Feeling Better Today

Overall, I feel much better today.  My neck is at about 95% and my left calf is just slightly tender.  I opted for long walks Saturday and Sunday instead of my scheduled training to stretch out my calf, get a little exercise, be outdoors, and spend time with Jack rather than punishing my calf when it was still pretty painful.  This morning I did my scheduled swim workout.  All in all, I feel pretty good.

Jack and I leave for Germany tomorrow and will be gone for almost two weeks.  I am sure we will have a gym at the hotel, so we will get some workouts in, though I know we will end up missing a few days, particularly on travel days.  We will be in Nuremberg until Monday, attending the Toy Fair, then we will go to Belgium for a couple of days.  On Wednesday morning of next week we will drop Jonathan off at the Frankfurt airport, then Jack and I will have a couple of days just to vacation.  We plan on going on a little road trip and just letting the highway take us where it wants to take us.  We are both looking forward to it.

I haven't blogged about Grain Brain lately, but I am still re-reading it.  I become more convinced every day that the most important thing we can do with our diets is manage our blood sugar levels; which is effectively done by eating no wheat, very few sweet things, and plenty of healthy fats.  I've been doing some research about cholesterol and its impact on heart disease and it seems that there are more and more studies supporting Perlmutter's claim that elevated LDLs are not the cause of hardening of the arteries.  Hardening of the arteries occurs in high blood sugar environments, which causes LDLs and other proteins to become glycated, which is what causes the problems.  It certainly makes one think about food a little differently.

I have to run.  Work calls.  Have a great day.

Muscle Problems

First my neck, now my left calf.  On Tuesday, after a good workout on my indoor bicycle trainer, I was standing at the kitchen sink and my neck seized up.  I went from perfectly fine to having an immobilized neck in a flash.  The pain was incredible.  I could barely move my head.  Jack massaged my neck for the next few nights and I applied a hot pad the second and third night, and it seemed fine.  After two days off from exercise I hit it hard again at my Big Spin class.  After about 70 minutes of spinning we headed to the pool.  I was fine until the very end when we had a 4 person relay.  When it was my turn to swim and I pushed off the wall, my left calf seized up in a massive cramp.  I swam the lap with my leg dragging behind me.  It relaxed slightly before my next leg of the relay so that I could swim, but the calf is still painful.  I am guessing that I must have some sort of electrolyte imbalance or something.  I had a physical a couple of weeks ago and all of my blood work looked fine.  I may not be drinking enough water.  I am going to focus on drinking water, eating a variety of veggies, stretching, and trying to get this cramp worked out.  Any suggestions?

Good Birthday week

I had a great birthday week fitness wise -- getting the gym 4 out of 5 weekdays, and having a nice walk around the lake on the weekend with the whole family. Lafayette is stunningly beautiful, it's great to take advantage of it.

This week I've run a full hour at 5.4 mph or so, that's the fastest I can go and keep my heart rate under 145-or-so, about 85% of the "maximum" for a 54 (now) year old. At the end of the hour, I feel really good; not wobbly or anything, just strong and ready to attack the rest of the day!

Thad

Winter in palm springs

Another perfect day. It really never gets old.  I am about convinced that when it is practical the two residence life is best.  I am not too sure of Sequim in the long run but Palm Springs winter is a no brainer.  We had a great visit with Millie Bee and extended family last week.  Pete and Ruth and Patrick and I played bridge and drank smoothies and generally enjoyed a day.
Kay and I are actually improving in tennis. (No scoring, just bang the ball around). Play is nearly continuous, so we are counting it as exercise. We still get to the gym most every day as well.  We had a letter today from a 98 year old friend who said he thinks the gym machines are what is keeping him going. Somewhat inspiring.
Keep warm!

Off to Australia / Running in the Heat / Detox

Well, I'm off to Melbourne today!  Going to see the tennis tournament and tour the area.  Wonderful!

Also, it's been HOT there.  Like 107 hot.  It's supposed to cool down which will be good for my exercise plan (running) when I'm there.  We've been having a mini-heat wave here in Berkeley (77 yesterday), and the gym was even hotter upstairs where the StairMaster machines are.  I noticed that my heart rate was about 15 bpm higher when it's warm.  Normally I hit about 140 as my max.  Yesterday I hit 162.  Had to take it easy after that for sure!

I'll have limited internet access and no phone, but I'll check my emails from to time.  Back on the 28th!

I'm on day 11 of the detox...not sure about keeping it up on vacation, but I'll try to make good choices.

Bowling; Not so Serious Business, but Still Fun!!

Wednesday night is our league bowling night.  I'm not very good, my average is a 129, but I am getting better.  Shortly before Christmas I got a new bowl and had it drilled as a fingertip ball that is designed to hook.  It's so much more fun to throw this ball instead of a "straight ball."  Slowly but surely I am getting comfortable with the new grip and getting consistent with throwing a hook.  Last night I even picked up the 10 pin 3 out of 4 times.  The hook completely changes how I pick up spares, but I am getting it figured out.  It's all geometry, which has always been fun for me.  My goal is to consistently bowl in the 150s.  I think I'll get there by the end of the season!!  We have a lot of fun on Wednesday nights!

Training for Triathlons; Serious Business

Last year at this time I was finishing up Stage 1 of my Get Fit For Life Initiative.  After 11 months of dieting and exercising about 6 times a week I reached my goal weight of 150 pounds, after starting at 224 pounds.  It was a momentous occassion.

I was nervous, though.  I was I going to make this stick, this time around.  Somewhere deep inside I knew that I was in a different place that I had ever been in before, I knew that this was a fitness for life goal, but still, I needed something a little more tangible than that.  That is when Ruth suggested we do a triathlon together. So I added swimming and biking to my fitness routine, threw in a few bricks on weekends, and off we went to the races.  As all of you know, I was able to complete that first tri, but I won't say I was very graceful about it.  I achieved my goal, but it was rough.

Before we even finished that race, Ruth and I were talking about what my next goal should be.  We got a little ambitious before the race and started talking about half ironmans.  3 hours and 42 minutes later I was cured of that notion.  I knew there were no half ironmans anywhere in my near future.  What I did decide to do was significantly improve my tri time.  I decided that in 2014 I wanted to finish the same even in 3 hours and 15 minutes.  That wouldn't get me winning my age group, but it would be me squarely in the middle of the 50+ women; and it would be a 27 minute improvement on my time.

During the fall, I continued to swim, bike and run on my own, but I knew I needed more.  I still felt like I was in Stage 2.  I started looking for a solution and found the KCTri Club.  At first, when I joined the club, I got nothing out of it other than a jersey (it's pretty cool, but it is too small - I hope it fits by summer) and a 10% discount on running shoes.  Just like anything else, you get out of it what you put into it.  So I started poking around the website and found a group that offers 12 weeks of coaching to newbie tri athletes for free.  I also found the Big Spin classes.

I have been working with my coach since December 28th and my first Big Spin class was on January 2nd.  My training has kicked up at least 4 notches and I can tell you that Stage 3 has officially begun!  My swim, bike and run sessions are much more focused and I am working much harder than I was when I was working on my own.  It is also much less likely that I will miss a workout.  I am not strength training as much as I was last year, in fact, I don't think I am strength training enough.  I need to work more weight lifting into my week.  But I am starting to feel a difference in my body, due to the increased level of exercise.  I am beginning to think I may just be able to achieve my goal of 3:15 next August.  It's hard work, but it's kind of fun.  In a weird sort of way.