Ah Paris

Weight: 184lbs

Well, we are back from Paris, and after a week of eating cheese and foie gras and other delicious French food, I'm glad to see that my weight only increased about a pound… I consider that a success. It probably had to do with all the walking we did in Paris. Since there was a transit strike, there really was not an occasion to take the subway or train anywhere. So we walked. To the Champs Elysees. To the Latin Quarter. To the Jardins Luxembourg. To the Marais.

Now that I'm back in town, I'm having a great exercise week…its really helping me with my jetlag (which is pretty much gone by now). On Monday I ran for 45 minutes and then cycled for 50 minutes. On Tuesday I ran for 20 minutes, cycled for 10 minutes and then did some strength training for 60 minutes. Wednesday I ran for 55 minutes and tonight I'm planning on cycling for at least 60 minutes, and hopefully if I'm up for it 90 minutes. It feels good to get right back into the routine, and the best thing is that my blood pressure is reacting favorably to the daily exercise.

Still Good

I've been very good this week in terms of eating and exercising. I was very good at my business dinner the other night and did not over-consume and passed on the wine, sticking with water. Yesterday I got in a good bike ride for 40 minutes and then did some strength training. Yesterday's strength training consisted of a lot of core and balance exercises. Its actually a lot of fun… at various times I was pushing flat weights or other heavy items across the floor in push-up position. That really stretches me out and I can feel my deep muscles straining. There was one balance exercise that was really difficult..imagine a piece of free standing equipment that is flat on one side and a half-sphere on the other side. The spherical side is facing the floor and I had to balance on the flat side while doing squats. The squats weren't that difficult once I got my balance, but getting my balance was very difficult. The problem is that the flat surface is rubberized and so my shoes would not slide very easy to the outer parts of the surface where they needed to be. In fact I got thrown off of it on my first try…nothing injured except my pride.

Going back to the gym tonight after work and running for an hour and doing some more strength training. Today will likely focus more on discrete muscle groups rather than the core, but you never know what Michael the trainer has in mind…(if you are reading this, be glad I didn't call you any names! J)

Good Workouts

I tried to do a long run on Saturday this past week and after three miles I couldn't go further. The first two miles were largely downhill, though on a gentle slope, so I didn't really notice how tired I was until the third mile along the lake shore. By the time I realized that I was zapped of energy I was three miles away from home, so I walked back home, leading to a total of 6 miles, even if it was SLOOOOOOW. On Sunday I just didn't have the motivation to even try a long run or any exercise for that matter. I was content to park my butt on the couch watching football and movies.

So on Monday I decided that the weekend was a complete wash in terms of exercise so I got up early and went to the gym before work and cycled for an hour. It felt good to sweat out the toxins of the weekend. Although we had decided to go to the neighborhood pub with some friends to watch Monday night football last night, we decided on a change of plans to ensure that we ate healthy and had no drinks. I cooked up a delicious flank steak with stir fried Bok Choy ( a first time for me) and sliced small potatoes, and felt good about my healthy consumption for the evening. Watching Seattle thoroughly beat San Francisco was also fun!

I got up again early this morning and went to the gym where I did some light strength training and then ran for 45 minutes on the treadmill. Just to make that run interesting, I threw in 4 3 minute hill climbs into that run at the same pace I was running the flat portion. It was definitely hard, but I feel good for having done that. I have a business dinner tonight, but I'm feeling adequately motivated to keep my consumption healthy.

Gainesville Homecoming

What a Homecoming weekend. Starting with Wednesday night in Orlando for a Halloween party dressed as Dog the Bounty Hunter (now considered a racist)…. That was so much fun though the wig was a bit hot. Then Thursday we stopped in Ocala to taste some cakes for the wedding, which was quite fun. Unfortunately, I was so dead tired, I couldn't even think about exercise. I did make up for it by running/walking 7 miles on Friday… two miles of it were in a race "The Gator Gallop", with the rest of the mileage getting to and from the race.

The game (Vanderbilt vs Florida) was a bitter disappointment…my Vandy team did not look like they showed up to play a game. This is the curse of a Vandy football fan… everytime we think we can have a winning record and do well for the season, we have a horrible game like the one this weekend. 49-22. Ugh. At least we had yummy Mr Han's Chinese food last night and I was relatively good… I avoided the greasy stuff and had steamed veggies and white rice. I did have some pepper steak and shrimp, but not an excessive amount.

Today I had an awesome run. I started out running with my future sister-in-law, who is training for a half marathon… we did the first 7.5 miles together, averaging 10mins/mile. Then I split off to do an extra 2 miles, but ended up running 12.44 miles total in 2 hours flat. I walked back to the house and all in all, I had covered 13 miles in 2 hours and 9 minutes…quite a good pace and I felt great for the whole run. It was a beautiful day- as I started the run it was in the low 50's with brilliantly sunny skies…by the time the run ended, it was around 65 degrees…perfect running weather. Now I'm really looking forward to my next half marathon… I should be in great shape.