My sister thought she had lost her cat for good the other day. She came home late at night after being away for 15 hours and found a window with a screen missing, and her cat was nowhere to be found. She lives just a few blocks from a very busy intersection so of course, we all thought the worst. She had to give up looking at 4 a.m. because she was exhausted and it was dark. Of course she cried herself to sleep.
Being the geek I am, the next morning I read up on websites about how to find a lost cat. I was surprised to learn that an indoor-only cat like hers is usually found pretty close to where it was lost. Their typical response is to get scared in an unfamiliar environment and hide. Things felt a little more hopeful after that, but after at least an hour of searching all the yards near her house, it started to feel hopeless again. We printed up a bunch of "Lost Cat" flyers to put up. We put food and toys out on the porch because cats supposedly can find their way home by smell.
My mom talked to some of the neighbors and one of them had seen a cat run early that morning. She had gone a different direction than the rest of us. We thought he wouldn't go that way because of the big dog next door. She was walking around, shaking a bag of treats when she heard a meow. She stopped, shook the treats again, called the cat's name, and heard a louder meow. Sure enough it was him, about a block from my sister's house, hiding in the bushes. The owner of the house said he had been there for hours, not long after the other person thought he had seen the cat. My sister rode down in my dad's car with a blanket and brought her prodigal son home.
Just thought I'd share this because I would have never expected that an overweight, sort of crazy indoor cat could be found after almost 24 hours of being lost. If you are unlucky enough to find that your cat has escaped, it pays to talk to all of the neighbors, even the weird ones, and to spread out about a block or two in each direction. We're all really glad he made it home safely.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Down to my last excuse.
My triathlon is long over, my hormones should be back to whatever is normal for me. What other excuses do I have in my bag? Oh, yeah, I just flew in to town on Friday. Whatever. I am down quite a bit since yesterday so it probably did have something to do with the flying. Essentially, I have maintained my weight this summer, though I do think I look more toned, and people have been commenting, so that's my story and I'm sticking to it.
On a happier note, my half-marathon training is well underway. I ran 80 minutes with my husband today -- that's about 7 miles, maybe a little more. I was hot and decided to loop through the parking lot at around the hour mark to pick up a bottle of water that I had in a cooler in my trunk. I drank as much as I could while running (I'm not good at this) and then handed it to my husband. He had some and handed it back to me. After another big swig, I handed it to him. He had some more and then dumped out what was left! I was mad enough to kill him with my bare hands. Sure, it was only a swallow, but I wanted that swallow! I was hot, tired, thirsty, and irrational. He apologized profusely but it took me a while to get over it. He felt bad and wouldn't take any of the remaining bottle of water in the cooler when we got back to the car. I feel a little silly now for how mad I was.
Since I have running shorts phobia, I wore some new capris that I got at Target, which is probably the most underrated source for workout gear there is. They are made of a material that wicks away moisture, so I think they were probably about as comfortable as shorts. I wish I had the kind of legs that look good in running shorts (or any shorts) but at this point, I'm happier covering up, even if it means being a little warmer. I'll just call it heat conditioning. That might explain the Saga of the Water Bottle, however.
Tomorrow I have jury duty, and I have to report at 8:45. Since I ran today, I'm not sure what kind of workout I could get in during the early morning. Swimming takes too long and so does biking. I think I'll have to play it safe and hope that I'm not there all day long.
On a happier note, my half-marathon training is well underway. I ran 80 minutes with my husband today -- that's about 7 miles, maybe a little more. I was hot and decided to loop through the parking lot at around the hour mark to pick up a bottle of water that I had in a cooler in my trunk. I drank as much as I could while running (I'm not good at this) and then handed it to my husband. He had some and handed it back to me. After another big swig, I handed it to him. He had some more and then dumped out what was left! I was mad enough to kill him with my bare hands. Sure, it was only a swallow, but I wanted that swallow! I was hot, tired, thirsty, and irrational. He apologized profusely but it took me a while to get over it. He felt bad and wouldn't take any of the remaining bottle of water in the cooler when we got back to the car. I feel a little silly now for how mad I was.
Since I have running shorts phobia, I wore some new capris that I got at Target, which is probably the most underrated source for workout gear there is. They are made of a material that wicks away moisture, so I think they were probably about as comfortable as shorts. I wish I had the kind of legs that look good in running shorts (or any shorts) but at this point, I'm happier covering up, even if it means being a little warmer. I'll just call it heat conditioning. That might explain the Saga of the Water Bottle, however.
Tomorrow I have jury duty, and I have to report at 8:45. Since I ran today, I'm not sure what kind of workout I could get in during the early morning. Swimming takes too long and so does biking. I think I'll have to play it safe and hope that I'm not there all day long.
Wednesday, July 08, 2009
Spa week
No, actually I'm not really at a spa, I'm away at a conference. Being on my own for a week seemed like a good time to try to get back to more healthy eating, and I've actually been doing pretty well. I have been taking every opportunity to get in some vegetables -- even tonight at a pizza place, I ordered an antipasto platter that was mostly veggies -- because I thought the conference food would be mostly junky. Though lunch today was pretty healthy, only at a conference do you have pastries for breakfast, dessert at lunch, and then more dessert-type foods at the break. Now that I'm not the one running the conference, though, I feel less temptation to recharge myself by overindulging on brownies and coffee. That's not to say I didn't have a brownie, but I kept it to one. Small victories.
It would be nice to arrive at home minus a couple of the pounds that have been hanging around since the triathlon. Something about that race combined with the usual hormonal roller coaster had me all messed up. Weird. I figure it's better to focus on getting my behavior right and believe that long-term, that will make a difference in the number on the scale.
I had planned to get up this morning and go swim, but I turned off my alarm instead of hitting snooze, and the next thing I knew, it was the time I had said I'd meet a friend at breakfast. I think I needed the sleep, though. Even Jillian Michaels says you should take at least one day off a week from exercise. I don't tend to take a day completely off but instead, do an easier day. Today's "workout" turned out to be walking a couple of miles to find dinner. We took a cab because it was dark and my feet are hurting. It's been a long day and I'm ready for bed. At least I don't seem to be having any trouble sleeping.
It would be nice to arrive at home minus a couple of the pounds that have been hanging around since the triathlon. Something about that race combined with the usual hormonal roller coaster had me all messed up. Weird. I figure it's better to focus on getting my behavior right and believe that long-term, that will make a difference in the number on the scale.
I had planned to get up this morning and go swim, but I turned off my alarm instead of hitting snooze, and the next thing I knew, it was the time I had said I'd meet a friend at breakfast. I think I needed the sleep, though. Even Jillian Michaels says you should take at least one day off a week from exercise. I don't tend to take a day completely off but instead, do an easier day. Today's "workout" turned out to be walking a couple of miles to find dinner. We took a cab because it was dark and my feet are hurting. It's been a long day and I'm ready for bed. At least I don't seem to be having any trouble sleeping.
Sunday, July 05, 2009
I remembered what I really wanted to write about
Several times lately, I have found myself in a situation where someone feels compelled to give me advice on how I should be exercising (so far, no one has started in on diet).
It's frustrating, because I feel like I have a pretty good handle on the exercise thing. I know what to do to train for my races and I feel happy with the way I'm able to perform on race day. I feel like I have the fitness thing pretty well figured out. It's the diet that isn't fully in line yet.
It's also discouraging because I know the reason I'm getting this unsolicited advice is because I'm still carrying weight I should have lost by now. Add to the list of reasons I want to lose weight: "So that my fitness level will be accurately reflected in the way I look."
It's weird because some people are complimenting me on how I look and others seem to think that I wouldn't be the size I am if I knew about exercise. I wouldn't take this personally if I wasn't also feeling a little bit frustrated already on the weight front. My weight is still on an upswing after the triathlon. I have good reason to expect a drop next week, because like one reader noted, I seem to be on a pretty reliable four-week cycle of gaining and losing. But overall, the trend is maintenance, and I'm not particularly happy about it.
Here's hoping that the half-marathon training will help a bit.
It's frustrating, because I feel like I have a pretty good handle on the exercise thing. I know what to do to train for my races and I feel happy with the way I'm able to perform on race day. I feel like I have the fitness thing pretty well figured out. It's the diet that isn't fully in line yet.
It's also discouraging because I know the reason I'm getting this unsolicited advice is because I'm still carrying weight I should have lost by now. Add to the list of reasons I want to lose weight: "So that my fitness level will be accurately reflected in the way I look."
It's weird because some people are complimenting me on how I look and others seem to think that I wouldn't be the size I am if I knew about exercise. I wouldn't take this personally if I wasn't also feeling a little bit frustrated already on the weight front. My weight is still on an upswing after the triathlon. I have good reason to expect a drop next week, because like one reader noted, I seem to be on a pretty reliable four-week cycle of gaining and losing. But overall, the trend is maintenance, and I'm not particularly happy about it.
Here's hoping that the half-marathon training will help a bit.
A good week
I generally take a recovery week after my races, but this week I haven't really felt the need. Monday I went for a swim. Tuesday I did a short run, which was fine but I felt a little out of gas. Wednesday was that crazy jump board class, which made me more sore than the triathlon did. Thursday I did another short run. Friday, I did a new cycle/yoga class at the Y. Yesterday was a bike ride with the woman who did the triathlon with me, plus I did a lot of walking.
I did a long run today (70 minutes), and even though I was nervous about how it would go when I started, I finished feeling strong. I had been having some trouble with sore toes and remembered that I used to lace my shoes differently to avoid that problem. I relaced my shoes before the run and that did the trick.
I was very tired afterward, but otherwise pretty great. My knees are complaining a little now when I go up and down stairs, but it doesn't seem to be anything serious. Just some tired muscles, I think. My knees didn't hurt at all during the run, so it isn't impact that was causing the problem.
We had really cool weather for most of the week, so it was nice to get back to summer today. I wore my new swimsuit (from Target) and spent most of the day in or around my parents' pool. The cool water felt great on my legs, especially my knees, and even with sunscreen (SPF 15), I think I got a little color in my cheeks. I love our summers here. They make it worth putting up with our winters.
I did a long run today (70 minutes), and even though I was nervous about how it would go when I started, I finished feeling strong. I had been having some trouble with sore toes and remembered that I used to lace my shoes differently to avoid that problem. I relaced my shoes before the run and that did the trick.
I was very tired afterward, but otherwise pretty great. My knees are complaining a little now when I go up and down stairs, but it doesn't seem to be anything serious. Just some tired muscles, I think. My knees didn't hurt at all during the run, so it isn't impact that was causing the problem.
We had really cool weather for most of the week, so it was nice to get back to summer today. I wore my new swimsuit (from Target) and spent most of the day in or around my parents' pool. The cool water felt great on my legs, especially my knees, and even with sunscreen (SPF 15), I think I got a little color in my cheeks. I love our summers here. They make it worth putting up with our winters.
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
"how much weight do you lose doing a race like that?"
Thanks for all the replies to my $10,000 post. I really would rather be fit and reach my weight goal than have $10,000, so I was really just wondering why I don't make my training more of a priority, like I would if there was a big chunk of change on the line.
One of the other times I did a triathlon, one of my aunts (who doesn't know much about exercise) asked me, "How much weight do you lose doing a race like that?" It was such a weird question that I didn't know how to answer. You could probably lose about a pound or two of water during a hot race, but of course, you don't lose real weight that way. I might lose a little in training but not always, because I have a tendency to make up any calorie deficit I create with exercise by eating more. All this to introduce a weird phenomenon: I weighed myself this Monday and my weight was way up. It was up again yesterday, and is still up a little today. I'm calling it fluid retention from sore muscles and am going to give it until Friday before I count it as real.
I'm still recovering physically, too. I forgot to sign up for my Pilates Reformer class for today. Instead, they offered me a Jump Board Interval class. It's hard to explain, but they attach a board (it looks like a headboard from a bed) to the bottom of the Reformer carriage, and you lay on the carriage and push off with your feet to "jump." The springs provide resistance. I found a video of what it looks like, since it's hard to visualize. It doesn't look very strenuous but jumping for most of an hour really tired me out. I felt better after lunch, though. I didn't feel like cooking so stopped at a nearby grocery store and picked up premade sushi. I want to keep the momentum going and not eat junk.
I'm also trying to be a little more organized with my workout tracking, hoping that it will make me more consistent. I bought a simple pocket monthly/weekly planner at Target that runs from July-July. It started Monday, right after the race. In the past I've tried to keep really detailed workout logs and it has never worked well for me, but this is small and gives me just enough room to write a little about what I did. The monthly pages are nice for planning out my workouts. My husband liked it so much he wanted one too, so I got him one with a different color cover. Mine is green, his is blue. I'm going to track my daily weight and my daily calorie count (from Lose It!) along with my workouts. I've already mapped out all my long runs (from the plan I posted) in the calendar up to the half marathon.
My summer class is finally over and I just have to finish grading. Time to get back to it.
One of the other times I did a triathlon, one of my aunts (who doesn't know much about exercise) asked me, "How much weight do you lose doing a race like that?" It was such a weird question that I didn't know how to answer. You could probably lose about a pound or two of water during a hot race, but of course, you don't lose real weight that way. I might lose a little in training but not always, because I have a tendency to make up any calorie deficit I create with exercise by eating more. All this to introduce a weird phenomenon: I weighed myself this Monday and my weight was way up. It was up again yesterday, and is still up a little today. I'm calling it fluid retention from sore muscles and am going to give it until Friday before I count it as real.
I'm still recovering physically, too. I forgot to sign up for my Pilates Reformer class for today. Instead, they offered me a Jump Board Interval class. It's hard to explain, but they attach a board (it looks like a headboard from a bed) to the bottom of the Reformer carriage, and you lay on the carriage and push off with your feet to "jump." The springs provide resistance. I found a video of what it looks like, since it's hard to visualize. It doesn't look very strenuous but jumping for most of an hour really tired me out. I felt better after lunch, though. I didn't feel like cooking so stopped at a nearby grocery store and picked up premade sushi. I want to keep the momentum going and not eat junk.
I'm also trying to be a little more organized with my workout tracking, hoping that it will make me more consistent. I bought a simple pocket monthly/weekly planner at Target that runs from July-July. It started Monday, right after the race. In the past I've tried to keep really detailed workout logs and it has never worked well for me, but this is small and gives me just enough room to write a little about what I did. The monthly pages are nice for planning out my workouts. My husband liked it so much he wanted one too, so I got him one with a different color cover. Mine is green, his is blue. I'm going to track my daily weight and my daily calorie count (from Lose It!) along with my workouts. I've already mapped out all my long runs (from the plan I posted) in the calendar up to the half marathon.
My summer class is finally over and I just have to finish grading. Time to get back to it.
Monday, June 29, 2009
competing like it's for $10,000
As I've mentioned a dozen times or so already, yesterday was a race day for me. I'm not going to post a long, boring race report, just a few of the highlights.
I did the race with a friend and we were talking with our husbands before the race about how nervous we were, and how we didn't train like we thought maybe we should have. My friend said, "It's just for fun. I might have done things differently if it was for, like, ten thousand dollars." And then we both looked at each other and I could tell we were thinking the same thing. "Why didn't we train like it was worth ten thousand dollars?"
So in October, I will be competing for $10,000. Well, I will be if I can find someone to spot the 10Gs. But otherwise, I'll just ask myself how I would train if it were for that much money, and try to do that. I couldn't quit my job for $10,000, but I sure would make my training a priority. So, OK, I'll just do that.
By the way, we couldn't have had better race-day support if we had been professional athletes. Our husbands really took good care of us all day long, cheered for us along the way, took photos and videos and were just generally great.
This is my tentative $10,000 training plan:
I'm sure there will be modifications along the way.
You see that Pilates (specifically, Pilates Reformer) has a significant role in my $10,000 training plan. There is a very good reason for that. I felt pretty amazing yesterday after finishing my race (in 1:38:31 for the time geeks out there), a time that was right in the same range of my other sprint tris, even though I felt like my training was not quite as rigorous as I would have liked it to be. Usually I feel more tired and sore and have bad headaches and GI problems after long races. My husband and I thought about what was different and came up with a few ideas.
The best thing about the race is that it got me pumped up and excited. As silly as it sounds, I feel like now that this race is out of the way, I can really focus on my training. Half-marathon, here I come.
Anyone have $10,000?
I did the race with a friend and we were talking with our husbands before the race about how nervous we were, and how we didn't train like we thought maybe we should have. My friend said, "It's just for fun. I might have done things differently if it was for, like, ten thousand dollars." And then we both looked at each other and I could tell we were thinking the same thing. "Why didn't we train like it was worth ten thousand dollars?"
So in October, I will be competing for $10,000. Well, I will be if I can find someone to spot the 10Gs. But otherwise, I'll just ask myself how I would train if it were for that much money, and try to do that. I couldn't quit my job for $10,000, but I sure would make my training a priority. So, OK, I'll just do that.
By the way, we couldn't have had better race-day support if we had been professional athletes. Our husbands really took good care of us all day long, cheered for us along the way, took photos and videos and were just generally great.
This is my tentative $10,000 training plan:
| Week | Mon | Tues | Wed | Thurs | Fri | Sat | Sun |
| 22-Jun | swim | run 30-40 min | Pilates | walk | off | off | Triathlon |
| 29-Jun | swim | run 30-40 min | Pilates | 6-7 miles | Cycle/Yoga* | Pilates/bike | run 30-40 min |
| 6-Jul | swim | run 30-40 min | Pilates | 7-8 miles | Cycle/Yoga* | Pilates/bike | run 30-40 min |
| 13-Jul | swim | run 30-40 min | Pilates | 8-9 miles | Cycle/Yoga* | Pilates/bike | run 30-40 min |
| 20-Jul | swim | run 30-40 min | Pilates | 9-11 miles | Cycle/Yoga* | Pilates/bike | run 30-40 min |
| 27-Jul | swim | run 30-40 min | Pilates | 4-6 miles | Cycle/Yoga* | Pilates/bike | run 30-40 min |
| 3-Aug | swim | run 30-40 min | Pilates | 11-13 miles | Cycle/Yoga* | Pilates/bike | run 30-40 min |
| 10-Aug | swim | run 30-40 min | Pilates | 4-6 miles | bike | Pilates/bike | run 30-40 min |
| 17-Aug | swim | run 30-40 min | Pilates | 12-14 miles | bike | Pilates/bike | run 30-40 min |
| 24-Aug | swim | run 30-40 min | Pilates | 5-6 miles | bike | Pilates/bike | run 30-40 min |
| 31-Aug | swim | run 30-40 min | Pilates | 13-15 miles | bike | Pilates/bike | run 30-40 min |
| 7-Sep | swim | run 30-40 min | Pilates | 5-7 miles | bike | Pilates/bike | run 30-40 min |
| 14-Sep | swim | run 30-40 min | Pilates | 14-15 miles | bike | Pilates/bike | run 30-40 min |
| 21-Sep | swim | run 30-40 min | Pilates | 5-8 miles | bike | Pilates/bike | run 30-40 min |
| 28-Sep | swim | run 30 minutes | Pilates | run 30 minutes | walk | off | half marathon |
I'm sure there will be modifications along the way.
You see that Pilates (specifically, Pilates Reformer) has a significant role in my $10,000 training plan. There is a very good reason for that. I felt pretty amazing yesterday after finishing my race (in 1:38:31 for the time geeks out there), a time that was right in the same range of my other sprint tris, even though I felt like my training was not quite as rigorous as I would have liked it to be. Usually I feel more tired and sore and have bad headaches and GI problems after long races. My husband and I thought about what was different and came up with a few ideas.
- Pilates reformer classes. I didn't have any injury problems in training and I didn't feel like I was beat up with a baseball bat after the race was over. I think the core strength I built with these classes was a big factor.
- Probiotics. I have been reading The Probiotics Revolution (review forthcoming) and have been including daily doses of kefir and/or yogurt, plus the probiotic-friendly foods suggested in the book.
- Salt. At one of my triathlons I heard about hyponatremeia, and though my symptoms aren't severe enough to match the clinical definition, I wondered if my usual low-salt diet, plus the heat and the fact that I lose a lot of salt when I sweat, might be a factor in how I was feeling. I made sure to have saltier-than-usual foods before and after the race just in case.
- Heat acclimatization. I've been spending less time in air conditioning and more time training in the heat. My husband reminded me that I went out and trained in long pants on several days that most sane people were wearing shorts. Plus, our air conditioner went out for a while when it got really hot.
The best thing about the race is that it got me pumped up and excited. As silly as it sounds, I feel like now that this race is out of the way, I can really focus on my training. Half-marathon, here I come.
Anyone have $10,000?
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Pre-race jitters
Sunday is The Big Race.
Distances: 1/2 mile swim, 10.7 mile bike, 3 mile run.
I went to go do a practice swim on Monday and my favorite goggles were missing. I decided I must have left them at the open-water swim last Saturday and was discouraged. Then the backup pair of goggles I had broke. The inside of my head sounded something like this: "What a bad omen, I don't want to try out new goggles for the first time on race day, I'm so stupid, Why did I sign up for this dumb race anyway, Those were my favorite goggles, I feel so fat and out of shape..."
Yeah, that sucks, doesn't it?
I wasn't able to find identical goggles at Dick's and bought some semi-acceptable ones at Target. I toyed with the idea of buying new ones and having them second-day aired to my house for an exorbitant fee.
Then I told the friend I went to the race with about my goggle problem and she told me that she had my goggles in her car, and that she had bought identical ones at Dick's (I was just looking in the wrong place). Then I kept finding goggles all over my house. I apparently had three pairs of them, two with clear lenses and one with blue. I feel like this is some sort of joke the Universe is playing on me to tell me to lighten up, already.
I'm still a little nervous but realistically, what is my problem? Even if I have a terrible race, SO WHAT? The real benefit of the race was that it got me off the couch and onto my bike, into the pool, and out in my running shoes all spring.
After all the stress of triathlon training and planning, the half marathon I have planned for fall seems simple: No bike, no goggles, nothing but me and my running shoes.
Distances: 1/2 mile swim, 10.7 mile bike, 3 mile run.
I went to go do a practice swim on Monday and my favorite goggles were missing. I decided I must have left them at the open-water swim last Saturday and was discouraged. Then the backup pair of goggles I had broke. The inside of my head sounded something like this: "What a bad omen, I don't want to try out new goggles for the first time on race day, I'm so stupid, Why did I sign up for this dumb race anyway, Those were my favorite goggles, I feel so fat and out of shape..."
Yeah, that sucks, doesn't it?
I wasn't able to find identical goggles at Dick's and bought some semi-acceptable ones at Target. I toyed with the idea of buying new ones and having them second-day aired to my house for an exorbitant fee.
Then I told the friend I went to the race with about my goggle problem and she told me that she had my goggles in her car, and that she had bought identical ones at Dick's (I was just looking in the wrong place). Then I kept finding goggles all over my house. I apparently had three pairs of them, two with clear lenses and one with blue. I feel like this is some sort of joke the Universe is playing on me to tell me to lighten up, already.
I'm still a little nervous but realistically, what is my problem? Even if I have a terrible race, SO WHAT? The real benefit of the race was that it got me off the couch and onto my bike, into the pool, and out in my running shoes all spring.
After all the stress of triathlon training and planning, the half marathon I have planned for fall seems simple: No bike, no goggles, nothing but me and my running shoes.
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