Got my Metabolism Checked out

I found a place nearby that has Body Gem equipment and had an appointment at 7:00AM today to get measured. I was not allowed to eat anything or drink anything except water this morning. So of course, last night I had trouble sleeping because all I could think about was food! I actually did get up at 3AM and had to eat 1/2 a Power Bar because I was so hungry. I took a thermos of coffee with me so that as soon as the test was done I could drink a cup.

I had this done 3 years ago, and my numbers haven't changed much, allegedly. Which is a good thing, because it's easy for one's metabolism to slow down as the years pass due to decreased activity and/or decreased lean mass. I think I'm actually training harder than 3 years ago, and while I haven't had my body fat measured in awhile, I'm pretty sure I'm retaining my lean mass.

So what is the number? My RMR is 1400. That means that if I sleep all day, that's how many calories I burn. So obviously, you bump that up for daily living activities like, oh, working, preparing food, etc. That stuff, which I believe was underestimated, gives me an additional 300 calories per day. Then, based on my age and what I reported for the intensity of workouts I do and the volume, I am able to add another 500 calories per hour for whatever exercise, be it swimming, biking, running or strength, that I do.

Now, all this is computed in some software, and it's still just a guess. I think that the RMR is probably right, but I think that my daily activities give me about another 500 calories, so I'm going with 1900 for my BMR. During the week I'm doing about 2 hours of training a day, which means on weekdays I should be at about 2900 calories per day, which feels about right.

At any rate, the guy who owns the place where I had the measurement done and I had a long discussion about me and what he knows and what I know and how I want to get into the health/fitness profession that was quite interesting. Thing is, even with those estimates, they can be wrong or off by a few hundred calories due to many different factors.

So what am I going to do with this information? One thing I decided is that I need to take in some protein after my morning swims. I always have some carbs, but I don't do the Endurox R4 until after my second workout of the day. But apparently, the swimming gets me revved up, and so I should give myself some protein to stop any catabolism. I think it's time for me to supplement with some string cheese, which will give me a nice little hit of protein and some fat post-swim.

I know that some of my metabolic fire is stress driven, too, and then I suppose doing a bunch of races is adding to the mix. It's all good. As long as I don't drop any more weight (I was at 108 this morning, which is not good--110 needs to be my absolute floor), I should be good to go.

Side note: the pic is me in this Desoto tri outfit I just got. I don't know--should I return it? The top is fine but the bottom is barely there. I suppose it's good enough to swim in. Hard to believe I have any modesty, but I don't want to look like an idiot. I know I wouldn't wear this just riding around--too risque. I have never liked my legs, but maybe with a tan, it won't look too bad. Comments are welcome!

Happy Shoes

Stronger thought she was on Momo's blog when she saw my sparkly toes, so I guess I felt the need to exonerate myself.

I have a small collection of what I call "happy shoes." The original pair is shown in the first 2 shots, and were acquired at Ron Jon's in Cocoa Beach (Florida, where else???) in 2004. Sometime I should post the race report that goes with them here, but I'll save that for another day. The short story is I bought the shoes, and then in the morning of the Disney 1/2 IM (now a 70.3 race), I was getting ready and blurted out, "Where are my happy shoes?" And I found them and put them on and got all my stuff together on race morning.

The next pair I got are the ones in the last picture, and they are Dr. Scholl's vintage 2004 also. Alas, my right shoe has a crack, but I can still wear them "lightly." The pair with the big buckles are Kenneth Cole shoes and the last pair is by Cindy Says. I got those 2 pair late one night online shopping at Nordstrom.

I will probably get a new pair of happy shoes this year; I just need to find the right ones. But one thing's for sure--whenever I put on one of these pairs of shoes, it's impossible to not be happy!

I did leave out one pair--the ones with the flashing heels--but they can be seen here. I haven't done the pink toes yet, but trust me, they will be imminent for Triple T! Today's colors are in anticipation of my next NothingMan which I'm calling Triple Dog Dare, as I'll do a sprint on Friday, and Oly on Saturday and a 1/2 IM on Sunday.

Happy Feet and Not Enough Calories

I was feeling a little introspective and it got me a little down yesterday, but once I started making my toes all sparkly it fixed everything. It's tough to be unhappy with happy feet! I couldn't decide which color I liked more which is why I ended up doing each foot a different color. I have gone with 10 different colors at once. I thought I wanted the blood red, but once I put it on I didn't like it so much, but that got fixed up when I added the sparkle coating. Yes, I'm like a little girl sometimes with my love of pink stuff and sparkly stuff. But I have my limits. You will not catch me in a matched set of sweats with rhinestone lettering on them. Sandals with rhinestones? Sure. Diamonds? Hell yeah.

I woke up early again today feeling very hungry. I thought I had been eating non-stop in the evening, so after eating something right away, I added up what I had eaten on Tuesday. I can pretty much remember whatever I've taken in, harkening back to when I've needed to watch my intake more closely. I added up conservatively and it was about 2500 calories. I biked 1:25 and the Ergomo said I burned 830 calories in that time! I wasn't even going hard! And then I lifted weights for :45 which I figure is only another couple hundred calories, so I probably did undereat by about 500 calories or so. I'm not really sure. Which is why I'm trying to find somewhere I can get my RMR/BMR measured again so I know what I should be doing.

I used to be obsessive about wearing the HRM and noting the calories on the power meter and using those numbers to guide my food intake, but I no longer use an HRM and I haven't been looking at the bike numbers, either. I've sort of just been guesstimating what I think I'm burning, but if that bike number from yesterday is right, I am way underestimating. Yet I hate to just eat like a total pig until I gain weight--that seems stupid to me.

So today, so far I've swum for 1:05 (fairly hard) and I ran for an hour, slightly slower than tempo pace, and through lunch and recovery stuff, I've had about 1,300 calories. I think I need to eat a lot more today yet...I should probably get in about 1,800 more. I think I may need to start drinking a carb supplement . Or get back on pasta more often.

I think part of my problem is the nervous energy I'm burning up with my Dad's stuff. There is still some stress going on, I can't deny that, and one thing I don't need more of is stress or additional calorie-burning activities!

But I won't know until I find out some real numbers, so stay tuned...I really don't like it when someone says to me, "Nice problem to have." No it isn't. I need to time my calorie intake based on when I'm going to train (typically once before work and once in mid-day), and at some point I just can't put any more in. But I just thought of some other snack foods I need to start buying again--string cheese for one--and really it comes down to a couple hundred calories here and there, and that should do the trick!

Oh and there was some excellent scenery at the pool this AM. Swam this workout:

WU: 200 swim, 200 pull, 200 kick, 4 x 50 (10") Swim Golf
MS: 10 x 150 (15") as 100 Hard, 50 Easy.
100 easy swim.
2 x 200 (15") pull, Steady with excellent stroke.
8 x 25 (15") as 25 Hard, 25 Easy
CD: 100 easy swim

I was pretty fried after the 150's, but the rest was easy so no big deal.

A Few Things that Death has Magnified for Me

In a slight departure from triathlon content, it seemed like a good day to write some of this stuff down. Ah--the luxury of having the time to think about this stuff! I'm so lucky!

Some or all of the following may appear to be clichés. But remember, sometimes a cliché is just something you haven’t personally experienced.

1. Things aren’t important. People are important.
2. The color of death may be black, but, a girl (moi) can't have too many wacky swimsuits or nail polish colors. I need lots of color in my life--certain colorful things, colorful experiences and colorful people. This is something that I don't think will ever change about me.
   
3. What I sometimes think of as my greatest weaknesses (and I have plenty) can become my greatest strengths in a pinch.
4. While it’s most important to live in the here and now, a little tape rewind for review purposes isn’t bad, either. Things I haven’t thought about or remembered in years are coming back to me. I was organizing some athletic wear this morning, decided I needed a bunch of hangers, and it turned into finally deciding I could let go of a bunch of dresses that I sewed over the years. In taking each one off the hanger and throwing it onto a pile, I could remember wearing it and that point in my life.
5. Learning how to let go of things, thoughts and reactions to experiences never stops, and it makes you much stronger. This is probably the biggest lesson of death that I can think of.
   
6. Every now and then, it's good to have a few glasses of good wine, turn off all the lights, put on the flashy shoes, and sing and dance by myself. It's a marker of being in a good place. And then go out and dance with friends. Soon, very soon...
   
7. I’ll take a couple of close friends over a pile of meaningless acquaintances any day. Not that I don't appreciate the blogging world--I do, but keep perspective.
   
8. Keep trying new things—even something that on the surface seems like a crazy idea might, under the right circumstances, be the best idea after all.
9. It’s OK to leave certain projects unfinished. They must not have been that important in the first place, right?
10. Giving or receiving one moment of genuine kindness or joy can erase 10 times your suffering.
11. Every moment of every day is an opportunity to look at yourself in the mirror and ask whether you are doing your very best for yourself. Because if you can’t do that, you can’t do it for anyone else.
12. Fire anyone that isn’t living up to your expectations or is toxic to your well-being—business associates, friends, lovers, family members. Life is too short.
13. You don’t need to be liked by everyone. But being respected is divine.
14. Don’t care what other people think of you. Just care about other people.
15. Keep moving. When you stop moving, you’re dead.

I love NothingMan, but boy--do I need to do a real race. T-6 weeks!

Weekly Workout Totals 03/31/2008-04/06/2008 and Bunch of Firsts

It didn't get quite as warm as I hoped today, but still, I rode outside. First outdoor ride of 2008! First outdoor ride of 2008 on LGL! First bonk! First bit of suntan on my face! First time cussing at cars (OK so it was under 5 minutes before the first F-bomb left my mouth)! Most amount of stretching I've done in a week this season so far! Did the 60 pushups to qualify for "excellent" status (it was actually easy)! Right now I'm eating some homemade spaghetti and meatballs, and I have to say it's my best version ever. Yesterday I made this Italian salad (recipe below) that is da bomb, and that will give me a few more lunches. Eating (and cooking) well is one of the perks of all this training.

I only took Gatorade with me on the ride today, and since it was still cool-ish, I didn't drink enough, and I should have supplemented with gels (or else used my custom Infinit which always gives me enough calories). As always, my first outdoor ride was a shock to the system, what with actual terrain, wind, needing to pay attention to cars and such. And then, there was the fact of what I did last weekend. And that I ran like a woman possessed yesterday. So my legs did not feel quite up to the task of a hard ride. But after an hour of noodling around (and removing a top layer as it had warmed a bit), I finally kicked in to some decent intensity and was enjoying it. Part of the ride ended up being recon, and man, some of the roads are in crappy ass shape after our snowy winter. It's like pothole city! One road on my interval loop is so chewed up that it caused an issue with my Nokon cables to surface--the rear derailleur cable kind of flops down after rolling over so many bumps and holes. I know my LBSG won't be thrilled when I ask him to remove a couple of the "links" in it so this doesn't happen. Good thing I noticed when I heard an unusual noise, which was the cable rubbing against the lower cog thingie.

When I got off the bike, I noticed my legs didn't feel too great. This wasn't entirely unexpected. I probably didn't need to do a brick run today, and it would have been better if I waited a few hours until I ran, but I didn't start riding until 10:15 since it dawned cold, and I had other things to do, so I suited up and took off. My legs felt at least as bad as they do when you start the Ironman marathon. This tells me that I am not in Ironman shape yet, which is fine, because I shouldn't be! I don't think I took in enough calories while riding, but no worries. I was supposed to run for :30, but I bargained with myself and instead decided to tough out 3 miles, which was plenty of running! After I finished, I wolfed down some of my Italian salad and an Endurox R4, and decided I needed a little lay down, which felt great.

After about :45 I got out of bed and started in on making the meatballs and sauce, and I'm eating now (and enjoying a Turning Leaf Cabernet Sauvignon--half of the bottle went into the sauce), but I must go and veg out for a bit now and call it a day.

Hope all you readers had as great of a weekend as I did!

Insalata russa con gamberi

Shrimp and Vegetable Salad

Serves 6 (allegedly)

Note: You can fudge on the amounts of each of the vegetables, and it will still probably turn out just fine. I am rarely precise in my use of ingredients, especially when it comes to vegetables or garlic!

1 lb. medium shrimp, unpeeled

1 TBSP. red wine vinegar

¼ pound green beans

2 medium potatoes

2 medium carrots

1/3 of a 10-oz. package frozen peas, thawed

6 small canned red beets, drained and dried on paper towels

2 TBSP. gherkins in vinegar, preferably French cornichons (available at Trader Joe’s), cut up

2 TBSP. capers, the smaller the better

3 TBSP. olive oil

2 tsp. red wine vinegar

Salt

2 ½ cups mayonnaise

Directions

1. Wash the shrimps. Put them, whole and unpeeled, in boiling salted water. Add the TBSP. of vinegar to the water and cook for 4 minutes. Allow the shrimps to cool; then shell and devein them and set aside.
2. Snap the ends off the green beans, pulling away any possible strings. Rinse them and drop them into rapidly boiling salted water. Taste them early and drain them as soon as they are tender but still firm, in as little as 8 minutes if they are very young and fresh.
3. Rinse the potatoes and boil them with the peel on. When they are easily pierced with a sharp fork, drain them and peel them while they are still hot.
4. Scrape or peel the carrots clean and drop them in boiling salted water. Do not overcook. Drain when tender and set aside.
5. Drop the frozen peas into boiling salted water and cook very briefly, not more than a minute or a minute and a half. Drain and set aside.
6. When the vegetables have cooled, set aside a very small quantity of each (potatoes excepted), which you will need later for garnishing, and cut up the rest as follows: the green beans into pieces 3/8 inch long; the potatoes, carrots and beets diced into 3/8-inch cubes. The peas, of course, stay whole. Cut up the capers also if these are not the very tiny ones. Put all the ingredients, including the cut-up gherkins or cornichons, in a mixing bowl.
7. Set aside half the shrimps. Cut up the rest and mix with the vegetables. Season with the olive oil, wine vinegar, and ½ teaspoon salt. Add 1 cup of the mayonnaise and mix thoroughly. Taste for salt and correct.
8. Turn the mixture over onto a serving platter. Shape it into a shallow, flat-topped, oval mound pressing with a rubber spatula to make sure the surface is smooth and uniform. Now spread the remaining mayonnaise over the entire surface of the mound. Use the spatula to make it as smooth and even as possible. Indentations or deep pockets will spoil the effect. You can omit this step and just scoop the salad into serving bowls.
9. Now decorate the mound. Here is one way of doing it. Place a thin carrot disk on the center of the mound. Put a pea in the center of the carrot. Make a rosette of shrimps around the carrot, placing the shrimps on their side, nestling one around the other. Over the rest of the flat surface scatter flowers made using carrots for the center button, beets for the petals, and green beans for the stems. Emboss the sides of the mound with the remaining shrimps, heads and tails imbedded in the salad, backs arching away. There are limitless ways in which you can use shrimps and vegetables to decorate this salad. Use your imagination! Caution: if you are preparing this many hours or a day in advance, decorate with the beets at the last moment before serving. Their color has a tendency to run. Note: Refrigerate at least 30 minutes before serving.

Weekly Workout Totals	03/31/2008-04/06/2008
Swim:	9600 yards (5.45 miles) in 3.45 hours; 23% of weekly workout time; approx. 1207 calories burned
Bike:	Approx. 94.79 miles in 5.42 hours; 36% of weekly workout time; approx. 2439 calories burned; Total TSS=347
Run:	Approx. 29.04 miles in 4.39 hours; 29% of weekly workout time; approx. 1987 calories burned
Strength:	1.75 hours; 12% of weekly workout time; approx. 438 calories burned
All Sports:	Approx. 129.28 miles in 15.01 hours; approx. 6071 calories burned
Sleep:	8.11 hours avg./night
Stretching:	2.63 hours. Massage: 1.5 hours

Spring...FINALLY!

I LOVE spring! I think I am probably loving it more than ever this year because the bulk of my Dominatrix duties are complete and it's been an uncharacteristically long winter--almost 6 months of (pick from 1 to 4 at a time) grey, crappy, snowy, cold.

One of the things I've learned living here all my life is that it's good to forget a bunch of stuff over the winter, because when spring arrives and you remember, it just enhances the feeling of rebirth. For example, I typically forget just how many beautiful flowers I've planted over the years in my yard, and so when I see them poking up out of the dirt and remember, it's a great feeling. I get some of that feeling when I browse through the seed and plant catalogs, but it's not the same as seeing something in your own little plot. Now I'm looking forward to the succession of blooms--hyacinths, daffodils, tulips, lilacs, peonies, roses, and the list goes on and on.

Yesterday I had a spectacular long-ish run (1:40 worth) in Waterfall Glen. I almost could have worn shorts, but when I hit the few shady areas, I was glad for the tights. I was happy to re-experience parts of the trail as if they were all new again (they were new to my quads, that's for sure). Even as I kept trying to let myself run easily, I ran a surprisingly fast pace for me--which is pretty good considering what I did last weekend. I did a short recovery swim afterwards, and while this guy, Mike, that I know who swims mid-day on Saturdays was into his usual rant (for some reason the Saturday noon lap swim has been usurped by people mostly playing around), I kept on my positive bent. I was a little tired after the run and swim to get out and do yard work, but that's OK, I did a pretty good job of cleaning up my flower beds last fall. I did finally break down a bunch of cardboard boxes from all the things I ordered online during the winter plus the new snowblower I bought, which gave me a jump on the annual cleaning of the garage (which I totally hate doing--I guess that is reflective of my "girly" side).

Today promises to be warmer than yesterday, and so...I'm riding OUTDOORS!!! So that means I needed to fix a few bike bottles, and again, I forgot about my hot pink ones from IMLP 2007! As much time as I'll spend fixing and washing bottles from now through September, for today, at least, it is a pleasure. Since I'm still in a purge/reorganize mood, I pulled all my sleeveless bike tops and kit shorts out of their current locations so I can find a better home for them. Right now there's a huge pile of spandex/lycra on the floor of one of my bedrooms. But at least it's colorful and loaded with potential fun!

This coming week I plan to move my long run from Saturday to Thursday (meaning I will need to do it BEFORE work--OUCH!) in preparation for double long rides on the weekends--yet another sign of spring and ch...ch...ch...changes. Too bad it's not light yet when I'll need to start the run--meaning treadmill. No, I don't own a headlamp. But the days are getting longer and longer, and soon enough it will be light at 5:00AM. I guess it's a good thing that I am waking up on my own just before 5:00 already. Body knows that workouts are getting longer and longer, requiring more and more time, and I just don't like having my workday end much after 5:30PM. Since I've been watching less and less TV, it's been no problem for me to be asleep between 8:30 and 9:00PM (loser that I am), so I'm still getting plenty of sleep.

And with the double long rides on the weekends, it means I need to get hyper efficient in the use of my weekday free time, since it's tough to get much done after 4+ hour rides on the weekend, especially if travel time is involved. But I'm fortunate in being able to work from home, so that if I need a short break, I can get something done that needs doing.

I read on various triathlon forums and blogs how everyone talks about the sacrifices they make for Ironman training. I don't know if these people train more or less than I do, but I don't think of it as a sacrifice--I think of it as fun, and it builds mental toughness in me. I just happen to really like riding my bike, swimming and running outdoors. OK so maybe most of the people I hang with are also athletes, but so what? For right now, I still can't think of anything else I'd rather be doing, which reminds me of this verse from the Faith-Mind Sutra (thanks to Brett for this particular translation):

If you wish to abide in Tao, do not dislike the world you now experience.
Indeed, to see there is no difference between Tao and world is Enlightenment itself.
The wise man expends no effort.
The foolish man ties himself in knots.