It starts tomorrow

Training for the San Antonio RNR Marathon that is. I signed up for the free training program they offered through active.com and it starts off with a 35 min easy run tomorrow morning.

After that I have a few errands to run and then I am off to Colorado to visit with family for a few days. Should be fun to do some of my training at altitude!! At least the miles are short. Would hate to have to do an 18 miler trying to suck in enough oxygen into my lungs!

And once I get back from vacation I will be participating in the validation of a cylinder fill plant - so it will be difficult getting the training in because there will probably be a lot of late nights and early mornings. But I need to start this training season off right, so I will do what I need to do.

I think I would like to go see a nutritionist that can help me lose weight. I am wondering if they might have some different ideas for me considering my history of PCOS. Maybe different food combinations, certain types of food that I really need to avoid, etc. I am just wary because I know a lot about nutrition and do not want them to just tell me stuff I already know. But then again - knowing and doing are two totally diffent things!!

I recently bought a VitaMix to help me in the goal to eat more fruits and vegetables. I know you are probably thinking this is a real expensive blender - but it is a blender that lets you add whole fruits and veggies and makes a wonderful smoothie. This morning's smoothie consisted of a frozen banana, some canned pineapple chunks, a fresh orange, a mango, a whole carrot cut in 2 in sections, some water and some soy protein powder. It was very orange but pretty tasty. I am planning on making some green smoothies eventually, but I am still in the experimental stage and trying to find the right recipe. I will get there eventually! My first attempt at a veggie smoothie was pretty disgusting (tomatoes, kale, carrots and some other stuff). I didn't waste the nasty concoction though, I put it into ice cube trays and add a few to my morning smoothies. This way the taste is overpowered by lots of fruit!

Planning for next year

A friend and I have said we are going to do a half-iron distance triathlon next year (finally!!). Now we have to decide on which one.

The choices are:

Barb's Race



Ironman 70.3 Cancun



The Grand Columbian

What are your thoughts?

Getting healthy

For the past couple weeks I have been trying to eat a lot healthier by eating more fruits and vegetables and eating less sugar and just eating less. And I have noticed a difference. A few pounds have dropped off and my energy level has increased.

I am also trying to rid my cupboards and freezer of all the food that has accumulated but gone uneaten for months and months. And because I do not let junk food sit around for a week let alone a couple months, I am able to stick to this eating healthier goal!!

My one vice - popcorn. And not the microwave stuff. I am talking about the old fashioned kind you cook on the stove in oil. I love the stuff. I pop up a huge bowl full, liberally sprinkle with salt and enjoy every last popped kernel. YUM!!

On the road to recovery

I hope so anyway.

Wednesday I got a shot of Depo-Medrol (corticosteroid) in the shoulder area and in a week I will be seeing a physical therapist about a treatment plan. Let's hope that it works and I can regain full use of my shoulder.

The doctor did say I could start riding my bike again, so I went for a ride with my friend Debi and the Bike Barn group yesterday morning. On my way over to the meet up point I wondered if I would be able to make it the whole ride because I could already tell that my shoulder would bug me. It wasn't painful, but the continued pressure made things uncomfortable. By the time we made it to downtown I was ready to quit but figured Debi would want to go the whole route - which included continuing over to UH then around the Med Center. Well, she mentioned she wished we could just go back to the store - and I was more than game! So back to Rice Village we went.

After that we headed over to la Madeleine for some breakfast. I had a spinach, mushroom and red pepper omelette with fresh squeezed pink grapefruit juice. Yum! It would have been better with tomatoes, but they are not making anything with fresh tomatoes there. I understand where they are coming from, but figure they can buy locally grown produce. After that I biked back home giving me a total of 24 miles for the day. Overall it wasn't a very aggressive ride, but considering that I haven't been on a bike for two months I think I did okay. I will not be doing any century rides anytime soon, but at least I am back in the saddle!

Saturday I went for a little run around the golf course. Can you believe it? Two days that involved exercise!!! I didn't do nearly as bad as I thought and I feel pretty good too!

Today was a rest day. I figured after all that strenuous exercise over the weekend I had to take a break! Tomorrow I will go for another run around the golf course. I gotta get ready because marathon training officially starts June 30 with my first long run of five miles scheduled for July 5. If you sign up for the San Antonio R'n'R Marathon they give you free on-line training through Active.com. Kinda cool if you ask me.

Adhesive Capsulitis

Or Frozen Shoulder. The MRI did not show any tears so they are thinking it is this because my range of motion is limited. I am not completely frozen, but they said it might get there without some intervention.

That means another needle. This time it will inject cortisone into the shoulder joint area to help get rid of the inflammation and possible scar tissue. Physical therapy will then follow. I will have to be diligent because I know most of it will be done at home and not in a PT office with someone telling me to do it.

If you would like to read more about it here is a description of it on my doctor's website.

I DIDN'T GET IN

To the New York Marathon, that is! I am so thankful!!

This is my third year of rejection. Know what that means?

I am going to New York in 2009!! Yippee!!