Eau Du Chlorine

The last couple of weeks have been very bad from a fitness and eating standpoint.

It's funny how you can't make it to the gym the day that you receive word about your dog's and grandmother's deaths. Admittedly, I made a batch of cookies and ate a huge number of them instead of working out that day and was so busy making hurried preparations to leave town a couple of days early and then go directly to Korea that both my eating and fitness habits went down the drain until departure. I knew that once I left food and fitness situations were going to be sketchy, so I had sort of planned for that lapse. I hadn't planned for getting some sort of Korean Death Flu while I was over there that is only just not started to give up its grip on me.

So, with all that, I unfortunately have only gotten to use my new gym membership once, which prompted a "motivational" email to by sent to me by them. Yeah, thanks for assuming it was a motivational problem instead of a death in the family/traveling abroad/illness problem.

Enough is enough, I say! I've gotten out of shape and have gained a noticable amount of weight in the last couple of weeks, which is mildly depressing and demotivational. But in three and a half hours I will be heading out the door to go to swim practice. For some reason I haven't missed the pool but I have missed my friends. Maybe I'll even stop by the 24-hour location after work tonight too.

Sounds like a small step, but I know that just a workout or two is enough to change up my attitude, movtivation, and body image and hence my momentum. I'm also making a willful effort to snack on things like broccoli, strawberries, and Cheerios instead of Cadbury Mini-Eggs (ohh, beloved seasonal candy!). The working out will help with this too, as I always crave healthier foods when I'm active.

A turnaround is looming ahead of me. Time to get back on track!

Posted by Jitterbean Girl at 1:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

300 free warm-up
100 dolphin kick
4x50 on 1:00 (done IM order because Mimi makes me swim IM 80% of the time so I figure I should warm up all of the strokes at least a little)

6x
{
100 IM on 1:45 (replacing breast with fly because I apparently have a bum knee)
150 free on 2:00
}

8x50 kick on 1:100

6x75 on 1:15 swum as follows:
25 fly, 50 free
25 free, 25 fly, 25 free
50 free, 25 fly
50 fly, 25 free
25 free, 50 fly
75 fly

Supplemental:
4x500 (the fact that I have no idea what my interval or pace was is part of a major thorn in my side)
2x100 cool-down

Total yardage: 5150

I don't know why my left knee was hurting. It was bothering me yesterday too. I really think that all of my breaststroke-leg-related issues are due to no strength training on the important bits (most especially my adductors). I've also be fretting about what to do for swimming on days where I work mids since I will be at work during practice and the pool I swim at has extremely limited hours. The base gym is too inconvenient since it is a half-hour away and also has limited hours.

So to solve this problem I went and checked out the Alaska Club. I figured that this would be a good solution since it is a half a mile away from my house and they have a pool that has at least two lanes open for lap swim 17 hours a day. Plus they have all the weight and cardio equipment you would expect at a place like that and lots of classes as well. They also have five other locations in Anchorage that I can use, one of which is open 24 hours. Totally sweet. That definitely solves the shift worker's access problem.

Joining a gym isn't something I really ever expected to do, but I'm really excited about it. There is a huge variety and convenience that has just opened itself up to me. I'm already planning what classes I'm going to hit up tomorrow! Hopefully the "Today's Workout" category will get a lot more interesting soon -- and definitely expect to see double workouts happening.

Posted by Jitterbean Girl at 10:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

200 free warm-up
200 free with paddles warm-up
100 breast kick
100 dolphin kick
4x100 free on 1:45 warm-up, repeated on 1:20
(It should be noted that only a few weeks ago 1:20 was pretty fast for me)

2x400 IM

100 breast drill -- two kick, one pull
2x50 breast pull with paddles and pull buoy
4x100 breast kick

100 free easy

4x100 free on 1:45, repeated 1:08
(This is the fastest I've gone in years!)

Total yardage: 2900

I felt great when I got out of the pool, which was kind of surprising because I almost didn't go to practice -- I just really wasn't feeling it. I'm so glad I made myself go swim though!

I also hopped on a scale for the first time in several months -- they tipped at 147. Not too shabby at all, since I don't think I have weighed that since I was 16. My body composition probably isn't much different than it was back then either, since I wasn't lifting or doing dryland or strength training outside of the pool.

I attribute this to not only staying active but also the eating habits that I've picked up since moving to Alaska. Because I work long shifts, I make myself bring huge amounts of food that mostly consist of fruits, vegetables, a sandwich, or a bowl of homemade soup. I'm eating a lot of small, healthy meals and really focusing on getting more fruits and vegetables. I don't buy beef or chicken anymore either, as fish is so plentiful here and so much healthier for you. In addition, since I'm here alone and don't have many friends yet, I'm not eating out much at all. This means I know exactly what I am putting in my body, and I'm doing it in smaller portions (not to mention for less money!). Today I realized that I haven't felt that stupifying I'm-so-full-I-can't-move feeling in a really long time, which is good. I try to keep my hunger levels steady and eat something healthy every two to three hours so I'm never starving and never full.

And hey -- it seems to be working! I'm swimming faster than I have since probably my sophomore year of high school, and I'm looking pretty damn good, if I do say so myself.

Hooray for swimming!

Posted by Jitterbean Girl at 9:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)