Eating Dirt

Did you know that in 3rd world countries starving children will eat dirt?  While the dirt has no nutritional value or ability to prolong the starvation process it does temporarily fill their empty bellies and satiate hunger. In Haiti they make dirt cookies with a little oil and salt.  Yum...

Having recently eaten a McDonald's hamburger, I can't help wonder if that is the american version of eating dirt.  While that hamburger does have a caloric value which keeps up our fat deposits and keeps us from starving to death, I often wonder if it really has any other nutritional value.  When I eat McDonald's or any other fast food I am really just satiating hunger without actually feeding my body.

Dirt Cookies

My lunch on Friday

Ugh

I am fat.  I ate some version of fast food 3 times last weekend plus coffee drinks and dairy queen.  Bloated, constipated, tired, crabby.

And let's be honest.  Am I really doing myself a favor by running 2 or 3 times in a row and then doing nothing for 2 weeks?  Am I even trying?  I canceled my YMCA membership.  I am going to turn to mush.

ME

Not Me

Definitely Not Me

That is all.

Carry on.

Week #3 Check-In

 This last week reality hit.  The reality that I am a mother of 5 small children.  Including a baby who doesn't sleep through the night yet.  The reality that on any given night, one - or more than one - child may wake up throughout the night with an array of different ailments.  Which is exactly what happened.  Puking to be more exact. 

How does this translate into my weight loss?  Well, no amount of pretending to be a spry, focused athlete who is driven to get out of bed at 5:30am lasts after being woken up multiple times on multiple nights.  Long story short?  I chose to sleep in folks, and missed a couple of my workouts. 

And since I still can't seem to get the food tracking into a well-practiced habit.  Well... there ya have it...

Though, the silver lining is that 4 lbs lost...  It's a start, right?

Oh, and the children are sleeping better this week, and I have been that spry, focused, driven athlete.  (Now where's that food journal?!?!)

Wk #3:
Weight Loss this week: -.2 lbs
Total Weight Loss: -4 lbs
Pounds to reach goal: 50.8

Eating Goals

 

 This is what I have typed up, on my fridge.

With one minor tweek.

The Vegetables are first.

Thought I would share.

Iceman Out

Week Two Checking In...

Ah, I like to eat. I'm sorry, it's a weakness of mine. (Uh, duH!)

This week is was hard to abstain from sweet little nothings (that add up to "somethings") and yummy indulgences that are too common in my house. My goal is to lose at least 2 lbs a week. So, though the weight loss was in the right direction, not entirely what I wanted to see. I sure don't want to be vacuuming out all those cars in June. On to better tracking this week. Keeping up with my food journal always helps me to stay on track.

As for exercise, I did get my 3 weekly runs in, but just barely. I did some internet sluething and realized I have "Posterior shin splints" Geesh they hurt. I guess it's directly correlated to flat feet and no arch support. Oh, how that is me. But I have bought new shoes, have been doing some rolling and stretching. I will add some icing. And hopefully I haven't done too much damage.

Wk #2:
Weight Loss this week: -1 lbs
Total Weight Loss: -3.8 lbs
Pounds to reach goal: 51

Onwards and upwards my friends.

Ice Out (well, and on, my posterior shin splints)!

Rolling Along

Maverick Here.  Just thought I would check in.  I am still feeling a little like agreeing to sign up to run a 1/2 marathon on June 3rd is insane given the current state of my life but another part of me thinks the discipline of training for it is exactly what I need and will likely extend into other areas as well.  So for now I am marching forward with the idea that I am indeed doing this race.

Currently my training includes no running at all.  In fact I haven't done a cardio workout in more than a week.  I have however, rolled my leg out multiple times a day, done leg lifts and the IT band stretch everytime I have had a free moment.  I have been bringing the foam roller to work and going over to my brother's cube during breaks to roll my leg out.  He has basically decided to ignore me, the guys in the cubes near him seem to have accepted the fact that they might come around the corner and see me laying on the floor of Mike's cube.  It is like I have a little team of people that now know I am trying to get my leg healed to run and if I don't actually get this knee rehabbed then they will wonder why I spent so much time being weird over at Mike's cube.  So that alone is motivating me to continue strengthening my legs and rolling out the injury.  I am planning to hit the elliptical this weekend and try a few other cardio workouts this week but will probably wait until next weekend to try a treadmill workout.

My goal is to be ready by the beginning of April to start a formal training program so that gives me 2-1/2 months to rehab my leg and re-build my cardio fitness.  Should be a no-brainer.

Also, down 3 pounds.  Long term goal, 12 more.  Short term goal, 2 more by the end of January.  No problem.

--Maverick Out

Be Scared, Mon Frere

When I first started this blog, I blogged my Weight Watchers weigh-in's each week. It was another good level of accountability, and it was a nice way to give an overview of my week to look at later. So I thought I would start up that tradition again since I am in full-on competition mode with my brothers.

So wk #1:
Weight Loss this week: -2.8 lbs (Yeah!!)
Total Weight Loss: -2.8 lbs
Pounds to reach goal: 52

So who knew that journaling food intake and working out can help you lose weight?! :) This week was the 1st time I have done both of those things, together, in a long time. It's nice to see my efforts reflected on the scale.

So, dear brothers, Watch out, I'm on the move!

7 Stickers!

Goose In...

I have 7 stickers on my 1/2 marathon training calendar. It is very 1st grade-ish how giddy I get when I finish a workout to go and put my smiley face on the calendar day for that workout, but it works for me!

Some how, some way, I have managed to quickly strip off 5 bloatish pounds in the last week or so. I am so glad. I really wanted to be only 10 lbs up but somehow ended up 15 lbs up and it wasn't pretty. I feel invigorated now that I am starting to get my eating to match my workout efforts and 10 lbs doesn't seem as traumatizing as 15 lbs. Darn it, if food just didn't taste sooo good!

Here is what my my training schedule looks like for the next 11 weeks:
M, W - 3 to 4 mile run
T, Th - rest
F, Su - cross train; bike or ripped in 30 video
Sat - long run, increasing one mile a week

I am still not doing well with my water intake. I just want to drink coffee the entire time I am at work. Must improve on that, will keep you posted. I am eating greek yogurt with granola in the morning, a turkey-no cheese-panini with pesto and sundried tomato spread in the afternoon, and a regular dinner-whatever my husband makes. I have still been drinking red wine but just finished a bottle so I think I will purge that from my diet for awhile. I also have been having a square or two of dark chocolate every afternoon. I think I had a bite of Grace's grilled cheese this afternoon, too. Oh well. I am trying. When I am thin, I really don't eat much, so spare me the comments about that I am not eating enough! :) I am old and it takes less and less to fill up this nearing 40 woman with this slowing metabolism!

That's all for now. Proud of what I am hearing from the Maverick and Iceman camps, and so glad we have Jester and Viper as motivating sidekicks!

more updates soon!
Goose Out!

Rolling Along

OK First of all.  I am hormonal.  And I talked to a friend who is also experiencing crazier than normal hormonal episodes who assured me that we are stuck with it for the next 10 years or so.  yeah.  But there is some progesterone cream at the health food store she has been using and said after a couple months she thinks it is helping.  So I will be picking some up tomorrow.  Just thought I would share in case there are any other 41 year olds out there.

So I have been a little crabby the past couple days and when I told my husband that I was thinking of going to the Y he pretty much pushed me out the door.  And Isabelle was so excited to go play there she practically dragged me out.  So I went to the Y. 

I was standing at the elliptical machines which I have been using for the past couple months in an effort to give my knee a break but the treadmills were calling me.  Especially with this 1/2 marathon looming out there.  So I got on and told myself I would take it easy.  So I did a 5 minute walking warm up and then I did 5 minutes at 5.5 mph, then I thought I should go to 6 mph after another 5 minutes, then I thought I would just go up to 6.5 for 5 minutes and then go back to 5 mph for 5 minutes and so on.  But of course about a minute into the first 6.5 my knee starts hurting.  So I walk for a minute and then try to run at 6 mph but it still hurts so I drop down to 5 but it still hurts.  Worse than I remember it hurting before I started doing the Elliptical machines.

In the mean time I have an ipod now and I am plugged into my ipod+nike machine which is tracking my workout while I listen to wonderful worship music.  And I just really want to run free while I worship the Lord.  And it isn't working out!

So I finally have to just walk while I worship and I had a little chat with God about not running.  I really want to run but was thinking I might have to give it up.  Then I thought about our cousin J, who needs a Top Gun Moniker and I happened to see a scene from the movie this weekend and one of the instructors went by "Jester" and so I hereby proclaim our cousin to be Jester.  So Jester had the same injury I have this past year and she worked through it and is able to run again.  Ice and lots of let rolling got her through.  So I realized that I can experience God's healing for me if I am willing to do the work of caring for myself (I prefer the healing without the work), I worship God by doing the work he has given me.  And in this case he has given me an injury that needs attention not ignoring.

So tomorrow morning I am going to work with my foam roller under my arm and will have smoothed out that IT band within an inch of its life by the end of the month.  I will call Jester to get her exact rehab plan.

I am off right now to roll out my legs and the ice them while relaxing on the couch the rest of the night.

But I Work...

OK OK I am here. I have thought of posting several times this fall but instead decided to just let my butt get bigger and bigger and spread further and further across my desk chair. I don't keep a scale at home but I kept telling myself I had only gained about 5 pounds because my pants were all still fitting fine.  And I can drop 5 pounds without thinking about it.  At least that 5, I gain and loose that 5 all the time.

Then a few things happened simultaneously. My pants felt tight, I realized the jeans I was wearing were a size larger than I normally wear and thus why they felt roomy and I went to a yoga class and spent an hour staring at my butt in the mirror. During that yoga class I kept trying to realign my body because my butt was sticking out so far. Then I decided it was just shadow since the lights are dimmed during the class. So I reached back to confirm my theory and was horrified to realize that was actually my butt. I am one of those people that if I gained 100 pounds it would all live in my lower half. It would not distribute evenly. If I was sitting in a car you would never know I was over weight. During the dark time when I was 10 more pounds than I am right now I still had a flat stomach. It is all in the butt. Anyway, after yoga I went down to find the scale in the locker room and confirm my fears. I am 10 pounds heavier than I was 6 months ago. 10 pounds! In 6 months! NOT. GOOD.

Admittedly that little revelation does have me a bit freaked out and slightly obsessed.  Yet one problem remains.  I am still working.  I still sit at a desk all day, I am still tired after work, have a million things I want to do and somehow rarely get running to the top of the list before bed.  It isn't that I never eat healthy or never go work out it is just that I have lost the consistency and it is easy to loose track of how much you have eaten when you are just responding to what each day brings and it is hard to train for a 1/2 marathon when you might go run 3 times one week none the next and once the next and then back to 3 times.

Few thanks for letting me get all those excuses off my chest.

So at this point my intention is to run this 1/2 with Iceman and Goose. I also would like to do the iron girl duathlon. I am toying with returning to Georgia for another triathlon at some point (the water is much warmer down there) but I am not ready to rush into things since I have no clue when I am going to train for anything quite yet.

I did manage to loose 2 pounds before Christmas but the likely hood it has stayed off is questionable. Let's say I gained 1 back so I have 9 more to loose. And I actually have been trying to loose another 5 for years. So if I must start in ernest then I might as well loose that 5 too. So 14 pounds total is what I would like to loose by summer.

I am not sure how committed I am to it since today at lunch I got a vanilla white chocolate mocha from Caribou to finish off my regular sized bowl of pasta from Noodles.

I did have a happy surprise on Saturday.  I went in at 9am so Isabelle could go to the 9:15 kids yoga class she loves and noticed they were setting up for body pump which I love but haven't done for months.  They normally don't have it until 10:30 which was too late for all I wanted to do that day but it was a special holiday schedule and the class was at 9:15!  I quickly checked Isabelle in, and discovered her class was canceled, and rushed back to get my butt kicked by one of the instructors I had enjoyed back when I was an Edina housewife.  I am happy to report that while I definitely have been moving slower the last 2 days I was not even in the ballpark of the sore I was the first time I did the class.  Which I reason means I have not fallen nearly as far into mush land as I thought I had.

This week my plan is to plan.  While planning I will attempt to be aware of what I am eating and where I can exercise. 

I have a few thoughts so far:

I have created a 5 day menu that I plan to implement monday-friday for at least the rest of the school year.  Spaghetti, pork tenderloin, thai chicken wraps, tacos and pizza.  The weekend we can be creative but m-f we are keeping it simple.  While these meals may not be overly healthy I find that I loose weight simply by eating at home.  I think it is because I eat far smaller portions when I dish up my own food and because my tacos are way less calories than the local mexican restaurant.  Ditto for my lunches, salad every day.  I love it.  Could eat it for dinner too and be happy.

Santa put swim goggles and a cap in my stocking this year to replace the cap and goggles that have disappeared off the face of the earth.  I am thinking of going in one morning a week to swim.  I will get ready and head to work afterward.

I will do the morning cycle class on Saturday while Isabelle is doing yoga.

I will continue the Wednesday evening yoga class which has been about the only thing I have done the past few months.

That leaves running/elliptical.  When will I do this?  And I would like to do a body pump class too.  Need to figure out what I am prioritizing in my life and schedule.  I figure around April 1 it will be light enough and warm enough to run outside in the mornings so I just need to get through the next 3 months in good enough shape to start a training program.

I am not even going to pretend to respond to Iceman's competitive challenge.  Just sign me up to detail someones car.  I am exhausted thinking about trying to compete.  I would be up for some sort of work together and encourage one another along the path plan, but I know Goose and Iceman are both rolling their eyes as they read that.

Smell That Change

(Tap)...(Tap)...(Tap)... Is this thing on?

Iceman here. No, really, it IS me.

Here it is, January 2nd. And I am excited. It's time to reclaim that body that I let go to child birth and stress about 18 months ago. I know I've been saying the same thing for the last 18 months. But there is a distinct change in the air, smell it? Maybe it's the dawning of the new year. Maybe it's the fact that I have promised no less than 5 people that I WILL run races with them in the spring. Maybe it's that I've gone to see a Dr. that can actually HELP me with my fatigue and eating addictions and I'm finally on the mend from those things. Whatever it is, I'm here. And I'm ready.

So this morning I donned my running shoes, charged up my ipod, and got to the gym for the 1st time in a couple of weeks. And today I've been faithfully journaling my food in my favorite food tracker. I even made myself a great big, 10 day countdown, sugar detox page to hang on my refrigerator. (That part has me a little terrified, can I go 10 days without sugar?)

(*gasp*)

My favorite part of this morning was to be able to text my brothers and toot my own horn that I had gotten my work out in already.

See, were in a competition.

We are all on the "chubby" side. Genetics, environment, who knows. But the fact is that all three of us struggle with our weight and have had varying degrees of success over the years. But we've all ended up chubby right now. Why not make it a little interesting. :) So, to whoever loses the most percentage, plus runs these two races... go the spoils. Namely have all your cars detailed cleaned by the other two. (My brothers have a side incentive of whoever wins gets the others motorcycle for a year, but my husband wouldn't let me bet his... Where's the faith, right?)

Let the trash talk begin.

It's nice trash talk, motivational trash talk. But every work out and weigh-in is definitely being trumpeted loudly. (or texted, twittered, emailed, blogged... you know)

So take a good deep breath and smell the change in the air. (Though it might be the stench from my old sneakers so brace yourself. )

Game On.

Crawling out of the chip bag with crumbs on my chin...

...goose in.

So I have 4 stickers on my 1/2 marathon training chart this week! I am so sore! But sore where it counts, namely the thighs. Whew, those things go so wrong when I stop exercising and eating well. Darn genetics!

I ran 3 times this week, 3 miles each, and did one day of Cross-Training by doing the new Jillian Michaels Ripped in 30, now hereby known as just "Ripped". I found the first week routine to be easier than the first week routine in the Shred.

My eating is having a harder time coming back together. I just love salty, crunchy chips! And red wine! And cheese! If I eliminated these three things, life would be good. I am working on it.

I am also intrigued by a book Iceman told me about called Wheat Belly. I am going to try and pick it up and start reading it this week. Basic premise is that I need to cut back on wheat in my diet.

I am very determined to get myself back in shape and make that scale say what it is supposed to say by the 1/2 marathon in March.

Iceman--where is my ticker???

Goose out.

HALF!

Goose In.

Today I ran 3 miles in what will now be known as my first day of training for my half marathon on March 18. I am officially obsessed and excited. It is my "before I turn 40" goal and I have just one year left to make it happen!

Grand plans were made earlier today with Iceman to put ourselves in the lottery (with Maverick and cousin J????) for the Grandma's 1/2 marathon in Duluth, MN next summer when we trip up there. But I got myself all excited and started looking around GA and remembered the popular Publix half marathon in March.

This is exactly 11 weeks and 4 days away and I have become quite the couch potato in the past 10 months since I began working, so I wasn't sure if I had enough time to train, but I found a totally doable 12 week training schedule and since i inadvertantly just happened to run 3 miles today which is on the 2nd week training schedule, I have decided to jump in!

So, Iceman, get that ticker ready for my March 18th half marathon! While you are at it, get the ticker going for the Iron Girl Sprint Tri that Viper and I are doing May 20th.

Let's get some unfinished business out of the way first, though. Where have we all been anyway?? Well, we are all growing in girth and mushing up, I think that is for sure. Lots of excuses, top being Mav and I going back to work after 17 and 12 years at home, and Iceman-well, she just can't stop having babies! But I think we have all officially had our "come to Jesus" meetings in front of the mirror and I hope I am not the only one you will be hearing from more frequently on here from now on.

i have decided that i will forever be gaining and losing the same 10 (ok, fine, 15) lbs. There is no secret how it happened here. It is easier to chose not to work out and eat well. Working at a computer for the first part of the day and then tumbling home to a thousand activites for my 4 gems makes it a good excuse to just not find the time to make it happen. I want to find some excuse for the gain and the mush, but the only real excuse is I stopped moving and started shoving cheesy nachos and wine in my face every night! :) maybe you can relate. or not. then you are Viper. She is a freak of nature. We just won't discuss her right now. (love you Viper).

So, Iceman and Maverick, I am calling you out. What is your truth to reveal here? Bring it on. Let's resurrect Wewawo! Looking forward the health and fitness challenges we will tackle in 2012!

Goose Out
(ICEMAN--get my tickers going!)

Former Athlete.

We are all just a sad lot.

Goose here. What have I been up to? A science experiment. How long can a person maintain their weight and fitness level without purposing to exercise and eat well?

Somehow, with a side factor of stress, which for me manifests itself in an inward shriveling up, I have managed to maintain within 5 lbs my superfit weight. However, things are a jiggling 'round here.



It's true, I stopped exercising pretty much all last winter, much to Viper's dismay and harrassment. Spring and Summer were not much prettier, but I threw in a handful of Shreds and runs to remind my body that it likes to move.

Then, I got a "jenius" (spelling intentional) idea to sign up for another triathlon in order to force myself into regular workouts in order to train. Well, race day came with only a few shreds and runs, a couple stationary bike workouts and zero swim workouts under my belt. I like to live on the edge.

So the sprint triathlon was Oct. 2. I arrived with Viper in good spirits, having reconciled that I knew I could do each portion, just not sure I could do them all together, but that I would certainly be able to finish even if it wasn't pretty.

A formula developed in my mind. A science experiment of sorts. A graph plotting of training vs. health vs. outcome. This would be my third triathlon. And so, taking my experiences into account, here were the three styles of preparedness I have entered these triathlon: 1. Well trained, but deathly ill with bronchitis. 2. Very well trained and very healthy. 3. Untrained and very healthy.

The question was, which type of preparedness is the fastest and which is the slowest?

It takes no scientific genius to know that the well-trained and healthy was my fastest and best time, but I wondered about the other two: trained and unhealthy vs. untrained and healthy.



During the race I actually felt great. I was in a good mood, I found a steady pace, I had fun. So when I finished I think I had higher expectations for my time than it actually turned out. Turns out that trained and unhealthy enough to end up in an ambulance after my first triathlon was FASTER than my untrained and healthy triathlon! Wow. I wouldn't have guessed that!

But, I had FUN! I felt GREAT! I stayed STEADY. And I decided to be proud that, as Viper said, with a handful of shreds and a couple runs I was still fit enough to get out there and do a triathlon!



I have high hopes for getting back out there to run. I have 14 months before I turn 40 and have decided I would like to run a 1/2 marathon before then. Possibly this coming spring. So that is my new goal I will aim for and try to get my training groove back on. In my defense, I started working last spring and have not figured out how to incorporate regular exercise since then. Any suggestions?? (and remember I have a family of 6 and several animals that need me so it is not as simple as just doing it after work!)

Good to be back, I will try and not be a stranger. Maybe I can even dig Maverick and Iceman out of the woodwork. Mav is working full time now and Ice has 5 homeschooling kids, but that baby of hers is almost one and its time to get back to fighting shape!

Perhaps we should plan the 1/2 marathon for next summer in MN, ladies? We need to give Jessy a moniker and she can do it with us!

Goose Out

I'm Still Standing

I am not a fast runner.  Nor do I run particularly far.  I like to run 3 miles during my workouts but sometimes I run 4 and sometimes I run 2, since starting working and with my knee injury sometimes I just walk 2 miles.  One morning I just walked the 1/2 mile loop around the block and came home because I didn't have a lot of time but I wanted to get my blood pumping before I started the day.

Over the past year or 2 you have read on this blog the workout adventures of Iceman, Goose and I.  Goose was a busy over achiever placing high on triathlon ratings and running 10 mile races in impressive times.  Iceman was distracted with babies but in her heyday regularly ran 5 miles and finished a 10K several minutes in front of me a few years ago.  They both train hard and deserve the accolades of success that go with their hard work.

BUT,

I am still standing.  Still running.  Still moving my body.  I may go through ups and downs.  More or less training, occasional weeks of neglect.  BUT, I keep getting up, keep starting over, keep moving forward.

BECAUSE,

I know I have won the race simply by walking out my front door and not by how much I accomplish once I leave. 

And now I find myself making the guilt call to Iceman in the morning to make sure she is returning to her workouts post baby number 5 and wondering if Goose's friend H, or Viper as we like to call her, is still taunting her with workout success.

I am sure eventually they will both pull themselves together and blow past me once again but you have to admit there is something to this slow and steady thing.

That's all I have to say about that.

The 10K that almost was

It wasn't mean to be.  My 10K run.  It wasn't meant to be.  I enthusiastically started training in January and was even still looking pretty good through Febrary.  Then something went wrong, I forget what now, probably the weather, and I just sort of lost my enthusiasm for the task.  However, up to 3 weeks before the planned run I still intended to do it.  Then 2 weeks before the run I started to waiver but I was feeling a little guilty.  After all I stated my goal an made Iceman put the counter on this blog and all. 

Mom and Dad to the rescue!  I was flown out at the last minute to Florida where my parents winter to drive my mom home because my dad hurt his back and couldn't make the drive.  So while hundreds of other winter weary runners in Minnesota braved what I am sure was horrible weather for the sake of the first spring run, I was on a lonely road somewhere in Illinois speeding toward home with my mom and daughter in tow.

I did have one wonderful run in paradise and then me knee hurt so bad I abandoned running the rest of the trip.  Knee pain frustration can be a future post. 

Just thought I would share.
Maverick Out.

That was a little unsettling

This weekend I had an opportunity to help our boy scout troop raise money for camp scholarships by working at shift at the "brat wagon".  We sold burgers, brats and dogs from a cart outside a local grocery store. I had the early shift this morning starting at 10am and ending just as the lunch rush started.  It was nice to help out the troop.  I ended up manning the grill warming up the pre-cooked meat.  I found the experience a little unsettling.

Who is buying a brat at 10am?  Well, fat people.  Until a little before noon when normal lunch time begins we did not have a single normal weight person purchase food.  A few bought 2 meals, a burger and a brat which comes with 2 bags of chips and 2 cans of pop.  One guy rolled up in the grocery stores automatic cart because he could barely walk and said he needed to finish his cigarette before he could order!  I kept wondering if any of these people had ever seen the "Biggest Looser".  I felt like I was watching a scene from one of the contestants "life before" videos.

This past week I read something in Family Circle Magazine where they guy asks what a couple eating chili cheese fries, a couple eating deep friend calamari and a mom eating an extra large deep dish pizza have in common?  They all told the doctor, "I can't control what my kids eat."  Funny, sad, true.  I can't help but ask myself some days if I am not the reason my daughter won't eat anything.  I mean I do eat lots of veggies and I love healthy food but I would be lying if I claimed I didn't introduce more than my share of unhealthy food into her diet and enjoy those foods myself.  It was definitely a little unsettling.

Since I was feeling so unsettled after the brat wagon I went into the grocery store and bought lots of veggies, went home and made a salad (of course I heated up chicken nuggets for Isabelle.  Try not to judge me.)  Then I went to the gym to work out.  Turns out the other thing unsettling is my food when I work out in the afternoon.  I guess I should go back to pre-meal work outs.

Just thought I would share.

Learning to train

I have been working away here training for my 10K.  And then again, not so much.  But I  haven't given up!  The 8 week training plan I am going to follow just started this week so although I haven't pulled it out yet I am hardly behind at this point.  I have learned a couple things in the past couple weeks about my personal fitness.

Number One:

It turns out the longer I walk before I start running the longer I can run before my knee hurts.  So doing a 2 minute power walk and then cranking up the speed on the treadmill means I cannot run for 30 minutes but walking for 5 minutes or more before cranking up the speed means I am just starting to feel a little soreness 3 miles later.  In other words I need to park really far from the starting line and get in a good walking warm up.

Could be a life lesson in this.  Don't rush in to things too quickly.  There is some saying about walking before you run.  I always thought it had to do with kids learning to walk but who knows.  Maybe the real lesson is simply to know your body.

Number Two:

I could run at 5.5 miles per hour on the treadmill ALL DAY LONG.  I don't even have to engage my brain in the task.  I could just go and go and go forever.  Yet somehow I feel compelled to run at 6 miles an hour because I think that is where I am supposed to run.  I mean I can run quite a while at 6.0 but I have to concentrate so much harder.

After discussing it with my husband we decided that 5.5 is my optimum zone 3 fat burn speed.  It is the perfect place where I am not going so fast I am only burning sugar but not so slow I am doing nothing.  My perfect all day long mid point.  For the longer runs this is where you want to train your body to hang out.  Not sure that 6.2 miles is considered a long run by most people but it is long to me.
So I have no idea what that means for my training but I thought I would share.  I would love it if 6.0 was my optimal fat burn zone but apparently you don't get there by only running at 6.0 or higher which is what I had been doing all of last year.  I think I need to mix it up a little more.

I think I am going for the ultra simple 10K training plan which is really below my skill level but he next up is going to require more work of me than I really have the time to give it.  The point of doing a 10K at the beginning of the good weather season was to motivate me to get back into shape early and be able to really enjoy my running all summer long instead of spending the summer getting my running up to par only to have school and cold weather hit when I am at the top of my game.  And I think the simple plan will accomplish that just fine.  Well maybe it will be a hybrid training plan between the two since I am already half way through the novice training plan.  Either way, I am getting there.

Hello, Old Friend

Well, the time has come, again, to dust off the old workout paraphernalia. The baby is starting to sleep through the night, I'm not feeling so newly postpartum, and my gym membership is needing some attention.

So this morning was the morning. Ipod charged, shoes located, workout bras - oh, they still need replaced - but use-able. Gloria woke me up about 5:30am and after I fed her and got her back to sleep, I made a beeline for those workout clothes and ultimately, the gym.

Here's a few things that occurred to me during my inaugural 5th child workout.

1. I love to workout. Let me rephrase that, I love to workout to my tunes. Boy, get a little Janet Jackson running through my veins or plug me into some New World Son and I feel like I have lightning bolts shooting out of my fingertips. Seriously. You know in the movie Flashdance where she's starts running in place as the music starts blaring? That's ME! (You know, not as graceful or perfect-of-body) Especially this morning, when I haven't listened to my play list in almost a year. It's audible caffeine.

2. I think "moderation in all things" is such a wise way to live life. But when it comes to working-out, it's just not me. I walked into that gym this morning reminding myself that I had already accomplished my goal of just getting there. And that an easy 20 min. on an elliptical would be more than enough. Just to find myself, 35 min. later, talking myself off that thing.

3. I miss my expensive gym membership. Can I say that? I won't be going back. It was a wise fiscal decision. And this new "discount" gym is completely adequate. Actually more than adequate. It's even closer and I get to park closer than the fancy place. But this morning I missed the sleek locker rooms, the smell of chlorine in the air, the pulse of the aerobic class music that I was, one day, going to try out... My new gym will do just fine.

The best of all was feeling so accomplished and ready for my day so that when I see this sight, I'm ready for my day.

Outdoor Running

This weather really makes me aware that running season is almost upon us. I am getting ready!


It is almost 50 today in MN. That is pretty crazy for February but we aren't complaining. The cold will return. It is only February.


I ran my neighborhood today. It was great in so many ways but hard in others. My knee hurt more than usual from all the hills and uneven pavement. That frustrates me. My mind felt alive.

As I ran I started making a few lists:


Here is what I love about being able to run outside in my neighborhood:

1. It is right out my front door.  No driving. 
2. If I go on a 30 minute run I will be home in 30 minutes not 45 or 60.
3. I love getting to know my neighborhood.  I know the cracks in the road, what houses are for sale, who is remodeling.  I watch the changes happen.  When I drive through my neighborhood I am not just passing through but I am on roads I feel like I really know and have a connection to.
4. Sometimes I run into friends.

Here is what I do not like about running in my neighborhood:

1. It is hilly.
2. Traffic.
3. The sidewalks are crooked so I am running at an angle half the time.
4. Knowing that I cannot decide to quit 2 miles from home, I must keep going. I like to have an out.

Here is what I like about treadmill running:

1. It is flat, unless I don't want it to be.
2. Climate control.
3. Childcare
4. constant speed.
5. instant statistics
6. control.

Here is what I hate about treadmill running at the Gym:

1. It is boring.
2. constant speed.
3. instant statistics
4. The feeling that I am a rat in a cage.
5. Going nowhere.
6. All the distractions.  My mind can never settle on a thought.

I am wondering if this is the year I need to start driving to some better outdoor running locations. There are a couple lovely 2 mile loops just a mile or two from our home. Both do have a couple hills but also have some nice flat even stretches as well. One is actually so close I have run to it, around it and back. Or do I venture even further to one of the nice flat beautiful former railroad bed bike paths where I could run for miles and miles with little incline. I have often wanted to jump off my bike and go for a run on them, maybe this year I will.