The Rules

If you've been reading this blog for any length of time, you've noticed that I have a set of rules that I follow when I am "on track."

They include:

• No breakfast at fast food places.
• No eating out on weekdays.
• Three liters of water a day.
• No more than two diet cokes a day.
• Exercise 5-6 days a week.
• A daily calorie intake that concurs with my desire to lose weight (the actual number varied)

In the past, having these rules worked well for me. They gave me boundaries. When I stuck to them, I lost weight.

However, having these rules has drawn sharp lines in my life.  I'm either succeeding, when I'm following the rules, or failing, when not following the rules.  Success leads to feeling confident, in control, happy.  Failure, well, failure sucks.

How did my confidence and my happy become about whether I follow a few rules that I set for myself? Why did I draw these lines in the sand?

I realize I need to lose weight and that I set these rules to help me with that.  But they've become too all-important.  So now I'm going back to the drawing board to figure out what being healthy is all about.  And I'm thinking it's going to more than just a set of stupid rules that I find hard to follow.  I'll let you know when I figure it out.

Let's Talk about Bikes, Baby

This was a biking (cycling) kind of weekend.

First, Friday night I went to Rock Hill's new velodrome. As far as I can tell, a velodrome is a bicycle track that has embankments all the way around. Check out these pictures.

(in this last pic, they are starting on the rail.  It's either that or they start at the bottom and an official has to hold their seat to keep them upright until they get to actually start going.)
Anyway, I went to watch the races, not to participate. I don't think I ever want to try it. You have to pay money to get certified to ride on the track, but plus, it just goes around and around.(I think the announcer said it was a 1/4 mile track) And it looks scary to ride with a group.   But it was fun (and free!) to go watch and I learned a lot about bike racing, so that's a plus.  They have races every Thursday and Friday night, with the more experienced racers going on Friday. Just, you know, if you get some hankering to watch bike racing, now you know where you can. Rock Hill is a town of many wonders, truly.Saturday morning, I set out to ride farther than I ever had before. I ended up riding more than 17 miles, which turns out takes you really far. I just kind of left home, cycled out about 8 miles and turned around came back with some detours to up my mileage. Turns out you can go far! I went all the way to the edge of Lake Wylie (where it touches Rock Hill), which really impressed me.I think I could really get into biking. It's fun, it's challenging, but it's not impossibly hard. And you get to see lots of things. Not well as you could if you're running, but better than when you are in a car.Saturday afternoon I had to swing by the bike store to pick something up and one of the guys there recognized me from the races Friday night.  So I got to meet the guy who was winning a bunch of the individual races that night. It was like a mini-biking celebrity encounter for me.
So anyway, I've been living a bike-tastic life lately and it's not been too shabby.  Thought I'd share.  Let me know if you want to come watch some high speed bike racing with me sometime!

Exercise Plan These Days

I still have my eye on the June 9 Tri Latta as my next race.*  Training for a sprint tri is not as hard as you might think (because the distances are really short), but it does mean I need to get regular workouts in three different sports in.  It can make scheduling difficult, even though I'm not following a particular training plan.  So here's the plan I worked up for this week and hope to follow for the next few months.

Top priority: run/walking three days a week, Monday/Wednesday/Friday

This is what I look like when I
run in the winter.

I'm still not running well enough/far enough to be happy.  This is my weakest area, and therefore gets the most number of workouts per week.  This week I resigned myself to running inside on the track (never the dreaded treadmill!) if it's too hot.  While the track doesn't have the rolling terrain and the weather elements of the outdoors, it's better than nothing. If I can, I'll save my runs for after work and go outside.  But when that's not a possibility, the track at lunch is better than nothing.











2nd priority: bike twice a week: Thursday and Saturday

This is what I look like when I
bike in a race.

 I got in some quality cycling last week in Birmingham, so I feel better about this then I did.  I'd still like to build up my distance some as my longest recent ride is 14 miles and the tri is 17.  Most, if not all, cyclists will tell you that 17 miles is nothing, but I think it would boost my confidence to know that I've already done 17 before race day.  On Thursdays, I'll be riding during lunch, and I won't be able to do more than 9 or 10 miles. So on Saturdays, I'll try to bike further.











3rd priority: swim once a week: Tuesdays

This is what I look like when I swim
next to my friend Bryan in a kayak.

Swimming, while not to be ignored, is the easiest for me to pick up and go do if I haven't been in the pool in awhile. It also only constitutes about 15-17 minutes of the actual race, whereas I'll be biking for over an hour. I do need to keep it up at least once a week, though, so I can keep up my endurance and teach those 750 meters who, exactly, is the boss.





However, do you know what's missing from this list? Strength training.  I'd also like to fit in two short strength training sessions (like 20 minutes) each week.  I will either handle those after work  or after my lunchtime runs, as the runs are usually pretty short workouts. I haven't been strength training regularly since October, which means I really need to get back into it and I need to ease back to it so I don't hurt myself.


Obviously, this is plan not set in stone**, as if it looks like rain on a Thursday or Saturday I'll have to switch up the biking with something else. But I'm glad to have a plan.  Even if you're not in training for anything particular, it's helpful to schedule your workouts so you can't skip if you just don't feel like getting your sweat on. What's your workout plan look like right now?

*Although I reserve my right to wait to register until the last minute, when I know whether or not I can run a decent amount of 3.1 miles, if not the whole thing.
**Technically, I've never set anything in stone as I don't have a chisel or large, flat stones for writing on.  But you know what I mean.

Thankful Thursdays: May 16

It's that time again...thankful Thursday is here and it kind of snuck up on me this week. Here's some reasons I have to be thankful:

This week has gone by super fast and been super productive.
Does everyone experience the same phenomena that when you miss a week of work and come back, you're swamped?  Even when you have wonderful co-workers covering for you?  I do.  But I've been coming in early and working hard and I'm knocking things off my list left and right. It's a good feeling.

I've been cleaning out my fridge and cupboard this week.
I've been too busy/lazy to get to the grocery store since coming back from my parents, so I have been eating out of the abundance of food that is in my cupboard instead.

For my car.
For real, I think I've listed my car on a Thankful Thursday before, but GeorgJetta's been a real trooper of late.  I appreciate her.

For half decent runs.
I've had to run inside on the track at the gym twice this week, because it's been too hot outside. And I've stepped back to week 4 of the C25k program, but still I'm sticking with my plan to run/walk three times a week and I have faith that I will someday be able to run 3 miles again.  Someday.


For my friend Luis Instagraming his trip to London.
He's there, now, and he's posting pictures every so often to his Instagram account.  I'm loving getting to see pieces of London, as experienced through my friend, again.

For an unplanned weekend.
I haven't had a free weekend for months, and while I do like staying busy, sometimes I like being lazy.  And this is one of those times. Lazy weekend, here I come!

For doing tasks that I dread doing, yet feel better afterwards because they're done.
This week those tasks were vacuuming the dog hair out of my car (you're welcome, back seat passengers of GeorgJetta) and mowing a lawn that was coming close to resembling a small forest.

It's day lily season!

They're early this year, but you won't hear me complaining!

For the song Call Me Maybe by Carly Rae Jepsen. 
I can't believe I just downloaded it yesterday. It is the best song to get you up and dancing.  I'm considering instituting a mandatory daily three-minute dance party for myself using primarily this song.  If you don't trust me on its dance-ability, perhaps you'll trust the Harvard baseball team who demonstrate the song's dance-ability admirably in this video:


Happy Thursday!

Wide Open

I'm back from visiting my parents. I wish I was still there.

After three "vacations" in three months, I have nothing else major on the horizon, in terms of trips. This is good and bad. Of course, I love to travel, especially when it means getting to see family and friends I don't see much.  So I don't like not have anything planned.

However, getting back into a regular routine will be good for me.  I will hopefully be able to be more regular in my healthy eating and be able to stick with a workout plan.  There's nothing to interrupt my flow, if you know what I mean.

One of my favorite cousins is getting married in August.  I would really like to lose weight before then.  Seeing extended family and posing for pictures should be enough motivation, right?

Last May was one of the best months ever, and I love looking back at the pictures from then and the rest of the summer.  The only problem with that is I look remarkably different in pictures from May 2011, then I do in May 2012.  It is sad to see how much I've changed. Time to reverse this progression, I think.

PS Today is my dad's birthday!  Happy Birthday, Daddy!

PPS I hope everyone had a great Mother's Day yesterday.  Last year on Mother's Day, I jumped out of a plane.  Remember this?

Fankful Fridays

I'm fudging a bit because I never got around to posting yesterday on Thankful Thursday.  So, instead, I give you Fankful Fridays. (What can I say? I'm a fan of alliteration.)

Today I'm thankful:
For Taylor B.'s wedding.
Last weekend I got to attend the most beautiful wedding of my life in the company of some of the most beautiful people in my life.  Seriously. Congratulations, Taylor and Richard! Here are a few pics of these beautiful people. Taylor, the bride, is on the far left. I wish you could see her full dress. it was gorgeous.

For awesome jumping pictures. 

The wedding was in a picturesque location in a valley surrounded by mountains. The perfect location for jump pictures. Here are a few of the best.

That my dad came through knee surgery a-ok.

Surgery is hard on the patient no matter what type it is. And while Dad is still in pain, he is on the road to recovery and is only a little bit ornery. But that's just because he's a wee bit bored. 

That I have a flexible enough job that I could take time off this week to help out my parents.

I'm so glad I could be here to help Dad with his physical therapy and do things around the house. He wouldn't let me take a picture of his wicked awesome scar (sad, I know) to show you, so I'm leaving you with this self portrait of my parents from last summer.

For my dad's back yard.  
While I've been here, I've been enjoying the paradise that is my dad's perfectly landscaped  backyard.  This picture doesn't do it justice. He's got to spend a lot of time on it, you can tell by looking at it. I know it's going to kill him to not be able to work in it while his knee recovers, so I've been doing some odd jobs out there to try and keep it up.


























That my office took Winthrop's FB page to 10,000 likes.
I don't really contribute to this page, but my co-workers do an awesome job of posting important news, pictures and updates for all of Winthrop's fans. I'm proud they made it to such a round-numbered milestone.

For John, who worked on my bike and taught me basic bike maintenance.

I'm so thankful for him, I even sent him a thank you card.  I've been out on the road with confidence this week, and I think I could really become a fan of cycling.  It's hard work in this hilly city, but the downhills are awesome.  

 That's my week. What are you fankful for this Friday?

Biking 'Round

Sorry I have not posted much this week.  Haven't had a lot to say.  Plus, I'm currently in B'ham, Bama, helping my dad in his recovery from knee replacement surgery*.  That's not exactly an excuse, but it does mean I'm away from my routines.

However, it does not mean I've stopped exercising. In fact, I hauled Fiona the Fuji bike down here to help me stay on triathlon training track and I've had a couple of great rides.

Given that I had not ridden a bike in months a week and a half ago, I'm trying to get back in the saddle and stay there.  My first ride last Tuesday was seven miles.  Then I did a nine mile ride on Thursday.  Yesterday, I upped it to 10.5 and then today I rode 12.

When you talk to a cyclist, 12 miles (or the 17 that I'll have to ride in the tri) is no big deal.  But still, it does take some effort to build back up your ability just to keep your butt in the saddle that long.  (Or your hands on the handlebars, because those things vibrate or something and make my hands feel numb when I'm riding. Does that happen to anyone else?) So I'm glad I'm making a concentrated effort to build up the mileage.

This is John showing me how to use the tire lever.*

But besides today's 12 miler, the best news I have in bikes is that I had a personal tutorial from a bike expert that was both informative and non-condescending.  See, with my dad having had surgery, people from his church have been calling asking if they can help with anything.  I had just arrived the other day and told him that I hoped to get some bike rides in while I was here, if my stupid tire would stop going flat.  Que a call from a church friend who rides.  He said, "Can I help you with anything while you're recovering from surgery?"  Que my dad saying, "Yes, my daughter is training for a triathlon but can't figure out why her tire keeps going flat. She took it to a bike shop, but they just filled it with air.  Can you maybe come check her tire sometime?"

This man, we'll call him John, came by the house that day when he got off of work.  He spent almost two hours teaching me how to change a tire and other basic maintenance things.  I took notes and pictures of what he was showing me, so that hopefully I'll be able to do it on my own next time.  He also brought me a saddle bag, CO2 canisters, a tire lever and spare tubes so that not only do I know how to change it, but I'll have all of the necessary pieces to do it next time, whether I'm at home or on the side of the road.  It was all amazing.

The kindness of this stranger (to me) has basically alleviated all of my fears of cycling and allowed me to enjoy the rides I've had this week.  B'ham is quite the hilly town, so I'm working the quads as I go up and enjoying the pure glee of going down.  Turns out, I really kind of love riding.  I don't feel like I have to give up when it gets hard, like I kind of do with running. Speaking of running, I have run once since I've been here and it was sucky. Guess I'm starting over with that again. Story of my life (smh).

Thankful Thursdays, May 3!

It's been a very thankful week...let's get started with the grateful party.

First, let's get thankful about last night's crappy run (it was indeed, crappy, despite the post I wrote just before I left that I thought would inspire confidence). It may not have been great, by any means, but I'm thankful that:
I learned a nutritional lesson.
Do not eat DiGiorno pizza and then attempt to go run two miles. On second thought, let's expand that rule to all pizza.
I've decided I will repeat this tough week 5.
My goal when I started this Couch to 5k program was to not have to repeat any of the workouts, but, instead, to complete each one in order and progress quickly back to running miles.  I guess this week has been a lesson in how the best laid plans can go astray, but I know repeating this week will only make me a stronger and more confident runner.
I stopped running when I did last night.  
Otherwise, I may have hurled out there at the RiverWalk (which, by the way, stunk like B.O. for some reason). Seriously. I ran most of the first mile and walked most of the second.  It was maybe disappointing not to complete the scheduled workout, especially after writing about it last night before I went, but if I had tried to push through I might have puked. See the above nutritional lesson for more info about that.

Now we can move on. I'm also thankful:
For this gif, this guy and the laughs we share together.
Luis is one of my favorite people to laugh with and if this gif doesn't prove that, I'm not sure what does.  Enjoy.  Don't laugh too hard. Actually, maybe you should. Laughing is good for you.



That my best friend and her husb created a Jill Stuckey trivia game for my birthday and that all of my other friends competed fiercely for the prize, the title of Jill's 2nd BFF.
And I'm really glad Abby won.  It was only right.


That all my books came in at the library before I head out of town this weekend.
Enough said!*


That this past weekend we completed everything on my friend Amie's birthday bucket list.
Time capsule prepped, check.  Rock climbing, check.  Swimming, check. Camping out under the stars, check. Wine bottle torches made, check.  Chocolate chip pancakes, check.  Farmer's Market flowers, check. Tree climbing, check. Magical strawberry margaritas, check. Figuring out how to print pics directly from the iPhone, check.


That I went for the first bike ride in MONTHS this week and survived.
Sure, seven miles is no 17 that I have to do if I want to compete in the Tri Latta on June 9, but it's a start.


That I'm heading out of town this weekend for a beautiful wedding of a great friend and then on to see my parents next week to help out as Dad recovers from knee replacement surgery.

What are you thankful for this week?  Here's a hint: it's my birthday week AND this was my 399th post...


*Enough Said! was also the title of my senior year high school yearbook.  We were cool.  Hillcrest High School Class of 1998, represent!

Running Makes Me Nervous

This is my standard running picture.
It is from last year.
I may need someone to take an actual
picture of me running someday, but
I'm sure I will hate it.

Each time I've headed out for a run this week, I've been really nervous about it.  I guess it's because my distances are increasing now, and I'm getting back up to some solid running periods.

On Sunday, I did the aforementioned two miles.  On Monday* I got to step back a bit with a five minute run, followed by a three minute walk, another 8 minute run and a three minute walk and a second five minute run. This was easier mentally, but was still tough physically. I added in an extra walk break and extended one walk break, but I still got the run distance in. Today I'm scheduled to run one mile, walk 1/4 mile, and run a second mile.

So, why am I nervous about running?  It's because each time I go out, I'm capable of quitting. I could cut the workout short or fudge a bit on the numbers.  I might start thinking it's too hard or too far and give up.  The fact that it is so easy to quit makes it scary.

Really, though, what's the worst that could happen? I could give up midway through and go home. That would suck, but it just means I get a repeat shot at these same two miles the next time I run, on Friday.  The best that I can do is try my hardest, believe in myself and stick with a steady pace for the two miles. This would give me even more confidence the next time I go out.  A compromise scenario would mean that I have to add in an additional walking portion or just extend the existing walking portion, but still complete the run distance. That worked out just fine for me on Sunday and Monday, even if it's not perfect.

As I'm writing this, I realize it sounds silly and as my Granny wrote in a letter to me this week, that I'm too hard on myself. But, hey, it is a real feeling, and I thought I'd share it with you. Do you think it's silly or does something about it ring true to you too?

Thanks for reading, and I'll let you know how I do.



*I normally warn people not to try to run two days in a row, because it is hard on your legs and joints and can lead to injury.  I have actually never ever run back to back, until this week, which I needed to do to get in my required three runs last week and three runs this week, because of some funky scheduling. However, the reason Monday's run was tough physically was because I was still a bit stiff from the day before.

I Have Unreal Expectations for My Birthday

My birthday has been one of my favorite holidays -if not the favorite- my whole life.  It appeals to the narcissist in me.  A holiday all about me*?  Love it!

May 1...does it sound as magical to you as it does to me?

But here's the thing. When May 1 rolls around, I maybe expect too much. I'm walking around corners, expecting people to burst into a fully choregraphed dance routine in my honor. Kind of like this scene from 500 Days of Summer:




I also expect May 1 to be a day when all problems are magically solved.  Last year on May 1, I wrote that I fully expected to be done with this weight loss thing before turning 32.  That didn't happen.  May 1 is not as magical as I may have thought.

To most people, May 1 is just like any other day.  It's just like March 13 or September 22 are to me. Regular old days. Also, it doesn't help that this year my birthday is on a Tuesday -quite possibly the most boring day of the week.  

It is the work put in on these regular old days that add up to the magical day when I will be at a weight that I'm comfortable with and that is healthy for my body.  I didn't make it by 32, and I may not make it by 33.  But I'm going to keep trying.  That's what I do.  And each year that I am trying to improve myself is a year well spent.

For today, I'm not dwelling. Instead, I'm looking for ways to make what could be a boring Tuesday special. And I'm looking forward to dinner with some of my most favorite people on the planet, featuring some of my most favorite foods.

How do you feel about your birthday? Magical? Or just another day?



*And dancing around a May pole. But I never minded sharing May 1 with those Maypole dancers. It only makes it better.