After a long day, I came home to an extra large stack of mail. I wondered if I had anything *good* in the stack, like the next issue of Marathon & Beyond, or money, or something like that. What do you know, I did have a package that caught my eye. I was pretty sure that I knew what it was. To my delight, I was right; it was my 26.2K shirt for Hal’s V-Team. Tom had sent me a message stating that it was “in the mail.” Actually, it was not the first time that he sent it; he had tried before when I was at Grandma’s Marathon. This was when *I* had sent him a message saying that the check would soon be “in the mail”. Sadly, my shirt never arrived…until today! I pulled out the shirt to examine it closer and then read the back. There it was, the *date* of this event, “August 6, 2006.” Okay, so what if the longest run I have done since Grandma’s has been 10 miles! Right? I won’t panic because in a marathon the extra 6.2 miles is just icing on the cake. So, why not an extra 6.3 miles? No problem.
Archives for July 2006
Time Will Tell
At 9 am I took a short break for my run. I was the only one in the fitness center at this time of day and it was nice. With my music playing my chosen “running tunes,” I began my run on the ‘mill at a modest pace and a 2.0% incline. I quickly advanced the speed until I reached my targeted marathon race pace.
Limited on time, with a long teleconference beginning at lunch and ending at 4 pm, I ran a short 3 mile run. I have a long run planned for tomorrow as well, so it seemed a reasonable distance. By the completion of my 3 miles the elapsed time read 26:13 with a “yummy” 341 calories burned. Hurray!
I didn’t get a run in yesterday and the difference in the caloric balance is staggering. So I had some issues that prolonged my day. It began with me working through lunch, followed by a few extra errands and, the final kicker, car issues – my yesterday didn’t set me up for dieting success. With YaYa complaining that he was hot, and thirsty, and hungry, I left the car that wouldn’t start for Starbucks. We shared a package of cheese, crackers, and fruit. YaYa was quick to grab the fruit. By the time I got home, I was tired and off the planned menu already. So after cooking the chicken and corn on the cob – I ate it. And it was tasty. The calories burned was still more than the calories in, but it was barely. The scale this morning was forgiving though. I can’t make that a habit.
In the gym, since I was the only one there, I could get a nice view of both my running form and my side profile. I wondered how my future “improved” profile would be different. Only time will tell.
Dropping Like Flies
If you ever thought that it would be nice to be a fly on the wall, you might think want to reconsider that thought. In our home, your outcome will vary depending upon who finds you. My husband, who is too kind in my opinion, does his best to usher flies, bees, and other bug life out of the house safely. I, on the other hand, will grab the nearest newspaper and, with a swift swat, end the life of the intruder. We had over a dozen intruders in our home yesterday evening. They were being ushered and swatted right and left.
Here at my work, moral is down three-fold from last week. The WARN letters were received exactly five weeks ago and those in my department are still awaiting the announcements of our outcome. And in the meantime, people naturally have been interviewing elsewhere. They are “dropping like flies.” Three people resigned today alone.
As for me, there are a lot of balls up in the air. I am going a bit crazy trying to keep the ones I care about most a-float. While it is nice to have decisions – to know that *someone* thinks your valuable – its stressful too. I hope that I can make the right decision. All the other areas of my life count on it. Maybe then I can actually read the paper instead of just using it to swat flies.
Dieting 101: Day # 2
We sat together for dinner last night; they ate pizza while I ate JC Turkey Chili and steamed broccoli. I eyed the crumbs on Tom and YaYa’s plate and longed for a piece of pizza. Could I put this “diet” thing off another day? My 1st day of dieting had gone fair, but I don’t like the un-satisfied, always hungry feeling that fills my waking hours.
Today, I tried to spread the food out a little better. It seems that my hunger is at bay until after my mid-day run. That’s no surprise. It was no surprise yesterday, when I reviewed the “free foods” list and then ate nearly a whole bunch of celery stalks. I am sure that it will get better; I’ll get used to the calorie change and the pounds lost will fuel me to continue. Until then, I am obsessive. I’ve logged my miles into my Palm based Diet & Exercise Assistant. JC gave me a menu to follow and log my activity. I know that I write BIG, but there just isn’t enough room to track everything so I started my own spreadsheet. Now, don’t you think that the JC staff will be surprised to see that? It not only adds up the calories, but also has built in formulas. It calculates caloric intake minus the sum of 1555 calories expended (BMR based upon my sitting job) + the calories burned per my garmin. I want to show them why I am concerned that their caloric intake will not work when I’ve really gotten going in my marathon training. My “Intake minus burned calories” showed – 890 yesterday, and IF I stick to the plan for today will be – 1281. No wonder I am hungry. I think the better target would negative 480-500 calories/day.
Perhaps I am being difficult.
You think?
Humm.
On a running note, today’s 6-mile run was nice. The weather has cooled down a bit. It’s now only 90 degrees outside. The pace was slow, but the plan was to just do it. As we ran past people we greeted them “with a smile” but there was no return response. I think the heat must be affecting people’s hearing or, more likely, their mood. Go figure.
Goal Setting
Staying motivated can be difficult to maintain. For some, “getting” motivated may be a difficult task. I like to set goals, and then set out on the attack. Pacing my attack is my challenge. I have to be careful not to set the hurdles too high for myself. I don’t want to set unrealistic, unachievable goals for myself.
I *have* asked the question of whether I am capable of qualifying to run in the Boston Marathon. For those of you who have attempted this task, you know that it is not easy. It is not something that everyone can easily achieve. I have run 10 marathons so far and my best is 3:55 – that is 5 minutes slow of my current BQ time. Although, I have asked the question, I still answer that I can do it.
Hence the plan:
· Hal Higdon’s Intermediate I program
· Run the sorta-long runs at Tempo pace, Yasso 800s, or Mile repeats.
· Lose weight