Need to Weigh in

Wait, didn't I go to Tina Shiver, an awesome Dietician, to lose some weight and get healthy?

Oh yeah, I did.

So here you go... If you want to get stronger or lose weight, I highly recommend calling a dietician. If you're local, call Tina & tell her I said "hi".)

This is a picture of me in late April. It's not a full body shot, because I hated the way I looked enough that I always deleted the photos after they were taken...

Here I am in mid May at the Sprint Tri. I'm down about 3 pounds. Apparently I like running with my eyes closed.

Here I am in June in my Tri Kit. I am definitely making progress here, about 8 pounds...

This is a picture of me Today. (after my run, I forgot to get a pic before I was all sweaty and gross). Goal weight. And down 2% body fat.

Was it hard? Was it easy? Was it like, totally way easier than I ever imagined it could be? Actually, um, kinda yeah. 

I never felt hangry. In fact, I was far less hungry on the Tina Plan than I ever was before the Tina Plan. The only days I struggle are the days I skip a meal or eat a "non-Tina" meal. It takes a little planning. Be prepared to change the way you think about food.

Focus On The Moment

Any man who can drive safely while kissing a pretty girl is simply not giving the kiss the attention it deserves.  

~Albert Einstein

Kayaking & Life

Yesterday I was reminded of the last time I blogged about Kayaking. It's not fair to compare the two blog posts. The one was composed when I was rowing 4 days a week.

I don't row anymore... probably that's because I have a bike.

But still, it reminded me... Be careful on the water. Wear life jackets. Be smart. And remember, drowning doesn't look like drowning.

Kayaking and Life can both take you in Circles

A.K.A The post where I learned that Adirondack is another way to say "exquisite"

Training with a view to envy

I used to write a motivational blog about how to get it done. Of course, that was when I was training to be a Half Ironman or a Marathoner. Now a days I am training to get healthy and live a full well rounded life.

What a strange thought... do we actually train for that? Or is that something that happy people just do?

I’m not sure.

Regardless, I’m happiest when I’m training, and so I figure I’m training for health. This means that when I’m on vacation, I still have to fit in my workouts.

This past weekend I went to the Adirondacks to visit some family and to spectate Lake Placid Ironman on Sunday.

I had a swim, ride and run on my schedule.

 

Adirondack State Park is exquisite ... there are no words. 

None. If you’ve never been, put it on your list of places to go. The views were so amazing that I couldn't wait to see them from the bike. I was up at 6:30 on day one of my vacation, and shortly after that The Good Dr and I were on the road. 

ok, shortly after I changed a flat we were on the road. I did. Changed it all by myself. With no help. I had 5 spectators & 2 broken nails though... Still, be impressed. I know I was...

mental recovery

On a 20 mile bike ride I saw scenery that looked straight out of a Sierra Club Calendar, a porcupine that was the size of a shetland pony *or dog, whichever*, and very few cars. Route 3 was completely set up as a bike route, with a 8 ft bike lane on both sides of the road. We saw 3 other cyclists, and about 8 cars... and maybe because I knew I was planning to eat well on vacation, we hammered the second ½ of the ride. #mojo

The rest of our morning in Cranberry Lake was spent boating, relaxing, and watching people swim in frigid water. I was completely lazy.

After lunch, however, my beautiful hostess invited me to go kayak with her.

I have nooooo skills in a Kayak anymore. I'm too much of a weakling, but she did, so we made it work.

It was amazing. Except for the collisions, but she seemed pretty patient, and I only ran into her boat a few times.

hydration

As I said, I had a swim, ride and run on my schedule. But I've always viewed a training plan like total health. This is a holistic entity. You have many levels. And being flexible is one element of that entity.

So while a good training plan encompasses Nutrition, Hydration, Recovery, Mental Training, Sleep, etc. it also must include Relaxing, Lazing, Kayaking, Unwinding and Smiling.

And this weekend, I definitely got all the elements of training into my days.

With the exception of "sleep", at any rate.

Lake Placid Ironman SPECTATOR recap

One of my best GBA girlfriends is amazing. Last year she texted me, "I signed up for Lake Placid". As the weeks of training passed, I realized that I really really wanted to be there for her. I mean, not that I could actually *do* anything for her, but I wanted to be there anyway. So I verbalized my wish to the universe...

and the most amazing series of events occurred...

and the next thing I knew...

I went to Lake Placid to watch Pixie Green take on an Ironman. 

 A few random thoughts from the day. It was a long day, but it was worth every minute. Also, I'm exhausted, so this is a bit "blunt", rather than poetic.

1)   Your swimmer will have the swim of their life. Plan for them to be finished 10 minutes faster than they say, and position yourself accordingly.

2)   Ok, so they’re off onto the bike... you’re going to be here a while. There’s a coffee shop up the hill that is locally owned. Avoid the Chain (even though I love it) and grab some local coffee instead.

3)   The cell service is spotty at best. Plan to be out of contact with the “world” for much of the day.

4)   Ironman splits are VERY slow to load. Don’t count on using them to track your IronPeep.

5)   Speaking of splits... The first Lake Placid bike split is blisteringly fast compared to the second half of the loop. The cyclist you love could average 18.9 mph on the first split, and 14 mph on the second. Don’t panic. They’re fine.

6)   The “hot Corner” is a hairpin turn on Cummings Road through the town of Placid. GREAT place to watch the cyclists. They have to slow down to make the turn, so you can see them as they roll through.

7)   There’s a sandwich shop that is down on Main Street called Big Mountain Deli & Crepery – they boast 46 sandwiches and crepes. Deliciousness. The line will be long. It will be worth it.

8)   Wear good shoes.

lunch break

9)   The finish-line...  We got right down on top of the finishline. People say it can't be done. It can. It just takes patience and pre-planning. I recommend sitting on the hill and watching people finish until you think your person is getting close. Then look somewhere on the fence where the crowd is only 1 deep. We moved down to the chute to spectate our finishers and after a little time, we were able to get right up on the fence-line by crossing the “track” and going to the inside. Once we were there, we were perfectly positioned to spectate folks as they finished, in live action, and on the “jumbo-tron”.

10)   I had a sign for my finisher, Pixie.... The sign was better seen out on the course.  By the time the crowds press you into the fencing, the signs are a bit hard to wrangle.

It was one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen in my life. I am looking forward to going back to spectate again, or even, partake in 140.6 of my own.

finish-line! So proud of you Pixie!!!!

 also, I fully admit...

I was glad to be there for you Pixie.

I cried when I saw this posted on my facebook page with the caption “Found this morning, soaked from the early morning down pour! My pixie twin was here in full force!” 

A "little" RnR

I'm on vacation. Again.

Yes, it looks a lot like I'm just vacationing instead of working and in some respects, that's what I am doing. For about 6 weeks of this summer I have had to work 1 day every other week... so the rest of the days I have been playing with my children.

This morning I got up and went for a run. Then we hit church and ate breakfast. I was looking forward to some well deserved RnR on the beach, and gazed longingly at my book from over my coffee cup. Yep, I was going to sit down and chill.

"Mom, can we go for a MTB ride?"

Yep, just let me change.

"Mom, can you swim with me?"

Sure, I just need to put on sun screen.

"Mom, let's build a castle."

All over that like white on rice.

"Mom? What's on the other side of that sand dune?"

Only one way to find out.

I had a thought this week about how vacation isn't about rest and relaxation for the adults. It's about the kids getting unlimited mom-time, and holy exhaustion. It's almost 9pm and all I can think about is that I'm going to go pretend to read until I fall asleep with... uh, hang on...

my kids want to know if we can go star gazing with D'Dad.

Sure kids, seems like a great night for it.

DietRun, with lime and Dragon.

I miss running. Now that I'm running a little, I miss it a lot.

I miss logging miles upon miles of hot sweaty fun pounding out on the roads with the other RVA runners on the Marathon Training Team. I am up to an almost 4 mile walk/run, or when I'm pressed for time like today, I can string 2.5 miles together without the walk breaks and call it a workout.

So, right. There's no MTT for me this year. I can't build from 0 to 26.2 in time for the race.

So here I am, a marathoner who used to log 30-50 miles a week and I have managed to successfully log 6 miles of running last week.  ~sigh~ I know, lately this blog has been less about #running and more about #everythingelseintheentireworld.

And now that I have it back, it's not even like REAL run. It's more like DietRun.

Over ice.
Lime squeezed in is optional.
But Dragons seem like a good idea.

I know, you're all like - What did you just say?

I said Dragons.

In the hopes that I'm bada** enough to get from 0 - 13.1, I applied for the Central Virginia Endurance/ Lululemon Running Team. They'll coach you to the Richmond Half Marathon in November. I thought having a coach would be a safe way to get me to race day, YOGA is something that I think would benefit my lack of flexibility and strength, and most of all, I've been digging the CVE program ever since I watched a few of my pals train for a few Ironman-type events over the last year.

I sent in a killer application with a hilarious yet pointed essay in the hopes that I could make "Coach Bob" aware of my plight, and mostly to convince them that I can be badass again with coaching.

And that I'm funny and fun, and everyone would enjoy having me on the team.

Also, I'm a hard worker. I appreciate results and love competition. The Friendly Kind, of course.

Ok, so upon review of this rambling blog post, the essay probably wasn't pointed... maybe it was just hilarious. Or possibly not funny at all, but that seems unlikely...

Regardless, Feel free to comment here or Tweet to CVE (@CentralVAEndure) about how great I am (@gba_gf), or FB on my page and tag CVE with 101 Reasons I ought to be chosen for the CVE Team. Or Facebook CVE directly... basically, yeah...

Game on.