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.

Forgetfulness and Frozen Parfaits

I am 36 years old and I had something happen to me that has never happened before.

I forgot to eat.

What's that, you say! Forgot to eat?! I do that all the time!

Well I don't. Oh, there have been times in my life where I have chosen not to eat. There's been times where I push it off. But I don't forget. I've always been keenly aware of my hunger. I can tell when it comes in waves, ebbing and flowing. I am acutely aware of it getting stronger and more demanding. It has always been a conscious choice and effort to skip breakfast, or wait till I got home to eat even though I would be "starving".

But the other day my 5 children and I had homeschool co-op. It's always crazy getting out the door and I hadn't had time to eat. But I made myself a Greek Yogurt Parfait that I thought I would eat in the car. Well in the car I decided that I would wait to eat until I got there because, lets face it, eating a parfait while driving is a little tricky and I didn't have that far to go.

So we get to co-op and I get immersed in handing out Valentines, stopping children from crying during devotions, nursing babies and finally giving up and taking everyone to the nursery. Then the nursery starts to fill up with Moms and babies and I'm chatting away... Then my friend Mary walks in about a half hour before lunch, munching on a sandwich and this wave a realization hits me! One - I have a, now probably frozen, parfait in the car, and two - I am REALLY hungry.

So I guess there are new experiences to be had, even at the ripe old age of 36.

Oh, and the parfait was only partially frozen and was quite yummy.

Iceman Out

Day in the life of a Rock Star

Some days it just comes together.  Today is that day.  So I thought I would share.

I got up, had breakfast with Isabelle, read her a devotion, read myself a devotion. Helped Isabelle make a Valentine bag and address all the Valentine's I had purchased for her class, put on my work-out clothes, made my bed and a short grocery list, put Isabelle on the bus and was out the door to my weight lifting class.

After the class I buzzed through the grocery store, had a quick chat with Goose on the way home, showered and was dressed with groceries put away and Isabelle's lunch waiting for her when she got off the bus.  Ate my own lunch, then made ahead several little things for easier future meals, sliced up the fresh pineapple I bought (before it went bad this time), cleaned up kitchen and then moved to my desk. Purged and organized coupons, balanced bank statement, updated personal notebook so all the pages weren't just hanging out, sent invoices to plow clients for last weeks snowstorm, called a delinquent client, signed up for some college organization web site the school insists we need, paid some bills, signed hubby up for a required continuing ed class he needs, put away some pictures.  All while Isabelle was entertaining herself with various crafts.

I am a rock star!

I share this here because I don't think that exercise and weight loss are the only keys to a healthy life.  I think being on top of your life and organization is also an important key to a healthy life.  I also share because I think that exercise and watching what I eat gave me the energy I needed to have a rock star day today.

I have a large glass of water and I know what I am making for dinner.  I am now going to read the magazine I bought at the grocery store and take a well deserved break.

Maverick Out

The Solitary Woman

Ok Let's face it.  Maintaining your health, at the end of the day, is a solitary sport.  I mean you may have people in your life supporting you, encouraging you or even doing the same thing as you but when it comes down to it, only you can do the work and achieve the results.  Loosing weight, getting in shape, training for an event, they all have to be about you and for you.

I always want someone to do something with me.  Someone to validate what I am doing, keep me accountable and maybe even tell me what to do so I don't have to figure it out myself.

All that is not to say it isn't fun to share the journey, to go on a run with a friend and exchange healthy recipes, I still love all that, but I as I have been wanting to loose weight for about a year I am realizing it is all up to ME.

I found a couple pictures recently from back in my glory days of weight.  I had been up to my heaviest weight and realized looking at a picture of myself and Goose after the birth of her second child that I looked more like I just had a baby than she did.  Serious changes began in our home a few months later and I got down to my lowest weight since I was in jr. high.  I knew I looked and felt great but I started telling myself I could never maintain the rest of my life, even though I did for over a year, and that was the trigger to let it all go.  So here I am nearly 10 years later 20 pounds heavier.

I was going through some pictures this week and found these from my glory days:

Check out my LEGS!  So skinny.  It wasn't a dream, I can have those legs.  I still have those shorts but they do not fit like that anymore.

A rare picture of me thinner than Goose.  In their defense, both recently had babies.

Looking at these pictures made me remember that time in my life.  When I was focused.  When I was doing it for me.  When I felt great and looked great.  And I didn't think it was so much work or any real sacrifice.  And I must confess I didn't not appreciate at the time how great I looked.

So I have decided to go forward in my health journey a little more quietly.  Don't worry I will still share, I still like validation, encouragement and an occasional running partner.  But I am realizing I need to stop thinking about and talking about my plans and instead quietly just start doing it.

I have 2 goals this time around, health and fitness.  I have lost the weight and I have been in great shape.  I have never done it together.  But it is time and I am ready.

Up from the Depths...

Hello World,

I don't even know what to title this post. It's me, Iceman, it's so cold here in the Northern Tundra that "Iceman" is an appropriate handle.

As my wingmen have said, I did, in fact, just give birth to babe #5. Well, it's been a month now. Is that still considered, "just giving birth,"? It sure feels like it. I'm still trying to get my brain wrapped around my new "normal." Somehow the jump from 4 to 5 kids is a BIG jump. What DO you do with the newborn who's crying and hungry while trying to explain the finer points of multiplication to my 8 year old. Or dealing with a screaming 4 year old and 2 year old who can't share while I'm handicapped by the nursing baby and the book that I'm trying to read to my 6 year old. (Yes, this all did happen this morning...) This will all get easier, right?

Oops, little break. The 2 year old just whacked the 6 year old in the head with the business end of a plastic sword. Oops, another break, 8 year old needed some direction with math.

I'm back.

So as for body reclaiming. Here's what I know:

1. With a stronger body I know I will better take on this physically challenging role.
2. Being physically more capable will help me to be emotionally more capable. Plus all those feel good endorphins from exercise.
3. Looking nice helps me feel better about myself.

So what IS a good plan for an already maxed out schedule.

Well I am going back to Weight Watchers Tonight! Waa Hoo! O.k. I'm a little apprehensive about going back because I'm not really there, mentally, to start being disciplined with my diet. I'm hoping for a big "kick in the pants" tonight that jump starts that mental change.

I have joined a small gym that I haven't actually been to yet. I remember with the last baby, telling my husband that when the baby starts to wake only two times at night I'll start going. Well I'm already there with this one. Yet working-out 4 weeks postpartum seems insurmountable. Maybe this week I'll work on the diet and next week we will start in with that gym.

O.k. back to school, babies, well, life. Hoping I hit my stride sooner than later.

Iceman down but not out.... :)