Woo-hoo! A week and half in! I haven’t missed a workout so far. I’m grateful things start off slowly. Next week will be a much bigger adventure.

Yesterday’s workout was a 45-minute cardio session. I’d intended to ride my bike home, but I decided against it. Getting everything together would have made me late, and I had a trial that morning. It was still fairly windy yesterday evening, and I’m not sorry I was able to skip that.

I went to the club, thinking I’d use a machine. It was really a toss-up: the rowing machine is great, but I’m not sure I can hack 45 minutes of that. The bikes are fine, but I never get my heart rate up enough on a stationary bike. And I’m not so crazy about the elliptical.

I went with the elliptical. I’m pleased with myself that I actually did the workout – the Barenaked Ladies helped with that. It wasn’t a calorie torcher — Vivoactive says I burned less than 200 calories — but at this point in training, consistency is the most important thing.

Monday, I ran three miles before work and did the hip & core workout after work. I wasn’t at all sore with the hip & core workout, which means I need to increase it. I did a little more this time, but it wasn’t enough to give me any next-day soreness. I have a hard time doing the workout, so I’m wondering if my form falls apart. I try to use the mirrors, but on Monday I had to keep moving to avoid other people.

Tomorrow’s workout is a five-mile run and the core workout. I’m coaching with Girls on the Run, so I’ll have to do the core workout after that. Today was an “easy” run, so I walked it. I think it’s going to take some time before I’m ready to run those. Friday’s workout is another easy run, four miles. I might leave work early and go run at Zintel Canyon.

Saturday’s run is a 6-9 mile trail run. It just so happens that the Nomad Trail Runners are hosting another “12 Hours of Badger” that day. Sure, one loop will pretty well wipe out my workout for the day, but I’m still going to go. These folks are a fun group – even if they’re all far faster than I.

This week’s run mileage is fifteen; next week’s is twenty-seven. That’s a significant bump up. It’s also a good test of how I’m doing. I’ve been getting up early for most of my runs. I expect to be very tired next week. That should make it easier to get to sleep, but it may also make it more difficult to wake up for a run.

My diet’s been going fairly well, too. I’m still eating too much refined carbs. But I’m getting creative with dinners. Last week, I used up a bunch of pizza dough for dinners. It’s whole-wheat dough — I ground the wheat to make the flour — so it’s heavier than normal pizza dough, and it has a different flavor. I had a bunch of mushrooms to use up, so my calzones were generally onions, mushrooms, and cheese. (I’m making calzones because the control panel of our oven went out, and I’m baking in our toaster oven.) My best creation was a gill-side up portabella mushroom sprinkled with blue cheese, wrapped in pizza dough, baked.

I upped my calorie budget to 2200 calories. I’m hopeful that’s not too much; I suppose I will find out soon enough if it is. I’ve been trying to map out what I’m going to eat in the morning to make it easier for me to stay on track all day. My goal isn’t to lose weight, but I won’t be disappointed if I do so long as I get to the BMC50K start line feeling ready for the challenge ahead.