Bloke Free Triathlon a Success! Kind of :)

Well, not quite the margin of success I had hoped for, but I encountered a new experience on the run....I got the Stitch right at the beginning of the run....and it was not great...had to walk it out a little at the beginning (about 500mtrs walking), then decided to just run anyway...which was pretty painful...but I survived and hopefully the time did not suffer too much...but my pace was quite short as a result, as I was trying to avoid increasing the heart rate as that just hurt more, and made it harder to breathe. Bummer I had not thought of something like the stitch getting in the way, not sure if there is a special way to avoid that happening, and it was a little strange as the Swim and Bike went fabulous! Really awesome relaxed breathing in both of those sections, and good times too. So my overall time was 56min 39seconds, and I know it's kind of mean to want to beat my sister in a "fun" triathlon...but.... I did manage to squeak in ahead of her by 4 seconds. Close one!!! I guess I will always have a competitive streak in me, even when my sister is the best sister a girl could ever wish to have, and is so supportive of what I have accomplished. I get the feeling she also has that competitive streak...and that although we will always both support each other, we also like a bit of healthy sibling competitive spirit! So I had better watch out for the next time we do one. What was also cool about this triathlon, was we both managed to score a spot prize (a nice towel, and a book on triathlon training for me, and a nice monogrammed "bloke free tri" for Lynn) So maybe having the book will give me a competitive edge next time.... Anyway....I will take that 4 seconds! and run with it! as 4 seconds is like a really long time in "sports time"

71.4 kgs, so close to the 60s I can taste it!

Triathlon tomorrow morning, despite the not so flash course, it will still be a good mornings exercise. And help me towards the 60s. Will post again after.

72 KGS WOOP WOOP!!!

And it just keeps falling.....think I really have cracked that plateau! Fabulous....So that makes a massive 21.1 kgs down now. Yahoooooo! That's quite a few pounds of butter! Oh, and I have a confession to make.....I think I am becoming a fashion slut! It's taking me ages each morning to choose what to wear. And I am really starting to enjoy clothes. Who would have ever imagined that would happen to ME! Most unlikely candidate for that change. Triathlon this weekend....better get out and pound that pavement tonight!

20.4 down today!!

Woop Woop, Finally got over the 20kg loss mark. Yahoooo, must have been all that energy expended trying on clothes all day!! Cardio via shopping and wardrobe culling.

Wardrobe Clean Out today!! fun fun fun

This is from one of the posts I made on the April Loses It site...copied here so I keep track of my journey. So - here is something for everyone to do (if you have not done it already that is - I might be a bit behind the 8 ball) ...anyway...to make room in my closet for the new clothes...I pulled everything out, and tried on absolutely every thing I owned....WOW....now I really can see the difference....my brain has been a bit slow comprehending where I am at, but when you try on clothes that 6 months ago were snug....and now there is room for an extra (be it small) person in them! Now I am really starting to comprehend. What a great way to finish of the day! I had to be really strong with throwing stuff! Some of them have been my trusty and reliable faithfuls for a very long time! One technique I used for the cull of clothes was to look at the size....I have been consistently fitting into 14s and 12s on my recent shopping trips, so if the item was above 14 (which was pretty much my whole wardrobe) then it was destined for the discard pile. Of which some will go to charity, and hopefully some might be possible sales on trademe....as I have a massive clothing bill since replacing my wardrobe. And I am going to have to do it all again in another 6 months. But this wardrobe change has been fun! I think the next one will be even more exciting. So girls.....get into those closets! Suggestion for replacing a whole wardrobe... Choose 5 or 6 good quality items (I went NZ & Aussie Designers) as now its nice to be able to fit stuff that is 1 off original. Then (due to designer being really expensive!) go to all the op shops for the staples like coloured v-neck tops etc...accessories and general day to day clothing. Before you know it you will have a new (well recycled - but new to you!) wardrobe. For a lot less than buying everything new. Once you find what designers you really like....put a watch on trademe for the designer....and wait for those awesome bargains to be delivered to your inbox. Make sure once your closet is stocked that YOU STOP SHOPPING! Set yourself a regular savings for clothing (deposit into separate account, and now and then....do an op shop run) Favourite places... Melody 28 - recycled designer boutique Recycle Boutique Paper Bag Princess Red Cross Shops (these are amazing!especially the one in Kilbirnie) Salvation Army (the ones in Mirimar and Kilbirne are the best, Newtown is worth a look as well, and if you are near Johnsonville it is also good) Mary Potter Hospice (Kilbirnie and Mirimar) St Vincent de Paul (Mirimar and Island Bay) Save Mart (I have purchased before at the Gissy one, and I think there was one in Nelson as well) Nelson has some amazing op shops. But apparently the one in Welly (closer to upper hutt I think) is supposed to be amazing, I have not ventured that far yet, but I might stop in on my way out of welly for the triathlon in Napier next weekend. Anyway, the wardrobe looks fabulous now, just have to do the drawers...have already done the socks, undies and bras drawers....just the other ones to do now. It was a really great experience, so I can 100% recommend having a clean out of clothes, bit of a cleanse of the soul at the same time :)

The Montage Picture

Shopping Marathon this weekend

So....it was a little bit of a change of pace this weekend. Last weekend was the Hutt City Triathlon and this weekend was a two-day shopping marathon. And quite frankly, I found the shopping marathon more exhausting! It's quite a workout trying on that many outfits. Anyway, it was nice having some really lovely devoted sales ladies treating me like a princess. I expected it to be quite a mission trying to find the perfect outfit for the April Loses It photo I needed to put up by Monday. While it is only half-way point for my own personal journey of weightloss, my journey with April Loses It finishes on the 1st of December (just after the Hawkes Bay Bloke Free triathlon I am doing on the 27th of November). So the Woman's Weekly were wanting us to post total weightloss and some end photos by Monday the 14th. So I have been very busy this weekend doing my best to put my best foot forward and make a bit of effort with the photos. So anyway....the effort was quite immense in terms of time taken looking and trying things on and preparing by having a haircut, dying it again, and doing a little bit of girlie grooming :) What was really nice, was the sales assistants all asking if I was a 14 or a 12.....my response was usually "I have no idea what size I am now, and I am fashion challenged, so please help!" So they went about giving me mostly 14s and even some 12s, and the amazing thing was that most of it fitted. So it really just came down to fashion preference and choice. Where as previously it came down to "can I squeeze what ever body part I was clothing...in" I even purchased off the rack a pair of size 14 jeans, and size 14 black pants. The black pants were the same design as the size 20 ones I have been wearing for ages now....so putting on a size 14 in the same style pant is quite an achievement in 6 months I think. Anyway, I thought I would post some photos on here (the same ones I put on the April Loses It Facebook Page) as this is my permanent record of my journey. I am also going to copy over my April Loses It - most recent posts. Comment made on April Loses It about the Heels I bought for the "Visual Symphony Dress Ensemble" By the way....I don't do heels!! So I hope you guys appreciate the sacrifice here....The lady at the shop that sold me the dress, insisted I must wear heels. And she said she would check up on me.....so here they are. Might take a photo of just the shoes and post it as they are quite nice up close. Still not converted from my flat black Rock Chick boots though! The reply I made to one of the other April Loses It ladies: Thanks Tui, that means a lot, I get really good positive feedback regularly from everyone at the gym and at work, and my good friends and family. But today I really struggled to see the difference. The clothes at the shops which I am squeez...ing into are size 14, which usually I have been a size 20. Yet after doing the photos today....I really noticed all of the wobbly bits that still need a lot of attention....I guess that is what the next 20kgs weight loss I need to do will take care of. Its a bit of a bummer being 5ft tall (or 4ft 11 really) as nowhere to hide the weight. And every gram loss is getting harder and harder to get now. But after seeing these photos - I am 100% committed to making it happen. I will just have to work a little harder from here on in. The comment I made on April Loses It about the photos: Ok - here they are, the photos so far, if you want the start photos then go back to the beginning of the ALI photo's - I decided not to re-post them, as they are already on here. I found the whole photo thing today a bit of a challenge to be honest, so a big thanks goes out to my friend Kit (photographer) for being so encouraging and helping me stay smiling. I have now come around to accepting the wobbly bits discovered in the viewing of the photos and during the shoot today, as I do have 20kgs more to go, and I am proud of the first 19.2kg loss. It's time to step things up to the next level now...lots of work to do. Nothing like a camera lens to keep you honest. Looking forward to the real final photos at the end of the next 20kgs. Thanks to the shops I visited this weekend, for helping me feel glamorous. Melody 28 (Courtney Place), Postie Plus (Porirua), Footloose (North City), Just Cuts (Johnsonville).

I Will keep you all posted on the next 20kgs....so feel free to keep checking up on me.

Hutt City Triathlon - Sorry no pics yet.

This is also on my Facebook, but I have copied it here as well so that I can keep a record of it on my blog. Just finished the Hutt City Tri....I was aiming for a healthy 1 Hour 50, but managed to come in with a healthy 1 Hour 30!! Very approximate at this stage as the timing chip results come out tomorrow lunchtime I think. I surprised myself with how well the training has been going as it all really paid off today. I started the run feeling a bit deflated ...when pretty much 90% of the people past me.......but I set a personal goal of making sure I ran the whole 4kms and did not stop and walk at all, it was funny seeing people ahead of me walking and going faster than my jogging! But I stuck at it, and when I finished the 4kms (all running - or loosely jogging I guess) I was on the bike and off, and I found my power! Its great to actually pass people, especially passing back some of the ones that passed me on the run. Anyway I passed about 20-30 people on the 18km bike and then passed some more in the 300mtr swim to finish with a healthy time of 1 hour 30minutes approx...Yahoooo!!!! The Results are in already! So here they are....I am quite pleased with them. Run 32:57 (4km) Bike 49:04 (18km) Swim 10:12 (300mtr) (the swim had both of the transitions in the timing) Total Time was 01:32:14 Overall placing was 179 of 213. I am pretty sure my actual time was closer to the 1 hour 30 as well, as by my watch I came in a few minutes earlier, and of course there are the usual annoying interferences of people walking in the pool and getting in the way, and going ar...ound someone and then have them start moving again and getting in your way all the time. Also the swim timing chip mat was in a confusing place, and no-one was directing where to go when you came in from the bike. But hey....what's a couple of minutes at the end of the day, its not like I was aiming for first :) I am just glad not to be first at the wrong end! It was great to have a few people still behind me. My Analysis of the Full Results: bearing in mind that some people buggered up their timing chips so there are some of the 213 participants that are not included in certain timings as they didn't trigger the mat for some reason. So they would have either been faster or slower than me in the particular discipline (but we will never know). So in the Run (which I knew was my weakest by a long way) - ...There were at least 4 other people come in behind me...my heartfelt thanks goes out to those 4 awesome people, as I hate to be last (something I spent too much of my childhood being when it came to sport) The Bike - which is clearly my strongest discipline this time round (and the reason I managed to pass people after my sad run time) - There were at least 70 people slower than me on the Bike. Yahoooo! I think that was a valiant effort as it was "F****N" WINDY for over half of it. And the Swim - usually my best discipline (but being at the end instead of the beginning had a bit of an impact due to being tired) - There were at least 62 people slower than me in the swim. Now looking forward to the Clive, Napier Bloke Free triathlon on the 27th of November (Now that I know I can run that far!) Will be interesting to see how well I go on that one with the normal order or Swim, Bike, Run. Always a bit more of a challenge doing things soggy and the transitions are a lot longer with having to dry off and add shoes etc. http://tiktok.biz/list/huttcitytri/2011/ind/