Off season goals 2007-2008

In 2005 I decided to lose some weight because I was depressed and disgusted at how parts of me would flap and move when I ran down the stairs (Yeah. I know. Ew.)

I don't know what parts of me were doing running up the stairs because at the time I could barely walk up the stairs.

So now I'm ready for the next level, and I think it's for the right reasons. Well, first off, I'm just freaked out by the way my belly fat floats in the water. (You're welcome for that visual). I magically managed to put on nearly 15 pounds during Ironman training and oh, aren't you nice to say that it must be muscle? but unless I gained all that muscle in my ass and stomach and thighs, I don't think so.

Secondly, I think changing my bodyfat percentage and lightening up a bit would make an enormous difference in the comfort with which I experience running and cycling since, um, that's a lot of stuff to haul up and down hills, ya know?

I'm no longer vegan. I've made that statement before, I believe in honesty concerning such things, because I am personally annoyed by people who say they are vegan "except sometimes I eat fish"

or a vegetarian who "sometimes eats chicken"

After 7 years as a vegan, I got to looking at our diet and quite frankly, it was very high on refined carbs and very low on protein. Our diet was fine for day-to-day being a human being, but no so much for endurance athletics. So we tried Soy protein, which was making things, um, difficult in the GeekGirl/Baboo realm, as well. Finally, traveling was extremely difficult.

Even more pressing was the presense of Mini-baboo, who is 5'10", 180 lbs and still growing AND in cross country AND weight training.

It was clear that some allowances had to be made.
I pride myself on never stubbornly just staying with something that isn't working just for the principle of the thing, so, we brought eggs and whey protein back into our diet. I found "cage free" eggs which makes me feel better--HEY, DON'T MAKE FUN OF MY LOW THREASHOLD OF GUILT, MAN--and then I taught Mini-baboo how to make scrambled eggs in the microwave with soymilk.

I'm curious as to how the extra protein and, what is it, omega whatsits will affect his mental focus and cognition, if at all. I'll keep you posted.

As for me, I'm using egg whites. Today I started my day with a quick run (3.8 miles) followed by a 2-egg white omelet and cereal bar.

In all, I'm aiming for a diet that is 65 percent carbohydrate, 20 percent fat, and 15 percent protein, one of the recommended divisions for endurance athletes.

So here's today's graph. For a first day, it's not bad. I'm kinda close, I think...

It's my impuse control that's a killer. I've been stopping by and getting chips and candy and gatorade and everything, and I don't need them.

I need to drink more water is what I need to do. I've made this commitment before and always failed, usually getting 2-3 glasses a day.

However, this time I seem to be succeeding. Yesterday, for instance, I forgot my water bottle and could really feel the difference until someone took pity on me and gave me a bottle of water from the fridge in the office I share.

So anyway here it is. My trying to be a healthy eater instead of a vegan junk food junkie. I'm still not eating meat. Ew. But I'm coming back toward a middle path that I think is more doable.

If I replace some fat with muscle in the process, great. I'd rather have tissue that works for me instead of just, uh, floating in the water.

If not, well, there's always Photoshop.

Meanwhile, I'm going to be run-focused and do some strength training in the off season. I'm a noodle. I need some power.

Thanks for letting me think out loud.

...

in praise of slow.

I like the word 'indolence.' It makes my laziness seem classy. ~Bern Williams

Okay, so now September is drawing to a close and my month of sloth is over. I've meandered, whined, and avoided sweaty stuff for a few weeks now.

I claimed this month as my month of sloth - even though I did do a couple 7 and 10 mile runs here and there, and, um, a few bike rides, as well as a lot of swimming, at least until my tat was done.
Oh, and I also did Wednesdays with the Jimmy. Wednesdays are "turbo bricks," where we alternate plyometrics, interval training, and spinning. I never miss Wednesdays with the Jimmy. Even as I dread them, because he makes me go fast. However, during track intervals, the Jimmy usually sends me around the track first, so that there isn't a huge lag time between when the others are done and I finish.

For most of my life I was completely sedentary. Now I feel lazy for 'only' running 10 or so miles in a week! This week, for instance, I was scheduled to do a 10 mile run one morning before work (I have to be at work at 7:10) and I thought, nuh-uh. Don't feel like it. I'll do it later. Then that afternoon and evening, it rained like hell. I'll admit, I was relieved. Still didn't feel like a run. But even as I was thinking that, I was thinking, I have got to quit being so lazy, or I'll never get faster.

Which got me to thinking about lazy, which technically I'm not, and slow, which I definitely am.

I mean, I feel lazy but then the people I know every day don't exercise hardly at all. I guess i feel "lazy" because I hang out with some pretty intense people. Pirate likes to run (and bike) up mountains, and her Beloved runs a half marathon in about an hour and a half.

And relative to the Sweet Baboo, I'm pretty lathargic when it comes to training. For instance, if he had come in from running, as I did this morning, and discovered he shorted his long run accidentally by nearly 2 miles, he'd go right back out again and do more. Not me. I called it good, and made myself a Recoverite smoothie. It's all about the smoothie, baby.

And, as a result, I'm slow. Of course, it doesn't help that I've got 42 years under my belt of having been consistently rewarded for doing things s-l-o-w-l-y.

I didn't go to college until I was 26, and then I took 5-1/2 years to get my bachelor's degree. However, I've had jobs (mostly math teaching) fall at my feet ever since.

I met Sweet Baboo later in life than others meet their true love. But there's nothing or nobody I'd rather have with me if I were marooned forever on a deserted island.

And, despite an average 5K run speed over 10 minutes per mile, and an average bike speed in the 14-ish mph range, I've finished almost every single triathlon I've ever tried, including an Ironman. I've done over 30 of them in two years, and I've never had an injury, no a muscle spasms, and just one tiny toe blister that I disovered two days after Ironman Louisville.

I'm not sure where I'm going with this...

It just seems to me, that if I were supposed to be faster, I wouldn't be having this good a time, y'know? I wouldn't feel this healthy. Right now, my slow run, between 10k and 10 miles, is around a 12 minute mile. Above that, it's between 13:30 and 14:30. My five K time is still over 10 minutes.

Sometimes I think of the benefits of fast and envy faster people: they get done before it's really hot, spend less time working hard, and it's a bit easier. There's still pizza left at the finish line because the faster triathletes and their families haven't eaten it all yet. The photographers are still there.

Then again, I go to the local Wall-wart and compare myself to the general population and feel better. Many Americans can't pass a general fitness test, but I can run down most 8th graders. While others are waiting for the closest parking spot I'm jogging across the parking lot.

And, I was slow at IMLooUHville, but not too slow to finish, y'all.

Lots of things are better slow , such as food, sex...uh, okay, I guess it's just food and sex. (But what else do you want?)

Plus, I notice things during runs that faster folks miss sometimes. The sunflowers at the Oklahoma Redman. The smell of chocolate flower on my long runs up the north diversion channel. That funky smell on the run at the Cotton Country sprint. That mailbox that looks like a fish in the AtomicMan. That one horse that seemed to be looking right at me in Kentucky. The fact that since I'm the last of my friends to be done, I always have a cheering section at the finish line.

But now my month of "sloth" is over. I've run out of excuses: I'm no longer recovering from Ironman LooUHville, my tattoo, or starting back to work. It's time to step it up a bit. Tomorrow I'll do at least a 60 mile ride. I'll go back to swimming next week because the tattoo is nearly fully healed (I seem to heal much faster now than I used to.)

I'll keep working out, and if I get faster, so be it. I'll do a couple weeks of intensity to get back in shape for SOMA. Maybe I'll do SOMA faster this year. Maybe not. In the meantime, I'm going to enjoy being slow.

This morning, I did a run without my garmin that I was convinced had to be at least 9 miles. Turned out to be 8.25 (whoops). However, I did it under a 13 minute mile, which was pretty good for me, considering it was hilly. And, I felt FAB. U. LOUS. Beautiful morning, that smelled good and felt good. And I enjoyed it, running as I do, S.L.O.W.L.Y.
...