I got scolded today!!!

I went to see my nutritionist today for my 3 week check up and I knew it wasn't going to be pretty. I find it really hard to stay perfect on this plan when I am away from home. When I'm home, I'm good because I have no junk at my house. I was away two weekends in a row which didn't help plus I had a couple of splurge type meals which really set me back. I am also confessing that I have been sneaking in some sweets back into my diet slowly. It just goes to show you that it doesn't work when you sabotage yourself like that. I am confessing here and determined to get back on the wagon to have a good 3 weeks to show him and myself that I am serious.

Bottom line is that I lost 1 pound and .5% body fat in 3 weeks.....at least I didn't gain :-) My goal for 3 weeks from today is to lose 6 pounds and 2% body fat. I have some challenges ahead of me with some xmas parties and other events. My goal is to eat before the parties so that I don't have anything at the party. My first challenge is tomorrow night...wish me luck!

Here is a picture of the type of calipers he uses to test my body fat. He takes measurements from my back, my stomach, and my arm.

We also adjusted my caloric intake slightly because I haven't been working out as much as we planned so I need to adjust more for off days or light days. I really think that was part of the problem.

Thanksgiving

I decided to run the Southport turkey trot which has become a little tradition of mine for the last 3 years or so. I get to see a lot of friends and burn some calories before having some thanksgiving dinner later in the day.

This race only comes four days after my half marathon in philly so I wasn't sure what I was capable of but I felt good so I decided that my goal would be to try to run sub 7:00 min./mile pace. I finished in 34:xx which is 6:5x pace....very happy with the result.

I ate way too much later in the day but had a great visit with family.

Spent Friday with friends and Sue and got a swim workout in with a friend who is also training for IMFL after a long hiatus from triathlon. Went for a bit of a hike afterwards then ate way too much again.....bad trend continuing here.

Saturday morning started out with a bang....literally. I was going down my parents wood stairs in my bare socks and went ass backwards hard on mid back and tailbone. I landed so hard, it took the wind out of me. I heard a loud crack and thought I broke my back. I managed to get my breath back and get up. Then I did a stupid thing and decided to play soccer in my annual high school alumni soccer game. I had been looking forward to this because it is the one time a year that I play soccer and get to see some old friends. It wasn't the best thing to do after my fall in the morning.

Today, I am really feeling every ache and pain in my body like I got run over by a bus. I got a nice case of whiplash too. I rested and iced all day and Sue worked on my back which really helped. The pain shifts from my tailbone to my mid back to my neck.

I will probably get an xray tomorrow to make sure I didn't fracture a vertebrae.

Those darn stairs :-)

A few days off will do me good and back home to get back into my food routine. I see my nutritionist on Friday and he is not going to be too happy as I took a few steps backwards this weekend.

Inspiration

One of my regular clients asked if I wanted to work on her Aunt but she warned me and said that she would not be offended if I didn't want to work on her. Aunt P. has terminal cancer and has days to weeks to months to live. She has had it for 15 years.....diagnosed within a year after her husband died from cancer. She has had 22 surgeries. This type of cancer grows tumor within your visceral region and attaches to smooth tissue (ie. the tumors attach to your organs). They don't immediately invade the organs so the reason why she has lived for so long. But the doctors now have said to her they can't do anymore......now its just a waiting game.

She is a fragile woman who has a basketball in her stomach where the tumors have invaded her body. She is only 66 years old. She has a great wit, attitude, and is tough as nails.

Of course I said I would work with her as she was having some discomfort with a sciatic nerve probably from the tumors or laying for long periods of time.

I was expecting the worse but what I got was inspiration. She was timid and nervous when she first met me because she hasn't had a massage in many years. In fact, the last massage she received was a negative experience for her. She needed help on and off my table and needed to take frequent bathroom breaks so this was not my typical massage.

As I started with the massage and touching her skin, she became energized as it was obvious that she doesn't get this kind of touch. Her ooohs and ahhhs were great sounds as opposed to hearing ouchs. We had nice conversation for the hour and when were done, she said she felt like she went to the ice cream parlor and had all of her favorite ice cream flavors.......that is a compliment I'll take anyday.

I was elated that she loved the massage and that I could help someone like this in her condition.

She called a few days later to schedule another appointment so I guess she liked it :-)

You never know where you can find inspiration......keep your mind open!

ITP Foundation

I race for the ITP Foundation which is a non-profit foundation created by a friend. ITP stands for Immune Thrombocytopenic Purpura which is a rare bleeding disorder disease that effects one's platelet count. It is most commonly found in children and many grow out of it. Very little research is found on the disease or cures. Michael's daughter has/had the disease so he remains passionate about this cause.

The main fundraising efforts are developed around triathlon. I became the race director of a local sprint triathlon that michael started three years ago. We have an itpteam that races and raises money for itp. In the past we have been able to get IRONMAN slots which are hard to come by so our athletes have to raise money in order to get a slot. And to become an itpteam member, a triathlete has to commit to raising a small amount for itp.

As a tribute to supporting this cause, I will be custom painting my new bike with ITP colors and logos.

I was also asked to be on the Board of Directors so I happily accepted so now I am officially on a "board" :-)

More info. can be found at www.itpfoundation.org

Elite Bicycles

I need to start out by saying this was the most amazing bike shop experience I have ever had. I was recommended to go down to Elite for a bike fitting and new bike by a lot of people. Dave Greenfield from Elite is a very interesting guy.....he has an immense amount of knowledge in the field of bikes and triathlon, and kinesiology. He spent 5+ hours with me fitting me on my old bike, then crunched his numbers to determine which bike he would put me on.

His mechanics are also amazing. They spent hours on my bike (even though I'm selling it) cleaning it and overhauling it. They trued my wheels, recabled, and put new brake levers on it.

It was simply amazing. My new bike is in stock. I didn't need custom which I'm shocked but I trust Dave immensely. I will fit on his XL stock frame which should have been my size on my planet x.....oh well....hard lesson learned. I need to determine my componentry, upgrades, and paint job.

I will go down there again in a month or two to get refitted on the new bike. Dave discovered that I am extremely inflexible in the hip flexor region which was causing imbalances in my body. So, I will commit to getting some chiropractic and massage work done, and lots of stretching and yoga.

Pictures to come soon.

Philadelphia Half Marathon

Just got back from the Philly half marathon which I ran this morning. Sue and I drove down yesterday morning early to get to Elite bicycles by 11am.....more about this in the next post.

After a long day at Elite, we rushed through town to pick up our bib numbers with a few minutes to spare. Then it was off to find dinner somewhere. After driving around trying to find a restaurant but more importantly parking, we decided to check into our hotel and meet our friends and find something on the whim. Ali was hobbled by a stress fracture, it was getting late, and it was cold out so we got stuck at a Ruby Tuesdays. My friend Mark was running the full marathon the next day. The dinner was awful. We had problem after problem with the food and I felt sorry for the waitress but alas we ate, then headed back to our hotels for some rest.

I fell asleep pretty easily but awoke at 12:30am feeling like it was 5am and felt fully rested....not so good. Unfortunately, I lied awake in bed for the next hour or so trying to fall back asleep but to no avail. Sue and I were in Embassy Suites so I proceeded to the other room to watch tv on the sofa until 4:30am....our wake up call. It was very frustrating. I usually sleep pretty well before races and this wasn't a big race for me. I may have been excited about my experience during the day at Elite.

So I proceeded with getting in some calories with 1 bottle of Ensure Plus, a banana, and english muffin. I walked outside to determine my race outfit....tights or shorts??? As the weather has been getting cold her in CT, I found a pair of compression tights made by Under Armour that feel great. I opted for the tights and it was a great choice, even though I probably would have been fine with shorts too. The weather was in the mid 40's with a light wind but I felt comfortable the whole race.

My goal for the race was to go out at a 7:30/min pace and see if I could hold it to the finish. I tend to go out a little too hard so I wanted to make sure I didn't take it too hard in the beginning. My first few miles were in the 7:15 range so I was getting concerned that I might not be able to hold that for another 11 miles. I hadn't really done a run over 1 hour for about 8 weeks prior to this race.

I continued to hold my pace pretty well, then a huge crowd running in the 3:10 marathon pace group passed me and put some time on me around mile 4 or 5 so I thought I was slowing but my trusty watch splits told me I was right on target holding 7:20's consistently. My goal was to break 1:40 and figured that if I could get to mile 10 feeling good, I would have a good shot at this. There was one mile around 8 or 9 that was mostly uphill so my split was about 7:44 but I knew I had a lot of seconds in the bank so I was not worried. I finally got to mile 11 and realized I might have a shot at breaking 1:35 if I could kick it in a bit. I gave it my all. Mile 11 was 7:05 and I tried to go fast but my calves really started cramping so I kept telling my body to relax and hold it together for one more mile. I finished 1:35:57. 218th overall for the half marathon out of 3,000+. My pace was 7:19. And I finished 15th/200+ in my age group. This is by far my best running result and I'm quite surprised by it. I've lost about 10 pounds since working with my nutritionist which I attribute a lot of this success to. My previous PR for a half marathon was done about 8 weeks ago at the nutmeg triathlon with a 1:46. My coach thinks I can go under 1:30.....and I believe I can especially with another 10 pounds lighter.

Beachfront Bushwack

This is a fun ~5 mile race that happens at Tod's Point in Greenwich which runs on sand, through trails, over logs, hay bales, and a little roadway. When you're running through the trails, it can be hard to pass people so it was actually a nice way to recover while not slowing down too much. I suspect it was shorter than 5 miles unless my running has gotten a lot faster because I finished in 35:xx. I'll know for sure on Sunday when I run Philly.

I did a 12 min. run before and after to get an hour run in. If that wasn't enough, I rode outside with a friend for 1:45. It got a little cold at the end and my legs felt heavy going up hills or maybe that is because Mark is such a smooth climber.