3 Weeks Out

Well, things are slowwwlllyyyy beginning to improve. I've been adding in HOC with kettlebells three times per week and have been pretty strict about my diet. We're 3 weeks out; while I still will not be in peak condition by show time, at least I'll be better than I am today.

5 Weeks and Counting

Well, we have about 5 weeks until my competition goal must materialize into reality. I am incredibly frustrated with my progress. I am training hard, but there just aren't enough hours in the day. I'm getting really nervous and wanting to back out again. However, I've been getting some encouragement and motivation from my kettlebell friends and will keep pressing on. Today's training, diet, & activities included the following:

Meal & Training Schedule

Time	Activity
11:00AM	Cardio #1: Elliptical trainer @ home (40 minutes)
11:55AM	Meal 1
12:30PM	Church
1:55PM	Meal 2
2:30PM-5:15PM	Nap
6:15PM-6:35PM	Cardio #2: High Octane Cardio Kettlebell Workout
6:45PM	Meal 3
8:45PM	Meal 4
11:05PM	Meal 5
11:15PM	BED

Training
Lisa Shaffer, RKC (www.nofearfitness.com) gave me some helpful tips for adding some kettlebell conditioning routines to my weekly workouts. She suggested doing high octane cardio (HOC) with kettlebells three times per week (20-minute sessions). She gave me two sample routines to use, the first of which I tried tonight. It worked great and was definitely what I needed. I also got some great advice from friends on the Dragon Door Forum, particularly Rif, whose blog I will link to. Anyway, here is what I did for today's workout. I wanted to add another 40-minute elliptical workout before bed, but I had to get some work done in preparation for tomorrow, as well as cook & grocery shop. Sooo, today will only see 2 workouts.

Images

The photos were taken the morning of August 26; the race against the clock has begun....5 weeks until the Heart of Texas; 9 weeks until the John Sherman Classic....boy am I feeling anxious & overwhelmed! This morning I weighed in at a whopping 158 pounds, compared to last week's 150 pounds. I know it's mostly water, as my feet have been noticeably swollen for the past couple of days. I need to increase my water intake to try to flush my body out this week. I still have to drop about 15 pounds (from my base 150 weight) by show time. I'd like to be around 135lbs for the Sept 29 show, and about 129lbs for the Oct 29 show.

Weekly Goals: Aug 28-Sept 3, 2006

Training Goals

• Get 2-3 mile runs in each morning Mon-Thursday
• Perform HOC Kettlebell circuits per Lisa's suggestions 3x/week (minimum)
• Find a kettlebell transportation mechanism for upcoming trip (rolling bowling bag is likely)
• Drop 3-4 pounds this week
• Shrink hips/thighs by at least 0.5"

Academic Goals

• Finish all text-book based homework problems for Network Secuirty class by Friday morning (before flight)
• Complete required readings for Mobile Computing class on the plane on Friday