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January, 2010:

The crazy that really…wasn’t (yet)

Jan 5th, 2010
by gazelle.
16 comments

I thought this week was going to kick my ass, and I fully anticipated that my entire month was going to be full of the suck.

I thought I was going to have eleven projects due between now & the 18th of February, but they keep disappearing off my calendar (which is both good [less work for me] and bad [less money for my department]).

I also thought my class was going to be super hard and crazy. I think it will definitely be challenging, but I really think I’m going to enjoy this class (Creating Business Solutions through Technology). We get to create a proposal to solve a problem, and each of the seven weeks we do a little bit more with the proposal. We also serve as a consultant to two other classmates, so we get to work on both sides of the project!  I am really looking forward to this.

My biggest challenge right now is the protein thing. I calculated that I should be getting between 90 & 140 grams of protein/day, and yesterday I had a) protein-powder packed green smoothie; b) peanut butter; d) chicken (tamale); d) black-eyed pea soup; e) fish fillet, and squeaked in at 90 grams. Today, with my planned peanut butter (what? my unspoken new year’s resolution was to eat more PB), turkey sandwich & turkey burger + cheese & yogurt I am only at 82.

(Also, do not google causes of protein deficiency.) (Unless you want to know that protein deficiency is rare in developed countries, and is usually a sign of abject poverty or crash dieting. Neither of which describe me.) (Other causes include cancer. Of course.)

So – internets – since I am not poor, or starving myself, or cancer-stricken (one hopes), what should I do? Maybe put protein powder in my morning oatmeal? I am not a fan of stuff like that, because it has so many ingredients, and that is against my goal to eat real foods, but I also need to get my protein levels back up to an acceptable range so that my muscles can heal properly during my marathon training, and so I can lose weight (fat, not muscle), and stop shedding hair like a cat in August. (I just accidentally spent the last 20 minutes looking up shedding cats, then cats who throw up after every meal, then kitten pictures. I wonder if protein deficiency causes ADD?)

So, if you were protein deficient (which seems highly unlikely, since I am SPESHUL [protein deficiency also causes reduced intelligence & mental retardation, but I think that's if you grow up severely malnourished in a developing country, and probably doesn't happen with mild deficiency]) but also trying to lose weight, what would you do?

  • Stop using so many parentheses & brackets?
  • Start eating an all bacon diet?
  • Shut-up about the ‘real food-ness’ of protein powder & have some every day until the situation reverses itself?
  • Use google to obsessively self-diagnose, eventually triggering a nervous breakdown?

Training Goals – 1/4/10 – 1/10/10

Jan 3rd, 2010
by gazelle.
4 comments

Training Goals – 12/28 – 1/3

Monday: weights – SUCCESS! Go me!

Tuesday: indoor bike trainer – 30 minutes – FAIL! Due to the freak snowstorm, by the time I got home, I had lost all motivation.

Wednesday: weights + elliptical – FAIL! I am lazy.

Thursday: rest – SUCCESS! Once again, I totally rocked the rest day! Go me!

Friday: easy New Year’s run – SUCCESS! I ran 3 miles at a 10:32 pace.

Saturday: bike – SUCCESS! I rode 20 miles at about an 11 mph speed. I also realized, after looking back through my records, that it was the first time I had ridden 20 miles in a row since May 2008 (failed century ride, where I actually rode about 55 miles). I was so traumatized after that ride, that it was a few months before I did anything but bike commutes at all.

Sunday: run – 7 miles - SUCCESS! I actually ran 7.78 miles at just over 12 minute mile – all those cough stops really slowed me down. Thanks to my best running buddies for walking whenever I needed it! I have felt pretty good the rest of the day, though, and I really do believe that this cough is on its last legs.

Training Goals – 1/4 – 1/10

Monday: rest

Tuesday: weights + elliptical

Wednesday: run – 5 miles

Thursday: weights + elliptical

Friday: run – 5 miles

Saturday: swim lessons + bike if I’m not dead after my swim coach is done with me.

Sunday: run – 8 miles

January 2010 Goals!

Jan 2nd, 2010
by gazelle.
3 comments

I know this is crazy, coming on the heels of my 2010 goals, but I am going to continue to make smaller, monthly goals as well.

But first – to recap December

December Goals

  1. Slowly build up the exercise until I’m back in the pre-marathon saddle. – I started to get hear, but was derailed by the cough that wouldn’t die. I am feeling better about my fitness capacity though. Bring on the marathon training!
  2. Run 76.25 miles (that will give me a 2009 total of 800, which is double my 2008 total) – hmmm….I decided that my health & the ability to run in January was more important than making this goal. I still finished the month over 350 miles more than last year.
  3. Get all holiday cards & gifts out by 12/13 – More or less! Everything was packaged by then, and was mailed out that week.
  4. Finish both papers for my current course early (no procrastinating!) – They were both done in a timely manner! Go me!
  5. During my school break, declutter the kitchen/pantry (if you want some kitchen/pantry stuff, watch facebook for the ‘free shit’ announcements) – hmmm…..not as much as I’d hoped. I spent my school break actually relaxing, which was nice. Plus, I didn’t want to get carried away and not have anything to declutter for my 2010 year-long goal. :)

January 2010 Goals

  1. Eat clean & healthy 85% of the time. Foods should be real foods. Sugar, caffeine & alcohol should be limited. This is the chance to drop a few pounds before marathon training gets started.
  2. Wash face every night. (I know this is super lame, but I’ve gotten really lax with my face washing, and it’s starting to show. I just need to get back in the habit, and if I write it down, I’ll have to.)
  3. Practice appropriate stress management. (Appropriate =- baths, yoga, meditation CDs. Inappropriate = drinking a bottle of wine every night, holding up gas stations, kicking kittens.)
  4. Swim at least four times (once a week).
  5. Finalize marathon tattoo design & get the tattoo scheduled.

Happy 2010!

Ten Goals for 2010

Jan 1st, 2010
by gazelle.
2 comments

I don’t really want to call them New Year’s Resolutions, because I think that has such a negative connotations. These are goals that I have for the year. Many of them are gifts to myself – the gift of knowledge or health. I’ll let you know at the end of the year how they went, and if I achieve any of the goals early, I’ll let you know that, too!

  1. Run 1,000 miles (or at the very least, more miles than 2009)
  2. Go the entire year w/o triggering my automatic overdraft protection (I’ve been pretty good about this lately, so I KNOW I can do it if I’m careful).
  3. Read 52 (non-school, new) books. (I hit my 52 for 2009 over the weekend, and although I know that I’ll be in school ALL of 2010, instead of just half like 2009, I think I can do it. I read a LOT on the bus.)
  4. Throw out/donate/recycle at least one item per week. (This is crucial. I hate clutter & other crap, and I am starting to accumulate. I have a closet that frankly frightens me – I’ll have to post a picture.)
  5. Complete at least two triathlons. (I have one for sure on the schedule, and then a couple others that are maybes. I’m pretty excited for this goal, though!)
  6. Half marathon PR. (Ideally, I will be coming in at close to two hours in one of my later-in-the-year half marathons, but anything under 2:14 would be a PR and would be AWESOME!)
  7. A’s in all core classes. (I think I can do this if I work really hard. Only about every other class is a CORE class, and ideally I’ll get A’s in ALL my classes, but I’m trying not to get too crazy with the goals.)
  8. Be able to do 3 pull-ups in a row by December 31, 2010. (For real. Right now, I can do approximately zero. Even with the assisted pull-up thingie at the gym, I can only lift about 1/3 of my body weight. LAME!)
  9. End the year ten pounds lighter than I started it. (This shouldn’t be too hard, really. Ten pounds in one year? What with the running, biking, swimming & weights, I feel like if I’m careful with the food intake, I’ll be able to drop that amount.)
  10. Do at least six volunteer activities. (This can be anything from volunteering at a race, to planting trees with the Friends of Trees to whatever else comes up.)

Do you make annual goals? Do you write them down, or just keep them all secret? Do you want to share any?

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