Friday, October 10, 2008

:: Day 117 - Summary ::

Activities: Andy & Karen's rehearsal dinner!!!

10am: 1 apple, handful of almonds (thanks anna!), bite of dark chocolate (thanks jen!!!)

12pm: homemade veggie soup from yesterday

main meal @ california cafe (rehearsal dinner)

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Thursday, October 9, 2008

:: Day 116 - Summary ::

Activities: n/a

8am: 1 fuji apple, 1 granola bar, couple of carrot sticks. i was late!

12pm:
Lunch with Ricardo and the Chasteens
Mushu Pork wrap, beef dish and a tablespoon of rice. And a few wantons. I know I didnt go overboard because I wasn't sleepy after lunch.

Main meal @ home
I prepared a lovely indian dinner feast for some of our friends... Chicken Briyani, Aloo Gobi and my version of indian fried rice. :P
Chicken Briyana (simplified version) Recipe, Aloo Gobi Recipe, Indian Fried Rice Recipe

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Wednesday, October 8, 2008

:: Weekly planning ::

So I realized I've sorta been slacking in my fitness regime ever since the sprained ankle. Quite honestly, even now at certain angles my ankle still feels "off". I wonder if it'll ever be at 100% again. Regardless, I am trudging on. I realized my goal of 140 lbs is getting pretty bleak for Dec 31st at the rate I'm going. I think I'm going to settle for between 140-150 lbs realistically speaking. So there's so much I want to do in my weekly workouts... kettlebells, running maintenance, yoga, group classes... but so little time. I've decided to do my stuff in 2-week cycles so I still get to try everything I like. No more crazy double workouts daily but I'll do some of that here and there. Time to get back in the swing of things!!! Will begin officially next week when "recovery week" is over.

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:: Day 115 - Summary ::

Activities: nada. but i'm working on my weekly workout sheet now!

8am: ABC juice + frozen blueberries + a fig, shared with Mikee
I'm not liking the tartness that the blueberries bring so I'm going to be skipping them for now.


12pm:
Ended up having a bowl of soup, 1/2 egg roll, 1/2 burger that Ricardo offered me. I was too weak. Oh and yogurt and granola too.

Main meal @ home

Felt kinda stuffed from lunch so had some brown rice, veges, leftover halibut, leftover porkchops + 1 apple. But definitely smaller portions.

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Tuesday, October 7, 2008

:: Day 114 - Summary ::

Activities: Still resting... more stretching though! I've started to have thoughts of running a marathon once in my life. I dont know how this evil thought managed to creep into my mind but i started reading up Hal Higdon's stuff and suddenly very inspired to do it. Might be a great before-i-turn-30 milestone for my life as well? Thoughts anyone?

8am: ABC Juice blended with 1/3 frozen banana and 2 figs

12pm: homemade stem soup, chinese pear

Main meal @ home
salad, cauliflower soup, vege barley medley, ...
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Monday, October 6, 2008

:: I'm 23! Woohoo! ::


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:: Day 113 - Summary ::

Activities: Recovery... I might go for some yoga at some point.
I cooked up a storm today, literally 2 hours in the kitchen. Menu includes: green stem soup, cauliflower and cabbage soup, vegetables in barley and brown rice medley, chicken tomatoes stew, porkchop fried rice topped with grilled eggplants, zuchinni and mushrooms.
have a few people on my meal plan this week! how exciting!


8am: ABC Juice, shared with mikee and raman

12pm: sample of raman's jackfruit sabzi and a bowl of cauliflower squash soup

Main meal @ home
brown rice and barley vege medley, jackfruit sabzi, pita bread, veges, carrot sticks

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:: Race Report - SJ Rock & Roll 1/2 ::

I had an issue of the nerves that morning. Woke up at 5am even though the alarm was set for 545am. Got ready in about 5 minutes and started chewing my fingernails nervously. We carpooled with both Ruey and Derek to get to the start line, and hopefully secure a good parking spot. We did - so that was nice.

We got geared up and head over to the start line. When I first signed up for the race, back in spring, I was not a runner at all. When asked to pick my estimated finish time, I selected the last corral 13 - which also meant i expect to finish in 4 hours. What I found out later was that i wasnt as slow as I thought, should be expecting to finish around 2:45 on our current pace. When we started moving, I realized I had to do alot of lateral over-taking to move up front and meet up with the people in the same pace as us. That took alot of effort actually, and within 4 miles, I started to feel it on the side of my knees. Not to mention we were mostly overtaking on the sides of the road, which were sloping, and again affected the knees.

It took us about 6-7 miles actually to get to the people who were running at the same pace as us but by that time, my knees felt totally destroyed. Everything else felt good though... breathing was strong, feeling hydrated, legs strong, ankles OK... just the darn knees. I tried to reduce over-taking but I couldnt. Big lesson learnt about how important it is to pick the right corral.

The course itself was totally flat - which was nice for a beginner 1/2 marathoner - and totally easy. Not scenic by any means though. Around mile 11, things started to get really tough on my knees and mikee's legs. Our pace slowed down considerably even though we were maintaining 11:30-12 on the first 10 miles. Yikes. We finally rolled across the finish line at 2:42. I'm happy that we completed it together - very emotional moment. :)

Now that I've started to reflect on the race, a competitive part of me is kicking in. I really want to race again and this time I want to have a target time. Not sure when it'll happen but it will happen for sure. There was a time when the most I could run was 3 miles and to be able to complete 13 yesterday - wow. I did it. Goals are great, arent they? Especially when you get there! LOL

Thanks everyone for all your support and encouragement!
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Sunday, October 5, 2008

:: Day 112 - Race Day ::

I'm officially a half-marathon finisher! Gosh, it feels good!

Activities:
13.1 miles, 2:42:00, 1958 cal burnt

10+am: Snacks at the finish line
12pm: Lunch at Harvest Restaurant
Calamari(shared), spaghetti meatballs


BBQ celebration at MIL's place
Insalata caprese, bbq ribs, pork chops, chow mein, green beans, ice cream cake
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