Final Week Before RNR

It is less than a week to the RNR Half Marathon.  I can't believe that I'm this close to achieving one of my goals.  Mary, this one is for you!  You were my biggest fan and cheerleader.

I did 10.6 miles in exactly 3 hours on Saturday.  I felt good as far as the walking went.  And considering that I had a toothache, I felt that it was a really good walk.  The weather was in the 80's and high humidity during the whole walk.

My pace was the way I wanted it as well.  I started out with an almost 18 minute mile and dropped down to sub-17 minute miles before I was through,  I finishe with around 17 minute miles.  This should translate into a sub-4 hour walk on Sunday.

Good Weekends

Last weekend I had a great weekend with my walking.  I did 4 miles since I had increased mileage during the week per my schedule.  It was supposed to be at a brisk pace.  I did 3 sub-16 minute miles, which for me, is excellent.  Then I had a pretty good bike ride on Sunday.

I had a good weekend this weekend as far as my  training goes.  I did 6.77 miles on Saturday with and average pace of 16:28.  That's well within what I need to finish the RNR in the 4 hour time limit.  In fact I kept getting fussed at by my Garmin that I needed to slow down.  I have the pace limits set up at 15 and 20 minutes.  I have 5 weeks to go until the RNR and right now, I think I'm going to do pretty well.  But I haven't hit brand new territory as far as distance goes yet.  I will hit that when I hit 10 miles.

Today I rode 22.4 miles in a little less than 1.5 hours.  That was a 15.4 mph average.  I have been gradually been bringing my speed up over the last month as I'm going longer distances.  I think part of it is due to getting more miles on straight road and out of the neighborhoods.  I will have to start planning some more routes though.  Today I rode the length of Baily Road.  I'm basically going from one end of Pearland to the other.

Next weekend I will do 8 miles walking, then I get on an airplane to go to Atlanta.  I don't know what that will do to my training schedule, but I will try to get some bike time in and I will have to get some walking in.  Fortunately the Saturday I'm there will be a 6 miler which is twice around the lake.

The Journey Continues

I haven't posted here in so long because of everything that has happened in the last 3 months.  I've been posting on a different site about totally different stuff going on.  Someday I will merge the two sites.

After a 2 month hiatus due to that other stuff, I've started exercising again and getting back on plan with the weight loss.  I've been going strong for the last 7 weeks.  So what has been happening along the journey?

After the MS150, I realized I had to have a different bike if I wanted to continue to ride for distance.  My Expedition is fine for toodling around the neighborhood, but for the longer distances, I was expending too much energy trying to keep the thing rolling. 

So after some research, lots of looking and test-riding several bikes, I chose the Specialized Roubaix Elite.  It has carbon forks, seat post and I think front post.  The frame is aluminum alloy.  The bike is so much lighter.  I can easily pick it up and put it in the back of the truck where the old one was a lot harder to pick up because of the weight.  I've changed the stem out so it's not such a stretch to reach the drops and the hoods.  And I went from a 52 cm frame to a 54 cm.  We had gone to the max on the adjustments on my old bike as I had progressed in my riding.

Today I did 16.5 miles in less than 70 minutes.  That's not blazingly fast, but faster than the old bike.  Also, my route is leaving from my house and I have stops signs, lights and corners to negotiate for at least half the ride.   It will be interesting to see how it goes when I'm on some of the more rural roads with few navigational challenges and more straight shots.  For now it's nice to leave from home and not have to drive anywhere especially since I'm riding alone and not meeting anyone. 

I'm trying to ride at least one day a week through the summer now, usually Sunday mornings - mainly to keep some endurance up and also to use the cycling days as cross-training days.  Yes, cross-training.  Walking has become sport of choice for the time being.

On June 14 I started a 12-week training program leading up to the Rock-N-Roll Half Marathon in Virginia Beach on Labor Day weekend.  Todaywas the end of the 7th week of that program.  My longest walk to date on this program has been 6 miles last week.  Yesterday I did 4 miles.  They were supposed to be at a "brisk" pace.  I did 3 of the 4 in less than 16 minutes - the fastest being 15:49.  I want to do approximately 17 minute miles to finish the RNR in the 4 hour time limit and to allow for things like pit stops and the time it takes to cross the start line.  I was worried that I wouldn't be able to do that, now I feel more confident that I can achieve my goal.

I have also joined PearlandFit again and will train for the Houston Marathon.  At this time I'm signed up for the Half for Houston as well.  I'm pretty sure I can't complete the Full Marathon in the time allotment, but if all goes well, I may try for Austin in February.  We'll see how I do after the RNR - if I stay with the full training group or drop back to the half mary group.

Finally, I had fallen off plan for about 2 months.  I had gained 10 pounds back - 75 pounds lost.  I've turned that around and have lost 6 of those pounds.  The thing is I have really been playing in the same weight range most of the year.  When I went to England in March, I didn't really stay on plan.  I didn't do so well the weekend of the MS150, but felt that I needed the fuel and then to celebrate a little.  In May it was going to Atlanta and then everything else.  That's when I really gave up for a while.

But now I'm trying to make good choices, but it's more difficult this time around.  It was so easy to slip back into bad habits of snacking all the time and eating fast food - I love hamburgers and french fries, but can't live on them and lose weight.  Getting the exercise in is really helping because that gives me extra points to play with in the form of APs.  I'm just going to have to balance the APs earned against the fuel I have to take in during training so that I don't actually create a deficit.

So I'm back on the journey and for now I'm going places.

The MS150

I'm home, I conquered the flats, the hills conquered me.  I did a total of 110 of the 180 miles and all and all felt like I had a good showing.

 

I spent the night on the other side of town Friday night so that I could sleep all the way until 4:30.  During the night my foot tried to cramp up... nerves, I guess.  I was thinking uh-oh.  I got to where we were meeting around 5:15, drop off luggage and put together bike and me.  Go in and get breakfast and all that entails, and then at 6:00 we were off 2.5 miles to the stadium as a group.  We had a DJ with music and everything to send us off.  As the title sponsor, Team BP leads off the event, so we lined up in the street outside the stadium - 700 strong.  While standing there over my bike, I'm looking around wondering what was I doing. 

 

The event finally kicks off at 7:15.  I'm in the back of the BP group, but hey - I'm the one saying "On your left" for a change.  I still heard that phrase more than I wanted to all day, especially by the same riders over and over.  How did I keep passing them if they were so much faster than me.  Anyway, I had decided that I would stop at each rest stop to try and conserve my energy as long as possible.  When I get to the first rest stop, my heels are killing me.  I had rubbed nasty blisters from all the walking around I had done getting ready to ride.

 

I get the blisters checked out and wrapped and I'm on my way again.  Again stopping at the next rest stop.  At the third rest stop, they had a band. That was cool.  All this time we are doing flats and I'm crusing along in my highest front ring and 6-7 on the rear.  The wind is basically at our back and I'm averaging almost 15 mph.  After about 30-35 miles we start with our first rolling "hills".  I'm doing ok, enjoying the scenery - the Texas bluebonnets are out and all the wildflowers are gorgeous.  A lot of people are stopping to take pictures, but I'm cruising so well, I don't want to stop.

 

We hit our first serious downhill and I'm cruising at 31 mph by time we hit the bottom.  My bike has never been that fast... uh-oh, what goes down must go up.  We have a couple of really good climbs before lunch and I'm really wondering what I've gotten myself into.  My upper thigh is starting to burn.  Not a great sign.  I've had no hill training and I'm not sure if I'm attacking them right, but at lunch talking to some of the veterans, it sounds like I am... but I'm pedaling a lot more and a lot harder than I normally do.

 

Lunch is in a town called Bellville and is provided by the local Lions Club and some other organizations.  Everyone was so nice - and they had lots and lots of food.  I hang out for almost an hour relaxing and talking to some of my new friends and then back on the bike - ouch!  I shouldn't have been off that long, my butt doesn't like me anymore.

 

Coming through the town of Bellville, we get stopped at a red light - right at the base of a hill, what a way to start the afternoon.  At least I didn't get stopped by the train like some others.  Make it through town and everyone is slowing down... a rider was hit by a car and they were packaging the person in the ambulance.  That cast a little gloom, I don't know how bad the person was injured.  Away we go out in the country and more hills.  My thigh is really burning so I decide to SAG it the rest of the way.  It was at mile 61, which was 10 miles further than my last ride.  And I did not walk any of the hills I climbed.

 

The only complaint I had about the MS 150 was trying to move people who were through for the day and wanted to SAG to the stopping point.  We started out in a SAG van to the next rest point.  The line was already 30+ people wanting to SAG  They finally call for a box truck and bus.  It fills up 5 people for me.  By now the buses are going back to the previous rest stop and filling up so going right past us.  After over an hour, I catch another SAG van to the next rest point... and 4 hours later make it to the end of the day.

 

BP treats its riders great.  We had catered food and beverages waiting for us, our own luggage claim area and bike check-in.  Most importantly, they provided massage therapists and air-conditioned buses to the hotel.

 

I was in bed by 9 and up at 4 this morning for the bus ride back to La Grange.  The start was at 7, but it was 8 by time I made it out of the fairgrounds.  I took what was called the Lunch Express because it was shorter and bypassed the worst of the hills.  It was on a US highway (71) so most of the rises were slow gradual but long inclines.  There were 3-4 really good climbs and one of the last ones before lunck I ended up walking because I had lost my momentum at the bottom of the hill when I had to slow down for a truck pulling out in front of us.  Walking with taped up blisters is not fun, believe me.

 

I ended up SAG two legs of the ride this afternoon, but I rode the last leg.  It was hilly, my back wheel tried to fall off, and a super strong crosswind made the downhills really interesting, but I perservered and made it across the finish line at about 3:00 this afternoon.  There were so many people cheering us on at the finish, that I did get a little emotional.

 

I didn't do the whole thing, I wasn't ready for the hills (and these aren't like the "hills" that California has - read mountains there), I had more aches and pains that I ever thought.  But will I do it again?  I really think so.

 

After a 3 hour ride back to Houston, I'm tired, need a shower, and am ready for bed, but I wanted to write this while most of it was still fresh in my mind.  Excuse me for being so wordy... I needed to get it down.

 

Maggie

The 5K

It has been a week since I participated in the 5K associated with the Houston Marathon.  After the training walk the previous week and the pain in my knees, I wasn't sure how I was going to do. When the weather started looking dubious for Sunday, I really wasn't sure whether I would participate or not.  Then I get to the GRB Sunday morning and meet up with the Pearland Fit training group and I was really frustrated that I wasn't walking the half marathon with the rest of the group.  I was the only one in our group doing the 5K, but everyone was really supportive.

The weather was cool, but not really cold.  It was cloudy and there was mud around that I ended up havign to wade through.  Then the start... we head north and immediately turn east - not the most scenic part of Houston.  The sun decides to peek out and I don't have my sunglasses.  Someday I'm going to learn.  We go under a railroad crossing and as we come back up the incline, we hit the first mile marker.  By this time we've already seen the leaders on their way back.  Anyway at the Mile 1 marker, they call out my time 17:18.  But my watch shows 16:35 because the actual start line was really in front of the mat.  As we are going along, there are groups from local high schools performing and the UH band had gone forward for at least half a mile.  It made for a festive atmosphere and helped to pass the time.  Of course as we turn to head back, the sun goes behind the clouds again.  At mile 2, I had another really good time.  Mark was waiting close to the GRB at about mile 2.5.  I leave my jacket with him because by this time, I have worked up a sweat.  On through the streets in front of the GRB, then we turn into the home stretch.  As I'm heading for the finish line, the first of the half marathoners are coming in.  5K to the left, Half Marathon to the right.  There was a good crowd at the finish, cheering us on.  I ended with a surge, wanted to look really good for the finish photos.  My official time was 53:24, but my watch showed 52:22.  Never mind, both were personal records for me.  So from being afraid that I couldn't even participate the week before, I managed to exceed all of my expectations.

My Journey Recapped (Part 5)

I also recommitted to staying On Plan after I got home from Atlanta and realized I was starting to fall back into old habits.  Between the new focus on points and being able to consistently earn APs again, my weight is starting to drop again.  One secret I have learned is that I have to keep making mini-goals and not look at the big picture -- the final goal.  From the beginning, losing well over 100 pounds was too daunting.  But I have broken it down into either 25 pounds or 10% segments.  That is why my goal in my signature line looks so high.  Even at this point I'm not sure what my final goal is going to be, but my next 2 goals are to first reach 100 pounds, then to hit Onederland.  I know that I would like to at least be able to get into 10-12's, and I do still have a goal of being able to do at least a half marathon.  I don't know if I will be able to do the MS 150 this year, but if not this year, next year.  And I still want to go to Disney World with my sister at least one time, then go regularly with my niece and be able to enjoy it.

My Journey Recapped (Part 4)

It has been much harder this fall to focus - I hit a 3 month plateau where I have lost the same 5 pounds 4 times, and it has been really hard to get back into a consistent exercise routine.  My sister went through a major health crisis over Christmas and was in ICU.  We flew to Atlanta literally at the last minute and our eating schedule was totally off-track.  The only exercise I got was walking the halls of the hospital.  Fortunately, she pulled through and is doing better. 

My orthopedic surgeon has also recommended that I start riding.  So I went out and bought a new bicycle.  He is the one that suggested that I look into doing the MS 150 in April.  He knows that I was training for the marathon and that I need the goals.  So now my exercise focus has shifted.  I'm walking 2-3 times a week, riding 3-4 times a week, and I'm doing strength training 4-5 times a week as well.  I was trying to continue my therapy exercises, and realized that it was a basic lower body workout, and that I better not forget the upper body workout, so I;m doing 30-40 minutes of strength after 30 minutes of cardio.

My Journey Recapped (Part 3)

In May, we discovered that my Dad's cancer had returned and that he had 4-6 months.  As he got weaker, my mother required my assistance more in the evenings after his caregiver had gone for the day.  But I was determined to make time for me and keep up with what I was doing.  Things started getting really crazy over the summer -- but my WW was one thing in my life that I could control.  My Dad died on August 31, and again through all this I felt my life was totally out of control - I bobbled on points and walking, but got back to it as soon as I could.  Again it was the only thing I could control, and by this point I needed that stability that I had some influence over something in my life. 

Four weeks later on a what was supposed to be a 9 mile walk, but was actually closer to 10 miles, I started rushing as we were finishing the walk because I thought I was off-pace and tore cartilage in my knee.  The knee immediately locked up which put the walking on hold.  I ended up having arthroscopic surgery in October.  Again, this has been a major challenge in my life and to my WW efforts because all of sudden I couldn't earn any APs - none, there was nothing I could do until after the surgery.

 A week after the surgery I started 2 months of physical therapy.  I realized that because I had been working out, my body was really missing it -- amazing concept for me.  So, I really worked at therapy, and finally got permission to start walking short distances in November.  We went to my sister's for Thanksgiving and the first thing we found out is her cancer is back.  I feel that life is starting to throw all of us curve balls again, and so I renewed my vow to improve my own physical well-being.

My Journey Recapped (Part 2)

Once I made 3 miles as a goal, I realized I could do a 5K.  I looked into various events and found the Komen Race for the Cure in Atlanta (where my sister lives) in May.  I called my sister and told her about it.  She decided she wanted to have that as a goal for herself as well.  We told my other sister about it and decided that we would make it into a sister's weekend, something we haven't been able to do much because of everything going on (plus the fact that other sister lives in Europe).  Well, our sister's weekend blossomed into a Team of 20 being formed for the Race made up of family and friends.  Mom even got Dad's caregiver to stay with him and went.  I did the Race with a personal goal of completing it in under an hour -- and I did it in 58 minutes - 4 months after barely being able to complete a mile in 30 minutes.

Once the Race was over, we decided to keep up Team Life Is Good (my sister's idea -- she has such a fabulous attitude about everything she has been through -- but that is a whole other story) for the Race for the Cure in Houston in October.  But I needed another goal to shoot for because I was starting to slack off on my walking.  So I started exploring longer distances.  In July, the local USA Fit group started training for the Houston Marathon that is held in January every year.  I thought about it and figured I could at least do a half.  The training started out so easy, that I actually started training for the full, and I figured I would switch over to the half marathon group when the training got too hard.  

My Journey Recapped

Someone asked my about my success with WW today and I replied with the following:

I'm not sure what my success is -- but if I had to say it's a combination of being very aware of my family history, determination to do it this time, and a big part is the support on the boards.  I have set physical activity goals as I have gone on, and that has helped as well.  <Warning: The rest of this is going to get wordy, but I'm on a roll now and I guess I really need to get this on paper.> 

A little bit of my family history -- my Dad was a cancer survivor of non-Hodgkins lymphoma and renal cell carcinoma.  In 2001, he had a brain-stem stroke and was hospitalized for 5 months before being moved to a nursing home.  He finally was able to come home in November 2002.  Because of the stroke, Daddy had to have a trach, and because of the trach, somebody from the family stayed with him 24/7 with very few exceptions.  Daddy couldn't call for help if needed, and didn't always know when he needed assistance.  As a result, I spent a lot of time "vegging" in his room, or eating really poorly because I brought Mom dinner almost every night (Mom spent the majority of the time with Dad with me relieving her a couple of nights a week - I was working full-time as well). 

In 2002, my youngest sister was diagnosed with breast cancer and went through a double mastectomy, chemo and radiation. With all those factors and once Daddy came home, I decided that I had to do something.  Also, I had a young niece that I wanted to be able to play with and didn't want her to remember Aunt Maggie as someone who couldn't do anything.  I was at a near high in my weight and had almost no exercise in almost 2 years from daddy-sitting.  So on January 6, 2003, I started journaling (I actually started counting points the following week -- one step at a time) and walking on the treadmill.  I could barely do 1 mile at about 2 mph.  But I wanted to go to Disney World with my sister and her family, and she told me to be able to go with them, I had to be able to walk 3 miles over a day.  So that was my first goal, to be able to walk 3 miles and enjoy myself at Disney World. 

Walking With USA Fit Group

I did 4 miles with the walking group today (they did 5).  I was so far behind the rest of the group it was pathetic, but I felt pretty good while walking - a little pain, but not too bad at the time.  I have lost so much in the last 3 months of speed and endurance.  Both knees are hurting tonight and I know that it's a result of pounding on asphalt and concrete for over an hour.  But I'm planning on doing the 5K next week and finish the marathon training season for 2003.  I'm not sure if I'm realistically going to be able to do anymore serious training, but I guess that I will wait and see how I'm doing come April or so when I have to start seriously training for Virginia Beach.  Maybe by then I will have enough more weight off to make a difference.  I'll keep plugging away on the treadmill until then.

Mary Is Home

I can't believe I haven't written this down yet (ok, so I haven't written in almost a week) but ML came home Friday with an oxygen generator rather than an O2 bottle.  She is on 3 liters under normal conditions and is able to get around a little at home.  She was supposed to start PT yesterday.

Audrey is so glad to have Mommy at home.  ML said that she has been playing close by and climbing up in Mommy's lap, etc.  I know that it was really hard on Audrey when ML was so sick.  She didn't understand why everyone was so upset and why Mommy was not at home.  I think it was really upsetting how no one mentioned Mommy when we first got there.  It was like she just totally disappeared.  I hope that the good feelings lasted past Audrey having to go to school yesterday.

Am I Crazy Or What?

Dr. Kolstad recommended bike riding so I got one last week.  He even suggested the MS150.  I signed up today after talking to some of the people at work.  I must be crazy.  I couldn't get ready for the marathon so now I'm going to kill myself on a bike.

I'm still planning on walking the 5K on the 18th since I'm not doing the half-marathon.  Hopefully, it will still be a fun time.

I'm workng to manage both walking and cycling into my schedule.  I'm going to walk 3 times a week and cycle (both stationary and outside) 3 times a week for a while and see how it goes.  I'm also trying to get some strength training in.  Yes, I'm going nuts but I figure that if I start out the year right, maybe it will carry through the year.

I was up 4 pounds yesterday at WI which wasn't too bad considering that I basically blew off trying to stay on plan while in Atlanta, and then was not very good this weekend.  I'm trying to re-commit to doing a better job staying on plan again.  It's really hard because it is so easy for me to slack off after being online with WW for a year today.  When I started last year, it was really easy for me to restrict myself and get into the groove.  Now, I tend to eat too many chips at the Mexican Food restaurants, to eat the refried beans and rice.  I need to show some restraint when eating out again.