Biking Again

I've not biked so much since my days at Davis, and then it was all flat! Jennifer and I biked along Highway 1 in Marina/Seaside yesterday morning. It was sunny and gorgeous and I felt like my legs were going to fall off on some of those hills! We speed walked afterward, at first running, but my legs were like jello, I couldn't keep them straight! We're getting ready for next Sunday's triathlon, I'm actually getting pretty excited. Here's the website if you're interested in the course: http://www.mermaidtriathlon.com/09/SANTACRUZ/SANTACRUZ09.html.

Swimming in the AM

This morning I swam at our local YMCA, which I joined a couple of weeks ago. It was hard to get up (honestly, I snoozed twice) but the swim felt so good. The pool was 82 degrees and I really worked on my freestyle breathing (I'm not good at alternating which side I turn my head).

I also got my life insurance medical tests back. Overall they were very good, but I am at high risk for diabetes according to my fasting blood sugar levels. I already knew that, but it's hard to see it again, from a different source. More inspiration to do what I'm doing!

Olivia Ate Broccolini!

Last night Olivia ate a piece of broccolini. Granted, she sucked out the middle and gave daddy the "skin" to eat, but she ate it! I'm so proud. :)

I joined the YMCA last week and LOVE it. There's even a play area for kids and I can put Livey in swim lessons. I need to do some "block" training: swim/run, run/bike, bike/swim over the next couple of weeks to prepare for my mermaid triathlon on 9/26.

Jennifer and I went to a clinic to prepare for the ocean swim on Saturday. It's SO SCARY swimming in the ocean. We're swimming around the ship at the pier on Seascape beach (Aptos, CA) which is about 400 meters. It's so cold that every time I put my head in the water I stopped breathing a little, then got scared (you only see green) and then yanked my head up and sat there breathing for a minute until I felt better. It's freaky! I made it around the boat and back, but it took me 40 minutes to do what I'd normally swim in 15 in a lap pool.

Yesterday Jennifer and I went for a bike ride/run along Hwy 1. It was fun and really hard to get up some of the hills. My chain fell off once, which wasn't that hard to reattach (probably thanks to my UCD years) but I had a hard time of running after the hills on that bike for 4 miles and speed walked about another 1.5 mile. Jennifer's such a great inspiration for me to get out there, pushing me to try while understanding when I need to slow down.

More to come on the triathlon...

Back into Swimming, Riding

A quick update: tomorrow I'm going to start swimming again to prepare for my mini-triathalon on 9.25.10. I've not been as active over the past couple of weeks, partially due to a busy schedule, but I'm a little nervous that I'm losing my drive to exercise. I'm also going to get my bike out of the garage! I have a really tough time motivating myself to get out and exercise when I'm tired or worried about day-to-day things. I know swimming will make me feel great tomorrow and bike riding is going to be necessary as I prepare for my 11-miler.

Hiding the Scale

I've done a good job of eating my 10-a-day all week, partially because I've been visiting the salad shoppe! Yesterday I had 5 servings in my salad (beets, lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes) a banana, 2 plums, strawberries, corn and tomatoes from my garden. I had a little trouble on Wednesday because I was in a conference all day, but I had about 7 throughout.

I was so excited to harvest fresh cherry tomatoes from my garden yesterday. I was even more excited when Olivia was interested in them. I've had a bit of trouble getting her to eat vegetables lately. Of course, tomatoes are actually a fruit, but she hasn't wanted them since she was about 1 year old. She loved plucking off the stem and popping them in her mouth. She'd get a tart one and give me a "nose crunch" but then she was reaching for another. I love that she preferred the tomatoes to the pasta on her plate (whole wheat pasta, but pasta nonetheless).

I also hid my scale. I'm sick of it. I think it actually makes me less productive because I expect such big changes quickly. And that's that. :)

Monday's 10

As I said yesterday, I was going to post my servings all week...

My 10 servings yesterday...
1 Banana
2 apricots
BIG salad - 5 servings (bell peppers, tomatoes, lettuce, beets, mushrooms)
BIG heirloom tomato - 2 servings
dried mangos

So far today...
1 Banana
BIG salad & steamed veggies at conference - 4 servings (carrots, broccoli, lettuce, tomatoes)

I'm staying at a friend's tonight (at a conference) who is a wonderful, fresh veggie cook. I know that she'll either make us a delicious, produce-laden dinner or we'll go somewhere delicious and healthy!

Finished in 3:30! Fastest time: 9:35

I had the Salinas Valley 1/2 Marathon this weekend. What a beautiful course, full of fields and local friends all out for a run. I ended up running the first mile (14:08 pace, 11:00 fastest), and then realized I wasn't feeling well. It felt like my chest/heart was struggling so I speed walked the rest, with a few running sprints here and there. My fastest time was a 9:35 pace - my best ever! We climbed 440 feet, went 13.1 miles and I had an average speed of 16:08. I was pretty happy with the results.

Now I'm gearing up for my mini triathlon on 9/26! It includes a 400-meter ocean swim, 2.5 mile run and a 11 mile bike ride: http://www.mermaidtriathlon.com/09/index.html. This is my perfect opportunity to cross-train and gain running speed.

I've had a hard time keeping up with my 10-a-day. I've just let life "get in the way" over the past few weeks. I didn't make it the priority it had been before, but now I'm completely dedicated to doing it again. To push myself to do so, I'm going to post my 10 each day all week. I'm also going to have breakfast again - I'd lived on coffee most days until noon over the past month. So of course at lunch I'm starved. Breaking bad habits is hard to do, but I'm exercising more than I have in 10 years, and I know I can change my eating habits for the better too.