I found I haven't been drinking my morning mud lately. Just kind of petered out and stopped on its own. No craving for it, nada.
strange.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Wednesday morning
I've been pretty level on the sleep front.
Right now I'm behind on exercise again. I needed to go friday, but didn't. I wanted to go yesterday, but couldn't due to an appointment. I'm really not going to go when it is wet out like today... but I am really excited to bike to work so we'll see how much of a setback this is in a few days.
Time to eat breakfast and pack snacks for the day.
Right now I'm behind on exercise again. I needed to go friday, but didn't. I wanted to go yesterday, but couldn't due to an appointment. I'm really not going to go when it is wet out like today... but I am really excited to bike to work so we'll see how much of a setback this is in a few days.
Time to eat breakfast and pack snacks for the day.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Crappy food makes me feel
LIKE CRAP!
Yesterday I was helping my cousin andrew haul a new (for them) couch to his place. No problem. It was a sleeper sofa. uh-oh! So we finally got it in his place - had to prop it on end to make it around a few corners and decided to sit down and play some old school video games - herzog zwei on the sega genesis. I was there for maybe 6-8 hours and ate what was available consisting of...
7-up
A whole bunch of cheese left over from wine night.
A whole bunch of potato chips.
This is the first time I've fallen off the wagon concerning white carbs since I started writing in this blog, and all I can say is that I was useless beyond reckoning for several hours. Andrew kept asking me if I wanted to play chess, and I kept telling him no until many hours later when the malaise wore off.
Sleep - in bed at 9:52, up at 5 am. PERFECTION!
Yesterday I was helping my cousin andrew haul a new (for them) couch to his place. No problem. It was a sleeper sofa. uh-oh! So we finally got it in his place - had to prop it on end to make it around a few corners and decided to sit down and play some old school video games - herzog zwei on the sega genesis. I was there for maybe 6-8 hours and ate what was available consisting of...
7-up
A whole bunch of cheese left over from wine night.
A whole bunch of potato chips.
This is the first time I've fallen off the wagon concerning white carbs since I started writing in this blog, and all I can say is that I was useless beyond reckoning for several hours. Andrew kept asking me if I wanted to play chess, and I kept telling him no until many hours later when the malaise wore off.
Sleep - in bed at 9:52, up at 5 am. PERFECTION!
Saturday, April 26, 2008
sleep notes
Thursday night I went to bed at 8:30 (!). I figured if I waited till 10 I'd be in 'I dun wanna go to bed' mode so I let myself go to sleep cause it wanted to.
Friday I got up at 5, went to bed at 11:30.
Saturday I got up at 7:30.
Friday I got up at 5, went to bed at 11:30.
Saturday I got up at 7:30.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Seafair triathlon
Here are my stats from two years ago:
33 M
2:11:54 overall time
82 div place
0:22:55 swim time
1087 place
7:06 bike tran time
0:59:08 bike time
1219 place
2:33 Run tran time
1213 Overall place after bike
0:40:12 Run time
1199 place... this is the run place, there is no overall place?
Seattle, WA
Lots of room for improvement.
33 M
2:11:54 overall time
82 div place
0:22:55 swim time
1087 place
7:06 bike tran time
0:59:08 bike time
1219 place
2:33 Run tran time
1213 Overall place after bike
0:40:12 Run time
1199 place... this is the run place, there is no overall place?
Seattle, WA
Lots of room for improvement.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
EWG.org
For the first time in my life, I seem to be getting along with food geeks. I'm not sure if it is because I am meeting moderate food geeks, because my attitude has changed, or if food geeks in general have learned that educating people like me is a lot more effective than telling me I am wrong. Of course - it may be that I'm talking about 2/2 people and don't have a large enough sample size...
I met a vegan named Ann at movie night last night... She explained some of the things I have scoffed at in terms that I am not scoffing at. Anyway she handed me the url for a website to check out - http://www.ewg.org/. I am just starting to check it out and will add notes as I accumulate them, but lets start with tuna:
I eat a lot of tuna. It is a very fast easy fill'er'up meal. Well, after reading this, I don't think I want to buy tuna once I run out:
http://www.ewg.org/tunacalculator?lbs=205&sex=male
Ann had a card which itemized the "dirty dozen" of produce - gives a good focus on what produce items I need to care about buying organic compared to others. Two of my favorites - apples and bell peppers rank 2nd and 3rd worst. Damn. http://www.foodnews.org/ - odd, not sure why ewg directly links another site like that...
After looking at the data for the dirty dozen - I don't agree with the way they rank them - and fortunately for me, they provide enough data where I can sort them the way I find most logical.
Their method: They aggregate the scores for percentage of samples with detectable pesticides, two or more pesticides, average number of pesticides found - etc. Well they have a number for average amount in ppm of all pesticides found, and if you ask me THAT number is really the only one with consequence:
That said, here is an example, bell peppers, which changed considerably:
My Rank: 22
Old Rank: 3 (third worst out of 45)
Sweet Bell Peppers
Combined Score: 86 (this is where I think they're being silly)
Detectable Pesticides: 81.50%
Two or More Pesticides: 62.20%
Average # of Pesticides: 2.4
Average total pesticides PPM: 0.138 (this is the number I think is important)
Max # of pesticides found: 11
# pesticides found on commodity: 64
The last 20 items ranked on pesticides PPM have considerably less pesticides than the others at 0.057ppm or less, so I'll use this as my "safe enough" group.
Cucumbers, Mango, Grapefruit, Papaya, Carrots, Tomatoes, Bananas, Cantaloupe, Asparagus, Watermelons, Winter Squash, Eggplant, Honeydew Melon, Sweet Peas - Frozen, Sweet Corn - Frozen, Cauliflower, Broccoli, Pineapples, Avocado, Onions (carrots go from 13 to 30 this way).
The worst ranked using my method is Potatoes, Spinach, Peaches, Raspberries, and Apples.
Ooooh, cool article! --> http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24230246/?pg=10#dtl_toxic
I met a vegan named Ann at movie night last night... She explained some of the things I have scoffed at in terms that I am not scoffing at. Anyway she handed me the url for a website to check out - http://www.ewg.org/. I am just starting to check it out and will add notes as I accumulate them, but lets start with tuna:
I eat a lot of tuna. It is a very fast easy fill'er'up meal. Well, after reading this, I don't think I want to buy tuna once I run out:
http://www.ewg.org/tunacalculator?lbs=205&sex=male
Ann had a card which itemized the "dirty dozen" of produce - gives a good focus on what produce items I need to care about buying organic compared to others. Two of my favorites - apples and bell peppers rank 2nd and 3rd worst. Damn. http://www.foodnews.org/ - odd, not sure why ewg directly links another site like that...
After looking at the data for the dirty dozen - I don't agree with the way they rank them - and fortunately for me, they provide enough data where I can sort them the way I find most logical.
Their method: They aggregate the scores for percentage of samples with detectable pesticides, two or more pesticides, average number of pesticides found - etc. Well they have a number for average amount in ppm of all pesticides found, and if you ask me THAT number is really the only one with consequence:
That said, here is an example, bell peppers, which changed considerably:
My Rank: 22
Old Rank: 3 (third worst out of 45)
Sweet Bell Peppers
Combined Score: 86 (this is where I think they're being silly)
Detectable Pesticides: 81.50%
Two or More Pesticides: 62.20%
Average # of Pesticides: 2.4
Average total pesticides PPM: 0.138 (this is the number I think is important)
Max # of pesticides found: 11
# pesticides found on commodity: 64
The last 20 items ranked on pesticides PPM have considerably less pesticides than the others at 0.057ppm or less, so I'll use this as my "safe enough" group.
Cucumbers, Mango, Grapefruit, Papaya, Carrots, Tomatoes, Bananas, Cantaloupe, Asparagus, Watermelons, Winter Squash, Eggplant, Honeydew Melon, Sweet Peas - Frozen, Sweet Corn - Frozen, Cauliflower, Broccoli, Pineapples, Avocado, Onions (carrots go from 13 to 30 this way).
The worst ranked using my method is Potatoes, Spinach, Peaches, Raspberries, and Apples.
Ooooh, cool article! --> http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24230246/?pg=10#dtl_toxic
Nailed my sleep schedule last night.
I didn't have much of a choice... keep sleeping poorly and eventually my body is going to force the issue. In bed 10:20ish, up at 5:40.
Time to eat grape nuts and a hard boiled egg (one or two for stella too, her favorite!)
I signed up for the Seafair half triathlon last night.
Time to eat grape nuts and a hard boiled egg (one or two for stella too, her favorite!)
I signed up for the Seafair half triathlon last night.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Third post today - morning "stuff" count.
The only way I remember what I need for the day is to know how many things I need and be able to account for all of them before I go out the door. Right now that number is 9 and they are (in no particular order):
- Wallet
- Microsoft Badge (in wallet - not plugged in to computer)
- Keys (I don't need them to drive away, so they get forgotten regularly)
- Spectacles (I'd occasionally forget my nose too if it weren't glued on).
- Phone
- Flipper (fake tooth)
- Meds (determine if I need to bring a week or two's worth in to work)
- Microwaveable neck warmy thing. Been skipping this lately, neck has felt better than usual since it was spasming early this month.
- Snack food - newest item on this list.
Revisiting daily goals
Going over my daily goals to evaluate and pick things I want to work on more. My comments in italics, my DO-list in bold.
It is really easy to be hard on myself and focus on what I have not been doing as well as I want to... Now that I have re-hashed this list, it is obvious to me that even though I coulda/shoulda/woulda be further along, I have made solid steps in the right direction. I'm okay with "Two steps forward, one step back" as long as I am not bogging myself down by losing sight of the fact that this is what is happening.
0) Shop for food twice a week. (new goal I made up right now)
My diet goes to hell when I run out of good stuff to eat. bad bad baaaaad.
Start buying food regularly
1) Read labels. If you are eating something packaged, read the label. If you don't know what it is, don't eat it. Aim to eat mostly whole foods.
I have bought a lot fewer processed foods... I still bought salami last time I was at costco.
Am on track, will keep getting better over time.
2) Eat breakfast. The fog you are experiencing could be because of what you are eating early in the day. Try something with a fat and a carb.... almond butter on whole grain toast and a banana, an egg white and veggie omelet, etc.
So far I've only been doing the carb (unless almond milk counts as a fat). My daily energy has been much more stable as a result.
Time to add a fat to my breakfasts - hard boiled eggs sound easy enough.
3) Eliminate refined sugar and refined flour. Just say no to white (sugar and flour).Potatoes too.
I have taken this to the next level. I would estimate I have eaten half as many white carbs as I was - and none of it in the form of candy. Things I can think of off the top of my head which has sugar or corn syrup in it which I have been eating still:
-Salami
-Instant oats
-hot chocolate component of my morning mud
-I'll add more things if I think of them.
4) Eat something every 2-3 hours. You should be having a good breakfast, a mid morning snack (such as trail mix, 1/2 health protein bar-read label!, veggies and hummus), a healthy lunch such as a salad with chicken or tuna or a wrap, an afternoon snack and a light healthy dinner. I would aim to get about 2,000kcals a day, though I have to do more specific needs analysis.
Compared to what I was doing before I started this effort (zero) I'd say I'm hitting this approximately 50% of the time.
Add snack foods to your morning "stuff" count! (yeesh, that puts the count at 9)
5) Do some sort of exercise everyday and drink lots of water.
I have been getting some exercise in the form of now weekly bike rides, but not even close to daily.
Do something daily even if it is silly
I was doing good on water, but dropped the ball. Pick it back up.
6) Don't eat the majority of your calories at the end of the day! You should be taking in 500 cals at Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner and 250 at each snack. That will definitely help keep your energy and focus stable.
Days I eat breakfast and snacks are days where this happens naturally.
7) Nail sleep schedule (new goal)
I've been on the horse and off the horse.
Nail sleep schedule
It is really easy to be hard on myself and focus on what I have not been doing as well as I want to... Now that I have re-hashed this list, it is obvious to me that even though I coulda/shoulda/woulda be further along, I have made solid steps in the right direction. I'm okay with "Two steps forward, one step back" as long as I am not bogging myself down by losing sight of the fact that this is what is happening.
0) Shop for food twice a week. (new goal I made up right now)
My diet goes to hell when I run out of good stuff to eat. bad bad baaaaad.
Start buying food regularly
1) Read labels. If you are eating something packaged, read the label. If you don't know what it is, don't eat it. Aim to eat mostly whole foods.
I have bought a lot fewer processed foods... I still bought salami last time I was at costco.
Am on track, will keep getting better over time.
2) Eat breakfast. The fog you are experiencing could be because of what you are eating early in the day. Try something with a fat and a carb.... almond butter on whole grain toast and a banana, an egg white and veggie omelet, etc.
So far I've only been doing the carb (unless almond milk counts as a fat). My daily energy has been much more stable as a result.
Time to add a fat to my breakfasts - hard boiled eggs sound easy enough.
3) Eliminate refined sugar and refined flour. Just say no to white (sugar and flour).Potatoes too.
I have taken this to the next level. I would estimate I have eaten half as many white carbs as I was - and none of it in the form of candy. Things I can think of off the top of my head which has sugar or corn syrup in it which I have been eating still:
-Salami
-Instant oats
-hot chocolate component of my morning mud
-I'll add more things if I think of them.
4) Eat something every 2-3 hours. You should be having a good breakfast, a mid morning snack (such as trail mix, 1/2 health protein bar-read label!, veggies and hummus), a healthy lunch such as a salad with chicken or tuna or a wrap, an afternoon snack and a light healthy dinner. I would aim to get about 2,000kcals a day, though I have to do more specific needs analysis.
Compared to what I was doing before I started this effort (zero) I'd say I'm hitting this approximately 50% of the time.
Add snack foods to your morning "stuff" count! (yeesh, that puts the count at 9)
5) Do some sort of exercise everyday and drink lots of water.
I have been getting some exercise in the form of now weekly bike rides, but not even close to daily.
Do something daily even if it is silly
I was doing good on water, but dropped the ball. Pick it back up.
6) Don't eat the majority of your calories at the end of the day! You should be taking in 500 cals at Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner and 250 at each snack. That will definitely help keep your energy and focus stable.
Days I eat breakfast and snacks are days where this happens naturally.
7) Nail sleep schedule (new goal)
I've been on the horse and off the horse.
Nail sleep schedule
bike bike bike
I got up too late to bike to work - which is too bad, the weather was perfect for it.
BUT
I bussed my bike to work and will bike home rain or shine. Ideally not rain, but we'll see.
I talked to a guy in the locker room - he mentioned that he biked back and forth to work every day, but found even when he was used to it, all he wanted to do when he got to work was sleep and recover for several hours. I have been experiencing the same thing so far - I have to wonder if the difference in the long run is either be eating right, or planning training to enable the body to deal with it. A non-changing commute every day in and out sounds like a sure fire deal designed to put your body in a rut... I'm not close to the point where I need to worry about stuff like that, today I just need to ride home.
I'm shakey-cravey for food. I didn't bring snack food today so instant oats it is.
BIKING HOME
Turns out there is a trail that follows 520 from right before marymoore right to where I work. convenient.
From work to the bottom of the ginormous hill in seattle (where 145th would meet the lake)
1:06:40
24.4 average km/h
27.08 k
Entire trip (lost of walking in last few k)
1:37:52
20.2 average
33.18 k
so yeah, the last 6k took me 31 minutes.
BUT
I bussed my bike to work and will bike home rain or shine. Ideally not rain, but we'll see.
I talked to a guy in the locker room - he mentioned that he biked back and forth to work every day, but found even when he was used to it, all he wanted to do when he got to work was sleep and recover for several hours. I have been experiencing the same thing so far - I have to wonder if the difference in the long run is either be eating right, or planning training to enable the body to deal with it. A non-changing commute every day in and out sounds like a sure fire deal designed to put your body in a rut... I'm not close to the point where I need to worry about stuff like that, today I just need to ride home.
I'm shakey-cravey for food. I didn't bring snack food today so instant oats it is.
BIKING HOME
Turns out there is a trail that follows 520 from right before marymoore right to where I work. convenient.
From work to the bottom of the ginormous hill in seattle (where 145th would meet the lake)
1:06:40
24.4 average km/h
27.08 k
Entire trip (lost of walking in last few k)
1:37:52
20.2 average
33.18 k
so yeah, the last 6k took me 31 minutes.
Monday, April 21, 2008
A step backwards...
Before I actually blog - here's a shameless plug for Devon's racing:
Devon won the Leona Divide race running 50 miles in ~7:44. GO DEVON GO! *hee hee - there is a movie I like called "run lola run" - it has nothing in common with Devon's running, but I keep segui'ing to it*...
Leona Divide website http://www.leonadivide.com/ It would be nice if the race people would update their site with this years stuff already... The current course records document is several years out of date to say nothing of this years stats.
Devon's racing blog http://dch262.blogspot.com/ I am looking forward to her new race blog when she gets around to it - she writes in a visceral way where I feel like I am experiencing it too.
On to my actual blogging...
Sleepy sleep sleep.
Friday night Saturday morning I slept till 7:30, but otherwise was on schedule. Got a lot of laundry and cleaning done Saturday...
Saturday night Sunday morning I went to bed on time then proceeded to sleep 13 hours and of course felt like crap all day Sunday as a result.
Sunday night Monday morning - I went to bed at midnight and got up at 7. Too late to bike to work... Really need to bike to work twice this week which means I have to tomorrow. The weather is forecast to be crappy/rainy all week... If I'm going to bike in the rain I'll have to psyche myself in to it before I go to bed with a no matter what attitude or it won't happen.
I forgot to eat breakfast before I left home this morning... Luckily I have instant oats here at work. I mixed one of the plain ones with one of the 13g of sugar ones to reduce overall sugar... and now it is time to go get a sandwich for lunch.
I need to buy fruits/vegetables - I am finding myself opening the refridgerator and looking longingly every 30 minutes while I'm at home. I tend to stuff "anything" in my mouth when I do this and the correct thing to have on hand is fruits/vegetables.
Devon won the Leona Divide race running 50 miles in ~7:44. GO DEVON GO! *hee hee - there is a movie I like called "run lola run" - it has nothing in common with Devon's running, but I keep segui'ing to it*...
Leona Divide website http://www.leonadivide.com/ It would be nice if the race people would update their site with this years stuff already... The current course records document is several years out of date to say nothing of this years stats.
Devon's racing blog http://dch262.blogspot.com/ I am looking forward to her new race blog when she gets around to it - she writes in a visceral way where I feel like I am experiencing it too.
On to my actual blogging...
Sleepy sleep sleep.
Friday night Saturday morning I slept till 7:30, but otherwise was on schedule. Got a lot of laundry and cleaning done Saturday...
Saturday night Sunday morning I went to bed on time then proceeded to sleep 13 hours and of course felt like crap all day Sunday as a result.
Sunday night Monday morning - I went to bed at midnight and got up at 7. Too late to bike to work... Really need to bike to work twice this week which means I have to tomorrow. The weather is forecast to be crappy/rainy all week... If I'm going to bike in the rain I'll have to psyche myself in to it before I go to bed with a no matter what attitude or it won't happen.
I forgot to eat breakfast before I left home this morning... Luckily I have instant oats here at work. I mixed one of the plain ones with one of the 13g of sugar ones to reduce overall sugar... and now it is time to go get a sandwich for lunch.
I need to buy fruits/vegetables - I am finding myself opening the refridgerator and looking longingly every 30 minutes while I'm at home. I tend to stuff "anything" in my mouth when I do this and the correct thing to have on hand is fruits/vegetables.
Friday, April 18, 2008
Tired but very productive
Went to bed at 10 last night, tossed and turned most of the night and got up at 4:40 to take Devon to the airport. :)
I imagine every issue in the days leading up to her race tomorrow is magnified by the worry that it could have an impact. My assessment? She's going to kick major booty, run the 50 miles, and I won't be the least bit surprised if she breaks the course record as she is planning. She'll come back in one piece grinning ear to ear - I'd put money on it if I were the type.
I ate a brick of food she gave me for breakfast, the thing made me full after every single bite and took me three hours to eat - I was so stuffed at lunch time that when my whole team went to red robin to eat, I sat there and consumed only water.
Somehow I managed to funnel my fatigue in to the most incredible amount of productivity at work today. I was in pretty sorry shape by the end of the day but I consider today a success.
I picked up my steaks at the Golden Steer and put them in my freezer... this'll be a topic for a post on it's own when I feel up to it.
well, it is 10:12 and ironically my natural resistance to going to bed has me feeling falsely not tired. time to go lay down until my body stops fighting it and succumbs to the deep sleep which is coming.
:)
Charles
I imagine every issue in the days leading up to her race tomorrow is magnified by the worry that it could have an impact. My assessment? She's going to kick major booty, run the 50 miles, and I won't be the least bit surprised if she breaks the course record as she is planning. She'll come back in one piece grinning ear to ear - I'd put money on it if I were the type.
I ate a brick of food she gave me for breakfast, the thing made me full after every single bite and took me three hours to eat - I was so stuffed at lunch time that when my whole team went to red robin to eat, I sat there and consumed only water.
Somehow I managed to funnel my fatigue in to the most incredible amount of productivity at work today. I was in pretty sorry shape by the end of the day but I consider today a success.
I picked up my steaks at the Golden Steer and put them in my freezer... this'll be a topic for a post on it's own when I feel up to it.
well, it is 10:12 and ironically my natural resistance to going to bed has me feeling falsely not tired. time to go lay down until my body stops fighting it and succumbs to the deep sleep which is coming.
:)
Charles
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Holy whole paycheck batman!
I was half a week to a week overdue for grocery shopping - the pickings were getting slim.
I went to costco - and bought a lot less stuff than normal because the labels had too much garbage on them. I got completely non-wheat flax bread I've had before, I remember it being tasty, we'll see.
Then i went to PCC. Place smells good. I immediately wanted to carve my eyes out with a spoon looking at the price tags.
Devon recommended replacements for mayonnaise, soy milk, and my reesers burrito's. If my memory serves me correctly, I got her recomendations on all three.
Almond breeze (x4) ...$9.96
Amys Burritos ............$2.69 (each?! egad!)
Garlic sauce .................$6.99 (I'm looking forward to trying this out)
Ginger Brew Soda ......$1.30 (x2) (wait! How did those get in there?!?! :D )
2 Fuji Apples ...............$3.44 (at $2.99 a pound this is rape!)
2 Cucumbers ...............$4.07 (at $3.99 a pound this is... okay maybe best not to go there)
... anyway, ZOIKS!
The Check-Out girl (who was waaaay cute and had just plain amazing eyes! Damn, didn't have my camera with me) comiserated on the sticker shockedness with me and suggested I check out new Roots Organics... Kind of neat stuff --> www.newrootsorganics.com (Devon then pointed me to http://pioneerorganics.com for another similar service).
Devon made a pretty good rebuttal to my complaining about the burrito's... I could make my own with anything I wanted in them for a fraction of the cost. Wrap them in saran wrap and that paper they wrap steaks in and they'd last in the freezer forever.
I went to costco - and bought a lot less stuff than normal because the labels had too much garbage on them. I got completely non-wheat flax bread I've had before, I remember it being tasty, we'll see.
Then i went to PCC. Place smells good. I immediately wanted to carve my eyes out with a spoon looking at the price tags.
Devon recommended replacements for mayonnaise, soy milk, and my reesers burrito's. If my memory serves me correctly, I got her recomendations on all three.
Almond breeze (x4) ...$9.96
Amys Burritos ............$2.69 (each?! egad!)
Garlic sauce .................$6.99 (I'm looking forward to trying this out)
Ginger Brew Soda ......$1.30 (x2) (wait! How did those get in there?!?! :D )
2 Fuji Apples ...............$3.44 (at $2.99 a pound this is rape!)
2 Cucumbers ...............$4.07 (at $3.99 a pound this is... okay maybe best not to go there)
... anyway, ZOIKS!
The Check-Out girl (who was waaaay cute and had just plain amazing eyes! Damn, didn't have my camera with me) comiserated on the sticker shockedness with me and suggested I check out new Roots Organics... Kind of neat stuff --> www.newrootsorganics.com (Devon then pointed me to http://pioneerorganics.com for another similar service).
Devon made a pretty good rebuttal to my complaining about the burrito's... I could make my own with anything I wanted in them for a fraction of the cost. Wrap them in saran wrap and that paper they wrap steaks in and they'd last in the freezer forever.
Biking to work
sleep - midnight to 5am, got out of bed at 6. Ate bowl of grape nuts... out of grape nuts... Store run tonight.
I took a 0.6k more efficient route by going up to 145th before cutting across to the lake instead of 130th which diagonally backtracks to 125th. In the future I think I'm going to stick with the 130th route - 145th felt more dangerous due to traffic this morning.
I figured out why the burke-gilman just ends without pointing to the next leg of the trip up by woodinville. There is a Y in the road - I have always taken the right, go about a kilometer, and the train just ends - need to skip laterally a few blocks and behold there is the trail that goes where I want to go!
Well, the Y is the beginning of where the burke gilman and the sammamish river trail parallel each other for about a kilometer - by taking the left instead of a right I shift trails without having to use city streets to cross from one to the other. You'd think there'd be a sign or something which explained it at the intersection, or a sign at the end of the burk gilman saying "sammammish river trail <-- that way" but no biggie now.
The worst part of the ride is the ~10km leading up to marymoore park. It is straight, boring, and every single time the boringness of it leads me to start focusing on how good I'm not feeling at that point. Add a little bit of irony - Redmond touts that it is the biking capitol of the state - while at the same time the trail is in the worst shape there. The long stretch reminds me of when I was doing the honolulu marathon and as far as I could see down a perfectly straight boulevard there are marathoners stretched miles before me. It is disheartening simply by giving the illusion that there is no end in sight... Well technically that is exactly correct. If I had given up on the marathon, this would have been where.
Total travel time was 3 minutes 31 seconds faster. I figure 90 seconds faster due to the shorter route, and 2 minutes faster by biking more of the hill at the end then I did last time.
My average speed was slower up to marymoore, but I finished stronger on the hill at the end.
Marymoore waypoint:
1:30:52 hours
30.84 k
20.3 average kph
Finish
1:50:51 hours
34.25 k
18.5 average kph
Lunch:
It is an hour after lunch. Overall I feel good and alert.
A bunch of us went to Cafe Ori. I usually don't like chinese fare, but I like Cafe Ori. It usually leaves me feeling over fed, but I find it unique in that it does not put me to sleep. I have gas now - too bad I don't know what gave me the gas cause other than that the food agreed with me very well.
I took a 0.6k more efficient route by going up to 145th before cutting across to the lake instead of 130th which diagonally backtracks to 125th. In the future I think I'm going to stick with the 130th route - 145th felt more dangerous due to traffic this morning.
I figured out why the burke-gilman just ends without pointing to the next leg of the trip up by woodinville. There is a Y in the road - I have always taken the right, go about a kilometer, and the train just ends - need to skip laterally a few blocks and behold there is the trail that goes where I want to go!
Well, the Y is the beginning of where the burke gilman and the sammamish river trail parallel each other for about a kilometer - by taking the left instead of a right I shift trails without having to use city streets to cross from one to the other. You'd think there'd be a sign or something which explained it at the intersection, or a sign at the end of the burk gilman saying "sammammish river trail <-- that way" but no biggie now.
The worst part of the ride is the ~10km leading up to marymoore park. It is straight, boring, and every single time the boringness of it leads me to start focusing on how good I'm not feeling at that point. Add a little bit of irony - Redmond touts that it is the biking capitol of the state - while at the same time the trail is in the worst shape there. The long stretch reminds me of when I was doing the honolulu marathon and as far as I could see down a perfectly straight boulevard there are marathoners stretched miles before me. It is disheartening simply by giving the illusion that there is no end in sight... Well technically that is exactly correct. If I had given up on the marathon, this would have been where.
Total travel time was 3 minutes 31 seconds faster. I figure 90 seconds faster due to the shorter route, and 2 minutes faster by biking more of the hill at the end then I did last time.
My average speed was slower up to marymoore, but I finished stronger on the hill at the end.
Marymoore waypoint:
1:30:52 hours
30.84 k
20.3 average kph
Finish
1:50:51 hours
34.25 k
18.5 average kph
Lunch:
It is an hour after lunch. Overall I feel good and alert.
A bunch of us went to Cafe Ori. I usually don't like chinese fare, but I like Cafe Ori. It usually leaves me feeling over fed, but I find it unique in that it does not put me to sleep. I have gas now - too bad I don't know what gave me the gas cause other than that the food agreed with me very well.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Update
Saturday I pretty much slept all day recovering from the ride on Friday - missing the sunshine, then went to a little impromptu party with my cousin.
Sleep - still not on the schedule I want. Last night I worked as late as 11pm, went to bed, and couldn't fall asleep till after midnight. Got up at 7 this morning to find I probably could have biked.
Biking plan - weather looks half promising tomorrow - so tomorrow it is!
I'm still eating breakfast - but I'm pretty much out of food at the moment and seriously need to make a few store runs. I am almost out of several staples which I get to replace with Devon's suggestions - Almond milk instead of soy. Garlic olive oil stuff instead of mayo. Etc.
I need more fruits and veggies - I'm out and I eat much more poorly when I don't have them on hand to nom nom nom on.
4:20 I ate lunch an hour earlier than usual and did not have an afternoon snack - I feel sugar-low woozyish. Shocking how I let myself feel like this as a default for so long and how some very minor changes to eating habits have made this feeling a rarity lately. WAKE UP AND EAT RIGHT CHARLES.
I am *really* looking forward to riding to work tomorrow. I always seem to leave it to the day after I actually want to go. Last week I wanted to go Thursday, but went Friday. This week I wanted to go today but will go tomorrow. It really makes sense to push and go again this Friday too.
Sleep - still not on the schedule I want. Last night I worked as late as 11pm, went to bed, and couldn't fall asleep till after midnight. Got up at 7 this morning to find I probably could have biked.
Biking plan - weather looks half promising tomorrow - so tomorrow it is!
I'm still eating breakfast - but I'm pretty much out of food at the moment and seriously need to make a few store runs. I am almost out of several staples which I get to replace with Devon's suggestions - Almond milk instead of soy. Garlic olive oil stuff instead of mayo. Etc.
I need more fruits and veggies - I'm out and I eat much more poorly when I don't have them on hand to nom nom nom on.
4:20 I ate lunch an hour earlier than usual and did not have an afternoon snack - I feel sugar-low woozyish. Shocking how I let myself feel like this as a default for so long and how some very minor changes to eating habits have made this feeling a rarity lately. WAKE UP AND EAT RIGHT CHARLES.
I am *really* looking forward to riding to work tomorrow. I always seem to leave it to the day after I actually want to go. Last week I wanted to go Thursday, but went Friday. This week I wanted to go today but will go tomorrow. It really makes sense to push and go again this Friday too.
Friday, April 11, 2008
Bike my butt off day!
Why am I putting the date in the titles when the date is right there above the title? That's just plain silly!
Went to bed at 11.
Alarm went off at 5 - I vaguely remember turning it off and crawling right back in bed. At 5:30 I remembered the alarm going off and got up to set my 6 oclock alarm to 6:30. ... Then at 6 oclock I got up without the alarm.
I get to claim a clear success this morning!
I got up at 6, ate, played with stella, and rode my bike to work starting at 7:20(ish). I decided it is silly to drive my truck closer to Burke Gilman when that results in the hardest 2 miles of the ride being after work, after the bus ride. By riding an extra 6k at the beginning, I leave myself only an easy 1.5 k from the bus to home at the end of the day.
7:40 I hit the burke gilman. At first I let my legs dictate my velocity - I was averaging about 20k. I didn't want to burn out by pushing too hard early on, I needed to be at work by 9:20 and can't really afford to miss the morning meeting.
I pretty much completely zoned out - to the point where a bike passing me startled the crap out of me. I was daydreaming about what riding a bike used to be like as a kid - how my legs felt different, how I was confident back then that I could completely burn them going up a hill and have them recover by time I reached to bottom on the other side. I was on the flat and the memories started making me angry at my current fitness. I'm on the flat, going a measly 20kph and my legs are complaining? Screw this, lets see how much I can get away with pushing myself. I still don't want to push so hard I burn out and gimp my total trip time, but I can do better than this.
So I started pushing myself. I found I could push up to about 25kph and while my legs would complain more, they weren't burning out. I kept pushing like this from approximately the 10k mark to the 25k mark. While I kept pushing all the way to marymoore, 25k is where I ran out of steam and despite pushing as hard or harder my velocity slowed to about 20k again. I was far enough along I was okay with this, the last 3k to marymoore was pretty brutal.
At marymoore I stopped and stretched for about 60 seconds and memorized what my computer said. Legs were pretty much maxed out, but no big deal as the next portion of the trip I was planning on walking anyway.
Biked the last k to 51st street, got off the bike, pressed the crosswalk button, and walked half of the remaining trip up the monster hill. ... monster... as a kid I would have laughed at how puny it is. I *will* laugh at how puny it is some day... Some day soon.
I walked in to my meeting, pushing my bike and wearing my helmet and wearing my obnoxious fat flashing neon yellow bike shirt at exactly 9:20. They had free bagles (even whole wheat ones - BONUS!) and I scarfed two of them and now feel like I ate too much.
Here are the stats - Both up to Marymoore park, and the entire trip.
Marymoore Park
1:31:31 hours
20.4 Average k/h
31.24 k
Entire Ride
1:54:32 hours <-- I bet I beat this time every single future ride.
18.2 Average k/h
34.85 k (21 miles)
I figure it was 1k more of trail from marymoor to 51st which means that 75% of the trip is entirely off roads. When I start doing round trips I'll park at my friends which will mean 91% of the trip is all trail. Nice!
...........
It has been two and a half weeks since my last bike trip. I can claim being sick for 1.5 of those. I have a lot of work to reach my goal of two round trips by the end of this month. While I don't know if it is realistic to make that milestone, I am going to keep aiming at it and try to make it, and if I don't I am okay with that so long as I feel I have actually tried to hit the mark.
:)
Charles
Went to bed at 11.
Alarm went off at 5 - I vaguely remember turning it off and crawling right back in bed. At 5:30 I remembered the alarm going off and got up to set my 6 oclock alarm to 6:30. ... Then at 6 oclock I got up without the alarm.
I get to claim a clear success this morning!
I got up at 6, ate, played with stella, and rode my bike to work starting at 7:20(ish). I decided it is silly to drive my truck closer to Burke Gilman when that results in the hardest 2 miles of the ride being after work, after the bus ride. By riding an extra 6k at the beginning, I leave myself only an easy 1.5 k from the bus to home at the end of the day.
7:40 I hit the burke gilman. At first I let my legs dictate my velocity - I was averaging about 20k. I didn't want to burn out by pushing too hard early on, I needed to be at work by 9:20 and can't really afford to miss the morning meeting.
I pretty much completely zoned out - to the point where a bike passing me startled the crap out of me. I was daydreaming about what riding a bike used to be like as a kid - how my legs felt different, how I was confident back then that I could completely burn them going up a hill and have them recover by time I reached to bottom on the other side. I was on the flat and the memories started making me angry at my current fitness. I'm on the flat, going a measly 20kph and my legs are complaining? Screw this, lets see how much I can get away with pushing myself. I still don't want to push so hard I burn out and gimp my total trip time, but I can do better than this.
So I started pushing myself. I found I could push up to about 25kph and while my legs would complain more, they weren't burning out. I kept pushing like this from approximately the 10k mark to the 25k mark. While I kept pushing all the way to marymoore, 25k is where I ran out of steam and despite pushing as hard or harder my velocity slowed to about 20k again. I was far enough along I was okay with this, the last 3k to marymoore was pretty brutal.
At marymoore I stopped and stretched for about 60 seconds and memorized what my computer said. Legs were pretty much maxed out, but no big deal as the next portion of the trip I was planning on walking anyway.
Biked the last k to 51st street, got off the bike, pressed the crosswalk button, and walked half of the remaining trip up the monster hill. ... monster... as a kid I would have laughed at how puny it is. I *will* laugh at how puny it is some day... Some day soon.
I walked in to my meeting, pushing my bike and wearing my helmet and wearing my obnoxious fat flashing neon yellow bike shirt at exactly 9:20. They had free bagles (even whole wheat ones - BONUS!) and I scarfed two of them and now feel like I ate too much.
Here are the stats - Both up to Marymoore park, and the entire trip.
Marymoore Park
1:31:31 hours
20.4 Average k/h
31.24 k
Entire Ride
1:54:32 hours <-- I bet I beat this time every single future ride.
18.2 Average k/h
34.85 k (21 miles)
I figure it was 1k more of trail from marymoor to 51st which means that 75% of the trip is entirely off roads. When I start doing round trips I'll park at my friends which will mean 91% of the trip is all trail. Nice!
...........
It has been two and a half weeks since my last bike trip. I can claim being sick for 1.5 of those. I have a lot of work to reach my goal of two round trips by the end of this month. While I don't know if it is realistic to make that milestone, I am going to keep aiming at it and try to make it, and if I don't I am okay with that so long as I feel I have actually tried to hit the mark.
:)
Charles
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
April 9th
Went to bed late - 11:30
Got up around 7. Yeesh, I was on target - need to hammer my sleep schedule. Have to admit, I think anxiety around work causes me to not go to bed.
2:46
I've hit a wall starting at noon right before I ate lunch today... in a funk. slow, low energy, but otherwise feel good. Going to look at puppies now, maybe that'll wake me up.
Got up around 7. Yeesh, I was on target - need to hammer my sleep schedule. Have to admit, I think anxiety around work causes me to not go to bed.
2:46
I've hit a wall starting at noon right before I ate lunch today... in a funk. slow, low energy, but otherwise feel good. Going to look at puppies now, maybe that'll wake me up.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
April 8th - Staring at lunch.
Last night - went to bed at 10:20, didn't get to sleep till 11:30ish, slept fitfully, turned 5am and 6am alarms off, got up at 7.
I got lunch. After eating breakfast and bringing nuts to work for my mid-meal snack, I just don't have the appetite to finish lunch right now. I am so NOT used to not being ravenously hungry during lunch.
I did eat too many nuts in between meals - looks like I'll need to find a way to portion control my snacks.
I guess my lunch will also be my mid-afternoon snack. Beef stew, carrots, and baby red potato's all three obviously cooked with too much butter.
I got lunch. After eating breakfast and bringing nuts to work for my mid-meal snack, I just don't have the appetite to finish lunch right now. I am so NOT used to not being ravenously hungry during lunch.
I did eat too many nuts in between meals - looks like I'll need to find a way to portion control my snacks.
I guess my lunch will also be my mid-afternoon snack. Beef stew, carrots, and baby red potato's all three obviously cooked with too much butter.
Monday, April 7, 2008
April 7 notes - replace burritos.
So after feeling like a rock star last night I blew it by going to bed over two hours late and then getting up at 8:45 am. Nothing like being behind the curve on a monday morning. Need to get to bed at 10 tonight.
I am going to need to replace my reesers burrito and whatever they are chimichanga staple. I don't like the ingredients.
Devon recommends
"I can recommend Amy's Organics. Delicious and nutritious. Not only the burritos but the samosas. So good. Basically like a normal samosa without the fried wrapper, ww tortilla instead (though I can't eat these any more!)"
and
"http://www.amyskitchen.com/ they have lots of products without cheese, gluten, etc....various healthy permutations...plus healthier versions of the stuff you probably like."
She says they're cheap so sounds like a good thing to try. (Written here so i can find it when I want to remember what she said.)
I am going to need to replace my reesers burrito and whatever they are chimichanga staple. I don't like the ingredients.
Devon recommends
"I can recommend Amy's Organics. Delicious and nutritious. Not only the burritos but the samosas. So good. Basically like a normal samosa without the fried wrapper, ww tortilla instead (though I can't eat these any more!)"
and
"http://www.amyskitchen.com/ they have lots of products without cheese, gluten, etc....various healthy permutations...plus healthier versions of the stuff you probably like."
She says they're cheap so sounds like a good thing to try. (Written here so i can find it when I want to remember what she said.)
Sunday, April 6, 2008
April 6 notes.
Well,
I feel better than I have in months. I have not taken my medicine for nearly a week now, yet my energy levels are higher than usual and sufficient to motivate myself to do normal chores I normally can't bother with. I attribute this mainly to two things:
- Eating breakfast in the mornings
- Setting a sleep schedule and being good enough about adhering to it.
I have not kept up on the exercise front. I had being sick this last week as a convenient excuse - no longer. I have gotten over being sick. Still cough here and there, but my strength is back. Exercise is the next gear to kick it in to.
Fun fun!
p.s. Exercise: I went on two walks with my parents today before buying super awesome rose plants and coming home.
P.P.S. I'm not going to track my food intake much any more unless Devon sees use in it.
I feel better than I have in months. I have not taken my medicine for nearly a week now, yet my energy levels are higher than usual and sufficient to motivate myself to do normal chores I normally can't bother with. I attribute this mainly to two things:
- Eating breakfast in the mornings
- Setting a sleep schedule and being good enough about adhering to it.
I have not kept up on the exercise front. I had being sick this last week as a convenient excuse - no longer. I have gotten over being sick. Still cough here and there, but my strength is back. Exercise is the next gear to kick it in to.
Fun fun!
p.s. Exercise: I went on two walks with my parents today before buying super awesome rose plants and coming home.
P.P.S. I'm not going to track my food intake much any more unless Devon sees use in it.
Thursday, April 3, 2008
April 3 notes.
Not filling in the details much today. Went to bed at 9:31pm, got up 7am. Ate breakfast. Snoozy day till 1ish.
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
April 2 notes.
Went to bed at 10:35. Got up at 7:00 am with no alarm. Slept fitfully, likely because I've been sleeping so much with this staying home with a cold and all, but it is obvious that it is already easier for me to get up in the morning simply by stabilizing when I go to bed.
Kind of disgusted with myself for not biking to work a second time yet let alone daily exercise. Both yesterday and today the sun is glorious and would have been good opportunities. But - lets be realistic, my lungs were raw after mowing my lawn yesterday. Mowing my lawn only counts as "daily exercise" while I'm still outta shape - it did warm me up to the fuzzy level at least - and geez my bees are going gangbusters!
Today's goal. I am going to work from home today which gives me the opportunity to go around greenlake on my bike. If my lungs aren't completely parched by time I'm done with one loop, I'll make it two.
8:00 It looks like I've rediscovered my oldest staple food. Peanut butter sandwiches baby! I'm willing to bet Devon will tell me to upgrade to a non-gluten bread. What is gluten anyway?
+12 ounces water.
+ 4 radishes
9:00 I haven't had enough water yet and feel dehydrated - time to go drink some more.
+ 4 radishes
1:40
Drank many glasses of OJ.
ought to eat lunch before I go out and run errands and exercise.
Observation: No meds today and while I'm not mr. go, I'm pretty aware and awake.
2:15 Just ate two burrito's, cheese, salsa... I'm crashing. hmm, didn't think these things did this to me.
next stop: run errand, then walk stella around green lake (not bike you ask? why no, then stella couldn't go).
5:30 arrived back home. ate a bunch of wasabe peas which spilled out in my truck. A wee bit more than I wanted to eat. Walking green lake and I feel like I just did much more than that. hmm.
Kind of disgusted with myself for not biking to work a second time yet let alone daily exercise. Both yesterday and today the sun is glorious and would have been good opportunities. But - lets be realistic, my lungs were raw after mowing my lawn yesterday. Mowing my lawn only counts as "daily exercise" while I'm still outta shape - it did warm me up to the fuzzy level at least - and geez my bees are going gangbusters!
Today's goal. I am going to work from home today which gives me the opportunity to go around greenlake on my bike. If my lungs aren't completely parched by time I'm done with one loop, I'll make it two.
8:00 It looks like I've rediscovered my oldest staple food. Peanut butter sandwiches baby! I'm willing to bet Devon will tell me to upgrade to a non-gluten bread. What is gluten anyway?
+12 ounces water.
+ 4 radishes
9:00 I haven't had enough water yet and feel dehydrated - time to go drink some more.
+ 4 radishes
1:40
Drank many glasses of OJ.
ought to eat lunch before I go out and run errands and exercise.
Observation: No meds today and while I'm not mr. go, I'm pretty aware and awake.
2:15 Just ate two burrito's, cheese, salsa... I'm crashing. hmm, didn't think these things did this to me.
next stop: run errand, then walk stella around green lake (not bike you ask? why no, then stella couldn't go).
5:30 arrived back home. ate a bunch of wasabe peas which spilled out in my truck. A wee bit more than I wanted to eat. Walking green lake and I feel like I just did much more than that. hmm.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
April Fools Day
Last night I went to bed at 10:35. Alarm went off at 5:00... Alarm went off at 6:00... I got up at Stella's insistence at 7:20 - those brown eyes staring at me longingly with her chin just barely over the lip of the bed.
2:00
Sick day today. So far I've eaten a ton of grapes, 2 peanut butter and honey sandwiches, and not enough water.
2:00
Sick day today. So far I've eaten a ton of grapes, 2 peanut butter and honey sandwiches, and not enough water.
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