January 5, 2010

Did well again today. Ate healthy all day.

Totals	calories 1,581	fat 47	carbs 209	protein 89
Goals	1600 - 1700	44 - 46	220 - 230	80 - 84

Went to the gym after school and used the elliptical for 32 minutes, 5 km.

Then, since I was there, I decided to row for a bit. Started with 10 minutes, then kept on going to 15, then 20, then 30 minutes total. 5500 m. Felt really glad I did that.

Going to stretch and then hit the sack.

January 4, 2010 - Day One

Well, I have had a successful Day One of training!

• I planned well the night before, having my breakfast laid out, my lunch made and packed, and my dinner planned.

• I went into school on Sunday afternoon and prepped for the week so that I will be able to take off fairly quickly each day to get my training in before dinner.

• As Monday training called for a swim, I arranged with hubby so I could use the car, got the boy organized so he could come with me, and I packed my swim bag the night before.

• I even got my vitamins out into two containers, ready for morning and evening.

So this morning, I ate my planned breakfast, didn't even finish all the food I packed for lunch, got my swim in after school, ate a healthy dinner, and even fought the cravings to eat chocolate in the evening. I am feeling virtuous to say the least.

It's really not that hard to follow a new plan for one day. You are motivated, excited, energetic, and well planned. What's hard is staying on the plan for more than a few days. Well, I should qualify that - I can usually stay on the training plan, more or less, but keeping the rest of the my life in order - eating healthy, getting enough sleep, being organized - tends to fall by the wayside. Letting that stuff slide, increases my stress and fatigue which ultimately impacts on my training performance.

If I try to identify the cause of the inevitable backslide, I can usually attribute it to laziness after dinner. Whether it's the watching TV (my old addiction), or sitting at the computer (my current addiction), I seem to get into procrastination mode after dinner, and lose momentum. So the real challenge, and perhaps my 2010 resolution, is do to the evening prep every night. And that includes the stretching and yoga. And getting to bed at a reasonable hour.

Of course, I've said this before. It's the toughest part for me. That's going to have to be my focus for the next few weeks. They say it takes about three weeks to create a new habit. I guess mine should be:

1. Make breakfast/lunch during dinner prep or right after dinner.

2. Turn off the computer by 9 and do my stretching and yoga.

3. Get into to bed no later than 10, maybe even earlier.

Identifying problem areas and being proactive will help you achieve your goals. Figure out what stops YOU from meeting your goals and plan to nip them in the bud.

Training Notes

My swim felt great today. 30 minutes of easy swimming. Didn't need to stop for a break at all. 1000m done. Could have pushed and done 1200m but my shoulder felt a bit clicky from being out of use. Better to ease into it I think.

Tomorrow - 30 minutes on the elliptical. My shins are still aching so I won't run until they feel better.

January 3, 2010

I cut and pasted this from my Sparkpeople page where I was figuring out a sample day of my eating plan. I want to eat more fruit and vegetables and less fat and white carbs. I'm going for a 55% carb, 20-25% protein, 20-25% fat ratio. This is a doable day for me. I have a mid morning, after school, and evening snack, in addition to 3 meals. The evening snack doesn't show up in the right place though. It's the chocolate....

Breakfast
	Calories	Fat	Carbohydrates	Protein
Yogurt, Liberte non-fat, 0.75 cup	80	0	8	13
Chia Mix, 2 tbsp	130	7	16	4
Quaker Quick Oats, 0.13 cup	39	1	7	1
Banana, fresh, 0.5 large (8" to 8-7/8" long)	63	0	16	1
Coffee w/ 1 T. cream, 1 serving	23	2	1	1
Granulated Sugar, 2 tsp	33	0	8	0
	367	10	56	20
Lunch
	Calories	Fat	Carbohydrates	Protein
Creamy Red Pepper and Tomato Soup, 1 cup	154	9	14	5
Banana, fresh, 0.5 large (8" to 8-7/8" long)	63	0	16	1
Bread - Healthy Way 20 Loaf, 1 serving	90	1	15	5
Red Ripe Tomatoes, 0.5 cup, chopped or sliced	19	0	4	1
Peppers, sweet, red, fresh, 0.5 cup, chopped	20	0	5	1
Pears, fresh, 1 pear, medium (approx 2-1/2 per lb)	98	1	25	1
	443	11	79	12
Dinner
	Calories	Fat	Carbohydrates	Protein
Chicken Breast, no skin, 100 grams	110	1	0	23
Rice, Uncle Ben's Whole Grain Brown, 0.5 cup	110	1	23	3
Carrots, cooked, 1 cup slices	55	0	13	1
Spinach, fresh, 2 cup	14	0	2	2
Mangoes, frozen Europe's Best, 1 cup	80	0	21	1
	368	3	59	30
Snack
	Calories	Fat	Carbohydrates	Protein
Chocolate with Hazelnuts, 1 serving	90	6	9	3
	90	6	9	3
AM Snack
	Calories	Fat	Carbohydrates	Protein
Apples, fresh, 1 medium (2-3/4" dia) (approx 3 per lb)	81	0	21	0
Cheddar Cheese, 1 oz	114	9	0	7
	196	10	21	7
PM Snack
	Calories	Fat	Carbohydrates	Protein
Tuna, Canned in Water, 0.5 cup, solid or chunks	89	1	0	20
Ryvita Multi-Grain, 2 serving	90	1	17	2
	179	2	17	22
	1,644	42	241	94
	1600 - 1700	44 - 46	220 - 230	80 - 84

January 2, 2010

Got this idea from Stuart at the Quadrathon Blog and Podcast. Cool :)

January 1, 2010

Happy New Year!

Two accomplishments this week.

Last night I realized that I only needed 8.7 km of running to reach 500km for 2009. How could I resist? My shins were sore and I had considered going to the gym to use the elliptical instead, but now I was torn. Should I try for the miles just to make the numbers nice and round for the New Year, or should I rest my shins?

In the end, I chose to run, although I switched down to 5/1 run walk to baby them a little. By the time I hit the road, it was dark, -2, icey, and snowing. A perfect time to try out my new Salomon XT Wings! I decided to forgo the orthotics for this first run, since they are already a stability shoe and they felt a teensy bit tight with them in. I also wore my new Bike/Run merino wool socks. The shoes felt really comfortable for the whole run.

I did a good warm up and then ran the 3km out and back section, 3 times. The shoes didn't help much on the ice, and I wasn't really expecting them too, but my feet were very warm and dry. By the last loop, my left knee was getting tight so I took even more walk breaks but I got 'er done. Yeah baby.

(Today, I double checked my stats, comparing my two logs, and I found I actually only have 74 km for December, but 502 km for the whole year. I am happy about that.)

Accomplishment Number Two

Today was the 100k trainer challenge. Quite a few people signed up on both Buckeye Outdoors and the Daily Mile websites, and a few others just told me verbally on twitter. Overall, there were 7 who tweeted about their results.

They were:

DaveGilli - from the UK who did a 100km commute in subzero temps today!
Coachprs - Jeff who was the first to finish in 3 hours this morning!
Gabox_ - my friend from Mexico who rode the trainer for 3.5 hours today!
Gabsatrucker - who finished the whole 100km at the same time I was riding!
Milkthecowbaby - Jon who finished the challenge half in a spin class and half on the trainer!

Honorable mentions go to:

Tri2conquer - who managed 50km before he succumbed to a bad sinus cold
Picsiechick - who set a personal best on her 50km ride.

Can't forget my good friend gdwscott who tweeted, "I'm afraid I managed 16K, got bored and gave up. But I was there with you for a while anyway!" LOL!

These are only the ones who tweeted their results on twitter today. I know there were a few more who finished on Daily Mile and Buckeye, as well as a few who have committed to doing the ride tomorrow.

Congrats everyone, doesn't it feel great! (and awful.. ;)

My quads are pretty sore right now and I doubt I'll feel like doing much tomorrow.

No worries, Happy New Year everyone!

My time? I had a 1 minute and 23 second PR from last year, finishing up in 4:06:22.

For what it's worth, there is a lot of variability in trainers, and it's difficult to accurately measure your distance, because it depends in part, on the tension it's set at. We have two trainers, same brand but different years, and one has a heavier fly wheel than the other. Erik is kind enough to take the 'hard' trainer, and finished his 100km in 4.5 hours. I can attest that his trainer is definitely hard to get the speed up very high. Erik is a much stronger cyclist that I am and the difference in our times is not accurate. However, we still think it's fun to try to ride to 100 km. instead of just for time....