Wow - I had a pretty crazy weekend, and even just typing the title to this blog post tells me that.
My weekend started with a nice hunk 'o Zoe's chocolate cake complete with a birthday candle in it for breakfast. Jon and I exchanged birthday/Valentines day presents while I happily ate my cake for breakfast and then we packed up to head to Austin for two nights. You would have thought we were going away for two weeks by the way my car was packed, but oh well. I guess that is the beauty of driving somewhere as opposed to flying.
We spent the rest of Saturday walking to packet pickup, eating lunch, and getting ready for the race. We probably walked 3-4 miles that day and it made me miss Austin so much. It is so nice to be able to just walk everywhere.
I have organized a pasta dinner at Spaghetti Warehouse for the last 2 years in downtown Austin and could not pass up the opportunity to do it again this year. We had about 65 people and it was a fabulous time. Friends from Houston Fit, HRTC, and even my cousin from Beaumont all joined in on the good food and fun. They also surprised me with a huge birthday cake which was very sweet.
The race went well and I really do not have tons to say about it. I guess there was really nothing that eventful or noteworthy about it, just a good, consistent, evenly-paced run. I started out around a 10:00 min/mile pace and had no idea if I would be able to hold on to that through the first few miles, not to mention during mile 9-13 where the worst of the hills were. Well, turns out I was able to hold on it and I finished in 2:11. I guess the most noteworthy part of the story is that my average heart rate was 173 for the race, as opposed to 181 for the 2:16 I ran in Houston.
The race went well and I really do not have tons to say about it. I guess there was really nothing that eventful or noteworthy about it, just a good, consistent, evenly-paced run. I started out around a 10:00 min/mile pace and had no idea if I would be able to hold on to that through the first few miles, not to mention during mile 9-13 where the worst of the hills were. Well, turns out I was able to hold on it and I finished in 2:11. I guess the most noteworthy part of the story is that my average heart rate was 173 for the race, as opposed to 181 for the 2:16 I ran in Houston.My time is still a far cry from the 1:56 I ran there last year, but I think I am still getting better, so I am not upset at how "slow" it was compared to last year. It is a lot faster than I was running just two months ago, so I'm going to just keep going with the flow and hope for the best.
After the race, we made a mad dash to Hula Hut to try to beat the crowds. We were successful in that, and in also stuffing our faces with Mexican food on the lake. I can't think of a much better way to celebrate after a race! I showed Jon around parts of West Austin after lunch and dragged him up and down Mt. Bonnell (didn't feel too great on legs that were complete toast after the race, but it was pretty).
Jon and I went to a nice dinner at one of my downtown Austin favorites, Moonshine, and it was as great as always! Monday we went to the Fit Institute at UT and had the DEXA body comp testing done. I found out I have gained 3.2 lbs of muscle and lost 1.3 lbs of fat since I was tested 5 years ago. I was relieved that I had not lost muscle mass, as previously feared when my RMR tested so low. The fat number could have come down a little more, but I did not help anything with my eating habits over the 4 days leading up to the test! It is good to have a new, updated concrete number for my body comp, and I can set up some goals for adding muscle and reducing fat over the next few months.
Jon and I went to a nice dinner at one of my downtown Austin favorites, Moonshine, and it was as great as always! Monday we went to the Fit Institute at UT and had the DEXA body comp testing done. I found out I have gained 3.2 lbs of muscle and lost 1.3 lbs of fat since I was tested 5 years ago. I was relieved that I had not lost muscle mass, as previously feared when my RMR tested so low. The fat number could have come down a little more, but I did not help anything with my eating habits over the 4 days leading up to the test! It is good to have a new, updated concrete number for my body comp, and I can set up some goals for adding muscle and reducing fat over the next few months.All-in-all a great three-day weekend and I wish I had more of them. My waistline does not agree though...I am still up 2 lbs from last week and with my lovely metabolism I see it taking 2-3 weeks to recover from 3-4 days of bad eating. Now that just isn't fair!
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