Birthday

Im sure no one really cares, but I wanted to write about my birthday for a minute.
So last year, when I turned 21, Sonny proposed to me on my birthday. He was going to wait for the next day when we were going to the beach, but couldnt help it :).

So this birthday, being my first as a married woman, I was excited to see how it would compare.
It started out pretty normal. We went for breakfast at Waffle House (pecan waffle for me) and then drove around Athens. Sonny blindfolded me and disoriented me so that I wouldnt know where we were going. He went in to the store and bought my present and then we went to Ben and Jerrys to get an ice cream cake. (If you know me, you know that I would eat ice cream in the North or South Pole during winter in the middle of a blizzard. And yes, I know its December). We had tickets to a UGA basketball game, so we went home to eat cake and open my present. Much to my surprise, he bought me this killer softshell from Patagonia that I have wanted for over a year. I was thrilled. We had cake and left for the game. Come to find out, we had passes to that private hospitality reception thing before the game and had lunch and listened to a team representative answer questions (and had a sweet parking spot). And then our seats. Floor seats. Like I could see the sweat on the players foreheads and see the fibers in their laces. It was sweet. Ive never been that close. The box seats at the Jazz game were cool, but this was awesome. Needless to say, the Dawgs won.
So we got home and hung out. We had the best time just talking. I wont go in to detail about anything else. But probably the second best birthday ever.

Training log 12/12/08

I can see why people get addicted to exercise. I admit that the hardest part is getting myself out of bed at 4:45 in the morning to go to spin. But for some reason, while Im in class, dripping sweat and muscles burning, Ive never felt more alive (ok, well ALMOST never...but we wont go in to that. :)) I love how my leg muscles are deliciously tight after class and although Im exhausted I feel a strange inner energy that makes the day seem brighter. Cellulite and width has started to melt off my thighs and my legs are resembling something like an alluring womanly-athletic shape. Ok, so my boobs went from a full C to a generous B, but my tummy muscles are starting to show a little definition and my waist is back and I wont even start to talk about my butt :)... Anyway, I am enjoying training for this tri more than I ever thought I would.

Today I only did about 40 minutes (treadmill, weights, floor exercises) but it feels good to move--besides I was running around all day at work.

Training day Number 24?

I'm the kind of person that has a million ideas and wants to try them all but only ever follows through on a handful of them. So when my mother-in-law mentioned that a few of my siblings-in-law and she were doing a triathlon, I laughed out loud at the thought of me competing in any sort of physical activity. Even though I was skinny in elementary school, I was always one of the last across the finish line during PE--I was trying to keep up with the fat kid who always seemed to be one stride ahead of me. In college I started to think there was something wrong with me when I would get winded going up the hill to class. An old doctor from the student health center told me I was simply out of shape (thanks a lot, fatty). Then I started to do some research. I talked to a friend of mine who said he had similar tightness and shortness of breath (although sometimes I thought mine were just an allergic reaction to exercise) and he said he was diagnosed with sports-related asthma and had an inhaler. Janene prescribed me an inhaler and from that day my life changed.

So anyway, Im training for a the Lake Lanier Sprint Triathlon. I get my butt out of bed every morning at 4:45 and stumble in to the spin room at the Y. My butt gets kicked for an hour and then squeeze that same butt into a swimsuit and collapse into the swimming pool for laps. By 7 am I have burned almost 1,000 calories and I prepare myself to do it again the next day. I have started running (gasp!!) and Im up to about two miles without wanting to crawl into a ball and die--for some people that may be a bit pathetic, but remember the skinny kid story above: I didnt run much as a kid. The race is a 1/2 mile (=10 laps) swim in Lake Lanier (if it has water...), 13 mile bike race, and 3.1 mile run. So far I can swim 5 laps, bike 7 miles (on a mountain bike, probably could go all 13 on a road bike but a mountain bike on asphalt uphill is like biking on flypaper), and 2 miles running. The race is in June and I have about six months to get ready. I am so excited that I am finally participating in something like this. Even if I am the last person crawling across the finish line, it will be one of the few things I have ever finished.

As a side note, a huge plus of all this training is that I am going to have a killer body for our Puerto Rico trip in May. Bikini (or lack thereof) and a private pool in our suite...Oh yeah.....