not-so-good week

I've had very low energy this week. I've been very tired, not the severe fatigue I had last year, but very very tired. In addition, I've definitely had some of the weird muscle soreness. Not bad, very minor, but it's back. I hope this is just a small setback, so I'm taking it very easy.

Monday - biked to work.

Tuesday - did 6K in 37:56 for 6:19/km with ave HR 146. Felt very tired.

Wednesday - elliptical 20', bike to work.

Today - was going to RW 8K, but felt tired. Did 5K instead in 31:56 for 6:23/km with ave HR 142, and then swam laps for 20 min tonight to get some more cardio but using different muscles. I had some of the weird soreness today at work while sitting. Just barely noticeable, but there, and my legs were very heavy.

I am really hoping not pushing it and sleeping extra will help me feel better ASAP. I really do not want to be sick again. Not right before Portland-to-Coast :(.

cycling recovery; 6K

My coach told me to take it easy this weekend after the 5K race. I did…sorta :). I didn't racewalk, and on Saturday I rode my bike slowly 10K with Calvin to Costco and Lowe's, then 6K to the pool and back.

Our lab is taking part in the "Clear the Air Challenge", to see how many non-single-occupant-vehicle trips we can complete. I'm basically trying to go everywhere by bike, which has been interesting (some trips on a bike are challenging - the city needs to work on being more bike-friendly in some areas) but mostly good.

Anyway, back to Saturday. While at the pool, I did 30 min of lap swimming in the very awesome outdoor 50m pool for some good cardio, since bicycling with Calvin is more of a moderate activity. Someday I'm sure he will be able to totally kick my butt, but for now, it's a bit sedate.

Sunday I opted for lots of cycling. Biked up up up uphill to church, which is 4.5k (almost 3 miles) from our house. Didn't know that, since I always drive there. Our church is now meeting on Foothill Drive, in a Seventh Day Adventist building. Quite convenient to share, since their worship is on Saturday. After church, I biked home and grabbed a quick snack then biked to Weight Watchers. Hadn't done that before. Turns out it's also about 10K round-trip (6.2 miles) from our house. Weight Watchers is one of the few places I've visited lately that doesn't have a bike rack. I gave my leader a hard time about that, since they are trying to encourage activity, right? Finally, I biked with Calvin and Grace to the pool and cooled off with a leisurely swim (I did NOT do laps).

My legs felt good all weekend. No weird soreness and not even any delayed onset muscle soreness from the 5K! In fact, I think I am really feeling about 100% normal again! Very happy about that. So, this morning I went out for a 6K walk and it went just fine. I took it easy, with ave HR 142, and still pulled off a pace of 6:24/km for 38:23 total time. Legs felt good; a bit tired on the last uphill but nothing more. I am sure I could have gone farther but glad I didn't as I was in a time crunch to get the kids to summer camp and myself to work. We bicycled, of course :).

Currently our lab is in 29th place for # of trips by team in the state, and I am in 24th place for individuals.

Garmin data here. 

cross-training; 8K

Yesterday: a day of very easy cross-training. I rode my bike slowly, with Calvin on his bike (he is quite a trooper to tackle the hills), to the gym. We eagerly dove into the clear water, enjoying the refreshment of the post-bike swim. Calvin played and splashed and jumped off the diving board while I swam laps for 30 minutes. I worked very hard on breathing on both sides. I'm not a great swimmer, and find it much easier to breathe on my right side; I don't float as well on the right side so it's harder to breathe on the left. I know there are drills for that…but yeah, I'm lazy. And unless I decide to do a triathlon I guess I don't care much if I'm a slow swimmer.

Side note: Grace was still pretty sick yesterday, but was looking a lot better. This morning she actually went to camp; I hope that will be OK. Her fever was gone today and she looked pretty perky.

***

Today: 8K of racewalking! I got up sleepily, groggily threw on some workout clothes, grabbed the dog, my phone, and my Garmin and ran out the door. I love summer. I don't have to think about what to wear for a workout - I know it's shorts and a T-shirt. No gloves, no hat, no wondering if I have enough layers, and no blinking light or neon vest required. Just me and the dog, out for some exercise. And today it was a lovely morning - 61F (about 15C) with a cooling breeze and sunshine.

I felt good today - got to 5K at about a 6:15/km pace, and then of course slowed a bit on the uphill at the end. I finished in 51:09 for 6:24/km with ave HR 149. I did feel a bit tired the last 1-1.5km, but none of the weird soreness, and was glad for the exercise.

After that I did have to take Calvin to camp, and since I didn't buy a parking permit this year, and since he doesn't have a bus pass, that means bicycling. We gently rode our bikes to his camp, but then it's a huge uphill for me to get to work. My legs were whining a bit about that, but I didn't push too hard, and it only takes about 15 min to get up the hill. Now, at lunch, I feel pretty good, although my legs are tired going up and down stairs and walking around at work. Nothing out of the ordinary, though, and I'm very grateful.

Garmin data here. 

A week of cross training; 6K

A week of cross-training:

Monday: rest day!
Tuesday: stationary bike, 30 min.
Wednesday: stationary bike, 30 min; then ride bike to work and back.
Thursday: elliptical, 30 min; then ride bike to work and back.
Friday: elliptical, 30 min; then ride bike to work and back.
Saturday: 35 min swimming - 1 mile total (1750 yards). I am not a fast swimmer! One minute/50yd is just the right speed for 35 min of swimming. Of course, I haven't been doing much swimming lately and it's all technique.

Today: I was so ready to racewalk! I took the dog and Calvin along, and did 6K. I felt pretty good through 4.5km or so, and then had minor soreness/tiredness in legs through 6K. Very little of the weird soreness afterward despite sitting a lot playing the piano for band practice and then the church service. I am happy about that! I was pretty fast, too - well, slow historically, but faster than of late. I did 6:14/km with ave HR 144, for a total time of 37:27. I'm quite satisfied with that.

Garmin data here.

Then, because I'm totally nuts, and the weather was SO VERY NICE, I decided to ride my bike over to my parents' house. We were having dinner there, and I've always wanted to try the ride. It's about 21km (half marathon) if you go directly by car. Of course, on a bike that's more challenging since you can't go on the freeway. I decided to take the scenic route on Wasatch Blvd, and it turns out that was a whopping 8km (5 miles) farther! Well, it was fun anyway. Definitely VERY hilly, but that made things much more fun. Bicycling on the flat is not nearly so interesting. Racewalking on the flat - YES! Much better. But cycling? Give me some hills any day.

Total was 28.83 km in 1:15 and change. Garmin data here if you're interested.

Hiking, rest day, and cross-training

Friday: My brother, an avid mountaineer, was in town. So I took the day off and we went hiking, of course! He originally had planned for us to do Lone Peak or Twin Peaks, but decided those were too hard for Erica (his wife) and I to do, so he switched our hike to Pfiefferhorn. It was still very difficult! If I'd been in better shape to start with it wouldn't have been as hard as it was, but even so, the class 3 scrambling with exposure was pretty scary for me and I doubt I'd do it again. I'm glad I did it, but...yeah...scary.

It was about 15K total (actually a bit more, at 9.5 miles or so), with 3800 feet (1100m) of elevation gain and then loss on the way back. Wow. But it was very beautiful hiking through forests, past alpine lakes, through meadows of profuse wildflowers, and then over boulders on a knife-edge ridge. The summit views were spectacular, showing us the Salt Lake and Utah valleys, Little Cottonwood Canyon, Mt. Timpanogos, and more.









On the way down, all was well until about 12k, when my right IT band pulled its usual hiking stunt and started to hurt. The last 3k was a slow slog for me, but I made it. My quads are seriously paying for the adventure now, but oh well. It was worth it.

Here are all of the photos. Here's my Garmin data.

***

When I got back into cell phone range, I was stunned to have a message from the camp director of the summer camp my kids are in. I discovered that they were BOTH at the hospital (thankfully with my husband Loren) from separate accidents at the roller skating rink. Calvin fell first, bracing his fall with his arms and fracturing his radius and ulna. They set the fracture with him sedated, and he is doing fine now, though in some discomfort. Just after the camp director got back to the skating rink, Grace fell and split her chin open, requiring 5 stitches. They took her over to be with Calvin and Loren at the hospital. By the time I got back from hiking, they were almost ready to leave the hospital, so I didn't go. I was quite relieved to be reunited with them and they are going to be fine.

***

Saturday: rest day. I needed it, after all that excitement!

***

Sunday: quads still hurting a lot, and calves too. However, I need exercise! So I decided to try the elliptical, and it was fine. I did 40 min elliptical in my swimsuit and shorts, and then peeled off the shorts and jumped into the pool for 20 min of laps. That felt quite nice after the elliptical, and gave my legs a rest.

gym triathlon

My legs were complaining this morning, and I just couldn't mentally get into much of anything. I decided that a mini-triathlon would be interesting and would motivate me. Hey, whatever it takes, right? Yeah, I know I NEED to racewalk to stay fit, so I'll do some tomorrow (really, I will!). But today this is what I did:

5K on the elliptical in 20:27 (ha! Wish I could RW that fast...), 20K on the stationary bike in 39:02, and then 750m in the pool in a very slow 17:05. In all fairness, 1) I haven't swum in forever, 2) I was outside in the very lovely 50m pool, where you get less push-offs from the wall, and 3) I did this last and took it VERY easy. It felt SO nice to jump in the pool after getting all sweaty from the "run" and "bike" segments.

Someday I'd like to do a real triathlon, but I don't have a good bike (just have a hybrid commuter bike which is really heavy) and I don't run. So, maybe it's not for me. Besides, every time I think about it I realize I'd have to take time off of racewalking to train for it, and I don't really want to do that. Well, at least not right now. Someday though. It's on my bucket list, FWIW.

rest day, cross training

Sunday: rest day

***

Today: cross-training. I went to the gym in the morning and did 30 min on the elliptical. Later in the day I went back with my sister-in-law, Erica, and we did a masters swimming workout. I hadn't been swimming in a very long time, and it was decent. Still not my favorite, but a good solid workout and something different as I approach the 50K. My legs are feeling really good after a couple days off of racewalking. Anyway, I did about 2300 yd of swimming in an hour, including some freestyle, some kicking, some breaststroke, some intervals.

masters swimming today

This morning I was to cross-train, so I decided to go to the masters swimming workout, to give my legs a breather. I have a hard (but short) workout tomorrow, so why not rest a little?

I got there a bit late and just did 100m warm-up. We are still in the 50m outdoor pool - I love being outside! Besides, it was 65F (18.3C) this morning (supposed to get up to 94F, 34.4C) and sunny and just gorgeous. I'm loving the summer weather.

We did two sets of 300m, 200m, 100m freestyle on the 2:20/100m. I got about 15-20 sec rest after the 300s, and about 5-10 sec after the 200s. Then we did some technique drills; 10x50 total. We did the catch-up drill and fist drill, and some regular swimming to work on lengthening our reach in the front and also pulling strong with the forearm.

Total distance: only 1800m, but it was a good workout and I enjoyed it. As an added bonus, my legs will be nice & fresh for tomorrow's 5K fartlek.

quiet couple of days

It's been a quiet couple of days. My coach decided to re-vamp my training schedule, because I wasn't recovering as well from the hard workouts as we had hoped. I think this is a good move, as it avoids overtraining on my part. Plus I have to admit that the schedule was quite hard, and while I am improving, I felt a bit tired all the time.

So, yesterday was an optional day; I opted to do weight training, core work, and 45 min on the elliptical. Everything felt pretty good by last night, but honestly, I was glad I didn't have a hard track workout this morning. I was to do cross-training instead, so to rest my legs even more I went to a masters' swim workout. It was great! We are meeting at the outdoor 50m pool now, and I loved working out there. It was fabulous to be outside. We warmed up with a lot of freestyle - kicks, drills, swim, etc. for about 700m, then did some stroke drills for butterfly, breaststroke, and backstroke alternating with freestyle swimming for 600m, and finished with some breaststroke & backstroke for 300m. Hmmm, that only adds up to 1600m. I could have sworn I did 1800m but maybe I have forgotten something? It wasn't very much for a 1 hour workout, but I was in the super slow lane, and we did a fair amount of technique work. It was good, though - no pressure, no hard speed work, but I was still breathing hard during the swimming part. Enjoyable...I wish my hard workouts allowed me to go to this workout more often, but since I am usually at the track or the park working hard on Tu & Th mornings, I can't be at the pool too.

Tomorrow I am back into hard workouts again. I think I'm mentally much more ready than a couple days ago, and physically as well. My legs are fresh, and ready for action.

rest day cancelled :)

Couldn't resist a 30-minute swim while the kids had their swimming lesson tonight. I just felt in the mood, and so I wore my suit to the pool and we all got in together, me in the lap pool, and the kids in the leisure pool with their teacher. The teacher brought them over to me when their lesson was done. I did about 28 laps or so (1400yd) on about 1:00. I didn't pay THAT much attention to the time or # of laps so that's a guess. There were some seriously FAST swim team types in the lanes adjacent to me. I am a tortoise in the pool, but that's OK. It was just nice to do something while the kids swam.

20k replacement

You guessed it...time to get wet. At least the outdoor pool is open now; I took this photo last summer, but this is where I swam this morning. I swam for 45 min; I have really no idea how many laps I did because my counting was totally off. It's a 50m pool, so it's a very different feel than swimming in a 25yd pool. Slower, by far, because you don't get to push off as much, but very nice because you don't get interrupted so often. Plus I enjoyed being out in the sun and being able to see the mountains a bit with each breath. I did all freestyle except for 2 laps of breaststroke, just to mix things up. I didn't really try to go hard or do anything fancy; the Masters' workout was at 11:30 and we had brunch reservations at 1 pm in Midway, so I had to swim earlier. So it was a bit boring, perhaps, but it was very low key, which is what I needed.

i followed up the swim with a 35-min ride on the stationary bike, which is all I had time for. Wish I could have biked outside, as the weather was great, but again, no time. I amused myself by reading while biking; I still have to finish this month's book club book.

My foot is still sore today when walking (not racewalking, just walking). Not like yesterday; I don't think I'm limping much if any, but it's a tad sore. Interestingly, wearing heels is more comfortable. I read online that peroneal tendonitis feels better in shoes w/a heel lift. I took it seriously and wore high-heeled sandals to brunch; it felt better that way. Seems I have a culprit, then...but how long will this round take to heal? I had peroneal tendonitis on the other foot but on the medial side, where it attaches into the 1st metatarsal. On this foot, it's on the lateral side, where the tendon goes under the cuboid bone. I really hope it doesn't take months to heal like the other foot, but it's a different injury so maybe I'll get lucky. I massaged my calf with "the stick" and plan to take another day off RW.

A couple easy days

Sunday I went for a swim at the Master's workout at Steiner from 11:30-12:30. It was a very technical workout with lots of drills and not too much on the endurance end, which was perfect for the day after a 1/2 marathon. I did do several 50-yd intervals in only 45s :) which is fast for me, and so I was pleased.

Today I was to do an easy 10K, and I felt pretty darn good. I felt like I was going fast, but I wasn't particularly speedy, finishing in just over 1:08. I was glad to be feeling good, and my foot didn't hurt, so it was perfect. After my 10K, I went to weight training, and did a bunch of exercises my coach recommended, both for core and also for glutes/hamstrings/etc. I liked a lot of them but too tired to list them now. Need some rest. I've had swollen lymph nodes under my chin yesterday & today and am feeling draggy, so I guess I'm fighting something off.

I've been a little sore after the race; nothing too bad, but noticeable. My trapezoids (top of shoulder) are the most sore --- weird, but you never know what is going to hurt, and I haven't gone 13.1 in a while, so it's not surprising. The most noticeable thing is that my foot is NOT sore at all. Yay!

This morning after weight training I went to the podiatrist and had my orthotics adjusted so they don't rub my L foot any more. Hopefully that will do the trick.

This afternoon I had a physical therapy appointment, which went well. The PT is very pleased with my progress - last week was virtually pain-free, and though he thought my doing the 1/2 marathon was a bit risky, he was glad that I didn't have pain and felt that was indicative of my progress. He said if things keep looking good for a few more weeks then maybe I can stop visiting them so often, if at all :). That would be helpful from both a time and money standpoint, as each visit is a $30 copay. Ouch. AND I have to find a sitter. Thankfully, my parents watched the kids today and can probably do it the next couple of weeks.

Way tired and I am supposed to do 3x2k at 85% tomorrow. Off to bed. Hoping I will wake up feeling up to a hard workout.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 3/9

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.

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!).