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WHO YOU ARE
08.22.2008
BY WEETABIX
 I'm so glad that I pushed Post on the Triathlon suggestion before I let myself think too hard about the implications of what I was suggesting, because oh holy hell, did the self-doubt kick in yesterday. Hard core. Oh my god, this means a swimming suit in front of people at the Y. This means little kids staring at my thigh cellulite. This means actually lacing up athletic shoes and wearing socks and going into the room with my treadmill and staying in there for large blocks of time...sweating. This means a lot of things. Oh my god, did my mouth just write a check that my ass can't cash? And then I tell myself, no, I can do this. I can. It's possible. It's a measurable goal. It will be ok. And then I started getting e-mails from you guys. Oh my god, my eyes got a little misty and my heart grew three sizes. I am not in this alone! It wasn't a few brave souls, we're a mofo Lazy Triathlon ARMY. Here's a glimpse at just some of the responses from the new Tryathletes! Lynne: Sign me up for the 5-week plan! Woo hoo!The short answer to Alysha and Sara's question is yes, absolutely. The long answer is: do whatever you want. If you want to switch out one activity for another one, there are two possibilities I can think of to do this: one would be to figure out how many calories/energy an hour of activity is and then look to see how many miles of running/biking/swimming that would amount to in calories/energy burned. Self has a very specific calorie calculator that looks at how fast you're running and your weight, etc., to figure out the calories. So if, say, you would typically run a 10-minute mile and weighed 160 lbs, then you'd burn about 760 calories running 6 miles, and if you played volleyball for an hour, it's also about 760 calories, so basically, that's like running 6 miles. The other option is just to say "Meh, it's about X miles." This is supposed to be fun! So if you love numbers and calculating stuff, go nuts, but if you are just looking to add a little incentive to your activity/fitness regime, then the honor system works too. Remember, this is certainly not the Presidential Fitness Test, we're doing this to have fun and get motivated to sneak in a little extra fitness. Go ahead and tap dance or garden or rollerskate or jazzercize, whatever makes you happiest. If you emailed me to participate, you should have received an invite to become a collaborator on the Google Spreadsheet (and if you haven't received an invite or still can't edit, shoot a note to Weetabix at Elastic Waist Dot Com and say "Whazzup bizatch?"). If you haven't e-mailed me but are seriously thinking about participating, what are you waiting for? Yes, it's a little bit scary. Yes, it's a commitment. I totally get that and feel that too, but then I realized, you know what? It's not like someone is standing over you with a timer. The Lazy Peeps triathlon starts tonight at Midnight and then you have until October 3 to finish, which is practically a lifetime from now and a 20-minute mile counts exactly the same as a 10-minute or a 6-minute mile. This is all about setting goals and proving to yourself that you can achieve them. Sure, maybe my mouth is writing checks my ass can't cash, but really, my ass can TOTALLY cash that check. And yours can too. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I can't wait to get on my treadmill tomorrow! 5 CommentsLeave a comment |
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FEED ME
You said it ... that thing about my mouth writing checks...
The more I think about the actual miles, laps, sweat, I get a squishy feeling in my gut that rolls up to my chin. Then I read about the rest of us and get over it.
I bought my goggles. My daughter talked me in to ordering a nike+ gizmo that will track my miles through my nano via my shoe.
And I am going to try and put my odometer on my new bike. So Damn, i guess I am a purist. Slow, but pure.?
YAWP! Can't wait to get started. I'm going to kick things off running tomorrow, and then swim on Sunday. (And by then hopefully I will be able to edit the Google sheet, which for now is still saying "view only.")
And just an aside about appearing in a swimsuit in public, b/c Weet lead off her post with it. When I was thinking about getting back into swimming, a few years ago now, I wasn't scared about the actual swimming. It was the stuff like, is it uncool to bring a towel with you on the deck, will everyone think I'm an idiot for taking such long breakfs between laps, and yes -- will everyone point and laugh at me and my fatness in a swimsuit. It took one -- precisely one -- visit to the pool to realize: no one cares, and almost everyone else is fat too! The non-fat are so few as to be statistically insignificant.
OK, so my elliptical tracks distance. If Fay doesn't stay too long I can get in the pool as often as I'd like. I'm not exactly sure how I'm going to get the biking done. Maybe I'll just pay for day passes at the gym to use their exercise bikes. Gees, when I put my mind to it, getting exercise doesn't seem like some Herculean task.
I am so ready for this to start! And I agree completely with Sonce. I always get so nervous about doing something, but really, nobody cares. Nobody will care about your thighs or whatever part you hate. Really. It's going to be fun. What can I say? I'm absurdly goal-oriented.
I had sort of dismissed this, because I was too chicken... but then Weet said tap dance. Those are magic words. Maybe this is possible after all, if I can just figure out how many minutes of tap dancing is worth a mile of running...