I've been working my ass off this week in Kentucky shooting our company's first television pilot. So, you can imagine how excited I was to see the local paper had picked up the story.
Now, this story is not about me. It's about the show we've been working so long to sell (we first met the Mitchells in February 2010). It's about the business the Mitchells have spent over two decades building. It's about the hardworking and colorful characters that makeup the staff of this incredibly interesting operation.
and....
It's about photo #6 in the paper's online photo gallery of my fat ass.
Jen Small I'm calling SOS. The next time a newspaper takes a pic of my add I need it to be smaller.
As a new blogger I've been thinking a lot about what I want to give and get out of this endeavor. Also, after following and getting to know the From Fat to Finish Line bloggers over the last year I've learned a lot about blogging (mostly from Katie) so I'm going to take a few tricks from their handbooks.
Every Sunday night I'll post my week in review; what my goals were and how I lived up to them. I'm generally a goofball but I'm going to try to keep these posts serious (the key word here is try).
I learned the hard way in November at the Turkey Tri in Bonelli Park that you can't really bullshit your way through a triathlon like you can a foot race. When you get tired running you can always stop and walk a bit. But, when you get tired swimming... Well, you get the picture. My coach, Jen, pointed out to me that Knoxville (my intended first real race) is a challenging one.
WTF!?! Part of the swim is UP river!
Bike Course
Run Course
I signed up because Jen will be doing the half Rev and Scott the Olympic. Also, we're filming a TV pilot for the DIY Network about an amazing family run business that has a store in nearby Pigeon Forge and I wanted to put the juju out there that we'll be spending a lot of time in the area. I took all these things into consideration when signing up. Everything except for checking the course. Good thing I have 97 days to train and even better that the folks at Rev3 really do put on a party for the one who crosses the finish line last. Hopefully it won't be me.
Okay, enough back story. Let's get to the week. Jen emailed me very specific workouts for the week. I did what I was supposed to do on Monday but it went downhill from there. I finished the week with a bang and an ouch.
What I was supposed to do:
What I did:
Monday
Bike (on my trainer)
Single Leg Cycling Drills
Yay! I did what I was supposed to do.
Tuesday
Endurance Based Swim
My friend Sara wanted to go biking so I went with her to Griffith
Park and we did the 9 mile zoo loop. It has one very long and
gnarly hill and took about 50 minutes.
Wednesday
Run - Zone 2 easy run
I drove 3 1/2 hours in traffic to San Diego to see one of the kids
from a film I produced play at a coffee shop. John lives there so he
met me then proceeded to take me to his local watering hole with
another friend where we closed the place down. I crashed on a
futon at his place for 4 hours and drove back home delirious.
Thursday
Bike Hills 60-90 minutes
Remember what I did yesterday? Yeah, me neither. Since I biked
hills on Tuesday I figured I'd do my Zone 2 easy run but first I
had to figure out this blogging thing and that took a LONG time.
Friday
Rest Day!
Guilt Day!
The LA TriClub has AMAZING perks and one was an organized
swim workout at a near(ish)by pool. I figured I'd give it a try.
HOLY COW! This will get its own post but let's just say I did
Tuesday's swim and then some. Also, it was Katie's birthday and
she'd organized a virtual 5k that I didn't want to flake on. So, after
getting my ass handed to me in the pool I went into my garage at
9:00pm to run on the treadmill.
Saturday
Long Run
It had been raining all week and the sun came out today. We're
leaving for KY next week to shoot part of that TV pilot and I'll
probably only be able to run so I decided to bike. I went back to
Griffith Park.
Sunday
Bike - 45 minutes all easy
So far I've cleaned my closet and run errands all day but I
PROMISE I'll get on my trainer when The Good Wife comes on
at 9:00.
So, basically I think I got the general level of training I was supposed to in. I was short a run but (kind of) made up for it with a harder swim session and 2 bike rides. I know I'm going to have to do better sticking to the program. Also, I need to learn about recovery. I woke at 3:00 am with my shoulders throbbing after the swim clinic so I took a couple of Advil and finally went back to sleep. But hey, it's week one of my triathlon training. If I had been perfect then this would be one boring blog. Well, it may be already. Speaking of boring, I'll leave you with my helmet cam video from my Saturday bike ride. I've sped it up so it doesn't bore you to death but I slowed it down to normal speed a couple of times on the hill so you can get a laugh. It's amazing I can stay upright considering how slow I'm going near the top.
You need another friend to start a health and fitness blog like you need a hole in the head. Well, tough shit. I'm training for a 70.3 triathlon in August and I plan on complaining about it.
Here are my top 5 reasons why:
1) It can make you famous - a couple years ago my dear friend and business parter Jennifer Roe started her blog and not only did she lose 100 lbs and become an inspiration to many but she met an amazing group of virtual friends who have now become real friends. That lead to the formation of a Rangar team that lead to the filming of a movie. During the filming of said movie she had a nervous breakdown at 3:00 am in my rainbow tutu and trust me, a year from now Jen will be famous.
2) You can get free stuff - My blogger friends get free stuff to review all the time. Jennifer (again) and Linda both got these cool things for "that time" of month.
and Linda got this gizmo so she can pee while standing up!
Who doesn't want a free pStyle urination device!?!
3) You get a public platform to act like a goofball - I know that might not sound exciting to most but anyone who knows me will understand. Rather than explain I submit the following collage of race pics as evidence.
Yes, I did run a race dressed as a bath loofah.
4) You (me in this case) will probably lose weight - Keeping publicly accountable helped my role models in their success. Check out what they've done!
Okay, my dog doesn't have an inspiring story but there was extra space and she's fun to look at.
and last but not least...
5) It can change your life - Read through the amazing blogs out there like Katie's or Meredith's and you'll feel empowered and motivated. They are living examples that you can do anything you put your mind to. They say blogging helped keep them accountable. I think they both have it in them to have done it anyway but I sure am glad they are sharing their journeys.
Okay! My first blog is complete. Figuring out this blogger stuff took too long and I skipped my workout. Thanks to my new found accountability I'll have to double up tomorrow.
