Data Geek Meets Fitness Freak

No - that's an online dating headline. Trust me. It's what happens when what I do for a living creeps into my personal life. I probably should cross-post with my professional blog - but I won't. :)

In a recent post, I mentioned I was tracking my resting heart rate (RHR) in an effort to head off getting colds and whatnot. It worked! So far I have successfully thwarted two immune system invaders. I don't think people really believe me when I say I work in a petri dish. Given this little experiment started a month ago... maybe ya'll will give my words a little weight, eh?

A guy I work with said to me the other day, "I keep losing weight." I resisted the urge to launch into my "single data point is useless when there is no other context" diatribe. In addition to tracking weight, I started looking at body-part measurements and body fat percentage. I've lost a substantial amount of "weight" in the past - but there's a good chance it was muscle. There are times I've lost it fast and felt like crap too.

Using the livestrong.com site I really looked at what I was eating and never realized I wasn't getting enough fat. Adding a salad with balsamic and olive oil dressing, lunch incorporating avocado and adding seeds like pumpkin and sunflower have me in the 80-some-percent now. I was in the 20% range. I think this has had a great deal to do with why I was never able to successfully sustain a vegetarian diet. Please don't ask me why fat would make the difference - I have no earthly clue. The only thing I know is I made the switch about 3-4 weeks ago and I feel fantastic. I am closing out a really hard week and I feel awesome - on a vegetarian diet around 1,200 calories a day... and 6-hours of fitness a week.

Again, a lot has been changing as I've had to make a lot of notes, chart a lot of data, etc... I'm sleeping more. I am taking in lots of fluids. I eat very few processed foods. Those two assaults on the immune system had me taking massive doses of C, Zinc and Airborne.

I'm still doing a lot of tinkering. I just read about a Duke Study on Splenda. I have a big sweet tooth and use at least six packets a day during the week. I'm looking into substituting Agave Nectar as the trade for not only weight loss but better gut bacteria is important to me.

For the Devil's Advocates out there, yes, one can go too far. You can analyze and change and tinker only so much. And for what? I'm not a professional athlete. I'm able to laugh at myself (see videos in previous posts). But, the benefits I get from this - how I feel, how I look - it's all worth it. Every bit.

So True... So, So, So True...

We've Been Here Before

Classic line from Lord of the Rings - I believe it's in Return of the King. Frodo says that to Sam - they are lost on the way to Mordor. We've been here before. And so have I.

Yep - the ankle pain is back. I had a run two weeks ago or so that was off-the-charts-bad. I abandoned the run which I never do. When I realized I was shuffling and limping a voice inside my head said "Stop" and I did. For once I did. I hobbled back to the house and took care of my ankle. I have completed two runs since on treadmills that have been spectacularly unsuccessful. I start out the run in a wee bit of pain, it increases and I adapt my stride throughout the entire run so as to not cause myself pain. By the end I have tinkered enough so I am at least in a manageable amount of pain - no more than a 4 on a scale of 10.

Coach Allen has suggested an experiment: run on the same treadmill, same time, same everything today and see what happens. So, I am going to head out here in a bit to do just that. I haven't run since Tuesday so my ankle has had a long time to rest given it's a recovery week.

I've had some time to consider what's going on, and it seems the calf muscle that was the culprit oh so many months ago still isn't that strong. Calf raises are still challenging and that's a problem. I think my body needs time to build. I'm strong in a lot of ways - but I made adaptation an art form and I will land myself back on the bench if I don't take care of this muscle weakness issue. The thing I want to do least is strengthen one little strip of muscle that is so tiny and so weak that I can't bare my body weight. I think that's human nature. I want to strengthen what's already strong - work my quads, do curls, bring on the core work. Why do I want to walk directly into what's weakest? Tell me - how much fun is heading right toward what hurts? Not fun and no I don't want to walk full-on into this. But experience has shown me time and time again I can't go around this, under it or over it. I have to go through it. If I don't, it rears it's ugly little head, knocks me on my a$$ and takes my lunch money.

Having given the "pull yourself up my your bootstraps there champ!" speech, I'll also point out I managed to peel off the pounds I put on over the holidays. :) If you haven't found livestrong.com yet, check it out. The daily nutrition and weight tracking are fantastic. I still haven't figured out whether or not the "Gold" membership is really worth it, but for $45 a year, I think I can spring for it and see what happens...

Happy New Year!

Welcome 2011 - so long 2010!

Several years ago I heard you will spend the coming year doing whatever you did New Years Eve. I believe the context of the comment pertained to the stroke of midnight. I've spent several years trying to get the perfect moment planned - to no avail. I may have given in last year and this year I know there was absolutely no attempt at control or arrangement.

I spent yesterday with two of the greatest people in the world walking around DC. We saw the Normal Rockwell exhibit at the Portrait Gallery. We had an incredible lunch at
Rosa Mexicano (the best guac on the planet!) and walked if off on The Mall looking at the Capital Christmas Tree. I took a fair amount of ribbing given the children from the great state of Kansas bought their ornaments and shipped them to DC... They were metal versions of the state seal - WTF? We ducked into the Natural History museum and I got to see the Human Origins exhibit I've been wanting to see for months now. Way cool. The best part of the day (ok, maybe not the best, but a highlight): Red Velvet Cupcakery. Wow. They have Georgetown Cupcake beat hands down.

I got home & spent the rest of the evening with my kids (four legged kind). I watched some football and rented Eat, Pray, Love. I was overwhelmingly unimpressed. I loved the book even though I am not an Oprah Book Club kinda girl. I missed the stroke of midnight - I was watching the movie. Maybe that means I'll be spending the New Year in the moment - or watching a $hit load of movies. ;-)

I am also breaking tradition in another way... my mom made black-eyed peas every year on New Years day and swore by that whole good luck thing. I don't buy it - or at least it doesn't really seem to work. Oddly though, isn't it the mind that really has the power - so in reality that crap should.

I am starting off the year with goals (which I shall not make public). I might blog, but I don't feel the need to share every detail with anonymous eyeballs - even if it's only four of you. :)

And before I sign off to go clean the house (yes, oddly I do believe in cleaning the house on the New Year... out with the old, in with the New!) I will mention the commitment to training & racing for the coming year. When one makes a decision - it's just a decision. It then has to be followed by action. I started that action several months ago by starting to get back into shape. I'm continuing to do so. I'm even doing things I thought was reserved for "serious" athletes... tracking my resting heart rate. It's a rather rude awakening when I used to have a resting of 45 and I'm up to 60 - 70. Yeah, I'm still dealing with this cold/sinus infection... but really? I have a loooooooong way to go...

So let's get started. :)