Over at Dangle the Carrot, Blogger Jeff Irvin asked an interesting question...whether race weight or fitness level is more important for race times. This is something my husband and I have been pondering for a while. It's my firm belief that if I lost 20 pounds, I'd be way faster. Let's be serious, it would be difficult for me to be slower...my half-marathon times are only slightly faster than Al Roker's. But if my poor heart didn't have to work as hard to carry the weight, it could work harder to make me faster. Ditto for muscles, joints, ligaments, tendons, etc. So, this is why I keep trying to lose weight. I have been thinner and fitter in the past when I exercise at least 6-8 hours per week (P90X, Triathlon training), but then I get lazy for a while and my gains go away. Luckily, I'm nowhere near my highest weight ever!!! Not even close. Phew! So I have learned something over the years. The other interesting thing is that serious triathletes don't drink or eat sugary crap during the training season. Whole30 fits this model. I do hope it will work for me.
Outseason training: Sometimes it kicks my butt. I am trying to keep my cadence up during rides instead of mashing big gears, but my heart rate is tricksy...It likes to be in Zone 3-4, not so much 5. I'm not sure what it is about such intensity, but my brain always tells me to stop. We are working through these issues during V02 workouts, my brain and I. The shorter intervals are easier for me to conquer...but I think I have never really pushed that hard for very long physically. This fact explains a lot. So how do our brains decide we are sedentary or agro when it comes to activity levels? Is it something I can change, or will I always be swimming against my own natural current? Would a trainer help me push through that barrier? I love to watch the Biggest Loser during my bike trainer workouts, because I think that's what the contestants struggle through...obstacles that prevent them from pushing themselves hard when it's hard, and sustaining gains over time, sustaining motivation over time, sustaining inconvenience over time. I mean, exercising is never really convenient, if I'm honest about it. It's one of the reasons I find swim training so aversive at times. The swimming is fine, it's going to the pool, having to wait for a lane, or share a lane, or cut my workout off early because someone else needs a lane, being cold and wet...blah, blah, blah. But that crap sometimes keeps me from going and doing the workout. Factors that override such obstacles include, but are not limited to: 1) I'm super motivated, 2) It's a time I believe no one will really be at the pool, 3) I'm scared about an upcoming race. And it's not just the pool...I can't tell you how many open water swim practices I have blown off because conditions weren't perfect. This is a problem given how much trouble I have had during tri swims. Sigh. This honesty is good for me, but will it lead to change? Stay tuned...
On another note, we went on a beautiful and much needed hike in Sedona this weekend...to Coffee Pot Rock.
This is my sweet girl and me at what I believed at the time was the highest point of our crazy scramble. However, fearless kids were leading the hike, so we kept scrambling higher and higher, until I couldn't go any higher. I staved off a panic attack at one point, but further up, just decided to sit and wait for the rest to decide they were ready to turn around. The hike down was fine, of course, though I wasn't sure it would be. I get really nervous when my kids are around heights like that. I'm happy we're all alive.
We are headed to the valley for the Color Run on Saturday! Should be fun or messy, depending on whether it rains on us :)
On another note, we went on a beautiful and much needed hike in Sedona this weekend...to Coffee Pot Rock.
Coffee Pot Rock to the right
There was some serious bushwacking going on, as we climbed higher and higher. Here the kids are after a little solo scrambling adventure.
This is my sweet girl and me at what I believed at the time was the highest point of our crazy scramble. However, fearless kids were leading the hike, so we kept scrambling higher and higher, until I couldn't go any higher. I staved off a panic attack at one point, but further up, just decided to sit and wait for the rest to decide they were ready to turn around. The hike down was fine, of course, though I wasn't sure it would be. I get really nervous when my kids are around heights like that. I'm happy we're all alive.
We are headed to the valley for the Color Run on Saturday! Should be fun or messy, depending on whether it rains on us :)
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