YOGA Love

For those of you that know me, you know that my current obsession is yoga.  I still find the TRI to be wonderful, but the YOGA-its love, love, love.  I received my 200hr RYT certification this month, and started teaching at the local country club.  I also took a children's yoga training and am so excited to get out of my ego and tap into my playful side with the kids. 

I interviewed at the Solebury Club today.  They have a beautiful yoga studio and the director of the Yoga Program there is divine.  She radiates calm and compassion, and I really hope that she chooses to hire me-its seemed to go well (YAY:)).

What athletic endevour is currently capturing your attention?  Would love for you to share!

And for those of you new to TRI, please note, yoga can really help with flexibility, focus, strength, and stretch..all qualities you need to succeed in the sport.  Check out this link for a 15 minute yoga sequence designed specifically for triathletes.

And have a wonderful weekend!!!!!

R3P2D1- Loading at 144.8

Current Weight 144.8
LIW R2 143.5
Measurements: to be done after loading

So starts my loading for R3.  So far, Ive had two meatballs (from a Primo's Hoagie), a whole sleeve of Pico De Gallo Wholly Guacamole (YUMMY!) with some crostini, and am looking forward to some mixed nuts and ice cream later.  Im doing kinda of a eat the last bits of what I crave (ie ice cream and crackers) and load up on good fats loading, so I dont gain too much, but do have the fat I need to get me through my first week.  I really dont want to gain more than 3lb from loading, as I really hope to reach the high 120s by end of October (yes, body, we can do it, please ?!?!?!?!).

This is going to be a very interesting round.  I plan to keep exercising throughout (swimming, biking, running, yoga), and am starting my yoga teacher training this Friday night...that will most likely be pretty hard core (8 long weekends in 3.5 months), though I have been practicing at least 2-3xs a week for the last month or so.   Not sure how that will affect my weight.  I also am planning my first shorter round.  My first round was 50 days and the second I believe was 40, so this time 30 days is my max.  I want to be done with my 3 weeks of P3 before Thanksgiving, and maybe even in time for some birthday cake for me and my sons (we were all born within 5 days of each other in November). 

For those of you wondering, I do SC injections.  This morning I mixed 5000 ius of HCG with 14.25ccs of bacteriostatic water, and that will give me approx 28 175iu injections.  If I do my skip days like Im supposed to, and the HCG stays stable (in the frig, in its box, covered by foil to not be damaged by the light), I will only need one batch for this round.  Funny, less than an hour after my injection, TOM arrived (not due for a week or so)...or at least I had spotting.  We'll see if he sticks around. 

So, who out there wants to be round buddies?  I have a feeling Im going to need lots of support this round!

ps-something I want to share, at least to remind myself.  Someone asked me about my spiritual practice, and I said this:  Every thing I do, every moment, is a part of my spiritual practice.  I focus on the stillness inside, and the peace and beauty all around me.   Pretty profound, I thought, immediately after verbalizing it.  And sometimes more true than at other times.  I am a work in progress, and my life is such a blessing.

R2P4D68- Great Weekend!

Weight: No idea, probably round 149 (due to size of belly)
Fun: tons!

This weekend was a blast.  Friday night was first friday in our town and we walked there to watch hubby do his budakon presentation in front of all of the visitors-he did great, despite his nervousness.  This was after I spend the afternoon buying two used bikes- a Kuota K Factor Tri bike, and a Specialized Ruby Expert Road bike.  I got them from a triathlete that is now being sponsored by Kuota, and so she gets her bikes for free.  Spent tons of time in traffic on the way back, but boy, do I love these new bikes.  Planning on getting fitted for them sometime this month, and will be rolling them out for my next tri season. 

Saturday morning, my biggest and I went to garage sales, which is always fun.  Hubby and I spent the afternoon cleaning the house in prep for our Sunday BBQ, and getting ready for our Trapeze Lesson.  Yes, if the pics I just sent to blogger come out, you'll get to see me flying through the air.  It was so scary and SO FUN!!!!  We ended up hitting it off with our instructor and she joined us for a few drinks at the Indian Rock Inn afterwards, just down the street from the camp where the lesson was held.  And then we went to our favorite restaurant in Doylestown for dessert after one drink at MOMs.  A full and amazing night.

Sunday we partied with some of our neighbors and longtime friends too at our BBQ (love those rhymes) after I ran my first 5 miles continuous ever (thanks for the push, Kristin!).  The day was full of great food, weather, and conversation.  And today I took an amazing yoga class, in prep for yoga teacher training this fall.  It was a perfect weekend, and a great way to end the summer.

What did you do this weekend?

R2P4D29- .2 loss

R2P2 Highest Loading Weight 165.3
Current Weight 143.7
LIW 143.5
Over LIW .2
Food Tracker (choose July 29th)
Exercise Tracker (yesterday): 25 minutes pilates, 40 minutes yoga, 36 minutes running (10:30min/mil)

Finally got my background back up, and my weight back down.  Im .2 above LIW.  Ive been trying to stick close to my calories limit of no more than 1550 plus the calories I burn during my workouts, so I should be good today, since Ill be swimming in an hour, and yesterday since I worked out hard.  Even though I had skinny cow ice cream sandwiches yesterday and today, and primo's hoagies too!

Sunday is the big day, my first tri of the season.  I have to get up at 4:15am Sunday morning to get down to the race site in Philly by 6ish and ready to race by 8.  Then it'll be all over by 10:30, and Ill get to spend the day with the kids at the zoo or at the Please Touch Museum (depending on the weather) before falling into my bed by 4pm, Im sure.  Im really looking forward to it...the race AND the sleeping.

Lots of things going on in my head, and soon in my world, even more than normal.  Im hopefully going to be traveling abroad for vacation in Sept or Oct, either to Italy, Costa Rica, or my favorite, Thailand.  Hubby has given me the thumbs up to leave him and the kids for a week so I can travel with a friend.  He's not really big into international travel, so its more desirable for him to have me spread my wings, and he can stay home and watch sports without being bothered :)...truly! 

I am also thinking of doing either yoga teacher training in Oct or getting a personal trainer certification.  Dont really want to do both at the same time, because I think that MIGHT be a little too much, and I dont want to overwhelm myself too much.  When I do the yoga training, I also want to make sure Im not distracted, and immerse myself fully so I get the most out of it.   It should be wonderful.  And since I cant travel for a month without the kids, I have to stay local to do the teacher training, even though it would be amazing to go to India and train.  So thats big.  Just gotta find the studio I want to work with.  Theres one in town that Im going to do unlimited classes with in Sept to see if its a good fit.

I also have something in the works that Im pretty excited about...Im thinking of doing a jewelry line (specifically bracelets for now) that relate to weight loss and would serve as a constant reminder of how important it is to be aware of what we eat.  I am having a prototype made right now, and if it works out like I hope, Ill be offering them for sale on my blog, and of course, having a giveaway for my bloggy peeps!  Anything you'd like to see on a bracelet (up to 6 words)-you're welcome to post it here:

Here are the sayings I've come up with so far (and Ive tm'ed the first one):
Every bite is a choice and a pleasure (thats the one Im making for myself and may mass produce)
Vote with your fork (for my food coop buddies)
Delicious, sublime, serene awareness
Slow and sure, you're doing it!

Wait till you see it, its going to be awesome, though it might take me a month or so...

Two more days

So last night was an intense session with my chiropractor, who does ART (active release technique-http://www.activerelease.com/) and basically strips out my pain by doing deep tissue work (there is a lot of cursing going on during those sessions) followed by some stim treatments on my knees and neck, and some ultrasound on my foot (for my Morton's Neuroma). After that I went to Masters swim, and was suprised that our lane finished our 1600m (1 mile) in about 45 minutes...thats really cool (for me anyway). At lunch yesterday, I walked 4 miles (and jogged about a 1/3 of it), and even though my feet were telling me it wasnt such a good idea for the first mile or so, when I ran during the next three, it hurt less.

Today I plan to do a short bike ride if the weather holds out and if Kieran doesn't need to come home early from daycare due to his cold. Tomorrow I have both the kids during the day since Mark is working, so I'll take them over to the Y daycare to do yoga in the morning, and then head over to pick up my race packet around 3pm since Mark's parents have graciously agreed to babysit for a few hours. When I return home, I will pack my transition bag, take a shower, and go to bed so I can get up at 4:30am refreshed and ready for the day. Whew!