I need to log my triathlon workouts and progress. After my initial review, I had decided to try the Beginner Triathlete app, but it just didn't capture my interest.

A local coach I have considered working with uses the Training Peaks app, so I decided to play around with it on my computer. I decided to take advantage of the 7-day trial the premium version, and I was having fun planning out workout ideas and playing with it.  Then I thought, maybe I could just use the basic version. The one thing I wanted that the basic version does not include -- you guessed it -- is the ability to plan out workouts ahead of time. So I think I will be investing in that if I stay interested through the free trial period.

It also connects with Garmin Connect, should I ever get a compatible device. I still feel a little iffy about spending that kind of money on one, at least as long as my heart rate monitor is still working. I am kind of hoping someone I know will get the new fancy one and be looking to unload an older version for cheap. I put one on my Elfster wish list, just in case there is ever one of those contests where you win your wish list there....

Let's recap:

On Sunday, I did a hard swim workout, race day. This was super-fun and I enjoyed challenging myself.

On Monday, I did a 20-minute run at 7 a.m. and then a hard bike ride at 7 p.m.  Fine so far -- I took it a little easier on the bike ride because I was tired from the run.

On Tuesday, I did a rowing class at 7 a.m. I knew that I was tired from the day before and I had some weird aches and pains. I told myself I would take it easy and just enjoy the workout. Then I got caught up in the class, and the instructor cheering me on, and "went for it."

"It" turned out to be back pain.  I have never in my life felt so bad. I limped through the rest of the day -- I had work to do and meetings until 4 p.m., and then I went home to lean on an icepack and watch Mad Men reruns.

I still had some thoughts of trying to do the 5K I was scheduled to do on Thursday. I thought I would be back to normal the next day.

I woke up Wednesday with some soreness but could walk without pain, mostly. I took it easy most of the day, doing normal activity but no working out. I had family in town and picked up my nephew and felt a twinge, but other than that, was feeling better.  I picked up my packet. I went to bed and set the alarm as if I were going to the race.

Thursday morning I knew I shouldn't do the race. I thought about walking, but as we can see from my history, telling myself to take it easy is not a reliable strategy. If I tried to walk, I might run and then I might hurt myself and miss my chance to enjoy time with my family. No way.

Today it's Friday and I am still sore. I am thinking that setting my big goals caused me to overreach a bit. I need to find a balance between being motivated and being a lunatic.  I know that it is possible. I just have to give myself permission to be a badass only ONCE per 24-hour period.

But the wetsuit does look a bit like a superhero outfit, so I think it's an easy mistake to make.

I was supposed to be running a turkey trot right now in my role as Enell Brand Ambassador. Instead, I'm on the sofa, babying my sore back.

I overdid it this week. Instead of doing a taper like a sane person, I did two workouts on Monday, a run and a hard bike ride. Then I went to a rowing class, and got a little carried away.  I didn't feel it during the workout, but when I stopped and stood up, I was in excruciating pain.

I'm definitely grateful NOT to have pain like this most of the time. I don't know how people function. I had to work all day, and was hobbling because it hurt to walk or stand.  People asked me all kinds of questions about whether it was muscular or skeletal -- I didn't know because I had never had real back pain before.

I took it easy when I got home from work, watching Mad Men reruns while leaning on an icepack.  The next day I woke up sore but I could walk. Today my back is tender but not terrible.  I considered going to the race and trying to walk, but I know myself too well -- I'd get carried away and want to run. I don't want to risk re-injuring myself. Once I decided to bail I was sure it was the right decision.

At least the entry fee went to a great cause, Hospice of Northwest Ohio.  I will find an opportunity to make this up and represent Enell when I'm healthy and fit.

I was not happy to notice rain coming in the back of my garage this morning.

I called someone weeks ago to get a quote and he is still not getting back in touch with me, so I am going to have to find someone else. My husband is supposed to ask the shop teacher for names, and he keeps forgetting too. Any blog readers have a good contact in Toledo for small construction projects?




I took a picture to show how soaked I was but you can't really tell. That jacket was stuck to me.

The daily-blogging thing really got away from me this week.

A friend from one of my online communities posted the link to this video. The audio is really interesting but the video is useless because it focuses only on the doctor and not the slides.  I treated this like a podcast and listened to it while I worked on laundry and other things.

Some key interesting points:

• Bariatric medicine is not just about weight loss
• Doctors should focus on improving health, not just lowering weight
• Doctors should focus on behavior goals, not weight goals
• Stopping weight gain is the first goal in treating obese patients
• Each person should be treated as an individual, not given a one-size-fits-all solution

Lots of other good stuff here as well. His major point is that weight is not a reliable proxy for health. If doctors adopted this approach, it would require a paradigm shift.

I am adding his blog to my reader -- some great insights here.

Mackinac Island, July 2014

In a few weeks I'll be turning 44, and I just lived through the death of my father. Not surprisingly, I have been thinking a lot about the direction my life is going and whether I'd like to make any changes.  I'm thinking that it's time to at least start exploring the possibilities.

Some things I definitely don't want to change. I'm happy with my marriage and family life (just in case you were wondering, Jesse) and I like where I live.

I know I'm ready to start pushing myself more physically, which is why I put together an aggressive set of goals for next year's triathlon season. I'm going to put some time into building strength this winter, and I also have picked up rowing classes as a new item in the rotation, which works my arms, back, core, and legs.

I also want to take a few more smart risks (no jumping off buildings). Life is too short to postpone going after my dreams. I'm still working on some of the details, but I want to take some steps toward a better, more fulfilling life.  I will keep you all posted.

I just don't do well with logging my training. I managed it for a week.

I went to "catch up" my log using my old Polar F7, and found that the diary erases itself every new calendar week. So that's completely useless. It's worthwhile for seeing the heart rate during the workout, but that's it.

I seem to be failing at every possible method.  Maybe I need something like Garmin Connect that just logs for me as long as I start the thing up? The feature is available on some lower-cost watches, like the .

Maybe I should just accept that logging isn't for me?

I have some ambitious race goals for next year.  As I said before, I signed up for a Half Aquabike at Cedar Point's Rev3 Challenge. I am also committing to several other races as warmups, including my third try at an Olympic distance triathlon.

I was looking for a template for a planning calendar like the one above all over the web and couldn't find one.  If you'd like to use it, you can download a blank version of the calendar above as a PDF for printing, or as a Word Document so you can modify as you'd like.

Do you have any big race plans for next year?

Some of the challenges you’ll have to complete to get points are drinking water, logging your food, and finding positives in every day. There are also weekly mini challenges to complete for bonus points.

Brooke didn't ask me to promote her challenge but I think it's a great way to stay on track so I wanted to pass the link along to my followers.  Let me know if you decide to participate!

NaBloPoMo fail: I meant to publish this yesterday, but forgot. I'll catch up by posting a second time later today:

I'm the guest blogger on the Enell blog today, so please go check out my post.

Testing the shutter

The problem wasn't so much the equipment as the fact that it's really hard to get the angle right. If I use the front-facing camera, there is a weird fisheye effect that causes some strange distortions.

Huge hand!

Corey Poppy Handkerchief Hem Dress by Gwynnie Bee

Awkard fake smile

It's also hard to smile naturally alone.  I just felt weird. And of course, there is my tendency to close my eyes when the shutter goes off.

Fun fact: I close my eyes in about one out of three photos

Another stiff, awkward face

Something I had not anticipated is how hard it is to get a flattering angle, especially when I can't see what the photos look like.

Under the chin is not the best angle for photos

This dress is comfortable but I'm not so sure it photographs well.  Or maybe it is just photographer error? Do you have any selfie tips for taking natural and flattering photos?

I often admit when I've had a bad day or when I make a less-than-perfect choice. I think that's important -- I could easily give you a happy-perfect blog by only telling about the good stuff.  But I think that would be pretty boring, and I imagine most readers would too.

I'm trying to do things in a certain way, which I don't know if everyone understands and I'm sure not everyone agrees with. I'm trying to make my changes in such a way that I genuinely enjoy them and can keep them up long-term. I'm making the changes I'm ready to make. In the meantime, I'm happy with myself the way I am. That's what Perfect in Our Imperfections is all about.

I went on a field trip to the Islamic Center of America in Dearborn and had no time to post. Here is how I look with a headscarf:

Yesterday, I posted this image of my HRM after a hard rowing workout. That number was higher than I'd seen before, but several people said it was possible, especially as a temporary high number. I felt fine so I didn't think much of it, except to congratulate myself on being fit enough to work that hard and recover from it quickly.

But then today, during my Spinning workout, I noticed that my chest strap was really uncomfortable, to the point of being unbearable. I tried to adjust it and found it was broken.

12 eggs, cooked kale, skim milk, 2 slices sprouted bread cut into cubes (optional), herbs, feta, salt & pepper

2. I don't need as much food as I think I do.  The portions look small to me, so yesterday I added half a cup of plain fat-free Greek yogurt to the Baked Oatmeal breakfast.  I ended up feeling so full that I saved half of it for a midmorning snack.

3. I need to pack a lunch. I pack a lunch every day for my husband, so I should pack myself a lunch at the same time.  I ended up getting two of the Five Packs, so I used some of the meals for dinners and some for lunches. It has been so easy having my lunch already packed. Even if I end up eating it at home, it is really simple to have things already planned, packed, and tracked. I have been supplementing the lunches with a piece of fruit and some extra veggies.

Today was one of those get-things-done days. Not necessarily exciting, but productive:




I did a 7:00 a.m. rowing class.

Regular readers of this blog will know I have been toying with the idea of an Aquabike for a while now. I even have a wetsuit. Today, a member of the Athena triathlon Facebook group posted a special discount code for the Rev3 Triathlon series (enter JSTRI15 for 10% off). The Cedar Point race is very close to me, and several members of my tri club have done it and loved it.

I decided to sign up for the Half Aquabike: 1.2 miles swimming, 56 miles biking, and no run.  This will be the furthest distance I have ever raced.  Skipping the run makes it possible, but definitely not easy.  I have done a 50-mile bike ride once, at a leisurely pace with a break for lunch, so I have some work to do. My goal is to finish in around 4 hours and 30 minutes.

This goal is just scary enough to be motivating -- I have plunked down quite a lot of money in entry fees, and I had better be ready.

This post contains Amazon Affiliate links.

I want to get more serious about my triathlon training and I think I need to start keeping better records (and maybe even planning my workouts better).  The problem is, I have a terrible history with this. I have bought lots of those little weekly calendars with the goal of making them a workout log, only to abandon them in a few days.

I asked the women in the Athena Triathletes group I belong to for suggestions.  Here are some of the more popular ones and let you know what I have decided (for now) to use:


: This looks like a seriously cool piece of equipment, and it also has automated workout logging. Most of the serious triathletes I know have something like this for collecting data on their workouts. It can be purchased  as well.  I think this is super-cool, but it's $399 (and up), so it's not going to happen. And even though I love gadgets, I'm pretty clumsy with this kind of thing and probably wouldn't use it to its full capacity.


: On the opposite end of the spectrum, this was a surprisingly popular method, especially considering that triathletes tend to love their gear. It makes sense, though, that with multiple workouts and multiple sports, a plain old notebook might have more flexibility to record any information necessary and, of course, the cost can't be beat.


: This is the method that I have tried (and failed with) the most often. There are so many beautiful weekly planners out there, why not just use one of these, which already have dated pages? The problem is that for some reason, this method just never works for me. One problem with these is that the weekends usually have the least space, when most athletes I know do their longer, more complex workouts on the weekends.



: Of all the pre-printed training logs out there, this was, not surprisingly, the most popular with triathletes. This is designed to prompt the athlete to record the data that could be the most useful in spotting problems (resting heart rate, weight, fatigue, injuries). Unlike some other training diaries, this allows space for two workouts per day, which is typical for triathletes juggling three sports plus strength and flexibility workouts. I was tempted by this option.

TrainingPeaks App: This app seems to be very popular because it not only allows an athlete to log any kind of workout with lots of detail, it also allows them to share their workouts with a coach or a training partner. There is a free version and a premium version, and though it looks like the free version offers a lot of features, including syncing information from a Garmin device, there are a lot of analysis tools that are only available in the premium version.

This looks like a great app and it is one of the options I am considering. I'm thinking that it looks a little complex for a beginner, though, and I might not need all the tools it offers.


BeginnerTriathlete App: I decided to start with the mobile app offered by BeginnerTriathlete.com, which was recommended by several of the athletes on the forum. I have always liked the BeginnerTriathlete site, which isn't the most attractive website out there but does have great information. It looks simple, while still offering all the features I think I'd want, including body measurements and self-ratings of sleep, fatigue, and soreness. It seems flexible enough to add any kind of workout. It also allows Garmin sync capability, so if I ever hit the lottery, I guess I'll be ready.

I just logged my swim from last night and I liked that it had an open notes field so I could put in the workout I did along with my general notes about how it felt.


I think it's more important to choose a method and get tracking than to choose the most perfect tracking method ever. What training diary do you use? Do you find it fun to log your workouts or does it just feel like a big chore?