Pavlovian Response

Sometimes you just gotta roll with the punches.  On the heels of my two epic ride/runs last week, it was time for something completely different.  We started the new gym on Monday.  In some aspects, it was great.  I finally have a pool to swim in regularly.  Yoga, spinning, and weights classes have been fantastic.  They provide towels and everyone is very very friendly.  However, the whole 30 minute limit on cardio equipment is a huge buzzkill.  As well as said cardio equipment being older than sin (though they are replacing about half of it within the month, so I can’t bitch too too much).

My instincts told me to try out what the gym does WELL otherwise I would be completely dissatisfied, so my workout schedule was completely different than normal.  Even though calorie-burn wise it was definitely not my norm, my body feels WORKED, because it was all something different.  I haven’t lost any significant weight since I started at the old gym.  Maybe encouraging different types of workout will help.

However, I gotta get through the next few months before really giving that a go.  It was a nice break, but I’m 2 weeks out from my sprint tri and less than 2 months out from my olympic, and in 3.5, another half marathon.  Once it gets temperate again, it won’t be as important to have cardio equipment, but it’s going to be MAJOR important for this second tri.  So I’ll be keeping my 10$/mo gym membership at the cheap gym for the time being.  Zliten didn’t get a chance to check out this gym much because he got sick this week (boo), so I don’t think we’ll be signing up right away.

So, we’re down to t-minus 2 weeks and I need to get back to tri prep.  I just did a practice tri at the gym and knocked it out of the park.  I know I have the endurance, I just need to work out some of the details.  At least one run outside.  At least one bike outside.  At least one open water swim.   I know I can swim 500m, I know I can bike 12 miles, I know I can run 5k – I can do it with my eyes closed.  I just need to make sure that I remember how to do that in the hot Texas summer sun.  It’s hawt.

Sugar Rush:

Instead of fro yo, Zliten picked up some ice cream at the store.  It may sound gross, but I had about a cup of mixed java chip and mint chip and it was SO YUMMY.  But I felt SO YUCKY after.  I feel kinda grody today.  Every time I think about sweets today I just get….uck.  It’s totally a Pavlovian response, I know I LOVE me some ice cream and my mouth waters for it, but my body cringes.  Maybe I need to learn how to make some low sugar healthy type ice cream?  Anyhoo, the upshot is… I’m totally fine waiting til the weekend to have any more sweets during wedding celebrations part 2 time, if I even want any, and I will save the fro yo until after my tri unless something else sounds yummier.

Today is day 5 of no fried foods.  Last thing I had was half a cheese stick.  This is way easier since I hadn’t been in the habit of eating fried food all the time – just hadn’t made an effort to NOT eat it when it’s around.  I’m not going to really miss this or crave it probably for about 2 weeks, or until someone orders one of those great and terrible bar plates and wants to split it with me.

Weights and Measures:

I’m back to weighing most days and I’ll be reporting the lowest and highest weight each week.  I accidentally forgot to count calories the last few days, but I’ve been hanging tight around 1300 post exercise calories, so that works.  I’m not going to stop it long term, so I’ll be back to it Monday.  As much as I’m a little disturbed how high my weight is right now, nothin’ I can do but slowly chip away at it.  So there we go.

Weeklies:

Monday: bike 9 miles, run 2.3 miles (700)
Tuesday: power (weights) class, 30 min swim, 1 mile run home (700)
Wednesday: 35 mins arc trainer, 60 mins yoga (600)
Thursday: 60 min spin class (600)
Friday: off
Saturday: 2 hours DDR (600)
Sunday: swim 1/2 mile, bike 12 miles, run 5k (1100)

Average consumption per day: 1687
Average burn per day: 614
Average net per day: 1072
Low/High Weight this week: 162/164.2

A little low, but I seem to be doing ok since I wasn’t doing a lot of high intensity workouts. Next week is mostly focused on getting those experiences I need to feel ready for the tri.  I’ve got a LOT going on so we’ll see how it plays out, but this is the plan:

Monday: 30 min swim (350)
Tuesday: 5k run morning, group power (700)
Wednesday: open water swim (450)
Thursday: 12 mile ride morning OR spin class after (600)
Friday: 5k run, 30 min swim (750)
Weekend: outside bike ride one day (600)

Priorities: 1 open water swim, 1 run outside, 1 ride outside.  The rest is gravy.

Just in case you all are curious, I’ll post my eating plan for the week here too.  Mostly because it’s a good reference for me – but I know I love getting ideas from what other people eat.  This week is a little different than normal because we have out of town guest coming on Thursday, but here it is.

Sunday:
turkey/cheddar sandwich, carrots, watermelon
shake and bake, taters, broccoli

Monday:
chicken caesar wrap, side salad
fish rice veggies

Tuesday:
Fresh Choice (salad bar)
baked chicken parmesan w/fiber pasta, side salad

Wednesday:
pb honey strawberry sandwich on sprouted grain, side salad
canned tuna, mac and cheese, w/a buttload of frozen broccoli

Thursday:
turkey/cheddar sandwich, carrots, apple
out

Friday:
pho
chicken/beef tacos w/beans

Saturday:
out/scrounging

So, how’s your week looking?  Undertake anything that scares the heck outta you lately?  Any foods where your mouth says yes but body cringes even before you eat it?