite this good fortune, I should have been more careful.
          Injuries are a fact of life when you are training, but you need to be careful not to let these little setbacks get you down mentally nor set you back physically.  This is not the time to wallow in the injury and let the situation push you to throwing out your healthy eating or becoming a couch potato.  In the past I would have quit exercising in frustration, chalking it up to yet another failure in my attempts to get healthy.  Now I just find other ways to move.  If I can't run, I usually substitute swimming or biking.  If even this is too much, then I will lift dumbbells or use an exercise ball to do planks, sit ups, etc.  I remember years ago at a Weight Watcher meeting someone shared that they actually sat in front of their exercise bike and moved the pedals around and around with their hands to keep themselves moving.  Sean has actually been doing moves like lunges and squats to keep himself in shape while his shoulder heals.
          Now there are times when injuries require a person to completely rest.  In these instances you need to be careful to follow doctor's orders in order to heal completely and not impede the healing process.  Slowly work your way back, and you will be surprised at how quickly you will be able to recover your progress.  Just be careful not to let your injury be an excuse for why you permanently quit moving altogether.
          So be careful out there my friends--watch out for unobservant cars, keep your eyes on the terrain, and do not let unimportant distractions (like your music or iPod apps) keep you from being safe.  And if you do happen to suffer an injury, be careful not to let it get you down--you have worked too hard to give up on your journey.  Pick yourself up and point your feet back toward the road to a more flabulous you...you will be happy you did.

        Last week I had the great opportunity to spend some time with one of our dear friends in San Francisco.  I was especially eager to see him because I have so many questions about biking now that I have set new goals to compete in triathlons.  Now our friend Kelly is an amazingly fit person--he is 6 foot 5 inches without an ounce of fat on his entire body.  He owes his physique almost entirely to the fact that for as long as I have known him he has ridden his bike everywhere.  And when I say everywhere, I mean everywhere!  He doesn't even own a car, and truly Kelly and his bikes are practically inseparable.  I say "bikes" because he has several bikes that he uses for different riding situations--he even informed me that there is actually a triathlon bicycle, something I should probably investigate before I attempt my 112 mile bike leg of the race.
      When we met him for dinner I was excited to share the news that I was working toward an Ironman.  I had to laugh because even Kelly, one of the fittest friends in my entire circle of acquaintances responded the same way just about everyone else has responded to my news--he gave me "the look".

      Now to give you a visual of exactly what that universal "look" is, please see the picture to the right--eyebrows go up, eyes open wide, and their heads tilt sideways just a little bit.  I am sure they are thinking something along the lines of, "Why would you want to do that, or really, what are you thinking?" Now I need to tell you that the look I am talking about crosses their face for just a fraction of an instant before their brains tell them, "Crap!  This is not Michelle's blog--she can actually see your expression!"  And just as quickly, the look is gone.
      What I think is so ironic about this expression is that I myself kind of feel this way inside--what am I thinking?  Why do I want to do this? Am I really ready for this?
      To answer my own question about why I want to do an Ironman, I think it is all the above insecurities that are driving me toward this lofty goal.  I have spent so many years of my life thinking that I can't do athletic endeavors, that I am bound and determined to show that I am capable of so much more than I think. And as for the "am I ready to do this" quandary, of course I am not ready...yet.  I have an entire year to train, get fit, and prepare myself for this challenge.
      I am reading several books to guide me in the right direction.  I continue to read Triathlons for Women by Sally Edwards, and have learned a lot already. At the suggestion of the author I will be determining my heart rate at rest and at work so I can more closely monitor my training.  I will also do a benchmark measure in each sport--an all out 1.5 mile run, 400 yd. swim, and a 3 mile bike ride (on different days), so I can measure my progress over the next year.  Also, as suggested, I will be keeping a log throughout this amazing journey to Ironman, which I will document on this blog as well. 
      I have also learned how important nutrition is to training, so I am reading a book called The Paleo Diet for Athletes: A Nutritional Formula for Peak Athletic Performance by Loren Cordain and Joe Friel.  Sean has been eating Paleo (basically lean meats, fish, organic fruits and vegetables, just very little grains and processed foods) since he started Crossfit.  He has lost over 40 pounds and is in the best shape he has been in over twenty years.  To make meals easier at our house, I have been eating the same meals as Sean.  However, I found without the extra carbs, while I felt so much healthier, I was hitting a wall in my longer runs and races.  With this new book I am learning how to make healthy choices, but how to eat the right carbs with proteins to increase my endurance for my longer miles.  I am testing it out tomorrow on my 10 mile long run, so we will see if the plan in this book gives me the energy I need to power through.
      Now I want you to know that the beginning of this blog was done tongue in cheek. In defense of all my friends that give me "the look," it is only this one initial time that they ever look puzzled about my new goal.  Immediately after "the look" passes, they are completely supportive of my crazy plan.  As I have mentioned many times before, I am surrounded by amazing friends and family.  Because of that, I know it is possible to successfully complete my first Ironman in July of next year.
     
Nothing is impossible, the word itself says, "I'm possible!"
                                                            Audrey Hepburn

          For as long as I can remember, I have enjoyed giving gifts more than actually getting them.  So in honor of my 45th birthday I have decided to gear my blog as a gift to all my friends out there trying to find the healthier version of their current selves.  So whether you have a short journey or a very long one, this blog is meant to motivate you to keep going--you can do it.
          My inspiration for this blog is a new friend I met in the last month.  I cannot believe how much she reminds me of myself when I first started on the road from flabby to flabulous.  When you are at this stage, it is hard to imagine that you will ever reach your ultimate goal--you are sure that you will fail once again, just like every time before this attempt. Exercising is hard because it feels like everyone else is so much more advanced than you are, and it is also so much harder to move the extra weight around no matter what the exercise is.  Like my friend I also avoided anyone taking my photo like it was the plague--who wants the documentation of this low point in your life.
          I am here to say that it DOES get better, and you CAN reach your goals no matter how far you have to go to reach them.  This week I was reading an article from one of my favorite bloggers--Adam Bornstein, the editor of the Livestrong.com website (you can read the full article at this link: 4 Steps to Get Back in Shape).  I wanted to share some of his tips, because they are ones that have helped me on my journey.
      Tip #1: Determine Your 'Why'  This is a big one, why are you wanting to embark on this journey?  Do you want to be healthier?  Get in better shape?  Have more energy to play with your kids?  For me, I decided to be a better role model for my children.  I noticed that my unhealthy habits were becoming the lifestyle of my kids, and I wanted a better life for them.  And as I have progressed on my journey, my reasons for continuing on have changed.  Now that I have become a more positive role model, my focus has moved away from losing weight and is more focused on increasing my endurance in my exercise.  That is why I have chosen to work toward completing an Ironman--this should allow me to really push myself to my fitness limits. 
        Tip #2: Establish Clarity  Once you determine why you want to change, you need to be specific about how you will go about working toward that change.  You cannot achieve your goal if you do not have a target to shoot for.  I have written before about the importance of setting specific goals and then determining the steps you need to take to meet those goals.
        Take my example, I am not just saying I want to be more fit.  I have set my sights on doing an Ironman, which will require me to meet lots of little goals before I can be prepared to actually participate in the final event.  My first goal is to complete a shorter triathlon in December that will allow me to practice the transitions between my swimming, biking, and running.  I plan to do my first full marathon in January, and then I plan on doing a century bike ride (100 miles) in March.  These little goals will all work together to ensure that I will be successful when I hit that final stretch goal of running 26.2 miles, biking 112 miles, and swimming 2.4 miles in the Russian River as I compete in the Vineman.
        I have been reading the book Triathlons for Women by Sally Edwards.  I was really inspired by one of the quotes I came across that had me looking at goal setting in a different way.  She stated that "losing weight is a goal, but isn't it better to set your sites on something you can gain, rather than something you can lose?" I love this twist in thinking, and it fits right into my plan to focus less on the scale and more on my general fitness. So when you set your goals, you might want to focus on what you can gain.
        Tip #3: Take a Step Back  This basically means that you need to be patient with your progress.  It is easy to go full force, be disappointed by the pace of your improvement, and then end up giving up the entire journey in frustration.  Remember that for many of us it has taken years to put on those extra pounds--we need to allow time to work toward healthier eating habits and fitter bodies.  My more recent journey has been over six years long.  Yes, it has taken me a while to get to this point, but because I have worked so hard to reach this level, I am not going back to what I was.  Be patient and you will be rewarded in the end.  If I had not started with small fitness goals such as walking five minutes and then running one minute, I would never be at this point where a half marathon is a comfortable distance for me.  I would have hurt myself, and then given it all up and thought running just wasn't for me.
        Tip #4: Focus on Progress, not Perfection This one is related to the previous tip.  You need to focus on the progress you make, and not on being perfect.  You should also not compare yourself to the progress of others.  One of the most beneficial things my Crossfit Coach Al said to me was that I should never compare myself to what others are doing in the workouts.  I should only compare myself to the person that walked into the Crossfit box on that first day.  Maybe I can't lift 115 pounds like Lana, but I started lifting a PVC pipe, and now I can lift 85 pounds.  It is not my ultimate weight lifting goal, but I have made incredible strides since November, and I can be very proud of that.
        So, to my new friend, and to all of you out there trying to reach your health and fitness goals, you can do this.  Figure out why you want to make the change, set goals, and then be patient and focus on your progress, not on perfection.  Pretty soon you will realize that failure is not an option--you have an amazing life to live, and it is easier to live it in a healthy body.  You will be an inspiration to others, and you will no longer be hiding from the cameras--you will be seeking them out to document your incredible new life.

        The other day one of our district secretaries was complimenting me on my weight loss and asking me to share what I was doing to stay so fit.  In the course of the conversation I told her that I continue to work on my fitness, and that I still had about twenty pounds to go.  My friend Tammy, who is also a follower on my blog, jokingly called me a hypocrite.  She asked me how I could write about the scale being a terrible measure of my progress and then continue to use that as a measure of my ultimate success. 
          I have no excuses for this continual slip back into what I know is not a healthy mind set for me. I do know that twenty years ago, when I was in the throws of bulimia, the scale was my continual companion.  At that time, I probably weighed myself at least five times a day--in the morning, at night, after I binged, after I purged, and I found my entire success in seeing the scale move downward.  When I was finally able to get away from my eating disorder, I was so afraid of the scale's power over me that I actually threw away my scale.  At the time, I really felt that this was a healthy decision to make, but the problem was that without that accountability I ballooned up to over 230 pounds.
          In the last few years, the scale has once again become my companion only this time it has helped to guide me where I am today.  I weigh myself weekly, sometimes a little more, but it is a good reminder to stay on the path to the healthier me.  If I am being careless with my eating, I can see that on the scale.  If I have been spot on with food choices and exercise, I can usually see that on the scale as well.  My problem is that in the last year the scale has not budged at all, only I know that my clothes fit differently, I have lost inches, and I look so much better than I did one year ago.
          Here is the quandary--to scale or not to scale, that is the question. Over the years I have read many articles and research on weight loss.  One that really stuck in my mind was a longitudinal study of hundreds of people who had lost weight.  One of the things that they found was that for those that had kept their weight off for over two years, nearly all of them weighed themselves on a regular basis. This strategy allowed them to monitor even the smallest gains and adjust their eating and food choices accordingly.
          So, is it time for me to get rid of my scale again?  I think not.  I just have to change my mind set and realize that I am not looking for the scale to move down, I am looks for the numbers NOT to move up.  As long as my clothes fit better, as long as when I run I feel lighter on my feet, and as long as I am happy with where I am, I cannot let the scale determine how I feel about my success.  And if you hear me say that I still need to lose a certain number of pounds, please forgive me for not practicing what I preach--it has been a long journey, but I am still a work in progress.