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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 13 October 2008 06:36 pm |
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Thanks Midge and Nick!! Yes, I had a great time and am still enjoying the feeling of accomplishment. Although, my sore achilles is taking some of the joy away - ouch! I get one week of light workouts, then I start training again next week for the Las Vegas Half Marathon. My new goal time will be 2:15.
Speaking of schlubby, I am remembering a half marathon I ran last year when I was over 200 lbs. My time was 3:14:40 and boy did I feel like a schlub then. As proof, here's a picture of me during that race. It's one of many embarrassing photos that I can only feel comfortable sharing here. When you're that big, it's definitely a challenge to run. Every body part rubs and chafes and blisters, and all the jiggly parts bounce uncomfortably. This is me at my worst, and I guess it was my turning point.
photo: Disneyland Half Marathon 2007
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 15 October 2008 06:14 pm |
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I have been remiss in posting and am feeling guilty. I've been so busy that there's been little time. I can barely keep up with tracking my foods and I've missed my workouts for the past 2 days.
At least I finally got my homeworks turned in last night. I wasn't able to turn in completed work though, because there were so many challenging problems and they took forever. Math homework that takes up 14 pages to write up and 20+ hours to complete is just not right. Midterm is this Friday so I have to watch the last lecture tonight, which I missed doing last night.
I also missed a deadline at work last Friday while sick the week before. So, I'm desparately trying to put together my next deliverable by this Friday. I didn't leave work until 11:30 pm last night. I was hoping to get in early to put in more extra hours, but was just too tired. So, now I'm mega-stressed, but I feel better now that I've ranted and whined.
I will definitely get my workout in tonight to get rid of some stress. Will also add an easy 3 mile run after spin class to make up for missing it yesterday. At least my calves are feeling better now, so I'm anticipating a pleasant run. Ok - time to dig back into work and start making some major progress. Grrrr!
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 20 October 2008 06:14 pm |
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Arrrgh, I haven't posted for a week now. At one point I thought about chucking this diary, but then I realized that's what got me in trouble last time. I have a major accomplishment, ride the high by slacking off, and then let other things in life take over. I did really well (for me) in the last race, started my rest and recovery week, but got really busy with schoolwork, studying for a midterm and trying to meet a work deadline (which I still haven't done). The recovery week was practically nil as the rest part lasted longer than it should have.
After missing so many workouts this past week and feeling.... I don't know, something between exhausted and confused, I think I'm ready to pick myself back up. I say that with some hesitation because I admit I'm a little tired of feeling constantly sore and having blisters that make it hard to sit (cycling) or hard to walk (running). But, I can never enjoy a recovery workout. Something in me keeps pushing hard because it's so exhilirating to feel strong.
Right now I'm still pretty tired - as in, I wish I could crawl back into bed and sleep another 8 hours kind of tired. I've been eating pretty well, probably more that I should given I haven't lost weight in 2 weeks now. Cycling has been going well, but my running has suffered lately. My legs have felt like rubber when I run now. I've also missed a whole week of strength training. I've done a few pushups here and there, but nothing serious. I'm worried that I won't be able to meet my goal for my next race.
So, now that I've got that off my chest, I'm going to stop whining. It's time to get past the mental blocks and get back into training. This week I start a new training schedule for the Las Vegas Half Marathon on December 7th. My goal time is 2:15 (was 2:20, but I already broke that goal time with the last race).
Total Caloric Intake (10/12 - 11/19):
- 10/12 2717
- 10/13 1426
- 10/14 1844
- 10/15 2472
- 10/16 1786
- 10/17 1981
- 10/18 2459
- 10/19 1603
Total Exercise Calories:
- 10/12 1600
- 10/13 0
- 10/14 0
- 10/15 785
- 10/16 0
- 10/17 0
- 10/18 1722
- 10/19 0
This past Saturday (10/18) I went on a long ride and felt great. My pace was awesome for the first 20 miles at about 19 mph. 3 of those miles averaged over 20 mph. I passed a lot of riders and was complemented by one rider (who was very buff so it makes the complement mean that much more) that I had a great pace.  I'm still aglow over that. But then I hit a series of long hills with one at a punishing 18% grade that had me in tears. Even though I made it through those hills and I'm not hurting that much, the memory of the pain kept me from running yesterday. I'm going to run later today and hope that it's not a total disaster. Ugh, I need to get out from under this black cloud already. 
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 21 October 2008 07:18 am |
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Today I ate:
- 2 cups vegetable and fruit juice
- 1 packet Kirkland organic oatmeal
- mixed green salad with egg, avacado, cheese and asian dressing
- 2 1/2 servings salt & vinegar chips
- 1 asian pear
- 2 truffle chocolates
- 4 oz pot roast
- 1 cup mashed potatos
- 4 tsp brown gravy
- 1/2 cup corn
- 12 oz coffee with dry creamer
- 64 oz water
Total Intake Calories: 2025 cal
I bought a big bag of chips the other day. I've had a huge craving for salt. So while I was stuck in traffic and stressed about picking up daughter in time to get her to violin lesson, I started munching on the chips. Once I started, I couldn't stop, or rather, I wasn't thinking of what I was doing. It was purely mechanical - hit brakes, stop, grab chips, stuff mouth, munch, hit accerlerator, grab chips, etc, etc. Bad habits sure die hard. I think I'm done with this craving, which is good since I'm almost done with the chips and I don't want to be tempted into buying another bag. Oh, and the chocolates were for TTOM.
Today's exercise:
- easy run
- 5 min warmup jog
- 3 miles at 11:32 pace
- 5 min warmdown jog
- 15 minute stretch
- 40 min strength ball and resistance bands
- 3x12 give and take
- 3x12 triangle press
- 3x12 resistance ab crunches
- 3x12 resistance obliques
- 3x12 tweezer crunch
- 3x12 rear deltoid press
- 3x12 bicep curls
- 3x12 tricep overhead extensions
- 3x12 pelvic lifts
- 3x12 ball pushups
- 3x12 back extensions
- 3x12 abdominal curls
Total Exercise Calories: 723 cal
The run felt good today, but it wa a very slow pace. My pace needs to be about 50 seconds/mile faster for an easy pace. I'm not going to beat myself up about it, because I know it's important to not push too hard and to listen to my body. My body tells me that it's tired from the tough 35 mile ride I did Saturday. After all, 11:30 would have been tempo pace for me less than 2 months ago.
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 22 October 2008 08:24 am |
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Today I ate:
- 1 1/2 cups vegetable and fruit juice
- 6" Subway turkey breast on wheat
- 1 1/2 servings salt & vinegar chips
- 1 Kashi peanut granola bar
- 3 truffle chocolates
- 18 pork potstickers
- 2 tbsp low sodium soy sauce with peppers
- 2 green tea bags
- 64 oz water
Total Intake Calories: 1790 cal
Thank goodness I'm done with those potato chips. I have no desire to eat them now and I'm hoping that will be the case for a long time. I wasn't that hungry today, but I think the stress and late night at work makes my stomach upset, and that gives me a false sense of hunger. After I eat, I feel more than full and a little sick. Then again, it's still TTOM and I'm starting the feel the cramps pretty badly. OMG - tomorrow I'm going to the Women's Conference, and I just realized with all those women around me my estrogen level is going to skyrocket and the cramps are going to come on strong. Waaah - better make sure I have the midol with me tomorrow.
Today's exercise:
- ascending intervals with 2 minute recovery walk in between.
- 0.5 mile warmup jog
- 2x2:00 at 8:34 pace
- 2x3:00 at 8:57
- 2x4:00 at 9:23
- 0.5 mile warmdown jog
Total Exercise Calories: 362 cal
This was a really tough workout for me, but I'm feeling a little better now that I've completed it. At one point I was going to give up the last interval, but I forced myself to do it, imagining my husband and all of my friends cheering me on and running beside me. It's workouts like these that make me really sad for what I've lost over the years. I used to do short intervals like these at a sub-6 minute pace easy and my 10k pace was faster than 8 min/mile. Now, I feel like an unwieldy beast, plodding along on my fat gams. So, there was no way I was going to shortchange myself on this workout. I really, really, really want to be back to competitive racing and back to enjoying the feeling of running as if I was flying.
On a happier note, I am officially a size 12 now. Pants fit nice and loose with no overflow happening at the waistband. My project this weekend is to sort through my clothes and toss the size 14s and 16s. Cheers to thinning out the closet. Now if I could just fit back into my boots - stubborn calf fat.
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 23 October 2008 07:00 am |
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Today I ate:
- 1 Yoplait Yogurt Key Lime
- 1/2 cup cottage cheese
- chicken salad on rye
- 1/2 small apple
- 1 cup veggie grain salad
- 1 chocolate chip cookie
- 1 bowl shrimp lo mein
- 32 oz unsweetened tea
- 16 oz water
Total Intake Calories: 1174 cal
I spent all day at the California Governor's Women's Conference. I ate what was available at the conference which luckily was all low cal and healthy. My favorite speakers today were Warren Buffet, Cristiane Amanpour, and Indra Nooyi, CEO of Pepsico. They were the only ones whom I felt spoke honestly, frankly, humorously and about the real issues. So many people water their comments down to be politically correct or to just avoid answering the real issues and questions. I'm tired of being spoken to like a child by leaders who would hide the truth or avoid controversy. So when leaders start voicing insightful and honest opinions, they have my full attention. I was so inspired.
Today's exercise:
Total Exercise Calories: 0 cal
No time for exercise today. Was up late last night and didn't go to bed until 2 am. Then, I had to be up at 5:30 to get to conference. Got home at 7pm, went over homework with kids, ate dinner and now I just want to catch up on some sleep. Won't be able to make up the spinning missed today. Tomorrow is a tough double workout day, so I'll just save my energy for then.
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 24 October 2008 07:18 am |
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Today I ate:
- 2 cups vegetable and fruit juice
- cream cheese muffin
- 1/4 cantaloupe
- mixed green salad with cheese, avocado, egg, ham and lite dressing
- 30 butter mints
- 3 truffle chocolates
- chicken pot pie
- 1 cup mashed potatoes
- 2 green tea bags
- 80 oz water
Total Intake Calories: 2200 cal
Had a lot of sweets today. I think my blood sugar is low. I'm thinking of getting a glucose monitor just in case. Plus, it might be nice to have for mom since she has been diagnosed as prediabetic.
Today's exercise:
- 45 minute crossfit class:
- 500 m run
- stick stretch
- 30 stick squats with 10 sec squat hold in between every 10
- 3x20 situps
- 3x20 back extensions
- 3x10 crossover situps
- 200 m stick run
- 3x10 push press single arm (10 lb db)
- 3x10 wall ball (8 lb ball)
- 200 m stick run
- 3x10 kettlebell swing single arm (12 lb db)
- 3x10 deadlift (10 lb dbs)
- 200 m stick run
- 3x10 squat with single arm db raise (8 lb db)
- 3x10 pushups (knee form)
- 200 m stick run
- 3x10 dips
- 3x10 incline pullups
- tempo run
- 10 minute warmup run
- 15 minute run at 9:41 pace
- 5 minute warmdown run
Total Exercise Calories: 961 cal
Today was a good day. I got in my scheduled workout despite feeling tired. The tempo run was great. I've finally gotten below a 10 minute pace for an extended time. Yeah, it was only 15 minutes, but it's a start.
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sweet kisses
Senior Member
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Posted: 24 October 2008 04:28 pm |
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Wow, Michelle, I just have to say you totally inspire me. Your workouts really put mine to shame. You take your workouts seriously and work your butt off (literally!) Also, congratulations on your half-marathons. Maybe someday I'll have the fitness to run one. Anyway, what I'm trying to say is your diary has inspired me to get off the couch and get in shape and think "if michelle can run over 4 miles or take a 50 minute class and not complain, then I can at least go for a good walk or do a 20 minute video workout."
Good luck on your next half-marathon! 
Last edited on 24 October 2008 04:28 pm by sweet kisses
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 25 October 2008 06:44 am |
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Today I ate:
- 2 cups vegetable and fruit juice
- 1 packet oatmeal
- 1/2 slice sourdough with butter
- mixed green salad with avocado, cheese, ham and asian dressing
- 2 servings butter mints
- 1 cup basil tomato pasta
- 5 sea scallops in butter
- 1 1/4 scallion pancake
- 1 small bag vending popcorn
- 12 oz coffee with dry creamer
- 1 grean tea bag
- 64 oz water
Total Intake Calories: 1583cal
Fairly good day. TTOM is almost over so no huge cravings for chocolate. Just the mints which are sitting in my car, and I eat while stressed out in traffic.
Today's exercise:
Total Exercise Calories: 526 cal
Terrible run today! My legs felt like rubber the whole time - no stregth left in them. Today was supposed to be kickboxing, but I got stuck in a meeting and couldn't make it. I luckily had my gym clothes in the car and was able to change and get in a run while my son was at soccer practice. Unfortunately, my legs didn't want to run today. The pace was pretty slow and I made myself push hard on the last mile to bring the pace down. I'm too tired to post the stats from my garmin, so I'll update tomorrow.
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 26 October 2008 06:33 am |
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Today I ate:
- 1 chinese pork bun
- 1/4 asian pear
- 1/2 Carl's Jr Kid's Cheeseburger
- large Jamba Juice Aloha Pineapple (Power)
- 1 serving butter mints
- Ruby's Bleus Burger with fries
- 12 oz diet coke
- 12 oz Tiger Gatorade
- 72 oz water
Total Intake Calories: 2327 cal
Treated myself to a burger today (well, more like one and a half burger since I finished my son's lunch). did a large workout and was trying to fill in the missing calories, but it sure is hard to do sometimes without feeling sick.
Today's exercise:
- 16.1 mile ride at 16.4 mph
- 4 mile run at 11:53
Total Exercise Calories: 1648 cal
Felt a little better today. Even though the pace was my fastest recorded yet, it was a short ride and I know I can ride faster for that distance. So, I'm not quite up to my top strength yet. I had to cut my ride short since it was all I could fit in between the kids' soccer games.
I did the run right after my ride after changing from cycling shorts to running shorts (I'm ok with running on the treadmill, but it's too hot to run with them outside). It's 4 miles from home to my daughter's soccer fields which is perfect. The run was also going well until I hit an uneven patch in the sidewalk and stumbled and twisted my ankle. I continued on with a limp and felt a little better after another mile to a mile and a half. I've iced, but it feels pretty sore and I'm not sure I'll be able to do my long run tomorrow. That really peeves me because the long runs are pretty critical to my trraining. I might just tape my ankle and see how far I can go. It's just 7 miles, so even if I can make it to 5 I'll be ok.
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 27 October 2008 06:50 am |
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Today I ate:
- 2 chinese pork bun
- 1 1/2 vegetable and fruit juice
- 2 1/2 servings peanut m&ms
- small bowl tomato rice with carrots and chicken breast
- 1 Jello chocolate pudding snack
- 48 oz water
Total Intake Calories: 1529 cal
Ate a lot of m&ms while doing homework. I think the sugar helps me think. 
Today's exercise:
Total Exercise Calories: 95 cal
Ankle still feeling a little sore today. Will do long run tomorrow and stretch today.
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 28 October 2008 07:26 pm |
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Yesterday I ate:
- 1 1/2 vegetable and fruit juice
- 1 package oatmeal
- 1 kiwi
- 2 strawberries
- 1/2 cup cantaloupe
- mixed green salad with egg, avacado, cucumber, ham, cheese and lite dressing
- 1 serving peanut m&ms
- 4 1/2 oz salman
- 3/4 cup asparagus in olive oil
- 1 1/4 cup ranch pasta salad
- 1/2 cup ice cream in cake cone
- 12 oz coffee with dry creamer
- 8 oz water
Total Intake Calories: 1960 cal
I didn't realize I wasn't drinking water yesterday. I was so busy that I kept forgetting to grab some water. I even had to take dinner with me to Tabi's violin lesson and eat in the car while working on the laptop. Forgot to take water with me then too.
Today's exercise:
Total Exercise Calories: 0 cal
No long run last week. Felt it was better to let the ankle rest a little longer. Will have to adjust workout schedule for missing run by decreasing long runs by one mile. That means I won't get in a 13 miler before the next race, but I'll be close enough with a 12 miler.
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 29 October 2008 07:12 am |
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Today I ate:
- 1 1/2 vegetable and fruit juice
- 1 package oatmeal
- 1 1/2 serving butter mints
- 1 package pistachios
- spinach and romaine salad with salmon, avacado, and asian dressing
- 1 brownie
- 3 serving peanut m&ms
- 4 oz salisbury steak
- 1 corn on the cob
- 1 cup mashed potatoes
- 1 green tea
- 56 oz water
Total Intake Calories: 2329 cal
Wow, sweets overload today!! But, strangely I feel good afer all that candy. I was so tired and hungry. I thought I was going to fall asleep on my feet today. And when I started doing homework I could barely keep my eyes open. Once I started in on the m&ms I started to wake up and was able to get through 3 hours of solid work. So, I'm bummed that I felt I needed the candy, but I think it did me some good. I'm also behind on my water intake so I'm really going to have to work on that.
Today's exercise:
- 4 min intervals with 2 minute recovery jog
- 1 mile warmup
- 4x4:00 at 9:23 pace
- 1 mile warmdown
Total Exercise Calories: 462 cal
Intervals went well today, so I'm confident that I'm going at the right pace - not too fast and not too slow. It still took some effort to finish the last interval. My ankle is still a little sore, but not bad enough to need rest. I just need to keep on wearing the compression sleeves, stretch a lot more, and ice when I can.
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 29 October 2008 07:21 am |
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Updated Statistics - current (starting, previous):
Neck: 14.75" (15.5", 14.75")
Chest: 35.5" (37.5", 35.75")
Waist: 35" (39.5", 34.75")
Hips: 41.75" (44.5", 41.75")
Left Calf: 15.5" (16", 15.5")
Right Calf: 15.5" (16", 15.5")
Left Thigh: 24.5" (26", 25")
Right Thigh: 24.75" (26", 25.25")
Left Upper Arm: 12" (13.5", 12.5")
Right Upper Arm: 12" (13.5", 12.5")
Left Wrist: 6.25" (6.25", 6")
Right Wrist: 6.25" (6.5", 6.5")
Weight: 165 lbs (200 lbs, 173 lbs)
Body Fat: 29.5%
Waist and wrist size is up a little, but that may be due to faulty measuring technique, especially with the wrist measurement. Most other measurements have stayed the same with the biggest decreases happening in the upper arm and thigh area - yay! I now feel comfortable wearing sleeveless shirts, whereas I would try to hide my fat arms in loose hippie shirts with wide bell sleeves. And, now that my thighs have slimmed a bit, I am a solid size 12!! I am back to wearing my old clothes and can now officially thin my closet of all the size 14s and 16s. It will be a thoroughly enjoyable chore this weekend.
So, I have 5 1/2 weeks to lose 5 more pounds before the Las Vegas Half Marathon. My past 3 speed workouts went well. I was worried that the pace might be too fast for me to handle, but I feel good - not too easy and not too hard. I haven't had a long run yet as I hurt my ankle on Saturday's brick workout. The ankle feels better today, but it's still a little sore, and I felt it while running intervals.
My goal time for the Las Vegas Half Marathon is 2:15:00 and my goal weight is 160 lbs. So, according to the Runner's World article on speed and weight loss (http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-242-304--11903-0,00.html) I will see an estimated drop of 2:11 from my total half marathon time with a 5lb weight loss. Given that my time for the Long Beach Half Marathon was just under 2:20:00, I just need to increase strength and endurance enough to improve the other 3 minutes. But, to give myself some cushion, I'm aiming for a pace of 10 min/mile. I'm pretty sure this is doable as long as I remain injury free. Crossing my fingers and toes!!
On the other side of running, my cyling has improved quite a bit. My last ride was done at an average pace of 16.4 mph. I am now passing other riders on more than just a few occasions rather than always being the the one passed. I've been complemented on my pace by other riders and have even had some people draft off of me. On flat stretches with no headwind I can average about 20-22 mph. But, I know that I usually won't have such ideal conditions and I have to be careful not to get spoiled by this lovely California weather.
Cycling has been a great confidence booster for me. My weight does not limit my performance in riding as much as it does with running. Without cycling, it would be hard for me to hope that I could ever reach my goal running times. And, although I continue to have doubts that my pace will continue to improve, I at least have enough hope to keep trying.
Last edited on 29 October 2008 07:41 pm by mchen01
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CrimsonAnimus
Moderator
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Posted: 29 October 2008 08:00 am |
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Way to go on your progress, Michelle! Have fun with your chore.
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 30 October 2008 09:53 pm |
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Thanks Nick!! It will be nice to pull my old clothes out of storage. Good thing I'm such a pack rat - now I don't have to waste money replenishing my wardrobe. 
Yesterday I ate:
- 2 cups vegetable and fruit juice
- 1 1/2 kiwi fruits
- 2 packages oatmeal
- 2 serving butter mints
- spinach and romaine salad with ham, egg, feta and lite dressing
- 1 serving peanut m&ms
- 2 1/2 cups beef stew
- 3 oz corn bread
- 1 green tea
- 48 oz water
Total Intake Calories: 2008 cal
Still heavy on the sweets. Granola bars just don't do it for me right now. And why is it so hard to drink enough water?
Yesterday's exercise:
Total Exercise Calories: 525 cal
Ow, ow, ow, ow. The instructor would not stop with turning up the tension knob. Everytime I thought ok, he's going to let us bring the tension down, he'd go the other way. I thought the knob was going to break, it got so tight and hard to turn. But, I got a good workout today and my quads and hamstrings are going to be stronger from it. I really concentrated on the full motion of cycling, including the pulling along with the pushing. The pulling put a strong burn in my hamstrings and glutes.
Last edited on 30 October 2008 09:55 pm by mchen01
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 31 October 2008 08:19 am |
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Yesterday I ate:
- 2 cups vegetable and fruit juice
- 2 package oatmeal
- 2 serving butter mints
- 1 package pistachios
- spinach and romaine salad with ham, egg, avacado, cheese and asian dressing
- 1 1/4 cups white ruce
- 1 cup beef broccoli stir fry
- 1/2 cup cherry cordial ice cream
- 1 cake cone
- 1 coffee with dry creamer
- 80 oz water
Total Intake Calories: 1790 cal
Was able to drink enough water today. Still eating too much sweets but not as much as yesterday.
Yesterday's exercise:
- 45 minute crossfit class:
- 1st set:
- 500m run
- 3x 10 squat jumps
- 3x 1 minute plank
- 3x 15 plank dips
- 3x 10 back extension
- 2nd set (accumulators):
- 50m run backwards/carioca
- 15 squats
- 15 situps
- 15 ball slams
- 15 pushups (knee form)
- 15 sumo dhlp
- 1 suicide run
- 15 cleans
- 15 burpees
Total Exercise Calories: 594 cal
Tough workout today. I think I might be taking this class too hard. I'm going to try and slow it down a little bit until I get stronger and lose more weight.
Last edited on 3 November 2008 05:41 am by mchen01
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 3 November 2008 05:36 am |
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Time is a limited and precious commodity these days. I've decided to change the format of my diary since I'm finding it too difficult to keep up with on a daily basis. I'll post a week's summary with some highlights and maybe another post or two about thoughts or special events.
Week's Summary (half week 10/31/08-11/02/08):
- Friday
- food - 2236 cal
- carbs - 44.32
- protein - 12.73
- fat - 42.95
- water - 40 oz
- exercise - 726 cal
- 45 min kickboxing
- 15 min abs
- Saturday
- food - 2778 cal
- carbs - 37.9
- protein - 13.13
- fat - 48.97
- water - 88 oz
- exercise - 1385 cal
- cycling - 17 miles at 15.8 mph
- running - 2 miles at 11:21 pace
- hiking - 2.2 miles for 45 minutes
- Sunday
- food - 1591 cal
- carbs - 43.5
- protein - 17.78
- fat - 38.72
- water - 88 oz
- exercise - 803 cal
- running - 6.13 miles at 11:38 pace
It's so hard to increase protein without increasing fat as well. Part of the fat comes from the sweets, but I've also been trying to eat good protein as well. Maybe I'll do better next week.
Kickboxing was very hard this week. I'm still very sore and it has interfered with my weekend workouts. Had to cut my long run short by 2 miles which is bad, because this is my main training workout. Will not work myself so hard in kickboxing next time.
Last edited on 3 November 2008 05:57 am by mchen01
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 5 November 2008 05:41 pm |
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Bigotry is alive and well in the U.S. and I'm heartsick over it.
First, I have to say that I'm glad that Obama won. I admire his intelligence, charisma and kind heart, and I think that he will keep in mind what is best for the country. Thank goodness we have broken that glass ceiling!
Second, I am disgusted that the banning of gay marriage looks like it will win in California. The advertisements supporting prop. 8 have been outright lies, and it's sick that they would use children as an excuse to ban gay marriage. I have seen signs that oppose prop. 8 stolen out of neighbors' yards. Now how is that a sign of fairness and openness? As long as marriage is a federal institution, it is a right available to EVERY HUMAN BEING according to our constitution. If it is a religious institution only, then fine, let's get rid of marriage as a federal institution and call all legal unions civil unions instead of marriage. No matter how you excuse banning gay marriage, it is nothing less than plain bigotry.
Third, I see that Florida has a measure that would repeal a constitutional clause that can ban Asian immigrants from owning land. It's supposed to be mere formality, but Florida is so far voting to preserve the clause!! Are you kidding me?! How can something that blatantly racist be winning?!
I'm so sad, I just want to cry.
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zenobia
Moderator
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Posted: 5 November 2008 06:01 pm |
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yeah, in AZ the ban on gay marriage passed. it is so sickening, isn't it?
and i can't believe that about Asian immigrants in Florida! What is wrong with people?
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wolfmonk
New Member
| Joined: | 21 September 2008 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 244 |
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Posted: 6 November 2008 06:13 am |
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zenobia wrote: yeah, in AZ the ban on gay marriage passed. it is so sickening, isn't it?
and i can't believe that about Asian immigrants in Florida! What is wrong with people?
Mostly they just need a good a$$ kicking.
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 10 November 2008 05:44 am |
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So, I'm still hoping we can fight the ban on gay marriage either through placing it up for another vote or bringing it before the U.S. Supreme Court. If not, well I guess we'll have to wait another generation for another moment of bigotry to pass on into infamy.
Week's Summary (half week 10/31/08-11/02/08):
- Monday
- food - 1676 cal
- exercise - 94 cal
- Tuesday
- food - 1761 cal
- exercise - 367 cal
- running - 4 min intervals with 2 min recovery
- warmup, warmdown and recovery at 13:20
- intervals at 9:23
- Wednesday
- food - 1744 cal
- exercise - 764 cal
- running - 2 miles at 11:13 pace
- 60 minutes spin class
- Thursday
- food - 2833 cal
- exercise - 1205 cal
- crossfit - 60 minutes
- 1st set:
500 meter run
3x10 1-legged squats
3x10 candlesticks
3x10 scorpions
3x10 scissors
- 2nd set:
4x400 meter run
4x5 burpees
4x10 ball slams (10 lb ball)
4x15 push press (10 lb dbs)
4x20 pushups
4x25 squats
4x30 situps
- running - 35 min tempo run
- warmup and warmdown at 12:00
- run at 9:32
- Friday
- food - 2484 cal
- exercise - 0 cal
- Saturday
- food - 1764 cal
- exercise - 706 cal
- cycling - 12.4 miles at 15.8 mph
- Sunday
- food - 2273 cal
- exercise - 1100 cal
- running - 9 miles at 10:55 pace
- Weight - 165 lbs
This weeks caloric intake was a bit too high. I ate about 1600 calories over my average weekly intake. I had two office luncheon meetings which had my favorite foods - italian pasta on one day and chinese the second day. I skipped the first meeteing to go workout, but there was plenty of leftovers when I got back. The second one I couldn't skip and ended up missing that workout. So, having no ability to resist food I was doomed this week.
My exercise calories was a tiny bit better than average with about an extra 100 calories burned for the week. I was trying for more, but missed my long ride and run yesterday due to kids' soccer games and errands. I ended up having less than an hour to get in my ride before the sun set, but it was beautiful to ride watching the sun set over the ocean.
So, no weight loss this week. In fact, with the way I ate and the reduced exercise time I'm lucky to stay at where I was last week. Hopefully, next week will go better. I really need to lose 6-8 lbs before Dec. 7 to have a better chance at meeting my next goal time.
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 17 November 2008 04:22 am |
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I'm finally using a digital scale. Unfortunately, my weight is now 5 lbs higher than it was on the analog scale. Oh well. At least I lost a pound this week.
Week's Summary (half week 11/10/08-11/16/08):
- Food
- Monday
- Tuesday
- Wednesday
- Thursday
- Friday
- Saturday
- Sunday
- Exercise
- Monday
- Tuesday
- run - 622 cal
- 5x4:00 intervals with 2:00 RI jog
- 10 min warmup
- 5 min warmdown
- Wednesday
- spin class - 541 cal
- elliptical - 400 cal
- Thursday
- run - 420 cal
- 3 miles at 10:00 (HMT race pace)
- crossfit class - 612 cal
- Friday
- kickboxing class - 612 cal
- Saturday
- Sunday
- Weight - 169 lbs
Ok, so every day but one was over 2000 cal for food. I have been so hungry and with a huge sweet tooth. I'm trying for better self-control, but when I don't get home until 8-10pm my self-control is gone. By that time I'm so hungry and tired, I just don't care.
My left leg is feeling pretty bad. Not only do I still have achilles tendonitis, but I now have shin splints too. I can ignore the pain for the most part by using my quads more than my calves for running. That means taking fast short strides instead of long strides. The last mile of my long run was very tough though and I had a bit of a limp. I have one more hard week of workouts and then I go into taper. If I can hold out until then, I'm sure the 2 week taper will be enough to help me recover and heal before the next race.
I also missed my Saturday ride. I was hoping to get on the bike early, but both kids had early soccer games. I then thought I could grab a late ride, but the kids' teams kept winnin their games which led to more games for the day. Before I knew it, we had 5 soccer games to get to all day and evening.
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 24 November 2008 06:48 am |
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This has been an exhausting week - long work days and then several hours of homework afterwards. I had to miss a couple of workouts because of lack of time  . Still, my leg has not been doing well, so it was probably good for me to get some extra rest days.
Week's Summary (11/17/08-11/23/08):
- Food
- Monday
- Tuesday
- Wednesday
- Thursday
- Friday
- Saturday
- Sunday
- Exercise
- Monday
- Tuesday
- run - 444 cal
- 4x4:00 intervals (8:57 pace) with 2:00 RI jog
- 10 min warmup
- 5 min warmdown
- Wednesday
- Thursday
- Friday
- kickboxing class - 608 cal
- Saturday
- Sunday
- Weight - 167.4 lbs
I did much better keeping my calorie intake down. Thursday was a bit of a naughty day with chocolate chip cookies (freshly baked - yummy) and dark chocolate after dinner. However, I was pretty bad about getting enough water. In my defense, I was just too busy to get up and refill my water bottle much less get to the bathroom. When I'm working and I get into a groove, it's hard for me to leave in the middle of a thought. By the time I find a good spot to pause, it's usually time to go home. Anyway, I do feel the lack of water has affected my health. My lips are chapped and I've had some pretty weak workouts. My muscles have also felt extra sore. I think I need to make an extra effort with getting enough water - maybe keeping several bottles at my desk instead of just one.
This week I only had 4 workouts compared with the 7 I had last week. My left shin was killing me so I reduced Monday's intervals from 6 to 4 and skipped Thursday's run. I would have done a different workout, but no time. At least I got my long run in today. It was painful at first and I didn't feel loose until after 8.5 miles (that took a while!) when I was able to start picking up the pace. My shin didn't hurt at all, but my lower calf almost feels as bad as when I tore the muscle and my achilles is, as usual, my problem child. One plus for this week was that I finally broke the 9 minute pace for my 4 minute intervals.
This is also the second week that I've missed my Saturday ride. Bummer! 
Friday I noticed how fat I still look when standing next to all the skinny girls in my kickboxing class (stupid mirrors in the classroom). It made me sad and depressed, but only for a little while. I'm working hard and feeling stronger and making progress, so what the heck, I won't be fat for much longer. When I needed it most, I got a little ray of sunshine in that I'm finally able to wear knee high boots again. Last year I took the risk of buying some very cute boots on sale even though I couldn't zip them past my huge calves. They fit now! They're still a little snug, but not uncomfortably so. I think I'll wear them to work tomorrow. 
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 1 December 2008 04:50 am |
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Week's Summary (11/24/08-11/30/08):
- Food
- Monday
- Tuesday
- Wednesday
- Thursday
- Friday
- Saturday
- Sunday
- Exercise
- Monday
- Tuesday
- elliptical - 542 cal
- yoga - 142 cal
- Wednesday
- Thursday
- Friday
- Saturday
- Sunday
- Weight - 166.8 lbs
Thanksgiving was celebrated on Friday instead of Thursday this year so that we could get more of the family together. It was a very nice day starting at 4am with Black Friday shopping. (I actually started at 12am for the online sales) I got lots of clothes for the kids at some great prices, so it was a productive morning. I only bought a sweater for myself as I feel I'm only a couple months away from sizing down again. I need to lose 1.8 lbs next week to meet my December 7 race goal of 165 lbs. I had been hoping for more as every pound helps me run faster, but I'll have to work hard now just to meet my original conservative goal.
Once again, I'm not drinking enough water. I don't know why it's so hard for me, especially when dehydration is a problem. I'm constipated and I often wake up with headaches. Ugh, I'll try harder next week.
This year's turkey trot was my 8 yr old son's first 5k race. He did so well and I'm very proud of him. He could have run faster, but we ran as a family and my 10 yr old daughter was having a difficult time, so we hung back. Unfortunately, my timing chip seems to be defective as I have no official time, but my kids and husband have a time of 40:45. This year I was unable to train with my kids, but next year I will make more of an effort so they will have better times. I'm hoping that they will get the running bug too.
I've had more rest days than usual again this week. Part of this is because my left leg is still giving me problems and the other part is that the gym is closed during the holidays. Running and cycling are my only options outside of the gym and both are too stressful on my calf muscle. While the extra rest has done some good and I had a strong run this morning, it's still not enough. I've got one more week to heal before my next race. If the pain would just go away I'm confident I can meet my next PR goal.
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 9 December 2008 02:14 am |
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Las Vegas Half Marathon Race Report
Pre-Race: I had a terrible night's sleep. I kept waking up to loud sounds of people outside the hallway yelling drunkenly and puking. Woke up at 4:30, drank my coke, and headed to the start at 5:30. The starting corrals were unorganized with no pace markers, and the area was jam packed with runners and spectators. The start includes over 11,000 marathon and half-marathon runners. It's about 50 degrees so the weather is perfect for running. I shed my long sleeve shirt while standing amidst all the warm bodies in the starting corral.
Mile 1&2 (9:43 & 9:49): The start is marked by fireworks that seem to go on forever. Mixed in with the runners is a lot of walkers. There was a lot of weaving going on for the first 2 miles. My left leg is still feeling tender, but I'm feeling strong otherwise. Just in case, I'm wearing a compression sleeve on the left calf. The pace is faster than I want, but it's dark and I can't get the light to work on my garmin so I have no idea how fast I'm going. I go ahead and eat a couple of sport beans, which I continue to do every couple of miles.
Mile 3&4 (9:41 & 9:40): Somewhere along mile 3 is a group of religious nuts holding huge signs that say we are going to #%@&! and yelling at us to repent while quoting exodus. I'm thinking since when did running become a sin?? I finally get the light to work on my garmin after smacking it. I'm pleased with the pace and figure I'd try and keep it up since I'm feeling so good. I also grab some water at the first station. About this time, I notice there are no mile markers so I'm glad I have my garmin (and remembered to charge it before the race).
Mile 5&6 (9:52 & 9:41): The run-through chapel is at mile 5 and a couple of couples are getting married - how cute is that! The crowd of runners, including me, has slowed down to stare at the wedding. Oops! At mile 6, we start turning through some streets that have lots of construction going on, so it's a little hazardous. A runner in front of me suddenly stops and I bump into him, spin around and miraculously right myself. The knucklehead had realized the water station was on the other side and he decided to try and cross a street full of runners to get a drink.
Mile 7&8 (10:17 & 10:13): At mile 7 I stop to hit the portapotty, thinking I have plenty of time to get rid of the nervous urge to pee. This turns out to be a mistake I'll regret. I blow a gasket in my left leg as I suddenly feel a sharp pain in my lower calf muscle. Rats! My right leg is still strong so I try to compensate and hope it works. My pace has slowed drastically nevertheless.
Mile 9&10 (10:32 & 11:16): The pain is getting to me and I slow down even though I'm trying to pick the pace back up again. I'm thinking, if I can bring it back down to 10:30 I can still make my goal.
Mile 11&12 (11:02 & 11:05): I think the pace here says it all. :-(
Mile 13 & 13.1 (10:51 & 9:10): I make one last effort to speed up, but it's not enough. The finish is a crowded mess as we are funneled into one lane of the road (the other lane is for marathon finishers). The only mile markers I've seen throughout the whole race were the 25 and 26 markers for the marathon. There wasn't a single marker for the half. I miss my goal (2:15:00) by over a minute although it's still a PR. If I had skipped the bathroom break, I'm sure I would have made my goal. I know, excuses, excuses.
Chip time: 2:16:14 Clock time: 2:19:26
Overall place: 3229 / 11264
Gender place: 1411 / 5847
Division place: 209 / 836
Age grade: 51.3%
Pace: 10:23.4
Calories burned: 1885 cal
Post-race: I limp through the goodies line which has lots of good stuff including orange juice, cookies, and ice cream bars. I find my mom who wasn't able to squeeze through the spectators to watch me finish. I leave her at Mandalay Bay to play with some penny slots while I head back to the Luxor to ice my leg and shower. After I take off the compression sleeve, I see my leg is already bruising so it looks like I tore the muscle a little. That means no running for at least 2 weeks.
On the other side of running, I did get to see the Bodies Exhibition which was very fascinating. I also won about $50 playing the penny slots. Except for the drunken tomfoolery every night outside my hotel room and the timeshare salespeople accosting me 5 times a day, I found the Luxor to be a pleasant place to stay. My favorite restaurant was the Noodle Shop at Mandalay Bay where I had Pho one night and spicy curry noodles the second. The rest of my time was spent in the hotel room trying to finish my math homework - blah!
I ate a lot, including a trip to the buffet to fuel up after the race. I don't want to report my weight as I've been backed up without a real BM for the past 4 days. I thought the race would have unstopped me, but no luck. I've taken a couple of laxatives about 4 hours ago, but still waiting. So, if I'm lucky tonight, then I'll report my weight tomorrow morning. Otherwise, I'll use the weight I was before I left for Vegas on Saturday, which might be better considering everything I ate.
Last edited on 9 December 2008 02:19 am by mchen01
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zenobia
Moderator
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Posted: 9 December 2008 03:27 am |
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hey! i like how you broke down the race- very cool sort of play-by-play thing going on.
i never understood how people can run so much and so far for so long. i think it's neat when peole pull through stuff like that!
i hope your leg ends up ok- bummer about it, though.
are you going to be hanging out in vegas for a while, or was it all about the marathon? it's a cool city, for sure; drunks and all
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 14 December 2008 06:15 am |
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Thanks Zen! Why yes, I did stay in Vegas a little longer. It definitely is a fun city. I just wish I had the money to buy tickets for shows this trip. I really wanted to see the Chris Angel show with Cirque du Soleil. Oh well, next time.
Week's Summary (12/01/08-12/07/08):
- Food
- Monday
- Tuesday
- Wednesday
- Thursday
- Friday
- Saturday
- Sunday
- Exercise
- Monday
- Tuesday
- elliptical - 480 cal
- yoga - 142 cal
- Wednesday
- Thursday
- Friday
- Saturday
- Sunday
- Weight - 166.4 lbs
Posting late so no commentary for this week.
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 8 January 2009 12:14 am |
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My year is not starting off too well. I've been sick for the past couple of weeks, and am still coughing. There's also a lot going on family wise, but I'm resigned to dealing with them and trying not to let anything get to me.
I've fallen behind on my goals. I think I can still reach a weight of 160 lbs by January 25, but I'm going to need to work hard on it. As it is, with being sick and losing 2 weeks of training, I'm not looking for a good time at my next race. I was originally hoping for a goal time of 2:10, but after injuring myself in the last race I decided to retry for 2:15. Now, I don't think I'll even make that. It still hurts to run and last Sunday I was only able to manage 4.5 miles before the pain made me stop.
School totally sucks right now. I had to do so much overtime during finals week that I didn't have enough time to study. I got a C for the class because the final was worth 50% of my grade. I need a good grade in my next class or I'm going to have to pick a different major.
Ok, enough of that. I've gotten some things off my chest that were bothering me for the new year and it's time to move on.
At least I still have a loving husband and healthy, happy children. At least I still have a good job for which I'm truly thankful. At least I'm still healthy and can be there for those who need me. At least I have another week before school starts so I can still play some video games with the kids this weekend. At least I have my mom to help me keep things going at home. When I look at what I have, it certainly outweighs the bad stuff. Time to get happy again.
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CrimsonAnimus
Moderator
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Posted: 8 January 2009 08:52 pm |
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Glad to see you back, Michelle!
Sorry to hear you're not feeling well. Hope you get better soon!
Kudos to you for counting your blessings! When things aren't going too well, it's so easy to focus on that and give up, but it takes willpower to stick with it. Also, good luck with your schooling! I've been in a place where I had two jobs to help support a family, and it was tough. I imagine juggling work, school, and family is quite an ordeal.
Good luck, too, with your race. It doesn't take me long of not exercising before I struggle to get in the groove again, too. You'll get there!
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 13 January 2009 06:54 am |
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Week's Summary (01/04/09-01/11/09):
- Food
- Monday
- Tuesday
- Wednesday
- Thursday
- Friday
- Saturday
- Sunday
- Exercise
- Monday
- elliptical - 475 cal
- 4 sets assisted pullups
- 50 situps incline board
- Tuesday
- elliptical - 480 cal
- 2x4x2:00 intervals
- 2:00 rest int, 4:00 recovery int
- yoga - 297 cal
- Wednesday
- Thursday
- Friday
- Saturday
- Sunday
- Weight - 167.4 lbs
So it's my first week back to reporting my weekly hits and misses. As always, I'm a miss with the diet, but this week was especially bad. Except for Monday, I had chocolate, cake, or some other high calorie sweet every day. I feel so baaaaad! The guilt is there (along with a 2.4 lb weight gain), but even now I have a huge urge to go downstairs and raid the refrigerator. I'm not even hungry. In fact, my stomach is bloated and uncomfortable. I just have a craving for something sweet and salty. Ugh!! I'm not going to do it.
I very much want to get out of the 160s. I haven't been below 160 in almost 15 years. It would be such an emotional boost just to get that far. I'm going to try to average a daily intake of about 1400-1600 cals. This should give me a loss of about 1-1.5 lbs/week. Plus, I'm hoping that the 2.4 lb gain is mostly water from PMS.
I'm trying to drink more water. I have 2 large refillable bottles that I just started carrying with me. One is 20 oz for home use and the other is 30 oz for work. There's no reason for the different sizes other than I bought them at different times. They definitely help... when I remember to fill them and take them with me. I forget a lot, but I'm trying to make it a habit.
Workouts have not been great, but I'm still nursing an injured calf muscle and achilles. I'm substituting the runs with the elliptical but they're not the same intensity. Plus, I don't have an elliptical at home and the gym is closed on the weekends, so I miss out completely on my Sunday long runs. I'm thinking of either joining the local YMCA or buying an elliptical for home use. The first option is looking good financially.
I also missed my Saturday ride for no other reason except laziness. I was tired after not sleeping well and just couldn't get myself motivated enough to even wake up. I decided to try and take a nap but that was futile as well. I ended up doing the weekly grocery shopping and then playing Spore on the computer after dinner until almost 3am.
Maybe I'm having trouble getting out of holiday mode. Or I could be burned out and depressed from not being able to run. Whatever it is, I've been lacking in motivation and commitment. If I want to meet my Boston Marathon goal I'm going to have to get back to the diet and exercise. It's time to hit it hard again starting tomorrow morning. I'm going to get up early and get to the gym for a speed workout on the elliptical. Then it's yoga for lunch. And lastly, my first lecture of the new semester for after work.
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 15 January 2009 09:57 pm |
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I am bumming about being stuck above 165. So, I'm on a renewed commitment to restoking my diet. I've decided to try calorie cycling and went to freediets.com to use the calorie cycling calculator. This is the daily calorie goal it gave me for someone who does 5 days of intense exercise a week:
1355 - 1806 (Mon)
1344 - 1445 (Tue)
1626 - 2167 (Wed)
1355 - 1806 (Thu)
1344 - 1626 (Fri)
1490 - 1987 (Sat)
1355 - 1806 (Sun)
The first number is for extreme weight loss and the second number is for recommended weight loss. I'm aiming for something in between. The second number looks closer to something I can handle, although I admit I usually eat up to 2500 calories per day. I'm pretty sure I can stick to this for at least a couple months. That should give me a boost to my weight loss and then I can relax and switch to a maintenance diet for a couple weeks if I need a break.
Since it's been about 2 1/2 months since I last took my measurements, I thought I'd check to see where I gained the weight. To my happy surprise, I actually lost a couple inches. Here are my latest statistics:
Neck: 14.5" (15.5", 14.75")
Chest: 35" (37.5", 35.75")
Waist: 34" (39.5", 35")
Hips: 40.5" (44.5", 41.75")
Left Calf: 15.25" (16", 15.5")
Right Calf: 15.25" (16", 15.5")
Left Thigh: 24.5" (26", 24.5")
Right Thigh: 24.5" (26", 24.75")
Left Upper Arm: 12.25" (13.5", 12")
Right Upper Arm: 12.25" (13.5", 12")
Left Wrist: 6" (6.25", 6.25")
Right Wrist: 6.25" (6.5", 6.25")
Weight: 167.4 lbs (200 lbs, 165 lbs)
Body Fat: 27.8%
The numbers in parenthesis are original measurement and last measurement. It looks like I lost the most in the chest (not bust), waist and hips - all good places. Even though I gained 2.4 lbs, my body fat ratio went down from 29.5%. My arms are a little bigger, but I think that's muscle - all those pushups and pullups. So what's up with the legs? They don't look any more muscular - quite the opposite in fact. They feel flabbier than usual. Maybe it's swelling. Maybe I'm losing muscle from lack of running. I hope not. That would be a huge bummer. I really miss running.
One last thing for me to be proud of... I can now touch my toes!! YAY for yoga!!!
Last edited on 15 January 2009 09:59 pm by mchen01
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 17 January 2009 05:57 am |
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Last night I joined the YMCA triathlon club. This morning I signed up for my first triathlon!!! I'm so scared and excited. I haven't been so nervous about an upcoming event since I was a child. This is something I've wanted to do for a long time, but have always been too self-concious to approach.
I guess what makes me the most nervous is the swim. I'm not a very good swimmer. I roll from side to side a lot. I actually got a C in swim class in college. Plus, I haven't worn a swimsuit in like 10 years. I went to pull out my old swimsuit to see if it fit and it practically fell apart in my hands. Rubber and pieces of thread are breaking off in bits everywhere. Now, I'm going to have to go swimsuit shopping this weekend in order to do my first swim session with the club coach on Monday. I hope I can find a suit in the middle of winter.
Someone also made me realize that I can't swim with my glasses and I don't own contact lenses (yeah, I'm a poster girl for female geek). I totally missed that little problem. Guess I'll have to swim blind for now and work on getting contact lenses before the race.
Lastly, there's the reason why I haven't bought a swimsuit in so long, and that's because of the way I look. I have a very small bust (practically concave), and my bust is only 2 inches bigger than my waist. I'm a total avocado shape. Then there's the ugly purple stretch marks on my inner thighs. No swimsuit is going to hide those. They make me feel freakishly disfigured more than my body shape. I'm so afraid I'm going to catch people staring at them. What an awful place that would be to catch people staring.  At least I'll only be wearing a swimsuit during practice. I can do a tri suit for the race and be nicely covered up. Thank goodness for the cycling portion and cycling shorts.
The race is the Pasadena Triathlon on March 14. It's a reverse sprint event with a 5k run, 15k bike, and 150m swim. I'm hoping for a goal time under 1:07:00. BTW, I registered in the Athena division (over 140 lbs) instead of the age group division (40-44 yrs old). Right now my weight is the bigger handicap, not my age.
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 20 January 2009 07:39 pm |
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Week's Summary (01/12/09-01/18/09):
- Food
- Monday
- Tuesday
- Wednesday
- Thursday
- Friday
- Saturday
- Sunday
- Exercise
- Monday
- Tuesday
- Wednesday
- spinning - 531 cal
- running treadmill - 101 cal
- 2x25 situps incline board
- 2x10 assisted pullups (130 lbs)
- Thursday
- crossfit - 601 cal
- elliptical - 361 cal
- Friday
- Saturday
- elliptical - 396 cal
- swimming - 177 cal
- 20 minutes freestyle moderate
- Sunday
- elliptical - 186 cal
- 15.5 minutes easy
- 1.6 miles
- stationary bike - 345 cal
- 19.5 minutes sprint pace
- 5 miles
- swimming - 133 cal
- 15 minutes freestyl moderate
- Weight - 167.0 lbs
I did a little better dietwise this week. Thursday was my first day at calorie cycling. I've already fallen off the wagon on Sunday, going over my goal by almost 200 cals. 3 days sticking to my diet is not good. I'm doing a little better at drinking enough water, but I need to drink more I think. I sweat so much that I'm not sure I'm getting enough water to replace what I lose. I guess I should measure my sweat rate some day to be sure, but I'll wait until I can run for an hour again.
My workouts have been fairly good. My attempt at running was still painful, but then it may have been partly due to the tight muscles of coming off of spin class. My first attempts at coming back to swimming were hard, but at least I remembered how to swim... somewhat. There were times when I tried to concentrate on form and I forgot to breath. Needless to say, there were lots of choking, gasping and swallowing of nasty, warm public pool water - yech. Oh, and I need contact lenses. The combination of being badly near-sighted and looking through water had me confused about where the wall was. I kept coming up short.
The people in the triathlon club are very nice. Many of them are close to my age or older and they're not all skinny! I kept imagining these buff, young people who would embarass me just by standing next to me. But they were mostly people like me - normal, chubby, yet trying to be athletic. BTW, my swimsuit fits great. I got one with a moderately conservative fit that covers enough to keep me comfortable. I forgot how tight athletic swimsuits are - they act like a girdle, which is good for my still bulging tummy.
Another huge plus to joining the YMCA and having access to the pool is that I can bring my whole family with me. My kids get to stay in the pool with me as long as they stay out of the lap lanes. I've shown my mom how to use the elliptical and bikes so she goes to the cardio rooms for those. My hubby, who runs earlier in the day, relaxes either in the sauna or the jacuzzi. Pretty soon we will all be super healthy and strong.
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 23 January 2009 09:07 pm |
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Current weight is 164.6 lbs! SUCCESS!!!
I'm finally below 165 lbs, a weight I haven't seen in over 10 years. I'm so happy!!
Somehow, in just 3 days I lost 2.4 lbs. I've never had that big of a loss in so short a time. So now the big challenge is to keep going - don't let it get to my head.
I'm at the halfway mark of my goal weight, and it's taken me 7-8 months to get there. That's my sanity check. It's taking longer than I thought to lose the weight. I'd like to lose the rest in about 5-6 months. That way I'll be at a decent weight to start training for my BQ marathon. As an added incentive, I just signed up for my Boston Qualifying marathon. I'll be running the California International Marathon on December 6th. To qualify for the Boston Marathon I'll need to finish in under 3:50. That's an average pace of 8:48 per mile - pretty scary!
But, with the weight loss it's a possibility. I don't have much data to work with, but if I use my lowest rate of improvement I can predict a time improvement of 17.1% with a weight loss of 22.2% (37 lbs). That would give me a half marathon pace of 8:37 based on weight loss alone and maintaining my current fitness. Of course, this prediction is frought with errors, but they could be +/- in the way of errors. I did injure myself at mile 7 of the last race, so it's possible I could have done better. But, I can't expect that all of the improvement was based on weight alone since training plays a big part as well. Also I can't expect the same rate of improvement as I know my rate of improvement will decrease as I reach my plateau. (Someday I'll do a full analysis so I can fit an eqaution to the weight loss vs. pace.)
Still, the idea that losing another 37 lbs could bring me very close to my goal race time gives me enough hope to carry on.
Here are the stats of my 2008 races:
- 205 lbs
- 180 lbs
- 12:12
- 11.3% weight loss
- 17.8% time improvement
- 173 lbs
- 10:41
- 3.9% weight loss
- 12.4% time improvement
- 167 lbs
- 10:24
- 3.5% weight loss
- 2.7% time improvement
Total loss and predicted improvement:
- 205lbs - 167lbs
- 38 lb loss; 18.5% weight loss
- 3:21/mile decrease; 18.5% time improvement
- 167 - 130 lbs
- 37 lb loss; 22.2% weight loss
- 1:47/mile decrease; 17.1% time improvement
- 8:37 - need to be below 8:28)
Last edited on 23 January 2009 09:37 pm by mchen01
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 26 January 2009 05:13 am |
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Week's Summary (01/19/09-01/25/09):
- Food
- Monday
- Tuesday
- Wednesday
- Thursday
- Friday
- Saturday
- Sunday
- Exercise
- Monday
- Tuesday
- Wednesday
- Thursday
- Friday
- Saturday
- Sunday
- Weight - 164.2 lbs
I totally blew my diet Monday - 5 chocolate chip oatmeal cookies and apple fries with whipped cream. I exceeded my goal for the day by over 800 cal.  The rest of the week went pretty well. I over ate a little today, but considering the calorie burn from the marathon I think that was a good thing.
Well, the race went pretty much like I thought it would, but that's not to say I still wasn't disappointed. My watch time was 2:34 - that's 18 minutes slower than December's race. Even though I took it easy, by mile 6 the pain in my leg came back and I had to start walking. The pain would ease as I walked, but come back after every quarter mile of running - very annoying.
I taped my achilles for the race, and it helped a lot. But, when I took the tape off, the achilles started to swell and hurt. I've iced twice today and am wearing a compression bandage, but it looks like I'll be making a trip to the doctor's soon.
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 29 January 2009 11:43 pm |
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Carlsbad Half Marathon Race Report:
Prerace: Drink a red bull before the race. My stomach was too upset to eat anything so no breakfast. Got to race at 6am. Race didn't start until 7am. Went to the porta potty and then hung out in the registration tent to stay warm and stretch.
Mile 1 & 2 (10:08 & 9:27): The wave start was great. Very little weaving necessary so it looks like people were honest about their expected finishing times. Short steep hill at mile 2 was no problem. In fact, I got a little overexcited and broke out of my pace for a bit.
Mile 3 & 4 (10:05 & 10:06): Reached the ocean and the views are gorgeous. The course is mostly flat. I take my first water and mile 4 and feel an energy boost immediately. Uh oh - looks like I started this race a little dehydrated. I decided to stop at every water station to try and keep myself hydrated. At least I'm keeping on pace.
Mile 5 & 6 (10:32 & 10:23): My left achilles is really starting to hurt and I have to start walking at the end of mile 6. Mile 6 would have been a lot slower if it weren't for a downhill portion where I took off my brakes and coasted.
Mile 7 & 8 (11:55 & 12:31): Finally reachd the turnabout at mile 7. I'm walking more and more. The uphills and downhills are way too painful, but the flats are doable. I eat the second shot blox at mile 7. I also stop around mile 8 for a shoe adjustment. Either my sock was doing some weird wrinkling or I had something in my shoe. I took off my shoe, shook it out, and continued on with the race. Even though I knew going into the race that I wouldn't meet my goal time, getting confirmation by these mile splits still bummed the heck out of me.
Mile 9 & 10 (12:47 & 13:03): Walk, jog, walk :-(
Mile 11 & 12 (14:08 & 14:27): Ok, now run... aagghh, I can't - it hurts too much. Walk, walk, walk... Stop for 3 orange slices at mile 11 - easier going down than the gel, but not the same rush of energy.
Mile 13 & 13.1 (13:11 & 12:04): I want to kick in the finish, but I know that could be a potential disaster. The last thing I want is a torn achilles. A few people sprint past me at the finish, but I'm so disappointed with my time I don't care.
Postrace: My legs don't hurt very much except for my left achilles. I have a small blister on the little toe of my right foot which I think may be due to new socks which are thicker than what I usually use. The lack of muscle soreness is a good sign though. I like to think that if I hadn't gotten injured I'd have no problem running a sub 2:15. Not starting off well hydrated did leave me with a headache later in the day. But, I never had the urge to use the porta potty which was nice. Couldn't get out of the parking lot so decided to hang out at the mall for a little while. Found a place that gave table massages and decided to try it out. OMG, it was so painful, but I felt pretty good afterwards.
Race stats:
- chip time: 2:34:30 clock time: 2:42:25
- F 40-44: 457 out of 585
- women: 3169 out of 4285
- overall: 5729 out of 7151
- age/grade: 45.2%
Followup:
I saw the doctor. He's diagnosed me with achilles tendonitis and put me on prescription anti-inflammatories. I'll also be going to physical therapy 3 times a week for 4 weeks. He has told me no running for 4 weeks but I have the race next week. I asked him if I could do it and he said he wouldn't advise it, but he didn't say absolutely not. I'm going to go anyway, but I'll make myself go really slow this time. I really think I'll be ok.
Further Followup:
I saw the physcial therapist. It turns out I also have plantar fasciitis in both feet, but worse in my right foot. That would explain the constant but mild heel pain. I've also been doing some bad stretches so the therapist has given me the cure-all stretch which I will be doing religiously. She understands why I still want to race on Sunday and has made an appointment with me for Monday morning to fix whatever I break (as long as it's not badly broken) during the race. I'm soooo happy I will be able to run one last time before I go through recovery. I've been very depressed these past few days with not being able to run. The elliptical just does not give me the same high I get from running.
Last edited on 29 January 2009 11:49 pm by mchen01
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 1 February 2009 06:05 am |
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Today I had fast food for the second time this week. And then tonight I overate, because I couldn't stand to throw away the leftovers. I feel so guilty. I hate it when I lose control or overeat for the dumbest reasons. I haven't lost any weight this week. In fact, despite being so good with the diet other than today, I've gained a couple pounds. That's so frustrating!
Hopefully I will run everything off tomorrow. Hopefully I will FINISH tomorrow. Hubby is sick and I am lame so we will make for good company during the race. Crossing my fingers and hoping all the inflamed tendons stay intact.
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 2 February 2009 07:51 pm |
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Week's Summary (01/26/09-02/01/09):
- Food
- Monday
- Tuesday
- Wednesday
- Thursday
- Friday
- Saturday
- Sunday
- Exercise
- Monday
- swim intervals - 397 cal
- 45 minutes
- 3x200 yd crawl
- 1x150 yd breast stroke
- Tuesday
- yoga - 296 cal
- elliptical - 404 cal
- Wednesday
- spinning - 522 cal
- swim intervals - 199 cal
- Thursday
- yoga - 296 cal
- elliptical - 532 cal
- Friday
- Saturday
- Sunday
- Weight - 166.2 lbs
I guess I ate too much this week, because I gained 2 lbs. Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday were several hundred calories too high. Why do I keep eating even though I'm full??? Waaahhh!
Well, at least I survived yesterday's race. Actually, I did better than I thought I would and finished 8 minutes faster than last week's race. Yay!
At one point in the race I was passed by a woman who looked to be over 100lbs overweight. I decided to try and hang with her for a while to see how strong she was. I was extremely impressed. I watched her pass one skinny young person after another. She looked so focused and determined that I knew a lot of her power came not just from physical strength but huge willpower as well. I know a lot of people criticize fat people as having no willpower, but I don't think it's true. Watching this woman run confirms that for me.
As for me, I'm going to lay off running for the next 4 weeks. I'm already bummed about it, but I'm going to keep working out in other ways to stay strong. Hopefully, by the next race in March, I'll be a few minutes faster and more than a few pounds lighter.
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 6 February 2009 06:07 am |
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Surf City Half Marathon Race Report:
Prerace: No caffeine today. Tried out an electrolyte supplement which I mixed with water because it was way too salty to swallow outright. I drank about half the bottle and ate a banana. I decided to tape my left achilles and my right foot for plantar fasciitis. I decide to be a little on the optimistic side and get in the corral for a 2:20-2:25 finsh.
Mile 1 & 2 (10:19 & 10:32): The start was a bit confusing. As the waves moved forward, volunteers would arbitrarily yank up a rope to stop us. This resulted in several runners getting roped right between the legs and almost stumbling onto their faces. So far, everything feels ok and I'm taking it easy as planned. I go ahead and eat a shot blox just because I felt like it.
Mile 3 & 4 (10:19 & 11:12): We start heading uphill at the end of mile 3. By mile 4 my achilles is protesting and I have to start walking. The good news is that I don't need to walk for long before the pain disappears and I can run again.
Mile 5 & 6 (11:03 & 11:16): I continue the run/walk. Each walk session is about 10 seconds. That's just about 5 steps before the burning in my achilles goes away. It seems like forever before we can see the turnaround point.
Mile 7 & 8 (12:41 & 11:03): Finally, the turnaround at the middle of mile 7. Up until now, my achilles was really starting to bother me, but I get a psychological boost by reaching the turnaround and hitting mile 8. I eat another blox at mile 8 because I finally remember to.
Mile 9 & 10 (11:09 & 11:35): Watching the marathoners running on the bike path while we stick to the streets. Obviously, the half marathoners hugely outnumber the marathoners - no surprise there. I continue to stop at nearly every water station since mile 4.
Mile 11 & 12 (11:38 & 11:21): Two more walk breaks at mile 11. By mile 12 I'm thinking that I can push through to the end if I keep the pace slow. There's no water at mile 12 so I take it as a sign to keep running/jogging.
Mile 13 & 13.1 (10:55 & 10:32): Mile 13 seems like a breeze. My achilles hurts, but I feel strong otherwise.
Postrace: I meet Monet in the finishing chute. What a wonderful experience to meet in person somebody you have been conversing with online for months. She's beautiful and sweet and I wish we had more time to chat, but hubby was not feeling well and wanted to move on. Plus, we had to get home to take our boy to a birthday party. As we walk through the chute, we see food and joint juice in the marathon chute, but all we get is water in our chute. We keep walking towards the beer garden, but find it packed and a line waiting to get in. Forget that! We keep walking, noting that most of the free stuff is gone, taken by spectators and the 5k runners. Ugh, I'm so hungry. We keep walking past the booths and finally get to a tent where they are giving out food and joint juice to the half marathoners. Too bad a lot of runners gave up and left before getting to the food tent. We get a banana, apple, and fig newtons. I wasn't feeling up to eating another banana and I'm allergic to apples, so I settle for the fig newtons, which I don't really like. The walk to the car seems to take forever (20 minutes), but we converse with a few of the runners along the way and see some of them already have the California Dreamin' medal. The medal is huge! I can't wait to get mine at San Francisco. I'm so glad I decided to go ahead and run despite the injury. I did better than Carlsbad (I'm sure the diclofenac helped a lot) and now I'm still eligible for the California Dreamin' Series and the Longboard Legacy Club.
Race stats:
- chip time: 2:26:47 clock time: 2:40:49
- F 40-44: 516 out of 903
- women: 3436 out of 6531
- overall: 6632 out of 10783
- age/grade: 47.58%
Last edited on 6 February 2009 06:12 am by mchen01
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 10 February 2009 06:37 pm |
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Week's Summary (02/02/09-02/08/09):
- Food
- Monday
- Tuesday
- Wednesday
- Thursday
- Friday
- Saturday
- Sunday
- Exercise
- Monday
- swim drills - 396 cal
- 45 minutes
- 300 yd crawl warmup
- 200 yd kick w/fins
- 200 yd side kick w/fins
- 100 yd pull w/paddles
- 100 yd pull
- 3x25yd crawl fast/faster/fastest
- 2x50yd crawl fast/faster
- Tuesday
- yoga - 299 cal
- elliptical - 508 cal
- 10 min warmup (L7 I/ L5 R)
- 8x2:00 (L7 I/ L12 R)
- 2:00 RBI
- 5 min warmdown
- Wednesday
- spinning - 529 cal
- swim intervals - 176 cal
- 5x100 yd crawl
- 5x50 yd crawl
- 5x25 yd crawl
- Thursday
- crossfit- 598 cal
- 45 minutes
- 1st set
- 500 m run (more like walk)
- 200 m walking lunges
- 10 dips
- 10 squats
- 10 pushups (knee form)
- 2nd set
- 4x(6x jingle jangle)
- 4x10 single arm push press each arm (12 lb db)
- 4x10 v situps
- 4x10 single arm snatch each arm (12 lb db)
- 4x10 clapping pushups (knee form)
- 4x10 one hand overhead squat (12 lb db)
- 100 situps
- elliptical - 538 cal
- Friday
- stationary bike - 524 cal
- Saturday
- Sunday
- Weight - 164.4 lbs
Saturday and Sunday were horrible overeating days. I didn't get any real workouts done either. Sometimes I feel I just come home from one errand only to pick up people and take them on the next errand. I hardly get 5 minutes to relax. By the time I get a minute to myself on the weekends, I'm so exhausted I just want to nap - which I did on Saturday... for 4 hours! Sunday was all day at Disneyland. My ankle was swollen and sore by the end of the day.
Workouts were going great, but I was putting too much strain on the achilles still. My P.T. has told me no more workouts that put stress on my ankle for a week. So, it's going to be mostly easy stationary bike and swimming. I couldn't swim this weekend because of thunderstorms however, and the thought of spending 2 hours on a stationary bike was not appealing either. Besides, with my daughter having a sleepover for the weekend, I felt guilty leaving my husband with the kids while I went to workout.
At least my other workouts went well, especially spinning and swimming. I'm able to go longer distances nonstop in the pool. But with missing a couple swim workouts, I'm going to redo this weeks swim workouts.
Still not losing much weight, but I feel bloated and my legs feel swollen. I'm hoping it's all water.
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Nancy_in_GA
Senior Member
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Posted: 10 February 2009 09:32 pm |
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mchen01 wrote:
Still not losing much weight...
Over 2 lbs in 8 days seems great to me! Good job!
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 12 February 2009 07:38 pm |
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Thanks Nancy! Hey, I used to live in Georgia - very beautiful state. I used to go to Athens to watch live REM shows all the time.
Normally, I would be very happy with a 2 lb loss for the week. Unfortunately, I've been gaining and losing the same 2 lbs since Thanksgiving.
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Nancy_in_GA
Senior Member
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Posted: 12 February 2009 10:18 pm |
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Yes, I think REM put Athens on the map, otherwise no one ever heard of it except maybe football fans.
Here's hoping you never find those 2 lbs again, and lose a different 2lbs next time. Then you're at your goal, aren't you?
Your activity level is truly awesome!
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 16 February 2009 07:01 am |
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Thanks Nancy! Looks like your good wishes worked, cause I finally dropped below 164. Yay!!
Week's Summary (02/09/09-02/15/09):
- Food
- Monday
- Tuesday
- Wednesday
- Thursday
- Friday
- Saturday
- Sunday
- Exercise
- Monday
- Tuesday
- yoga - 296 cal
- stationary bike - 306 cal
- 45 minutes
- L5 resistance
- 98 rpm
- 12.35 miles
- Wednesday
- stationary bike - 410 cal
- 60 minutes
- L7 resistance
- 93 rpm
- 12.6 miles
- swim intervals - 297 cal
- 5x100 yd crawl
- 5x50 yd crawl
- 5x25 yd crawl
- Thursday
- yoga - 296 cal
- stationary bike - 306 cal
- 45 minutes
- L8 resistance
- 92 rpm
- 10.65 miles
- Friday
- stationary bike intervals - 410 cal
- 60 minutes
- 20 min warmup (L7, 80-100 rpm)
- 5x2:00 (L12, 90-100 rpm, 2:00 rbi)
- 22 min warmdown (L7, 90-110 rpm)
- Saturday
- Sunday
- swim intervals - 297 cal
- 5x100 yd crawl
- 5x50 yd crawl
- 4x25 yd crawl
- Weight - 163.6 lbs
I had 3 bad overeating days. The major culprit was chocolate. Monday and Tuesday I was in full-blown PMS and couldn't help myself. Saturday was Valentine's Day and after eating one of the chocolates from my heart-shaped box, I couldn't stop. Shamefully, I ate 6 chocolate truffles and barely stopped myself from eating the rest of the box. And what is up with the lack of hydration!? I need to cut that out - it's so unhealthy.
On the plus side, I did lose a pound. I think I might not have been eating enough for my activity level. I boosted the caloric intake last week to match someone who exercises everyday. So, even though I don't always get in a workout everyday, I think the double workout days give me the equivalent.
These are the calories I'm aiming for:
- Monday 1577 - 2102
- Tuesday 1312 - 1682
- Wednesday 1892 - 2522
- Thursday 1577 - 2102
- Friday 1419 - 1892
- Saturday 1734 - 2312
- Sunday 1577 - 2102
I missed 2 workout days this week. Monday is ok as it's an alternate rest day, but I really meant to swim that day. It's just with the thunderstorms and freezing weather, I couldn't bring myself up to taking a chance on getting to the pool only to find it closed. Saturday was supposed to be a welcome ride outside. I was so excited after being cooped up indoors by weather and injury. I got dressed up in my winter gear and grabbed my bike only to find a broken spoke on one of the wheels. So now the bike is in the shop. Oh well, it needed a tune up anyway. I did borrow a bike from the shop and rode it around the parking lot so I felt a little better.
The achilles is healing and I'm hoping I'll be able to do more soon. The stationary bike is very uncomfortable and boring. Riding the shop bike around the parking lot reminded me of how wonderful it feels to ride outdoors - like flying.
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 20 February 2009 09:58 pm |
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Time to do my monthly measurements:
Current (Starting, Last)
Neck: 14.25" (15.5", 14.5")
Chest: 35" (37.5", 35")
Waist: 33.75" (39.5", 34")
Hips: 40.25" (44.5", 40.5")
Left Calf: 15" (16", 15.25")
Right Calf: 15.25" (16", 15.25")
Left Thigh: 24" (26", 24.5")
Right Thigh: 24.25" (26", 24.5")
Left Upper Arm: 11.75" (13.5", 12.25")
Right Upper Arm: 11.75" (13.5", 12.25")
Left Wrist: 6" (6.25", 6")
Right Wrist: 6.25" (6.5", 6.25")
Weight: 163.0 lbs (200 lbs, 167.4 lbs)
Body Fat: 27.5%
Nearly everything is down - yay!! The weight loss has also picked up after two and a half months of no change. I can see muscle replacing the fat and that makes me feel very, very happy. I still have a long way to go as I'm only about half way to my goal weight.
With the half marathon training, I feel that I've done pretty well building endurance. So, it's time to start working on power. That means more strength and interval training, which I can do on the bike and in the pool, but it looks like no running for another month. I'm also starting a new strength challenge. It's a combination of 100 push ups, 200 sit ups, and 20 pull ups. These involve 3 workouts a week of progressive building. Weeks can be repeated when necessary, and I have a feeling that's going to happen more often than I like. Tonight will be the pull up test. Considering I have to pull up my weight, I don't think I'll be able to do even one. That's ok though, because the test will account for completing zero pull ups. Tomorrow will be the situp and pushup test.
The extra strength will help me in the cycling and swimming portions of the triathlon. I plan on being ready when I get to Olympic distances and then half iron distances. In the meantime, it will keep me occupied until my achilles heals enough to start running again. Then it will be back to trying to qualify for Boston.
Last edited on 20 February 2009 10:00 pm by mchen01
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 23 February 2009 05:13 am |
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Week's Summary (02/16/09-02/22/09):
- Food
- Monday
- Tuesday
- Wednesday
- Thursday
- Friday
- Saturday
- Sunday
- Exercise
- Monday
- stationary bike - 416 cal
- 10 min warmup (L8, 80-100 rpm)
- 10k sprint
- 2x2.75 miles at L8
- 2x0.25 miles at L12
- 109 avg rpm
- 2 min warmdown (L8)
- swim intervals - 297 cal
- 30 minutes
- 6x100 yd crawl
- 6x50 yd crawl
- Tuesday
- Wednesday
- stationary bike intervals - 408 cal
- 20 min warmup (L8, 80-100 rpm)
- 5x4:00 (L10, 90-100 rpm, 2:00 RBI at L8)
- 12 min warmdown (L8, 80-100 rpm)
- 17.2 mph, 93 rpm, 17.5 miles
- swim intervals - 297 cal
- 2x200 yd crawl (12 breaths RBI)
- 5x100 yd crawl (10 breaths RBI)
- 5x50 yd crawl (6 breaths RBI)
- Thursday
- Friday
- kickboxing - 589 cal
- stationary bike tempo intervals - 693 cal
- 15 min warmup (L7, 80-100rpm)
- 2x20:00 (L9, 95-100rpm, 10:00 RBI)
- 15 min warmdown (L7, 80-100rpm)
- 17 mph, 95 rpm, 22.85 miles
- pull-up, push-up, sit-up tests
- 0 pull-ups
- 5 push-ups
- 34 sit-ups
- Saturday
- Sunday
- swim intervals - 297 cal
- 2x200 yd crawl
- 5x100 yd crawl
- 5x50 yd crawl
- Weight - 163.0 lbs
Two bad overeating days. Not sure if it was good or bad, but I needed to feed the hunger. I may not lose weight as quickly, but I need to keep my body as strong and healthy as possible.
Swimming is going well. I think I'm swallowing less pool water so my form might be improving. I hope I get to the point where I'm not gagging on nasty public pool water soon, because I do feel a little ill afterwards. Maybe it's just in my head, but it does taste and feel gross.
The pull-up test did not go well. While I knew I wouldn't be able to do a pull-up, I thought I could at least do a negative pull-up. No such luck. So, it looks like I'll be doing assisted pull-ups until I have enough strength (or lose enough weight) to do at least one unassisted pull-up.
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mchen01
Distinguished Member
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Posted: 2 March 2009 06:13 pm |
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Week's Summary (02/23/09-03/01/09):
- Food
- Monday
- Tuesday
- Wednesday
- Thursday
- Friday
- Saturday
- Sunday
- Exercise
- Monday
- Tuesday
- Wednesday
- Thursday
- Friday
- Saturday
- Sunday
- Weight - 161.8 lbs
This has been a horrible week. Having a kidney infection meant absolutely no exercise this week. The infection has been painful. I stayed in bed for two days with a fever and aches. On top of that, I had homework due that I had a hard time working on because of the pain. I ended up missing lectures this week and working all weekend in order to finish my homework. The stress has been too much for me.
Because of the lack of exercise I tried to eat less. Unfortunately, this proved way too difficult for me. I was only able to meet one day of my goal. Tuesday and Wednesday, my sick days, I pigged out on ice cream because the cold food felt so good and cooled me down. But, in my defense I thought I would be up and exercising by Thursday or Friday. When I found out about the kidney infection on Thursday I knew I wouldn't be able to exercise the rest of the week. Friday, Saturday and Sunday were my marathon study days which led to stress eating. Sitting for 5-10 hours/day at Starbucks was too much tempation. Green tea frappucinos and fast food meant high calorie snacks and meals. I'm going to pay for it at next week's weigh-in.
I have to admit though, that I don't feel guilty for this week's indulgences. It reduced the stress and kept me comfortable enough to finish my work. Now that my homework is turned in, I can get back to concentrating on my diet.
I'm taking one more day of rest, then I'll start working out again lightly since I still don't feel completely well. This coming Saturday is my first triathlon and I'm crossing my fingers that nothing else happens and my health improves enough to race.
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CrimsonAnimus
Moderator
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Posted: 3 April 2009 04:44 pm |
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Hi, Michelle! Just thought I would check in on you. Are you feeling better? You do so much, juggling school with marathon running and everything else - remember to take care of your health.
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mynda1250
New Member
| Joined: | 8 February 2009 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 2 |
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Posted: 6 April 2009 03:35 am |
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Hello Michelle, So nice to meet you. I am new to forum and have been reading your diary. I am soooo impressed with your attitude and workout habits. I am a 37 yr old female that is too struggling and is focusing on fitness. I do crosstrain five to six days a week. I am so amazed at your knowledge about fitness. My dream is to run a 1/2 marathon. I have been working at losing weight and becoming healthier since the 1st of the year and still going strong.
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