Trainers, Food Logs and Skipping a Race

As we are approaching colder months and darker, shorter days, I was thinking about getting a bike trainer so I could ride my bike inside in front of the tv or while reading a book.  Spinning is about the only thing I have consistently done inside at the Y so I figured I might actually do the biking at home too if a bike trainer was all set up for me. 

Since I really know nothing about trainers, I'm looking to you all for some help.  A friend of mine mentioned that her husband has the CycleOps and has used it for about 10 years.  I really don't get how these things work, but apparently you cycle like you would on the road and you can even shift gears!  I have no idea how you get more or less resistance--do you turn a dial like the spin bikes? 


I have another friend who has a barely used CycleOps that she wants to sell so I think I'll go that route first and try out a used one before buying a brand new one.  Maybe the used one will be just perfect and I'll get a good deal.  It is a Fluid2 CycleOps that she has.  It sounds like the fluid ones are better than the magnetic and wind ones, but honestly, I don't know what I am talking about.  I just read the reviews on the site.

I just started logging all my food intake on LoseIt, which is an app for your phone.  So far it's pretty handy to use.  It's only been one day and already it's a eye-opener.  I somehow seem to 'forget' the snacking I do or I don't think about grabbing a piece of cheese here or a handful of chips there.  I don't really have an issue with extra pounds but doing this log really keeps you aware of what you are putting into your mouth and just how many calories it is. 

You put in your height, weight, age, sex and what your goal is.  It calculates how many calories you should be eating each day to achieve your goal by whatever date you set.  As you add food into your diary, it subtracts off the appropriate amount of calories so you can see what you have left for the day.  You also plug in any exercise you do and it accounts for that as well.

You can add friends to your circle and see what everyone else is eating and how there are doing with their goals.  I think it's going to be a really good tool for me and anyone else who might be struggling to lose that last 5-10 lbs. 


Oh yes, then there's that little race thing this weekend that I signed up for 4 months ago.  The Maine 1/2 Marathon.  It was so shitty out last year (50's and rained the ENTIRE time), that I wanted to run it again with nicer weather and possibly break the 2 hour mark.  Last year I missed it by 2 minutes.  Mind you, this race was kinda an afterthought--not my A race this year.  But I figured I would be pretty well trained after the Rev3 tri so I signed up anyway. 

Here it is, race weekend already and I am really not feeling it this year and really don't care about going or not.  And then look what comes up on the weather this morning:

Exellent.  50's and rain.  Again.  I'm thinking No Thank You.  I hate to wuss out and not do the race but between the crappy weather, my heel, our crazy schedule and my minimal training, I'm sure not it's even worth it.  I do have a bunch of friends from high school that are heading down to do the race so I'll probably just get up and slog through it anyway, just to see them.  We'll see.

Do you have a bike trainer?  Which one and are you happy with it?

Have you ever skipped a race you signed up for just because you didn't feel like doing it?

Is that totally lame?

Surrender and other stuff

That's it.  I give up.  I'm crying uncle and giving in.  After a pretty regular 4 miler last night, my heels were killing me and I could barely walk.  It is just so frustrating to have such pain after doing any sort of running.  I am sick of it and I'm sure you all are sick of reading about me whining about my feet.  Heel pain wah wah wah, can't walk wah wah wah, running slower wah wah wah, what to do blah blah blah. 

Well to save you all from hearing me complain anymore, I did some extensive research (read:  asked friends on facebook) and found a doctor that may be able to help me.  Thankfully, I have some pretty smart friends, many of them doctors, and was directed to two that I could choose from.  I ended up choosing Healthsource of Portland Maine that my college pal (who is also a chiropractor) recommended.  They are certified Rock Docs and she thinks that Rock Tape may help me. 

If nothing else, I should look pretty fancy all taped up, right?

disclaimer--this is not me.  stolen from rock tape's website.  although I'm sure I look at least that good in my tri kit......

My appointment is 10/5 so I'm looking forward to a day off going to Portland to see them and go shopping get my feet fixed.  Since I'm already going to be in Portland, I may as well go shopping too, right? 

I'll let you know how this all turns out. 


The girls and I went apple picking this weekend with our sitter from the summer.  She is taaaallll so that works out nicely while picking apples.. :)  It was a crappy, misty, foggy day but we had a fun time anyway.  Polite as we are, we managed to eat all the samples of cheese they had and drank at least half of the cider they had out.  I did buy both cheese and cider to make up for our piggy-ness.  What?  Doesn't buying stuff make up for eating all the samples?  I thought it did.

tall girls are helpful!

 

getting soaked by the wet branches and Alex just got whacked in the face with an apple

Lastly, our days have been filled with field hockey and more field hockey.  Big Sissy is playing on the junior high team and Princess is on the youth team, which I am coaching.  We had one tie--junior high and one loss--youth team this weekend but the girls played great.  Our youth team is 2nd-5th grade and the other team had a couple 6th graders so I think we did really well to keep the score 1-0.  Here's some pics from Sissy's games last week.

attacking (sissy in blue)

 

still attacking

 

oh yeah!  pretty much just stole the ball

 

good job girls!  both are nice and low

 

 

 

Have you used Rock Tape?  Did it help?

 

 

Have you visited a chiropractor for problems that don't involve your back?

 

Spam, Taking a Break and Rude People

Sorry folks, I've had to switch back to the security word thing when you post a comment.  I cannot tell you how many anonymous posts regarding cialis or viagara I have had over the past 3 weeks.  Literally, like 100's.  Thankfully, they go into the spam basket and aren't posted but I do have to delete them off my email so I figure I'll just go back to each of you verifying you are a real person in order to comment.  Sorry Ipad/Iphone and Itouch users.  I know it's a pain. 

I took a little break last week from blogging, running and kinda just did the life thing.  Things are so busy getting back to school and all the activities that go along with it that it was getting hard to just keep up, let alone do the extraneous things.  I felt guilty for not exercising (as much) but I think it ended up being a good thing. 

I ran 9 miles like a boss this Sunday after two days of nothing.  It was the most perfect fall day.  Temperatures in the high 50's, beautiful sun, crisp air and stunning water views.  I felt like I could have run all day.  It was really that awesome.  It wasn't fast--for some reason, I am just not as fast as I used to be.  My happy pace seems to be in the 10 minute/mile range when it used to be the 9 minute/mile range.  So I'm not sure I'll break the magic 2 hours for my 1/2 in two weeks.  I tried not to let that realization ruin my spectacular run.

I'm not sure why I am having a slower pace than I used to.  It could be my heel that is constantly plaguing me with pain.  It doesn't bother me while I run, but I know that I have changed my stride because of it.  It seems as though I underpronate on my left foot only.  It's like I'm running on the outside of my foot.  When I am finished running about 20 minutes later, I can barely even walk the pain in my heel is so bad.  Stretching seems to help some but I hobbled around all day yesterday.  Even after putting in my arch inserts and wearing sneakers all day. 

I did put on compression socks with my sneakers and inserts and that seemed to help some.  And unlike other days when the pain continues into the next day, when I woke up this morning, my feet felt great.  No heel pain today.  Maybe compression socks are part of the answer.  I'll add them more to see--maybe even use them on a run.

The other reason my pace could be slower is that I didn't concentrate on running as much this summer when I was training for my tri.  I was more concerned with surviving the ocean swim and gaining back time on the bike that I really only ran 2 x's a week.  Plus, with the heel hurting, it was really no fun to run consecutive days. 

At any rate, although I would like to break the 2 hour mark, I am not expecting to.  I am going to give it my all since it is my last race of the year and I can have plenty of time to rest and recover.  And visit the doctor to figure out what the hell is going on with my heel...

Have you noticed that people are less courteous these days?  A specific example that occurred to me last week:  I was at the Y getting ready to leave and a man and I approached the exit doors at almost the same time.  If we had kept going at the same pace, I would have arrived first.  Instead of stopping to let me go first, or gasp! even open the door for me, he quickened his pace to beat me to the door and went through it ahead of me and then didn't even hold it as I went through.  Then as we are both in our cars to get out of the parking lot, he did basically the same thing--he backed out in front of me so he could leave first rather than waiting for me to pull out and then leaving after I did. 

I realize these are small things and they didn't really bother me too much, but it was two separate kinda rude acts within minutes of each other.  It is so much trouble to hold the door for someone?  Or let them pull out in front of you to leave the parking lot?  Seriously, it would have added like 20 seconds to his departure from the Y.   And I'm not saying this because I'm a woman and he was male.  I hold the door for men and women all the time.  It was really like he just didn't care about anything but getting his ass out of there as fast as possible. 

I'm going to be aware of how I conduct myself when I'm in a hurry and thinking inside my head.  Hopefully, I don't do those things to others without realizing it. 

Are you as courteous as you could be?  Do you even notice?

Are you running slower than you used to?

Fix me, I'm 40?

A few weeks ago I was setting up camp in my bedroom to do my favorite job in the world--folding laundry--and I turned on the tv for some entertainment while I folded.  The Insider or Entertainment Tonight or one of the trashy gossip shows was on when the tv came on.  Normally I would turn that channel faster than you can say Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, oh wait! that show is trash too..., but for whatever reason, I just left it on that channel.

What was considers news that night was Trista (the original bachelorette) yes, ashamed that I even know who she is, was getting a boob job and her eyelids lifted because she was 40 and it was her gift to herself and she deserved to feel beautiful again. 

It went on to show before and after pictures of what she looked like and how much happier she was with herself and how much more confident she felt since having the surgery.  This was all reported by the fake-ass looking reporter like having plastic surgery is usual and expected and downright necessary for every women about to hit 40.

before

after

Is there really that much difference?  Was that even worth the 15-20K it cost?  Why should we women start to feel bad about ourselves at age 40?  Shouldn't we be feeling great about what we have accomplished with our lives and done with those bodies?  Certainly, I wish that I would have no grey hairs, or no man hairs growing on my chin and sure my boobs have been higher in my lifetime and my eyes used to look more open and doe-eyed. 

Why are we told by the media and Hollywood that when we don't look 20 anymore or like Barbie we have to fix it?

This is what we are bombarded with day after day.  No wonder our girls have eating disorders and body dysmorphia.  I cannot imagine that wasn't any better news to cover that day than Trista's new boobs...  Sad really.

I honestly don't even care that she had the surgery.  Good for her, if it makes her feel better. 

What bothered me was that:
1.  it was even news.  Let the poor girl have surgery in peace for cripes sake.
2.  that is was considered usual and almost necessary for a old hag of a woman in her 40's to 'fix' herself.

Ok, enough of that nonsense.  Let's move on to more important topics.  Like the state of my feet, for instance.

Oh my freakin' grossness.  How did I not notice this until today?  None of it hurts, thankfully.  But it appears that I am in dire need of a pedicure or at least a pumice stone.  Can you say runner problems?

 

How are your feet?  Are they as gross as mine?

What do you think about Trista 'fixing' herself because she's 40?

August Review

It's hard to believe that August is over already.  It seems like it just started and BAM! it's September already.  August was a great month for me--we did a lot of fun stuff as a family and I overcame a fear and finished a big race.

Miles Run--38.4 A little bit down from last month.  That magic number of 50 miles/month seems to elude me.  As I train for the Maine 1/2 Marathon later this month, I should be able to reach that number for September.

Bike minutes--420 minutes.  Same as last month.  I spent probably half of that time on the bike vs. the spin bike.  Biking is easily becoming my favorite part of the tri.  I love my bike!!

Weight Training--70 minutes

Tennis--1 hour.  I also got 75 minutes of playing field hockey in again this month.  Once again, sprinting and changeing direction quickly are very different for my legs and I was sore for 2 days...  I really should find an adult league to play in, it was so much fun!

Swim--6500 yds  Which also includes my first ocean swim!!  woo!

Races--I did two races this month:  Beach to Beacon 10k and the Rev3 Olympic Tri.  Both races were great for different reasons and I will likely sign up for both next year.  Once again, no professional finish photo for me at the REv3 Tri.  Seriously, I am always that person that never has any proof that I finished a race.  If I didn't have photos of my own, there would be no way to prove I was even there.  I swear I'm going to hire my own guy for the next race....

Current Annoyance--my heel is STILL bothering me after I run.  I bought a new pair of sneakers but that didn't seem to matter.  It was really bad after playing field hockey in my oh-so-flat turf shoes.  I could barely walk as I left the field.  I'm kinda at a loss as to what to do next.  I have some inserts that I used last time my heel hurt (like 3 years ago) so I'm going to try putting them into every pair of shoes that I can and see if that helps.  If not, I guess I'll cry uncle and go visit a doctor.  Once the Maine 1/2 Marathon is done (9/30) then I can just rest my feet and focus on spinning and swimming.

Current Book--I am having a hard time finding books to read now.  I feel like I've read everything that's worth reading, of course I know that isn't true, but I just can't find a decent book.   Right now I'm reading The Boy in the Suitcase which is just ok and I have The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks on deck to read next.  I always welcome book suggestions if you have any.

Current Excitement--The kids started school today so that is very exciting!  No more summer camps or nanny to pay for, a whole new year to look forward to!   Big Sissy has her first field hockey game tomorrow, Princess starts dance and field hockey next week and Manimal is still playing soccer and training in jiu-jitsu.  Throw some homework into the mix and good times will be had by all!

my babies.  who aren't babies.

We also took the family white water rafting this past weekend which was great fun!  I got a little bump to the face by the paddler in front of me when we went through a Class IV rapid.

No, I'm not talking about the old and wrinkly part, I'm talking about the mark on my cheek!

I'll have more photos for you of the actual rafting once they put them up on their web page.  My little one--7 year old--is in the front and the pictures are a hoot!

I hope your August was a fabulous one and here's to a successful September!