Month 3 "Lite" - and psyllium husks

We are nearing the end of month 3, and nary an entry to the blog, so I thought I would catch you up on our whereabouts!

First of all, Mitzi is taking a break and doing some focused triathlon training. Also, a few months ago (actually, July!), Mitzi talked me into doing the Emerald Coast Triathlon in Panama City Beach on October 13th. It's been about 20 years since I did any swimming, but I thought, working out in Atlanta in July is a bit like swimming, so why not? :) So for September, I have been paring back the TrainStrong workouts so I can fit in swimming - from five days a week to three. I've also been cycling on the weekends, and this past Saturday did my first non-TrainStrong run in quite a while! After the cycling, it felt more like a "shuffle" - and a very slow one at that!

So one might guess that being in month 3, the soreness is beginning to wear off. Hmmm...well, it's not! As Stacy said in an email today: "Keep in mind that we want you to push yourself to 100% effort 100% of the time. Now, we know that's not physically possible, but that's what you should strive to do. Don't let your body quit!!!". Today's workout was 'Bring a Friend Day' - and I had THREE friends with me! Thanks to Katy Self and her friend Lauren, and John Carr for joining me! To accommodate a crowd of 50 or 100, the BAF workout consists of breaking into groups and doing an exercise for 1 - 2 minutes at one of five stations on a big soccer field, then SPRINTING around the field until you pass the station you started at and on to the next one (so around the field once plus a fifth). This morning we started out a little sluggish, so we had to be encouraged by Stacy to 'kick it in'. With the sun coming up later, it's a little harder to run with certainty, and so inevitably my legs begin to get behind/in front of my body, and then I look like a space shuttle about to internally combust - limbs flying in all directions, losing my balance, etc. It's not pretty.


So, there's something I've learned about this month that I need to share with you. This would be Psyllium husk powder. Now I know, I know, it's not pleasant or girly to discuss fiber beyond mentioning the great tortilla wraps and bran cereal (which can be high in carbs!), but I wouldn't be a true friend if I didn't share this with you - all of you! I had several analogies in my mind that I thought I would use, but probably the best description is found on Wikipedia:


"The characteristics of psyllium seed husks make them useful for any treatment that requires improvement or maintenance of transit time in the gastrointestinal tract, because the inert bulk of the husks helps provide a constant volume......."



That phrase 'transit time' cracks me up - I can't help it! Anyway, with most of my readers probably in their early 30's to mid-60's, it's something we can all relate to and desire to improve on. If you check out the ingredients of most fiber supplements, psyllium husks are typically near the top, so why not just go for the gold?????