Lesson Learned

Training and losing weight are going well. I’m in my 2^nd official week of training (by “official” I mean I started another training program and then switched to a new one so I’m really in the 2^nd week of the new one) and there’s only been one rough day/evening/night. This is the point where taking care of myself really hit me and how important it is.

This happened this past Sunday. I had done my longest run since Sept on Saturday which was 5 miles and then Sunday was 3 miles. Before the 3-mile run on Sunday I had a waffle and juice. It wasn’t much but it was enough since I was going out for breakfast after the run which would be my normal breakfast at my favorite diner of 1 poached egg, 1 or 2 slices of rye toast and 2 slices of bacon. So yes, breakfast was good and I felt fine.

Then I got home after breakfast and did all the cooking I planned on doing which I knew would take most of the rest of the afternoon. During this time, I had a few of the cookies I made which isn’t big deal but I didn’t have any protein. Not only is protein important for training but it’s extremely important as a gastric bypass patient.

The evening came and between the long run Sat, the shorter one earlier that day and then spending the rest of the afternoon standing and not eating protein, I was one sore lady. I was sore to the point of it hurting to walk and having trouble sleeping that night.

On Monday morning I started eating protein like I normally do and started to feel much better for my evening run.

Lesson learned. Eat the right amount of protein and don’t stand for hours after multiple runs and you will feel much better.

Besides the training going well, I’ve also lost 9 lbs which I’m very happy about. I’ve got around 30 more to hit goal and I’m looking forward to getting there. The combination of the training and losing weight is challenging but as long as I log everything in myfitnesspal, it keeps me accountable and aware of what I’m eating.

 

Enjoying Life and Training

Things are going very well. I’m in my 2^nd week of training and I decided 2 days ago to change from Hal Higdon’s Novice 2 Half Marathon training to the Intermediate one. The intermediate one is more varied and includes strength training, stretching and speed work which are all things I was going to be adding anyway, I guess I just need to be told what to do. LOL!

I’ve had tons of energy this week to boot. I don’t remember ever having this much energy. I keep trying remember if there was a time, thinking maybe it was when I got down to my lowest weight after my gastric bypass surgery which was 20 lbs less than I am now a couple years ago but no, that wasn’t it. I really think this is probably the best I’ve ever felt which at 42 is really nice. It’s challenging for me because as I’ve said, I’ve always had weight issues and now I’m trying (again) to lose weight while training for another race. I realize this may not be the ideal situation, but for me, for now it’s the best choice because while I’m training I take care of myself much better than I usually do. I’m hoping that someday this will “stick” and I’ll always take this good care of myself even when I’m not training but for now, this is it. My goal is to lose between 30-50 more lbs. I know that losing all of that excess weight will only help my running and that’s all I care about now. It used to always be about my size and how others perceived me but not so much anymore. Ok, I still have those self-conscious days just like everyone else but things have changed. Running does that. Plus, my running is getting better and better!

I’ve run many more times since my last post and it’s interesting how everyday is so different. I guess that’s the same as in all aspects of life. Some days my runs are hard, some days easier. I know I just need to stick with it no matter what and I can’t wait!

A Good Day So Far

I gotta say, today has been surprisingly good. I wasn’t sure how it would turn out since I opted to do my running before work at 7am instead of after work and I am NOT a morning person.

Well, maybe I’m becoming one. The last couple of weekends I’ve regretted waking up for a bit then falling back to sleep. I end up having crazy dreams. I’ve talked to a few friends about this and they have the same issue. So, I think I need to get up or at least stay awake on the weekends now that I have this newfound energy. Which brings me to that topic…

Newfound energy.

How weird is this? This running and eating better is making me feel better and have all sorts of energy. I’ve felt this way before but I really don’t remember it feeling this good. My brain is surprised by it all. My body is surprised by it all. I’m going to bed some nights not even tired. Strange stuff.

So, to top off my morning of getting up early and running, today was my first official day of half marathon training. I’ve mentioned this before but it’s good that it worked out this way because I’ll still have an extra week (it’s 13 weeks till the race but the training plan calls for 12 weeks) in case I need to repeat any days or a week. Today was a 3-miler and it went well. I didn’t hate the treadmill either. I wonder if it was because I wasn’t fully awake enough to have those kind of feelings yet. I hate to admit it but I guess that’s another good reason to run before work. Damn. I thought this might not have to become a habit. Well, it’s only 2 days per week when my hubby goes with me. So that will be Tue and Thu and on Wed I’ll go after work myself. On the weekends, I’ll either run outside or go to the gym but I’ll play it by ear.

Me, a morning person? Hmmm… we shall see.

Training Has Officially Begun!

I’ve had a couple weeks to get used to running again so I’ve decided that this week will be the start of my half marathon training for the Brooklyn Half on 5/17. I’m using the Hal Higdon Novice 2 plan which I like because it builds in two rest days a week instead of just one like a lot of them do. I need more than one rest day. Maybe after lots of running someday I won’t but for now, I definitely do.

My other focus the last couple of weeks has been on losing weight. I’ve got around 30 lbs to lose and I know this will only help my running. Anytime I think about eating some type of crappy food, I think about continuing to have to carry 30 lbs worth of bags of flour on my back. I did that one time. Well, I don’t mean I carried 30 lbs worth of flour on my back but I did buy bags of flour each time I lost 5 lbs to get an idea of how much extra weight I’d been carrying around. It’s very motivating. Maybe I’ll do it again.

Yesterday I ran outside because I’m about ready to throw the next treadmill I see into a lake. It went well. It was the coldest weather I’ve ever run in (25 degrees) but there was some sun. There was also some snow which of course makes things a little more difficult but I think it works more parts of your legs than just running on regular pavement or on the treadmill. It must because I was freakin’ sore last night. I felt really accomplished though. Plus I found a new app for my phone that has great music mixes on it so that really helps.

So my race is 13 weeks from this coming Saturday. That leaves me one week to play around with if I need to repeat it because my training plan is twelve weeks. Even though this will be my third half, this one is different because there is a three hour time limit, which the others didn’t have. I completed my last half in 3:15 so I’ve got some work to do but I’m definitely up for the challenge!