Fitness, Weight and Food

In 2015 Mark and I did a 6 week boot camp outdoors and then a 4 week indoor boot camp/kickboxing class. Although we were working out and feeling in shape. We had a bit of a round shape. Admittedly we were enjoying food, all kinds and in large quantities.

May 2015 I got on a fancy high tech scale that was given to us for our wedding by a beautiful couple who is super into fitness. To my dismay, my weight was 162lbs. I've never been this heavy. EVER. Maybe it was that I finally hit 30 in 2014 or that I got married the same year or the hiatus of consistent workout routines. In any case it felt terrible.

Shortly thereafter I signed up for www.dietbet.com and created a diet bet to challenge my friends to lose 4% of their body weight in 28 days. In my case that was 6 lbs. At the same time my husband and I found a two-month swimming groupon deal for a masters program. We try to go at least 2 days a week and sometimes as much as 4 days per week. I won my first dietbet, and my husband joined it and won also! We did so by tracking our food intake using myfitnesspal app and by working out consistently. After doing so, we took a weekend off. The next week we joined our second dietbet. This time I kept myself to 1200-1300 calories but no more. My husband and I again won our second diet bet! He lost 20 lbs and I've lost 13 lbs! I had never before had to worry about my weight, because I was burning calories just by running, training for fun races and to meet new goals.

I felt aggravated and annoyed about letting myself get so heavy for being only 5'2. Today I'm down to 148.4 lbs. While this is not an amazing weight it is a big difference from 162. We are taking 2 weeks off to enjoy our birthdays.

Upon returning home I will work on getting and staying between 135-140. I'll be ready to committ to training for another race. First I'll need to develop a base. Currently, my best is running 2.46 miles at an 11:17 min/mile pace. It's not bad at all. 

The key will be to keep watching my food intake and keep using that foam roller. Squats, core and back stregthening will be my friends. I can't wait to get back into a normal running routine. I miss being out there in start corrals - and writing about all the experiences I've had. 

Carp TriTraining - 8 wk update

Training for my first tri. The Carpinteria Triathlon on Sep 29th. (And concurrently the Nov 9 SB Marathon)

Started unofficially on May 11th with a 21.1 mile ride.

The first three weeks after the long bike ride I did two activities every single day: biking, running, swimming.

The next five weeks I've followed a schedule from  http://www.beginnertriathlete.com

In total since May I have spent 40 hours either biking or running and logged 305 bike miles and 102 running miles. (Not including the YTD 102 Jan-Apr Miles).

Riding a bike (a mountain bike) has been a lot of fun. This has been the biggest surprise because I have never before enjoyed bike riding - much. I rode the entire course (almost) still gotta get up the entire Ortega Ridge and Toro Canyon. (.5 mile ride is a killer at the end). At least there are little surprises left. (I hope). I'm going to borrow a road bike. I'm excited that Michelle R. responded to my post today when I finally set out to ask to borrow one. I hear that a road bike it's much better for a tri but I'm a bit concerned about making the transition to a different bike - only cause it's different.

Running has not yet been too challenging because they've been 3 and 5 milers. Yesterday I had a surprisingly good 5 miler - which leads to the second part of WHY I would do this. (The first part, because a tri is on the bucket list.) The second, because a tri is excellent cross training especially leading to a full. I don't think I could do a full training alone - my left knee definitely feels worn a bit when I push it too much. (eek).

I've switched out the olympic tri training schedule run part for an 18 week marathon plan beginning last week which should fall nicely into the other schedule except for the two weeks leading up to the tri which include the 18 and 20 milers. Oops. I'll cross that bridge when I get there is kind of my thought for now. I did get to run with dolphins one day! They were at very close distance from shore maybe 20 feet?

The five miler days takes me on a trip above the Carp bluffs overlooking the rookery.

I've had a chance to do only one track work out - because I'd rather work out in the morning than at night.  (Especially on run days only which are one workout days by design). There's something about being on the track that makes it impossible to do an easy workout on it. I really ought to plan at least one track day a week.

Swimming has been probably the least fun. I've done it for the most part at 24 hour fitness. The upside - now : One more foursquare Mayorship.

I did go for one ocean swim - and that was not very cold! The seaweed grossed me out a little and it took me a while to get past the feeling like I was going nowhere, fast - and get a rhythm of sorts down.

Swimming is hard because it is boring and when it is not boring, I find it hard to control my mind for so long (up to an hour at a time). One more sucky part: No opportunity for pictures! Also, I will have to figure out the wetsuit part...eek.

All in all, the first 8 weeks have been fun. Accident and injury free so far - knock on wood. I am 12 weeks out from race day - so I'm sure I'll have plenty of time to master a road bike, Toro Canyon, Ortega Ridge, cold water and faster 10ks. I've double checked my calendar that I did not double book a wedding on race weekend (as has happened before - doh). This race training comes at a good time when I have very little else imposing a routine or balance in my life - so I'm thankful everyday to work toward something.

The Tri Dilemma...

A tri is on my bucket list (which is probably why this blog's name ends with "and other...").  I'm ready for a couple of big athletic accomplishments in part because the achievement is something you claim forever - yet the training process always makes you better. 

Here's the dilemma. Nov 3rd I'll run the Santa Barbara International Marathon (my 3rd), however, I will also be training for the Carpinteria Triathlon which takes place Sep 29th. The only question that remains is, which distance should I train for? 

Sprint Tri: .5K Swim | 15K Bike | 5K RunOlympic Course: 1.5K Swim | 40K Bike | 10K Run

A couple of weeks ago after I had decided to shoot for the short race I went out on a bike ride to see where my biking fitness level was at. I put in an enjoyable 21 miles. Late that night, I looked up the race distance only to find that the Sprint Course is only about 9 miles. A few days later I did the 9 mile course (the exact course) and although I can improve my time, there was little insurmountable about it.
My plan for May 13 - June 10th is to just put in time doing all three exercises - not too much or too little, but an enjoyable amount. From there I will begin a 16 week tri training and during week 5 I will switch out the running component for the 16 week marathon training plan. The main challenges about any size tri is that I train in a pool not in open water - but I'll try a few night moves (short summer swim/run events) to get ready. The pool I use is at my gym and it's only 50ft so needless to say I have to keep my mind engaged in completing the repetitive laps. Another challenge is my chunky mountain bike - I know it's good enough for the sprint, I don't know if that's also the case for the Olympic distance but I presume it might be - since I rode 20 mi. with no problems. Lastly, I have never done the 3 events together - obviously. Oh and here's the magical thing, I found my dead heart rate monitor and just happened to have a new battery the right size for it, so I was able to record and observe my times from the get go!

Week one was good and below is a log (mainly for myself) and any other interested party. 

Every work out will be listed as follows:

Exercise | Distance | Time | Cals | Avg Heart Rate | Max Heart Rate | In Zone | Above Zone | Below Zone

Mon 5.13

Swim | x (about 1k) | 33:00 min | 201 cals | 

Run | 2.6 mi. | 28:03 | 305 cals | Avg HR 172 |Max HR 187 | IZ 3:16 

Tue 5.14

Bike | 7 mi | 42:25 min | 333 cals | Avg HR 140 |Max HR 174 | IZ 8:49 | Above 1:40 | Below 33:14 

Swim | x (about 1k) | 30:14 min | 206 cals | Avg HR 134 |Max HR 159 | IZ 7:28 | Above x | Below 22.46 

Wed 5.15

Run | 2.9 mi. | 34:50 | 335 cals | Avg HR 160 |Max HR 186 | IZ 10:19 | Above 17:10 | Below 7:21 

Swim | x | 30:44 min | 248 cals | Avg HR 147 |Max HR 158 | IZ 17:30 | Above x | Below 13:14

Thu 5.16

Swim | x (about 1k) | 30:18 min | 216 cals | Avg HR 136 |Max HR 151 | IZ 9:42 | Above x | Below 20:36

Fri 5.17

Run | 2.9 mi. | 37:31 | 333 cals | Avg HR 141 |Max HR 174 | IZ 17:49 | Above 2:13 | Below 12:50 

Sat 5.18

Bike | 9.4 mi | 56:10 min | 444 cals | Avg HR 143 |Max HR 172 | IZ 42:12 | Above 5:20 | Below 8:38

Swim | x (about 1k) | 30:14 min | 208 cals | Avg HR 134 |Max HR 149 | IZ 16:45 | Above x | Below 13:29

Sun 5.19

Run | 2.9 mi. | 36:05 | 289 cals | Avg HR 144 |Max HR 176 | IZ 14:28 | Above 10:30 | Below 11:07

I want a challenge and not be bored but I also love to push my limits...so which should I train for?