Camping, Food, Running, Food, Beach, Food...you get the idea

Camping was a success!  We arrived on Thursday and set up camp.  A friend and her daughter, our regular camping buddies, joined us.  While they were putting the finishing touches on our campsite I snuck away for a 25 minute run.  Several miles of the Cross Marin Trail, following the old Northwest Pacific railroad line, cut through the park - perfect for a scenic (and flat) run.  I didn't wear a gps so I don't know how far or fast but I do know I was pushing myself to run hard, which felt good.  When I got back I did as many leg/shoulder exercises as I could with no equipment.  I did some squats, lunges and used liters of water for shoulder raises.

I will spare you the blow-by-blow on my eating but just know that I ate like a person without a care in the world.  Between that and it being TTOTM I am up a whopping 5.8 pounds this fine Monday morning!  Wowza.  I'm back on track starting this morning and hoping that come Friday I will have at least dropped a few of those pounds.  I am going to take a pass on an official weigh-in for last week.  No need to add salt to the wound.

So the food intake was unbalanced but the exercise was good.  On Friday I did another afternoon run on the bike path.  We'd spent the day lounging by the water at Tomales Bay and I'd had a beer and I really wasn't feeling like running.  So I told myself to just take it easy and that something is better than nothing.  I did a 30 minute run and barely got my heart rate into the 150's the whole time.  Afterward I did some chest/tricep/core exercises - pushups, planks, situps, dips - whatever I could think of.  Myra climbed on my back while I was holding the plank so I did 20 seconds instead of 40!  Holding a plank with an extra 20+ pounds of moving toddler is not easy.

Saturday I took my customary day off from exercise.  We spent the day hanging out next to the creek.  The kids had fun throwing rocks and splashing water.  It was a beautiful, leisurely day. 

After breakfast on Sunday morning we got to packing up.  Mostly Miguel packed while I kept the kids entertained.  Our campsite was overlooking the creek so I took the kids for one last rock-throwing party.  It was so nice to be unplugged from the world for a few days, watching the kids wear themselves out with good, nature-filled fun.  I forgot to mention the park had a lot of poison oak and I react horribly to that stuff.  Fortunately there was none growing directly around our campsite or in the creekside spots where we played. 

We got home at lunchtime so I fed the kids and put them down for their naps before heading off to the gym.  I could have easily skipped it but I knew the damage I'd done with food needed to be balanced with some exercise.  I did 25 minutes on the bike and then back/biceps/core for strength training.  It felt good to be back in the gym.  I was figuring I'd leave the "bad" eating behind but after dinner I ended up going out for a quick hello to my mother's club mom's night out.  I had some red wine and more chocolate based food than I had any right to be eating at that point.  Oh well, I'm chocking it all up to a weekend well-lived and getting back to my routine this morning.

The number on the scale this morning was disheartening.  But the good news is, it's no mystery.  I know probably half of it is due to my diet this weekend and the other half is hopefully from TTOTM.  It might take me a week or two to drop the camping weight but in the grand scheme of things I know it doesn't mean a whole lot.

Last thing - have you noticed I haven't shared a single picture?  That's because I didn't take any.  Marek broke our small camera and I didn't feel like bringing the big one.  Miguel took a few on his phone so maybe I can get those and post some later.  It's ok though, sometimes it's nice to just be.