Race Recap: Ralston Creek Half Marathon

14 Feb

Since the race start was only 15 minutes away from our house, and the wave I was in didn’t go until 9:45, the alarm on race morning was pretty painless. I wanted to leave between 8:30 and 8:45 so I got up around 7:15 and ate a breakfast of 2 pieces of peanut butter toast, washed down with 1/2 cup of coffee and some water. I had done a pretty bad job of hydrating on Saturday and even woke up Sunday with a slight headache from being dehydrated. Whoops. But I also didn’t want to overcompensate by drinking a ton and then having to pee 10 times like I did during the Steamboat Springs Oly Tri. So I drank some water and hoped for the best.

After I got dressed and put my Shotbloks, phone and peanut butter sandwich into my jacket, I decided that it was too much stuff to keep in my coat. So I decided to use my Camelbak after all. I tucked the tube more into the backpack, so it didn’t hang down so low on the front and that actually worked out really well – my hand usually hits the tube and causes me to run weird but this solved that. Although in hindsight, keeping my Shotbloks in my jacket would probably have prevented them from freezing… but more on that later.

The temperature race morning was a balmy 9 degrees. Yes, nine. Nine degrees in a dry climate doesn’t feel as bad as 9 degrees in a humid one but still, 9 degrees is 9 degrees – chilly. I stuck with my plan of wearing my fluorescent yellow jacket over two long-sleeved running shirts on top; my UnderArmour ColdGear tights underneath regular running pants; wool socks on my feet; fleece gloves on my hands; and I went for the hat on my head. I didn’t buy a new one – I wore one I already that had soft fleece on the inside.

By 8:45, we were out the door. By 9:00, we were parked at the race site. By 9:10, I had my timing chip and bib, leaving me 35-40 minutes before our wave was supposed to leave. This race did things a little differently than usual – they had 2 waves, the first for those runners who anticipated finishing in 2:30 or slower, and the second for those finishing 2:30 or faster. I was on the fence when I was registering because I was hoping to do faster than 2:30 but my previous half times put me after that. I decided to go for Wave 2… which I kicked myself for later.

We killed time by going back to the car, standing in the portapotty line again (which was pretty long because there were only 6-8 of them), and I did some high knees and butt kicks. I didn’t do any running warmup – I never warm up before my long runs in training and I wanted to save my energy for the race.

Finally, it was time to go. I was actually feeling pretty nervous – not nervous that I wouldn’t finish but nervous that I would be really slow. That is often a worry of mine before long runs and races. Kind of like those nightmares when you’re running but your legs feel like they’re stuck in quicksand.

I lined up in the very, very back of the pack, knowing that there was no way I’d need to pass any of the people in front of me. And that was true. Within the first 50 feet, I was only near a few other women. Several people came up behind and passed me – they had been waiting for the bathrooms when the race gun went off. I hung with the other two women near me for the first mile. They were definitely running faster than I planned to but I just hated the thought of being dead last. I tried to keep up but when we hit mile 1 and my watch said 10:30, I knew I had to slow it down or I’d be screwed later.

So this was my reality for the first 2.5 miles of the race:

Running all by myself. But then…

My friend D joined me! And so did the course sweeper (you can see her on the bike behind us). I was pretty annoyed at the sweeper because having her ride beside me, or close behind me, made it impossible to forget that I was the last person. My legs were also not cooperating – they felt very heavy. But I’m pretty sure that was because the first 8 miles of the race were all uphill:

God bless her, D ran with me until about mile 6, even though it meant going up the first loooong hill. I couldn’t believe that the second hill could be any worse. Ha, was I wrong.

I saw Travis and D’s husband, Doug, several times throughout the course – the photo above is me throwing my sunglasses at Travis around mile 4. They kept fogging up and nothing annoys me more than foggy glasses. Shortly after, I ate 3 Shotbloks. I had been carrying them in my hand for about a half mile (you can see those and my gloves in my other hand) because they were hard as rock coming out of my backpack. I walked a little while eating them because running uphill + trying to eat frozen Shotbloks = no oxygen.

After D pulled away, the course flattened out a bit (which you can see on the elevation chart). The bike sweeper was riding right beside me again, but I was in a much better mood this time, and decided to actually talk to her. She mentioned something about having to go over the giant hill in front of us and I laughed. “Ha, no freakin’ way.” And then I looked and saw little people making their way along the switchbacks up the giant hill.

You’ve got to be kidding me. This picture doesn’t do it justice but I didn’t want to expend energy trying to take a picture with my camera.

I ended up passing an older guy right before the switchbacks started, meaning I ditched the bike sweeper (sweet!). I knew I needed some extra oopmh to get up those switchbacks so I pulled out my phone and started Pandora on the Lady Gaga station. I ran as much of those switchbacks as I could, but had to walk some. This course made me realize that what I thought were hills on my training runs, were definitely not hills.

One benefit from all the hills I guess was that I wasn’t counting down the miles or worrying about my pace at all. I was simply focusing on survival.

Finally, I made it to the top and I knew from D that the course was all downhill from there. Hallelujah. I passed mile marker 8 and got out 3 more Shotbloks but after holding them in my hand for a while, they were still pretty hard so I just decided to eat my peanut butter bread instead. I took small bites of that for the next mile while I cruised down the downhill. My legs felt great – tired but so welcoming of the downhill after 8 miles of uphill.

This shows it well – mile 8 was a 13:14 pace (killer!). Then miles 9 and 10 were 11:05 and 10:36!

D joined me again around mile 9.5 to mile 11. I realized that even though I wasn’t going to beat my PR, I could still beat my Heart and Sole half marathon time (2:33:50). But I was getting tired but trying not to think about how ready I was to be done. After D left, the wheels fell off. I wanted to turn Pandora on again for that extra motivation but my phone was running out of juice and I wanted my splits more than I wanted music. And I couldn’t get my d@mn earphones untangled. So back in the pocket they went.

I started doing run/walk intervals. My legs, specifically my hips and glutes, were just so tired and so sore. By mile 12.5, my entire body was in pain. I’d run until I couldn’t stand it and then walk until I couldn’t stand it. Doing either hurt. I just kept focusing on running to a landmark, then walking to a landmark, running, walking. Little by little, I was making my way to the finish line. I didn’t care about time anymore. I just wanted to be done.

Finally, I was. My time was 2:38:24. But I didn’t care.  I took my medal and collapsed on a chair near the finish line. Doug was there to congratulate me (Travis got lost in suburbia and was still getting back from trying to see me on the course) but I was so exhausted and delirious that I told him I couldn’t talk.

I was starving so I went over to grab some food. They had chocolate chip banana bread, which I had been looking forward to since reading about it in the pre-race email. But since I’ve had bad experiences with sweet things after races, I grabbed a piece to eat later.

Travis showed up and I handed him my banana bread while I went to get a breakfast burrito. I wasn’t a fan, so then I went and grabbed a couple of orange slices. They were absolutely amazing. I ended up going back to get about 10 more. I just couldn’t get enough.

After I had my fill of orange slices, we headed home for me to take an epsom salt bath and then meet D and Doug at Denny’s. The bath was wonderful but it used up all of our hot water. Poor Travis didn’t get a shower.

At Denny’s, I had a giant glass of chocolate milk and the Super Bird (grilled turkey, bacon, tomato and cheese) with fries. But after my milk, half the sandwich and some fries, I was so ridiculously full that I thought I might puke. It was the weirdest thing. I’m never that hungry the day of a hard workout like that but still, you’d think I’d be able to manage a bit more than that.

I was planning to take a nap but ended up watching TV for a couple of hours and then around 5:30, I decided that I needed to clean, do laundry and go grocery shopping. So I did. I was amazed that I had the energy but getting up and moving around helped me feel less sore. Today, I feel pretty good – not really that sore, just pretty tired.

Official Race Stats:

Time – 2:38:24

Age Group – 30/37

Gender – 184/228

Overall – 369/421

So that’s the story of Half Mary #4. My best time is still from Half Mary #1. I’m thinking I might just have to run the Colorado Half again next year to beat it… that is, if I don’t beat it in the Platte River Half on April 15.

I do feel good that I beat my time from the Malibu Half, which was 2:44:44. I think this course was the hardest race I’ve ever done. Holy hills batman.

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Training Recap: 2/6 – 2/12

13 Feb

I forgot my camera cord this morning and since I don’t want to post a recap of yesterday’s half marathon sans pictures, I’ll post my training recap now and post the race recap tonight.

I will say, however, that the week started off crappily but went out on a high hilly note. Five words: The half kicked my butt. It was a LOT harder than I was prepared for. (And then I go look at the results and the winners ran like a 5:30 pace. WHaaaaAAATTT?) Anywho, I’ll save the meaty details for posting tonight.

This was last week’s training:

Monday: Rest

Tuesday: 1.97 mile tempo run (22:10, 11:15/mile); first 30 minutes of P90X Yoga

I was really excited after doing the yoga because the first time I ever did it, I just about died and was sore for at least 4 days afterward. This time, it didn’t seem that hard and I was only slightly sore for 1 day. Progress!

Wednesday: Rest

Thursday: Rest

Friday: 3.04 mile easy run (35:56, 11:49/mile)

Saturday: 1.55 mile easy/tempo run (16:48, 10:50/mile)

I ran easy for the first and last .5 mile, and picked up the pace for the middle .5 mile to wake up my fast-twitch muscles. (I’m just saying that because it sounds cool.)

Sunday: Ralston Creek Half Marathon… 13.1 miles in 2:38:24, 12:04/mile

So I didn’t quite make my goal of beating 2:30:46 but I ran my little heart out. It was a tough race, both physically and mentally, and I gave it my all. So it is what it is.

Here’s a sneak peek…

Hint: They didn’t make the trail meander just because they felt like it.

…………………….

Looking ahead, I only have 1 week left until the Official official marathon training starts (last time was just a teaser). Travis and our friends, D and Doug, are going to do the Snowman Stampede with me next weekend and since they’re all going to do the 5 mile instead of the 10 mile, and I haven’t signed up yet, and there’s no reason I have to do 10 miles next weekend, I’ve decided to just do the 5 mile distance too. And I swear it’s not just because I had my @$$ handed to me by the Ralston Creek Trail.

The main thing I’m going to focus on is getting back into the routine. I feel like my training has been all over the place for the past 3 weeks or so, and I’ve moved workouts around, cut them out, or revised them so many times, I don’t know what’s going on. So I’m going to try to stick to my training schedule more consistently. I actually miss strength training! I really like how I feel when I’m consistent with that.

And to end, I updated my Marathon 2012 page a couple weeks ago so if you’re interested in what the latest is, go check it out.

Stay tuned for the race recap…

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11 Things

10 Feb

I was tagged by Candice from Forever is Composed of Nows for the blog-tagging extravaganza of the year. So here goes:

RULES

1. Post these rules.

2. You must post 11 random things about yourself.

3. Answer the questions set for you in their post.

4. Create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer.

5. Go to their blog and tell them you’ve tagged them.

6. No stuff in the tagging section about you are tagged if you are reading this. You legitimately have to tag 11 people.

11 random things about myself:

  1. I ice skated for two years and got to skip the “Snowplow” levels because I had awesome skills good balance.
  2. I am horrible at remembering what year or age things happened in my life. The ice skating? Maybe 5th and 6th grade?
  3. I once ate an entire Chipotle burrito and a banana split from DQ in one sitting.
  4. My favorite thing to get at DQ is a Blue Raspberry Mister Misty Float.
  5. I ended up with a bloody foot on my first date with my now-husband (from a rogue flipflop).
  6. I laugh every time they say “Rogue Robots” on Wall-E.
  7. My favorite movie genre is animated.
  8. I refuse to join Pinterest, Daily Mile and Twitter. It’s the principle of the matter.
  9. I refused to join Facebook for 5 years and then caved in 2009. ;(
  10. I still secretly want the outfit matcher Alicia Silverstone had in Clueless.
11. I hated sushi the first several times I ate it, but now I love it.

11 Questions from Forever is Composed of Nows:

1. What is your biggest and/or hardest goal for 2012? Finishing my book? Running a marathon? Getting pregnant? Time will tell…

2. Vegetarian or Meat-eater? Meat-eater but I don’t really like meat and could give it up in a heartbeat. But my hubby’s a hunter and we have a freezer full of meat.

3. Would you rather write something down with pen/paper or on a computer/cell phone, etc? Depends on what I’m writing. I journal and make to-do lists on actual paper, but when I’m actually writing thoughts and need to edit/revise/delete, I will always choose a computer. I hate typing on my phone.

4. Dog or cat person? Dog but I love animals.

5. What is your favorite season and why? Fall – nothing beats a brisk fall day with leaves changing color.

6. If you could live anywhere other than the place you currently live, where would you live?  Minnesota.

7. Do you prefer Facebook over Twitter or vis versa? I don’t have Twitter and only go on Facebook once a week, maybe. So neither?

8. What is the longest run/race/workout you have ever done? 14 mile run, 30 mile bike run (not on the same day)

9. If you could only read one book over and over, which one would it be? The Bible

10. What is the biggest risk you have ever taken? Moving to Denver without a job

11. What motivated you to start blogging? Wanting to get better at writing.

I tag the following: Winners Wear Yellow, Chic Runner, Diary of a Slow Runner, The Runner’s Plate, She Collects, B. in the Know, Butler: Party of 2, True Things, Cow Spots and Tales, Enjoying the Journey, run.around.aroo

My 11 questions:

  1. What do you think is the most annoying blog trend?
  2. What is one thing you wish you liked, but just don’t?
  3. How long were you friends with your best childhood friend?
  4. How many blogs do you read on a consistent basis?
  5. What’s your favorite fro-yo topping?
  6. Did you go to college? If so, where and why that school?
  7. What’s your all-time favorite TV show?
  8. Did you have an invisible friend growing up?
  9. Is there any social media that you refuse to adopt?
  10. What is one thing you see other people doing that makes you say, “You couldn’t pay me enough”?
  11. What is the first thing you do when you get up in the morning?

Remember to tag 11 more people to keep the blog chain going!

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How to NOT Prepare for a Race.

10 Feb

Don’t:

Run only 2 miles the week before.

Let your sore throat prevent you from drinking water.

Have a busy work week plus plans after work that keep you out at least an hour and a half past your bedtime each night.

Ditch your Thursday run for 2 glasses of chardonnay at happy hour and pass out in a chair (at home) before 8 pm.

Eat sweets like they haven’t touched your lips for a month.

Eat food like it’s going out of style.

Stay out late at a hockey game the night before the race.

Plan the race for a morning of cold and snow:

Do (Attempt to) Redeem Your Race:

Fit in an easy 2-3 mile run on Friday and Saturday so that your body doesn’t curse you for springing 13.1 miles on it out of nowhere.

Be a man runner and dress for the weather instead of whining about it. That’s why you bought a $110 Speedy Bullet (blindingly bright) jacket. Wear your UnderArmour tights UnderNeath another pair of running pants. Don some wool socks and winter gloves. Possibly buy a winter running hat instead of your chintzy ear warmer.

Drive only 15 minutes from your house to the start line.

Download a GPS-tracking app so your friend can come out and cheer you on as you run past her house.

Ditch the Camelbak that annoyed you on your last 10 mile run. Stash Shotbloks in your jacket and drink water at the aid stations. Bring a piece of bread with peanut butter too, since you know you love it it helps you not feel sick after mile 8.

Have fun. It’s only running, for pete’s sake.

Would you wear an ear warmer or a full hat for this race?

How have you redeemed a week of poor race preparation?

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Busyness is the new black.

8 Feb

Yesterday, I hit a milestone at my job: I worked the entire day. I didn’t even check my gmail. (I decided to end that streak today.)

Things have picked up here big time and it feels so good to finally be involved, contributing, bettering the company that I’m working for instead of just schleping a paycheck home every week.

Since my blogging time has now become work time (and rightly so), I’m back to the ever-a-struggle of finding time to blog during non-work hours. Which has been tough so far this week…

Monday night, I was excused from a workout by spending an hour and a half at the vet just for Katy to get her heartworm shot. I swear, going to the vet is even worse than going to the doctor. And my dogs go to the doctor more often than I do! Completely. ridiculous.

Last night, I raced home after work for a quick 2 mile run with the pooches and then did the first 30 minutes of P90X Yoga before heading to my church for a book study. I helped clean up afterward so I didn’t get home until 10:30 – waaaay past my bedtime. But somehow, I still managed to wake up this morning at 5:15 without an alarm. This has happened to me a lot lately. How does my body know what time to get up even when I go to bed later than usual? It boggles my mind.

Speaking of that 2 mile run, I wore my new Speedy Bullet jacket for the first time. And I am totally convinced it was worth the hefty price tag. My biggest concern about the jacket was that it wouldn’t be warm enough but it was 25 degrees on my run yesterday and with just a long-sleeve running shirt under the jacket, I felt perfect. Even, perhaps, slightly too warm (though I’m not complaining). This means I don’t have to dress like the Abdominal Snowman anymore!

Even though I was very impressed with my new coat, I was not impressed with the running trail.

My choices of running terrain were: 3 inches of snow or black ice. I actually didn’t mind running through the snow but the ice scared the crap out of me. And of course, the pooches were pulling me along wondering why I was being so slow. I’m ashamed to say that after at least 10 yanks on Katy’s leash, I used it as a rein to slap her butt so that she’d slow down and not pull me over. It worked… but she was not happy.

To switch topics in a completely random way, I have a new favorite breakfast.

Mix 1/3 cup old-fashioned oats with water and microwave. Add 1/2 tbsp peanut butter and 1/2 tbsp raspberry jam and stir until blended. Add 1 tbsp vanilla protein powder and 1 tbsp ground flaxseed; stir until blended. Top with 1/4 cup freeze dried strawberries, fresh blueberries and Fiber One cereal. Mmmm…

This idea was inspired by Run Eat Repeat and Clean Eating Chelsey – they always get creative with their breakfasts. I like that this keeps me fuller for longer than just plain cereal, but it’s also a way to get my cereal fix. It’s a win-win!

What’s your favorite way to eat oatmeal?

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Training Recap: 1/30 – 2/5

6 Feb

I have a case of the Mondays today. I was so tired that I got up an hour late, I ate too much at the Super Bowl party last night so I feel like a blob, and I still haven’t quite shaken my sinus/throat congestion.

My training last week:

Monday: 3.0 mile run (37:36, 12:31/mile)

I did this run at a really easy pace because I was still recovering from the chest congestion of the previous week.

Tuesday: 6 x 400 repeats @ 2:30 on treadmill (3 miles total, 33:56); Physical therapy

I was going to do 4 x 800 but it wasn’t happening. So I did 6 x 400 instead and even though I was only running a 10:00 pace for my repeats, I felt challenged by the end. I blame the sickness.

I also count physical therapy as my strength training because I always end up sweating.

Wednesday: Rest

Thursday: 1.15 mile dog walk (20:00); 2.4 mile run (28:00); 1.5 mile walk at incline on treadmill (24:00); 15 minute tabata workout

This was the night that I discovered I should not eat a salad before a run. I was planning to run 5 but could only muscle through to 2.4. I actually felt sick enough that I had to sit down and rest for 5 minutes. Ever the stubborn one, I finished off an unofficial 5 miles by walking 1.5 miles on the treadmill, starting at 2.0 incline, working up to 8.0 and back down.

My tabata workout (from what I remember) consisted of squats with overhead press, lunges with bicep curls, knee pushups, and bicycle crunches.

Friday: Rest

Saturday: 11 mile run on track (1:58:36, 10:46/mile)

Sunday: 1.5 mile dog walk

I was going to do yoga when I got home from the Super Bowl party but instead, I went straight to bed. I’ll try to do a longer cross-training workout this Wednesday.

…………………………….

Even though I’m coughing and blowing my nose less each day, I still wake up feeling like poo. And since I have races the next two weekends (so I’m technically in taper mode now) and I would prefer to not start official marathon training still sick, these next two weeks are going to be fairly laid back – yoga, cross-training, hydration, sleep. Nothing too crazy.

And since this cheered me up on this Blah of a Monday, I had to share:

There are some other funny ones there too.

What is your favorite part of tapering before a race?

Mine is usually having time to do all the things I haven’t had time to do during training but since I just had an entire week of no running, I think the perk this time is having yet another reason to go to bed at 8 pm. 😉

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New Discoveries.

4 Feb

Thursday night, I discovered that a salad is not a good pre-run meal.

Friday, I discovered that it’s actually kind of nice that everything in Denver shuts down with a big snowstorm, because I get to work from home.

I also discovered that working from home with nothing to do is only slightly less boring that being at work with nothing to do.

I discovered that it takes two feet of snow for Denver to actually plow main side roads with any sort of decency {these pictures were taken Friday morning – it continued snowing all day and we ended up with about 2 feet).

This afternoon, I discovered that the plows still don’t always do a very good job because I almost got stranded at the library.

This morning, I discovered that running 11 miles, or 115 circles, on the indoor track is surprisingly painless with a friend. (Thanks Heidi!)

I also discovered that with no wind and no hills, I can run a 10:45/mile pace for 11 miles…

…and that despite good intentions and a camera, I can still forget to take a picture of my first-ever blogger meetup, and instead make do with a crappy picture of me in my bathroom.

This afternoon, I discovered that the day before the Super Bowl is an even worse day to grocery shop than the day before Thanksgiving.

I also discovered (again) that one of my all-time favorite kinds of candy is Australian Style licorice. Seriously, try it. It’s amazing. (I found it at the regular grocery store in the candy section.)

And finally, I discovered that Reese’s peanut butter eggs are just as delicious as I remember them. Mmmm…

Have you discovered anything new this weekend?

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This is not good.

2 Feb

Of course, right when I’ve gotten used to Denver having no snow and spring-like temperatures, someone decides we need a foot or more of snow dropped on us. Didn’t they know I had 11 miles planned for Saturday? What am I supposed to do now?!?!

::sigh:: (first world problems)

Would you rather run 11 miles on a treadmill or do 110 laps around a track?

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January Goal: Achieved.

2 Feb

Well, friends, I made it. Survived one entire month without sweets of any sorts. It was rough. Especially last week. The culmination of busyness at work, that time of the month, tiredness, and sickness made me want to punch someone and steal their ice cream. But I didn’t.

The past couple days, I’ve been thinking over whether this goal achieved its intended purpose or not, which was to destroy my intense craving for sweets at all hours of the day for part of every meal. And I have to be honest, last week I was convinced that this whole goal was one big waste of willpower.

But then this week came. And the idea of getting to eat chocolate today was like Meh. I woke up this morning and stumbled to the bathroom with one eye half open, and then I remembered, it’s over. I can eat sweets again.

I stumbled to the kitchen where the thawed Triple Decker Brownies that I had kept in the freezer since New Years were sitting. And to be honest, I didn’t really want one. But I have been waiting for this moment the entire month of January – it’s the Day of Chocolate!

So I got out a plate and made the breakfast of champions:

I ate the dark chocolate square first. It was chocolate but it didn’t explode in my mouth like I had fantasized for 30 days.

Then I started eating the brownie. And I realized that what I was doing was ridiculous. Not only was I eating chocolate for breakfast, I wasn’t even enjoying it. So I bagged up the other half of the brownie and the chocolate cherry for later. As I drank my coffee and ate a piece of peanut butter toast, my stomach was doing flip-flops – not in the elated, I can’t believe we get to eat chocolate again! way but in the What the f? What is this crap? way.

{Don’t worry, I still ate the other half of the brownie and chocolate cherry for my morning snack, and instead of the salad and butternut squash lasagna I so carefully packed, I ate a Cinnamon Crunch bagel with Honey Walnut cream cheese from Panera for lunch. Now my stomach is really confused angry.}

All that to say…

It was cutting it close but I think that my goal finally had its intended effect. That time of the month aside (because we all know that we can’t be held accountable for our actions then), I think that my craving for sweets has decreased to a normal, sane amount.

In fact, I’m not even planning to get Yogurtland tonight.

I know, I know. Who am I?

The reason being that I’m going to run 5 miles and do my physical therapy exercises. And Travis is meeting with guys from church. And I don’t want to drive all the way to Yogurtland by myself. And it’s supposed to be a blizzard tonight after work. And I don’t want my stomach to go on strike for being mistreated.

What I Learned:

This experience has taught me that I do have the willpower to resist sweets. I can never use lack of willpower as an excuse again. I will have to admit that I ate the bowl of ice cream because I wanted it more than I wanted a flat stomach or a stable blood sugar. (That’s been the truth all along anyway.)

I also learned that I turned to sweets of all kinds (including soda…who knew?) for comfort and indulgence. When I come home from a stressful or tiring day, and just want to relax, food is where I turn – because it’s fast, easy, and gratifying. I tried to think of other ways to achieve the same effect but I don’t like baths because relaxing against a cement wall isn’t my idea of a good time. Walks are just more work. Reading and TV are better with food so that’s not it either. I guess I’m left with trying to tame the beast.

Where I Go from Here:

This goal reminded me of why I believe in Intuitive Eating (IE). The main idea of IE is that you give yourself permission to eat whatever you want. There are only two rules in IE: Eat when you’re hungry. Stop when you’re full. The authors believe that when we classify foods as “bad” and “good,” food ends up exerting power over us. But when you ditch the classifications and allow yourself to have whatever you want as long as you’re hungry and stop when you’re full, food loses it power – because you know you can have it anytime you want.

With this goal, I took away that freedom. I couldn’t eat sweets when I craved them and found myself trying to fill the void with other food. This comic from Cathy sums it up beautifully:

This is exactly what the authors of IE  say – you end up eating more food and calories trying to satisfy your true craving in a “healthy” way than you would if you just ate what you truly wanted. And I really found that to be true. When I wanted something sweet after dinner, instead of being able to satisfy myself with a 35-calorie Dove chocolate, I would eat 250 calories of Pirate’s Booty or a bowl of cereal. So if you’re wondering if I lost any weight doing this challenge, sadly, no I did not. 😦

Now that the month of no sweets is over, I’m going back to giving myself the freedom to eat sweets when I’m truly craving them. But I am not going back to the licentiousness I had before I did this challenge. Then, I ate whatever was sitting out or free, whether I really wanted it or not. I exercised hardly any discretion (which is what led me to my sugar addiction in the first place). Now, I would like to be more intentional and make every choice count. If I eat a piece of chocolate cake, it better be just about the best piece of cake I’ve ever had. If I eat ice cream, it better be my favorite flavor or served on top of a gooey, still-warm brownie. That’s one rule I try to follow regarding what I eat in general: If you don’t love it, don’t eat it (even if that means throwing out “perfectly good food”).

I would like to preserve my body’s sugar shock as long as possible. It always make me feel good (and yet at the same time, feel horrible) when I’ve been eating healthy for long enough that my body freaks out when I give it unhealthy food. I must be doing something right. 

Have you ever ransacked the cupboard trying to satisfy a craving?

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Call a spade a spade.

31 Jan

All female health bloggers: Stop right now.

I see so many gorgeous female bloggers who have amazing figures, entertaining blogs, and impressive race times constantly demean, lament and berate their so-called flaws. Even if they have ripped abs that most women would have to eat only spinach and do 600 sit-ups a day to get, they joke about their love-handles or flabby stomach. Uh, right. If they run 30 miles one week, they were such a slacker. Their 4:00 marathon time was horrible because they could only manage a 9:00 pace for 26.2 miles.

I’m mentioning this because I think this is something that we as women, and humans, are tempted to do: We’re so afraid of being called proud that we take pride in nothing.

This is something I learned from my Grandma Dee. The last few years of her life, she lived with my grandpa in an assisted living home. Like a nursing home, they had all kinds of activities going on, and lots of other people living in the same building. Every once in a while, my grandma would say something like, “Dorothy came over and sat with me at lunch again today. She just really likes talking to me.” At first, I was taken aback by her frankness. Nobody I knew talked like that – because {hush} it was prideful. But my grandma said it so matter-of-factly and moved off the subject so quickly that I kept thinking about it. She got away with saying it. Why? Because she was just stating the facts.

{source*}

The Urban Dictionary describes False Modesty as:

To tell everyone that what you did is bad, knowing all the way that what you did is good, just so everybody says the opposite.
Usually used by women.

EmoGothgirl666: OMG , My blog is crap.
EmoboyLestatDarkness: Don’t say that, it’s great!

The Wiktionary describes it as:

Behavior that is intended to seem humble but comes across as fake and unflattering.

Usage: “Although having a large ego is considered undesirable, at times it is proper to take credit where it is due rather than display false modesty.”

And I think that last sentence sums up my point perfectly.

Sure, no one wants to be boastful and self-absorbed. But c’mon. Call a spade a spade.

Not only do I not believe that you truly hate your abs of steel or think a 4-hour marathon is an absolutely pitiful time, your false modesty makes it seem like any stomach that can’t bounce a quarter or any turtle coming across the finish at 6 hours, 30 minutes is something to be even more ashamed of. If you’re complaining over what is almost unanimously the goal, standard or aim of others, what becomes of anything that falls short of that?

What about the women who hardly dare take their shirts off in front of their husbands?

What about the runners who have put their hearts and souls into training for athletic event of their life, only for the aid stations to be packing up by the time they get there?

The unfortunate side effect of false modesty is that all of those women who will never have a rock-hard stomach and never run a 4-hour, 5-hour, or even 6-hour marathon even up thinking, “Well, if she’s flabby and if she’s slow, then what am I?”

I’ll tell you what would be refreshing. A female runner who runs a 8:00 pace on an “easy recovery run” and is happy about it. A woman who has worked hard to tone her biceps to get excited over them without adding the caveat, “But I still have a loooooong way to go” or “There’s still toooooons of room for improvement.” A recovering chocoholic who makes it through the day with only one Oreo to rejoice over improvement, instead of gut out an extra 15 minutes on the elliptical because she has absolutely.no.willpower.

If you don’t want to gush and aw over your rockin’ bod or your killer time, I get it. But at the very least, don’t knock it. State the facts and make no judgments. Let the cards fall where they may.

If we as women want to create an environment of acceptance and body-love, then we have to STOP CRITICIZING ourselves instead of poking, pinching and lamenting our imperfections.

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others. (Marianne Williamson)

Delighting in who we are, what we’re capable of, and our accomplishments gives other people the permission to do the same. Be a source of inspiration to others.

What are your thoughts about pride and false modesty?

……………………..

*The sunrise is not actually ugly; I’m using it to illustrate how ludicrous false modesty is.

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