Weird transition dreams!

I had the weirdest dream last night. Danielle and I were at some sort of training camp where every day you do a triathlon for practice - but you treat it like a race. In one of them, I was in a bathing suit at the swim start, and I managed to find my wetsuit, but then I panicked because my transition area wasn't set up properly and I didn't have all my stuff and I wasn't sure what I was going to wear for shorts since I was in my bathing suit and pretty much I was completely flipping out. I had a good swim, but my T1 was going on six minutes when I woke up.

Wow. I think I'm a little obsessed with triathlon, huh?

Today I rode around Lake Sammamish with Aleks and Regan. We went at a comfortable pace - my schedule didn't really call for an easy ride, but I'm glad we did it. I think a little extra recovery this week is a good thing. Friday I plan to push hard, and Saturday do a long bike.

I'm listening to VH1's "Jump Start" program and it's full of songs I could run to. Of course, I haven't done any running outside of races or with friends in I'm not sure how long...well, I guess I ran alone in New York, but I forgot my mp3 player. I love running with friends, but I miss listening to music too!

In the race on Sunday, they actually said you weren't allowed to use mp3 players on the run. I know on the bike it's against Washington state law, but on the run it would have been nice (they said it could interfere with your ability to hear the course marshalls or whatever). Danielle told me once early in my marathon training that music can make you do things you didn't think you could - run faster, etc - and I agree. :-) I think she might see it as cheating, but I see it as extra motivation.

But I wouldn't trade running with friends to run with an mp3 player, anyway.

So, today's data:
Food:
Pre-workout: Vita-top and milk in coffee, 130 cals
Breakfast: 1/2 Pria bar (yummy! Aleks gave this to me, I thought it would be yucky but it was like candy!), english muffin with ham and cheese, milk in coffee: 350 cals
Lunch: Turkey and swiss on a bagel, 1/2 a brownie (yum): 600 cals
Snack: Mojo bar, 220 cals
Dinner: Chicken breast, green beans, bread, watermelon: 450 cals
total today: 1750

Exercise:
Bike 1 hour 40 minutes (low key), 550 cals burned

What the flat tire did, two days later

As I was getting my bike ready today to ride very early tomorrow, it struck me: I'm now extremely confident that I can replace a tube that's gone flat. I know I didn't do it by myself on the triathlon, but I also know that I can do it. Plus I accidentally discharged a CO2 container, so now I know how to use those too. :-)

So I'm carrying my pump (never again will I go out without it on a race or a solo ride), two CO2 cartridges, and one spare tube. It all fits in my bike bag anyway, so I'm good to go.

This is a great feeling - to know I can take care of myself out there. But still I hope I don't have to, at least not on a race!

A little tired

I wasn't tired this morning, but I sure am now. My fault!

This morning I did an approximate 8 mile run, followed by almost an hour of swimming in Lake Sammamish. I felt pretty good for both. But then I decided to sneak in a weight-lifting workout - the circuit training class - and realized I couldn't run fast without a super-high heart rate and feeling yucky. Hello overtraining! It's been a while since I saw you (it was last just after I did the marathon).

So, no more sneaking in extra workouts - and next week, it was supposed to be a recovery week and I thought I wouldn't bother, but now I think I will. I probably need to.

So, today's data:
Food:
Pre-workout: Vitatop and milk in coffee, 130 cals
Breakfast: Banana bread, milk in coffee, ham and cheese: 545 cals
Snack: String cheese, 60 cals
Lunch: Yogurt with fruit and granola, 3 oz turkey breast: 500 cals
Snack: String cheese, 60 cals
Dinner: Chicken breast, carrots, potato: 600 cals
total today: 1895 calories

Exercise:
Run 90 minutes
Swim 60 minutes
Circuit training 60 minutes
Total calories burned: 1650

Get over it, Jessica!

I'm totally annoyed by my flat tire. I just keep thinking about what could have been. I really need to stop. These things happen, and better they happen now than on my "A" race. I will put it all together by then. And I will practice changing flats so that they never take 15 minutes again. That's pathetic.

Today I just swam in the lake, fairly comfortably. I think even though I feel pretty good - just a little muscle soreness - that I should rest. So just a little half-hour swim.

Today's data:

Food:
Pre-workout: 1 VitaTop, 100 cals
Breakfast: English muffin with ham and cheese, milk in coffee: 265 cals
Lunch: Turkey breast, 1/2 c steamed veggies, tomato soup with crackers: 340 cals
Snack: Granola bar, 140 cals
total so far: 845 cals
Dinner: Pork tenderloin, broccoli, bread with a little olive oil
Dessert: Ice cream

Exercise:
Swim 30 minutes
200 calories burned

Cascade's Edge Olympic Triathlon Race Report

Update: Race results are in. I was dead last for bike time. Wow. And the time wasted on the flat tire was 14:43. I can't help but do the math to see what would have been, and I know that's horrible negative thinking I need to eliminate. So I won't write it all down here, even though I did do the math and looked at where I would have placed. But no worries - I still wouldn't have come close to winning my age group or anything. :-)

Overall time
3:12:25
Div place
13/16
Swim time
0:30:58
Swim rank
105/162
T1 time
0:02:40
Bike time
1:38:17
Bike rank
162/162
T2 time
0:01:38
Run time
0:58:51
Run rank
129/162
Overall rank
146/162
----

Okay, so maybe doing an Olympic triathlon - my first one ever - the day after a century wasn't the smartest idea. But it was the right thing to do for the following reasons:

1) It fit my no-travel rule (to minimize impact on the family)
2) It offered the right distance (Olympic) prior to my half-Ironman "A" race
3) It was scheduled for the right time prior to the "A" race (one month before)
4) It was an interesting test - can I ride 100 miles one day, and do a tri the next? The reason this test is relevant is that on July 14, I plan to ride 200 miles, and just eight days later, July 23, do the half-Ironman.

But it was the wrong thing to do because of these reasons:
1) It's Father's Day and I was gone all day yesterday at the Century.
2) My knees hurt from the century yesterday.
3) My bike is a little messed up - it's not shifting right.

So, I did it anyway. :-) I didn't pre-register, so Danielle and I got there at 7:15 (for a 9 a.m. start) to register and get comfortable. We saw a zillion people we knew, which was really nice, then headed down to the water for a swim prior to the pre-race briefing.

Oh my goodness! Deep Lake in Nolte State Park is MUCH colder than Lake Sammamish! I was definitely glad to get in the water early, but it was cold waiting around from 8:45 a.m. until 9:20, when my wave started. But by the time they let us in the water, I swam a quick little bit prior to the gun going off, then we started.

My swim strategy was to hang back and just do my thing, by myself. Fortunately, despite the fact that all the women doing the Olympic were starting at the same time, there just weren't that many people - maybe 150? I'll see when the results come out. So I did hang back, but it was also a calmer lake and people were spread out enough that I could actually really swim without getting kicked, swum over, or whatever. I started out counting my strokes: one, two, three, etc - when I got to 15, I figured I had developed a rhythm and stopped counting.

The course was two loops; at the beginning of my second, I swallowed water and started to panic a little. I realized when I do that, I start kicking frantically - so I first stopped kicking, picked my head up, coughed it out, then started counting strokes again until my rhythm came back.

I think I passed some swimmers, but I was probably still towards the back of the pack. I looked at my watch when I exited the water - something like 30 or 31 minutes. Not bad!!!

T1 was okay - it's a long run up from the water, and I was sort of bonking - I needed fuel. I didn't eat right this morning (a VitaTop and a cookie - I meant to eat more, but then I forgot). I dropped my pink swim cap and I wanted to keep it, so I went back for it. Then it was hard to get my socks on and I forgot my sunglasses (but deliberately didn't wear my arm warmers or gloves).

Biking was HARD. This is supposed to be my strong leg, and man, I was feeling the toll of the century ride. My knees hurt and every hill took more out of me than they should have - in fact, on another day I would have told you that the entire course was flat, but today it was hilly. Little rollers, I guess, but it was really hard to get the power to go up.

Then I passed a guy with a flat tire, and I said a quick prayer for him to have peace about his race and his messed up bike split. Not a minute later, I'm going downhill at 30 mph and something sounds awful from my back tire...and I have a flat, too. Oh no!

It took me a long time to get the tire loose enough to get the tube out, and I didn't check the tube to see what was wrong. I did check the inside and outside of the tire and didn't notice a problem. I got a new tube in and actually managed to get the tire back on fairly easily, but then I ran into a snag: no pump. I was carrying CO2, though, but since I've never used it before, I wasn't quite sure how to. Just then, Danielle came flying by, and she stopped, pumped up my tire while I picked up all my garbage, and helped me put it back on. We start riding together (sort of - she hung back so she wouldn't be drafting), and then my chain came off. She stopped AGAIN to help me, and this time somehow I managed to tip my whole bike over and dump out all the water in my aerobottle. I was about to scream when Danielle said she had a bottle of water with Gatorade in it, so she gave that to me and I poured it into the aerobottle. THANK GOODNESS FOR DANIELLE.

I might have quit if she didn't stop, and I'm terribly sorry that she lost 5 minutes off of her race. (I think I lost 15 or 20 - we'll see when the numbers are posted. My bike was in motion for 1 hour, 23 minutes, 34 seconds, according to my bike computer). So it was really a blessing to have her there with me.

We rode as together as you're allowed to in a triathlon for a while, then on an uphill she needed to pass me. I could see her for a bit, but then she was gone. Good for her - I didn't want to hold her back even more!

I think I had a good T2 - honestly, I don't really remember. I grabbed my spare water bottle to take with me on the run. It was good not to be drinking Gatorade.

Oh, nutrition: at mile 5 or so I started eating a PowerBar. I think I ate about 2/3 of it. I meant to eat it all, but the flat threw me all off and all I wanted to do after that was pick up speed.

Oh, and my bike average, according to my computer, was 18. Were it not for the flat, I'd have no complaints about the bike (I probably could have gone faster without the century the day before, but 18 is nothing to be ashamed of anyway.)

My run: I started out really slow, or at least feeling sluggish. I ate a GU right away even though I didn't want to, and it probably helped, because my mood improved after about 1.5 miles. I started passing other runners around mile 3 or so, and I think I was going about a 9 minute pace, although I didn't check. My heart rate was around 150 for the first four miles.

I picked it up at mile 4 to pass some runners, and again around 4.8 - the last 1.4 miles is a loop around the lake, on a trail, with a lot of little uphills. I passed a few runners on the trail and kept a stronger pace so they wouldn't try to pass me back. Oh, before you get to the trail you run by the transition area, so I threw my water bottle back at my bike station so that I could really bust it out in the end without carrying anything else. So I did: I really picked up huge speed at the end, sprint to the finish, and that actually felt good.

My watch said I'd been going for 3 hours, 12 minutes. Since my goal had been 3 hours even, I might have done even better than I hoped had I not had the flat.

So I've got to learn to put it together! My solid swim today plus my great bike at Issaquah plus...well, I haven't had a fabulous run yet, but I might sometime, would make a great triathlon. But that's exactly what makes triathlon so special: so many factors, so many things to deal with, and then you have to be a great athlete in three sports too! Hopefully I can put it together for my A race - Lake Stevens. I know now I need to bike a little less and focus more on my swimming and running - especially running. I need to make sure I'm doing more speed work and maybe less endurance work. It's not a marathon, after all!

Flying Wheels Summer Century Report

Well, it's not a race, but I've got a report anyway.

Yay century! It was awesome!

I felt great start to finish - unlike on the Daffodil Century, where I was doing the fractions to see how done I was (1/4, 1/3, 1/2, 2/3, 3/4, etc - including the harder fractions, like sixths and eighths) and where I wondered whether I could actually finish from around mile 33 on. Here, I knew I could. I guess there are some differences:

1) I was with a larger group today (five people) and the group contained only one person who was a stronger rider than me, at least today (Danielle)
2) I had ridden half of the course before, and 3 out of the 5 major hills, and I did that last year when I wasn't as strong a cyclist, so I knew I could do it
3) I'm thinking the training I've done since the end of April, when I rode Daffodil, has paid off.

We started out slower than I could have done, but eventually we sped up and dropped two of our five people (we met up with one again at rest stops, but after about mile 50, I never saw the other again). I think that helped, too. There were some amazing, joyful, exciting miles - a bunch of the way had fabulous rollers, net downhill but it feels amazing to be going slightly uphill at 30 mph. I ate A LOT on the route - I think that helped my mood, too (I didn't eat nearly the number of calories I burned) but I ate a bagel and cookies and a banana and a PowerBar and a Pop-Tart and who knows what else - I was keeping track earlier in the day, but then lost track. So how do I know I didn't eat the number I burned, you ask?

Simple: I burned from exercise 3300 calories. Add that to my metabolic rate of 1400 (which I think is actually low - I think my metabolic rate is more like 1800 now), and it would be pretty much impossible to eat that much and a) be able to ride and b) not puke. I was very hungry when I got home, though, and I indulged in Chinese takeout: chicken and broccoli plus fried rice (a treat!).

So, a few things of note:

The route has five major hills. The first comes at mile 4.5. I wish I could do this hill when I've had time to warm up - as it was, I did it and it was fine, but I could have done even better.

The second hill is nothing. I had to convince one of my riding buddies that it actually was a hill. The third was even less than nothing.

I don't remember the fourth. Oh wait, yes I do - again, not significant. Then there was an extra one in Duvall to re-route around an accident (not sure if it was a bike accident or car). We had to make a sharp right uphill from a downhill slope. I was in my hardest gear, and unfortunately decided to downshift in the back, not the front, because I didn't know how steep it would be. Well, it was VERY steep, so I couldn't big-ring it, so I had to unclip and walk for a minute until I got to a driveway, could shift into a reasonable gear, then get back on the bike and go. That sucked.

So, the fifth hill. It comes at mile 80. The cue sheet said it was a three-mile climb. I remember last year not believing the hill was still going up - it's winding, so I kept thinking it was over, and it wasn't! I remember thinking it was absurd.

I was ready for it, but maybe too ready: it was easy! I mean, I did have to use my easiest gear some of the time, but not all of the time, and after the first 1.5 miles there's a 1-mile downhill that was fast and fabulous, then you go up again for another half-mile. No big deal!

Now, because we stopped and waited a lot for people, elapsed time was about 8.5, almost 9 hours. Riding time was under 6 (but I only rode 93 miles - the total route was 97, but John picked me up before I got to the very end because he was late somewhere and I felt worse about making him late than not finishing the ride). I didn't feel I needed my trip odometer to say 100, because I felt so good at 93 that it was so obvious I could have done more. In fact, I could have run a marathon, or at least a half-marathon. We averaged 15.7, but my average speed kept rising for the last 50 miles due to the faster pace we were able to keep (on flats, we were doing 18-20 mph consistently - I pulled a lot, too, and only drafted a little).

I tried drafting in the aero bars. I barely had to pedal. That was cool. But I liked leading better than drafting, but I'm a poor leader on hills. I push too hard and expend a lot of energy. I'm thinking I should practice chilling out on the hills a little more and pushing harder on the flats. But I love hills!

Okay, it's 10 p.m. now and I'm so tired I can't see straight. Tomorrow I'm doing my first Olympic triathlon. Yes, the day after a century ride. Whatever. :-)

My favorite workout

Today I did my absolute favorite workout. Okay, fine, it's not a workout. It's a triathlon. But it's not competitive, which makes it a little more relaxing.

I swam at Idylwood first - about 2/3 of a mile, maybe 3/4 - then did a real transition (running while removing the wetsuit) to my van, which had already been set up with my gear. Wetsuit off, socks and bike shoes on (I was wearing my new adorable Louis Garneau tri suit), helmet on. Biked 8 or 9 miles, then tossed the bike back in the van, exchanged helmet and bike shoes for running shoes, and I'm off. 15 minute run and I'm done!

Aleks did it with me, despite the fact that it threatened rain (and really started coming down when I was in my car on the way to work). Fun fun fun!

Oh, and I'm still sick. Darn it. Maybe I'll have a cold forever. But it doesn't hold me back any, just annoys me, so I can deal with it.

---
Something else I want to say: no more Indian food. It makes me hungry. Yum.
---

So here are today's data:
Food:
Pre-workout: Vita-top (some weird vitamin muffin, low-cal and low-fat), milk in coffee: 130 cals
Breakfast: Ham, cheese, yogurt, granola, milk in coffee: 500 cals
Lunch: Indian food (chicken, some rice, naan, samosas (I know they're fried)) 600 cals?
Snack: Power Bar Nut Naturals: 210 cals
total so far: 1440

Exercise:
Mini-triathlon, 700 cals burned

11.7 excellent miles

I ran 10 miles with Aleks this morning. We did the Pro Club to West Lake Sammamish Parkway route backwards, where we went down the more gradual hill first, and returned up via one of the steepest hills around (51st Street). It rocked, because that was the first time I could run the entire way up 51st. Although, I should admit, I'm not sure when the last time I attempted that hill was - it certainly was at least a year ago, if not longer. On the other hand, it wasn't at the end of a 10-mile run, either, so I was happy.

Then I met Lisa, another triathlete, for a swim workout. We swam at Idylwood Park for an hour, and she was wearing a GPS device that said we went 1.7 miles. Excellent! I felt pretty good - I wasn't able to keep up bilateral breathing the whole time (I mostly breathed on my better side), but I never panicked, even when boats made waves. And it's getting easier every time.

Unfortunately, I still have a sore throat and a bit of a cold. I'm hoping it goes away by tomorrow, but I'm sort of thinking that even though today I was able to run and swim at the level I planned to, that maybe I should have rested another day or so to completely get rid of this bug. It's just so hard to rest!

So, here are today's data:

Food:
Pre-workout: Banana and milk in coffee, 90 cals
Workout fuel (throughout workouts): 1 GU, 1 Luna bar: 280 cals
Breakfast: English muffin, ham, cheese, milk in coffee: 265 cals
total so far: 635 cals
Lunch: Wrap, 500 cals
Dinner: 1 slice pizza, soup, ice cream
I feel like I ate more, but I forgot what.

Exercise:
Run 10 miles, 1 hour 45 minutes
Swim 1.7 miles, 1 hour
Calories burned: 1550

Back to the bike

Oh I missed my bike so much! It's been a week since I rode! Danielle and I went the 45-mile route to work and it was delicious. I hit 41.5 mph on one of the hills. :-) I'm getting much more brave (or is that stupid?) on the hills.

My knees hurt a little on the way, not sure why. Maybe not getting good exercise for a few days. I feel good now that I'm at work though.

Today's data:

Food:
Pre-workout: 2/3 Odwalla bar, banana: 225 cals
During the ride: Muffin, 300 cals
Breakfast: Milk in coffee, english muffin with ham and cheese, chocolate covered graham cracker: 405 cals
total so far: 930 cals
Late lunch: Yogurt with a little bit of granola, string cheese: 360 cals
total so far: 1290 cals
Snack: Pretzels with cheese, 150 cals
Dinner: Scallops, green beans, slice of bread: 400 cals
Dessert: 1/2 cup sherbet, 120 cals
total: 1960 cals

Exercise:
Bike 3 hours
1500 calories

Still sick

Man, I hate being sick. I stayed in bed this morning and didn't go run and lift and swim like I had planned because I figured my body really needed the rest. But it sucks - I hate that I'm not going to be at 100% for the week no matter what. Then again, I need to perform well this weekend, so it's better to cut some training out than suck in a race.

But I will meal-track, so here goes:

On the way to work: Half a Clif Mojo bar, coffee in the car, 130 cals
Breakfast at work: English muffin, ham, cheese: 235 cals
Lunch: Miso soup, salad, sushi: 525 cals
Snack: Coffee cake and milk in coffee: 230 cals
total so far: 1120 cals
Another snack: other half of Mojo bar, cheese: 135 cals
Dinner: Beef, potato, carrots, slice of bread: 500 cals
total: 1755 calories

I'm back

And sick. The toll of traveling three out of four weekends plus high exercise has been taken: I have a cold and sore throat. Fortunately, when I exercise I feel better, though I didn't today. I thought I should have a full day of rest before jumping back in to full on workout tomorrow.

I pretty much ate whatever I wanted this weekend, plus I drank alcohol. I did, however, go running twice: once for an hour (I got lost in a place I never knew existed! I wish I had been a runner in college) and once for 45 minutes with the current Vassar cross-country team. It was just a jog for them, but we were running about 8:30 miles, which is fast for me. It felt good, though - I haven't done enough tempo running lately.

I realized why it was so easy to gain weight post-college: in college, I walked soooo much! Everywhere we went, we walked - and every building we went into had stairs, not an elevator, so we had to climb stairs all the time. I was chubby in college, but poor eating (I remember eating cookies and ice cream a lot) should have made me a whole lot bigger than I actually was.

Anyway, tomorrow I'll go back to full-on real meal tracking. Today I just don't have the energy to do it. Okay, fine. Truth be told, today I want to eat whatever I want again and not write it down (but I haven't been too bad so far, and I don't think I will be).

I reserve the right not to meal track

On the first day of that time of the month. I further reserve the right to eat bagels and chocolate, probably not together, but quite possibly.

Now that I've gotten that out of the way, I will discuss my bike workout this morning. The route was ridiculous. Zoom out on the link about half way and you'll see what I mean: I went way east when I needed to go due north, then back south only to turn around again. 38 miles of bliss, honestly. Ridiculous, inefficient commuting - but fun!

I guess it's not actually as bad as riding into Seattle and going north around Lake Washington to get to work. Next I'll have to figure out how to ride to Tacoma on my way to work - that will be a feat!

I have a sore throat. I hope that doesn't prevent me from doing my long run tomorrow. I have my 10-year college reunion this weekend, and I'm going back to New York for it. I know I'm way different from what I was then, but I was hoping to be even more so. I feel fat. Maybe it's just the time o' month. Oh well. I did burn 1300 calories today in exercise.

144.8

That was my weight this morning. NOT GOOD.

I should stop focusing on training and start focusing on eating properly. My jeans are tight. This is a bad bad thing.

John says I'm obsessing about the weight and that "it's all muscle," but I really believe that's a convenient excuse for the actual bad weight I've gained.

Blah.

Today's data:

Food:
Pre-workout: 1/2 Luna bar, milk in coffee: 120 cals
Breakfast: Ham and cheese (twice as much as usual), small peach, milk in coffee: 320 cals
Snack: String cheese, 60 cals
Lunch: Chicken and bacon salad from Quiznos (no cheese, very little dressing): 400 cals
Snack: Yogurt, 110 cals
Total so far: 1010 cals

Exercise:
Run 75 minutes
Lift weights 45 minutes
Calories burned: 700

Two long bike rides

Yesterday we went out for a 40-mile ride including the Lakemont Blvd. climb. Love that! The only issue I had was that at about mile 14, my bike started refusing to shift! One of my friends spent 20 minutes trying to fix it, and he got it so I had three gears: my hardest, my easiest, and a middle gear (small ring in the front, small ring in the back). You'd that that might be enough, but not quite: some of the time I was either mashing to keep going, or spinning almost out of control.

At mile 38, my husband gave up and started walking. He was really discouraged. And as much as I feel bad about that, I also feel two other things:

1) If you don't train, how can you expect to ride hard?
2) What goes around, comes around.

What I mean by #2 is this: yesterday morning at breakfast, we were talking with another friend about my really great bike results from Issaquah. John said to me, "I want to ride with you today, and I want to do the same course you did yesterday, and see if I can beat you."

I was like, oh my goodness. Is your masculinity that challenged that you have to feel better about yourself by putting me down? I have TRAINED. I earned that great result - and it doesn't come at a cost to John! He could be fast (even faster than me, probably) if he WORKED like I did. So I said no thank you, my legs are a little tired from yesterday (Saturday) but we could ride somewhere else instead.

Then he kept rejecting all the rides I came up with (too hilly, apparently) until I came up with one that only had one huge hill. Whatever. The hill was two miles long, and I beat him up the hill by more than seven minutes.

So today I rode to work the long way (45 miles) and John drove the van with his bike in it. At lunch time, I rode to his work to get the van, and he is supposed to ride home. Hopefully he'll enjoy it.

So, since Saturday I did a sprint triathlon plus about 90 miles. Yay!

Here are today's data:

Food:
Pre-workout: 1/2 bagel with peanut butter, 160 cals
Workout fuel: 1 Luna bar, 1/2 bag sport beans, 230 cals
Breakfast: Yogurt and granola, milk in coffee, 430 cals
Snack: 1/2 Clif bar, 125 cals
Lunch: Chicken and broccoli over noodles, 400 cals
total so far: 1345 cals

Exercise:
Bike 50 miles
Calories burned: 1500

Oh Issaquah

Today I participated in my first triathlon of the season, fourth in my life. I don't know all the numbers yet, but I do know this: I was 18th out of 50 in my age group and I finished in 1:31. The distances were slightly off from a standard sprint tri: they were:

1/4 mile swim
14.5 mile bike
3.5 mile run

Okay, so after yesterday's session, I felt super-prepared for this - maybe even overconfident. I walked down to the water, lined up, and was in the front of the pack.

BAD IDEA.

Before the gun went off, I felt awesome - I even thought to myself that I could maybe keep these women behind me at bay for the entire swim, and just be out front. NOT AT ALL. Panic set in after just a few strokes, I couldn't put my face in the water, I swallowed water and couldn't catch my breath - all the usual stuff. A woman ahead of me turned and saw me, asked if I was alright. I sort of choked out a yes, but she didn't believe me, so she yelled to the person watching the swimmers in a kayak "Hey, keep an eye out for her!" Not much of a confidence boost there - but actually, at the time I was more concerned about her race and how she should go and not waste time on me (I never once thought I was going to drown). I did, however, alternate between side stroke and a crawl with my head out of the water. I kept my S-pulls (which I used to lose in stressful situations), but still: I was slow. The numbers aren't out yet to share my shame.

So, lessons learned from the swim:

1) Do not start at the front. I'm not that good yet.
2) Hang back a few seconds, wait until the splashing dies, then go.
3) No more pool swimming. From now on, it's open water all the way. SUCK IT UP. I need the practice.

I was proud that I held my line - about half of the swimmers in my wave got off course and had to re-set, but I was far enough back to see it and I didn't follow suit.

The bike pretty much made up for the swim. As soon as I was out of the transition area (transition was fairly easy and fast; I got my wetsuit off okay, socks and shoes on, a shirt over my tri suit because it was still fairly cool and my helmet on, no sunglasses because my contacts were turned around so it was hard enough to see, gloves were in my Bento box in case I ended up wanting them, which I didn't), I felt amazing (despite a HR somewhere in the 170s). I yelled to the guy ahead of me, "I'm so glad to be out of the water!!!" I actually felt, I'm so glad to be on my bike. I felt at home and comfortable.

As soon as I was out of the no passing zone, I got in my big ring and just hit it. I was above 20 mph for most of the ride, except for the most significant hill (both out and back) - and even then I was going 12-13 and passing people. I ended up near a group of four riders who rode approximately my pace, and we just kept passing each other most of the route. Towards the end, one of the women said to me, "Wow, you're really strong!" in a voice that told me she was impressed - and that gave me a great boost, even though I already knew I was strong. One cool thing: a few miles in, there's one of those "Your Speed" things that tells you how fast you're going. Usually when I pass it I'm going about 18 to 20 - it's slightly downhill, but right after an uphill so you haven't achieved a high speed yet. Today: 23! (And I know it was me, because I was alone when I got there.)

I did have one bad thing happen on the bike: I went to take a drink from my water bottle, dropped it, and ran over it. I had to pull over to make sure my bike was okay (it was - the funny noise I heard was my race number blowing up against my jersey), but I was too far ahead to go back to pick up the bottle. I felt bad about losing it, both because it's now an obstacle on the course for riders behind me, and because I only had one bottle and therefore lost all water 3 miles into the race. NOT GOOD when the sun was already coming out. Also not too good was hitting two cones as I was trying to pass people in a tight area - it may have been a no passing zone, I'm not sure. I ended up with my bike computer saying I averaged 19.5 (that includes the running parts in and out of transition) and saying it took me 44 minutes.

So, lessons learned on the bike:

1) Either use my aero bottle or have two water bottled half-filled in case I lose one
2) Carefully study the course map beforehand to know for sure where no passing zones are
3) Um, I can go harder than I thought. My HR was so high, but my RPE was fairly comfortable (labored breathing up hills and while passing, otherwise RPE of 6-7). I should work harder on the bike in general in training.

The run was so-so. I was so thirsty, and it was HOT by then, and I didn't need my long-sleeve cycling jersey but I wasn't body-confident enough in my tri suit to take it off. So I was warm. A ton of people passed me on the run, but I didn't let that get to me: I didn't feel any weird leg stuff, but I didn't feel super-fast either. At the one-mile mark, my watch said I'd been going for 9 minutes. I didn't see any other course markers until the one that said 1/4 mile left, and I picked it up then. But I think my run only took 30 minutes, which means it couldn't have been 3.5 miles. Not that I wasn't ready to see the end!

There was no water on the run. Actually, about half way in there was a water station set up - do it yourself style, though, and I wasn't willing to stop. So the rest of the way my thirst was really my fault.

Lessons learned from the run:
1) It gets warmer and your body gets warmer as the day wears on. Clothing that might work for bike racing might not for running.
2) Have an extra water bottle at the transition area, for drinking, washing, etc.

So overall, a good day. Plus, my six-year-old son did his first triathlon today! The kids tri (for his age group) was a 75-yard swim, 2 mile bike, and 1/2 mile run. He was soooooo cute!

I might do food data later; calories were somewhere around 1000, but more for the day, because I ran around to watch Gabriel race and later in the day I ran around my neighborhood looking for a lost kid.

Update:
I got my times. Here goes. Oh, and I was 18th out of 72, not 50. I guess the sheet I was looking at had early results.

Swim: 13:00 <-- HORRIBLE. MUST WORK ON THIS.
T1: 2:19. <-- Danielle did 1:25; I could have been and will work on becoming faster.
Bike: 43:40. <-- This is, if my math is correct, a 20 mph average. YES. I will do this again - especially since I did stop once to check my tire, so I might have been even a little faster. This time exceeded my expectations. They say you're not going to race faster than you train. I'm not sure that's true.
T2: 1:06. <-- Could have been faster here, too. I really wanted to check my odometer. Next time I will remember this is a race, and every second counts.
Run: 31:11. <-- Not sure what to say here. I know thirst contributed to this time, which if the race really were 3.5 miles this would be a great time for me, but it wasn't. So, basically, I need to fix the hydration and nutrition issues and be better on the run.

What I'm most proud of, though, is Gabriel's time. He did his tri in 27:06. I had estimated it would take him 40 minutes - after all, he's just six years old! But he was awesome. They don't rank kids, which is good, because apparently a lot of the girls and some of the boys didn't do the required number of laps on the bike. I'm just so proud of him, though - what a hard-core kid!

I might love swimming!

I know I've been a big whiner about swimming, and I have really not wanted to get in the pool. Now I know why: open water swimming is so much better! I got over my fear and got in the water this morning - and it was perfect! It was cold, but with a full wetsuit, I was completely fine. I wore my new tri suit under the wetsuit, which worked out great too. We practiced transitions in anticipation of tomorrow's triathlon - we swam about 30 minutes (to get the open-water experience), biked 7 miles, then ran for 15 minutes. I felt just joyous when I was done - I didn't want it to end!

So now I'm feeling great about tomorrow's race. Yay!

Today's data:
Pre-workout: banana and milk in coffee, 110 cals
Breakfast: 1 egg, 2 sausage links, potatoes, milk in coffee: 425 cals
Lunch: 2 cookies, salad, chili, 680 (darn cookies)
total so far: 1215 cals

Exercise:
Swim, bike, run, transition practice: 600 calories burned

Lotsa exercise

Biked to work, then ran, then swam. My hamstrings hurt. But Danielle told me she's nervous too about the Issaquah tri, so that made me feel a little better (I'm not alone!).

Today's data:

Food:
Pre-workout: Banana, 80 cals
Workout: 1/2 Power Bar, 110 cals
Breakfast: Two eggs, an english muffin, cranberry juice and milk in coffee: 400 cals
Lunch: Chicken breast, white beans, broccoli: 400 cals
Snack: Mojo bar, 200 cals
total so far: 1190 cals
Dinner: two cookies, fried chicken strips, fries (blah)

Exercise:
Bike 25 miles (1 hour 45 min)
Run 45 min
Swim 30 min
Calories burned: 1500

Back to the gym

I almost forgot my locker combination after not being at the gym for a week! I decided not to swim, because the pool is too full between 7 and 8, when I would have swum. So I lifted weights and plan to swim tomorrow...but we'll see.

I'm getting really nervous. My first triathlon of the season is Saturday - the Issaquah triathlon. I don' t know why I'm nervous - the race really isn't that important to me, in the big scheme of things - but I am. I'm worried that it will be too cold and I'm worried that I'll leave my helmet on during the run and I'm worried that I'll be so much slower than Danielle, and we'll prove once and for all that she's doing me a favor by training with me and she's a class above. So I need to get over all of that. I actually wish it were Sunday, so I'd have Saturday to prepare. Oh and I'm worried that I'm a total idiot for not swimming in my wetsuit at all yet! (I will be swimming outside on Friday, but still: I should have swum in it before now!)

Today's data:

Food:
Pre-workout: Banana and milk in coffee: 110 cals
Workout fuel: 1 GU, 100 cals
Breakfast: Yogurt, fruit, and granola; milk in coffee: 430 cals
Lunch: McDonald's Asian Chicken Salad with the dressing and almonds, 440 cals
Snack: Way too much trail mix!
Dinner: Chicken breast, salad
Dessert: Two cookies and some sugary bar thing that a friend made


Exercise:
Run 1 hour 45 minutes (approx 10 miles)
Lift weights 45 minutes
Calories burned: 1000

Back from South Dakota

The family and I went to South Dakota to visit my husband's grandparents and go to a wedding for the long Memorial Day weekend - from Thursday through Monday. I actually found it quite relaxing - I slept late nearly every day (late for me means rising between 7:30 and 8:30 a.m.) and only worked out a little - two runs and one day of weight-lifting. I over-ate, though, which was too bad. Sioux Falls has every single fast-food and chain restaurant known to man. I think we went to all of them. Oh well.

Now I'm back on the wagon, and I kicked off the week with a three-hour (45 mile) bike ride to work. It actually felt great, and I was able to keep a higher speed than I thought I'd be able to, plus I really powered up the very last hill to work. So I was happy about that. I worried that I'd feel fat and sluggish.

So here are today's data:

Food:
Pre-workout: Mojo bar, 200 cals
Breakfast: Starbucks reduced-fat banana chocolate chip coffee cake, milk in coffee: 370 cals
When I got to work: Cheese, 70 cals
Lunch: Soup, 170 cals, yogurt and granola, 300 cals
Dinner: Pork chop, green beans, bread, 500 cals
Dessert: Low-fat sherbet, 120 cals
total today: 1730 calories

Exercise:
Bike 3 hours, 1500 cals

Rainy run

Nancy and I ran 100 minutes this morning in the rain. Mostly rain - it stopped a couple of times. Then I swam half an hour. I didn't eat during the workout, and I really suffered for it: I was tired and worn out by the end. I know better, too.

Today's data:

Food:
Pre-workout: Small banana, milk in coffee: 90 cals
Breakfast: Granola, ham, cheese, milk in coffee: 345 cals
Snacks (very hungry twice before lunch): One Mojo bar, one Luna bar: 400 cals
Lunch: Chicken parmesan and vegetables: 400 calories
total so far: 1235 calories

Exercise:
Run 100 minutes
Swim 30 minutes
900 calories burned

Another three-hour tour

It was raining in Renton at 5 a.m., but it was clear in Seattle. So obviously Danielle and I had to ride into Seattle to get to work, repeating the 45-miles-to-go-15 thing that we did last Thursday. Except we really did get away from the rain once we left the eastside, and then we never found it again (happily). My bike shoes were still SOAKED from yesterday - I tried blow-drying them to get them ready to wear this morning - but to no avail. Oh well. I double-socked it and called it good.

I also hit the Pro Club at noon for circuit training and a little running - fun!

Today's data:

Food:
Pre-workout: Power Bar "Harvest Crunch," 250 cals
Workout: 1/2 regular Power Bar, 110 cals
Breakfast: Ham, cheese, banana bread, milk in coffee: 445 cals
Lunch: 20/20 coconut chicken, 440 cals
Snack: Cheese and three little cookies and one little candy: 117 cals
total so far: 1362 calories
Dinner: Small slice of pizza, bowl of soup: 500 calories
Dessert: Sherbet, 150 cals
Total: 2012 calories

Exercise:
Bike 3 hours, 1350 calories
Circuit train and run, 600 calories
Total calories burned: 1950 yay!

Vegas, baby

Friday afternoon we left for Las Vegas - I had hoped to work out, but between watching and entertaining the kids and my husband and visiting with my grandparents, it just didn't happen. I ate properly some of the time, but outrageously at other times (like at M&M World - yay!).

However, I wore a two-piece bathing suit (bikini top, cute little skirted bottom) outside at the pool and felt fairly comfortable, except when I had to carry Camille (but that was because carrying her against my chest could have caused my top to expose more skin than I needed to).

I wanted to swim, but the pool didn't open until 10 a.m. (at which time there were too many people to swim for real) and the gym cost $20/day and that just seemed outrageous for an hour on a treadmill or whatever. So, I didn't complete my goals for the week, and I'm okay with that. I guess.

Today I biked to work, because I'm going out of town again this coming weekend (for even longer - Thursday through Monday) and I have to get more biking in. But I'm back to proper eating, I hope. Let's look at the numbers:

Food:
Pre-workout: Banana, 80 cals
Workout fuel: 2/3 Luna bar, 120 cals
Breakfast: Ham and cheese, yogurt and granola, milk in coffee: 455 cals
Lunch: Chicken noodle soup and crackers: 260 cals
total so far: 915 calories
Snack: Two little candies and a Mojo bar: 280 cals
Dinner: Steak, green beans, bread

Exercise:
Bike 1.5 hours
Swim 45 minutes
Calories burned: 1000

Bike to Work Day!

I had to bike to work this morning for National Bike to Work Day, and I biked in my new cute Terry biking skort in Polynesian Postcard, of course. Yay! It wasn't as warm as yesterday because it was overcast, but still nice. And it was my first time biking that route and distance alone (Danielle had to work too early to bike). It was nice! Unfortunately, really close to work I got a terrible pain in my knee and seriously couldn't pedal any longer - I had to walk my bike the rest of the way. That SUCKED. It still hurts - across the top of the knee cap on the right - and I have no idea why. I had gotten off my bike for a minute to talk to someone, then when I got back on, OWWW!

Anyway, today's eating is a bit messed up because of the bike to work events. Let's see...I had:

Pre-ride: Luna bar, 180 cals
During ride: 1 banana, 1 little chocolate bite: 120 cals
At work: Minute Maid fruit snacks, 1 mini-Clif bar, 1 apple: 240 cals
total so far: 540 calories and no coffee

Exercise:
Bike to work, then bike around and talk to people: 1200 calories

45 miles to go 15

Today I planned a new route to work. But it was an amazing, gorgeous morning - warm, the sun was coming up, and it was just so beautiful - that when we got to I-90 (which we were supposed to ride right past), I asked Danielle if she wanted to go the very long way to work - across I-90 into Seattle, then north around Lake Washington to get back to Redmond. Of course she was game, so we ended up going 45 miles in order to go 15. It was wonderful, though, because it was mostly on paved bike trails, so I got practice in the aerobars and got jazzed from seeing all of the cyclists and runners out in the morning.

The high feeling from biking long this morning stuck with me all day. Gotta love it.

Here are today's data:

Food:
Pre-workout: 1/2 bagel with low-fat cream cheese, 155 cals
During workout: Starbucks stop! Milk in coffee, reduced-fat banana chocolate chip coffee cake: 370 cals
Post-workout: Milk in coffee, ham and cheese: 145 cals
Lunch: Salad with turkey, 300 cals
Snack: Mojo bar and 2 Hershey's Special Dark (the little ones), 280 cals
total so far: 1250 calories
Dinner: hot dog and bun, chips, cookie (kid food at kid's school)
Snack late because I was still hungry: Fruit and three crackers with peanut butter

Exercise:
Bike 3 hours, 45 miles
Burned 1300 calories

Ready for recovery

Yeah. Oh yeah. This morning I ran 10 miles, then lifted weights. I'm dreaming of the weekend when I go away and can sleep in and not work very hard.

But it was a good recovery run - low heart rate and intensity, but a nice hill climb (1 mile climbing) at the end.

Today's data:

Food:
Pre-workout: Banana and milk in coffee: 100 cals
Workout fuel: 1 GU, 100 cals
Breakfast: Ham, cheese, milk in coffee, yogurt, granola: 450 cals
Lunch: Dungeness crab salad, yum: 300 cals
Snack: Mojo bar, crackers: 260 cals
total so far: 1210 calories
Snack: Banana caramel light frappuccino: 230 cals
Dinner: Chicken breast, corn, coffee cake: 800 cals
Total today: 2240 calories yuck

Exercise:
Run 10 miles
Lift weights
1000 calories burned

I love my bike

I love it love it love it love it. Want to see it? Here she is: http://www.specialized.com/bc/SBCBkModel.jsp?minisite=10080&spid=13732

I also love warm weather. Danielle and I left at 5 a.m., before sunrise, and it was totally warm. Which was good, because my mini-van was at work in Redmond, with the pink jacket I like to wear biking, my booties, and my warm gloves locked safely inside. It's amazing - no matter how much I plan, there's always something I forget. But it was warm enough for my light gloves, no booties, and no jacket. I wore long underwear under mountain bike shorts and a long-sleeve jersey. When we got about half way, there's a park with a good bathroom, so I took the long underwear off and stored them in my backpack. (I also forgot deodorant today - there might be a quick trip to the grocery store down the street if I start to feel warm!)

We had a good ride to Redmond, then she went off to the club and I continued on along the Sammamish River trail for more aerobar practice - and a nice steep uphill climb at the end of my ride. In all, I rode 2.5 hours and averaged 15 mph - not too bad given my tired legs from Sunday and yesterday plus hill climbs.

Today's data:

Food:
Pre-workout: Luna bar, 180 cals
Workout fuel: Mojo bar, 200 cals
Breakfast: Banana bread, ham, cheese, milk in coffee: 445 cals
total so far: 825 calories
Lunch: Salad with turkey
Snack: Apple and cheese
Dinner: Chicken breast and salad with light dressing
Ugh: Chocolate chip banana peanut butter cookies as Gabriel and I were baking them

Exercise:
Ride my bike 2.5 hours, burned 1200 calories

New personal record for the half-marathon!

I wasn't even sure I was going to run the Kirkland half marathon. After all, I haven't been training to run a fast half-marathon, and it cost $50, and it was on Mother's Day, and so on. But I decided I'd do it just to get a change of pace - a new place to run, stimulus to run at a higher heart rate, etc. So I called Danielle on Saturday (a total rest day for me - had a funeral to go to in the morning then played with the family in the afternoon) and said, "Hey, let's PR this course tomorrow!" Of course she was game.

It was a PERFECT morning - sunny and clear. I overdressed slightly (capri running pants, which were fine, but a long-sleeve shirt and gloves, which were unnecessary), but it worked fine. The course was pretty hilly, with five significant uphill climbs and only two significant descents (but one of them was very long, and the other at the very end). Our plan was to run 9 minute miles consistently, and kick it up a notch or two at the end.

Our first mile (crowded with a zillion other runners) was 9:10, and our second landed us at 18:20 - so we were going pretty perfectly. The third mile brought us to the first big climb. I said out loud, "Wow. That's a hill!" Someone behind me said, "Hey, you're not supposed to say that - you're supposed to tell yourself it's flat." I answered, "We love hills! Nothing makes us stronger!" Someone else behind me said, "Somebody hit her." I laughed - then Danielle and I took off and never saw those people again. In fact, on every hill we passed other runners and walkers, and in nearly every case they never caught back up to us. At mile 10, with a 5K left, Danielle really wanted to speed up, and I didn't want to yet. I felt good, but not like I had a whole lot left. But she picked it up, and we did one of the miles towards the end in 8:30. The very end brought two uphills followed by one steep downhill. After the downhill, I could just see how much Danielle had left in her - and how little I had. I told her to go ahead of me. She said I could go too, that I could run the rest at any pace I wanted to. Well, I wanted to run at probably an 8 minute mile. She wanted to a little faster - so she went ahead, I focused internally on staying in motion at a good rate and she crossed the finish line 19 seconds ahead of me.

My gun time was 1:58:19. I'm certain my actual time was at least a minute faster - we were pretty far back from the start line after the gun went off, but the chip times haven't been posted yet. (Update: My chip time was 1:57:30 - yay!)

For my food strategy, I executed on a new plan: Three GUs, one each at mile 4, 8, and 11. I really felt like this was perfect - I never felt like I couldn't run or didn't want to run any more, like I usually do on a half marathon. And though I did feel a little full at the end, I think it worked better than any other plan I've ever tried. I also carried all my own water, and I used water mixed with Nuun. So I think I'm going to do this on the half-iron.

My best half-marathon prior to this was Seafair last year; I did 1:58:21 (chip time) - 1:59 something gun time. I was happy to see that this wasn't a fluke! Hilly courses are good for me. I've definitely been more successful on a hilly course (Seafair, Kirkland) than on a flatter one (Super Jock n Jill). Mercer Island was a different story, since it was after biking and I had to save something to bike home, and Seattle, my first half-marathon, was totally different since I ran the first hour with friends, really slowly, then negative-split the run by a lot.

So today I didn't rest - I'll be out of town this weekend, so I felt like it would be better to push on through for a few more days and rest this weekend. I did an hour of indoor cycling plus a four-mile run. Fun!

So here are today's data:

Food:
Pre-workout: 1/2 bagel with cream cheese, milk in coffee: 210 cals
Breakfast: Cheese, yogurt, granola, milk in coffee: 400 cals
Lunch: Cashew chicken and some rice
Snack: Hershey's kiss and a small Reese's Peanut Butter cup
Real Snack: Mojo bar
Dinner: Beef tri-tip, carrots, brown rice


Exercise:
Bike 1 hour
Run 40 minutes
Calories burned: 800

Lake Stevens bike course? Been there, done that

Today was a day off of work, so I got a few co-workers to ride the Lake Stevens half-ironman bike course with me. The course is about 28 miles long, so on the race you do it twice. We only did it once - 28 miles of no shoulder and trucks lumbering alongside was enough - but I was really elated that we did it. I had heard it was hilly - it was, but not terribly so. Well, let me explain: it's a hilly course, but there are no significant climbs (certainly not on the level of what we rode last weekend!). There are a couple of steep parts, but they're over quickly, and a couple of really fabulous fast downhills. And going with three men who together have like no body fat and who ride all the time - better than me - kept me motivated to work hard.

We averaged 15.6. That made me super happy. I had hoped to average 16, but riding in a group, stopping, etc drops you a little.

Then, to finish off my biking this week, I rode the Sammamish River trail for 1.5 hours just to practice in my new aerobars. It's definitely more squirrelly to be in the aeros and something to get used to, but it made me want to increase my cadence and it was definitely welcome to have a new body position. By the end of my ride, I felt really comfortable on the trail. We'll see what happens next time I ride on the road. I also made another adjustment to my bike: I put my seat up quite a bit to get a better leg extension. It's now at the proper height, I think. It wasn't before because I was nervous about stopping on the road and not being able to touch the ground while sitting on the seat, but I'm a more confident rider now, so I think I'm okay with getting off my seat and standing over the post like I'm supposed to when I have to stop at lights, etc.

So, how about today's data? Let's see if I can reconstruct it all:

Food:
Breakfast: Bagel and cream cheese, milk in coffee: 350 cals
While riding: Powerbar, 220 cals
Lunch: Sandwich and apple, 810 cals
After riding again: Mojo bar, two cookies, dark chocolate: 450 cals
total so far: 1830 calories
Dinner: Chicken breast and salad, a little more dark chocolate: 700 cals
Total for the day: 2530 calories yay!

Exercise:
Ride my bike a lot! 2000 calories burned

Yay, it's getting warmer

I actually had to remove layers on my bike commute to work this morning! Yay! It will be so great when it's both light at 5 a.m. and warm. Warmish. Anyway, it was a fun ride, then I ran 30 minutes on the treadmill (one song at 6.6, my marathon goal pace, one at 7.0, my 10k and possibly half-marathon pace if I ever actually race a half-marathon again, versus using a half-marathon as a catered training run, then every song increased by .1, ending at 7.5. Pretty fun. Then I finished the weight lifting I didn't do yesterday (because my leg muscles were sore from the very long run).

I will be biking later today, though.

---It's later. It's actually Friday, but I'm going to finish yesterday here.

I biked with a co-worker who I perceive as really hard-core and Danielle over to a work party in Issaquah. We went FAST - kept it around 20 mph the whole time. It was really really fun - and a huge challenge for me, because I wasn't sure I could do it. Obviously I slowed down on the uphills, but the route was mostly downhill, so it wasn't too bad. Then I managed not to drink alcohol or eat chips and guacamole at the party! Yay!

So here are today's data.

Food:
Breakfast #1: Yogurt and 1/3 cup granola, 170 cals
Fuel: 1 Gu, 100 cals
Breakfast #2: Milk in coffee, english muffin, ham, cheese: 300 cals (more ham than usual)
Lunch-snack: Yogurt and granola
After-bike lunch: Small tortilla with beef and salsa
Dinner: Tuna steak, broccoli
It's too late today to remember the calories for what I ate yesterday...also, I think I ate a whole bunch of dark chocolate. :-(

Exercise:
Bike to work (23 miles)
Run 30 minutes
Lift/abs 15 minutes
Total: 1100 calories burned
Bike home: 600 calories burned
Total: 1700 burned yay!

Oops...that was one long run

I love love love this web site: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com. I have been mapping my bike and running routes and then looking at the elevation profiles. Fun!

Here's what we did today: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=174674

I intended to take my running partner, Nancy, on a 90-minute run. But...this is close to 10 miles (the map says 9.5, but Nancy drove it and it was 9.8 in her car, and I think that when you run and have to cross the streets multiple times, etc, it's always a little longer. I'm going with 10, anyway). So it took us 111 minutes - 11 minute miles, but actually less because we had to cross streets, wait at lights, tie shoes, etc - and at one point on a steep uphill, Nancy stopped for a moment to catch her breath. She didn't want to walk, so I just jogged in place until she was ready to go on. She is SUCH a trooper.

But since I haven't run this week, it was great to get out there, and I felt perfect - even on the uphill. Yay!

Here are today's data:

Food:
Pre-workout: 1/2 small bagel, milk in coffee: 130 cals
During workout: Maybe 50 calories of Clif Shot Strawberry - YUCK!: 50 cals
Breakfast: Ham and cheese on english muffin, milk in coffee, banana bread: 665 cals (yeah, but it's now 10 a.m. and I'm not hungry now! Maybe I won't overeat today)
Lunch: Salad with beef, 400 cals
Snack: Clif Mojo bar, 200 cals
Snack: 100 calorie pack of wheat thins
Dinner: Beef and broccoli with rice noodles, 300 cals
Because I have no self control: ice cream and oreo cookies and chocolate: 400 cals
total: 2245 calories (hopefully...)

Exercise:
Run 111 minutes
Lift weights 30 minutes
Calories burned: 1000

Need advice

I broke the news to my husband today: I want to do Ironman Coeur d'Alene next June (2007). I think he's no longer speaking to me. He just kept repeating, "I knew this day was coming." ???

So: anyone out there have advice on how to convince him that this is not the terrible thing he seems to think it is?

I'm already training 16 to 20 hours a week; I wouldn't have to increase my training volume very much for the Ironman. (Of course, I would drop the volume dramatically this fall through early winter and pick up again in January.) And, since it's an early-summer race, I'd be done with my "A" race at the end of June, leaving the rest of the summer to train!

And as a compromise, I said I wouldn't train for a fall endurance event (such as a marathon).

What else can I try?

Snowboarding!

Here's me, snowboarding on Cinco de Mayo! Yay bare arms and warm sun!

Beautiful morning!

Everyone should ride their bike to work as the sun rises. It's a great way to get a happy boost from the sunshine. Of course, not everyone should do it in 36-degree weather. Wow, it was cold this morning! Even with double-gloves, I got numb fingers and toes. Danielle and I rode a new route to work through Bellevue instead of through Sammamish. It was two miles shorter and didn't have the huge hill at the end like the regular route does. It was good for variety - I really like learning new bike routes. It makes the world I live in feel smaller.

We were still cold when we got to the club, so we sat in the hot tub for a few minutes, then I actually did manage to drag myself into the pool for a 30-minute swim. And now I feel great!

So here are today's data:

Food:
Breakfast #1: Yogurt and granola, 290 cals
Breakfast #2: Milk in coffee, english muffin, ham, and cheese: 265 cals
Snack: Laughing cow light cheese, a small handful of cereal: 80 cals
Lunch: Salad with turkey: 450 cals
total so far: 1085 (wow, hungry)
Okay, really hungry: two snacks, two hours apart: Clif mojo bar and a regular clif bar: 460 cals
total so far: 1545 cals
Hmm...bad me. I ate a burger and some onion rings for dinner, and topped it off with about 100 cals of dark chocolate.

Oh well, that's still likely even for the day.

Exercise:
Bike to work, 1.5 hours
Swim 30 minutes
Calories burned: 1050
Bike another 15 minutes, burn another 150 cals :-)
Total cals burned: 1200

Busy busy weekend

No meal tracking this weekend, but great exercise: I biked two different two-mile hills (there are a bunch of hills around here that taunt me: this weekend I conquered two of them), and ran the 10-mile trail.

Oh! I almost forgot! Friday after I did my big regular workout (backwards though: run 40 minutes first, then indoor cycling, then swim), I went snowboarding for the rest of the day with my team at work! It was awesome - Cinco de Mayo on the slopes! I was in a pink tank top and my purple snow pants. Very girly, very fun. Maybe I will post a picture if someone sends me the ones that they took. It was hard work keeping up with the boys in my group, but spring snow gives me confidence I don't actually deserve.

Today was semi-recovery: I swam for an hour and then lifted weights for 45 minutes. My new running buddy, Aleks, swam with me and had some great ideas for getting through the swim: We ran laps in the pool (kind of hard for me at 5'3", because the pool gets a little deeper in the middle), then did "eggbeaters" with our legs for five minutes. Very fun.

So pretty much I'm going to make a better effort to meal-track during the weekend. I did clean out the pantry and threw away all the open bags of snack food. I only kept the stuff for the kids' lunches, which I don't eat because it's measured out.

So, here are today's data:

Food:
Pre-workout: 1/3 bagel with l.f. cream cheese, milk in coffee: 160 cals
Breakfast: Ham and cheese on english muffin, milk in coffee: 265 cals
Snack: Clif "Mojo" bar: 200 cals
Lunch: Chicken noodle soup, 200 cals; tuna fish, 160 cals
Snack: Banana with peanut butter: 115 cals
Dinner: Chicken breast, green beans, bread, strawberries, Cool Whip Free: 700 calories
Total for the day: 1800! Yay!

Exercise:
Swim 1 hour
Lift weights 45 minutes
Calories burned: 600

Total bonk!

This morning I way bonked. I rode in to work and swam 30 minutes afterwards, and on my way from the Pro Club to the office I seriously couldn't even think. I needed food, immediately! It was odd. So I've eaten what feels like a ton today. Oh well.


Food:
Breakfast #1: Toast and jam, small banana and peanut butter: 300 cals
Workout fuel: 1/2 Luna bar, 90 cals
Breakfast #2: Yogurt and granola, milk in coffee, ham and cheese on english muffin: 500 cals
Lunch: Shrimp stir-fry and rice: 400 cals
Evil snack: Brownie, 300 cals
Total so far: 1590 cals

Ugh. I'm not confessing to the rest. Suffice to say I ate a bunch of crap when I got home - pretzels and peanut butter, goldfish crackers, etc. I need to throw everything away. Maybe this weekend.

Exercise:
Bike 2 hours
Swim 30 minutes
Calories burned: 1200

Oops, got busy yesterday

And didn't write. I did write down on paper my calories through 5 p.m. - 1260 - and my exercise was 1050 (run 90 minutes, lift weights).

I think for dinner I was so-so. I don't think I exceeded my calories burned for the day with calories eaten.

Bike to work! Yay!

There's nothing more fun than biking to work! More later...

Today's Data

Food:

Meal: Pre-workout
Food: Yogurt, 1/4 cup granola, tiny bit of milk in coffee
Cals: 225
Carb: 20
Fat: 4
Protein: 8

Meal: Breakfast
Food: English muffin, ham, cheese, apple, peanut butter, milk in coffee
Cals: 425
Carb: 54
Fat: 15
Protein: 22

Meal: Lunch
Food: Chicken salad from Baja Fresh
Cals: 590
Carb: 54
Fat: 22
Protein: 47

Meal: Snack
Food: Yogurt
Cals: 110
Carb: 20
Fat: 0
Protein: 7

totals so far: cals: 1350; carb: 148; fat: 41; protein: 84

Meal: Dinner
Food: Whole-wheat linguine with meatballs, asparagus, bread
Cals: 750
Carb: 80
Fat: 10
Protein: 40

Meal: Dessert
Food: Ice cream
Cals: 160
Carb: 18
Fat: 8
Protein: 2

Exercise (known)
Bike to work! 1.5 hours
Swim 45 minutes
Calories burned: 1100

Eating with Discipline

That's going to be my focus. Not that I've kicked butt on that today, but that's where I have to focus. Someone said to me if I'm not having trouble eating the right number of calories each day, then I'm eating too much fat. I'm sure he's right (though I didn't want to admit it).

The weekend was good - we did a long, easy ride on Saturday, and yesterday was rest and playing with the kids. This morning I ran and lifted weights. My jeans are getting tight. That's not okay.

Today's data:

Food:

Meal: Pre-workout
Food: Most of a yogurt, milk in coffee
Cals: 130
Carb: 24
Fat: 2
Protein: 7

Meal: Breakfast
Food: English muffin, ham, cheese, milk in coffee
Cals: 265
Carbs: 33
Fat: 7
Protein: 18

Meal: Lunch
Food: Couscous, chicken tikka, naan
Cals: 560
Carb: 49
Fat: 19
Protein: 36

Meal: Snack
Food: Luna bar
Cals: 180
Carb: 27
Fat: 4
Protein: 9

Meal: Dinner
Food: Shrimp and mushroom risotto (I made it, not super-fatty)
Cals: 500
Carb: 40
Fat: 8
Protein: 21

Meal: Dessert
Food: Skinny Cow ice cream sandwich
Cals: 140
Carb: 20
Fat: 2
Protein: 2

Total for the day:
Cals: 1775; Carb: 193; Fat: 42; Protein: 82

Exercise:
Run, 65 minutes
Lift weights
Calories burned: 1000

Friday Fun

Today I did manage to get up in time to get to the club at 5; I swam, then did indoor cycling, then ran outside with a woman from cycling class. Pretty fun. Danielle ran a crazy class - all speed, above 100 rpm, which is the hardest part for me (in class I definitely prefer simulated hills!). So it was good.

Here are today's data:

Food:
Meal: Pre-workout
Food: Banana and milk in coffee
Cals: 110
Carb: 22
Fat: 3
Protein: 3

Meal: Breakfast
Food: Ham and cheese on english muffin, milk in coffee, apple with peanut butter
Cals: 425
Carb: 54
Fat: 15
Protein: 22

Meal: Lunch
Food: Salad with shrimp
Cals: 200
Carb: 10
Fat: 4
Protein: 21

Meal: Snack
Food: 1/2 of a ice cream sandwich
Cals: 120
Carb: 17
Fat: 5
Protein: 2

Total so far:
Cals: 855, Carb: 103, Fat: 27, Protein: 48

Exercise:
Swim 30 minutes
Indoor cycling 1 hour
Run 30 minutes
Calories burned: 1050

Better today

My hamstrings and glutes (and to some degree, my quads) are still sore, but I was able to get up and run. As I expected, when I started running and warmed up, I did feel better. We ran six miles, one hour, three hills. Then I swam.

Today's data:

Food:
Meal: Pre-workout
Food: Banana and milk in coffee
Cals: 100
Carb: 15
Fat: 2
Protein: 1

Meal: Breakfast
Food: Banana bread, ham, cheese, milk in coffee
Cals: 445
Carb: 47
Fat: 20
Protein: 15

Meal: Lunch
Food: Salad with tuna
Cals: 275
Carb: 20
Fat: 4
Protein: 30

Meal: Snack
Food: Clif Nectar bar
Cals: 160
Carb: 27
Fat: 6
Protein: 4

Totals so far today:
Cals: 980; Carb: 109; Fat: 32; Protein: 50

Dinner:
Chicken, mashed potatoes, veggies at a restaurant, plus brownie and ice cream (Camille's birthday)

No calorie total

Exercise:
Run 1 hour
Swim 30 minutes
Calories burned: 675
Circuit training, 1 hour
Calories burned: 425
Total calories burned: 1100

Red spiders and sore glutes

Oh my goodness, I have no idea what I did yesterday but my glutes and hamstrings are way sore. Wow. I didn't feel like swimming, so I didn't get up at 4:25, but I planned to get up at 5 to go to indoor cycling. Then Camille woke up and she was crying because apparently a red spider came out of her bed (bad dream), but she wanted me and she's so cute and cuddly that it just seemed much more fun than indoor cycling on sore glutes and hamstrings. So I cuddled my little baby and when she told me to stay in bed and not go to cycling, who was I to argue?

Plus, last night after dinner Gabriel and I went for a short bike ride, and apparently Camille cried that mommy left. Of course, John didn't tell me this until I was trying to get out of bed, so the guilt trip combined with the soreness combined with the little 3-year-old in my bed...and duh. No workout.

Which is fine. I think I can make up the time from today (I was supposed to swim half an hour and bike one hour) later in the week. And if not, it's about recovery, and soreness does not equal recovery.

Plus, it continues my challenge to eat properly. I was successful again yesterday! And I was embarrassed earlier this week to write down my weight...Monday morning it was 145 point something. This morning it was 142.0 - very nice. This tells me I can drop a few more fairly easily, and gives me the motivation to do it.

One more thought: Yesterday in circuit training, this woman asked me if I was happy with my body. She is very thin - probably a size 2 or at the most, 4 - and runs, and lift weights, and is strong. And is obsessed with being "skinny," which apparently in her mind she's not. So I answered no, of course not, because I don't think any woman ever is. But I told her that the thing that makes it okay for me to be not perfect is twofold: One, many of the things I don't like about myself aren't going to change with all the diet and exercise in the world, and two, I make up for my chubby areas by pushing my body to do more. I may never be the hottest chick in the room, but I'm often the strongest or the one who can run or bike the longest, etc. So I'm never going to be a competitive athlete or a beauty queen - so what? Compare me to the rest of the t-ball moms from Gabriel's team: I'm one of two who aren't obese, and I'm quite certain I'm the most athletic. For that matter, I'm probably more athletic than most of the dads. So there.

It's really easy to see all the flaws in the mirror. It's really hard to see how unimportant they are. I'm working on that.

So anyway, keeping me honest, here's today's data:

Food:
Meal: Breakfast
Food: English muffin, ham, cheese, milk in coffee
Cals: 265
Carbs: 33
Fat: 7
Protein: 18

Meal: Lunch
Food: 12 oz vegetable beef barley soup, turkey breast
Cals: 345 cals
Carbs: 21
Fat: 10
Protein: 38

Meal: Snack
Food: Granola bar and yogurt
Cals: 230
Carbs: 40
Fat: 3.5
Protein: 9

Total so far:
Cals: 840; Carbs: 94; Fat: 20.5; Protein: 65

The rest of the day:
A pork burrito for dinner, with a small brownie and ice cream when folks came over for a meeting. Not fabulous, but not a binge, at least.

Total calories - I'd estimate 1600 to 1800, Carbs around 200 for the day, fat about 45 for the day, protein about 90 for the day. Not horrible.

One recovery day down, six to go

I did it! Yesterday I ate within my appropriate calorie range, all day! I didn't binge at home at night and I don't have to start fresh today - today I'm on day two! Yay!

And I'm back to working out, though this time I'm keeping my HR in the zone 2 range - I need to do true recovery and not worry about burning calories (I do need to worry about eating fewer and the right ones, though).

My run this morning was surprisingly hard - I had a slight stomachache the whole time. We ran just 65 minutes or so and skipped the biggest hills. But that's fine for a recovery week.

So, anyway, back on the wagon. Let's see how long I can keep this up.

Today's data:

Food:

Meal: Pre-workout
Food: Banana and milk in coffee
Cals: 110
Carb: 22
Fat: 3
Protein: 2

Meal: Breakfast
Food: Ham, cheese, english muffin, milk in coffee
Cals: 265
Carb: 33
Fat: 7
Protein: 18

Meal: Snack
Food: Apple and peanut butter
Cals: 150
Carb: 18
Fat: 8
Protein: 4

Meal: Lunch
Food: Salad with tuna
Cals: 300
Carb: 20
Fat: 4
Protein: 28

Meal: Snacks
Food: Yogurt and string cheese, 100 calorie cookie packet
Cals: 270
Carb: 38
Fat: 6
Protein: 18

Total so far:
Cals: 1095; Carb: 121; Fat: 28; Protein: 70

Dinner:
Food: Turkey breast, carrots
Cals: 400
Carb: 20
Fat: 8
Protein: 35

Dessert:
Food: Skinny cow ice cream sandwich
Cals: 140
Carb: 15
Fat: 3
Protein: 2

Total today: Cals: 1635; Carb: 156; Fat: 39; Protein: 107

Exercise:
Run 1 hour
Swim 30 minutes
Calories burned: 650
Circuit training, 1 hour
Calories burned: 375
Total calories burned: 1025

Not feeling bad!

I was surprised to wake up around 6 a.m. happy and not particularly sore. My quads have muscle pain, and going up or down stairs kind of hurts my knees, and my neck and back feel tired, but in general I feel better than I expected. I did skip this morning's workout - this is now a recovery week and I want to recover, since I really didn't last time I was on a recovery week.

So I'm going to take it easy and focus on proper nutrition. With the last week of family in town, major exercise, and birthday parties, I think I was eating way too much. It's time to buckle down and apply the same discipline to my eating as I do to my exercise.


Today's data:

Meal: Breakfast
Food: Ham, cheese, milk in coffee, apple, peanut butter
Cals: 305
Carb: 29
Fat: 14
Pro: 18

Meal: Lunch
Food: Turkey, carrots, broccoli, cranberry sauce, two bites of stuffing
Cals: 400
Carb: 35
Fat: 8
Pro: 28

Meal: Snack
Food: Pretzels with cheese
Cals: 150
Carb: 16
Fat: 8
Pro: 3

Total so far:
Cals: 855, Carb: 80, Fat: 30, Protein: 49

Meal: Dinner
Food: Croccantini, pork chop, green beans, potato
Cals: 600 cals
Carb: 60
Fat: 6
Pro: 30

Total for the day:

Cals: 1455, Carbs: 140, Fat: 36, Protein: 79

My first century!

Today was my first time trying to ride 100 miles in a day. We did the Daffodil Century, starting in Orting, WA. I did the ride with Danielle and one of her clients, who is pretty hard-core. The goal was to pretty much pound it out - go hard for the entire 100.

It dawned a gorgeous day - clear and sunny. It was cold in the morning, so I wore my long underwear under bike shorts, and a jacket over a sleeveless jersey. No booties, warmer gloves. It was pretty perfect for the first 50. The course was two 50-mile loops beginning and ending in downtown Orting, so I had a chance to remove the jacket and long underwear after the first half. I also changed into my lighter gloves.

There was a decent hill around mile 10, then a really big one just before 20. The rest was fairly rolling for the first half. I got a flat at the second rest stop, at mile 34, but we were able to change the tube quickly and be on our way.

It was definitely hard work keeping up with Danielle and Whitney - I know they could have ridden faster if they weren't with me.

I truly felt ready to be done at 50 miles, but of course I would never have stopped. We pushed on. At mile 59 there was a HUGE hill - the biggest yet, and steepest, and mostly in the sun. It felt good to finish that one. Then the rest of this loop was pretty fun - a rest stop at mile 71 and another at 83. I kind of bonked at mile 85 or so - I needed to have a GU, and that picked me back up.

There was an amazing, long downhill where we just flew - I hit almost 38 mph, and that was on the brakes - then we had to suffer through a super-steep uphill at mile 92. Not a fair place for a huge hill! Just as I thought I couldn't go any further (Danielle was ahead; Whitney was behind), Whitney called up that she needed to stop. Danielle motioned over to a side road, so I thought we were going to stop over there off the hill - but it turned out that the side road was the way to go! We had passed four other riders on the way there, too, and they never caught back up with us.

We had rollers for a few more miles, then met up with the main drag in to Orting. I was in the lead, and for some reason, maybe the way the wind was, maybe the adrenaline of knowing I was done soon, I was able to make one final push and keep it at 20 or 21 mph. That felt amazing.

So, I learned a bunch of things:

-- My skin is not as dark as I think it is. I need to wear sunscreen.
-- My knees get sore when I keep myself in the big chainring up hills. I should work on higher cadence, lower resistance.
-- Drafting really is worthwhile. I practiced some, but I also wanted to ride on my own since you can't draft in a triathlon.
-- I'm a good hill climber!
-- I need to have my seat up higher. I'm not getting as much power as I could.
-- I need to eat more, and more frequently. Bonking is not good.
-- Powerbars and GU are my friends. So are oranges and bananas.
-- Wearing pink is a great way to attract male attention. Why are they so dumb? Have they never seen a woman on a bicycle before?
-- I can do a century. I even think I could run afterwards. Who knows...maybe I could do an Ironman. I know I certainly have even more respect for those that have done it now!

Where am I?

I have family visiting this week, so I'm allegedly on vacation...if the definition of vacation includes big workouts every morning beginning at 5 a.m. (as usual), going in to work from 8 until 10 or so, then toting four children and my mother all over town (only two of the children are mine, but all are driving me batty).

So I'm definitely on track on my exercise and definitely struggling with eating, as usual. But it's not so bad. More next week...

A joyful ride

Today's ride was just great. I wasn't sure of the total distance before we started, but guessed it was between 50 and 60 miles. Turned out it was 58 - exactly the distance on my half-Ironman - and the rain held off on the first half of the ride, which is very hilly and has lots of turns and is on the road with cars (mostly), and then DUMPED on us for the second half on what I had called the "flat and fast" part. It wasn't fast - the wind was very strong while it was raining - and my goal was to keep it above 17 mph. I did it, with difficulty - but Matthew couldn't keep up, which made me feel accomplished. I wore him out!

I had one incident that I wasn't sure how to handle. Two runners were taking up most of the trail, but mostly on the left (going the same direction as I was, so they should have been on the right). I didn't want to bother them since there was so much room on the right, so I didn't yell "on your left" or anything. When I was very close, they started moving quickly to the right - where I was! So I swerved off the trail onto (wet) grass, and actually managed to keep most of my speed and ride on the grass for a few minutes, avoiding danger to the runners and to myself, then I resumed riding on the trail. I realize now I should have yelled "on your left, move right" to them or something, but I didn't think of it at the time. But I'm happy that I didn't hit them or fall off my bike.

One other thing I'm really happy about: I ate A LOT more today on the bike than I usually do, and I think it made a huge difference. Except for the last 17 miles, I ate about every 30 to 45 minutes. I think on the half-Iron, I'll do what I did today, except in the last 17 miles I'll switch from bars to GU, which I know I can tolerate on a run. I was definitely very hungry and about to bonk when I reached my car at the end of the ride.

Let's see if I can reconstruct today's eating:

Food:
Breakfast: Bagel and low-fat cream cheese, banana and peanut butter: 450 cals
On the ride: 1 PowerBar "trail mix" bar, 210 cals; two other Power Bars, 460 cals
Lunch: Subway sandwich, 350 cals, cookie, 140 cals
When I got home: Slice of pizza, 300 cals (John was eating it, it looked yummy)
total so far: 1900 calories

Exercise:
Bike, 4 hours and 15 minutes
2000 calories burned

Nothing to say

But I'm meal tracking (so far). I want a donut.

Today's data:

Food:
Pre-workout: Yogurt, 110 cals (I had coffee, but they forgot to put my milk in it so it has no calories)
Workout fuel: Uh, I forgot to eat :-( Not smart
Breakfast: English muffin, ham, cheese, milk in coffee: 265 cals
Lunch: 1/2 chicken sandwich from Panera Bread (yum), low-fat chicken noodle soup: 475 cals

Exercise:
Run 1 hour (30 before cycling, 30 after)
Indoor cycling 1 hour
1000 calories burned

Did I really wake up and do this?

Last night, we didn't even get home until 10:25 - and though I did go right to bed, I was sure I wouldn't be able to get up. Then when my alarm went off, John wanted to cuddle, which felt wonderful, but after about two minutes I extricated myself to go get ready. But I didn't really want to. It took me longer than usual to dress, brush my teeth, get in the car, etc.

The first part of my run, outside with Nancy and our new running buddy Alex, was fun, though I was certain that I wouldn't be able to do my 5K and certainly not faster than before. So I sort of procrastinated in changing clothing and getting on the treadmill...but eventually I did. I started out at 7.3, then I pushed it to 7.4 after the first 2K (after the first hill on the profile), then 7.5 after the second hill. And I did it! 25:04, not bad!

Still have to beat my all-time best of 24:40, but I think I can do that. Maybe next week. Here are my times so far this training season:

Mar. 9 - 26:34
Mar. 16 - 25:48
Mar. 23 - 25:17
Apr. 13 - 25:04

Wow, just realized I'm 90 seconds faster than the first time I did it. That's fairly significant for a short distance - about 30 seconds per mile!

So then I was able to lift weights and not tweak any muscles in a weird way. In fact, oddly, I feel looser and better than usual.


Today's data:

Food:
Pre-workout: 1/2 Lara bar, coffee with milk, 115 cals
Workout fuel: 1 GU, 100 cals
Breakfast: Bagel, ham, cheese, coffee with milk, pear: 500 cals
Lunch: Low-fat vegetarian minestrone soup, 120 cals
The rest of lunch: Yogurt and granola, 290 cals
Um, beer during a meeting: 150 cals
total so far: 1275 calories
And beer ruins a day. Dinner was reasonable - chicken breast, green beans, rice, but then I had two cookies totalling 350 cals. I'm not adding everything up for the day, can't deal with my fat self right now. Tomorrow will be better. I hope.

Exercise:
Run outside, 65 minutes
5K fun run, 25 minutes
Lift weights, 45 minutes
Calories burned: 1100

Feeling strong

Felt good today, despite going to bed a little late last night. For my run, I did intervals: and I had a very interesting learning.

I did a 5-minute warmup at 6.6 and flat on the treadmill, then every two minutes until 20 I increased my speed by .1. My heart rate didn't really spike until 7.0 (and not that high - low 160s). Then for the next 10 minutes, I put the speed back to 6.6 and increased the grade every minute. By about 4 minutes in, my heart rate was in the 170s. I was able to complete the set, but what I found interesting was that the added speed didn't have the effect on my heart rate that the added grade did - and I don't recover as well from grade as speed.

Compared to biking, my heart rate does the same thing: when I'm climbing on the bike, it rises faster than when I'm speeding. However: While running, I prefer speed, and while biking, I prefer grade to high cadence.

All that speaks to the fact that I think I chose the correct half-Ironman course: it's a hilly bike course and a flat run - exactly what I'll like, I think.

Today's data:

Food:
Pre-workout: Yogurt, milk in coffee: 140 cals
Workout fuel: Gu, 100 cals
Breakfast: Bagel, ham, cheese, milk in coffee: 445 cals
Lunch: Yogurt with granola, 3 oz chicken: 510 cals
Because I'm bad: Candy, 60 cals
Dinner: Passover Seder, too many random foods in small amounts, but it wasn't too bad, I don't think

Exercise:
Swim 40 minutes
Indoor cycling 60 minutes
Run 30 minutes
Total calories burned: 1000

No time to write...

But at least I'm meal-tracking. Panera Bread is WAY TOO GOOD.


Today's data:

Food:
Pre-workout: Mini-Clif bar, coffee with milk: 130 cals
Workout fuel: GU, 100 cals
Breakfast: Banana bread, ham, cheese, coffee with milk: 545 cals
Lunch: Sandwich from Panera Bread, 720 cals, apple, 60 cals
Snack: Cheese and turkey, 110 cals
Dinner: Pizza, 1000 cals
Total consumed: 2665 calories

Exercise:
Run 70 minutes
Lift weights and abdominals, 45 minutes
Bike 60 minutes
Total calories burned: 1200

Puts me even or better for the day, despite all the pizza I cared to eat :-)

If you ever want to lose the rest of it...

Ha! I told everyone I was fat, and yesterday I got proof of it.

John was working on some guy's car, and I walked by, said hello, then left. After I left, the guy apparently told John his wife was attractive and he was a lucky man. So John told him the story of my weight-loss. When I returned later on, the guy was still there. He comes over to me and says, "Can I ask you a personal question?" Wanting to be polite, I said sure. He asked me how many sizes I lost, and I said I went from an 18 to a 6. He said that was amazing, congratulations, blah blah blah. But then: "If you ever want to lose the rest of it..."

!!!

He proceeded to tell me about some spa in California where you get daily colonics and eat only raw food - "it really cleans you out" - but I was only half-listening because I had to run upstairs to my bathroom to puke. Okay, not really. But I did have to run to the bathroom to look in the mirror and see what I looked like - did I look particularly fat? I was dressed a little weirdly for me - jeans with a long-sleeve technical shirt I usually only wear for running outside in cold weather (but I had planned to bike with Gabriel, so I was half-dressed for it). Anyway, I didn't look particularly big, I thought, but boy did my flaws just pop out of the mirror yesterday. More so than usual.

Anyway, it made me rededicate myself to a hard workout today. I did a 40 minute swim, 60 on the bike, then 30 on the treadmill. Yay.

Today's data:
Food:
Pre-workout: Banana and milk in coffee, 110 cals
Workout fuel: 1 GU, 100 cals
Breakfast: English muffin, ham, cheese, milk in coffee: 265 cals (prob should eat more)
Snack: Yogurt, 110 cals
Lunch: 8 oz chicken noodle soup (100), small salad with chicken (200), 1/2 piece bread (50), "fruit snack" thing (45), 395 cals
Snack: Clif "Nectar" bar: 170 cals
Another snack: Turkey and cheese: 120 cals
total so far: 1270 calories
I'm not confessing to the rest. Suffice to say I did my usual - I ate a healthy dinner, but munched on anything in sight. :-(

Exercise:
Swim 40 minutes
Indoor cycling 1 hour
Run 30 minutes
Calories burned: 1000

Cycling 101

I took a class today about riding my bike in a group (paceline) and basic road riding skills. It was in Seattle, so I rode there - the long way. :-) Not all the way from home, because I had planned to ride back alone, but from the Microsoft campus in Issaquah. I figured it would give me 30 miles each way (20 miles on a bike trail, 10 on a road with a good bike lane), and I was right on target.

Matthew rode with me there and we averaged 17 mph, which is pretty good considering what I did yesterday. I got there exactly on time, so I was happy about that, and it only rained a few drops. On the way home, though, it decided to pour. Fortunately my friend Wendy (who I think I met in the Pro Club locker room, ha ha) was in the class too and felt like riding. Originally she planned to ride halfway back with me, then turn around and head back to her car. But then because of the rain and because neither of us had major time pressure today, we decided she would ride with me all the way back to Issaquah, then I would drive her back to Seattle. So that was nice - I had company the whole way back, which really does feel safer. But we got WET - I have never ridden in such rain before! My "waterproof" jacket soaked through. Oh well. That's what you get when you live here! We averaged 14 mph on the way back, but I was pretty happy with that, too.

Let's see, what did I eat today? A whole lot. Fortunately there's not much to snack on in the house, so I was fairly good. No cookies. :-)

Food:
Breakfast: Bagel and cream cheese: 300 cals
Snack: Some new clif bar (nuts and pretzels or something? Pretty yummy): 220 cals
First half of lunch: Turkey and cheese on 1/2 bagel: 250 cals
On the road: GU, 100 cals
Second half of lunch: Turkey and cheese on 1/2 bagel: 250 cals, coffee with half-half: 40 cals
Another lunch when I got home from Seattle: Leftover chinese food, 500 cals; M&Ms, 100 cals
More food because I was hungry: Cheese and crackers, 130 cals; peach, 70 cals
total so far: 1960 calories

Exercise:
Bike 60 miles plus 7 in class: 2400 calories

Total calories burned for the day: 3500 calories (I need to say this, because I'm likely to eat dinner too, and I just have to point out that I've been burning calories outside of the time I was riding/wearing a HR monitor)

The Gambler's Run

Big good workout today! Hard, too. 30 minute swim followed by all-out indoor cycling followed by the Gambler's Run. Here's how it works:

Warm up at a slow jog for 3 minutes - I initially picked 6.0 on the treadmill as my jog speed
With a standard deck of cards, shuffled with two jokers, choose a card every minute for 54 minutes. They mean:
Numbers 2-10: Increase grade by .5 (so 2 is .5, 10 is 4.5)
Joker: Increase speed by .5
Jack: Increase speed by 1.0
Queen: Increase speed by 1.5
King: Increase speed by 2.0

Aces reset everything - grade and speed. The kicker, of course, is that if you're running at 6.0, and you get a 7, you have to start running at 6.0 with a 3% grade. Then if your next card is a King, you increase to 8.0 - but you don't lose the grade!!!

So it was WAY hard, and halfway through I had to drop the base speed to 5.5 so that a King was a 7.5 instead of an 8. My heart rate was in the 170s to 180s the entire time - it was WORK!


Today's data:

Food:
Pre-workout: Banana and coffee with milk: 110 cals
Breakfast: Bagel with cream cheese, 400 cals
Um, I'm finishing this on Saturday, and I forgot the rest. :-(

Exercise:
Swim 30 minutes
Indoor cycling 60 minutes
Run 60 minutes
Total calories burned: 1250

Must Rest and Recover

Okay, this morning I just could not get out of bed. My knee hurts and I'm tired and cranky. I think it's because I didn't take much of a recovery last week, and I should have.

So I bagged on my run and weight lifting, and I don't think I'm going to make it up later. I might not exercise tomorrow if I don't feel a whole lot better. We'll see.

I'm also going to rededicate myself to a good diet. It's not right that I can have discipline around exercising but not eating - what is wrong with me?

So I'm going to properly meal-track and only eat the right things and stick to 1400 to 1600 calories per day.

So here's today:

Food:
Breakfast: Ham and cheese, yogurt and granola (from home), 2% milk in coffee: 450 calories
Snack: Luna bar, 180 cals
Lunch: Thai chicken and vegetables (no rice), 400 calories
total so far: 1030 calories
Um...okay....chinese food for dinner, then eating the wrong things after dinner (chocolate is my downfall).

Oh well, try again tomorrow.

Where am I?

Ugh. Off track as far as food, I can't bear the thought of meal tracking. I need some motivation.

I'm on track for exercise, which sort of makes it worse - why can I be so good at only one part of something so important???

Tomorrow I'm going to try harder.

Half-Iron Swim - no problem!


Today's Data:

Food:
Pre-workout: Larabar and milk in coffee, 150 cals
Breakfast: Granola and cottage cheese, ham and cheese, milk in coffee: 405 cals
Snack: Grapes and string cheese, 120 cals
Lunch: Turkey and broccoli, 200 cals, piece of candy, 40 cals
Snack #1: Creamsicle! 110 cals
Snack: Yogurt and grapes, 170 cals
Total so far: 1095


Exercise:
Swim 1 hour
Run 45 minutes
Calories burned: 800

Catch-Up

I will catch up on the weekend, really - it was just so busy.

In general: I ate a lot, but probably okay.

Exercise: 35-mile ride in the rain Saturday morning; 24 mile ride in the sun Sunday afternoon.

More later, maybe.