Bass Pro Shop Marathon Springfield, MO

Well, today I registered for the Bass Pro Shop Marathon in Springfield, MO 2 Nov 2008. I made this decision based on a need to increase my intensity to decrease my body fat percentage and the amount of pounds I am carrying around on a daily basis. Due to my being what is considered a typical female I have lost weight over the years in an unhealthy way so, now in my early 40's dropping those last few 10 to 15 lbs is a very difficult thing to do. Even though I have add two new sports to my training I'm still such a novice in both the bike and swim I'm not making a dent in my body composition. So, I decided I needed to go back a put heavier focus on running from now until after the marathon and during the training for my 26.2 I will continue to swim and bike to increase my comfort level so I can reach the fitness I need in those to make a dent.

All while completing my last phase of my military schooling, and this fall taking two doctoral classes.

Balance, what is a Balanced Life. I trying to figure that out.

Withdrawal from an Accounting class

This week I did something I had a hard time deciding to and that was withdrawing from the one and only accounting doctoral class I had scheduled for this summer. My reasoning is as follows:
1. The web based classroom was not turned on until week 1 of a 7 1/2 week class.
2. I was notified of the book for the class until middle of week 1 and did not get the book from the school book store until the beginning of week 2.
3. Had to complete week 1 and week 2 requirements in week 2.
4. Professor required a 20 page mid-term research paper submitted by the beginning of week 4.
5. Professor required a 40 page final research paper submitted by the beginning of week 6 when most of the courses at Argosy have had the final paper submitted on the last day of class.
6. Professor was unwilling to adjust due dates even though the start of the class was delayed due to no fault of the student.
7. On top of the papers listed above the weekly requirements were to summarize three academic journal articles based on the two chapters of required reading from the book. Summaries were required to no less than three to five pages even though this limit was not stated in the requirements.
8. The final straw was the vague instructions on requirements and vague guidance on papers submitted. I was told to be more formal in my writing and not use colloquial language, and when I asked for clarification I never received a response.

Triathlon's scheduled

Well, I realized based on a comment from a dear friend I failed to list the Triathlon's I'm scheduled for this year.

1. Tour de Kirkwood on 27 July 08
2. Wood River Tri on 9 Aug 08
3. Tiger Tri on 23 Aug 08

As of right now I am not planning on actually competing in the Tour de Kirkwood because my swimming is not where it needs to be. I started taking swimming lessons to learn to swim and overcome my fear of water. Well, I have over come the fear of water but just started progressing to taking a few strokes and do not have the stamina to complete the swim distance of 400 yards, but I'm not giving up.

Wood River Tri I can walk if I want because the pool is only 4 1/2 feet deep, 450 meters.

Tiger Tri is 300 yard swim.

Title change

Based on a recommendation from a dear friend I have changed the title of my blog. After posting on training for a triathlon this friend who is a missionary in Peru recommended the change and I have to agree with her.

PR for 1 mile on a down hill course

Hubby 2.0 and ran a 1 mile race which was down hill today. I had a PR of 8:43. It was really nice to have a comfortable fast run I don't know if I ever remember running this fast since I graduated basic training in 1990 and then my 2 mile time was a 16:36.

I'm finding the running and training for a triathlon is helping develop a since of balance in my life.

I've found I need a challenge outside of work these days and I'm enjoying stretching my mind and seeing how far I can push my body. As for pushing my body I'm learning to swim which I am enjoying and learning to ride on a triathlon bike which is really different from a hybrid bike. The tri-bike is faster and lighter.

second ride on my Felt Triathlon Bicycle

Today we attended the June St. Louis Tri Club meeting, which was a picnic and a ride of the route for the July Tour de Kirkwood Triathlon. Hubby 2.0 went on the ride and I rode around the park for about 10 to 20 minutes and covered approximately .8 of a mile before I was unable to clip out of my bike clips. So, I fell over to the right and ripped the tape on my tri bars and pushed in my break pad on the front wheel, which prevented me from finishing my ride. I have a lot to learn and practice on when clipping in and out of the clips on the pedals but, I did enjoy myself.

Training for a Tri

Well, today I had my first ride on my new Felt Triathlon bike, which was a different experience being clipped in the whole time. I truly enjoyed the ride, we determined the need to get new bike helmets prior to the next ride on Thursday. Hubby 2.0 and I were out for 31 minutes and rode approximately 5.13 miles much easier than I expected it to be.

Back to posting

It has been a long while since I posted no real excuse other than I've not really had a desire to do so. I have come to realize I narrowed the blog unintentionally my original intent was to discuss the events which go on around me and their impact on pursuing the "Terminal" degree. I allowed myself to focus just on the degree rather than the broad scope of things. I'm contemplating starting another blog to focus on other stuff I'm interested in and allow this blog to continue to be just information related to the DBA in Accounting. When and if I start another blog I'll post a link here.