Week 2 - The Road to 13.1

I'm not going to sugar coat it...Week 2 was not particularly delightful...and I am not proud of my performance...in any aspect of my training.  Nutrition...bad.  I missed both of my cross-training days.  There was a point when I didn't actually care.  I know...this was definitely a low point...but I dug myself out.  I'm not giving up.  I'm readjusting things.  I miss using the elliptical.  I miss my mornings with Gym.  I'm figuring out ways to add in some strength training.  This is a process.  This is hard work.  I know I can do this.  The good news is that I did not miss any of my walking days...and even though I wasn't feeling good on Saturday...I still got my three miles in.  I was able to see some of my camp family.  I was able to finally watch some soccer live again back at RFK (VAMOS UNITED!!).  All of these things were exactly what I needed to get my motivation back...and Week 3 has begun!!

Week 1 - The Road to 13.1

Here we go...my first week of training for the half marathon in June.  It did not start off as I had planned, but I guess that is to be expected.  Life happens and you have to adjust.  As long as you don't give up and keep moving forward...right?  I was not feeling well...so I missed one of my training days.  The good news/bad news is that it was a cross training day...so I did not lose out on any miles. ;)

I used to just walk one day a week...now I get to walk 3 times a week!!  The two things that I need to work on are my nutrition and using the heart rate monitor.  I'm starting to think that maybe I am just lazy and not pushing myself enough.  I have a hard time raising my heart rate while walking...I guess I just need to keep fiddling with the incline and speed.  But I sure feel like I am working hard...even though the HRM says I am not.

Today was my walking for mileage day versus walking for intensity for a specified amount of time day.  I decided to take it outside...and I was happily surprised that I did a pretty good job of keeping my 4 mph pace even though I didn't have the treadmill pulling me along.  I was worried about it.  It felt so good to be outside...I love walking...it does my mind good.  I am also now obsessed with the Nike Running App...I love that it tracks your pace and mileage.  I love that I can link it to Facebook so that my friends can "cheer" me along.  It is kind of cool to be walking along and then get a roaring cheer...it is so motivating.  I am lucky to have so much amazing support...every like and comment and tweet helps me along.

My good friend N sent me something that I really needed to read...I have never trained before.  I always just worked out.  It was good to see how the two things are different.  My fears of earlier in the week are starting to dwindle...and reading this helped.

Training vs Working Out

Training is when you have a progressive plan with measurable goals and continual challenges. Working out is anything that makes you sweaty and tired but not necessarily better because it lacks consistency, direction and specificity.

I'm liking having goals.  This journey is so different.  I'm feeling good.  I'm making progress.  I've got good support.  I can do this.  I know I can do this.

First Goal of 2013 - Done!!

My first fitness goal of the year was to walk 10 miles.  In January, I started back to walking...with 4 miles.  Each week I increased the distance by a mile.  On Sunday, February 17th...I walked 10 miles.  Yes...10 miles...and it felt really, really good.  The timing was perfect...because I will taper down a bit and then start my half marathon training on Feb. 25...I will be 14 weeks away for the real deal.  I'm learning how to push myself physically.  I'm learning how to hydrate.  I'm  learning how to trust the data.  I'm learning the things that break the good habits I'm trying to keep in place.  I'm learning that some things are going to have to give in order for to me keep healthy and keep moving towards my other fitness goals for the year (an unassisted pull up, half marathon, and marathon).  I need to get the balance back.  Work can't always win in terms of priority.  I need to take control of my time.  It will be hard...but if I can set my mind to walk 26 miles...surely I can set my mind to leave work by 6pm at the latest each night.  I need to take control of my time.  I need to just do it.

One of my ideas is to start going to the gym after work again.  For the past several months I have been going in the mornings and it worked for a while...in terms of being a good stress reliever...but now it isn't working so well.  Switching things up every now and then is good.  Plus, I have noticed that I do stay even later than usual at work now that I don't have to go to see Gym.  So, you can see where I am going with this.  The other thing is that I want to allow plenty of time for my training...doing things right...allowing time for warm-ups, cool downs, speed/form drills, and stretching.  If I work out in the morning, I'm going to feel rushed.  I don't want to feel rushed.  If I work out after work, there is no time limit.  I can just take my time.  My time.

So, I didn't set out to reward myself for the 10 miles...but as luck would have it...I found a really cute purse today that was on sale...20% off and then another 20% off.  I haven't purchased a new purse in a long while (gasp)...and my pretty Juicy Couture bag was starting to get a bit frayed at the edges.  So I did it, I bought a new bag and a few matching accessories.  It is a totally different kind of bag for me..and it reminds me of a giraffe (which is my favorite animal and my inspirational Tri-Athlete friend's favorite animal too)...so it felt like the right bag for me as I head into a new chapter of my life.  Getting Marathon Ready...

Respecting the Data...

 As an intuitive person, I pretty much play things the way I feel it.  Even in terms of my Type 1 Diabetes...yep...it is true.  I would usually just check my blood sugar in the AM to get things set for the day...and then just adjust during the day...depending upon how I felt.  I know, bad...very bad.  One can't do much in terms of increasing their game physically while managing their lack of a working pancreas in this manner.  This Type 1 Diabetic can't expect to walk a half marathon and a marathon without embracing the data.  You need data to do accomplish amazing things. I get it now.

This is what I am learning most as I set out on this journey...that is both scary and exciting.  It is the data thing that scares me, but I am starting to embrace it.  I am respecting it.  This is huge.  I have spent the last week keeping logs of my blood sugar, insulin taken, and carb intake.  A full week of honest of numbers...I say honest because when I was a kid...I would just write numbers down and create fake trends to give my doctor something work on.  I know, bad...very bad.  There is much, much room for improvement and deciding to get to the starting line to walk 26 miles is helping me.

I'm adapting and adjusting to the fact that I need to know how my blood sugars will rise and fall over the miles.  I'm also accepting that I will need to measure other things as I ready myself, especially in terms of intensity in my training.  So a heart rate monitor is now being incorporated into my set of essential gear.  I have never trained for anything before...and since I usually use my time with Gym to relive stress and zone out for an hour or so a day...I realize that I'm going to lose that.  It is tough knowing that I'll have to start watching the HRM while I elliptical or treadmill...and vary the intensity depending upon what is prescribed for day's workout.  It will be true work.  It is going to change things.  It is going to be worth it.  My intuition tells me so...