Still here (kinda)

It's been a month since my last post.  Who knows if anyone is still out there who cares.  But I'm still crazy busy with work stuff (even taking on some extra work for a friend that owns a firm in another state).  Still busy keeping up with the usual mom stuff (plus a little extra as my friend that we share kid pickup with has been in training the last several weeks adding to the days I have to be at school by 3 PM).  Still kind of struggling with getting my ass on my bike or out the door at all.  Add to that my evil MMNW last week (166.6 - think all those sixes were some kind of warning?) - and I'm just still kinda here. 

But because I like to keep track of the minimal work I have put in, here is the lowdown of the rest of my September and into the first of October:

9/12/13: Ran 3.1 miles marking the course for the 5K my school's wellness committee (under chair of my running pal Susan) put on.

9/14/13: Ran 3.1 miles during the "Run with the Angels 5K".  Got schooled by 4th graders left and right - including the one that won overall female with a 26 min 5K!  She is a beast!  My daughter tied with her friend Kelsey for 3rd in the 9-12 year old females since the overall winner was taken out.  I was like 8th or 9th in my age group.  Darn speedy moms!

Worked a lot the following week. 

9/21/13: Ran 3.0 miles - ran to the bank to make a deposit.

9/24/13: Ran 3.0 miles with Stacy - neither of us were feeling it; skipped the ab workout we'd talked about doing.

9/26/13: Ran 5.4 miles with Susan on Katy Trail before scooting off to get some work done.

9/29/13: Finally got my ass back on the bike.  Rode over some of the chip and seal near my house without incident though I worry about it a lot.  Had a minor watch issue at the beginning, but managed to knock out 21.4 miles (with 3 repeats of the interchange hill and 2 repeats of the Wavco hill).  Not a bad workout for never being far from home.  Have been quite paranoid about flats the last few months.

10/3/13: Long run with Susan on Katy Trail.  We made it back to the river overlook.  8.4 miles - though I came back with some kind of tweak in my right hip/buttock that I've been trying to roll out.

10/4/13: Needed to pick up my husband's car at the shop after getting it serviced and inspected the day before so I invited Susan to run the 2.6 miles with me from my house after dropoff.  It was the perfect distance to shake out some of the niggles from the day before.

Spent Saturday moving furniture, etc.  We had to put my mother-in-law into an assisted living facility.  We'll see how it all goes.  I still have to go over to the duplex she had been living in and sort through what is left.  Sunday was pretty chill.  I had planned on riding my bike, but it was cold in the morning and I lost interest in the afternoon.

Worried that I'm not going to be able to finish the Ride the Rivers Century in 2 weeks.  Praying that the bike miles I banked earlier this year pay off.  Praying that I'll have at least one person willing to ride at the back with me.  Praying I don't get a flat because that really sucked the life out of me at the Tour de Cure.  Praying that the weather isn't too windy, cold, hot, wet, etc.  Though truthfully, I found at the Tour de Cure that rain was more tolerable than I had imagined it would be - conversely, I found that the wind was a bigger nightmare than I had ever imagined. 

I've been moving, but not enough.  I haven't been eating healthy much at all and having way too much soda.  Time to dial it in and try to really get something out of these last couple of weeks before attempting another century. 

Along those lines, I am trying a "cleanse" diet from Self Magazine.  The breakfasts are various smoothie recipes (first one had peaches, almond butter, almond milk, and nonfat plain greek yogurt - didn't like the almond butter flavor).  One morning called for a Jamba Juice smoothie, but we don't have that chain so I just made my usual strawberry banana smoothie with nonfat yogurt, banana, frozen strawberries and a splash of milk - no whipped cream.  I'm a little afraid to try some of the green ones though. The lunches are salads and wraps with the dinners usually a lean protein and whole grain with veggies.  My lunch today was really good - Asian chicken lettuce cup things.  I skipped the "dipping sauce" that had the almond butter.  It wasn't needed.  So far it is the only recipe I've tried that I'll make again.  Hope to find at least one or two more that will expand my options for healthier eating.

Had to improvise the salad yesterday because it was supposed to be a specific one from Starbucks, but our location doesn't have salads.  I went to Chipotle and loaded up all veggies with a small scoop of brown rice and black beans and no cheese or sour cream or guac.  Probably close in nutritional value to what I was supposed to have.  Overall it is probably what I should be eating more regularly anyway.  I am also giving up soda this week (massive headaches yesterday). 

There are also workouts - cardio and strength - so I'm hoping to do better at getting something in everyday instead of a couple times a week.  Yesterday morning was a pretty short running interval workout.  Warmup 3 min, 30 seconds running, 30 seconds jogging/walking (for 20 min) and 5 min cooldown.   I was running in my neighborhood and went a little longer for a total of 2.6 miles. 

I did most of the strength workout while I watch TV last night.  First day was only with body weight and it was hard enough.  I couldn't do all the pushups.  Tonight calls for adding a light weight.  Some of the arm moves will be tough for me even with a light weight.  Not sure if I will be able to do the ones later in the week with a heavier weight. 

Today's cardio is 45 min of any moderate exercise I want so I jumped on my bike.  Rode a couple interchange hills and the Wavco hill once for a total of 12.0 miles - a little longer than 45 min because I am so slow, but pretty easy riding so it balances out.  Rolled when I got home.

Swimming = 10.25 mi
Biking = 1140.5 miles
Running = 198.1 miles