Saturday, February 14, 2009

Little Improvements

Well, just a quick update on the weight loss front. I'm down 0. According to the GoWearfit, I've burned in excess of 2100 calories a day since Tuesday. According to my nutrition tracker at Spark People, I've eaten an average of 1600 calories every day this week. This should equate to 500 calories a day, or 1 lb of weight loss a week.

What the HELL?!!!!

OK, I'm done with my little outburst. I shall continue tracking and see what is going on. It just pisses me off, that's all. It's not like I'm eating ho ho's here!

Training-wise, Wednesday was my 3rd swim practice. The fast girls didn't show the past two sessions, so I felt a little better about myself. Mr. Meanie Pants must have eaten dinner on Wednesday, because he only told me to add 50-meters to each set so that the others could keep up. Either I've fixed my head down problem, or he is over life.

I'm also a week into my personal coaching plan, and that is going okay. I've learned that my running still sucks, my knees get sore easily, and I need more flexibility because things come up with work and life and I need to rearrange my plan! We'll see how coach deals with this.... Still doing Yoga once a week. I can even get into Crow Pose now and hold it, so this is quite a bragging point for me. The swimming is coming along....Wednesday I swam 2500 meters in our 1-hour warmup, and that included quite a bit of time at the wall. I did a KILLER interval session on the stationary bike at work-- I had no idea I could work that hard! So all in all, I'm feeling like I'm making a little progress on the fitness front.

My old tri team in CA is kind of a mess right now. My old Coach decided to do her own thing, so half the team moved with her and the other half is staying with the franchise owner. So, the result is that training for everyone doing Iron Girl in May is slightly delayed. They probably won't get their plans until this week or next......will a 2-week jump give me enough so that I can stay in front of them in Vegas? Well, a girl can dream, right? ;)

We're also looking at house-hunting these days. Perhaps not the smartest thing in the world to do on one salary, but some of the deals out there are quite compelling. Am in a bit of a pickle with our lease and our landlord. He swears he's a broker and wants to be our realtor....I would rather be pampered. Can't get out of my lease before September unless I use him as our realtor. Oh, it makes me so cranky!!! I can't even talk about how I got outnegotiated on my lease extension. Anyway, perhaps waiting until this summer to buy is the smarter thing to do. More money in the e-fund, the foreclosures being held until March will have hit the market and we'll see what they do to the neighborhood prices, and maybe hubby will have a job by then? It's hard to sit and wait when you see massive price drops on houses you'd love to own, but what if they continue to drop? I guess they won't gain in value in the 6 months I sit on the sidelines, so I shall just calm down and study the market hard.

So, that's the update. Fun and excitement. Time for swim practice!

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Woe is me!

The scale. It is so evil, and it mocks me daily. Never mind the fact that I haven't had a monte cristo or a corn dog or a brownie for as long as I can remember. Forget the fact that I am exercising almost every day. Forget it all! That damn scale is higher than its been since the great weight loss of 2005.

This called for drastic measures. This called for..... the GoWear Fit.

You've heard of the Bodybugg. That thing the contestants of the Biggest Loser are wearing? Well, a lot of people on my new tri team have been dropping weight like flies and attributing it to their Bodybugg.

Me, loving a bargain, decided that it would be a good fit for me. All the fundamentals are in place, but there's a big question mark in terms of what I am actually burning. I had no idea how many calories I should eat in a day....I just knew that on Weight Watchers, I can only lose wieght when I am eating 1200 calories and not exercising. When I'm more active, I hang on to the weight. So frustrating!

So, I purchased the non-branded version of the Bodybugg, the GoWearFit. Part of me wishes it were more technical, but it's pretty much good enough! I even managed to sleep with it last night, and it told me I'm an 89% efficient sleeper. (I am in bed for 8 1/2 hours, but only sleeping for 7.5 of that -- super cool!) Today, with my run workout, I burned 2150 calories....and I ate 1530...... SO, I'm going to give it a week to see what happens with my weight loss.

If this doesn't work, I QUIT!

Just kidding.....I'm too obsessed....how could I ever let it go??

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Thank You Sir, May I Have Another?

On Saturday, I was filled with pride as I swam my 200 meter assessment in 3:30 and was placed in the "Advanced" swim group with my new triathlon team. Now, I missed "upper" advanced by :15 seconds, but I was still pleased with myself because it meant I hadn't gotten that slow in my many months off from swimming.

Fast forward to last night. My first "Advanced" swim session, at a local community college in a manky pool that smells like....well, it smells pretty gross.

I confidently hopped in a lane with a lady nearly twice my age (okay, maybe early 50's) and off we went on our 7 minute warmup. So far, so good. I was holding my own. Then our coach, a guy who doesn't even introduce himself, started yelling out instructions. 50 meters of "superman" with your arms out and not moving, just kicking. 50 meters of laying on your back and just kicking. 50 meters on your right side with your arms out, kicking. 50 meters to the left, kicking.

What? Did you say, "kick?"

Sorry, but I'm a triathlete. I've spent the past 2 years NOT kicking. You are going to kill me!

So I tried. Honestly, I did. I took on water like the Titanic, though. I was okay and streamlined in the first 50, but on my back, I totally freaked out and struggled to breathe. I hated the backstroke as a kid and consequently have never returned to the position. Last night brought back the very worst memories. And that f***ing lane line! Holy cow, I hate it so much.

Anyway, suffice it to say the first 200 was torture. When I finally got back to the end of the pool, Mr. Coach said, "YOU! You need to keep your head down." I didn't even look at him. Um, excuse me, but how can I keep my head down when I am so out of breath that I have to breathe every stroke??? I was pissed.

"Repeat," he ordered after a minute break.

What? Are you kidding me??

Nope, he was dead serious. So, off we go. My lanemate, Miss Lazy Butt, who only did 1/2 of the workout in the previous set, proceeded to do the same the second time around. She was sitting at the end of the pool waiting for me when we were done with the 2nd 200. I mean, who is she kidding? Does she seriously think everyone will think she did the full set and she was the fastest? Argh!!!!

And again, when I return, same comment. "YOU.....head down even more."

Dude, you gotta think about me here. I've trained primarily in open water. I'm excellent at sighting -- the very best! What is with this head crap?????

Next drill is more torture. 3 strokes of freestyle, then hold the 3rd and kick for 6 beats....repeat. 150 meters. Go!

I was a bit better at this one....but again, Mr. Meany Pants was like, "head down!" Man, I am trying. "Repeat!"

Off we go again. I worked on keeping that head so far down that my head ached. No comment on the return this time.

Next drill was some kind of stroke practice. Lengthening. Letting that first part of the stroke nonchalantly hit the water and extend. I tried to keep my head down. 200 meters. At the 50, Meany Pants was looking down at me. "You are crossing over with your left hand." What?!! No!!!!! So I focus on the left hand. Hard. What is with this? Am I just tired? At the 100, he's there again. "Better. Keep your head down."

Mother f***er. Will I ever get it right?

1000 meters later, I was spent. I felt like crying. Am I such a terrible swimmer that every part of my stroke is wrong? Did I really just drink a gallon of this manky water? Why do I feel like puking? My arms are lead weights!! HOW on EARTH am I going to be able to keep this up every week?

I was just totally, utterly destroyed. My very first swim practice, and I was practically reduced to tears. Nobody else around me seemed nearly as perturbed. Were they used to this dude? Were their strokes perfect? Can they handle criticism better than me? I mean, man, I know I'm not the fastest, but was I not trying to improve?

Triathlon season, welcome back. I have a feeling I'm gonna need to find some big girl panties, and find them fast. Because if this happened on Day 1 of swimming, I don't even want to think about what's around the corner!