Sunday, March 30, 2014

Things Are Getting Better

Things really are getting better. I feel better in general and I bought myself a new MacBook Air yesterday. I absolutely love it! I'm a huge Mac fan so it was only a matter of time before I gave in to a new laptop.

As for the training/running/feeling crappy/PMS stuff that is getting better too. No, I haven't run yet but I'm going tomorrow night. I know it's going to be a little rough since it will be 6 days since I ran but I'm up for the challenge. I miss running already and I think I'll feel well enough to go. I was going to go yesterday but I woke up yesterday morning after having slept on my neck wrong and could barely move my head. It's getting better today but I didn't think the run would be enjoyable if I couldn't move my head much. Why push it? Unfortunately this past week was a wash but it can only go up from here.

Thursday, March 27, 2014

Confusion Say Be Kind To Yourself (or something like that)


I never expect (which I guess is part of it) how bumps in life just come out of nowhere.

I’ve been feeling truly “off” since last weekend. I don’t know why. I have some ideas but PMS doesn’t really seem like a valid reason. Of course it is a valid reason but for someone like me who never really had issues with it before, it’s a foreign concept.

Feeling moody, depressed, tired and just crappy in general was something I always attributed to being morbidly obese which is how I spent a good chunk of my life. Since I’m not in that position anymore I guess I just automatically thought I wouldn’t feel that way again. Boy, was I wrong.

I felt crappy on Monday so I left work early. I worked Tuesday and ran Tuesday night. The middle of the night (Tuesday going into Wednesday) came and I got a horrible migraine. What a bad night. Then I had to miss work yesterday just to recover. Enough is enough.

I’m feeling better today but I don’t like missing all these training runs. I know this is part of life and you have to take the good with the bad but I don’t like it one bit. So there. Wahhhh!

Luckily I was already one week ahead of my training (I actually thought ahead on this one and figured something like being sick might come up) so I planned this well. So now I’m on track if I go today. Do I feel like going? I’m not sure yet. I’ll see how I feel later.

The moral of my story is always listen to your body. No matter how much you feel you have to run, you will probably be sorry later if you push it too hard. I don’t know if running on Tuesday helped give me a migraine but it’s always a possibility. Be kind to your body and you will be rewarded.

Jeez, did I read that in a fortune cookie?

Sunday, March 16, 2014

Training, Compression Sleeves and Pulling The Trigger

Training for Brooklyn is going well. My 7-mile long run at the end of week 4 was yesterday and it was pretty rough but I got through it. I don't think it would've been as rough if I hadn't done it on the treadmill but since we just got more snow this past week in Upstate NY, the roads and sidewalks aren't really runner-friendly yet. I've noticed that when I run in the snow and ice that I really tense up since I'm more alert due to the possibility falling. This leads to me being more sore the next day than usual, especially in the shoulders and back so my thinking is that it's not always worth it. They say Spring will come eventually and I really hope they are right because Jesus, this winter has sucked!

I purchased Zensah brand compression calf sleeves yesterday since I figured after that long run of 7 miles that they could only help. I was feeling some calf tightness on the damn treadmill anyway. I'm not sure what I think of them yet and whether or not they helped but I've put them on a couple times for a few hours at a time and so far so good. I'm not sure if I'm going to use them on my run today but I think I will. Luckily it's only a 3-mile one because I'm not up for anything longer today.

Last but not least I pulled the trigger on registering for the Rock 'N Roll New Orleans Half Marathon on 1/25/15. I would like to do the full marathon but I'm going to play it by ear since I've never done one. I registered for the half but I have until the end of Nov to upgrade to the full. My plan of attack on the training is to do the half in May and then continue keeping a running base of 3 miles, 4x/week until the middle of Sept. Then I'm going to start the 18-week Hal Higdon Novice 1 marathon training and see where it takes me.

Going to New Orleans is great because I've always wanted to go (hubby has been twice so he is familiar with it) and I get to stay with a friend I haven't seen in many years.

Well, I guess I'm off to meet up with the dreadmill for another date today. He won't get to enjoy my company as long today though. :)

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Instant Gratification

Do we all live in our own worlds of wanting instant gratification? I believe I live in that world when it comes to many things including my running and losing weight.

I’m trying to “enjoy the journey” as they say but it’s been harder than usual lately. I’m not completely sure why but I think some of the factors may be how I grew up. I grew up always overweight and not active. Spending all that time in that state just wore on me. Sure, there were many times I would try to eat better and exercise, trying various ways of either going on a specific diet that may or not include starving myself but nothing ever really changed for the long-term.

As the years went by I got heavier and heavier and more and more sedentary. Food was a crutch for me. It’s where I went for emotional support. Of course it’s only an instant gratification thing but it did the trick for a few minutes. Soon afterwards I would go back to feeling the feeling that lead me to eating in the first place. What a vicious cycle!

Do I have it all figured out now that I’ve lost 115 lbs and taken up running? Nope. But I think I go about becoming a healthier person in a better, safer way now. I think my new issue is that for once in my life I’m actually not too far from my goal weight. It’s like I can almost touch it and know I can reach it which makes me want it yesterday even more. Even more than just the losing weight is the running. I want to be a marathon runner yesterday too.

Why can’t I just be happy with the process?

I don’t know why. I need to start working on that.

The other question I need to ask myself is what will happen once I reach that goal weight? Will there be fireworks and balloons? Will the world stop spinning and everyone will sing me a song? Nope. That’s not going to happen but of course it will be nice to meet that goal. My point is, will I just stop eating better and taking care of myself once I hit that goal? I don’t think so. I just need work on enjoying everything I can do now that I couldn’t do before. I need to run for me and run for the people who can’t. I need to remember how far I’ve come in a short amount of time and continue to be the person I want and strive to be.

Monday, March 3, 2014

The Importance of Rest and Some Other Stuff


Yup, rest is important. I’m slowly but surely realizing that. In my world I spend a lot of time over-analyzing things. I’ve always been like that. I’ve actually gotten much better but I’m a work-in-progress and have a ways to go.

So with the whole over-analyzing thing, I don’t always see the obvious like the fact that sometimes we just need a break. It can be from life in general, from running, from your family, anything but it’s OK TO TAKE A BREAK!

It really is ok to take a break. We all need one. We get so super-saturated with everything in this day and age that our bodies and minds need the time off. I took this past Saturday off from the world. I slept insanely late, didn’t shower, didn’t do much of anything but I did make soup. Yummy chicken noodle soup. It was a good day. Yeah, I felt a little guilty taking it off since it was supposed to be a run day (the end of my 2nd week of half training) but I can make that up because it’s only one day. I just get a little hard on myself sometimes. That’s another thing I’m working on.

I did my long run yesterday (6 miles) and it went great. I learned from last week’s protein debacle to actually eat a lot of it and I drank coconut water and used a heating pad when I got home and today I feel great.

The other thing I’m going to start working on more is my self-image. I started reading this blog called Dirt Diva this weekend and this chick Catra is amazing! That’s the only way I can really describe her. She races it seems almost every weekend and doesn’t do 5K’s, nope, not this girl, her favorite races are 100 miles. Yeah, 100 MILES! Isn’t that amazing? So while reading this blog I just got drawn into her style, spirit, outlook and all sorts of other things that make her a really cool person. She isn’t afraid to put herself out there. She dresses how she wants and has awesome tattoos to boot. I just really found myself envying her. I want to be that type of person who just puts herself out there and does what she wants and dresses how she wants. So yes, this is something I’m going to start working on more. Being my own person and feeling strong both mentally and physically at the same time. Like I said before, I’m a work-in-progress, I like to think we all are and being the best I can be is a goal that I need to focus on more.

 
Do you take needed breaks?

What is your fitness goal either short or long-term?

Do you feel you are a work-in-progress?