Anticipation!

Here's my latest creation. It's a hit at the gym, and I love it! Thank heavens I have to do laundry twice a week, that means I get to wear it a lot!

Speaking of after pictures, the next fitness challenge was announced! Hooray! It starts on the 12th. I am going to be winning this one as well. I am so excited! Because the challenge is so close, I have backed off my exercise routine (my trainer laughed when I said I was backing off. He didn't think I knew how), and I have upped my calories so that I am maintaining my weight until the start. So. Very. EXCITED!

Prepare yourselves for another big announcement. I am signing up for a triathlon! YAY! It is in San Diego on the 7th of August. I know, it's the Saturday before school starts, but I don't care! I want my summer to go out with a bang. I have wanted to do a triathlon for a long, long time. Cameron at Pure Fitness has been asking me to join him, and I told him I wouldn't do one on a Sunday, so he found one on a Saturday. Can't wait! It's a sprint distance triathlon, with a 500m open-water swim, a 30k bike, and a 5k run at Camp Pendleton.

To achieve my triathlon dreams, I needed to rehab my poor bike from college. It's just a lamesauce mountain bike that I bought at Walmart to get me around campus. It hasn't seen any action in a long time. I took it to Performance Bikes, and the technician Pret pretty much just shook his head and told me I was crazy. I said, "I know! I can't get a new bike, so I'll have to suffer with this one." He said that I definitely didn't want to be riding on that bike for the 18.6 miles I'll need to. I told him I would manage, and we could discuss putting a bike on layaway when I was done. That seemed to appease him, a little anyway. Pret helped be get fitted for a helmet and helped me pick out road tires to go on my bike. Super helpful! He was great to talk to as well. He asked me what made me want to do a triathlon, and I told him a bit of my story. He lit up like a Christmas tree and told me that he had a similar story. So great! Now, I've bonded with my bike guy. :c)

I picked up a bike buying guide. Let me tell you, they don't price those things with poor, starving art teachers in mind. Sheesh! I'm going to need to save my pennies for a long, long time. Fun to drool over and dream though!

Biking is the part of the triathlon I am least familiar with. I'm going to need to learn how to change tires and everything. I'm up for the challenge! I pulled out a book I bought a few years ago called "Slow Fat Triathlete" by Jayne Williams. It's about a woman who up and decided to start doing triathlons after she had been working on losing weight. It's a great book! I have also been reading "Triathloning for Ordinary Mortals" by Steven Jonas. It's a more comprehensive guide to triathlon, and is very helpful. This month in Runner's World, they even had an article about how to train for a triathlon! It think the fates have decided that now's my time!

So much on the horizon for me! I am very excited for the weeks ahead. Wish me luck!