Run back in the mix

And just in case the other links were eye-catchy enough...

and on a 65+F day I decide to make soup

And I think it turned out pretty darned good...

Prescott - Walk

We did the hop off the bike and start walking bit. There is a bit of a lag in timing because it takes time to turn the foot pod back on once I jump off the bike. I turn it off on the bike because it only catches the steps getting on and off the bike and it screws with the other stats.
You can see how my heart rate was high from the bike and finally tapered off with the walking. It picked up again at the end of the walk - we added one last leg up the furthest street out - it is the steepest longest of hills in the neighborhood and a good one to push yourself just a little longer. The heart rate drops at the end as that is coming back down another hill to the stopping part.
I am continually intrigued by the foot pod and its capture of my cadence. I think it has something to do with the way it is attached to my shoe. Or worse maybe it picks up a funny stride since I need new sneaks...
But since I was being called out for not sharing I figured I would share a few...

Untitled by delbda at Garmin Connect - Details

Happy Sunday!
I am off to try some of this soup I have been making. Maybe I should post a pic of that as well. Just to get the full experience of the day....

Prescott Ride

Shall we talk about its impact on my heart rate?

Untitled by delbda at Garmin Connect - Details

the bike is on the car...

now just need to change and head on over to a friends house
we are going to ride around her neighborhood
figure it will be less crowded than most of the greenways
if i can stay on the bike for 30 minutes i will be so happy!
hoping for an hour walk - what a great way to spend the day

SO ignoring the laundry and other house and work details

whole foods - part one - beans

i know that sounds so unappealing but it amazing what soaking a few beans can do for a menu...
last year i started with lentils as i had the misfortune or previous attempts at soaking beans resulting in nasty starchy hard beans...  lentils being tiny reconstitute a bit better
this year i started with black beans - of course the end result of the balck bean dip probably wasnt the best decision...  i mixed the whole bag of beans witha  brick of reduced fat cream cheese and half a jar of salsa...  served it as a dip with whole grain chips...  according to a recipe calculator the calories in the dip weren't that bad, i suspect however that the chips threw it over the top...  others made quesadillas out of it - that sounded interesting...  ultimately it tasted just fine out of the dish with a spoon
today's quest is white beans
now i did a little experiment with white beans from a can earlier this year... i mixed them with cauliflower and made pretend mashed potatoes - they were good
today's experiment is a tuscan bean soup - google mollie katzen for the details - with spinach instead of collard greens...  i suspect it will be tasty
and then i have one more bag of lentils - i think those may end up with a fruit base casserole but i have some time to contemplate that
the purpose of the bean dishes is to too get something different in the mix for lunch
now to find something unique for breakfast

back on the weight obsession

Remember over the summer I was concerned about these weight classes for triathlete competitors?  Well I never left the interest and unfortunately somehow my weight and scale now indicate that I would like to be even more in-tune with type of competitor.  Somewhere in my efforts to lose 10 to 15 pounds they actually found me.
There is something to be said for the stress of every day life and the festivities of holidays creeping up on you.  I was in the process of reviewing my workouts for the year only to come to notice that WOW!  they have greatly dminished if not vanished completely by the time late October rolled around. 
I was originally looking at the stats to determine how in the world I was not improving on my running.  realised there that the running was not happening on a consistent basis.  It was only happening when and if the swim and bike didnt.  Not a good game plan to improve in the run. 
And then I realised I was way off the mark on everything.  And then the scale confirmed it.  And let's put it all in the mix - the trouble sleeping is part of that as well.
So I am starting back at a square one scenario with the weight thing.  Last year I started to make a concerted effort to eat whole foods and get away from the processed foods.  And the time and effort I spent on that focus worked out well for me.  So back we go to that.  And this year I am going to try to track some odditities of that food and weight quest out here.  Not something that I really want to do but I think in the long run it is best for me to document something. 
I know, I was going to document other aspects of interest in my life as well over the past year but never got around to that either.  Hopefully I will do better with that this time.

always seems to work

well i hate to say that for fear that it will stop working but that whole sleeping on the floor thing usually shuts down my brain enough to allow me to get back to sleep...  and that seemed to be the case the other night as well.  i am very hopeful that the arrival of my new mattress helps...
i am also a bit obsessed with some of these new gadgets that help track sleep - there is an ipod app and some armband type gadgets... i suppose to get the start on the sleep tracking i need to just get back to my normal sleep objectives... aaahh, remember those summer months when i would go to bed early so i could get up early and workout before the day got too hot...  it just doesnt seem to come together like that with the cold dark winter months...
all that being said i am going to start to try to get back to bed at that 9oclock hour going forward
and waiting in anticipation for the arrival of the new mattress

insomnia here

I bought a new mattress last weekend. WOW that thing was expensive. I have the same mattress that I bought when I first moved here - to town not to my home. So it was about time I replaced it. It is probably about 3 years later than I should have waited.
I bought a top of the line BeautyRest. Extra firm. It is being delivered in 3 weeks. I am looking forward to it.
Tonight - right now - I am subscribing to an old insomnia standby. Lying on the floor. Usually the thoughts about lying on the floor distract me sufficiently that the mind slows down and sleep prevails. Not yet tonight - but again I am hopeful.

almost free running training...

I received an email today on a training program for group running.  Sounds so appealing but gosh I am so far from running.  But it had some great group guidelines.  It laid out times and intervals.
So here is one that I had not seen in a while or maybe never had or just had forgotten...
At 15 minute miles - 15 secs run - 1 minute walk
I know this is back to square one but I think thats where I need to be...
We shall see

this is just not moving forward as i had planned

I have to pack my gym bag today and make sure that I GO!!!  I know I keep getting distracted with work but that surely will not help me in the long run...
So my objective for the short term over the next 5 days is to get to the gym Wed/Thrs/Fri
Saturday and Sunday I am heading to the outside and trying to log some miles there as well
And then in the good news - I am around most of the week next week and will be able to hit the gym on a regular basis...
I am totally focusing on the walk/run aspect of things.
I should probably read this every day to make sure I remember what I have just said...

back in the habit

kind of...  last week was a productive week getting out and walking
the running piece hasnt happened yet
i am hoping to kick that in the beginning of february
i have averaged 2 to 4 miles a few days this past week
yesterday was 2.45 - tonight i hope to get in 3 miles... it really just depends on work and energy level
early day tomorrow

FOUR miles

My goal for this morning has been a long walk somewhere different. Today Tom Short won as the location. And off I went. I think the last time I walked there was in the spring before the golf tournament. So it has been a while. It is a great location to travel. But I have to say I was a bit tired near the 3.5 mile mark. I realised it has been quite some time since I have covered that distance.
Gonna try it again tomorrow.

Back to the starting line

I blew through day 4 and ended up with wine at dinner. That does NOT count as a non carb. And then I blew it with some dessert wine. Oops. It was all the fault of a WDB gift card. Gosh darn it.

Tonight I did better and worse. This was to be the night I would cheat with a little wine. And so I had some tonight as well. My big cheat tonight was some fried zucchini as an appetizer. I did OK both night with my main meal. Tonight we did a dessert too unfortunately. I had 2 bites of cheesecake. And let's look at this rationally - it is a WHOLE lot better than my usual approach of all for me. And it was enough just for a taste.

Tomorrow back to the carb free count down.

speaking of race form

So I am back to just the straight walking at the moment... yes, we have spoken on this a few times this week because THIS is all that I am doing...  I am writing about it again to keep my mind focused on the task at hand...  walk at least once a day.....  preferably a short walk in the morning and a longer walk with a cycle in the evening...  so far the morning walks have evaded me - but not to jinx myself but the sleeping through the night concept seems to be back up and running so I am happy for that... maybe the morning walks will work their way back in the mix... they are less than a mile...
the evening walks are geared to be 2 miles...  it covers enough area and hills within the neighborhood to keep me moving on...  and i have to say i have been pretty impressed with my pace!
this weekend is a bigger test - i dont really have a set agenda yet for the walking but i know it needs to be longer than 2 miles.. i was thinking 4 and now i am just contemplating where to go to do those...  Longview, Ballantyne or South Park?  I think I will go with Longview Saturday, Ballantyne Sunday and then plan to bring my walking gear to do South Park Monday...  OK - now that that's decided...
See thattt's why I ramble on out here.. you may not find it entertaining but it does wonders to help clear my head

Day four - no carbs

I am not entirely sure how true that statement is.  I know I had little to no carbs over the weekend.  Monday I did.  Well, we went to Brixx.  How can you avoid carbs in that place.  The saving grace was my salad was overlly drenched in dressing and the pizza was bland and dry... so that somewhat takes away from teh cravings of wanting to go back.  Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday - I have done a pretty good job of no carbs.  I did have a salad at Panerra the other day that had some fruit on it - so that is a little off.  But I consider it just a little.  I am just trying to purge myself of the overall malaise of holiday eating from my system...   When you think about all the sugar and processed flour in all those cookies no wonder you get all run down, tired, craving more processed foods... 
So the South Beach diet says to do 2 weeks of this.  Today I am all Yeah, no problem.  I can do this.  It may falter though I am sure.
Oh, the other non-carb aspect - I am not sure where skim milk falls in there.  As we know it does have some sugar content.  We'll see how it goes.
I was reading this thing on line last night - it said that in the first 2 weeks you will lose 8 to 13 pounds?!?!  I think I must have read that wrong. THAT would be so incredibly unhealthy.  And to top it off I am not seeing pounds drop like that at all.
But I will keep plodding along.  I need some guidelines to get back into my quasi-race form...

Walk walk walk walk

So I have been better at getting out there and walking... but not to the point of pushing myself too much.  I skipped Tuesday.  Kind of unintentional.  Decided to make that my "off" day for the week.  I am trying to walk every day for the next 2 weeks.  So truly an off day is not necessary. 
And then I need to get on the trying to run bandwagon.  I read and read and read all this stuff on how to go about it.  My biggest problem is finding the time in the mental game of it all.  At this point in time I could work 24 7 and still not feel caught up so....  I cant really use that as my excuse... It would be another 3 months and I would still be looking to get ahead and adding on the pounds. 
So tonight I have a meeting at 6pm.  That will go to 7pm.  From there I will have the drive home and leads me to a workout time slot of later than I'd like - heck Vampire Diaries starts back up tonight.  I suppose I could go out after that.  It just seems real late but it is a thought.
Tomorrow I am going to try to get back into the small morning walk and then an evening workout.
Saturday and Sunday I am shooting for LONG walks.  I am just trying to figure out where to go to get that done.  As I have spoken time and again, when I walk close to home I have a tendency to find reasons to come back around and stop.  Maybe I should go to the office and walk there.  I am just rambling to clear my head...

Back to Walking

Who would have guessed that a months worth of visitor and the holiday season would have THIS MUCH negative impact on my training and weight!

So yesterday to be kind on my joints I started back with walking. I did just under 2 miles. Today I did 3.4. I will be keeping on this game plan daily for the next 2 weeks.

Then I will regroup as to the next game plan. I may even post the insanity of weight gain as a reminder to not let thta get THAT out of control again.

Well off to bed if I am going to be up with my alarm at 530

mobile functions

Oh I just remembered a funny story from 2010... A reference was made to Mobeel at work but person accidentally referenced it as mobull

I digress. I am venting because I am so shocked that my Blogger access on my BlackBerry still looks like a bad mobile upload. Of all companies wouldn't you expect Google to have figured this out already?

Of course I haven't been out here in a few weeks because it has been FOREVER since I have worked out.