I Know You Care

Howdy!

This week I am busy and I’m not even running.

Oh my god. I know you care about my running and how it is not happening. Yeah, I don’t know why all of a sudden my foot hurts, but it does and I don’t want to run because of it. First it was just my second toe that was hurting and now it’s below my second toe on the top of my foot.

Like I said, I have too many problems. 

I don’t plan on running until Saturday if everything feels okay because I do want to run before my 11 AM shift. Either way I will be running Sunday for the Warrior Dash.

On Friday, I go to the gym at 7:30 to train with my Marines recruiter then afterwards I have tutoring. I’m not done yet. I have an acupuncture appointment. I’m rather excited about getting needles stabbed into me. Hopefully it will help my foot.

Are you guys interested in a post on acupuncture for runners? I got some good details on it. I almost said ‘I got some good deets on that’. It was odd. I also wanted to do a post on eating before bedtime and some other jazzy shit stuff. Just let me know what you want to read/see. So whatcha whatcha want. 

Anyway, it’s Wednesday! I now love Wednesday because of…

I don’t have a proper WIAW, but regardless, I have had some good eats in the past few days. 

Spinach pie + fish
Spicy fish + spinach + veggies + rice
Giant oatmeal cookie + Muscle Milk
Detour protein bar (so good!)
Trix cereal + cottage cheese
Chocolate coconut water 

Not pictured: fro-yo from Yogurtland

What I worked Wednesday:

1 hour on the elliptical + full body lifting

My great cell phone photography skills. Enjoy. 

Well, if I was in the blogging mood I would totally bore you guys with my life and what’s going on, but I think I might hold off.

Until then, happy Wednesday! 

“You cannot propel yourself forward by patting yourself on the back.” - PREFONTAINE

How Low Can You Go?

I’m throwing you guys for a loop here.

You ready?

I only ran three days this week. Oh my god. Someone call the loony bin because I went off the  deep end.

Or maybe not.

I’ve been in a bit of a running funk lately. All my runs suck. I feel slow and, yeah, I was slow for my own terms. I was running seven minute miles or more (less?) and I barely wanted to run farther than a mile.

I obviously needed a break from running since I have been running 50+ mile weeks for a month. My mind wanted to continue, but my body didn’t. Then my mind started to concur with my body.

So, I ran three times this week. I’ll probably run about the same next week too and I’ll see where I should go from there. Also, my big toe area has been feeling odd. I don’t know. I have too many problems.

Active rest is so important. I was feeling sluggish and I thought it was just me. It wasn’t my body, I thought. I believed I was just a huge failure. Then, I read this article. “With all this talk about running, it’s easy to forget about weight training and core work. Summer is a great time to gain strength and work on weaknesses. Even if you can’t get to a gym or weight room, there are plenty of exercises that can be done at home—chair dips, push-ups, stair step-ups, squat jumps, etc. Pair two leg or arm exercises with two ab exercises and do three sets of each. Or choose six exercises and do two circuits of everything. “

I still weight trained three times this week, but I just added in the elliptical, a strength class, and  spin class.

It’s funny how not running as much caused my appetite to spike. I feel so hungry all the time now. It could be the weight lifting though. I have been adding more weights and the next day I feel it.

So enough blah blah blah. Here’s my week in review:

August 29th through September 4th

Monday: Hour elliptical + 45 minute RIPPED class (strength training, plyo, and abs)
Tuesday: 12.25 mile run @ 6:59 pace (fastest pace – 6:36)
Wednesday: 7.78 miles @  6.59 pace (fastest pace – 6.40) + Weights

Thursday: Approximately 9.60 miles @ 6.51 pace (I forgot to start my Garmin at one point.)
Friday:  Elliptical + weights

Saturday: Spin class + elliptical
Sunday: Weights + spin class

Total mileage: Approximately 29.

Yeah, that’s a huge difference from fifty. It almost frightens me.

I plan on running tomorrow and I hope it goes well.

Honorable eats:

Peppermint cake
Salmon cakes and Indian rice
Oat bran muffin + custard
Tofu + tamale
Peanut butter cheesecake

In case you missed it:

• My view on salads.
• Recovery Running.
• My second WIAW.

“If you train your mind for running, everything else will be easy.”
                                  –Amby Burfoot 

Sunday Funday

Howdy, ya’ll!

It’s Sunday, which equals funday!

I have no work so it’s a fun day and I”m begging my mom to take me to Dairy Queen before I cut a ho.

So, where should I start with this post? Hmmm. Let’s see.

I want to clear something up that I was just thinking about the other day because I don’t really have friends or life so thinking is just what I do.

Anyway, remember how I said I haven’t been feeling hungry at all lately?

Well, I don’t ever get that hunger feeling in general anymore. Want to know why?

I messed up my metabolism when I had an eating disorder since I didn’t eat an adequate amount of food. My body got use to consuming less than a thousand calories a day that now I never get that feeling of hunger.

I do know when I’m famished though. I get severe headaches, I become very lightheaded, I’m even more of a bitch, I get cramps, my vision becomes blurry, and I can’t make any decisions.

This is why I would never wish an eating disorder on anyone. Do you really want to screw up your metabolism? Do you really never want to feel hungry again?

It’s like I get hungry, but if I don’t eat something quickly enough, the sensation vanishes and everything is just downhill from there.

So eat when you’re hungry! Eat enough to fuel your body. Eat, eat, eat.  

Eat as much ice cream as you can.

I have to eat a lot of ice cream to fuel my workouts. Here’s what this week consisted of:

8/15 – 8/21

Monday: 12.30 miles @ 6:55 pace
Tuesday: 10.30 miles @ 6:56 pace
Wednesday: 2.19 miles @ 6:57 pace + elliptical + weights
Thursday: 9.80 miles @ 6:45 pace
Friday: 6.16 miles @ 6:50 pace + weights
Saturday: Approximately 14 miles @ 6:47 pace
Sunday: Weights + spin class

Total mileage: Approximately 54 miles. 

Thoughts: Overral, I am rather pleased with my mileage and my pacing consindering all my runs made me feel shitty. I just was not into them. I feel ready to go for tomorrow though. I want to do one mile under 6:30 though.

Weight lifting has been going great too. 

Monday’s weight lifting looked like this:

• Squats
• Bench Press
• Rows
• Shoulder Press
• Leg Extension
• Hamstring Curl
• Biceps Curls
• Side Lateral Raises

Wednesday:

• Squats
• Plie Squats
• Stiff Legged Deadlift
• Split squat
• Walking Lunge
• Leg extensions
• Lunge in place
• Single Leg press
• Leg curls
• Calf Raises

Sunday:

Superset 1:
Upright Rows
Barbell Curls

Superset 2:
Push Press
Preacher Curls

Superset 3:
Bridge Press
Rear Delt Flys

Superset 4:
Incline Front Raises
Skull Crushers

Superset 5:
Shoulder Press
Overhead Tricep Extensions

I’m feeling it today! Whew. I love lifting. 

So, I’m gonna wrap this up like a Chipotle burrito with some honorable eats:

 Salad w/ Green Onion dressing + tofu Cajun sandwich  

Enjoy your Sunday, folks!

Go dancing, shopping, rob a bank, or whatever else your heart desires.

 

 

Switchin’ It Up

 Hello fellas!

What’s happening?

Trust me, I don’t talk like that in real life. I sound a lot dumber.

Whew. I am so glad this week is finished! I had so much to do in so little time. My days were jam-packed.

You know you’re too busy that your car starts to look like a dump. Notice the apple core?

This week, I would wake up at the crack of dawn after getting home from work at 9:30 to eat, work out, shower, eat, go to work, die, etc. 

Here’s my review of this week’s workouts:

Monday: 9.38 miles @ 6:57 pace
Tuesday: 9.52 miles @ 6:49 pace
Wednesday: 8.66 miles @ 6:56 pace + weights
Thursday: 6 hour nap
Friday: 8.78 miles @ 7:01 pace + weights
Saturday: 14.14 miles @ 7:01 pace
Sunday: Weights + spin class + stretching

Total Mileage: 50.48

In actuality, I am very delighted with my mileage. I made it to the 50′s, which was fantastic. The thing is, I didn’t even stress about my mileage. I just ran how long I felt like it and I tried to up my pace. Go ahead and laugh at me. My pace never seems to progress. I felt super speedy on Friday and I was only running seven-minute miles. Ugh. I know I can run faster if I tried in a race so I need to do so in training runs. I think I may do a tempo run tomorrow then.

I am going to improve my running pace wise this week as well as switch up my workouts.

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday are only going to be cardio days. Then, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday will consist of cardio plus weights. On Wednesday I will do full body lifting routine while Friday will be focused on legs and Sunday will emphasize arms. I did arm work today and it was killer. I borrowed a little routine from Julie. By the way, I received some awesome items from Julie in a giveaway.

I always see this stuff on other blogger’s sites, but never have I used it.

How do you guys use NuStevia? Remember, I’m like half ape and cannot bake much so I need easy peasy recipes.

Anyway, as I was saying…

I am changing my workouts this week and that means I will not be performing ab work every night like I have been. I know, I am crazy. I realized, however, that I do not need to do ab work every night when I am dead tired. It takes me twice as long do to so because a) I’m exhausted and b) Seinfeld is more entertaining and I get distracted.

I switched my ab routine and now my abs are feeling it. So, now, I will be doing ab work every other day. There and there.

I don’t sound so cray cray anymore.

If you any killer ab routines, hit me up please!

Remember when I finished Racing Weight and I promised a review?

Yeah, that’s not gonna happen because what I have to say will bother some people and I don’t feel like dealing with it.

All I have to say is, if you are seriously considering any sport like swimming, running, biking as a career, you have to accept the fact that you may be underweight. You may not be a normal weight (by other’s opinions) because you are in peak condition to race. Lightness = quickness. That’s how it works. You may not have to be, like, 100 pounds, but you may have to be under your ‘healthy’ weight.

I personally really enjoyed the book and loved all the facts that were made. The author highlights that if you want to be lean, run 50+ miles a week. I didn’t like that the author, Matt Fitzgerald, said to not gain too much muscle because muscle doesn’t make you light. Then, after racing season, you can gain a few more pounds back, but never too much.

If one was to follow Matt Fitzgerald’s plan of being very lean, you would have a strict life and I don’t really like that. I want a cookie and damn right I will eat it. In the back of the book, there were eating plans of elite athletes and it was a lot. Some runners were eating like 10,000 calories, but Matt Fitzgerald never seemed to say that you could. He made it sound like you had to eat 1,500 calories for ultimate performance. I don’t know. I’m dumb so I could have misunderstood his words.

Overall rate: 6/10.

Hey, Matt Fitzgerald, look what I ate this week:

Of course I had some healthy foods too. 

 Pepper/onion/goat cheese tart + spinach cakes

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

“I was pushed by myself because I have my own rule, and that is that every day I run faster, and try harder.” - Wilson Kipketer

I Never Claimed to be Normal

Hello, Friday!

It may be a Friday for you guys, but not me. I got to work my ass off this weekend.

Oh well. I actually don’t mind work. 

I started my Friday off with an 8 mile run. I wanted to go longer, but my legs were like bricks in the end. They felt fresh since I didn’t run yesterday, but at the same time, they felt super heavy.

It’s funny how that works because I ended up lifting heavy afterwards.

It looked a little something like this. I only added calf raises and front squats as well as some ab work. It took me about 45 minutes even though I finished at 43 minutes. I had to continue with two more minutes or I would be bothered by the time.

I’m a little odd when it comes to numbers, truth be told.

I ran for an hour and one minute today. If it was an hour and two minutes, I would have to do another minute. I don’t know why.

When I get to the gym, I pick the lockers either 119, 120, 123, or 125. I can’t pick 124 because I don’t like that number. 117 works too.

I set my alarm clock at weird numbers. I may wake up at 6:36 or 6:47 because those times just feel ‘right‘ to me.

It’s odd, I know. It also makes me seriously think if that is somewhat why I developed an eating disorder.

When the scale was at 106, I didn’t like it. It felt like a ‘strange’ number to me. I would have to lose more to like the number. It’s so silly and irrational. It doesn’t even make sense. I don’t have anything against even or odd numbers, but certain numbers I do not like.

The more you know…

…the less you care.

Seven Links and a Review

I have been tagged by the badass Alexandra who could probably kick my ass any day of the week with her huge muscles.

Let’s get it started in here!

My Seven Links!

1. Most Beautiful: Tears of Joy. The race in itself was quite beautiful since it was a trail race. I don’t know. None of my posts are really that beautiful. Well, I guess I could count Smile!
2. Most Popular: The Comparison Trap
3. Most Controversial: Tomboy. Okay, so it wasn’t my most controversial post, but it was up there. Note to self: people don’t like it when you post photos of celebrities in bikinis and ask who looks best
4. Most Helpful: So, You Want to Train for a Race? Hey, I thought it was helpful despite the fact that I called bitchy because of it.
5. Surprise Success: Weather Envy.
6. Not Enough Attention: Vegetarianism. Come on, people! Embrace it.
7. Most Proud: Obsession? I definitely think I finally got my point across as in, I don’t run to burn calories, but I run because I truly love it.

And I nominate… drum roll please…

• Allie 
• Emily
• Hollie
• Tara

 Bada bing! That’s a load off my back now.

Sorry for my absence once again. I have been working all the week to either 9 PM or 9:30 PM. I guess my work doesn’t know I have to be in bed my 10 for my bed time. I actually haven’t had a full seven hours of sleep in over a week. After I get home from work I am a) too hungry…

My normal dinner at work is half the size of my dinner I would eat at home.
Example:

Another example:

Third example:

So, like I said, after I get home from work I am a) too hungry and b) too energized to sleep so I watch Seinfeld while eating more food.

Exhibit A, B, and C

Despite my lack of sleep, my workouts haven’t been lacking just yet. 

Here’s my stats from last week:

Monday: Hills 9.45 miles (6.57 average pace)
Tuesday: 7.88 miles (recovery run – average pace 7:06)
Wednesday: Hills 8.73 miles (6:53 average pace)
Thursday: 8.87 miles (7:05 average pace)
Friday: Elliptical + RIPPED class
Saturday: 14.73 miles (6:53 average pace. Half of the run was done at the beach)
Sunday: Weights + spin class

Total mileage: 49.33

Honestly, I wanted my mileage to be more, but I do have a half marathon this Saturday so I should be backing down on the mileage. I’m not much of a taper person. I find when I do taper, I get cranky and my legs just feel stiff from not running what I’m use to.

Anyway, I finished Kara Goucher’s book!

I have to admit, I really did love her book and I’m glad I finally bought it.

Kara Goucher’s Running for Women: From First Steps to Marathons was a simple read that I believe is useful for any runner. Whether you are just starting to run or have been running for years, this book will benefit your running in one way or another. 

The book wasn’t all running tips though. Kara included bits of her life in the book like why she runs, how she started, and why she continues. Kara herself is so inspirational. She has made it so far because she is dedicated. I can only dream of running as fast as her.

Kara Goucher also talks about her injuries in the book and shares her doubts. It was extremely heart warming for her to share that not every race she has done was perfect and that bothers her. You can truly see how competitive she is, which I adore. Normally you view athletes as hubris type people who believe they are golden, but Kara seems to struggle with not winning every single race. She’s only human after all.

Some sections in the book were repetitive and really meant for newbie runners who, I guess, can’t naturally figure out how to get rid of side stitches. A lot of things are common sense, but Kara just simply reminds the reader that you need to eat well to perform well. No duh. Really new runners should skip this book since it does not elaborate on some running issues that you may need to know. Some of her tips were silly and she also added “Dear Kara” letters that were ridiculous. “Dear Kara, why do guys run yada yada yada?” Who cares? However, if you been running for a while, Kara’s tips on running are valuable.

I would give Kara Goucher’s Running for Women: From First Steps to Marathons a 7/10 and that’s being friendly since I love Kara. (Holla, I see her a lot at my track I run at. ) I really hope Kara writes a book that is more of a biography. I would be interested in that.