Feeling better!

I haven't blogged in a couple weeks, but it's only been because of busyness. I have been feeling much better overall, and have been walking a lot more. Though I'm still not feeling totally normal, it's much improved.

It's been ridiculously cold and/or snowy, so it's been hard to walk outside as much as I'd like. Good thing I have the option of the indoor track! Sometimes, I've walked outside anyway, and it's been slippery; hence, my times were slower those days.

Here's a summary of what I've been up to:
Wed, Dec 4: elliptical, 45 min
Thurs, Dec 5: 8.78km racewalking, slippery - outside, Garmin data here. 6:32/km w/ave HR 141. -13C with wind chill -18C. Cold!
Fri, Dec 6: 6km racewalking, hilly route - outside, Garmin data here.  6:32/km w/ave HR 141 again. -12C with wind chill -19C. Brrr...
Sat, Dec 7: elliptical, 45 min
Sun, Dec 8: snowshoeing with Calvin, 45 min.
Mon, Dec 9: 5K on indoor track, followed by 10 min elliptical. On the indoor track I tend to push harder for some reason. 5K took 30:33 for 6:05/km with ave HR 148. My legs had a bit of the odd soreness at the end, so I stopped.
Tues, Dec 10: 6.25K Liberty Park route. It was really cold again, at -13C (wind chill -18C). I felt tired, and did only 6:28/km with ave HR 145. My eyelashes and eyebrows froze… uncomfortable.
Wed, Dec 11: 30 min elliptical. I needed some recovery.
Thurs, Dec 12: 8K on indoor track in 49:14 (6:09/km) with ave HR 150. Didn't have the odd soreness until about 7km in to the walk :). My legs were feeling great the rest of the day!
Fri, Dec 13: Much warmer outside at just -8C. It was actually not too bad. My legs were tired from the 8K, and so I just did 6.25km at 6:25/km for total time of 40:13 with ave HR 142.
Sat, Dec 14: I felt pretty good this morning, so decided on a longer walk. The weather was decent, too - almost felt warm at -4C with no wind. I decided to try for 10km. I haven't walked that far in a long time. I know, it's a bit sad since that used to be an easy recovery, but I'm just glad to be getting back into things. At 8km I did get very tired, and the odd muscle soreness was bothering me, but I felt strong enough to make it to 10km! At about 5.3km I walked by a friend's house and she was taking out her trash, so I stopped to talk with her for a bit - nice to see her. The break helped me feel refreshed and able to do the 10km. Total was 10km in 1:03:38 for 6:22/km with ave HR 147.

Summary:
Week of Dec 1-7: 33.8km (21 miles)
Week of Dec 8-14: 35.5km (22 miles)

OK, so the mileage totals are pretty much laughable, but it's the most I've done since January, between illness and injury. I know it will increase as I continue to feel better. Edited: nope, I did more for some weeks in August… but it's the most since then for sure.

Meanwhile, I haven't been doing as well with my eating. It's a hard time of the year to be disciplined, and I have fallen down a bit this week. I lost 1.8 lb over 3 weeks, but then gained 2.2 lb this week. Sigh… I am still above my goal weight for Weight Watchers, so I have to pay weekly fees. You'd think that would motivate me, but it's been challenging. But being able to racewalk again is helping my mood, which will help with my eating, and hopefully start an upward spiral.

There's a lot of work ahead, with eating and with training. Time to get serious.