Hi there to all local businesses that received one of my fliers this past weekend! I just want to send out a friendly reminder that if you would like to donate to my Trek Across Maine fundraiser with all proceeds going to the American Lung Association, I will add you businesses name to Pinky, the pink flamingo that will be strapped to my bike for the whole 180 mile Trek! Any amount means so much to a great foundation such as the American Lung Association whether it's $1 or $100, so please pitch in and know that your contribution is appreciated beyond words :)
If you spotted me making my route or are a business that received a flier and would like to donate to my Trek Across Maine with all proceeds going to the American Lung Association, please click below! And to show you my thanks, I will add your name to Pinky the Official Trekkie Flamingo!
According to the meteorologists this morning, today is supposed to be the nicest day this year so far! Well that motivated me to pass up the gym for the day (I'm already suffering withdrawals) and to hit the road on my bike. My route will take me from Etna, to Plymouth, then to Carmel and back.....so far I have only biked around 15 miles at one time, that took me an hour, pretty average. Today my trip should take me around 30+ miles and I'm hoping to complete this in under 2 hours.
Another very important recent development in my life....I have decided to become a Les Mills instructor at my gym! I leave for CT in 2 weeks for 3 days of very intense training in Bodypump where I start the initial training. Then I return to "shadow" some of the instructors at my gym to learn to teach the class. I then have 90 days to teach a class where I need to film myself teaching and mail the video to Les Mills where they will approve and give me my final certificate to be a Les Mills Bodypump instructor! In July, I'm headed to NJ for training in Bodyflow! June will be crazy busy for me with the Trek but I feel of I don't push myself to the absolute limits, I will never know just how much I can handle. In August, Micah and I booked a weekend stay at Baxter State Park where we are hiking Katahdin, I'm taking him up Cathedral and Across Knife's Edge! So my summer is crazy full of awesome new adventures and I am really excited! I also bought a itsy bitsy bikini the other day and can't wait to wear it very soon :)
This is the program I am teaching very soon!! And I can't wait to look like her too :)
It was brought to my attention by a close friend of mine (thanks Kevin!) that I have neglected to post anything new for awhile and I apologize! So let me give you a quick update on how the training is going thus far :)
I have really stepped it up a notch with my workouts. I now in addition to doing RPM classes 3-4 a week, I added the Combat class that is absolutely brutal! I also added one more BodyPump class a week so this is how a week of training looks for me right now:
Monday-I usually run outside for about 4 miles then go to BodyPump and strength train for 1 hour and for about 20 minutes I do either the stairmaster or the row machine.
Tuesday-Rpm for 45 min then I go straight to a Combat class for 1 hour
Wednesday-Lately has been something around the house such as painting for 8 hours or today I was digging a duck pond for about 2 hours. I usually go to BodyPump on Wednesdays but today took it off to give my muscles a chance to recover a bit! Wednesdays are usually free of cardio.
Thursday- RPM for 1 hour
Friday- Combat for 1 hour and then BodyPump for 1 hour with 20 minutes in between of low impact cardio such as treadclimber.
Saturday- RPM for 50 min. or I have started biking outside when it is warm and average about 13 mph.
Sunday- RPM for 1 hour but this week and next there are no classes so I will either bike or jog outside. I also reserve Sundays for an optional day off if I feel worn out :)
So that is my training so far, it has been working extremely well for me! I did come down with a little cold last week and took 2 days off from training and really felt almost worse for not going to the gym! I think I'm hooked. I also started having a fruit smoothie in the morning to add more calories in addition to either 1 hard boiled egg or 1/2 cup low fat cottage cheese. I was just eating half a grapefruit and 1 egg but that wasn't enough at all!
I have reached some major goals too, the other day I noticed I felt really strong (I could see muscles that I never had noticed before on myself) so I decided to see if I could do a pull up, which for me, is quite a feat! And I did!!! I did 1 pull up, a huge obstacle to overcome, now I'm working on 2!
I noticed also that my weight is changing again. It was at a plateau but I think it was because I was gaining muscle weight so I decided to try on some different pant sizes and was almost in tears when I realized how far I have come! I was at about size 16, 14 on a good day, on January 1st. As of today, I fit into a size 8, 10 is a little big and 8 is a little snug but they don't make size 9, so I will go with the 8! So I have gone from size 16 to size 8 in 3 months! I am so proud of myself but now I am starting to worry about what is going to happen when I start landscaping full time starting next week. Landscaping is a great workout but not at all as intense as what I do at the gym so we'll see if I gain weight or stay the same! My goal is to lose 10 more pounds but start adding more muscle tone. My other goal is to start biking on the weekends for at least 30 miles to start, then moving up to roughly 50-60 miles a day! I am fortunate in that I have a cousin who is a professional biker in NC, he is in the semi-pros and even sponsored by Cliff Bar! He has been giving me training tips and motivation! The training that he does in a week makes me nauseous just to think about, it is not even right. He is up in the morning and out the door biking at 4 am, goes to work then goes home to do crazy endurance training. I seriously do not even know how he gets the motivation to do it but he loves it :)
I still need to raise more money but as soon as the weather warms up here, I'm hitting the streets of downtown Bangor to visit local businesses. I need to have my donations and a bunch of paper work mailed to the Trek by May 26th to qualify for Quick Check In, that way when the time comes to do the Trek June 19th, I don't have to wait in long lines for my number and to hand in my donations, it will be all done!
So I will do better to keep things undated here on my blog and thank you for checking!!
Above left is me on January 1st at 170+ pounds (size 16), the picture on the right my husband took of me working on a new Festive Flamingo last week at around 140 pounds (size 8).....it hasn't been easy but it is so worth it!
Hi everyone, I just wanted to let you all know that I have officially registered for the Trek Across Maine and now I must raise a minimum of $500 by June! If you would like to help I would appreciate it greatly, any amount will help from $5 to $50 and it goes to a wonderful cause!
Well it has been a few weeks now of intense training and I can already feel the difference! I started the Les Mills RPM class 2 times a week and now have added Les Mills BodyPump twice a week and Friday is my first day of BodyCombat! I have really stepped it up a notch and can feel my muscles hating me for it!! I still am incorporating my yoga routine everyday for 30 minutes and this is has become my saving grace when my muscles are so sore I have to literally fall onto the toilet to sit! To add a little variety to my routine, I have been out running in good old Etna and Micah and I have been jogging and skiing on snowmobile trails as well.
Below is a quick video of the RPM class
I also hired a trainer for a session, Scott at USA, and worked with him last week which was great since he has done the Trek before, he knew just how to train me to get ready. I had him also address a growing problem I have run into: my weight loss has stopped. Instead of getting discouraged, I started a food journal and I wrote down every minuscule crumb that entered my mouth. Well turns out that my 2 week plateau was attributed to a lack of food?! I was shocked! I thought that by restricting my caloric and carb intake to a bare minimum, I would certainly shed the pounds, but I was seriously wrong. My body was "holding" onto every extra calorie instead of bring it because I had put my body in a starvation mode. Now don't get me wrong, I was eating and I was eating enough to never feel hungry, but since I began adding more intense workouts, I neglected to add more food..oops! I also was told by my trainer to stop obsessing about weighing myself everyday, so I limited my weigh-ins to every Monday only and will not become discouraged when I see that I gained weight because I know it is muscle and that muscle makes me proud!
Next week I am officially signing up for the Trek Across Maine so my Donate button will be working and I will need your help greatly. I am attending my first fundraiser this weekend put on at my gym, a 90 minute RPM course to raise money for the Lung Association of America.
Lastly, I have begun my search for a road bike with no luck what so ever! I have emailed all the bike shops in the state of Maine looking for a used entry level road bike and still have had no luck. My brother in law, Tony, is looking into finding me a good deal now and I continue to check Craigslist and Unclehenrys daily. So my fingers are crossed for that perfect bike to come my way and until then, thanks for becoming a follower of my blogs and if you haven't yet, go right ahead and join, I need all the feedback and support I can get :)
Here are a few more videos of the classes that are whippin' me into shape, they are very cool with intense lighting like a dance club and the music is amazing! That is actually the biggest things about these classes is the music, you bike to the beat, you lift to the beats and the whole time the music is pumped though huge speakers simulating a dance club!
2009 has been a huge year for me in regards to healthy living and decisions. I had been a smoker since 1996 and finally kicked that nasty habit! Too many family members in my life and the lives of friends I know, have been effected by lung cancer and emphysema, so this year it is my mission to motivate the remaining family and friends that I have, to give up smoking!
Here is my promise: I will bike 180 miles if you quit....simple as that!
The Trek Across Maine is a 3-day, 180 mile bike trek to raise money and awareness to Lung Cancer. The trek begins at Sunday River in Newry Maine:
Day 1 ride Sunday River to UMF (University of Maine Farmington) sleep at UMF (approx. 60 mi) Day 2 ride UMF to Colby College sleep at Colby College (approx. 60 mi) Day 3 ride Colby College to Belfast (approx. 60 mi)
This is also the year I become as fit as my body allows me to be. January 1st marked the first day of my Healthy Mission. I have revamped my diet to consist mainly of protein and veggies, almost all organic, and have really stepped it up fitness wise. I have hired a personal trainer to help me achieve my goal of 35 pound weight loss and to be physically fit enough to bike 180 miles!. On my own I have already lost 15 pounds! Almost half way there! My training will begin with RPM courses at a local gym until I can take my bike riding outside. Can't wait for this snow to melt!
The next huge step after quiting smoking and losing 35 pounds?.......
I need to raise at least $500 to enter the Trek Across Maine!!!
I need you help. Any amount will help to get me closer to my goal and will be much appreciated! I would be devastated to finally complete all this training, convince my loved ones to quit smoking and then not be able to even join due to lack of funds! Please help Dreaz Trek!
Coming Soon, Donate Button
I will be riding with a Anti-Smoking Festive Flamingo of the back of my bike and for each person who donates to my cause, I will add your name to my Pink Flamingo! Don't know about Festive Flamingos? Check it out at: http://www.festiveflamingos.com/
I have only one other request....I am using a hybrid bike for this race but would really benefit from a road bike, if anyone has an old road bike laying around or knows someone who is selling theirs cheap or know where I could rent one in the area for this race, I would realle appreciate it:)
Here is a video from the Trek Across Maine:
Thank you so much for all of your help and make sure to post a reply, I need as much feedback as I can get!
Here is a map of the Trek (just a little fact, this trek is the equivalent of me riding my bike from Etna Maine to Amesbury New Hampshire!!):http://www.eartha.com/TrekAcrossMaine/
My name is Andrea Beaulieu and I am 30 years old. I live in Etna Maine with my husband Micah, our 6 week old son Austin, our black labs Bella and Bud, our cat Jim and 2 ducks: Carrot Stix and Bill! I am the owner of a business I created: Dreaz Flamingoz and a stay at home mommy :)
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