Baby Steps

I've eaten a lot of race fees this past year. I didn't want to, but sometimes your body says no. Emphatically. Not even taking account how hot it gets in Texas during the summer, there are days where even taking dogs for walks is too much. My hamstring issue is better. Not gone, but better. The lack of energy is still there, and going strong. One side effect of peri-menopause that I never expected was zero energy because you can become anemic. When I remember to, I take iron supplements, but I'm terrible at remembering to take any sorts of pills. So, anything I do has to be in baby steps.


Which leads me to my new "training plan." I was so totally psyched when my Fitbloggin Bella teammate finished her half-Ironman the other week. Way to go Stephanie!! I was swimming back and forth the other evening in the pool when I got an idea. I'll do my own half-Ironman. It will take weeks to complete, but with baby steps, I believe I can do this.  My pool is small, just 23 feet long, including the half round step areas. I calculated (based on how I swim in the pool) that I will have to swim 158.4 laps to equal 1.2 miles for the swim portion of my half-Ironman. (I'll round up). I swam 40 laps (down and back equals 1 lap) on Monday evening. I'm looking forward to finishing the swim portion!  For the bike and run/walk portions, I'll do laps around my neighborhood. The three block loop section that I live on in my development is roughly 1 mile (1.1 on the outside sidewalk). This will be easy to track. I see people out running in the afternoon. To me, that's nuts. It's 100 degrees out. Not my idea of fun, so I'll be getting my ass out of bed earlier and take the dogs for walks while I log my miles.


Not glamorous, no cheering crowds, but baby steps on my way back to moving. 

Fortune Cookie Friday

To quote an old Disney song, a dream is a wish the heart makes. Several years back, it was my dream to complete a 5k before I turned 45. This might not sound like much to many people, but I didn't start running until I was 44. It was so hard in the beginning that I would make deals with myself that I could take a walk break when I reached the next mailbox, the next driveway, the next light pole... Eventually, I made it all the way to the stop sign. I was so thrilled the first time I ran a full block.

I took a couple of years off. Some of the time was forced time off because of injury, some of the time was me being a lazy lump. The lump has had her way too long. My waist and my ass have suffered because of it, too. Slowly, slowly, I have been rekindling my love of running, and my love of races. I tell you, signing up for races is a sickness!

So yes, this fortune cookie is telling the truth. My truth. Through greater effort and hard work a precious dream WILL come true. This dream is to complete a marathon before I turn 50.  The marathon in question, because I am envisioning that I *will* get registered for it, is the 2015 Disney World Marathon. I'm giddy just thinking about it. :)

Fortune Cookie Friday

The Universe works in mysterious ways. I run. I'm not fast, I'm not good, I don't particularly like running, but I run. To keep me motivated, I sign up for races. Sometimes I'm well prepared for them, sometimes I'm not. Some are virtual races to raise funds for awesome causes, some are in real life. Either way, races give me purpose. They give my training purpose, even when I don't feel like doing it. They give me a reason to get out and run, walk, hop on the elliptical to get some mileage. The give me a reason to get off of the couch or away from my computer. And that, my friends, equals success.

Protein Powder Review

 

Wow. There are a lot of protein powders out there. To be honest, more than I expected. Egg protein, whey protein, brown rice protein, hemp protein. You name it, I think they've attempted to make a protein powder out of it. 

Why was I trying out protein powders? As it turns out, I wasn't getting nearly enough protein as recommended by My Fitness Pal for someone of my size and activity level.  On days when I run, especially long run days, I get seriously hungry. As in eat-everything-in-the-house hungry known as "runger." The best way to combat this is to up your protein consumption. One friend asked "why not just eat a steak?" Unfortunately, for me, it isn't that easy. About a year ago, I went to a specialist because of some digestive issues I had been having. As it turns out, my esophagus is smaller than normal. That, combined with what turned out to be reflux, meant that I have a difficult time swallowing food. As I have no interest in having another endoscopy, protein shakes are my friend. Solid protein = potential problem. Liquid protein = good solution.

Off I went to Sprouts to check out what kind of protein powders they had. DubyaWife recommended Jay Robb egg protein, so I picked up a bag of that. I also picked up just about every variation of single serving packets to see what I liked. I also picked up a container of Alive Ultra Shake in vanilla because it was in the clearance section. Some were good, some were meh, and some got returned because I picked up duplicates, thinking they'd be good. Ugh.  

To be comparing on an "apples to apples" basis, I mixed all of these powders with 2 cups of unsweetened vanilla almond milk.

These are my opinions. I bought the powders with my own money.

So, here are the overall results:

Jay Robb Egg White Protein (chocolate) - 24 g protein/120 calories per serving: This was a pretty good protein powder. I like that it has 24 grams of protein per serving. This was the highest per serving of all the powders I tried. It's made with stevia, so it does have a weird sweetener taste. I'm not a big fan of stevia because of its taste. It blends well and isn't gritty. Would I buy this again? Yes, in fact, I already have.

PlantFusion (chocolate) - 21 g vegetable protein/120 calories per serving: This is an entirely plant based protein powder. There's pea protein, artichoke protein, amaranth powder and quinoa powder. I tried the chocolate flavor. It was good, it blended well, didn't feel gritty and it didn't leave gritty residue in my blender bottle. The stevia taste wasn't overly noticeable. Would I buy this again? Possibly, if it was on sale.

Tera's Whey Grass Fed Organic Whey Protein (chocolate) - 20 g protein/110 calories per serving: I picked out the fair trade organic dark chocolate flavor of this protein powder. Oh, man. I had such high hopes for this powder. Such high hopes that it was the first one that I tried. It blended well, didn't leave residue in my blender bottle, but there was something very odd and weird about this powder. It tasted like steak. Would I buy this again? No. I returned the second packet to the store.

 

Garden Of Life Raw Protein (vanilla spiced chai and chocolate) - 17 g protein per serving/90 calories: Vegan, gluten free, dairy free, this protein blend is primarily sprouted brown rice protein, but there is everything from amaranth, to millet, to garbanzo bean to pumpkin seed sprouts. It also contains stevia, so it had the stevia after taste. This one wasn't as easy to blend. I had to remove the top of the bottle and mush the powder clumps up with a spoon. It was gritty, and left residue in my blender bottle. Would I buy this again? Not terribly likely since there are other good powders out there. One interesting thing about this powder is that the vanilla chai packet touts itself as having no pea protein.

Alive Ultra Shake (vanilla) - 15 g vegetable protein/120 calories per serving: This blend has pea protein, fiber blend, green food/spirulina blend, citrus complex, garden veggie juice powder blend, orchard fruits blend, mushroom blend, digestive enzyme blend. You name it, it's in here. I have to say that it tastes really "green." I got the vanilla flavor, because that's what they had in the clearance section. The canister weighs 34 ounces and was only $10.97, so I'll continue to use this in combination with almond milk, frozen berries, and perhaps a scoop of cocoa powder. It's fine in green smoothies, because they taste "green" from the spinach. Would I buy this again? Maybe.

Vega One All-In-One Nutritional Shake (berry) - 15 g protein/140 calories per serving: I really liked the flavor of this protein powder. It's a combination of pea protein, hemp protein, sprouted brown rice protein, along with omega 3 EFA, green, antioxidant, probiotic and digestive blends. It was fairly easy to blend, but it was a little gritty. The stevia taste wasn't too bad. I'm guessing that brown rice protein is the culprit. Would I buy this again? Maybe. It was on the pricey side.

Spiru-tein High Protein Energy Meal (chocolate) - 14 g protein/96 calories per serving: At last, a protein powder that isn't sweetened with stevia. This had a really good taste. I just wish it had more protein per serving. Would I buy this again? Maybe.

Amazing Grass Amazing Meal Dietary Supplement (cafe mocha and chocolate infusion) - 10 g protein/90 calories per serving: Raw, vegan, gluten free, no sugar added. These blends contain brown rice and hemp proteins, antioxidant blends and energy blends. I picked these out because the Sprouts employee who was helping me said that these were her absolute favorites. I don't get it. They were super gritty and left grit in my blender bottle. The cafe mocha was just plain bitter. Would I buy them again? No. Not worth the grit for so little protein.

So there you have it. My protein powder review. Hopefully this will help you if you're in the market for a protein powder.

On race results and being a slow runner

I am a slow runner. There. I said it. Sometimes I can walk faster than I can run. I read an article this morning that said "There is no difference between the runner who breaks 30 minutes for the 5K for the first time and the one that breaks 16 minutes." My comment to that was that I would be happy to break 35:00 for a 5k. Another comment was that if you finish last there are more people to cheer for you. Maybe if it's a big race, but if it's a small race, I've experienced seeing people driving home while I have had to wait for car traffic to pass, not the other way around. That particular race was one of the worst I'd ever experienced. Now that I'm actually running (I use that term loosely) again, this conversation and article got me thinking about my race times. I dug up the index card I started writing out race results on, looked up a couple of more recent ones (though I was unable to find my results for the 2013 Bold In The Cold 5k) and added them to my card.I actually have broken a 35:00 5k. Once. Go me.

Run For Retrievers 5K (05.22.10)  - 41:02.7
Firefly Run 5K (10.16.10) - 36:41.23
White Rock Half Marathon (12.05.10) - 2:58:28
Bold In The Cold 5K (01.15.11) - 39:24
Rock N Roll Half Marathon (03.27.11) - 2:46:43
Run For Retrievers 5K (05.14.11) - 34:08
Medal Of Summer 5K (06.25.11) - 37:34
Liberty By The Lake 10K (07.04.11) - 1:31:21
Veteran's Day 10K (11.12.11) - 1:18:27
Bold In The Cold 5K (01.07.12) - 39:47.7
Wounded Warrior Half Marathon (06.10.12) - 3:13:00
Bold In The Cold 5K (2013 - can't locate race results)
Run For Retrievers 5K (09.14.13) - 43:31
Rock N Roll Half Marathon Relay (03.23.14) - 1:32.55
Irving Half Marathon (04.05.14) - TBD
 
It's very slow going, getting back to running after taking so much time off. Some races are slow because it's so stinking hot out during the summer in Texas, and the goal is simply to finish. Other races are slow because I'm run/walking intervals. So, yeah, I'm slow, but I'm still running.
 

There is no difference between the runner who breaks 30 minutes for the 5K for the first time and the one that breaks 16 minutes. Both worked hard, sacrificed to achieve their goal, and experienced the same challenges.
Read more at http://womensrunning.competitor.com/2014/04/training-tips/if-you-run-slow-who-cares_22791#Qp3xAlEV7GaFCYLM.99

There is no difference between the runner who breaks 30 minutes for the 5K for the first time and the one that breaks 16 minutes. Both worked hard, sacrificed to achieve their goal, and experienced the same challenges.
Read more at http://womensrunning.competitor.com/2014/04/training-tips/if-you-run-slow-who-cares_22791#Qp3xAlEV7GaFCYLM.99

There is no difference between the runner who breaks 30 minutes for the 5K for the first time and the one that breaks 16 minutes. Both worked hard, sacrificed to achieve their goal, and experienced the same challenges.
Read more at http://womensrunning.competitor.com/2014/04/training-tips/if-you-run-slow-who-cares_22791#Qp3xAlEV7GaFCYLM.99

And now, back to your regularly scheduled program

I have to confess, this week has been a little light on workouts. More functional fitness than scheduled fitness. The elliptical and I have an appointment this afternoon, so I'll at least have that on the books before tomorrow's long run with The Moms.

This week we'll be running for 75 minutes, continuing with our 2:1 intervals. I swear, that 1 minute goes by really quickly. I'm still super slow, but forward is a pace, and the miles all count towards the virtual races I'm doing. So far, I've completed the Firefly 14k and the Firefly 14 miler. Now I'm doing the Sherlock 22 mile race. I like virtual races because you do them at your pace. Even dog walks count if you track the mileage. The cause for these races is great, too. It's to raise funds to rescue and rehabilitate Galgos (Spanish Greyhounds), and to raise awareness of their plight. To learn more about this race and the cause, go to http://sherlockrun.weebly.com/     The group of people involved in this race are amazing, and the community that has evolved around these races are great. Hopefully I will meet some of them in real life one day. :)

Have a great weekend!

Kyra

February Progress Report

It's been just over a week since I stepped on the scale to discover that I had gotten so off track that I was 182. (182.6 to be precise, but I did have some clothes on.) Since then, I have gone to the gym, dusted off my elliptical (and used it), done two group runs with my Team In Training group, and logged enough miles to complete my Firefly 14k virtual run. As of Saturday morning, I was down to 180.6. Progress! I know that some of this was water weight, but still, it's a step in the right direction.

New Month, New Start

It's still a bit dark out as I sit here writing this post. This very unexpected post. I know I've let myself slip these past couple of months, but I didn't realize how far down the rabbit hole I'd fallen. (Hi, Hoppities!) To be fair, I know a couple of pounds are from water weight because we went out to Abuelo's for dinner last night with a friend. Never go to Abuelo's when you're famished. Their chips and salsa are fantastic, and very easy to suck down.


But I digress. The good, the bad, the ugly.


Height: 5' 5" (in flats)
Weight: 182
Waist: 35
Hips: 42.5
R: 25.5
L: 25


There you have it. I am 3 pounds heavier than I was when I first joined Weight Watchers in October 3 years ago, and 20 pounds more than I was at the end of the summer. But, it's a new month and a new start. Luckily, I actually can still fit in my running gear, because this morning, in an hour and a half, I will be participating in my first group run with the Team In Training Moms In Training chapter. (Yes, I know, I'm not a human-mom, but dog-moms count, too.) Today will be 45 minutes, slow and easy. This won't be easy, it won't be pretty, but I'll be off my ass and moving towards a better, healthier me. Wish me luck.

Why I signed up for a Team In Training event

This weekend I spent some time with a good friend of mine. She told me about a meeting that she had attended on Saturday morning. It was a kick-off meeting for the new North Texas Moms In Training chapter of Team In Training. She said she was going to start training to run a two person relay in the Rock 'N' Roll half marathon at the end of March, and that she'd love it if I would be her relay partner. While I have never participated in a Team In Training group, many people I know have, and I have tried to support them when I was able. Well, to make a long story short, I decided that I would sign up, train with her and the new group, and start raising funds. This particular thing is not easy for me, but, in memory of my father, I am going to try. You see, he had leukemia, but he lost his long fight with this horrendous disease in February of 2001. I am raising funds to help fight this disease, so other families don't have to go through what my family did. 

If you could take a moment, and go visit my fundraising page, I would appreciate it. If you could make a donation, no matter how small, I will say thank you, thank you, thank you.  http://pages.teamintraining.org/ntx/momsnt14/KyraStuart

Joy

Dear Joy,

I never knew you while you were alive, but I want to tell you now that you are an inspiration to me.

(source NY Daily News article)

Congratulations on a race well run. Rest in peace.

Love,

Kyra

Dallas Marathon (update)

I must admit that I'm a bit bummed out this morning. The person who was putting together the relay team for the Dallas Marathon has backed out for unspecified reasons. I don't know the other people from the team, so I have no idea if they know other runners who'd step in so that the team stays together. The few local runners I know aren't relay sorts, they run the whole thing, so being part of a team wouldn't interest them. I'm the sort that needs a race on my schedule to motivate me to get up off of my ass and run. This isn't looking promising...

Dallas Marathon (relay), here I come

It's been a while since I've run any great distance. Great being more than two miles. Time to lace up and start training again. A friend is putting together a relay team for the Dallas Marathon, pka White Rock Marathon, and I've said I'll take the second leg. Since she's never done a big race before, I said she should take the final leg so that she has the finish line experience. I chose the second leg because it winds through the Turtle Creek area. If you aren't familiar with Dallas, that's were a bunch of the rich folks live. I may as well have gorgeous houses, whose property taxes are probably more than The Aussie and I make in a year or two, to drool over while I'm running.

Better than a parking lot...

Yesterday afternoon on FB, I posted the following:

"Feeling nauseous. I just "liked" a particular marathon page. It may be time to get my act in gear and start running again. The marathon is December 1st. I haven't run, if you call my turtle pace running, since June, when I did the Wounded Warrior Half. Is this enough time to train?"

The responses were very positive, and a friend from church who is a marathoner said "Yes!!!" So I started looking in to various training plans. I am not looking to push it, especially since I haven't run since June and I'm a little bit more creaky in the knees and hips. Hell. I'm closer to 50 than 40. I'm happy I can get off the couch some days, given as spastic and clutzy I am.  What I found is Hal Higdon's Novice Supreme marathon training guide. It's a 30 week schedule. This gives me plenty of time (knock on wood) to prepare for and train for this race.  It even gives me time to complete all 9 weeks of C25K beforehand.

Last night after dinner I told The Aussie to visualize spending a few days in Florida at the end of November/beginning of December in Florida. He says "okay, sounds nice." I then told him why. I said "I promised you that when I was ready to do a full, that you'd have something nicer than the parking lot at Fair Park to look at."

source: Pegasusnews

 

BTW, I'm feeling nauseous again. I just finished copying the training plan in to my calendar. Yikes.

On the disabled list

It is with feelings akin to envy that I have been reading about people's runs on Twitter lately. You see, I am on the disabled list right now. A very large, heavy meat cleaver and I had a run-in on Sunday evening while I was making dinner. I seriously am extremely lucky I have all of my toes, and that I only had to get 3 stitches. Unfortunately, my foot is so badly bruised and sore from the wound that I can't wear shoes. On Monday, even having a sock touching my foot was extremely painful. I can manage wearing an extra large slipper for short periods of time now, but even that is too painful after a while. Sneakers? Out of the question. All of this has amounted to cancelled training sessions, very bored doggies, weight gain, and my not being able to get in any meaningful activity this week,  It ain't been pretty, folks. I feel like the real life equivalent to those "trick to lose belly fat" internet ads that show the cartoon figure grabbing it's belly fat. Nope. Not pretty.

Don't you just hate that?

I'm really not looking forward to working out with my new trainer later today. He's new, brash, rambunctious, not just a bit annoying. But what's worst? He tries to sport an "Alcide Herveaux" look.  Ugh. It has totally ruined my love of True Blood. Alcide? Ruined. This is as bad as when Hugh Jackman started singing Oklahoma songs to Katie Couric on the Today Show years ago. Wolverine? Ruined. I hate that.

10k Rematch Playlist, Honeybadger Style

So, I picked up my race packet this afternoon for the 10k tomorrow. This should be interesting. The weather will be in the mid-50s at the start of the race, but it's also going to be really windy tomorrow. Much better than mid-90s like it was in July. I also met a really cool woman, about my age, who was picking up her packet. She's never done a 10k before, so she's excited. I look forward to meeting up with her tomorrow. I don't expect to be running with her because her 5k pace would leave me in the dust. We'll see.

Anywho, in honor of getting my butt back out on the racecourse, I have put together a new running playlist. One with Honeybadger attitude.

I Will Possess Your Heart - Death Cab For Cutie (extended version, warm up music)
Solar Midnight - Lupe Fiasco (old faithful)
Ready To Go - Republica
Lose Yourself - Eminem
Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic - The Police
Big Neon Glitter - The Cult
Don't Change - INXS
Times Like This - Foo Fighters
Girlfriend - Avril Lavigne (yes, I'm a MFing Princess..)
She Sells Sanctuary - The Cult
These Days - Foo Fighters
Dog Days Are Over - Florence And The Machine
Everlong - Foo Fighters
Monkey Wrench - Foo Fighters (Trainer Dude suggested this one)
Major Tom - Shiny Toy Guns (another old faithful from last playlist)
Mr. Brightside - The Killers
What's My Scene - Hoodoo Gurus
Dear Prudence - Siousie & The Banshees

Yup, this should be interesting...

Which would you choose?

Now that I'm starting to get back into running, soon it will be time to get in some long-ish runs. I'm looking forward to them, especially since we're having a wave of cooler temperatures. I was looking through my packages of sports chews in the pantry this afternoon, trying to organize things, and started reading labels. One packet was a brand I haven't tried, but was given out at a race expo. I love samples. The other two were brands I've tried, one of whom I absolutely love to have with me on long run/race days. The labels read as follows:

Brand 1 ingredients: sucrose, corn syrup, water, gelatin, vitamin premix (sodium ascorbate, acrola concentrate, potassium chloride, sodium chloride, green tea, pyridoxine HCL, cyanocobalamin, sodium selenite), pectin, citric acid, natural flavors, sodium citrate, paprika extract (color), carnauba wax, carmine.

Brand 2 ingredients: organic rice syrup, organic rice syrup solids, organic evaporated cane juice, pectin, organic white grape juice concentrate, citric acid, sea salt, colors added (black carrot juice concentrate), natural flavors, organic sunflower oil, carnauba wax.

Brand 3 ingredients: organic tapioca syrup, organic evaporated cane juice, organic honey, organic grape juice concentrate, pectin, citric acid, color (black carrot juice concentrate (red), annatto (orange)), ascorbic acid, natural flavors, potassium citrate, organic sunflower oil, carnauba wax.

Alrighty then. I might love samples, but I don't love the ingredients on bag number 1. What surprises me is that they bothered using natural flavors...

Burst Into Summer - week 1

The Shrinking Jeans Burst Into Summer bootcamp challenge is in full force this week. We started last week with a mini-challenge: hydration. It's been so stinking hot in Texas that hydration is super important. This week's mini-challenge is to make sure we eat breakfast every day this week. Also super important.

I don't know about you, but I find that I really have to condition myself to make changes if I want to continue to treat myself properly. Maybe it's a helpful reminder to go fill up your water bottle. Or maybe it's a mini-challenge issued to make sure you grab something, a yogurt, a Larabar, just something, for breakfast. (No, just a cup of coffee doesn't count as breakfast). Since I started working out with my trainer, I find that I really need to eat every couple of hours. Sunday, I made the mistake, after doing 6 miles in the morning) of not having enough to eat and hit a wall when The Aussie and I were at Cabela's (the doggies gave him a gift card for Doggy Daddy Day). Luckily, they have a food area and I was able to get a salad that had smoked turkey and hard boiled egg. I was a wreck.

Another thing I've discovered about myself is that I really need to track what I'm eating. Some times I'll log the food into my BodyMedia account, but at the very least, I'm tracking what I'm eating and drinking in an excel spreadsheet. It's helping me see where I could fit in a few more vegetables with my lunch, or perhaps a piece of fruit along with some protein for a snack. And I've also discovered that my idea of breakfast is very flexible. Some days, like today for instance, a greek yogurt with a half a cup of granola is what I feel like eating. Other days, I feel like having leftovers from dinner, or a sandwich made with a bagel thin or sandwich thin, some smoked turkey and a Laughing Cow wedge.

Today is W1D2 of the bootcamp portion of the challenge. We're doing the kind of exercises that boost your metabolism and work your core. It's been a while since I've done sprint intervals, and I have to tell you, I forgot how much they kick my butt. In a good way. And the side plank dips and one arm tricep extensions are good and challenging.

I've needed to be challenged. I've needed to get out of my slump. I've needed to push myself off of the plateau I've been on for a very long time. I'm headed in the right direction: today's weigh in was 170.6. Definitely the right direction, and I'm going to keep moving forward. Go Team 10!

Happy Birthday to Me :)

Well this is a nice birthday present to me. I haven't seen anything below 170 in quite a while. Now if only my husband hadn't thought my birthday was tomorrow... ;)

Would the alien in my brain please leave?

I seem to have come down with a serious case of "I don't give a crap." This past weekend was very busy, not lots of sleep, plenty to eat and drink, plenty of company. Sunday evening's post Easter dinner run got rained out and wasn't able to do one yesterday, so I knew I had to fit something in today before I meet with my trainer. This week's goal was to push myself longer before I took my first walking break because once I take a walking break it's harder to get myself to run for longer sections. I don't know what's going on with me. I made it half a mile before I took a 30 second walking break. I was huffing and puffing like I'd never run before. I started back up again, but I hadn't run more than a minute when I stopped. I realized that I didn't want to run, wasn't enjoying myself in the slightest, and didn't give a crap. So I stopped running. I finished my walk back home, less than 1.5 miles total, changed out of my running gear, and started a load of laundry. How's that for exciting. I, one of the least enthusiastic housekeepers in history, preferred to do a load of laundry rather than run. Quite truthfully, I am not very thrilled about going to the gym right now either, but I've paid for the training sessions, so I have to go. What evil little worm has gotten into my brain and made me not give a damn about something I've been doing for the last year?