Back on Track!

A couple weeks in town has made all the difference in the world. I'm back on track with my training plan for the triathlon and marathon!

For the past few weeks the training plan I made in mid-June was more of a dream than reality through my various trips and traveling. Although I may have had the best of intentions in packing work-out clothes on my travels, I admittedly had only been making time to work-out once or twice a week. Which is something I only partially fault myself for...since making time to work-out fell on the priority list only to sleep, food, beer, and work. :-)

Anyway, getting back into my work-out routine the past two weeks has been great. Lots of running, biking, and yes, even swimming (which takes a lot of mental courage, since it is not something I'm good at or that in any way comes naturally to me). In fact, last Sunday was my first time swimming in over three years. After a few laps of choking on water during an awkward freestyle, I made a decision. Rather than making a half-hearted attempt to get comfortable breathing face down in the water (and probably getting frustrated that I couldn't go a single lap without choking), I'll spend my time training doing a stroke that I know I can breathe with and simply build up endurance that way. The solution: the backstroke!

I had another swim session this morning and am extremely happy with my decision. Doing the backstroke I'm able to focus on my technique and improving my stroke (with some online help from YouTube videos...) rather than my oxygen intake. And the best part is that I'm not getting frustrated but am actually improving. For the first time I'm actually getting a cardio work-out by swimming!

I may never be a strong swimmer, but at least I'm doing what I can to set myself up for success as best as possible for my pending triathlon. (It's in two weeks! Yikes!) Here's hoping that my fitness momentum keeps up!

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Side note...as of this post I am now a member of the Google + community and Twitter. Back on track and connected!

Also - no repaired laptop yet, so another week with weird formatting from a different computer.

Hectic Hiatus

Phew! What day is it? For the past few weeks that question has been more difficult to answer than usual, and for good reason. I had been posting updates roughly every week since January, but my recent hiatus has been hectic to say the least.

Since my last post on June 20th, I've officially spent time and toured around seven different cities and been out of town for 20 out of the last 28 days! (That's over 70% of the time!) It was a combination of work, personal, and Zeta travel. Lots of conferences and meetings, but also a lot of fun and great sight-seeing. Oh, and my brother got married in those same 28 days too. (Congratulations, Greg, and my new sister, Shayna!) Needless to say, the days that I spent at home in between were spent doing laundry and gearing up for the next trip. I was exhausted!

The good news is that I've rested up over the past week and am looking forward to enjoying some time at home for a while. My training plan is back in full effect and I'm actually looking forward to the triathlon and marathon.

At an attempt at an abbreviated re-cap, here's how I spent late June and early July...

Running along the James River in Richmond, Virginia:

Taking boat tours and enjoying great beers in scenic Belgium cities:

Exploring Seattle with Diane, Laura and Dave:

Yes, I did get one closer to my baseball stadium goal (#1 on the Operation 30 list). Safeco Field (#2 of 4) was great!

Sampling pints near Grand Central Station in NYC:

Reinvigorating my Zeta Spirit in Indianapolis at National Leadership Conference:

Overall, a hectic but great month. :-)

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PS - Weird formatting can be blamed on me using a different laptop for this post. My personal laptop was infected with a virus yesterday. I'll have to go back and fix formatting when the Geek Squad has finished bringing my good 'ole Dell back to life.