Tryin' a Tri

Well, we're about 1/2 a month into 2016 so I thought I'd get cracka-lackin on my New Years' resolution to train for and do a Triathalon. Every year for the past probably 4 years I've resolved to do one only to find an excuse not to do one. But not this year! It's gonna happen. To help keep me on track I've decided to blog about my successes, failures, and feelings during the whole training process.

Why am I training for a Triathalon?

For the shear fact that it's hard. 

I love running, I somewhat enjoy leisurely swimming, and I really don't like biking. So training for all 3 at the same time should require a lot of mental toughness and discipline.

I've found that being disciplined physically results in other areas of my life becoming more disciplined.

This is probably just me, but I need to exercise in order to be organized in all other areas of my life. I have spiritual goals and family oriented goals and in order to achieve them I need to exercise. 

I want to live a healthier lifestyle.

This is to value the life and body God created and to praise Him. 'When I run I feel His pleasure.' Is what Eric Liddel said in Chariots of Fire and I would say that too. When I run, I feel like I'm using what God gave me, finding joy in it and serving Him by serving others with the new energy I get from exercise. 

When I exercise I want to eat better..I crave pure water and veggies and fruit. Better diet has all sorts of advantages and now that we have a daughter there's an added incentive to looking after myself. 

So now what?

First - I gotta get a plan.

I have 7 months approximately until the Triathalon. It's been 7 months since I gave birth to our baby girl so I'm still not 100% where I was before my pregnancy. I'm going to start out by building habits.

Plan to work out.

I'm going to start out by running 3 times a week, swimming 1 time a week and doing home workout videos 2 times a week. Sunday is rest day. 

(Biking will be added to the regimen next month)

Plan to eat better and drink better.

I'm going on a sugar purge. Sugar is my addiction that I need to get rid of. It's ruining my life I just know it. So this week I'm cooking and baking sugar-free substitutes for my favourite goodies that will give me energy as well as kill my cravings. I baked sugar free pumpkin cream cheese muffins and sugar free chocolate chip cookies today. They taste great and I don't miss the guilt from eating real cookies full of sugar.

Drink 6-8 glasses of water a day. 

Here are the recipe links to the baked goodies I tried:

Pumpkin - Cream cheese muffins:

http://www.veggiebalance.com/gluten-free-pumpkin-cream-cheese-muffins/

Sugar and Egg-free Chocolate chip cookies:

http://deliciouslyyum.com/unbelievably-healthy-chocolate-chip-cookies/

I'll check in later to tell you all how it's going! I'm excited! Can't wait to get in Triathalon shape!