Week 1

Hello, September!

Ok, it's time to do this. I've been putting it off for long enough. August came and went with little to no change in my actual diet, once in a while I'd write down my meals or try to eat earlier in the night. But inevitably I'd go back to late night dinner and casual cookie binging on Sunday. But it's September and time is running out. If I've learned anything in the past couple years, it's that race season means the shutting of the weight loss window. Maybe it's the volume of activity and maybe it's the fact that after a twenty mile run, you DESERVE a piece of decent pizza. And some publix cake. It's science. But every year I pledge that I am going to drop down to an efficient number. Not for the looks, although that is a big plus, but for the simple fact that races get easier when you're not toting around extra weight around your midsection. I often equate it with a ten pound donut that wraps around your gut and sticks there for years. You can't shake it, you can only run around with it hoping your legs continue to carry you that last little bit. But this year it's different. I have community of support that I've never experienced before. Training is a solitary action and you spend a lot of time on your own out in the woods some where. I've been lucky to have Sean and Megan, but in the past I've spent most of my work outs with a one mister Rick Ross or the master of disaster, Kanye West. Maybe having someone there to hold me accountable to this goal will be what I need.
We all put these goals on the white board in the gym. Mine was with red letters there for everyone to see. "Kate- get to race weight and improve overall diet quality". At the time, I didn't know how I was going to accomplish this or what my actual goal was. But I'm getting it together, time is of the essence. Every day, I'll have the damned board to answer to. It'll be there looking down, hatin' on me. So let's go hot.

Starting weight: 127-129 lbs
I think my body fat is around 19% (next week I'm getting this tested at the leach... this was my end of ironman number and I haven't changed much.)
Lean body mass: 104.5 lbs
Goal body fat: 13-15% depending on what is most efficient. If I get down and feel too tired, well then we'll just have to find the magic number.
Goal weight: 121-123 lbs This seems dramatic to me. I think a good goal is 5-6 lbs in 4 weeks. I'll be using a combination of the zone and the race weight quick start by Matt Fitzgerald.

Day one is tomorrow. I'll update this with my food diary and my struggles. There will be a lot of them so get ready to hear some whining. Tonight we're having family dinner and I'm going to have to break up with sugar and processed foods. It's not you, baby. It's me. You're great. I love you so much. But it's time we take a break so we can really focus on ourselves for a little while. Trust me, this will be good in the long run.

Girl, you be killin' it.

It's been a while since I've written anything other than 140 character tweets, but that's the way the past couple of months have been. To call it busy would be an understatement. My calendar looks likes a multicolored mosaic of work, school, two-a-days, doctors appointments, everything but hanging with friends or happy hour. I can't remember when this whole thing started but I'll remember when it ended. First it was the RAGNAR, and then it was the marathon, then Torreya, and now this. Mike and I got into a fight last night and it wasn't good. He said that he's glad it's over, glad that I'm through with 3-4 hour workouts on week day evenings while he stays at home, glad to have a Saturday evening without pasta and glad to have me focused on something other than training. This whole week I've been really down. Maybe it's the fact that I've had the past year planned out perfectly for me, color coded and scheduled. Every meal was for fuel and every night's rest was for the next morning's run. This week is for strength building and next week I'll do some intervals as a test and two weeks from now I'll race a shorter distance to judge my progress. I wrote everything down in a little book and highlighted the disciplines. I took notes on how I felt and how I did with eating enough calories. I wrote when it was me and Sean. I wrote when I went solo. There are inspirational quotes and goals. My favorite is my new years resolutions. And here I am only days away from my last race of this season and I just want to run some effing miles already. I hate tapering and so does the chemical make up of my brain. Where's my seratonin? Where's the high that comes after a hard effort when every footstep you've taken for the past 5 miles rushes back into your body like frame by frame photography catching up. And then boom! That light feeling and the tingling in your fingertips. I don't know where this post was going, but I know that just because this is over doesn't mean I'm finished. Although it may feel that way, I still have a couple more to cross off my list.

1. 50k
2. Break 3:45 in the marathon
3. Build total strength like Vin Diesel
4. Break 23:00 in the 5k

See you at 4am, summertime.