Cans and Can Nots

As the date to get-my-lazy-ass-up-and-start-training day approaches this is a few food rules that I am g0ing to *try* to abide by.

1. No more coffee (unless I am absolutely dieing at work)

2. Cut back on red meat to only two times a week. (This is going to be hard because I am WAY more of a carnivore than omnivore... but it IS better for me. Also, they say that reducing red meat and substituting it with things that are more easily digestable will help my body make the most of out my food while converting it into energy)

3. Eat more servings of fish. (Right now I am at about 2 -3 servings per week of fish. I think it would be a good idea to increase that amount to make up for the lack of red meat in my diet... it's not like I am going vegetarian here people!)

4. Drink at 4 - 5 liters of water a day

5. Up my legume, bean, tofu and chickpea intake. (Right now legumes are okay, but I should start to eat other energy rich foods too)

6. Reduce dairy product in take. (This will be the hardest because dairy products are the equivalent of gifts from god to me! Nothing is better than cheese... okay maybe bacon and avocados.... but few things can compete with the amazingness of cheese. I am not going to completely cut out dairy- that would just be wrong and mean spirited to dairy!- just reduce it a little and maybe cut it out totally a week before a large triathlon.)

Okay that is my initial list. Basically it is eat more veggies and try to be reasonable about what I put in my body. I figure it is no use to do all this training if I am just going to go home and eat stuff that is going to hinder my work outs and results.

On a side note, I am a big proponent of energy bars, i.e. cliff bars and the like, but I am interested in try out these energy gel things that are now on the market... they look totally gross, but maybe they won't give me that lump of coal stuck in my gut feeling that sometimes eating an energy bar and then running can do. I'll get back with more on that front later!

Calendar

Okay so in an effort to hold myself accountable for my tri training I have started to tell people about my training this summer. Hopefully that will help to keep me going and not totally give up at the first drop of sweat!

Also, I have joined a gym with a pool and created a calendar for myself.

I found this pretty nifty site: http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/
And there I was able to use their simple tri schedule maker to make me a mock schedule for my training. In an attempt to spice it up just a bit in the first month and to tailor it to my schedule (i.e. I know I will NEVER go to the gym on a Friday night- please!)I created this June schedule for myself.

The one that they created was a bit different. Longer bike rides and less swimming. I am, however, a stronger swimmer so I felt that I would cut myself (and my ego) some slack and up the swimming in the beginning. I however kept the running amount the same because I am such a terrible runner any running advice is helpful! I figure that if I give myself a fitness out base in the first month by doing what I am best at- swimming- I will then have a better base for next month where I will do more running and biking instead of swimming.

We'll see how close to this schedule I actually keep! Ha!~

Swim-Bike-Run-Repeat!

Okay, so after undisappearing from my year in Thailand I am back in the good ol' usa!
I've been here for about a year now and am finally settling into life in the bay area and the states. I decided that after a year of being here I needed to get on the triathlon bandwagon and actually try and train for one. I have been saying for about two years now that I want to do an Olympic length tri and I feel that this is the year that I am going to make that happen- or at exercise until I melt into a puddle of my own sweat... either way really.

I am, however, cautiously optimistic about this since
A. I hate running with a passion,
B. I don't know anything about riding a bike on a competitive level,
C. After growing up in LA and living in Thailand I have NO IDEA how I am ever going to get in the water here since it is NEVER warm and
D. Did I mention my extreme hatred for running?- it is really quite extreme.

All of that aside I am willing to throw myself into this and really give it a go.

I told myself that I don't have to start training until June 3rd (the day my boyfriend leaves to go back to Thailand for a 3 month stint- I figure less distractions couldn't hurt!). So until June 3rd I plan to pig out, drink red wine and not exercise in the least. After that I am going to give myself two to three weeks at the gym getting myself back in order before I embarrass myself in front of a San Francisco Triathlon group training session.

I guess I will be seeing you back here on June 3rd to let you know how my first day of training went.

Ciao!

On the way to work today...

So, biking towards work today at 8:30am I was shocked to see "tons" of traffic in the middle of our simple one lane highway. The cars were bumper to bumper- but since I was on a bike I decided that I needn't be worried about stopping with them- and went around. Suddenly I found myself in the middle of a large marching band procession slowly moving down the center of town! A marching band procession, with hundreds of people all dressed in matching outfits during the middle of "rush hour"! Really? AND- guess what they were playing?.... Yankee Doodle Dandy. Yes folks that's right, Thais love their celebrations so much that they will let it interrupt mid-week rush hour traffic to play not even a Thai patriotic song. What can I say? The Thais are truly dedicated to their celebrations.
Of course I got to work and asked anyone else if they had also been stuck in this strange marching band, but of course no one else had been. In fact no one else even knew what I was talking about! Which is so amazing because Mae Sot only has two roads... one going into town and one going away.
Ah, life in Thailand!

Just for Kicks!

:)

A Romp at the น้ำตก Part 1

So it is REALLY REALLY getting hot here and we decided that it was a perfect day to take a trip out to the waterfalls that we have all heard so much about, but never gone to see. They were beautiful! And it was so hot, which made the water temperature perfect! We were also covered in waterfall mud by the end of the climb, so we feel like we also got to roll around in special Northern Thai mud for free instead of going to an expensive Rodeo Drive spa!

We started by going to a lesser waterfall that you had to climb up the mountain to see the falls. Right above it was a beautiful golden pagoda! You could only see it from far away, so no photos of that.

Climbing up to the waterfall

After a really nice and cool dip in the waterfall. It was a perfect way to relax after sitting in a really hot office all week!

A VERY serious photo at a VERY serious waterfall!

Jade looks really really tiny in this photo!

A view of the lake from above

Jade and Matt

Under the falls

The falls were a perfect message

The lake below from our little hut that we relaxed and drank white wine in! A fantastic use of our one bottle of white wine

On the phone... HOLA!

A Romp at the น้ำตก Part 2

This is the 2nd waterfall that we went to on the advice of a Maung guy that we met at the first fall. It was super nice and actually the one that you see photos of all around Mae Sot. It is a waterfall that the area is famous for. So beautiful and completely surrounded by forests.

Tha Wah being totally crazy in the background! HAHAHA.

A really beautiful tree with crazy roots!

Climbing to the top

It is REALLY hot right now in Mae Sot so the cold water was amazing!

Tree nymphs

:).. being romantic is hard in Mae Sot where public displays of affection are taboo... so this was a nice break

At the top

Picturesque!

Maung boys playing at the waterfall. TOTALLY surprised to see me and Jade in our bikinis and we were pretty surprised to see them too. No one was there at first and we had the whoel place to our selves. And YES the boys also wear pants made of velvet... I am not sure when the traditional dress started to include velvet! :)

Matt, Tha Wah, Andrew and Jade on a pefectly placed log over a fall