Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good

This fantastic quote came to mind this morning as frustration began to manifest itself as quite the grumpy disposition. A walk with my dogs on a blue-skied, warm and breezy Saturday morning ended up being the starting point for a downward spiral of negative thinking.

I had been pondering how much my training bites right now. It's intermittent, it's intensity is inconsistent and it's - well, it's embarrassing. I'm a triathlete afterall, not a dog walker.

Midway through the walk, I realized a quiet soreness in my hamstrings. This surely wasn't from all the running I'd been doing lately. Then I remembered something I'd done earlier in the week.

I had been having a conversation with my husband as we were both sitting on the couch. During our talk, I told myself, "Just get up and start doing some squats. Just do a few and keep listening." So, I did. The soreness I experienced this morning was the result of those squats and my disposition soon changed to match the sunny skies above.

You see - to me - the soreness in my hamstrings was a thank you from my body in having gotten off the couch to do just those few squats instead of waiting around for a perfect time to do them, and other exercises, all at once...because it likely would not happen.

One thing I did not incorporate at all last season was strength training. When I only had a certain amount of time to train and I needed to choose between SBR or strength training, I chose SBR. This season, I did not want to put it on the back burner again so I decided to incorporate a few, important exercises like pushups, crunches and squats.

I completed Day 1/3 out of Week 1/6 in the Hundred Pushups challenge and never got further. In my mildly obsessive-compulsive mind, I needed to have built a perfect scheduling structure in order to do them at all. Because I need to drop at least 10 pounds, I wanted to do the strength training before doing any SBR. The trouble is, my schedule never afforded it and I never did anymore pushups.

Here is my point: My perfect set up would be to spend 30 minutes, three times a week doing strength training before I do cardio. I just don't have that time. My alternative (good) set up must then be, do these activities - intermittently - throughout the day, because right now, I'm not achieving any benefits at all.

Here's to hoping that throughout the next few weeks, my body will have sent me many more thank yous on behalf of other muscle groups.

A financial and fun gift all "tried" in to one

In my last entry, I ranted about the approximate 50% increase in a race fee. I have since discovered some good news.

There is a local multisport store and a timing chip company who have partnered together to offer races for 10 bucks a pop. That's right, 10 bucks!

You do have to be a USAT member, though. No problem. Already am.

There is no swag, no food, no drinks, no awards. No problem. Will be bringing my own and I never podium anyway.

They're offering five of these races throughout the summer on Wednesday nights at the same state park. Our tri club trains there every Saturday in all three events, so it'll have the feel of a training day, just with a little more pressure to speed up in Transition.

In my quest to save money, I plan on doing at least three of these, and am very excited that they're giving folks this opportunity.

I'll let you know how they go.