Every Wish That We Put Into Motion.... (comments welcome!)

[accm]

@Herding_Cats are you near the Canadian border? You could maybe look at a race in Canada if that'll give you more options.

 

[Herding_Cats]

@Herding_Cats are you near the Canadian border? You could maybe look at a race in Canada if that'll give you more options.

I'm really not. We are about a 5 hour drive from both Sault Ste. Marie and Windsor/Sarnia. At that point, I could drive to Chicago for a race, but I really don't want to travel that far because then it turns into a whole weekend thing that we don't really have time to cram into our schedules.

 

[accm]

I'm really not. We are about a 5 hour drive from both Sault Ste. Marie and Windsor/Sarnia. At that point, I could drive to Chicago for a race, but I really don't want to travel that far because then it turns into a whole weekend thing that we don't really have time to cram into our schedules.

That makes sense! Hopefully you can find something close to home, that's not too expensive, that works with your schedule!

 

[Herding_Cats]

Longtime no update! It's been super busy around here. Kids in all of the things, working 4+ nights a week on top of that (6 days/week between myself and DH.) I haven't run. I haven't lifted. I HAVE reffed a ton of games. And while some of them have been very slow-paced and excruciatingly boring, I still make it a point to move quickly up and down the floor to get some semblance of cardio in. I keep thinking that I'm on my last week, and then I get scheduled more games as other officials have injuries or get sick, or unforeseen schedule conflicts. But I AM on my last week now. 3/2 will be my last day officiating for the 2023-24 season (barring any of those aforementioned illnesses or injuries. But lack of specific training has been a thing. That means it definitely will NOT be a PR attempt for the 5k next month. Funny how I've continuously down-graded my plans for that race....PR the half > just complete the half > PR the 5k > just complete the 5k.

DH is still undecided about MW next year. (I did book a week at Saratoga in hopes that I can convince him, or SIL to do a race with me.) Not running for almost 2 months has my whole running mojo thrown off, and I'm not feeling particularly upset about the possibility of skipping a year at the moment. Give me another month though, and an artwork release from runDisney and I'm sure I'll be right back on the wagon.

Our remaining dog is starting to settle in to being an "only" after a few weeks of looking lost and being quite an Eeyore about things in general. She doesn't really want to spend any time outside though. Just long enough to potty and then back inside in the same room with you at all times.

Our most recent exciting news actually happened yesterday when DS1 and his teammate qualified for the world championship for their robotics team. They do VEX vrc for anyone who might have kids/know someone involved in that. We are so proud of him, although a tiny little part of me cringes at the amount of points we are going to use booking airfare to Dallas for that.....those points are how we go on our Disney trips! Plenty of time to recoup those with DH's work expenses.

 

[Herding_Cats]

What's coming up:
Well. I have a 5k in 13 days and I have yet to train for it. Looks like it'll be a fun run for me, and definitely NOT a "let's see how fast we can go." This, of course, means that I am going to start running again this week so that I'm not gasping for air while we are there, and will mentally prepare myself for all of the [good natured] harassment DS2 will dish out to me about my finish time. He should be in the top 10 for finishers, and if he's not then I'll get to harass him. He'll finish the race and probably do his cool-down miles before I'm done.

MW?
DH still won't give an answer about MW. We have had/will have a lot of trips this year, and he's probably a bit nervous to commit to yet another week away right now. This timing really is awful for when registration falls. The 5k I'm running is the day before we go on a cruise for DS1's graduation/family spring break trip. And what will happen RIGHT AFTER our spring break trip at the end of this month? MW registration.

We are going to have had about 30 days of travel in this year before May. That's......a lot. All of my carefully hoarded Chase points have been used up on airfare, rental cars, and hotels which, to be completely honest is the ONLY way we can pull off these trips. I've been suggesting Goofy to him (or maybe "just" the half for him and Goofy for me) because going to MW and *not* running the marathon just seems weird for me. And that would reduce the number of days we would be gone. Heck. I'd probably be ok with JUST the marathon and flying down on Friday if he really needed us to cut back on how many days we were away.

I pointed out to him, very specifically last week, that he does need to start thinking about it because registration is only a month away. And if we aren't going, I will start lobbying SIL to go to PW with me, and change our DVC reservation dates. Now that I think about it, I could probably guilt lobby him for either weekend and say it's for our anniversary because next year will be 20 years. It's just the PW dates don't work very well for our schedule either because it's during the first week of the basketball post-season tournament.

Oh yeah, training:
Looking past our spring break trip, I think I'm going to try (again) to go back to lifting and continue to put running on hold. I've had more aches and pains in general, and I know that the easy excuse about those is always age. But I'm not willing to let that be the answer yet. I also am wondering if lifting will help me get rid of some of this weight I've put on in the last 3 years. If I do the program I'm thinking of, that'll put me at the end of June/early July to finish and that's just about perfect for spring-boarding into a training plan for MW. And if registering for MW ends up not being "a thing" this year, maybe I'll sign up for the Detroit Free Press or something.

 

[The Expert]

Selfishly I'm pulling for MW because I'm definitely doing Dopey but not sure about PW yet. Whatever you decide, I am sure you can convince DH with the anniversary argument!

 

[accm]

@Herding_Cats I would pull the "you didn't get to run the half this year" card to try and convince DH about going for MW. I think a short half/marathon weekend would be a good trip that's not too long.

 

[azrivest]

I also am wondering if lifting will help me get rid of some of this weight I've put on in the last 3 years.

If you find the secret to this, please let me know. I put on some #s during Dopey training, even by lifting 2-3 times/week. I always get the feeling that lifting makes me put on weight since I develop more muscle, maybe?

 

[Herding_Cats]

If you find the secret to this, please let me know. I put on some #s during Dopey training, even by lifting 2-3 times/week. I always get the feeling that lifting makes me put on weight since I develop more muscle, maybe?

I gained almost 30# over 3 years of marathon training. Now, I've managed to lose about 10 of those (which I firmly believe were seasonal depression pounds), but I really haven't changed anything from before I started running diet-wise. Something about running apparently just makes me gain? Or it's age?

Last year my doc was like "well you've probably put on muscle in your legs from all that running!" And I looked her right in the face and said, "Yeah. But not 30 pounds of muscle." It was seriously the most patronizing answer, when I was trying to ask if there was any possibility of there being age/health-related conditions that might have been contributing to me gaining that much weight despite doing more exercise than I had ever done since high school. Like....is it early peri? Thyroid? Wonky hormones (maybe cortisol) or something? And she told me to try weight watchers.

ANYWAY, I'm going to try the lifting program (had a lot of success last time I used it) and track my protein again with some very loose macro tracking....which means I only really care about protein, and try to not go overboard on carbs. And if it works, I'll probably continue with the lifting and do a lighter, Galloway-type plan for running because I can only fit so much in to my schedule.

 

[Naomeri]

And she told me to try weight watchers.

 

[azrivest]

I agree with Naomeri.

 

[Herding_Cats]

Yeah. Especially since I had already told her I'd tried a few different things and gotten nowhere ("portion fix" containers a-la beachbody, and tracking/weighing everything through MFP....just over a month for each and losing 0 pounds) with it. I understand that WW works for a lot of people, and that people have success with it. But calories in/calories out wasn't cutting it for me.

Last summer I focused on getting my protein up to about 150g/day.....and that was really hard. Normal eating gets me to about 80-90g. But pushing it and and trying to get to 150 made me feel significantly more full/satisfied with my meals and I lost 10# over about 5 months.

 

[sandam1]

Last year my doc was like "well you've probably put on muscle in your legs from all that running!" And I looked her right in the face and said, "Yeah. But not 30 pounds of muscle." It was seriously the most patronizing answer, when I was trying to ask if there was any possibility of there being age/health-related conditions that might have been contributing to me gaining that much weight despite doing more exercise than I had ever done since high school. Like....is it early peri? Thyroid? Wonky hormones (maybe cortisol) or something? And she told me to try weight watchers.

In my world, that type of answer is a "fire the doctor and find another immediately" type of answer. If your doctor isn't listening to you properly, what is the point? And what else is she possibly missing? At a minimum, there should be some bloodwork done and asking some additional questions.

That being said, I recently started working with a nutritionist (on referral from my primary) and it has been helpful. The word "calorie" has not even been uttered by her once in our two meetings and foods aren't framed as "good" or "bad." Rather she has me looking for the "better" option, which really works with my way of thinking. So that might be another option for you to think about. But ruling out other causes/contributing factors is probably the first thing. Oh, and telling your current doctor where to put her "weight watchers" comment.

 

[The Expert]

In my world, that type of answer is a "fire the doctor and find another immediately" type of answer. If your doctor isn't listening to you properly, what is the point? And what else is she possibly missing? At a minimum, there should be some bloodwork done and asking some additional questions.

THIS!! Especially as you start feeling or suspecting those hormonal changes. lt took about three years and three different docs to finally get someone to listen and do a full blood panel with vitamin and hormone analysis. It still changes daily, but I'm able to manage things much better and no longer feel like I'm just losing my mind.

I did use Noom for about six months during Covid and it really helped my understanding of nutrition. I appreciated the focus on balance and no "good" or "bad" foods, and their recipes were fun to try.

 

[accm]

I gained almost 30# over 3 years of marathon training. Now, I've managed to lose about 10 of those (which I firmly believe were seasonal depression pounds), but I really haven't changed anything from before I started running diet-wise. Something about running apparently just makes me gain? Or it's age?

Last year my doc was like "well you've probably put on muscle in your legs from all that running!" And I looked her right in the face and said, "Yeah. But not 30 pounds of muscle." It was seriously the most patronizing answer, when I was trying to ask if there was any possibility of there being age/health-related conditions that might have been contributing to me gaining that much weight despite doing more exercise than I had ever done since high school. Like....is it early peri? Thyroid? Wonky hormones (maybe cortisol) or something? And she told me to try weight watchers.

ANYWAY, I'm going to try the lifting program (had a lot of success last time I used it) and track my protein again with some very loose macro tracking....which means I only really care about protein, and try to not go overboard on carbs. And if it works, I'll probably continue with the lifting and do a lighter, Galloway-type plan for running because I can only fit so much in to my schedule.

I hate doctors for this reason. How hard would it be for you to see another doctor and get a second opinion? I would definitely want to find out if there's an underlying reason for the weight gain with no real change to your diet.

 

[superchime]

Another vote for "fire the dr" although I know it's not always that easy. I get especially pissed off when I hear stuff like this from female drs who ought to know better, but so many of them have outdated ideas about weight loss. Would she at least run bloodwork? Maybe a hormone panel?

I can't remember if you're in the Next Level book discussion thread or not, but that book was eye opening about how much is influenced by hormones. And perimenopause can start in your 30s so it's likely that hormones could be your issue.

 

[Herding_Cats]

She runs the "normal" blood panel for my physical, and also checks my iron and ferratin serum (which is how I found out 2 years ago that if I'm marathon training I NEED an iron supplement) and the lowest thyroid test. And when I asked about the thyroid test and checking other factors she kind of waved me off talking about how they won't do anything if you're "just low" until you get to a certain point. Soooo yeah. She's been my doc for like 10 years, is similar in age, and I don't know if I just caught her off-guard last year with everything I had going on, or on a bad day, but it wasn't a great appointment. But I'm also the person who only comes in (outside of a physical) when things are bad like the year I had pneumonia and I feel like maybe she wasn't expecting me to be the ball of anxiety I was that day.

OTOH, she's written me PT scripts no problem for a few things, doesn't want to just throw meds at everything, etc.

Seeing a different doc would be 100% OOP cost to me. So that's pretty much a no-go.

I see her in May I think, so hopefully this year's appt goes better, or I'll definitely be shopping around for a different doc.

 

[Herding_Cats]

Give a girl a couple of margs on her anniversary date, and pitch a couples-weekend trip idea to the husband, and he goes and gets his mom on-board to house sit for us in January.

Now to actually get registered in a month......

(And I'm off to run out some of my excitement on this lovely 50 degree sunny day.)

 

[The Expert]

 

[superchime]