Last weekend I was poking around at the Barb’s Race website looking to confirm what the weight restriction was for the Athena Division. I couldn’t find it, so I e mailed them. The reply I received on Monday said that they were not going to have an Athena Division. There just hasn’t been enough participation to make it worthwhile. I was seriously depressed. It is so not fair. I had been thinking that I could have a faster time this year than last year’s Athena winner. Yes, I know, it’s not about placing, it’s about doing better myself. However, thinking I could take 37 minutes off my time and possibly win was motivational. But when I looked at where I would place in my age group with that time, I didn’t like it and got even more depressed. The top 5 finishers in my age group all finished in under 6 hours. With the time I was thinking of, I’d be in the bottom third. Reminder to self - It’s not about where you place, it’s about doing better yourself. Right.

Monday afternoon is one of my days with the trainer and this particular day was a Weigh & Measure Day. As my trainer, Shawna, was measuring my body fat with calipers, I was telling her about how I would now have to race against the wisps and the twigs. She finished all the measurements, did the math and my Body Fat percentage is 26%. The lowest it has been in the last few years was 23%, last September when I weighed 148. Since late December my weight has been fluctuating between 154 and 156, and it sure isn’t from increased muscle mass. My lean body mass (116 pounds) is more than what some of these women weigh in total. It is so not fair. We talked a little bit about changes I could make in my diet (yeah, right!) and then went off to work out.

I started doing the math during my workout and came to the conclusion that if I lost 13 pounds of fat, I ‘d have 18 percent body fat. That’s what I had in college. The actual number is 14 pounds of fat. I did some rounding in my head I guess. :-) Somehow that just galvanized me into action. Thirteen pounds of fat, that’s more than a gallon and a half of milk. EWWWW! Tuesday I started revamping my diet. On Wednesday, Shawna and I talked more about nutrition and I’m making some serious changes. I’ve cut my calories to 1500/day and I’m keeping track of fats, carbohydrates and protein. My target is no more than 40 grams of fat, 173 grams of carbohydrates and 100 grams of protein per day. I’m having a hard time keeping the fat down and I’m seriously under proteined.

These changes have really got me thinking about what people eat. It’s no wonder Americans are so fat! I love to eat at Jack in the Box. It’s where we usually go after a long bike ride. My favorite meal there has 1800 calories and 93 grams of fat! And that’s just for a (big) burger and a (big) shake. Imagine eating there all the time and never working out. Shawna told me that it’s a good thing I do so much cardio because with the way I have been eating, I would be seriously soft.

Thursday I had to choose between the peanut butter for my apple or my chocolate chip cookie. Naturally, the cookie won. But at 11 grams of fat, that one item has more 1/4 of my fat grams. I know people, myself included, who will eat many of these cookies in one day. They are very tasty, but nutritionally they are worthless. On Friday our PTA had a movie themed spread for the teachers - pop corn, soda, Kit Kats, Twizzlers, Whoppers, but worst of all… Reeses Peanut Butter cups - my favorite candy bar!

I ate my apple slices. I figure I need to get as wispy as possible if I want to finish in the top half of my age group.

This week’s training has been a mixed bag. We’ve needed to do a lot around the house lately so last Sunday became a chore day and that’s what today (Saturday) is shaping up to be. This week I had my two trainer sessions, biked once, ran twice and did two yoga sessions.

I did both of my runs on Wednesday and it felt so good. Wednesday morning I went out before work with the intent of just doing two miles. But I got into such a nice groove I did four miles instead. Wednesday afternoon before working with my trainer, I did a two mile interval run on the treadmill. That also felt really good. Unfortunately, I woke up Thursday with an odd pain in my right hip. I did yoga and really tried to stretch it out. It almost feels like a cramp, but not quite as sharp. I don’t know if it was a result of running or the weight work I did on Wednesday, or just from getting old . In any case, I won’t be running today. I haven’t tried biking with it yet.

If it doesn’t get better, I guess I’ll be hitting the pool next week.

Veronica