Sticking to it!

Well, I have managed to (mostly) follow my plan for the last 3 weeks!

I think I've probably only taken 3-4 days off...and that's because I went to Tallahassee the first weekend, the Renaissance Festival last weekend, and went on an impromptu trip to the North Carolina mountains this weekend.  And both the Ren Fest and the Mountains were pretty physical, so those actually might count as exercise days.

Mostly, I've been walking/jogging and swimming.  Swimming, I do probably 3-4 days of the week, and walking/jogging another 2-3.  One of the girls knows this crazy 100 workout, also, that we've been doing after our walk/run on Wednesday afternoons.  That shit is ridiculous...I hurt for DAYS afterward.  I have been modifying my plan as I go, so as to minimize the impact on my knee, and also because of variations in my schedule.

I've only biked for one day, last Sunday.  It was HARD.  I have since learned that my mountain-hybrid bike makes it about twice as difficult for me to do the same thing as the other girls on their road-hybrid bikes...and I felt it.  I had to stop when I was having problems pedaling just on a flat surface.  Also, my helmet was about 2 sizes too small...I have since gotten another one, which is a lot better.  So, all in all, a little more difficult than I had expected...but I'm doing it.

My knee actually is doing ok, for now.  I went walking/running last Wednesday, and it hurt a bit after that...but it seems better now.  I'm biking this afternoon, and swimming tomorrow...this is going to be a crazy week, I'm working out every weekday and then doing an "Introduction to Road Cycling" course on Saturday.  Bring on the Advil!

I haven't been doing my normal neighborhood walk often, but I plan to do it twice a week for the time being.  I cannot, canNOT, just pick up where I left off, though.  I am forcing myself to start slow...which means resetting my walk to 3 miles and gradually increasing from there.  I have to remember that I am doing enough exercise during the week that I don't need to kill myself walking/running.  I need to avoid knee problems, as well as shin splints (no sign yet, thank GOODNESS!) and back issues.  So far, so good on those...nothing more than normal pain right now, happily.

I have discovered before, and rediscovered recently, just how enjoyable my neighborhood walk is compared to walking the track.  I HATE walking the track.  Every time I get back around to the beginning, I think about getting off and being done.  When I'm out walking the neighborhood, I don't have that option...if I walk out to a certain point, I have no option except to walk my ass back.  My original plan was to walk the track every morning, but one morning of that was enough to change my plans.

Really, I just need to be able to do all of the different triathlon activities, separately, by the end of June.  Well, I don't think I'll be able to bike 12 miles or run 3 miles by that point...but, if I can manage MOST of that, I think I'll be ok.  The running is going to have to come with time, and I'll get better at the biking as I go.  I'm able to swim the 400 meters right now with no problem...but I definitely can't do it all in one go, so I need to work on getting faster with it.

So, that's the plan for right now.  Should be a fun week!  : )