sheesh, I'm hideous at updating the blog lately. It just seems like it's the same song, different verse, y'know, so there's not too much interesting going on. Still hitting the road to Colorado every week, still trying to drop those same last 30 (+/-) pounds I've been trying to lose for the last three years, still trying to run faster, but frankly not seeing much progress anywhere. Hell, it's all I can do most weeks to get a good 20 miles of slow jogs and walking to pick up dinner.
So, to combat all that, we're streaking again. June has 30 days in it, and I've run two of 'em so far. I need to throw in some weight training and continue with the push-ups (re-starting week 2 for the third time now, ahem) and situps (not as consistent, but can definitely rock about 50+ in a day no problem -- the muscles are good under all the layers of 8-year-old baby fat...).
It seems like the only time I get any traction at all on my weight is when I log 25-30 miles a week, so getting at least 3 miles a day in while traveling and then a few longer runs on the weekends will hopefully get me there (5-7 tops right now is what counts as long). I'm also being conscientious about what I put in my mouth, and tracking calories and fat grams again. I hate to be anal-retentive about things, but lately I've been horrified by photos of me (Bolder Boulder* race photos a perfect case in point, random snapshots another) and frustrated by how my clothes fit. So it's time to be conscious about it again, at least for a couple of weeks. It's not a diet, it's more of a budget of calories, and knowing that I need to be aware of what I eat and how much. I hate it, but it ain't happening any other way, so here we go again.
I will hopefully hear about my lottery entry into NYC Marathon in the next few days, which will give me a goal to work toward. I tend to need some kind of goal race in my future or I end up being, what's the word, I don't know... LAZY!? If I don't get into NYC, I will throw myself wholeheartedly back into triathlon and aim to get two sprints and an Olympic in by October. Which would necessitate getting into the water... and on a bicycle... Neither of which I've done purposefully for more than a year. Yeah, I'm really hoping I get into NYC...
I need to get back into triathlon in any case, just because I really feel more like an athlete when I'm doing the swimming and the cycling in addition to the running. Any maniac can run a marathon -- it takes a special kind of crazy to do triathlon! And again, while I've put the Ironman goal on hold for the immediate future (as in, ain't gonna happen before 40, which is this fall, btw. EEEP!), it's not permanently gone, so I need to be moving in that direction eventually. I haven't been in the financial situation to be able to take the TI workshop as I planned, and I really feel that I need that or something similar before I jump back into the water for longer distances. My swimming is so atrocious that I am afraid of building up bad habits if I spend too much time unassisted and uncoached. But I need to be able to build up the stamina and confidence to swim 600-800 yards in open water in the next four months, so that's the goal there.
And the bicycle thing has an economic aspect to it, too. The Toys 'r Us thing from two summers ago is not fit for riding even around the neighborhood (one of the brake levers is toast and the alignment is just.not.right..) and yet, I don't have even $200 to put down toward a used entry-level road bike right now. I've been checking Craig's list and ebay, but haven't had the time in my three days at home to scout the bike shops for trade-ins or even the goodwill stores or pawnshops. Plus, there's the whole fit thing to deal with. And I get extremely intimidated walking into a real bicycle shop because I'm such a total newb. You could sell me the Brooklyn Bridge if you said it would get me to ride 15 mph.
So I'm a little underprepared to dive back in, and if my first two sprint triathlons two summers ago taught me anything, it's how superbly not ready I was for them. I think I'll have a lot more fun if I can get everything lined up beforehand, right? But at the same time, I don't want to go into analysis paralysis and wait for the perfect alignment of stars, sun and moon before I get back into the pool. Sometimes, you gotta just take a deep breath and jump right in. So there.
I'm also trying to do the Twitter thing. Feel free to ask to follow me (txskatemom) -- I'm still not sure how it all works. But I'm hoping that it will be another tool for me to use re: accountability with the streak and the eating.
*re: Bolder Boulder 10K over Memorial Day -- I owe a race report and photos from that. It was awe.some. I have a draft started but haven't had a chance to get back to it. Soon enough, folks, soon enough. The blogging will come back with the streaking, I think. It usually does. thanks for sticking it out with me while I get my schtuff in a pile over here!!
3 comments:
...still trying to drop those same last 30 (+/-) pounds I've been trying to lose for the last three years...
have you thought about joining weight watchers? you've got the exercise part down so you might consider it. since you claim to be "anal retentive" about things, i think it would be perfect for you because you write down everything you eat. you can also go when you're in dallas and still go when you're in colorado.
also, there's an online option...that might be more up your alley. because it sounds like you don't really need the lecture part, just like an eating plan.
just a thought.
I've done it in the past, but haven't had much success. It ends up not giving me enough calories for the amount of exercise that I do. I've taken my food and exercise logs in to doctors and nutritionists -- one of them actually suggested that I woke up in the middle of the night and ate without realizing it. For a while I was content with maintaining as long as it didn't impact my running times, but that's not cutting it anymore.
"we're streaking again"
...Oh whew, you don't mean what I thought you meant by that! Hee hee!
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