Summer buzz

So I mentioned last post that I'm thinking of doing a triathlon. I've never been fitter but I don't want to just stick at running, both for want of variety and prevention of injury. My interest was piqued by Angela's try-a-tri adventure. So I started looking into open water swimming, because I live on an island, and I love outdoor swimming, but my technique is rubbish. So on sunday I went to the swimming pool to try out a few lengths. My intention was to swim 400m front crawl. I swam a bit more- 775m, but maybe only 3 lengths front crawl...because I simply COULD NOT bring myself to put my face in the water. It didn't help that I didn't have goggles. If I want to do this triathlon thing, then I need to get the hang of the front crawl again. I better get me some eye gear. That's another thing about triahtlon, it's a kit-heavy sport which means expensive! But I want to take my fitness up another level for the following reasons:

I like goals. I like setting myself challenges and having something to work towards

Doing lots of exercise makes me so chirpy! :)

Doing plenty of exercise also does my digestion a lot of good

Which is good- because it means I can (in fact have to) eat more food.

As well as mixing my running up with cycling and swimming, I've been fitting in some strength training as my upper body and core strength is kind of non-existent! To complement the exercises, I've been consciously choosing subbing some carby things for more high protein foods, like instead of noodles with my big heap of cabbage in garlicky tomato sauce tonight I had peanuts (which are agreeing my tum pretty well so far). Other dietary changes have been a concerted effort to get most of my carbs from fruit and vegetables and being much more rigorous about fluid intake. Needless to say these little changes aren't just supporting my extra workouts, they're doing wonders for my tum. So things have improved quite a bit in my bowels, I'm definitely feeling more postive about things than I have been. Also, I am so hungry these days! I don't think I have fined tuned my calorie intake yet (I haven't increased it enough), in fact this afternoon, about two hours after lunch, I was starving and all I had in work was a bag of oats, so I made some porridge...maybe not the best afternoon snack (I want to eat a greater variety to make sure I'm getting all the right nutrients) but man, I enjoyed it! My favourite food discovery, however, is eating frozen raspberries! Yum. I've had them a few times this week with a little vanilla flavoured soy yogurt.

I think I mentioned in my last post that my phone is broken, and that's what I use to take my photos for the blog. Until I get a new phone, then, I apologise for the text-heavy posts.

Here's a link to the (sprint) triathlon I'm hoping to do at the end of September(go to Seven Frogs Triathlon link): http://www.nualamoore.com At the moment I'm alternating between running and cycling and aim to fit some swims in, and the strength training, with one rest day a week. My aim is to start a 12 week training program for the triathlon on 5th July.

Work is still crazy as the auditor is with us all week. My boss is having a barbeque on saturday evening, so I'm going to bring either tempeh bacon or aduki sunflower seed burgers. I'm also hoping to get in an open water swim. I think I'd prefer getting to grips with my swim breathing without the entrapment of lane swimming and lots of other bodies in the water.

Stressed...

...is not a good thing for most people. It's especially crap if you have IBS. Like me. In work, we have two audit visits coming up, tomorrow and then another group all next week. I work as a medical secretary in a blood transfusion service. My boss is incredibly hard working, which means there's a lot for me to do. She's just taken up the role and so is busy whipping things into shape. As much as I prefer working for someone like that, this week has been pretty tough on my guts. This time last week I was completely bound up and looked about 5 months pregnant. Today, my problems are at the other spectrum of IBS experience. Meh. I keep telling myself things will be ok when next week is over. However, I'm pretty sure cereal flakes deserve a large share of the blame too- I just cannot digest the stuff, gluten or not. And the cramping and diarrhea, that's because I've been eating a lot more fruit this week to clear the constipation, and the stress probably made the cramping worse.

Food wise, I've been eating mostly fruit, pulses and vegetables, usually fruit for breakfast or oatmeal and amazake. I had no time for snacking mid-morning, which meant I was ravenous by lunch time, but kept it smallish anyway. I then had a snack when I got in from work and then a smaller evening meal after my run. Which I've been doing a lot of this week, there's nothing like a good workout after a busy day at work. It does wonders for chasing the stress away. However my right hip is a bit sore, so I've been thinking of switching it up a bit by going to the swimming pool. I'm not a big fan of pools, but I've been toying with the idea of doing a sprint distance triathlon and swimming would be the part I'd need to work on. However, I can't find my swimsuit and don't really think a bikini will cut it at the pool, so that's on my shopping list for the weekend. I'm spending a week in July where I'm thinking of doing this triathlon so will get plenty of cycling, hilly running and open water swimming done, and that should give me a fair idea, by the end of July, whether I'm up for this triathlon lark. In any case, switching up my workouts should help prevent getting into a rut and getting injured. In preparation for adding extra sports to my routine, I've been doing strength training in the mornings (as I've been too tired to face a run). Once I get this coming week over with, I'll do a proper post on the triathlon idea.