Wednesday, May 24, 2006

Runnin' On Empty

Lots of things to talk about. The first is yesterday's 6 mile run. Here's the deal: I am embarrassed to say it, but during my marathon training, I GAINED weight. That's right...I'm out there running 18, 20, 22, 24 miles at a time...and running a total of 6 days a week...and I gain 5 lbs and can't get it off.(By the way, 5 lbs makes a big difference in how I look). I was constantly starving. And I also had the "I just ran 20 miles, I can eat whatever I want" attitude. I tried to cut back and take it off at times, but I would end up hungry and weak during runs....even with Sport Beans and a fuel belt full of Gatorade.
So now that the marathon is over, I declared that I would take atleast the 5 lbs back off....and I'd like to take off 10 lbs. That would get me to the weight where I have felt really good in the past. All this being said, I have restricted my calories...restricted my fat intake....and somewhat restricted the carbs, but not really...I still eat lots of fruits and veggies....I haven't gone overboard or anything, but I've gone back to eating salads most of the time for lunch...taken out ALL fast food(except for the occasional pizza that is unavoidable when you have 2 little boys and spend most afternoons at the baseball field)...and tried to reduce my portions. So, I've lost about 3 of the 5 lbs. Great! But when I went out and ran my 6 miles at lunch yesterday after having a banana for breakfast, I could barely make it. My first mile was great, like 8:39, the second was 9:07, and it went down hill from there. The 6th mile was 9:59 and I felt like I could barely turn my legs over. I ended up finishing it in 56:34, a far cry from that 9:00 minute pace I wanted. I ate a decent lunch and dinner, no sweets, and was still pretty tired this morning when Michele and I did a bike/run brick. I am having a hard time finding the right balance to create a calorie deficit that will get rid of a few pounds without effecting my performance so much. I bought some Zone bars at Wal-Mart last night, and I'm thinking that may be better for breakfast than just a banana. And I've got some Hammer Gels ordered, but I have a hard time wasting calories on those. Any and all advice is appreciated!!

Now, about the brick that Michele and I did this morning. What a beautiful morning to be out riding throught the country! It was a bit cold, and we didn't even get out of the parking lot until I decided to go back to the car and get my arm warmers. And I was too lazy to hunt for socks in the 4 baskets of clean laundry this morning so I decided to just go without them. Needless to say, I didn't regain the feeling in my toes until I was in the shower afterwards. Ugh. So we did 20 miles in the country and saw some interesting sites. A field full of llamas, like 6 houses in a row of dogs on the loose in all shapes and sizes, and a beautiful sunrise that we had to turn around to view because we headed west when it happened. I really wish I would have taken my camera on the bike, but I'm not that good yet.
I know what to do to make sure Michele places at her upcoming tri - just bring a big dog and let it chase her the whole way!! We were riding along and she sees the dogs and all sudden I feel like I'm sitting still...she left me in her dust! Oh, and after getting back onto the highway, we did one encounter one pathetic female who thought it necessary to drive as close to us as possible and honk in anger. WHATEVER. I like, never, ever give the finger to anyone...but something took over at that moment in time and forced it upon her...right in the middle of town with other cars around. I was embarrassed of myself...and just hoped no one in those cars recognized me!!! When you feel like your life is in danger sometimes you do things you wouldn't normally do, I guess. So we ride 20.06 miles in 1:16:30, change into our running shoes and take off.

We had originally planned to run 3 miles, but our time was running out, so we opted for 2 miles. Ouch...this transition hurt worse than it did last week for some reason. We ran the 2 miles in 16:32 - 8:16/mile and got a small but steep hill in that was painful over by Sage's house. I was tired and glad to be done. I am also glad that I actually get to go out and have lunch today with Holly since I don't have to workout on my lunch break. We're gonna have Mexican Food (no wonder I can't lose any weight, right?)...mmmm!

I now have like 420 miles on my Ascics Gel Kayanos that I wore in the marathon and for most of the training. I have a new pair of Mizuno Wave Nirvanas on the way, so expect a retirement post for these shoes soon...I looked at them today and almost go emotional. :)

Here are more photos from this morning:

Michele's new sticker on her van
Michele running on the greenway
Me running on the greenway

Bo before preschool this morning

8 comments:

Michele said...

Did you HAVE to post that running picture of me??? You could have at least noted that I had been wearing a helmet. And talk about gaining weight, I can tell I have put it on, just look at those chins!
Thanks for the good workout this morning, sorry we had to cut it short.

Brooke said...

1st: Bo is so cute
2nd: You look pretty good already, I wouldn't sweat those extra lbs.
3rd: Since you will sweat them anyway, seeing as how we are women and that's what we do. I know you are limiting carbs, but how about adding a half a bagel and some reduced fat peanut butter (you get used to the taste, trust me) to your breakfast. The protein and carbs will get you through the riding and running portion of your day. Spend the day with water or some other type of beverage. The water will help you to feel full.
Good luck!! I am on that weightloss journey myself and after 10lbs, I have hit a plateau.

Garou said...

Granted, I am a guy, so take this with a grain of salt, but you may not actually want to lose the extra pounds. I too gained several pounds during my marathon training, but my body fat (which is more important) went down. You're exercising and building muscle, which ways more than fat does.

Do you know what your body fat % was before you started training? If not, try getting it measured - you may not need to lose the "extra" pounds; in fact, doing so might mean that you are actually losing mostly muscle tissue, which certainly won't help your running.

Afternoon Tea With Oranges said...

Oh, by the way...for anyone who may be wondering...

Bo isn't holding a purse. It just hit me that it looks like he's holding a purse. No - that's the strap to his guitar that he was taking to preschool that day. ;)

Garou said...

I figured he was just holding something for you, or bringing it to you. My son is currently in the stage of "helping daddy", and so often brings me his diaper bag, my wife's purse, his bag, etc.

Rice said...

The Ga'P' Got to love it. Great photos..

Cheers.

Rice.

Rae said...

Great pics!! I don't think you need to lose any weight at all!! Maybe try some extra weight training/pilates to mix it up some?

Your little boy is SO cute!!

LeahC said...

love the pics...and bo...oh so cute.