Fall Happens!

Ah Fall is officially here!  And we actually had 'fall like' temps here in the Bayou city.  Fabulous!

 

Monday

 

For the first Monday in weeks, I actually didn't feel like death warmed over by my cheat meal choice the day before!  I have learned my lesson.  While yes, within 30 min of having said cheat meal this week (Whataburger), I became OVERWHELMED with the need to sleep.  Ugh.  I had gone at half time, so lets just say by the late 3rd quarter I was snoozing away on the couch.  Didn't matter, game was icky anyway.  Womp womp.  Texans lost. 

 

When I woke up I felt groggy from the nap, but not bad.

I don't know maybe I should just give up trying to have bad food for my cheat and go for a reward of food from some place I don't frequent often or splurge on the $ amount of said quality of food...

 

Today though, all good.

As I mentioned in last post, this week is going to be a bit different than the last 7 or so...

Workout
2 miles treadmill
1 mile elliptical
20min stair mill
50 weighted lunges
50 jumping squats
100 air squats
5x20 over/over the box (12inches)

I am going to include my eats each day for this week ONLY...I mentioned in last post that I was going to be TRYING to cut this week. (Also known as a shred).  Yes, you will see carbs in a piece of fruit here or there, and red potatoes, but I cant go all the way.  Not right now.  Mentally I am just not ready for it.  And also this is NOT how I normally eat.

Breakfast: 2 boiled eggs, banana
Lunch: 4oz ground turkey, 3oz red potatoes, 1 tbsp sour cream, 1.5 cups roasted brussel sprouts
Snack: 3oz ground turkey, protein drink (low carb, low sugar, high protein) Birthday Cake flavor (the best but hard to find)

Dinner: Salad: mixed greens, tomato, 1/4 of an avocado, brussel sprouts, boiled egg, 1/4 cup low fat cheese, lemon and Mrs Dash as 'dressing'
Dessert: 1 serving of vanilla wafer cookies

 

 Tuesday
Rest day

Not gonna lie I am STARVING.  I just want a biscuit!  LOL.  Today is going to be a huge challenge for me.  As I am typing this all I can think about is food.

Breakfast: boiled egg, 3oz ground turkey
Snack: Black beans, 1/2c grits  (WAY more carbs than I should be having, but I'm having a difficult time focusing right now so I figured I had to feed).  Thankfully I had some carbs stashed in my desk drawer.
Lunch: boiled egg, 3oz ground turkey, roasted brussel sprouts, 3oz boiled red potatos, mixed greens, nuts and 1/4c of avocado (actually didnt eat it all because I was full!!!)
Snack: Leftover lunch plus handful of grapes
Dinner: 6oz fish, cup of mixed vegetables
Dessert: I caved.  Ice cream.  Womp womp :O)  But now there isn't any left so the temptation will not be there rest of week.

Wednesday

Workout
3 miles treadmill
15min stair mill

Shoulders and chest
(reminder:  less movements, less weight)  I basically did a few moves (focus on 3 parts of the shoulder), 2 sets each to failure.  Fast and furious too, not slow and steady this week.  This week is all about toning and not growing.

15min steam

Food
I was TOTALLY going to indulge in a donut today as they usually bring donuts on Wednesday...but alas, not the case today.  See thats the mindset; I indulged last night a little, so might as well keep going.  I'm glad no one brought them.

Kinda.  :O)

Breakfast:  2 boiled eggs, grits
Lunch: Salad bar incl mixed greens, garbanzo, green bell pepper, seeds.  I then went to the ala carte for today and had her put some of the yummy fajita meat on top.  Salsa as dressing.  I brought my lunch but I didn't really want that today.  I actually brought TWO options and wanted neither.  *shrugs*
Snack:  Greek yogurt
Dinner: 6oz ground turkey, egg whites, 1 slice Ezekial w 1/4 avocado instead of butter
Dessert: Serving of vanilla wafers

Thursday

Workout
My legs actually were sore yesterday but I still did my workout as planned.  Today they are sore again obviously so I am taking the day off from using them other than getting from one place to the other.  I have 13 miles Saturday morning and if 1 day wasnt enough to settle any soreness yesterday then I need another day of rest on these gams of mine.  The cumulative result of training is finally catching up with me.  Once I get through this Saturday, I am going to take a full 2 days off!

Rower: 2500m (I have never done 2500m before at once but since I need cardio big time this week, the rower is it).  Goal = 18min Actual = 16:46  And good GOD was I a hot mess after that.

 2 rounds of the Back, biceps and triceps circuit (there is an area in the gym that is specifically for these muscle groups.  Its ALWAYS crowded but one of my favorite to do)  8 movements per round.  Actually ended up doing more than what I had originally planned.  Hmpft.


Breakfast: boiled egg, string cheese, biscuit (oops!)
Snack: 3oz ground turkey, 1/2 c mixed veggies
Lunch: Salad bar incl mixed greens, seeds, dried cranberries, EVOO, couple of pita chips.  I OVERLOADED on the greens today, so as I am typing this my belly is SO FULL!
Snack: 3oz ground turkey, 1/2 c mixed veggies
Dinner: Steamed some fresh green beans, 3oz of boiled red potato, 1/4c sour cream

I actually ate way more today than I should have.  But my stomach was just on constant hunger mode.  And I saw it as my fuel day for Saturdays long run.  I dont typically like to eat heavy the day before plus I have to turn in SUPER early to be up to start running at 4am.  Oy vie.

Friday
Rest

Saturday

And because I am SUPER busy at work, and afterwards too, its short and sweet for a while.  More or less just a way for me to keep track of my workouts on a very basic level.  I've stopped logging them in my book which I NEED to get back to doing.  At some point.  This blog will help me fill in the holes.

Group run: started at 4 to run with a girl who had 20 to do.  3 others picked up around 5:30 and ran with her as I dropped off at:  15 miles

Sunday
No workout
Planned day with sister

 



Weekly Workout Roundup

Monday

 

Another day after a too full of carb loaded choices (Sunday) for cheat/reward meal.

 

I actually overslept this morning which NEVER happens.  And when I did wake up it was hard for me to get moving around; again with just feeling lethargic and foggy into mid morning.

 

I am definitely through with putting too much of a bad thing in my body from now on (this week it was my moms spaghetti recipe; DEFINITELY not healthy side and bread slathered with garlic spread). I had 2 helpings.  Maybe if I hadnt gone back for 2nds an hour later....Anyway if I didnt know/believe it before, the struggle is real when it comes to food and your mood.  Whoa. 

 

So after a day of no carbs today, LOTS of water, and lots and lots of healthy greens and lean proteins, I started feeling somewhat better.

Given that by the time I got off work, my shoulders were KILLING me (sore from yesterday), I figured while Back, Bi's and Tri's were next in the rotation, I would give my upper body a break and work legs instead.  Plus I can work legs in the apartment gym and not have to go to 24HF and fight the Monday night fight that happens every single week.  I will have to figure out some plan of attack come the first 6 weeks of 2015 because everyone knows about the 'resolutioners'.  Gah.

OK, enough babble, on to the workout.  Simple really.

2 miles easy TM
1 mile elliptical
Legs
1 mile sprint

No selfie today as even my apt gym was packed with people.  Ugh.

Tuesday
Rest day

Wednesday
3 miles treadmill
Back, biceps and triceps
50 weighted lunges (totally random but I figure if I do these even on non-leg days it can only help, not hurt!)

I kinda sorta rushed through this; not quite finishing all the weight movements I generally do for B, B and T but I wanted to get home before 7 for a change.  When I dont get to the gym until almost 5:30 it makes for a later time getting home.  Hey at least I went when I really just wanted another rest day.

I think I'm tired or something.  Its been a rough week energy/motivation wise.

Thursday
1 mile w/u elliptical

Shoulders which included:
Seated DB Press
Seated Lateral Raises
Face pulls
Behind the Neck Barbell Press
Bent Over Laterals
Low cable side laterals

Squats
2 miles treadmill

Another day of low motivation but picked up once I actually got into the gym.  Actually can see a difference in just one weeks time.  2 weeks to DietBet weigh in.  I KNOW I am still not anywhere near my goal but next week I plan to start a 'cut' and that also means a LOT more cardio...with the drop in carbs a 'cut' calls for, I will be a cranky mcCrankerson :O)

I am still always proud of how even at 51, I can still kick it with the best of em ;o) And for my fellow hamcats who may be reading, we'll just call this my ML impersonation pose

9 days difference.  Hard to tell here I guess, but not to me since I have to live in and see this body every day.  Its weird how no progress, no progress and then one day BOOM you put on a pair of your jean shorts and they are SUPER baggy. 

Friday
Rest

Saturday

Track Saturday once again!  My workout on the schedule was 10x800
Started out with a mile warmup as usual.
Then I did the same as my previous track workout where after each 800, I would take a SHORT break and then bust out the next one.  After each mile I would do a 400m walk before starting the next set.

I ended up with 7.25 miles overall.

I have one more track workout of 12x800.  I used to loathe track Saturday workouts but now I like them.  Doesn't hurt that I wasnt the only one out there this past weekend.  Seemed like quite a few people had similiar workouts scheduled.  Obviously I like them at this time because I actually feel like I am getting a good run/workout in PLUS the added benefit of upping my fat/calorie burn.

Instead of just a slow steady cardio as in a typical long run (or every run for some folks since they dont do tempos etc), I am actually pushing myself in speed and intervals.  The Galloway plan is to do 40/20 but now that I have increased my ability once again, I typically just either run through or I will slow down on the 20 before speeding up again.

Sunday

Ah Sundays...I looooooooooove my Sundays at the gym.  But I also love my lazy Sunday morning routine at home as well.  With the football game on at noon, I needed to get to the gym early enough to get in a solid workout (2 hours was all I got in).

I will say up front that anything I did using my legs was DIFFICULT.  I apparently ran harder than I thought at the track yesterday.

1 mile - elliptical (suuuuuuuper slow; my legs were just DEAD)

Back, biceps and triceps (this is ALWAYS a long workout for me and even so I didnt get through everything I would like to each time these muscle groups pop up on my rotation)

21 min on the stairmill (plus addl 2 min cooldown)

10min steam
10min sauna

*********************************

Changing it up this week:  There will be more cardio, fewer movements, less weight, but higher reps.

My food choices this week are also going to be a bit on the extreme side as I am looking to cut for more definition and less 'bulk'



Do You Remember? That Night in September...

Sometimes we get a bit of cool weather from time to time in September and it came along just in time for the weekend!  Glorious!

 

 

Monday

 

As I noted, that Texan/Washington game/tailgating thing...whew I was WIPED out from the time I got up, and all day at work, where I pretty much kept to myself.  I am thankful this week is relatively quiet on the work front, and NO MEETINGS today was perfect!

 

While I should have lifted today, I didn't want to fight the yahoos at the gym (Monday).  Its always a nightmare and since I missed yesterday, but nope, I planned out my attack with a list on my phone (better than writing it on my arm which is what I ususally do).  I rarely take my phone in to the gym with me, but today I did, since I knew I was going to be focusing on just a few things and not moving around the gym having to put it down everywhere.

 

Here's the 411

I call this one: Cardio Sweat Blast

3 miles

 

400m row

400m run

x 3 

 

25 burpees

100 sit ups (weighted)

400m run

400m row

17 min - Stairmill (these really need to be used as torture devices)

 

10min steam

10min sauna

As much as I needed to lift heavy things, I knew that a strong cardio session/metabolic boosting type of day would do wonders for me.   Physically and emotionally (I'm wired tight when my body/mind is out of whack)

I'll get back to lifting tomorrow!!  No rest day this week until Friday even though Sunday wasn't a true active recovery day. Tiring and active yes, buuuuuut ....

Tuesday
Feeling a bit more like myself today.  Probably one more day of low carb and all this dang puffiness will be gone.  Sunday just doesn't make sense to me.  Anyway...
No rest day today as usual.  While I certainly don't count Sunday as resting, still I didn't get to the gym. 

.50 warmup on the elliptical
Just over an hour on weights:  back, HEAVY on the biceps, and triceps.  Actually now that I think about it, heavy on the back as well.

1 mile on the Precor Climb (easier than stair mill, but harder than elliptical); about 15 min.  Nice, slow and steady to just to continue burn calories/fat after lifting.

10min steam
10min sauna

I think I am becoming addicted to the chill time in there after workouts.  Hey when you can raise your heart rate like that without exercise?  Sign me up.

What I don't understand is the people who EXERCISE in there?  2 days ago, a guy brought in resistance band to do movements and yesterday some lady was doing step ups.  WTF?  I am dying just sitting there.  I don't think thats really safe to be honest but whateve.

Wednesday

I almost took a rest day.  Instead I thought 'eh, I will walk up to the apt gym and just do active recovery'.  Spend some time on the elliptical catching up on the news of the day.  Then since its leg day, I could do some leg work even though not at the big gym, there is enough equipment to get in lunges, squats, step ups etc...What ended up happening was I got in the groove and managed to come up with some extra moves easily done with minimal equipment. 

2 miles elliptical

Then started on legs.  AND I took gym selfies for the first time because why not in an empty gym???  I would never in a million years do that in 24HF, but in my apartment gym?  Sure.  Why not?  :)

All I have to say is THANK GOD I got out of Nebraska.  My body is coming back!!

Ended the session with a 1 mile sprint on the treadmill.

It felt JUST like running after a bike in a triathlon!  Legs were DEAD!  Only thing that tells me is that my 'active recovery' session ended up being way more than that!  Good on you Junie!!!

MUST. WORK. LEGS. TWICE. A. WEEK.  My top half just doesn't match my bottom half!

Thursday
So I get home, and decide that my ass and my legs hurt too much to do anything!  Seriously.  I put on my shorts and baggy T and took a spot on the couch...then like 45 min later, I do that thing I do where I say, just go and start and if it sucks too bad, leave.

Well it did suck, but I finished anyway.  Well finish as in I did 3 miles.  THEN I called it a day.  Home in time to catch Biggest Loser!  LOVE that show.  But I miss Jillian. 

Friday
Rest
By the way, the amount of pain in my legs and ass is insane.  Gawd.

Saturday
11 miles

I really really wanted it to be storming when I woke up for long run Saturday!  After the weeks emails from the run coach I just didn't feel much like meeting up, but while the pavement was wet when I woke up it wasn't raining.  Let alone storming.  Checked the radar and nope, the rain had just passed through and didnt look like any more was coming for a while.

I just wanted the excuse to go back to sleep and then go run at the gym.  In hindsight, 11 miles on a treadmill again after so long would have been torture for me.

Of course about 2 miles into my 11 miler it did start raining and pretty much rained on us the remainder of the way.  However we could also feel the temps dropping as we ran along and coach later said it was about a degree every 30 minutes or so.

Nothing much to write about other than I did my 11 miles when I wanted to stop at 9.  Thanks to the cooler weather, the group was running a faster pace than normal (around 11:30ish per mile average), so I was certainly happy about that as well.  The run overall seemed to go by quickly.  I stayed back from the pack mostly (about 20m or so just because I was feeling more unsociable than usual), and just listened to my music (thankfully I tucked a baggie into my zippered shorts pocket just in case).

What sucked tho was due to running that far in wet shorts, I had chafing on one inside thigh that I wasnt pleased about.  Should have worn by booty shorts since there wouldnt have been movement.  Next time I will remember.

Overall I am glad I went, glad I was able to go faster thanks to the group, glad that I did 11 instead of quitting at 9 (we had SAG every few miles so it would have been easy for me to, but I didnt), and glad that I am another long run closer to my half.  I am ready for this cycle to be over, over, over.

Sunday

Back at the gym since the Texans had an away game!  LOVE my Sundays at the gym.  As much as I love going to the games, I will also be glad for away games :O)

1/2 mile warmup on the climber (whew my legs felt the previous days run)
Shoulders and chest; heavy on shoulders; a lot of sets of reps to failure

I am so trying to build up my shoulders, so I know I have to lift heavier and push the reps to failure to see gains (as of typing this here on Monday morning, I am in some serious soreness already, so by this afternoon its gonna be painful)

20 min on stairmill and I thought I was gonna die

10min steam
10min sauna

 



Bad Decisions

So....

 

I am realizing that I made a mistake with this running/training group I joined.  Maybe its just the group I actually run with, more than likely...but I was with Kenyan Way for far too long to be able to keep with this group past this cycle.

 

My plan is to finish out the long runs up until the Houston Half at the end of October, then switch over to another pod for Aramco Houston in January.

 

I ran with them a couple of weeks back when I had to split up my run between the 2 groups.

 

Even from the beginning I had to just tune out what all 3 of the coaches would blabber on about, because first off I am not a first time runner, long distance racer.  Second of all I could outrun all of you and have actually.

 

While I do appreciate the lack of competitiveness and the system of run/walk and yet still being able to turn out a decent time at the end...I still have a competitive spark and honestly why not run longer and faster instead of just alllllllllllways the same intervals and speeds?  Dumb.

 

Anyway, all that aside, what really got me riled up was 2 separate emails this past week.

 

The first one was when he sent out the email for the start times of the 2 runs, 1 being super early for those running 23, the 2nd would be part of that 23 but the 2nd loop is 13 miles and starts around 5-5:15.  In that email he stated that I was doing 13. 

 

Which I WOULD be if my 11 miler 2 weeks ago hadn't turned into a 9 miler.  So I backed up my long runs to be 11, 13 and 15 instead of 13, 15 and 17.

 

When I replied back I said that I was only doing 11 due to the previous LR fiasco.  He replied back to me saying that I should still do 13 because the longer runs were coming anyway.

 

Um. No.  And not just no, but NO.

 

No coach in their right mind would EVER suggest going from 9 to 13 miles.  You stupid idiot.  Of course I didnt say that, but what I DID tell him in my reply was no, I was doing 11, 13 and 15.  15 would be my longest and I was OK with that.

 

Seriously.  I wanted to just go off on him in email but obviously didnt.  I do realize this is run/walk style but still.  No.

 

Theeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeen...yesterday another LONG email from him about how he is achy and not sure if he was going to run the first loop...SAG on the 2nd for sure..where the stops would be.  And then proceeded to put out suggestions for the group since 2 of them would be doing 23 and maybe on the 2nd loop make the intervals 30/30 or 1:30/45.  Something like that.  Same mile pace overall just different interval.

 

OK hold up.

I am NOT doing 30/30.  I struggle just to keep my head in the game with the 2/1 or 3/1.  Plus its WAY too slow for me but again I joined so that I had a group to run with on Saturday.  I dont want to go have breakfast after...I dont want to see all the group texts throughout the week...I just wanted people to run with.

 

I reply back to the group asking if maybe an idea of what they are going to interval at, and the coach emails back with "I dont know why you are asking June, but if its because you want to go faster blah blah blah" and that "if I did something other than that, he couldnt promise me SAG.  I just replied back with I would probably start with the group, cut off and head back to base for my 11. 

 

It just all hit me wrong.  I KNOW what I am doing, I have been doing it for a while now with the help of a great coach and I learned a LOT in those years with Sean Wade.

 

I just dont like this guy.  So after the Houston Half I am going to run with the other guys group.  At least I know ALL of his group is training for Houston in January and we will all be on the same schedule.  This nonsense of different people, different races and whatnot is just a cluster.  I seem to be by myself most of the time anyway.

 

I am hoping running with the other pod will give me a bit less frustration with this group/process.

 

Knowing that in 2015 I do not plan to do anything farther than a 10K, I dont care past my last long run.  Heck as it gets cooler I might just finish out on my own.  That way I can run whatever intervals I want which were typically 7-8 min with a 1 min walk.

 

I'm just kinda sorta pissed right now.  I just emailed the group leader to see if Jays group is running tomorrow and what time and how far?  If its comparable to mine then I am going to run with them.  Jays group is much faster.

 

Please please please let the email come through...

 

But then again, it is supposed to be storming tomorrow morning so I may be treadmilling it for 2 hours anyway.  Not like I havent had to do that before while living in Nebraska!!!!!!!!!!

 



Sending My Body Into Food Shock

So as I have written before, I allow myself to have things I normally wouldn't have otherwise at least once a week, sometimes more, but not really. 

And generally speaking if I am seriously craving something, if after 24 hours, I still want it, I give it to my body.  Or I try a substitute.

 

Cravings can be real signals to your body, but you have to learn what is real and what is emotion.  i.e. bored, stress, sad etc.

 

So as I mentioned in my most recent blog post, I went to the Texans game yesterday and was prepared to indulge a bit of course.  And while I did do that (but not really if that makes any sense), I think I totally screwed up.

 

I don't know if the way I feel (and look) today is because of that or what, but yesterday, especially early in the day was just strange to me.

 

So, to start off with, it was HOT.  Like hotter than hot, hot, hot.  And the humidity?  The worst.  I don't know if being on all that concrete etc., made it worse but damn.  I seriously needed a change of clothes by the time we headed to go into the stadium (11:15), and it had only been 2 hours.  Thankfully I got a free Tshirt before the game (be one of the first 40K in the gate) so I had a dry shirt to put on.  For real people.  It was THAT bad.

 

In those 2 hours, and I am NOT kidding you, I drank 20oz of water on the way to the stadium, then I poured myself a can (12oz) of LeCroix water over ice, then I poured a bottle of water in, and then ANOTHER bottle of water.

 

I know I was losing a lot of water through perspiration but damn.  And I was not even having to go to the bathroom.  How was I THAT dehydrated?  I drank plenty of water on Saturday???  So bizarre.

 

Next culprit:  Drank a 20oz Diet Coke during the game.  Prob more than 20oz actually.  I don't know the size of those souvenir cups but it had my fav player on it (JJ) and I had to have it.  Which, of course, I left at my seat like an idiot.

 

Shortly after arriving to the tent, I had a little breakfast taco (super small): egg and I topped it with some potato and salsa.  Perfect.

 

Then around 11, I had a turkey burger (bleh, overcooked, not tasty AT ALL!) on wheat bun with tomato and onion.  Also had a cupcake.

 

I didn't eat the whole time inside the stadium even though I was hungry and really wanted french fries as my treat but I didnt want to miss any of the game.

 

By the time we got out to the lot afterwards (through rain), I was ravenous and grabbed a hot dog, no bun.  Then I wanted another one maybe 45 min later.  With bun this time, only mustard.  Had a couple of chips with guac.  Maybe 5.

 

More water.  Thankful for all the rain during the game, and what I will call a little 'front' because the temps had dropped almost 20 deg from when we went in.  I am not sure what I would have done otherwise.  I hadnt drank any water inside, so that probably would have been a recipe for further disaster!

When I got home, I just didnt feel like eating ANYTHING even though, in hindsight, I should have thrown together a salad.

When I was trying to think of what to eat, I was going over what I had eaten through out the day and realized I hadnt had ANY vegetables.  Sorry but the slice of tomato doesn't effing count.  Considering I eat an insane amount of vegetables on a daily basis and very limited processed anything, its no wonder I woke up like this this morning:

• Puffy eyes (seriously so puffy, the left one was about 1/4 way closed I think) and STILL puffy now, 4 hours later.
• Puffy face all around. Ridiculous.  I feel so awful!!!
• Actually my whole body is ridiculously puffy truth be told (FAT fingers!!!), but my face...ugh
• Achy joints
• Extreme tiredness
• The whites of my eyes seem discolored
• General fatigue
• Bad mood/attitude

Now I know some of this is due to dehydration which still I cannot understand with all the water I drank.  A lot of this is also due to an entire day of crap processed crappy crap.

I do NOT put that much into my body not even on my treat meal. 

I do NOT consider yesterday a successful reward/cheat/splurge.  I haven't done that much damage to my body in AGES.

Honestly, what I should have done was to have had my fries, missed whatever of the game I had to, and passed up the obviously horrible hot dogs, bun or no bun, or in this case, one of each.

I am at this moment trying to maniacally undo the damage.  I've had 2 20oz tumblers of water, my protein shake at 7am, 2 hard boiled eggs around 9, then I had a small mixed green salad with tomato around 10:30.

Yes I AM starving today thank you very much :O)

I am about to head down to the cafeteria to grab more greens/salad and a yogurt for later.

How DO people eat like that every day?  And lets face it, people do.

I sure hope my body is ready for the punishment at the gym after work.  I know it doesnt seem like much sense to make myself work that hard to sweat, but I HAVE to get these toxins out of my body.  Stat!!!
 



Finishing Out The Week

Thursday

3 miles running

Shoulders/Chest

I really put the oomph into this session because I am TRYING to get my 'boulder shoulders'!  My shoulders hurt BAD last night just even an hour or two later so I think I was successful at pushing it.  I really should have done burpees and rowed as well since those two movements are great for shoulder work, but I was spent and I still had a few things I wanted to accomplish yet I wanted to get home in time for football!!!!!!

16 min on the stair mill.  Good gawd this contraption!!!  KILLS me every time.

I put it on calorie burner instead of fat burner, kept it at same level but added time.  First time I've ever been THAT person on it where I was dripping sweat onto the machine.  Ugh.

10 min steam

10 min sauna

Friday
Rest

Saturday

Track day!
I kinda loathe track day, but then I do kinda like it because its generally just me and no one else and it gives me that solo run time that I do love so much.

I wasn't looking forward to my task:  8 x 800m though.
I had woken up around 3:15 with intense painful cramps (seriously body...I'm 51, when you gonna stop this nonsense??)

Anyway, when the alarm went off at 4:45, I stayed in bed until 5 because even though I wanted to start around 5:30, I knew that with the sun not breaking over the trees, I had until roughly 7am before my vampire self would need to retreat shortly thereafter.

I got to the track and started just before 6 which was perfect.

Did a 1 mile warmup (roughly 10:45) then started the repeats.

Again I didn't time them just ran them as steady, but as fast as I could with the knowledge I had quite a few to do.

As opposed to last time, taking a 400m recovery lap after each one, I didnt take a recovery lap until after each 2 sets (1 mile). It wasnt mile repeats because I would start the 2nd 800m a bit slower then build back up. 
I honestly didn't know how that was going to work out but man, I actually felt really good and strong out there this past weekend!

Yay for progress!!

All I really know is that 6 miles, with the recovery laps, and warm up, it was 1:03:37.  Oh and to mention that my 400m lap recovery is WALKING. 

Definitely good with that.  Yep, yep, yep.

I chose not to do a cool down mile, mostly because I knew 6 was good, and I had worked hard.  It was bruuuuutal out there, humidity so high, but eh, its SE Texas ya know?  :O)

I actually thought I might go to the gym in the evening to get a WOD in since I was going to have to miss Sunday...but that never happened :O)

Happy runner!  Happy to be done anyway!

Channeling Lolo?  :O)
I am also so happy that I can finally pull my hair back into the teeniest of ponytails again.  Growing my hair out long again is a paaaaaaaaaaainful process!  I should know, this must be like the 5th time I've gone through it!
Top: Lululemon (105f singlet)
Bra: Lululemon (Energy)
Shorts: Lululemon (Speed)

Sunday

Up at 5:30 to get ready for game day, game day, game day!!!
I had to meet Eddie at 8:30 in town so we could ride on up to NRG for the Texans season/home opener!  If you know me IRL you know that I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE my Texans football!

And furthermore being home again and getting to actually SEE the games whether in person or on TV just makes me so giddy!  Oh Texans how I missed you!!!

It was a fun filled day, with plenty of active recovery going on, lots of walking, choosing to take the ramps instead of escalators.  SO MUCH JUMPING UP AND DOWN and dancing.  Texans you WON!!!!!!!!!!!!!  And you looked solid!

Even getting drenched with rain, melted cupcakes and everything else, still was just a great day and by the time I got home close to 6pm I was WIPED OUT.  No gym.  No siree.  I thought depending on how I felt and what time I got home, maybe.  But with a big Texans win, we stayed and tailgated afterwards too.  Even though it was still raining :O)   Covered tailgaiting ROCKS.

I feel like death warmed over today though.

Its definitely a low carb day and a very strenuous workout this evening.

I'm going to do a separate post on why I feel (and look) like I do today...What you put in your body so makes a difference.



DietBet - August

Womp womp

 

Didn't hit the DietBet goal of 121.9

 

Which as I have stated numerous times, I didn't expect to not with the amount of lifting I have been doing.

Ugh, I repositioned it, but its still sideways.  Whatever.

I am still happy with a loss, because while the lbs lost were not a lot, the change in body comp makes up for it.

 

So I will keep up the lifting, and with longer runs due in September, my cardio will go up a bit, which should help. 

 

If I was willing to JUST focus on that, I probably could make my goal (118) faster, but I am NOT willing to give up lifting and dropping body fat/building muscle.  Probably would also help if I maybe cut out the occasional pizza, ice cream and cake (or whatever else I choose as a reward meal once a week).  But that is not happening either!  

90% of the time I am diligent and watchful.  Although that pizza/cheesecake night was probably way overboard.  Whew, I felt like crap for 2 days afterwards.

 

So the goal for October 2 is now 121.5 which is 4% of todays weight.

 

Onward and upward downward!!!



The End (officially but not really) of Summer

Well now that I am back in the great State of Texas, and the SE part of it I  might add, I don't really have to worry about Winter.  At least real Winter.

 

Thanks be to God and all that is holy!

 

I've managed to stay somewhat positive about all this darn heat we are having right now, and honestly, for my first Summer back it hasnt been bad. I mean I certainly have seen worse in previous Summers.

 

And yeah, while it got hot in NE, it was always short lived and you know what?  I will endure this heat day after day after day just knowing that come October thru April or May, I don't have to shovel one snowflake and probably never put on more than a tshirt under a hoodie!

 

No more 3 pairs of socks, 2 pairs of pants and sometimes up to 4 layers on top!  I cannot even believe that was ever my life!

 

OK, so for the last week of what they officially call Summer here is how it all went down:

 

Monday

LORD HAVE MERCY IT WAS HOT TODAY...the last thing I wanted to do after getting home was having to get in my car again to drive to the gym AND deal with the madhouse that is Mondays at any gym.  Well not all the gyms thankfully!  I walked my little happy ass up to the gym where I live (which is really nice by the way but does nothing for my longtime focus; too easy to just walk home) and got to work on the treadmill.  The red carpet stuff for the Emmys was on E! so I ran along to that until my hour was up and walked back home.  With something so interesting (to me anyway.  FASHION!) the hour went by quickly and I felt better for not having taken my rest day too early in the week.
 

Tuesday

Rest day

I am extremely busy at work these days, and this rest day could not have come at a better time.  By the time I left work I was just a mess.  In addition to that, I am having some 'hormonal' issues, it was a low carb day...all things that just exacerbated my insides and outsides. 

Worn.  Out.

Here are some pics that made me smile though...

Silly Nugget.  He was feeling bad yesterday so I am glad hes better today.  He has a wonky eye and sometimes its extremely light sensitive and he walks around with one eye closed.  So yesterday morning it was completely shut and I freaked out but when I turned the light off, he opened it again, so I felt better.  By last night he didnt seem to be light sensitive at all.  I made sure to keep all the blinds closed while I was at work to keep it as dark in there as possible for him. 

 

My sister sent me this of my lil Tucker-butt watching the Texans Saturday night.  Yep, he's definitely related to me!  :O)

 

Wednesday

3 miles
Legs workout (the usual, but I did add in some sumo dead lifts as well this round.  I cannot do stiff leg dead lifts anymore due to my lower back/disc issue. Also no ab work today with legs like I usually do)
 

Thursday
Man its a rough rough rough week energy wise.  I am so thankful for the upcoming 4 day weekend!

3 miles
1 mile rower (8:46)  FASTEST time yet and I thought I was gonna puke.  We have a little non talked about competition going on between C, B and myself.  C is WAY out in front (how can she row that fast!??!), but I am now ahead of B.  I think shes gonna try and beat my time today though based on her text back to me.

Shoulders
I smoked my shoulders last night.  They are sore, sore, sore this morning!

 

Friday
Rest
 

Saturday

My scheduled 11 miles got screwed up today.  Ugh.  While I am thankful for my little training group out here in Katy, I am not especially diggin' that my schedule just doesnt seem to jive with anyone elses.  Heres just an example:

So my coach had me running 11 miles today in prep for my end of October half.  There is a half group that is training for the SAME race and they were running 6.  Wait, whut?

Anyway, whatever.  So since my entire group was doing track this week, mostly mile repeats, I was the only one running long.  Suck. (Oh and I get the email yesterday that Sorry, June, but you are the only one with track this week again).  Whatever.

Leo agreed to meet me at 4:30 to do 4.75 mile route and then I was gonna tag onto another group running 6 starting at 5:30.

Long story short, I only got 3 miles in before getting back to base to start with the 2nd group.  Sure I could have run 2 miles afterwards by myself but upon learning that they were WAY behind me in mileage, I said eff it.  I will run 11 on my next long mileage Saturday.

So yeah, 9 miles instead of 11.  Bah.

After the half in October I might switch groups.  I'm not necessarily diggin' the vibe so much with this one.

 

Sunday

 

And because I am off Monday and Tuesday from work, we will just extend this week out:

Pool time!!! The fam came over and even though it was overcast we got lucky the rain never happened.  It made it nice without being burnt to a crisp by the sun beating down!

Sitting up Auntie June!!!  Of course I made sure I was holding on to him (barely) just in case...

5 hours at the pool means I had PLENTY of time to get in a LOT of laps of both swimming and pool running in between spending time with Tucker of course!  We played around a lot so it was definitely a very active recovery kind of day.  I had actually planned to go to the gym after everyone left if I felt like I hadn't gotten in enough for the day.  I made SURE I did so that once they did leave I could be veggin out, watching Dexter. 

 

Monday

3 miles treadmill
Back, biceps and triceps

15 min steam
10 min sauna
 

Tuesday

2 miles treadmill
1 mile elliptical (hard effort)
1/2 mile stair stepper (not the mill)

Then hit the weights for legs, legs, booty, booty!
I've really upped my game on these muscles groups; adding reps and weight
I pay for it later, but its GREAT for me as first off its the larger of the muscle groups we have and working them to the max reaps great rewards metabolically.

After I was done, I hit the step mill again waiting for my b's to finish up so we could hit the steam and sauna

10 min steam
10 min sauna

Wednesday

Rest

Switched up rest days this week since I was off yesterday and had all the time in the world to go.  Also I wanted my rest day to be the day before DietBet weigh in. 

A person will ALWAYS weigh more the day after especially during lifting heavy due to the muscles being filled with more water.  I know the blood flow increases as well to the muscles but I dont think that makes a difference to the scale only to how 'big' they seem afterwards.  In addition glycogen stores will also cause an increase on the scale.

And on that note, I am not expecting to see a drastic difference because of all the lifting I have been doing.  I definitely have lost, but its prob more body composition rather than actual pounds.  I would know by clothes fit if I was back down to 122 or lower.  I certainly fit back into clothes that were uncomfortable thats for sure.  I am back wearing my booty shorts, my smaller size Lulu speeds etc.  However I tried on a dress yesterday that still doesnt quite fit like it use to.  I wore that dress often when I first moved to Nebraska.  Another month and I hope to be in it again, fitting like its supposed to!

HAD to have this muscle tee for the gym!  Found it at VS when I was out shopping Monday afternoon at First Colony.