follow-up since St. George trip

After I got back from St. George, which was SO restful, it took about 2-3 days for me to totally crash and burn. The fatigue hit me like a ton of bricks, and I have absolutely no idea why. I didn't overload my schedule when I returned, so...? Thankfully it was only bad for about a week, and I think maybe now I'm starting to feel better?

I've done a lot of elliptical lately, since I bought a used one for my house :), and the weather has been cold and nasty with a lot of snow. Plus I'm trying to take it easy on my body, with the fatigue and all.

So....the upshot is that today was the first day I racewalked since going to St. George, and it felt like it :(. I did 5K in 33:15, with some rolling hills (~20m), which isn't bad, but I was breathing SO hard, and my HR was up in the 160s. Sigh...all fitness gone. But at least I got to walk.

In other news, I went back to my Weight Watchers meeting on Saturday, after not going for 8 months. Yup, it was ugly. I had gained 15lb and am up to 174.0. Dang it. Well, what can I expect? I'm a recovering food addict and I have got to stay on track. So I'm back, and have work to do. I reset my goal weight to 160lb because I'm not walking competitively right now and that's a more realistic # given my fatigue. Back on the wagon - and I'm feeling great about tracking and monitoring food intake again :).

elliptical; 8K

I feel great. This weekend away has been very rejuvenating. I'm sure by the time I'm back home for a couple days I'll be tired again, but for now, it's good. I have to address that tired at home part - have been discussing strategies with Loren so that I don't get so worn out. I'm not good at asking for help, and that's a goal for the next month or two so that I can get through the daily routine more easily.

Exercise-wise, I did the elliptical yesterday for an hour, and otherwise relaxed, read a LOT of books (I think I've read 6 books this weekend!), watched football with Loren, and colored in the adult coloring book my sister-in-law got me for Christmas.

Today, I did 8km. My shins were sore (very sore! haha!) from the 10km on Saturday, but I knew it would still feel good to get out. Obviously I haven't been walking enough (though in part the shin soreness was from the hills). The rest of me was a bit sore too - core, mostly, but even my arms were a little sore. Geez. On the plus side, it tells you what a great total-body workout racewalking is. As for the 8km, it went quite well. I picked a much flatter route through neighborhoods, which wasn't as interesting as yesterday's route but was gently rolling, a lot like my typical workout at home. Still, it is very pretty here with the red rock and snowy mountains behind it, so it's not like it was boring. My legs (except shins haha!) felt good for about 6km and then were a bit tired the last 2km, but not too bad.

I'm enjoying the thaw-out from the cold and inversion (bad air) in Salt Lake. It was chilly for St. George this morning at 33F (1C) but the high temp predicted for Salt Lake is 30 today, so obviously I'm liking the weather here. I wasn't cold at all with long-sleeve, tights, and gloves, and the gorgeous sun felt amazing. In fact, I took off the gloves near the end of the workout; I'm sure it warmed up some while I was out.

My speed was about what you'd expect right now at 6:45/km. I'll take it. Average HR was 141. Here's the fitbit data. I forgot my Garmin, remember? :)

attempting to get back in action

It's been a month (!) since I've posted, but I really have been trying to get back in action. That was only slightly derailed by holiday company and planning, as I got exercise pretty much daily, whether 5-6km racewalking, or 30-45 min elliptical, or cross-country skiing (yay! fun!).

More problematic was the first week of January, when I 1) got a severe stomach flu, and 2) 2 days later had my tooth implant installed (previously scheduled). That did set me back a bit. But last week I felt like I was able to ease back into things, and better yet, I'm now in St. George for the weekend for some MUCH needed R&R with Loren and without the kids (left our housemate Kenzie to watch house and dogs, and my parents are watching the kids). It's excellent. I think we are going to have to do this more often. Not that I don't love my kids, but they are a lot of work, and every mom needs a break sometimes.

So yesterday I did an hour (! the luxury! to have an hour!) on the elliptical and then this morning I decided that since that had felt pretty good I'd try 10km racewalking. The 10km went pretty well, though I tracked it in two separate instances on my Fitbit because 1) I forgot my Garmin (grrr!) and 2) I misread the Fitbit and thought I was at 10km when really I'd just taken 10000 steps on my walk, which was 9.16km. So then I had to do an extra 0.84km to get the 10km, but I was motivated. I really wanted that 10km under my belt.

Keep in mind that it was VERY hilly (there's nowhere flat that's convenient here), and that I'm *very* out of shape and about 15 lb over racing weight. Therefore, I was super slow. But it's something, and I'm out there again.

Total time was 1:03:20 + 6:15 for 1:09:35 (6:58/km). Wow, that's so slow. ***MUST NOT GET DEPRESSED*** yelling to myself. ***YOU GOT OUT THERE AND THAT'S WHAT MATTERS***. [end of rant]. My average HR was pretty low - the first 9.16km it was 134 according to my Fitbit, but that HR monitor is NOT as accurate as my Garmin chest strap, and that seems low for how I felt.

My legs felt good for 7km, then quite tired the last 3km, which is totally reasonable for how little I've RW lately. My left foot was a bit sore at the end of the walk, on the lateral side. Will keep an eye on that.

Here's a photo. I really did enjoy myself :). And the weather is SO much better here than in Salt Lake! It was 45F (7.2C) and overcast with an occasional slight drizzle, but that is really nice in my book --- my last walk in SLC was so icy that I was terrified. It's been as cold as 2F (-17C) at our house, so 45 feels delightful.