This is, essentially, day 3 of training, so it’s a bad idea to get discouraged. It’s a much better idea to get pissed. When I left for vacation a week ago, I weighed 230 pounds. When I got on the scale post workout this morning, I weighed 234. WTF!?!?!

Wait - I ate nearly constantly while on vacation, so, that’s just something I have to deal with. It makes my goal of 215 at the end of October a little tougher to reach, but if I get to 220, that will be ok. I need to start calculating body fat as well - since I’m doing some weight training, that could change more dramatically.

So, I got up this morning for an easy 22 minute bike ride (still forcing myself to build up), plus some upper body work, stretching, and core work. My problem is this - I love the spin bikes at our gym, but they don’t have any sort of measurement device on them. I know I can get a watch to monitor time (easier than figuring based upon length of the song), but what about my level of effort? I can usually tell how hard I’m pushing, but there is no way to measure distance.

Would a heart rate monitor be applicable here? Perhaps I should invest in one.

On that note, I need to spend as much time riding and running outside as I can - I’ve got maybe 3-4 weeks before it’s too cold.

I also want to start posting some pics - I know reading line after line of text isn’t all that entertaining.

Overall - besides the weight gain - I’m feeling really good. Tomorrow is an off day, then both days this weekend are spent in training. I’ll keep you posted.

I neglected to mention in my last post that I was going on nearly a week’s vacation - so I wouldn’t be posting or training during that time. I got back last night, and was on the road running this morning. I’m starting out super easy, since I have 6 months before the season starts, and I don’t want to risk overtraining. I’m doing a modified version of the “Couch to 5k” program on BeginnerTriathlete.com. Starting out, I’m doing a combination of walk 5 minutes/run 2 minutes (and doing 4-5 rotations of that) for the first two weeks.

I’m setting up my first month like this: day 1 - run, day 2 - bike/weights, day 3 - off. I’m throwing in a couple longer bike rides in there (15+ miles, gotta get that in while it’s still warm enough), and taking two days off after those. Between this, and my newly cleansed diet, I’m hoping to drop 15 pounds this month. We’ll see how that goes (it will be nice to weigh 215 again).

Today was my first 5/2 (4x’s) run. It wasn’t too bad - more pain was had from the cold air than from exertion. I just have to remember to not over-do it for the first couple months. The distance I covered in that time was 3.2 miles (in about 45 minutes). That’s right - I can run out my front door, down my street, to a predetermined spot - turn around, run back to my front door, then do it again, and I’ve run a 5k. I have to say, I’m quite excited about this.

So, tomorrow is a nice bike ride (on the gym trainer) and some weights, and I’m one step closer to being a triathlete again!