Accountability

Alrighty.

Accountability.

Who is ready to get up at 5:30am and go for a 12 mile bike ride followed by a 2 mile run?

I am, I am, no really I am!

It's 11:37pm and I can't fall asleep.....

And the idea of getting up in 6 hours (probably sooner to hush the baby) is making me feel like I might throw up, or maybe just give up, so I thought that if I wrote it down and made it official that perhaps I would actually follow through and do it.

So, yeah, I'm doing it. In six hours I know exactly where I'll be and now you do too so I guess we can all rest easy tonight. Phew, what a relief. Maybe now I'll be able to sleep.....

Gyro Hell

6am~12 mile bike ride.

7am~1.5 mile run.

10am~4 hours of beach time with three children ages two and under

2pm~1 Gyro platter for lunch

3pm~3 hours of sickness begins because of Gyro platter.

8pm~5 mile run.

11pm~Bedtime.

Note to self: NO MORE GYRO PLATTERS.

Who Says 86 Is Old????

I came across this today while browsing through the results of the Trek triathon from 2009. Work it Margaret, you are my new idol!

MARGARET STEINAM #131

CEDARBURG, WI

Age: 86 Gender: F

Distance	Short
Clock Time	02:45:05
Overall Place	2530 / 2551
Division Place	1 / 1
Swim	00:36:57
Swimrank	2532
Trans1	00:17:09
Bike	00:54:49
Bikerank	2315
Mph	13.1
Trans2	00:06:34
Runrank	2441
Run	00:49:35
Pace	00:15:59

May Weight

I did a 10 mile bike route this morning (47 minutes) followed by a 2.25 mile run (24 minutes). Getting off the bike and heading straight into a run is challenging, but this was only my second attempt and so I am confident that it will get easier.

There was a dense fog lingering as I left the house and it reminded me that I should really get some lights for my bike. I wasn't on the road until 6:15am, but the fog made for low visibility. Luckily, since it was early on a Saturday, there wasn't much traffic. The fog left tiny drops of water on my eyelashes, which made my ride even more enjoyable.

Here are my weigh ins for May so far. I have been staying true to my once a week weigh in goal and do it Saturday mornings.

May 1~187

May 8~185

May 15~183

May 22~179.7

May 29~TBA

4.9

I made it 4.9 miles today in 47 minutes. Not bad considering I got held up by traffic a few times. I have to tell you that finally deciding to take the next step and run outside the box of my familiar comfort zone was totally refreshing. I really enjoyed the challenge and the pace, not to mention the new scenery. I felt amazing when I finally made it home. Sweaty, but amazing.

Here's a link to the route I took.

Mapping My Course

I have been playing around with THIS MAP SITE since last night (Thank you Terri for passing it my way). It is really quite useful, if you like that sort of thing....

The sun is now trying her hardest to peek through the cloud cover and I was fortunate enough to get a nanny at the last minute (read~my brother is coming over to watch the kids, drink our juice and play on the computer) while I go for a run. I just mapped out a 4.5 mile route and am sort of nervous about it. Up until now I've been doing 3.5 miles fairly regularly, BUT, and this is a big but, I have been doing 2 identical loops. I run the length of the boulevard and back again and then repeat. This started because obviously in the beginning I could only do one length before I had to return home due to exhaustion, or just the idea of it. I remember quite clearly the very first day I got back to the house and decided to keep running. I could hardly believe it at the time, but I coaxed myself along by muttering "one more block, just one more...." in my head until I had had somehow repeated the entire loop for a second time. Ever since then, this route has been my comfort zone and I have let myself go on believeing that the first loop is the actual goal and anything else is simply extra. Plus, I have the option of stopping after the first go round if I am too tired to continue. This has never happened, but I still like the idea of it, as I've already mentioned, I am a girl who likes to have an escape route, an emergency exit if you will.

Well today, for the first time, I am crossing 60th and not turning back until I get over 2 miles out. I am breaking down the mental barriers that stand guard at the intersection down the road. Today, I am running into Tosa.

34 Percent

According to this handy dandy site, my body is 34% FAT. Well, that's based on the Navy's formula, the YMCA formula had me up at 39%. I have never liked the Navy until today.

I also learned that while my ideal weight is 147, my healthy range lies between 131-164. Right now I am 180, so there is work to be done.

I am beginning to feel like I need to set my sights on a long term goal, an actual number, but maybe the scale isn't the best indicator. I would really like to get my body fat down to 26% and I wonder what that would look like or feel like or weigh?

Goal number one is the triathlon. Deadline July 11, 2010. Goal number two is our wedding day. Deadline August 21, 2010. Goal number three is to get into a size 7/8. Deadline Thanksgiving 2010.

As for my long term goals, well I haven't set any yet. In part because I have still been giving myself an "out" from all this. That Thanksgiving goal I just mentioned? Yeah, well, I just now, just this VERY moment, came up with it. So far the wedding has been my only long term goal, but as we get closer to August it is becoming clear that I have a decision to make and I will need another goal. I am embarrassed to admit that there is still a part of me that wants an easy out once the cake is cut and the rice is thrown (not sure why I said that, there will be absolutely NO flying rice at our wedding!).

So now that I have a post wedding goal, does that mean no margaritas on the honeymoon?

Rain Day

My intention was to be out the door by 5am and get in a bike ride, a jog and even a shower before Brendan left for work. Imagine my dismay when I awoke to the sound of rain pouring down and the realization that I could crawl back under the covers and sleep for another 2 hours instead. I was heartbroken I tell you, simply devastated!

(While sitting here at the computer making rain day excuses at least 5 joggers have run by. "Oh, well, they don't have kids" I thought, but the last one was pushing a jogging stroller in front of her and dragging a dog along behind her, plus I think she had a cup of coffee in her free hand. Oh well, hopefully I can get a run in later.)

Calories

1766.

That's the magic number.

At least according to The Daily Plate. If I want to lose 2 pounds per week, this is the total number of calories I should be consuming on any given day.

Since January 2010, when I first began counting and losing, this has worked out just fine. There were some bumps in the road as I re-educated myself about nutrition and re-shaped the size of my stomach, changing habits doesn't happen over night after all. But seeing as how I've lost nearly 50 pounds since then, I must be doing something right!

So here I am 4 months later, coasting along, feeling like I have found my stride, like I have figured it all out when suddenly I run smack dab into triathlon training, and everything I've learned about calories seems to fly out the window, because here's the deal, it's no longer just a DIET to lose weight. What started as a short term "let's lose weight to look good in a wedding dress" goal has evolved into a "let's train and push our body to it's limits".

On Wednesday I burned 1500 calories while training, yesterday it was 1000. Obviously, my magic number of 1766 needs some tweaking on these types of days, since my body can't survive on 266 calories, or even 766 for that matter. Plus, I have to take into account the fact that I am still nursing Saoirse and need enough for her as well. At this point she's eating plenty of solids and so it's not as serious as if she was still using me as her primary source of nutrition, but on the other hand, she still hasn't started drinking cow's milk and so I am her only milk supply.

After reading a lot about this, and asking around, the bottom line is this, my magic number will remain the same, but my burned calories will need to be replaced. So on a day like Wednesday when I worked out 1500 calories my daily intake should have included my base 1766 PLUS an additional 1500, making for a whopping 3266 calories!!!

This is of course where it starts to get a little scary, I mean, I have spent the last 4 months learning how to eat 1700 calories and feel good and full and happy. I have worked very hard to accomplish this, and for a food addict like me this was not an easy task! There is definitely some fear creeping into all of this as I transition from eating like I am on a diet, to eating like I am training for a triathlon. I definitely have some more learning to do.

I will say this: On Wednesday as I attempted to replace some of my calories, I got to have peanut butter for the first time in nearly 3 months! PEANUT BUTTER!!! Oh, man was it ever delicious and if training for a triathlon means eating peanut butter on a regular basis then maybe I should do this more often.

Weighing In

I have resigned myself to the fact that in order to save my sanity I really only need to weigh in once a week. When I first began losing weight I was on the Wii Fit EVERY.SINGLE.DAY to chart my weight and see my progress. In the beginning I could lose a pound or two simply by saying the word "gym" or by glancing at the treadmill. When you weigh 230 pounds you don't have to work very hard to lose weight.

Nowadays the weight loss is still steady but the pace has slowed, which honestly doesn't bother me too much, I mean I feel great, but what DOES bother me is that the Wii wants me to justify fluctuations throughout the week.

Yesterday my weight was up 1.5 pounds from the previous morning and the computer wanted to "talk" about the reasons for this. Uh. I didn't pee yet? I built muscle mass yesterday? I didn't finish nursing the baby on the left side yet?

Silly machinery. From now on I'm weighing in ONCE a week (twice tops, I swear!).

Baby Steps

Yesterday I officially decided to enter a triathlon. Yes, a real live race. There is a Trek Series triathlon sprint taking place on July 11, 2010 and I will be swimming, biking and running my way to the finish line. I'm not quite sure how this all came about and if I had a short story to explain it all I would at least try, but this story is long and winding and I'm not even sure where it should begin or if it has a true ending. When I cross the finish line will that be the end of it? I sure hope not, I hope it doesn't end there, because right now I feel better than I have in years. I am using my body again for things other than incubation and lactation. I am pushing myself to go farther and to expect more. I am getting stronger by the day and I feel amazing. So, who knows what will happen once the race is over, but for now I'm still trying to embrace where this new lifestyle is taking me.

I got up at 6am today and did 7.5 miles on the bike and then a 20 minute run. I wanted to see what it felt like to run after a ride and all I can say is I definitely have my WORK cut out for me.

I've been exercising since late January 2010, taking baby steps to get to the point I am now, but this morning's workout made it very clear that I have a long road ahead of me.