What I've been up to

It's been crunch time at work and between that, night classes, and training for Oceanside, blogging took less of a priority. The good news is I had a pretty good race on Saturday! For once, I didn't have any real nutrition issues. I cut my bike time by 8 minutes and my run time by about 12 minutes (I walked a lot last year) and cut my overall time by almost 18 minutes!! I'm glad I shaved off time, but what matters the most is that I felt good and felt I was finally putting my training to use! Hurray!

And the big news is...

I signed up for my very first Ironman!

I am really excited but also nervous!

I've never run more than 13.1 miles in my life and now I'm going to run a marathon? AFTER having biked for 6+ hours? Hmmmm...

I feel really good lately and I'm sure nutrition is playing some part in that.

6 Weeks Completed

I officially ended my 6-weeks of ETL today, though I can't say I was as strict as I wanted to be. I would say adherence was a mere 75% and that's being generous. I really want to be closer to 95%!!

The calorie-counting experiment has been interesting. I screwed up a bit the first week (binged) but this past week, I was very good at inputting everything into the counter. Plus I weighed myself everyday. I feel like it helps because I am more accountable, having to enter every little thing in. I suppose that's the point of a food log right? :)

Anyway, I must be reporting something wrong - either I am burning more calories than I realize or not eating as much, because I have the program set to lose 2 lbs/week and according to the software I was "over" my calorie budget by 1257 calories last week (yes, I binged 2x last week)... and, I lost 3 lbs last week!!! Sooo, yeah, something is off.

I am FINALLY under 120 again (I'm 119 this morning). This means I lost a whole 5 lbs during the 6 weeks of ETL. Not much, but I also don't have much to lose and I did make plenty of mistakes.

So what now? I never want to be over 120 again. I'm going to keep using the program and counting calories because it seems to be working right now... I'm going to keep plugging away and trying to get my ETL-adherence closer to 100%. I'm going to get closer to my Fuhrman weight goal... AND - I want to stop bingeing once and for all!

Day 39 / 42

Last two weeks of hard training before the half-ironman race. Today was one hard ride. I was only supposed to ride for 4 hours but because most of the people I rode with today are training for IM Utah, they needed to do a 4.5 hour ride.

"Is it ok if we ride a little longer today?" they asked.

"Sure - if you don't mind waiting for my slowness..."

Everyone I ride with is much faster than me. This is discouraging to me, because I feel bad that I am holding them up. They have to stop and wait for me at specific points. I've told them to go on and that I feel bad that they wait for long periods of time occasionally, but they (well, one of them at least) has assured me it is not a problem. When am I going to get to a point when I'm not the slowest? I just want to be faster than ONE person!

Anyway, today's ride was challenging. We managed to avoid the rain predicted for today, but it was still very cold. We ended up going over our projected time as well which put the total ride time around 4:40 instead of 4:30. Around the 3-hr mark, I almost felt like I was bonking, even though I had been eating the same amount I usually do on this ride. D informed me that we need more calories when it is cold because we're burning more trying to stay warm... hmmm... never heard that one before (anyone know?) but eating at that point did seem to help.

And of course we ran afterward... because we can. :)

One other note - yes, still using processed crap during exercise because it seems to be working for me and I'm scared to try something new this close to a race. But next month, I want to make all intake -- including exercising intake -- ETL if possible.

B - (during ride): 3 GUs, 2 odwalla bars, 1 diluted juice + electrolytes drink

L - green smoothie: 8 oz bok choy, 1 T flax seed, 1 orange, 2 pears, handful of blueberries

D - salad: romaine, 1/2 red pepper, 3 oz carrots, avocado herb dressing + dried persimmons

E - bike: 4:40, run: 0:30

Day 38 / 42

I had a coupon for a free oatmeal at Starbucks this morning and ended up using it for breakfast. I was worried that it wouldn't fill me up like the green smoothies usually do since there wasn't any vegetables in it (although I have heard of people mixing spinach with their oatmeal, but that is another post...). I'm not sure if it worked because I ended up eating a lot of kumquats and was fairly full. However, I also started feeling a little light-headed around 11 am which was odd. It felt reminiscent of symptoms I used to get when I felt hypoglycemic (I don't get these anymore since being on a nutritian diet).

Also, the other strange thing I've noticed since yesterday is that I haven't been as hungry as I usually am. Yesterday's workout should have definitely made me fairly hungry but I didn't have that ravenous feeling I usually have after a long workout. Unfortunately I still ate the same amount (or more) out of habit, boredom, or [fill in lame excuse] but at least I am more conscious of it now. I will try to make more of an effort to stop eating when I am satisfied.

This weird decrease in hunger happened to me another time when I attempted ETL. I got to a point where I didn't desire as much food. A lot of people on the Dr. Fuhrman forums who are longtime ETL-ers say this has happened to them too. The idea is that your body is flooded with nutrients and doesn't needs as much food... interesting! I hope that is what's happening with me... and I hope I have the sense to heed the signals to stop eating.

B - Starbucks oatmeal with nuts package + 14 kumquats

L - salad: romaine, 1/2 small avocado, 1/2 red bell pepper, 13 baby carrots, 1/2 cup garbanzo beans, casinera's caesar dressing

S - 4 dates before second workout

D - cabbage, peas and green onions + 1/2 frozen banana

E - bike: 1:10, bike: 1:10 (1 in the morning, 1 in the evening)

Food fight: kumquats versus muffins

This morning there was a pleasant surprise waiting in the work kitchen... a bag of brightly colored, happy-looking kumquats! They smelled heavenly. Posted on the bag was "FREE - from Dave." I took several and ate them with breakfast. I love kumquats! They are tart and sweet and are a great treat.

I emailed Dave to thank him for the kumquats and his response was, "So that's what they were?" I talked with him later and found that his wife encouraged the family to subscribe to a CSA this year because she feels better about supporting a local farm. But they are wasting some of the produce items they don't like and "can't possibly eat that much lettuce." Bring some my way, I say! I'd love to get into the CSA they are in but when I checked back in December, they are full and putting people on a wait list. He says he is entertaining his wife's idea for now but in secret feels it's "rubbish" and will quit as soon as the subscription is over.

About an hour later, someone brought in a huge tray of blueberry muffins into the office. The kumquats and muffins sat next to each other on the kitchen table. Can you guess which choice won out? Within 45 minutes, the muffins were gone and the kumquats were still there.

Oh well - more for me!

Hard Running

My legs were tight and sore this morning and I was dreading this morning's workout. Of all the days out of the week, the Thursday morning track workout is the one I dread the most. What is it about running that is so painful? I should clarify. What is it about "fast" running that is so painful? I have to put "fast" in quotes since I'm not fast in reality. Fast are the sub-5 minute-milers running today (that's their "10K pace")!

One of the new girls asked me, "Does it ever get any easier?" I looked at her straight in the eye and said, "Nope," to which she replied, "I should have asked someone else..." Haha. I think it does get easier, but in a different way. We get faster (but so does everyone else, so it becomes hard to gauge progress) and better at tolerating pain, but it's still always painful.

Today's run workout was KILLER. As in, I killed my legs. Someone in the group wearing a Garmin said the total mileage was 8.5 miles, which is A LOT for a "track workout" ... especially when last week was much shorter at around 5-6 miles total.

Hoping the hard workout and eating healthfully today (on track - no excuses!) will combat the damage I did yesterday.

S - GU between workouts

B - green smoothie: 8 oz bok choy, 1 T flax seed, 1 oranges, 1 pear, handful of blueberries

L - salad: romaine, 1/2 small avocado, 1/2 red bell pepper, 13 baby carrots, 1/2 cup garbanzo beans, casinera's caesar dressing + 1 clementine

D - cabbage, peas, and green onions + frozen fruit with a little too much almond butter

E - run: 1:15, swim: 0:30

Day 36 / 42

Official last week of the "6-week plan", although I have to admit at this point, I haven't been as completely strict as I should have been. I'd say my adherence is more around 80%. I can do better. The closer I adhere, the closer I can get to my goal.

B - green smoothie: 8 oz bok choy, 1 T flax seed, 1 oranges, 1 pear, handful of blueberries

S - odwalla bar

L - salad: romaine, 1/2 small avocado, 1/2 red bell pepper, 3 oz baby carrots, 1/2 cup garbanzo beans, casinera's caesar dressing + 1 clementine

D - 2 cups sweet greens soup, 2 oz sunflower seeds, 2 ww fig newtons

E - swim: 1:00, weights: 0:45

Day 35 / 42

Today wasn't a perfect day. I was having very bad hunger pains in the afternoon and ended up caving into an Odwalla bar before my second evening workout. Surprisingly, the extra sugar made me feel great and I was really energized during the swim. I still struggle with wanting to eat pre-workout snacks since that's what most others in the sports community think is necessary.

I'm feeling mentally better today. I know I just need to keep plugging away. As Emily said today, excuses are irrelevant.

S - GU during workout

B - green smoothie: 8 oz bok choy, 1 T flax seed, 1 oranges, 1 pear

L - salad: romaine, 1/2 small avocado, 1/2 red bell pepper, 13 baby carrots, 1/2 cup garbanzo beans, casinera's caesar dressing + 1 clementine

S - odwalla bar

D - cabbage and peas, 1 pc dark chocolate, frozen berries

E - bike: 0:50, run: 0:30, swim: 0:45

Day 34 / 42

I don't know how to express how disappointed and frustrated I am and I really don't want to be a downer so I'll say very little tonight. Just a brief food log... I "cheated" today and had an orange as a snack.

B - green smoothie: 8 oz bok choy, 1 T flax seed, 1 oranges, 1 pear

L - salad: romaine, cabbage, 1/2 small avocado, 1/2 red bell pepper, 13 baby carrots, 1/2 cup garbanzo beans, casinera's caesar dressing + 1 clementine

S - 1 tart orange

D - big pot of spinach-cabbage-broccoli tomato soup

E - run: 1:00, weights: 0:30, swim: 0:50

Why can't I lose weight?

I don't quite understand what's going on. How can I be working out on average 2 hours / day, eating 1600 cals / day and not lose weight? That seems to defy logic. And completely pisses me off. I was religious all last week about figuring out my calories, eating a nutritarian diet, and getting in my workouts and by Sunday (yesterday), I was up 1 pound from the weight I was last Sunday. Really ... I don't understand!

I am feeling incredibly discouraged. I know this is the THE way I should be eating, but why am I not able to lose these excess pounds? It's not like I don't have weight to lose. It may not be a significant amount, but I can pinch way more than an inch around my waist and know I can be smaller (I was 10 pounds less just 5 years ago, for example, and even less 10 years ago).

What gives?