This past Saturday was the annual Trek Up The Tower, a race to the top of the First National Bank Tower here in Omaha. 40 flights up. For some insane reason I signed up to participate again this year. Looking at my shiny new medal I'm glad I did, but I must say the entire time and even just after I was wondering why I put myself through that.
This has been a rough year for me and Trek was just a painful reminder of how far I've slid back in some areas. I've made SO much progress mentally and emotionally, but slipped up bad with my weightloss, nutrition, and fitness. Partly this is due to injuries, they've hit me harder this year than last. But mostly it's just that I've been so focussed on my work in therapy and distracted by my out of control finances.
Last year I finished the Trek in 21:57. My goal for this year was to finish in under 19 minutes, but I would have been happy just to beat last year's time even by one second. But that was not to be.
This year, Trek took me nearly half an hour. 29:20, I believe, was my official time. There were a few factors that I couldn't control, but most of it is my fault. I'm not pleased with my time.
I am proud that I finished, I didn't quit, I didn't give up. It's more than most people can say. Not everyone signs up to climb 870 steps on a Saturday morning!
The air was bad this year. I wasn't the only one who thought so, I heard people from the gym and from work talking about it days after. Coughing fits, metallic taste in the mouth, just can't breathe right. That stuck with me for days. That was a factor that was out of my control. The race was more difficult this year because of the air.
But the real issue is, I basically completed this race wearing a 30 pound weight vest. No, not literally. Those actually aren't even allowed in the event. But figuratively. I, this week, weigh approximately 30 pounds more than I did this week last year. And THAT is incredibly frustrating. Because it's my fault.
I can't go back and redo this year, and I wouldn't want to if I could. Despite another sprained ankle, despite a lingering knee injury, despite the numbers on the scale moving in the wrong direction, I wouldn't redo this year. I've grown as a person, and that IS by far much more important than the scale or the time it takes me to finish a race. However, I am defnitely sick and tired of going in the wrong direction. So it's time to fix it.
I actually felt ready to change last Thursday. We had an AWESOME PAL class. I jumped for the first time in forever. I felt more nimble than I had in months. (Unfortunately, that was likely a bad idea, as my knee has been making me pay for it ever since). I felt like I finally COULD get back to it. Combine that with a sudden modest windfall (higher than anticipated federal tax refund, higher than anticipated wellness bonus and overtime pay on my latest check) which got my finances into better order, and I was finally able to focus on nutrition again.
This past week I've journaled every bite, down to a stick of gum I chewed on Friday night. And it paid off! Last night at PAL class I was down 3.8 pounds versus last week. Finally in the right direction again, and a pretty good number at that!
So as frustrated as I am with my poor performance at Trek, I am optimistic about my journey. It's coming into springtime. It's been almost a full two years since I started working out with Marty, and I am not the same person I was before my first bootcamp. You really can divide my life into PM and AM. Pre-Marty, After-Marty. PM was full of sadness, it felt like a not-so-slow dying out. AM is all full of hope and anticipation. AM is a much healthier place to be. :)
Showing posts with label trek. Show all posts
Showing posts with label trek. Show all posts
Friday, March 2, 2012
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
One month down!
Well folks, this is it. The last day of January. And it's 61 degrees outside! What's even more remarkable than the weather, however, is the fact that this is my 31st day without a single donut. As many of you know, donuts are one of my biggest weaknesses. I gave them up for new years and haven't looked back...for the most part.
I will admit to being tempted. Saturday I drove by Krispy Kreme and the "hot now" sign was lit. I had two dollars in the visor of my car, enough for two original glazed sugary puffs of air and fat. But before I could get into the turn lane I remembered: I'm not supposed to be eating donuts. It's not congruent with my goals. So I drove on.
This morning I was tempted again. I was driving to work and had some time to spare. A QT chocolate covered creme filled sounded really tasty. This time it was harder to drive by. Only when I realized I would have to update my "PAL board" and tell everyone what I did was I able to drive on.
This "PAL board" thing is a new thing we have at the new gym. We each get a rectangle of dry erase board, with our picture and name at the top. We have spots for long term and short term goals, spots to track last week's nutrition, spots that show how much weight we've lost this year, this month, and this week, and a "status". The status is my favorite part. We can basically write whatever we want in that square. Mine currently says "Still donut free!" and I sure would like to keep it that way. I PLAN to keep it that way.
In my short term goals I have listed that I want to finish Trek Up The Tower in less than 19 minutes. This is a lofty goal for me, and I'm not sure whether I will achieve it or not. Last year my time was just shy of 23 minutes. And last year I not only trained for it, I had no injuries to speak of. This year I have not trained at all, and have been battling a knee injury for months. In addition, I sadly also weigh around 15 pounds MORE than this time last year. (Depressing? Yes. Discouraging? Yes. Defeating? NO!) This means a very challenging race to the top of the First National Bank building here in Omaha. It's up 40 stories, 870 steps. It's a long, tough race. The elite runners finish in 5-10 minutes. Normal people take between 10 and 15. I will be ecstatic if I just beat last year's time, but finishing in under 20 minutes is what I want. The only way to get there at this point, with my knee injury and with so little time left (the event is on February 25th) is just to push myself harder that day than I think I can go.
Last year I took it fairly easy at Trek. I rested after nearly every flight. At least every other, after about the 20th floor or so. I would just stop for a second, catch my breath, rest my quads, and then move on again. This year I won't be able to do that if I want to beat my time. My goal is not to make it all the way up without resting at all, that would be insane. But I do hope to do at least 3-4 flights before taking my short breaks this year. I feel more fit, cardiovascularly, and I feel like my legs are stronger despite the bad knee. I think I can do it.
My long term goal is to complete a Century Ride. For those of you who aren't down with the bike lingo, that's a bike ride of 100 miles. My goal is to complete this on August 25th. That's exactly six months after Trek, and I've scheduled a few days off work to prepare, complete, and rest and recover. I'm hoping some friends will ride part of it with me, or meet me at spots with supplies and cheers. It'll take some planning and coordination, but I'm really excited for this. Luckily the new gym has brand new, really nice spin bikes, so it's easier than ever to train.
In the 6 months between Trek and my Century Ride I have oodles of other events planned that I'm excited about too. In May there's the Lucky Bucket (a 7k trail run, actually called Mud Sweat and Beers) and also the UNO TRYathlon, a miniature indoor/outdoor tri. In June is the Omaha Women's Tri, and the Saturday after that is the Warrior Dash which I just signed up for today. Then in July I have the Papio Tri, and possibly a Cornhusker State Games event (either the Hot Dog Chase again, or one of the open water swimming events or bike events).
All in all this race reason is shaping up to be challenging but FUN. It all starts in three weeks with Trek Up The Tower. I'm getting excited. :)
I will admit to being tempted. Saturday I drove by Krispy Kreme and the "hot now" sign was lit. I had two dollars in the visor of my car, enough for two original glazed sugary puffs of air and fat. But before I could get into the turn lane I remembered: I'm not supposed to be eating donuts. It's not congruent with my goals. So I drove on.
This morning I was tempted again. I was driving to work and had some time to spare. A QT chocolate covered creme filled sounded really tasty. This time it was harder to drive by. Only when I realized I would have to update my "PAL board" and tell everyone what I did was I able to drive on.
This "PAL board" thing is a new thing we have at the new gym. We each get a rectangle of dry erase board, with our picture and name at the top. We have spots for long term and short term goals, spots to track last week's nutrition, spots that show how much weight we've lost this year, this month, and this week, and a "status". The status is my favorite part. We can basically write whatever we want in that square. Mine currently says "Still donut free!" and I sure would like to keep it that way. I PLAN to keep it that way.
In my short term goals I have listed that I want to finish Trek Up The Tower in less than 19 minutes. This is a lofty goal for me, and I'm not sure whether I will achieve it or not. Last year my time was just shy of 23 minutes. And last year I not only trained for it, I had no injuries to speak of. This year I have not trained at all, and have been battling a knee injury for months. In addition, I sadly also weigh around 15 pounds MORE than this time last year. (Depressing? Yes. Discouraging? Yes. Defeating? NO!) This means a very challenging race to the top of the First National Bank building here in Omaha. It's up 40 stories, 870 steps. It's a long, tough race. The elite runners finish in 5-10 minutes. Normal people take between 10 and 15. I will be ecstatic if I just beat last year's time, but finishing in under 20 minutes is what I want. The only way to get there at this point, with my knee injury and with so little time left (the event is on February 25th) is just to push myself harder that day than I think I can go.
Last year I took it fairly easy at Trek. I rested after nearly every flight. At least every other, after about the 20th floor or so. I would just stop for a second, catch my breath, rest my quads, and then move on again. This year I won't be able to do that if I want to beat my time. My goal is not to make it all the way up without resting at all, that would be insane. But I do hope to do at least 3-4 flights before taking my short breaks this year. I feel more fit, cardiovascularly, and I feel like my legs are stronger despite the bad knee. I think I can do it.
My long term goal is to complete a Century Ride. For those of you who aren't down with the bike lingo, that's a bike ride of 100 miles. My goal is to complete this on August 25th. That's exactly six months after Trek, and I've scheduled a few days off work to prepare, complete, and rest and recover. I'm hoping some friends will ride part of it with me, or meet me at spots with supplies and cheers. It'll take some planning and coordination, but I'm really excited for this. Luckily the new gym has brand new, really nice spin bikes, so it's easier than ever to train.
In the 6 months between Trek and my Century Ride I have oodles of other events planned that I'm excited about too. In May there's the Lucky Bucket (a 7k trail run, actually called Mud Sweat and Beers) and also the UNO TRYathlon, a miniature indoor/outdoor tri. In June is the Omaha Women's Tri, and the Saturday after that is the Warrior Dash which I just signed up for today. Then in July I have the Papio Tri, and possibly a Cornhusker State Games event (either the Hot Dog Chase again, or one of the open water swimming events or bike events).
All in all this race reason is shaping up to be challenging but FUN. It all starts in three weeks with Trek Up The Tower. I'm getting excited. :)
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