We've Moved!

Yes, it's early on, but doing it now means less to move later...and with my finicky internet connection this is a good thing.

While I've always been a big Blogger fan; the fact is Wordpress has a few shiny bobbles that make it's frustratingly unintuitive and clunky set up worth the pain in the neck.  So from now on, if you're keeping up by email or on Facebook, you'll want to switch over to the Wordpress site.

http://orpctqt.wordpress.com 

Starting Again...Again

They say the things worth obtaining are the things worth working for.  Setting out on the journey to work towards your dreams is exciting and exhilarating, but sometimes that excitement is dampered when that beginning is actually a re-beginning.  When you're walking up the same hill you had climbed before, but at some point found yourself at the bottom again.  Over the last couple of weeks I have felt this.

I remember when I realized that running wasn't an impossibility. It was right before New Years in 2011, I was on the coast and decided I needed to do something with the extra calories.  I chose a route along the Nehalem bay, once a simple elk path and now it was a developed hiking trail.  I only expected to get a short ways down before having to call it quits and slink my sorry-butt back home.  Instead, I was surprised to finish and discover that I had some how gone two miles in 30 minutes!  (I would like to thank living at 4,600' and then running at sea level for this accomplishment!)  This is what launched me into my 2012 goal of completing a race.

But as I've spent the last couple weeks working back into a routine, it's incredibly frustrating to find that I'm back almost to the beginning!  Every time I enter a workout and look back on where I was at this time last year...well, it makes me want to eat a pint of Ben & Jerry's.

But starting over has it's benefits. Because I am "starting over" I have no excuses about NOT moving forward. I have been there once.  I know the way. If I don't go all of the way it is my fault alone.  Also, in starting over, I know ways that will make the going easier and the end result better. 

Lessons Learned:

1. This round I am combining weight training with the aerobics.   First, after doing some research I think I would have had better and swifter results if I had put extra effort into muscle training.  Also, looking at some of the race photos, I think I would have looked better if I had some muscle tone. 
2. Food!  Food is also important.   While I think I did a good job balancing carbs and proteins, I did NOT do a good job choosing WHICH carbs and proteins I consumed.  A McDonald's Cheeseburger was just as good as tuna fish sandwich as far as I was concerned, especially after a hard day of physical duties AND training, but the reality is I would have probably gotten further on the sandwich and maybe some veggies than the burger.  Which leads me into the next item...
3. Vitamins, Supplements, and hormones.  Anything that makes your body pull from it's resources makes you run the risk of depleting those resources if you don't have ways of replenishing them.  By the time I had finished the race I had been suffering from random bouts of depression and hormone imbalance from the combination of training, stress, and over working.  Short side of it is; extensive training strips your body of resources. It made for a rough place to try to come back from.  This time I'm using natural supplements, taken regularly, along with more natural foods. 

So, with those things in mind, I move forward.  Every time I make an excuse NOT to train, I do it, and I've begun the overhaul on my diet and exercise routine.  

Anything worth having is worth working for....even if it's over, and over, and over......

The Beginning

Last year, 2012, marked two events. 

First, I trained for and completed in the Duathlon portion of the Portland Triathlon.


Second, a coworker of mine set out on and completed a through hike of the Pacific Crest Trail.

The completion of the 2012 Portland Duathlon was as much of a spirtual/emotional experience as it was physical.  When I set out with a friend to complete the race, it was part of a healing process that goes back almost a decade and the power and energy drawn from that experienced launched me into the next phase of my life. Now, a year later, I'm looking to take that healing experience and move forward with it into a stage of growth.  After a couple of weeks of contemplating I'm ready to announce that I'm back in training again with bigger ambitions in my future. 

My ultimate ambition is to hike the Oregon portion of the PCT in 2015.  I have to admit that when I first read that it's the shortest and easiest portion of the PCT, I was a little pride/hurt, considering how I could incorporate the Washington portion in one trip as well, but the reality is, just as I don't like running marathons; the traversing of the whole of the PCT isn't my journey.

So, for now, the 450+- miles it takes to hike from California to Washington is my goal, but even that is no small feat.  It will involve a lot of training so I can carry everything I need to survive on my own in Oregon's wilderness, it will mean a couple of months off of work meaning some saving of dough, house sitting for my kitties, new and better gear, the commitment of good friends to make sure I don't starve on the way, and more training (yes I said that twice). So, I'm not taking this all in one swoop.

My first step will be working toward and beating my time in the 2014 Portland Duathlon. (I still suck at swimming...don't have to swim much on the PCT so, I'm not too worried about that.)  Several other possible steps include, but are not limited to:

• Hiking the Jackson/Kimball trail...in one day.
• Hiking the Elkhorn Crest Trail
• Participating in several races between now and the PCT.

This isn't something I'll be doing over night and the support of my friends and family as I continue forward will be essential and most appreciated.   A journey begins long before the foot hits the trail so this blog is for the purpose of documenting the whole trip and I invite YOU to join me.