Now that it is very unlikely that I will be able to train for my secret goal, I can safely reveal what it was! :-D I wanted to race on a Ragnar Relay team. To do this, you get a team of 12 people, and each of you races three relatively short legs of a 188-mile course. Each leg ranges from 3 to 8 miles. I felt that this would be a goal that would stretch me quite a bit, but would still be do-able.
Now with my husband gone to work in another state, I don't think there's any way I can train for this. In order for me to run, I have to take all three kids -- one in the crappiest jogging stroller ever, and two on bikes or scooters. The training schedule is 20 weeks long. By the 8th week, you are up to three 30-minute runs and one 50-minute run each week, and they only get longer after that. I think 30 minutes is about the limit my kids would be able to do on their scooters/bikes. They are only 5 and 7 years old. Also, the jogging stroller slows me down SO much and I hate it SO much.
We have zero money to pay for babysitters, especially not 4 times per week. Same goes for running at a gym. I suppose maybe if I found another mom to trade babysitting with, it might work. But that's quite a commitment. It's one thing to leave your kids sleeping at home with Daddy. It's quite another to haul them off to someone's house 4 times per week, likely requiring them to miss out on sleep.
But maybe I can still do it by taking the kids with me. Maybe the kids will get stronger as I do and will be able to do the longer times. Maybe I will be able to use the jogging stroller effectively and not have it make my shoulders/arms kill. Or maybe I am just looking for an easy way out of this goal!
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Fallen
I have totally fallen off the exercising/eating well bandwagon. As far as I remember, the last time I Shredded or ran was July 29th. My son had a doctor's appointment that day, so I weighed myself. 119 pounds. So I have lost 4 pounds since my previous weight of 123 on June 12th! However, I am not sure if this is a success. I was hoping to build a lot of muscle through Shredding. But I'll take it as a success for now ;-) Although given all the information below, it may be a moot point.
I ate mostly raw the week of July 27-31, ending the experiment with salmon and potatoes for dinner on Friday the 31st. I felt great the entire week. My abdomen was always flat, and I just felt good. I didn't have hugely massive amounts of energy or any big changes, but I felt good. The most dramatic thing that happened was that on Cookie Friday at work, I was able to SKIP the cookies EASILY -- I had no craving for them at all. It was EASY. That has never happened to me with sugary treats like cookies, ever.
The next week, I continued to eat raw some of the time, other healthy foods some of the time, and also some crap (Moose Tracks Ice cream, Zingers, etc.). I had made some raw veggie wraps, so I was able to have those for lunch every single day.
By the next week, August 10-16, I was back to eating excessive crap. One day, I had a banana, toast/butter, nuts/seeds, cookie dough, asparagus soup, chocolate bar, spaghetti, a Blizzard, and fries. A little treat is fine, but cookie dough, a chocolate bar, a Blizzard, and fries all in one day is not fine. The only raw foods the entire day were the banana and nuts/seeds. It seems that with me, it's all or nothing (name that song). If I am doing well with raw food for breakfast and a green smoothie later, I am usually doing well the rest of the day. But If I am eating crap, I am eating a lot of crap, and few to no raw foods.
Looking back, I think the main problem contributing to this lack of good eating and exercise is some major stress I was under. On July 28th, my husband casually asked "what if" he looked for work in a city 1500 miles away. On August 3rd, he was offered a job there. On August 5th, his background check was finalized and the job offer was official. On August 12th, he left for the far-away city. Incidentally, that was also the Blizzard day. My husband has done this before, gone to far-away cities to work for a few months. But I don't like it. I need a LOT of time to get used to new ideas, way longer than 1-2 weeks. So to say that was and still is stressful is a huge understatement. I am now essentially single parenting, which means I am under a lot of stress and I cannot jog alone.
Sunday night I made a dark chocolate cake with dark chocolate frosting. Mmmmmmm, so good. I have planned all healthy or raw meals for dinner and leftover-lunch this week. Last night my mom took the kids and I school shopping, so we had Red Robin for dinner. And of course we'll be working on that delicious cake all week (and I have a recipe for another, far more decadent, chocolate cake I HAVE to make). But hopefully I can get back on track with healthier eating habits and start exercising again, even if I can only do DVDs at home. Maybe I'll save that other cake for my birthday (the ingredients I would need would be $20-$30, so it really is a special occasion cake), and then take most of it to work to get rid of it.
I ate mostly raw the week of July 27-31, ending the experiment with salmon and potatoes for dinner on Friday the 31st. I felt great the entire week. My abdomen was always flat, and I just felt good. I didn't have hugely massive amounts of energy or any big changes, but I felt good. The most dramatic thing that happened was that on Cookie Friday at work, I was able to SKIP the cookies EASILY -- I had no craving for them at all. It was EASY. That has never happened to me with sugary treats like cookies, ever.
The next week, I continued to eat raw some of the time, other healthy foods some of the time, and also some crap (Moose Tracks Ice cream, Zingers, etc.). I had made some raw veggie wraps, so I was able to have those for lunch every single day.
By the next week, August 10-16, I was back to eating excessive crap. One day, I had a banana, toast/butter, nuts/seeds, cookie dough, asparagus soup, chocolate bar, spaghetti, a Blizzard, and fries. A little treat is fine, but cookie dough, a chocolate bar, a Blizzard, and fries all in one day is not fine. The only raw foods the entire day were the banana and nuts/seeds. It seems that with me, it's all or nothing (name that song). If I am doing well with raw food for breakfast and a green smoothie later, I am usually doing well the rest of the day. But If I am eating crap, I am eating a lot of crap, and few to no raw foods.
Looking back, I think the main problem contributing to this lack of good eating and exercise is some major stress I was under. On July 28th, my husband casually asked "what if" he looked for work in a city 1500 miles away. On August 3rd, he was offered a job there. On August 5th, his background check was finalized and the job offer was official. On August 12th, he left for the far-away city. Incidentally, that was also the Blizzard day. My husband has done this before, gone to far-away cities to work for a few months. But I don't like it. I need a LOT of time to get used to new ideas, way longer than 1-2 weeks. So to say that was and still is stressful is a huge understatement. I am now essentially single parenting, which means I am under a lot of stress and I cannot jog alone.
Sunday night I made a dark chocolate cake with dark chocolate frosting. Mmmmmmm, so good. I have planned all healthy or raw meals for dinner and leftover-lunch this week. Last night my mom took the kids and I school shopping, so we had Red Robin for dinner. And of course we'll be working on that delicious cake all week (and I have a recipe for another, far more decadent, chocolate cake I HAVE to make). But hopefully I can get back on track with healthier eating habits and start exercising again, even if I can only do DVDs at home. Maybe I'll save that other cake for my birthday (the ingredients I would need would be $20-$30, so it really is a special occasion cake), and then take most of it to work to get rid of it.
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