International Travel Recs

So…I just got back from a hastily planned whirlwind trip to Italy from the United States. I haven’t traveled overseas in 9 years, so I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect or bring. I’m putting this down in writing so I don’t forget for future travels.

Before the trip:

1. Be sure you’re travel docs are up to date and easily accessible during your travel. If your airline asks, upload everything into their system. This made gate check in super quick and easy.
2. Check the weather for your location ahead of time, for the entire time you’ll be there if possible.
3. Get compression bags for your packing. You can pack twice as much in the same space – just be careful on the weight.

During the trip:

1. A portable charger and country specific adapter are must haves. Finding a small portable charger that has its own cord will be extremely useful, particularly on travel days when your day extends longer than the normal twenty four hours. Newer adapters have not only plugs but various USB ports.
2. Invest in a small crossbody bag that you can keep the essentials in. You won’t want to have a big bag that is easily grabbed. Pickpockets are looking for easy pickings, and a crossbody will make it that much harder.
3. GO FOR COMFORT, particularly with your shoes. Nobody cares what shoes you’re wearing when you’re walking miles on cobblestones, but you’ll feel it afterwards if you opted for cute over comfort.
4. Layer, layer, layer. Be sure to pack layering options, depending on the forecast. You might be able to get away with a light sweater and cute scarf rather than packing a bulky jacket.
5. Travel umbrella! Find a tiny one that fits anywhere so you’ll want to take it.
6. Don’t use a currency exchange window – they’ll entice you in with a high exchange rate, but then they’ll charge you a service fee of 20% or more. ATMs will give you the best rate of the day according to your bank, and the three bucks they’ll charge is far less.
7. Rewear and reuse – choose versatile options that you can layer, mix and match and dress up or down. You really only need two pairs of shoes – one for dressier occasions, and your walkers. That’s really it.
8. Don’t bother with a “travel blanket” – most airlines will supply you with one and they take up a lot of space.
9. Do invest in a good travel pillow – the ones the airline supplies you with don’t work unless you are sitting in a window seat and have a wall to lean on.
10. Bring an empty water bottle and refill it at the airport.

After the trip:

1. Try to stay up in the time zone you’re in until close to a normal bedtime. This is tough, but will help you acclimate faster – particularly on returning to the US.
2. Try to sleep on the plane coming home. This feels weird because you are in the daytime, but it will help when you arrive home at 3pm but your body feels like it is 9pm. A few hours in the sleep bank will help overcome that.

Women’s Philadelphia Tri Recap

Why yes, I forgot about my blog about health and wellness. LOL.

I competed in another triathlon this weekend, the Philadelphia Women’s Triathlon. It’s been two years since I did a tri. A friend of mine and I have become regular event junkies, and we both like the same ones: running/walking races, biking and of course, triathlons. I introduced her to the sport four years ago before COVID and it just clicked for her. For me, I was glad to have someone to partner with on races as most of my friends that I would do events with have stopped.

We heard about this tri through my friend, who thought it sounded fun. Our local women’s tri has since gone out of business. My friend heard good things about this one, so after some back and forth, we decided to sign up for our first destination event.

We arrived on Saturday to check in. The weather was steamy and the forecast was for thunderstorms for that day and the next. First great thing about this tri: you can check your bike in the day before. We got there at 1030 and immediately checked in (before the official check in time, nice) and got all of our materials. We had preordered merch and that was available too. Within forty minutes we were checked in and our bikes were racked and we were set. We were told the Philadelphia Police Department watched the bikes overnight, so we felt comfortable leaving them there.

Speaking of, this was the first tri I have done where your bike was assigned a spot. Every other tri I have done (and this was my seventh), you had to basically jockey for position on the bike rack. When you came back from the bike portion sometimes your spot was occupied. To have an assigned spot seemed so civilized, and so logical.

We spent Saturday having a lovely lunch in Philly and dodging raindrops before heading back to our hotel for a quiet night. Before we knew it, our 430am alarm went off and up we were to head back to Fairmount Park.

We got to the park around 530 (having stayed out near the airport since we didn’t book hotels quickly enough) and were relieved we’d done so much the day before. After putting our gel seats back on our bikes (we removed them due to the rain forecast since they’d be sitting outside overnight), we set up the rest of our transition areas next to the bikes and worried about the weather.

Let me take a moment to talk about how this photo is a wake up call for me. While I knew I could do this tri, my clothes that I have for triathlons are two years old. When I bought this gear I was twenty pounds lighter. I have been kind of OK just accepting my post menopause weight gain, but this photo is killing me. Obviously I’m the person on the left. I haven’t gotten my event photos yet but I know I will probably hate them all. I’m desperately trying to crop all of my photos but this one doesn’t lie. Since I started this blog I’m 35 pounds heavier, and there’s no hiding it. I’ll get back to that later.

Finally it was time to head over to the Kelly pool for the swim portion. Nearly 1000 people queued up meant a long wait to get in the water. Originally my friend and I seeded ourselves where we thought we would be for completion of the 300m swim: 9 and 10 minutes respectively. But after about twenty minutes of frustratedly waiting, we noticed no one in the water seemed to be in their proper timeframe. The official group in the water was supposed to be finishing their swim in less than 7 minutes and there were people not even getting their faces wet. Walking some of the swim. Stopping at the end of the lanes. Finally my friend and I agreed: we were totally fine with cutting the line and getting in the water as soon as possible (don’t judge us). So that’s what we did. I ended up hopping in Kelly Pool at about 7:33am.

300m Swim: 9:44

This was better than I had anticipated, having estimated my swim at around 10:10 or 10:20. 300m is the shortest tri swim I ever have done, and it felt fine. My first 50m felt almost easy but then I was trying to push. By the fourth lap (6 laps of 50m each) I found my groove and it went quickly. A few passed me, I passed a few and it was clear I was not out of my ability range. I have been swimming about once a week since January, sometimes twice, so I have been keeping up on it.

Transition: 5:06

I didn’t run the very long stretch from the pool to my bike, and my time shows this. I was out of breath and I mostly walked it. But beyond that, having used a tri top helped tighten my time here. I had trouble with my new helmet, having to try three times before I got it buckled, but overall I felt OK with my speed here other than my walking to the bike.

8.1 M Bike: 36:18

The bike portion of this race is lovely. It runs all along the Schuykill River and is a closed course, so no cars. It never felt crowded although I did get annoyed a few times with people just riding in tandem. Really? It’s a race, people! My bike is my best portion so I wanted to pick up some time here. And I did that, until the very last bit where there is a very unpleasant hill. This was where my lack of prep killed me because I was afraid to change gears to the lowest gear. I hadn’t practiced it much and the few times I did I popped the chain. Since I had to work hard to get up that hill, I was really huffing when I finally made it back.

T2: 2:37

I normally don’t drink while out on the bike during a race, and this time was no exception. So I had to get some water in me since the heat was really ramping up. Thunderstorms were in the forecast, the sky was gloomy and the humidity was oppressive. So I knew I had to hydrate. I racked the bike, grabbed my handheld water bottle, dropped the helmet and off I went.

5K Run (well, mostly walk): 49:56

I was spent here and it shows in the time. This is also where the extra weight killed me. I could have probably run more if I wasn’t carrying so much extra weight but I just didn’t have it in me. I would try for a bit and feel so hot and heavy and crampy that I walked most of it. I was OK with it, I knew that’s likely how it would go since I hadn’t trained, but it was hard watching so many pass me, some of whom I’d passed on the bike. But I also was grateful that I could put one foot in front of the other and do this. I knew I’d finish and that was really the bottom line.

Finish Time: 1:43:39

I crossed the finish line about 7 minutes faster than I predicted, but I also thought the bike was going to be about a mile longer, so it’s really about a wash. They handed us ice cold towels and huge bottles of cold water as they presented our medals to us. A nice touch: they called out your name as you crossed, said where you were from, and read your “why you tri” statement. For me, I wrote that I was honoring a Sandy Hook victim with every tri I did, and I welled up with tears to hear it read aloud at the finish line.

Overall, this was a great race. I didn’t love the hill on the bike course at the end, but honestly it is about the only complaint (other than the cost, which is high for a short sprint tri). The park is beautiful and both the bike and the run are completely closed to traffic. Everything was well marked and there was even plenty of food by the time I got to the food tent, which is often gone by the time slow people like me head over there. Checkin was smooth and I honestly loved the pool swim.

I think my friend and I will be signing up again, and my goal is for next year to be very different. To really use this as a motivation to get my health back and lose some weight to feel better. My mom died at 53 and I’m two months away from that. I don’t want to cut my life short because I can’t get my eating and drinking under control. Time to get back to using this blog as an outlet to help me navigate my way back to a healthier place.

Thanks Philly Women’s Tri. You made me look within and helped me move (mostly) forward.

COVID Positive

Well, it finally got me. Nearly three years into this pandemic, millions of people lost to it, vaccines, restrictions, livelihoods in turmoil…and I finally turned up positive this week.

Life, as I said in my last entry eight months ago, was mostly normal. We all had come to the understanding that we needed to live with COVID, the same as we do with seasonal flu. For some that means being more careful: vaccinations, masks when in public spaces, or when exposed to those who are elderly or unwell. But overall things are back to prepandemic routines.

I switched schools over the summer, back to a public school. It felt odd to set up for this year without any of the things I’d worried about the last two years: no worries about distance between desks, or placement, or masks. No virtual learning. No need to submit seating charts for quarantining…we don’t do that any more. In fact, the only way we know a student comes down with COVID these days is if they share it with us themselves.

But rest assured, they definitely are coming down with it. About three weeks into the year we had a bit of a spike at my school. Multiple teachers out, a few students in every class. Then it calmed down. But a few weeks ago the flu started to ramp up. Stories of kids with insanely high fevers, out for a week or two.

I traveled twice this fall, being careful to wear my mask on the airplane (no longer required, and I was one of very few who did). I had several friends who traveled and came down with it upon their return. My oldest son, who is not vaccinated at all, came through town last week with his kids. He warned us the two girls were not well and offered not to stop for the overnight respite. Of course we did not take him up on it. However, by the next morning he too was sick, and by the next day they all were. It was either the flu or COVID, not sure which.

On Saturday night my husband and I went out to dinner. I felt fine throughout the meal but when we came home I felt an overwhelming sense of fatigue. I attributed it to the wine at dinner. But by the morning I knew something wasn’t quite right. I still got up and went out to run the 5K I’d signed up for that day, and felt much better afterwards. Any physical activity always makes me feel better. By 3 in the afternoon I was having chills and by 5 I was down for a nap on the sofa. When I woke, my temperature was 101.

I’ve been sick a few times this year, but haven’t always bothered to take a COVID test. I guess I kind of just knew that the illnesses were run of the mill colds. This felt different, so I took a test. Sure enough, it was positive. I couldn’t believe it. Three years have gone by, three years I’ve dodged this bullet. Three years of being careful and cautious. Of vaccinations and masks.

Whether I got it from my son or a student (I have two that emailed me saying they were positive over the weekend) I guess doesn’t really matter. I’m sick.

The first day, I mostly slept. I ran a fever of 100-101 and had a mild cough.

The second day, I felt much more alert. My fever dropped to 99-100 but the cough increased as did the congestion.

Today is third day. I am at about 99 which isn’t really a fever, but is definitely elevated (I usually run 97 or sometimes even below that). I am far more congested and coughing and have muscle aches.

I had hoped to go back to work tomorrow. I had a friend who had COVID earlier this fall and she was fine in three days. I’m starting to think that won’t happen. 😦 It’s a terrible time of year to be sick. I have to isolate in my room and work from my bed, which isn’t helping the muscle aches. I’m trying to wrap up Christmas shopping online. I’m sad to be all alone.

I know. What a ridiculous rant. There are so many who died from this disease, who have been hospitalized, whose lives are forever altered by it. I need to remind myself of that. This is inconvenient but it will pass. That makes me lucky. I just need to remember that.

Noom Week 6

Weight Lost This Week: 1.2 lbs
Total Weight Lost: 8.2 lbs

Slow and steady. I typed those words in and then glanced back at last week’s entry and saw the exact same ones. That’s OK. As long as the number goes down every week, I’m definitely committed to seeing this through for as long as it takes. I’ll feel good when the total weight hits 10. That will be a milestone for sure.

Noom set my first goal as 17.4 lbs lost. That represents 10% of my body weight when I started. I remember back when I did Weight Watchers forever ago they did the same thing; 10% was a big deal. It seemed like an impossible number when I started but now on my weight chart that little dot keeps inching closer and closer each time I log. It’s incentive.

The choices do seem to be getting easier. This week my husband brought home cannolis, and while I won’t say it was easy to resist them, I will say that I did so. The other side of the coin (and the thing Noom tells you to do) is that when I saw my son this week and his wife baked fresh gluten free cupcakes, I ate one. They were delicious, we were celebrating seeing each other for the first time in weeks and sometimes you have to allow yourself a treat. I did, and then the next day I had no problem ordering a delicious salad when we got take out.

I also am definitely seeing that adage that you “can’t outrun the fork”. Last week one day I did a lot of shoveling and really thought the scale would go down from all of the activity. Nope. Slow and steady. The biggest drops definitely come from a good day of food choices, not activity.

So I’m staying the course. New foods I’m liking: soft boiled eggs. I never ate them before, but I couldn’t figure out how to poach well, and I figured they are essentially the same as soft boiled. They are easy and so far I’m enjoying them. I also remembered how to make chocolate mug muffins (one egg, tbsp of cocoa powder and two packets of stevia, microwave for about 1.5 min and stop half way to stir). Those are great with plain yogurt and berries.

When the weather warms (it’s so cold these February days) I am looking forward to smoothies again. I haven’t made them since the last time I tried to lose weight but I remember really enjoying them. So something to look forward to.

Triathlon Weekend Pt 2

During one of my group’s last training sessions, we remarked that each of us clearly had a weak area out of the swim, bike, run:  mine was the run, one was slower on the bike, and the third was slowest on the swim.  We mentioned that we would make the perfect relay team.

Fast forward to a yoga class a few days later with one of my tri training partners.  We mentioned the tri to our instructor, who is also a friend, and a runner.  She said she had always wanted to do a tri, but worried about the swim.  “Do they do a relay where one person only does one part?” she wondered.

And Tri Weekend suddenly became a thing.

There was a Tri, I told them both, the day after our Women’s Tri.  It was also a sprint, but much shorter distances on the bike and the run.  I’d done it before, when it was two weeks out of the Women’s Tri.  But a friend of mine had done a relay the day after participating in the Women’s Tri last year, and it seemed doable.  My friend agreed to swim, I offered to bike and our instructor said she would do the run.

I offered to drive (my bike still being racked on my car).  So at 5:30am, while it was still good and dark, we met up and off we went.  Fortunately the morning dawned beautifully over Long Island Sound so none of the ladies I’d talked into this level of crazy was upset.  They were both game and excited.

We were at Compo Beach in Westport by 6am, but not even close to the first people to arrive.  We picked up our swag bags and ankle bracelet and got body marked before the sun rose.  None of us had ever done a relay before, although I did have the advantage of having done this particular tri before (four years ago, pre injury).  But my memories were hazy, so we were asked a lot of curious questions.  It was a very different feel to know I only had to worry about the bike.  I wasn’t nervous at all, just excited.  We set up our area in transition (so much easier when you don’t have to worry about changing clothes) and were ready.

We met on the beach for the safety briefing and bid our swimmer good luck.  The swim was by far the most challenging part of this tri:  a solid half mile in the salty Long Island Sound.  Fortunately, since my friend and I had practiced our open water swims at a beach just a few miles away, she felt well prepared.

The water was calm and warm and she set off while I trotted back to transition to wait for her.  It was an interesting difference from the day before, when I’d done all three legs.  I watched as other swimmers came in and handed off their ankle bracelets for their relay team, and as others came in and peeled off wet suits.  At one point I helped a woman put a sports bra over her suit.

After a great time of 23:22 in the water, my friend ran up to me in transition and I peeled off the ankle bracelet and set out.  What a great feeling to be dry and on the bike!

I wanted to make up as much time as possible on the bike to keep us competitive so I went out as hard and as fast as I could.  I had forgotten that there were a few hills early on the 5.5 mile course.  A few people passed me, which surprised me.  I was determined to pass a few myself.  It took a few miles but eventually I did.

The bike course was harder than I remembered.  It might have been I had worked so much the day before but I was surprised that it didn’t feel easier.  I pushed hard the entire time and finished the 5.5 miles in 21:22.  I would have liked to been under 21 minutes, but I was pleased with it.

I made it back to transition, traded off my ankle bracelet and our runner set off.  That was it for me!  I racked my bike.  I was sweating, but quickly recovered since it wasn’t that long a ride.

We had agreed to meet our third on the beach for the last bit to cross the finish together.  And after just 17 minutes (she’s a sub 9 minute runner) she showed up at the end of the 2.2 mile course on the beach and we did exactly that.

We got smaller medals than the day before, but it was still a great feeling to have been a part of two triathlons in two days.  Both of my friends were new to the sport and both are very ready to try it again.

We went for a lovely walk in the neighborhood around the beach afterwards, since none of us had what we considered enough exercise for the day.  It was a great way to shake off the soreness and talk out the two days of triathlon fun.

I still can’t believe it is over.  I went from having done three triathlons to five in two days.  And while being in a relay is not nearly the same level of exertion, it still felt great to do another one.  I might not be the thinnest triathlete out there, or the fastest, but I’m still out there, logging the miles and getting the job done.  And that feels really, really good.

Triathlon Weeked Pt 1

I know.  I had pretty much given up on this blog too.  But since I referred to it so much while I was training for this weekend, I can’t just yet.  It is a great record of my journey, which is still mostly forward, although maybe not quite in the way I thought when I first started this blog seven years ago.

Last year when I trained for my Women’s Tri (.5 mile swim, 12 mile bike, 5K run), I put together a meticulous training program which I followed religiously.  I had started the summer having just lost 15 pounds, but wasn’t in great physical shape.  I worked hard, completed that tri faster than the previous time I’d done it (pre broken hip) and was pleased with my performance.

I spent the fall and winter trying to maintain fitness.  I swam once a week.  I kept up my running and slowly whittled down my 5K time from a 43-44 min (again, I broke my hip a few year ago, and am also a self proclaimed “chubby girl”) down to 40:02 (yes, I’m specific:  the last two 5Ks I have done, despite wildly different courses and elevations, were EXACTLY that time).  I lost a little weight.  I began my summer training cycle with high hopes.

But then life happened.  Because I’m a teacher, I had the luxury of traveling for various reasons this summer.  I spent eight days visiting family out of state.  While out there I injured my right foot, resulting in a stress fracture that kept me away from running for five weeks.  I kept swimming and biking hoping it wouldn’t impact my training that much.  Then I traveled to my son’s family for two weeks to help them with their third child’s birth.  And finally, back on both feet, I came home only to leave a week later to visit my father in Florida for his 80th birthday.

I did what I could while traveling, taking advantage of local gyms and hotel fitness rooms but I worried.  I worried if I’d done what it would take to maintain last year’s time on the triathlon; I’d wanted to improve it, but threw that goal out the window after I came home and finished my last two weeks of training.  I worked hard, but didn’t feel confident.

Finally, race day came.  I woke at 4:00am and began my journey.  I picked up my two girlfriends (we’d loaded up their bikes on my car the day before) and traveled in the dark (and rain from the outer bands of the just missed us Hurricane Dorian) the hour to the triathlon site.

Set up and marked up before the sun rose.

We unloaded, got our bikes inspected, got body marked and set up each of our transition areas.  Neither of my girlfriends had ever done a triathlon before, so it was fun to guide them and help calm their nerves.  The hour inbetween setting up and the start passed very quickly with them to chat with.  Before we knew it, it was time for the safety meeting on the beach.

My husband caught this shot of me and my friends just before the swim start. We all look a little nervous.

I was in the first wave of swimmers.  I was honestly surprised; the swim didn’t feel as hard as it had the year before.  I remembered gulping for air and feeling really rough when I started last year, and I didn’t feel that way this time.  I was pushing but never felt that nervous “I’m really out of breath here” feeling.  I am a slow swimmer, so of course I was in the back of the pack, and before the half way mark, the next wave of caps started to come around me, but I felt strong and sure.  I was surprised to find out later I shaved 9 seconds off of my swim.

1/2 MILE SWIM:  27:22

Onto transition.  I started out walking up the beach to the bike but everyone started passing me so I couldn’t help but barefoot jog into the pen.  Made a wrong turn and down the wrong aisle but eventually found my bike.  I had smartly laid out a gel this time (forgot to fuel last year between swim and bike) and swallowed that while I ditched my wet tank top and got my feet dry on the towel.  I tried to be fast but also catch my breath.

T1:  3:20 (17 seconds slower than last year…mostly the gel consumption, I’m sure)

I left on the bike and wanted to alternately not use up all of my energy but gain as much time as I could.  Bike is the strongest of my three in the tri:  I have a good bike and I usually can push myself.  So I went as hard as I could without killing myself.  The hills felt harder than I remembered them from the year before, but other than that, I felt pretty good during the bike.  I certainly pushed harder than on any of my training rides, and it went by quickly.  I was surprised to learn that I was about 1:45 slower than the previous year on the bike.  But considering my lack of long ride training this summer, it made sense.

No photos from the bike.  Apparently I was moving too fast and took my husband by surprise.

12 MILE BIKE:  51:16

Back into transition and I wanted to go fast.  Drank a bunch of water, ditched the bike and took off.

T2:  1:35 (2 seconds off last year)

At this point I had no idea where I was at time wise, but I remembered that I had no energy left for the run last year.  I smartly decided to take Gatorade and not water on every chance I was given, the first being just outside of transition.  I jogged where I could, walked where I had to and eventually found a rhythm.  After about a mile I realized I felt MUCH better than I had at this point last year. I was definitely running more.  It was still hard and I was doing a lot of walking, but I knew I was doing better.

At some point I started to expect my friends, the first timer triathletes to pass me on the trail.  They started the swim 8 minutes after me, but they are both thinner and in much better shape.  Both run faster than me and I assumed somewhere I would see them.  I just hoped it would be somewhere in the last mile so I wouldn’t be too embarrassed at my time.

But the time and mileage ticked away.  I kept doing my intervals, and finally, I could hear the roar of the crowd:  I was almost at the end.  I still hadn’t seen either of my friends so maybe, just maybe, I was doing better than I realized.

When I rounded the corner and saw the finish line, I couldn’t believe my eyes.  The time clock read 2:06 and change.  Last year I finished at 2:10:24, so I knew I had made my original goal of beating last year’s time.  I pushed myself forward and smiled the whole way.

5K RUN:  43:18

I crossed at 2:06:51 and my husband caught the exact moment. You can see I’m smiling here. Not because I’m happy to be done…but because I’m happy to have done it well.

I think I did a few things right this time.  I paid better attention to hydration and diet the day before.  I fueled with a gel during the event.  And finally I took the Gatorade as opposed to plain water.  I think the net result was more energy at the end.  I was over 5 minutes faster on the run than last year, AND I was over a minute faster than my first time at this triathlon, before I’d broken my hip and when I was in much better shape.  I still can’t believe it.  Even though I didn’t follow a rigid training plan, I did do a workout pretty much every day this summer, focusing more on the swim and the bike as my foot healed.  I had assumed my run would be weaker but it was the bike:  likely due to too many stationary bike workouts and not enough long outdoor rides. I clearly was able to maintain the run fitness I’d built up earlier this year through all of the workouts even though I wasn’t running.

We all eventually crossed the finish line, and in the end I turned out to have the fastest time overall.  How about that?  The chubby girl came out on top this time.  🙂

We all congratulated each other and slowly made our way through the post race festivities before we went back to my car.  I had Prosecco and orange juice waiting in a cooler for just this moment:  to toast all of us:  to them on their first tri, and to me on being able to continue doing them.  I’m incredibly proud and grateful.

Part Two of Triathlon Weekend…up next!

Wednesday Weigh In

Previous Weigh In 158.8
Today: 158.6
Two Week Weight Loss:  0.2 lbs
Total Weight Loss: 16.4 lbs

Starting to feel like I’m getting into a groove.  Back in a routine of activity with my school schedule.  Obviously I’m not losing right now, but I’m OK with maintaining for the last few weeks which have been busy.

At this point I’m backing off of the Fast Metabolism Diet a bit.  I’m still mostly following foods that are on plan, with a small amount of dairy thrown in.  I’m very loosely following the phases, but allowing myself a few more fruits and veg than are on the Phase 2 lists, and probably a little less fat than is normal for Phase 3.  Still keeping the foods that I know are good for me that I really enjoy (chocolate spinach smoothie, mug cakes, etc).  I had put on a few pounds (found myself above 160 there for a minute) but I pulled it back in and am back within a pound of my low point this summer.

For now, I’m keeping to swimming at least once a week (now that it is fall our local HS has open swim in the evening, which is much easier for me than driving to the Y 25 min away), run/walking 1-2 times a week, yoga at least once and strength at least once.  I’ve done some hiking which I really like.  And walking as much as I can at work.  That feels doable and structured enough for me.

I don’t have any real goals at this point other than to maintain my fitness level from tri training and lose some more weight.  I hesitate to put a time frame on that, but it would be nice to be down from where I am for the holidays.  Ideally I would like to drop another 20 pounds total…maybe by next spring?  That technically would still keep me at an overweight BMI, but I know from past experience I would feel good at that weight while still living my life.  Can I get there now that I’m working and have less time to exercise?  I hope so.

Wednesday Weigh In

Previous Weigh In 158.8
Today: 158.8
This Week’s Weight Loss:  0 lbs
Total Weight Loss: 16.2 lbs

This week’s exercise:

M: none
Tu: 2.25 mile run/walk
W:  none
Th: 30 min bike, 30 min strength
F:  2 mi run/walk
Sa-Su:  Girls’ Weekend (only exercise was raising a glass to my mouth)

So it has obviously been a zero weight loss week, but I”m OK with that.  With a huge girls’ weekend this week with lots of eating and drinking, a no gain is a win in my book.  While I did eat a lot of cheese, I steered mostly clear of the bread and ate lots of veggies and protein.  Lots and lots of wine, but also lots and lots of water.  I came back up but within two days I was back to what I’d been last week, so I’ll take that.

Still adjusting to afternoon workouts with school back in session.  I’m using my treadmill at home a bit more but really missing the pool.  Definitely going to make that a Saturday morning routine now.  I don’t miss the bike as much but I would like to get a few rides in before the weather changes.

The weather has been a bit cooler this week and so that means putting on clothes I haven’t worn since last April or May.  The great news is that a lot of things that didn’t fit or were tight last winter are feeling pretty darn good.  So that’s exciting.  Still a long way to go but that was a pleasant surprise this week.

Still a work in progress!

Weekly Weigh In

This was a recovery week after the triathlon.  Wasn’t sure how much or little I should be doing, so I kind of took it easy and let my body be my guide.  I found myself hungrier than usual, even though I wasn’t exercising as much.  I felt OK on Monday, but by Tuesday I was exhausted.  It was almost as if it took a few days for all of the adrenaline and effort from the tri to catch up with me.

I wasn’t super careful with being perfect on my phases this week, either.  It was my birthday and so there was a little celebrating with some dinners out.  I did try to choose healthy options (cioppino with no bread at one meal out, salad at the other) even though they might have been off phase.

Along with that is the inevitable change in routine that comes with going back to work.  When I’m not working I always work out first thing in the morning, but when you work at a high school, that’s impractical.  I already get up at 515, and adding a workout in before that is just more than I can realistically expect of myself.  On the other hand, I’m off of work at 2, so if there isn’t a lot going on, it is pretty easy to run to the gym or hop on the treadmill after I’m done.  Swimming is tougher; the pool is a solid twenty five minute drive.  I haven’t been brave enough to try that after work yet with rush hour and all, but I will probably next week.

Beyond exercise, going back to work means meal planning.  Last spring I usually took salads to work and other small things for snacks, but it requires planning.  I found myself hungrier than what I brought with me to school each day, so I found myself running to the cafeteria and looking to find something healthy for snacks.  I wasn’t always successful in light of all the choices available (they have a cheese and crackers side that kept calling me this week) but I will get back into the routine of shopping and preparing.

All in all, the week went about as well as I could have hoped with the post tri tiredness and birthday celebrations.  I’m just grateful to be where I am, feeling healthier and more able.  The compliments I received at work (they haven’t seen me in two months) were a good validation that while I might be perfect, I am on the right path.

Previous Weigh In 159.6
Today: 158.8
Total Weight Loss: 16.2 lbs

This week’s exercise:

M:  50 lap swim
Tu:  Rest Day
W:  Yoga
Th:  30 min bike, 30 min strength
F:  Rest Day
Sa:  60 min strength class
Su:  7 mile challenging hike (3 hours…this was a lot more than we planned!  But felt good)

Weekly Weigh In: Accountability

I wasn’t going to post this morning.  I haven’t been careful or on plan for two weeks, giving myself a bit of a pass in the final push for triathlon training.  As you can imagine, my weight is up today, by about 2.5 pounds over my last weigh in.  I was just going to let that simmer and have a good week and come back next week and post about it.

But that isn’t real.  That isn’t what is happening and whole point of me using this blog to push myself forward is not for what *other* people perceive my journey to be.  It is to motivate *myself* to make healthier choices and hold myself accountable.

So I’m up 2.5 pounds today.  I know some of that is bloat from several celebratory days of restaurant meals celebrating my triathlon and my birthday (I am 48 today).  And I’m OK with that.  But I want to keep myself in check and be sure that I take this chance today to be mindful and to make choices that will make that number go back down instead of going up.

That being said, for one of my birthday dinners last night I put on clothes that I haven’t been able to wear for nearly 2 years.  So I was pretty psyched about that.  My weight is higher than it was a few weeks ago, but my body is still leaner than it was.  The pants I couldn’t wear at this same weight at the start of summer, but I can wear them now.  So that was great validation that I am going in the right direction.

I am going to spend my birthday going to the YMCA to swim, which is something I wouldn’t have thought to do before the tri.  Now I know I am able to do that, I enjoy it, it’s a great recovery workout.  Then I’m going to celebrate my 48th birthday.  My mother died just 6 days after her 53rd birthday, so as I inch closer to that milestone I am very aware of trying to make choices that will extend my days beyond that.  I’m never one to complain about getting older.  I’m going to embrace every year I’m able to get.  Each one is a gift, and in the words of Leo D:  “I don’t intend on wasting them.”

Previous Weigh In 157
Today: 159.6
Total Weight Loss: 15.4 lbs