Week Ending 1

I came back from Panama about a six weeks ago weighing close to 209 pounds. When I knew I was going to be in a Half-Iron Man competition I immediately changed my diet and started exercising lightly every day. I was down to 205 but knew I had to lose more weight as I want to be around 180 during competition; in addition, the more weight I’m carrying, I know the harder it’s going to be.
I started out swimming as that was the easiest since I have a pool in my backyard. Just getting into the routine was hard as I was accustomed to working hard all day and taking clients out to fine dining restaurants as part of a daily routine.
It was a change of lifestyle for me; I had to make healthier food choices, reduce my calorie intake and maintain my discipline during my training. Since I’ve started training I now eat less, sleep less, have more energy, look forward to exercising and the competition. I also started running about 3 miles a day and you might think that three miles is not that much but you have to understand where I live. I live in Eastlake, Chula Vista about a block from the Olympic Training Center where there is nothing but hills; so during my run I am constantly running these hills which are close to being like that one street in San Francisco called Lombard Street.
Honestly, I didn’t know how I got through it during the first week; I had to stop a lot as I was out of shape. The good thing is that I expected it to be like this and know it will only get easier. I love this quote by Lance Armstrong:

“Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever.”