#trainingreport

Up at 5:30 and did some work on the computer and messed around a bit.  

6:30 - packed for the gym.  Ate one of these protein bars which are pretty much the best protein bar I've found and doctor recommended (by my doctor in addition to whoever "doctor's best" is).

7:11 - in the pool.  Short swim, my shoulder started hurting about halfway in and a certain point I just decided I needed to stop and figure out what's wrong with it. Good thing I'm already seeing the chiro tonight.

8:20 - showered, dressed and at work.  eating some cottage cheese and apples, which Rachel awesomely introduced me too.  It's amazing if you're a cottage cheese lover.

Rode my bike out the same path I rode last Saturday.  Good strong ride, definitely seeing an increase in endurance even with all the "rest days" this week.  Made it to where I turned around last week and kept going, but that trail ended pretty quickly after that.  Turned around and resigned myself to the same ride even though I felt I could go farther.  

Good news - as I was making my way back I saw a bridge I'd never crossed so I started off that way, through the Bladensburg waterfront park and then onto the Anacostia River Trail (not to be confused with the Anacostia Trail I was just on).  That trail went for about 3 miles then deadended at a picnic table with a sign (see picture below in another post).  Saw a fox - that was scary but I think he was more scared of me than I was of him.  Turned around and made my way back through the park (a little girl ran towards me - that was scary).  And back on the trail home.  Still felt strong and rode pretty good.  

Little bit of a run in with a cadre of bikers as I was exiting Lake Artemesia but they were apologetic.  

As I neared campus I decided to take the Paint Branch trail home (goes from campus down parallel to Rt 1, under 193 and around the Paint Branch golf course).  This is actually the run trail for my tri.  It's nice and flat, at least the part I have to run.  Ran into Matt in his car leaving the golf course (he hits balls at the driving range every Saturday morning) and was so tempted to throw my bike in the trunk and go home, but I kept riding.  The last part of that trail is uphill and was a bitch and a half.  Had to walk part of it which I'm convinced makes me look like a crazy person.

Once I made it to the top of the hill just past the post office on Hollywood it was smooth sailing downhill home.  Made it home before Matt (he stopped at the grocery store) so I crashed in the hammock until he came home with the key to the shed so I could lock my bike up.  

This morning I had a doctor's appointment (routine) so I had to put off the workout until after work.  I decided to take my mom up on a walk around the lake.  My mom is the best motivation to workout, can't stop and give up when she's there.  A combination tough love and death march.  

We did around 2-3 miles - twice around the lake.  As we neared home I noticed there was a lot of rubbing on the outside edge of my feet, and the pain started.  Well I have two huge fat blisters, one on each foot.  I don't know if it was my orthotics or the cotton socks but I'm going to definitely switch things up next time.  I'm miserable!  Soaked in epsom salts while I ate dinner.

Hoping they feel a bit better in the morning so I can do normal stuff like walk into the office.  They're that bad and in a bad place that you can't like walk on a different part of the foot.  The outside edge part of the foot IS the part I walk on when other stuff hurts.  I think a swim is in order for tomorrow.

A little rough getting up, but after snoozing a while I managed to drag myself out of bed at 5:45am, which is a victory unto itself on a snowy Monday morning.  Packed my stuff and headed to the gym.  Went lazy on parking and stairs (and I drove) but I managed to fit in 20 minutes on the stationary bike then 25 minutes in the pool.  

More exercise than I would even think of doing last Monday, but somehow it doesn't feel like enough.  Got to hit the grocery store on the way home so I can make lunches this week.  

Of course, any new endeavor comes with it's own technology.  There's a lot of good free apps and sites out there for weight loss and fitness, but my current loves are:

My new favorite iPhone App?  https://www.loseit.com/.   The iPhone version has a barcode scanner to enter food really easy!  Good for things like protein bars and instant oatmeal.

I also use a FitBit (http://www.fitbit.com/) to track overall daily movement.  

Today was rest-ish.  Slept in and played some World of Warcraft in the morning.  My muscles were still sore from yesterdays bike excursion, but I knew the only way to fix that was to move them, so I headed on campus to hit the pool.

1 mile swim!  Focused on my forward facing strokes mostly.  I think I'm going to end up with something I like to call bastardized butterfly.  It just works for me somehow.  Still struggling with freestyle stroke, I hate side breathing.  Threw some backstroke in but did at least a solid .5 mile of my BB stroke and it felt good.  Afterwards I did something I typically don't do and checked out the sauna and the steam room.  The heat felt really good.

Afterwards I treated myself to a fancy-ass pedicure and my legs and feet feel sooo much better.  

Firstly, I figured out what was causing the weird foot cramping while walking the other day.  I had left the regular shoe insert in and placed my orthotic over, but just in one shoe.  Removed the other and I was golden.  Shoes fit like gloves.

Started day 3 out at 7:30.  Had a leisurely protein shake breakfast while surfing the net. Once I got myself together I set out for my bike ride around 9ish. The first mile was torture as I got my legs stretched out and used to riding.  I think I need to talk to my trainer about some pre-ride stretches. I rode about 14 miles in an hour and a halfish, which I think is decent for now.  What killed me was that it was on the bike path of my childhood, and so on my way back I kept seeing landmarks that meant I was close to home, my childhood home.  I live 1.5 miles past that now, so that last bit was killer.  Victory for the day was not dismounting at all in that last 1.5 miles that included the majority of my street riding, including crossing two major roads.  I've never before that been confident and/or coordinated enough to stop on the street at a light on the bike.  I usually dismount and walk across.  So that made me feel good, especially feel better about a future of bike commuting, but not Monday.  Monday is going to be cold and snowy.

So I got home from the ride around 10:30ish, took a shower, got Radar (doggie) and my stuff together and decided to set out to walk to said childhood home since it is my father's birthday.  Radar got a ride most of the way courtesy of my special dog backpack.  He's a little dog with short legs and I didn't want him to walk 1.5 miles and be too tired to play with his cousin.  He was pretty well behaved in the bag, except for the growling at dogs in yards we passed.  I did this 1.5 mile walk at a leisurely pace, it was a commuting gesture, a stroll if you will, not a walk/run.

Kept food good and opted for the salad at dinner out.  Had a small piece of carrot cake but still under my calories for the day.  

Found out that my brother pretty much can't swim, so I may have a chance to get out in front of him for a bit. One thing I'll have to work more on is hills on bike.  The path I use is flat for the most part.  I'll have to get over to campus early one weekend morning and test out the race path to see what I'm in for.  But not this weekend with all the women's basketball games.