Thursday, December 18, 2008

At the Gym

I've made it twice to the gym so far this week and put in 30 minutes on the eliptical trainer, getting lots of looks from fellow gym members as my belly portrudes. Then I go down to the weight floor and either push myself on arms or leg lifts. It feels great, and my back is much better. I read that perhaps the baby was just sitting on my sciatic nerve and now she has moved, which makes things much nicer. I also went walking early I think on Saturday morning and got to know our frosty neighborhood. Walking outdoors when it is in the 30s and foggy is a delight, although most folks here think it is way too cold!

I weigh 190 pounds with 69 days or so to go. My goal is to stay below 200 pounds if I can, which will take some exercise. I was 227 or so pounds when I birthed Lincoln.

Sunday, December 07, 2008

Today's Numbers

I met with a trainer and she gave me a weight training routine to do along with cardio, three times a week. I am 80 days from having this baby and have gained around 27 pounds so far. This means I am likely on track to gain another 11 pounds before I'm done, which would put me at 38 pounds gained this pregnancy. This is much better than the 57 pounds gained with my first pregnancy but it is still a bit high.

SOOOOO, I'm planning on working out Sunday, Monday, and Wednesday of this week at the gym (20mins weights, 20-30 mins swim or walk). Then on Tues, Thurs, and Saturdays I can either take a Yoga class or just take it easy and go for a nice walk to my Moms.

Baby girl is active and happy and my back pain isn't as bad when I recognize when I am tired and stop lifting kids into my loving arms. I need to get my sleep so that I can perhaps walk or workout in the mornings before I lose our one car to Nate (who uses it to commute to work from Noon to 9pm) which leaves me stranded in the evenings.

I love the weather here in Sacramento though for working out! There really aren't any days that are impossible for running. No ice covered streets. I remember doing one such run last year (see my blog entitled "I did the Iditorod.") that was in freezing cold temperatures and on ice covered roads. I think the coldest it might get here is 35 degrees this winter, and I used to love days like that in KC in the winter for running. Hey it was over freezing, that was warm after two weeks where it had been close to 15 degrees or less. Usually it is in the 50s here with a really nice crisp fog in the morning. No rain, no ice, no snow. I wish I could run!!!! I'll just have to get my butt out of bed and walk.

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Still Focused

Thanks to my brother-in-law I have a new long-term fitness goal, that being to train and run in the Hood to Coast relay in record pace (for me) in August 2009. This will be 6 months after having my baby girl in late Feb 09. As of right now I can walk a 5k, but no longer run it, just due to the weight on my joints of the pregnancy. My heart and lungs miss the cardio and I have jogged a good 1/2 mile recently to get my heart rate above 130 which felt marvelous. It was at night jogging in Old Sacramento and I felt I could go forever, but was cut short due to time.

So I need to stay in at least decent shape until my baby's birth and then return to running as soon as possible afterwards. My left hip is still an issue and with the additional weight of the pregnancy fatigues easily after a day of picking up a 20 lb 5 month old (my nephew) and his brother a 2 1/2 year old with a broken ankle (40 lbs). This week I've gone to a yoga class every other day and either walked 2 miles on the treedmill (with hill inclines) or swam a 1/2 mile in the pool. I find that my weight stays down the more I walk though, so I need to keep this as the focus of my exercise even though swimming and yoga are nicer on my hip. Wish me luck.

My goal for the Hood to Coast is to run my 15 miles or so in record pace for me, pushing it down to close to 10 min miles! I used to be able to run at a 9 min mile pace in 2003, which was when before bearing two kids and pushing over age 30, so lets see what staying focused will do.

Go Red Carpet Warriors...Hood to Coast here we come!

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Already Gaining Fast

According to my midwife I'm gaining too fast for her liking since she doesn't like my starting weight. Dispite my numerous explanations of my BMI according to my trainer before pregnancy, she is still concerned.

When I ask her what else she wants me to change though she says she guesses I'm doing all I can to stay fit and healthy. I say, whatever, I'm still going to end up much lighter then I was with Lincolnso I'm not worried. Nursing tends to bring down my weight quick anyways.

And I hit a new PR in swimming the 1/2 mile with a 22:35 time!
And I walked 5 miles today.

So there!

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Still Exercising

I'm in my 5th month of pregnancy and have gained around 14 pounds so far, not bad.
So I'm trying to gain only 9 more by the time I'm done which is hard work to stay that low.

I swim 800 meters every other night and play raquetball on other nights or go for walks. The swimming is the best. My leg feels healed and with swimming it never gets aggravated. One thing I CANNOT due is pick up my nephew or son too much as carrying that extra 30-40 pounds really messes with my lower back and my left leg injury.

My current pregnant PR for swimming 800 meters, or 1/2 mile is 23:07.

Wish me luck.

Sunday, July 06, 2008

New 5k PR

On the 4th of JULY I ran a local flat 5k in 32:45. This is a new PR for me at least
now that I am over 30. This means I ran it in an average of 10:33 min/mile. This is
great for me as I've been slower then 11 minute miles for some time and it means I am on
pace to do well in the relay later this month.

Friday, May 23, 2008

Running Out and Back

I ran two nights ago with Nate = around 3 miles.

Tonight here was my pace on another run. I'm working on my speed right now.
All legs are .25 miles in length.

1) 2:43
2) 2:36
3) 2.32
4) 2.20
Mile One: 10:12:59
5) 2.44
6) 2.23
7) 2.30
8) 2.38
Mile Two: 10:15
9) 2.49
10) 3.06
11) 3:02
12) 3 minute walk break
13) 2.33
Mile Three: 11:30 (if you subtract the walk break)

So I ran the first two miles a blistering pace (that is for me) at 20.29.13
According to the Air Force fitness standards I now have a passing two mile pace for my age group! Go for me. I had to hit somewhere between 20:30 and 15:48...so this is just passing. I will keep trying to maintain this speed over three miles. Right now my third mile slowed way down to a 12 minute pace, which made my average pace over three miles close to 10 min 40 seconds, which is right where my brother Will wants me for the relay in July. Now maintaining this pace for three legs and despite hills or other tough conditions (like after not sleeping and being on my third leg in 24 hours) is quite another matter.

I would also like to meet the Air Force Standard for push ups for women my age which is between 17 and 50 guy pushups! Right now I could probably squeeze out perhaps 9 or 10. I'll have to work on that.

Friday, May 09, 2008

My New Focus

I felt too sick with a head cold to participate in the triathlon with my brother, though I was there to cheer him on.

I am now focused on training for the Pacific Northwest relay, where I will run 3 legs of around 3 miles within 24 hours on July 25th.

I am also focused on how God might be calling me back to being an at-home Mom after my job ends in July.

Lots of refocusing, but this is a good time.
Keep us in your prayers as we are in a decision time regarding where to go after my job ends (we know we are are called to move back to the West Coast, but what part is still up in the air).

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Relay Race Results



We got back from Holly's wedding in California and then got up at 4:30am the next day to make it to the church. We got our three teams broken apart into three vehicles and all made it to the starting line by 6am. After the first handoff everyone got really excited as they began to realize how fun the day was going to be, cheering each other on and running a race as a team.

The course was poorly marked at some points and leg distance had been changed overnight, which made some beginning walkers have to travel far greater and more difficult distances than were planned. They all had good spirits though and often we would slow our team to a walk to stick with the other teams if we were about to pass them. This race wasn't about winning, it was about community building and finishing, while racing in honor of one of our pastors that has Cystic Fybrosis.

I ran both my legs, a total of around 10 miles, at an 11 minute pace. I likely started out a bit faster and ended a bit slower, but I felt fantastic at the end. I could have run another leg if necessary, although my blood sugar was a bit low, as I didn't drink much Gatorade throughout the run. I didn't walk one second of it!

My second leg was along the levee heading into Lawrence, Kansas with farm land on my right. It was beautiful. I got to finish the race for my team of 5 women. In the end all the teams finished the 43 to 45 mile race (depends on whether you got lost, we did) in about 8 hours! About a 10 min, 40 second pace. We had some walkers and some fast runners and some slower runners like me. And together we went the distance. Over half of each team was folks who had never done a road race before. They are all jazzed about next year, and now better understand that you need to be in training for something like this.

Here are some pics of the fun day above. The first is of all the team members, plus Dylan our pastor and his wife Shannon. The second is of my starting out on my second leg. I finished this leg with just my sports bra as it got up to 75 with no shade around the final two miles.

I am now training to complete a sprint triathlon with my brother Eddie in Sacramento on April 27th. Wish me luck.

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Ran 5 Miles By Accident

I was showing Nate and old Out-and-Back course yesterday from back when I was training for my marathon. I was sure it was 2 miles out and then 2 miles back. However when we were close to 3 miles out Nate was wise to ask if we were running to far. I then remembered that this route was actually a 4 mile out and back course. I guess marathon training does something to your head and you start thinking an 8 mile run is a short run.

Luckily we turned at around the 2.5 or more mile point and made it back in time for Lincoln to play on the slides at the playground. I pushed myself to stay close to Nate's pace, while Nate was handicapped a bit with a 25 pound toddler in a stroller (I like that ;-)). We estimated we ran 5 miles in around 53 minutes, which for me is fantastic! Exactly on pace with where Will wants me to be by July. I'll have my Timex watch on next time I run to get a better picture of my true speed. I've already run 10 miles this week and I'm only half way done, and feeling great! Now I need to stretch out my left leg before it gets all jammed up again.

Friday, March 14, 2008

Running Away Again

In preparation for my 10 miles in a local relay race on April 6th. I put in 5 miles earlier this week and another 2 miles a few days ago. The day after I run I then have to do some yoga stretching in order to keep my plantar fasciitis in check. As long as I really stretch out my entire left leg I seem to be doing fine.

This routine of running and yoga has been a great relaxing one for me and it is also helpful to have Nate running with me as he is training for the same relay race. Since we formed the team out of friends from church we are surprisingly some of the best runners on the team (this year I recruited a bunch of walkers and joggers). One guy told me last night that he hadn't run in over 15 years, so when he tried to run 4 out of this 8 goal miles a few days ago he didn't make that far and is sore today (surprise surprise). This puts a little more pressure on Nate and I to truly run our entire 10 miles (broken into so legs of 5 miles).

Even so, I am excited to coach a team of friends who is really just doing the relay race due to the vision of the race (it is for Cystic Fibrosis and our pastor has this disease and is in fact sick this week). If you want to support our two relay teams in this endeavor just make checks out to the CF Foundation and send them my way before April 6th. Isn't that how I got into running. I had a vision a few years before my marathon that I should be running in memory of my Dad to stay in shape and choose that life while I had the chance to honor him. He never really choose the fit life while he was here and I am sure he regrets that.

Another motivator is that I gave my scale away! Yes, you heard me right. At church we are supposed to bring something symbolic to leave behind during the Lenten season and leave it on the stage of the church. I brought my scale. I had been weighing myself at least once a day and this behavior was so routine that my 18-month-old son knew how to weigh himself by stepping on and then off and then back on the scale again. He is 25 pounds by the way, what a little porker - actually that is skinny for his age. Anyway, I am healthy and I know my body fat ratio is in a healthy range so I decided obsessing about my weight is only making it harder to loose any and I should relish my current fitness level for the positives I mentioned in an earlier post. I've come a long way and if you need me to run a 10k or due 15 guy push ups I could do that on the spot. Not many folks can say that! So who cares what the scale says.

To answer Dad's question on my last post my next two road races are relays. I love running with teams. The second relay race will be with my Woodward relatives running about a 1/2 marathon spread out over 3 legs and 24 hours. I get to run one at around 11pm and then another around 6am. How fun!
AND

Monday, March 03, 2008

I Did the Itidarod

It’s unlike any other event in the world. A race over 1,150 miles of the most extreme and beautiful terrain known to man: across mountain ranges, frozen rivers, dense forests, desolate tundra and windswept coastline...and I did it!

Okay, not the real Alaskan Itidarod Dog sledding race, but I just did my own Winter Endurance Test. With warm coffee and a fire in the fireplace tempting me to stay inside, not mention Nate's fresh muffins, I layered on many layers and headed out into the 15 degree windchill. I ran my own Alaskan wilderness race through freezing wind, putting in my 3 mile training run, in preparation for the Brew to Brew relay race in April.

And I was greeted by my own beautiful terrain, as the solo runner through the neighborhood. Stars flickered in a jet black sky above and their light filtered through the old oak trees that lined the streets. The old trolley trail crunched with the sound of frozen mud under my feet and I skated out an back again. I did it! It think this was my best endurance feat of the winter, and it was truly all mental. I didn't even mention that I have cold-induced asthma. Time for that inhaler, a nice hot shower, and a few muffins.

Keep trekkin!
Sarah

Monday, February 11, 2008

Swimming with Lincoln

Tonight Lincoln and I talked our way into the YMCA (since my membership is on hold till March 1st) and we went swimming AND played on the slide. Lincoln tried to say "water" and "slide." He was very excited and he is a very big boy. Climbing up the play set to the slide without my help.

Sometimes it is fun to just be a kid again by being active with a kid. God please protect all the kids in this world. I wish they all had a safe adult to just play with.

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

My BMI

My brother Will challenged me to question the numbers a bit more.
The YMCA did a BMI height and weight calculator that stated I was at 27.1 in my BMI - which is overweight. They also did a 7-pinch Jackson-Pollack test but didn't explain it well to me. Nate found a place on line for me to enter my pinch results-
http://www.linear-software.com/online.html.
Luckily I'm pretty small on all my waist-up measurements, leading to a BMI of 23.6, which is considered normal or ideal for my frame!

Yipee. I guess buff muscles lead to me weighing more - but I love being strong! It is easier to pick up my baby and throw him that way - Lincoln, not Nate - but someday maybe Nate ;-).

Sunday, January 27, 2008

RE: Official Results

I had an official fitness test at the YMCA today, my first since this time last year. I found out that I'm actually officially 5 feet 4 inches tall, yipes, an inch and a half shorter than I have always thought. This means my healthy goal weight should be lower than I thought; it should be somewhere in the range of 110 (which is what I weighed in 4th grade - impossible) and 145 (which is what I weighed my Senior year of college). Basically back during my Freshman year of college when I was running a lot and could do 35 pushups, and weighed 127 pounds and thought I was fat - I was actually at an ideal weight for my frame.

So even though I still have some weight to still loose, like at least 18 pounds to at most around 30 pounds (sigh), the GOOD news is how far I have come.

I had a fitness test 6 weeks after having my son Lincoln in Oct. 2006 and can now compare those results to my results today - and I am happy! So in 16 months since Lincoln has learned how to walk and communicate and I have grown as well.

Positive changes since 6 weeks after labor:
  • I've lost 32 pounds
  • I've lowered my fat weight by 38% and achieved an average lean body mass rating.
  • I've lowered my BMI from 33 to 27.
  • I've increased my maximum bench press from 110 lbs (well below average) to 140 lbs. (well above average).
  • I've increased my maximum leg press from 220lbs (below average) to 300 lbs (well above average).
  • My cardiovascular health is rated as average after being well below average after my pregnancy.
  • And I am well above average in flexibility as I can reach over 7 inches past my toes!
Onward and upward I must say. This is not a time for stopping. Time to keep forging ahead.

Wish me luck.

Saturday, January 05, 2008

Weight Lifting but not Losing



So I guess if you lift lots of weights you don't necessarily loose weight, unless you were really overweight to begin with. You just make your overall fat to muscle ratio better. I haven't posted a new weight because I have continued to waver around my Oct weight despite all the P90X workouts I've been doing. But I had to show these somewhat embarrassing photos to brag a bit about my arm muscles. I definately feel stronger and can almost do 10 guy pushups now!

I want to hit the next three weeks with a vengeance and really finish this 90 days strong, then i can start over again and this time actually do the diet right as well. My goal this year is to still get down to my goal weight.

I am down to size10 or 12 pants and that feels great. So even though my weight has stayed the same, I know I've lost around 2 inches in my waist, and a 1/2 inch around the hips. I'll just take it a day at a time and we will see where I end up.

Tuesday, January 01, 2008

Variety and Holiday Chocolate

I had ten days in Seattle and made sure to go running four days, and cross country or down hill skied on two days. The other four days I rested. The last few weeks before this long break from work I wasn't able to work out much at all due to illness and extra long hours at work. I should be on day 70 of the 90 day workout program I've been trying. But I really feel behind. However, this break was a fun way to enjoy my new fitness. I have never felt less sore after skiing two days in a row, and I wasn't sore at all after running with my friend Cara three days in a row over the hills of Seattle. By the end of my winter break we were able to speed up our run by around 2 minutes, so that we ran it in around 35 minutes instead of 37. I think it was around 3 miles.

I still have a lot of work to do to continue on this path I've started down. Some goals for this year are to fit in the size 12 dress for my dear friend Holly's wedding in April. To do this I need to loose two inches around the waist, and four around the hips by then. I also want to increase the push ups I can do, and perhaps even complete my first pull up sometime this year. Thanks friends for cheering me forward.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Feel free to post your goals here as well.