The Awesome 21 Day Rule

It wasn’t once I heard that if you want to change something, to make a nice habit, or to extinguish a bad one, you need to follow a 21-day-rule: you should repeat your new (non) habit for 21 days and voila, it becomes your new (non) habit, you become a better person! As simply as that! If you don’t believe me, just google it, but don’t read Forbes, known for writing things you don’t want to believe in ;)  Read this instead! 

I have just concluded my 21-day cycle! It’s been three weeks since I have started training with Dejan and I feel great! I am an athlete, I am a triathlete wannabe, I am a Bananaman!

My trainings

I notice I am getting better at running! I can’t wait to run my next half marathon and see what pasta I am made of! I spiced my trainings with hills, I did one great interval training Dejan told me to do, today’s running training was awesome and it’s incredible how fast I am getting better. I am getting better at cycling, too. It would be horrible if I wasn’t because I have just started, so it’s normal to watch yourself progress. My problem is that I don’t know how to “train” cycling. Maybe I should spice it with some hills, too. It’s that my normal and my recovery training are same to me! None of them seems more difficult or more easy, they are all same! As for swimming, I’ve always liked swimming, but I think it’s my weakest point at the moment. I have watched speedo’s videos on youtube and I realized my technique sucks. Since swimming pools are open now, I could do my trainings very well there, but, as I told Dejan, I don’t understand his swimming abbreviations, so I have no idea how my swimming training should be like! On one hand, I am happy about how I am doing and I really notice the great progress; on the other hand, I feel a bit confused.

 

My fears

I was afraid I wouldn’t succeed. I thought I would feel exhausted after 7-10 days of every-single-day-a-training-or-two program, but I have never felt better! Before that, I was wondering if it was a silly idea to spend a great amount of money for a bicycle and equipment, since I was never fond of cycling, but now I realize that my dear Pedro is worth every penny I spent for getting him! It’s relatively easy to get addicted to running, but it’s far more easier to get addicted to cycling! I was also afraid of going social and sharing my ideas and thoughts, but that fear was totally unfounded! I got great feedback from my family and friends, but also from people I didn’t know! So, guys, thank you for reading me and thank you for writing me back! I really appreciate it! I hope I will be able to keep your attention while trying to reach my goal!

My life

You won’t believe it, but I still have family and friends! While it’s true that I train a lot, I still have time for some social life. My first though was that my life would become all work and trainings, but it’s not (at least not yet) like that. Amy Klipin verbalized my thoughts about the (half) Ironman race (September 2016 Pola!) in one interview for The Guardian: “So, I signed up. Deep breaths. It’s  only a year of intense training,a funeral for my social life and a potential fatality on race day, no big deal. I got a coach, subscribed to the I’m-a-boring-triathlete-with-no-social-life-and-a-one-dimensional-conversation-pattern-revolving-entirely-around-training club, and dug deep. Very deep”.

I was told that I exaggerate with sports, that I should be more girlish and that there is no femininity in what I am doing. I was told that a guy who liked me at first lost his interest in me because I was too competitive with him. I realize that I am a sport companion for the guys, but I enjoy the feeling! I have a lot of friends to do sports with and I like not being considered a weak girl, but one of them, tough guys.

Habits

I started getting up earlier and going to bed earlier. I don’t need to sleep as I used to and my body recovers really fast. The more I train, the more I want to train, it’s amazing! I don’t  get that logic. It must be magic, there is no other explanation. I noticed that I’m awake and full of energy all the day, that I’m more concentrated at work and more vivid. I was talking with some friends of mine about the full-activity days and lazy days and we came to the conclusion that more things one does, more things he/she wants to do, making his/her day last longer than just 24h. On the other hand, if one does nothing, he/she ends up not being able to do anything. He/she becomes lazy and then just lazier and so on… What’s your opinion on it?

 

Special powers

I am Bananaman! I think most of athletes are. Bananas are great. I eat them every time before running and I often opt for a banana for a snack during the day (here the answer to your question: “what can I eat before my training?”). I am still that delish creamy white chocolate ice cream, too. What are you?  

I asked Dejan what does he think, what is my ideal weight, but I have never got a response. Until that day, I will tell you that your ideal weight is the one you feel comfortable with. It’s not expressed in numbers, nor in centimeters of fat around your belly. Your goal should be to feel great in your body. Your body is your temple, so take care of it!

I cannot tell you a secret of 6 packs because I don’t have them, but, as Bananaman, I can share one of my favorite cake recipes, although you probably know it already. Anyway, repetitio mater studiorum est, so:

You need: ladyfingers (God blessed them! They are the best solution for all lazy housewives in the world!), whipped cream, orange/apricot/ananas juice, bananas, jam and chocolate. Make the base of your cake with ladyfingers. Put some juice on them (not to much, just a few drops on every piece), spread some jam on it, put banana slices and cover it with a whipped cream. Put another base of ladyfingers, put a few drops of juice on every piece, spread some more jam, put slices of bananas, and whipped cream. Decorate your cake with chocolate. Put it in the fridge and after a few hours, you have a delicious banana cake! Of course, you can use other fruit (strawberries, ananas, apricot,..), or make different creams by adding some fruit jam in it. Explore, play, add, mix,… it’s difficult (almost impossible) to make it bad. Keep it simple and September 2016 Pula, that'all.