Weighing In Update and Making Plans

I had my 1st nutrition check in yesterday and I am happy to report some good results………..


Drumroll please……

You already knew I was down 7 lbs, but I also lost 9.67 inches! These inches were lost in my shoulders, waist, hips and thighs – I am so excited! I was a little bummed that I didn’t make a ton of progress in lowering my body fat percentage, but it did decrease so that’s progress. The doc is going to make some minor adjustments to my menus to increase the protein and decrease the carbs just a bit. He was super pleased with the results as well, and said I was about a week ahead of schedule. Whoot!

This is true...trust me, I've tried!!!

I am looking into doing some additional strength training to help reduce the body fat, so I checked the internet for the Crossfit places (“boxes”) near me. Can you believe there are 5 less than 10 miles from my house? Crazy! I *think* I found one that I will really like and they have CF Endurance, which seems to allow for training for running distance races. I am concerned a bit about trying Crossfit though…from what I’ve heard, it sounds as if there might be some exercises that could potentially be bad for my still achy hip. For those who have been to CF, please feel free to chime in here.

Another alternative is TRX. There is a class offered at the doc’s office and I have to admit, after doing a bit of research on this, I am intrigued! So here’s what I am thinking – there is a special deal on the TRX classes (“bootcamp”) where you get a pretty good price for 12 classes. I’d go 2x per week, so that would be 6 weeks. I am thinking of doing this first and then making a switch to CF after that.  My main goal here is to strengthen my core and non-running muscles to hopefully prevent future hip issues.

As for races, I have been going back and forth on this for awhile now. I can run again without causing too much trouble to my hip. But, I am running very slow and taking walk breaks. I’ll admit, I am being super paranoid and overly cautious. I would rather be overly cautious than experience the pain I did in Dec/Jan, and be out another few months! So, I did enter the lotto for the Houston ½ Marathon with a group of my running peeps. And guess what? WE GOT IN!

But, I wanted to Disney – specifically the Goofy Challenge – this year (Jan 2012). After our family vacation to Disney, the trip to NYC, the Kiddo’s birthday and Christmas, we just did not feel it was in the budget so soon. This turned out to be a good thing, since I had the hip injury! So, I have a couple of friends running Disney in 2013 and I thought that it would be awesome to go and do Goofy with them. Plus, it’s the 25th anniversary of the Disney Marathon, so there’s going to be lots of hoopla surrounding that and a super cool medal.

The problem here?

1) Disney is the same weekend as Houston! Doh! I could defer Houston, but then I have to pay for it 2x.

2) I don’t think I should subject my hip to a full marathon, much less a full marathon on one day and a ½ marathon on the next day!

3) I could go and just do the ½…but to be honest, I’ve always wanted to do Goofy and that seems like a long way to travel for a ½.

4) The hubby just signed up for IMTX…this means that he could not do the races with me and to be honest, with the costs related to an IM distance race, it is not in our budget for us to both travel there.

So, maybe Disney will be on the agenda for 2014. I hope so!

I have also tried to decide how quickly I should “race” again. Let’s face it, after my injury I have no dreams of a PR this year. I am still in that “I’m just happy to be running at all” mode. I am not pushing my pace at all, I am not doing speedwork and I am not doing hill training. I refuse. Because of this, I am reluctant to sign up for any races at all.

So this is what I am doing – signing up for races that sound like fun, have nice bling, races I’ve never done, etc. There is a series of races here that consists of two 10K distance races and a ½ marathon. When you complete all 3 of these races, you receive a special medal (so 4 medals in all). The Hubs and I both thought this would be a fun challenge. The races all include bridges, so it makes them a little tougher for those of us used to training on flat land – because of this, I imagine that I will be doing some walking! And, the friend who got me started in this running craziness is making her comeback to running with these races, so we can keep each other company!  Ugh, I know I made this pact with myself to not be complacent when it comes to running, but shit happens.  Right?  Really, at this point I AM JUST HAPPY TO BE RUNNING AT ALL! Seriously, a few months ago, I was wondering if running would be in my future at all.  Yes, I still long for those shiny new PRs...but let's face it, this is not my year for that!

I am also considering doing the Ten for Texas and using it as more of a training run. It’s located just a few minutes from my house, I have lots of friends who are doing it and they have an awesome post race party…seems like a no-brainer to me.

Finally, I am trying to decide if I want to get in one triathlon before the season is over (sprint distance of course). I am really on the fence here. The one race on the radar is TriGirl – it’s a smaller, very low key, all-women race. A mere 300 yd swim, 11 mile bike and 3 mile run. The only problem with triathlons is that I get off my bike and I want to run crazy fast (And I mean “fast” by my standards). My runs after the bike are always faster. Can I actually walk/run this? Maybe. And, I have to admit, I have not been to the pool much. I have major issues getting my butt to the pool. Can I swim this? Perhaps.

So those are my plans so far for the remainder of the year!

What are your plans for the rest of the year?  What are your thoughts on CrossFit and TRX?