Adjusted Reality

“Reality can be beaten with enough imagination.” – Mark Twain

Month: April 2011 Page 1 of 2

Clarification and Concentration

Just an addendum: a week after the first tri of the year, and I’m feeling warm and fuzzy about it.  I’ve reread my race report a few times and it might slant more negatively than I’d like.  I nitpick, because I want to get better, not because I have any qualms about my rock-itude.  The coolest things are that what I didn’t rock at as much are easier things to get better.  Trying to take 4 minutes off my run time is a lot of training.  Trying to take 4 mins off a 6 minute botched transition just takes some practice.  Trying to get faster at swimming is hard.  Figuring out a good spot to start in and doing it just takes a little confidence.

I think it’s kinda a metaphor for life – I almost think I’m fixating on this damn 20 lbs because just about EVERYTHING else in my life is awesome and perfect and wonderful.  I’m out of the evil cold time of year and it won’t be back for a long long time, so that’s happy.  We have so many awesome things on the schedule to do, it’s like the spring of AWESOMETASTIC AWESOMENESS.  I couldn’t even have imagined that my life would be this perfect, having the most wonderful husband in the world, balancing a great job at a successful company making what feels like silly money for what I do, and also being able to pursue a hobby like triathlons/races.

However, I’m not entirely sure I possess the gene needed to feel simple contentment.  Not that I don’t relish and cherish what I have accomplished, but as they say in West Wing, it’s always about “what’s next” for me.  One of my great joys is to sit in the sun after race days with my champagne and deconstruct the highs and lows and analyze the race.  Note: It was SUPER awesome to be able to do that WITH Zliten doing it for himself as well.  While we didn’t complete the tri together (as in side by side), it was still a shared experience because we both traveled the same epic bike hills, swam the same course together, and ran it into the finish line together.

We are very likely (aka – I have the green light but haven’t quite hit the submit button) going to be doing the Lake Pflugerville Tri (500m swim, 14 mi bike, 5k run).  My A goal is 1h30.  Not going to lie, I would have to have a STELLAR day to get this but it’s within the realm of possibility.  My B goal is under 1h40, which will be about the same paces as this one (but 200m extra swim, 3 extra bike miles, and 1 extra running mile so still an improvement).  My C goal is 1:51:15.  My first tri was 1:51:16 and the only difference is that I have about 2 miles extra to bike.  If I can’t beat my first tri with my big ass heavy bike, something is wrong.

This week starts the 4 week countdown to my 5k, and thus – speed/hill training.  I probably won’t do any more than 4 mile runs until June, but the goal is to do them FAST.  It is such a different mental state to run a 5k all out than a half.  There is a lot of time to correct in a half.  It is essentially a dull, elongated discomfort that grows over the 2 hours.  A 5k is about 25 (hopefully) minutes of searing, white hot, intense pain.  If you mentally break and slow down, there is not much time to make it up.  Half marathons have a nice warm up period where you can settle into a pace.  5ks ARE my normal half marathon ramp up period.

I miss being able to knock out a comfortable 5k around 27 mins though, so it’s time to get back to that.  I’m pretty much making the call to stretch my speed comfort zone and let the distance zone shrink a little (continuing my base of being able to complete a 10k in 10 min miles) as I seem to be focusing on these sprint tris and shorter races and am kinda liking it.

Foodwise, I took the week off both tracking and just ate my normal healthy version of normal, and unfortunately today I’ve gained all but 1 of those lbs I lost 3 weeks ago.  Today, back to my crazy no salt no sugar no meat/animal products no nada to see how quick it goes back away.  I think I’m at the end of my rope with having tried everything here and need some professional help.  I think I’m scared though.  I think I’m also frustrated that I was SO GOOD at losing weight 2 years ago, and now I SUCK at it.

It also took me a while to get my workout mojo back after the tri.  Monday, I just walked 2 miles.  Tuesday, I walked 5.5 miles.  Wednesday, I did a circuit workout for about 30 mins and just about died.  Thurs, I just took off because my head wasn’t in it.  Finally, I got to the gym Friday and had both a kick ass 18.1 mph bike hill workout, and an easy but swift 30 min mile in the pool.  Saturday I ran outside in the 87 and sunny weather and both enjoyed it (happy warm weekend sun running rocks) and almost died (I am not heat trained or distance trained right now so I was very worn out at the end).  Sunday I got in the pool for the first time in about a year that didn’t involve me swimming laps (just swimming with my rents outside enjoying the sunshine) and it was kinda awesome.  But weird.  But more awesome than weird.

This week, the goal is concentration on eating clean and awesome feel good food (no artificial sweeteners, no sugar, low salt, mainly fish/chicken/etc) when I can, keeping the calories in check, and starting my journey to being a speed demon and add back some weights (40 pushups should not put me out of commision for half a week, thxuverymuch).

Food: Mon-Wed 100% cleanse food, Thurs – Sun 1 meal off plan, 2 on

Workouts Planned:

Monday- sprints + crunchtime
Tuesday- bike + swim
Wednesday- 5k tempo outside (morning), weights evening
Thursday- off
Friday- bike + swim
Saturday- HELL RUN!
Sunday – off

Races Upcoming:

Hell Run – Apr 30
P5 Swim/Run – May 5
Gladiator Games 5k – May 21

Not Yet Signed Up for But Likely:
Shammies and Koozies (25 mile bike/river float) – June 11
Pflugerville Tri – June 19

I think I have lost my mind with all these crazy races, but I love it.  After June it gets insano hot here so the races will likely calm down a little – but who knows.  I do have a 5k goal and there are tris a plenty out there until October so we’ll see.  I still can’t believe that when I started this blog 2.5 years ago, I had never done nor really considered doing a race.  Now, I’m heading out this weekend for #20 (and that’s only counting official ones where I’ve gotten a time, add a few more).  Mind = boggled.

Rookie Tri – Or Thrice Trying A Tri

It was on my list of possibles, but I had written it off.  I figured I’d get complained at if I suggested a tri so early in the season.  Also, you never know with the weather here – it could be in the 30s or the 70s at 8am on an April morning.  However, Zliten got all geeked up about it after hearing someone mention it at the gym a while back, and we signed up that night.  So we trained and toiled and Zliten even said about two weeks ago he was doing this stupid race and then never doing another one again because he was sick of training and hated having to go to the gym so often.

Enter the day of… the alarm went off way too early at 5am, but we got our butts going (actually had about 6 hours of sleep, and had slept well all week, so I was ok – Zliten had been super nervous and maybe got about 3 hours max, he was less than thrilled).  We asked my parents to go with since it was Zliten’s first tri so they could get pictures.  Speaking of less than thrilled, they were NOT huge fans of the experience, 5:30am wakeups made them grumpy and I can tell they didn’t really enj0y it for the most part.  If it was ever more convenient, perhaps, but I think they figured they were off the hook on going to my sporting events once I became a grown adult (they were at most of my gym/diving meets through high school) and I respect that.

Pre -Race:

Anyhoo, we got there, got body marked, got our transition sections set up (they had assigned racks so we didn’t get to rack with each other), and ran into a few people we knew.  We didn’t really have time to get any sort of a warmup (note to self – bring two pairs of shoes next time, one to warm up in after transition is set up), so we just kinda stretched and wandered around and tried to keep my parents amused.

They finally made the call to let us get in the water around 7:30 for a quick dip and I went into my knees.  Not NEARLY as bad as I was expecting.  Maybe it had warmed up from the week before, maybe it was that it was warmer than the outside temp, but that was one major source of worry for me alleviated.  We then downed our redbull shots, listened to the pre-race briefing and the national anthem, and then the waves started.

Swim:

I was in the 8th wave, which was the second non-open wave of women (30-39 Veterans – aka at least our 3rd tri).  I got in the group when we had about 2 before us, and chatted with some peeps.  However, that kinda distracted me because once we got in the water, I literally found myself mid pack in the middle.  Ugh.  It made for a really bad start, it took me half the short swim to find some space to actually swim instead of paddle, I got water in my goggles, and got kicked and kicked a lot of people.  I guess I was really spoiled with the small starts at the last 2, but this was definitely what everyone complains about when they bitch about tri starts.

It took the first half of the race to find some space to swim in, and I found that my goggles sucked and were taking in water, so I wasn’t able to settle into a stroke until I turned the last corner, though I was totally vindicated by passing a crap ton of people.  I was expecting to do the swim in about 5-6 mins and it took me over 7.  Doh!

Transition 1:

I got out, got on my sandals, and ran all the way up the hill, and started my transition.  Dried my feet super quick, my trick laces made my shoes go on super quick, and then tried to put on my new race belt with my number.  And it ripped.  Hooooly crap.  I tried to repin it, and it ripped again.  I tried to repin it again, and it ripped again.  I spent way too long trying to figure out what to do, and a race volunteer reminded me I didn’t need it until the run, so I just threw on my shirt and left it.  I put on my sunglasses and then helmet.  I couldn’t get the helmet on over the sunglasses.  It took a few tries to get them to fit with my helmet, which was weird.  I got my garmin on and started out of transition.

Bike:

I mounted my bike and a volunteer stopped me.  I had my freaking helmet on backwards.  Argh!  So I had to stop, get off the bike, fix my helmet, and then go.  By that time I was just so frazzled that I had botched the swim and botched the first transition that I was feeling shaken.  That, in turn, after I settled into the bike, made me fucking pissed off.  I decided instead of the strategy of saving energy for the big hill at the end, I was just going to blow off steam and pass anyone I could.

And I did.  I’ve been training to rock the hills, and I got used to saying “on your left” as people slowed down to climb, I sped up.  The miles went quick.  As shaken as I was on mile 1, by mile 4 I was feeling awesome and confident.  I was often looking down at my pace and it was under 3 minute miles (aka – over 18 mph).  Sadly, I passed someone that was lying on the side of the road and needed medical attention (the ambulance had just arrived).  I hope they ended up being ok!  I did have to get off and walk briefly when I slowed way down to round a corner and then there was an immediate steep uphill, but all the people that passed me chugging up that hill I passed within a mile (I think).  I figured the slowdown of a walk would save my legs more than trying to power up it.

That big hill at the end?  Ended up not being a big deal.  It was tough, but with 9 miles of warmup, I got through it, took a quick recovery, and then started jamming into the bike finish and getting mentally prepared to run.

Transition 2:

Another dumbass moment – I couldn’t find my rack with my stuff!  At least an extra 30 secs/1 minute trying to locate my towel.  Grrr.  Once I found it, I had to deal with my number again (just pinned it to my shirt with the 2 pins) and then I was off!  Except for the mistakes, I didn’t lag too long.  I was READY.

Run:

Again, was a little shaken due to the transition, but I got it together quick.  I was very happy that the first quarter mile was downhill to get the bricks out of my legs, but then we ran back uphill.  The first half mile went VERY slowly, but I settled in just under 10 min miles.  Anytime I looked and was going over, I sped up.  After the greak fartlek run earlier in the week, I had planned to go fast/slow/fast/slow in intervals, but when I tried that once, I ended up not being able to speed up that much again, so I just tried to hold a pace instead.  I was very happy that you could see the finish for the last third of a mile, so it kept me speeding up until I sprinted into the finish pumping my fist in the air while they called my name.

Splits:

Division Place (Vets, 30-34): 20th/33
Total Time: 01:17:43 (7:43 over A goal.  Pretty close to B goal of around 1:15-1:20)
Overall Place: 285/406
Gender Place: 92/162

Swim Rank: 268/406
Swim Time: 7:14  (fail – A goal was under 5, B was under 10 with transition.  Next time, to the front of the pack – I have the skillz to keep up with the age groupers here, just need the confidence – or at the very least to one side)
Swim Pace: 2:25/M

T1 Rank: 392/406
T1 Time: 06:30 (fail – will work on this next time)

Bike Rank: 254/406
Bike Time: 42:32
Bike Speed: 15.8mph (A goal was 40 mins/around 16mph, think I might have hit it if I didn’t have to dismount and fix my helmet.  B goal was 45 mins with transition which I did.  CHECK!)

T2 Rank: 280/406
T2 Time: 02:04  (Could be better)

Run Rank: 277/406
Run Time: 19:21
Run Pace: 9:41/M (A goal was 9 min miles, B goal was under 10 min miles.  B goal CHECK!  I need to speed train more to get speedier runs again)

Parting thoughts:

-I will diligently practice the transitions before the next one.  I could have EASILY taken about 5 mins off that time simply by transitioning better.

-I will have the confidence to push my way up to the front next time.  I am a strong swimmer.  I can keep up.

-I will continue to kick ass on the bike and train hills the way I have.  It was my strongest leg this time, whereas both tris last year it was my weakest by far.

-I will speed train 5k distances again to the point where 27 is a fairly easy 5k on rested legs. 9 minute miles should not be this unattainable.

-If I was a rookie, I would have placed 13th out of 40 in the same age division.  Without the rookie/vet distinction, I would have easily placed in the top half of my age group.  For someone who finished both tris pretty close to the bottom last year, that felt AWESOME to improve so much.

-I may stick with sprints instead of pushing to do an olympic.  I feel like I have a lot more ass kicking I can do at this distance!

-Plus – this was Zliten’s first one, and he LOVED IT!  He’s hooked.  He said it was the most fun he’s had at a race!  This makes me so happy (especially considering how blah he was about it two weeks ago), and we will likely be signing up for another soon!

Any other super cool tri stories?  Who out there has tried a tri?

Things I Have Done Lately: Warrior Dash and Du Loop 2011

Each weekend in March, we had BIG PLANZ.  This is my account of the second half of the month.  Goodbye birthday celebration and hello fun races!

Warrior Dash – March 19:

We woke up around 7am, got our superheroness on, hopped in the car, and started driving to Conroe, TX.  At least this one was right off the freeway, not in the middle of nowhere.  We passed by some sort of bike race on the way, and it was pretty cool, it even got me kinda more excited for ours.  It was a gorgeous place – everything was so green and lush.  It was definitely a little… bible-belt-y up in there.  It was pretty much church on every corner, Christian Automotive, Christian Books, Christian Grocery Store (ok maybe not but ya know…) – definitely a little different than Austin.  When our fabulously flamboyant hotel clerk found out where the race was when we checked in later, he was like, “how, erm, progressive of them” considering the race was pretty much about mud and beer.  Just a little different than Austin.  It trips me out that different parts of Texas are so… Texas.

Anyhoo, we got to the race after getting a little turned around as to where the actual parking lot was, and had to board a shuttle to get to the race site proper.  In school busses.  Total warrior style!  Once we actually got off, we realized that we left the sunscreen in the car, and didn’t have a lot of time before our wave.  Bummer.  We just decided to snag shade when we could (which there wasn’t much) and not stay too long (didn’t work either).  Got through packet pickup, got our bags checked, and switched my tshirt for a kids L/adult XS – and it was PERFECT.  One of the very few race shirts that will be anything but pajama fodder.  XS all the way from now on…

We got the last bits of the costume on and as we walked to the starting area, the wave before us was taking off.  We hung out for a bit in the shade, and then once the starting line area started to fill up, we headed to get into the pack.  Our goal was to go hard and see if we could beat 40 mins.  The countdown started, the flames went off, and we started.  It was hot, the course was a BMX bike track so it was ridiculously hilly, and some of the obstacles were killer.  However, we stuck together and we ran it harder than we had ever ran before, and got muddier than ever.

Unfortunately, since the course was the hardest yet, we ended up around 46 minutes.  Oh well, next time!  Totally proud of our performance, and it was DEFINITELY a slow course.  The winning woman was at 25+ minutes – they’re usually in the high teens.  We also ran it closer to the front because we didn’t get caught behind all the walkers who take their time with the obstacles, thus creating a long line and gumming up the works.  Never had to stop, we definitely stayed ahead of the curve even if it was the worst time yet.  Obstacles included the wind tunnel, sliding down a muddy cliff (on my ass… in a running skirt… didn’t think that one through… and, erm, there were dirt and sticks UP IN THAR gettin’ jiggy), the tunnel of darkness (and stinkiness and heat), rope climbs, and of course the traditional leap over the fire, and the crawl in the mudpit under the barbed wire.

After the race, we got a gigantic mug of beer, chilled on the grass, watched finishers and rocked out to the band.  Unfortunately it was also in the sun so we did get some wicked sunburns.  It was a very pleasant and awesome afternoon.  Someone even proposed on stage!  After a while, we boarded the bus and headed back to our car and drove on out of Conroe and to our hotel in downtown Houston.  We got our room, showered, dresssed, applied a crap ton of aloe and makeup, and headed out on the town.

We walked about a mile and hit up the Aquarium restaurant.  When we got there it was a gigantic tourist trap and a huge wait.  I almost thought about telling us to go elsewhere, but we cozied up to the bar and had a few drinks and an appetizer.  A huge plate of fried seafood – calamari, shrimp, crab dip, and bruschetta.  Considering all I had was a little breakfast and a few snacks, it sure took the edge off.  In that light, I decided to get a salad instead of something heavier.  Honestly, though, I could have been eating twigs because our seats were in front of a 200k gallon aquarium with lots of awesome fishies.  I may or may not have chased a manta ray around the tank after dinner.  I felt like I was about 5 years old and I didn’t give a shit.

After dinner we used our phones to locate a dive bar (that’s kinda what we were in the mood for) and found our way to Warren’s Inn.  A charming old bar that was all regulars and while it was a little the scene of the piano stopping, record screeching, and everyone looking at us when we entered, the barstaff ended up being very nice.  The bartender was awesome, poured us drinks that were pretty much ice, jim beam, and a splash of diet coke for color, and as soon as we sat down, the “bar mom” kicked someone out for having sex in the bathroom on his birthday.  It ended up being our only stop for the night, we didn’t move until we left around last call.  Since it was the bartender’s birthday, we tipped him 50 bucks.  He made our only night in Houston way fun.  We were pretty soused but we made one more stop at the hot tub before passing the heck out.

The next day, we got up right at checkout time, and it took an hour to get our car out of valet.  At least I finished my book though!  Then we drove out of Houston and to NASA!!!  I had been looking forward to it mostly because Zliten wanted to go SO BAD and it would be adorable to watch him be all giddy.  However, I had SO MUCH FUN!!!  It was so cool to get the tour and see all the amazingly cool SPACE STUFF.  I touched the moon.  I walked through Skylab.  I learned a lot.  I figured we got there around 3, and we’d be over it in an hour or 2.  Well, we were the last people in there after 7 and we wished we had way more time.

However, we had to go home, so we stopped for a quick bite at Panera and then started driving back.  We got home around 11:30pm – drive was very uneventful, we were pretty much exhausted, and crawled into bed right away as it was back to work the next day!  Awesome, awesome weekend.  Houston reminded us of San Diego – while Dallas didn’t impress us (though we didn’t see all that much, so we’ll give it another chance), I’d definitely go back to Houston.

Du Loop, March 26th

Another weekend, another race.  We packed up the bikes and the camping equipment and headed out to Flatonia, Texas, to our next door neighbor’s friends property.  We got there around 1pm, set up our tent and camping area, had a little lunch, and relaxed.  This is my kind of camping – we’re set up about 5o meters away from a porta potty, and just about as close to a hot tub.  We have a double thick air mattress, comforters, and an ez up for shade.  Not to mention – there is actually a house on the property.  Yep, my kind of roughing it.

It was getting HOT.  They had moved it from April to March this year in hopes of it being cooler, but by the time it approached 4, it was pretty close to 90 and humid.  Happy fun race weather.  I headed out for a mile on the bike to get my legs warmed, changed into my race clothes, got my icy camelback on, had my last porta potty pee (best line for potty potty ever – there was none!), and headed for the pre-race briefing.  At about 3:30, we thought there was going to only be about 5 people, but everyone got there at the last minute and we got up to about a field of 25.

In a true Texas race fashion, we had the national anthem (not a singer like last year but still a nice touch), and we were sent off on the run with a shotgun fired in the air.  I went out fast, but not too fast, pacing around 9 minute miles, and even found someone to follow who was right about there.  I kept on her heels for about 1.25 miles but then the uphill started and the heat was getting to me, so I fell back to around 9:30s.  I hit the turn around, and when I hit the next hill, it was more like fighting to stay under 10s.  A while after we passed mile 2 it flattened out and the end was in sight, so I crept closer to 9s again.  I passed a few people, sputtered a bit at the end (the course was .15 miles longer than a 5k and that honestly threw me), but got on my bike and out quick. 29:12 for 3.26 miles (9:01 pace overall).  Was hoping for 27, but considering the heat of the day, I’ll take under 30.

Thankfully, the first section of the bike course was flat so I caught my breath while not being a complete lag ass, and by the first turn around about 1.5 miles up I felt good.  I booked it on the flats, tried to go as fast as possible on the downhill parts without freaking out, and did my best to power up the hills.  I’m extremely proud of my time – 31:36 for just under 8 miles.  Over 15 mph pace – my fastest outdoor pace ever.

That pace took a lot out of me, so I was barely moving for the last 3/4 mile trail run.  I didn’t walk, but I did run at about an 11 minute mile pace (8:31 for .77 mile).  I was sweaty, tired, and hurting, but I ran it in for a total time of 1:14:27.  Over 4 minutes faster overall!  My goal was just to beat my old time.  Considering it was my first outside hard run since I hurt my back, I was pretty stoked.  Even though I ran it slower, I made up that time and more on the bike.  Yay!

I ended up first in my age group (of 2), and I was so freaking proud of Zliten!  He didn’t finish DFL!  He beat someone!  He had a really strong race… I hadn’t even cracked a beer yet when he transitioned from bike to run this year!

We had the awards ceremony, we had more beers and margaritas and dinner and hot tubz and discussing life and future drunkenly under the stars, and then actually a very comfortable sleep.  It is always so great to reaffirm that my best racing years can be ahead of me – considering the gal I was trying to keep up with (and failed) is about my mom’s age and an ultramarathoner.  In the morning, we packed up, and went home.  Good times.  Can’t wait until next year – maybe next time I can actually keep up with Patty on the runs.  I just know my goal will be at least 1:14:26.

Just a Quickie

Don’t have all that much time, but I figured I should probably post somethin’.  Here is what is rockin’ my world this week.  What’s not rocking is some extra hours at work (surprise shanghai 10 hour days out of nowhere) but things seem to be simmering down now so I can’t complain too much.  Hell, I make video games – life can’t be too tragic, right? 🙂

Eating Good Stuff:

So I broke down the new diet into things that have been hard for me to give up…

Not so hard: sugar.  If I don’t eat it, I don’t really want it.  I had a desert on Sunday at a dinner party and it was no biggie not to have it before or after.  I don’t think I eat enough sugar regularly to make a difference here (beyond when I notice I’m eating a little every day and have to detox).

Sorta Hard: Meat.  While I’m inherently not a huge meat eater, and could probably be pretty happy eating fish most days, my Zliten isn’t, and I’m not really ready to make the having to eat separate things jump.  I don’t think chicken is an issue, so I’ve expanded my clean eating to include chicken and turkey (not lunchmeat).  Red meat is a sometimes thing (not on totally clean days).

Sorta Hard: Wheat.  I thought it would be harder, but being able to have sprouted grain bread and corn tortillas kinda saves the day.  Again, at home, it’s fine.  Out, of course, too much trouble most of the time.

Sorta Hard: Eggs.  I don’t like eggs, but eggs are in a lot of things.

Kinda Pretty Hard: Cheese/Milk.  I do love cheese.  Don’t really care for milk but it’s in a lot of things.  Mostly, I miss this in the sense of having cheese or dairy sauces.

Kinda Pretty Hard: Artificial Sweetners: Seriously.  I really miss my occasional diet soda and/or sugar free popsicle.

Hardest of ALL: Still salt, and salty sauces.  It’s getting better, but this is REALLY my detox.  I’m coming up with creative ways to put more flavor in food without salt, and I think my tongue is adapting to liking lower sodium things, however… SOMETIMES YOU JUST NEED A LITTLE SALT!!! ARGH!!

The verdict though – week 1, I started at 174.6, had a low of 168.0, and weighed in a week later at 171.8.  Which means a total net loss last week of 2.8 lbs.  Score!  Week 2, I of course started at 171.8, and am back to 168.2.  We’ll see what the rest of the week brings but I can’t complain.

Workouts:

It’s taper week, since I have the tri this weekend.  So, the workouts have been on the order of shorter and faster.  Monday, I was BEAT so I listened to my body and rested.  Tuesday, I kicked ass on some bike intervals and swim intervals.  Today, I did an outdoor bike and run, short and fast.  Tomorrow, a mellow swim, and Friday running intervals just to keep myself loose.  Saturday rest and then Sunday… it’s rock and roll time.

I’m totally ready for the race, but I’m a little nervous simply because the water is going to be *so cold*.  At least it’s only 300m.  Pie in the sky goals are 10 mins for swim + transition, 40 min for bike + transition, 18 mins for the run.  More likely, add about 5 mins to the swim,  5-10 mins to bike, and 2 mins to run.  Really, I’ll be happy to pace over 15 mph on the bike and under 10 min miles.

It’s on peoples.  I feel good, my body is all clean eating-ified, and I’m tapering well.  Should be a great weekend!

And now, I’m too tired for the good kinda quickie, so I’m just heading to bed for some sleepy sleeps (part of taper week is also seeming to be 9+ hours of sleep per night – but who am I to complain?).  Night all!

p.s.  I know I owe race wrap ups, and perhaps some of you might be interested in more types of cleanse food.  Posts coming.  I promise.  I’m just a flibbertygibbit and posting about whatever flies into my brain.  Deal. 🙂

Veganism with a side of fish and yogurt…

So I’ve been taking about a fruit and veggie cleanse and all the vegan lifestyle information I read on https://yourveganadventure.com/ are very helpful.  I decided to go with THIS ONE as it honestly seemed sane, had enough things on it that I could eat and continue training.  While you may gain spiritual enlightenment fasting for 7 days, it’s probably no bueno two weeks before a race… and ain’t I just about always two weeks before a race?  Here’s my riveting moment to moment account of what I did/ate/thought/weight dropped below.

Sunday: Got food, cost SLIGHTLY more than normal at store but not much, and not outside the realm of reasonable.

Monday: Got on scale, weighed – 174.6 ugh.

Breakfast – 1/3 cup plain oats, 2/3 cup plain greek yogurt, half an apple chopped up, a generous drizzle of honey.  This was FUCKING PHENOMENAL.  I could eat this every day.  Approximately 260 calories, 13g protien, 65g carbs, 2g fat.  Also had lemon tea with a small squish of honey (included in calorie count above).

Lunch – 1 can albacore tuna mixed with some hummus, celery, and onions with 3 rye crackers.  Mixed greens w/onion, tomato, bell pepper, cucumber, celery, pepper.  Topped w/1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, garlic, dill, pepper, and white wine vinegar for dressing.  Rest of apple for desert.  Approximately 500 calories. 50g carbs, 18g fat, 39g protein

On a scale of 1-10, I’d say about a 5.  The dressing was MUCH better than I expected (although if I do this again, will probably go grab some balsamic), and the prepared hummus saved me (which wasn’t on the list, but wasn’t explicitly forbidden) because the idea of mixing my tuna with greek yogurt just grossed me out (I’ll try it sometime when I won’t completely ruin my food and be screwed if it’s yucky).  I didn’t miss the prepared dressing, cheese, or olives as much as I thought, but I DID miss something creamy to hold the tuna together.  And the wasa crackers tasted straight like cardboard, so, while I’ll try rice cakes too, I’ll be happy to at least get my sprouted grain bread back!

Afternoon note: Really struggling – what do you do that doesn’t involve artificial sweeteners or sugar to take care of your onion breath?  I wanted gum badly.  Bottle of peppermint extract at the desk?

Snack 1: Got kinda ravenous around 3:15 – had some wasa crackers and hummus and about 1 cup of baby carrots.  Hummus saved the day here.  Will need to get down with figuring a good no salt hummus recipe.  Had an orange about 2 hours later.  About 170 calories. 49g carbs, 2g fat, 6g protien for both snacks

Workout: Did a 50 min bike ride outside.  Went really hard up the hills.  Both dailymile and spark agree on about 600 calories burnt

Snack 2: After workout rice cake. 60 calories.  Brown rice rice cake yummy.  THIS is what I will be eating tuna on 😛

Dinner: lemon pepper mahi mahi, brown rice, mixed veggies.  Something I normally eat, but usually drench in teriyaki sauce.  I definitely missed the sauce, but a little extra lemon pepper made it alright. About 400 calories. 49g carbs, 7g fat, 33g protein

Late night thought: Really wanted more food since I couldn’t have my normal soda or popsicle or anything for desert but I’m just going to bed.

Monday total: About 1400 calories total. 214g carbs, 28g fat, 92g protein.  Right in line with what sparkpeople says I need to have, besides the fact they want me to have more fat.  And considering all the fat I really am having is fish and olive oil, I think 28g is pretty good!  Tomorrow, I’ll nom some unsalted nuts.

Slept 9.5 hours.  Could have been the fact it was cold, or I had a nice hard bike ride outside, but maybe I slept longer because of the food? Hmmm…

Tuesday: weighed in at 172.0.  Getting better, 2.6 lb drop in one day is pretty good (especially since I am eating plenty of calories, I know it’s not starvation).  Still feeling very good.  Don’t feel like I could eat this way forever, but not feeling deprived.

Breakfast: same as yesterday.  Still in serious love with it.  While I’ll be happy to change it up with something else once in a while, I could eat this a LOT and it’s pretty cheap considering (2 bucks for oats to last me a month, 2 bucks for honey to last me a month if not longer, 7 bucks for a greek yogurt tub that will last me all week, and apples are about 1.50 a lb).  Less than 2 bucks per day! See calorie count above.

Lunch: black bean soup (from a box, I cheated, but the grocery store didn’t have fresh made soup like it suggested).  Veggieful salad (same as yesterday) with pico, a little hummus, greek yogurt, and shrimp. Apple for desert.  Totally full after, but only 300 calories.  Must snack a lot this afternoon.

3pm snack: 100 calories of unsalted nuts.  Geez, that’s not a lot of nuts!

4pm snack: 1 wasa cracker, carrots, and hummus.  About 150 calories.

6:30pm snack: rice cake – 60 calories

Workout: 20 mins swimming (don’t have the distance – but maybe 1000-1200m? Just slow and steady), 23 minute 2.5 mile run.  Felt very solid here.  Spark says about 550 calories.

Dinner: shrimp stir fry with rice noodles.  Olive and sesame oil, ginger, garlic, crushed red peppers, white pepper, black pepper, a little dash of a chili honey stir fry sauce that didn’t have sodium.  Veggies included broccoli, carrots, celery, onion, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, and snow peas.  I caved and put a little lemon pepper seasoning since it had just a TINY bit of salt and that made it better.  Above all, I haven’t missed anything so much as the SALT.

I can go without sweets, even artificial sweeteners and it’s not bugging me so much.  I can go without meat, the fish/beans/nuts are working pretty well to fill that void.  While I would probably go batty without access to some sprouted grain bread or corn tortillas, I’m doing ok.  What is killing me is the sauces.  All I needed tonight was some teriyaki.  Or some soy.  Or some sesame ginger stir fry sauce.  I was hoping drenching it in oil would help, and it did a little, but I needs some salt, yo.

I think this is going to be a lesson – be conscious of salt (ugh, one of the three things I said I wouldn’t do.  It went give up booze, give up salt, give up carbs – the trifecta of things I wouldn’t do unless someone told me I was going to literally die if I didn’t).  While this is a bit over the top, I can make do with a lot less.  The lack of bloat and puffy I’m feeling doesn’t lie. About 600 calories, 59g carbs, 28g fat, 18g protein.

About 1400 calories, 209g carbs, 44g fat, 59g protein.  Hit all my numbers minus 1g below minimum protein req.  Slept about 8.5 – 9 hours.

Wednesday: Weighed in at 171.0 (-1 for the day, -3.6 overall)

Breakfast: same as before, and still in love (see calorie count above).  It boggles my mind that I’m ok eating the same foods over and over for breakfast, but get antsy when I don’t vary my lunch and dinners.  I think it’s that I think of breakfast as fuel, and lunch and dinner as experiences.  Hmmm…

Lunch: leftovers from shrimp stir fry (see yesterday’s calorie count – I literally took the food, split half into tupperware, and ate).  Still lacking sauce, but still pretty yummy overall (shrimp didn’t nuke all that well).

Snacks: Had an apple around 3pm, and a rice cake around 6pm.

Workout: Did my longest swim to date. 2.27 miles (200 laps or 4000 yds or 3657 meters or 3.65k) in 70 mins.  IM.  Yeah, that includes a decent amount of freaking butterfly.  I’m pretty sure this was another good testament – if the diet was making me weak, I’d probably be suffering in my workouts by now.  Not so, I even feel “lighter”.  As if it is less effort to move my body.  Sounds hippie dippie trippy, but I just can’t explain it any other way.  Spark sez about 950 calories burnt, I’m calling shenanigans, but I’m guessing 700 wouldn’t be out of the question.

Dinner: cheated a LITTLE because they didn’t expressly forbid corn tortillas but didn’t mention them either.  Also, used canned beans that ended up being a little saltier than I hoped.  However, tilapia seasoned with garlic and spices (we basically deconstructed the taco mix ingredients and nixed the salt), black beans, hot pico, and cilantro made 4 amazing tacos.  I figured I’d miss the cheese, olives, sour cream, and extra hot sauce, but I totally didn’t.  This is much win, and I’ll make these again exactly the same (maybe with a little greek yogurt for some creaminess – would have tried it, but I left it at work). 475 calories, 77g carbs, 7g fat, 37g protein

Total for the day: 1400 calories, 214 carbs, 37g fat, 70g protein.  Just a wee bit low on the fat.

Thursday morning weight: 169.6 (5 lbs lost overall.  Yeah, you read that right.  I’m kinda in shock too.)

The verdict…

YES!  This seemed to help some of the bloat issues I’ve been having.  My laptop is resting more on my hip bones on my lap, not my poof.  It’s been a while.

YES!  This took off a lot of weight quickly.

YES!  I feel amazing.  Full of potential energy (but not hyper), full of athletic capacity, not as if I’m starving myself, and basically, what my body needs.

NO!  I will not continue this cleanse as is indefinitely.  While it’s awesome taking weight off this quick, I can’t imagine going through life with this strict of a diet 100% of the time.  I definitely have a new appreciation for veganism, because this was no gluten no wheat  low sodium veganism with allowances for greek yogurt and fish.  No dairy, no eggs, no meat, nada.  Y’all have to navigate around a lot of crazy to get a good balanced diet, and I respect that challenge.

YES! I need to lower my salt intake.  To be honest, I had less of a problem giving up wheat/gluten and meat besides seafood than I did the prepared sauces and just SALT.  I thought the bread would be killer, but what’s a sandwich without mustard?  Srsly.

YES!  Next week, I’m going to try M/T/W again with some changes – add chicken/turkey (not lunchmeat), add sprouted grain bread, and adding sauces/dressings/foods if they are below 5% of the daily sodium allowance (and stick to one serving if they are).  Pretty much – see if my body tolerates the white meat and sprouted grain ok, and also just try to limit sodium to normal human levels.

YES!  I’m getting a goddamn hamburger and fries today for lunch.  For breakfast and dinner… I’ll probably stick pretty close to zee rules.

NO!  I’m not sure why I am continuing the YES! and NO! but I’m going with the flow.  Erm. Yeah.  Continuing on.

Some things that didn’t make the consumables list for future food ideas:

rice cakes with beans and pico and greek yogurt (veggie “tostadas”)
rice cakes with tuna salad and veggies
rice noodles w/olive oil, garlic, and pepper w/lime, ginger, garlic, and cilantro tilapia and veggies
shrimp, roasted potatoes w/olive oil, herbs and peppers, roasted veggies

So, I have lots of questions.  First of all, think I’m crazy?  Any low sodium fish/veggie based recipes you’d like to share?  Have you ever done a “cleanse” or just gone all “super clean eating” up in your grill for a while?  Any tips for making food not taste like ass without a lot of the other white devil (some of you may crave the sugar, but I swear, I would have been willing to lick a sweaty person’s face to get some of the salty stuff yesterday) or navigating restaurants trying to be low sodium?  Wanna congratulate me for almost swimming the ironman distance last night?  Hit me up.

Next post is the Warrior Dash and Du Loop wrap up.  Just got the pics today from the latter.  Pinky swear.  No more incessant diet ramblings until next week.  Ta ta internets!!!

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