let's call it an experiment: running a race throughout an ancient temple complex

This past weekend, I did something I've never done before:

I completed a 10 kilometer race inside Angkor Wat with the sweetest running companion: a zippered owl pouch named Ollie.

And I even got a faux-gold finisher's medal!

Before arriving in Cambodia, I didn't even know that Angkor Wat hosted a half marathon each year.  Last year, Chris and I chose not to participate alongside many of our fellow PCVs but we both knew it was a priority for this year.  I trained decently well for three months, but the month before the race, I slacked off completely and it showed.

While I didn't do as well as I'd hoped, I did finish, and I can definitely say that learning how run in the heat and humidity of Cambodia is quite an arduous experiment.  I am so glad I did it, and I am already looking for my next 10k run while living here- which will likely be in March in the coastal town of Sihanouville.  Here we go again!

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Chris and I arrived in Siem Reap on Friday afternoon, and walked the mile or so to the expo to pick up our running items the next afternoon, on Saturday.

It wasn't crowded at all, and we moved seamlessly through the stops, picking up our bibs, our timing chip, and our tee shirts.   I was getting pretty excited and a bit nervous as it all became very real.

When we got back to the hotel, I laid out all of the items I'd picked up and began to mentally prepare myself for the next morning.

Chris' half marathon start time was 6:30 AM and my 10k was 6:40 AM but our information packet instructed us to arrive even earlier, around 5:30 AM.

Which is how we ended up at Angkor Wat at sunrise, with thousands of other runners and some tourists too.

 It was pretty stunning, to say the least.

 We readied ourselves for our run: Chris tied his bandanna for sweat and sun protection, and I...took more pictures.

 And then we were off.  Chris started first as I corralled into a huge group of runners with some friends.

 I had my camera with me throughout the race, inside Ollie my Owl Purse.  Unsurprisingly, most of the pictures of me sweaty and running are pretty terrible.  So, here's what I looked like passing the Elephant Terrace in the last third of the race, when I was taking a running break.

 The course was really, really freaking gorgeous.  The sun had just risen when we began, and most of the race was under the cover of ancient, tall, grande trees.  Sunlight passed through and provided an idyllic scene to take my mind off of wanting to stop running.

 As I crossed the finish line first, I had some time to wait before Chris would return.  When he did finish, I was cheering his name and there was sweet relief on his face as he collapsed into a giant hug in my arms. 

 We were both pretty excited to have completed our individual races.

 We were sweaty, tired, and at least one of us was delirious yet happy.

 A decent group of PCVs ran the 10k or 21k and I managed to convince a fellow runner to snap a photo of those I could find post-race.

 We tuk-tuk'd back to our hotel and immediately showered and ate.  We both had some fun blisters, and spent the rest of the day napping and basking in our victories.

 Oh and I ate a giant chocolate bar that I'd been saving to celebrate.

Amazing.
What did you "experiment" doing this year?

understanding my intake and output

When I jumped on the "get fit" bandwagon, I decided I would be really, really serious about it.

Like, super serious.

So I spent an hour perusing all the possible BMR and BMI and Daily Value calculators that exist.  I did that thing where you enter all the possible variations of yourself to see how it changes. You know?! Like, ok, here's me NOW.  Ok, here's me THREE YEARS AGO. Ok, here's me where I want to be in a year. Ok, here's me if I got REALLY chubby.

Am I the only one who does that?!

My first favorite site was Runner's World's BMR calculator.  After entering my {real} info, this is what I got for my Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR: calories I expend if I do NOTHING except sit and let my organs and body function normally. No eating, no moving, nothing.)

 

I like the breakdown of what daily caloric needs are, and how they change based on the type of lifestyle I lead.  It made me realize why it was possible for me to eat like crap when I was 18 but still be thin - when I was playing soccer and running cross country nearly every single day but Sunday, I was pushing my body HARD. Not to mention how much faster my resting metabolic rate was at 18! Le sigh. Those were the golden days.

When committing to getting fit this time around, I also was interested in learning about the amount of vital nutrients my body needed, and being more aware of giving those to my body. I used the USDA's calculator (designed for medical professionals but who's looking?) to see what kind of levels of carbs, fats, and proteins I should be getting each day.  (I was also able to find the levels of vitamins and macronutrients too!)

 

 

By far, my favorite online tool was one that Topher sent over with the email subject line "because I know you love this stuff."  It is WebMD's BMI calculator plus (!), which also finds your waist ratio, your BMR, your targeted heart rate, and helps you develop a strategic plan for accomplishing your goals, whatever they may be. Plus, it has colorful graphs, which, in my seriousness, I love!

But, all of this was just the precursor to the best thing that's happened this week in terms of serious eating well business.

I took my twitter friends up on their suggestion and joined MyFitnessPal.

Friends, it's fantastic.  Even better than the online tool I used for WeightWatchers a while back.  Even better than DailyBurn that I used a while back.  Even better than LoseIt, which I checked out.

It's the best.

MyFitnessPal takes all of the information that I spent hours culling and organizes it for me.  At any time, I can use their BMI or BMR calculator.  I can check to see if I'm getting the right amount of calories for my fitness goals, AND the right amount of carbs, fat and protein.  And the site's recommendations for these nutrients is exactly in line with what the USDA recommended: 250g of fat, 68 grams of protein, and 60 grams of fat.

It's truly wonderful.  

Almost as wonderful as the three pounds I've dropped as of this week, after FOUR WEEKS OF NO CHANGE but buttloads of exercise that didn't seem to make a difference.  When I finally saw those three pounds gone - all at once it seemed too! - I gained the much needed energy boost to barrel headfirst into this week's workout schedule.  And it's feeling good!

Thank you to friends who suggested a variety of fitness tracking tools!

Do you keep track of your carb/protein/fat intake?

movement, part two

The last two weeks -- really, the past week -- have shown me that I actually have far more mental stamina than I thought.  I've run when I didn't think I had the energy, kept running when everything was telling me to stop except for my heart, and biked farther than I ever have before and actually mostly enjoyed it.

Also, I don't want to jinx it, but I think I've done the impossible and established a pattern of exercising that my body craves. Despite being tired after a long bus ride today, I found myself one minute lying flat on the bed, fan spinning, in total relaxation - and the next, getting dressed to complete run 4A.

As I did before, I kept a record of the last few weeks of working out.  I've been suffering from some decently painful knee problems these weeks, and after some research have decided that either my gate is totally off and I don't have the right shoes to correct it - totally possible but very little I can do about it here in Cambodia - and/or my hamstrings are not quite strong enough to keep my kneecaps adjusting and moving the way they should as I run.  I spent a good amount of time resting my knees, and then stretching my knees pre- and post- run and that seems to be helping, but I would love ANY suggestions to aid in the erasure of knee pain post-running.  Much appreciated, in advance!

...............

Day 13- Workout 2C
Today was painful. Something crazy has happened and my knees are killing me.  Every single step that I took reverberated throughout my legs, into my kneecaps.  I ran in Phnom Penh today, varying between the streets and a park area. I did eight circuits of 90 sec runs and 2 min walks, but I also found myself being able to run a bit longer and further than the plan had assigned.  I ended up running past the 90 seconds five out of the eight rounds, including a nice four minute leg last!  I was staying in a hotel by myself, and it was glorious to come back to air conditioning to cool down.

Day 16- Workout 3A
After resting my knee for the last two days, I tackled the first run of Week 3 after Chris and I returned home from our respective mini-vacations.  As I checked out the schedule for this week's run, I noticed that I accidentally misread last week's- I was following a repeat 8 times plan, when in reality it is supposed to be me running for a total of 20 minutes.  I had accidentally re-wrote "repeat 8x" because that was the repetitions for Week 1 but I didn't take into account that I was adding a full minute to each leg. I should have only been repeating the leg six times, instead of 8, to hit the 20-ish minute mark goal!  Woops!

Today, my knees hurt a bit on the first running lap, but I think the Tylenol and extra stretching/loosening I did may have helped because they felt less tight.  The plan was a 90 second run, 90 second walk, 3 minute run, 3 minute walk, repeated twice ( I think?!).  I actually switched it up a bit because I noticed that my stamina has actually increased to a point where, on the first leg of running, I accidentally ran for 2 minutes without noticing or checking my stopwatch.  In that moment, I decided I would use the last leg of running- the second 3 minute one- to run all the way to where I was meeting a fellow Volunteer.  I ended up running the last leg for 6 and a half a minutes, and I honestly think I could have run even a bit more.  I ended up not getting the last 3 minute walk in, but after a chat, I did walk home, which definitely got the last bit in.

So today was:
2 minute run
90 second walk
3 minute run
3 minute walk
2 minute run
90 second walk
6.5 minute run

Day 19
I had an unexpected haitus from my runs the past few days, as I decided to bike to a nearby town south of our site - Kampot - with some friends and Chris.   I was worried about my knees being able to bike nearly 100 kilometers (about 60 miles) and so held off on putting them through too much stress until the bike ride today.  Thankfully too, because my legs and most especially my knees were screaming post bike ride.  It was a difficult but entirely fantastic ride.  About halfway through, after battling the headwind and traversing some small but long upward climbs (Cambodia is mostly flat, so the hills were small but with the wind my thighs were feeling them!), my legs were burning and I could barely push them forward to keep pace with my traveling companions.  Chris, leading the bikers, noticed I was hurting and stopped with me, just in time.  He helped me immensely through the difficulties and I couldn't be more grateful- thank you Topher!  With a new routine of taking a break every forty minutes, the second half of the trip felt great, and passed quickly.

I'm feeling quite accomplished and can't wait to indulge in some fantastic, calorie-laden food.

Day 22
After the best of intentions to run at least one of the two days while we were in Kampot, I decided instead to take a break and let my knees rest to be ready for our bike ride back today.  We all made the decision to bike just half of the way back, and hope on some cheap transport for the first 40k or so.  The ride back was SO EASY compared to the way down!  I felt like I could've ridden forever.  The wind at our back, a nice steady pace, most of the hill-ish things behind us, and I was in bike riding heaven.  Add to it that I ate the most delicious, fresh brownie for breakfast, and it was a fantastic day. 

Day 25- Workout 4A
I finally ran today after more than a week long hiatus.  It wasn't the best run, but I pushed through my head telling me to stop.  I think I'm going to need to find a new running location after another week or so, as I find myself pacing the laps around the park where I run, which can be a bit daunting at times.  The plan for this week- week 4- is to run 3 minutes, walk half that, run 5 minutes, walk half that, and repeat twice.  I had that voice in my head telling me to walk, to stop, the entire second half of the workout, and yet I didn't listen to it.   After icing my knees and stretching really well, I'm hoping to run the last two runs for this week tomorrow- Friday- and Saturday, so that I can start fresh with Week 5 runs come Sunday.

.............

a personal revolution: movement

Earlier I shared that I have spent the last few weeks getting my head on straight in regards to all this being healthy business. Along the way, I've been jotting down my thoughts post each run (can we call them "runs" if its more run/walks?) as a bit of record for myself and for you.

Because it seems that no one ever really writes about the process of a before becoming an after.  Somehow, miraculously, blogs are began after the after and we're all left in wonderment about the pain and sweat that went into it, but mostly just energized by the fact that someone did it! So we can too!

Well, here are the words of a 26 year old, jumping on board the fitness train all over again.  And its kind of painful. But we're chugging along.  And some months down the road, I'll have this little record of the very beginning, the beginning of the real shift, and I'll be glad I remember how little I could do and how grateful I was for silly programs that taught me how to run again.

****

Week One - Workouts: 60 seconds of running, 90 seconds of walking. Repeating 8x.

Day One, Workout 1A
So today was the first real step, after fulfilling my obsessive-compulsive need to create a colorful workout plan, in the direction of following my own personal revolution.

As I wrote the plan, I kept saying to myself "this is going to be great- easy even!" I imagined that I might even be able to go beyond the daily workouts and hit the first goal of three miles and the final goal of six miles earlier than was planned.

After this afternoon, I am reminded how far I still have to go. Workout 1A was the 5 minute WUW (warm up walk), following by eight repetitions of a sixty second run and ninety second walk. Chris ran the first leg with me and pointed out my fast starting pace. I kept it up pretty well until the last three legs. WOW were those challenging. Chris again slowed down to join me for two of them, and I was pushing through it: breathing out a near-cramp, urging myself to move just a little bit faster, and counting each step as my calves and quads tightened with each one.

So, final day one verdict? A long twenty minutes, that I KNOW I'm going to feel tomorrow. And quite possibly the best beginning to a very healthful change. 

Day 3- Workout 1C
Today was one of those great workout days. I followed the run/walk plan, but found myself running more than was allotted because it felt good actually. I can’t say that I’m to the point where I crave running or that I hit an exercise high, but it feels more good than bad.

Day 5

Day 5- Workout 1E
I could have gone either way today. It would have been so easy to not run but a friend was staying with us and somehow we all three found ourselves out the door at our nearby running park. In the end, it was a great running day overall. Halfway through, someone began to burn a giant pile of leaves, which made a quarter of the “track” incredibly difficult to breathe through. Once through, my mouth and breath tasted as they did during that one week where I was a smoker. I figured that I am averaging a ten minute mile pace, completing two miles during the twenty minute run, not including the warm up or cool down. Right on track!

Week Two - 90 seconds of running, 2 minutes walking. Repeat 8x.

Week 2

This week didn’t start on Sunday as planned due to travel and tiredness from celebrating the night before. I’ll attempt a double workout and will add in a second strength workout on one of the rest days to make up for it. I’m also going to also really focus on truly eating well this week. Last week wasn’t terrible but I want to look up what food groups/grams of each nutrient I should be eating, my resting metabolic rate and begin averaging the calories I burn on each workout to keep better track of what’s going into my body and how I’m expending energy.

Day 8: Workout 2A & 2B:
Because I skipped yesterday, I did a combo of my running and strength training. The strength training wasn’t as awesome as I would have liked but was still about 15-20 minutes of using the resistance bands and my own weight to push my arms and legs. I’m pooped.

Day 10: Workout 2C:
As I began to do my first leg of running, I could tell today would be one of those workouts where I wasn’t overly fatigued but I just wasn’t feeling it. All of my best songs played as soon as I began the walking portions, and I couldn’t seem to find my stride perfectly. The best consolation was that it wasn’t overly challenging- sure I was tired but I felt like I could have given it a bit more. Which means that I have more stamina, more strength than I thought. I can do this.

***

I can do this.

a personal revolution

Today, I washed a pair of my socks for the first time in over a year.

I know that sounds terribly disgusting but it actually isn't- I hadn't worn the socks but twice or three times and for no longer than thirty minutes each time.

These socks directly correlate the amount of true-blue-pushing-myself-body-movement I've given myself in the entire fourteen months of living here in Cambodia.

And these past ten days, I've worn them four times and pushed myself to a sweaty, messy limit each time.  And those other days? I mostly exercised in my undies inside my house, sans-socks, but still sweaty and messy those times too.

I'm having a revolution of sorts. A personal revolution.

I have felt it coming on for a few months now (really, a few years if we consider all the yo-yo up and down eating/exercising plans I've been "following" inconsistently for the last five years.) There must have been a tipping point and I think I reached it, and I tipped. Fell, more like?!

Something feels different this time?  Something feels like I actually want to be a more healthful person. Not just thin, like I was in college, but strong. I want to have the strength of mind to conquer my lazy, squishy body, the strength of soul to do it even when it's hard, and the strength of hundreds of muscles working together to carry me forward every single day for many years to come.

Part of it has to be the confluence of a desire to have children sometime in the next few years, and the need to possess a strong, flexible, healthy body to do so. 

Part of it must be the realization that with one year left in Cambodia, I'll never have this time in my life again, where I have a very self-driven work schedule and ample free time to more than just exist- and if I don't spend a little bit of time, every single day, trying to improve myself, I'm wasting it. 

Part of it was the last weeks spent with Paige and our talks in the pool and over dinner revolving around that same timeline we have for ourselves for babies, and families, and the few roads to happiness we're excited to take, and seeing her having used the last few months to build that strong, healthful body that can carry her across the finish line in a half marathon and look forward to do it again. 

And part of it is a plethora of fantastic inspiration of powerful blogging women, who remind me that it's never too late to become the muscular, fit woman that I was as a girl.

Whatever it is, its something I'm loving every minute of- every single drop of sweat, every single soaking sports bra I peel off after a good "run," every single second that I push my legs to carry me forward just one.step.more.

I've been keeping a daily log of sorts of how the first ten days have felt. I'll be back later today with that story, and tomorrow with the nutrition side of this personal revolution- because it's not just about the movement I'm making, it's also about what's powering my muscles to do so.

You with me?