Good morning!
Thank you so much for all of your amazing comments in last night’s Kicking the Coke habit!!! Eric and I read through all of them together and we were blown away by your encouragement and personal stories. I think he definitely feels like this is something he can conquer!! :) If you are looking for some encouragement to kick the soda habit or to just stick to a healthier lifestyle, I suggest reading over the comments because they are super motivating!
I purchased two huge bins of organic spinach at Costco on the weekend only to come home and realize that I already had two bags of spinach in the fridge! Opps. This week has been deemed SPINACH week in our house.
My morning consisted of a beautiful Green Monster packed with as much spinach as I could fit…
[Winter was hard on our Ikea outdoor table this winter!!! Guess we should have brought it inside…oops]
Enjoyed outside in the sun. I love Spring!
Ingredients:
- 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 2 ice cubes
- 4 cups spinach
- 1/4 cup pumpkin
- 1 tablespoon chia seeds
- 1 tablespoon Artisana Raw Almond Butter
- 1/2 teaspoon raw maca powder
- 1 frozen banana
- 1 scoop Amazing Grass Chocolate Meal Powder
Eric wants to tear out our rotting deck this summer and build a new one (not sure if the budget will allow for this however!). We are also talking about building a vegetable garden!
Exciting Announcement!
Yesterday Eric and I had quite the interesting discussion on our hike!
We got on the topic of fun outdoor activities that we can do this summer and Eric started talking about how he wants to get into Mountain biking. We have so many conservation parks within a few miles of us and there are so many challenging trails to tackle. He also wants to get clip-ins for his mountain bike which is something I wouldn’t mind getting myself, especially if we were going to do it on a regular basis.
THEN…we started talking about swimming in lakes. Saturday at Costco, we came across these awesome wet suits for just $33 (don’t you love Costco?). We’d love to get some to wear in the lake up at Eric’s parent’s house (the water doesn’t warm up until about July or August!).
We chatted some more and then Eric said it would be fun to train for a triathlon!!!!!
[source]
My jaw dropped. I have never heard Eric say he wanted to compete in a sport. He used to play sports in high school (football, basketball, volleyball, etc), but he was turned off by the overly competitive nature of it. He really dislikes when people take sports too seriously and he says it took the fun out of it for him.
Here’s the thing.
Eric is not a swimmer (from his lips, not mine!). He never took lessons and he considers himself a very poor swimmer. He loves swimming in lakes, but as for actually doing strokes and whatnot, he says he is horrible at it and really doubts his ability.
He also really dislikes running.
So you can see my total shock at him saying that he wanted to try a triathlon! This is bringing him WAY out of his comfort zone.
I told Eric about the Subaru Triathlon Series with TriSport Canada that is really popular in Ontario. I know about it because I was going to train for a triathlon last June (and didn’t tell you guys!!), because I chickened out and never signed up! I just couldn’t bring myself to try it. This time last year I was also scared to run in a RACE and after my first 10k race I discovered that it wasn’t scary at all!
The Subaru Triathlon Series offers an entry level race called ‘TRY A TRI’ for beginners doing their first triathlon.
We checked it out online last night and Eric told me that he wants to SIGN UP! GAH!
The great thing about this Subaru Triathlon Series is that they have several locations in Ontario and different dates to chose from. We decided on the Milton Kelso location because we will be able to do some of our training on the actual course as it isn’t too far from us!
The TRY A TRI is VERY beginner friendly and I think anyone could do it:
- Swim 375m, Bike 10km, Run 2.5km
Course Map [click to enlarge]:
Eric and I will be not only competing in our first triathlon on JUNE 6th 2010, but we will be doing it TOGETHER!
I am just so excited that he wants to do this. I would run to Yukon and back if he asked me to. I want us to support each other during our training and conquer our fear of swimming in lakes! I can’t believe we are really signed up!!
Today’s question- Do you consider yourself a good swimmer? Do you have a fear of swimming in open water like we do? Would you ever train for a triathlon or have you ever competed in one?
I consider myself an OK swimmer. When I was young I used to take swimming lessons and I swam competitively in grade 1, however I have not done any lessons in over 12 years and I feel really out of tune. I have always had a fear of swimming in lakes and not being able to see all the wonderful creatures around me…I’m hoping with some practice (and a wet suit) we will feel more comfortable.
Enjoy your day!
I’m training for my first triathlon right now (sprint). I am not a good swimmer so I’m definitely scared of that portion! Plus I’m not sure if I will get any open water practice before hand.
I love swimming! But only for fun, not competitively. I learned in the ocean, so I’m a fearless swimmer.
I did my first triathlon last year, and it was a try a tri distance, and though it was tough, I really liked the variety of events as opposed to just running. I had raced a few running races before, and though I had fun, it was really cool do try something totally different.
I did a longer triathlon later last summer, and loved that one even more, and found the lake swim surprisingly fun. It’s so chaotic in the water during a triathlon that I found the actual SWIMMING part the last thing on my mind, and not getting kicked or off track more important. I’m not a strong swimmer at all, but I did great and didn’t freak out. (I think the wetsuit buoyancy and larger goggles with a big field of vision helped with that). I liked triathlons so much that I’m doing an even bigger one this year.
I love doing a race with someone as well. I’ve done a few races with my sister, and this year I’m doing a half marathon with 12 other people in my family, and I can’t wait!
You guys will have so much fun!
hey! that is awesome, angela!
i am doing that race as well. i will be competing in the duathlon! how exciting!!!!!
awesome goodluck!
How exciting! Good luck!! :) I’m terrified of open water unless I can touch the bottom. And one of my biggest fears is drowning, so I think I’d be a hot mess in open water trying to swim. I wish I wasn’t like that cause the open water would feel so free and exhilerating. :)
Yay!! You two will mos def rock it, especially because you’ll be doing it together. I’d love to do one while I’m in North America so I’m definitely going to check the link out–I’ll be a short drive from Ontario anyway:-)
I swim in the pool and love it, but I’ve never done any open-water swimming and it kind of freaks me out. I’m sure the wetsuit will help, as would getting to try out the water before the race itself.
Subaru series rocks!!!! HSBC series also has a bunch of races here too that offer try a tri’s. Both are great series, well run, amazing volunteers and so much fun! :) I loved racing each of those series last summer- do it, do it, do it!!!! Message me if you have any questions :)
Yay I am so excited to follow your triathalon training process! I want to compete in one so badly but I need to buy a bike for it.
I should get out to Milton and play on the training course for motivation!
So excited for you and Eric! Have been looking at the maps and think that Milton is much more closer for me rather than Woodstock….maybe I’ll just do both!
The swim can be intimidating, but as alot of people have suggested, get some practice, swim towards the outside or even email the race director to request to be put in the last wave if swimming with the crush of people is something that is bothersome.
You will do awesome! Will be happily training along with you!
Wow that’s exciting news! The Try-A-Tri sounds awesome… one of my coworkers is actually planning to do the one at Guelph Lake with her boyfriend. And from checking out the Subaru site, they have a triathlon in my hometown (Orillia). Crazy how I never knew about it until now! I guess it makes sense with the lake being right there though!
That’s great that you’ll be able to train together! My bf & I have kind of opposite interests for sports/outdoor activities (aside from hiking/walking). But who knows? Maybe we’ll find something out of the blue!
I was a lifeguard for 6 years, I’m a pretty strong swimmer, but way out of practice. How exciting for the two of you! Fascinating to think of where you might be together health/fitness wise in 10 years with all this moving and shaking it up. Oh, and get some teak wood oil at the home improvement store. It’ll help your table.
Congrats on the tri! My hubby has really gotten into them. He started a master’s swim class even and totally rocks the swims now. I am not a strong enough swimmer to ever dream of doing a tri!!
It’s embarrassing, but, for me…it’s not the swimming part that scares me, it’s the biking! I did not learn how to ride a bike until I was almost 12, and even after learning, it was a skill I hardly used! I would really like to do a triathlon in the near future, but it would take some serious bike training.
That’s great that both you and your husband can train together for this! Good luck to you both.
Hi!
Let me start off by saying I love your site – I have just recently discovered it through searching for an economical hummus recipe, and have been following along ever since! Your adventures have been very inspiring!
I also just had to post today, because my husband and I are also going to try our first “try a tri” (in Ottawa) this spring too! We both kinda run and kinda bike already (I run and bike, my hubbie plays lots of soccer so is just generally fit without having to try extra hard… grrr, hehe). As for swimming, we both used to swim – me in high school as part of the school team, him as a lifeguard – but it’s been awhile, so we’ll have to train a bit extra there. Swimming in lakes themselves don’t scare me, but it’s the swimming with tons of other people that freaks me out a bit. But, to encourage you too – with a try a tri, everyone will be in as a newbie, so it probably (hopefully!) won’t be that crazy!
Anyway, I’m excited for you, and looking forward to hearing your adventures in getting ready for the race!
I’ve always wanted to do a triathlon!!! Two of my friends and I are doing a relay one – I have the running part – in two weeks! I really want to do one by myself… but I don’t think I’d survive the swim part by doggie paddling across a lake =S. I passed “bubbles” (level 1) way back when and never really learned how to swim, even though I grew up going to the lake every weekend!
Sounds like a great adventure and nice goal for you guys. Good luck!
Haha – we have the same table from Ikea and it looks just like yours. I just tell myself that the weathered look is in!
I’ve been thinking of doing that try a tri for a year now but have been afraid because I feel I don’t have enough time to train properly for it. You may have just inspired me to sign up. Maybe I can also convince my husband to sign up with me.
oh that is exciting! what an adventure to embark on together! i love tris……you should do it :)
I would love to participate in a triathlon, but I am just not a good swimmer, and I’d much rather train for something else like sand vb or something along those lines. I really enjoy plyo training and sprints and stuff like that.
I went and watched my first triathlon this weekend. It was so much fun to watch and my friend did awesome. He’s doing the one in Alcatrez in a couple of weeks which is supposed to be a really tough race. One of his friend’s did the beginner’s triathlon and was pumped to do more. I think you guys will have a blast.