Fact of Nature or Force of Habit?

Last night was a first. For the very first time in my adult life, I went to a show and didn't have a single drink. And, gasp, flip on the lightbulbs, cue the harp music, it was still pretty fun. It's amazing how these things we take to be irreversible truths of life, aren't. Makes me wonder how many other things I assume to be true are just habits of routine.

Workout
None today.

Nutrition
7:30a: 1c oatmeal; 1c strawberries; .5T peanut butter (I was scooping some out for lunch and it was just too tasty!)
9:30a: 12oz skim latte w/ Splenda
11:00a: Kash GoLean Crunchy Bar
1:00p: Morningstar Farms Garden Veggie Patty; 2 slices double fiber bread; ketchup and mustard
3:00p: 1c strawberries
4:15p: Apple w/ 1T peanut butter; 1c tea w/ Splenda
6:30p: Crab cake sandwich; garlic fries; Diet Coke
9:00p: Tofutti Cutie; 2 Mini Reese's Eggs

Hydration
64oz

Equipment Maintenance

Update: I went running at lunchtime and I feel a mazillion times better. Thank you, body, for being such a fabulous machine and working for me even when I don't take good care of you.

I love working out.

-----------------------------

(from 6:30 am)

I rinse my swimsuit after every visit to the pool. I refuse to wear my running shoes for any other purpose. And once I get a bike, I plan to take great care tuning and maintaining it.

Why, then, am I so willing to abuse my body? It's arguably the most important, precious and expensive piece of equipment I possess, yet I treat it like a $40 bike from Wal-Mart.

I'm not working out this morning. I have a kicking headache and my tummy is more than a little upset. All because I put having a good time over getting the proper nutrition and rest to wake up feeling strong this morning.

Take a look at my nutrition log from yesterday. Try not to shed a tear for me. It's bad. Really bad. And completely unnecessary.

Advertising and athletic training don't mix very well. I worked a little bit late last night ('til about 7:30), then headed over to the bar, where a couple of media reps were hosting an open bar. While I was there, they invited me to go to dinner with them and a couple of my coworkers at one of the best restaurants in Durham. I just don't have the self control to pass that up. Or anything that went around the table, for that matter.

Dinner was awesome; my meal was delicious and I had a great time with everyone. But I overindulged and I'm paying for it this morning. The difference between how I feel this morning and how I felt yesterday, when I was waking from clean eating all day before, is astounding. I was tired yesterday, but today I feel tired and kind of sick and sluggish and just bleh.

I need to remember that my body is the most important training tool I have. And I need to take better care of it. Even if that means passing up free cookies and free beer and free dinners at nice restaurants. Or at least passing up half of that stuff instead of gobbling down whatever I can get my hands on.

The good news? I definitely have no desire for beer or cookies today. We're going out tonight to see a band, so that will be a test of my training resolve. Somehow, though, I think it will be easier to resist that second PBR than it was to pass up a second glass of the really, really good wine we drank last night!

Workout
Running: 3 miles (duration unknown because somebody forgot to check the time when she left)

Nutrition
6:30a: 1c tea w/ Splenda
8:30a: 1c oatmeal; 1 apple
1:30p: Salad w/ mushrooms, tomato, strawberries, peppers; 2T ginger dressing; .5oz almonds
3:00p: Clementine
3:30p: Large iced latte w/ Splenda; Luna bar
5:00p: Apple w/ 1T peanut butter
7:00p: Salad w/ tomato, peppers mushroom; 2T vinaigrette; 1c veggie chili; 2 fajita-size flour tortillas
8:45p: Diet Coke; Tofutti Cutie (energy for staying up late for the show!)

Hydration
80oz

I be strokin' -- that's what I be doin'

I slept like crap last night, probably because I tried to go to sleep before I was tired. But it was already 11pm and I knew I was getting up at 6 the next morning. I should have known better, though, because all I did was toss, turn and get up three times to go to the bathroom. This drinking water business messes with my schedule!

6am came way too early and I almost didn't make it. But somehow I scraped myself together and got into my swimsuit. I'm not exactly sure how it happened, but I think getting all of my stuff together the night before makes a big difference. If my clothes are all ready to go, in a bag, my lunch is already made, and my only job is to get dressed, it becomes a lot harder to talk myself out of it. And, of course, it's a lot easier to optimistically get prepared for a nice long swim the night before, when I'm still more than 8 hours away from the reality of it.

My swim this morning was okay. They are having some problem with faulty O-ring heat whangdoodles, which meant that the pool was COLD. Brrr. But I dutifully did the laps, and even did a few hundreds. I get so frustrated, because I know I have the cardio ability to go a lot farther, but I also know that I don't relax enough and end up spending all my energy thrashing around and wear myself out super fast.

One interesting thing I noticed is that I seem to swim better toward the end of the workout. I don't know if that's because I've gotten more comfortable and am in some kind of zone or if it's because I'm tired and just don't have the energy to fight the water and so am forced to have a little more economy of movement. It's weird, though, because during the last 10 minutes of every swim is when I start feeling like I could just cruise for several laps.

Do any local people know of a stroke clinic in the Triangle area? I was originally planning on taking swim lessons, but I think I need some more focused instruction. I've established that I can do the swimming; now I just need some help smoothing everything out so I don't waste so much energy on my abominable form.

On the nutrition front, I went shopping last night at Whole Foods. I wish I could do all my grocery shopping there and buy nothing but their fancy-schmancy yuppie products. But alas, I will take my broke ass to the Teeter for most of my groceries. But when it comes to produce, it's Whole Foods all the way, baby. I don't mind paying more for veggies, especially if it means I'll actually eat them instead of watch them rot away in the refrigerator.

I've been thinking about joining a local produce co-op, where you get a mystery bushel of vegetables every week or so. I just worry I'll end up with 47 pounds of okra that I don't have a clue what to do with. And now I am just babbling.

Workout
Swim: 1350m (100m kickboard), 40 minutes (distance is a guesstimate, because I kept losing track of my laps.)

Nutrition
6:30a: Pria Bar
9:30a: 1c oatmeal; 1 apple; 1c tea w/ Splenda
12:30p: Salad (lots of veggies, no almonds); 2T ginger dressing; ginormous chocolate walnut cookie (free work food will be my downfall!); Diet Coke
3:30p: 1c veggie chili; 1c tea w/ Splenda
4:30p: Handful chocolate peanut butter Chex mix (just because it was there. Not such a good reason.)
5:30p: Strawberry shortcake (coworker's going-away party. *sigh*)
7:00p: Apple

--here's where it gets really bad--

7:30p: 2 pints of beer; handful of nachos; chips w/ spinach dip
9:00p: 2 glasses of wine; 2 pieces of bread; bites of about four appetizers; some fancy tuna dish; bites of about six desserts; 1 glass champagne; coffee w/ cream (I don't think I ever need to eat again)

Hydration
64oz

Namaste.

Today was the first day I actually kept track of my distance in the pool. And I can happily state that I will definitely have no problem completing the 750m swim. Provided, of course, they let me stop and rest every 50 meters. No problem, right?

Maybe it was the gigantic dinner of Mexican food (plus two margaritas!) I ate last night. Maybe it was the apple and PB I ate this morning. Whatever the reason, my tummy was not happy in the water this morning. There's something kinda pitiful about having to rest after every lap and, ummm, burp a lot, before you can continue. I never really know what to eat before I workout, but I am learning the hard way what NOT to do!

I did learn an important form lesson today: Swimming is about 1000 times easier if you don't try to kick at the same time you breathe. I got that bright idea about halfway through my swim this morning and, seriously, I felt my effort level drop exponentially as soon as I started. After that, I focused for the rest of the swim on not kicking while breathing and rolling to breathe with my belly button instead of desperately raising my head and whipping my neck around like somebody is yanking on me with a rope.

Whenever I swim, I'm certain the lifeguards are on high alert for the first half, perched on the edge of their elevated seat, waiting for the moment that poor little girl in Lane 1 gives up that terrified thrashing and just starts drowning already. But, eventually, I relax a little and they relax a little and we're all good.

That's what I love about swimming: the more relaxed you are, the better it goes. It's kind of like water yoga when I get it right. Here's to tomorrow being more yoga, less spastic underwater seizure thrashing.

Workout
Swimming: 1hr, 2000 meters (150 kickboard)

Nutrition
6:30a: Apple w/ PB; .5c tea w/ Splenda
9:30a: 1 c tea with Splenda; Kashi GoLean w/ 1% milk
12:30p: Salad w/ almonds, bell pepper, tomato, mushroom, raspberries; 2T balsamic viniagrette; 4oz yogurt
2:30p: Clementine; Diet Coke
4:30p: Apple w/ PB; 1c tea w/ Splenda
6:30p: Clementine (got hungry on the way home from Whole Foods)
7:00p: Salad w/ mushrooms, red pepper, tomato, berries; 2T ginger dressing; 1c veggie chili; 1 fajita-size flour tortilla; sprinkle of 2% cheddar
8:30p: Tofutti Cutie; 1c tea w/ Splenda

Hydration
80oz

Welcome!

Welcome to Miss Jenny Trains, a blog probably interesting only to me. But, if you're into sharing the pain of tri training (which I am), you'll find plenty of that here.

Watch as I obsessively blog about mileage, yardage and my lust for a bike I have yet to obtain. Follow along as I try to shake the cookie habit I just can't seem to let go. And hopefully, cheer me on as I complete my first-ever triathlon in July.