Throwing a Little Cycling Into the Mix

Yesterday, I woke up and ran to the store real quick.  Thursday I made some pancakes in my large stove top pan (I’m not sure what it’s called…it’s about a foot or so in diameter and about 3 inches deep) because my Panini press wasn’t turning on so I couldn’t use the griddle on that to make them with.  Well, the pan got a little hot and the batter burned a little and stuck to the pan.  I had to pick up a prescription from the pharmacy at the store (Target) anyway, so I figured I’d just pick up some of the Dawn Power Scrub (I think that’s what it’s called…it’s a degreaser spray) so I could get the black stuff out of the pan.  Well, they didn’t have it.  I got my prescription and stopped at Wal-Mart because it was on my way home.  Well…they didn’t have it either.  An associate just happened to be walking down the aisle as I was looking on the shelves.  I asked her about it and she knew exactly what I was talking about and said that it might be found at HEB (grocery store) or Randall’s (same as Safeway).  She then told me that if I didn’t find it at either of those places that if I take baking soda and vinegar (haha, I had a big bottle of distilled vinegar in my hand for use in my dishwasher) and it should get the stuff off the surface of the pan for me.

I didn’t have time to go to the other 2 stores to see if they had it or not so I just grabbed a box of baking soda and headed home.  I got home and I tried out the baking soda and vinegar.  Sure enough, it started getting the burnt on stuff out of the pan!  It wasn’t an easy thing and I did have to scrub and it didn’t really work if I just did it and let it soak.  I had to scrub while the baking soda and vinegar were reacting to each other.  But it was working and that made me happy.

So, I stopped playing with the pan and started getting ready for my run.  I knew I needed a baked sweet potato for dinner last night and, as I was working a 16 hour shift last night, I had to bake it before I went to work so I could take it with me.  I started preheating the oven before I started playing with the baking soda and vinegar, so when I was finished getting ready for my run, the oven was at temp, so I vented the potato, wrapped it in foil and stuck it in the oven to bake while I was running.  Now, I would like to say that I do NOT like running the oven when I’m not in the apartment to watch it in case something goes wrong, but I didn’t have much of a choice since I had forgotten to bake it the night before. 

I headed out the door for 3.3 miles.  I figured I had just enough time to do the run, get home, stretch, shower and then get all my food together and then head to work on time.  I did the run, felt great.  It was a really good run.  I took a walk break at mile 2, but other than that, I was good.  It wasn’t a particularly “speedy” run for me, I averaged 11:09 per mile.  I guess I should start making some sort of effort to do some kind of speed work once a week. 

At work yesterday, I was talking to Tony (a fellow runner, but with WAAAAAAY more experience than me…he’s run 3 marathons and is hoping to BQ for the 2015 Boston Marathon!!!).  I’ve previously given him my phone number and told him to call/text me so we can get together before work some time and run together.  He hasn’t.  Boo!  Anyway, last night we talked a bunch about how I can do some speed work since I don’t have access to a quarter mile track near where I live, so Yasso 800’s are pretty much out of the question.  He said I could take my Garmin and mark off distances on the sidewalk and that spurred a thought for me.  From the driveway of my apartment complex to the corner of the block is pretty much exactly 1/3 of a mile.  How about I run as fast as I can sustain one direction, then comfortably jog back?…repeat for 20-30 minutes and then done.  Brilliant!  There is also a safe path (read: sidewalk) within a 10 minute drive of where I live that I can do some hill work.  It’s along a road that has rolling hills.  They’re nothing huge but I once rode my bicycle down this same path and it kicked my butt pretty well and at the time I was riding my bike a lot (I didn’t have a car).  So I can throw that run in here and there.  It’d be nice to do it once a week.  Just run out for a mile or a mile and a half and then run back.  There’s a grocery store where I can park my car while I run, so it’s easy to get to. 

But, hopefully, sometime soon, Tony will call me and we can meet up for a weekend run around the downtown “lake” together.  He’s going to have to seriously slow down in order for me to keep up with him.  He comfortably runs at around 8-8:30 per mile, but can obviously run faster than that (heck, he hopes to BQ this year and I have no doubt he will).  I usually run 10:30-11:30 per mile.  He said if I run with him that he’ll slow down to 9:30.  I said that was fine and that I KNEW I could keep that pace for 2-3 miles no problem.  Besides, it’d be good for me to try to run longer distances at a pace faster than I’m used to running at.  I really would like to pick up the pace a little.  I would honestly LOVE for my comfortable pace to be 9:30, dipping down to 9 or maybe even 8:45.  I know I can do it, I just have to do the work that will make it possible for me to sustain that pace without exerting myself to the point of exhaustion.

I started the Shred Diet again on Tuesday.  I did cheat on it Tuesday night when I went out with some friends for a steampunk gathering at a pub style restaurant/bar.  I got a half order of fish and chips.  It was REALLY good too.  I didn’t eat too much and what I ordered was just enough.  Wednesday and Thursday, I ate per the “prescribed” daily food intake schedules.  Well, Thursday, I didn’t eat everything on the list, but I didn’t eat anything I wasn’t “supposed” to eat.  Yesterday, I had everything I was “supposed” to eat and about a handful of jelly beans.  I’ll be “on diet” today and then tomorrow I’m meeting up with some girlfriends for lunch at an Indian cuisine buffet.  I have to see what’s on the buffet because it might not really be what I want and in that case, I’ll just order some lamb tikka masala, which is what I know I’ll want.  As long as they have something in a tikka masala sauce, I’ll get the buffet.

One of the counselors where I work, her soon to be mother in law is a retired seamstress.  I have 3 blazers that I bought from Torrid that, while they fit me fabulously in the shoulders (I’m broad shouldered and it’s really hard for me to find women’s jackets that aren’t super tight in the shoulders), they’re fairly formless around the midsection.  I’d really like for them to flare out in an hourglass style.  So, I took the jackets with me to work yesterday and she pinned one of them and then took all 3 home with her to give to her soon to be mother in law.  She said she’ll text me a quote before any sewing happens to let me know how much it’s going to cost me.  I hope not too much.

I had meant to weigh in and take new pictures Tuesday before starting my day since I restarted Shred, but I forgot.  So, I just waited until today to do that.

So, while I am most definitely NOT happy with what the scale says (I've officially gained 19 pounds since August 1st...that's 8.5 months), at least I know where I'm at and where I need to go from here.  I updated my weight loss ticker at the top of the page and, if you pay careful attention to it then you'll notice that I also changed my goal weight form 160 to 172.  I was super happy at 172 last August and I got stuck there too.  My body refused to go any lower.  But, like I said, I was super happy with how I looked and felt, so it was a non-issue that I stalled out 12 pounds above my goal weight.  

Today I was going to hit the gym for "Paige" workout, but that didn't happen.  The car was driving so horribly that I did what I needed to do in the car and then used my bicycle to do the other 2 things I wanted to do (go to JC Penney's and use a coupon that expired today and make a deposit on my prepaid Visa).  I called the mechanic and got a quote to replace the mass air flow sensor and will be taking the car in first thing Monday so they can replace it.  I rode 11 miles (exactly!) on my bicycle to do my running around.  It took me 58 minutes and some seconds.  With each stop, I paused the app I used to track my distance and time.  It was such a fabulous afternoon to ride a bike outside.  So, while I didn't get to the gym, I still got a quality workout done.

I want to run before Amanda comes over, so I’ll need to get up around 7am tomorrow so I can get in my 6 miles, stretch and shower before she arrives.  I can do it.  Heck, because I worked until 6am today, I slept until early afternoon, so I shouldn’t have a problem waking up early.  Then, I’ll have all evening to do some chores that I didn’t get done last weekend.

Since I didn't make the gym today and I will be at the mechanic Monday morning (my next planned gym session), I'm thinking I will ride my bike the 8 miles each way to the gym so I can workout later in the afternoon tomorrow.  So, if I do that, I'll get TWO workouts tomorrow...a 5 or 6 mile run in the morning and a bike ride and gym workout in the evening.

I figure, now that I have weekends off and it’s highly unlikely for me to pick up any overtime at work over the weekends, I have both of my days off to do stuff.  Sunday is usually the day that if I hang out with friends, that’s the day.  Also, Sunday is my long run of the week.  So, Saturdays I can get all my housework done. Also, any sewing that needs to be done.  I guess that would fall under the “chore” category…if it’s for repairs, of course.

Back to the “Paige” workout.  Right now, I am doing most of the exercises in descending reps per set (a total of 3 sets).  I do 12 reps first set, 10 the second and 8 the third.  Certain things, like the ball bridges and front squat to military press I do 12 reps all 3 sets.  What I would really, really like is to a) do 15 reps of each exercise,  b) do 4 sets,  and c) do 4 sets of 15 reps of every exercise.  I think each week (because I am planning to hit the gym twice a week and I will do the “Paige” workout every time I’m at the gym) I will add a rep to each set until I get to 15 reps on all 3 sets, then I’ll start adding in the 4^th set and working the reps on that set up to 15 as well.

When I got home from my bicycle ride, I logged onto the computer and then went straight to the website for the 1st annual Sunshine Run.  It happens not tomorrow, but next Sunday, the 27th.  I waited until the last minute to register for this race.  I just couldn't decide if I wanted to spend the $45 on it or just skip it.  But, I had more money left over after paying bills than I thought I would, so I went for it.

if you live in the Austin area, consider joining me, just go to www.austinsunshinerun.com