Adjusted Reality

So, even with some weirdness and uncertainty with the legality of having the correct permits, Warrior Dash went on and it was a damn good time.  Normally, I go into races with one focus: running as fast as I can for the duration.  Mental toughness, beating my time, super serious meeting face etc etc.   I take pains to be well rested before and train properly and do things methodically to make race day as successful as possible.  However, the last two races showed me that not every race needs to be that way.  And that’s ok.  Naw, that’s better than ok – it was a blast.

Saturday, we made shirts.  We wanted to make sure we got at least one unmuddy picture.  Here’s a closeup:

Yes, we ran the race in the name of iguana poop.  It’s a great picture of her though, isn’t it?  So Saturday ended up getting away from us, and we didn’t finish packing until about midnight.  Which means getting to sleep around 1230ish.  And then getting up at 630-ish.  Middle of the night for me, and about 2-3 hours too little sleep to boot.  However, the goal was to leave at 7am just in case it was super traffic-y.  We left at 730am, and pulled up to the race around 11am.  Our heat was at 2pm.  With the 3 hours we had to kill, we spent it all on our feet.  We walked probably about 2 miles going  back and forth to the car for various things.  The nice thing was I felt very warmed up, but on the flip side, my legs were actually kinda sore BEFORE the race from standing around.

Zliten is ready to rock!  We headed to the start line around 1:35 after some stretching and after hearing the pre-race announcements about 20 times.  Don’t go in the lake, it’s filled with bear traps (or uboats or shattered lightbulbs), get your finishers medals that were made by Australian 4 armed nuns (or Polish men with 2 glass eyes or orphans) and keep moving.  Finally, it’s time to go, the flames shoot up, and we’re off!

We decided to stick together just in case we needed to help each other through obstacles, and it was a great decision.  Through the straight and dry areas, I pushed Zliten to run a little faster probably than he would have liked, but through the super muddy or uneven terrain, he was outpacing me.  The obstacle parts were something else though… wild.  The first wind tunnel was just like running into a big industrial sized fan, but next – the first mud pit.  At first I was a little hesitant, but it felt GREAT.  I wore my old black shoes from the half marathon in February, so they were already destroyed so I didn’t care about getting them dirty, and STILL FELT LIGHT even after being bogged down with mud and completely wet.  Score!

After some slipping and sliding, we hit dry ground again and took off running.  I barely felt like we ran at all through the race – there were obstacles about every quarter mile.  There was the mudslide (yes, sliding down the side of a hill on your butt), a long trek through a river, climbing up a muddy cliff, more mud pits, swimming through a lake over logs (which took some coordination – much easier with the inertia of 2-4 people going up and over), jumping over big obstacles, and probably some other stuff I’m forgetting.  Then, we rounded the corner to the finish.  First, we had to cross two hurdles…OF FIRE (I’m hoping the pro-race peeps got pics because those could be awesome)!  Then, the last mudpit… crawling under barbed wire!

We got sufficiently disgusting, found each other, grabbed hands, and sprinted to the finish line together!  We got our medals, and then got in line to get hosed down.  This was AFTER applying liberal amounts of water to us.  Definitely not good clean fun, but it was awesome.

Muddy tires are badass!  We grabbed our stuff from bag check, and enjoyed our free beers and watched and cheered other people on near the finish line.  I’ve never actually stuck around after a race and cheered other people on – I’m usually way too wiped and just want to go HOME, but it was a blast.  You can see some of the awesome costumes here – next year, I think we’ll go for something crazy cool, but for this year, it was fun just to watch the guys and gals in tutus, banana men, and such.

Around 5pm we were beat and called it a day, and dragged our poor, sunburnt selves back to the hotel.  Pro tip: sunscreen is good.  Applying it would have been best at 11am when we got there, even though it was cloudy and cold.  Applying it around 1230 when we made the third trip to the car and it was starting to warm up would have been almost as good.  Even after the race at 3pm before sitting out in the sun for 2 more hours would have been good.  But nope, we is dumb bunnies, so we are both lovin’ the aloe today.

All in all, a great experience.  I didn’t expect to spend that long at the race and didn’t expect it to be that badass of a time.  We’re already pretty much in for next year and thinking possibly about traveling to another location (Denver?  So Cal?) and/or doing ours and trying to get a big group together.  I love doing races with Zliten and really getting to appreciate adventure racing.  There are a lot of these type of events after looking into it – the Muddy Buddy, Tough Mudder, Jail Break, and more.  While I don’t think I’ll hang up my clean shoes and stop doing traditional road races, this makes for a totally fun afternoon and a completely different type of experience!

EDIT: If you’re curious about the course experience, there is a great helmet cam video here.  Turn off the music unless you like angry white boy screamy rock.

It’s been a heck of a week.  Seems like that happens often lately, but hey, such is life.  Another list of random stuffs numbered randomly?  Don’t mind if I do.

1.  We finally hit a milestone we were about 3 weeks late on due to various circumstances.  We’re still doing a little tying up loose ends and cleanup, but it feels good to be mostly done.  I definitely missed this – I’ve spent most of my career managing and working with live MMO games so it feels natural to be back to it.

2.  Thursday (yesterday), I worked out in the morning (45 mins on the arc trainer), I went to work, got through the morning, had a long meeting in a dark room, and emerged soooo tired.  I was thinking, “Geez, how am I going to get through a workout tonight” and then realized I had already worked out.  That was a nice realization.  I’m kinda tired today too and my day ends around 6:30 and THEN I have an hour and a half at the gym.  I wish I could have a repeat of yesterday.  Boo.

3.  I seem to be falling into the same rut of eating too little during the day and then being a hunger monster and eating a lot at night.  I’m sure it will work out over time, but when I’m getting on the scale in the morning, it’s not helping my numbers I’m sure.  My problem is I’m just so so so busy during the day I’m not that hungry, and then when I get home it just HITS ME.  I’m thinking bigger breakfasts might be the way to go next week, especially on high octane workout days.

4.  I think we’ve decided to drop the South Padre trip and spend the money instead on camping gear, a bike rack, a fishing license for me, and perhaps some such thing as a wet suit or other improvements to our tri-gear.   I had a lot of fun camping for the Du Loop, and I figure that I can either spend the dough on ONE trip, or get the supplies to be able to go have a fun weekend away any time we want.  I also wish to be a more outdoorsy, less “roughing it = a hotel without a pool and pillowtop mattress” type gal – so I shall do what I aspire to be and see if it works out.  Although…I’m still a big fan of fancy hotels.  That is never gonna go away.

5.  Thursday (yesterday) I took the iguana to the vet for one of her last checkups (hopefully) for a while.  She decided that she wanted to express her distaste by pooping in her carrier, which also happens to be the rock band drum box.  Sigh.  The good news is her belly is healing nicely and so is her paw.  She is able to even get in the bath again after a month and just looked so happy about it all night!

6.  Warrior dash is on and it’s Sunday.  We’re making t-shirts for it but we can’t decide what they should say yet.   Any suggestions?  Bad Ass?  Lily Livered Lizard Lovers? If You Can Read This I Haven’t Found The Mud Pit Yet?  Something witty and warrior-like… we just haven’t figured it out yet.

7.  After it’s over – we’re heading to a nice little hotel in Dallas for some swimming, lounging, nice dinner, and some drinky-poos.  We want to stay fairly near the hotel (which is fairly near downtown, I guess), but is there anything super cool that we should check out if we have a little time in the afternoon?  I have a feeling after the race we’ll be more in the mood for the pool but just in case…

Not really a deep thought-y type of post, but that’s what’s going on in my neck of the woods.  I will do my normal weigh in for the week on Sunday morning (since I’ll be out of town Monday) and probably have the normal weekly recap Tuesday.  More un-fluff posts soon, I hope…. until then, here is my doing my best walrus-bunny impression at our weekly pho-riday meeting.

Happy weekend!  Hope the weather is as beautiful there for you as it is here.

So, I’ve been thinking a lot lately.  About races.  Please, don’t faint dead away with shock.  I know it’s a surprising thing.

I really really really enjoyed the Du Loop experience.  I only had one week to train for it, but I actually LOVED the run/bike workouts.  I suppose that real official people call them bricks.  I started searching for more biathlons and while there are some in the area, it’s not a regular thing.

I also started to think about upcoming training for the marathon.  I haven’t been doing the long runs like I wanted to – my last long run was the end of February – 14 miles.  And it was ROUGH.  I haven’t been motivated to take time out of my weekend to do it.  As awesome and fun as it sounded to just do some really long slow pace runs every so often to keep my base up – I think I’ve missed the bus.  My comfort zone right now is 6-8 miles tops, and I would fear injury doing anything over 10 without working back up to it for a few weeks.  Instead of just CONTINUING my half training to what felt like the next logical step, I’m now having to start from ground zero again.  Which mean I should really dedicate at least 5 months to it.

Then I started to think about what that meant.  Long runs outside during the two hottest months of the year (July/August) in the Texas heat.  I started to dread it.  I didn’t mind finishing up my half training last year during the beginning of summer in 80+ degree mornings, but I’d be having to get up at like 4am to get that under 85 zone.  I like a challenge and all, and I definitely in general prefer cold to hot, but the logistics?  Sorta kinda insane.  And, every time I started talking about it, Zliten kept whining and calling me crazy and giving me frowny faces.

I don’t like to wuss out.  I don’t like to admit that I’m not tough enough to do something.  And I’m not saying that.  I think I’ve reconciled with myself that this is not saying that I can’t do it.  I know if I set the goal and went for it, I’d be crossing the finish line in November as planned.  I think I’ve got some sound reasons not to do it though:

1.  The training just doesn’t sound like fun right now.  I love running, but I’d like to be a little more comfortable and experienced with around 10-13 miles the way I am with 6-8 miles right now.  Doing that 14 miler was a wakeup call.  I need to do a little more pre-training than I thought.

2.  Even running 3 days a week, its a huge time commitment.  Every Saturday I’d need to dedicate the majority of my day to it (you long distance runners know – getting up, dressed, ready, warmed up, doing the run, cooling down, stretching, showering, eating, dying on the couch a bit after…there goes your day).  It’s about a month for half training, but I can see it would be 4-5 months like that for a marathon.

3.  When I set this goal in December, my job duties and responsibilities were completely different than they are now.  It’s entirely possible I’d be rolling out of a crazy stressful crunch month of my first big huge deliverable completely in charge without training wheels just to start training hot and heavy.  Could I do it?  Sure.  Do I want to?  I’m thinking no.

4.  I have yet to have a really good half marathon experience.  I like the training, I feel increasingly comfortable after longer distances, but I feel like I want to solidly ROCK one first before I go for more.  Don’t get me wrong, I am SUPER PROUD of what I accomplished both times.  Finishing my first one drenched with sweat in 85 and humid temps?  Epic.  Finishing my last one even though I was hacking up a lung and sneezing and had a sore throat?  Respectable.  However, I think I’d like to work on the distance more.  With the right training and the right day, under 2 hours is in my sights and that’s still a goal.

5.  Most importantly, Zliten is thinking about doing this with me!  Neither of us are strong swimmers or terribly comfortable in open water, so it’s something we can conquer together.  We both are pretty novice bicyclists.  I am a stronger runner and have a little more endurance overall, but 2 out of the 3 disciplines we can train side by side.

6.  This seems also like the kind of training I can do and still keep my appetite in check.  I haven’t researched typical training schedules (yet, that’s my next stop), but I’m imagining my new shorter 6 days per week schedule will work well.  Bricks (run/bike, run/swim, or bike/swim) 1-2 days a week and then a single discipline + weights 2 days per week, and then just a single discipline the other days.  More extrapolation on this to come.

7.  Lastly – what sounds better during the long hot Texas summer… “I have to train today.  It’s a 16 mile run.” or “Oh, I have to train today, so I’m going camping.  I’m going to take my bike on a 20 mile trail ride and then swim half a mile in the lake.”?  Yeah, I think you know the answer…

However, y’all know me.  I don’t do things little.  The swim is daunting, but I think once I get back into it, I think I’m going to acclimate well (I have tons of water experience, just not hardcore open water racing).  I’ve done 20+ miles on a bike (admittedly with a break, but still…) and it was not terribly hard.  We all know my proficiency with running.  A sprint triathlon sounds fun, and sounds like a worthy goal, but it’s just not the epic replacement to my marathon.

So, I’m thinking I want to do one sprint (800m swim, 13 mile bike, 5k run) and then move on up to Olympic distance (1 mile swim, 26 mile bike ride, 10k run).  I might change my mind once I do the first one, but that’s the goal.

I’m still scoping races, and hell, the swimming logistics since I do not belong to a gym with a pool or have access to water beyond a 3 dollar drop in fee for open swimming at the neighborhood pool or just jumping in some lakes out there, but I think this would be a fitting kick off race – especially if we can train together.  For an olympic distance, I’m thinking possibly Red Licorice if I decide to go for it.  Other races that look interesting are the Dirty Du (half marathon and duthalon race on back to back days),  and I might just keep my eyes out for a late fall half as well.  Maybe not so much with the epic training schedule and paced runs, but to have an excuse to become comfortable with longer runs on a weekly basis and feel confident about being able to whip out a half marathon with a few weeks notice.

Well, whaddya think?  Am I a wuss for going back on my marathoner resolution?  Still too crazy?  Think I should just give it up and graft my ass back to the couch?  Any wisdom about tris or marathons you would like to impart on me?

My scale, that is.  So, sometimes life gets in the way.  Yes, it’s an excuse.  No, I didn’t have to have all those margaritas yesterday… or that tex-mex… but it was finally the first day of shorts weather and honestly?  So worth it.  It was also proceeded by a 6 mile walk, but I have to remember that only makes up for so much.  That, on top of the end of TOM, packed on the water weight this morning to bring me back to 161.2.  If you remember correctly, that’s what I weighed 2 weeks ago.  Grrr!

However, I know my body.  As long as I am a good girl, I should drop weight pretty quickly this week as the water weight goes away.  I can feel the *mood* though.  The utter despair of being reasonably within calorie range minus ONE stinkin’ day that wasn’t even that bad and seeing a 1.8 lb JUMP.  That mindset of “well, if that’s all it takes to ruin my week, fuck it, why try?”.  Good thing this isn’t my first rodeo, cuz I know that this is that special week where my body works against me.  I just have to wait it out.

Day by day:

Monday: 1524 calories in, 550 calories out = 974 (oops)

Tuesday: 1784 calories in, 604 calories out = 1180

Wednesday: 1550 calories in, 536 calories out = 1014

Thursday: 1550 calories in, 0 calories out = 1550

Friday: 1791 calories in, 550 calories out = 1241

Saturday: 2030 calories in, 891 calories out = 1139

Sunday: 2219 calories in, 415 calories out = 1804 (ugh)

Totals for the week…

Average calories per day intake: 1778

Average calories per day burnt: 506

Average calories per day total: 1271

Average deficit per day: 541

Weight: 161.2 (+1.8)

So even with a few oopses, not so bad number-wise.  The problems (besides epic water weight)?  I burned it early in the week too hard and then ate late in the week too much on the wrong days.  If I would have done the margarita drinking on Saturday, I would have totally accounted for those calories with the 4.5 hours of yardwork.  Monday was UNDER 1000 CALORIES – I remember the day, I just was not stinkin’ hungry and I’m sure in the back of my mind figured I’d save the calories.  If week 1 and 2’s success proved anything, it’s that I just can’t do that.  To keep the equation going, I need to be as close to 1200 per day + exercise as possible.

I also know that eating 1200 calories on my day off is nigh impossible.  That is just too little food for a healthy and normally active human being to be anything but a ball of whine on.  I’m giving myself a pass on that day and letting myself eat what dailyburn suggests that day – 1300-1500.  As long as I do 6 days a week of something, that seems to work out well.

So, the plan for this week…

Monday: 30 mins DDR + full body weights (500) (1700 calories in)

Tuesday: 5 mile run (625) (1825 calories in)

Wednesday: off  (1300-1500 calories)

Thursday: run weight intervals (650) (1850 calories in)

Friday: 45 mins arc trainer (550) (1750 calories in)

Saturday: 45 mins DDR (450) (1650 calories in)

Sunday: Warrior Dash (400) (vacation)

That’s right – this Sunday is the Warrior Dash, so I’ll be heading up to a little place outside Dallas, and running through 3.5 of mud and sand and obstacles (as long as it doesn’t get canceled – eek).  After that – we’re heading to a nice hotel in the city for some swimming, soaking up sun, a nice dinner, and some drinks.  I’m going to gather that my calories will probably be above the 1600 I’m supposed to for that day, but I’m not going to stress.  I’ll try to not be a complete oinker, but I’m also not going chicken salad no dressing and sipping water at the bar.

So all in all, not a bad week last week even with the dastardly scale numbers, and looking forward to a good week this week.  As always, things might get switched around a bit (it’s looking like it MIGHT be a double-weekday-wine-sipping-occasion on Wed and Thurs with events so I may move the runs and day off around) but I’m feeling good about being able to keep my burning and earning in line pretty well this week before Sunday.

How’s your week looking?  Stay tuned in the next day or 2 for some big changes (well, for me) on the goals front.

Pics today from ihasahotdog.com since I had the opportunity to play with a bunch of cute goggies this weekend and it was happy. 🙂

…is how I’m getting through the last 15 minutes of the day.  Just letting you know where I’m at mentally so you can excuse the absence of any cohesive thought.  Dropping by to simply let everyone know that I have not abandoned the blog to go live in a hippie commune or anything.  It’s been a good, but busy week, so I’m going to leave you with a numbered list of random things as I like to do when my wits are not about me.

1.  This was a post this week that made me think – Charlotte at the Great Fitness Experiment ranted and raved about hating food.  While I don’t agree with her vehement hatred of food (mine is more of a love/hate relationship…), I totally understand the sentiment.  It definitely takes a lot of finagling and negotiation to eat like a healthy human without being a social outcast or having willpower of steel.  It’s so hard to know with all the research out there what to do.  Live longer by starving yourself?  But wait, overweight people live longer too.  I think the key is to figure out what works for you without making yourself too crazy, and hold onto it tightly.  I’m at a point right now where I can quantify what’s working.  I just need to keep going.  This is just as easy and terrifyingly difficult as it sounds.  I think this is worth a post in and of itself later, but who knows when I’ll get to such things…

2.  I am also experiencing that magical day of the month where I’m tired as hell on 9 hours of sleep, grumpy, feel (and I’m sure look) like I’m smuggling a watermelon in my belly, and just want to lay on the couch.  Of course, since it’s Friday, I have a full day of work, then a 10k run, abs, and then a bbq to run off to tonight.  I’m thinking a compromise – workin’ it out on the arc trainer instead of pavement pounding in the 85 and humid weather, and seeing if’n I perk up a bit later or if not – the commute is easy home from next door (it’s nice to have cool neighbors that like to hang out).

3.  Normally, you would think that a rest day combined with a large hamburger and fries would be bad.  Usually, I can tell when I make a bad body decision, and this was not it.  I’ve been very “ying” lately – eating rabbit food, moving moderately for decent amounts of time every day… I ate that WHOLE burger and LARGE order of fries and sat on the couch all night and got my “yang” on and my body felt WONDERFUL.  Today, I’m back at it, but sometimes, you just need what you need.

4.  Of all the things that I have been slacking on lately, it’s water consumption.  I’ve been finding that I’m at about 20 oz by the end of my work day because I forget to fill my water glass again.  I really need to be better about it.  Doing good today though, at least 8 glasses down by the end of this big cup.  I can’t think of the last time I’ve actually had to be conscious about hydration…

5.  Our iguana is doing much better!  She’s been to the vet for checkups every week, and they say she is healing nicely.  She should be able to get her “cast” off the stitches in her hand next week so we can give her baths again (which she will be sooooo happy about), and where they opened her up to scoop all her girly insides out is also healing well.  She has been eating now like it’s her job to get fatter (and that also means pooping like a champ).  I can’t wait until we can bring her out and play with her again and let her run around the house like we used to.

6.  Plans for this weekend: tons of yardwork Saturday.  I was feeling pretty bleh about that until I found out how many calories various yard worky things burn and I got excited.  Yes, something is very wrong with me, I’m aware of that.  Hopefully something superfun Sunday but nothing planned yet.  Rock climbing?  Epic walk?  Just vegging and seeing a movie?  Who knows.

7.  I finally went shopping!  I purchased one long sleeve green tie dye tee I loooove, a new black tee that fits properly (since I have one that’s a wee bit too small and one that’s too big), a new pair of pinstripe pants (to replace the ones that I shrank out of 2 sizes ago), a pair of brown pants (which are my new faves – can you say HOTASS? …and Mrs. Fatass, I’m totally thinking of you here with this usage).  I purchased a new pair of brown platforms which are about 4.5 inches tall, fairly comfy, and I love them.  I also found a replacement pair of black comfy-enough-to-walk-a-mile-in-but-dressy-enough-to-wear-with-anything shoes.  THOSE were hard to find.  The only fail?  I bought my first pair of skinny jeans, and tried to apply boots on top of them?  The legs are too baggy.  So back to the drawing board there.  I love the waist/butt part so I have a feeling they will become the comfiest pair of cutoffs I have ever worn come summer.  Can anyone suggest a brand of skinny jeans (I’m talking skintight here, no slack on the legs) that doesn’t expose my naughty bits because they’re cut so low?  Just below the waist please.

8.  It’s vacay season coming up!  I’ve had a long hard 7 months with nary a vacation, and I’ve got quite a few short jaunts coming up.  Next weekend, we head up just outside Dallas for the Warrior Dash, then going to stay the night at a hotel in Dallas somewhere for some wining and dining and general pamperage.  June is South Padre Island for some waterpark, watersports, and good times.  July 4th weekend is driving to the Ozarks for a friend’s wedding and weekend of revelry.  Mid Sept is another jaunt to Vegas.  Then, we take a little break, and there should be a cruise in there sometime in the winter.  Yeah, it’s not the honeymoon in Europe I was thinking, but it will tide me over until we have time for that…

I think that’s about it.  Have a great weekend!  What’s up in your neck of the woods?  Hate food?  Love vacations?  Have any skinny jeans suggestions for me – seriously, I’ve been looking for a year…