Slow Walkin....

Wow I slept good last night, it was so refreshing after my recent sleeps.  I pre-planned to not get up until 5:00a as I was going to walk at lunch time instead. I showered and then decided to put some Steel Cut Oats on to cook in my Rice Cooker. I had read somewhere that this was possible and a good idea so I tried it. Normally I cook it in the microwave at work and it takes forever because I have to cook it at a low power so that it doesn’t boil all over the inside of the oven – very messy to clean up and a pain. I juiced my Wheatgrass and then my Veggies, fed the dog and brushed out my freakin long wet hair,  and the oatmeal  was done before I knew it. So once it cooled enough, I put 2/3c in containers, gathered up my egg whites and turkey bacon and took it to work for my breakfast. I was much more satisfied this morning than I was with my protein/fruit/almond milk/Yogurt shake from yesterday. No munchies today and that is such a good feeling.

My Hot Yoga session yesterday was a bit disappointing after having such a great session the day before. On Monday, I reached some personal bests in some of the poses and I was so happy about it. I just felt great. Well yesterday, I hadn’t even gotten to the third pose and I was starting to struggle. I couldn’t keep my balance, I was having a hard time staying focused. I was sweating up a storm and it kept running in my eyes. I was feeling bummed about it, and then about half way through the floor session, I felt like I got a burst of energy. It was really strange so I did end up finishing strong.

When I got home, I had a “packaged” protein shake and my daughter asked me if we could go for a walk, so not wanting to pass the opportunity to get her out training, we bundled up, grabbed the dog, and set out for an hour walk (ended up being only 50 minutes). So I didn’t make it to Zumba L… but her pace is improving and she kept up with me much better. On Sunday our average was 2.7mi per hour which is pretty slow for me, and yesterday we averaged 3.0. I know we walked anywhere between 2.5 and 3.6 as I kept asking her to check my Garmin to see what our current speed was. I wear my Polar HR monitor (which I forgot to turn on…sheesh) and she wore the Garmin – hard to wear two big bulky watches. My Garmin does have a HR strap but I like to wear my Polar when I am doing cardio as it tracks me weekly.

I did make it out for a walk at lunch – along with half of the downtown workers. This particular path can be quite busy at lunch time. I’ve decided that I should not make any more comments that my daughter is a slow walker because her Mom isn’t all that much faster. I walked between 3.4-3.7 and people were passing me. Ladies that were shorter than me for crying out loud. I wasn’t giving it my all because I was wearing my work clothes and didn’t want to get all sweaty but sheesh… I too need to learn to speed up. I know because of my hip and range of flexor motion, that is why I can’t walk fast, but I better get it stretched and trained before September. Walking 100 Km in 3 days will not equal race walking but rather endurance, but it would be a good idea to work on my speed as part of my training.

Tonight, we are meeting friends for drinks (I haven’t decided what I’m doing here yet) and then going to a hockey game. I haven’t had any adult beverages for a while now and not sure if I want to tonight. After the weekend visiting with the kids, drinking beer (not that I drank a lot of beer), not eating completely on plan, AND  I have not been feeling all that good -  between it all, I’ve been messed up physically and emotionally. I was so ecstatic when I saw a 7 in the numbers on my scale that Friday, and then the visiting weekend happened, along with a cold, run down feeling, and that number has  not appeared since. However, I suspect that it will be back again on Friday and I really don’t want to jeopardize that at all. My mindset has been changing lately and I’ve finally realized that these once a week sessions are not helping me at all and are slowing my progress down big time (I’ve finally seen the light – took me long enough). I haven’t been taking this seriously enough.

If I’m going to train like an athlete, I need to eat like an athlete and there is no room for empty calories in this journey.

I hope everyone has a fantastic day, and make good choices.

Ttyl

Sandra