Dilemma

When I eat carbs (fruit, whole grain bread, cereal, etc) I have awesome energy and awesome workouts. I can definitely go longer, farther, and harder. However, when I eat carbs, no matter how much I workout I cannot seem to drop weight. To perform at a higher level I truly believe I need to be lighter. Cut carbs and I am able to drop some weight. But my energy lags too. Whats a girl/triathlete/endurance junkie to do?

long overdue

Wow, its been a really long time since I posted. Again. Things have been hectic to say the least. On February 22 we found out that we (James and I) both got jobs in the Boston area. James will be a fellow at Brown Medical School and I'll be at Cambridge Hospital (of Harvard Medical School). Both are very exciting positions that we were psyched about when we interviewed and have outstanding post-doc opportunities. The only downside is that we will both have long commutes - likely an hour each way for both of us. James is going to have a long drive on the highway and I am going to have to skirt across the suburbs of Boston to get to Cambridge and then either walk or take a bus from the commuter parking lot to the hospital. These sorts of things are stressful to me. I'm not very good with change. I like routine. And flexibility. Its going to be a super busy year and the next few months leading up to the move are looking packed as well. The first week following getting this news ended up being kind of a mess. I got off my training plan. Still hit the gym and pool every day but gave up on my planned doubles and didn't lift or run diligently. I did save the week with an awesome double spin class (for a total of 1 hour 50 minutes) on Saturday morning and my first painfree 10k run on Sunday morning. My eating however, was a mess through the whole week. I told myself I would get back on track on March 1 (last Monday) but it didn't quite happen. After a bad swim the previous Thursday (before a stressful dissertation meeting) I basically avoided the pool all of this past week. No swims at all. Something about it now being a requirement or feeling some pressure about good swims, splits and all that got the better of me. I did get in a few more short (5 miles or fewer) runs without pain and a whole mess of spinning. I never thought I would get the spinning/cycling bug but I think it has begun to creep up on me (more about that later). I also got to play personal training to a labmate of mine who is trying to get back in shape and wanted some tips on cardio (intervals) and weights (supersets). On Saturday I again hit up the double spin class. Somewhere around minute 75 I started feeling really good. Like, I never want this workout to stop good. Like, maybe my life isn't so bad good. Like, maybe things will all be fine good. Then I started fantasizing about turning my long spin into a brick workout. Oh, what a glorious fantasy! At the end of the class I was miraculously still feeling awesome and I ran upstairs and jumped on a free treadmill. The treadmill and I don't tend to get along very well. It tells me I'm slow. I tell myself I'm out of shape. I tend to average nearly 1:30 slower per mile on the treadmill than outside. This was different. All I wanted was that brick experience. So I didn't care about pace. I started at a nice turtle's shuffle (6mph) and increased by .1mph every .1miles. At the start of my second mile I got my rhythm going and again had that feeling that I could continue for ever. I listened to reason and ended at 2 miles. Awesome BRICK.  Felt like a rockstar. Scratch that, felt like a TRIATHLETE. Sunday morning I was kicking myself a little for the treadmill chaser, as it was a run day and one thing I'm pretty clear on from my half-marathon training this past fall is that running on consecutive days is not so good for my feet/posterior tibialis. James and I decided to go for a recovery paced 5 miler. Hit up the spinner for 25 minutes while doing laundry later in the day too. Yesterday I did some arc trainer intervals and chest,back and core weights in the morning and had another solid hill ride in the mid afternoon. This morning I was supposed to skype with a colleague who is traveling in China right now but things got messed up with schedules and I found myself able to hit up Tom's 8:30 spin. I got there a little early and did 15 minutes on the elliptical, then his class + 25 minutes extra steady state riding, followed by some shoulders and arms. I love spring break. Tons of work to be done, but hardly any time/scheduling restrictions. Came home, did some work, ate some lunch and couldn't resist going outside. We have had crap rain and snow for so long, now the Sun gods are blessing us. Its 55 and sunny right now. Ran a slow little 5k then lay out basking in the sun for a few minutes.

Enough with the stream of conscious rambling. The things that are actually on my mind mostly revolve around my dissertation analyses and our upcoming move. I had been hoping to commit to and register for a triathlon once I knew where we'd be moving...but now that the finances of the move and the cost of living of our new city are in my full awareness I am struggling to decided on a race. I had been thinking that I would do a sprint distance to start. Thats the logical thing to do. However, I don't think I can justify the expense of 2 triathlons this summer and a part of me feels like if I can only do one, shouldn't it be the Oly distance that I'm shooting for and training for? [[This is a moment when I wish that more than halfdozen people read my blog, so I could get some feedback...]]  Another nagging thing is that I don't have a road bike. I've been sort of going on the assumption that I would co-opt my father's hybrid when I get to Boston (my parents live there)...but that seemed more reasonable for 13 miles than it is for 26... And where am I going to get the money for a bike? And cycling shoes? And all the other gadgets...  and so the downward spiral begins and I lose my mojo to sign up for a race.