The BIG RACE report

The race report!  As a reminder, this was an up hill half marathon.  Ya know, approx 4000 ft of elevation gain over 13.1 miles.

So, we got a heat wave.  It was supposed to hit on Tuesday and break on Thursday.  Well, it hit late (Weds) and didn't break until...afternoon of race day.  Boo!  In fact, the hottest day all week was race day.  No fog.

So remember those goals:
- Plan A (stretch goal) 3:30
- Plan B (totally do-able) 3:45
- Plan C 4:00
- Plan D - just finish! (This was the result.  I came close to Plan C, but couldn't pull it out).

So the weather: It was hot and muggy - about 75F at the start (6:30 am), and by the time I finished, it was 95F at the top. Most of the race was really really hot. It was easily 85 at mile 4. I melt in the heat.  Peak temp in town that afternoon was over 100, then we had a freak wind/rain storm that did a heck of a lot of damage, but cooled everything down 20 degrees.

It was interesting to see how it affected everyone.  My coworkers all did great...but they were probably off their goal paces by 1:00 per mile. My training team was similar.  Our leaders were off by 1:00 to 1:30 per mile (slower than normal).  One woman hit her goal dead on (sub-3:00).  The woman who usually runs a little faster than me beat her goal finishing time by 30 minutes.  In the heat. That's crazy. (She did a sub-3:00.)

My finishing time was off by about 2:00 per mile from what I might have been able to do in better weather.  But one of our group was off by 3:00 per mile.  She was having a worse day than me (still finished ahead of me though!)  There were several times that I didn't think I was going to finish.  After mile 9, it was really just "finish".  I drank a ton of water and electrolyte, but it was still miserable. Those last 4 miles took me >80 minutes.  (Of course, the two steepest mile-long sections are in there.)  I wasn't going to be a DNF.  It was so hot I didn't even know how hot it was.  Not until we got into the car to drive back down.  The other issue I struggled with was the tight hamstrings.  I usually do a run/ walk.  I had a strategy on the mountain for the spots when I would run.  But it was too hot to run in most of them.  Too much of either (running or walking) makes my hamstrings unhappy.

Am I going to do it again?  My neighbors up the street (husband has done it 2x) brought pina coladas that evening and asked me that.  Maybe.  If you had asked me last week I would have said "heck yea!"  The training program is great and I feel SO STRONG.  But I cannot help but be disappointed by the result.  My husband is super proud (and I am too), but it's still disappointing to look at that finish time and realize that it doesn't reflect the training I put in.  And honestly, that's because life sucks. Sometimes the weather sucks, or you get sick or injured, or you are just having a bad day.

Maybe my coworkers who always slept in later (and thus, did most of their training later in the morning when it was hotter on the mountain) were the smart ones!

The next day, aside from chapped lips and really sore toes (everything swelled up, including my feet - I shouldn't have sore toes from an all uphill half!), I felt great.  Still haven't lost any toenails, so win!

Exercise Goals Update

Since I need to update my totals for the year so far!

1. Exercise: as of  Sunday 8/6/17

Running: 300 miles: To date: 243.2 miles  So, I'm training for this crazy race.  I'll definitely blow past this goal.
Biking: 500 miles: To date: 48.44 miles (been mostly running)
Swimming: 50 miles: To date: 12.51 miles (the morning swim crowd probably don't remember what I look like).
Walking: 150 miles: To date: 147.13 miles (going to blow past this too)Weights/ yoga: 30 minutes a week (1560 this year): 603 minutes - way behind here

So, I joined a (paid) running training group for this crazy-ass uphill half marathon.  Boy, it's gonna suck.  My challenges are:

1. nutrition. I bonk.  Need to figure out how often to do the gu

2. hydration.  How much water to carry and how often to drink.  Did I mention that it's going to be fucking hot?

3. hips.  7 miles is when it starts.

I'm hoping to beat 4 hours.

2017 Goals, weeks 12 & 13

1. Exercise: as of Saturday 4/1/17 

Running: 300 miles: To date: 62.9 miles  So, six weeks till the 1/2 marathon. And I'm only up to 6 miles.  Hm.
Biking: 500 miles: To date: 48.44 miles 
Swimming: 50 miles: To date: 7.96 miles (only once in two weeks).
Walking: 150 miles: To date: 51.99 miles
Weights/ yoga: 30 minutes a week (1560 this year): 368 minutes - nothing in 2 weeks eek!

Starting to stress about the half marathon.  Especially since they've changed it since I last did it. Now they are "nickel and diming you".  Like, you have to drive up (45 min or so) to pick up your race packet the day before.  If you want to pick it up here in my own town, it's $10.  (used to be free).  If you want to pick it up the morning of the race, it's $15.

So, just to kind of screw them, I was going to go with the "free" option. Except it will cost $10 in gas ($9.60 actually), even in my tiny car.  However, if I carpooled, or got several other people's packets at the same time, it would pay for itself.  Anyway.  I have time to decide.  But I won't be doing this race again.

2. Grocery bill: Keep it under $7000 ($134.62/wk): $96.77 & $83.69.  My produce box was missing something this week too.  Hopefully I'll get a  credit.  $1735.95 so far, or $133.53/ week.  This was a BIG week post vacation.  And party.

3.  Weight: I have no idea.

4.  Family:
Go on 12 family hikes: Well, we went on 3 family hikes on our trip last week.  They were very short. About 3/4 mile each, took an hour (you know, 4 year old pace, with snowball fights).
Do game night once a week: Not much of this.

5.  Crafts:
- Crochet a blanket - less than 30 days to go

- crochet a purse: nothing
- participate in my quilting group's exchange: I cut a bunch of blocks.  We are all making 20 half square triangle blocks for each other.
- make 12 snowflakes: nothing
- attempt to make socks: I've pinned a bunch of instructions?  I did make two pink "pussy cat hats".  One to donate to the Yarn Bomber.  One for a friend.

6.  Sleep: Been a pretty good week, though vacation - not so much.  Got kicked out of bed by the 4 year old.

7.  Food: eat vegan 2 days a week. I'm not sure when or if I'm going to jump back on this train.

8.  Cookbooks: Try 1 recipe from every cookbook I own.  Ditto.  See #7. I'm making a lot of things over and over again.

9.  Work:
     a. Skills: Learn enough programming to automate the data pulls for problem lots (which requires pulling data from 2 different databases).  Haven't worked on this yet.  REALLY need to.
     b. Personal:  Don't engage.  Really.  

10.  Home: Contact contractor/ architect on adding a second bathroom.Nothing. But we did talk to the plumber about (finally) replacing the sewer line.  Nothing like $8k bill!  Haven't gotten the written estimate.  But he did just come by this weekend (again) because our neighbor's backed up (again).  Yuck.

11.  Garden: need to plant stuff.  And more stuff.

12.  Spouse: we did manage March date!

13.  Beverages:
- Drink less coffee and more tea (one cup coffee per day): Uh, lots of coffee this week.
- Do not buy any wine aside from my two wine club memberships.  Been hitting the wine more the last few weeks.

- Drink two 24-oz bottles of water a day, minimum.  I managed this on my running days.

14.  Mom's nights/ dad's night once a month: Jan, check.  Feb, fail. March, fail.

15.  Host friends.  Jan, check.  Feb, fail.  March, fail.  April, success on day 1!!  It was a no-baseball weekend.

2017 Goals - Week 8

1. Exercise: as of Saturday 2/25/17 - Not my best week due to rain and sleep.  I ran 2x, but didn't swim at all, and didn't bike either.

Running: 300 miles: To date: 29.01 miles  
Biking: 500 miles: To date: 9.6 miles 
Swimming: 50 miles: To date: 5.04 miles 
Walking: 150 miles: To date: 35.44 miles
Weights/ yoga: 30 minutes a week (1560 this year): 319 minutes 

2. Grocery bill: Keep it under $7000 ($134.62/wk): $993.88.  This was a big week.

3.  Weight: 136.2!  Stomach flu weight hasn't come back yet.

4.  Family:
Go on 12 family hikes: fail. fail. fail.
Do game night once a week: Lots of UNO

5.  Crafts:
- Crochet a blanket (a "thermometer" granny square blanket, based on the temperature each day). Moving along.  Afghan #1 will be 120 blocks and will end by the end of April.  Unfortunately, they must never reorder yarn at my Michael's.  I had to sub a different blue for the 50-60F already, and now it's almost empty.  And I had to sub ANOTHER blue.  The only way to get it online is to buy 3, and shipping is expensive.  So I could spend $49 and get free shipping, but that's WAY more yarn than I need, KWIM?

- crochet a purse: nothing

- participate in my quilting group's exchange: nothing.  I don't even remember what this is.
- make 12 snowflakes: nothing
- attempt to make socks: I've pinned a bunch of instructions?  Been really busy taking care of sick people.

6.  Sleep: Meh, okay this week.

7.  Food: eat vegan 2 days a week. I'm not sure when or if I'm going to jump back on this train.

8.  Cookbooks: Try 1 recipe from every cookbook I own.  Ditto.  See #7.  I made chili, but does it count if I change almost everything in the recipe?

9.  Work:
     a. Skills: Learn enough programming to automate the data pulls for problem lots (which requires pulling data from 2 different databases).  Haven't worked on this yet.
     b. Personal:  Don't engage.  Really.  

10.  Home: Contact contractor/ architect on adding a second bathroom.Nothing. But we did talk to the plumber about (finally) replacing the sewer line.  Nothing like $8k bill!  Haven't gotten the written estimate.

11.  Garden: actually plant tomatoes this year.  Baby steps. Nothing
Ooh, need to add: put some ground cover in the back dirt patch

12.  Spouse: once a month lunch date: nothing.  We need a date.  We will at least get one at the school fundraiser in March?

13.  Beverages:
- Drink less coffee and more tea (one cup coffee per day): I only had one cup today!
- Do not buy any wine aside from my two wine club memberships.  I went to pick up my wine shipment today. I hadn't been in awhile - and this is the winery that is 45 minutes away.  She said I had 2 shipments.  But I ended up with 6 bottles of wine.  That's more like 3 shipments (I get 1 red, 1 white - 3 times a year).  I was going to hit them up for donations for the auction - but I chickened out because they were packed.

So, I'm confused because when I get home, my 6 bottles are 2 white and 4 red.  Maybe they changed my membership?  My 2 bottle membership is old, and they don't offer it anymore - I got grandfathered in for years.  Anyway.

I figured since I rarely drink anymore, and my OTHER wine shipment comes in a week (another 6 bottles), that I would just donate wine from my personal stash to the auction.

- Drink two 24-oz bottles of water a day, minimum.  I managed this a couple of days.  Was really dehydrated this week.

14.  Mom's nights/ dad's night once a month: Jan, check.  Feb, fail.

15.  Host friends.  Jan, check.  Feb, fail.

2017 Goals

Taking a page out of Mavis' book (I haven't done this before because it felt too overwhelming), I have 2017 goals!

1. Exercise:
Running: 300 miles, half marathon in May, and *maybe* the Pier to Peak half in September (depends on how May goes)
Biking: 500 miles (to/from work 2x a week)
Swimming: 50 miles
Walking: 150 miles (more running, less walking)
Weights/ yoga: 30 minutes a week (use that Beachbody all-access!)

2. Grocery bill: Keep it under $7000

3.  Weight: maintain or lose up to 5 lb

4.  Family:
Go on 12 family hikes
Do game night once a week

5.  Crafts:
- Crochet a blanket (a "thermometer" granny square blanket, based on the temperature each day)
- crochet a purse
- finish a quilting baby blanket
- participate in my quilting group's exchange
- make 12 snowflakes
- attempt to make socks

6.  Sleep: keep track of it and see if the low dose estrogen helps

7.  Food: eat vegan 2 days a week

8.  Cookbooks: Try 1 recipe from every cookbook I own

9.  Work:
     a. Skills: Learn enough programming to automate the data pulls for problem lots (which requires pulling data from 2 different databases)
     b. Personal:  Don't engage.  Really.  There's that one guy who is annoying.  And that other guy who just has a different opinion.  And he's always right, and he's impatient.  He really doesn't like to listen.  He seems friendly, (and is), but in a "do not engage or get into a discussion.  You will only annoy him, it's obvious, and he annoys you too."  It's okay.  Smile, listen, move on.  Then there is that third guy.  Also a great guy but you don't agree on a few work-related things.  Just don't discuss those things.

10.  Home: Contact contractor/ architect on adding a second bathroom.

11.  Garden: actually plant tomatoes this year.  Baby steps.

12.  Spouse: once a month lunch date

13.  Beverages:
- Drink less coffee and more tea (one cup coffee per day)
- Do not buy any wine aside from my two wine club memberships
- Drink two 24-oz bottles of water a day, minimum.  My doc thinks that my occasional light-headedness when exercising is a combo between low blood pressure + slight dehydration.

Being flexible with fitness

You've all heard the recommendations.  Exercise regularly, pick something you like, mix it up when you get bored.

Everyone has their own particular things that they like to do, and their own personalities.  For example, I'm pretty frugal, and I'm a big fan of Mr. Money Mustache.  His fitness recommendations fall along the line of bike everywhere (or walk), and lift weights at home.  These are great ideas, and I love to do them!  But I have certain limitations that make this difficult.

I am a creature of habit.  I love to have a schedule, a plan, and stick to it!  I get disturbed and flustered when my plan doesn't work out, so I try to have Plan B (or C or D).

I have, at times, been a runner, a gym rat, a biker (to work).  I like group fitness - I love signing up for triathlon training groups.  I love taking yoga classes, aerobics classes, going for walks with friends.

But you have to be flexible.  At one point, when my older son was about 3 or 4, my husband started traveling a lot.  I would get very frustrated that I couldn't work out when he was gone - I couldn't go to the gym in the morning, and I'd have to do drop off and pick up at school, so I didn't have time to run at lunch.  So for Christmas one year, I asked for (and got) P90X.  Problem solved!  I had a good, solid 45 min to 1 hour set of DVDs to use when my spouse was out of town.

Then I had a second kid and the flexibility just had to continue.  For one thing, I cannot run anymore.  I've had piriformis syndrome, a sprained knee, and achilles tendonitis.  This makes it difficult - running is something that I can do quickly - throw on the shoes, go out for 30 minutes, get in a good workout.

I can walk - but 30 minutes burns only half the calories and isn't as good of a workout.
I can swim, but I have to go to the pool to do that.
I can work out at home but my toddler won't let me.

So there was a period of time starting earlier this year when I started using a lot more 30 minute workouts at home.  The benefit to at home workouts is time (of which I have little).  No driving to the gym, just get dressed, pop in the DVD and GO.  So on my husband's gym days (MWF), I would do this, at least 2 days.  I'd wake up at 5:30 am to do it (which is 40 minutes later than on my gym days).  The other benefit to a DVD is I'm working out "with a group" and "with a trainer".  On my own, I get bored.

But then life got in the way.  For one thing, my 2 year old would wake up early.  And he will NOT let me work out.  It's just his age.  At some point, I offered by big boy $1 to play with him in the other room.

In previous times, I would get incredibly frustrated by not being able to work out.  I mean, all I want is 30 freaking minutes!!  (The two year old is currently climbing on my back as I type.  I'm home with him today, he has a cold.)

Starting around October, it got so bad that I couldn't get a single workout in all week, aside from my swims on Tuesday and Thursday (45 GLORIOUS MINUTES).

That's when I joined a Facebook group in November that had a 30 day burpees challenge.  I hate burpees.  And I can't jump, so I just don't jump at the top.  The month started with 5 and ended with 100.  The advantage to burpees?  I can do them 10 at a time.

For December I moved on to a squats, pushups, planks, and crunches challenge (and kept up the burpees, at 50).

What does this give me?  A good workout.  If I can manage to do them all at once, it's about 15 minutes.  If not, well I spread it out.  As an example, today here is what I did:

20 pushups
20 sec plank
20 pushups
20 sec plank
25 squats
20 sec plank (toddler laying on my back for the last 10 seconds)
50 crunches (toddler discovered me at 37 and sat on me through the rest)
25 squats (holding the toddler for 10 of them)
50 crunches (hiding in the bedroom)
25 squats (hiding in the bedroom)

I still have to do 50 burpees, and shower, between now and 1 pm when I leave for work.  Oh, and eat breakfast.  And lunch.

The advantage to this kind of workout is that I can do it, literally, in 30 second chunks.  It's not ideal.  It's not a good 30 minute "burn", but it's better than nothing.

For this reason, I also like "Fit Yummy Mummy" workouts (I have her E-book), which are all generally 15 minutes long.  I think about buying her DVDs sometimes but honestly, they are expensive and I cannot even put in the ones that I have.

I do hope that in the next year, I can go back to using my DVDs.  But for now, I have to settle for my bits and pieces, lunch time walks, and 2x a week swims.

So when life gets in the way and you lose your mojo, or can't get to your  normal workout, figure out a way to "squeeze it in".  All with a 2.5 year old hanging on your back and giving you snotty kisses on your neck.

Some Follow-up on The Pyramid and vacation review

Wow, some great comments on my last post!  Just some notes:

I do not mean to bash grains. I love grains.  I think whole grains are a healthy food. I don't even think white bread is going to kill you.  Millions of Frenchmen and women (who eat croissants), can't be wrong, right?  I think most foods belong in a healthy diet (in moderation), but we have to figure out what "in moderation" is?  (Note: it's probably not daily.)

In fact, one of my favorite recent reads is The Blue Zones that chronicles the diet and lifestyle of the areas of the world with the most centenarians.  Several of the areas eat whole grains.  Corn tortillas, brown rice.

You will probably never see me go full-on Paleo or Primal because I love grains and beans.  I've been very nearly vegetarian on many occasions. I have a shelf full of vegetarian and vegan cookbooks.

The issue I have is the Food Pyramid, and it's specification that we eat 6 servings (6-11 actually) of grains per day.  Prior to it's release, we had "Basic 4".  Well, for the last 20+ years, that's what I've based by eating habits around.  Okay, to be honest, I didn't think much about what I ate until I woke up one day at 31 weighing 182 pounds.  But that year, 2002, I put a lot of effort into losing weight via Weight Watchers, and have done really well maintaining that weight loss since.  (With two excursions due to having babies.)

Over the years I've "control-checked" my diet with weight watchers, a dietitian, my fitness pal. or the USDA website,  The thing they have in common is the Food Pyramid.

When I was younger, it was  no problem.
When I was nearing 40 and training for races (half marathons), it was no problem.
When I had a baby at 42, and had a couple of years of lack of sleep, plus stress (layoffs at work), plus injuries (cannot do high impact exercise anymore) = problem.

I'm coming to terms with the fact that I cannot eat that much grain anymore, and still lose weight.  I am  not giving up grain - still eating 2 servings per day - generally a piece of toast for breakfast and perhaps 1/2 c. rice or quinoa for dinner, or maybe crackers in my soup.

What I find interesting about the whole thing is how personal it becomes.  Some people never have a weight problem, and I find it's hard for them to understand.  Several years ago I read Refuse to Regain by Dr. Barbara Berkeley (an obesity doctor).  One thing that she has learned in  her work is that people who are FOW (formerly overweight) metabolize food differently than people who were NOW (never overweight).  Particularly carbs.  So her recommendation for people to maintain their weight loss is to restrict carbohydrates. If you've been overweight, your body stores them more efficiently - you permanently changed how your body works.  (Depressing, huh?)

When I read the book I was happily maintaining my weight loss (this is pre baby#2), so I figured that I was never hugely obese, so I didn't need to restrict carbs like that.  I had some inklings however - I had one friend who I walked a lot with on weekends.  When she was about 62 I noted how trim she'd always been.  She said "I don't really eat that many carbs".  She has oatmeal for breakfast and maybe the occasional bit of rice or potato for dinner.

Just last year I attended a women's retreat run by a personal chef and a personal trainer.  The chef, who is 60, said "well once you are over 40, if you want to maintain a healthy weight, you cannot eat more than X number of carbs per day" (I wrote it down, but do not remember the number.)  I ignored her, of course, because - Food Pyramid.

I have been very resistant to the idea of restricting carbs - but in reality, I'm not really "restricting". I still eat 2 cups of fruit per day.  Yogurt.  Lots of vegetables.  Beans several times per week.  Grains and/or potatoes 2 times a day.  I've just now started to realize that 6 servings a day, at my exercise level and age, is not doable.  And I've also found out that 6 servings a day is a MADE UP NUMBER BASED ON NO SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE.

Okay, on to the camping review.  We camped 2 nights nearby - El Capitan SB.  We booked in June and there was literally ONE site available.  Man, we got a GREAT one!  One neighbor, lots of shade, lots of space for the kids to run, not TOO close to the RR tracks (but let's face it, the whole campground is near the RR tracks), not near the ocean/cliffs/creek/roads (I have a toddler).

The kids had a great time sleeping in the tent (though the 2 year old slept with me a LOT), eating at a picnic table, and playing at the beach and in the waves.  We used our  new campstove that heats water for coffee WAY faster.

And the big hits foodwise?  Nachos (tortilla chips, shredded cheese, and canned chili on top, with guacamole), and hard boiled eggs.  We ran out of eggs.

Beach

Campstove

Zucchini bread and instant coffee

Our picnic basket which is GREAT for camping

Inside of the basket

The tent

Ahhh

Cheap Fitness

So, I'm a big fan of the blogger Mr. Money Mustache.  I don't agree with him 100% on everything.  I mean, who does?  Maybe his wife, and a few others.  He retired in his 30's and now writes his blog, invests in real estate, and raises his son.  They both do (they both retired).

Anyway, he is a HUGE fan of biking and has often discussed the uselessness of gyms.  Or at least, points out that you don't need a gym to be fit.  This is totally true - I won't disagree there.  I am, however, a gym rat.

I have tried to work out at home, regularly.  My success rate really depends on the age of my children.  There was the "sweet spot" of age 4 to 6 where I could pop a video in and do it - he would wake up part way into it. Sometimes he would chatter constantly while I finished, sometimes he did it with me, sometimes he crawled all over me. Needless to say, it does NOT happen with the little guy.  He just wants to be on top of me.  The gym is the only place I can go to lift weights in peace.  Not to mention: pool.  Classes.  I like people and group exercise.

I have tended to be pretty liberal in my fitness spending.  We belong to two gyms.  The first, 24 hour fitness, is on a $99 a year plan.  (That's a person, so $198 for two.)  The second, the YMCA, is $99 a month.  We joined this a couple of years ago when I was swimming a lot (tri training) and it has been great.  It's a nice family atmosphere and we enjoy getting our 7 year old in the pool.  He has become MUCH more confident in the water because of it.

I have to say, we may not get our money's worth.  My husband only goes to the YMCA when we use the pool as a family (which has not been much with the new baby - he doesn't really dig the pool), and I only go to 24-hour fitness when the YMCA is closed for their annual maintenance.

But that's not all.  In the 2009-2010 time frame, I was running a LOT.  Two half marathons, part of a marathon, a 10 miler, and a whole host of 5k's.  These races were anywhere from $25 to $150 each.  Pretty expensive T-shirts.  (And when you consider the wear and tear...piriformis, followed by physical therapy, followed by Achilles tendonitis...) 

The piriformis resulted in my switch to triathlons.  That added even more expense.  $120 for the sprint tri (500 yd swim, 6 mile bike, 2 mile run, an hour of my time), $100 for the discounted wet suit (the first year it was 59 degrees in August!), and $250 for the summer-long training group.  I love this training group.  I did this two years in a row.  I LOVE group fitness and I found it really worth the money, especially since I started my 40th birthday year not being confident swimming in a POOL and ended it having swum in the ocean dozens of times, up to 3/4 mile.  But man, $400 a year on top of my gym memberships...  Hey, that's one way the pregnancy helped save money...I'd just given birth in 2012 and I don't fit into my wetsuit for 2013.

Last week I got an email about the local park's 5k fall trail run series!  It's 4 weeks long and it's $20 a race ($15 if you buy all four).  Family fun, beer food.  It sounded fun but I can't run (that Achilles tendon again).  This park is at the end of our dead end street and as we were there  yesterday (playing Frisbee) I found their map of the race course. 

I decided to have a little bit of frugal fitness.  I took a picture of the map, printed it out, and today, I put the baby in the Ergo and did the 5k.  It was a little tough here and there (some areas of deep sand), lots of hills, and it was a little hot.  It was definitely a "hike" and I kept a 2.0 mph pace. 

It's not the same as a timed race.  Depending on who you ask, this is good or bad.  Some people figure if you aren't racing or "training", you aren't doing anything.  Others say if you are racing for time or training, you are missing the point of fitness.  (I read a quote by a blogger - don't remember who "exercise is the junk food of fitness".  Meaning, instead of "exercising" for 30 minutes or an hour, we should be just MORE ACTIVE.)  My own personal opinion is - it depends.  What works for you today may not work for you tomorrow.  Training and racing is great (I enjoyed it, even though I will never be fast), but it also resulted in a lot of injuries.  However just plain exercise can seem like you are "going through the motions".

So what are other options for Frugal Fitness that is still fun, and group worthy?  I have a bunch of coworkers who like to go backpacking.  It has expanded to quite a large group.  Yes, it's mostly the young-uns (20's) and there is probably too much beer involved.  But it does occasionally include people in their 30's and 40's, and sometimes even a parent gets a day off to join them.

When we were discussing the triathlon at work (several of us have done them), one of my coworkers said that he wanted to be sponsored.  I said "I'd sponsor you!"  He said "really, you'd pay $150 for me to do the race?"  I said "no, I'd give you 10 bucks, but only if you did the LONG course (1 mi swim, 34 mi bike, 10 mi run), and I bet a bunch of other people would too."  At that point, we all realized that we could probably get 6 - 10 people together and set up our own tri unofficially.

Now of course, this would be more for fun and not for time.  It would be hard to get people to time us - we'd need a place to set up our bikes - we'd have to follow the road rules and you can easily get stuck behind a train around here.  But it would still be cool - I'm sure we could find some surfboarders to watch us in the water.  Training for it - that would be the biggest issue - you always need to make sure you are swimming in the ocean with at least one other person.  Working around kids and schedules makes that difficult too.

Here are other ways for fun frugal group fitness:
Group hikes
Group bike rides
Set up your own "race" (swim, bike, run, all three...)
Lunchtime walks
Go out dancing!
Boogie boarding/surfing
Do your own Boot Camp!

And there is always the Mr. Money Mustache method of biking everywhere, or my neighbor's method of walking everywhere.  She is in her 50's with two daughters and does not drive.  She has never really struggled with her weight, because she walks EVERYWHERE.

So, what say you about keeping fitness fun, and interesting, without a lot of money?

What we are eating this week...and some inspiration

You know, it's been a rough week.  Heck, it's been a rough year and a half, if you want the truth of it.  But this week it started to come to a head.

My 9 month old baby had surgery.  Not of the life-threatening kind, but still general anethesia, 2.5 hour, drive to UCLA type surgery.  And that is stressful, something I've been dreading for 9 months.   He's recovering nicely, thank you. 

I was planning on taking 2 weeks off for the recovery.  You see, I didn't use all of my maternity leave.  But apparently my company policy is to burn all of your PTO first, which means I cannot take two weeks unpaid and collect my state paid family leave.  Great.  So instead of focusing on my child's recovery, my husband and I are splitting the days, trying to get as much as we can get done completed in half days and nap times, on nights of little sleep.

Then I've heard wind of possible reorganizations at work, that don't make me happy, at all.

So it's been a bit of a rough time for me - working part time, two kids, nursing, trying to keep it all together.  And I feel a bit like I've been neglecting myself for the sake of everyone else (and I have been).

While I lost 25 of the 50 baby pounds pretty quickly, I stalled.  In fact, I lost 10 lbs my first month back at work.  Then I got sick (twice), and fell off the wagon.  Or more specifically, I focused more on sleep and less on meal planning, calorie counting, and exercising.  I still exercised though.

Then cold and flu season came around.  Come end of January, I stopped going to the gym completely for fear of germs.  Oh, I walked a few days a week, but that was about it.

Fast forward to now, and not only have I stalled, I gained back about 5 pounds (maybe more, haven't been on the scale).  It all came to a head this week with the stress of the surgery and the potential work changes.  I spent yesterday afternoon and most of today depressed and feeling VERY sorry for myself.

So today, I worked out.  We went for a family walk to the park (about 30 minutes).  Then I came home and went to the gym.  I did an hour of Zumba and an hour of yoga.  And man, am I out of shape.  Oh, I had enough energy and strength to do both workouts.  But in bright lights and wearing yoga pants, there is no hiding the extra weight (that regular clothing can hide).  But it did wonders for my mood.  And the glass of red wine is helping too.

This week is another half-day week of baby recovery, so I'm not too worried about making up lunches ahead of time.  My meals for the week include:

Black bean and chard soup with cornbread (tonight and Monday)
Arabic lentils and rice with carrots and kale chips (tomorrow)
Pressure cooker caponata to have with hummus (storebought)
Salads.  I steamed some beets and chicken for the salads

When I lose my cooking mojo, there are places I look for inspiration.  Lately, they have been:
My Bizzy Kitchen for just yummy recipes all around
The Prudent Homemaker (for frugal recipes from your pantry).  This woman made dinner for 20 people for $5.50.
Notes from the Frugal Trenches (single adoptive mom of two older children, and she homeschools.  Simple,  healthy, frugal meals at their best)
100 Days of Real Food (her kids' lunches are awesome!)

My health mojo is being revitalized due to looking in the mirror, and due to reading Salt Sugar Fat.  Yikes, processed food is the devil.  I still eat some of it though.

This past week, I enjoyed some sandwiches and salads.  We got 3 - THREE baskets of strawberries this week, so they found their way into a salad with some mandarins from our tree, avocado from a friend's tree, sliced almonds, and various greens from the CSA (baby lettuce, red lettuce, arugula, radicchio, frisee).

Chicken Tortilla Soup - and taking care of myself

Every once in awhile, I sit and think about my life.  I say every once in awhile, because with two kids (one a baby), a husband and a job, I don't have much time to sit and think.  (Hey, last night I came home early from a 7 year old's birthday party, put the baby to bed, and had time to READ.  First book I cracked since 2 days before the baby was born.  I'm a voracious reader, so it was a long dry spell.)

I was thinking about how my life's approach to health has changed with this second baby.  With my first, I worked out a lot more.  I was going to do it all.  Sure, I wanted to lose weight (but it took 2 years, so I wasn't going nuts at it), but most of the exercise I was doing was for my sanity.  I was working full time, nursing, pumping, exercising 5 days a week.  And I was exhausted.  From November through March, I was sick with one cold or flu after another.  I was healthy for about 30 days out of the 5 months, only a few days at a stretch.

This time around, I was smarter...or I'd like to think so.  I mean, I'm over 40 this time, so that's a factor.  For one thing, I made it clear to my workplace that I was going back part time (80%).  They were remarkably fine with it.  Although truth be told, they responded by increasing my workload when I got back from maternity leave.  This means...that I'm not getting everything done (80% of the time, 120% of the workload...do THAT math.)  I have also not been so into the exercise this time.  I still do it - it keeps me sane - but it's on the order of 2-4 days a week, for 30 minutes at a time.  Yes, at this rate, it will take a LOT longer to lose the weight.  I was going hardcore on the Fit Yummy Mummy program (that sucker WORKS), but as soon as I went back to work, I got sick (week one!).  So I've continued with the exercise part of the program (weights and intervals), but have not been counting calories since then.  So I haven't lost any more weight.

I am also VERY MUCH prioritizing sleep.  Americans, on the whole, do not get enough sleep.  I was incredibly sleep deprived during my pregnancy.  I had insomnia for a couple of hours every night, and got about 6 hours of broken sleep each night.  Only when I started going to acupuncture was I able to get better sleep at least a few days a week.  Sure, it was great practice for the newborn phase.  But I cannot tell you how nice it has been that baby #2 started sleeping 9-11 hours at a stretch at 12 weeks.  (Except for last night. He was up a lot.  I was hurting.)  I generally get 7 hours straight these days.

The baby caught a cold just before Christmas and has had a runny nose and cough.  His cough last night had me up three times between 9 and 1.  Added to that - he has a new skill - he is learning to "talk" (babble), and he was talking too.  In his SLEEP.  (It's so freaking adorable I can't STAND it!!)  I have been trying to avoid catching his cold - but babies, they sneeze in your face.  My "regimen" for preventing colds - lots of fluids, Emergen-C, Zicam tablets a few times a day, hot tea, soup, and lots of sleep.  Things that I avoid - any kind of hard exercise (heavy weights, any cardio harder than walking), and alcohol.  These, along with sleep deprivation, weaken my immune system and make it much more likely that I will get sick.  This is a big reason why I haven't gotten back into running yet, and probably won't until I stop nursing.  Or at least until after cold and flu season ends.

So today, I made soup for dinner.  With the sick baby, I've been home a lot and hadn't planned a dinner. I know it's weird - I'm home, so I tend to not plan as much and "wing it".  This stresses me out and makes it hard to fall asleep, my brain is constantly running.  When I got up this morning, I decided on crockpot chicken tortilla soup.  I found about three recipes on the internet and used them all as a jumping off point because I wasn't going to go shopping.  The best thing is that you can use a bunch of frozen stuff in the soup.  We also had kale chips - greens are probably really good for fighting off illness.

Crockpot chicken tortilla soup
1 lb 4 oz chicken (this happened to be the size of the 2 breasts I had): $2.49
1 onion, diced (Biz, you can leave that out): 0.20
1/4 of a 1-lb bag of frozen tri-color peppers, diced: 0.50
3 cloves garlic: 0.15
4 cups chicken stock: free (I make my own from carcasses)
1 14-oz can diced tomatoes: 0.60 (I am going to puree these next time so 6yo doesn't complain)
1/2 bag frozen corn: 0.60
1 pint home canned salsa: 0.60
1 tsp cumin: 0.10
1/2 tsp chili powder: 0.05
2 Tbsp diced hot pepper (from my freezer stash): 0.15
1 to 2 cups cooked beans: 0.50
1 cup water
a few Tbsp commercial salsa
1 tsp salt

Cheddar cheese and broken tortilla chips for serving.

Cook everything on high for several hours.  I think I had it in there for 7 hours.  I threw the chicken in frozen.  The chicken stock was frozen too - that didn't work too well, so I had to heat that on the stove eventually.  If I start with frozen meat, I prefer to start it on high so that the meat doesn't sit in any temperature "danger zone".  Shred the chicken with a fork before you serve it.

Total: $5.94 for...12 cups maybe? enough soup for probably four meals for the 3 of us.  Less than 50 cents a cup, not counting the cheese and tortilla chips (we used the crumbs).

I was going to leave out the beans, because I didn't have any cooked or canned beans.  But then I saw this bag of little green shelled beans from the CSA.  Man, it took 20 mins to clean them...they were DIRTY, not to mention the bug or two I had to get out of there.  But they cooked up in about 40 min.

We ate this with store bought taquitos and homemade guacamole...and the kale chips, of course.

FYM Phase 1 results

I'm not sure if I mentioned it before, but I've been working on losing some of the baby weight.  While I gained 35 lbs with my first pregnancy 6 years ago, this time I gained 50.  And my top weight was 188 lbs.  Yikes.  I'm 5'2.5".

Generally, the first couple of weeks, you can lose 15 to 20 lbs without effort.  Then...it becomes more effort.  Especially if  you are nursing.  Sure you are burning more calories, but then again, you are starving.

Four weeks ago, I decided to get cracking.  Back in September 2011, I bought an E-book based on a recommendation of a blogger I read called "Fit Yummy Mummy".  She'd used it to get fit.  Now, she warned folks that the website looks kind of "spammy" (and she's right), but that it's a good program.

I bought the system for $30.  I have a thing for different workouts.  I have workout DVDs and books and cards.  I like variety.  I read through the system briefly, started working out using the "beginner" recommendations, and found out I was pregnant 6 weeks later.  Um...

So I dusted off my FYM E-book and printed a few more pages.  I really like the system because it is balanced and healthy.  Her recommendations include diet (eat cleanly, count calories, eat a variety of food types) and exercise.  Her exercise plan is 90 minutes per week...total.  15 minutes of high intensity interval training 3x per week and 15 minutes of body strengthening 3x per week. 

The system starts easy and gets harder.  It's a 16 week program in 4 different phases: introductory, beginner, intermediate, advanced.  From a dietary standpoint, each week in Phase 1 you work on a new habit or two.  When you have finished all four weeks and move on to the next phase, you repeat these weeks, in case you have slipped.

Each phase also includes it's own set of strengthening exercises and intervals.  And might I just say: I hate planks.  I have to do planks 3x per week.  Ugh.

I started with the introductory workouts because after having a baby, my abs were totally weak, and I had to do planks.  I just finished Phase I today.

Here are the results of phase I:  I lost 8.4 lbs in four weeks.  Yay me!  Except for the first few days, I haven't been overly hungry.  I am eating 2000 to 2400 calories per day, based on my age, weight, activity level, and the fact that I am nursing. 

The diet plan requires you to eat every 3 to 4 hours, so I eat 3 meals and 2 snacks, almost religiously.  The exercise plan has been great.  I haven't followed it exactly, but pretty close.  Thursday and Saturday I do intervals and the strengthening workouts.  The intervals actually take me 22 minutes with warmup and cooldown.  The strengthening workouts take about 15 minutes.

Here's where I deviate a bit.  On Tuesday, I do a 40 minute spin class instead of intervals.  We do intervals IN the spin class.  I squeeze my third strengthening workout in on Wednesday at home.  And Sunday, I try to walk or swim, so I get a little extra in.

I have been tracking my calories on MyFitnessPal for the Ipad.  My husband has also been tracking his calories, and he's lost 10 lbs.

So...onto phase 2!

The creator of the plan also has DVDs you can buy, and a monthly fee if you want to join her "club" where you get forums and a "workout of the month".  You get a free month membership when you buy her Ebook.  I never used my membership because of the whole "having a baby" thing last year.  I find her DVDs to be a little steep on the price, so I am going to pass on that.

However, I must say that my results are so good that I am FINALLY ready to just cancel my weight watchers on line membership.  I did really well on WW in 2002 and then a couple times later to lose the baby weight.  I've never actually successfully lost weight any other way.  Well, I guess I can't say that now.

Triathlon! And exercise

Today was the Santa Barbara sprint triathlon.  If you've been reading long, you know that I've done the last 2 years.  I decided when I turned 40 it was a good time to learn to really swim and be comfortable in the ocean, being that I live here.  I went to college, joined the Navy, honeymooned and vacationed on beautiful islands with lots of snorkeling...and was terrified of the water.  I credit my mom-friend Whitney for finally getting me to do it.

Sadly, I missed this year.  While I swam, biked, and walked right up to delivery, there was no way I'd be able to do the tri just 7 weeks later.

However, I took the boys down to cheer on some of my buddies.  I didn't get to cheer on very many (see: I had the two boys).  We got there right about when the fast people were coming in off  the bike.

It was fun, but a bit depressing.  It was encouraging to see all these people complete the course. For some, it's just another tri.  For others, it's exciting and scary because it's their first.  For another set, it's an attempt to get a personal best.  But the depressing part is that I'm in no shape to be doing a triathlon.

There was one group together wearing orange at the finish line.  Women in teeny bikinis and men in orange shorts.  I saw a familiar pink hat on one of the bikinis.  Trim body, tight abs, and I realized she's the women who I did the tri with two years ago...when she 8 months pregnant.  At least I hope it was 2010 and not 2011.  And it's her fourth baby.  Wow.  2 years later and she looks like that?  Now, I have to be honest.  I do not have that kind of body.  Trim legs, long and lean.  I. Am. Not. Built. That. Way.  I have big hips and thighs and always will.  Pre-baby, never looked like that.  Certainly after having two babies (the second at 42), the only way my abs will look like that is after some serious skin tightening surgery.  And...I'm not really into that.

So, you go girl!  I can dream about looking like that, right?

I also saw one of the coaches that I had in 2010, and she's pretty pregnant.  She asked me if I'd join her next year and I said "of course".  But really, she'll finish the sprint probably 15 minutes ahead of me, at least.  I'm an hour and five minutes person.  She'll be out of the water before I go around the first buoy.

On a positive note...the only exercise I've been doing and have had the energy for lately is short walks.  But I've been doing them. Some with the baby in the sling, bjorn, or moby wrap (but I have to go early...it's hot and sweaty for that.)  Sometimes with the baby in the stroller.  Today, I knew parking was totally going to suck at the beach, so I had to look at the map and figure out where to park.

My first option was the courts where my husband was playing tennis.  But that was 1.8 miles away, we got a late start, and I was walking with my 6 year old.  I continued to look and found a spot about 0.7 miles away where I figured there would be plenty of parking.  It's in a depressed area of town, and I'm pretty sure I saw someone buying marijuana on the walk back to the car, but we were fine.

And that's the good part.  We were easily able to park and walk 0.7 miles to the finish line.  And back.  Many many people aren't able to do that, and would never consider doing it.  If they can't park very close to where they are going, forget it, we're going home. 

Workouts

So, here's a secret about me: I like exercise.  It helps keep me sane.

When I gave birth to my older son, the delivery doctor said "no exercise except walking for 6 weeks".  I listened.  I walked 45 min to an hour every day with the baby in the sling or bjorn up and down a lot of hills, but I technically listed.  This did wonders for helping my uterus/ abs recover.  Not so much for other areas.

This time around, the delivery doctor (different one), said nothing.  Admittedly, I didn't see him for long.  We only talked in the delivery room for about 30 mins and about 5 mins the next morning.  My plan this time around was to do the same: walk 45 min to an hour.  However, I neglected to consider a few things:

1.  I'm 6 years older. 42.  It's harder.  I'm heavier.
2.  It's not March.  It's freaking July and August.  It's HOT.  Carrying around a 10-lb baby on your chest is HOT.  I've walked my son the 0.45 miles to camp this week (hubby is traveling, no way I'm doing 24 hrs a day solo with 2 kids) with the baby in the sling.  So, 0.9 miles total each way.  And I'm SWEATING when I get home.
3.  For the most part, I have a 6 year old with me.  Not this week, but on other days getting an hour walk out of him is going to be hard, without some incentive.  My MIL and I did get a 45 min walk out of him, but there was a treat at the grocery store.

So my workout records have had a lot of  "1 mile" days.

I've decided to try and work in other exercise, even though I'm not cleared by the doc yet.  I pulled out my trusty Bikini Bootcamp book and decided to do some circuits.  These can be done in about 20 mins in your home.  Each exercise is to be done for 1 min, then you repeat the circuit.  The numbers listed next to the exercise are either the number I can do in one minute, or the number I can do total, if I can't make it a minute. 

Here's an example of circuit A.
Plie squats (30)
Bent elbow raises - 5 lb (20)
Slow bicycle crunches (50)
Lateral lunges (30)
Tricep dips (25)
Crunches (50) (these are supposed to be bent knee rollups, but my abs aren't strong enough yet)
Standing leg raises (25 each side)
Shoulder bicep curls - 5 lb (30)
Dead bug (20 each side)
Knee pushups (10) - this was my addition, pathetic.

Now, the actual workout also includes cardio for 2 min between each mini 3-exercise group.  You'll see a lower body/upper body/abs trend there.  The cardio is jumping rope, but you could do jumping jacks or jog in place.  I do none of the above, not while I'm nursing.  Maybe at some point I'll try layering 2 sports bras and give it a shot.  But probably not.

I feel incredibly out of shape, but you know, I have to start slow.  Any kind of exercise makes me feel better.  Soon I should be cleared for exercise and swimming, and I can work in 2-3 days per week at the gym.  The advantage to home workouts and walking is you avoid the commute time. And the gas.  Score!

Time to run and whip up a sandwich for lunch before the baby wakes up again...

Cooking and Prep for the Week

In general, I have been (in the past), a master of cooking and prep for the week.  I spend a few hours each day on the weekend cooking, baking, chopping, preparing 2-5 dishes so that lunches and dinners are taken care of, at least until about Wednesday.  Funny that as I keep in contact with friends from high  school, college, and all over via facebook, I've noticed that it's definitely a theme for the working parent.

Or just the working person in general - my sister (no kids) also does a lot of cooking on the weekend.  It's efficient.  I am constantly impressed by how Biz cooks and preps for the week - not only for herself, but also for others.  She's so organized!!  My neighbors (husband and wife team with 3 girls under 6) seem to seamlessly cook on Sundays for the entire week.

Enter pregnancy, work stress, and lack of sleep.  I still enjoy cooking on the weekend, but I tire more easily.  What I notice first is the aching feet, legs, and back.  I can only really stand to be on my feet for about an hour.  So that means my prep has suffered.  This means that I cook more often during the week, and by the time spouse gets home - dinner is ready, but I'm beat.

This weekend I'm trying something new.  I am still doing my cook and prep, but I will do it in 1 hour increments, then I will rest. 

Also, I walked 1 mile (up over a big hill) to the grocery store first (and back), then started cooking.  I left my shoes on when I got  home.  It seems to be helping.  I am up to 1.5 hours on my feet right now, and I'm still okay.  Maybe I need the cushion with the extra 32 lbs.  I'm not sure how much longer I can make that big hill.  But last weekend I sucked it up and bought a maternity swimsuit.  I have 9 weeks to go.  If I wear it 3x a week for the next 9 weeks, I can get it down to just over $1 per wear. :)

So here is what I am prepping for the week.  I am trying to go lower carb/ more paleo to stem this weight gain.  Hence the trip to the store for even MORE vegetables. 

I made this delicious beef roast in the crockpot yesterday (45 mins of prep - not "a dump and press go" recipe by any means).  I bought a large (6.5 lb?) roast (organic and free range) for $50 from my coworker "beef source" (she buys in bulk).  She recommended the crock pot.  The recipe came from my America's Test Kitchen Family cookbook, and was a southwestern roast recipe (in honor of Cinco de Mayo).  If you can't have a margarita, might as well make tacos, right?  The only thing the roast needed was more salt.  I used homemade stock, so my food is always under-salted.  2/3 of this went into the fridge, and the rest into the freezer for a later date.

Now, I know this soupy runny beef would taste GREAT over some rice.  But I want to limit my carbs a bit.  So I cooked up some white rice and red quinoa and put 1/2 cup in a container for lunch.  But I am also cooking up a bunch of zucchini and mushrooms, and will use that as the primary base for the lunch.

In summary:

Beef roast (tacos!)

White rice/ quinoa

Mushrooms and zucchini

Bacon, chard, beet green, turnip greean, onion, zucchini frittata (that's dinner, with a salad).

Peanut lime dipping sauce (for my carrots, snap peas, and colored peppers).  Or maybe this one.  Or a combo.

Silly Little Goals

Earlier this summer, when Biz started her summer fitness "101 days of summer" challenge, I thought about signing up.  Really I did.  But with full time job, kid, husband who travels...I decided to pass.

But I secretly had a goal.

It all starts in January.  My niece started a group called "Club 365".  The goal: we would aim to get 365 miles of exercise in this year.  I know that's only a mile a day.  Well, for some people the goal was probably to work out 365 days (depends on your level!)  I jumped into that head first and kept on going.  The group has petered out a bit.  There appear to  be only 8 people of the original 50 still tracking their miles.  And to give my niece credit, she's pretty pregnant now.

It did not require "running" or "walking".  There are basic running and walking miles, and a conversion for other activities.  I basically consider approximately 10 minutes of any kind of cardio to be a mile.  So my 45 min bike ride to work?  4 miles.  An 800 - 1000 yd swim?  3 to 3.5 miles.

So in June, I made a goal to hit 90 miles.  That's 3 miles a day.  Until that month, I had gotten from 55 to 80 miles.  Well, I didn't even come close - only 72 miles.  Partly because that included a week in Arizona.  And it was hot.

Well, it's July, and I decided to try again.  This month, triathlon training helps, as Saturdays I easily get in 7 miles or so, so I can afford to skip a day.  And I made it!  What's even better, I SMASHED it!

Already, with still two days to go (one of which a Saturday), I passed 100 miles this morning with my little Level 1 of 30 day shred (which I count as 2 miles, by the way).  Yay for me!

Now it's off to shower.