A change of heart?

I've decided to rename my blog since I'm simply not inclined to struggle. Yes, I want to finish an Ironman and yes I definitely want to finish Ironman Hawaii. But I want to enjoy this whole journey. I want to have fun in training and at races. So here it goes, new blog name new approach.

You might know Crossfit, which is something I'm heavily drawn too, since the training changes daily. As you all know, I'm getting easily bored and distracted and so I think crossfit would be a perfect fit for me. Unfortunately, Crossfit has not reached Germany yet. So for the time being I'll use something else.

Today I crawled, made front and side planks (my arms were shaking like a jelly after a few seconds, no strength this girl ;-) and did some burpees. I enjoyed it. Well, I'll see what I'll do tomorrow.

Foodwise: I'm back with the paleo lifestyle and I feel better with it, hooray. I still suffer from my low ferritin. I hope it gets better with time, I just need patience, which is something as we all know I don't have.

Lastly, I stopped reading "Born to Run" altogether, since I just can't bring myself to read on. Therefore I say this book is crap, at least in my opinion.

I wish you all a good start in the new week.

KEEP MOVING FORWARD!!

Currently Reading: Born to Run

by Christopher McDougall

At the moment I'm in the third chapter and I don't like it so far (Druglords in a runners book?!). I'll read on a bit to see if it gets better, but for now I can't recommend it. And I'm really glad that I didn't buy it, but instead lend it from the library.

Food: I have to admit, that I ate some lebkuchen and waffles this week. Which is bad for my body as a whole and my skin. And through the hazelnut spread I was reminded that I'm actually allergic to hazelnuts when eaten in large quantities. Whoops. It's nothing bad like asthma, but my skin gets mad at me, so I'm stopping to eat hazelnut spread again, which isn't too bad since the glass jar is already empty and it is quite expensive. ;-)

Job: I did already send out four applications this week which is really good, and I've got a few more to go.

Congrats to BDD for becoming a Champion.

Have a great weekend everyone.

KEEP MOVING FORWARD!

Post 222 - and two good things happened today

First and most importantly Aurora's (my bike) gearshift is finally fixed. Turns out it was the levers at the handlebar. The click that's showing the shift had gone missing without me noticing it. Now it clicks again and so I can shift up again. Wohoo.

I also took the time to have a look around the bike shop (bikes and helmets and clothing, sigh) and inform myself on the roll and aerobars. They also had a really cool secondhand time trial bike! Which I would have bought on the spot, when it would've been my size. Good thing it wasn't or I would've been back in the reds. Bad thing it wasn't, because it only cost 600€. Argh.

So for the next few months I have to cope with my bike envy which is getting worse training ride by training ride.

Secondly I had an awesome lunch. I made pasta with tomatosauce. Sounds bland? Well, it was organic pasta made from brown rice, pumpkin and ginger, which is totally yummy alone. But the tomatosauce included sautéd shallots and bell pepper, tomatos, the freshly squeezed just of a lemon, hard boiled eggs and fresh mozzarella. It was delicious and really really healthy and gluten free.

On the job front, one company still leaves me waiting for my second interview. Well, I apply for other jobs in the meantime and look for a flat too. So nothing new on this side.


I just got back into reading again and found a "new" and really interesting author: Haruki Murakami. I'm currently reading my first book of him and as soon as I finish it I'll write a review for you. Could be interesting for you, since he runs and did Triathlons too. And I also found a book on running that sounded pretty interesting: it's called "ChiRunning" by Danny Dreyer. Has anyone of you read it? What do you think? Not that I haven't got enough training literature waiting in my to be read stack already.

KEEP MOVING FORWARD!

Mini Celebration

Morning Folks.

There's a lot to celebrate this morning.

My weight is down too 63,2 kg = 139,33 lbs, even though I ate way too much carbs in the last weeks. but ending the meal skipping seems to have done the trick. Even though I ate some chocolate waffles around 3 AM this morning. I don't think I was completely conscious at that time! With my new and well thought out ;-) training plan my weight will go down more and more.

I just realized last evening that this blog is now 1 year old! I wrote my first post on May 31st last year. Unbelievable that I stuck with this blog for so long. I never would've gotten this far without you all reading and commenting on it. THANK YOU!

After I had this little meltdown last Wednesday, I realized that I need to step up my game mentally and this book is just what I need: "The Triathlete's Guide to Mental Training", by Jim Taylor and Terri Schneider. Yesterday I remembered that I already own this wonderful book on mental training. Have you guys read it? I've started with it about 2 years ago and then got side tracked or lost focus (surprising, eh?). First chapter is how far I read back then. Last night I started out again while I soaked in the tub. Nothing better than having a good read in the tub. I've decided to read this book completely this week. Since I need the strategies also for the big interview for Super Job. (Which looks like it's shifted to next week due to the german worldcup game on Friday. Damn it!!! If you ask me, they should stick with the date and whoever doesn't show up is obviously not fit for becoming a manager on the upper level of management. Seriously, putting your future on line just for watching a ball game?!! How stupid is that?!!!) This book is full of wisdom so be prepared for some nice quotes. The current quote at the sidebar is from it. Very inspiring, don't you think?

In yesterdays post I showed you a bike by BMC that isn't exactly cheap. I checked out the company this morning and it's a high-end bike manufacturer from Switzerland. This explains the price. What I also found out is that their womens roadie is called "Sparkle" and looks like this:

Cute isn't it? Love the color. Checking it out at the web I found that it is cheaper than the bike from yesterday (2.300,- €) with "just" 1.700,- € that I would have to pay for it. That's six of one and half a dozen of another. I can't afford it this year anyway. But good to know that they have roadies for my size. (But BMC if you want to sponsor me with a Sparkle or bike clothing just for me. I'm game! I'm 162cm tall. ;-)

After thinking about my training ride of yesterday evening I decided that 25 k in 2 rides with a 4 hour break including a nap is pretty low mileage and could be hardly counted as training. (Hell, Ironman means a ride of 180k as a part of a race.) So today I've decided to ramp up the mileage. Tonight I will ride 25k in one ride. Riding more will improve my cardiosystem and give me cylists legs, which will make me looking hot in my black skirt. Just you wait and see. Hahaha.

Here's a lovely part from "Mental Training" on the ups and downs of life or triathlon. From my map finding I know that I need to put everything in perspective. This part also made me think of Tri Daddy Diesel, who felt a bit down after his last race.
"Successful triathletes know how to stop their decline and regain positive attidute, helpful emotions and quality performance. The first step to reversing your down period is to keep the ups and downs in perspectice by knowing that they're a natural and expected part of the sport. This attitude takes the pressure off the down moments, minmizing frustration and disappointment. It enables you to stay positive and motivated. Most important, never give up. Stay focused on your triathlon goals. Look for the cause of your slump and find a solution." (p.7, "The triathlete's guide to mental training")

Okay, time for me to get back to reading my mental training book.

KEEP MOVING FORWARD!!

Day 1 (29-04-2010) - Success

Wrote a job application for a job as an editor in Austria and sended it off at 10:30 PM. Strike!

Did some strength drills.

(Haven't mastered the art of tucking my tummy in and keep breathing at the same time. Continue to work on it.)

Ate only healthy stuff. No cereals. Yeah.

Spend only 1,50 € for some photographic prints I ordered for two friends. (Part of their yearlong birthday present!)

Ordered my new MacBook Pro 13", 500 GB, 4 GB RAM. It should arrive around May 12th. Wahoo.

Finished Mireille Guilianos "Women, Work and the Art of Savoir Faire". Great book, Girls. Read it.

KEEP MOVING FORWARD!

Watch out at traffic lights...

or you might get run over. I had green (walk) and the cars red yesterday afternoon, so they should've stopped. Even if it's just a pedestrian traffic light, red means STOP. Or so I thought. Obviously this doesn't apply to Mercedes drivers. (Hear my snarling voice!!!)
If my guardian angel would have been off duty yesterday afternoon I might have been killed or at least seriously injured.
For chrissakes, that bonehead didn't even slow down at the stop light, he went through full throttle. Which had me confused for a second, thinking I was supposed to stop. But no, it was his red light. A**HOLE!!!


I was at my practitioner yesterday afternoon but unfortunately the results from my MRI weren't in. So I'll have to call again later this week. *grumble*


When I got home my new book was already delivered. Gawd bless Amazon and youtube and the internet as a whole. Because after half an hour of digging I finally found out the author and title of two books which I had read a few years ago. And while I remembered the stories pretty well, I had totally forgotten the essential info to find them again. If you liked Dan Brown's "DaVinci Code", then give Matilde Asensi's "The last Cato" a try. I enjoyed it immensely. In fact I wanted to go to my bookstore today and get myself a copy.

BUT there are two reasons why I won't do so. First reason: I haven't finished "The Red Book" or "the Black Swan" or "Collider" (yep I read all three of them, crazy I know!) and not even started out on "the essential Rumi" and "The ascent of money". I want to finish them before I get another book. Second reason: Remember the Disney quote at the end of my posts?! Keep moving forward. Well, this applies also to books! While it's nice to revisit old friends, it's also important to make new ones and broaden my horizon, this goes for the real life and also for fiction. And I've revisited countless old friends (fictional and real) in the last months, time to move on!

In any case I've decided that Winter is OVER!!! Which means I'm wearing my Spring and Summer shoes from now on, whatever the weather is like. Today I'm wearing my Converse, even though it's just 0° C =32° F, I don't give a damn. This Winter lasted way too long, it's time for Spring. This afternoon, I'll switch jackets and shirts too. I can't stand my turtlenecks anymore. Black or any other colour, I'm not Steve Jobs! Since Chris and I will go shopping tomorrow before we go to watch "The men who stare at goats", I'll see if I can get some nice shirts for Spring. It's about time....

(http://www.bbc.co.uk/stoke/content/images/2007/05/21/springtime_blue_bells_470x320.jpg)

Enjoy this wonderful Spring day, no matter what the weather looks like. After all, that's what imagination is for!!!

KEEP MOVING FORWARD!

Finally...

the spasm in my left calf is gone. It has been there for 4 (FOUR!!!) days.

Even though I ran on Sunday. Even though I spend hours in the bathtub. Even though I took 600 mg of magnesium per day. Even though I massaged. Even though I stretched. The spasm stayed.

When I woke up this morning, it was finally gone. I can move my leg without pain. And I feel great. As a treat I took the stairs to get to my class room which is on 3rd floor. This will hopefully lead to a smaller behind. ;-P

Even better the sun is shining, though we've got -17°C = 2° F. But still the sun is shining and I'm free of pain and I've got the most amazing book to read.

"The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable" by Nassim Nicholas Taleb. This book is absolutely amazing and makes me want to sit in a comfy armchair at Starbucks with the Premium Hot Chocolate coming all through the day, reading and musing on the ideas presented. I absolutely love books like this and Starbucks is the perfect place to read them. Forget libraries, Starbucks is a whole lot better. (No I don't work for Starbucks, am payed by them or got shares.)

KEEP LEARNING!!