Power Bar Spring Giveaway Winner!

The Powerbar Prize Giveaway Basket!

Sorry about delay! The week has been crazy! All I know is that I had no other ideas about how to give this thing away except for the good old fashion way, I cut up little pieces of paper and then pulled one out of a hat (well, envelope). So, each person was given multiple entries based on how many things they participated in (following, spring, etc.) and the winner is.....

Marian!!

Now Marian, I have no information for you (that you have a blog yourself etc.) so you are going to have to contact me to get me your details (address etc.) so this wonderful Powerbar goodness can be mailed out to your doorstep! Thanks to the 30 people who entered and everyone who participated! I appreciate it!! You guys rock!!

Things I have been doing this week:

• Swimming, Swimming and MORE swimming. I am trying to get in four days per week (most weeks) of swimming if it KILLS ME!! So, this week, luckily, I have made it and it is only Friday.

• Setting a new swim PR - FINALLY.. the last 100 yard all out swim of the day - 1:10! Yes, you heard it hear first.. I swam a 1:10.. I am so freakin excited! Now, to swim a bunch of these in a row - well, in awhile!

• Running.. running and more running.. I'm pretty sure my coach is on a huge running / testing streak right now that I am glad may have come to an end. There has more more time spent on a dang track that I have spent since college over these last two weeks. I'm actually a little worried about my cycling there as been so dang much running. It's always something right!

• Wondering if high school kids know what it means when you yell "TRACK" at them like we did in college. That was code for "get the BEEP out of my way - I'm coming at mock II!!" at Penn State. I had two separate times where I had to run with them on the same track during their warm up and I cannot stand how they just decide to run in inside lane! I know it's their class and all, but please, you're running 12 min pace and I'm trying to bust out something crazy so my coach will be happy my heart rate was at 189 the whole time.. just give me a little tiny bit of space please.. that's all I'm asking.

• Working, Trying not to consume TOO many girl scout cookies, booking our house / plane tickets for Hawaii (yippee - both are done!) and trying to figure out how I am going to pay for all of it.

• Getting some interview questions done for Mary E. who will now be working with X Tri a cool new website that covers triathlon related material! Love it!! She's a wonderful writer and I know she'll be sharing some great stories so make sure you check it out! I'll let you know when I finally finish mine and it publishes. I'm so dang honored to even get a chance to share (aka I hope I don't say something dumb).

Lastly, I've been coaching some amazing athletes lately, and one has given me permission to share a bit of his story. We started working together in the middle of December. By this time, Jimmy had already started the process of making over his life. When he realized he had reached an all-time weight high at 274 lbs. he knew he had to do something. He's a Father, Husband and professional, but he knew if he didn't do something, things would be headed south with his health quickly. He began by training for some running races and by the time I began coaching him he was closer to 230 lbs. Let me start off by saying he had worked with his Doctor on making sure he was ready and able to start a triathlon training program and he had signed up for his first half ironman ---- In APRIL. I'm not sure how many of you think this is not much time, but I sure did. Here we are in the middle of Dec. and we're just getting started as a coach and athlete with just over four months to train. This would be Jimmy's first half, and I wanted him to have a good experience.

We started covering all our bases. We worked up slowly, making sure not to build the volume too fast. We built in strength training and some road racing. Finally, it was time to work on those long rides and long runs. Jimmy is one of the most motivated, determined individuals I have met thus far. He would tell me things like "well, the kids will be up on Saturday at 7:00-7:30am so I'm just going to have to start riding at 4:30," and I would delightfully say "yep, just make sure you get some sleep!"

Let me say - we have not even worked FORMALLY on nutrition. He reads, he puts things into practice and then he asks if he has a question. All in all, he's done that part completely on his own.

Just so you see it can be done.. here are some pictures..

December 23rd, 2010

March 24th, 2011

If this doesn't help you believe in the benefits of exercise and a positive attitude, I don't know what will. He has just started a blog and I love his post on Forging ahead. So, check that out if you have time.

I hope everyone is doing so well! Thanks for reading!!