Observations from the road

No long run this weekend.  The rain continued in Sunday and OH BOY did it chill down!  I did 2 miles in the rain.  I think it took me over 24 hours to get that chill out.

As for the road... amazing that a hotel with 8 storeys has so little equipment in their gym. Such a small gym.  I did a half hour on the recumbent bike.  It went OK but not the workout I anticipated.

And THAT always seems to be the case when it comes to hotel workouts.

Now to find more miles when I get home tomorrow.

Speed Work in the Rain

So I have penciled out a training program for the next 16 weeks or so until race day!
And I have been within reason of it so far.

Now it has not kicked in to full gear yet.  This week I was traveling.  The objective was to try to at least get on the treadmill while I was away.  And I successfully did that at least 2 days.  You get tired after a while and the early morning hotel treadmill is hard.  Especially when you add in late night dinners and time changes.  All week I was saying things like - it's 8pm and in Eastern time it is 9pm and just a few days ago it was 10pm....  I was good and got to bed around 930 10pm each night so I was reasonable in that regard.

So today I had written SPEED work...  and even though it's not now... it has been raining all morning.  I wasn't going to do it.  and then I realized - it could rain race day... I better get used to it.  So off to the track I went.

The warm up got me.  I would guess my hydration is low.  I would guess my salt and fat intake from the week is high.  And I haven't done much skipping, grapevine, shuffle work in a while....  Once around the track I went.  And then a little jog.

Warmed up - now for the fun part...
30 seconds to get from one end to the other - quarter of the track.  I managed that OK.  Although I know my speed has been faster in the past.  Then 3 minutes to walk back to the beginning.  DID THIS 4 TIMES.

Then some whole track work.  Get around the track in 3 minutes with a 30 second rest.  it should be closer to a minute rest but did not have patience to reset the timer on my watch.  I did that twice.  And did OK with that.  I wanted to do that 4 times as well.  But my mojo was off at that time.

TOO MUCH RAIN perhaps.  Or a little overheated.

So tomorrow I am looking to find 7 to 10 miles in me.  we shall see how that goes.

Driving

Yesterday I spent a good amount of time on the road. It has been a while since I made the drive I did. And this time it rained the entire time. It was miserable.
The rain. The spray off the big trucks. The fog like conditions. Just miserable.
I am literally screamed at the conditions in my white knucled solitude of a rental car at least twice.

I am glad I got some hill drills runs into my day before the day started,  before the rain started. I am sure it helped in some way.

I can only imagine the stress of the drive has played with my muscles in some way. I don't know just yet as I am still lying in bed.

Thought I'd squeeze in a walk this morning.  But no sooner did I turn over to get the phone to check the weather... skies opened up out there.

Sadly it will be another day's worth of driving for me.  And it is a haul this time. I will leave as soon as I can after this morning's meeting. I am just not looking forward to it.

Hotel treadmill is in my future.

Yogurt

Oh the marketing of yogurt.  Which variety  is truly healthy. So hard to say these days.
Some slap on the term Greek and everyone assumes its a healthy variety. Until you read the label and realise it isnt a thicker strained variety... they put gelatin in it to make it thicker.
Some are so sweet.  Surely that can good for you.
I found two fruit flavors that I like thay seem to be lower in sugar but I am sure that is debatable.
Chobani has a pineapple fruit on bottom that is good.  And with even less sugar is a blended coconut flavor.
I had been buying these for ease in an attempt to get an afternoon dairy with some fruit.
Of course I came to thw revelation that's really not enough fruit to count.

This week I am using 2% Fage and ran it and somw frozen strawberries througg my Ninja.  Good flavor. Hopefully a bit more fruit than the prepackaged variety. Hopefully less sugar.

Food

Well I am always tinkering in the kitchen.  These days there is always a quest to get enough protein and veg in a meal.
And I don't alway succeed.
Last week I opted for a chicken and spinach dish.

Raw baby spinach as the base.  I am going to heat up later so no need to cook now.
Sauted onions and Portobello mushrooms and spices.  Mixed in with somw ricotta cheese.
Finish off with 3oz grilled chicken.
Gave me my protein, dairy and veg for lunch.
It was different than the typical salad doused in dressing.
Now to remember this again later in the training.

Walking

I just struggle to get up at the crack of dawn to run.  I did well with it for a while but in the past year not so much.
So I opted for a little mental inventory.  What would I get up for? And decided that a morning walk would work. 
I don't need my heart rate monitor. I don't need my interval alarm. Shoot I don't even need a sports bra to just get out there and walk.
Roll out of bed. Find the appropriate # of layers (it was cold this morning). And get out there. 
In a half hours time I can cover 2 miles.  That's 2 miles more than I had been doing in the AM.  So I am sticking with this.

Running running will have to be in the PM.

Finding ways to get motivates and stay motivated

http://helloendless.com/10-ways-to-increase-dopamine-to-boost-your-productivity/

This looked like a good list to start with.

Been a while

I feel like I need to officially track my progress to this craziness that is the Disney Princess Half Marathon.
It is a few days more than 4 months away.  The official start date is Wednesday.. mostly because Tuesday is my birthday and I don't want any added pressure before then.

So I decide short little quips of my training could be a motivator.  It has helped in the past.  And maybe a bit more insightful and useful than one sentence observations allowed on Twitter and Facebook.

We shall see.

Until then... today is a birthday celebration
Gotta go dry my hair straight and get ready

AFTER WEEKS OF RAIN - IT IS A BEAUTIFUL DAY OUT THERE!

make it a good one

Run in the winter

So the Cooper River run is a 10k.  And that's what the latest running group would be focusing on. Timed runs due to the early darkness that time of year.  speed work Wednesdays - which didn't happen all that much for me.  Not sure what happened with those days.  I think there were some work meetings.  And I am pretty sure there was weather.  And long run Saturdays.  Again I think the weather creeped in there a bit.

In order to prep for race day - the running group always does another race during the training.  You know to deal with the logistics and nerves that happen on race day.  This time was a 4 mile race on some of the local trails.  The nice thing about this race - it was pretty convenient to my home.  Relatively speaking. 

Again, it turned out to be a good pace run for me.  The first mile under 12 minutes AGAIN.  Yay me.  The hills on this course weren't that kind.  Oh well.  Neither were the frigid temperatures and - wait was that a snow flake?  But it was a good time..

Well that is until I woke up sick on Monday morning.  I am sure it was a combination of the weather and other things.  It pretty much took me down for the count for a few weeks.  Sore throat.  Bronchitis.  Head cold.  Hacking up who knows what.

So the focus was diverted in February.

Running 2015

The easiest way to fill in the gaps is to go by topic.
Work - nothing new.  Quite possibly that is a lie but for the most part.
Home - new carpets downstairs.  New white couch and chair.  Now leather loveseat.  It was the post Bacchus deal he and I had.  I would replace the items that just got worn out in his old age and illness.
It is also a good deterent from bringing home any new cute pug puppies.
Car - the same.  Getting some miles on it.  That's for sure.
Bike - upstairs on the trainer.  Need to get it outside one of these days.
Running...  well that's been a good part of this year so far.

Over the holidays I focused pretty much on prepping for a race in January.  It was a 4 mile race is conjunction with the Super Bowl.  It started uptown near the stadium and went from there. 
So the training focused mostly on some long runs... but with a race that is only 4 miles long the long runs weren't that lengthy.  We did speed work.  I had not done that before.  Shoot I don't know the last time I was on a track.  It was pretty neat.  This concepts of running fast.  I liked it.  And then some easy and temp runs during the week.  It was a good game plan.  And my pace and endurance did pick up for that first race.  My first mile was under 12 minutes - always amazing.  And the overall pace was good as well.

As one race was coming to a close a new running group was forming.  This was for the Cooper River Run.  Due to the uncertainty of work schedules I knew this race was not going to be on my list.  I couldn't commit in time.  But I joined the group anyways. 

gaps in time

I keep meaning to get back on the blogging bandwagon... It just seems that I have so much to fill in from the gaps that it overwhelms me and I don't. 
Well maybe I will get on that this month.  Lots of travel coming up. Airport time is good for typing.

And then there's the nutritionist

This isn't moving along quite as stellar as I would like.  I know, it is all me but... 
So as part of the running group we did 2 events on nutrition. 

The first was with the one running coach.  He is all about food and nutrition.  I might even call him obsessed.  But that's not a bad thing when you can pick someone's brain on the subject.  As a result of those conversations it was suggested that perhaps I wasn't getting enough protein.  So I started tracking my food.  I reopened my MyFitnessPal app and started logging in the food.  What a miserable task that is.  Well it turned out that not only was I not getting enough protein, it appeared I was not getting enough food.  I wasn't getting enough into my menu on a daily basis.  And then I found myself binging on bad foods at least once a week.  A brick of cheese and a box of crackers is NOT A MEAL!!!!  But I was hungry.

So the second edition on nutrition, they brought in a nutritionist.  And that was a broader view on what to eat before a workout, during a workout and after a workout.  FYI - I historically do not eat before a workout.  I have coffee when I get up but a meal does not happen.  I hated our Tuesday night runs because my stomach and digestive track just seemed so full all the time.  And to think about eating while working out?!?!  To date my workouts hadn't been THAT long.  Well at least in my mind they hadn't.  Little did I know.

So that's when I decided I would meet with her individually.
As it turns out - wow, there is a whole lot more food in my day that I need to be getting in my day.
We have broken it down into carbs. meat, dairy, fruits, veg, fat.  So far I have mastered breakfast.  At least when I am on the road and on work days.  Lunch when I plan ahead seems to be coming along ~ok~.  Well except when I travel.  Why do people want to eat so much food for lunch.  UGH!  And dinner is a struggle.  I think I have decided that soup after a workout is the easiest way to get all the food groups in a quick and easy manner. 

I was supposed to be down a whole bunch of pounds by now.  I was doing well for a bit there.  And then life on the road and the holidays kicked in.  So we continue to go back to the drawing board.  Hey, this is meant to be a lifestyle change and it is a work in progress for sure.

The latter part of 2014

Shall I recap the last few months or maybe I should start off where I stand right now... Hmmm...

Well the second half of 2014 saw me joining a running group that I have kept up with since June.  Not sure that my running has improved but I think it has.  My longest run at this time has been 8 miles.  It wasn't fun but I did it.  My longest unofficial timed run was a 10k.  Technically I missed the group's 10k as I was in Nova Scotia at the time.  So instead I mapped out 6 (VERY HILLY) miles and made a go of it.  The last official race I did was back on a cold oh so cold (20s) Saturday in November.  The majority of the group did a half marathon.  Let's be honest my ability to train for long distances with my work travel is hard.  So I did the 5k instead.  The nicest part about it - surely not the cold - was that I took a minute off my average mile pace.  YAY me. 

So now, I am looking to take that pace and make it a bit faster.  If I can get to an average 12 minute mile pace I would be happy.  In time if I could get it to 10 minutes it would be like high school again.  Yeah, don't hold your breath on that one.

So today we are off to do some speed work (hopefully before the rain) to keep focusing on that goal.

As for the running group.  It is in a weird state of transition at the moment.  Most runners wanted to take a break after their half marathons and around the holidays.  So it has dwindled down to just me and another woman that I have been running with.  Even our coach seems to have lost interest.  You know that's when I probably am at my best - bucking the system and all.

A new group is supposed to kick on in in a few weeks time.  And they are assuming I will be there.  We shall see how that goes.  It is to prep for a race I am not going to do sooo....  I just don't know.