Fantastico

I had a dish at the cafeteria today called Pasta Fantastico (penne, spinach, sun dried tomatoes, red pepper and parmesan cheese) and I really enjoyed the name of it.  It was tasty, too!

Things are going well these days and I feel like I've fallen into a nice regular routine with my workouts and even with my eating.  This past Friday my husband and I took the day off, mostly to catch a matinee of The Hunger Games, but also to sneak in a bike ride while the weather was nice.  We did about 13 miles on trails through town and it was very nice.  I'm getting to know my bike more and more every time I ride it and that helps with making me feel comfortable about racing on it this summer.  I finally kind of know which gear does what and where I need to be on big hills, downhills, etc.  Since I came to biking from a 3 gear cruiser, adding the extra gears and knowing what to do with them has been tough.

I wasn't able to get out and do anything on Saturday because we had our two nephews over for the weekend.  We played outside and I cleaned the garage, so I did get some movement in.  On Sunday I had a glorious day at the pool. I had been looking online at some swimming videos, just to see what those who really know what they're doing look like. My husband had been in some swimming classes with a coach at our gym that is really into immersion swimming and I decided to check that out:

 

Did you see how fluidly that guy moved?! I feel like I look like a cat that somebody threw into the water when I swim. That video got me thinking - what could I do to begin to move more like that guy? We also have a few books laying around the house on the subject, so I paged through one Saturday night while the kids were playing. Some things really stood out to me, especially the idea that swimming as hard and as fast as you can every single time you swim will not help to increase your speed, efficiency or endurance. This book was telling me to swim on my side and extend through my glide as much as I could and I would then feel like you're swimming downhill. Huh. So when I got into the pool on Sunday I had all of these thoughts running through my head and I really tried to concentrate on moving fluidly, extending my strokes and spending more time on my side. It worked! I used the pool buoy for a bunch of laps and I was feeling like I could swim all day. Even when I took the buoy out, I found that I was moving so much better than I had been before. My breathing was slow and constant, it was great! It felt like zen swimming and I was beginning to feel like that guy in the video (who knows what I actually LOOKED like though!). I was able to continually swim more than I ever had before. Yesterday I was able to get to the gym during work and get in a one mile run on a treadmill and about 200-250 yards in the pool. My swimming was once again so much more efficient than before Sunday.

Even my running was better yesterday.  I only did one mile because I was bored and couldn't wait to get back into the pool.  I tried pushing my speed though and felt really comfortable at 6.5 mph for short periods - um, that's a 9:17 min mile!  That is unheard of.  Of course, that was coupled with running mostly at 5mph and walking at 4mph, so it all basically worked out to be a 13 min mile.  But it is a start!

Pain in the...

My back is at it again.  I really wish I could pin point the source of the pain, but I have no idea what the cause could be.  I had been thinking it was picking up my daughter, but she hasn't been that interested in being picked up now that she's spending more and more time outside exploring.  I do find that I notice the pain mostly when I am sitting or laying in bed.  Maybe that is a sign that I need to be up and moving more!  I'm also thinking that my desk set up at work isn't very ergonomic and I may look into having someone come and assess my set up.

Thankfully it doesn't hurt when I swim.  I took yesterday off both because I need a day off in my training schedule every week and to rest my back a bit.  I plan to swim today and am looking forward to it.  I've been doing some reading and video watching on technique and am excited to try some new things out.

Weigh-in went very well yesterday.  I'm down another 2 lbs.  I calculated what my total weight loss would be by race day if I lost on average 2 lbs per week and I would be down 50 lbs total since I started this whole process one year ago.  Now if that's not motivation to give it my all, I don't know what is!!!

Progress - or lack there of

I am mad.
I am working so hard, but I feel like I am making no progress.  I really think my problem is that I am going by the wrong numbers.  That darn scale just will not move!  I think I need to lock Mr. Scale away somewhere for a while and focus more on my training progress in each sport.  Then who knows, maybe when I pull my old friend back out, he might be kinder to me.

This weekend I biked to/from a friend's house on Saturday even though we had nearly hurricane strength wind gusts, but it felt so good to use an alternative mode of transport other than on just my commute to work.  On Sunday I did the swim thing and it was one of the best swims so far.  The pool was nearly empty and I was able to get in about 400 yards without too much rest in between each lap.  I switched between front crawl, front crawl with the buoy, flutter kicking with the board, back stroke and some side stroke for my cool down.  It felt great!  THAT is the kind of progress that needs to be my focus.

I treated myself with a haircut today.  I have naturally curly hair and a while ago I had tried out the Deva cut in order to enhance my curls.  I hated it.  It thinned out the ends of my hair way too much and just wasn't a flattering shape.  I let it grow out for - gosh - somewhere over six months, I think.  I was constantly throwing my hair up in a ponytail before/after swimming and before/after biking and I was loathing the ponytail.  So I took the plunge today and walked out of the salon with a bob that is just above my chin.  It feels SO good.  The stylist even commented on how thick my hair is and how much of it I have.  And here I had been thinking it was getting thin, but I guess it was just that stupid cut.  Phew!

I biked to work today.  It is still pretty warm and humid here.  I had no idea how to dress for the weather.  Give me under 20 degrees and I know just what to wear, but 62 at 7:30am?!  No idea.  I went with  my very light bike jacket and a short sleeve jersey with shorts.  I was a little toasty in the jacket, but it was good with the wind.  I'm looking forward to keeping it in the bag for the ride home!

Feelin' hot hot hot

Today I conquered my first outdoor run on the training schedule.  I did 1.75 miles in about 20 minutes.  When I checked the weather before I left at noon it said it was already 72 degrees and climbing.  I live in Minnesota and the weather is terribly unusual for this time of year.  While a pleasant temperature for sitting outside and relaxing, I was not prepared for how hot 72 degrees would feel while running. I was a sweaty mess!  A beating red, sweaty mess.  And I know it wasn't just me because my husband ran (elsewhere) at the same time and he said the same thing.

My shins still bother me while running walking.  I did get this checked out last summer to eliminate any serious injuries and it was diagnosed as straight-up shin splints.  I went to Sports Medicine and they gave me some stretches to do, but they haven't helped.  The only thing that seems to help is putting more miles on my legs.  The more running/walking I do, the easier it gets with time.  Here's hoping that by June I'll be in a place of no pain for the race.

Bad scale

*sigh* Wednesday is my weigh-in day.  The scale was kind, but not as kind as I feel like the amount of work I've done this past week should have warranted.  Whenever this happens I tend to look at what I've been doing and eating and find something I can change to hopefully boost my results in the next week.  I certainly can't fit any more exercise into my schedule, so that's not something I can change.  So this week I'm looking at making two more simple changes:

1. Stairs.  I'm that person that rides the elevator two floors.  Yep.  I know you've stared people like me down or made remarks when we've left the elevator...

For me, it isn't the climbing that I don't like.  It is what happens to me when I do climb stairs - or walk briskly - or even THINK about moving.  If you've had the pleasure of being with me during any one of those activities or more, you've undoubtedly noticed something unusual about my physical self.  My face turns bright red, no - bright purple.  Even the slightest bit of movement (okay, maybe more than the slightest) and I am all strawberry up top.  I can't help it.  This problem has plagued me since childhood.  No matter how fit or how thin I've been, this problem has never gone away, so I can assure you it isn't a case of being too out of shape.  It is just who I am.  Same goes for whenever I'm the least bit embarrassed, mad, or frustrated and even sometimes when I am not.  I cannot control it.  And it sucks.  So, imagine me walking up two flights of stairs to a meeting and walking in looking like I've just run 3 miles.  People make comments.  They're concerned for me.  "Are you okay?  Do you need some water?!"  No.  No no no.  I'm just ME.  So I ride the elevator.  BUT I know this is an easy thing I can do to add in a little extra exercise every day.  I guess for the meantime I'll just have to put up with the peanut gallery chiming in about how I look from time to time.

2. (I'm really scared to go here...) I am addicted to Diet Coke.  Ugh!  There, I said it!  Do I dare to attempt to curb my addiction?

I drink about one 20oz bottle during the day (this is cumulative, I usually drink only half of two different 20oz bottles - I know, I know, this problem has been documented) and between 1 and 2 cans a night.  I'm not ready to go cold turkey, so I was thinking about trying to just keep my first-thing-in-the-morning bottle and switching to water/crystal light for all other beverages.  Can I really sustain my thirst with WATER?!?  Will it really help?  Who knows...but I am willing to try!

*update* I originally wrote this post yesterday and have since not really put these items officially into action.  I HAVE used the stairs much more today than I usually do, but I'm on bottle #2 (but only my second half total of the day) of Diet Coke.  Also, as an fyi, I took a bit of a mental health day off of work yesterday and I did not exercise at all.  I am switching my weekly rest day from Friday to Wednesday, so I will be visiting the gym tomorrow.

I did swim today over my lunch hour with my husband.  We had a great time, but I was struggling a bit today to keep my mind and breathing focused.  I am trying out the new things that I learned at my swim lesson on Tuesday and maybe that is what's throwing me off.  It was a good workout regardless of how difficult it was for me.  Sadly, I did not get into the swim lesson class again for April.  I totally forgot to wake up and call in to register this morning and when I did call in, my Tuesday class was full.  I'm on the waiting list and am hoping to talk to Amy next week to see if there might be room for me.  If I don't get in, I'll still swim on my own on Tuesdays and maybe try for the class again in May.

Food, drink and more food

I ate my way through the weekend, but I did also manage to get some really great training in, so hopefully it all evens out in the end.

On Saturday afternoon it was 63 degrees in the Twin Cities, which was where we were spending our weekend.  My husband and I bought a brand new bike rack for the car before leaving home.  We packed up my road bike and his brand new tri-bike for what would be its first time off of the indoor trainer.  We brought the bikes out to Harriet Island in St. Paul and got ready to enjoy a great ride in beautiful weather.  About one minute on the trail and we realized that the extra snow storm that the Cities had (that missed us in Rochester) left extra snow on the trails that had turned to ice and had not melted yet.  We both nearly wiped out going through two patches of slush.  It was an easy decision to stick to the streets after that.  We managed just over 12 miles and it was so fun and such a beautiful day.  Admittedly I did have some trouble getting up a very steep, large hill, but Mike was there to "push" me up.  Considering my training schedule only required 4 miles on the bike this weekend, I think I can safely say my weekend bike training was successful.

On Sunday I met up with two of my sisters-in-law for some swimming.  They are both excellent swimmers as they swam on teams in high school, so I was certainly the newbie there.  They gave me some great tips and help with my stroke and we even practiced some flip turns.  We burned off some calories swimming and gabbing and then ate all of those calories back (and then some) with a brunch later that afternoon.

I am back to clean eating and onto a day of running on this wet Monday...

Day of rest

Rest days are hard.  Mine is today.  I know that resting is good and that it is necessary.  However, when you have so much forward momentum, it is difficult to stand still for a while.  Especially when standing still for one day can quickly turn into two days or a week or a month or more.

I've spent some time today going through beginner triathlete race reports on their first tris.  Not sure how good of an idea this was, but I did pick up on some commonalities in the reports.  I'm guessing that since so many of these newbie triathletes experience these same things, the odds are in my favor that they will also happen for my first triathlon:

1. I will get no sleep the night before the race.
2. I will feel inadequate before the race while setting up my transition spot (is that even what it is called??) because of the much cooler, better bikes.
3. I will feel inadequate while waiting for the swim because everyone else will be wearing a wet suit and I will have on shorts and a tank.
4. I will panic and nearly drown during the swim.
5. I will swim off course and have to make my way back to a buoy thereby adding unnecessary distance to my race.
6. I will be disoriented while running into Transition #1.
7. I will be passed by far too many people on the bike course.
8. I will nearly (or definitely) fall unclipping my shoes from my bike.
9. It will be impossible to get my legs to move coming out of Transition #2.
10. I will be passed by far too many people on the run.
11. I will finish with a smile and a sense of accomplishment that I have not felt for a very long time.
12. I will wear my finishers medal with extreme pride.

If #'s 1-10 are what I need to get through to get to #11-12, I'll take it all!

Power of an egg

I have struggled for a very long time with finding a healthy breakfast that keeps me satisfied until lunch time.  I love oatmeal and I can eat it without adding much to it to keep the calories down.  I just throw a few raisins in it and that's all I need, but even with just 1/8 cup of raisins, a 6 oz serving of oatmeal was coming out to cost me FIVE points on Weight Watchers.  Plus, by 11am or even earlier, I was starving again.  I discovered that the little food shop near my office sells single peeled hard boiled eggs, so one day I decided to try one.  I had my oatmeal (with raisins) and the egg.  Now I was up to SEVEN points, which was far far too much for breakfast, but the meal kept the hunger pangs away much longer.  I was happy with what the food was doing for me, but unhappy with how many of my precious points I was using for this one meal.  Recently I've decided to ditch the oatmeal and add in a cup of grapes and banana (both ZERO points!) along with the egg.  This plan has been working, plus I'm only using the TWO points from the egg, which allows me to have more points available for later meals and an afternoon snack.  AND I am getting two servings of fruit/veg out of the way first thing in the morning!  That egg is powerful, plus tastes oh-so-good!

Breathe

I'm not very good at breathing.  I'm not good at it when I am swimming.  Not good at it when I am running.  I'm not even very good at it when I am sitting still.  I hold my breath a lot.  I suspected this was a problem whenever I attended yoga classes in the past and my breathing never matched up with the slow relaxed breaths the instructor demonstrated.  I tried, but I could never regulate my breathing.  I'm guessing swimming is more than 50% about the breathing.  I'm trying, I really am, but every once and a while I panic mid stroke and suck in a mouth/nose full of water.  I am improving though.  My swimming instructor gave me some exercises and some really great tips on Tuesday and I put them into practice today.  One thing I'd really like to work on is counting my laps!  I'm paying so much attention to my stroke, my breathing and to not swimming into my lane partner that I have so far failed to gather any sense of how much or how far I am swimming.  I need to swim with coins in my pocket and leave one at the end of the lane when I've finished 50 yards, haha.  Right, because I need to carry that extra weight with me!

Speaking of lane partners, I've had the same one - a cute boy - for the past two Thursdays: my husband!  We use our lunch hour to share a lane and I have to say it has been the highlight of my past 2 weeks.  :-)

BRICK.

I'm still coming off the high of completing my first brick workout (bike + run) today, so I figured I'd blog while the happy cells are still alive in my body. The Expresso bikes that I had used earlier this week were all occupied, so I tried out the LifeFitness bikes. I liked it, didn't like how comfortable the seat was. I want to try to mimic my road bike as much as I can on these training rides and if the seat doesn't have me in pain for days, it isn't like my road bike! Otherwise, the program was kind of similar. I just did a flat course for 4 miles at a pretty moderate to hard resistance. I don't know the technical terms for these things, so hopefully I'm making sense. I pushed it today, much more than I did on Monday. Did my 4 miles in just under 15 minutes. My goal for my 11 mile race course is 50 minutes, so it seems as though I'm right on track. Of course, this wasn't after swimming, but I am at the beginning of my training. I have room to improve.

During my ride, I was feeling the burn in the old legs and this song came on:
Gave me just the push of energy I needed! Love Walk the Moon.

Now...
Running...
Oh running, you jerk.
We've met many times before and I didn't like you then.  I think for me, running is like that one (or more than one if you're particularly unlucky) family member who you just cannot be in the same room with, but who sometimes you just have to put up with for the sake of your other family members - at birthday parties, graduations, weddings, etc.  Running eyes me up from across the room, I see him, he sees me and we both pretend the other is invisible.  For the sake of my beloved biking and my new friend swimming, I will allow running to join the party.  But I'm not ready to speak to him.

I did about a mile and a half on the treadmill at 5-6 mph run and 3.5-4 mph walk. I walked more than I ran.  Here's my problem...I know I can do better.  I KNOW I can.  But I am much much too easy on myself.  I need to find my inner Dolvett Quince (anyone watch Biggest Loser?  I don't.  I just happened to catch last night's episode while folding laundry) and kick my butt into running more.  But how?  Any suggestions??


 

Night biking

I don't bike much at night or before the sun rises, but THIS is so so cool!

Feeling Good

Exercise and eating well give me a natural high.  Even in knowing this I still don't always find it easy to keep it up.  There are good days/weeks and there are bad days/weeks...months.  January was a very bad month.

Once late fall came and my schedule forced me to hang my commuter bike up, I lost all of my motivation.  Last spring and summer were momentous for me.  I started working with a Wellness Coach at my gym sometime in April 2011.  Jason worked with me to create goals, both short-term and very long-term.  I met with him weekly and through this process I reintroduced myself back into exercise.  First I took some intro classes, then I started "running" again, I began biking to work almost daily and I participated in a nine week women's strength training class.  By seeing my coach, I had accountability because every single week I set goals and when we met the following week, I needed to tell him which goals I met and which I didn't.  I hate admitting failure, so I just did whatever I could to make sure that I met those goals each week.  With his guidance I began to also change my eating habits for the better and I eventually rejoined Weight Watchers.   Between April and September I had lost about 30 lbs and I was keeping up momentum very nicely.  I did the Saint Paul Classic Bike Ride (26 miles) in September and then the Mankato River Ramble Bike Ride (42 miles) in October, but once October was into full swing, I stopped.  I was having back pain from carrying my daughter and from weight lifting, so I saw a physical therapist who was no help at all.  I was so afraid of the holiday season and what it could potentially do to all of the progress I had made so far.  My coaching had ended in September, but when I told him how scared I was for winter to come, he said that maybe I should look at winter as a maintenance time.  He said long as I wasn't gaining weight, I would still be meeting my goals.  So, I took on this mindset.  I made it through Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years without gaining more than a pound.  I was really happy with myself, but then somehow January began taking its toll. I was back to my old eating habits (not horrible, but not great) and I wasn't exercising AT ALL.  Every time I stepped on the scale, the number was creeping up and up and up.  In total, by the time I snapped myself out of my funk, I had gained 8 pounds.  8 pounds of stupidity, basically.  Now I have to lose those 8 again.  I have 4 left.  It sucks.

I woke up this morning excited for both my swim lesson yesterday, which went very well and for the workout I have planned for today.  I feel good.  I am happy to be in this place, but I know that there could be a bad day just around the corner and that's hard.

Yesterday's swim lesson was so good for me.  Amy gave me a few things to work on with my front crawl and suggested I work on flutter kicking and bilateral breathing.  I'm excited to get some practice in on these two things tomorrow.  Today's workout includes a 4 mile bike ride and 20 minutes of running.  Last time I biked at the gym, I used an Expresso bike, which was pretty neat.  There are  treadmills right across from the bikes, so I plan to dismount the bike and immediately get onto the treadmill.  Hello "brick" workout!  Here I come, jelly legs!

Me?! Tri?!

I'm resurrecting this blog 2 1/2 + years after my last post.  My life has changed a lot since June 2009 and I feel compelled to share my journey again.

Let's see - since 2009, I've had another child (a daughter, she's 17 months old), I've gained many pounds, I've lost many pounds, I tried running again, I signed up for the Twin Cities 10 Mile, I decided not to run the Twin Cities 10 mile, I reinforced my hatred for running, I purchased a new road bike, I biked my first organized bike ride, I biked my second organized bike ride, I officially became a winter bike commuter and most importantly, I registered for my very first triathlon.

With my shift in focus from running to biking, I decided that I wanted to give a sprint triathlon a try.  The race includes a .25 mile swim, 11 mile bike and 5k run.  Yes, I still have to run.  Boo.  But at least in my training I will also have days where I get to do activities that I like instead of always thinking "oh god, do I have to run again?!"  But, this also means that I need to begin a new sport: swimming.  The only swimming I've done in my adulthood is the occasional "dip in the pool" on vacations.  I've never swam a lap in my life and here I am faced with needing to do 17+ lengths of the pool during the race - in open water.  Eeek.

So, I signed up for swim lessons through my gym.  6 people are in my advanced beginner lesson with Amy on Tuesdays through the month of March.  My first class was last week.  I was sick-nervous about it for days.  It wasn't the actual swimming that was scaring me, it was the logistics of going to the gym to swim.  I am very very locker room-shy and this causes me great stress with every visit to the gym, but this time I was adding a swim suit to the mix.  I was petrified.  Somehow I made it through and found myself standing next to the pool.  In my suit.  In public.  Once the class started I relaxed and began to enjoy myself.  I have a lot of work ahead of me, but I felt so comfortable and happy in the water.  I came into the pool with no ability to breathe in the water and I left class being able to do about 50 yards fairly well.

Since my class last week I've been in the pool three more times (Wed, Thurs and Sun).  I've also put together a training schedule based on a few that I found online.  I am on day three.  This is all so exciting...BUT...I have yet to throw running back into the mix.  * cue ominous music *

Running and I have such a hate-hate relationship.  I'm not sure how I am going to make this work.  I've done plenty of 5k races, but on fresh legs and lungs. Only time will tell if this is going to work for me.

I have my second swim lesson in just a little while.  I can't wait to get back into the pool!