Slacking

I've been testing the whole calories in - calories burned thing to see if what I eat has that much bearing on my weight. Well, in fact, after two weeks of eating whatever and munching during my late-night work sessions, I am here to set the record straight. You can't eat whatever you want and not expect to pack it on. I'm up two pounds!

And was I any happier eating whatever? In fact, no! Oddly enough, as much as I would curse the feeling of being hungry, I kind of missed it (in a sick sort of way). When I would get hungry, I knew it was a good thing and that my body was burning fat. And that brief feeling of hunger a few times a day didn't impact my energy level or work output.

So, I'm back to logging food on Spark People. And back to better choices. More fruits. Less food. More water. No evening munching. It's that simple! (But I swear there is a huge PMS connection for me.)

Homecoming 5K

Ran the Homecoming 5K in 23:52. Here are the full results of the Homecoming 5K

I came home and did the calculation...23:52 comes out to a 7:41 average mile -- exactly what i was shooting for if you look at http://unblob.blogspot.com/2008/09/training-notes.html. Not bad considering I never saw any of the mileage markers and could not gauge my pace whatsoever! Seriously, the amazing-ness of getting EXACTLY the pace I wanted has not escaped my notice.

Call me strange, but I have to give some credit to an amazing and loving God. The song I listened to over and over while running was "Made to Worship" by Chris Tomlin. And I'm not implying that God is blessing me for my sake or my glory. He works through one to bless others -- likely in ways we're not even aware of. Prior to the race I wrote on my arm in permanent marker "Do the work" -- shorthand for "Do the work, leave the rest to God."

Incidentally, I won my age group but it looked like all the others in that group were walkers. The weird thing is they took our picture - the first and second place winners for the men and women in the 40-49 age group - and I have to say, I did not feel like I belonged in that photo with those other old looking people!! I have to assume they were all at the upper end of the age bracket!! LOL!!

It was fun to cruise by folks much younger than me. I like to think the result is a testament to what good training can do, and I have to of course give my kudos to Jake who is an amazingly skilled, knowledgeable, and gifted trainer. I don't think he quite realizes what he has to offer and how unique he is. He will go far and I will say "I knew him when...!"


No less impressive is the fact that my family all ran in the 1-mile fun run! Robert ran with Spencer, I ran with Grant. Grant took off at a frenetic pace, stabilized, and started to peter out at the end. It was fun to coach him through the end, knowing what spurs him on. "Grant, do you want that trophy?" "YES!!!" "Grant, do you see those kids behind you? They want it too!" "Just run to that next telephone pole. You can do it! The finish is in sight! Push hard!" And by golly, he did. He finished in about 9:30 and ran on all heart. Spencer came in afterward, with no less heart driving him. They had a good time. Grant won his age group! We enjoyed a nice pig-out at Boudreax's afterward. What a great day for all!

Running Route Mapper

I added a new tool to the right side of my blog. My friend Steve shared this running route map tool from USATF - http://www.usatf.org/routes/map/. I ran a new route today and had no idea how long it was but thanks to this tool I figured out it was 4.5 miles. You can also search on other folk's running routes for Blacksburg and I uncovered some new ones I will try. I expect I will use this quite a bit!

Today's run was a bit challenging and I'm thinking I did too much for the day before a race, even a short one. My IT issues have migrated from the right side to the left and now it's radiating up into my hip. I need to get on top of this and get it cleared up. I'm thinking I should put off Monday's hill work to Tuesday and give myself one day off post-5K. I worked hard this past week and I don't know that my legs have had sufficient recovery time.

Yummy Eggplant Dip

I ran into one of my former ES students at the farmer's market and she told me about an eggplant dip she made that sounded great. I just happened to have some local eggplant in my fridge and needed to do something. So here is my twist on her recipe and it's fabulous!!!

1. Chunk up eggplant, red onion, red pepper, and yellow pepper and distribute on baking sheet
2. Add chopped garlic, red pepper flakes, and drizzle with olive oil.
3. Roast.
4. Blend up in food processor with two handfuls of tomatoes from garden. Add some garam masala (Indian spice mix).
5. Eat with pita, baked tortilla chips, or spread on a tortilla.
6. YUM!!!

I am so happy that it is Friday. This week ended up well and I had an enjoyable workout at the gym late today. Sweated like crazy on the bike for 30 minutes then did chest and back. I discovered that by wearing a tennis elbow band and by using my lifting straps from year ago, I could take the pressure off my elbow and get more done. It was very satisfying.

Off to the homecoming game tomorrow. Yeah! I am so excited!!

TGIF

I have never been so glad for a Friday. It's a gorgeous day and I am happy that I was able to play tennis last night and have a lesson this morning without my tennis elbow interfering too much. The chiropractor strongly suggested a band for it and I will admit it helps. This issue demands much the same type of attention as the IT bands - stretching, massage, ice. I've been slacking on my stretching and when I saw the massage therapist Wednesday she said my left IT band was as bad as its been, so I have to get back on that. It's interesting but the speedwork on Monday definitely worked things differently. My shins were sore and IT bands took a good hit. This is all part of the learning process for me.