and if you call in the next 19 seconds..

I've discovered a new weight loss secret. It was right under my nose this whole time. And because I've grown to love all of you, I'm going to share it with you today. Not for $89.99 or even two easy installments of $39.99. No, I'm going to give it to you for free...but only if you read the next paragraph in the next 60 seconds. (Or, you know, whenever you get around to it, the offer still stands)

Want to know how to get your body ready to rock a swimsuit this summer? Well forget summer, put your swimsuit on NOW, and get in the pool. Quit worrying about how your butt looks, swim a bunch of laps like you mean it, and then thank me come July.

(I'm practicing my kick butt personal trainer attitude, how's it working for you? Have I scared you to drop and give me twenty? No?)

Seriously though. I slacked off on my running last week, didn't even get to cycling, I just swam. And in just a week and a half of swimming, those extra 5 lbs of home cooked Christmas deliciousness (that I held onto for the month of January) disappeared. All of this while coming home STARVING and ransacking my kitchen for a feast. No wonder Michel Phelps eats like 12,000 calories a day and still has abs of steel. I love it! Really, I never would have guessed such a low impact sport would kick my bootie into shape so quickly. And believe me, it's kicking me, I'm exhausted!

However, I will not make it far (no further than the pool deck or lake shore) in the world of triathlon if I don't get out there and practice the bike and run. So last night I donned my headlamp and my heart rate monitor, and set out for my first ever heart rate zone based run, based on the zones determined from this week's VO2 max test.

In one 50 minute run last night, I realized why I have had 3 sucky marathons in a row. Because I don't know how to properly build up my endurance. Last night, zone 4 was the only zone Garmin and I got along , because during zone 2 & 3 it beeped at me and kept telling me to slow down. I'm not good at telling my body to pace itself. I go all or nothing most of the time, and then crash and burn. This is why 5k's seem to be my race of choice, and I've yet to come out of a full marathon with a smile on my face. So last night, I obeyed Coach Garmin and followed Coach Jeff''s plan, and tried my very best to stay in the prescribed zone, not worrying about how fast (or really, slow) I was running. And despite all of that, I had a fantastic run.

But you should have heard the Garmin yell at me and my heart rate when I came around the corner and faced off with a pack of wild, rabid raccoons. OK....maaaaybe they were little raccoons, and looked absolutely terrified to see this crazy woman with a bright light on her forehead running at them, but they certainly caused me to jump into a quick zone 6 (or something)! All of this mid day suburbia running has really softened me, ha.

And so the adventure continues...

Happy running my friends!