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.

Auld Lang Syne

'Tis the season to reflect on the year that is coming to its close. For the last couple of years, the reflecting hasn't been easy or comfortable. I never really got back on track with my working out and tracking my eating in 2013 after going off the rails in late 2012, after we lost my mother-in-law. I'm still somewhat active, with walking dogs and doing stuff at our ranch, but it isn't goal driven activity.  I feel like I was a different person that year, and truthfully, I kind of miss her.  So, to borrow the words of the great poet Robert Burns, she's an old acquaintance who shouldn't have been forgotten.

Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind ?
Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and old lang syne ?


A friend recently posted about the pendulum swing of the Gemini psyche. It made me think about how my own pendulum has swung too far away from "health" mode and I've gotten off balance. I'm not happy about it, either. Emotional eating doesn't make the stress go away, it just adds something else to make me unhappy and stressed out about.

It's time to dust off my running shoes, charge up my Garmin, and take back control of my whirlwind life. Extra motivation comes from the fact that I registered for a half marathon in April, so I don't want to waste the money by not training. I've also contributed to a yoga Kickstarter program that debuts this spring. I've meant, time and time again, to start practicing yoga, so this will also be motivation. Hopefully nagging from another friend will help, too. Another area I need to focus on is healthy eating, cutting back on the grains and junk foods that I know aren't healthy for me. I used to eat so much better, but I really have let things slide this year. And no more GF goodies, either. Just because it's gluten free doesn't mean I should be eating it.

And there’s a hand my trusty friend !
And give me a hand o’ thine !
And we’ll take a right good-will draught,
for auld lang syne.

May you have a blessed 2014.

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.

Cook At Home Challenge - week 2 update

It's been fun trying new recipes this week as part of Kenlie's Cook At Home Challenge. This week I've made the following:

 

Grilled chicken and black bean quesadilla, made with reduced fat pepperjack cheese and reduced fat sour cream



  

Pork satay with cucumber salad and spicy peanut dipping sauce made with PB2 - awesome! (Please note that the husband got breaded pork cutlet and green beans because it was Doggy-Father's Day and that's what he wanted! He did try mine, though, and liked it.)

This is the potato torte with romesco sauce from one of the Weight Watchers cookbooks. Eh. It was a waste of the last of my smoked paprika. The cooking time on this recipe were outrageously off and it took forever for the egg beaters to set and cook. I had to cut it in half and flip over so that it was fully cooked. It did not look anything like the book picture, either. On the good side, the potatoes, herbs and tomatoes were all home grown.

I don't have pictures (well I do, but my non-phone camera has grown legs and walked away) of the awesome mixed berry dutch baby that I made on Saturday morning or the grilled salmon that I cooked last night. The dutch baby is from the Weight Watchers Power Foods cookbook and is so good.

Tonight I'm planning on grilling turkey tenderloins that I have marinating in soy, ginger and garlic marinade.

Week 2...

We've officially finished week 1 of Kenlie's Cook At Home Challenge. I really like coming up with healthy things to eat, and if The Aussie will at least try it, all the better! This past week I've had everything from morning glory muffins filled with fruit and vegetables, to grilled chicken and corn, to a dessert made with tofu. Now I just have to remember to take more pictures of what I'm cooking, even if I don't plan on posting the recipes.This coming week should be a good one. I already have a few ideas!

Happiness is a new cookbook. Or three...

The Postman doesn't have to ring twice at my house. As a matter of fact, with three dogs that love to let me know EVERYTHING that's going on in the neighborhood that they can see from the windows by the front door, he doesn't have to ring at all.  With much fanfare, dogs heralding his arrival, Mr. Postman deposited a box with a smiling logo, on my doormat. Squee! I am a very happy girl right now, impatiently waiting for 5 o'clock to roll around so I can start reading and planning.

Weight Watchers - week 6 update

This past week was the first week with the reduced points. While I still go over the points, it wasn't by as much. I've gone back to eating more soup too, which really has helped. The veggie soup fills me up and I know I'm getting several servings of vegetables in each bowl. I'll tell you what. It's worked too. After a few weeks of either gaining, having no loss and having a .2 loss, I was down 4.2 pounds yesterday at my weigh in and I hit my 5% goal. This is the lowest I've been in probably 6 or 7 years.

I'm not getting on the scale for a few days though, because we went out to dinner with a friend last night to a Thai restaurant. I was very careful with my points early in the day because I knew I'd be splurging for dinner, and boy, did I. My dinner alone came to 39 points. Add in a couple of big glasses of wine, and I topped the day out at 60 points. It was delicious. And now I'm back to soup...

Weight Watchers - week 2 update

Let's hear it for tracking your points and eating a lot of fresh fruit and piling the veggies on your plate. Oh, and exercising your butt off and earning 16 activity points in a day. I'm down another 2 pounds, for a total of 6 pounds since I started Weight Watchers at the end of October. I earned my first 5 pound star sticker. I'd hoped to earn a 5k charm or 2 because I did a 10k this weekened, but the substitute leader made no mention of it when I told her I'd done a 10k. Bummer. Hopefully the regular leader will be there next weekend and I can tell her. Totally materialistic of me, but I'd really like a charm. I plan on doing a Santa Run in December, so that's another one. By the time I earn my 10% key ring I'll have a bunch of 5k charms to put on it.

This week's topic was about planning ahead for Thanksgiving. The Aussie and I aren't much into roast turkey, but I love the sides. I was a bit bummed to see that 1/2 a cup of stuffing is 5 points. I could easily use my entire 29 daily points on stuffing and gravy. I'll have to check the Pepperidge Farms bag to see what their calorie count is. I also love green bean casserole, and that can be made with fat free ingredients so it will be less than the 6 points for 1 cup that WW has listed. I bought a 2 pack of cornish game hens last week, so I'll cook those for us with the green beans, the stuffing for me and crispy roast potato for The Aussie. Fresh cranberries cooked down with a little orange or apple juice, and splenda makes a great relish. Pumpkin pie is something I like, so I'll try to make up a small crustless version to keep me happy but on track.

I'm really learning that I will have to plan ahead if I know there's a splurge day so that I don't go too far off course. And a 5k race course on Thanksgiving morning will help too!