On Second Thought

Maybe not. Maybe I don't want to run this race.
Jessica and I (and two other girls) ran the bulk of the course set for the runtex 10 miler in preparation for the race. It's behind lake austin boulevard and just so pretty. There's something about running in the neighbourhoods of Austin on a cold day. I get nostalgic/pensive/joyful (all of the above). I can't describe it. It involves feeling so glad to be part of something and at the same time so small and wanting to do something worthwhile. To give back to this world that gives me so much to be happy about.

But that really is where the joy ends. It turns out these beautiful areas of Austin are also substantially hilly. The portion of the run that we tried out will be spank in the middle of the race and it's a mixture of rolling and steep hills. I'm a little worried since I really don't do well around hills.

But that being said, I feel a change. It's as if I'm no longer a girl and I'm sprouting into... I kid. Its just that I feel really strong lately, where in the past I would have needed to walk up one of these hills, this time, I ran every single one.

I will run the race. I will run those hills and walk if I have to. Jessica will run them with me and we will show them who is boss.

Unexpected realizations

Monday workouts with the gazelles are supposed to focus on strength. We were doing circuit training this week. That means run a lap on a track, do a bunch of exercises and then do that all over again. On a good day we can fit in 4 reps. On a really hot day we're lucky if we can get 2 reps in.

Last monday, we were doing core work which involves passing these 6lb medicine balls between partners. I could have sworn the one we (Sarah and I) were working with was heavier. Sarah thought so to but Gilbert overheard us. He said something to the effect of "Gayatri, I thought you were a tough girl. I'm disappointed"
I replied with "It is heavier but that doesn't mean I am not going to do my share!"
I'm kinda proud I said that. So many people tend to presume that just because you would say something about a task being difficult means you're complaining and plan on not doing it. We were just making conversation to distract from the pain.

But the thing that really floored me was how annoyed/defensive I got after he said that. He didn't mean anything by it, he was just pulling my leg. But I didn't like hearing that. It seems a lot of my self-worth in terms of working out is tied up in the fact that I believe that I am not lazy about it. I'll take days off when needed but when I'm there (be it running, yoga or VT as it was in the days of yore), I'm there to workout.

What was my realization you ask? That while most people would be proud of starting or sticking to an exercise regiment or being really good at a sport, I guess I'm proud of the fact that I am persistent at sucking at a sport.

Miscellanea

It makes me laugh every time someone is surprised that yoga can make one sore. Let me count: upper abs, shoulders, biceps, inner thighs, hamstrings, palm right underneath the thumb etc etc so on and so forth.

You know you're in training when strange parts of you ache and you don't even stop to think about it. e.g. "Oh, that was inside the right butt. Good one". Wait, I think that counts as thinking about it.

I feel like such a loser when I get out of the yoga class and then sit with my back hunched. You would think I would know better. Oh yeah, back is also sore. Nice sore. Like my muscles may get over their shyness and come out to play.

EAS 10Miler is only 2.5 weeks away. I can't wait. And by can't wait, I mean I'm really excited/anxious. I also think I'm worried I might injure myself and not be able to run. That would possibly be the worst thing that could happen.

My protein tragedy

I'm supposed to get 30% of my calories from protein. So says my nutritionist. I can barely make it to 26% on a good day. I'm to a large extent a vegetarian and a carboholic. So trying to get 30% protein is indescribably difficult. I tried to help myself out by having an omelette with two eggs and an egg white. We've all been told that almost all the fat is in the yolk and almost all the protein is in the white. Well, we've been told wrong!

Fact:
2/3 of the protein is in the white, 1/3 is in the yolk. So if you expect 7 gms of protein from an egg white, you are going to be sorely disappointed. It's more like 3.6.
In a sense this is good news to me because the yolks are the only reason why I eat eggs.
Another justification for eating the yolk? All the good stuff in an egg, all the nutritive stuff, vitamins, minerals etc are all in the yolk. This also makes sense since that is the food sac for the embryo.

So besides meat, what else is there that delivers protein. No carb-protein compounds like beans but just protien. Dairy?

Long run Oct 20th

We hit the big 1-0. 10 miles at 6 am on saturday and it was amazing. It was just Jessica and me since both Staley and Zaundra ran the IBM 10K today.

I can't believe we did the entire 10 mile trail!
The south first bridge divides the trail into two distinct halves. There's the four mile half which is more populated and more consistently pretty. Then there are the other 6 miles. There are some amazingly pretty portions to this side of the trail. Unfortunately, you have to put up with a few things to get to the pretty portions. For example, a lot of homeless people sleep long the trail on this side for some reason. All the crime on the trail has taken place on this side. Also, you have to run along the street for about a quarter to half of a mile and cross a highway (I-35!) to get to the trail. Uphill (ok, not the entire way, but there is one killer). Still, its relatively quieter on this side and I think overall just a prettier run. Its my favourite side.

So, since it was still dark outside, we decided to run the 4 mile side first and continue onto the 6 mile side hopefully around sunrise. The nice thing about that would be that we still get to do the side that both Jess and I like and the killer hill on the street would now be all downhill. Yaa! Did I mention I HATE hills?

We started the first mile out really slow to warm up. We meant to speed up after that but the trial was so dark that we had to keep going slow for at least the next mile if not more. We took breaks every two miles or so for get a sip of water or take some gel. I think this was key in keeping us going. Since the breaks came so frequently, we never felt it get too hard to keep going. Wait, it might also have something to do with the fact that we stretched our backs out during these breaks too (both our backs were a little vocal during the run). We took it easy and talked the entire way. We walked maybe around a quarter of a mile in total so I have say this was a good run. I felt strong most of the way except at one point when my knee complained a bit. Stopping and walking for a little bit was all it needed and we finished strong.

Notable Sights:
- sudden daylight. I know it wasn't really sudden but it seemed like at one point it was still dark and it was dawn the next.
- a huge, obnoxious house with lines like the alamo along the road part of the run.
- a cocoon that was at least 3 inches in length suspended between two silk wires in a tree. Come to think of it, it might have been spider food suspended in a web not a cocoon. That's going to be one large snack for a spider.
- a duck on the lake gunning it towards breakfast. It was far enough away that we could just see it's silhouette and the massive wave of water it left behind it.
- Andre and josh (/jake/john?) leaving a whole hour after us to do 10 miles and getting done with us.
- Mocha Jess. She has trouble opening the gel packets with sweaty hands. So this week she tried to slit one open and reseal it with foil. She then put this sachet into her shorts with the cut side above the band of her shorts. At mile four when we took our first gel, it turned out, her shorts and her hip also got a little snack.

Keeping yoga in the mix is making sure that I have just the usual aches and pains that one would get from increasing mileage like this. Nothing that causes concern.

When I started running, if I started out slow, I would finish slow but we're getting to the point that we are making up all the time we lose when we start. I can't believe this 10 mile run was easier than the 9 mile run two weeks ago. It's not simply that I am getting better at this running thing but I think I'm also getting over my fear of running long distances.

I need to start keeping track of what I eat. What works and what doesn't. That can be the next post, I suppose.

Long runs for 6/9 and 13/9

Three weeks ago Jessica, Staley and I ran our long run together, 9 miles. This was the longest run I had ever done uptil that point and I was really nervous the entire night before. I had trouble falling asleep but thankfully not too much trouble getting up. The last two miles were a little tough but having Jessica there made a world of difference. The strange thing about that is that I wasn't exhausted. To a large extent, it was mental. I knew I was past 7 miles and I'd never run this far so my brain was telling me that I had to be tired for the last two miles.

Last weekend we were supposed to run 7 miles but I decided I didn't want to drop so far down so ran 8 instead. This time, Staley and Jessica and Zaundra were with me, which is good because we started at 6 in the morning and it was still dark outside. Jessica and Zaundra had planned to do 7 miles while Staley was willing to do 8 with me. Midway through the run, we were discussing how to add the one mile in and he tried to trick me into doing more than 8 miles. His argument was that once I was done, I would feel like I had accomplished so much. But for me, I don't like being misled. I need to mentally prepare for the work ahead. He also will say things like "that's it, now we have only 4 miles left" but in actuality, we have 4.5 or 5 miles still left and needless to say, I don't like that either.
It took a little while to shake the irritation off from that encounter but I think at the end of the day, I would still rather have someone running with me that I get along with than have to do this alone.

Weightwatchers

I think weightwatchers is too concerned with fat and not concerned enough with protein. For example, an ounce of nuts are the same amount of points as a can of coke. Someone on WW please comment.

Whoa Spinach

Is there anything you can't do?

I knew you had fiber, calcium, potassium, vitamin C, folate etc, etc.

But now you tell me you are pretty high in protein. What? Should I be calling all my past, you know... partners to let them know about this?

Different goals

I was eating eggs for breakfast today and thinking about how body builders can eat food the way they do. They eat the same things everyday, in massive quantities and get sick of it. But they still eat it. Similarly, people with eating disorders don't like the purging or the starving but they do it anyway.

I think I know what the difference between them and me is. The end goal is different. They see that the ultimate goal is to get your body to look a certain way (not always a healthy way, mind you). My end goal seems to be to eat and enjoy the food I am going to eat in an attempt to get my body to look a certain way. You see the problem?

I think the saying "you can't have your cake and eat it too" works really well here. I can't eat to enjoy my food and still expect to see results of weight loss from it.

Food doesn't do double duty. It can't be entertainment and sustenance. If it's entertaining, it ain't doing anything good for your body and if it is fuel then it sure as hell ain't going to be fun to eat (except maybe steel cut oats)

things you learn on a long run

apparently you can chaff (chafe? I don't know the spelling) unexpected 'areas' on your body when running really long.

huh.