Category: Fighting the Limp

2/2: Cedar Park Volkssport Walk

Cedar Park Volkssport Walk

Not a lot of blogging about walks recently, huh? Let’s just say the binging urge has been stronger than the walking one lately. I really need to find a way to turn that around as I’ve gained 10 pounds and am freaking out a bit. Last Saturday, however, I did go on a rather long (but very slow) walk in Cedar Park. The Brushy Creek Trail is a wonderful place to walk. It wasn’t super crowded, alternated between paved and non and was quite pleasant. I highly recommend it!

Info from Endomondo:

Photoson flickr or view the slideshow:

(I just took a few photos.)

Photo finish

Finished my first half-marathon!

After my first half-marathon with my wonderful walking coach!

1/27: First half

Well, I did it. I did a half-marathon. That’s the short story, here’s the long one…

St Mary's Campus

Saturday, I drove to San Antonio and did a Volkssport event. It was on the St Mary’s campus – which is quite lovely, but the weather was awful so I didn’t take any photos other than the one above (with my cell phone). I only did the 5k version since I was going to be walking so much Sunday. I walked with a lovely older woman from Germany who’s travelled all over the world. It was great listening to her share about the places she’d been. Her favorite place? Northern Thailand.

After that, I had to hoof it down to Sugar Land as quickly as possible to pick up my marathon packet before they closed the pick-up site. I made it with 15 minutes to spare. Woot! Then it was off to my friend’s apt, a side-trip to Lush! and dinner at The Hobbit (Blackened Tilapia yumminess).

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Early the next morning (very early), I headed back to Sugar Land for the race. I met up with Christine – a very nice lady from the AustinFit training group I’d been walking with. She offered to walk with me to: make sure I didn’t start out too fast and to encourage me to finish. Since she was walking with a broken toe and dealing with a very severe illness, there was no way I could wimp-out while she was still going. She was a fantastically helpful walking partner: doing her best to keep me calm about finishing within our set 4 hour limit (and the limit for the Austin Half) and encouraging me to keep going. Who knows if I would have made it without her. Thank you, Christine.

At about mile 10, I started having the weird heart things again – my heart rate was slowing down rapidly and then speeding back up. Every time it slowed down, I’d get very, very dizzy. At one point, I had to step off the path and bend over a bit to get my equilibrium back.

The hip was…there. It started getting grumpy around mile 6. I took another anti-inflammatory. It started getting really grumpy at mile 9. After that, I was too distracted by the dizziness to let the hip bother me that much.

I can’t figure out my total chip time from the official results, but I know we were under 4 hours since my Endomondo time was under 4 and I started it before stepping on the mat and stopped it after the finish mat. (I think they just lopped 2 hours off my time.)

So, where does this leave me? I’m still not sure that I’m made for long distance walking. But I also keep asking myself: isn’t that what this is about? Pushing yourself to do things you didn’t think were otherwise possible? Should I keep pushing or do my usual when faced with a tough situation:
1. Whine
2. Whine a lot more
3. Try and find a short-cut solution
4. More whining
5. In the absence of said short-cut solution, quit

Should this be the time when I refuse to quit? When I don’t look for a short-cut but instead keep plugging away? I don’t know. But I do know, I have a medal! (And it can double as a bottle opener – bonus!)

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Info from Endomondo:

(We won’t talk about how I spent the rest of the day eating away the good I did my body/fitness with the walk….)

1/19: AustinFit Group walk

Saturday we had a very long walk planned for the half-marathon training walk: 12.8 miles. I got there having just had a few hours of sleep thanks to overnight tennis on TV (darn the time difference between the US and Australia). Once again, about 9 miles in, I felt like I’d had enough. The last bit had me miserable and grumpy. One of my fellow walkers said that I go out too fast. I don’t feel like I’m walking too fast at the start. The early pace is okay for shorter walks, but perhaps not the long ones. She’s going to try and help me pace better next weekend when I participate in the USA FIT Half Marathon. I’ll need to because if I walk in the Austin marathon like I did on Saturday, I won’t finish before the cut off time.

It’s hard to feel as bad as I did at the end of this walk and not feel like I’m failing. I keep having to remind myself that 2 years ago, I had a hard time doing a 5K. Having problems walking 12.8 miles is a huge improvement.

Info from Endomondo:

Info from HRM:
Effect: Fitness and max performance improving
Calories: 1284
Percent of calories fat: 26%
Heart rate average: 127 bpm
Maximum heart rate: 153 bpm

The rest of the week…

Aside from the ones I blogged about, I did two more walks this week – my Thursday hill walk and a neighborhood walk today. The hill walk was another weird one. For some reason, that one’s often out of sorts. My heart monitor kept dropping out, but when it was working, it was showing my heart rate as being very high. Not sure I trust the readings.

Today I did a walk in my neighborhood. I got to the point where I usually cut across a park type area – it joins a park and a bridge that goes over MoPac. Sometimes, I go up over MoPac, but usually I just go over the slight hump to Shoal Creek. Today, however, I noticed a small dirt path that cut sharply up the hill to the bridge. I thought I’d give that a try. As I started to go up it, I realized it was steeper than I thought and that running it might actually be easier. Since it was dirt, my hip gave me the okay to run. (Well, I’m assuming it did – my brain answered for it.) Up I ran and boy was I out of breath by the time I got to the top. I then went down the hill on the paved path and when I got to the flat part, decided to turn and do the dirt path again. In all, I did it three times. By the third, my legs were a little jelly-like. I don’t want to mislead, it’s not a huge hill or something that would give really fit people a second notice, but I don’t care. I felt damn good about being able to run up that thing.

I’ve started a new thing in my Commitment Day diary. I’ve been putting little arrows next to each day – pointing up, down or just straight across. They are supposed to be a quick way to judge my progress when glimpsing through the diary. Up means food and exercise goals well met and I felt good. Straight across means I missed one of them or it just didn’t feel like a “progress made” day, but it wasn’t a downer either. Down could mean I failed both goals, or that I made one, but failed the other so miserably that it kind of wiped out the good of making the other. The summary for this week: 3 ups, 3 downs and one flat. (That is, if I can manage to not find a way to goof up today later one….evenings have been tough for me lately.)

Thursday hill walk:

HRM info:
Well, the bit it bothered to record (only about half the walk)
Effect: Maximal performance improving
Calories: 249
Percent of fat calories: 19%
Average heart rate: 123 BPM
Maximum heart rate: 163 BPM

Sunday walk:

HRM info:
Effect: Fitness improving
Calories: 620
Percent fat calories: 24%
Average heart rate: 130 BPM
Maximum heart rate: 164 BPM

Playlist:
Soul Coughing: Sleepless
4 Non Blondes: What’s Up
Smashing Pumpkins: Tonight, Tonight
Sex Pistols: Anarchy in the U.K.
Let’s Active: Route 67
John Doe: Grain of Salt
Peter Gabriel: The Drop
The Feelies: When Company Comes
Dead Kennedys: california uber alles
U2: Breathe
Death Cab for Cutie: Home Is A Fire
Paul Westerberg: Call That Gone?
R.E.M.: Letter Never Sent
Elvis Costello: Miss Macbeth
Bob Marley: Could You Be Loved
Elvis Costello: Last Boat Leaving
Pete Townshend: Cat’s In The Cupboard
The Clash: Lover’s Rock
Red Hot Chili Peppers: Around The World
Patti Smith: Nine
X: Drunk In My Past
X: Breathless
The Cure: Love Song
Kings of Leon: Pony Up
U2: Mothers Of The Disappeared
Nirvana: All Apologies

1/12: One day, two walks

Muddy

AustinFit Walk

This morning started with a shortened AustinFit Group walk. A lot of the group are walking a half marathon tomorrow, so needed to keep today short. Plus, some of us were going from the group walk down to San Marcos for a Volkssport walk, so we needed to keep it short too. It was supposed to be a 3 mile walk, but my GPS said it wasn’t even 2.5. Quick and easy despite the spitting rain!

Route and info:

HRM info:
Effect: Fitness and max performance improving
Calories: 226
Percent of calories fat: 25%
Average heart rate: 130
Max heart rate: 145

San Marcos Volkssport Walk

Then it was a quick drive down to San Marcos (I stopped in Buda to change clothes). The walk started at Aquarena Center. This used to be a cheesy tourist park when I was growing up, but now it’s a nature and research center (with a few touristy things to help with funding). The weather continued to be sucky (no rain, but the air felt like it was 100% water) which was a shame because the Spring Lake Natural Area is quite nice on a sunny, clear day. My walking buddy, Edwin, and I got a bit confused and ended up doing the second part of the walk first, but I liked that better. It put us in town and on the streets before traffic got to bad and it meant we ended up in the nature area – a much more peaceful end to the walk than all the construction filled streets! We were just walking, but I somehow came home with mud caked on the inside of my legs from my feet all the way up to my knees. Talent!

Route and info:

HRM info:
Effect: Fat burn improving
Calories: 339
Percent of calories fat: 46%
Average heart rate: 101
Max heart rate: 122

We are just going to skip over what I had to eat this afternoon. Let’s just say it wasn’t good – for me or my “no binge” goal.

1/6: Lampasas Volkssport walk

Sulphur Springs, Lampasas, TX

Sulphur Springs, Lampasas, TX

After the horrible AustinFit walk I had the day before, I decided I needed to get out and about in a relaxed and non goal-oriented way. Plus, I wanted to drive…someplace…fast. I love driving on the highway with music blaring while singing along at the top of my lungs. The weather was perfect, so off I went to the AVA website to find a nearby, but not too nearby walk. I looked through my options and picked Lampasas – a reasonably short drive on a highway that’s not often overly crowded. Turns out, it was the perfect decision.

The drive was just what I needed to pick up my mood. The lady in the hotel lobby where the walk box was stored was super nice. And, lastly, the walk was a good one. It was a bit odd how you keep winding around a few of the same streets, but it is a small town. There was some nice variety (big old houses, run down houses, rusty things – a favorite of mine – outdoor sculpture, springs and a cemetery) and I did mention the perfect weather, right? Next time you are in Lampasas, try the Sulfur Creek/Downtown AVA walk.

Route & Info via Endomondo:
(Including a few wrong turns…I think my dyslexia is getting worse!)

Info from HRM:
Effect: Fat burn improving
Intensity: almost all of the time in zone 1
Calories: 347
Percent fat calories: 48%
Average heart rate: 97
Maximum heart rate: 122

Photos:
Photos can be found here or watch the slide show:

1/5: AustinFit Training walk – the extended whine remix

Warning, what follows is basically an extended whine…done by someone who pretty much has no right to whine in the big scheme of things.

Today’s walk sucked. Really, really sucked. Part of the reason it sucked was that my digestive system was trying to deal with the binge I went on late last night. (I do not recommend eating mass quantities of high-fiber bars 10-12 hours before you plan on walking 10 miles.) Vertigo added to the suckiness. (Note to self: take vertigo meds before walking whether you think you’ll need it or not.) But, the biggest reason it sucked was because, emotionally, I just wasn’t up for it. In fact, I spent most of the walk wishing it would stop. Wishing I could stop. Wishing everything would stop.

  • I want to stop worrying that I’m going to binge (which I did when I got home, btw)
  • I want to stop worrying about food
  • I want to stop caring about how much I weigh
  • I want to stop caring about what I look like
  • I want to stop caring about what others think about the previous things
  • I want to stop feeling like crap because I can’t do the previous things
  • I want to stop letting stupid things ruin my days
  • I want to stop the fact that a gum-smacking co-worker can drive me totally insane and make me twitch with anger
  • I want to stop getting so angry at my cats for being, well, cats
  • I want to stop buying crap I don’t need
  • I want to stop eating sugar cookies
  • I want to stop eating
  • I want to stop this inability to concentrate on anything for more than 5 seconds
  • I want to stop dropping things
  • I want to stop forgetting things
  • I want to stop feeling like I’ve let everyone down
  • I want to stop feeling like I’ve let myself down
  • I want to stop being impatient
  • I want to stop being so impatient that when change doesn’t happen immediately, I give up
  • I want to stop disliking myself
  • I want to stop the fact that I want all this stuff to stop, but can’t seem to take the necessary actions to make that happen
  • I want to stop

I was reading some articles about dealing with and learning to control binge eating. One article said to do something that gives you joy every day. My first thought was, “Joy? That’s a pretty strong word.” My second thought was, “I can’t think of anything that truly gives me joy.” There’s some stuff I like…stuff I prefer, but joy? I’m not sure about that. Also, part of my darn problem is that I tend to do what I want and never do the stuff I should do. I live in a dark messy house because I’m too lazy to clean or even replace the light bulbs that have blown out. Can I work some joy into that? Or am I too busy just wanting shit to stop?

1/1: Commitment Day 5K

Commitment Day 5K

I was going to start my year with a midnight Volkssport walk in Fredericksburg, but got a little worried about doing the solo drive home at 2 something in the morning. So I signed up for the Commitment Day 5K instead. It turned out to be a coldish and dreary day for a walk, but that didn’t stop me from motoring along. I did one mile 14.28 minutes! That might be my fastest yet.

Scariest thing I saw: toddler fell out of stroller, dad leaned down, grabbed kid’s wrist and kind of flung him back in the stroller all without breaking stride. Seemed like it was a routine thing for them. Might want to strap that tot in next time!

I’m now back home and in my PJs. Not a bad way to start a new year.

Route

Info per Endomondo
Distance 3.06 mi
Duration 45m:12s
Avg. Speed 4.1 mph
Max. Speed 5.3 mph
Calories 356 kcal
Hydration 0.10L
Min. Altitude 380 ft
Max. Altitude 478 ft
Total Ascent 214 ft
Total Descent 203 ft

HRM Info
Effect: Maximal performance improving
Time per zone: 45 minutes in zone 3; 3:48 in zone 2; 4:35 in zone 1
Calories burned: 425
Fat calories: 12%
Average heart rate: 149bmp
Max heart rate: 163

12/29: AustinFit training walk

Today’s walk was somewhat against medical advice. After two weird heart rate incidents (one where it dropped rapidly to very, very low and one where it was running high for no reason), I went to my doctor who, in turn, referred me to a cardiologist. (I’ll see the heart doctor in January.) I asked the doctor if it was okay for me to do this weekend’s 11 mile group walk. He said that it wasn’t dangerous, but if I had another rapid rate change, I’d be very uncomfortable and, therefore, he couldn’t recommend it. But…after the week I’d had, I felt the need to get back on track. Skipping a group walk would be big emotional hit for me. So, I went. I didn’t go fast (in fact, I’m not sure I’d make it through the half-marathon before the course closes at this pace), but I did it.

If the old me had seen the current me waiting in the parking lot to start the walk, she would have been pointing and laughing. I was wearing: one long sleeved shirt, one short sleeved shirt, one track jacket, leggings, shorts, wool socks, tennis shoes, mondo mittens (complete with inserted hand-warmers), headband and beanie cap….and I was still shivering! I figured I’d take stuff off as I got warm walking. I finished the 11 miles with everything still on.

I stopped at the grocery store on the way home since I was out of yogurt. I need yogurt to get my day started! I manged to make it out of the store without any of those Lofthouse cookies or discount Christmas candy finding their way into my cart. But I was still shivering! It took a good soak in super hot water (with lots of Epsom salt) to finally get warm. Blissfully warm.

Also, thanks to a suggestion by TARfly Martha, I used the Charity Miles app to track my walk and raise money for Autism Speaks – how cool is that? So, in addition to improving my fitness, earning credit at Walgreens via their program, I’m also raising money for charity.

Route:

Info from Endomondo:
Distance 11.60 mi
Duration 3h:05m:33s
Avg. Speed 3.8 mph
Max. Speed 7.2 mph
Calories 1280 kcal
Hydration 0.36L
Min. Altitude 420 ft
Max. Altitude 699 ft
Total Ascent 861 ft
Total Descent 961 ft

HRM info
Effect: Fitness improving
Intensity: 16 mins in zone 3; 1:55 in zone 2; 1:14 in zone 3
Calories: 919
Calories Fat: 30%
Average heart rate: 122bpm
Maximum heart rate: 152bpm

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