Hard Spin, Easy Run

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Same old, same old around here. Just been doing my thing, which lately means ongoing struggle with late-night snacking. I'd gotten it under control prior to the backpacking trip, when I was tracking my food on the Lose It! app (which I don't actually love but it did the job well enough), but I've fallen off the wagon. Which makes it sound like I should start tracking again. Something to consider.

Exercise remains good. I got to the gym twice more this week, making it three times (instead of my ideal goal of four). All things considered I feel really good about the effort. After the backpacking trip last weekend and, just life, I was tired and had an emotional hard landing coming back to reality. The wilderness is so pure, so beautiful, and from that distance everything seems manageable and positive. Meanwhile, back on earth, I struggle for that same perspective.

Glenn and I before class

Anyway, gym on Thursday. Spin class was starting up just as I arrived. My gym has this version of spin call Joycycle, which is spin mixed with upper body exercises while on the bike. It's not often that the class time aligns with my arrival, one of my favorite leaders is on deck and there are spots open, but Thursday it happened.

I couldn't stay for the whole class, I only had an hour total for my workout. So I did 25 minutes of spin and then went to lift weights. Whew, that bike had me sweating! After that I did back/biceps/core. I couldn't quite do my whole routine before running out of time but I managed most of it.

Friday was tenuous. I had stuff in the morning that almost derailed me from working out but things fell into place for an afternoon gym visit. But I was dragging. It was hot out and I felt so lazy.

So I told myself to just run 25 easy minutes outside, no pace pressure. Which is exactly what I did. I'm not sure the distance covered but I ran 27 minutes and felt very pleased with myself for doing it. I reminded myself of some advice I've given others. When someone asks, "What's a "good" running pace?" I answer, the pace that leaves you wanting to go out and do it again next time. After the run I did chest/triceps/core for a total of 1 hour, 11 minutes of exercise.

After the workout I had a little bit of time before I needed to pick up the kids. My feet were in dire
need of attention, still with dirt stains on my heels from the backpacking trip. So I stopped into my favorite toe spot and got a pedicure. I chose blue toenails in honor of Lake Tahoe. I'm taking the kids camping next weekend - and get this, all by myself! - at Lake Tahoe. Blue lake, blue toes.

Then I picked up the kids and we went to dinner (I had to have a coffee though to get me through the evening). I had linguini with clams, one of my favorites! And then to frozen yogurt, where I had a good-sized serving with all the toppings. Yes, it was a calorie heavy evening. And then more evening snacking later. Ugh, can I stick my head in the sand and pretend this isn't happening?

Sure, except the scale keeps me in reality. It's been up near 150 ever since returning from backpacking. At first I figured I was retaining water from all the hard work carrying that pack, but now, I'm not so sure. I just want to get back to my normal eating routine and then see what the scale does.

Enough about all that. The weekend is going well. We're having a lazy Saturday at home, kids are entertaining themselves in all sorts of ways while I do laundry, bills, write, etc. I love hearing them play together and I really love that they can figure out how to entertain themselves. Sometimes paying almost no attention to my kids is the best thing I can do for their little minds.