Embarking on Theodora 2.5

Joel and I had a bit of confusion, and I thought we were working out last night. It turns out we were just meeting up for him to give me my plan and my vitamins. He walked in with a small shopping bag of vitamins; each one has a purpose and a specific time I’m supposed to take it.

He also gave me a workout journal that has my planned workouts for EVERY DAY BETWEEN NOW AND THE MARATHON. This is both awesome and overwhelming. Awesome in that I don’t have to think about my workout, overwhelming in that, well, it’s a lot. 

The whole thing makes me a bit nervous, but I trust Joel—he trained me to lose 50 pounds and run two half-marathons without getting hurt. He knows what I’m capable of and what motivates me. 

To be honest, I was thinking of doing something more intense than I had been doing to lose my stomach fat, and Joel just happened to contact me. I wasn’t planning on doing something this intense, but I can definitely do this for the next few months. Anyway, he’s already put in too much effort for me not to. I know some of what he has me doing will seem unconventional, but again, I trust him. Feel free to ask me questions about what I’m doing!

Remember how I said you could subscribe by e-mail? Well, Joel is giving me a “super vegetable of the day,” and I’ll be writing about my workout for the day in the morning, so sign up if you want to get Losing Weight in the City in your inbox! (If not, that’s cool, too.) 

Today’s super-vegetable? Broccoli! (I’m just supposed to eat at least one serving of it today.)

Today’s workout? 45 minutes Stairmaster, 25 jumping jacks, 25 bicycles and a one-minute plank.

21 July 2010

Running in 90-degree weather is hell.

And don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. 

I set out for my run at 9:30 this morning (not as early as I had planned, not as late as I’ve been going the past few weeks). My Garmin picked up a signal immediately (this does NOT usually happen), I had some good tunes on my playlist—I thought it was going to be a good run. I’d planned on running 7—4 out, 3 back. (Turning around when you’re more than halfway done makes the second part feel way shorter…because it is.) 

I’ve been walking more than I’d like to on my recent runs, because IT’S REALLY HOT. Running in NYC in July in this heat wave feels like I’m running but not going anywhere. I fight for each breath, for each step. Still, I fight on; each step is bringing me closer to the Chicago Marathon.

Anyway! I didn’t stop at all to run the first four, so I expected the last three to be as easy as the first four; the second part is usually the best part of my run. Today, miles four through seven were absolute hell. My hip flexors were tight. My quads were tight. My breath was ragged. (Thank you AccuWeather, for telling me that it is a “good running day” and a “bad asthma day;” a bad asthma day also equals a bad running day.)

I hurt like hell, walked a ton and just generally didn’t want to finish. I stopped at about 5.6 to lay down on a bench and stretch. I was hugging my knees to my chest (partially as a stretch, partially because all I wanted to do was roll up into a ball). A couple stopped and the man told his girlfriend/wife that the stretch I was doing was really good for your back. We got to chatting, and she was training for an Ironman! She was halfway through a 20-mile run. If she was doing 20 in this weather, I could certainly finish the last 1.5 miles of 7. So, I did. Slowly, but surely. I got what’s turning into my tradition of a post-run bagel:

Later, I went to Cowgirl Seahorse for dinner. After not eating since the bagel, I was famished. We started with coconut shrimp, and then I got the “captain’s platter,” which was lots of seafood. I was so hungry that I didn’t equate “battered” with fried, and what came was a giant plate of fried fish. I was too hungry not to eat it, but boy did I regret that decision. Fried food when you already have a sensitive stomach (and don’t usually eat it) AND have run seven miles that morning? Hell. 

18 July 2010

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• food
• exercise
• running
• marathon