Monday, November 21, 2011

Breaking routine

Trying something new this morning - getting up, making a smoothie, reading fitness blogs, going for my run, then going to work where I will be super productive as soon as I get in (ha!). 

Highlights from the rest of my weekend:

  • What to do when your Saturday night date cancels on you?  Stay home and watch Gossip Girl with your cat whilst cleaning your apartment.  No, seriously, this might have been one of my best Saturday nights in awhile.  Hm.
  • Sleep > spinning and yoga.  Oops.
  • I am terrible at dating.  How long am I supposed to keep seeing a guy I am merely 'meh' about?
Okay, off to the gym so I can get to work at a mildly reasonable hour.

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Trust the training?

We had our second official Team In Training practice this morning and it was not entirely what I expected.  Today's special topic was walking technique, which I assumed would be irrelevant to me since I am (trying to become) a runner.  However, as I learned this morning, apparently we're training with the run/walk technique, which they explained at length results in less injuries and faster race times, but somehow still feels like a cop out to me.  But, I signed up to a program with coaches for a reason, so I'm going to trust them.

After kicking the pace assessment's ass (5k in 29:14) last weekend, I was surprised to see that my pace group was going to be training at 13 minute miles, in a 3:1 run:walk ratio.  I guess we're just starting out and this is going to increase, but this seems way slow and way low compared to what I can do.  Again, I know it's my first race and my goal should be to not be injured and to finish, but I guess I was hoping for a little more of a challenge?  I was scared when I saw we had 45 minutes on the schedule today, but it flew by and felt pretty easy.  I am doing my best to resist the rookie mistakes of starting out training too hard and then hurting myself as a result.  I'll be out of town for next week's practice, which means a 60 minute run on my own, so I'll try and pace myself appropriately.

I also wanted today's practice to feel a little bit harder because I've been feeling like Chubby McChubster lately (translation:  my scale reads 6lbs higher than usual and 13lbs higher than I'd like it to) due to spending the past two weeks subsisting largely on wine and cheese (which, incidentally, is why I think my 29:14 last week would have been way better had I actually been, you know, eating real food and hydrating ever).  Someone at practice called me 'naturally slender' and I forced myself to just take the compliment rather than be like a) "Seriously? I feel like a fatass right now." or b) "Natural? Do you know how many bacon cheeseburgers I've had to turn down in my life to continue looking like this?"  But for now, my serious White Girl Problem of not being skinny enough in my own head will be an issue for another time.

However, because of my flabby feelings and because my hips were uber-cranky, I also went to pilates for the first time in what feels like months.  I won't lie, I did pretty much go through an entire abs class just for the hamstring stretching series, but whatever, my abs do need the work as well.  Oh boy do they need the work, as the class was way harder than it has been in the past.  It's weird, since my abs actually look some of the best they ever have (thank you, three months of Bar Method), but I guess they've only gotten good at those specific exercises.  So, things to work on: core strength.

And now, to shower for the date I may or may not have this afternoon (he got called in for a work emergency, and I would secretly rather stay home and clean my apartment and watch Gossip Girl with my cat.  I am wildly cool.).

Any advice/opinions on run/walk vs. just running training would be welcome and appreciated.  Also advice on dating and apartment cleaning, as I am terrible at both.

Friday, November 18, 2011

Just do it

I went to yoga today for the first time in what is apparently almost a month.  It's weird how something can be a total part of your routine, and then a few little changes happen (a trip out of town, work gets busy, someone reappears in your life for a limited amount of time) and then suddenly it's not routine anymore.  Suddenly, the idea of going back to something you used to do all the time seems intimidating. 

I had a good half a dozen excuses for why I didn't have to go to yoga this afternoon (rest day on the schedule, needed to work, needed to clean, etc.) but I sucked it up and went.  It was not as bad as I feared it might be, and I certainly feel better for having gone. 

It's moments like these I'm tempted to re-overcommit and say I'm going to try and go every day, but I know that won't happen.  I'm going to try at least every other day, until Thanksgiving. 

And now, back to cleaning my apartment, which I desperately need to do.

What about you?  Do you ever fall out of a workout (or any!) routine and find it difficult to start again?

On the run

Training has been going okay.  We had an 'easy 30' on the schedule yesterday, and I failed miserably (again) at getting up before work, so I figured I'd pack my gym bag, go for a quick run after work, and then head to to evening's bingo fundraiser.  Easy.

...until I had a meeting that lasted three hours instead of one, and was suddenly wildly behind schedule.  I was tempted to skip the run in order to meet friends for dinner on time, but I realized that if I'm serious about running 13.1 miles in less than three months, I need to stick to the training.  So stick to it I did.

It was way darker than I'm used to because of this whole 'Daylight Savings' thing, so I was a little freaked out, but there were tons of other walkers/runners/bikers so I swallowed my fear and got going.  The run actually went super well, I did the loop in about 30 minutes, and that included a minute of walking/futzing with Pandora on my Blackberry.  Midway through the run I got a "Hi, Andrea!" from a runner headed the other way, and couldn't place who it was and was too thrown off to say hi back, but it's a loop and we were going opposite directions, and crossed paths again, and...it turned out to be my archnemeis from work.  Oops? 

Anyway, the run was good, I am loving my new shoes, and now I should really get dressed for yoga.

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

New kicks!

It's been a busy day.  My plan was to get up early and run this morning, but apparently my body decided it was a better idea to sleep through my alarm for an extra two hours.  I headed into work where I'd intended to donate blood, but apparently two weeks of bad eating and drinking more wine than water means my veins are smaller than usual and they couldn't actually take my blood, which was disappointing, but at least I knew that I'd be able to do my run in the evening instead of having to take it easy.

Before my run, I headed to a Team in Training shoe event.  The lovely people at Run With Us gave a 20% discount on shoes, so I took the opportunity to replace my worn out Sauconys...with a new pair of Sauconys.  My old pair was the Triumph 6, and I'd been eyeing the Triumph 8 for awhile, but apparently there is a Triumph 9 out now, so I have those!

(And sadly, I have now learned they come in pink and am slightly disappointed.  I wonder if it is excessive to buy a second pair.  I do really like the teal, too.)

After that, I headed to the gym to test these out on the treadmill.  They are super light and nice, though my run was neither of those things.  I think it's mostly two weeks of bad sleep and a month of terrible eating finally catching up with me.  My body has been all kinds of 'um, I can haz nutrients plz?'

And so, I came home and made a salad because I've sort of forgotten what vegetables look like.

And instead of cashing in the Coldstone coupon I got for attempting to donate blood, I made a quasi-raw brownie for dessert.  Go me.
Also this is super easy.  For the base, you throw some dates, some nuts, and some cocoa in the food processor.  Dump that in an appropriately sized tupperware.  The 'icing' is one part coconut oil to two parts cocoa powder to how ever much agave you need to make it sweet enough.  Pour that over the top, refrigerate the whole thing, and ta da!  Delicious chocolate, no baking required.  It is not low calorie, but it has fiber and antioxidants and other things that are important.

And now, to bed so that I can maybe actually wake up at 5 for a run and yoga tomorrow morning.

Monday, November 14, 2011

Back at it

I should write more but I'd rather sleep. The bullet points:

Am going to start eating normal maybe tomorrow, I swear.  Maybe.  Ever since I finished BPC I have been an eating monster.

Ran a 5k in 29:14 on Saturday, which is huge for me.

Team in Training stuff is going super well so far.  More later.