It's Friday and I have the day off and the temps should be in the low 50's, this means time for another long ride. It took me a while on map my ride to figure out a route that I haven't done before and that would give me about 70 miles. I had time for about a 6 hour ride as I wasn't going to start until the temp hit 45* and that would be about 11:00am or so and the sun starts to set at 5:30pm. Can't wait until daylight savings time, only 2 more weeks to go.
Found my loop that I wanted to do, Started in Morrison and took the bike path down to Chatfield Rez. Went thru the Rez to the south end over by the Marina and then hooked up with the Highline Canal Trail. It wasn't marked but I kind of knew where I was going. I crossed 2 sets of Railroad tracks with a bit of hike a bike in there. I was on the cross bike so I didn't have the really low gears I needed to get up the steep grade to the tracks. The highline was pretty muddy in spots, boggy in others and completely dry for sections. I had originally planned on doing a longer section on the highline but decided after this first short section that it wasn't worth riding in the muck. I stuck to the paved bike path and changed my course for the day.
Rode down to Parker on the E-470 path and then hooked up with the new Cherry Creek Regional Bike path. I had fought headwinds and cross winds up to this point so it was so nice to have a wonderful tailwind to blow me to Cherry Creek Rez. The map along the route showed me that the path was complete all the way to Cherry Creek, I was so excited. The roads around this area are very busy and I did not want to get on them. Wow, what a surprise when my path ended right at Arapahoe Rd. Without having to back track a few miles I was committed to ride on Arapahoe Rd. for about 2 blocks with the heavy traffic. Thank goodness I was on my cross bike as I rode the dirt shoulder (what little of it there was) and got off as soon as I could. Found the path once again and I was on my way. It took me 3.5 hours to get to Cherry Creek and I was feeling good. It was 3pm and I knew I had a good 2.5 hrs. to get back to my car..plenty of time.
I then proceeded thru the Rez and got on the Cherry Creek bike path that took me all the way to downtown. This took me just about an hour as the wind was winding down and other riders to help keep me motivated. I stopped at a hotdog stand and bought 2 bottles of water. At 4.5 hrs. into this ride I had only consumed 2 bottles of water, 2 bars and 2 gels. I felt good so I wasn't too worried. Took 3 sportlegs and headed south on the South Platte Bike Path down to Bear Creek. Another 30 min. later I hit Bear Creek path, took my last gel and knew this was my final section. I ride this section when I commute to work so it was a pretty easy ride, only 1 hour to go. I was starting to feel it in my neck and legs feeling a little tired but overall pretty good. Got into Bear Creek Rez. with plenty of light but figured I would stop and pee, put my flasher on the back of the bike and turn my mini headlight on. Finished the ride at 5:30, right at 6 hours with about :20 min. total of stopping. I know I could ride this faster now that I know where I am going. Some of todays ride was route finding.
Total mileage was 83 miles according to map my ride. I don't have a computer on the bike yet but Andy did inform me that it was in the garage waiting to be mounted.
Mileage: 83
MPH: 13.7
Bike Path, Park Roads: 80 miles.
Pee breaks: 2 (cherry creek, bear creek)
Food: 3 Macrobars, 3 CarBoom gels
Water: 4 bottles
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
CLEAN Day 5
MONDAY
Weight: 131
Sleep: 9 hrs.
Workout: :30 spin, :30 Plyo/wts.
Mood: Fair. Not real motivated today.
Meals were about the same as usual, fruit& protien smoothie, homemade bars, quinoa with veggies & Rice/Lamb soup. feeling just okay today. Breathing seems to be fine, just had cashews today and no almond.
TUESDAY
Weight: 129
Sleep: 6 hrs.
Workout: :45 Swim @ 5:15am/ Weights 1:00 4:30pm
Temp: 5* & Snow (5")
Breakfast: Fruit & 8 oz. protien smoothie.
Lunch: Wild Rice with Veggies, Rice crackers, Rice/Lamb soup
Snack: Orange/ Walnuts with Cinnamon
I was pretty tired today, really had to force myself to hit the gym and do my weight workout. It was cold and snowy today (-3 at home). I didn't have any food with me at the gym so I was hoping I would be okay until after the workout. Got home about 6:00pm and had a couple of homemade bars. That tied me over until I was able to fix dinner. Was starting to feel a little bloated and not very hungry but I felt I should eat something after the weight workout. I grilled up chicken & potatoes with walnut oil and tumeric/cayenne/cumin spices.. very good. Also made a big batch of Cream of Broccoli Soup with Curry and coconut milk for the rest of the week. I had a little bit of each and now feel that I have overeaten! Hate this feeling, hoping that tomorrow I get back on track. Hope to get a good spin on the bike in the morning and then a yoga class after work so that will force me to not eat much in the evening.
Weight: 131
Sleep: 9 hrs.
Workout: :30 spin, :30 Plyo/wts.
Mood: Fair. Not real motivated today.
Meals were about the same as usual, fruit& protien smoothie, homemade bars, quinoa with veggies & Rice/Lamb soup. feeling just okay today. Breathing seems to be fine, just had cashews today and no almond.
TUESDAY
Weight: 129
Sleep: 6 hrs.
Workout: :45 Swim @ 5:15am/ Weights 1:00 4:30pm
Temp: 5* & Snow (5")
Breakfast: Fruit & 8 oz. protien smoothie.
Lunch: Wild Rice with Veggies, Rice crackers, Rice/Lamb soup
Snack: Orange/ Walnuts with Cinnamon
I was pretty tired today, really had to force myself to hit the gym and do my weight workout. It was cold and snowy today (-3 at home). I didn't have any food with me at the gym so I was hoping I would be okay until after the workout. Got home about 6:00pm and had a couple of homemade bars. That tied me over until I was able to fix dinner. Was starting to feel a little bloated and not very hungry but I felt I should eat something after the weight workout. I grilled up chicken & potatoes with walnut oil and tumeric/cayenne/cumin spices.. very good. Also made a big batch of Cream of Broccoli Soup with Curry and coconut milk for the rest of the week. I had a little bit of each and now feel that I have overeaten! Hate this feeling, hoping that tomorrow I get back on track. Hope to get a good spin on the bike in the morning and then a yoga class after work so that will force me to not eat much in the evening.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
CLEAN DAY 3
Weight: 131
Sleep: 8 hrs.
Mood: f. good.
Temp: Snow, about 5" this am., 8" by 4pm
Workout: 3 hr. ride on trainer.
Got up early to ride but couldn't get motivated until about 9:00am. Decided to watch some old "Coors Classic" DVD's that I picked up from the library the other day. So fun spinning to these. My legs were sufficiently trashed from yesterdays tempo ride and 3 hours on the trainer today definitely was felt. Time went by pretty quickly. I didn't ride very far but that was fine, I just really needed saddle time more than anything.
Breakfast -8:30: Quinoa with veggies & hazelnuts, cashew & apricot bar.
Ride - 10:30/11:30: 2 Carboom gels. 1/2 cashew-apricot bar, orange
Post Ride-1pm: Quinoa with veggies and lamb, a few hazelnuts
Snack- 3:30: rice crackers w/ cashew butter, pear, cashew-apricot bar.
Dinner-7pm: 2 cups of lamb/rice/veggie soup.
Seem to be doing okay with the eating, just starting to feel I want to overeat so I need to make sure to control my portions, drink more water and not obsess about eating! I have been feeling better since I haven't had alcohol or sugar for over a week now. I still feel I have weight to loose around my middle but it's only been a week. Breathing seems to be pretty good today, one more day with out walnuts and then I will add those to the mix and see if the breathing changes.
Sleep: 8 hrs.
Mood: f. good.
Temp: Snow, about 5" this am., 8" by 4pm
Workout: 3 hr. ride on trainer.
Got up early to ride but couldn't get motivated until about 9:00am. Decided to watch some old "Coors Classic" DVD's that I picked up from the library the other day. So fun spinning to these. My legs were sufficiently trashed from yesterdays tempo ride and 3 hours on the trainer today definitely was felt. Time went by pretty quickly. I didn't ride very far but that was fine, I just really needed saddle time more than anything.
Breakfast -8:30: Quinoa with veggies & hazelnuts, cashew & apricot bar.
Ride - 10:30/11:30: 2 Carboom gels. 1/2 cashew-apricot bar, orange
Post Ride-1pm: Quinoa with veggies and lamb, a few hazelnuts
Snack- 3:30: rice crackers w/ cashew butter, pear, cashew-apricot bar.
Dinner-7pm: 2 cups of lamb/rice/veggie soup.
Seem to be doing okay with the eating, just starting to feel I want to overeat so I need to make sure to control my portions, drink more water and not obsess about eating! I have been feeling better since I haven't had alcohol or sugar for over a week now. I still feel I have weight to loose around my middle but it's only been a week. Breathing seems to be pretty good today, one more day with out walnuts and then I will add those to the mix and see if the breathing changes.
DIRTY KANZA
Well, I have finally figured out what my big race for 2011 will be. Andy has talked about the "Dirty Kanza" for a couple of years now and in Jan. I brought it up to him again. We had one day to decide as registration was opening the following day and it fills up in a matter of hours. After a brief discussion we figured we would go for it and see if we could get in.
First off, let me tell you what the Dirty Kanza is. It's a 200 mile bike race, on gravel roads, in the Flint Hills of Eastern Kansas on June 4th. We do not know the route until the night before and that only gets us to the first checkpoint. We will get the next map once we check in and once again, it only takes us to the next checkpoint. Each checkpoint is anywhere from 40-60 miles, no aid stations in between and quite brutal from the reports we have read. Perfect...how could I say no to this challenge!
Well, we are in! Oh crap was the first thing that went thru our heads when we were accepted, what have we gotten ourselves into. Well, days later, LOTS of reading of blogs, reports, checking results etc. we realized that this was not going to be easy. Which bike do we ride, tires, food, we need support-who are we going to get to drive out to Emporia, KS to haul all of our stuff to each check point? The big question was how long is this going to take us. I look up results, last year 170 starters, 65 finisher and only 2 were women. Andy was thinking we could do this in about 12 hours, the look on his face when I told him that the winner of last years race was 13:30 was priceless! Oh Crap was right!!
Decisions have been made, we will ride the cyclocross bikes with a little tweaking. Some people ride their mountain bikes and even though mine is very comfortable they can be much slower and heavier. Andy will put more gears on my bike, we have already raised my handlebars up to positon me better for 15+ hours of riding and from keep my arms/hands from going numb, an issue I have during long rides. Double handlebar tape, new computer and some bigger tires. Still trying to decide on those. Now we have to RIDE. RIDE. RIDE.
First off, let me tell you what the Dirty Kanza is. It's a 200 mile bike race, on gravel roads, in the Flint Hills of Eastern Kansas on June 4th. We do not know the route until the night before and that only gets us to the first checkpoint. We will get the next map once we check in and once again, it only takes us to the next checkpoint. Each checkpoint is anywhere from 40-60 miles, no aid stations in between and quite brutal from the reports we have read. Perfect...how could I say no to this challenge!
Well, we are in! Oh crap was the first thing that went thru our heads when we were accepted, what have we gotten ourselves into. Well, days later, LOTS of reading of blogs, reports, checking results etc. we realized that this was not going to be easy. Which bike do we ride, tires, food, we need support-who are we going to get to drive out to Emporia, KS to haul all of our stuff to each check point? The big question was how long is this going to take us. I look up results, last year 170 starters, 65 finisher and only 2 were women. Andy was thinking we could do this in about 12 hours, the look on his face when I told him that the winner of last years race was 13:30 was priceless! Oh Crap was right!!
Decisions have been made, we will ride the cyclocross bikes with a little tweaking. Some people ride their mountain bikes and even though mine is very comfortable they can be much slower and heavier. Andy will put more gears on my bike, we have already raised my handlebars up to positon me better for 15+ hours of riding and from keep my arms/hands from going numb, an issue I have during long rides. Double handlebar tape, new computer and some bigger tires. Still trying to decide on those. Now we have to RIDE. RIDE. RIDE.
Saturday, February 5, 2011
CLEAN DAY 2
SATURDAY:
Weight: 129
Sleep: 6 hrs.
Mood: Good
Temp: 35* snow
Temp: 35* snow
Workout: Ride Trainer, 1:40.
:30 warmup, 2x:10 tempo (HR 143) w/ :05R. 5x1:00 fast spin, Cadence 110-120.
:30 warmup, 2x:10 tempo (HR 143) w/ :05R. 5x1:00 fast spin, Cadence 110-120.
Had a late night last night visiting family down in Highlands Ranch. Went to my nephews basketball game but missed most of it so I stayed to watch the Highlands Ranch Varsity Team play Regis. A very good game but I must say, kind of weird going to a high school game, it's been years!
I did take an hour and a half nap yesterday so I didn't feel the need to sleep in much this morning, feeling pretty energized.
Breakfast - 9:30am:
Amaranth, Coconut milk, a few walnuts, cinnamon. Herbal Tea.
Pre-ride: 5 Apricots/1 homemade bar (the carob/walnut/cashew/coconut one)
Recovery Drink: Rice protein shake (need to find something to mix this with, nasty just plain).
Breathing is a little labored, wondering if it is the walnuts, apricots or cashews. I will have to stick with just cashews for a couple of days and then add in the walnuts to see what happens.
Lunch-2:30: Quinoa with veggies and ground lamb. Cream of Broccoli soup w/coconut milk & potatoes.
Snack - 4:30: Cashew, apricot, flax, popped amaranth, brown rice syrup bar.
Dinner -6:30: Lamb & wild rice soup, couple of rice crackers & pine nuts. herbal tea.
Good ride today albeit a little short. We rode the trainers and watched the 2009 Tour de France. spent the rest of the day cooking, computer work and then watched a movie, "The Disappearance of Alice Creede". A cold and snowy day today. In bed by 10:00!
Lunch-2:30: Quinoa with veggies and ground lamb. Cream of Broccoli soup w/coconut milk & potatoes.
Snack - 4:30: Cashew, apricot, flax, popped amaranth, brown rice syrup bar.
Dinner -6:30: Lamb & wild rice soup, couple of rice crackers & pine nuts. herbal tea.
Good ride today albeit a little short. We rode the trainers and watched the 2009 Tour de France. spent the rest of the day cooking, computer work and then watched a movie, "The Disappearance of Alice Creede". A cold and snowy day today. In bed by 10:00!
CLEAN DAY 1
FRIDAY:
Weight: 131
Sleep: 7 hrs. + 1.5 hr. nap.
Mood: good, tired after swim.
Workout: :30 weights. 1 hour Swim (3,000 yds.)
My first day on the elimination diet wasn't too bad. I spent the morning cooking up a few things to tide me over for the next few days, soups, salads, bars.
I am limited to 28 foods & 8 Flavor enhancers for the next 2 weeks. These are the foods that cause the least amount of inflammation in my body at this time. Over the course of 6 weeks I will slowly be able to add other foods in, see how my body responds and then try to get on a rotational diet so I am not eating the same foods day in and day out. I was only tested for 150 foods/additives/etc. All Dairy is completely out as it showed a high reaction to both of the blood tests that I had done.
THE FOODS I CAN HAVE:
PROTEINS: Lamb/Beef/Chicken/Crab/Clam/Sole
STARCHES: White Potato/Millet/Quinoa/Rice/Amaranth
VEGGIES: Celery/Broccoli/Carrot/Cucumber
FRUITS: Papaya/Orange/Apricot/Mango/Grape/Plum/Grapefruit/Melon
NUTS/OILS: Pecan/Cashew/Walnut/Hazelnut
FLAVORS: Coconut/Cumin/Turmeric/Carob/Cinnamon/Paprika/Black Pepper
So I made up some Quinoa with the veggies listed and a sprinkling of olive oil. I know that is not on my list but I do get to add it in on the 3rd week and I didn't have anything else to use, didn't want to eat it dry.
Cooked up some amaranth, one of my favorite breakfast foods, mixed with coconut milk, walnuts and cinnamon. Learning to adjust my taste buds to NO SUGAR.
I decided to try and make some energy bars but they didn't turn out quite as good as I would have liked. Dates, walnuts, cashews, coconut and carob. I know that dates are not on the list but I haven't been tested for them either so a little cheating here. I did buy apricots today so I will change that up until I get the O.K. from my Dr. about using dates. In the meantime, these sit in the freezer.
I also made up some vegetable broth, much easier than I thought. I started off with a gallon or so of water and then added carrots/kale/onion/potato peel/garlic and let it sit for a couple of hours on simmer. Since a few of these items are not on my "list" until the 3rd week I wanted to freeze it for the 3rd week, save me a little time.
I made up a small batch of Broccoli, potato soup with some curry spice and coconut milk. Turned out pretty good.
It has been fun finding new recipes but also very time consuming. It's nice that the weather is cold and snowy so I don't feel guilty for staying inside the next few days working on this. I know that it will get easier once I figure out what I like and how quickly I can prepare things.
Breakfast 10:00am. A bar that I made. cashew, walnut, coconut, carob.
Amaranth with walnut, coconut milk, Cinnamon.
Lunch 12:30 Quinoa with hazelnuts and veggies. and small bar.
Snack: Orange, bars.
Dinner 5:00pm: Broccoli soup, bar.
Didn't feel hungry later in the evening but when I got home at 11:30 I really wanted to snack, a bad habit that I have, one of many that I hope to break while doing this elimination diet. I am going to try to make it a habit that I do not snack on anything after 8pm.
Friday, February 4, 2011
Cleanse/Elimination Diet
It's been a while since my last post...oops. I thought this might be a good start for my next round of posts. A cleaning out of my body.
I decided that I really needed a change in my eating habits as I have actually put on a few extra pounds after the holiday season. I went to see the acupuncturist 2 weeks ago to help me figure out why I have been feeling sluggish, out of sorts, bloated and unmotivated. I thought that by signing myself up for a 200 mile gravel grinder road race in early June might just be what I needed to get the fire going, but alas, it hasn't worked very well.
So, the Dr. suggested we do my LEAP test again along with an IgG blood test to see what foods are causing my body an inflammatory response. He seems to think that my adrenal glands are being over worked from foods that I really shouldn't be eating, and knowing exactly what those foods are should help. I am starting to go thru peri-menopause, not something I was wanting to have to deal with at this age, so hopefully this will alleviate my symptoms from that.
These tests are not cheap but I figured since the last time I did the LEAP test 2 years ago I actually had really good results. The problem was that after about 6-9 months my diet became worse and I was eating all kinds of junk, especially the foods that were an issue for me. I just stopped focusing on my eating habits and having terrible cravings for chocolate, sugar and almonds.
So, on Monday I started a juice fast, the 2nd one I have done this year and this time it was much easier. In the mornings I would drink 30 oz. of a Master cleanse. Water, lemon juice and maple syrup, then for breakfast a fruit juice (some combination of: apple, pear, kiwi, cantaloupe, blueberry, ginger, mango). For lunch I would have the rest of this fruit juice and then snack-dinner was a veggie juice (using: Celery, kale, beet, carrot, ginger, sweet potato, pepper, zucchini). Also drinking another 30 oz. of Master cleanse thruout the morning and a couple of cups of herbal tea.
Monday: Swim, weights. Juice. Felt pretty bloated today but not overly hungry. Last juice was about 8pm. Didn't sleep too well.
Tuesday: slept in, wanted to get up and ride but not motivated, decided to keep this as a rest day. Bitter cold @ -20. came home from work, took a hot bath and watched a movie. It was way too cold for me to get outside to sit in the hot tub!
Wednesday: Got up early with Andy and we rode the bike trainers for about :45 min. nice to spin the legs out. I didn't sleep all that great but was at least motivated to get out of bed. I also
had to make sure I had time to get in a little juicing before leaving for work at 6:00am. Today is suppose to be my last juice day but I am still feeling bloated and blah. Took a 90 min. hot yoga class after work which felt great! I really need to do that more often.
Thursday: Slept great last night. Decided to keep up with the juicing as much as I could today. I am feeling pretty good and not hungry at all. I didn't drink my first juice until noon. Busy day at work so that makes the time fly. No growling or aching of the stomach like I usually have. I did end up having a Lara bar about 3pm, very good! After work I decide to call the Dr. to see if my blood results are in. They are so I head over to his office to check them out. I will review them in depth with the Dr. in more detail in 2 weeks. I have been thru this before so I pretty much know what I need to do. No workout today, came home and watched a movie and then had some solid food, broccoli, cucumber, sunflower seeds, a few cashews with a drizzle of oil.
Friday: My day off of work. Got up early with Andy and decided to do some cooking to prepare for the next few days. Being on an elimination diet requires more time as I have to make everything from scratch and be very inventive on recipes with the limited number of foods I have to work with. At 10:00am I go lift some weights at the gym and then hit the pool for an hour with Audra. Great workout. I am feeling very good this morning but once I get home I am so ready for a nap. I take a long 1½ hr. nap. I really need to get on the bike and spin but may save it for this weekend.
I decided that I really needed a change in my eating habits as I have actually put on a few extra pounds after the holiday season. I went to see the acupuncturist 2 weeks ago to help me figure out why I have been feeling sluggish, out of sorts, bloated and unmotivated. I thought that by signing myself up for a 200 mile gravel grinder road race in early June might just be what I needed to get the fire going, but alas, it hasn't worked very well.
So, the Dr. suggested we do my LEAP test again along with an IgG blood test to see what foods are causing my body an inflammatory response. He seems to think that my adrenal glands are being over worked from foods that I really shouldn't be eating, and knowing exactly what those foods are should help. I am starting to go thru peri-menopause, not something I was wanting to have to deal with at this age, so hopefully this will alleviate my symptoms from that.
These tests are not cheap but I figured since the last time I did the LEAP test 2 years ago I actually had really good results. The problem was that after about 6-9 months my diet became worse and I was eating all kinds of junk, especially the foods that were an issue for me. I just stopped focusing on my eating habits and having terrible cravings for chocolate, sugar and almonds.
So, on Monday I started a juice fast, the 2nd one I have done this year and this time it was much easier. In the mornings I would drink 30 oz. of a Master cleanse. Water, lemon juice and maple syrup, then for breakfast a fruit juice (some combination of: apple, pear, kiwi, cantaloupe, blueberry, ginger, mango). For lunch I would have the rest of this fruit juice and then snack-dinner was a veggie juice (using: Celery, kale, beet, carrot, ginger, sweet potato, pepper, zucchini). Also drinking another 30 oz. of Master cleanse thruout the morning and a couple of cups of herbal tea.
Monday: Swim, weights. Juice. Felt pretty bloated today but not overly hungry. Last juice was about 8pm. Didn't sleep too well.
Tuesday: slept in, wanted to get up and ride but not motivated, decided to keep this as a rest day. Bitter cold @ -20. came home from work, took a hot bath and watched a movie. It was way too cold for me to get outside to sit in the hot tub!
Wednesday: Got up early with Andy and we rode the bike trainers for about :45 min. nice to spin the legs out. I didn't sleep all that great but was at least motivated to get out of bed. I also
had to make sure I had time to get in a little juicing before leaving for work at 6:00am. Today is suppose to be my last juice day but I am still feeling bloated and blah. Took a 90 min. hot yoga class after work which felt great! I really need to do that more often.
Thursday: Slept great last night. Decided to keep up with the juicing as much as I could today. I am feeling pretty good and not hungry at all. I didn't drink my first juice until noon. Busy day at work so that makes the time fly. No growling or aching of the stomach like I usually have. I did end up having a Lara bar about 3pm, very good! After work I decide to call the Dr. to see if my blood results are in. They are so I head over to his office to check them out. I will review them in depth with the Dr. in more detail in 2 weeks. I have been thru this before so I pretty much know what I need to do. No workout today, came home and watched a movie and then had some solid food, broccoli, cucumber, sunflower seeds, a few cashews with a drizzle of oil.
Friday: My day off of work. Got up early with Andy and decided to do some cooking to prepare for the next few days. Being on an elimination diet requires more time as I have to make everything from scratch and be very inventive on recipes with the limited number of foods I have to work with. At 10:00am I go lift some weights at the gym and then hit the pool for an hour with Audra. Great workout. I am feeling very good this morning but once I get home I am so ready for a nap. I take a long 1½ hr. nap. I really need to get on the bike and spin but may save it for this weekend.
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