I've been struggling lately with balancing my training with my food intake. As a Weight Watchers Lifetime Member, I am pretty conscious about my eating habits, and I try to be as healthy as possible. A few years and almost 50 lbs ago, I was not so much, and I'm proud of how far I've come and I don't want to go back. Michael is very good at reminding me that I'd really have to try to get back to that place, but it's still hard to let go of that fear.
We went to brunch with Alison and Derrick yesterday right after Derrick did a 5K. He's training for his first half-marathon (check out his blog and fundraising page in my links), so whenever we're hanging out, we talk gadgets, pace, fuel, general athlete-speak. Who would have every thought I'd consider myself an athlete! I mentioned my struggle with eating enough and not too much or, as I have a tendency to do, too little. He and Alison were really helpful in suggesting that I see a nutritionist or at least consult my doctor. I'm going to try that. Thanks for listening, guys.
I'm afraid of starting bad habits again that will be hard to break after my training is done. Basically, I reprogrammed my brain one way, and now I have to temporarily turn it back. It's not an easy task, and I know I have not been easy to be around because of that. But I'm working on it.
Michael and I had a great run this morning. I did 4 miles, and he did 2. He told me that he ran most of it, which is awesome! I did an 8:59-minute mile average and felt good. My legs felt heavy, which my coaches tell me comes from muscle exhaustion. I guess it's a good thing this is an easy training week to prevent over-training. We only do 8 miles this weekend--pishaw! I tried trickin' out my Garmin a little more, like Derrick showed me yesterday. That thing can do so much, it's scary. And as always, it was so great having Michael beside me as we ventured out this morning. Plus, it was light out!! YAY!
This blog has become so training-centric. I guess that's natural, given that I am almost at my fundraising goal but have a lot of miles to go. However, I'm remembering the reason, and I continue to be so grateful to everyone who has supported me with donations and shoulders to lean on, literally and figuratively. THANK YOU!!!!
I DID IT!! I raised $4,560 for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and I completed my first FULL MARATHON in Walt Disney World on January 11, 2009! Wanna have the time of your life? Join the TEAM today! www.teamintraining.org My TNT Website!
About Me
- TNT Therese
- Philadelphia, PA, United States
- I'm probably tired from running right now.
2 comments:
You know we're always here for you! Thanks again for meeting up with us yesterday, we had an awesome time!
-Alison
Hi, Therese. I'm Amy. I'm a friend of Derrick and Ali's that's been stalking your blog for a while. But I'm really not all that creepy. Really.
I definitely second (third?) their recommendation of talking to a nutritionist. I've had similar issues with food and training, but kinda from the other end. I did two marathons and steadily gained weight through both of them. Finally while training for my third, I met with a nutritionist, and she looked at what I was eating and helped me tweak when I was eating and how much (and what), and I managed to lose weight steadily while still training and hit a new marathon PR in the middle.
If you have specific questions, I can see if I know the answer. Since I'm coming from a place of "must eat less", my situation was slightly different than yours, where presumably you're afraid you're not eating enough to fuel what you're doing. That's actually where I am now, where I constantly worry I've swung too far the other way, and I'm trying to find that balance of getting enough while not gaining weight.
At the risk of this being the world's longest comment ever, my nutritionist is local here in Austin, but may do email consultation if you can't find a recommendation locally. Meredith Terranova. Highly recommended, she's helped a lot of my friends lose weight, get fitter, and do crazy things like figure out how to fuel for a 100 mile trail race.
And I think Ali may have given you my email address.. I have a decent amount of experience, but I have trouble calling myself an athlete still, so I won't even claim to be any sort of expert on anything. But I have made a lot of mistakes and learned from them, so please don't hesitate to drop me email if you ever have questions I may be able to answer. Even stupid stuff. Or girl stuff that Derrick isn't any help with. :) And I'll continue to blogstalk you and chime in if I have anything helpful to say.
Wow. Yeah. Longest comment ever. I hope it lets me even post this.
--
amy
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