SLC half marathon 2010

I was SO excited to get to do a 1/2 marathon again :)! Have not gone 13.1 since October at the Nike Women's Marathon. Plus, despite the fact that this race is generally somewhat poorly-organized, I like the course a lot, and I love being out in the great spring weather.

The weather was PERFECT this morning. 50F (10C) and sunny, and a gentle breeze. By the finish it might have been 60F, but I wasn't too hot. It was very, very nice. Loving it after the winter and the snow.

I met Leah and took the train from 21st South to downtown, but we had a bit of a snafu getting to the start as the first train that came by downtown (we had to switch to the University line) was full. The 2nd train was almost full. We got on and pretty soon it was totally PACKED. It was a long 15-min ride to the U! Got off and dropped my gear bag, and then it was race time - yeah, that was cutting it pretty close. Next time we'll take the train from the Gateway.

The start was crowded but since the race is chip-timed I didn't care. Took about 6 min to cross the starting line. This race is nice because it is a very easy course - lots of downhill in the first 6 miles. Then mostly flat until mile 11, which has a long hill to mile 12, and then downhill/flat to the finish. With all the adrenaline and everyone around having so much fun, I got off to a fast start even though I thought I was taking it easy. First mile was 9:46 (sorry, no km splits because they didn't have km signs in the race). Oops, kinda fast, but considering the downhill, not bad. The 2nd mile is flatter and I did that in 10:31. I think I'll list the rest of the splits below. Basically, through mile 6 I was faster than planned because of the downhill, and then I was pretty much on pace (had planned on 6:50/k or 11:00/mile) for the rest of the race. Remember, I was not trying to actually race this - was taking it easy since I have not trained to race this distance since injuring my foot.

I felt awesome through about mile 8, and then my legs were a bit tired. Lungs were good, though, and it was quite enjoyable to do this race without pushing the pace at all. I enjoyed catching tidbits of the runners' conversations, looking at the spring flowers which were bursting out everywhere, hearing the cheers of the many spectators, and seeing a few people I knew. Pete from church waved and said "Go Tammy!" about mile 9, and my swimming coach (who finished the race WAY before me - she is a pro triathlete) cheered me on about mile 11.5 as I was going up the hill on State St.

I did push the pace just a little - instead of taking it totally "easy", I probably did easy-moderate. But it felt SO comfortable compared to how I've raced this one in the past. Much more enjoyable (in some ways) to take it slower, though of course I enjoy racing hard too :).

A few gripes - less-organized than usual (scary!) - the aid station at mile 6 had NO WATER (and I really wanted some) and many of the others were behind on pouring it or handing it to you. The gear check pick-up was horribly horribly disorganized with a LONG line. I was lucky to find my bag in a pile instead of waiting for it (this was a small miracle). I like this course a lot, but the race management is obviously not that great.

I got lots of fun comments from runners today. I usually do, but today they were funnier than usual.

"Wow, she'd be really good at Zumba!"
From a runner I passed, somewhat tongue-in-cheek, "I'm mad at you!"
"Look at those hips!"

And the usual comments,
"Awesome!"
"Wow, you are fast!"
"She's walking faster than I'm running!"

Even got one "Good form!" from a spectator. Not sure if they actually knew anything about RW, but it was nice anyway.

Here are my splits, ave pace/km, and HR for each. I didn't get a split every mile (somehow missed some of the mile markers). Remember that there were significant downhills on miles 1, 3-4, and 6.

Mile 1 9:46, 6:19/km, 153 (I think my heart rate monitor wasn't quite sweaty enough yet, because I know I was not pushing that hard - it was registering cadence, or interference or something)
Mile 2 10:31, 6:33/km, 143
Miles 3-4 20:22, 6:21/km, 143
Mile 5 11:04, 6:47/km, 142
Miles 6-7 21:23, 6:37/km, 142
Miles 7-8 22:11, 6:54/km, 140
Mile 9 11:07, 6:52/km, 145
Mile 10 11:03, 6:50/km, 144
Mile 11 11:28, 7:12/km, 145 (big hill)
Mile 12-13.1 11:37, 6:22/km, 149 (downhill, and I accelerated a bit to the finish)

Final time: 2:20:27, 8 seconds faster than my first 1/2 marathon in 2007. Guess I've improved a bit since then...taking it easy, I was faster :).

My foot feels pretty good. It's slightly achy and a little warm, so I'm icing it. But I think it's going to be 100% fine. I plan to swim tomorrow to give it a little rest. I'm really glad that it held up so well :). Things are definitely looking up! Now to get that eating under control and lose the 7 lb I have put on since the Portland Marathon. But that's another story.

There are lots of pictures from the race here. I took more pictures this time than usual, since I wasn't racing hard. Not bad shots considering that I was RW at the time, and it's a teeny little camera.

Gymnastics meet

Last weekend we took the kids to the NCAA regional women's gymnastics meet. It was incredible to watch 6 teams competing all at once - so much to take in at a time. We had a great time, though the meet was long (3 hr) and I was glad we had brought our iPodTouches to entertain the kids with. They watched the meet for a while but did get bored.

Here are some photos - my lenses aren't good enough to capture the motion w/o some blurring, but I still got some interesting pictures.

Utah came in 2nd place in the meet, ensuring a berth in the national meet next weekend. Florida was 1st, and they were truly amazing to watch. All in all, a great time.

my kids are gonna be science geeks :)

I brought home some dry ice to play with. It's really fun when you add water and some soap! We taught them that dry ice is made of carbon dioxide, and that it sublimates from solid to gas at atmospheric pressure. Don't know how much they will remember, but they had a great time.

Liberty Park 6K fartlek

Yesterday I did 10k VERY easy racewalking (ave HR 133!) in 1:08:30ish. I felt sluggish and decided not to push it. Then did my PT and some weight training --- hamstring one-legged dead lifts, some one-legged squats, calf raises (which are part of my PT), and a bunch of other stuff, including lots of abs.

***

Today I warmed up with 2K over to Liberty Park in about 12:50 or so; forgot to push the lap button before my first hard 1K of the fartlek, so I don't know for sure how long it took but I think about 5:45. Here's a summary of what I did. The # in parentheses are average heart rate OR ave/max HR for an interval. The recovery intervals (medium effort) I only put ave HR.

2k w/u in 12:50 (downhill), then 6k fartlek (1k 5:45, 500m med 3:12 (148), 500m hard 2:56 (161/164), 500m med 3:24 (151), 500m hard 2:49 (162/168), 500m med 3:20 (149), 500m hard 2:56 (162/167), 500m med 3:37 (149), 500m hard 2:52 (161/166), 500m med 3:26 (150), 500m hard 2:58 (162/166), 2.14k c/d uphill 15:42 (141).

I did not push quite as hard as I did last week on the 5K fartlek; close, but not as much. I felt I pushed too hard on the last one last week, and it left me not wanting to do it again. So this time I went comfortably hard (if there is such a thing?). I felt great when I was done, and guess what? My foot was feeling VERY very good almost the whole time. On the last hill up to my house I felt a little something. I really am thinking that maybe, just maybe, I might be turning the corner on this. We'll see how it feels later today. Now I'm icing it and then off to work.

I feel GREAT this morning. I woke up in a decent mood despite several things that are bugging me (excess weight I can't seem to shed because I keep eating too much junk, some job issues for the husband, etc.). I didn't really want to do a hard workout, but once I got warmed up, I felt really good and was ready to go. My legs got pretty tired by the 5th interval or so, but not too bad...better than they have been.

It probably helps my mood that the weather is GORGEOUS today. It was 42 and calm when I left the house, and now it's up to 47. Supposed to be in the 70s today! Spring here is so weird. Days like this alternate with snow like we had on Tuesday.

I work today but not tomorrow this week, so I'll have off until Tuesday. Plus I get to do the Salt Lake City 1/2 marathon (albeit at an easy pace) on Saturday. I'm psyched! Going to be a fun weekend.

Tuesday track - scratch that - treadmill workout

Today there was 2" of snow on my lawn. It always snows here in April, and it's generally annoying. We need the water, and the skiers love it, but me? Not so much. The track was likely to be under snow, because though my sidewalk was clear, the track is a few hundred feet higher in elevation and usually has more snow. So I opted for the treadmill.

The treadmill in my basement does have certain conveniences. 1) Proximity to the bathroom. I wasn't sure my GI system was fully recovered from whatever was bugging me Sunday (it turned out to be fine). 2) No drive required. 3) Clothing is more flexible - I can wear a sports bra & shorts and no one will stare. 4) I have a nice fan, and our basement is cool in the winter (about 60F unless we turn on the space heater). 5) I can put the TV on any channel I like.

I got started, warming up at 5.5 mph for 0.9 miles in 10 min, followed by some flexibility drills. Then I cranked up the speed to 6.4 and let 'er rip. I did 2K (1.24 miles) in 11:30 or so (but remember, it's a treadmill and therefore the distances are approximate). Then 4-min recovery (supposed to be 3, but I messed up somehow!), then 2K at 6.3 mph (turned it down because I was supposed to keep 85% effort, and 6.4 was a little fast) in 11:58 (obviously that lap time was a little long - probably pressed it before belt fully accelerated). After 3' recovery, I did 1K, 2' recovery (supposed to be 3, but Michelle came downstairs and I changed the channel for her (to the Disney channel :)!) and then in my distracted state thought it was time to go 1 min early), and finally another 1K. Both 1Ks were at 6.3 mph, and I did them in 5:58, 5:53 (should be the same, but lap timing and acceleration to 6.3 from slower pace make this off a bit).

Average HR for the intervals/max HR:
2K 155/163
2K 158/167
1K 158/166
1K 159/167

A good, hard effort. It was tough, but not impossibly hard. I was definitely feeling the pain, but that's where you want to be to make some gains. My legs are not quite as tired as they were a few wks ago on these workouts. Lungs still hurting though!

I cooled down with about 10 min of a slower pace, keeping HR in the mid-130s, and then walked slowly for a couple minutes to finish.

Afterward I iced my foot for 15 min or so. It felt totally fine during and immediately after the workout. Later this morning it was ever-so-slightly-achy so I iced it at lunch.

***

Forgot to post yesterday's x-training: 30 min on bike, 45 min weight training (total body supersets --- chest, hips, hamstrings, calves, shoulders, back, lats, etc.) plus abs & my PT exercises. Later in the day, 10 min bike at PT and some new PT exercises. Foot was slightly achy after PT but not bad.

***

Drove by the track on the way to work. It looked slushy, so I was glad I stayed indoors this morning. Better not to risk injury.

15k Sunday

Today was my longest walk in a long time. I think the last time I did 15k (9.3 miles) or more was in October at the Nike Women's Marathon. The weather was good --- warm at 55F; I wore SHORTS and a short-sleeved shirt! No gloves or hat, either! Nice :). Supposed to get colder & rainy again this week though.

It felt good to go long again...sort of. I had some serious GI issues that I think might have been a virus, or something weird I ate. I didn't have any dairy yesterday, so not sure what the deal is. I had some pain starting 25 min into workout and it continued on and off for the rest of the workout, sometimes so intensely that I had to stop. Ugh! It did ease a bit by an hour or so into the workout, but bothered me most of the rest of the day :(.

The other problem was my orthotics. The left one from the podiatrist started rubbing my foot on the outside (opposite where it has been hurting from the tendonitis). Annoying! Will have to call and get that fixed, because it was causing a blister.

The injury site didn't hurt at all during my walk. Later in the day after standing a lot at a birthday party it was bugging me, but I iced it and think it's OK now. Am not going to RW tomorrow so that should help. Maybe some biking then my weight training class.

Today's summary: 15k in 1:42:36 for 6:50/km (11:01/mile), ave HR 139.

***

"Outing" the coach :). I got permission...I guess I am not too embarrassing despite my rank amateur-ness. Seriously, I think he is interested in new clients who love RW, even if they are amateurs :). So if you are looking, tell him I sent you.

He's an Aussie named Jim Leppik, and he coaches Erin Taylor, who won the 50K national championships in February in Arizona. She also raced Portland-to-Coast last year, on the winning MEN'S team (they are allowed 2 women on a men's team), the only team to beat the team I was on (we were the winning women's team). He's quite knowledgeable about RW and biomechanics, and has written me a challenging schedule to prep for July's USATF Masters' National Championships. He seems to get the psychology end of things too...so if you are looking for a coach, you should consider him.

***

Weight Watchers this week: up 1.2 lb :(. Yeah, Easter candy. I know better. 2 more weeks to try to salvage my goals for 6 weeks. Not sure it's going to happen, but at least let's get things moving in the right direction again. I'm feeling optimistic.

5K fartlek, and a little surprise :)

This morning I was to do a 5K fartlek. "Fartlek" means speed play, and usually it is short bursts of speed followed by brief recovery; however, my coach wanted me to do a very specific fartlek. I was to warm up, then do 1 km hard, 500m medium, 500m hard, and alternate 500m med/hard until the end. And so I did.

By the way, I have not "outed" my coach yet because I'm not sure that my coach wants to publicly claim me yet, seeing as how I'm a pretty rank amateur at the moment. I have to make sure it is OK first. But I guess it's kind of obvious that my coach is not an American, since my workouts are all in km :).

Anyway, back to the workout. I warmed up by walking to Liberty Park (2.14 km to the south middle entrance - in 13:31, for 6:19/km for the warm-up - note that it is downhill, so not really as fast as it sounds!) and then did some dynamic flexibility drills. Right piriformis is still tight :( but not bothering me too much. The drills help with that a bit and keep things looser. Then I started the fartlek. The distances are all by my Garmin, so they are bound to be off by a bit.

I did the first 1K in 5:51 (ave HR 159), then 500m medium in 3:08 (oops, a little fast, w/ave HR 157).

Then 500m fast in 2:58 with ave HR 166 (now we're getting a workout!), and 500m medium in 3:24 (ave HR 156).

Next, 500m fast in 2:54 (ave HR 167), 500m medium in 3:18 (ave HR 156),

Then 500m hard in 2:50 (! wow ! I'm getting faster! That's 5:40/km! ... and ave HR 167) and 500m medium in 3:42 (recoveries getting longer...ave HR 155)

Finally 500m fast in 2:56 (ave HR 168). That last fast one was a killer; max HR was 172 and it really HURT. AND it wasn't all that fast. Guess I got tired, but I got tired later than I would have two weeks ago, that's for sure.

Hopefully the hard workouts will start paying off in terms of faster times. These are faster than I have been doing, but not sure the Garmin is accurate enough to tell. Will be at the track Tuesday and that's the gold standard.

After the 5K fartlek, I was a little ways around the park, so I had to walk about 2.31K easy to get home. That took a long time, because it's uphill and I was tired; I did it in 17:31 at 7:36/km (very sloooow but that's fine after a hard workout like that).

I'm pleased with the workout. My foot felt totally fine during the workout and is a little sore now, 7 hours later, but I iced it and am going to take a short nap. I'm glad the foot is OK but not sure how it will take this back-to-back with the 15K I am supposed to do tomorrow. I think it will be fine...I hope.

***
Later in the morning, I took Calvin to the newly remodeled Highland High track for a workout for him. He has a 1K kids' race on Saturday, and I want him to be able to run the whole way. After today, I'm not worried about that - he can totally do it. He did 2.5 laps (1K) no problem, running the whole way, and didn't seem that tired at the end. It took him 7:30 (not bad for a kid his age, I think!). Afterwards, he wanted to run around on the letters on the hill next to the track (HH and RAMS, for the Highland High Rams), so I let him. Then he did not want to go home, and wanted to go play in SugarHouse Park (adjoining), so we went over there (Michelle too) and played on the playground for a while. Oh, the boundless energy of youth.

***

A little surprise :). My schedule has me doing 20K on Sunday 4/18, and since the SLC Half Marathon (13.1 miles, or about 21K) is on 4/17, I decided to sign up for it. A half marathon? Am I crazy? Nope. I am going to do it EASY, and I really will. I realize that to do it fast might hurt my foot, and besides, I can't do it fast - I am nowhere near trained to go fast at that distance. I just thought it would be more fun to do an easy half marathon with lots of spectators than to do the easy 20K by myself the next day. Some of my friends are doing the race, and I really enjoy that course, so what the heck. Why not?!? I signed up today. Even an easy pace should land me at the finish in about 2:24, in plenty of time to see Calvin do his 1K race at 10:45 am (the 1/2 starts at 7:00 am).

ticklefest

Michelle was trying to put watery milk in Loren's mouth :). He was tickling her to prevent it. It was all hilarious!!!

no foot pain :)

My foot didn't hurt at all today :).

I did an easy 8k racewalking, which for some reason did not feel easy, despite the x-training yesterday. Muscles felt sore and tired, but it was still so great to be out there. I did the 8k in a little over 55 min; my Garmin said 6:58/km which is maybe 11:10/mile. That's pretty darn slow, but oh well. At least my foot didn't hurt!

I then went to weight training and did a LOT of core work plus my PT exercises. I felt virtuous for doing all of that :).

Tomorrow? A hard 5K fartlek is on the agenda. I hope my foot is up to it. I've had a few setbacks since starting my hard training almost 2 weeks ago, but overall things are going well I think. It's 3 steps forward, 2 steps back, which seems to be typical for recovery from injury. I'm learning this the hard way, having been injured a lot in the last year.

resting the foot

Yesterday I did an easy 12k, but it didn't feel very easy after the tough interval workout I did on the treadmill on Tuesday. My legs were heavy, and my obliques and hamstrings were pretty sore. I was slow, too; had trouble pushing hard enough to get my heart rate in the usual range for my easy pace. Usually I keep it in the upper 130s to low 140s, but the average yesterday was 134. I'm out of shape for RW I guess, despite all the cross-training. Oh well.

My foot was pretty sore last night, so I iced it a lot and rested. I decided to play it by ear as to whether I'd RW or swim this morning, and when I woke, my foot was still a bit sore, so I opted for the swim.

My swimming was not so good today. The workout was challenging, and I just couldn't keep up. I did about 400 yd for the warm-up, and then we launched into an endurance workout of sorts. 400 easy, then 400 hard (goal was 1:45 for 100 yd on the hard segments), 300 easy, 300 hard, 200 easy, 200 hard, 100 easy. I would have been able to hit 1:50 for 100 yd on the hard segments OK, but today just didn't have it in me to do the 1:45 for those distances. I would do the first 100 in 1:45, but then the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th 100s (or however many there were in the set) would be slower; say 1:50. Ugh. My lane-mates were much faster and had no trouble making the intervals, though they were saying it was a good hard workout. Still, it was demoralizing not to be able to come close to keeping up. Oh well. I had to drop a couple 50s to stay with them :(.

The good news is that my foot felt pretty good the rest of the day, and I think I am ready to walk the easy 8k on my schedule for tomorrow (well, it was supposed to be today, and x-train tomorrow, but I switched them). Then on Saturday I have a harder workout, so hopefully the foot will be up for it.

very snowy day = treadmill time!

At least we knew it was coming. There's about 4 inches (10 cm) of snow on the ground here right now at our house, and a bit more at the track & at the gym (higher elevation). There's not much on our sidewalks because it isn't all that cold (30F, -0.8C), so I did drive by the track to check & see if maybe it would be possible to work out outside. No dice...the track was covered in snow. I didn't bother to look at how much, because workout quality would be diminished with the snow out there. I'd do a recovery/easy day in the snow, but not a quality workout like I was to do today.

So, off to the gym I went. Yes, I do have a treadmill at home which I can use, but my husband had to go to work really early today and I wanted him to get as much sleep as possible before he had to go in. The treadmill isn't terribly noisy, but it just seemed better to go to the gym. I warmed up for 10 minutes (0.85 miles - walked very easy to start while fussing with my iPod), did some flexibility drills, and then started the hard workout.

I was to do 2k/2k/1k/1k at 85% effort with 3 min rest in between. Treadmills are all calibrated a bit differently (bummer!), but I picked one that I thought was fairly accurate based on previous experience. It was close enough :). You get a little advantage from the treadmill, in general, due to no wind resistance and also due to a little assist from the belt with each stride (however, on my home treadmill, which is not calibrated right, I am usually slower than outside with equivalent effort). The treadmill today at the gym seemed easier. I did the first 2k (1.24 miles) in 11:40 with ave HR 158/max HR 164 (treadmill speed 6.5 mph to start but pretty quickly moved it down to 6.3 mph). That was faster than on the track last week, but who knows if it was really faster. The important thing was the effort, which felt pretty hard and was reasonably close to 85%. The second 2k I did have to slow down a bit and set the treadmill to 6.2 mph (10 kph), which is where I kept it the rest of the workout. The second 2k was in 12:00. The first 1K I did in 6:00 and the last 1K in 6:03 (should have been 6:00 based on 10 kph, but something got a little off with the lap timing or something).

My legs were tired, but not as tired as they were last week at the track. That's good I guess. Today's workout felt pretty good. It was hard, and I was sweating a lot, but I was able to focus on a light on the wall and felt like I was really concentrating well on my form and my effort. I felt focused and strong, which is good. I needed a little confidence.

My foot? One small twinge at one point but no other problems. I'm icing it as I write this and hoping for the best. I do have PT appointment later today which is sure to make things more interesting, but I think the foot is fine for now. I'll see how it feels later this morning and then will let the PT know how hard to work me :).

Oh, and yesterday? I had an "optional" day on the schedule, so I did some stationary bike & elliptical for an hour, along with some PT exercises and some hip abductor exercises. Should have done some abs too, but was pressed for time.

OK, time to shower and get the kids ready so I can go to work. Thankfully, the roads are relatively clear so it shouldn't be too much of a problem.

Easter 12k racewalk with snowy scenes

There was fresh snow last night, just in time for Easter. It looked more like winter than spring this morning. At least there wasn't any snow on the roads, just on the grass, so it was no problem to walk. It was chilly at 29F (-1 or 2C?) but it wasn't windy, so it didn't feel too bad; I wore tights and fleece on my legs and a long sleeve and my Wasatch Walkers jacket on the top, plus gloves & hat. I thought it was snowing lightly when I left, but it actually wasn't.

I was to do 12k today, and after yesterday's hard effort I was a bit sore in the hamstrings and obliques. I felt pretty decent until 7k, and then the last 5k was tougher. I felt pretty tired and my legs were heavy. But I still finished at a 6:50/km (11:00/mile) pace, in 1:22:22. It was wonderful to be out there so long, and my foot didn't bother me. I noticed that it felt a little warm, but it has basically felt fine the rest of the day, including after playing the organ this morning for our Easter services at New Song. I did ice it twice, just to be sure. I'm planning to do some light PT exercises tonight before bed, since it's feeling OK.

I took a bunch of pictures, and some of them are pretty decent. They are here if you are interested in the snowy scenes along my favorite route, which includes Sugar House and Liberty parks.

record slow 5K race :)

The Wasatch Walkers (well, the ones who raced this morning): Carol, Shelly, Boyd, Nancy, Madeline, Diane, Tammy

I had my slowest 5K ever today. OK, well, it was faster than the one I raced while pushing Calvin in the stroller. And it was faster than the hilly 5K (that was really farther than 5K...) that I walked before I took Dave's RW clinic. But it was the slowest 5K I've done since taking Dave's clinic for the first time in April 2007.

I'm not at all surprised by how slow I was, given my lack of training. I thought I'd be really disappointed, but I'm not. More about that later.

Brief race recap: I tried to start out pretty conservatively, because I remembered how lousy I felt during my track 2Ks on Tuesday. I did 6:10 for the first 1K, with ave HR 159, and felt OK. I tried not to speed up too much on the 2nd one, and did it in 6:06. I was starting to feel my legs getting tired. Though my coach had told me to keep it to 85% effort, I just couldn't resist pushing it. Yeah, I know, not a good idea, but I just couldn't help it. I pushed and did the 3rd 1K in 6:03. I was tired, and remembered that I was not supposed to push so hard, so I did back off a little on the 4th 1K (6:09). Finally, I saw the club members (who had started anywhere from 6-14 minutes ahead of me) just ahead and I tried to catch them. I only caught up with one, and it turned out that because of some timing errors, she hadn't started far enough in front of me, and so I didn't actually beat anyone...no big surprise since I figured I'd be more out of shape than everyone else. The last 1K was in 6:03 for 30:31 total.

I am a bit sad to have raced 5K over 30 min, but had a good chat with my coach, who told me that things would take a little while, but that I'd see a little improvement here and there, and that once my fast-twitch muscles and my nervous system remember how to do all of this that I will see rapid progress. It's going to happen, but it's just a question of when it will happen. I hope that things will turn around before July, but it is going to be what it is. Meanwhile, I'm just hoping to get under 30 minutes for our next club race on May 1st. I'm actually feeling pretty positive and looking forward to seeing what happens.

Edited to add: my foot felt fine all morning, and is slightly sore tonight. I'm skipping the PT exercises and icing it for the 2nd time today. It's doing pretty well, considering. I'm still planning on an easy 12k tomorrow morning.

easy 8K

I was to do an easy 8K (5 miles) this morning. It went fine; I didn't set any land speed records, but I wasn't trying to! My foot actually felt pretty good the whole time. I ended up doing 8.28K by mistake (miscalculated return distance at one point) in 56:28, for 6:49/km or 10:59/mile.

After that I went to work to pull some plates. No colonies :(. Grrrr. Something is wrong with my @#$(*& site-directed mutagenesis and it's really annoying. Oh well...can't do anything about it 'til Tuesday so best to put it out of my mind.

Then I headed to the gym for some weight training. I did a good hard abs set, a good set of hip exercises (hip flexor, abductors) on the hip cybex machine, some cable crossovers for chest, and some heel walking. I got there late (due to having to stop in at work), but I also managed some light PT exercises. I tried to take it easy to avoid more foot pain. I did heel raises (those don't seem to hurt at all), some balancing on the dyna disk, some windmills, some lunges on the Bosu, and some dynamic lunges on the Bosu. I did 2 sets instead of the usual 3, and was generally cautious about things.

Next I drove over to the chapel our church is renting (at a school) and practiced the organ for 30 min. Gotta be ready for Easter, y'know?

Whew. 8:00 am and time to head home. That was a lot of activity for the morning! Later this morning, practicing with soloist for Easter, and then heading over to my parents' house. They are going to watch the kiddos for me a little bit so I can go shopping for their Easter candy :).

easy 10K

I feel amazing. I never feel like this after a swim. I'm glad I got to do an easy 10K this morning!!!

It was cold (32F, 0C) and snowing lightly. The footing was still pretty good in most places, though slick in areas. I was sure I'd be slow because of that, but I didn't care. After about a mile, my foot felt slightly achy, so I thought about turning around. I'm so glad I didn't! Maybe it was the endorphins, but the foot started to feel better soon, and it was a winter wonderland out there. Gorgeous. The snowflakes in my face and the wet feet were somewhat annoying, but did not dampen my enthusiasm. I felt so alive out there this morning, so smooth, and wonderful.

I am now icing my foot while eating breakfast, and then it's off to work. The foot feels totally fine, but I figured some ice was probably in order, since it seems to hurt after the fact rather than during activity. I will try to ice again at lunch and maybe once this afternoon too while I'm at work, if I get a chance to sit down (being on my feet a lot at work is probably not helping this whole thing).

Time for my workout? A surprising 67:20 for the 10K, one minute faster than Sunday, and ave HR was 139 (lower than Sunday I believe). Some days are just good days.

More snow photos here - they are great, so check them out.

rest day

OK, my foot hurts today. Sad. Not sure if it was the track workout or the PT. It doesn't hurt a lot, but it's definitely achy and annoyed. So I took a rest day. Yeah, I could have gone weight training, but I just decided it might be good to give my body a break. Besides, I am a bit bummed about my foot feeling bad again. It's to be expected that there will be bumps along the road though.

I think it's more likely that the PT pushed me over the edge, as the foot was feeling OK yesterday until after the PT session. But it could also be the cumulative effects. Too hard to untangle the cause & effect here.

So tomorrow I have an easy 10k on the schedule. I think I will try it but will not go too far, so if things start getting sore I can stop. This is also subject to change depending on how my foot feels in the morning.

Starting over

I feel like I'm starting over from nothing. I guess I am, in a way. This is my first track workout since late August last year. That's 7 months ago but feels like an eternity.

I did a track workout this morning. It was about 60 degrees (warm! 15.5C) and VERY very windy (20 mph?). Every time I came around the final turn of each 400m, the wind socked me in the face and pummeled me relentlessly. On the other side of the track, I am sure I had a tailwind, but I did not feel it much.

I was SO slow. Despite working very hard, I was slow. My coach said to take it at about 85% effort. I probably gave it 90% effort, and I was still unbelievably slow.

I warmed up easy to moderately hard, doing 1600m in 10:21, but starting with a first lap of 2:45 and accelerating from there. Then I did some dynamic flexibility drills to stretch everything out, and started the real meat of the workout. I only had to do 2x2k @ 85% effort with a 4 min recovery. It was hard. 2k is 5 laps of a 400m track. By lap 3 on the first 2k, my legs were Jell-O. Sad.

Here are my 400m splits. I was thinking to do 12:00/2k, which is 2:24/400m. I thought maybe I could maintain that pace. NOT!

First 2K: 2:23, 2:26, 2:27, 2:28, 2:31 for 12:16 (ave HR 155, 164, 166, 167, 166)
Second 2K: 2:25, 2:30, 2:33, 2:32, 2:29 for 12:29 (ave HR 152, 162, 163, 164, 165)

UGH! I was able to do 3x2K in 11:28, 11:30, 11:37 last year. But that was last year.

I promised, though, that I would not beat myself up over this. When I left the track I was pretty bummed out, but then I realized, "Hey, I just GOT to do a track workout - my foot felt good enough to do it!", and "Wow, my foot feels OK!". That made me feel better. My fitness level might be abysmal, but I am able to be out there again. It will come back with some hard training, but it's going to hurt in the meanwhile, and I'm going to be slow. That is a bit hard to deal with, but I'm trying to remain positive. I just hope it comes back in time for the big races in July.

***

I cooled down by walking to my car and then jumping in the pool for a master's swim workout - it took me about 12 min to get from the track to the pool (and I mean IN the pool, swimming!). The swim workout was a good one. 300 warm-up, then 4x(50 kick, 75 free build-up (accelerate)). Then we did 4x100 IM (25 each stroke, on 2:10), 4x50 free (on 1:00), 3x100 IM, 4x50 free, 2x100 IM, 4x50 free. We didn't finish the last 4x50, so I did 2200 yd total. I got a nice compliment from one of the women in the lane who hadn't been in a few weeks - she told me I was getting faster quickly. She was surprised at how much I'd improved in the last 3 wk or so :). I was happy to have swum well today after doing a hard track workout; my legs were tired and my arms had to do more work than usual, especially at the beginning.

French Toast Souffle

A Facebook friend asked for this, so as long as I was typing, why not paste it into my blog? Enjoy!

French Toast Souffle (from "The Best of Cooking Light"

***Start the night before!!!

10 cups (1-inch) cubed sturdy white bread (such as Pepperidge Farm Hearty White; about 16 [1-ounce] slices)
Cooking spray
1 (8-oz) block 1/3-less-fat cream cheese, softened
8 lg eggs
1 1/2c 2% reduced-fat milk
2/3c half-and-half
1/2c maple syrup
1/2t vanilla extract
2T powdered sugar
3/4c maple syrup

1. Place the bread cubes in a 9x13 baking dish coated w/cooking spray. Beat cream cheese w/a mixer at med speed until smooth. Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add milk, half-and-half, 1/2c maple syrup, and vanilla; mix until smooth. pour cream cheese mixture over top of bread; cover & refrigerate overnight.
2. Preheat oven to 375.
3. Remove bread mixture from refrigerator; let stand on counter for 30 minutes. Uncover; bake at 375 for 50 min or until set. Sprinkle souffle with sugar; serve with 3/4c syrup.
Yield: 12 servings (serving size: 1 slice souffle and 1T maple syrup)
Calories 346, fat 11.5g, protein 11.6g, carb 51.7g, fiber 2.7g, chol 169mg, iron 1.9 mg, sodium 396 mg, calc 131 mg

training again :)

Yesterday I did an easy and slooooooow 10K. But at least I was out there! It took me 68:24. 6:50/km; 11:00/mi. That's pretty darn slow, but I guess you have got to start somewhere? I have 4 months left until the USATF National Masters' Championships to get ready.

Today I was supposed to do an easy 6K. Around SugarHouse Park from my house is about 6K (well, 5.9ish?) so I did that. My muscles felt a bit tired after yesterday. How sad is that, that 10K tired me out a little? They aren't hurting or sore, just a little tired.

My foot is feeling good, though :). After yesterday's 10K, it was fine, and then I played the organ at church and even got in 30 min practice for Easter, after the service. THAT made my foot hurt a little! I went easy on it the rest of the day, and then did my PT exercises at night, and it was OK.

Anyway, back to today's 6K. I finished in 39:39 on the hilly route, for 10:49/mile or 6:43/km; ave HR 140. Foot is fine.

I am supposed to do a track workout tomorrow but might switch it to Wed so I can swim? Or I might just not swim...hate to give up the swimming skills I've gained, but sad to say I'd rather do a hard track RW workout than a swim workout (and hard track workouts are not pleasant while you do them!). I will sit down later today and try to figure out my schedule a bit.

After the 6K today I did some hard weight training - PT exercises like lunges on 2 BOSU thingies, calf raises, balance on Dyna disk and toss 6 lb medicine ball against the wall, etc., mixed in with one-legged squats, one-legged dead lifts, abductor & adductor cable pulls, plus some abs. I felt worked at the end, but it felt good.

Saturday hard workout

This morning was my last workout before my new RW training schedule starts. I wanted to have a really good workout and push hard. So I hopped on the video bike and did the "Gut Buster" workout for a hard 45 min. I set the pacer at 180 watts, which on the bike I was on kept my HR about 155-165. Whew. I was pouring down sweat by the time I finished after 45 min. Then I did 20 min on the eliiptical and was off to my Weight Watchers meeting.

I was down 0.8 lb from 2 weeks ago :), which is good progress. I haven't been perfect about keeping my goals, but on track enough to lose a little and feel like things are moving in the right direction.

promised photos

Here are a few photos from Canyonlands NP, taken last Sunday. We hiked 0.5 mile to Mesa Arch for some great views. Lots of fun!

getting psyched for the season

I'm getting psyched for the upcoming season. Today I was upbeat and thinking about how much fun it was going to be to get into the groove again. I've actually taken the step of getting a racewalking coach. Yeah, I really did find someone crazy enough to coach me :). More details soon. Coach says my program is going to start on Sunday; I don't have it yet but am looking forward to getting it.

***

Yesterday I took Calvin to the track and got in a couple miles myself while coaching him to complete 3x400 with some rest in between. I told him to take it easy and go slowly enough that he could run all the way around without stopping and without walking. He did great - he was able to run the whole way for each 400.

Meanwhile, I did 4x400 - the slowest was 2:35 and fastest 2:17; then I did a 1600 in 10:09. Slow, but I also wasn't pushing as hard as I could and was taking it a bit easy on my foot. I had a vigorous PT session on Tuesday and it's been a bit achy since then. It actually ached a bit while I was doing my intervals, but nothing serious, and it's fine today.

I also did 30 min on the stationary bike (video bike) yesterday. I was going to do more, but had to go to work quickly before my workout, and I managed to lock my keys in the lab as I was leaving. By the time hospital security let me back in the lab (our lab is in a building attached to University Hospital), I didn't have as much time to work out. Grrrr!

***

Today was a swimming day. I wasn't in the mood at all, but it turned out to be a pretty good workout. That seems to happen often enough that I need to remember it. After our warm-up (I got there a couple minutes late and only had time for about 200), we started off with 4x150 (100 kick, 50 free) on the 3:20. I don't think I did them that fast, but I wasn't leading so I'm not sure. Then we did 2x200 with negative splits on each 200 - we were supposed to do the first 100 easy and the second 100 hard. I think I did that :). Next, we did 4x100 with each 100 faster than the previous 100, on the 2:15. I did them in 1:55 (going what I thought was really slow - it wasn't!), 1:50, 1:43, and then I still managed one a little faster in 1:40! I was pretty pleased with this one. OK, by real swimming standards it's slow, but for me, that was fast. Finally, we did 8x50 in IM order (2x), accelerating on each 50. I still can't do the fly, so I just did the one-arm version and that worked OK.

My foot is feeling fine now, so I plan to racewalk a little in the morning, and maybe do some bike or elliptical at the gym, too. We don't have weight training this week because it's spring break at the U. I probably should lift a little at the gym, but doubt I will have the time, since I have to work all day tomorrow.

Injury update; workouts as of late

After Saturday's race and subsequent hike, my foot felt fine. So I was crazy enough to do another 4.8 miles on Sunday, this time at an easier pace. I needed the exercise, and I sure as heck couldn't bike or swim, as we were staying in a friend's condo. I am still staying within my allotted miles for the week, though, just frontloading them a bit :).

I felt good Sunday morning and did the 4.8 miles (7.7k) in 53:33 for an 11:08 mile (6:57/km). Pretty slow and easy, but that was the idea. I just wanted to get a little cardio without trashing my foot. Later, we hiked 0.5 mile to Mesa Arch and took in the view. My foot felt pretty good the whole time, though it was a bit achy later that night and some on Monday morning. I'll take it, though! A bit achy is just fine, and I am feeling stronger and stronger with all the PT exercises.

I have some more pictures from the trip but haven't downloaded them yet - later I will post some of the kids at Mesa Arch. They came out pretty cute, I think; at least they look good on my camera's LCD screen :).

So yesterday I decided to take it easier on the foot and biked for 45 min moderately hard (video bike) followed by 20 min on the elliptical and some PT exercises.

Today was a swimming day, and I got there a bit late. I only had time for an easy 50 warm-up. Then we did 6x50 fingertip drills (freestyle), which I felt really helped me to roll just a bit more and get my elbows up (coach keeps chastising me about this; I should listen to her - in addition to being a great swimmer, she got 12th place in the Canyonlands 1/2 marathon on Saturday as a runner!). Next we did 2x(6x25, 6x50, and 6x100), first with strokes then freestyle. We only got through 3x100 of the freestyle before we had to quit, but I did the whole workout with my lane and only had to drop one 50. Not bad for me! We did the strokes on :35, 1:10, and 2:20, and then the free on :30, 1:00 and 2:00. I was pretty tired when we got to the free, but despite that I had no problem doing most of the 50s in :55, leaving 5 sec rest. For me, this was pretty good - I think my technique is getting a little better. I'm still slow, but it's feeling better anyway.

After swimming I went to PT and they really worked my foot hard. It's pretty achy now - way more sore than after the race, but in a good way I think. I'll take it easy at home tonight (hahahaha - maybe I will!) and try to stay off it when I can. All in all, I think it's coming along very well. I do feel stronger, and ready to take on some challenges. Ready to eat right, too. I think I'm getting back in the mental game, which is the most important thing, and maybe the hardest.

Canyonlands 5-miler

It went just about how I thought it would. Hmmm, wonder if it was a self-fulfilling prophecy? Well, I thought I'd be able to do about a 10-min/mile pace, and that's what happened. 49:52 chip time, 17th of 57 in my age group (put on FB 17/53, but some more people finished after I looked @ the results), 9:58/mile or 6:12/km. Compared to last year, it was slow...I did the 1/2 marathon at a 10:04 pace last year! However, I cannot compare it with that at all. It's a totally different race. I wasn't trained at all! Big difference.

I am actually pleased, because 1) my foot doesn't hurt after a hard 5-mile race followed by a 3-mile hike (to Delicate Arch :)), and 2) I raced hard and did my best, and 3) I had FUN! I missed racing! This is my 1st race since the Portland Marathon on Oct 4th last year.

The first mile was interesting - I dropped my iPod, took off hat and gloves, etc. Wardrobe adjustments! I guess I haven't raced in a while, huh? Split was 9:58.

In the second mile, I realized that though I FELT like I was pushing really hard, I wasn't. At least, not by my heart rate. It was only 157 on average. Hmmm. I guess that's what lack of training does. The scenery was great, though, and the hill? Steep but short. Split was 10:00.

The third mile started to get painful. About the halfway point we left the beautiful canyon behind for highway 191, which is the ugliest part of the race. It started to get a little warm. It wasn't actually that hot; the temps were mid-40s (7 or 8 C) and I had on tights and a long-sleeved shirt, which is normally fine. I guess it was just the black road and the sun. Plus my lack of hard training was showing. My legs felt tired. Drat. Split was 10:07

The fourth mile felt worse but was actually better. I kept trying to keep up with an older guy who was spitting every 30 sec or so. I was worried he'd hit me and I wanted to pass him. I finally did pass him at the beginning of the 5th mile. Anyway, I was able to push a little harder and my split was 10:00 again with an average HR of 161.

The last mile just HURT. Yeah, I really felt the lack of training. I pushed as hard as I could and still my average HR was only 168. Usually in the last mile of a hard race it's in the 170s. But I just didn't have it today. I've never been so undertrained for a race, so I'm not surprised. However, the positive was that I managed a negative split and the last mile was ever-so-slightly uphill. I had 9:53 on my Garmin but that's at least 3-4 seconds too long since I waited several seconds to hit stop.

It was so great to be out there again, even if most of the race was relatively painful. Everything hurt, except my foot, which is great news. I'm going to start training hard again soon. Will talk to my PT on Tuesday and see, but I think I'm good for some tempo work now and some speed work soon after.

I noticed in a few pictures my husband took at the finish that I was leaning forward a bit again. Hmmm, may have to focus on form a little more. But probably it was just because I was tired from lack of training.

Side note - my swimming coach (who is also a runner) finished 4th in her age group (30-34) in the 1/2 marathon. Wow!

Here are more pictures.

Off to the races :)

I'm actually doing a race this weekend. Yeah, I know, it's soon. But the thing is, I entered the lottery for the Canyonlands 1/2 Marathon in December, when I thought my foot would be better by now. And I got in! Now, I know I cannot do a 1/2 marathon right now, so a few weeks ago I switched to the 5-mile race instead. That I can do. And it's this Saturday! I have not been able to do any speedwork yet, though I have done some very hard swimming workouts. I'm sure there is some transfer of aerobic capacity, but I'm equally sure that racewalk-specific training is necessary to be fast in the race, and that I have not been able to do (yet). Soooo, I'm going to see where I'm at, and I am not going to be disappointed if I stink. I may be a little discouraged about how far I've fallen, but it's probably better to know that not to know. I have mixed feelings about doing this race because of how out-of-shape I am. On one hand, I feel so lucky to be able to be out there. But on the other hand, I know I'll be slow, and I have never been so unprepared for a race, ever. Oh well!

***

Wednesday workout: 30 min easy racewalking, followed by weight training (legs mostly, with some PT thrown in for good measure).

Thursday workout: PT exercises & 10 min on the elliptical. Then swimming for 1 hr. I did about 300 for my warm-up, then 20x25 alternating fast/easy. First 10 free, next 10 breast. Finally, 3x(200 steady (supposed to do it on 3:45 but I was more like 3:55 or 4:00), 3x100 descending (getting faster each one; on 2:00)). I did finish this, but I was slow. I was kind of discouraged when I got out of the pool. I feel like the coach has helped me a lot w/my technique, but I'm only a few seconds faster than a few months ago, really. I think swimming takes a long time to master. Either that, or I'm not cut out for it. Or both.

Tomorrow: I plan to do 25 min racewalking and then some elliptical and then weight training. We'll see how much time I have. I then have to go to work for about 30 mins to finish up some stuff before we go to Moab for the weekend. Then home to eat breakfast, pack up, and get on the road! I'm at least excited to do some hiking with the kids and get out of town. We'll be back Sunday night.

Sorry for the hiatus

We had a busy weekend and so I haven't posted in a few days. We got Calvin some new furniture from Ikea and spent the weekend putting it together and rearranging his room & Michelle's room, purging old toys, and giving everything a new home. It feels better. In this picture, he has his feet on the ceiling, because he has a new loft bed. He and Michelle both love it. Here are more pictures of his furniture.

***

Update on exercise:

Saturday I gave the racewalking a rest, because last week I actually did 20 minutes more than my allotted 2 hr. I just couldn't resist, and because of that I decided to take it easy. Nothing is hurting, mind you, but still, I want to be cautious. So instead I did the video bike and the elliptical for a total of 1 hr 15 min.

Sunday I forgot the time change. I was all dressed in my RW gear and ready to walk out the door at 6:45 am, when I realized that it was actually 7:45 am. This was a problem, because I was scheduled to play ALL the service music for church this week. Church doesn't start until 10 am, but I wanted to practice alone from 8-9 and with Gordon (who played the piano; I played the organ) from 9-9:45. Oops. I did make it there by 8:30, despite everything, and enjoyed practicing. The service went reasonably well, and it felt so good to play again. I haven't played a service since Christmas Eve, and I do really enjoy it. In the movie "Chariots of Fire", Eric Liddell says that when he runs he feels God's pleasure. I feel that way when I play service music well - it just feels good to use one's gifts in a positive way.

Fast forward to Sunday afternoon. I ended up racewalking during nap time instead. Afternoon is NOT a good time for me to racewalk, in general. I just hit a lull, and it is hard to get out there. I tried to push it and get my heart rate in a reasonable range, but all I could muster was an average of 133. Despite that, I averaged a decent pace of 10:54/mile for 4.3 miles. It just didn't FEEL good. Sometimes it's just like that.

Monday morning I just could NOT get out of bed. The time change is messing with me! I did make it to weight training class, but didn't do anything before class. Weight training was good - we did a seriously hard upper body workout, and my chest is still sore today. The series of bench press x 2 (slow w/heavy weight, then fast w/lighter weight) + push-ups was quite difficult, especially when repeated 3x. After weight training I racewalked slowly...very slowly. I felt OK but only managed an 11:12 mile for a little under 3 miles. Later that morning, I had PT, which included 10 min on the stationary bike.

Today I still had trouble getting out of bed but did manage my physical therapy exercises before getting into the pool for the swimming workout. I did about 300 free to warm up, and then we did a drill-intensive workout, for which I was thankful. I thought if I had to do hard intervals I'd die. We did 4x(6x50 drill/swim (25 drill, 25 swim), 8x25 stroke: 2x (easy/fast, fast/easy, fast, easy)) in reverse IM order (free, breast, back, fly). I feel like my free and breast are reasonable now, but my backstroke is very slow and my fly, well, it's awful. The drills helped, though, and the coach was very encouraging. I need to get my head down and rear end up more during certain parts of the stroke to get the undulating motion for the fly. I'll keep working on it, and maybe someday I'll get it. I've improved, but not sure I'll ever be much of a swimmer. At least I can do it and get some good exercise, which is the main point for now.

Actually, I'm debating what to do re: swimming. My racewalking miles will be sufficient by the end of the month that I could probably drop the swimming. I might NEED to drop it in order to have enough time to train well for the 5K & 10K I plan to race in July at the USATF Nat'l Masters' Championships in Sacramento. I feel like I've made good progress, though, and am reluctant to drop it entirely. In addition, I enjoy having the gym facilities at my disposal, in case the weather is lousy or I need a change of pace. True, I own a treadmill, but I don't have an elliptical or bike, and those are sometimes handy. But it's hard to justify the cost. I'll keep thinking about it and will decide by the end of the month, I guess. Input is welcomed :).

***

Update on my foot:

My foot has felt pretty darn good this week. It was a little achy Saturday (after I did the 4 miles on Friday), and it hurt some on Sunday after I played the organ (hmmmm...didn't think about how much I might use my foot for that!). It's felt fine since then, despite being on my feet a lot today at work. I definitely think the PT exercises are helping a lot - strengthening my intrinsic foot muscles seems to be easing up the burden on my inflamed tendon. Or something. It has felt much better overall the past few weeks, but maybe it was just going to get better anyway? In any case, I'm relieved that I seem to be on the mend.

Food for 3/11 & 3/12

OK, this is the last of my food posts for a while. I told my friend Dorothy that we'd track and share it with each other for 2 weeks, and this will be the end of that.

Thursday 3/11
Breakfast: Kashi GoLean Crunch and 1/2c vanilla soy milk & 1/2c mixed berries (4 points).
Lunch: 1 can Light Progresso Beef Soup (3 points), 1 banana (1 point ), and 1 tangerine (1 point). (5 points).
Snack: we had cake at work for my birthday. Lucky for me, it was yellow cake with chocolate chips and NO frosting (saved points!). My boss actually made it for me, and it was SO good! I estimated that I ate 10 points of cake.
Dinner: Homemade mac n cheese (WW recipe) & 2/3 c peas. 6 points total.
Dessert: Small piece cake and healthy choice fudge bar. 6 points.

Activity: 13 points.
Total: 31 points - 18 allotted - 13 activity points = 0. Perfect. In = Out. Bank is still -2 from the other day, but that can't be helped.

Friday 3/12
Breakfast: Homemade yogurt smoothie w/Splenda & mixed berries (2 points), and a banana (1 point). (3 points).
Lunch: Rico's pork tamale, med grapefruit, and 1c grapes (6 points).
Snack: tangerine (1 point) and baby carrots with 1/4c homemade hummus (2 points). (3 points).
Dinner: At Noodles & Company. Bangkok Curry Trio w/shrimp and asian fat-free dressing on salad (7 points).
Dessert: At Ikea (we went shopping for Calvin's room --- more to come on this later), 1 frozen yogurt cone (3 points). Later, hot cocoa (no sugar added), 1 point. (4 points).

Activity: I racewalked 40 min at lunch (5 points).

Total: food 23 points - 5 points RW = 18 allotted for the day. Still -2 for the week, but I'll take it.

It's been an interesting experiment. I thought having to post publicly would give me more restraint. Ummm, not really. Apparently my restraint has to come more from within. I need the motivation of upcoming races to keep me on track. Seriously, I am very motivated by the recent thought that my big races this summer are just over 4 months away. That doesn't give me much time to get my foot better, lose the weight I need to lose, and train hard.

At Weight Watchers this morning, I weighed in at 151.0. That's only 0.4 lb more than a month ago. Not too bad, given all the celebrating. But still not very good.

Now that all the birthday celebrating is over, I'm ready to focus. I have made some new goals for Weight Watchers for the next 6 weeks:

1. Lose 3 lb (that's only 0.5 lb/wk). I can do it!
2. Sleep at least 8 hr, 4x/wk. I need the sleep to accomplish #1, and to train well.
3. Curb the night time eating. I know I've been working on this, and too often failing, but I am approaching it with renewed determination. So, for at least 6/7 days each week, I will not eat after the family leaves the table. If we eat dessert, we usually do it as a family right after dinner, sitting at the table. The only thing I can have after leaving the table is hot tea or hot cocoa. The exception is if I am going out, and then of course I'll do whatever everyone else does.

That's it. If I do this, then I'll get to buy myself a summer dress from a catalog I like :). Maybe this dress, in the hot pink/black. Or maybe some racewalking apparel. Something :).

things are looking up

I think things are looking up. I've had a challenging food week, and have gained a little weight, and wish I could get it off. That is frustrating. Not being able to racewalk as much as I'd like is frustrating too. However, I'm in a little better mood today and I see that as a trend. This winter was hard, and I'm looking forward to spring. My friend Lisa (who I weight train with) told me yesterday that I'd get the weight off --- spring is around the corner and with that comes better mood, more activity, and hopefully therefore less inclination to overeat.

This morning's workout was awesome, too, and that also puts me in a good mood. I started with 50 minutes on the video bike; I did the "Temple Ridge" workout, which takes you all around a South American Mayan-type temple. It was a good hard workout; I kept a 170-watt pace the whole time and averaged about 18 mph with hills and everything. My legs were really burning. Next, I did some PT exercises, and then I went to my swimming workout.

I figured the hard biking would be OK with swimming to follow, as swimming is so much arms. Well, today the coach decided we'd do some kicking. Figures! I warmed up with 400 free and then did 4x150 kick: 50 easy, 50 med, 50 fast. I was slow after biking, so it took me about 3:45-4:00 for each, and then I rested 30 sec in between. Next I did 12x100 in descending sets: on the 2:05, 2:00, 1:55, and 1:50. Repeat twice. Whew. That was tough for me, but I got it done (was a bit slow on the last 100 in the first set, because I went out too fast, but by the 2nd and 3rd set I got it). Total: 2200 yds.

Activity points: Biking 6, Swimming 7. Total 13.

After my workout, my mood was pretty darn good. It's sunny today (but it was chilly heading into work; 34F) and the air was clear and the mountains were beautiful. Gotta love those endorphins, though. That's the best thing about regular exercise; I used to be pretty gloomy about half the time, and now it's much less frequent, thankfully.

workout & food for 3/10

Today was better. Whew.

Workout: took it easier today for a little break. Did 50 min weight training/PT exercises first, and then racewalked 2 miles in 21:40ish. My legs felt really heavy when I started the RWing, but after about 10 min I felt better. My foot felt totally fine. I think the PT exercises are really helping my foot a lot. I totally notice the achy feeling when I do them, but I feel stronger now, and the racewalking is not hurting at all! YAY!!!!!
Activity points earned: 5

Food:
Breakfast: 1/2c oatmeal with 1/2t brown sugar splenda, a shake of cinnamon, and 1/2c blueberries. This tasted great this morning (3 points).
Lunch: 1c homemade potato soup (leftover from last night) + 1/2 graperfruit and 1 banana and some baby carrots (5 points).
Snack: 1/2 red bell pepper, sliced, and 1c grapes. Later: 1 tangerine & about 15-20 goldfish crackers (3 points).
Dinner: Quinoa, potato, & veggie bake, 2.5 cups, guesstimate 8 points (it was heavy on the veggies & light on the quinoa); ate this at our friends' house so had to guess at amount and points, but this is pretty close. She cooks pretty healthy - i.e. uses less oil, etc.
Dessert: healthy choice fudge bar (1 point)

Total: 19 points; used 1 activity point = 18 points. Banked 4 AP for tomorrow. I'll need them; we're having chocolate cake for my belated b-day celebration at work.

Workout & food for 3/9

Workout: 30 min elliptical, then 1 hr swimming. Oh, and a little PT thrown in for good measure. Swimming: 350 easy warm-up, then 8x50 in two sets of 4, descending time (i.e. each 50 a bit faster). We did free for the first 4x50 then back for the last 4x50. My backstroke still stinks, but I got a few tips and it's getting better, but I'm very slow. Finally, we did a monster set of 10x150 as follows: 5x(150 stroke, 150 free) on 3:20 (stroke) and 3:00 (free). The stroke portion was 50 fly (I did one-arm fly), 50 back, 50 breast. I could barely keep up with the 3:20 and 3:00 - so essentially had no rest. I have to work on my strokes a bit more I guess. I was a bit discouraged when I got out of the pool.
Activity points earned: 11.

Food:
Breakfast: Kashi GoLean crunch with 1/2c soy milk & 1/2c mixed berries (4 points).
Lunch: Progresso light chicken noodle soup (3) and a banana and a medium graperfruit (5 points total).
Snack: 1/4 c hummus and baby carrots, and a tangerine (3 points).
Dinner: 2c homemade potato soup and 2 pieces bread (9 points).
Dessert: Healthy Choice fudge bar (1 point).
Then it all went downhill...I got tired, and worked on the taxes, and started eating. Not good. I know this is a bad pattern, and I just can't seem to break it. I know I need to just go to bed when I'm tired and quit doing stuff, but I feel like I HAVE to do it then or I will never get to it. And then I do it, and stay up late, and because I'm tired, I start to eat. Last night I ate 4 girl scout cookies (6 points) and about 6 points of pita chips. ARRRRGH! Why do I sabotage myself this way? I work so hard all day to eat well, I exercise well, and then I go and ruin all my hard work.
Total food points: 34 :( minus 11 activity points = 23 - 18 allowed per day = 5 used from points allowance. Seeing as I only had 3 left in there, I'm now at -2 with 3 days to go. Not good. But I am going to keep trying; after all, the alternative is to make things worse.

The other bad news: weight was up to 152.6 this morning. That's really very very bad (racing weight is 145). My pants are tight. I feel miserable. Granted, probably 2-3 lb is water weight from all the crap I've been eating, but it's still not good. I think I've got several things going on here 1) sleep deprivation (chronically running on 6-7 hrs sleep/night when I know I really need 8), 2) birthday celebrating, and though I did track points, a lot of it was guesswork and maybe not good enough guesswork - i.e. I underestimated points or portion size. Eating out is always challenging. 3) not as much motivation to eat well because I feel like I'm not in training mode for racewalking.

I'm quite unhappy about all of this and would like to change it but feel a bit powerless. I wish I could start some hard racewalking training - that always makes me want to eat better, because I know I need to be at a good weight for racing, and it makes me feel better. But I can't do that yet with my foot recovery (though maybe soon? Things are going well in that department). Meanwhile, I am at a bit of a loss. I'm working hard but then sabotaging myself and it's a vicious cycle that is wearing me out. Sorry for the downer post, but realistically, that's just the way things are right now. I will turn this around somehow, but I'm just not sure how to find the way out.

Happy 40th!

In the morning, I took the kids to the park for a bit. It was gorgeous outside & they had a blast. After that we went to my parents' house for a quick lunch and some scrapbooking. Then I had to go to my PT appointment (4 pm). At 6 pm we all converged on Buca di Beppo for a fun birthday dinner. We got the "Pope table" which is full of pretty kitschy Italian Catholic decor, including a bust of the pope on the lazy susan. The kids were entranced by the little water fountain of a boy peeing :). It was pretty cute. One of the funniest things that happened was that Sarah's little boy, Sam, sang "Happy Birthday" to us and then either couldn't remember my name or couldn't figure out how to get two names in the song. It was darling. Finally, we went to Sarah & Bryan's house for ice cream cake. A very fun day with the family, which was perfect after our weekend away at Zermatt.

Here are more pictures.

Workout & food for 3/8

Workout: 21 min on the elliptical, and then I had to rush off to weight training. I did my PT exercises, did some abs, did one set of what everyone else was doing (a total body workout; they all did 3 sets), and then 10 min on the exercise bike. Went home, and racewalked outside for 25 minutes as a birthday present to myself. I don't remember exactly how far I went, but I did about a 10:50 pace, and didn't push too hard. Later in the day, I had PT for an hour, and warmed up with 10 min on the bike. Total activity points: 10.

Food:
Breakfast: 1/2c Fiber One pancake mix (=5 very small pancakes; usually I make 3 medium but today small was fun) with blueberries inside and a few mixed berries on top, a few sprays of butter spray, and some no-calorie strawberry syrup (3).
Lunch: Large green salad with tomatoes, carrots, and 2T light fantastic cheese fantastico dressing (0), 1.5 cups Pacific ginger-carrot-cashew soup (3), and 1c grapes (1).
Snack: 1/4c hummus (homemade, 2 points) and carrots.
Dinner: At Buca di Beppo (delicious...but a WW nightmare! Only on my birthday :)!). Apple Gorgonzola salad, large serving (about 8 points), 1.5 cups lasagna (9 points), eggplant parmesan (not sure how to count this - varying points values listed in my book and my palm; I'm calling it 6 points), 4 small pieces garlic bread (excessive, I know, but I love it...10 points), 1/4 of cupcake (2), ice cream cake (6).
Total: (EEK!) 50 points. Minus 10 activity points = 40 points. Minus 18 allotted = 22 used of points allowance. 2 remaining of points allowance. Uh-oh. This is not good. Will just do my best to stay in points for 4 more days...time to get this in check a little!

Day 40: 40 days 'til 40

From Zermatt

This was our last day of anticipation. The big day is tomorrow! I'm actually very excited to turn 40 - new racewalking age group, and besides that, I think that my 40s will be fabulous. I feel fit, healthy, and life is good. No sadness here to move on, and I am certainly not feeling over the hill. Just feeling more mature and more confident and ready to ENJOY the time.

Today we were to finish reading a classic piece of literature. I (wisely, in hindsight) chose a book of short stories by Dostoyevsky. The book is lengthy but there were only 5 stories - they ranged from maybe 30 pages to 150 (not very short!). I ended up reading 3 of the 5, and will get to the others later. I did enjoy them, but they were not easy reading. I suppose great literature tends to be that way. Dostoyevsky has a knack for getting inside the human psyche, and it made for some interesting stories. My favorite of the three I read was "White Nights", about a romance between two very lonely people.

I have really loved doing this 40 days adventure this year and last year, and would highly recommend it as a way to celebrate any big event in life. The best part was sharing it with my dear friend and birthday twin, Sarah :). Happy Birthday Sarah!!!!!

Day 39: 40 days 'til 40

Today we were to watch the sun rise or set, alone or with someone. I decided to watch the sunrise alone, while racewalking. What better pleasure could there be in life? Enough said. Enjoy the photo. It was as beautiful as it looked with the fresh snow.

Photos from the weekend

Our time at Zermatt Resort this weeekend was fabulous. Highlights: snowshoeing in Wasatch Mtn State Park, visiting The Crater at the Homestead Resort, floating in the hot pots at the resort, soaking in the hot tub, reading in the relaxation room at the wellness center, and in general, just being away for 2 days with no responsibilities. Ahhhhh.

Click here to enjoy the photos!

food for 3/6 and workout & food for 3/7

a little catching up to do!Food for 3/6:
Breakfast: Kashi GoLean Crunch (1c) with milk and 1 orange (5 points)
Lunch: at Tarahumara restaurant in Midway - FABULOUS and amazing salsa bar! 1 oz chips & salsa (3 points), 1/2c rice (2 points), sauteed green beans (1 point, a little buttery), tuna and scallops with salsa (4 points) = 10 points total
Snack: 1 apple (1 point)
Dinner: Oh. My. Gosh. The most AMAZING restaurant meal that Loren and I have ever had. It was even superior (just barely) to Bobby Flay's Bar Americain in New York City, IMHO. The Blue Boar Inn in Midway (pictured) is NOT to be missed. We started off with warm crusty bread (1 large-ish piece wheat, 2 points), scallops with mango and kiwi (1 point) and beef carpaccio (very thin sliced beef with small toasts and manchego cheese & arugula; 2 points). Next we were blown away by the soup of the day (beef vegetable) - simple soup but the beef was SO tender, the stock SO rich and complex, vegetables so delicious. We shared this along with French onion soup, which was also amazing - surely based on the same stock, but they tasted so different yet equally amazing. (4 points for soup, about 1 cup). Then the entrees - Loren had wild boar spare ribs, which were unbelievably tender and flavorful, and also very lean. They came with pureed yams and some greens, which were quite delicious. I enjoyed rock shrimp & quinoa risotto with seared salmon and asparagus. The fish was terrific - moist, mild flavor, very fresh - but the quinoa risotto was to die for. It was NOT a cream sauce risotto (thankfully) but rather made with fish and vegetable broth, so it was healthy AND delicious. I have no idea how the chef makes his broths, but they are so incredible! My entree (I ate only 1c of the risotto and gave the rest to Loren; also gave him some of my salmon) was about 10 points; 5 for the quinoa risotto, 5 for 5 oz salmon, and 0 for the asparagus is my best guess. Finally, we had dessert. It was a taste sensation, but wasn't as amazing as the rest of the meal to me; I like the Zermatt desserts a little better. We shared chocolate mousse layer cake; 1 smallish round cake about 2.5 inches high and 2.5 inches in diameter was (I guesstimate) about 8 points for my half. That may be a high estimate, but it was rich. Loren had some fine Tawny Port along with the cake, and I sipped a black vanilla tea. Total for dinner & dessert: 27 points.

Day total food: 43 points
Activity points: 15 (12 for racewalking, bike, elliptical; 3 for snowshoeing)
Food-activity = 28 points - 18 allotted = 10 points of points allowance used, and well worth it!

***

Activity for 3/7: I had to lay off the racewalking because otherwise I'll go through my allotted 120 minutes too fast this week after the 55 minutes yesterday. So I did 30 minutes on the recumbent bike (I hate those, but that's all they had at the fitness center) and 45 minutes on the elliptical (9 points). My glutes are hurting from the elliptical, as it has a slightly different angle from the one at the gym at home.

Food for 3/7:
Breakfast at Matty's Bistro at Zermatt: Oatmeal with berries (3 points), 2T raisins and 2T granola (2 points) = 5 points.
Lunch at home: 1 asian pear, 1 lg green salad, 1/2 grapefruit, 1/2 grilled cheese using butter spray and only 1/2 slice cheese (3 points), one brownie bite from Zermatt (about 1x1.5 inches; 2 points) = 6 points
Snack: 1/4c homemade hummus (2 points) and 9 baked pita chips (2 points) = 4 points
Dinner: turkey enchilada casserole (homemade, 6 points' worth) and cauliflower (0 points) = 6 points
Dessert: 3 girl scout cookies and 1/3 of chocolate bombe from Zermatt (small, but amazing!) = 7 points; I just can't resist a good dessert....sigh.....
Total: 28 points - 9 activity points = 19 points; used 1 of my points allowance so I have 24 left. I still have dinner tomorrow and Costco cake (at work) on Tuesday to get through (I enjoy the food, but it's challenging to stay within points)...I can do this though! I can I can I can!

Workout for 3/6

I worked out hard today. After all, I'm on vacation and I have more time to do it! Yay!

I racewalked 5 miles (8 km) easy (ave HR 136) but very slow, in 56:45. That's 11:21/mile. In my defense, 1) it was a hilly route, 2) I was not pushing much at all, and 3) the elevation here is 5800 feet, which is about 1500 feet higher than at home. Still, I am thinking I'm going to be very slow for the 5-miler in Canyonlands in 2 weeks. No speed work and racewalking muscles unused to the activity = slow Tammy.

Then I hit the gym at the resort and did 25 min on the elliptical and 15 min on the bike for a total of 97 minutes of activity (12 points). I then did a bunch of PT exercises: calf raises, lunges on the BOSU, balance on BOSU, and inversions/eversions of foot with elastic band.

We ate breakfast at the Bakerie & Eis here - amazing pastries, but I am saving the points for later, so I just had a small bite of Loren's and contented myself with cereal (brought from home) and milk, and an orange (5 points total). The clerk looked at me kind of funny when I ordered milk in a cup with a bowl and a spoon on the side; I had to explain that I brought my own cereal :).

After breakfast, we went snowshoeing for an hour, at moderate intensity (3 points).

Total activity points: 15, and lots of fun!!!

I'm taking lots of photos but no time to post now. Will share them later.

Day 38: 40 days 'til 40

This will also be my food post for today, because today we were eating out and/or going away for the night with our spouses. Loren and I did both! We are at Zermatt Resort in Midway, UT from Friday-Sunday, relaxing and enjoying :).

Workout for Friday:
30 min racewalking outside (slushy/snowy - did 2.75 miles in 31:12 for an 11:21/mile pace. Slow, but the footing wasn't the best and I couldn't get a good toe push. Still happy to be outside though - it was beautiful. Got my feet very wet, but I stayed warm anyway :). Then went to the gym and did 45 min on the exercise bike (video bike - they are both fixed now! Yay! The smelly guy was on the elliptical but I was able to be one bike over since it was fixed, and that worked out fine). Finally, about 10 minutes of PT exercises, moderate intensity. Total: 10 points.

Food for Friday:
Breakfast: Yogurt smoothie (homemade - 1c fat-free homemade yogurt, 3t Splenda, 1/2c mixed berries) & apple (3 points)
Lunch: 1c red bell pepper & tomato soup (Pacific brand, from Costco; 2 points), 1 grapefruit (lg; 2 points), 10 baby carrots, 1 orange bell pepper sliced (0 points for veggies); 4 points total.
Snack: 1 asian pear (1 point) and some more baby carrots (0)
Dinner: Zermatt buffet! I used to avoid buffets when I first joined WW, because I thought if you can't eat and eat and eat, what's the point? But now I realize you can try LOTS of things, just with small portions of each, and it's fun! It's still hard to stay within points but I did it. I had 22 points allowance and 18 for the day, plus my 10 activity points (which I am keeping ALL of today), for a total of 50 points. Breakfast & lunch & snack were 8 points, leaving me 42 for dinner. This is what I had, with my points guesses in parentheses.
Tilapia salad (salad with chunks of breaded tilapia, about 1c salad) (2)
Shrimp cocktail 2 oz (2)
bread (small slice, about 2.5 inches round diameter, and 1/2 inch or less thick) (1)
3 medium coconut shrimp (5 but OH SO GOOD)
2 oz tilapia w/veggie salsa (2)
2 oz salmon with 1/4c rice (3)
1/2c New England clam chowder (2)
1.5T artichoke dip and 3 chips (3)
Total dinner: 20
Now for the good part - dessert!
2 sm chocolate dipped peanut butter cookies (8)
chocolate mousse cup (1"x1") (1)
white chocolate cheescake bite (2)
chocolate truffle tart, 1" wide slice (5)
bread pudding, 1/4c (3)
2 cups coffee (0)
Total: 19
Total for the day: 39; so 3 points left. Yay! I did it!
Next week will be harder though - have more eating occasions with all the b-day celebrating. Realistically, if I can just stay within points eating ALL my activity points this week, that will be good. That's my plan - just maintenance this week.

Day 37: 40 days 'til 40

I flaked today. I totally forgot about this until about an hour ago. I was working on the finances and on the taxes and it sucked me in.

I worked for several hours on the taxes and all I have to show for it is printouts detailing my self-employment income & expenses for my piano studio and my TNT coaching, my charitable contributions, my child care expenses, and everything organized into a folder. I'm finally ready to actually start doing the taxes now; just have to download a program and get started. Wheeeee.

workout & food for 3/4

Workout: 15 min stationary bike, some PT exercises, and then 1 hr swimming. The swim was really hard today. I'm not sure why, but it was just a difficult workout for me. Warm-up 300 free, 50 breast. Then 20x25 free with the following pattern: 25 easy/fast, 25 fast/easy, 25 fast, 25 easy; repeat 4x. Then 2x300 free on the 6:00 with negative splits (um, yeah, right...not good at pacing myself swimming, but it was a good hard set for sure). Then 3x200 free with the first one easy, 2nd medium, 3rd fast (on the 4:00). Then 50 easy before 2x100 FAST (sprint) on 3:00 (lots of rest). 2300 yd total.
Total activity points = 9 (good thing, since the food was not good).

Food:
Breakfast: Kashi GoLean crunch cereal with 1/2c vanilla soy milk and 1/2 mixed berries (4 points).
Lunch: 1 pork tamale from Rico's (4 points), green salad leftover from last night + spray dressing (0), 1 med grapefruit (1).
Snack: 1 asian pear and 1 Fiber One oats & chocolate bar (3 points).
Dinner: leftover night - 1 slice veggie pizza (homemade, small slice) and 3/4c paella (7 points) + green salad w/spray dressing (0).
Dessert: 2 Samoas (Girl Scout cookies) - 3 points
After dessert screw-up: Yeah, I keep doing this. Not sure why. 7 points of snacking (cereal, crackers). GRRRRRRR!

I'm going to count all my activity points today because 1) I usually do that 2x/wk when on weight loss, and 2) today was not a good day and I need it.

Total: 31 points food - 9 points activity = 22 points. 4 points used out of my points allowance. Drat. That leaves me 22 for tomorrow at Zermatt. Wish I had 35, but I guess reality is that I still get out of control at night a couple times a week. I've tried everything I can think of with not much success. My saving grace is that I eat well the vast majority of the time and I exercise a lot (and enjoy doing it!).

Day 36: 40 days 'til 40

Today we took the kids to the Kangaroo Zoo. Awesome. They got to run around & expend energy, and we got to sit and chat, and take photos of them! It was very enjoyable :).

Here are the rest of the pictures.

Workout & food for 3/3

Workout: 25 min elliptical, then 45 min weight training (last 15 min I did my PT exercises for my foot), then 20 min racewalking. OK, about 21:and change, for 2 miles. My foot has been very achy today, maybe from the PT exercises yesterday & today? I'm not sure if it's supposed to be achy, but it is. I will ask on Monday at my next PT appt.
6 activity points for the cardio and 2 for the weights = 8 points; use 4 toward daily food.

Food:
Breakfast: 1/2c oatmeal, prepared w/water, 1/3 diced apple, cinnamon, and 1/2t splenda brown sugar (3 points) plus 1 morningstar farms veggie sausage patty (1 point)
Lunch: peanut butter & jelly sandwich on orowheat sandwich thin with PB2 and jelly made w/splenda (2 points), one large green salad with tomatoes and carrots and vinaigrette spray (0 points), 1 asian pear (1 point) and a couple apple & orange slices and a bite of banana bread (1 point).
Snack: 1 apple and about 35 goldfish crackers (3 points)
Dinner: homemade vegetarian pizza with lots of veggies (roasted) and small amount cheese; 2.5 pieces = 9 points. Large green salad with bell pepper, tomato, carrot & spray (0 points).
Dessert: pineapple, 2c, and hot chocolate (no sugar added) = 3 points.

Total: 23 points; 18 + 4 AP = 22; so used 1 of points allowance & still have 26 points allowance left for the week.

Day 35: 40 days 'til 40

Today we were listening to a song we hadn't heard in a while, and sharing it. I decided to remind myself of the fact that I used to play the piano before I had children. I really wish I had more time to play now, as I miss it a lot.

Here's a piece I played for my senior recital - I love the way it turned out. It really sounds like the melody is singing. I worked very hard to get it that way, and wonder of wonders, it actually did sound that way in the recital.

Here it is: Lizst's arrangement for piano of Schumann's art song "Widmung". A translation of the words for the art song is below as well.

You my soul, you my heart,
you my bliss, o you my pain,
you the world in which I live;
you my heaven, in which I float,
o you my grave, into which
I eternally cast my grief.

You are rest, you are peace,
you are bestowed upon me from heaven.
That you love me makes me worthy of you;
your gaze transfigures me;
you raise me lovingly above myself,
my good spirit, my better self!

workout & food for 3/2

Workout: Swimming. 500 easy warm-up, then 12x75 rotating IM ( on the 1:40. Next, 3x150 kick on 4:00, 1: 50 fast, 100 easy, 2: 50 easy, 50 fast, 50 easy, 3: 100 easy, 50 fast. Then 3x150 free, same fast/easy pattern as the kick, on 3:20. Finally 8x25 alternating fast/easy on the 0:35, last 2 easy. 1 hr total = 7 activity points; use 3 toward food for the day.

Food
Breakfast:
1c Kashi GoLean Crunch, 1/2c vanilla soy milk, and 1/2c mixed berries (4 points)

Morning snack:
10 baby carrots (0 points)

Lunch:
Progresso light beef soup, 1 can (3 points), 1/2 grapefruit and 1 med banana (2 points; 5 total)

PM snack:
1 med apple, 1 Fiber One oats & chocolate bar (3 points total; 12 so far)

Dinner:
Skinless turkey breast (crockpot recipe - yum!), 4 oz (4 points), mashed potatoes 1c (4 points), peas 2/3c (1 point) = 9, for 21 so far

Dessert:
very small (1x2") chocolate cake at Wasatch Walkers meeting (2 points)
hot chocolate, no sugar added (1 point)

Total: 24 points, 18 daily + my 3 activity points, + 3 points allowance.

I tried to not use any points allowance. Too hard today. Now down to 27 left. Grrrrr. It's really hard to eat so few points. I wish I could lose on more. Oh well! I had the fun of putting it on and now I have the work of taking it off.

Workout & food for 3/1

This morning's workout was 25 min on stationary bike, 20 min elliptical, then 45 min weight training class. I decided to do the regular stationary bike because I wanted to read my Scientific American magazine. I got the new one and hadn't read last month's, so I thought I'd better get on it. I read the letters, the news scan, an article on Titan (moon of Saturn), and started a fascinating article on what the human brain might do with its down time (when resting, daydreaming, or not actively thinking of something).

Then it was time for weight training class. We have a new instructor (since Matt, who we've had for 2 years, left to go work for the Angels as a strength & conditioning coach), Elise. Normally Lisa (my weight training buddy) and I just kind of do our own thing, since we've been lifting weights for 5 years now. However, Elise was leading a very interesting-looking set working on balance and strength, so I opted to go along. We did abs first - planks and "cobras", followed by some broad jumps, which I was a bit too nervous to do many of because of my foot. Then we did one-legged squats, one-legged dead lifts, chest press with dumbbells with head & shoulders on exercise ball, cable rows, bicep curls while balancing on one leg, tricep extensions with stomach on exercise ball, and finally military presses while seated on the ball. We repeated all of those 3x. Good workout.

Total activity points: 8

Food for today
Breakfast:
1c Kashi Go Lean Crunch with 1/2c vanilla soy milk and 1/2c mixed berries (4 points)

Morning snack:
baby carrots

Lunch:
Large green salad with grape tomatoes, 4 lg olives, and Cheese Fantastico Light Fantastic dressing (1 point)
Turkey roll-up: 1 slice Costco turkey on FlatOut bread with honey mustard and mixed greens (2 points)
1 med grapefruit and 1 banana (2 points)

PM snack:
1 apple and 2T craisins (2 points)

Dinner:
Pork roast (pictured) stuffed with bell peppers (yellow, green, & orange from Costco - yum!), garlic, herbs. I had 4 slices, which was 5 points according to the recipe from Weight Watchers Magazine.
Leftover "funeral potatoes" made with low-fat substitutions (4 points)
Asparagus (0 points)

Dessert:
Healthy Choice fudge bar (1 point)

Total food points: 22
Activity points used: 4

:) yay! I'm 3 days into my week and have not used any of my 35 points allowance yet. I'm saving it for this weekend...gonna need it to get through and still stick to weight-loss points.

EDITED to add:
Grrrrrr...sitting here working on stuff and got the munchies. Ate 6 points in GoLean crunch and goldfish crackers. Stupid. Oh well. So much for not using any of my 35. Didn't have the hot chocolate after that, so still have 30 left. We all mess up sometimes, so I'm just going to keep on going.

Day 34: 40 days 'til 40

Only 1 week until our birthday! Today Sarah and I were to work on our scrapbooks for even just a little bit. I spent about an hour doing 3 pages in Michelle's baby book. Here's Michelle with the first page (which I did a couple months ago). I took photos of all the other pages I've done so far and uploaded them here. Unfortunately the photos are really grainy for some reason - took the pictures with my cheapie camera, so that probably explains it. Low light + automatic high ISO = grainy. Oh well. You can still get the idea. I am about 1/3 done with the album, and it's been fun to revisit those baby days. It has reminded me that I do NOT want to go back and do all that again. The baby stage is just too much work!