Hitting Main Street Running: Triathablogging with Sarah and Joe

Somehow, I've chosen my busiest week EVER to start a time-consuming blog contest. I've had lunch and dinner meetings for freelance work every day, and everyone at my "real" job seems to need my copywriting skills constantly. (How many new promotions can we possibly launch this week, people? Honestly!) On top of that, I've fit in a dentist appointment (I've got one next week, too—sweet!) and a visit to the bike shop to fix my oil-leaking Vespa.

Meanwhile, Elisa's been Craig's List-ing it up to sell her old bike (Kevin Bacon), scam a cheap bike rack from Amanda, buy a new bike (Flash) from someone whose official title seems to be The Bike Guy (sounds kinda sketchy to me, but apparently he's some kind of cycling savant with a veritable treasure trove of amazing bikes), all while saving her company from the brink of economic collapse (or something like that—I don't pretend to understand).

And Amanda, a.k.a. "the crazy one," will be staying ridiculously busy throughout the contest as she balances Starbucks (which I happen to know is a much more demanding job than you'd think, especially in Crestline—I'm talking to you, Venti Decaf with Two Pumps of Peppermint) with a full-time marketing job, multiple personal commitments, swimming, blogging, and Physical Challenges. I'm pretty sure this attempt is on par with the whole Michael Phelps eight billion medals thing, and she deserves them if she gets through the next few months.

I'd love to believe that this week has been unusual and things will slow down, but I know they probably won't. Luckily, the point of Triathablog is to prioritize fitness in the face of looming deadlines and leaky scooters.

So far, at least, it's working. For the past few days I've risen with the sun (which, okay, isn't that early anymore) to go running. And last night, in an effort to rack up points in my all-important goal of beating Elisa and Amanda, I started in on some Physical Challenges, filling out my running log and starting a weight-lifting program while watching the Vice Presidential debate and answering email (multitasking is the modern woman's most important skill set, or so I hear).

I've Google-searched my little heart out for a simple, all-around weight-lifting program for arms. I thought that would be easy, but everything looked complicated or just weird. (Like Iron Yoga which, despite its appealingly Birmingham-centric Vulcan connotations, seems to go against the basic principles of, well, yoga.)

Eventually, I found what seems to be a well-rounded series that's challenging but not impossible, and doesn't take too long. You can find it (and a handy printable version) at www.fitsugar.com/160815. I recommend trying it while catching a debate, or maybe the Sunday morning political shows. There's nothing like a little presidential trash talk to get you motivated.