One missed step

This morning was our local Touch-A-Truck so we took M. and C. down to the school parking lot to check out a fire truck, a street sweeper, an army rescue/fire truck, a police SUV- with K9 on site, a few tractors and some other random trucks. The boys enjoyed themselves for a while and then we hit the playground. After that we stopped off at a restroom for M. to go, and then we were headed out the door and that's when I missed the step. Literally I didn't see a step coming and I took it hard on my right foot. The same foot that I sprained about 5 weeks ago and still had occasional twinges from as it was. Tears sprang to my eyes and for a minute I thought something was broken. After the initial pain I realized that I was going to be alright and it is, for walking. However, I'm pretty sure that running's going to be out for at least a few days and I'm going to be using my hands to clip out of the spin bikes in class.

Why is it that some people can avoid stupid injuries for most, if not all of, their lives and then there's me, who's injured myself doing the most mundane things, like walking off a step? I might not be the toughest person walking around but I think I've got a pretty decent pain tolerance, and I'm not nearly as prone to exaggeration as I once was. I'm sure that I re-aggravated the previous sprain and it's really annoying. I wish I wasn't such a clutz.

A new fastest mile

This morning I managed an 8:11 mile before strength class. I was able to keep jogging for a 10 minute mile after that. Back in January, a 10 minute mile was as fast as I could go, not a recovery mile pace. That's cool.

Wreckage

This morning, about half way through spin class, my legs decided they were done. Fried. Jelly. All she wrote. We were in a standing climb drill and I usually try not to use my whole hand on the handlebars, just a couple fingers on each hand. Half way through the drill I was using my whole hand for support and by the end of the climb I was thinking of just leaning over and resting on my elbows. It was a tough class. Yoga after class felt good but my toes have never seemed so far away, I almost couldn't reach them. This week has been much tougher on my body than I've worked lately. I'm hoping for a good short run before weight class tomorrow. Our instructor, Chris, likes to make sure that when we get up Saturday morning we're reminded of Friday morning's workout. Strength class is always tough with him.

Finally- potty trained!

On a completely non-training note, after being mostly potty trained for the past 5 months, I think I can confidently say that M. has got it! This has been a struggle at times due to major constipation issues beyond anything that diet can control. He still often walks out of the bathroom naked from the waist down, but we're getting there.

Six minutes before the alarm

I can't decide whether I like it or hate it when I wake up six minutes before the alarm goes off. On one hand, it's nicer to wake up on my own than to the beeping of the watch alarm, on the other hand, that's six more minutes I could have been sleeping. As my husband would surely tell you, I'm pretty much always running at a certain level of tired. I never really slept well before we had kids and then after the kids came along I can sleep more soundly, but it's never a good, deep, uninterrupted sleep. I'd be a big fan of the daily naps, but I can't manage to fit that into the schedule.

This morning was bootcamp at the gym. Twenty five minutes of intense cardio and weights. Then I did a 30 minute run on the treadmill hill program. I was able to maintain 10 minute miles for 20 minutes with inclines up to 3%, I walked some but never slower than a 13:39 pace (4.4mph). We're starting a step counting program at work, it's 7am and I've already got 7462 steps. I should definitely make 12, 500- that's the goal for 5 days a week.

Two-A-Days

Today was the first day of my grand plan to do two class workouts at the gym. At 6am we had Gutts&Butts which is a pretty intense weight training class focusing on core and lower body. We did a TON of lunges and squats, many crunches and some exercises that made my glute muscles want to cry- or at least revolt against the rest of my body. Then at 12:10pm we had spin class. There were 18 people in class, which is extremely crowded for our small class space and the temperature in class before we even got started was over 70 degrees. Not the most comfortable, but it was an excellent workout, as always. I was pretty beat by the end of the day, especially since this was one of the busiest days I've had in months. We took the kids to the playground and I got to sit on the ground while pushing C. on the swing, which was a nice little rest. I was up at 4:33am and I finally sat down to relax at 6:22pm after the kids were out of the bath and ready to sit for a little while before bed.

I'm trying to really focus on weight loss for a little while since I'm not in training for any upcoming events. I've been (relatively) dilligently tracking my calorie intake and increasing my cardio to burn more calories. I've also got 2 strength training classes a week so I'm not forsaking muscle work for straight cardio. I got stuck at 39 pounds lost and I'd like to see the last 15 pounds or so come off. It's been a lot harder than I expected, the first 30 pounds were relatively easy, the next 9 took a while and obviously I just haven't worked hard enough yet for those last pounds. I felt like I was working hard enough that I should just lose the weight, as if I deserve it. However, calories in have to be less than calories out for weight loss to occur, and I was obviously missing out somewhere. Enough whining, time for the effort.

Faster than, well, before

This morning I ran my fastest treadmill mile ever. My 1 mile time was 8:14 and that was absolutely as fast as I could possibly sustain for a mile. I'm not fast and I'll likely never be fast, but I'm faster than I've ever been before. Maybe someday I'll run a sub 8-minute mile. I'll work on that. I've probably never written the word fast so many times in one paragraph in reference to myself. The unfortunate part of trying to run the fastest mile that I could was that I had a workout class right after that and it was rough. Today starts the newest 12-week session of classes at the gym. I'm so fortunate that my gym is about 200 steps from my desk at work- the on-site fitness center is the absolute best "perk" about my job- other than the paycheck, of course. Here's what I will be doing for the next 12 weeks.

Monday- Friday I get up at 4:30am (well, 4:33 to be exact because it's the latest I can get up and still be on time) to be at the gym at 5:30am when it opens. Group classes usually start at 6am so I use the elliptical trainer or treadmill for about 20 minutes before class.
Monday 6am- Cardio intervals. It's a class of 30-60 second burst of intense cardio with 15-30 second cool downs. Some light weights to still keep it aerobic are thrown in.
Tuesday 6am- Butts and Gutts. Core and weights focusing on, well, butts and gutts.
Tuesday 12:10pm- Spin. 45 minute spin class.
Wednesday- 5:30- 5:55am- boot camp. A high intensity aerobic/weight workout with stuff like mountain climbers, pushing the weight bags, etc.
Wednesday- Day off from 6am weight class to run longer distances- still on the treadmill because it's too dark outside at 6am.
Thursday- 5:45am- spin class, 40 minutes.
Thursday- 6:30am- yoga fitness, 20 minute yoga stretch/strength.
Friday 6am- Total Body Conditioning. Weight workout focusing on higher weights to really exhaust the muscle groups.
I may end up taking a few Wed. mornings off from boot camp in order to swim. We'll see. I'm just not as motivated to swim these days. I don't think I work out hard enough on my own with swimming.

This whole plan could easily be derailed by a lack of sleep. Last night I was up with both M. and C. overnight. C. ended up sleeping in our bed and then a couple hours later, M. woke up and I ended up in his (twin) bed with him. I don't need any feedback on how their bad sleeping habits are our fault. They can usually make it through the night on their own but they've both been out of sorts lately so I do what gets everyone as much sleep as possible. But still, getting through class on something around 5 hours sleep was rough. That's life, I guess. That's also another reason I won't be training for anything like an Ironman until everyone is old enough to sleep through the night.

Another stomach adventure

The other day I ran so fast- relatively speaking- I thought I might throw up. Last night I ate enough I almost felt the same. We went out for our anniversary, the kids when to play with their cousins, Aunt and Grandma so we were able to sit and eat without cutting someone else's food, trying to find something to amuse the kids, keeping them from running in a restaurant or bothering other patrons. We had a chance to talk and it was nice. The restaurant was an all natural menu, no hydrogenated oils or trans-fats anywhere so we could order something fried! And we did. The sweet potato fries with smoked ketchup were awesome. I had a squash almond bisque that was interesting but good, a portabella burger sandwich that was a little disappointing and then a chocolate hazelnut cake that was incredible! Paul had some really good potato enchiladas that I think I might pick when we go back some day. It was nice to have some time to ourselves, it's quite a rarity these days.

On a kid related note, I just packed up the high chair this morning and C. is only 21 months old. Do all second children seem to grow up at the speed of light? He's doing things at his age that M. never would have attempted. He's still got a limp from last week's dog injury but he's improved greatly so we expect he'll be back to traveling at mach 2 any day now.

Right before I throw up

This morning I decided to see how fast I could run a mile. The good (and bad) thing about the treadmill is that I can set an exact pace, although I know I'm being assisted by the moving belt so I'm not doing all the work myself. The bad is that I sometimes wonder whether I could go just a little faster if I wasn't being paced. I decided I would try 7.0 mph or an 8:34 mile. The first 3 minutes I didn't think I could make it to a mile, but then after 3 minutes I felt alright. I got to 1.0 miles and decided to see if I could make it to 10 minutes. At 10 minutes I decided I'd shoot for 1.5 miles and at 12:52, just when I thought I might throw up, I hit 1.5 miles! Definitely the best time I've had for running in years- if not ever. I walked at 4.5mph for 3 minutes to let my heart rate recover- it was 174bpm at the end of the run and after 3 minutes I was back down to 132bpm. Then I jogged at 10:00 pace for a mile and I ended up with 2.2 miles in 20 minutes, then a 5 minute walking cool down. A short but speedy and tiring workout.

Happy birthiversary, Mommy

Yesterday was our 7 year wedding anniversary. Paul and the boys came to work to have lunch with me. On the way they stopped and bought me some flowers and M. picked out a lovely bumblebee balloon for me as well. The flowers stayed with me at work, but the balloon came home so I could enjoy it with the boys. When I got the flowers, Paul asked M. "What do you say to mom?" and he replied "Happy Bir...th...iversary, Mommy". It was very cute. I am very lucky to have such a wonderful marriage. Paul is a great husband and father and puts up with a whole lot of stuff that I don't think anyone else would deal with. We're a lucky family.

On a training note, I haven't had much motivation since the biathlon last weekend, and really it's been largely gone since August 31st when I finished my second triathlon. But, I was listening to Iron Wil and Kahuna's podcast and they mentioned a New Years triathlon event. That got me to thinking that I don't need a formal race in order to keep up with my training. Because of the timing of daylight hours, my training moves inside now until late spring. I've decided I'm planning to, at least once a month, have a 3-event 24 hours. I can't really call it a triathlon because to me that signifies doing the three events consecutively and I don't have the time or equipment to do them consecutively. What I can do is get to the pool early and swim, get to the gym and bike and run either that night at home- or the next morning on the treadmill. I realize this will in no way simulate the real triathlon experience, but it's the best I can do given some time constraints- like work. If I give a good hard effort in all three areas at least once a month I can maybe assemble some sort of baseline or what I can do in a 500m swim, a 15 mile bike and 3 mile run. Not sure when I'll start, but I hope to do it soon.