I did it!!!

I registered and paid for my entry into the 24th annual Naples Fitness Challenge!!!  It is on June 6th.... so I have only 2 1/2 months to get ready!!

I feel like my mindset has changed....every day is important and counts!  At dinner tonight (at Chili's), I found myself asking "What would an athlete eat.....?"   I've not ever seen myself as an athlete, but now that I've signed up for this.... I am seeing my life a bit differently.    I chose a salad with grilled shrimp, pineapple, mandarin oranges and napa cabbage with a "guiltless" dressing.  ( I have to eat as an insulin resistant, carb sensitive, pre-diabetic athlete )

When I got home, it was getting late and I had a bag of excuses I could have used to not go for a run:   I just ate dinner, I had a very long day teaching and tutoring, my 4 year old daughter needs to get to bed, it's getting dark, it's kind of chilly......you get the idea.  But again, I asked "What would an athlete do.....?" 

So, I threw on some leggings, a t-shirt and my shoes, grabbed my ipod shuffle and went out the door and walked/jogged a mile in 16:58.  Not great time....but I am so glad I made the effort.

The fitness challenge is a sprint triathlon.  It is a little different in that you run a 5K first, then bike 12 miles and then swim 1/4 mile in the Gulf (parallel to the shore).   I am not too worried about the swim and bike....but it's the running I'm concerned about.   I looked up the results from last year.... the winner finished in about 48 minutes!!!   I can barely do a 5K in that amount of time!!!   I also noticed the last people came in around 1:50:00.....  So.....if I can run it in 40-45 minutes....bike in 45 minutes....swim in 20..... I might not be very last..but close to it.   I don't even know how long it would take me to bike 12 miles.... or swim 1/4 mile!!!!  I better get busy figuring that out!!!

I don't care so much if I'm last, I just want to finish....but I worry about being the last biker out on the course....will they still have the roads blocked, or will I be on my own?  That really is my biggest concern.  Maybe that's just silly.......

Anyway..... one step at a time!

My name is Sharyn and I am a 40 year old Stay-At-Home-Mom.  I have a 4 year old daughter and a wonderful husband. Before I had my daughter, I was a Jr. High and High School math and science teacher.  Now, I just substitute and tutor.

I never had a weight problem until after I was married almost 19 years ago.  I struggled with infertility and finally was gifted with our miracle child.  Before her birth, I was diagnosed as Hypo-glycemic and ended up developing Gestational Diabetes during my pregnancy.

Last October, I weighed in at 258lbs.  (I'm 5 foot 9) and was feeling depressed, fatigued, hopeless....   I made an appointment with an Endocrinologist and started doing the Zone diet on my own.  By the time my appointment rolled around on Nov. 9th, I had lost around 8 pounds.  After lab work and a thyroid ultrasound, I was diagnosed as pre-diabetic, vitamin D deficient and having 6 nodules on my thyroid ( which a biopsy showed to be non-cancerous) on Dec. 1st.  I was prescribed Metformin and to take vitamin D supplements.

On Dec. 2nd, I signed up with Physician's Weight Loss Center and started a low carb diet.  3 months later, I had follow up labs.  My insulin was down from 28 to 10.5, my fasting blood sugar was down from 113 to 106 and my vitamin D levels were in the normal range.  I am still taking the Metformin to continue to lower my blood sugar to below 100.   My weight is now 233lbs!!

Before I got pregnant with my daughter, I started training with a few friends for a sprint triathlon.  As I would have been 8 months pregnant at race time.... I didn't do it.   I had told myself that I would do a sprint trialthon before I was 40.  In 2008, I did three 5Ks...with my PR being 49:45.  I went and watched a sprint triathlon...but that is as close as I got.

I am 40 and will be 41 next week (3/20)

About 5 weeks ago, I decided that I would register for a Spring Triathlon in my town that will take place on June 6th.  Registration opens tomorrow... (3/15)  Hopefully, I will have the nerve to go through with the registration.

5 weeks ago, I also started the C25K program with a friend.  Two weeks into it, I started experiencing severe pain in my right foot.  After x-rays and an ultrasound, I found out that I was experiencing a flare-up of arthritis in my right big toe joint.  I was given a shot of cortisone and told to rest it for a week and then I could get back to training.  So I did....

Yesterday (3/13) I completed a 5K.  I am still trying to figure out what my official time was.  I really wanted to beat my PR of 49:45... but I'm not sure that I did.

I did the first mile in 13:30 and completed the second mile a little under 30 minutes....right on track for a new PR.  Then around 2.5 miles... I got naseous and chilled and had to slow down considerably.  I think I went through the finish line around the end of minute 48 or the beginning of minute 49.   A friend made me go to the medic tent, because she said my color wasn't good and I was cold and clammy with no sweat.  The medic said heat exhaustion...but I am wondering if it wasn't due to blood sugar or meds. or just plain lack of training or dehydration...  After a few bottles of water and some rest, I was ok.

I went out this afternoon, walked for 5 minutes and then jogged 1 minute, walked 1 1/2 minutes...etc for 20 minutes.  Back to W1D1.  I stretched a lot...but I am very stiff and sore.

I was planning on registering for a 5K on April 10th... but am wondering if 4 weeks will be enough time to train for it.  I think I am just going to sign up and then walk/jog it the best I can.

Tomorrow:  sign up for the Sprint Triathlon, do the Wii Fit upper body workout and HYDRATE!!!  G doesn't have school tomorrow, I tutor in the morning for an hour, then we might go walk the 2.6 mile boardwalk at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary.  Girl's Night Out at PF Chang's!!!