Day 6, big work event=challenge!

Today was a crazy day for me. It was our second big event of the year at the organization where I work, and the first during PCP so I was nervous to see how it would go. Today's event was the "Tour de Brooklyn" which is a big bike tour we do around the borough of Brooklyn (http://tourdebrooklyn.org if you're curious).

Anyway, I manage the volunteer program at the organization where I work so I'm on deck, big time, for these events. They are mostly staffed by volunteers (150 or so at this one, 500 at our biggest event in September) and I have to be majorly "on" and energetic and calm and in control of things.

Event days like this are LONG. Work starts around 5:30am with me furiously riding my bike to wherever I'm supposed to be, then I delegate, problem solve, manage people like crazy, lift heavy things, run around, etc... Usually this ends 10-12 hours later with all our staff going out to drink many, many beers and eat tons of food. We're thirsty and hungry and exhausted and in need of some kind of celebration and collective pat on the back.

So, while I have been doing the half diet pretty well and not changing what I eat too much (but sticking to the half portions), one thing that I cut out, cold turkey, on day #1 was alcohol. I just didn't want to drink alcohol anymore, even in pre-PCP week, so I haven't had any all week (which is pretty huge considering I can't remember a day before PCP when I didn't have at least one beer!!!). Anyway, today's event was prime beer-craving situation, so I knew it would be a challenge.

Here's how it went down:

I practically jumped out of bed at 5am, feeling surprisingly awake (i'd gone to bed around midnight), and I did our PCP workout! I know this makes me a little crazy, but I knew how exhausted i'd be when I finally got home after the tour, and how much I'd just want to take a shower and not exert myself anymore, so I did the right thing and got that workout finished by 5:15am! (Man I am loving the jumps, p.s.!!!) Then after the furious bike ride to the start and some crazy time as things got going I realized I felt surprisingly good - I felt more truly energetic than at past events (I can pull it out of thin air for this kind of thing, but it was nice to have real energy rather than run on fumes). Anyway, the event was great and when it's great I actually have a lot of fun. I love volunteers (even the crazy ones) on all days, but especially days like today when we rely on them so much and they follow thru with such pure enthusiasm.

Anyway! Fast forward to the beer/food challenge... it was fine! I was so thirsty I only wanted water anyway, so I kept having that, and while I would've loved some ice cold hop-y deliciousness, I didn't crave the taste in any physical way. So that was cool! And finally, even though it was a super social situation and there was lots of hanging out and just talking and telling funny stories and whatnot, I did fine without the little alcohol boost. I think I knew that I'd do fine, but I kind of didn't really know, because it's become such a standard thing to have a drink or two when I'm out with people in that way.

I also had super tasty pickled beets and some wonderful cheese. Then, a very light grilled veggie sandwich and more cheese. It was a medium sized meal but it was my lunch and dinner rolled into one so I'm pleased with it. Plus, considering that normally I would've had twice the calories with the amount of beer I would've drank, I still passed the half test. :-)

And when I got home I was so thankful that I'd done the workout earlier. I was covered in bike grease, my sweat, volunteer sweat, nyc street dirt and god knows what else. It felt great to just get in the shower right away and look forward to reading everyone else's posts for the day. I had 3 little pieces of chocolate while doing that, and some tea while writing this. I can't believe I was so healthy on this of all days - last year tour de brooklyn day I think I had 2 bagels, a few cliff bars (they are a sponsor so we have them all over the place), 1 beer, 1 bottle of wine and a huge meal. At the end of that day I was in tears and felt disgusting. At the end of today I find myself peacefully exhausted. Off to bed now, m'lovies*!

*quoting Jenny's cute term of endearment here