Updates, Contest and Records

Tuesday was the longest I've run since April -- 8 miles. I'm hoping to run the same or farther tomorrow.

My foot feels great. I can run 3 days in a row and only feel a tightness in my arch by the end. I'm cycling consistently M/W/F with a spinning workout on Tues and that doesn't smack my energy stores into a black hole like it used to. It is amazing to feel like I'm almost out of this injury. My future for so long was, "Maybe, someday I can hike that trail. Maybe, someday I can go running with you..." Yay! I can hike trails and run with people again! Depending on how this goes, I'm planning to start working on speed after Thanksgiving.

I have since purchased skinny tires for my bike and they are AMAZING! New records:
To Work: 1:05 (i think)
To Home: 57.5

Also, there is another new weight-loss contest at work. Percentage lost is the winner. $100. Ends in December, I think the 14th.

Morning Weight: 148.5
Miles Today: 4.75
Other Exercise: Walking
Total Miles this Week: 105 cycling, 1 swimming, 23.5 running

California Condors

I've been utilizing the empty, wide dirt-roaded Quarry Lakes park for my runs, and I keep seeing birds that look like what I think a California Condor would, up close. Finally, I checked on wikipedia, and, WOW, the rarest bird when I was growing up, now in my neighborhood! I'm awestruck and moved, even though they are a tad on the ugly side.

On the get-back-in-shape front, I've been able to commute to work via bicycle 3 times in a week (17 miles each way), and run every other day. My runs started at 20 minutes per session, and are now at 40 minutes, with a long day of 60. Two months ago I ran an hour on the beach with my mom at 10+ minutes per mile, and afterwards I couldn't walk. When I ran long on Tuesday, I was going 8:30 pace on hard surfaces and felt great the rest of the day. Yay for improvement!

Soon to break these (mostly because I'm going to buy thinner tires)
Record to work: 1:14 (9-14-07)
Record from work: 1:05 (9-12-07)

Morning Weight: 152.5
Miles Today: 4.75
Other Exercise: None
Total Miles this Week:14.5 run / 80 bike (recovery week)

Ok. Thought of a couple things

<155: Better bike pedals. My current SPDs are too localized on my forefoot and that may be contributing to my plantar faciitis.
<135: speedometer/odometer for my bike.

After a few weeks of talk, I finally rode Calaveras Rd. and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. The worst part was riding from Milpitas to North Fremont with all the traffic signals and cars, and a slight headwind. I think I may make it a weekend tradition. It took me 3 hours and 2 minutes with signals. I'll admit that I'm completely wiped tonight though. *yawn*

Week Plan:
Mon - AM run/walk 3 miles
    LU bike 20 mins, weights, abs
Tue - AM run/walk 3 miles
    LU 1 hour stationary bike
Wed - AM/PM Bike to Work
    LU 10 min elliptical, weights, abs
Thu - AM run/walk 3 miles
    LU 1 hour stationary bike
Fri - CAMP! run 20 mins.
Sat - CAMP! Bike 1 hour
Sun - CAMP! 50 mile bike ride.
Mon - CAMP! 20 min run.

Morning Weight: 156
Miles Today: 40 on the bike, Calaveras Rd.
Other Exercise: walked around the neighborhood (1 mile)

What I said before...

Ok, so I had a little help with the weight gain because I hurt my foot, not being able to run AT ALL and then proceeded to get sick for 6 weeks which left me energy-less and wiped, but still with a good appetite. I also overate.

My foot is still messed up. I've self-diagnosed plantar fasciitis. woot. But, I can use the stationary bike, so that is good, and keeping me at least at a static weight. I've attempted to do 20-minute runs, but that just seems to help my foot not to improve.

I'm not sure exactly what got me motivated... oh yeah Aggie Camp and XC start soon... but I finally started entering stuff into physicsdiet and fitday again. Hopefully, that will help me reach some weight goals and prizes.

When my average weight (according to physicsdiet) is under:
150: get that massage from that fancy place that I have an awesome gift card for.
145: motorcycle gloves for winter!
140: synthetic motorcycle outfit
135: ...I'm sure I'll think of something...
130: speedy road bicycle!
130 for a year: projector and screen for my living room?

Morning Weight: 155.5
Miles Today: 3 walking
Other Exercise: 50 min stationary bike
Total Miles this Week: 2.3 on treadmill

What it means when my blog goes stagnant

Wow. So, when I disappear from this blog, it means that I'm busy gaining weight and running sporadically. I've learned that this happens when I'm stressed. Now, I just have to learn how to deal with that stress in a different way than over-eating.

Updates!
Miraculously, I won the weight-loss contest, weighing in at 138, and proceeded to gain like 10 pounds in the following 5 weeks because I needed to clean my place and get a whole load of stuff done before a party I was hosting at my disaster-ified place. That party occured on Sunday, and now that I finally cleaned my place, I feel SO MUCH BETTER. I've eaten only when I've been hungry the last few days and lost an extra 4 pounds of food that was sitting in my body.

Last week, I hurt my foot running a lot on asphalt and cycling too much, so I stopped running and spinning Tuesday-Sunday. I started up again with a 20 minute run on Monday, and have been doing steady runs since. I'm hoping to run a workout either tomorrow or Saturday, but we'll see how my feet feel.

Morning Weight: 143.5
Miles Today: 5.5
Other Exercise: 5 mins abs
Total Miles this Week: 26.5

Last Push

Another stagnant week behind me. I didn't run as much as I'd hoped and had a couple of days where I ate more than I should have, but I did get a lot of ab work in and a bunch of spinning/biking, so that is good. I ran the farthest I'd ever run in my life on Saturday -- 16 miles!

I feel like I fail miserably every time I announce my goals for the week, and do really well when I don't. This week, I have goals, but I'm not going to write them down. I will check back in a week though.

Morning Weight: 138
Miles Today: 7.5
Other Exercise: Weights, 5 mins of abs
Total Miles this Week: 15

Log: Jan 14 - 20 2007

Sun-Sat: 14, DNR ~18 miles biking, 9.25+1.5 spinning class 3 min abs, DNR minimal weights 5 min abs, 2.5 spinning class 3 min abs, 5.5 minimal weights 5 min abs, 16 = 49

My (first) long run was great this week. I hit a little less than 8:30s average and ran 60 minutes out and it only took me 59 back. Yay! I even saw a deer with short antlers in the creek bed and a great blue heron on the trail. I love my new running area! After Tuesday, I just couldn't get up in the morning and get myself to run in the cold and dark after the -2C (29F) temperature of Tuesday. All the rest of my runs were on a treadmill. I think I'm afraid of the cold again. That wasn't pleasant.

Over Half Way!

So last week (and... um... today) I totally binged. Having a stocked fridge is bad. But I think the real reason is that I'm dehydrated and instead of drinking a bunch of water, I just eat cereal. That's just my theory -- I really don't know, but I do know I need to get this under control. I haven't really moved my weight since the end of December, and if I want to have a chance of winning, I'd better focus and aim for under 2k calories a day. If I do everything I want this week, I'll probably hit about 65 miles plus 3.5 hours of biking, two weight workouts and several core sessions. I should be under 135 by next Monday.

Morning Weight: 136
Miles Today: None
Other Exercise: Biked about 18 miles (84 minutes)
Total Miles this Week: 14

Log: Jan 7 - 13 2007

Sun-Sat: DNR, 3 weights 5 min abs, 9 spinning class 3 min abs, 1.5 15 min bike .5 hour core class, 9 spinning class 3 min abs, 6.5, 7.75 = 36.75

Saw a skunk on Thursday morning. Listening to PodRunner for the first time on a run, I was catching up to this black cat-like animal in the dark, and as I got closer, I could see a poofy tail. Having smelled skunky-ness earlier along the trail, I decided to stop. The animal ran off into the bushes on the side, I swung wide, and we both successfully avoided each other.

Log: Dec 31 - Jan 6 2006-2007

Sun-Sat: DNR, 8.25, 5.5 weights 5 min abs, 7, 8 weights 1/4 deck of push-ups 5 min abs, 6.5, 7.25 = 42.5

Bucked

I got broadsided by the new year festivities, and got lazy and fell off the horse the last few days, but luckily the horse didn't run away, so I've climbed back on. I would have written this update yesterday, but I didn't have access to a scale in the morning.

I really want to get down to 135 next Monday, so this week is going to really suck. I had a terrible run on Saturday. It was great for about 25 minutes and then I bonked. It was an hour run. Maybe I should run again today?

Morning Weight: 138
Miles Today: 5.5
Other Exercise: Weight Lifting, 5 mins abs
Total Miles this Week: 13.75

Log: Dec 24 - 30 2006

Sun-Sat: 10 5 min abs, 7, 6.5, DNR, 8.75, 6.5, 7 = 46.75