Monday, February 23, 2015

Slowly seeing results

Both T and I are working hard in February, which is the hardest month of the year to stay motivated.  As Garfield the Cat said, "February is the Monday of months".  I'm sure my parents won't like hearing that, being that they were both born in February, but it's true.  It's a dreary month, the early motivation of New Years Resolutions wears off, work becomes a grind, etc.  Yet both T and I are pressing away.

I had my aviation medical a couple days ago.  It's an annual physical checking vitals and whatnot.  I hate going in February as I still have my winter Christmas flab around the belly and I'm not working out as regularly.  This year, that's not the case (as much).  I'm shedding the fat and working out quite regularly.  Right now, according to the doctor, my BP was 124/70, my resting heart rate was 58, and I'm down about 8 pounds since the start of the year.  I'll gladly take it right now.  Gladly.

I'm also noticing my work pants are fitting a tad bit looser and that my quads/hammies/calves are becoming much more defined.  Both T and I are eating much healthier.  This month, we cut out fried food, and we cut it out cold.  No fries, no donuts, no Chick Fil A.  It's funny too.  The beginning of February, all I wanted was fries and mozzarella sticks.  Today, on February 23rd, I'm not craving it at all.  Don't get me wrong - I'm looking forward to my first donut on March 1st, but for now, I'm carrying this "no fried" burden quite well!

Monday, February 16, 2015

Outside Time is the Best Time

As Skratch likes to say on most of their posts, #outsideisfree; it is true, and it is also true that outside time is the best time.

We've been able to get outside on the bikes already this month*, which is good given that it's snowing currently.

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Mature, we are not.

We also went up last week for our semi-regular Valentine's Day-time-ish ski weekend (every time we've gone skiing, it's usually around Valentine's Day) which of course is fun time outside.

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Winter Park.

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Over on Vasquez.

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At the Jane.

Fun day, although we've determined that before we go again, we've got to get our own ski boots - my poor feet killed me that day into the next.




*In case I haven't mentioned it already (can't remember), I have a sub-goal this year of getting outside on my bike in every month. The weather is usually nice enough to do so, so this is the plan! Should be successful; we managed to get a picture of Brandon standing in snow every month of the year his first year out here. That got a bit tricky in the summer months ...

Thursday, February 5, 2015

January Numbers

Having been at work 9 of the last 10 days, I just haven't had a chance to get to the January recap yet.  Sorry!

Here we go:

Swimming - 5450 meters (3.1%)
Biking - 152.35 miles (3.04%)
Running - 2.33 miles (.46%)
Strength - 3 hours
Yoga - 1:15

Not a bad month.  January was getting used to consistently working out again.  It took a couple weeks or so to really get back in the groove of it, but by the end of the month, working out became routine again.  It has become second nature.  

The running numbers are low, I know.  Due to sciatic nerve damage, I wasn't able to.  More on that in the post below.

Also, here's a little good/bad from the month:

Good:
- I got used to drinking a lot of water, and now drinking 64 ounces a day is routine
- cycling is fun again, and I crave getting on the bike
- I got good sleep for the most part, and avoided getting sick
- I balanced life and work, seeing friends and making time for recreation too
- Team Baby Dino got accepted to be TriSports athletes and taste ambassadors for Skratch Labs!

Bad:
- couldn't run
- swimming is not going well.  I find myself fighting in the water
- I crashed on a bike ride (didn't get too hurt though)
- I started the month kicking and screaming when it came to working out

It's a good start to the year.  In a year where I anticipate big things, I'm optimistic. :-)

Rehabbing my foot

Early in January, I attempted to go for a run and pulled up after about 6 seconds with a sharp pain in my foot.  It was debilitating to the point I was limping at work and nearly crying. Sitting up in the flight deck with a giant bag of ice on your foot is in interesting experience, to say the least.  (don't worry, we didn't put it in people's drinks!)

After doing some internet medical diagnosis (do not do this, people!) and speaking with my friend Richard about it, we came up with the conclusion that it was plantar fasciitis and I would need to get it rehabbed.  I then consulted with my good friend Nicole who recently had some serious hip operations and has been rehabbing them for a while now.  She advised me to contact her PT, Brad.  I sent him an email and got an appointment set up.

At his clinic in downtown Denver, he looked at my range of motion for a few minutes and quickly confirmed that I did NOT have PF, but rather had some damage to my sciatic nerve on my left side.  He explained to me how the sciatic nerve works, how it's connected from the hip through your butt, down your hamstring, calf, and into your foot.  To sum up my injury, it's like I was putting 100 pounds of pressure on the right side and 110 pounds on the left side.  Eventually, the sciatic nerve scrunches down like a coil, and causes pain.  We would need to stretch it out, uncoil it if you will, and I would be good to go.  He spent the next 45 minutes beating me into submission, nearly making me cry when he went to town on my foot.  He told me I could run again ASAP, and gave me some stretches to do twice a day.

I went for a run a couple days ago, and ran for 25 minutes pain-free in the foot.  My foot, calf, hips, all felt great.  I will start running consistently this week and get back to the grind of tri training. :-)


Tuesday, February 3, 2015

January Round-Up

Biennial death plague has been trying to wipe me out, so I completely spaced on this yesterday ... ugh.

January! January was a good start to the year I think. A lot of January was about getting back in motion and getting back used to working out again. Making it a habit and making it a priority. In that, I was highly successful - I didn't miss a day! Some days may have been walking only (I'm trying to track that this year), but I moved every single day.

Numbers:

Swimming: 11,600m (7.2 mi)
% to goal: 4.6%
Cycling: 157.95 mi
% to goal: 3.2%
Running: 13.49 mi
% to goal: 2.7%
Lifting: six sessions (3:47)
Other: three yoga sessions (:44), six walks (3 hours)

Those percentages may seem tiny now, but it's so early! We're in the short days, the cold dreary trainer days, the sick days. As the sun comes out of hiding, so will we and I know the miles will continue to rack up.

We also made hydration a focus in January, working on drinking a lot of water. The focus was mostly successful, although we did learn that we need to supplement the water with some electrolytes too, particularly if we're going to be sweating. 

We'll keep on powering through February with the activity (taking a day to go skiing! and hopefully go snowshoe, too), and our food goal is to avoid fried foods. Specifically deep-fried foods. My morning fried egg is an exception to this rule. Little changes each month that will become habit as the days, weeks, months and year go by.