Anaticula - Fish with a Mission

[Anaticula]

Hello, I'm Anaticula.  This will be my third quest.  In my first quest I decided that I wanted to learn how to swim.  I joined a gym and hired a coach, R, to train me. He told me that he'd have me doing triathlons in no time, and in my second challenge I actually completed three of them! I had some complications during that challenge. I had nerve pain in the side of my face, and have to take medicine for it, this medicine causes depression, which lead to poor eating choices.  Now that I know about it however, I can do something about it. I faced a challenge with work, when my old job called to ask if I would go back.  I loved my old job, but if I did so the hours and pay would not allow me to continue with the fitness goals I have set myself, and I decided I enjoy triathlons too much to give up on them, and stayed with my current job. I did have one really super awesome thing happen last challenge (other than the triathlons, which were AWESOME!) I had R build me a bicycle.  Now I no longer have to ride my heavy cruiser or R's wife's bike, instead I have a bike of my own.   I'm really excited about it and get to take it for my first long ride tonight when I get off work. Also, I've signed up for the New Orleans Half Ironman this spring and I need to be ready.  Currently I'm too slow to finish it in the time frame allowed.  This is my long term over all goal that I'm working for i know that it will take several challenges to prepare, so I'm keeping it in mind each challenge. So, now on to this challenge.

 

I've only 5 months to prepare for my half Ironman.  I've been reading everything I can find online.  I found an article about what it takes for an athlete to make it to Kona, and although  Kona isn't a goal for me, but I see no reason I can't apply the same discipline that gets people to Kona to my half Ironman. In short the article says it takes six things: patience, sacrifice, consistency, expectations and pacing, fueling, and body composition to make it to Kona.  What I'm taking from this is that you have to focus on training, eating correctly, and being mentally prepared in order to succeed. For this challenge I am going to make a quest about each of these activities. One quest will focus on fitness, another on food, and the final one on mental activity. 

 

 Main Quest - Fish with a Mission - Prepare for my Half Ironman. This is a long term goal, so no points awarded at this point. I will probably continue this goal for the remainder of my challenges until I complete it. 

 

Quest One - Swimming with the School - I will follow the plan my trainer makes for me. He knows what he's talking about and keeps me on track with my goals.  I've discussed my goals with him, and he thinks that I can be ready in time if I'm truly committed to my goals. He's actually more excited about me reaching my goals than I am most of the time, . Grading: A - complete all workouts on the day they were assigned. B - Complete all workouts during the week they were assigned. C - Miss a workout. Rewards: A  +3 STA, +3 DEX; B +2 STA, +2 DEX; C +1 STA, +1 DEX.

 

Quest Two - Fish in the Pan - I'm going to focus on eating healthy.  For this challenge I will cook my meals and will only be allowed to eat a non-home cooked meal twice a week.  This means 19 of my meals each week must be made at home. I'm going to grade this one on a weekly basis and then I'll figure out my over all grade at the end. Grading: A 19 - 21 meals cooked at home; B 14 - 18 meals cooked at home; C 10 - 13 meals cooked at home. Rewards: A +3 CHA +3 WIS; B +2 CHA + 2 WIS; C +1 CHA +1 WIS

 

Quest Three - Write. It exercise the brain. - I am participating in NaNoWriMo and need to complete my novel.  I also want to start blogging again.  Additionally R wants me to write more for his website and will be getting me topics soon.  I enjoy writing, I just often choose to watch tv or surf the web instead.  My goal is to write every day.  It can be for any of the above categories, but I must write something. Grading: A - write every day; B - write 5 times a week; C write three times a week. Reward: - A: +3 INT; B +2 INT; C +1 INT

 

Life Quest - Clean house. I am a very messy house keeper.  I have found this daily cleaning plan though and think it will help me get in the habit of cleaning.  It was made by a stay at home mom, so there are a few things I'll have to adapt, (like running errands on Wednesdays) but it should work fairly well.  Here the quick overview.

• Monday - Laundry - Sheets, bedding, & catch up; Quick kitchen clean up - wipe down cabinets, clean out fridge.
• Tuesday - Floors - sweep, mop, vacuum; 15 minute pick up and smudge patrol.
• Wednesday - Errand day - run errands, schedule next weeks errands; car and entry way clean up.
• Thursday - Bathrooms
• Friday - Deep clean kitchen; dusting
• Saturday - project day
• Sunday - prepare for the week.

Grading: - A - complete each task on the assigned day; B - miss 1 day a week; C - miss 2 days a week. Reward weekly: New book, music,or fun activity value based on how many goals I met. A - $30; B - $20; C - $10, failure means I spend the weekend cleaning because I didn't do it during the week.

 

Going to think on these while I'm waiting for the challenge to start to see if I should change anything.

[blkhole24601]

Wooooooo!!! Excited to be following you again this challenge. Seriously, a half Ironman, that's crazy badass and I know you can do it! Your trainer and most importantly YOU are making sure of this, and I can't wait to see how you progress through this challenge!

 

And oh man. A weekly cleaning chart. I need that in my life. Now that I have a regular visitor to my apartment being forced to keep it clean isn't as hard as it used to be, but man. I should incorporate that chart with modifications like you did.

 

Best of luck to you!!!

[blkhole24601]

omg and also your profile pic is adorable!!

[Anaticula]

Thanks. The picture is from my night time run. I took it while waiting for it to get dark, lol.

 

I love the cleaning chart.  The lady who wrote it has an awesome website about how to clean, because for some reason I never learnt how to actually clean.  I always go to her site and say I wish I could keep things clean like her, but never do.  Now I'll have too, because I have to post about it here.  

 

I'm really excited about the half Ironman, and can't wait.  In the mean time though I'm doing as many smaller runs and triathlons and all as my coach will allow me.   This weekend I have a 5K called the Purple Stride in New Orleans, then the 16th I have the Woman's Half Marathon in Baton Rouge.  I wanted to attend the Q50 midnight run, but it's at midnight to 3 am on the same morning as the half marathon.  I was disappointed I wouldn't get to do it, but the guy setting it up and my coach are going out this weekend to look over the course and they've invited others to join them to run it unofficially.  So it won't be at night time, but I'll still get to go. There is also a duathlon on Dec 6th that Q50 is doing, and my coach said that if he can find a place that rents mountain bikes he wants me to enter it. He's looking around to see if he can find one.  I can't use my bike for it because it's not suitable for trail riding.   I'm looking forward to this challenge.  I've also heard about a Turkey day run and a Christmas run which will be taking place in my town.  Once I hear more information on them I'll decide if I'll be entering or not.  Then in January I'll be attempting two marathons. I've friends doing the Rock n Roll Marathon and I'd like to do it too with them, and R wants me to enter the Louisiana Marathon, which is the weekend before as he and several other team members will be doing it. The next few months are going to be busy...

 

I'd also like to add I'm so looking forward to when I get off work today and get to ride my bike.

[blkhole24601]

Wow, you're keeping busy!! Best of luck on all your upcoming races!

 

 

I love the cleaning chart.  The lady who wrote it has an awesome website about how to clean, because for some reason I never learnt how to actually clean.  I always go to her site and say I wish I could keep things clean like her, but never do.  Now I'll have too, because I have to post about it here.

 

LOL, that's one of the best things about these challenges: we're forced into accountability whether we like it or not. You can do eet!!

[Shello]

Nice challenge.  It looks much calmer than before.   I really like your grading this time around...  Nothing like a little immediate reward for each week's success (and punishment too).  Well done.

[Anaticula]

After the chaos of the last challenge I needed something calmer that will be easy to grade each week.  I think it's going to be much easier for me to keep on track this time around.  I still have lots going on during the weekends and all, but without the pressure of last time.

 

Edit: so I just spent the last hour texting my coach about socks.  Add this as one more thing I never thought I would do. I told him that my new cycling shoes were too tight to wear with my socks and received an over the phone session about wearing the correct socks. And then he sent me photos of socks until I picked out a pair I like to order so I can start using them instead of my normal socks. 

[Shukar]

A half ironman, and a couple marathons? You've really jumped in head first haven't you? Awesome.

[Anaticula]

Thanks. I have to have deadlines to keep me motivated, so signing up for races makes me focus.  In the past I just set goals like lose weight, and wondered why nothing would happen. Now I have real goals that I can meet because each race I just want to finish a little faster than last time.

[Kaylya]

Have you run the idea of two marathons so close together by R? I've never done one, and don't plan to do one, but I know people who do them and I hear stories of barely being able to move for a few days after, and that's people who have done them before! Even if they were a month apart they'd be too close together to really improve at I think. If you really want to participate in both events, you could sign up for a shorter race at one. At least see how you feel after your half marathon before signing up for both

I think it's great that you're so keen I just don't want you to hurt yourself!

[Kailer]

Ooh, I almost did a home-cooking goal. Good luck, my favorite marathoner!!

[Terinatum]

You are doing some great things, Anaticula!

Keep Swimming and telling us the tails (Yeah, I know, but I had to)!

[Anaticula]

@Kaylya - For the two marathons, I've not yet signed up for either, and I will admit, I have a huge tendency to think I can take on way more than I actually can.  I get excited about things and tend to go all out on them.  I'll take what you've said into consideration and see if the Rock n Roll Marathon has a shorter distance I can do.  At that one I'm really more interested in meeting up with some of my online friends who will be there.  The Louisiana one is the one my team is doing, so if I can only do the full distance for one, that'd be the one to do it for.

 

@Kailer - Thanks, I don't want to try to change everything about my eating all at once.  I considered doing the Whole food 30 thing, but then I realized that would mean cooking at home AND changing everything I eat, and realized that would make things really difficult.  I figure it I can just get myself to start cooing instead of eating out I can make healthier choices without feeling like I can't eat anything.  Plus, this means that if I want ice cream I have to freeze it myself instead of just buying a pint, so I'm going to be considering just how badly I want that ice cream, lol.

 

@Terinatum - Thanks! I look forward to the challenges I have coming up and telling everyone all about them.

[Anaticula]

My new bike is AWESOME! I made it home from work yesterday and immediately changed into my cycling clothing.  I wasn't sure if buying actual cycling clothing would be worth it or not, but I'm glad I went ahead and got them.  I have a few pairs of the padded cycling shorts, a couple of shirts, and a pair of shoes now. The shorts are funny because I've lost just enough weight to be between sizes, so two pair are too big and I have to wear other shorts over them, and two pair are ever so slightly too small. The cycling shirts are kind of snug, but I can just claim I'm trying to be aerodynamic, I love the back pockets on them because I don't have to worry about my keys/phone falling out my pants pockets or carry a purse. Whomever invented them had a great idea. The cycling shoes are problematic.  They are very tight around the width of my foot while fitting the length fine.  I've tried loosening the laces as much as possible, but they are still tight.  I'm going to see about getting a pair of the elastic laces to see if that helps them shape to my foot better while I break them in.  They are too tight for my normal socks, and I don't like wearing shoes without socks.  I mentioned this to R and he and I ended up having a long text chat about socks. He told me about cycling socks and how they are much thinner than regular socks. He sent me photos of a ton of different socks and we picked out a couple pair for him to order for me.  He also told me to stop by Grey Cat, the local bike shop, and to pick up a pair to wear until they arrive. So anyways, I have cycling clothing.  On to the bike ride. I made it home from work, grabbed my bike and headed to the nearby park.  And as soon as I got there it started raining. I decided to go ahead and ride anyways. So I did.  I just didn't attempt to go all out because I didn't want to hit a puddle and start sliding everywhere. I rode for a couple of miles, then stopped to take photos of my bike and some ducks.  Then I rode 4 more miles before it got dark, once dusk hit I headed to Grey Cat.  I stopped in and the asked about the socks.  The owner told me about them and looked over my bike and we ended up chatting for a while.  He gave me some really great advice about riding.  The main point being, 'if R tries to tell you that you have to have something on your bike (the pedals) feel free to ignore him.  The most important thing is that you enjoy ridding.  Don't worry about trying to go fast or keep up with anyone. Enjoy the ride.' He also told me that he and several other people go biking every Saturday morning.  They start together, then break into two groups, one that turns back early to do only 20 miles, and the other that keeps going to do 50 miles, and that I'm welcome to join them any time I like. They go about 15 miles per hour, and I'm at 10 on the bike I was borrowing, so I think that once I learn how to use gears better I'll join them for a ride. He then gave me one other piece of advice that I found pretty amusing, in spite of the fact that he owns the shop he informed me that most of the stuff they sell isn't really necessary, and that in his words, 'I sell a lot of this stuff because people don't realize that they don't actually need it, I've been doing this for 30 years and I know that you don't actually need most of this, but people buy it, so I sell it.' He then told me that before I buy any of it to ask him if I actually need it and he'll let me know if it's just the latest trend or if it actually helps. Going to take him up on this advice, because I don't want to buy things that I don't need. After a very long talk, I finally got my socks, and headed home.  At home I was happy to find a book I had ordered about bike care and maintenance had arrived.  I know that if something goes wrong on my bike I can take it to either R or Grey Cat to get it fixed, but if I can fix it myself I'd like to be able to fix it myself.  More importantly though, I spent a good bit of money on this bike and want to be able to take care of it.  I'm planning to read through all the basic care sections today at work. Also, this book has TONS of diagrams which are very helpful.  I figure if all I do is memorize the basic parts of the bike diagram it's $15 well spent, because then I can tell R or Grey Cat what's wrong on it.

 

Also, I was informed I have to name my bike, and I have done so.  My line of thinking was as follows: The bike has Giant written on it.  Andre the Giant played Fezzik in the Princess Bride, that was an awesome movie. The book was really good too.  I'm going to name my bike Fezzik.  But I'll call it Andre because that's easier to pronounce.  So, say hello to Fezzik, known as Andre.

 

 

 

 

Today is going to be a good day.  This morning I headed to the gym to walk on the treadmill and I did 3.2 miles in an hour.  This means that for my 5K this weekend I'll be several minutes faster than my first 5K even if I only walk! I'm going to try to jog though. Tonight when i get off work I'm going to go for another bike ride.  Then afterwards I'll grab a shower and meet up with other people from the gym at a local restaurant.  A while back our gym entered a contest/run that the town was sponsoring for local businesses and we won the most people attending which means the town is throwing us a party, and tonight is that party.  Everyone who participated in the run gets to go. I'm looking forward to it. 

 

Tomorrow is my lesson with R, the lesson is at 5:30, and I'll get to the gym at 5, so I'll either walk on the treadmill or ride one of the gym bikes until he arrives.

 

Saturday I'm meeting with R and C (the guy who runs the Q50 races) and hopefully a few other people to go for a trial run on the midnight run course. It'll be during the day but it should be fun.  It's 7.5 miles, so it'll be a pretty long run and I'm sure I'll end up walking lots of it.  Then that afternoon I've a two hour bike ride.

 

Sunday is my 5K.  I'm looking forward to it. I hope to beat my previous time, and if I feel up to it I want to jog the first mile, walk the second mile, then jog the rest of it.  If I don't feel up to it I'll walk the first mile, jog the second, the walk the rest or alternate a minute of walking followed by a minute of jogging.  No matter what I do though, it's for a good cause and I plan to have a good time.  I'll get to see a friend from college that I haven't seen in several years and it'll be fun to catch up with her.  As I'll already be in New Orleans and I have a season pass to the zoo and aquarium I think I'll spend the afternoon at one of those.  It should be lots of fun.

[blkhole24601]

Fezzik is an awesome name for a bike, love it!! And best of luck -- and have fun!! -- on your 5K! I'm also running a 5K on Sunday with a few other people; seems like a popular weekend to run.  

[Everstorm]

Dropping in to say "hi" as promised.  A half Ironman is so impressive!  I'm excited for you.

 

How is the writing coming?

[Anaticula]

Finally started writing. Just hit 675 words (one page). So only 49,325 left... I did the math, and 50,000 words divided by the 24 days I have left is around 2,100 words a day, so only need to write around three more pages today to be back on track. Already there are possibilities of the plot line changing...

[Everstorm]

It's a good start. Sometimes just starting is the hardest part.

[Shello]

Fezzik.  Love it.  

[RxLady]

Anaticula, you are crazy inspirational! Signing up for all those races! I lost track of ya last challenge but subbed this time around. I also love the life goal. Ever since moving into our house, my husband and I have been bad about regularly cleaning things, and need to get our own schedule going. Might steal your list! Congrats on all your progress and I can't wait to see how this challenge goes!

[Anaticula]

Today is shaping up to be a rough day.  I'm ready to just give up and call it quits for the day. First off, R forgot to come to my training session this morning. At the beginning of the week he posts his schedule online so we can make adjustments if we need a different time.  I noticed I wasn't listed on there and messaged him about it.  He told me he'd add me, but evidently he forgot too, because he didn't show up this morning.  Five minutes after my session was to start I texted him asking about it, and he said he thought I'd canceled because it wasn't written down. He sent me a text with some strength exercises to do and when I get off work today he's going to meet me to do my session even though he's technically off work then.  We laughed it off and I finished my workout.  He showed up for the person after me and I had him go ahead and schedule me for next week.  Well, there's someone else booked in my time, so I have to meet with him on Thursday instead of Friday. I like routine, so this is going to throw me off next week too.  He apologized several times, and I know mistakes happen, but it brought back bad memories of people in the past who would cancel on me at the last minute or make a game of seeing how long I'd wait for them to show up after the time we arranged. Ended up crying in the shower and going into a funk. I thought I had gotten over these things, and I know that it was an accident on R's spot, but evidently I've still got some old emotional scars that came back open.  I debated calling in to work today. But I'm here, trying to keep it together.  Then I find that for some reason my work computer has blocked me from logging on to my work email. So now I;m irritated at that.  Plus today I have to send the email to my teachers and classmates letting them know I'm dropping my classes for the semester.  It's just too much for me to commit to them properly and I know dropping the classes is for the best, but I feel like such a failure for doing so. I've just got to keep it together today.  I know that everything is going to be fine, but I want so badly to just go home and go back to sleep.

 

Because I refuse to end this post on such a sad note I will add that last night I went to a party and it was pretty fun. Because our gym won largest team at a race a month ago the city (who had sponsored the race) threw us a party at a local restaurant. I don't particularly care for parties, but I wanted to see everyone, so I made myself go.  I actually had fun. Ended up spending the evening with R, his wife B, and two team members, along with several other people who came and went as the party went on.  And wow, B is hilarious when she's tipsy. One of the team members asked how she and R had meet and B went off on this long winded story that kept getting crazier and crazier, she had us all believing for a while they they had really met and gotten engaged in a singly night of bar hopping, until R finally couldn't keep a straight face any more she admitted that they had actually met when her family lived in Mexico for a year. It was pretty funny. Then another teammate announced that she's expecting a baby, she had her first ultrasound that day and we all oohed and aahed over a fuzzy grey photo that is supposed to show a baby. I've never been able to see a baby in an ultrasound before, but I'm very happy for her, she's really excited. Then another of R's clients came over and we all chatted with her for a while, she had her weigh in this week and is down 80 lbs, which is awesome.

 

I'm going to do my best today to keep remembering how much fun I had hanging out with everyone last night, and all the fun things I have planned for this weekend, and hopefully that'll help me make it through the rest of today and get out of this funk I'm in.

[Everstorm]

Ooh, sorry to hear about the rough start to today.  That really sucks when the people you count on don't show up.  I hope the rest of your day goes better.  Pour out some of your angst into your story!

[ShadowLion]

Sorry it is such a rough one. What a bummer. It's so tough when something triggers off old things that we thought we'd moved on through.

Hang in there and know you've got people pulling for you! You've achieved so much and overcome so much, you'll get through this, too!

Glad you had such a good time at the party and that you can focus on that!

[blkhole24601]

Sorry you had a bad start to your day, but I hope the rest of your day is going/went well!!

[JazzyM]

When you start feeling super depressed like that, remember that it's the medication talking, not you. Remember that you're an inspiration to so many people. And that even the best of people have bad days.

 

You can do it!