Training - It's not about weight loss anymore.

This morning we had another food get-together in the office. As previously mentioned, we never seem to have a shortage of occasions to eat. Nice side effect of it is, that they brought in so much stuff that lunch is taken care of too. We had a nice Germany style brunch thing going on including homemade bread, Leberkäse, lunch cut style cheeses and sausage... Very yummy. Of course I couldn't resist. I really don't get homesick a lot, but I certainly miss German food. Since a co-worker discovered this Chicago-based sausage company, the pain has been eased a little. No one can replace my Mum's cooking though! Anyways, I am drifting off.

While we were standing around having our late breakfast, a co worker asked me how the move went over the weekend and stuff. I said that everything was a little stressful, but went alright... Only on the workout front, I was slacking some, but planning on getting back on track this week. Then she said something, that took me little bit by surprise. Sorry, can't remember the exact words, but it was something like: it's not like you need to loose weight anymore...

It's true that last year, when I started my weight loss journey, my workouts were a key ingredient of the road map to loose these 60 lbs, I ended up loosing in the course of 2008. Since then, I have been pretty stable with my weight and sure enough my regular exercise is a key ingredient for that as well. But really, my training is not about the weight loss anymore. Of course, sometimes I think, if I loose another 5 lbs, that hill would be easier to run up. But on the other hand, I already was at that weight (-5 of current) sometime end of last year, after having a bad case of stomach flu and I do have a handful of pictures from that time and it's not pretty.

Everyone that looses weight is afraid to gain it back. Research and news articles (one example here) show over and over again, that only a fraction of people that lost weight are actually able to keep it off for one year or more. According to this, I am not quite out of the woods yet, but I am positive that I will keep it up. I think I have accepted the changes that I made last year as permanent lifestyle changes rather than a temporary fix.

My strategy for long term success is to keep on having fitness goals. I did my first race last year in November and since then, I did several 5Ks, 8Ks, and 10Ks, one sprint triathlon and a metric century ride. For next year, I want to take a shot at an Olympic distance triathlon and a half marathon.

In the next couple of weeks the race schedule looks like this with the hope that my knee is back to normal soon:

9/10-11 Blue Ridge Relay with the team "Do Not Resuscitate"
9/19 American Warrior Triathlon (sprint distance)
9/26 Race for the Cure 5K, raising money to find a cure, pls visit my donation site here
10/10 Ache Around The Lake 8K

September is pretty busy. Normally, I try to race once a month. That keeps me on my toes, dedicated to my workouts and away from the cookie jar (not all the time, but a lot)... And most importantly, it keeps me on track for my larger goals.

Update on my knee: I am fine as long as I am not running. The tape arrived yesterday and I have to try it out soon. Today I did an hour on the elliptical and felt great, no pain at all. Keep your fingers crossed for me.