Non-professional athletes

I've put on 6 pounds since March. I've been putting in extra time in the gym doing strength training since I've been sidelined by an ankle injury (since March) and have been attributing a lot of that gain to muscle mass. I haven't been fooling myself that much though. Having an "apple" shaped body or metabolism, or whatever you'd call it, most of my fat gain shows up around my waist. I know what my waist looks and feels like when I'm in shape. This isn't it. This morning I finally pulled out the measuring tape. I've put two inches on my waist since March.... which I do not attribute to muscle mass gain.

"Can you think of anything that changed right around that time???" Jen texted, followed by an emoji that was laughing whilst tears were streaming from his eyes.

"What are you referring to? I stopped running due to an injury. I started dating. I went on a three week sugar binge...."

Yesterday I did a Google search on weight gain in injured athletes. A couple of interesting things popped up. The first was by a coach, nutritionist, and triathlete herself. I've heard it before, how what we consume while exercising (as long as you stay within your 200-300 calories per hour of exercise) doesn't really contribute to any weight gain. Well her take on that is if you're craving sweets or salty foods, basically your "bad foods" (because who craves carrots...besides my boyfriend), you can eat them during your ride (or run if you so wish) as long as you return to saintly eating off the bike. The article is called "Be a saint on the couch and a sinner on the bike". My only question is: how do you keep a chocolate bar from melting on a bike ride? Research for another day.

Elite runner Laura Fleshman gained 15 pounds during one of her injury breaks. Well geez. If an elite athlete gains 15 pounds from an injury and I only gain 6 (so far), then that's pretty good.

It doesn't help that I've been entirely overwhelmed by the rest of life that demands I not be an athlete. You know, the whole part about being a grad student and producing a thesis. The part about teaching a bunch of new college freshman about weather and climate.... and how to be responsible adults, which I didn't realize was what I signed up for. The part about working another part time job. The part about taking a Japanese language class. And yes, the part about fostering a new relationship.

Cooking is harder when both people have different tastes and nutritional needs. There has been quite a bit more eating out lately than what my metabolism is used to. And who is going to order two eggs and a couple slices of toast for breakfast when confronted with 6 different choices for eggs benedict and crepe specials?

Last Saturday I helped Mike move into his new apartment. The two of us did it in less than a day. The next morning I sat on the couch while he unpacked things in the kitchen. My back to him, I was recovering from a large plate of eggs benedict (California style), hashbrowns, and about 12 cups of coffee.

"Are you going to the gym tomorrow?" I heard him ask.

"I guess...." I replied.

"What do you mean you guess?"

"Well I'd kinda like a day off..." My voice trailed off near the end of that sentence.

Silence. I didn't even have to turn around to know he had stopped unpacking and was standing there staring at me. What did you do today, Carrie? What is today if not a day off?

"Yessss, I'm going to the gym tomorrow." I groaned. I like that he doesn't take my shit.

I don't take his either. Last night he poked at the new item on his plate. "What is this?"

"You're new favorite vegetable. Eat it."

"But what is it?"

"Jicama."

"What does it look like?"

I laughed. "What do you mean what does it look like? You're looking right at it!"

"Yeah but what does it look like when it's on the tree or whatever.... it doesn't grow like this." He looked around for a whole vegetable. During dinner I saw him try to hide the three small sticks of jicama behind the salt and pepper shakers on the table.

"Hey! No no no!" I admonished him while putting them back on his plate. I watched him stick the first piece in his mouth. No reaction. In went the second piece.

"Well?"

"It doesn't have much taste."

"That's because you didn't put salt and lime on it." Later he had seconds of all his vegetables, including the jicama.

My sports medicine podiatrist has cleared me to run for a half hour at a time, three times a week. I can increase each run by ten minutes each week if my ankle does ok. She's confident I can compete in the San Diego International Triathlon in June. In my mind it's in the bag... I start eyeballing the Santa Cruz Half Ironman in September. I do some rough calculations in my head. A half marathon seems doable by that point. I push the reality of the 1.2 mile swim and 56 mile bike that precedes the 13.1 mile run, out of my mind. Not the important part. Can I cover the run by then? Yes.... I think I can....