Half-marathoner

Note: My Start Walking posts can easily be found by clicking on the label Start Walking 2008.

I did it.

In answer to Concept 2's Global Marathon Challenge, I rowed a half-marathon (21,097 meters = 13.01 miles) on Saturday night.

Boy did it make my tush sore. This in spite of having followed Concept 2's advice, on its Training for a Marathon page, to lay in a supply of bubble wrap. I started with one sheet, & it really helped, too — for about the first hour. But then me bum got progressively more & more sore, & I had to pop on another sheet. But me bum was still sore, poor me. I think I could have put in a better time if it weren't for the stops I was making just to stand up & give me poor sore bum a break. I finished with a time of 2:21:28.6, which put me at the bottom (how appropriate!) of the rankings for women in my weight/age range.

But I did it!

The top-ranked women's heavyweight age 40 to 49 class has a time of 1:27:35.2. Wow, it would've been nice to have sat nearly an hour less than what I did! There was some recompense. I was accompanied in my effort by three & one-quarter episodes of the "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" spinoff series "Angel". Thank you, Joss Whedon, for creating something to keep my mind occupied whilst I rowed me poor sore bum off.

Thanks to having also rowed a set of high intensity intervals on Saturday morning, plus a deensy amount of walking in between, I accumulated a total of 40,867 steps (or their equivalent) for the day. In our virtual ascent of Mt. Everest, this brought me into the village of Dughla.

Where I gave myself a Good. Long. Rest. Couldn't do much else: I was completely wiped out. My Sunday went like this: I got something to eat, went & sat on the couch & read a bit, dozed off, woke up, read a bit, got something to eat, came back to the couch with it, ate & read, dozed... that was the whole day. My cat came & sat on my lap or on the back of the couch behind my head — that was nice. I intended to do at least a brief walk around the neighborhood, but when I checked on my energy levels all I found was nada. Zip. Zilch. Null.

Well, that's to be expected, I supposed. I'm doing better today, already got some dancing in & I think I'll be able to get 10,000 steps in actual walking in. I still feel a bit of residual wipe-out from Saturday night.

But I bet I'll do a whole lot better next time.

Into Dingboche

Note: My Start Walking posts can easily be found by clicking on the label Start Walking 2008.

Well, good, today in the Everest Challenge I made it "virtually" into Dingboche. That requires an accumulation of 320,300 steps or equivalent; as of tonight, I'm at 330,275 — just barely in there.

I've gotta say I'm really impressed with how some of the other "climbers" are doing, especially a certain fellow at University of Alaska Southeast whose recorded steps are at over 947,000 steps. That puts him "virtually" on the mountain (Everest, that is; not our own beloved Denali) at Camp 2. And since he doesn't seem to always record his steps every day, I'm betting that he's a good clip further along even than that. I don't have much doubt he's going to summit (1,291,300 steps or equivalent) before I've even made it to Camp 1 (798,300), which I'm not even halfway to yet. Good on ya, mate.

But I'm impressed beyond that. This is a great program, & it's good to see so many people participating. It's daily a topic of conversation between me & my two coworkers who are also participating; every day we're encouraging each other & reminding each other to do the extra stuff (drink water, do pushups & situps, be appreciative of the people we see in our daily lives) that will get us the daily 500 bonus points. And it's good to see people walking & doing other things to increase their daily fitness. May every participant make it all the way up the mountain, & down again, safely.

This week has continued to be a little screwy for me in terms of what's become my normal schedule of workouts. Tuesday, of course, was one such day — as discussed in previous post, Tax Day gunk prevented me from getting in the second half (high intensity interval training) of my Turbulence Training workout. But at least I got the strength portion in, which is equally important. But you just pick up & keep going. Wednesday morning I started the day with a 30-minute row & also got over 8,000 steps walking done during the workday, most of them during my lunchtime. This morning's row was shorter, just 16 minutes, but I did quite well with the walking, over 11,000 steps, most of them at work. This included a walk over to Admin to participate in one of the WIN events — a reading of my body comp (body fat percentage) & blood pressure — & back again, & a lunchtime walk through the spine across to Rasmusson Hall (former BEB) & back. I put my normal Thursday TT workout off until tomorrow because I had a writing even tonight which didn't leave me time for an evening workout.

All told, Wednesday got me 17,496 steps or their equivalent, & today got me 16,579.

Between Tengboche & Dingboche

Note: My Start Walking posts can easily be found by clicking on the label Start Walking 2008.

Steady progress. Pretty steady anyway: yesterday was tax day, which had an impact on my workout because, typically, I waited until the last day to do anything about it. Filed my own online at lunchtime, & in the evening gave the boy (now 20) a crash course in preparing a federal tax return online. The upshot was that I only had time for half my three-days-a-week Turbulence Training workout.

But it hasn't all been that way. I had a really huge day last Friday. That's the day I generally take a break from rowing. Instead, I did a lot of dancing (60 minutes' worth over all) & a lot of walking — during lunchtime at work, shopping for groceries after work, & then, after putting the groceries away at home, another walk. This one took me up C Street — or rather, down, since I was descending into Chester Creek valley — from Fireweed to 15th Avenue (up a hill), then over to E Street & down a hill, turning to walk along Valley of the Moon Park, & up Arctic to Fireweed again, & then home. I picked this walk partly to avoid the snowy bike trails along Chester Creek that I'd walked the week before, & partly in order to get hills both coming & going, including that hill up Arctic that I used to walk almost every workday during the Start Walking program two years ago, when we lived down in that valley. At any rate, by the time the day ended, I'd put in 16,655 steps of actual walking, & with the dancing an equivalent of a total of 25,015 steps, which is thus far the highest I've done in any one day.

That's the day I came into Tengboche.

Saturday was a different kind of achievement. I got involved in a book I'm reading (Good Calories Bad Calories by Gary Taubes) & the day kinda passsed, & I didn't get the row I usually do in the morning, & followup in the evening with a TT workout. So, I thought, why not do the 10K row I've been doing on Sundays tonight instead? & I'll do the normal Saturday routine on Sunday? So I popped a movie into my laptop DVD player & hopped on the rower & rowed. Well, a 10K row takes me just under an hour, & the movie was an hour & a half, so when I got done with the 10K I thought, well, why not just keep rowing until the movie's over? So I did. That bought me another 5,266 meters — and new confidence that I am up to the challenge that I've been using these 10K rows to train for: a half-marathon (21,097 meters), which is just 5K more than I did that day. I will probably do it this coming weekend. Just have to have a long enough movie. (And maybe alternate padding for my tush, which did get a tad sore. On it's "Training for a Marathon" page, Concept 2 recommends bubble wrap, so I've laid in a supply.) My Saturday row, plus the paltry number of walking steps I did, brought me the equivalent of 24,546 steps.

The other days have been a bit more routine — morning row & evening TT workout on Sunday (17,252 steps or equivalent), morning 15-minute row & evening 30-minute row on Monday (18,479 steps or equivalent)— until Tuesday which I've already mentioned got messed up by also being Tax Day, & so got just 13,145 steps or equivalent. Still, I feel pretty darn good at what I'm accomplishing with my exercise as well as nutrition, especially after my "official weekly weigh-in" on Sunday found I'd lost another 3 pounds in the past week.

Erging away

The March Madness rowing challenge I did last month got me on a rowing schedule that feels pretty good to me, & don't want to give up. So, on most days, I'm getting from 5000 to 6000 meters in, usually split between a morning workout & an evening workout (including the high intensity intervals portion of my TT workouts). Fridays I'm reserving as "break from rowing" days, & on those days instead I'm doing more dancing & walking. Sundays are big rowing days: on those days, at least this month, I'm doing 10K meters in preparation for the half-marathon I'm going to try for in the latter half of the month (another Concept 2 challenge).

My rowing has gotten noticeably stronger. I seem finally to have gotten the trick of getting really fast speeds, if only for brief bursts: to really kick off with my feet on the drive, then follow through with a full, strong pull on the handle (the erg version of oars). I've gotten as fast as 2:02.0/500m for three or four strokes, & can actually sustain speeds of 2:08.0 or 2:09.0/500m for up to a full minute when doing intervals. It's not sustainable for longer rows — my legs get tired really fast — but its perfect for high intensity intervals.

In her beginner-level training program for women, personal trainer Krista Scott-Dixon has described the alternating high intensity/low intensity of intervals like this: "High intensity should be a maximal or near-maximal effort like a crazy guy with an axe is chasing you. Low intensity is about the equivalent of walking as if a 105 year old guy with an axe is shuffling after you using a walker while dragging an oxygen tank." That's pretty much how it is for me — I go so hard for the one or two minutes of high intensity that by the time I arrive at the two-minute low intensity "rest" portion that my current workouts call for, I have no choice but to row as feebly as that guy with the walker & oxygen tank, because I've wiped myself out. Until I catch my breath, my heart slows down, & then after a minute & a half or so I can row at a nice moderate rate again — for about 30 seconds, until the next manic near-maximal interval is upon me. Wow, it's hard. But afterwards, when I'm all done with my intervals & my cooldown row — & especially after my shower! — I feel great.

My longer rows are progressing, too. Yesterday morning's 30-minute row of 5934 meters (ave. speed 2:31.7/500m) got me exactly 300 meters more than my next best 30-minute row, just a month ago (2:39.7/500m). Compare either of those with my very first 30-minute row (actually, 30:37.3) on October 13 last year: just 4,695 meters (average speed 3:15.7/500m). Last Sunday's 10K was three minutes faster than the previous Sunday's.

My recovery is a lot better too. As in, even when wiped out after a hard effort, a few minutes later I feel pretty darn good, like I could do it all over again. (But I don't!) This might have somewhat to do with my dietary changes — I figured out last week that I wasn't eating quite enough calories, but now that I fixed that, I have more energy for the workouts I'm doing, & am not quite so exhausted afterwards. Maybe also my sleep: I've been making efforts to get enough sleep every night (which habitually I don't). But I think it's also that I'm simply getting stronger. It feels pretty good. It'll be interesting to see where I'll be a month from now, or two. Especially now that I've got that trick of kicking off at the start of the drive: my legs will get stronger, & when they do, look out.

Somewhere past Namche Bazaar

Note: My Start Walking posts can easily be found by clicking on the label Start Walking 2008.

I haven't kept up my posts the last couple days, but that's fine; I'll just omnibus 'em in here. I arrived "virtually" in Namche Bazaar on Tuesday, thanks to a pretty hefty day especially of rowing & my Tuesday Turbulence Training workout, along with a bit of dancing & walking. Wednesday was a very intense 30-minute row in the morning, my best distance for that time at 5934 meters, & I my heart was beating hard enough at the end of that session that I thought it wise to do another five minutes at a more moderate pace as a cooldown — another 905 meters. Besides the normal "laps" around the second floor of the library (where our office is now located) after trips to the bathroom, I also did a lunchtime walk across campus, inside using skywalks in deference to the big dump of snow we'd had during the morning. Today, Thursday, I did a morning row (3390 meters), enough "laps" of the library plus other walking to get me just over 5000 steps, & an evening Turbulence Training workout.

Progress in the last three days: Tuesday, 19,231 steps or equivalent. Wednesday, 18,784 or equivalent. Thursday, 21,356 or equivalent.

"Fluffy Folks Factually Feel Fit"

At work I've usually KSKA, my local public radio station, playing all day. Just now I heard a segment on a show called The Health Show in which they were talking with their diet & lifestyle consultant Dr. Stephanie Beling about exercise among the overweight & obese. Really encouraging stuff! The upshot is that exercise is really beneficial for overweight/obese people even if they don't lose much weight from it. "As a matter of fact," Beling says, "Fitness may trump fatness." Beling discussed a study of 2600 people over 60 years old, examining how their weight & fitness affected their death rate. They found that fitness — measured in the study by their ability to walk on a treadmill — provides protection against mortality regardless of their weight. Even just three ten-minute walks a day can have this beneficial effect. Beling also had a couple of anecdotes about obese men she met who greatly reduced their weight & need for medications, & greatly improved their health, simply from walking.

You can hear the entire story (8:51) from this page at the Health Show (scroll to bottom). It's in Real Audio format.

I did a little checking on ScienceDaily, & found a story about the study Dr. Beling was referring to: "Fitness Level, Not Body Fat, May Be Stronger Predictor Of Longevity For Older Adults" (Dec. 7, 2007).

Another 10K row

Note: My Start Walking posts can easily be found by clicking on the label Start Walking 2008.

Besides doing measurements, my big thing for the day was a 10K row in one sitting. This is the fourth time I've done a row of this distance or better, & today was my best time for 10K: 54:31.5, a good three minutes better than I'd done it before. Mainly, I think, due to fewer interruptions, but I think I'm also getting better at pacing myself. All to the good: I'm planning on participating in the Concept 2 Global Marathon Challenge between April 16 & April 30. I'm not going to be prepared for a full marathon, which is for the same distance as a running marathon (42,195 meters), but I'm quite sure I can complete a half marathon (21,097 meters), which at my current pace should take me in the area of two hours.

Progress today: The 10K row, a minor bit of walking, & a cool glass of water got me 17,112 steps or their equivalent. My cumulative steps (or equivalent) for this first week of the 2008 Start Walking program total to 121,072.

Errands & TT

Note: My Start Walking posts can easily be found by clicking on the label Start Walking 2008.

After 10 minutes of dancing & a morning row (5x500m/1:00r) & breakfast, today was all about errands, mainly food shopping with eye towards protein sources, having figured out midweek that I needed more calories per day & more protein than what I'd been eating. So, Natural Pantry, then Costco, where I also got some test strips for my glucometer so I can start checking my blood sugars again. I got a few extra steps (& some panic) by dropping my ATM card by the pharmacy counter & having to go back & find it later. (All came out well.)

And then in the evening, I completed the second week of the Beginner's level of Turbulence Training. As usual, that meant about 30 minutes of strength training (bodyweight & dumbbell exercises) followed up by HIIT intervals on the erg (3x2:00/2:00r).

I see from reading Richard's blog for today that Fairbanks got a new dump of snow that layered over recent signs of spring. So did we! — it was spitting snow most of the day, & the temps have gone down a bit as well.

Progress today: Dancing, rowing, walking, strength training, & the bonus 500 points from drinking a glass of water got me 20,236 steps or their equivalent, my best day so far.

A walking day

Note: My Start Walking posts can easily be found by clicking on the label Start Walking 2008.

Today was a break from rowing, but that didn't stop me from dancing a half hour in the morning & walking, including a half hour or so at lunchtime back & forth across the UAA campus & then, in the evening, a longer walk with Jesse & his dog Sweetheart along the bike trails by Chester Creek.

We live just off Fireweed & C Street, which is advantageous for walking because any walk we take down into the Chester Creek valley means we've got to walk up a hill to get home. Not to mention the Chester Creek greenbelt is right down there. The bike trails of course are pretty full of snow, still, just as the one around Goose Lake is, but the walking wasn't too bad so long as you had the right footwear for it. I was trying out the new light hikers that I bought last weekend, & they were perfect for conditions. Worst bit was going through the culvert tunnels under roads — pretty wet & icy down in those tunnels, but my footwear was up to it, didn't even get my feet wet. Nor, more importantly, did I fall flat on my hiney or face.

We went as far as Minnesota & followed the bike trail up the hill overlooking Westchester Lagoon, up to West High, during which a bald eagle flew over us. And then along Spenard & Fireweed towards home, where we arrived in time for me to fix myself something to eat before plopping down for the season premiere of Battlestar Galactica.

Great way to start a weekend.

Progress today: Dancing & walking & a cool drink of water worth 18,544 steps or their equivalent.

On the way to Namche Bazaar

Note: My Start Walking posts can easily be found by clicking on the label Start Walking 2008.

Kate, the designer of the Start Walking program, has thoughtfully provided information about the locations & sights along the way during our virtual climb up Mt. Everest. This video, from YouTube member TheHappyHobo, illustrates crossing a suspension bridge just outside Phakding on the trail to Namche Bazaar, where I'm "virtually" headed next.

Into Phakding

Note: My Start Walking posts can easily be found by clicking on the label Start Walking 2008.

I've presumably got a goal this week & this month to get at least 7 hours of sleep per night, but I've not been doing too well with it. Especially last night. Thus, I slept just a teensy bit later than usual — no dancing, but I did my 15-minute row though finishing with a good couple hundred meters less than two mornings ago.

Perhaps the most important thing I did today healthwise was to sign up for Individualized Health Planning (IHP) sessions, which is part of the university's Health in Action program. I'd been reluctant to after my experience two years ago with the over-the-phone "wellness consultants" that came out of having filled out the health questionnaires we'd been sent the prior winter. The over-the-phone folks were well-meaning & enthusiastic, but they also seemed to be going from a script that I wasn't quite adhering to. For example, I'd tell them I was prediabetic, they'd start telling me the conventional American Diabetes Association-style advice about nutrition, I'd counter with the information that in my opinion that the ADA is making people sicker with that advice because of its emphasis on high carbs high carb high carbs, & the phone consultant at that point wouldn't quite know what to do. Basically, I was doing a lot of research on my own about what I should be eating & when (as can be seen from this blog), & how I should be exercising, & they weren't quite able to keep up with me. I didn't get the impression that they were knowledgeable beyond a very basic course on standard conventional health/nutrition advice. They had the demeanor of college kids doing a job for extra pocket money. The calls became chores for me more than anything that actually helped me.

But the IHPs are face-to-face with people with names & qualifications that we can actually read about. The person I'll be seeing, for example, is a nutritional educator with a Masters in nutrition from Bastyr University. In fact, if I'm not mistaken, she's someone my naturopath suggested to me a couple of years ago when I ran into her at Natural Pantry — someone who knows a lot about nutrition for diabetes & insulin resistance, & something tells me it won't be the standard ADA high carb advice. Aside from that, other people who've already been to IHP's have said some pretty good things about it. I've got to give credit to the university for working to get it right for employee health.

So I feel pretty good about signing up. My initial session will be in a couple of weeks.

When I got home tonight, I knew I'd find waiting for me the Bowflex SelectTech dumbbells & weight bench I'd ordered, which Jesse (my partner's nephew) had accepted delivery on earlier today. But seeing as I needed sleep, I intended not to unpack them until I got done with my scheduled Turbulence Training workout. Alas, I had no choice, because the boxes filled my bedroom. No choice but to open 'em, get the stuff out & move it out of the way, & take the stryofoam packing material to the garbage & the broken-down boxes out to my car for a trip to the Recycling Center this weekend. Okay, so it got me a few extra steps.

And then the workout (30 minutes bodyweight & dumbbell exercises, rowing warmup, rowing HIIT intervals 3x1:00/1:00r, rowing cooldown). And then dinner. And in a minute, to bed.

Progress today: With rowing, walking, & strength training (& my cool drink of water), I accumulated 17,834 steps or their equivalent. Cumulatively, I've done 65,180 steps or their equivalent, bringing my on my expedition to Everest into the village of Phakding.

Why You May Need To Eat More Protein by Dr. John M Berardi, CSCS

I just figured out a couple of days ago that I'm eating far too little protein for my current state & goals, & am adjusting my eating accordingly. And then happened across this article that explains just why protein is so important, especially for someone who, like me, is trying to get rid of body fat. Used with permission.

Why You May Need To Eat More Protein
by Dr John M Berardi, CSCS

Nowadays there are a lot of misconceptions with respect to protein intake. Should one take in 1 gram of protein per lb of body weight? Or is it 1 gram per kilogram? And, to the non-scientist, just how much is that?

Well, before discussing this issue, I think it’s important to explore the difference between protein need and protein optimization. When someone asks the question – how much protein should I eat – they are usually trying to figure out how much protein they need to optimize body composition and performance. But the question, "How much protein does an athlete need?" is a very different one from "How much protein should an athlete consume to improve body composition and athletic performance?"

Reason #1
Increased Thermic Effect of Feeding — While all macronutrients require metabolic processing for digestion, absorption, and storage or oxidation, the thermic effect of protein is significantly higher than that of carbohydrates and fat. In fact, protein requires 25-30% of the energy it provides just for digestion, absorption, and assimilation while carbs only require 6-8% and fat requires 2-3%. That means that eating protein is actually thermogenic and can lead to a higher metabolic rate. This means greater fat loss when dieting and less fat gain during hypercaloric diets.

Reason #2
Increased Glucagon — Protein consumption increases plasma concentrations of the hormone glucagon. Glucagon is responsible for antagonizing the effects of insulin in adipose tissue, leading to greater fat mobilization. In addition, glucagon also decreases the amounts and activities of the enzymes responsible for making and storing fat in adipose and liver cells. Again, this leads to greater fat loss during dieting and less fat gain during overfeeding.

Reason #3
Increased IGF-1 — Protein and amino-acid supplementation has been shown to increase the IGF-1 response to both exercise and feeding. Since IGF-1 is an anabolic hormone that's related to muscle growth, another advantage associated with consuming more protein is more muscle growth when overfeeding and/or muscle sparing when dieting.

Reason #4
Reduction in Cardiovascular Risk — Several studies have shown that increasing the percentage of protein in the diet (from 11% to 23%) while decreasing the percentage of carbohydrate (from 63% to 48%) lowers LDL cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations with concomitant increases in HDL cholesterol concentrations.

Reason #5
Improved Weight-Loss Profile — Research from Layman and colleagues has demonstrated that reducing the carbohydrate ratio from 3.5 - 1 to 1.4 - 1 increases body fat loss, spares muscle mass, reduces triglyceride concentrations, improves satiety, and improves blood glucose management.

Reason #6
Increased Protein Turnover — All tissues of the body, including muscle, go through a regular program of turnover. Since the balance between protein breakdown and protein synthesis governs muscle protein turnover, you need to increase your protein turnover rates in order to best improve your muscle quality. A high protein diet does just this. By increasing both protein synthesis and protein breakdown, a high protein diet helps you get rid of the old muscle more quickly and build up new, more functional muscle to take its place.

Reason #7
Increased Nitrogen Status — Earlier I indicated that a positive nitrogen status means that more protein is entering the body than is leaving the body. High protein diets cause a strong positive protein status and when this increased protein availability is coupled with an exercise program that increases the body's anabolic efficiency, the growth process may be accelerated.

Reason #8
Increased Provision of Auxiliary Nutrients — Although the benefits mentioned above have related specifically to protein and amino acids, it's important to recognize that we don't just eat protein and amino acids — we eat food. Therefore, high protein diets often provide auxiliary nutrients that could enhance performance and/or muscle growth. These nutrients include creatine, branched chain amino acids, conjugated linoleic acids, and/or additional nutrients that are important but remain to be discovered. This illustrates the need to get most of your protein from food, rather than supplements alone.

So, looking over this list of benefits, isn't it clear that for many individuals, an increase in protein intake would be advantageous for most people’s training goals? Since a high protein diet can lead to a better health profile, an increased metabolism, improved body composition, and an improved training response, why would anyone ever try to limit their protein intake to the bare minimum necessary to stave off malnutrition?

It seems to me that whether someone's on a hypoenergetic diet or a hyperenergetic diet, the one macronutrient they would want to be sure to overeat would be protein. Instead, by limiting protein intake, most individuals look for what they consider the bare minimum of protein, and then overeat carbohydrates and fats instead. That's a big performance and body composition mistake.

SEE ALSO: For more great training and nutrition wisdom, check out our complete system, Precision Nutrition. Containing system manuals, gourmet cookbook, digital audio/video library, online membership, and more, Precision Nutrition will teach you everything you need to know to get the body you want — guaranteed.

And what's more, your online access allows you to talk exercise and nutrition 24/7 with thousands of fellow members and the Precision Nutrition coaches. Find out more about Precision Nutrition.

Order Precision Nutrition now and get $50 off!

A walk around Goose Lake

Note: My Start Walking posts can easily be found by clicking on the label Start Walking 2008.

It couldn't have been a finer day for walking. Which I'd determined I wanted to do today, a good lunchtime walk to get me out in that fresh air &, as luck would have it, sunshine. I've been itching for such a walk for awhile. Helped also that, with the end of the March Madness rowing challenge on Monday, I no longer felt obligated to make nearly every day a 5K rowing day.

Which isn't to say I don't row even on a walking day. It was still the first thing, after a bit of dancing to warm up, that I did after getting up. This morning my rowing workout was, in rower's shorthand (which I speak only in pidgin, just enough to get by): 5x500m/1:00r, which means 5 intervals of 500 meters followed by 1 minutes at a "resting" pace. The way I do these is usually to use the first interval as a warmup, then build up my speed with each succeeding interval as best I can, then to use the last interval as a cooldown. But I'm not usually rowing even the more intense intervals as intensely as the ones for my Turbulence Training workouts. The workout this morning got me 3,380 meters (equivalent to 5,293 steps) with a time of 18:14.1 (13:14.1 for the intervals, 5 minutes for the "resting" pace).

But now to the meat of the day: the walk. Back in 2006, I used to walk around Goose Lake quite often. Can you believe that today is the first time I've done it since then? That's how bad the funk I fell into messed me up, that I hardly got outside at all last year, even on a beautiful day such as today was. Warm enough even that I didn't need the second layering of jacket that I had on, or my gloves.

Although most of the streets & sidewalks around town have melted off, the bike trail around the lake is still covered with snow, but fortunately of a kind that could be walked pretty easily as long as you had the right kind of footwear. I wouldn't want to walk it in, for example, a pair of sneakers or loafers. But what I had on was a pair of Doc Martens, & the walking was fine. Helped no doubt by the fact that the bike path pushes through woods, so there are needles & specks of leaves fallen down on the snow to help with traction, & the snow, while firm, is more snow than ice. The worst conditions were around the parking lot near the swimming area on the opposite side of the lake from the campus, & that was mostly just because it had melted more & was slushy & wet. But that was just a matter of walking around it.

Well, what can you say elsewise about such a walk? Just that it was beautiful out, the lake still covered with ice & a layer of snow atop it, a lot of the woods still snowy but melting, the Chugach Mountains as a backdrop during some portions of the walk also still snowy, but all of it under a blue sky & a warm sun. I've missed this so much. I'm so glad to be out walking again.

(I had my camera along & took some pics; I'll add a couple to this blog entry when I get them downloaded to my laptop.)

Progress today: Through dancing, rowing, & walking, I got 15,584 steps (or their equivalent). I should make it into Phakding tomorrow.

BFFM Week 7 goals

Now that I've worked out the meal tracking stuff, I can finish setting my goals for this week.

Progress so far

• Since Feb. 18, I've lost about 12 lbs. (according to my less than completely accurate "caveat" scale).
• Since Mar. 17 I've lost 3 inches around my waist, 1 to 1.5 around my hips, & about half an inch around my neck. Belt is now two notches tighter without discomfort.

Goals for (the remainder of) Week 7

(I'm sometimes using abbreviations for days of the week. R is Thursday, b/c T is already taken up by Tuesday; Sa is Saturday & Su is Sunday.)

Fitness

• Turbulence Training: Three full TT workouts (combined strength/circuit training with HIIT cardio on rower) (TRSa).
• Core (optional): TT core workouts on alternate days (WFSu).
• Cardio: A minimum of 10,000 walking steps of their equivalent each day (per my workplace's Start Walking program). On most days, this will include 5000m rowed, including at least one 10,000m row (training for late April half-marathon challenge).
• Flexibility: Stretch after warmup on all rowing days.

Nutrition

• Eat on modified eating program of 30% carbs, 40% protein, 30% health fats for a total of about 1550 calories per day, as outlined in a previous post.

Evaluation

• Continue recording meals using meal tracking Excel spreadsheet.
• "Official" weigh-in & measurements Sunday morning. (My nephew informs me that the new scale arrived at my doorstep today, yay. It includes a body fat measurement (not as good as the calipers, but it'll do until I can get good enough skinfolds to be able to use the calipers accurately.)
• Take another set of "progress" pics.
• Based on all of the above, establish goals for Week 8.

Motivation & accountability

• Continue tracking progress at Concept 2 online log, workplace "health activities" tracker, & Start Walking tracker, etc.
• Continue making use of online forums & discussion lists.
• Keep up the blog.
• Keep up with accountability partner!

Other

• Continue reread of Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle & Precision Nutrition.
• Get at least seven hours of sleep each night as many nights as I can.

TDEE, meal tracking, & macronutrient levels

Well, here's a couple of good reasons for meal tracking. After overhauling my diet two years ago, I got into a new set of habits for eating that are healthy overall. But meal tracking over the past week or so has turned up a few major issues that are in serious need of fixing.

Although I figured this out last, I'm going to start out with Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE). I tried out both the calculators on the Burn The Fat Inner Circle website, & came up with this ("caveat" relates to my innacurate "caveat emptor" bathroom scale, which is about to be replaced; I'm also estimating my body fat% has come down slightly after losing 3 inches around my waist since Feb. 18):

Katch-McArdle calculator

Body fat % (est.).........36%
Weight (caveat)..........188 lbs
Body fat mass............67.68 lbs (30.8 kg)
Lean body mass.......120.32 lbs (54.7 kg)
Basal metabolic rate..1552 cal/day

____________TDEE___15%___20%___25%___30%_
Sedentary..............1863....1584....1490....1397....1304
Moderately active...2406....1814....1708....1601....1494

Harris-Benedict calculator

Age in years..............49 years
Height in inches..........62 in
Weight (caveat).........188 lbs
Basal metabolic rate..1529 cal/day

_____________TDEE___15%___20%___25%___30%_
Sedentary..............1835....1560....1468....1377....1285
Moderately active...2370....2015....1896....1778....1659

The two calculators come to pretty close agreement on my TDEE, & also in the calorie deficits for a "sedentary" level of activity (where I've spent a good part of my life). But they get pretty divergent for "moderately active," which is about where I am now given the rowing, strength training, etc. I'm doing.

Now, comparing that with my meal tracking for the past week, I find that I'm undereating, sometimes by as much as a couple of hundred calories. That's without feeling hungry, either -- apparently I eat enough nonstarchy veggies that usually they fill me up just fine. But still: not enough calories.

Second thing is, my macronutrient ratios are all off. In particular, while the fats that I eat are overall health fats (fish oils, extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil for high temp cooking, etc.), I'm eating too much of them. I'm not eating enough protein, & my carb levels change day by day, though overall are within appropriate ranges given my insulin resistance (carb sensitivity).

For the time being, I've decided to opt for an average between what the two calculators say for the 30% caloric deficit for moderate activity. I'm picking the 30% deficit because:

• My caloric intake is as low as it's been, & I've still been getting some results.
• I also have a high body fat percentage (per Tom, people with high body fat %s can afford higher deficits than people with lower body fat %s, & will still preferentially burn fat rather than lose muscle).

So, at this point, I'm establishing a goal to eat about 1550 calories per day.

As an insulin resistant (carb-sensitive) person, the BFFM low carb plan for macronutrient levels that is most appropriate for me is the low-carb plan (what I'd actually call moderate carb): 30% carbs, 40% protein, 30% fats. So, I should be eating, on average:

_________Per day_________Per meal____
Carbs.....116g (645 cal).....23.2g (93 cal)
Protein....155g (620 cal).....31 g (124 cal)
Fats.........51g (465 cal).....10.2g (93 cal)
——————————————————————
TOTAL.....322g (1550 cal)....64.4g (310 cal)

The biggest things I have to do to bring this about is to slightly lower my fat intake, greatly increase my protein intake, & stabilize the amount of carbs per day so that I'm consistent. I'm already having some success using my meal tracking chart (my customization of one originally designed by my accountability partner, Eva — thanks, Eva!) to balance my meals today.

Naturally this program is subject to modification. I will especially be depending on feedback from my actual results in fat loss etc. from week to week, & adjusting my eating program when necessary. I will probably be doing meal tracking for awhile, in order to continue monitoring myself & compare them with my results.

Maybe I should call it Start Rowing...

Note: My Start Walking posts can easily be found by clicking on the label Start Walking 2008.

Maybe I should call it Start Rowing...since that's how I'm starting most of my mornings nowadays. Actually, usually I start off with a bit of iPod dancing to warm me up, then some rowing. Sometimes I'll do a half-hour row or a 5000 meter row (nearly equivalent), but more often — especially when I have Turbulence Training workout scheduled in the evening, as I did tonight — I do about 15 minutes' worth, which this morning netted me 3021 meters at an average speed of 2:29.0 minutes/seconds per 500 meters. (Turns out, as I learned in October when I bought my erg, that measuring one's performance by the time it takes to row 500 meters is pretty standard in the world of rowing, both on the water & indoors on a machine. For me personally, about the best speed I have ever been able to do is in the area of 2:10.0/500m, & that only for a very short time.) According to the formula I've worked out for step equivalences for rowing (which I will explain in another post), my 3021 meters were equivalent to 4,731 steps. (My ten minutes of dancing to warm up & 5 more to assist in cooling down after the row came out to 1,965 steps.)

My morning routine follows that up with a shower (that rowing makes one awful sweaty!), getting my daytime meals put together, & getting out the door to go to work. Two years ago when I took part in the first Start Walking program, I usually was walking to the bus, but when I went into my bad funk that fall & laid off the exercise, I also started driving to work again. I want to get back to bus riding & all the extra walking that comes with it, but before I can do that I've gotta work on (1) getting to bed at a reasonable hour so that (2) I can get up in time to get all my morning stuff done in time to get out to the bus, which leaves the nearest bus stop a good half hour earlier than I usually leave the apartment when I'm driving to work. Trying to get more sleep is one of my goals this month.

Okay, so I hop in the car & go to work. Here's where the next bit of exercise comes in, then: our office moved at the start of the year from the Social Sciences Building on the UAA campus to the Consortium Library right next door (& attached). I park in the same lot as I used to, but the walk from the parking lot to the office is enough longer that it makes a significant difference in how much I & my coworkers (at least two of whom are also doing Start Walking) walk even if we weren't doing this program.

And so to work.

There's another advantage to having an office inside the Consortium Library: it's made for walking. Okay, it's made for books — but you've gotta walk around to find 'em. In other words, instead of being on a hallway that you could only pace up & down to walk in, which would get boring pretty fast, in the library you can actually walk in various routes. All three of us Start Walking participants in my office have taken to at least occasionally taking little walks all around the second floor of the library after a trip "down the hall" (i.e., to the bathroom). Today I did that three times.

And then when I got off work, instead of making a beeline to my car, I walked around the Consortium Library & SSB the long way 'round. After going to my polling place to vote in the municipal election, & then walking from the parking lot at the end of my building to my apartment, I'd managed to accumulate 4,268 actual walking steps.

Then my Turbulence Training workout, which I won't go into great detail about except to say that for 30 minutes I sweated over an assortment of dumbbell & bodyweight exercises done as supersets (all sets for two different exercises done without a stop until completed; a one-minute rest, then the next superset, etc.), followed by a five-minute warmup on the rower followed by HIIT (high intensity interval training) on the rower, followed by a five-minute cooldown. (And then the second shower of the day!) In this case, my HIIT involved 3 sets in which I rowed pretty darn hard for 2 minutes to get my heart beating really fast, followed by rowing for another 2 minutes at a more sedate "resting" page that permitted my heart rate to slow; then to the next set (or interval); & then the next. The shorthand for this HIIT workout is 3x2:00/2:00r — i.e., three times 2 minutes hard followed by 2 minutes "rest," for a total of 12 minutes. Add that to the five-minute warmup & the five-minute cooldown, & the entire rowing session got me another 3,987 meters (equivalent to 6,244 steps). The 30 minute weight training portion of the TT workout, meantime, came out to 2,010 steps.

You can see how it adds up. These days when I do TT workouts are the really high-step days for me, with the closest competition being those days when I do really long rows, like the 10K rows I've so far done three times (two of them in March).

This is what happens when I get motivated. This is why my name has started showing up pretty high in the standings. Not because I'm an athlete, but because I'm an overweight late-40s woman who is insulin resistant & prediabetic, & wants to finally see myself through to getting insulin sensitive & healthy — as I probably have never been all my life long. Two years ago, with the first Start Walking program, I got partway there & then I went into the bleak spaces in my head & crapped out, & lost all my gains. Or should I say, regained all my losses.

That's not going to happen this time. I am arming myself against it.

Progress today: through dancing, rowing, walking, & strength training, I came another 19,718 steps or their equivalent.