Hiroro runs, bikes, canoes!

[Hiroro]

My goals last round went well, so this round is going to be similar. I have no theme...

 

Goal #1: Train for and execute the June triathlon

Bf and I are doing a 3mi canoe, 3mi run, 8mi bike (half distance compared to previous years) 6/5. We need to practice canoeing (the first year we had a disagreement in the canoe), plus normal training.

Goal #2: 5 servings veggies/day

Still trying to find a balance. Focusing on incorporating more vegetables seems to help squeeze out carbs.

Goal #3: Sleeping/Waking routine

Having no kids, and really not that many commitments, I can and should be prioritizing sleep more. 8 hours (tracked by Fitbit), with 5 minute morning meditation.

Bonus Goals: (aka being a grownup)

• Plant/tend the garden
• Read the Kondo book (I feel a purge coming on and want to use the book as impetus)
• Clean the kitchen: oven, refrigerator, microwave
• Buy the chest freezer and bulk meat order
• Buy the kitchen island and reorganize
• Keep May groceries under $400 (except meat purchase)
• Cook 4 new recipes (1 each out of the cookbooks I have checked out)

I'm counting the freezer, meat, and island as my 'rewards' for completing last challenge's goals.

[DJtrippyT]

What a great challenge! And puppies, which are irresistable.

[Raxie]

Following! I love your theme... even though you claim to have none

 

[Fonzico]

This looks like it's going to be a great challenge! I live canoeing, that's so cool!

I have an identical grocery budget goal (not part of the challenge) and I'm finding it very challenging... I'd love to hear any of your strategies! If I could live on carbs, it wouldn't be a problem :/

[Hiroro]

22 hours ago, DJtrippyT said:

What a great challenge! And puppies, which are irresistable.

Thanks! Since an underlying 'theme' of mine has been cultivating joy, puppies are always welcome.

 

21 hours ago, Raxie said:

Following! I love your theme... even though you claim to have none

 

So cute! I'm excited to keep following your story as well

 

30 minutes ago, Fonzico said:

This looks like it's going to be a great challenge! I live canoeing, that's so cool!

I have an identical grocery budget goal (not part of the challenge) and I'm finding it very challenging... I'd love to hear any of your strategies! If I could live on carbs, it wouldn't be a problem :/

Yesssss doing it lower carb is what makes it tough. Since veggies are less expensive than meat, I'm hoping that focusing on produce will help. Also, we're going into the growing season (and I'm starting a garden of my own!), which mean better cheaper vegetables. When I'm successfully decreasing carbs, I do up the fat (which is cheap in terms of cost/calorie) for satiety. And being better about not wasting food is HUGE. I think meal planning is awesome, but I'm still honing in on the best way for me to meal plan because it's hard to predict energy levels throughout the week. Buying the 1/2 cow and 1/2 pig is also part of my strategy. I'll let you know if I find anything that works really well for me!

[Hiroro]

I'm hardly working out at all this week...guess that's what happens when I don't bother with a weekly training plan. Ready to get back into it over the weekend though. 

And eating hasn't been so great either, but I've worked out my meal plan for next week and it looks yummy AND healthy. This weekend will be busy-busy-busy cooking, working out, and cleaning. My life is so exciting

 

Mother's Day Brunch Menu

Strawberry Cream Scones

Creme Fraiche Quiche

Bacon Arugula Salad

Coffee (from homemade concentrate)

Mimosas (maybe)

 

Other stuff to cook

Breakfast pie (as a belated bday gift to bf)

Roast Chicken (trying out the Zuni recipe which requires salting 24hrs in advance)

Prep veggies for the week

 

Bf was assigned cooking this week and it's been pretty great, I love having a break from the responsibility. But there has been a serious dearth of vegetables.

 

Weekend To-Do 

Bike-run brick workout

Grocery shopping

Clean kitchen counters

Clear/clean fridge

Clean bathroom counters

Wash dishes (repeatedly)

Start garden

Take documents to be shredded

Buy vitamins (physical blood work revealed I'm lacking in D3, and the NP recommended magnesium for my headaches)

Library

 

Is it terrible if I use this thread as a miscellaneous journal? I think a LOT about stuff like money goals, etc. and want to include it but...not really relevant to the challenge except for the spirit of continual optimization.

Also I need somewhere to mention that I watched Sisters last night and really enjoyed it. These ladies are hilarious.

 

This week, this is how I feel when I think about working out:

[Fonzico]

I want to see Sisters! Looks hilarious and I adore those two.

And I don't think there's a single thing wrong with using this forum as more than health and fitness stuff - not only does it give some good context for those aspects, but its whole purpose is to benefit you, in whatever form that takes.

I'll read it all!

[Hiroro]

Week 1 Training Plan

Monday - Soccer

Tuesday - 45min bike

Wednesday - 30min run, SL

Thursday - 30min bike, 30min run

Friday - Stronglifts

Saturday - 30min bike, 6mi run

Sunday - OFF

 

Weighed in this morning at 146.2lb. Not bad, but I KNOW I can get reliably under 145 this challenge. And my body fat percentage (over 33%) still puts me in the obese category. No good.

 

Week 1 Meal Plan

Monday - roast chicken, rice, stir fried kale, salad

Tuesday - Char siu breakfast bowls, bok choy

Wednesday - green bean + pork bowls

Thursday - drumsticks, mashed potatoes, broccoli w/bacon

Friday - Orange chicken, rice, green beans

Saturday - fried rice

 

There's a lot of rice built into the meal plan, but I'm okay with that - breakfasts will be moderate carb (quiche), lunches will be low carb (leftover protein with veg), and dinners will be moderate/high carb. Snacks will be homemade larabars and peppers.

[Hiroro]

Looking at the races I want to do this year (mayyyybeeee...it's a pretty ambitious schedule for me...) I'm a little overwhelmed, just because combining training plans is such a hassle. There are two weeks (May/June) when I will be somehow magically combining THREE TRAINING PLANS because the canoe tri plan overlaps with marathon plan overlaps with Olympic tri plan! I've done my own training plan amalgamations before and it looks awesome but then I don't follow through and struggle/decrease a distance/skip the race. Deep breaths. This time will be different, because I'm starting from a healthier place (no injuries!).

[DJtrippyT]

2 hours ago, Hiroro said:

Looking at the races I want to do this year (mayyyybeeee...it's a pretty ambitious schedule for me...) I'm a little overwhelmed, just because combining training plans is such a hassle. There are two weeks (May/June) when I will be somehow magically combining THREE TRAINING PLANS because the canoe tri plan overlaps with marathon plan overlaps with Olympic tri plan! I've done my own training plan amalgamations before and it looks awesome but then I don't follow through and struggle/decrease a distance/skip the race. Deep breaths. This time will be different, because I'm starting from a healthier place (no injuries!).

 

This left me exhausted just contemplating it. You are amazing. And well supplied with baby animal gifs!

[Fonzico]

Calm your ranger brain! But yes, you can totally do it. Starting fitness point counts for A LOT!

Your meal plan sounds delicious!

[Hiroro]

Day 1-1

Soccer was cancelled, so I gleefully took an extra rest day.

Made the roast chicken with potatoes and salad for dinner.

 

B: Larabar, apple, cheese

L: peppers, fried rice, steak

Snack: 2 squares dark chocolate

D: roast chicken, salad, potatoes

Evening: a few bites of ice cream, 3 small glasses of wine

Too much wine, eek. Pretty sure I ate something else small before dinner but can't for the life of me remember. Happy with the food I ate, I found that just a little cheese in the morning feels so indulgent but I don't want more than several slivers or two slim slices.

 

#1 Extra day off, but soccer isn't an essential part of my training plan so all good.

#2 Fell short, probably hit 4 servings of vegetables though (whole red pepper, big handful salad greens)

#3 7:09 sleep time, not bad. My sleep has been disturbed the last couple nights because bf has a cough.

Bonus: The garden has been planted! Tomatoes, cucumbers, and basil. Will add tomato and herb seeds, and tomato supports. The roast chicken from last night was sorta based off of a cookbook recipe, but would still like to do another recipe from the book (A Bird in the Hand by Diana Henry, all chicken recipes)

But...it's so wet and cold outside...

[Hiroro]

Day 1-2

Had a busy busy evening, with the gym friend date, making breakfast pie, and making dinner. Sicky sick bf helped out though.

 

B: Larabar, apple, cheese

L: peppers, fried rice, chicken, green beans

Snack: 1.5 sausages, peppers

D: char siu, rice, eggs, green beans

Evening: small piece breakfast pie (taste testing, duh)

No wine! No sweets! I even got green beans at the cafeteria at lunch to supplement my brought-from-home, when tempted by sweet potato fries.

 

#1 Check

#2 CHECK

#3 7:56 sleep time, close enough - CHECK

Bonus: I'm 'cheating' a bit on the grocery budget because I redeemed $70 worth of Ibotta rebates, and I'm counting the credit towards my budget

 

Currently reading 'Daring Greatly' by Brene Brown and really enjoying it -- giving me new insights into some of my relationship fears.

 

Today I re-evaluated the race schedule I had planned. 

Old plan:

• Canoe tri (half distance)
• Sprint tri
• Half marathon
• Olympic tri
• Canoe tri (half distance)
• Marathon

My main reason for the change is $$$, and also that I worry having too many events will compromise my training -- having to adjust the plan for races worries me, and having TWO new distances in a race season (oly tri, marathon) mayyyyy not be the best idea.

New plan:

• Canoe tri (half distance)
• Sprint tri
• Canoe tri (half distance)
• Marathon

Pretty similar, but costs $200 less.  Dropped the half marathon because it's in Chicago, requiring a weekend trip -- I love Chicago but would rather keep the weekend 'free' in my suddenly packed calendar, plus the race is $100 (more expensive than the marathon!) and would also require gas/hotel/restaurant spending.

 

I'm going to do a local sprint tri in July to keep me motivated to cross-train, but hold off on going for Olympic distance until next year. Because...well, I'm planning to run a MARATHON which is twice as far as I've run before so I need to be more focused about it if I want to succeed this time (I've 'started' marathon training a few times before). And to be honest, I kind of feel like it's a bucket list item, and once I do one marathon I can switch to triathlons for the next few years. Of course, the plan is subject to change every ten minutes because I really want to do EVERYTHING.

[Hiroro]

Forgot about the Ranger PvP and now I have to do 25min of pullup/chinup work still. Oops.

Day 1-3

B: Breakfast pie

L: turkey cheese wrap w/mayo, sunchips

Snack: 100cal Oreo thins, peppers

D: salad w/vinaigrette, breakfast pie (3 small)

Second day in a row no wine, but still burping like crazy. Got free 'healthy' lunch at work which included the wraps, chips, and cookies lol. 

 

#1 Check, 30 min run/walk and Stronglifts and pullup/chinup work

#2 CHECK

#3 7:38 sleep time, close enough (bf woke me up because he went to bed later) - CHECK

 

Pullup practice!

Day 1-4

B: Breakfast pie (eggs, cheese, spinach, bacon, potatoes)

L: char siu, rice, green beans, coffee

Snack: peppers, 1 pretzel bite w/cheese, slider, 2 chicken nuggets, 1 cider, 1 sangria, cucumbers

D: salad w/vinaigrette, 1 pc breakfast pie, 1/2 glass of wine if that

Went to happy hour. I probably could have stuck to one drink but I did ok with the snacks. Since the pie is pretty indulgent already (CARBS) I need to keep the rest clean.

 

#1 Skipped my workout, but it was intentional - major leg soreness (sorry squats I know two weeks without you is too long), plan to lift Fri, plan to run Sat contributed.

#2 CHECK I'M EATING SALAD WHAT AND IT DOESN'T HURT MY STOMACH

#3 8:00 sleep time, exactly! - CHECK

 

What were we trying to do again?

Excited for the weekend! This challenge is definitely helping me get my veggies in, which helps me not waste them -- good all around. My non-veggie eating is iffy, but the pie will be gone soon, and I'll plan something healthier for breakfasts next week. Small win of the day - I was speeding through Daring Greatly because it was due today, but whoever had it on hold got another copy so I was able to renew it yesterday  It's always nice to be able to work through that kind of book slowly, letting the ideas sink in and percolate.

 

It occurred to me this morning that if I woke earlier, I might enjoy the comfort of my morning routines instead of rushing through them...ever since that neighbor yelled at me about turning in front of the bus I spend my whole morning evaluating whether I'll make it out in time to avoid her. Hopefully my anxiety about this will fade over time, but in general it would be nice to relax in the morning instead of always thinking about the next three things to do. That requires waking up earlier, which requires sleeping earlier, and considering now I'm in bed by ~9:30 I guess I would be going to bed at 9PM? Hmm.

[Fonzico]

So much going on here!

First of all, is this char siu homemade? Because if so, I need your secrets. My last attempt was not at all successful.

Secondly, I approve of your realistic and achievable new race schedule. Smoart.

Thirds, super yay for non-gut-murdering salad! That's awesome!

And quattro, extra morning time is kind of the best thing in the world. Not that I always achieve it, but when I do, I appreciate it so much. And there's nothing wrong with going to bed at 9 [emoji14]

[Hiroro]

5 hours ago, Fonzico said:

So much going on here!

First of all, is this char siu homemade? Because if so, I need your secrets. My last attempt was not at all successful.

Secondly, I approve of your realistic and achievable new race schedule. Smoart.

Thirds, super yay for non-gut-murdering salad! That's awesome!

And quattro, extra morning time is kind of the best thing in the world. Not that I always achieve it, but when I do, I appreciate it so much. And there's nothing wrong with going to bed at 9

Er, unfortunately it is not homemade. I HAVE made my own char siu...I think I used this recipe, but now that I look at it I'm not sure -- I used it to make homemade buns, which I think caused me to associate char siu with 'too much work' even though it really isn't. Well Fed has a recipe but idk if it's any good. Will definitely try it soon though, because I love char siu and storebought is good but I KNOW the meat isn't high quality.

I am both thrilled and a little disappointed that I can apparently tolerate raw greens now, because I no longer have an excuse not to eat them

 

Now that I'm thinking about it (for the zillionth time), I might even scratch the sprint tri from my race schedule. Because minimalism and simplicity can apply to scheduling/training as well as possessions. As excited as I might get filling the calendar, if I really love swimming (YES) and biking (sometimes) it will fit into my days as I go. I realized that DOING all the things does not require SCHEDULING all the things. If completing a marathon is my big goal this year, then maybe my training schedule should really look like this:

M: Soccer or rest

T: Run, lift

W: Swim/bike/walk/whatever

R: Run, lift

F: Swim/bike/walk/whatever

S: Run

U: rest, maybe walk

 

It's so simple. But kind of beautiful, because that means I don't have to track 'what am I supposed to do today?' aside from Saturday run distance (I'm planning to follow the Galloway training plan, which just has 30min runs T/R...though I'll run a little further during the week if I feel like it). The canoe tris keep me from completely ignoring cross training, but since I'm only doing the half distance for each all I really need is a couple canoe sessions with each partner and I'm set.

 

If it turns out that I just end up on the couch 3-4 days/week, I'll re-evaluate. But right now this overthinker/overplanner is feeling good about less thinking/planning.  

 

2016 RACE SEASON MOTTO: Plan less, do more

[Hiroro]

Yesterday I ended up doing yard work instead of lifting but I'm gonna call it equivalent. Weeding uses major back muscles when you have massive weeds that fight to stay in the ground! We mulched around the trees, weeded and mulched the beds...exhausting but it looks 1000000000 times better now.

Saturday plans:

4 hours of volunteering aka MORE YARD WORK lol.

Canoe/run practice with bf.

Asian food fest downtown yayyy.

It's going to be an amazing, long day.

Sent from my XT1031 using Tapatalk

[DJtrippyT]

You are just doing amazing! And the baby animal gifs are killing me.

 

I too tend to window shop events like it's christmas. "ooooh shiny must do that one...."

 

 

[Fonzico]

All hail the Step Queen!

This incredible competitor handed me my ass, with an astounding total of 43,701 steps this weekend!

[Hiroro]

9 hours ago, DJtrippyT said:

You are just doing amazing! And the baby animal gifs are killing me.

 

I too tend to window shop events like it's christmas. "ooooh shiny must do that one...."

 

 

It's the MEDALS. And the FINISH LINES. And the ego boost of talking about it the week after...

 

9 hours ago, Fonzico said:

All hail the Step Queen!

This incredible competitor handed me my ass, with an astounding total of 43,701 steps this weekend!

Lolol why thank you! *Queen wave* It was wayyyyyy more steps then usual heh.

 

 

So I was going to have a super detailed and triumphant post about my active weekend today (despite consuming a bit more carbs/cheese/wine than is sensible for my goals), but I came down with a nasty cold today. Skipped soccer. My new goal for the week is to get better via lots of sleep, not too many comfort carbs, lots of water and rest. I have already consumed a couple gallons of tea, so there's that...though it may have been expelled as snot (because you totally want to know that) -- I've gone through about 1.5 boxes of tissues in 4 hours. Wheeeeeee! This week also happens to be crunch time at work, so I don't want to stay home. Coffee and drugs will just have to get me through -- all non-work activities are suspended.

[Raxie]

Oh no! Feel better soon!! :]

[DJtrippyT]

feel better! Shiny medals await you...

[Fonzico]

How are you feeling? I hope things are starting to improve..

Healing vibes for you!

[Hiroro]

I'm still alive. And mostly recovered from my cold, so it's time to start working out and eating vegetables again (because somehow all the carbs were all the comfort food). Looks like I took a bye week and a half, heh.

 

When I'm sick I don't want to cook, so we ended up eating out rather a lot (mostly takeout for me because being sick = not wanting to be anywhere but home on the couch). But the great thing is, I'm craving vegetables now! Can't wait to hit the farmer's market tomorrow morning  

[Fonzico]

All hail the Step Queen!

I was competitive on Saturday, with 18,000+ steps but only managed 1/3 of that on Sunday.

This lady earned her title with 32,892 steps!