Adjusted Reality

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

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Wanderlust on the cheap – 10 ways to vacation on a budget

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On August 23, 2017

In Uncategorized

Ah, it’s about to be vacation season.  I’ve got four camping trips planned from now until December, and I’m waffling back and forth on what I want to do for my actual VACATION vacation (requirement: must include scuba diving, snorkeling, and awesome photo opportunities).  This year, I’ve already been on a cruise to the Carribean with my folks, spent a week in the woods, plus a five day trip to do IM Texas in April.  I have the wanderlust and I have it bad.

The company isn’t quite so colorful at home.

I drop probably more than my share of income on it, but I also buy all my clothes from a thrift store and hang onto things until they are so worn out they’re not useful.  It’s one of my priorities.  I don’t remember most of the crap I’ve bought in the last 10 years, but I have vivid memories of my vacations.  I can be underwater with pretty fishies in blue water, which is not something I can do at home.  I can completely relax and let go, which is hard to do at home with one more chore or to do and the internet and the television all handily accessible.

I’ve made the mistake of thinking everyone is like me, but I know differently now.  I know some people who go five or even ten years without taking a vacation.  I’ve heard tell of people, ADULT people, who have never left their hometown.  I’ve also known a lot of people who only vacation to visit family or friends.  While that’s a wonderful thing, I love family and friends, and for those of you that aren’t (or have a spouse that’s) allergic to anything with fur, it can be a much cheaper option to get out of town for a bit.

However, you can miss out on some of the things that make a vacation a vacation.  You can’t completely let go and unwind when you’re staying in someone else’s guest room that’s going about their daily lives.  Also, unless your family is in Hawaii or Iceland, or somewhere else that you’d actually WANT to vacation, it’s really a visit.  Which is cool.  But it’s not a vacation.

What, your first idea for an excursion in Alaska in September ISN’T snorkeling?

How many new experiences would I have missed out on?  If I didn’t travel, I would have never been motivated to learn to scuba dive, which is now at least my third favorite hobby and one of the motivating factors on where I choose to roam.  I would have never climbed to see one of the most beautiful sights I’ve ever seen, Hanging Lake, or ran up a mountain in Juneau.  I wouldn’t have scaled the Colorado National Monument or up the Klondike Highway in Skagway (ok, partway…) on bikes.  I wouldn’t have snorkeled in Hawaii, Alaska, or any damn where you put an ocean or even a mildly pretty lake.

I love food and drink.  If I didn’t travel, I would have never had a REAL Belizian meat pie.  I would not have a sick obsession with Publix subs.  I would have never eaten Nepalese food in a little town in Colorado.  I would have never known the joy that is bean, bacon, and cheese breakfast tacos cooked over an open camp fire in the morning.  I wouldn’t have sat in a swim up bar in Jamaica drinking boozy banana drinks. I would have never had an (in)famous hand grenade in New Orleans and I would never have tried the fast food restaurant Krystal after having a few too many of them.

This is the stuff of dreams right here.

“Hey,” you say, “I get it, I want to travel!  But money’s tight, y’know?”

I got you.  If there’s a will, there’s a way.  Here’s ten tips to make travel more affordable/better so you can get the heck out of town and still have enough money to enjoy yourself.

1. Plan your trip when the air fare is cheaper. I am notorious for taking my vacations in early December because travel prices are at rock bottom.  We usually cruise in early March before spring break or on mother’s day weekend because it’s affordable.  Generally, if there’s a big holiday/event coming up, 2-3 weeks BEFORE and AFTER is the best time to travel.  Are the kids in school? Probably cheaper than spring/summer/winter break.  For those of you that have kids: I know my parents busted me out of school for vacations.  You’ll travel cheaper AND you’ll be your kid’s hero.

2. If you have set dates, consider being flexible with your destination.  For example, I knew I wanted to take a vacation for a specific week in December out of Florida.  Instead of doing a Key Largo trip (over 1000$ just for the condo), we took a cruise instead (less than 1000$ for both lodging and food and entertainment).

Condos are awesome because you have extra space and you can also make homemade meals from local food that look like this…

3. Consider staying at a condo/house rental vs a hotel. Consider SCVH for car rental. Typically for the same prices as just a single room or maybe a little bit more, you can get a full kitchen, living room, patio, seperate bedroom (or two), a washing machine, and sometimes other cool amenities like a grill, a bike to ride, or even toys/games/dvds.  Besides being awesome for comfortability reasons, the grill/kitchen means you can cut down on food expenses.  While I love experiencing the food a location has to offer, I’d rather just have an easy breakfast and sometimes lunches I make at home.  And there’s nothing better than grilling some fish on the patio of your condo (that you biked a mile up the road to purchase from a fish market on the water)!  Some of my most memorable Key Largo meals were cooked that way.

4. Some things pay to book in advance, some are left best to the last minute.  For example, if you want to do a cruise excursion with the ship, book it ahead of time and it will cost less.  But, for the cheapest option, show up on the docks with cash and haggle.  It works the same way for vacations – usually planning ahead will save you money, but if you can be impulsive and flexible, you can get some super great last minute deals (for example, a 10 day South American cruise for 299$ per person is happening right now 😛 – and yes, that is room AND food for 10 days…).

8 days in Bonaire, because we were flexible about the time of year and the days we traveled, ended up being less expensive than two long weekend getaways somewhere in the states.

5. Taking your vacation in larger chunks will save you money.  If you take one two week vacation, vs four long weekends, you’re saving 3 round trip flights (or you can go somewhere four times as cool!).  Booking a condo for a month is sometimes just a little more expensive than a week.  If you have the flexibility, go long!

6. A lot of times, the direct flight option, if there is one, is the cheapest (plus you get there quicker, so its a win win).  Always search for the direct flights and then compare it to the cheapest (and see if it’s not worth spending a few extra dollars to take it to actually be on vacation a little longer).

And being here longer is typically better.

7. Consider the RELATIVE cost.  A cheaper flight leaving a day before means another night at a hotel.  A more expensive hotel room in the city may mean you can use public transport and save on a rental car.  A more expensive hotel room with a free breakfast means less meals out.

8.  A great way to “sample” a new area is to combine 2-4 seperate destinations that are nearby.  Cruises are great because you spend about 8 hours in each port.  Some, you don’t care to return to (Grenada).  Some, you fall in love with and spend a week there (Bonaire).  You can do this on land by hitting up a few different towns in the same region.  For example, we did a weekend in Portland, took a bus and spent a few days on the Oregon Coast, and a quick cheap plane flight took us to the Bay Area before we headed home. It would have been WAY more expensive to do these as three separate trips.

I got to wear a jacket in July and kiss crabs.  The Oregon Coast was surreal!

9.  Leave and come back on Saturday if that’s an option.  It’s usually one of the cheaper days to fly, PLUS you get a full day off to decompress and unpack (if you work a typical schedule).  Tuesday and Wednesday are generally the absolute cheapest but that means you have to split up a week off which can feel like you get less time off.

10. Super broke but still want to get away?  Go camping!  A weekend pass to a campsite is about 30 bucks (for improved camping with power and water).  Even if you have zero gear, you can rent a tent from REI for 40 bucks (or buy a super cheap one but I DO NOT RECOMMEND that – rent or buy a good one, but I covered that here), an air matress is 20 bucks, stuff to light a fire is 10 bucks, and from there, all you need is hot dogs, makings for smores, and a case of cheap beer and you’re set!

Not a bad view from your patio for 20$ a night, hmmm?

It’s easy to talk yourself out of taking a vacation.  The actual TRAVEL part of traveling is a hassle.  Then there’s packing, getting everything everything at home and work taken care of while you’re away… and it costs money, no matter HOW great of a deal you get.  I promise, it’s worth it.  Go forth and vacation (cheaply)!

Coming ’round the bend

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On August 21, 2017

In Uncategorized

It’s the little things and a few moments in time and measurements in fractions of inches that are going the right way that give me hope that maybe my crazy plans are actually working.

It’s exhausting work chasing this guy down….

Saturday, we did a slightly longer version of our Pain Cave brick workout from last week.  20 mins warmup, 6x 5 mins steady on the trainer/.25 mile on the treadmill at somewhere around 5k speed, 15 mins cooldown.

I can tell you how things didn’t go as planned that day.  I was tired and didn’t set an alarm and woke up after TEN AM.  The treadmill crashed down off the two by four it was propped on and scared the ever living crap out of me on the second interval. I’m still getting used to my husband on the treadmill about four inches from my face when I’m on the bike.

However, I can tell you sometime about interval four I felt my legs start to do the sling shot thing.  Instead of taking effort to move my gams from being extended behind my body to bent in front, at that particular pace and time, it was happening via momentum.  Not every time, and especially when I was just trying not to fly off the treadmill into all the hazards elsewhere in the room, but one part of fixing my stride clicked for the first time… at least in years, before I knew what good or bad running stride was, and maybe ever.

I logged 3.5 miles last week at an average pace of about 9:20/mile.  I’m starting to see dividends in my stride and hopefully this continues.

Also, I lived one of my worst biking fears on Wednesday and it wasn’t that bad.  I totally misinterpreted the world and instead of staying put when an ambulance was coming through a busy intersection, I clipped in and started to go.  Once I realized what was going on, I fumbled and didn’t get unclipped in time and went down RIGHT into the righthand turn lane from the lane heading straight.   It was not the nicest commute in the world but my big girl pants were firmly on, so I got up, rode to work the rest of the way, and rode home.  I’ll probably be a little more cautious on the bike for a bit because I am skittish, but I think I will survive.

Other than that, it was a great week, I hit everything I planned to do.

  • 2 swims
  • 2 bike commutes
  • 1 run off the bike
  • 1 brick workout
  • 2 weights

7.25 hours total.  One key was that I hit the swims in the morning.  We’ll see about changing that up once my schedule clears up a little, but once I’m heading home, it’s REALLY hard to motivate myself to take that detour to the pool.

This week is pretty mellow until Saturday, the ride I have been training for, Hotter’n’Hell 100.

  • 1 swim (DONE)
  • 2 weights (with my NEW PLAN)
  • 1 run off the bike
  • 2 bike commutes OR one bike commute and one morning ride (depending on how time crunched/tired we are).

…and obviously riding bikes for 100 miles on Saturday.  I expect it will take us somewhere between 6-7 hours of riding time, and we’ll have 4-5 hours of training on Mon-Tues-Wed and then two days off to rest up.

It’s weird to have a goal “race” that’s not really a race, but just sort of a morning/afternoon party on bikes, but after all the super serious Ironman prep earlier this year, I’m so so so so so good for it!

The iguana and I had very similar dinners that day… we’re both on #teamlotsofveggies

Here we go.  Numbers and stuff…

  • Weight: 185.3 (-2.1) lbs
  • Avg cal per day: 1967(-191) calories
  • Avg deficit per day: -821 (+102) calories/Garmin (538)
  • Macros: 67 (-13)g fat, 190 (-29)g carbs, 106 (-1)g protein, 25(-7)g fiber

Alright, alright, alright.  Finally some progress.  It’s always darkest before the dawn, I guess.  Obviously, there’s still room to be better, I actually overate on Saturday, not just my -1000 calories in fitbit, but my actual calorie burn +200 or so, but throughout the week it evened out.

Just for funsies, I’m going to put the garmin stats on here as well.  As you can see, it’s a difference of about 300 each day, so while on Fitbit, it looks like I should be losing almost 2 lbs per week, on Garmin, it’s got me right around the 1 lb mark.  Hopefully averaging these out over the next month paired with my average weight loss, I can decide which one seems more accurate in the long term.

So, how about quality?

DQ score: Monday: 28.  Tuesday: 25.  Wednesday: 18. Thursday: 30.  Friday: 27. Saturday: 6.  Sunday: 20.  Average comes out to approximately 22 (out of 32).

I’m going to guess that this, the low 20s, is the approximate DQ threshold where I start to lose weight (as long as my calories are in line as well).  I’ve cut out a lot of the negatives (switching refined grains for whole the majority of the time, eating fruits and nuts instead of other snacks, really thinking about sweets or fried food) and working on adding the positives (getting my required 4 servings of veg per day).

I suppose the despair last week and the relief this week is finding something that works that I can also live with.  Yes, I’m pretty certain that giving up all “negative points” foods and alcohol and I would lose weight.  I could probably do that for a couple weeks (while being a shut in) before I rebelled and went on the biggest battered-fried-dipped-in-ranch-frosted food bender with a bottle of whiskey.  I do moderation much better than abstinence.

I’m aware that I can’t indulge every time there is a reason to indulge and get to race weight.  I’ve passed up work pizza and cake this month.  I’ve stuck… reasonably well to the alcohol in moderation thing.  I’ve gotten comfortable with my weaknesses and starting purchasing pre-made salads to bolster my weekend veg content, making healthy deserts that include sunbutter to get some nut action (heh, heh), and keeping more accessible fruits around so it’s just grab, wash, and go.  The sugar cravings are MOSTLY held at bay with energy balls and some dark chocolate on occasion.  Oven fries, garlic pistachios, and popcorn are almost as good as fried fries and chips.

So, let’s say I find the balance and it’s indeed that 1 lb per week.  That’s about 30 weeks until I hit my goal.  Give or take a few weeks for holidays/vacations where maintaining is just fine, thanks, and I’ll be at my raceweight for my 39th birthday.  That would be a heck of a gift to myself, especially if I can do it while still stopping for a beer on the way home from bike commuting on Wednesdays as long as I also don’t eat the fried pepperoni pizza eggrolls from the food truck outside.

Yes, I used this picture before.  Imagine it just as dusty, but the bookshelf organized and the rest of the room you can’t see in serviceable shape!

THE OFFICE IS DONE, Y’ALL!

I didn’t actually take a picture of it because, honestly, it doesn’t look impressive.  When I gave up perfect for good enough, it meant there’s still crap on the shelves in the corner and there’s still a table with stuff on it and four monitors underneath and I still need to hang some degrees and certificates.  But, it meets all the criteria.  Everything has a place and the things that were elsewhere in the house that were supposed to go there are in there.  The closets close.  The floors are clear.  Most importantly, the desks are clear and we have workspace.

I am proclaiming it done, and for the first time in many, many years (maybe since we moved in), we have four usable rooms with a purpose.  This means, as I have promised my husband, that we are taking the entirety of September off house projects (while we gear up for the kitchen remodel).

I’m really proud of the fact that I’ve been able to sit down, write, and have it flow.  I’ve got the rough draft of three chapters written.  About 16k words.  I’m not so naive that I think it will continue like this forever, and I’m not entirely sure what I’ll think of it once it is done, but I’m writing a book.  I’m about a quarter done.  Even if it’s a big pile of dog mess at the end, I’ll have done it.  And I’ll know what to do better next time.  If I can write a crappy book in three months I can write a not-as-crappy book in another three months and then maybe a decent book in three MORE months and by the time a year is up, I have a shit ton of words and maybe something worth publicizing.

Other stuff I did or didn’t do:

  • Put together my weights plan – YEP!
  • Go shopping – NOPE!  I planned to ride my bike but it was literally feels like 110 when I was set to ride up so I took a nap (heat is EXHAUSTING) and we took an Uber instead.
  • Download a new non-fiction book – KINDA.  I’ve got the preview.  I’m going to decide whether it’s worth 15 bucks to me, but if it is I’m going to do it.  It’s just a little more than a movie ticket and will occupy my time longer.  I want people to pay me as an author, so I shouldn’t flinch about the price of a book I actually want to read, right?

And now, it’s a new week.  What’s up?

  • Racing HHH100 and camping this weekend.  Do all the things to prepare, and go have fun!
  • Finish chapter four of my book.  This is potentially dicey due to it being a short week filled with out-of-town prep, but I’m going to go for it.  Hopefully, it flows and I can at least make some progress.
  • Decide on the book and either download it or pick something else off my list (and read, obvs).

And, on that note, off to do the things that make the stuff go!

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Bands and balls and bodyweight, oh my.

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On August 18, 2017

In Uncategorized

Hey, #girlswholift or #boyswholift or #catswholift or whatever – I’m finally changing up my strength training next week and figured I’d share my plan.

Nachocat isn’t really into the heavy lifting.  She’s more into super short plyometric workouts with REALLY long rest intervals.

My goal is to focus on bands and balls this month or so.  I’d love to hit the gym and lift some actual iron, but my schedule right now isn’t making that easy.  So, we grabbed a second set of bands so we can do much more resistance at lower reps (8-12) and start werking that Hypertrophy phase of actually GETTING STRONGER.

Here’s my plan.  These exercises. 2x week.  Either roll through all of them once or twice each session OR pick 8-10 that hit all the spots and do three sets.  Or, I may do them as circuts, pick an leg, core, and arm exercise and repeat three times and then move onto the next.  Or maybe alternate through all of these things.  The first week I’m going to give all of them a try and see how it goes.

Quads:

  • Band Squats (12)
  • Band Lunges (12)

Glutes/Hammies:

Abs:

Obliques:

  • Stir the pots (12)
  • Bicycles (30)
  • Woodchoppers (12)
  • Side plank leg raise (10 sec hold, 10 leg raises)

Arms:

  • Pushups with band (12)
  • Lateral raise with band (12)
  • Rows (12)
  • Overhead Tricep Extension (12)

Between this article on Greatist and Oiselle dozen, this should cover most of the things I’m doing here (but if not, I put links to youtube videos above).

So…

🙂

 

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Second verse, same as the first…

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On August 16, 2017

In Uncategorized

Whew, what a week.  I’ve been trying to put this one together for four days.  I sort of feel like this is one of those COPY PASTE weeks, nothing crazy new and innovative, so let’s just get on with it so we can get back to life, liberty, and the riding bikes, yeah?

My Saturday was better than your Saturday.

Second verse, same as the first… bikes are rocking my world and I actually kind of appreciate my commute now on bike days because it’s a great way to wake up in the morning and unwind in the evening.  The only time I really get *over* biking is on the fourth hour of six hours of riding when it’s over 100 degrees and I need fuel badly.  And then, after a quick stop, I perk up just fine and it’s time for more bikes.  Yay bikes!

Swimming is my procrastination sport right now.  It’s so easy putting off actually going to the gym with extra hours at work so I didn’t go.  At all.  I figured out the way to fix it is to make myself go in the MORNING and I’ve already gone once this week and even did some (simple) sets, so that’s an improvement already.  My paces are definitely not where they were, and my body feels… clunky… in the water, but it felt nice to be doing it.  I know it just takes me about a month of going regularly so hopefully this week is the start of that.

It feels weird to be taking the minimal approach with running, but my average paces were in the 8s and 9s last week (let’s hush that it was 2 miles total).  I’m not sure how long I’m going to give myself at this low volume, but I’m enjoying the fact that I can actually run fast again!  Hopefully this translates to fast and LONGER once it’s time to train for the half.  It’s been a while since I’ve had the luxury to run so little so I’m enjoying it, especially because it’s hot as balls out there.

Soon, I need to start lifting heavier objects than myself.  It’s definitely getting easier and I’m doing this in the right order per my personal training training, but if I want to GET STRONG I need to lift some iron.  Or at least some rubber (use the bands).

Last week:

  • Ran 2 miles
  • 1 stretching, 1 DDR, 1 strength session
  • About 10 hours of riding bikes (185 miles)

For a total of about 11.5 hours.

This week’s plan is much more balanced:

  • 2 swims (1 done)
  • 2 bike commutes (1.5 done, and I don’t have *too* much choice but to complete the other 13 miles unless I take an Uber home ;D)
  • 1 run (DONE)
  • 1 brick workout
  • 2 weights (DONE)

7-8 hours planned (so it should feel like a rest week, heh).

Proof you can find something non-reprehensible for Chinese food!

Food.  Oh food.  I’ve made some strides here but it’s my Kryptonite with a capital K.  I was talking with someone this weekend and how UNFUN it is to lose weight with restricting eating vs being healthy and active.  Bah.  Can we just train for Ironman again instead of this crap?

I’m frustrated and not seeing a lot of progress here, so let’s just run the numbers and move on.

  • Weight: 187.4 (+0.2) lbs
  • Avg cal per day: 2158 (+293) calories
  • Avg deficit per day: -719 (-269) calories
  • Macros: 79 (+21)g fat, 219 (+25)g carbs, 107 (+0)g protein, 32(+5)g fiber

As you can see, it is not my finest week.  Quality numbers below.

DQ score: Monday: 27.  Tuesday: 26.  Wednesday: 32. Thursday: 20.  Friday: 22. Saturday: 4.  Sunday: 26.  Average comes out to approximately 22 (out of 32).

Well, here we go.  First perfect score (Wed).  Actually six really good days and a Saturday that included a lot of junk food.  Because what I put in my mouth seems to take about 3-4 weeks to reflect in my body, I’ll get back to you next month on how this is working… but I’m actually pretty happy with how the averages worked out.

Look at my pretty pretty pain cave! 

Here’s where everything is roses – I’m actually doing really well at making progress with my To Do list.  Y’know what helped?  Making a monthly plan for the rest of the year with the big items.  When I keep freaking out about all the things I haven’t done, I can remind myself that it’s slated for another month and it makes me feel immensely better.

I’m two chapters down in my book and into my third.  I am super excited about this.  Forcing myself to write, and not just write, but write THIS an hour a day has been a great exercise in just fucking starting something.  I have no idea if it’s any good, but even if it’s bad I’ve written about 13k words of bad and any writing is good writing for a rough draft and practice.

I’m worried that it won’t be terribly interesting to anyone or have a broad enough appeal, but I also remember I spend a lot of time reading about military things (because they happen to be in space), which I’m not inherently interested in, in and of itself, but put it on a spaceship, and give it some action and snappy dialogue?  I’m in.  So, the goal is to write it all out and THEN decide if it’s interesting enough for someone who isn’t me.

The light is at the end of the tunnel with the office.  I think giving up the idea of it being PERFECT and just settling for it to be relatively organized and useable was a great decision.  We’re at the point where we have just a few tasks left to call it done.

  • My jobs this weekend: organize the bookshelves, sort out the hats (doesn’t everyone have a hat wall in their office?), and shredding
  • Husband things to do: store the cables, figure out a solution for the file cabinet being full, go through his last bag o crap, put things on printer desk on corner shelf.

At that point, we just need some help hanging a whiteboard and then the office is now… an OFFICE!  And the dream of four usable bedrooms is realized!  And we can move on from house organization crap for the rest of the year.  Is there more to do?  Always.  But I’m so done with it for a while.  Next offseason.

Now the biggest To Do with these rooms is to continue to use them on an ongoing basis so they don’t become places to dump junk again.

And I did these other things:

  • Plucked my caterpillars and gave myself a pedicure.  I is a girl again instead of a hairy beast with claw-toes.
  • Finished How To Start Up which was actually a FANTASTIC read and I feel like I actually have more specific directions with what I need to think about and learn going forward.
  • I looked up cabinet organization, and there’s a lot of really cool stuff at various prices.  At this point, I’m going to need to really think about what size my cabinets will be, and what needs to go where before I jump on anything, so that might actually be kitchen 2.0.  Or at least further in the planning.

What’s on tap this week?

  • Finish the office.  Finish. the. office.  It’s awesome to be able to say that.  Let’s see if I can check it off next week!
  • Chapter 3.  Third verse, same as the first!  I’m picking them not in chronological order, but in order that I feel like I have something to say.  So, at some point, this will get harder.  Or I’ll just keep writing it and it will flow and be done and I’ll be the first writer ever to write a book draft with no writer’s block.  Yep.  I’ll ride that wave of naivety happily until it comes crashing down.  Yes, indeed.
  • Download and start a new non-fiction book.  The one I had on my list next is Daring Greatly by Brene Brown, and it’s hardcover price for the kindle.  I’m having a block on spending 15 bucks for the book in digital form.  Either I’m going to get over it and buy it, buy the paperback instead and deal with it being paper (harder to read in bed which is where I read most of the time), or move onto something else.
  • Shopping!  I happen to have to be at the Domain for a birthday party, so I’m going to head there a little early to see if I can find anything new and exciting to put on my body.
  • Put together a weights plan for the next month.  I’m past the foundational fitness part of the year and I should move onto a bit of hypertrophy (actually lifting slightly heavier things than myself).

So, my question to y’all is: Daring Greatly/other Brene Brown books – a must read or overrated?  Do you have something else I must absolutely read first that is life changing?  Hit me up in the comments.

Everything is not awful!

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On August 9, 2017

In Uncategorized

I feel like the mojo is flowing a bit.  I can’t really put my finger on it exactly what changed from “OMG EVERYTHING IS AWFUL” a few weeks ago, but I’ll take it.

Bike commuting is serious business.  Oh wait, no it’s not.

Training feels back to normal-ish.  No, I’m not hitting every session I want to, but it’s about prioritizing right now, and the important stuff is the bike.  I’m training to survive 100 miles on it two times in the next three months, and also, it’s the longest leg of the triathlon so therefore the most important.  I’ve spent about 6.5 hours cycling per week in the last month.  I’m having the most fun with it, so we’ll call this my cycling year.

That leaves 3.5 hours or less to try and cram in weights, running, and swimming, because I’m trying to not dip into double digit training hours too often.  Especially this month where I’m also putting in extra hours at work.  Don’t want to send myself to the looney bin for no reason, but DANG it’s hard to do all the things.

I’ve been riding long about every other weekend.  This keeps things fun because riding bikes all over is super awesome, while also preventing being stressed about having to spend all day EVERY Saturday dedicated to bikes like during IM training.  I’m hoping that a year of longer rides under my belt will make it easier to ramp up for the next 70.3+ race, and I can definitely say this is the first year that the idea of riding 60-100 miles every 2-3 weekends for the next few months doesn’t sound extremely daunting.

I’ve gotten to the point where running a few miles doesn’t quite feel like death anymore.  Instead of doing the normal thing I do at that point, which is pile on the miles, I’m stepping back and doing the opposite.  I want to do quick half miles and miles off the bike.  I want to do intervals where I bust ass on the treadmill and recover on the bike so I don’t have the opportunity to run with bad form.  I want to run at paces that encourage efficency and good mechanics, not force me back into the marathon shuffle.  I want to sub in Dance Dance Revolution for some run time to build back the muscles that do hops and jumps and make my feet move quickly.  It’s a weird leap of faith but my running is SO back at square one I almost have nothing to lose.

Swimming, we’ll be BFFs eventually.  With work moving, it’s no longer a viable strategy to go at lunch and with extra work hours, it’s really hard to drag myself to the pool at 7:30pm or 7:30am.  I’m trying to make it once a week, and from now on, make some of it count with a little speedwork even if it’s just aqua-fartleks in the lake (that sounds even dirtier than running fartleks).

Last week’s totals:

  • 2 bike commutes – 3h45 for about 50 miles
  • 1 open water swim – 16 min/800 yd
  • 1 30 min dozen + some weights session
  • 1 quickie brick (10 min bike/1 mile run/5 min bike/.5 mile run)
  • Jack’s Generic Tri.

6.5 hours total.  Story of my life: wanted to do one more swim and run, but either lost motivation, energy, or willpower.  It’s all good.  We’ll call it a mini taper.

This week’s plan:

  • 2 bike commutes (ONE DONE) + a ~80 mile long ride Saturday
  • 1 quickie brick (DONE)
  • 1 pool swim with some toys and speed sets
  • 2 strength sets (ONE DONE)
  • Try to run a little mileage anytime I get a chance.  Even if it’s half a mile.  Just to practice my stride.

The bike miles are going to take up most of my training time this week and that’s totally alright.  Next week will be more balanced.

Last week has been brought to you by the letter B – bourbon, bowl of veggies, and bikes.  Much more of the bikes and bowls than the bourbon…

This is the first week I can really say that I feel like I’m hitting my stride here as well.  Since it’s still the part of the process where I’m establishing habits, I’m just going to repeat my August goals here:

  • Eat a giant rainbow salad every day (even weekends) to get my four servings of vegetables easily.
  • Eat fruit and nuts as snacks instead of crap (and on weekends, BEFORE I reach for anything that’s crap).
  • Aim to get my diet score over 20 every day (even on the weekends).
  • Measure out my drinks BEFORE I drink them at home.
  • PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT I PUT IN MY MOUTH ON THE WEEKENDS.

I was not perfect, but I was much, much better than I have been in years.  Let’s roll with the numbers and see how I did.

  • Weight: 187.2 (-1.5) lbs
  • Avg cal per day: 1865 (-226) calories
  • Avg deficit per day: -988 (-26) calories
  • Macros: 58 (-20)g fat, 194 (-8)g carbs, 107 (+1)g protein, 27 (-5)g fiber

There was a little guestimation on my part here.  My fitbit decided to die Sunday and also I got a little lazy about tracking food over the weekend, and the length of time is inversely proportional to the amount of little bites of food here or there that I remember to track.  Also, interestingly enough, garmin runs my calorie burn for the day about 400 lower than fitbit, consistently.  So, I’m thinking that being just a little over 1k deficit on fitbit is probably no big deal and I bet with the way I actually lose weight, the garmin numbers are more accurate.

So, that’s quantity.  How was quality?

DQ score: Monday: 30.  Tuesday: 25.  Wednesday: 24. Thursday: 26.  Friday: 24. Saturday: 19.  Sunday: 13.  Average comes out to approximately 23 (out of 32).

I’m super excited about all this.  When you focus on eating good food all day it’s pretty easy to get these up numbers up there.  I’d like to thank giant mixing bowl sized salads for keeping my veggie count up, popcorn for being an awesome whole grain snack, and alcohol for understanding we need our boundaries.  We can still be friends, I just need a little space.

This week’s goals are try to do as good or better than this week.  So far, it’s looking solidly in that zone.

Look at this beautiful usable room!!!

I just want to give myself (and my husband) a huge freaking fistbump about our accomplishments this week:

  • Second coat of paint and trim on the shed. (DONE)
  • Put all the things in the shed that need to go in the shed. (DONE)
  • Clean up the workout room now that the only thing left in there is workout things.  (DONE)
  • If I have not heard back from the doctor by Friday call and get my internet chart thing set up. (DONE)
  • Spend at least 5 hours focused on my book this week.  (DONE)
  • We also squeezed in some fun stuff – gaming with friends and we saw TWO movies (Wonder Woman and Valerian) before they left theaters.  They both rock.  I recommend!

I didn’t touch the shed myself but I did other chores to free up Zliten to be able to work on that, so it works and I’ll count it.  There are probably other things we can find to go in it, but all the things that were in the way are now in there away.  We took about an hour on Saturday to finish the Pain Cave and it’s now awesome and useable (did our first workout in there yesterday and I’m loving it).  Now, it’s time to focus on the office.

I got my e-chart set up and realized I really don’t have time with work and training this month to make it into the doctor’s office during business hours without it being a huge drag.  So, I’ll set up an appointment for sometime next month when I’m working less.  Still, I put my big girl panties on and called and now never have to talk to anyone ever again!  Wheee!

Most importantly, I finished the rough draft of one full chapter of my book.  I’m actually probably the most excited about this.  If I can keep up the momentum, I’ll have a full rough draft done in 3 months.  That wouldn’t suck at all.  Obviously, I’ll still need to edit it and then figure out what the heck to do with it, but we’ll let winter me figure that one out.

So, let’s roll.  What’s on tap this week?  Because I have an entirely jam-packed Saturday planned (80 mile ride, social bike party, comedy show), I know I need to keep this reasonable.

Body maintenance – I need to pluck the caterpillars, and redo my toes.

How to Start Up – I started this book and I am SUPER excited to read it but it’s not something I can fall alseep to.  I need to carve out some time that’s not 30 minutes before I need to be zonked.

Remodel research – I keep saying I want “Ikea Style” cabinet organization.  I should look into exactly what that means and costs.  I should probably consider the rest of the plans as well.  October will be getting here sooner than we think, and it’s pretty much our window to get this done this year.

Chapter 2 – I’m hoping to have the same progress – another chapter’s rough draft – done this week.  The ball is rolling and I’d like to keep it moving along!

Office – we’re going to hit it hard next weekend, because it’s either then or over Labor Day and I want to reserve September for FUN STUFF because it’s been a summer of chores, feels like.  However, bonus points to any work we can get done this week.  If I can manage to keep Sunday’s other to dos to a minimum, we can get a little done here.

And now, time to stop writing about doing things and go do things.  Novel concept, eh?  What is YOUR absolutely most pressing thing on your TO DO list?

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About Me

I'm a video game producer and a lover of anything game related by trade.  I'm a triathlete by hobby.  I live for being on or in the water as much as I can - scuba diving, snorkeling, paddleboarding, water slides... you name it.  The dichotomy between my outdoor and indoor realities are interesting, but they're all mine!  Longer version here...

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