One Out of Two

I had a slightly better week, but the closest to consistency I could get was working out roughly every other day. It's an improvement over the single workout weeks I've had recently, but I clearly need to step it up tremendously as I ease into my build phase for the 2011 season (just saying 2011 season makes my stomach flip a little). I also said farewell to the holiday partying. And this time I mean it.

Monday, which I previewed in my last post, really lived up to the expectations plus some. The 6-course dinner with as many paired wines was unbelievable and the post-dinner drinks were far more fun than one should have on a Monday night. After dragging myself through Tuesday, I had two very low key nights in preparation for my annual work party on Thursday. The party was subdued, but the after party with a girlfriend made Friday a total bust. After vowing to lock myself indoors for the weekend, I was arm-twisted into going out Friday with a girlfriend I haven't seen in forever and of course dragged through Saturday.

With my team from work at the holiday party

But in the midst of the holiday revelry, I did manage to run twice, bike twice, swim once and get in one session of strength training. Not bad compared to recent weeks and I feel someone motivated to stay consistent.

I've shared my lofty weight loss goals before and the time has come to take it seriously. Not only have I made zero progress, but I gained nearly 8 pounds from my two weeks in Italy and Wisconsin. Granted I had a lot of fun gaining said weight, but as the worst week ever for nutrition approaches, I have to make choices. My Ironman schedule starts on February 1, at which point I need to be within 3 pounds of my 2011 goal race weight. Past experience has shown I can't lose weight while Ironman training so it's now or never. The journey started yesterday and I've already lost a pound. I have a feeling the 8 I gained while vacationing will come off very quickly, then the rest will be a battle. I have shorter-term goal to lose 15 pounds by mid-January and then a longer-term goal to lose another 5 by mid-February. God help me, Christmas is going to be very tough this year!