Since I haven't been training, it's been easier to post less frequently. But things are looking up and I might post more often now, depending on how things go.
This week has been a good one, continuing the upward trend. I continue to have a good amount of energy to get through each day, and I am more able to exercise. Yay! It wasn't a good week at all in the food department, but that's another story. I will address that issue below.
Exercise:
Monday: 40 min elliptical
Tuesday: 45 min elliptical
Wednesday & Thursday: rest days - but due to lack of time, not energy - this one falls into the poor planning department. Usually exercise is my #1 priority, but I kind of blew it this week. I was presenting zebrafish stuff to my kids' classes Thursday morning and just didn't plan far enough in advance, so those days were full of last-minute cramming and extra work to make up for missed hours. Enough said. Lame excuse, but it is what it is.
Friday: 5K racewalk with Kelly (YAY! Kelly's knee is getting better!), in 31:45 for 6:20/km. My legs felt really very good and didn't hurt much afterward. Amazing!
Saturday: 1 hour elliptical
Sunday: 8K racewalk in 48:29 for 6:03/km with ave HR 147! Wooo hoo! Some good speed, and my legs didn't give out at the end, and they have just been moderately sore the rest of the day. In fact, after my racewalk I still had enough energy and stamina for a nice easy 2.5K walk to church and then back once the service was over. 8K is the longest walk I've done since September 16, and this is the fastest I've walked 8K in a much longer time than that. Am I really on the mend? I'm almost daring to hope that I am.
I have continued to eat more protein, and more of everything else as well, contributing to some serious weight gain. I'm not beating myself up, just stating it like it is. I finally bit the bullet and went to Weight Watchers on Saturday. I needed to 'fess up and move on. I needed my meeting and the accountability. I weighed in at 163.8 lb (74.5 kg), way over my goal weight of 155 lb, and way more than the 148 lb that I like to race at. I had to pay for being overweight for the first time in 7 years. I thought it would be humiliating, but honestly, it was refreshing to be back, to get my head on straight, and to start over fresh. I am going to attend every week until I feel things are back to normal again, and then go back to a couple times a month. It will take a while to take the weight off, but I'm OK with that. I just need things to get moving in the right direction again.
Back to exercise: so why am I feeling better? My best guess is B12 and protein deficiency combined to make me feel lousy (fatigue, sore muscles, pain) and once the B12 levels were up I still wasn't eating enough protein until the end of September when I realized that might be a problem. It's not Weight Watchers' fault - I wasn't following their good health guidelines very well. Because of my racewalking, I cut way back on dairy, which in retrospect was probably not the problem with my GI distress (I'm still not sure what causes my runner's trots, but I suspect it's a combination of a sensitive intestinal tract and eating just a little too much the day before a long walk? I also think the higher protein diet is helping a lot with that - we'll see when I get back to long walks again). In addition, I was trying to eat less meat to be more environmentally friendly and more healthful. I wasn't conscientious about replacing it with nuts or legumes, and therefore I actually wasn't eating enough protein when I started calculating how many grams I was getting per day - rare for an American, but seemingly true for me. Now that I'm on B12 supplements and eating more protein, I hope I will continue to feel better and get back to my new normal: athletic and enjoying it!
I had the best time on my walk this morning - I just felt so normal again! I saw my friend Henry at the park, stopped to chat a bit and told him I was feeling better. The weather was just lovely - chilly but sunny and calm, and SO beautiful. It was only 37F (about 3C) but our fall weather has been so amazing this year...I know the snow is coming but I'm in denial. Anyway, it was gorgeous today, and I was just SO VERY HAPPY that my legs felt decent. They felt pretty good until the last 1km, and yeah, I got tired. But it was a more normal tired and not that horrible pain-tired I've been having (well, maybe a little bit). The rest of the day I have had some soreness when I sit too long, but it's been pretty good, really. I am going to cross-train tomorrow, but plan to RW on Tuesday with Kelly.
Here's my Garmin data for the walk today.
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