Wednesday. Feeling very good. Very pleased on many levels. Had an okay bike workout yesterday morning with my new baby Betty. I say okay because I think I was doing the workout wrong in the coach’s eyes. I was keeping up with the group no problem (the fasty fasts bumped up to the next group or didn’t show so it was just the normal riders and me.) I was doing my normal deep breathing exercises to get up Harlem Hill for our repeats but I think my coach thought I was working too hard. I don’t know how to go up Harlem Hill without breathing hard. I think I needed to explain that I had another 3 levels of sucking wind that he hadn’t even witnessed yet. That was just level 2 of 5.
The park was nice and empty due to the Memorial Day holiday. Betty worked just fine. No complaints other than I may have to get a cushier saddle. Had some yucks with my teammate about inventing a saddle made out of Charmin.
Then last night I went to Team in Training (TNT) run practice. There was absolutely no way I was going to run but as Fundraising captain I felt an obligation to show up at least. I decided I would join the walking group. That would be an easy workout and not exhaust me. I have been feeling okay and the last thing I want to do is enter that burnout mode again.
I’ve known the TNT walking coach Barbara for years. Mostly from races where she walks almost faster than I can run but she is has always been super supportive of me. It had always been on my to-do list to work with her and get some speed-walking tips. Now was as good a time as any.
To my surprise the walking group is actually two groups. A run/walk group and a walk-only group. Barbara was leading the run/walk group. Groan. I didn’t want to run. What to do? What to do? I decided to start out with the run/walkers and then drop back to the walkers when I couldn’t keep up.
Turned out to be the loveliest bunch of gals. Six of us including the coach. One gal I was pacing with did NYC Marathon last year and is doing it again this year. All of them ran a little faster than me but we were doing a 2 minute on 2 minute off so for 2 minutes I could dig in and run slightly faster and keep up. The walk recoveries were great. We were working on form and technique of keeping a smooth transition from running to walking and back. I was making notes for my own Monday night power-walking group.
I was sucking wind on the westside hill but I attributed some of that to the pollen (cough, cough, pollen, yeah). I really wanted to quit the first mile. I hated this, my hamstrings are hurting from biking in the morning, I didn’t want to run anymore. But the gals were so nice and friendly that I kept going. (I figured if all else failed I could always turn around at the next lamppost.) Barbara was staying with me for most of it. Two gals behind us and two gals in front. We were talking and catching up. I noticed I was breathing a lot harder than she was….
Then the strangest thing happened. By the time we got to Engineer’s gate (about 3 miles in) I was running. Really running. Running faster than the other gals who I couldn’t keep up with in the beginning. They were now busting to catch up with me. I wish I had my GPS to tell me how fast I was going because that might have been a 10 minute mile. I haven’t run that fast in maybe a year. Nothing hurt. Felt good. Wasn’t sucking wind. I just had to suffer through the first 3 miles. I honestly felt like I could have run for another hour at that point. A miracle!!! I felt great. I was happy to stop while feeling good after a workout instead of feeling like burnt toast. I managed to get two workouts done in one day WITHOUT feeling like I had overdone it. It was just what the Doctor had ordered. A nice easy/peasy 4 miles with some nice new training partners.
The other thing that has been going EXTREMELY well is my food. I’ve been following Dr. Fuhrman’s book Eat for Health. A clear case of “when all else fails read the directions.” I thought I had been following his plan but over the last couple of weeks I have really read his book in detail and have made quite a few adjustments to what I have been eating. I’m still in what he calls Phase I of his 4 phases of Optimum eating but I am feeling really great and I won’t know until next Friday but I may actually have lost a pound or two (I’m not falling for any false pre-meeting readings).
I wouldn’t say this eating style is easy. In fact it is not. It takes a tremendous amount of shopping and cooking for all this nutrient-rich food. If someone came in and looked at my refrigerator they would think it was a produce department. I have five different kinds of lettuces, tons of fruits, various vegetables from brussel sprouts to acorn squash. Varieties of beans and tofu. It’s so much food but it is for doing all my own cooking and eating for nutrients. I’ve even invented my own dip/spread yesterday that came out REALLY good:
Ad Hoc Pesto Spread:
1 Can of Butter Beans (rinsed and drained though I’m not sure if you really need to do that.)
1 big chunk of parsley (that was in my fridge ’cause I now buy stuff like bunches of parsley)
1 clove of garlic (I used two and let’s just say that was a little over powering.)
Juice of 1 lemon (again ’cause now I have lemons on hand.)
a little bit of water for processing.
chilli powder.
Put it all in a blender (I have one of those little Magic Bullets)
Pulse.
THEN, this is where I get major creative points.
I sliced up some beefsteak tomatoes (’cause I have those too) into nice, fat 1/2 thick slices
I spread some of the dip that I made onto the tomatoes like sauce onto little pizzas.
Then I topped with some chopped salad out of a bag. They looked adorable!! Festive even.
Wow!!! Nutrient rich, good Protein, no fat, low calorie and DELISH!!!! Was a great healthy dish that was good to eat and good for you!! I could feel my cells thanking me as they gobbled up the goodness and started to regenerate.
Little steps working towards a healthier me….
Namaste
And sometimes there is nothing wrong with a little creative interpretation of directions:
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