Heart's Desire Beach and the Promise of a New Week

Ah, Fridays...the end of the work week and the start of my WW week.  I weighed myself this morning and was very pleased to see 151 on the scale.  Virtually the same as last week.  I've been eating very "loose" these past few weeks, sparked mostly by being sick.  But I also seem to be in a mild slump, which is fine.  I was interviewed yesterday for Heather's podcast on halfsizeme.com and we were talking about slumps.  Her theory is that "dieting" is mentally hard and that sometimes we just need a break.  I like that idea, so I guess these last couple/few weeks have been a bit of a break for.  I've hardly been tracking but I've been doing plenty of snacking.  I know the magic of behaving this way and *not* seeing a gain on the scale won't last forever though so I'm feeling fired up that it's Friday and I can start fresh!

I went to my meeting today for the first time in a couple weeks.  I'd had scheduling issues and then I was sick so I missed my meetings.  It was good to get back on the scale and back into a room where I feel so much support, understanding and can share in the group motivation.  I even shared my before picture with the women sitting next to me, they were blown away.  Heck, I'm blown away when I look at those pictures.  Who was that girl?

Anyway, last week was pretty good.  I went to the gym on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday.  Monday went really good but come Tuesday morning I was hurting.  Amazing that just 8 days off can do that.  My legs were sore and my whole body was tight and achy.  But I plowed through and went on Tuesday, doing the bike for 20 minutes (I dropped to level 5, my "recovery" level) and then chest and triceps.  This whole week I'm following my Week 4/recovery week plan - less sets/time/resistance.  After the bike I did chest/triceps/core.  The pushups were hard!  But I did them.  I even grunted some.  I know how much my fellow gym-goers like my grunting (not).  I was happy to have Wednesday off from the gym.

On Wednesday I went with some of my favorite momma friends to the beach with all the kids in tow.  We finally checked out Heart's Desire Beach on Tomales Bay and it did not disappoint.  Best beach for kids, I can't believe I waited this long to go.  I spent the day playing in the sand, flying a kite and chasing down straying toddlers.  It was a perfect day.  And exactly the kind of day I would have avoided, and missed out on, in my past life.

Building sandcastles

Heart's Desire Beach.  Look at that gorgeous weather!

I drove home the long way so the kids would have a bit more time to nap in the car.  Marek was so wiped out that he slept in the car for another hour after we got home!

Yesterday (Thursday), I hit the gym again. I'm still coughing a fair amount, which is annoying.  I suspect the other people at the gym wonder why I'm not home resting.  But I feel fine, despite the cough.  Yesterday was the first time in what feels like forever that I had that "I don't want to go to the gym" feeling that I used to have all the time.  My feeling of not wanting to go was all mental and it scared me a little, I haven't felt that way since I started back after Myra was born.  In any case, I procrastinated for a while and then I went.  I waited so long I wouldn't have been able to do my whole workout but I called Miguel and he was able to pick up the kids.  That was good.  So I did a 20 minute run on the treadmill, which was actually quite a challenge given my lungs situation, and then I did back/biceps/core for strength training, which was also hard but I did it.  Part of the problem was that I had no afternoon snack so I was just dragging.  I'm looking forward to getting my dominance back in the gym.  If I'm still coughing by the end of next week I'm going to the doctor.

Well, that's it from me.  I'm about as pumped as I can be about this being the start of a new week.  I'll hang out in this mild slump for as long as I need to. Even if I stay this weight for the rest of the summer I know I will be ok.  I'm so:close to my next mini goal of 149.9, not to mention to my overall goal, but I will get there when I get there.  As much as I want a quick fix, and I do - just as much as the next girl - I know that doesn't work for me.  I have to keep doing what I know works.   

Looking Forward

Stop the train, I want to get off!  I'm on the sick train and it's not fun.  But I'm getting better.  Last week was horrible, I missed a bunch of work and I hobbled through life.  Friday I only managed to get in a half-day at work.  The rest of the day was spent lying around watching the kids play while Miguel put his newly beloved backyard shed together.  I still had a painful cough but the body aches were gone, thank goodness.

Saturday we hosted a neighborhood party at our house.  Besides all the fun socializing mostly what I remember were the chips.  It seems like everybody who came brought a bag.  There were even Doritos!  Oh my goodness, it was the beginning of the end of my poor eating choices for the weekend.  Another neighbor brought two boxes of mini drumstick ice cream cones.  I had one or two of those.

Sunday I'd hoped to go to the gym.  I hadn't exercised since the Friday before when I did my big hill bike ride.  I was still coughing a lot but I could have gone.  But instead I chose to garden.  Between the gophers and the deer about 10 of our plants were eaten since I planted in the spring.  So I hit up the garden store and got lantana, penstimons, and other low water, deer "resistant" plants.  I spent all morning digging and planting.  It was definitely work and I was tired and sun-drained when I finished so I decided Monday was going to be my back-to-gym day.

But before that...the mini drumsticks and I had a run-in.  The kids were down for their naps and Miguel was at his soccer game.  Me, alone with a freezer full of drumsticks - not good.  Not good at all.  I probably ate 5 or 6 of them when all was said and done.  And I finished off some of the chips.  And I felt like crap afterward.  Mostly physically but also mentally.  I haven't gone much into my whole peri-menopause stuff but I hadn't had a period since June until TTOTM started earlier last week.  So I decided to blame that.  That and being sick, feeling sorry for myself...just generally being low on mental energy in the face of all of the above.  I'm purposefully not using words like "weak" or "no willpower" because I've really come to believe they are negative and moralistic in their use and that really it's not about that.  It's about mental energy and how much of it I have on any given day, at any given moment.  And about how events, feelings, situations, etc come together to inform my decision making.  Blah, blah, blah I ate a ton of drumsticks and chips.  Life goes on.  I focus on making a better decision at my next meal.  And I put all the remaining drumsticks down the garbage disposal (on Monday, when I was thinking more clearly).

Speaking of Monday, it was a better day to be sure.  I went to the gym after work, despite continuing to cough, cough, cough.  I didn't care, I just wanted to exercise.  I debated the bike vs. treadmill but in the end a run sounded better than anything.  I hopped on the treadmill and after warming up I started running at 5.5mph.  It felt slow so after a minute I increased to 6.0mph.  I was feeling pretty good so I went ahead and did 7.0 for one minute at every 5 minute interval.  By the 15 minute mark I was feeling challenged so I decided to go for 20 minutes and call it a day.  Normally I do 25 so this was a very good first-day-back effort.  I did legs/shoulders/core for strength training.  I followed my recovery week routine, which is to do the same stuff, just fewer sets.  It felt very good to be exercising and I was very pleased to see that my body still works.  I had a healthy dinner (thank you Foreman Grill) and all was right in the world.  But later, after the kids were in bed, I started snacking on some cashews and chocolate chips.  Yum.  I ate too many of those.  But now they're gone.  And with that, the drumsticks being eviscerated, and my house being back in its general "clean" food state, I'm feeling like things are returning to normal.  Oh, the funny thing was I ate the nuts and chips while watching a running movie, "Running Brave" about Billy Mills, the first (and only) US runner to win Olympic Gold in the 10k. 

Ok, enough about this past week...I have some exciting stuff on the horizon.  In early September I'll be hiking in Yosemite.  I'm going with a group of women on a backpacking trip into the wild!  I think we're hiking something like 7 miles (6? 10?, I can't remember) in.  We'll be camping for two nights and then hiking out.  I've never been on one of these trips where you carry all your stuff with you, toilet paper and all, but I'm super excited!  I just hope I'm fit enough that the trek isn't painful.

Next up will be the Grape Stomp Half-Marathon in Livermore on October 21st.  That's only 10 weeks from now!  So I made up a training plan for myself loosely based on Hal Higdon's Intermediate plan.

Week	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thur	Fri	Sat	Sun
1 (8/27 – 9/2)	Bike + strength	4 m AM run	Rest	3 m run + strength	Bike + strength	Rest	8 m run
2 (9/3 – 9/9)	Bike + strength	4 m AM run	Rest	Yosemite	Yosemite	Yosemite	6 m run
3 (9/10 – 9/16)	Bike + strength	4.5 m AM run	Rest	3 m run + strength	Bike + strength	Rest	9 m run
4 (9/17-9/23)	Bike + strength	4.5 m AM run	Rest	3 m run + strength	Bike + strength	Rest	10 m run
5 (9/24 – 9/30)	Bike + strength	5 m AM run	Rest	3 m run + strength	Bike + strength	Rest	9 m run
6 (10/1-10/7)	Bike + strength	5 m AM run	Rest	3 m run + strength	Bike + strength	Rest	11 m run (?)
7 (10/8-10/14)	Bike + strength	5 m AM run	Rest	3 m run + strength	Bike + strength	Rest	12 m run
8 (10/15-10/21)	Bike + strength	4 m AM run	Rest	2 m run	Bike + strength	Rest	Half Marathon

How's that look?  Reasonable, yes?  Other than those Tuesday morning runs.  I'll have to hit the pavement by 5:30am to get the miles in.  That should be interesting. I'm doing this half-marathon with a few other mom friends so that makes it even more fun.

Then, in November and only 2 weeks after the half-marathon I've got the Marin Triathlon where I'll be tackling the Olympic distance for the first time.  Wowza!

So I'm thinking I might want to do one smaller event before the half-marathon and I'm eyeing the Run in the Park at Tilden in Berkeley in September.  It's a trail run and I'd do the 5k.  It's only $28 and it's on a Saturday so Miguel and the kids can come.  Maybe this will be the first time they see me cross a finish line.

Bottom line, there's lots to look forward to, and that's what I'm doing...looking forward.  My house is clean, my body is healing and my attitude is, well, let's call it pretty good.