Four weeks of training down and I can tell I'm definitely getting stronger at swimming and biking and my runs are feeling easier than ever before.

Previous Weeks:

Week One
Week Two
Week Three

This Week:


Monday: Five Miles


Monday was a stressful day. I was right in the middle of working on some projects when my computer died. I spent the rest of the afternoon running around trying to get the computer fixed and find another one I could use in the meantime. By the time I got home, I was frustrated and exhausted and almost thought about skipping my run because I didn't want to deal with the crappy weather. But I decided that would be a bad plan, so I went to the fitness center and banged out five miles on the treadmill.

Tuesday: 40 minutes on the trainer

I'm actually finding my rides on the trainer to be extremely valuable. Sure, they aren't as fun as biking outside, but they let me practice form and technique without having to worry about crashing. One of the things I've been working on is riding in the drops. I've been too nervous to do this outside because I feel so much less in control than when I keep my hands up top, but on the trainer riding in the drops feels natural.

Wednesday: Five Miles

It was another one of those perfect weather days in D.C. and I was all too happy to spend my lunch break outside getting an awesome run in.

Thursday: 30 minute swim

I was just not feeling my workout on Thursday. In fact I tweeted something to that effect and asked people to give me a virtual kick in the butt to go to the gym.


I went, I swam, it wasn't pretty. After 30 minutes in the water, I couldn't take feeling so sluggish and miserable so I called it quits. The only good takeaway was that I managed to swim a 500 in just about 9:15, which is a solid 45 seconds faster than when I started swimming regularly a few months ago.

Friday: Rest!

Thank goodness, I needed it.

Saturday: Crazy Day of Fitness


My long run was supposed to be six miles so I ran a four mile race, then tacked on two more miles at the end. Then I took a 45 minute spin class, and then I ran back to my friends place. It was like a mini duathlon! I was exhausted afterward, but it was an awesome way to spend the day.


Sunday: 9 mile bike ride

I had planned on taking Sunday as a rest day after my crazy day on Saturday, but the weather was just too nice to not be outside doing something active so I took the bike out for a nice easy ride. I could tell my time on the trainer paid off when I was able to get into the drops without even thinking about it. Turns out I really like riding in the drops (but only on roads without traffic. If there's cars I don't feel comfortable being in that position!)

Hooray for another fantastic week of training!

Wow I can't believe the BodyMedia FITness challenge is officially over! Six weeks sure flew by.


Previous Weeks:

Week One
Week Two
Week Three
Week Four
Week Five

End of Challenge Wrap Up:

Wearing the armband and collecting data about my movements and habits for the last six weeks has been really eye opening and I wanted to share some of the lessons I've learned.

1. It's not all about calories in vs. calories out all the time. There were weeks when I'd definitely hit the calories deficit I was supposed to be hitting, but the scale didn't reflect a weight loss. There were other weeks when my eating was far from perfect and the scale would drop. Maybe that's just a wonky scale, but I think a lot of it has to do with other things going on with my body -- retaining water or being dehydrated from a long workout or not eating enough post-workout and then making my metabolism come to a crashing halt.

2. Quality of sleep is almost more important than number of hours of sleep. There were a few nights where I'd get 10 hours of sleep, but I'd toss and turn all night long and wake up feeling exhausted. Other nights, I'd get six hours of solid sleep and feel like a million bucks.

3. Tracking my food definitely made me more conscious of what I was putting in my mouth, but it also made me feel guilty sometimes when I wanted to indulge. I think it's totally OK, and actually healthy, to indulge my sweet tooth every once in a while, but I always felt super guilty writing down sweets.

Did wearing the armband change my behavior?

Absolutely.

It gave me an extra kick in the butt some days when I just didn't feel like working out and might have otherwise skipped a workout. It also definitely impacted what I was eating, as I mentioned above.

So how did I do on those goals I set?

So-so.

Get 7 hours of sleep each night: I wasn't too far off on this one. Some weeks were definitely better than others, but I usually averaged just less than 7 hours each night.

Track my food: I was pretty diligent about this. I really wanted to get the most out of wearing the armband and I knew an important part of that was tracking my food intake.

Lose 5 lbs: I came close but didn't quite get there. I'm down 4 lbs since the beginning of the challenge, but more importantly I feel stronger than ever when it comes to my workouts. Runs are feeling easier and I'm feeling longer and leaner in the pool.

Overall, I'd say this challenge was a big success, and I'm really happy I participated. I learned a ton about my eating, exercise and sleep habits over the course of six weeks, and it's all information I can use as I continue to train for my triathlons.

About the BodyMedia Fit Band:
BodyMedia FIT automatically tracks the calories burned during your daily activities — from pumping iron to using an iron — and monitors the quality of your sleep, an important factor in weight loss. Add in the easy-to-use food log and you have the information you need to improve your weight loss. The 3 part system includes:
1. An Armband that automatically captures data
2. An optional Display device or free downloadable mobile apps that give you up-to-the-minute readings throughout the day
3. An online Activity Manager* that analyzes raw data, allows you to log food and presents info in an easy-to-understand way (*subscription required)

Standard Legal Disclaimer:
Device and accompanying online Activity Manager subscription was provided by BodyMedia via EmpowHER. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of BodyMedia or EmpowHER.

My favorite way to spend my Saturday mornings is doing something crazy fun and fitness-related.


Usually that just ends up being a long run, nothing fancy or special, but this weekend, I went all out and had one crazy day of fitness.

It started off with the Four Courts Four Miler race on Saturday morning.


This is another Pacer's sponsored race. They hands-down put on some of the best races in the D.C.-area. They're well organized, have fun themes and usually offer some pretty great race swag.


The course itself is just an out and back. It's two miles downhill and then you turn around and run those two miles uphill.



To give you an idea of how steep the first hill is, I clocked my first mile 7:36. It was literally impossible to run slowly down that hill.

To add to the fun and festive St. Patrick's Day theme, 20 minutes after the gun, one lone, super speedy runner starts and is accompanied by a leprechaun on a scooter. For every person the runner passes, Pacers donates money to charity.


I didn't think I stood much of a chance of beating the leprechaun because I wasn't planning to "race" this race. But somehow I was able to hold on to my super speedy start time, even up that brutal hill at the end of the race.

I finished in 33:33, an 8:24 average pace per mile, and well before the leprechaun! Whooop!


After meandering around the Irish bar after the race, my friend Zach and I fueled up with some bagels, and set out to run two more miles to get in my long run distance for the weekend.



We ended our two miles in Arlington at my favorite spin studio, Revolve.


You might remember I tried a class there a while back and totally loved it. So I was thrilled to see they were offering a free community class on a day I was already going to be in Virginia.

I rarely "cross the river" from the Maryland/D.C. side into Virginia, but since I was there for the race already, I figured I couldn't pass up a chance to spin.

After less than 15 minutes of spin, my quads were expressing their extreme displeasure with me. I looked over at Zach who looked like he wanted to murder me for coming up with such a ridiculous plan. Apparently his legs were hurting too.


The class was a complete sweatfest but other than my quads hating me, it was awesome. Can I mention again how much I love cycling in clipless shoes?


So as if running a race, tacking on two more miles and then hitting a spin class wasn't enough, I rounded out my day of fitness with an 8-minute run after spin to get to my friend's apartment.

I collapsed on his sofa in a complete heap of uselessness and spent a little while there watching the ACC tournament until I could muster enough energy to Metro my butt back home.

I got home, demolished some Subway, and curled up with some TV for the rest of the afternoon.

My friends think I'm crazy, but that is seriously mind kind of a perfect day.