St. George Ford Ironman 2011 Training: Week 4

St. George Turkey TRI

The whole family went down to St. George two weekends ago for the annual Turkey Triathlon, sprint distance. When I say the whole family, I am talking about BOTH sides of the family, Rory's and mine. My sisters and I did a relay: Afton swam, I biked, and Adrienne ran. We did pretty good! First place at the race, but then when looking online a few days later, another team popped up in first place?? Who knows where they came from, but it was still a close race! Afton and A definitely killed it on their parts. I think I could have improved my bike time. I really hadn't trained as hard as I should have....But it was really fun overall!

Rory went individual. Last year, this same TRI was one of Rory's first. He improved his time this year by almost 40 minutes!! It is SO crazy comparing his times from last year! I am so proud of him. Now he starts Ironman St. George training. We are 24 weeks away until IMSG in May. Rory has scheduled and planned out his training schedule. It looks pretty brutal! But I know he is going to do great! I'm very excited for him!

Also, Rory's mom and dad both did their first TRI. They did really well! We are both so proud of them.

So, as you can tell, our family loves TRIs! It is such a great motivator to stay in shape and exercise! I'll tell you, when I don't have a race planned, I don't care to ever get my butt to the gym. Which reminds me...I really need to plan MY next race. These races are for sure on my radar for next year (among others I haven't decided on yet):

Sprint Sprint TRI

Park City TRI

Herriman TRI

Somewhere in there I would love to do either a century (100 mile) bike ride, a half marathon, or maybe just both! Who knows....work has been pretty busy this year. The summer was great to have off for the training. So I'll just have to work out the time either before or after work...

To those of you out there, I would really recommend getting on this TRI bandwagon! Or just any type of racing. It really keeps you motivated!

Below is a video that Rory made of the Turkey TRI. Enjoy!!

Check this out!

So I would normally never post any of these "before" pictures on (especially of me in a swimsuit); but I just had to show you our weight loss progress! Check it out

Before:



Rory wanted me to say that he was sucking it in for the picture above!

After:



About a year ago, Rory decided to really step up his efforts to loose weight. It has always been a battle for the both of us and Rory really went all out. As most of you know, Triathlons were his motivating source. Competition is marked within Rory's DNA so giving himself an outlet to be active with a competitive edge really encouraged him to stick with a routine of daily workouts and training. He has lost over 55 pounds! Yesterday, we decided to clean out our closet to get rid of all the clothes he just doesn't fit in anymore! Well, the picture above shows him now in what he used to wear this time last year! Last October or so, I remember he was complaining that he couldn't fit into any of his pants! He finally broke down and bought a bigger pair of pants, which are now featured in this AFTER picture. These pants signify Rory's peak of weight. I couldn't believe how much weight he had lost! It was really motivating for me to keep at it! I hope this helps any of you trying to loose weight! It really can be done! Just with a little hard work and dedication! Rory advises people to get something to keep you motivated, like TRIs are for him and plan an event like a 5k or Marathon. I am SO proud of you Rory! By the way...Rory is the skinniest now than ANYTIME I have EVER known him (9 years!). So amazing!

My weight loss is not so dramatic, but I am proud to say that I have lost about 10-12 lbs myself! Triathlons helped me also, but it wasn't until I started this UltraMetabolism diet that lbs started to shed off. It was about 5 pounds in the first two weeks, and now slowly 1-2 lbs per week since then. I haven't been good lately with training and workouts, but I just try to eat healthier including unprocessed and whole foods. I also tried on some pants yesterday, and these pants I'm trying on in the pic below are some I bought back in March. This was my PEAK and I just grew sick of not fitting into any of my work clothes, so I went out and bought these pair of pants. It was a good feeling to try them on now....

Before:

I remember feeling really fat that day in Bryce Canyon (about a year ago). I did not want any pictures taken of me! It really looks like I'm pregnant in this picture with my fat belly! It looks a lot worse blown up viewed full screen on my computer! Yuck.

and After:

Getting there....

Updates

Please visit Rory's blog for updates about our most recent Triathlons!

http://swimbikerunlife.blogspot.com/

Rory did the Utah Half Ironman, only to get 3 flat tires on the bike! A few weeks ago, we both did the Herriman Tri. It was a lot of fun.

Other updates to come, but just briefly, I started my new job in Granite as an SLP. It has been pretty stressful and super busy! For now, I'm just trying to get through each week at a time. I'm really looking forward to a 3-day weekend!

Black Ridge Reservoir and Our gym

Mirror Lake 2010

With Courtney starting work soon, we really wanted to spend every minute left of this summer having fun. So, we went camping at Mirror Lake with the family this weekend and had a great time! Courtney and I went up Friday afternoon and stayed until Sunday. Robby, Jessica and Kelly came up Saturday night. On the way up, I decided to ride my bike from the bottom of the canyon to the camp site on the Mirror Lake Highway. It was a nice climb all the way up for about 25.5 miles. Courtney also got her new Xterra X2 wetsuit so we planned an open water swim with Kelly (my sister). My brother Robby also joined us in his first open water swim. Check out the short video I put together.

On the way home Sunday, we were starving so we stopped at this little local grub and burger joint in Kamas.

Triathlon blog!

Check out our triathlon blog!

http://swimbikerunlife.blogspot.com/

Farmers Ins Toppers 2010 Denver, CO

Rory made Farmers Insurance Toppers this year! I am so proud of him! Plus, it gave us a chance to get away for the weekend together. We had a great time! We stayed in downtown Denver at the Grand Hyatt, which was really close to the outdoor 16th Street Mall (similar to the gateway...almost). While there, we went to a Rockies baseball game. The stadium was HUGE! We had never been to a Major league game before so it was pretty cool! We had some classic hotdogs and fresh lemonades for dinner at the ballpark! So fun. AND we won too. Saturday, we went on this railroad ride up the canyon and took a tour of the old Silver Creek mine. It was a pretty hot day and we forgot to wear sunscreen! (explains my sunburn on formal night at the Farmers function) Our last day in Denver, we went to the amusement park called Elitch Gardens. It was pretty busy, especially the water park side. Overall, really fun trip! Thanks Rory and Farmers for making it happen! Check out some pictures:

Shark Attack TRI

Saturday, I did the Shark Attack Triathlon in Riverton, UT. It's was my second TRI. Sprint distance was: 300 meter swim, 12 mile bike, and a 5k (3.2 mile) run. It was SO cold and

wet! It was pooring rain when we got there at 6:00 am. But before the swim started, thankfully, it stopped! My swim time was actually better than I thought it was going to be! It was so crowded in the pool! I guess I could have been a little more agressive and pushed my way through....

Next bike....It was freezing AND it started raining a bit when I was out. I was soaking wet! Rory told me that it was best to wear socks with my cycling shoes to keep my feet warm...(even though I train with no socks) Well, my socks got so wet that it probably made it worse!

Then, my run...It was ultimately my downfall. I just am so slow! I didn't stop once but I am just not at the pace I should be... I ended up placing 3rd in my age group! I was pretty surprise, but it wasn't that big of a race to begin with. I got a medal though! I thought I would never get one! Thanks Rory and Kelly for coming!

Not sure when my next one will be...I am thinking about the Herriman TRI in August. For now, training will focus on getting my run up to speed!

St. George

A week ago, Rory and I were fortunate enough to get out of town and visit St. George for a few days. It was really fun and really hot! The day we left (Sunday) was 109 degrees! Rory already posted a lot about our trip on his TRI blog...check it out:

http://swimbikerunlife.blogspot.com/

We were able to do my first open water swim at Sand Hollow. It was actually really fun! The wetsuit really keeps you buoyant so it wasn't that hard! I only had to master sighting because I was zig-zagging all over the place! The bike ride after was tough! We looped around the lake in 100+ degree weather! I thought I was going to die!

Among other things, we went hiking up Snow Canyon. (Again, super hot...but we chose the middle of the day to go hiking....I would not recommend that!!)

Also, our niece Julia had her baptism while we were down there! She was so pretty in her white dress! We are so proud of her!

All in all, it was fun! Great to get away!

Check out Rory's shoes! Yes, he forgot his church shoes at home! He looked so funny! We love him though!

Graduation and Job

Well, I just wanted to make a quick announcement. I realized that not everyone had heard yet, but I got a job! Two Mondays ago, I visited Nebo School District and got a job offer to work as a Speech Therapist at two of their high schools or one of their elementary schools. I thought I would have been thrilled about getting an offer, but there were some reservations with this one. Well, really just one reservation, the location. Nebo is in Spanish Fork and about one hour commute. That equals two hours of driving each day. So I told her I would take a few days and think about it. Rory and I considered our options, which even included moving to Utah County. That same day, I emailed everyone that I had interviewed with thus far. Long story short....Granite School District made me an offer two days later! Huge weight lifted to say the least! The week before, I was crying that I would never find a job. Well, after six interviews and tons of applications, I finally have a job!

Oh yes, May 6th, I graduated! I am now officially a Master! (in Speech Language Pathology in case you didn't know...) Here are some pics...