Vacation and a lesson

Finally!  I actually wrote this over vacation, but was waiting on some pictures from J's phone.  Only a week after I intended to post this though, so I'm not as much of a super slacker as I feel I had been for July.  I also wanted to break this up into two posts, but eh, I just want to get this posted and done.

J, O and I drove 8-9 hours on a Friday night up to Massachusetts for vacation, which I’ve been super excited about.  I started out the day on Friday weighing in at work, and having lost 3 pounds.  Good start to vacation.

I beat J in a 5k!!  I mean, he let me cross the finish line first when he was running with me to try to speed me up while running, but, still, I beat him!  So, my training plan (Hal Higdon’s novice in case I’ve forgotten to mention) called for a 5k that weekend.  Luckily, there was one about 20 minutes away from J’s parents.  Unfortunately, we had to be there at 7:30 to register, and got to MA about 5:30.  We figured we’d see how we felt and after a bit of debate, decided to go for it.  Surprisingly, I was excited enough to run the race and didn’t fall asleep at any point.  J and I talked about making this my PR and I’d get a new pair of my fav Nike shorts in Duke Dog colors (Go JMU).  And then we started the race.  Starting with a hill wasn’t a good omen, but I finished the first mile in 11:20, so despite me telling J I was dying, I was also feeling ok about the rest of the race.  The first mile is the hardest, right?  Or not.  That honor goes to mile 2.  The first half was completely in sand.  The second half was called a trail during the race instructions.  It was really a hiking path someone cut through the woods that went straight up hill.  It was not fun or PR inducing and I ended up with an irritated right knee and calf.  Really the whole right leg.  It didn’t hurt so much as just feel uncomfortable.  It was the first time they held this race, so the officials standing at the corner didn’t know how far we had left when we asked.  .1mile left was “oh, you still have a while.”  Even though J estimated the distance correctly, I was already disheartened and didn’t have my normal drive to push out the end.  That first helped my time, however, and I ended up finishing in 36 minutes even.  Which, not an all-time PR, so I don’t get my shorts, but a 2011 PR.  I’ll try for my 10k PR in the Loudoun 10k later this month to try to earn the shorts.  I think I have a shot at that.

I left disappointed in myself, even though I did really well considering the course.  If it hadn’t been for the sand and the trail, I would have met my 5k PR goal.  But I also know I could have pushed harder.  When we got back post race, I slept 4 hours in the afternoon.  Then went to bed at 7:30 and slept for another 12 hours.  And took Sunday off from exercise.

My mother-in-law has a walking group in the morning that J and I joined this week.  Monday, we joined them for a lap around the pond to figure out where we were going.  When we got back, I started Week 2 Day 1 of the 100 push-up challenge.  J took video of me during my last set of push-ups.  I’m constantly asking him how I look and if I’m getting low enough, so he just grabbed my camera.

I did, however, learn to kayak.  I have never been in a kayak before, but it was a fabulous exercise!  My arms were killing after no time at all, but I made it across the pond and back in 20 minutes.  This is an exercise I should have been doing for a while now.  I actually felt kind of good at it.  I vowed to do more kayaking after that, but haven’t gotten out as much as I would like.

Wednesday, that was because it was whale watch day!  No exercise, just on a  boat all morning watching whales in the Cape Cod Bay, and then napping in the afternoon.  Perfect vacation day.

Thursday, I needed to do 4.5 miles again; however, I didn’t want to test my knee just yet.  J and I did one loop with my mother-in-law’s walking group, and then took O for a second loop.  We were actually out for 90 minutes.  A long, hilly walk, which felt great.  I also got in Week 2 Day 2 of my push-ups and another kayak trip.  This included beating J in a race, him swimming, me kayaking.  He said it was an unfair race, even though he challenged me, and he was probably right.  But as it was my second time kayaking, I wasn’t too sure of my skills. 

Food wise, my trip was a nightmare.  The plan was to not snack during the day so I can eat all the crap I wanted at night.  Not really snacking, but more of the fried seafood and not worrying about dinner at all.  I was successful for maybe a day.  I was super stressed and just unable to relax, which always results in me eating a lot, plus a lot of drinking.  It was nice to let go in that respect, but I’ve regretted a lot that I’ve put in my mouth.  That hasn’t stopped me from eating, but I have regretted.  I also have gotten a lot more exercise than I normally do on exercise.  I haven’t done enough to counter the eating, but it’s something.  That’s what I keep telling myself.  I mean, I walked for 90 minutes one day.

And August brings back the return of dieting and regular exercise, but unfortunately no kayaking at home.  My arms would be fabulous if I could do that daily, and really, now that I’m liking my legs, that’s my next goal, great arms.  I’m still going to win!


Due to driving back and catching up on sleep, I also didn't get in my long run, boo :(  


Big lesson for the week, counting calories works for me.  I grossly underestimate the amount of calories in pretty much everything, and how many I'm taking in for the day.  I think that I wouldn't have done so bad during the day if I paid attention to calories like I do at home.  I still would have drank and eaten fried food for dinner, but at least i would have been good during the day.  I am back to counting calories at home, I really need to see the number and have a greater love for livestrong.com now that I'm back.