On Day 9, I did a short two mile recovery run and then p90x yoga! Today also marks the first time I’ve used my Heartrate monitor to get a more accurate calorie count. Suffice to say, life is full of disappointments. If my monitor is to be believed, I earned almost 60 calories less than any of my tracking apps said!
All in all, I would much rather KNOW this, though, than not know. As such, life goes on.
Day 8: 8.06 miles!
I drove to Scranton and mom and I hit the Heritage Trail. The weather was PERFECT — not quite overcast but definitely cool and breezy. The trail was nearly empty. The run was most excellent. We tried a new offshoot on the path which I think added about 0.25 to 0.5 to things which is also good and necessary if we want to hit 8 comfortably before making it back to the car. Otherwise there would be a lot of running some stretches 3x. Blah!
But yesterday’s run was terrific. I love running with my mom — I love running in general but ever since I was a kid I wished I could run like she did. Well, now I do. And we run together. And it is a celebration of life!
We decided in the picture to wear our Frog Togg’s like the awkward turtles that we are.
Day 7: 3.2 miles, just about.
I was aiming for a very relaxed, very slow 5K so that my long run the next morning wasn’t a disaster. Even got a little bit of drizzle on this particular run, which felt like manna from above.
Day 6: 5.2 Miles!
It was SO HOT OUT. Thank goodness for my sport towel (Frog Togg) and water bottle or I would have melted into the pavement!
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Howdy, ya’ll!
I’ve been working on my “Gotta Run One” challenge for, as of today, nine days. How has it been going? Has it been increasing my motivation or detracting from it? How are my little victory sticks doing with no official extended downtime? (Disclaimer: Every knowledgable runner I know said that I would be OK running daily as long as my rest day runs were short, slow and gentle.) Read onward to find out those answers and more!
1. How’s it been going?
So far, so good! I’ve really been getting used to the process of getting out there every day, which surprises me. Why? Certainly not because I lack an interest. Moreso because some days I genuinely do only have time for a single mile — and before this challenge, having only 15 spare minutes or whatever would mean that I just didn’t get my run in for the day. With this challenge, though, I am forced to take those 15 minutes and make it happen every single day. No excuses. And, to my delight, what’s been happening on days other than those time-crunch days? I find that once I’m already out there pounding the pavement, I’m usually inspired to stay out for more than my owed mile. Often it’s 5K for a shorter run; one day, it was 5 miles. I’m trying not to overdo it and overtrain, considering that I am a relatively “new” runner and my long run mileage is really ramping up quickly — I want to avoid injury! So I’m trying to do, out of 7 days, 2 “one or two” mile runs, a medium-length 5 miles or 10K, two shorter 5Ks, a “whatever I feel that day” run, and of course one long run. So far this little challenge has provided great reason to get out and stay out.
2. Is it increasing my motivation or decreasing it?
Yanno, I was really interested to see how this would pan out. I figured one of two things would happen: either 1) the mandatory mile-a-day would lead to me resenting running or 2) it would become the type of habit that I loved even more than I had previously. Thankfully, at Day 9, so far the latter seems to be the case. Rather than it being optional, it’s mandatory — that’s the point — and so instead of waging war with myself about “Eh, but this HEAT/HUMIDITY” or “Eh, but I only have time for like two miles which is barely worth it,” I’ve been happily going out there and doing what I can do, knowing that at least one goal — the goal of running every day – is being met. I actually think that’s where a lot of the joy in this is coming from: I’m being freed from my self-hewn prison of thinking that I MUST log bigger miles or I MUST try to keep a good speed every time I run. Of course, I don’t run as fast as I can every day or always run 10K or more. I have speedwork days, short run days, hillwork days, etc. I think what I’m trying to say is that I’ve been hard on myself — and, 30 lbs later, it seems that it’s been a good strategy — and that I’ve been disparaging of running very short distances. For example: the lone mile. This challenge is helping me reclaim that and is helping me find joy in the corners and hollows of the sport where previously I’d either not been looking or never noticed.
3. How do I feel?
This was the part I was concerned about before the challenge began. The good news is that so far, I am totally fine! Having rest days where I just jog a solitary mile has really been fine as a recovery method. Otherwise, because I’m tempering my speed and my courses, running hard(er) 5 days a week has been no problem. This week alone, on Monday I ran 5.2, on Tuesday 3.19, and Wednesday 8.18. No real soreness to speak of. Of course, today will be a 2 or 3 mile recovery run. The weekend will likely hold some shorter runs and maybe one longer one. Keeping it switched up. And on the shortest running days, I’m doing yoga as crosstraining. Gentler yoga one day, and more intense yoga (the P90X yoga actually) the other day.
4. So overall?
I’m happy, and not sore, and finding a lot of joy in the process. Stay tuned for more to follow! I’ve heard some people keep patterns like this up for a year or more… We’ll see where this journey leads!
Time for a weekend roundup/update!
This weekend was a very busy but very joyful one; I’ve got no complaints, except that I don’t know how Monday is here already! The weekend, when observed in retrospect, is a good example of ways in which I’ve learned to turn down temptations and/or pre-plan all my food. I agree wholeheartedly with the “Fail to plan? PLAN TO FAIL” mentality – so much of weight loss success is preemptively making sure your food NEEDS are met, so your food WANTS don’t get in the way. Also a tip: I pre-track everything. When I wake up in the morning I plan out, in my tracker, as much of my day as I can. And then, I just refuse to let myself derail from the things I’ve tracked. It’s helpful because I always know what is left over for snacks or a special food.
I’ll go down the list of the weekend’s events!
Packed my lunch for Monday, got my clothes, etc. together, and a new week begins. Hmph.
Well, Sunday was not an optimal running day. I had to leave for a work event by 10 AM, and felt guilty/like a bad hostess to leave my best friend and college roomie, Kim, perched on my couch as I headed out the door. All the same, I only got a single mile in. Very disappointing, but very expected — I knew I wouldn’t have much time this weekend and ANY miles, even single ones, are better than none!
Check out my ridiculous bedhead before I put on my running hat!
was
Mom and I yard-saled as early as 7 AM, but fear not! We slugged through some super gross humidity to complete a single mile.
Howdy y’all!
So, remember how the other day I had dropped some significant pounds? All of a sudden they’re back.
This could be for a few reasons: maybe having several days of running in a row is causing water retention; maybe eating more carbs (even if they’re within my WW points) is causing some sort of retention; maybe I’m putting on muscle (this is doubtful).
The tricky and disturbing part is that I have religiously stayed within my points, and have only eaten half my activity points on any day. I used to not eat the AP at all, but now that they represent up to and sometimes over 1,000 calories within a day, I know I’ve gotta eat them.
I did have my gram’s birthday and my Mom’s birthday, but I’ve been saving activity points and never touch my weeklies except for weekend splurges — so even still, I’m within my points.
Yet here these mysterious five lbs have reappeared.
I’ve also considered water and digestion and all that. In my own analysis, I’ve ruled them Not The Cause.
So what’s a girl to do?
Today, I made a MyFitnessPal account. While I strongly disagree with it’s focus on calories, I appreciate its food database and I appreciate that it’ll easily and accurately count the nutritional information from my fruit.
I eat a lot of fruit, berries and veggies — WW doesn’t count them, but MFP does. I think for the next few weeks (as best I can with two bridal showers coming up where I did not prepare the food) I will try to adhere to what MFP dictates (while still tracking on WW, of course) and see what happens.
Here goes nothing!
This morning, I reaaaally wanted to sleep in. It’s going to be such a busy weekend and Friday is usually my day to recharge before Saturday and Sunday (which, in our family, are always as busy as the weekdays!).
However: I made a promise to you and to me and to the Universe. I said I would get out there and run each day for at least one month.
Today is exceptionally busy: I have a staff meeting at 12 noon for which I need to leave by 11:30 and I am teaching at 3:30. So it’s a bit of a bumpy ride today. That made fitting in a run kind of tricky. Don’t want to have to shower twice, etc.
So I got out of bed by 9, and woke up a little and had a banana and water.
Then off I went!
I forgot to check my watch to see when I had hit 0.5 and by the time I realized, I was at 0.8 and near a familiar turnaround point. So I forged on, and clocked about 2.1 total.
The course was entirely flat, all sidewalk. The morning was cool, if a bit humid. I ran strong and steady, kept an easy pace.
The picture of me for today is supremely disheveled and sleepy looking. I was hoping to convey JUST HOW LITTLE I FELT LIKE IT today. The second, of course, is my Garmin shot.
The Points Of It All 