The training has begun!

One of my goals for this year is to lose 50 pounds, hopefully not by losing my head, and participate in the Highline Hustle Triathlon again, and by extension, the Black Canyon Tri in Montrose. With the knee surgery and all, I have been pretty sedentary, with a few excursions on the stationary bike in the garage as my only exercise.

Last week, though, with the holidays officially over, I began a nutrition plan. I downloaded an app onto my handy dandy IPOD Touch called Tap and Track, that takes personal information like height and weight, and lets you pick out a weight loss plan (mine is 2 pounds per week), then gives you a database to track what you eat and how many calories, grams of fat, carbs, proteins, and all that stuff you consume per day. It keeps a log, and is portable and easy. It also uses your personal info to determine how many calories per day you get. There is an exercise portion that estimates the number of calories burned for the exercise you do, and adds those calories to your allowance. So far in the first week I lost about 3 pounds.

Also, today I began swimming. I had to get up at 0600, which for me is agony and requires the self-discipline of a saint, and go to the Orchard Mesa Pool for lap swim, because it's scheduled from 0630 to 0815 M-F. Once I got there I was glad I went and got tired really fast. Showed me that I needed it.

A couple of months ago I got a $150 gift certificate from the city for 15 years of work, and I used part of it to buy a swim mask and snorkel. I have a problem swimming freestyle because I always breath in water after about a quarter of a lap, and have to change strokes. The upside of the mask and snorkel is that I can swim freestyle and breathe without any water. I tried it today and it worked great. The snorkel takes some getting used to, but with practice it will be fine. The downside is that Rebecca has promised to tease me without mercy if she sees me wearing it. She thinks the little eye cups are all that are stylish enough for someone to be seen wearing in the pool. I don't care. Last year I wore my wet suit in the pool, to get used to it before the race. She never wore hers in the pool.

When I put on the mask, I think I look like Russell Crowe when he puts on the helmet and mask in the movie. MY NAME IS GLADIATOR!